CT Chewbacca and Leia on Bespin

I'm of the school that thinks it takes the Falcon a long time to get to Bespin and simultaneously for Luke to do a bunch of training. What I like about this is that between the time on the asteroid and landing on Cloud City, the whole dynamic of that group changes. Han and Leia are hot and heavy. Chewie and Threepio bond because they're odd beings out. But at the same time Leia and Chewie become more connected because of Han. They're not even the same people they were the last time we saw them. I love all of that. Of course it's entirely possible that that's not even the case, but I think it makes the way they all act for the rest of the movie make a lot more sense.

 

I just figured Chewie wanted Lando to suffer which is why he didn't just rip off his head in a second. I mean, any of us would probably do the same even though we may have means of just killing the guy outright.

 

Chewie wanted Lando to suffer. But he didn't want to use his own brains.

But I cannot see this as an excuse for Leia's behavior. It's not an excuse to me. She didn't bother to think. Neither did Chewie or Han. Not one of them ever bothered to wonder how the Empire had arrived on Bespin before them. Not one of them bothered to wonder why Lando would betray them in the first place . . . or if Vader had coerced him somehow. They didn't bother to think. Instead, they (especially Chewbacca and Leia) allowed their emotions to blind them from learning how the whole situation came about in the first place. And I think this was a failure on George Lucas' part.

Lando did the right thing. His first priority should have been to the colony and the citizens of Bespin. If he had made any effort to warn or save Han, Leia and Chewie; Vader would have destroyed that colony and a lot of innocent beings would have died. It wasn't Lando's duty to think more of Han or the Rebellion. His duty was supposed to be toward the colony and its citizens.

 

Let's not forget, it's only because Vader is distracted with all of his focus being on Luke that Lando, Leia, and Chewbacca were able to escape after Lando switched sides.

 

Vader was going to have the Empire occupy the colony no matter what. Regardless of that, offering up three good people to suffer at the hands of the Empire wasn't the right thing to do. That's the whole point of these movies. You can't justify wrong acts based on your fear of what may happen in the future. It's exactly that kind of utilitarian thinking that leads to things like the Empire.

The right thing to do is what Lando eventually did anyway. He warned the citizens of Cloud City of what was happening and advised them to leave, and then he helped the others escape.

 

Yes it was. Lando was the political leader of Bespin. He had to think of the people under his rule over Han, Leia and Chewie.

Lando only did that after Vader had reneged on his deal . . . and after he was occupied with Luke.

 

To be fair, Lando could’ve warned them when he was in their room. Just a quick, “Han, the Empire has my city hostage and want the both of you in exchange for Luke. Help me!”

 

With Vader monitoring him and the Falcon's arrival? Yeah, I don't see Lando getting away that. I realize that many want Lando to be more concerned with Han, Leia and Chewie because they were among the film's protagonists. But . . . as the leader of the Bespin colony, I believe he had to consider the interests and lives of the inhabitants first.

 

But realistically speaking, there was no way Vader would just leave Cloud City alone after he'd captured Luke. He was always going to keep finding some way to pressure Lando into doing the Empire's bidding, because that's what the Empire does.

Today it's turning over some old friends, tomorrow it might be making involuntary "goodwill payments" to keep the Empire from shutting down the unlicensed gas-mining facilities. Rapacious thuggery is part and parcel of what an empire is.

 

But that does not excuse Chewbacca and Leia's reactions. It doesn't excuse Chewie's attempt to kill Lando or Leia's willingness to condone his actions. It doesn't excuse their failure to understand the situation that Vader had placed Lando in. Remember . . . Vader and the Empire had arrived first. You mean to say that Leia, Chewie and Han never considered that their failure to sense they were being followed by Boba Fett led the Empire to Bespin?

 

Damn, you're right. Never thought of it like that.

 

Interesting food for thought.

