CT Jabba's Palace??

Since Lando was involved in making sure that there were openings in Jabba's droid pool for Artoo and Threepio to fit into, it's not inconceivable that Lando would have had a hand in smuggling the droids (and Chewie) out of there if Luke's plan A had worked.

 

As the deleted scene makes clear, the rescue was not the sole reason Luke went back to Tatooine, he was also fine-tuning Jedi skills. It seems he had mild faith in Leia and Lando, but still stored his lightsaber in R2 in case of the worst case scenario, which would require his intervention.

The original plan isn't bad; Lando scouts out the palace, while Leia comes in to finalize the rescue, possibly with the assistance of Lando. It would seem that the droids' involvement was pointless, but I think Luke was trying to throw a genuine offer at Jabba (obviously not intending to part with the droids, though).

But the next part gets a little confusing. Luke does a lot of things that seem dumb, unless you account that he accurately predicted the outcome ahead of time; such as falling into the rancor pit, and putting his lightsaber into R2 to be shot off the sail barge. Then again, assuming he would be sent to the Sarlaac eventually, he predicted that he would be apprehended (his weapon assumably taken). There's really no other explanation than Luke knew about the Sarlaac and Rancor ahead of time. Though it's not outside the realm of possibility that Lando could have told him some of this (the Rancor seemed to be a popular form of entertainment for Jabba), and/or maybe Jabba's cruelty was so renowned that Luke knew of his common methods.

 

I've always been under the impression that the rancor pit was the one thing Luke completely didn't see coming. If that was the case, then hiding his lightsaber in R2 wouldn't have seemed like that big of a risk, given Jabba's presumably-well-known tendency towards big showy drawn-out executions.

 

Hiding a weapon in R2 was wise, especially as opposed to storming the Palace with guns, er I mean lightsaber - a-blazin'. He may not have been able to predict the exact circumstances by which he would get it from R2, but it was safe to say he would need it eventually.

 

Luke understood his limitations as a Jedi. He knew that in certain circumstances, he would have the advantage, but in others, not so much. It was not how his father and his Master would have handled it, but it was very effective.

 

Luke was making it up as he went along.

 

Exactly this.

this was always my understanding of it as well...

actually, when Jabba is telling Luke and Han that they're going to be thrown into the Sarlacc pit, watch Luke very closely-he not only looks not at all surprised, but he also looks at Leia whils Jabba is speaking, and nods to her (as if everything they're hearing is exactly what they predicted). That, and the fact that he put his lightsaber inside R2 are the things that made me believe they had everything planned out in at least two or three different contingency plans..

 

GL explains what Luke's plan is in the book The Making of ROTJ. Here's the plan the best I recall.

Luke hopes to resolve the situation peacefully and that Jabba will agree to simply agree to make a trade for Han. However, Luke is prepared if Jabba isn't willing to trade. He knows Jabba's palace is like a fortress and in a scene in a earlier draft of ROTJ, he tells Lando this. His plan is to get Jabba so mad that he'll sacrifice him and Han and the rest to Sarlaac. He knows this is what Jabba does to people he really hates, and Luke is planning to make Jabba mad by killing Jabba's pet rancor. He knows the sail barge is much less heavily fortified than Jabba's palace, and I guess he's pretty sure that his Jedi powers are enough that he'll be able to save them all there.

Here's a scene from an earlier draft of ROTJ in which Luke discusses his plan with Lando. The trading thing is slightly different in this version.

LANDO
It’s a miracle that Han survived the unfreezing process. I just hope he’s still in one piece.

Chewie barks his agreement. Luke and R-2 come over to the others. R-2 begins to beep at 3PO.

THREEPIO
We have to leave?!? What are you talking about? I’m not going out in that storm again!

LUKE
3PO, I need you to go with him to the palace.

THREEPIO
Palace?!?

LUKE
He’s going to need your help.

THREEPIO
Help!?!

Artoo beeps at Threepio again.

THREEPIO
All right, I’m coming. I’m coming. I was afraid of this. Master Luke, are you sure…

LUKE
Threepio…. I’m depending on you.

THREEPIO
Yes, Master Luke.

Artoo and Threepio leave the Inn as the wind howls madly outside. Luke grabs some food off of the table and goes back to his work.

LANDO
What makes you think those droids will ever get in to see Jabba – let alone deliver the message.

LUKE
Greed. It’s Jabba’s weakness. With this phony spice extractor and his greed, we’ll make contact with Han as soon as I finish. You and Chewie are going to have to make the next visit to the palace.

LANDO
You mean just walk right in?? They’ll kill us.

LUKE
Not when you present Jabba with this little gem, and tell him we have a hundred more just like it. You’ll be all right.

LANDO
But we don’t have another hundred just like it. I think this plan of yours leaves a lot to be desired.

LUKE
Listen, Lando, you know we couldn’t get Han out of that stronghold even if we had an army with us. Our only hope is to get Jabba to take him out of there, for us….

LANDO
Then what?

LUKE
Then you leave the rest to me.

Lando shakes his head in disbelief.

LANDO
I sure hope you know what you’re doing.

End of Scene

 

So you're saying Luke was actually going to abandon Artoo, his best friend and the droid who had saved his life on multiple occasions, to a life of torture and destruction. I know he's just a droid but that's harsh.

 

If you buy the new making of ROTJ book you can read a transcript of the story conferences between Lucas, Kasdan, Kazanjian and Marquand where they develop this plot. It gets lost a bit in the final script but the general concept is that Luke can't overpower Jabba and his cronies in his palace so he is banking on either bargaining or getting them all executed by sarlacc, allowing him to fight them in the open. In the finished film Luke is clearly pleased to be sentenced to death by sarlacc.

