Dont get me wrong I love Han in Jedi… but I think Han should have died in Empire. I think if Han died in Empire it would leave an emotional impact in ROTJ. Think about it If Han died and the emperor won Han would have died for nothing. It adds another driving point to defeat the empire.
To be honest, I kind of think that would’ve felt a disservice to Han. I think it would feel like all the dialogue and characterisation that went towards making him likeable in Empire, as well as the romance plot with Leia, was in the end just a set-up so that Han could be used as a plot device to make the Empire even more hated in the next film. If he was killed off so suddenly, and dying without ‘payoff’ for his character, it would have FELT like a lack of respect for his character, even not necessarily so.
I agree that having more of an emotional investment in seeing the Empire defeated would have made ROTJ even better, but in particular that would be directed towards Vader, being the one who effectively killed Han. Unless you’re thinking of a totally different death scene for Han than carbon-freezing-gone-wrong?
Oh and just in case, please don’t think that as the creator of this thread I’m trying to put your idea down, I think it’s a great suggestion and I’m just trying to bounce ideas around in here. Come to think of it, maybe this should go in the script rewriting section…