Trooperman said:

Given the gazillion changes to the audio over 1977, as well as changes to the credits (apparently) over the course of that same year, is it at all possible that George Lucas went back to the original negative and had certain scenes recolored at the lab, too- and then implemented into new prints of the film, because he wasn't perfectly happy it as it was?

It could be this scene was intitally corrected for the LPP print and went uncorrected for the technicolor dye print. It could be *shock idea coming up* the technicolour dye print HAS faded in parts