"self defense" and "cold blood" don't equal the same thing. If he really had tried so hard to film Greedo shooting first, why does the novel leave it ambiguous? I guess it is really hard to edit things in books before they get published. That is why so many books have spelling and grammar error. I suppose Allen Dean Foster tried several times to get Greedo to shoot first, but he just couldn't get the ink to stick to the paper. Also while you say Gary Kurtz isnt an authority for what goes on inside Lucas' head, well honestly neither is Lucas. He is the same guy who claimed the OT doesn't exist anymore, then released them in crap quailty for his wallets sake. He also claimed to have the whole story worked out since the beginning, but just has a bit of an incest fetish and really liked the idea of the Skywalker twins making out. Also, he intended Obi-wan to be a filthy liar from the get-go. Kill the kids dad, become his mentor and then blame it all on the evil Sith Lord.

"but notice how many people claim having Greedo shoot first alters Han's character? It obviously wasn't clear to everyone."

I guess Lucas is a genius after all, this man actually anticipated that there would be hoards of moronic SW fan post 1997 that couldn't tell the difference between cold blooded killers and people defending themselves WHEN THEY HAVE A GUN POINTED AT THEIR HEAD. George decided to do something for the sake of these fans before it got out of hand and they started listing Han among Micheal Myers and Jason Vorhees (I have no idea how to spell that name). You know, I feel my respect for Lucas coming back. He really knew what he was doing the whole time.