sonofjones said:

I gotta agree, I don't think it matters what it is. Whether some garbage, Luke's hand, some gadget or whatever, I think it's there just to highlight the dangerous situation Luke's in as he hangs for dear life above a bottomless abyss of clouds, which marks this as his lowest point in the entire saga.

Wouldn't that be when he underestimated the powers of the emperor. Yoda warned him after all. Also the whole beginning of jedi was all leia's fault she didn't let han pay off his debt to jabba man how selfish was she.