If Han paid Jabba off, Jabba doesn’t have to pay the bounty hunters. The rebel reward looked pretty hefty from that scene where Han and Chewie were loading up the loot in Star Wars.
That Jabba is a drug addled, disagreeable fellow in Jedi doesn’t change what happened in ESB.
The rebel reward might have been hefty for Han. However it was less than a change for a galactic crime lord, as was the price for hiring bounty hunters. In the best case he would kill him quickly/painlessly and take the money. Of course he wasn’t going to be so generous, as indicated in ROTJ. For the rest, read Lord Haseo’s post above.
Show me where that is even implied on screen. Clearly Han in ESB thought it was enough to go and pay Jabba.
Lord Haseo already pointed it out…
Han: “Jabba, I’ll pay you triple! You’re throwing away a fortune here! Don’t be a fool!”
[Jabba laughs and ignores him.]If in ESB Han genuinely thought he was coming back alive, it is either a plot hole or a device to convey to the audience that Han was stupid. It is like having film where a character thinks he can successfully land on a Sun with current technology.
It’s only a plot hole if you don’t come up with a decent resolution for the next film. 😉
Jabba’s reputation was already established in the previous film. Han’s expectation not to be made an example of even if he brought the money is ludicrous. As I said, in best case he would grant him a painless death for the money. In most probable case, he would take away his money and properly make an example of him. Sequel has no effect on this. ROTJ simply followed the obvious.
As I said, the only way this isn’t a plot hole is if Han didn’t actually intend to go pay and simply used it as an excuse to leave rebels for some other reason.
We’re also forgetting it wasn’t for certain Harrison was coming back for a third film, hence the carbon freeze.
As I said above, sequel doesn’t have any effect on Han’s intention to go pay at the beginning of ESB being ludicrous, as Jabba’s reputation has been already established in ANH.