I guess you refer to:
“I thought you’d decided to stay”
“Well that bounty hunter on Ord Mantell changed my mind”
I was referring not just to those two lines, but my two quotes; I also quoted the scene between Leia and Han in Bespin.
These two lines do absolutely nothing to explore why he decided to join them at the end of ANH (my main point of the question).
Is that what we’re debating now? I was under the impression that my point was that Han didn’t decide to join the Rebels after ANH. Why would I go looking for evidence that I didn’t take away from the movies to counter my own opinion?
But Just to be clear (again): at the end of ANH Han came back for Luke (and Leia) who he’d become friends with over the course of their adventure. That was established pretty well in the movie, I thought. My one assumption, to connect the dots between ANH and Han’s lack of commitment to the Rebellion full time in ESB is that he’s hanging around for his friends and the steady work the Alliance gives him, while their constant evading of the Empire has prevented Han from being close enough to Tattooine to go pay off Jabba.
To use an analogy, he’s hanging around with his friends and goes to some of the same parties they do, but hasn’t joined their club(/fraternity).
And it does not imply he was in any way conflicted about committing either. It simply means he had to go pay Jabba or “he is a dead man” as he himself clearly explains the reason. Even if for some strange reason you ignore the clear reason given by Solo and still think it was because he was conflicted about committing, then where does the script explain/explore his actual reasons for “conflict”?
First, also see the above reference to the Bespin scene.
Secondly, as for how this explores his ‘reasons for conflict’; Han is established as a cynical and self-serving character. The referred to run in with the Bounty Hunter on Ord Mantell demonstrates that he is selfishly worried about his own hide, while also being attached to Luke and Leia.
Right there is conflict.
Now you can read more deeply into this through the language of cinema, like the juxtaposition of his character (the oft selfish scoundrel) and Lando’s (who is a ‘responsible’ leader of Cloud City) for example, but the most explicitly stated basis is portrayed through his relationship with Leia, and friendship with Luke, vs his own self-interests.
All this aside though, no one I’ve asked yet has explained how Han is simultaneously a committed Rebel already in Empire and how Leia is so concerned about him leaving and not coming back (and why Han doesn’t assert the opposite when challenged). Please, reconcile those two things for me in Empire, and as I said before, I’ll retract my criticism of ROTJ’s treatment of Han’s character (and confer it on ESB).