 

Oh, come on. Everything happened so fast. Leia and Chewie just watched the person they loved be betrayed and sent off to possibly die after being unceremoniously frozen in carbonite. They're also taken prisoner themselves. OF COURSE they're pissed at Lando. Their knee-jerk reaction is completely understandable. Who among us would be sitting there in the carbonite chamber and think "Oh, but let's logical about this. What choice did Lando have?" NO. Of course not! You're in fight or flight mode. And you're thinking you might have possibly lost Han forever. It's a fresh wound!

Now, on reflection---and by that, I mean the weeks following when they're searching for Han, Chewie and Leia may have come to their senses and seen Lando's impossible situation for what it was. In fact, I think that' *is* what happened and what allowed them to eventually forgive him.

But fresh from watching Han frozen? It's understandable they'd be seeing red. And let's not forget, they didn't actually kill Lando did they? They didn't even cause permanent damage. So what harm was there in the long run?

 

They had been imprisoned for a good number of hours - probably almost a day after their arrest before they first confronted Lando. And yet . . . I'm sorry, but I don't think Chewbacca and Leia had a good excuse. I understood their reaction. I just didn't approve of it. And I wish the movie had made it possible for both of them to realize they had been wrong or if someone . . . like Lando had been allowed to call them out.

 

They'd been imprisoned for hours, but it was only minutes after the carbon freezing that Chewie attacked Lando. Which had to be traumatizing for both of them. They had no idea whether they'd ever see Han alive again.

And I'm sorry, I don't think Lando blamed them for a second over that moment. I'm sure he felt like he deserved it and got off easy. He was clearly torn up about what he had done. So there was no way he was going to call them out on anything.

And again, no lasting damage. He was fine moments later. Could the same be said of Han? No.

 

It’s easy for us to say this because we weren’t held prisoner against our will, tortured, watched our best friend be frozen in carbonate under apparently the expressed order of the one guy he (and by extension us) were supposed to trust.

Honestly, even if Lando did call them out and say, “It was either Han or my city! What was I supposed to do?” I doubt either of them would’ve listened at the heat of the moment.

 

In the last Mandalorian episode, it doesn't seem like he's been gone long, but then we get this whole montage of Kuiil showing all the time, training, and "patience" it took to reprogram IG-11. Seems like hyperspace takes much longer than the films portray.

 

nm... I mistook which thread I was in. Um.. I agree with @FiveFireRings

I suspect it took a significant amount of time. Several weeks at the very least.

 

In Ep 4 of the Mandalorian, someone mentions that he spent weeks in the little village, so he didn't necessarily pass all that time in hyperspace. But I agree that travel shouldn't be so quick and easy as the movies make it seem.

 

Lando should have blamed them. He should have been pissed. Their stupidity had led the Empire to him and Bespin.

I just don't see this as an excuse. I don't think Chewbacca has an excuse for his murder attempt of Lando. I understand why he did it. But I don't excuse it. Nor do I excuse Leia's unwillingness to stop Chewie.

 

NVRMND

 

I thought Chewbacca and Leia's reactions were very logical. They had allowed their emotions to get the best of them and did the wrong thing. But what I find surprising is that Lucas, the media and many fans have never called them out for their behavior.

Initially, I would agree. But considering that the Falcon's hyper drive was not working, it must have taken them quite a while to reach Bespin. This is why I cannot help but question Han and Chewbacca's failure to eventually realize they were being followed before their arrival on Bespin. The movie never claimed that the ship's sensors were not functioning. And all of them - Han, Leia and Chewie - were so caught up in their anger at Lando, they never considered that Vader had put him in a position in which he had to choose between them and the colony's welfare. Lando sacrificing the safety of those he ruled would have been criminal. And Leia, of all people, should have eventually realized this. That is why I find their actions and behavior rather stupid.

 

I always felt bad for Lando, but he did throw them under the bus. He could have warned them. He made a choice. Lando clearly feels guilty over it; so there is definitely a "saving his own skin" aspect to it.

 

And risk the lives of Bespin's residents? No good leader would do such a thing. I think Leia and Han should have felt guilty in the long run, for failing to realize how their arrival on Bespin had endangered not only Lando, but the colony's citizens. Why should Lando be more "loyal" to Han than to the people who were under his rule?