Recently, there was a Battle of Yavin thread discussing the intelligence of the Rebels' attack on the Death Star. Here, I'm going to do something similar because, after just having thought it through for a few seconds I realize that I can make absolutely no sense of the plan to rescue Han Solo from Jabba in Return of the Jedi. Maybe someone can help me figure out the logic in their plan. First, let's go over the sequence of events:
Lando gets a job as a guard (not seen but must predate others)
C-3PO and R2-D2 offer themselves into servitude
Leia hands Chewbacca into custody
Leia attempts to free Han but fails and is put into slavery
Luke attempts to bargain and fails
Luke and co. kill everybody
I mean, the way it all turns out, it works out for the best with Leia killing Jabba, R2 passing Luke his lightsaber, all that stuff, but did Luke really forsee exactly how it would turn out and plan accordingly? If Luke was so sure that they'd have to fight, why not just go in and slaughter Jabba's forces from the outset rather than sending his friends in one at a time? Okay, I'm getting off track. Let me go through this in detail.
Okay, Lando somehow infiltrates the palace and gets a job as a guard. I can only assume that he was there for reconnaissance: transmitting data to the rest to better prepare their own attacks. Alright, fine, I can definitely see the plausibility in that. Moving on:
C-3PO and R2-D2 present themselves to Jabba. R2 has a message for Jabba from Luke. He presumably (and according to Shadows of the Empire definitely) knows that Luke is going to offer them to Jabba in exchange. R2 is also secretly carrying Luke's lightsaber. R2 knows everything. 3PO obviously knows absolutely nothing about this plan. But what if Jabba had been like, "Yeah, sure, that works for me. You guys stay here, and I'll hand over Han." Would Luke have made good on his deal and just abandoned the droids? Sure, I'm certain the good guys didn't expect that to work, but what would they have done if Jabba had agreed to the terms? Would they have come in and killed everybody anyway in order to get them back? It seems ridiculous to offer up more hostages when you're trying to get someone out of there already. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now and just say that Luke needed a safe place to keep his lightsaber... just in case (because apparently Lando would have been strip searched or something).
Next, Leia (disguised as Boussh) delivers Chewbacca to Jabba for, ultimately, the sum of 35,000 credits. At first, I can understand this. Leia needs to earn their trust. And then, later in the night, she can rescue Han. But this is where everything up to here falls apart. Once again, they're diluting their forces and creating an even larger hostage situation... by their own choice. They're literally giving away their people to Jabba. I mean, I guess the Alliance was really hurting for credits, so that's why they sold out Chewie? And why? Why did they need Leia to unfreeze Han? They already had three of their own in Jabba's palace who could have done the job. Hell, why couldn't Lando have just done the very same thing in the very beginning, precluding the need for the droids or Chewbacca or Leia? And what if Leia had succeeded? "Come on. We gotta get you out of here"? Is Lando, meanwhile, rescuing the droids or Chewbacca from prison? Seemingly not, since he immediately shows up to apprehend Leia on Jabba's orders. But even if he was out rescuing people they willingly handed over to the enemy, that's just needlessly complicating things! Things would have been much more simple if only one person had been in there rather than, at this point, six, including Han!
And then, finally, we have Luke. Luke does a pretty good job getting by Bib Fortuna. He attempts to bargain (again) with Jabba, this time in person. However, he only demands that Han and Chewbacca be released. He doesn't mention the droids or the very serviceable wench right in front of him. Once again, what if Jabba had caved? What if Luke had scared him into letting them go? Would Luke then have gone, "Oh, yeah, and I'll need those other guys back too"? Well, obviously, that failed. Action ensued, that failed as well, so Luke, Han, and Chewie were all scheduled to die.
And we all know the story from there. Luke gets his lightsaber, mows everybody in his path down, and then, to add insult to injury, blows up the entire ship, leaving not a single survivor (unless you count Boba Fett... maybe). Unless their intention always was to bring as much carnage and death to Tatooine as humanly possible, that plan had FAIL written all over it.
And they say Jedi don't take revenge. ^_~