Lucas: "What Luke wants to do is to get on that barge and the only way he can do that is as a prisoner. He has to become a prisoner and Chewie has to become a prisoner; they have to unfreeze Han and they all have to be at the same execution, which is what his plan is. He figures once he kills the rancor, then they have to go to the pit. He knows that's where the execution is going to be anyway. What they do with ordinary nuisances, or solicitors, is they drop them into the rancor pit. Luke knows or doesn't know that is what would happen, what kind of trap they have laid for him. He's assuming that when he is discovered and when he is subdued, which he will be, that he is bound to end up with Han and Chewie in the skiff over the sarlacc pit. The plan is, "I am going to knock everybody overboard into the pit and we're going to take off"..."

Kasdan: "you can assume that Luke's plan is multilayered and the court of last resort is they are going to take him to the sarlacc pit and they'll all be in place. But when he comes in and says, "I want to bargain for Han" he is hoping that will work."

 

The thing that I thought was pretty ridiculous was when Leia shows up with Chewbacca. Seriously, a Wookie that has been known to rip peoples arms out of their sets and he just walks in. I call BS!!!

 

Yeah, later in that draft Artoo plays a message that says to Jabba: "Greetings, Exalted One. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and friend of the one called Solo. I wish an audience to bargain for his life…. (all laugh) I have objects of great value from Durell System (the crowd mumbles) and as a token of my goodwill, I present to you a gift, these two droids…."

So, it seems as if Jabba was willling to trade for Solo's life, the droids were as good as gone. Or maybe Luke would've planned as second rescue for them!

I do get the feeling from the first draft and from GL's comments that Luke was not expecting Jabba to agree to a trade. In fact, in the first draft, Luke doesn't even have the 100 things he's planning to trade Han for. He only has one of them. So, it seems like Luke thought it would end up at Sarlaac.

 

Perhaps Luke assumes that, if Jabba is willing to come to the table in the first place, then everything else can be worked out from there.

 

That's stealing.

 

The Luke Skywalker that walked into Jabba's Palace was a completely different person to the one I saw in Empire....he looked so sure of himself and his abilities.

I think he let his friends go into Jabba's Palace to try to rescue Han first because he knew no matter what he could fix the situation....wheather he rescued one person or ten people I've always felt that Luke knew he'd be walking out with the job done.

Luke knew how strong his father was with the force and how quickly he'd himself become a Jedi...He just didn't think Jabba or his croonies were goin to be that much of a challenge to him and as it turnt out they weren't.

 

IMHO, the whole Jabba's palace/Tattoine sequence in ROTJ (up to the destruction of the sail barge) is one of the best parts of the Saga. I see it almost as one of those old Mission: Impossible TV episodes, where the IM force (in this case Luke, Leia, Lando, the droids) have to infiltrate a gangster's den and rescue one of their own.

To answer the OP, it's obvious to me that Luke knew that Jabba wouldn't give up Han in Carbonite for the Droids. He just wanted to have the droids in place in the palace so Artoo could help him re: the hidden lightsaber.

 

Luke tried multiple times to use the Jedi Mind Trick on Jabba without success... Jabba even chides him on this... it's not unreasonable to suppose that Luke intended to barter with Jabba once onsite for Han, and the return of the droids using his mind tricks and leave peacefully... fortunately he planned for a backup by stowing his lightsaber within R2 just incase he needed to resort to "aggressive negotiations."

 

I'm sure Jabba is as discerning a host as I am... screening all guests before they just waltz into his palace... Sooo.. Boushh would've needed a really good reason as to why she required an audience with Jabba - especially since she seemed to have no familiarity with the rest of the bounty hunting community... Using Chewy as the token here serves two purposes... gives Boushh a reason to gain entry to the palace and direct contact with Jabba AND also gets Chewy on the premises for support.

 

Tell me if I'm wrong here but it kinda looks like everyone at Jabba's Palace is there to party.

 

I guess that's a viable explanation. But it remains that Lukes plan ultimately involved stealing. Pretty classless behaviour from the last Jedi. There are plenty of other droids Luke could have given away for Jabba to keep.

 

No doubt they do.... however I'm sure P. Diddy has parties at his pad too.... and he don't let any Tom, Dick, or Harry stroll in to join in the fun...

 

Leia may not have had familiarity with bounty hunting, but Boushh did. Boba Fett was at least passingly familiar with Boushh and his skills. Evidently no one knew the real Boushh was dead, however.

 

Lando seemed to slip in pretty easily.

 

He prolly bribed the guards with some Colt '45's....

 

It's all Jabba's fault. He couldn't grasp that Luke was really a Jedi Knight and stop mocking him and just give him his friend back. Luke intended to walk in, say please, collect Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids, and walk out the front door with everyone, including Lando. One after one Jabba mocked and imprisoned the Rebels who came in to rescue Han. No one told him just to let everyone walk away nicely, and maybe curry some favour with the Rebels?

Luke wasn't being a hero or role model in that situation: he was getting his friends back, one of whom had been horribly tortured by the Empire, to succeed where he had failed in Cloud City. Using the Force Choke should have given away that he meant business; that this time it was personal (who cares if it contravenes some "Jedi Code", Luke was in uncharted water with his training, and there was no Jedi Order to be expelled from.) No one working or hanging out in Jabba's palace was innocent of being a party to evil in some form. Luke warned him nicely, Jabba didn't listen, and everyone in his court died (with some exceptions we learn about in the EU.) The Rebels rescued Han and walked away intact. A true case of Mission Accomplished.