One thing everyone can agree on is Greedo got SHOT. You don’t see blasters do that kind of damage very often. Greedo’s brothers (Slotho, Envio, Prideo, etc.) had to have a closed casket funeral. His childhood friend, Walz, committed suicide from grief.
Stop making me feel sorry for Greedo… you’re backing up George’s argument that Han shouldn’t have been a ‘cold-blooded killer’!
In an seriousness, I disagree with the change but I do understand George’s motivation behind it. He didn’t want Han’s easiness around shooting because he felt threatened to be considered ‘cool’ or whatever, but then of course Han goes on to kill a load of stormtroopers and sometimes unarmed Imperial officers on the Death Star; pacifism has always been played fast and loose in Star Wars, especially when on a one-on-one basis. Not least because the original scene, where the explosion happens suddenly in front of Han before the cut, is so much better - and the altered scene throws that pacing off - if I was doing a fan edit, I wouldn’t change it.
The only unarmed officers might have been in the control room above the hangar, but those guys would have pulled an alarm switch if Han hesitated. Pretty sure all the detention block chaps were armed.
Thank goodness George didn’t want any moral ambiguity about a guy who smuggles drugs for a giant space slug. 😉