Yeah that convoluted plan to rescue Han definitely needs to be improved, no question about it. I don’t believe it can be edited to make perfect sense since it is limited by the existing footage, but with the right inserts and the removal of a certain scene, it can definitely be made to make better sense.
Where to begin, though. For this all to come together, I guess I need to first address other things as well. It won’t be short so buckle in… 😃
First, I’ll bring up Luke’s further knowledge in the Force… Where does he get it? Could some of it been instinctual and built from the foundation of Ben’s and Yoda’s prior teachings and further practiced before the events of ROTJ? Absolutely, I believe a lot of it was. However, I’m doubtful all of it was learned by himself - Luke clearly gained much wisdom and certain new abilities, especially when it comes to constructing a lightsaber, so he had to have been instructed in some way.
I’ve read in the past about people wanting it to be edited so Luke has been training with Yoda again, from the end of ESB up to the beginning of ROTJ. I think this does make perfect sense from a logical perspective, but, the dialogue that is said during this scene keeps it from working nicely, for me anyway. Let me explain why: It would be extremely odd of Luke to be training with Yoda for even a short while and waits until Yoda’s death bed to finally ask that most compelling question - the question that has been echoing in his mind continuously ever since Vader’s revelation. There is no doubt in my mind Luke would ask Yoda this question ASAP. Sure, it’s kind of odd he doesn’t immediately go to Yoda for more training, but it’d be even more odd if he did go there and didn’t ask about Vader right away. So because of this situation, it just wouldn’t work moving this to the beginning of ROTJ - it needs to remain in its original place. I admit, even that deleted scene of Luke finishing his lightsaber is rather cool, but it needs to remain as just a deleted scene.
Okay, now with all of that out of the way, again, where else could he have obtained the knowledge he has? Certainly wasn’t from Ben’s Force ghost either because it’s clear he hadn’t seen Ben again since he left Dagobah in ESB.
So the only truly logical way would therefore be at Ben’s home on Tatooine (which coincidentally is also the planet where Han is captured). It can be assumed that Ben’s home wasn’t ransacked in the years of its vacancy, and since it’s way out of the way and isolated, it’s certainly possible. Or if it was, what Luke needed so happened to still be there. Either way, since Luke has to go to Tatooine anyway, I really believe he would stop by Ben’s hut for anything that may prove useful in rescuing Han. Maybe even to seek some hidden truth about his father. He then comes across some written journals by Ben which were possibly even written directly to Luke for when he is ready and old enough to understand. Ben, knowing Luke, probably knew he would come back after a time he was gone. That’s my headcanon anyway, and I really hope it makes sense enough to also have that be the Revisited canon as well.
We do not have to see any of this stuff with him flipping through the journals and all, so this could simply be mentioned briefly in new dialogue between 3PO and R2 when they are traveling to Jabba’s palace (there isn’t room in the opening crawl for this exposition, and the crawl needs to be adjusted/improved to include other important matters that could not be mentioned anywhere else anyway).
And now about the new dialogue between 3PO and R2, a short but much-needed exposition to the current situation which couldn’t be stated elsewhere. And if I remember right, Ady does already have somebody lined up with an authentic costume and sounds very much like 3PO, so in cases such as this, it would be extremely helpful if he were still willing and available.
The conversation is as follows:
The original shot with 3PO and R2 as the latter makes his original first “Beeps”.
In the same shot 3PO says, “Of course I’m worried, and you should be too. Poor Chewbacca is held captive in that awful place and we haven’t heard back since from either Princess Leia or Lando Calrissian.”
Then a new close-up view on just R2 as he makes “long beeps”.
Then a new close-up side view on just 3PO as he is responding, “Well, that’s why Master Luke sent us. He did say he must first complete those important journals from Obi-Wan Kenobi, you know. But by then we could be disintegrated, or worse.”
Then the original view behind 3PO and R2 where the latter makes “short beeps”.
Then it continues as normal with 3PO’s reply, “Don’t be so sure. If I told you half the things I’ve heard about this Jabba the Hutt, you’d probably short-circuit.”
Then R2’s original “Worried beeps”
So with this new dialogue, it is now known that Luke was spending time at old Ben’s home reading journals to create a new lightsaber (which he did and already put in R2) and learning much about the Force that may be useful for this predicament and his own future (which he is currently practicing/perfecting).
Also note in the new dialogue that Chewie is already captured, which leads to the next change: There should no longer be that awful part of the plan from the original with Leia handing Chewie to Jabba, signed and delivered. Chewie should be mentioned as already captured, but it’s not important to know how. But, for anyone curious anyhow, while Leia and Lando were inside the palace doing reconnaissance, he was likely waiting outside with the Falcon and was discovered by some passing guards (it wouldn’t have made sense to send Chewie in as Jabba would surely recognize him). Again, it doesn’t matter how, just so long as that scene of Leia bringing in Chewie is removed entirely, as nostalgic as it may be for some. So the first time we see Chewie is actually when Han is tossed in the jail cell with him, which I believe works very well.
Then, during the scene with the hologram of Luke, it would be good to establish that Leia (in disguise as Boushh) is indeed in there, just as we will see Lando is also (so at first, before we see her sneaking around, she’ll appear as though she’s another of Jabba’s goons, just as it was originally intended to be). There could be a short shot of her listening to Luke’s message, in place of a removed shot of Salacious Crumb after Jabba was laughing to Luke’s “…to bargain for Solo’s life.” I’m betting most people would be okay with seeing less of Crumb 😉
So with all of this, we have: A rescue plan that makes much more sense (a reconnaissance team first and Luke comes in later for the actual rescuing), instead of sending wave after wave of friends into Jabba’s palace with no apparent plan; Both Lando and Leia should already be inside learning the layout of the palace and it’s inferred that, as much as possible, they were reporting back to Luke of their findings and what’s happening; Chewie still gets captured but this time it’s assumed it’s while he was out with the Falcon or something, instead of just being handed over; Leia will still attempt to rescue Han on her own because of her growing impatience and worry that others will get captured soon before Luke can arrive (since she is now out of contact with Luke); And, we are now given a solid, logical reason why Luke wasn’t there in the rescue from the beginning (it’s when things started heading south [Chewie’s capture] that he decides to send the droids, to buy himself time and finish whatever crucial thing(s) he is learning about).
And lastly, it should be edited so, instead of Force choking, Luke uses the Force to make the two Gamorrean guards hunker down and fall asleep (and they begin to snore, just to be clear what’s happening). I can understand if some people do like that he is using the Force choke, because it foreshadows what he may become later, but, when you really think about it, Luke shouldn’t resort to killing/harming anyone yet if he wants that small chance at rescuing his friends without trouble; very foolish to do so before any negotiations, even if he might think Jabba won’t agree. As for the Sarlacc pit, there it makes sense to start killing (which forshadows a potential dark side just as well).
Well… that’s my wordy explanation and take on how the rescue plan can be edited for the better 😃 Any thoughts? Can this idea be improved even further? I’ve been thinking about it for a while and sure can’t think of anything else. It’s probable I’ll bring it up again when the official ROTJ:R thread is available 😉
