Han Solo Was No Innocent.

Was Jabba the Hutt as bad as he was painted?

“Paint me like one of your french girls” — Image Source: flickr.com/barricadecaptures

I think Jabba Desilijic Tiure, (better known as Jabba the Hutt) gets a pretty unfair and overtly harsh rap. Sure, Jabba was a crime boss seeking his fortune in rough quadrants of the universe (we’ve all been there) but does it really mean that he deserved being choked by a slave chain in such an undignified fashion??

Let’s look at the actual timeline of events and the reality of the situation. Han Solo owes Jabba money when he jettisoned cargo he’s supposed to be smuggling. But rather than sorting out the situation ‘mano a slug’ Han avoids Jabba which leads Jabba to put a bounty on Han’s head for his capture or death. Now this might seem harsh but Jabba is a fracking crime boss (tough but fair) and as he says to Han (translated):

“Han, I can’t make exceptions. What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship?”.

For all of Jabbas gangster talk, In the special edition of A new hope, It’s revealed that Jabba does actually give Han solo another chance. This just shows he’s being very fair and also demonstrates that he actually has a soft spot for the smuggler. It also establishes the once business-like and professional nature of Han's relationship with Jabba which falls apart when Han guns down Jabba’s…