I’ve been to page 19 of this thread, and realised there’s 96 pages, and I have no idea how to find anything on this forum. So please let me know if this belongs elsewhere, or if it’s already been discussed (it surely must have been).

I don’t think the Greedo scene and the Jabba scene filmed for Star Wars but only included together in 1997 were ever actually supposed to appear together. I think it was always intended to be one or the other.

They both serve the same purpose of setting up Han’s character and motivation.

They include two very similar lines (“smuggler who dumps his cargo at the first sign of an imperial starcruiser”, “Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?” I can’t recall the exact lines in both scenes). No script would usually have two such similar lines in two separate conversations in scenes so close to each other. It’s weird.

I don’t know why, if Jabba and his goons were hanging about, they would send Greedo in to talk to Han in the cantina. And Greedo talks as though Jabba doesn’t know Han’s there, but Jabba talks as though he sent Greedo specifically.

If it wasn’t for Jabba’s line about Han frying Greedo, I would be certain they were never meant to both be in the movie. But, although it would be odd, that could be a reference to something that happened days ago off screen.

My understanding is that George Lucas maintains he intended for the Jabba scene to be in the movie, but they lacked the money to create the alien Jabba he wanted using stop motion or something.

That doesn’t feel right to me. Does anyone have more information on these possibilities?

EDIT: And I just remembered another thing that feels off to me. Greedo’s blasting feels like an escalation in his situation from being in debt to being physically under threat. That plays into his urgent need to take on paying passengers, no questions asked. That situation seems diffused by the relative lack of any real tension when he meets Jabba shortly after.