CT "General I gotta leave, I can't stay anymore".... Why?

HAN: General, I've got to leave. I can't stay anymore.

RIEEKAN: I'm sorry to hear that.

HAN: Well, there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the
Hut, I'm a dead man.

RIEEKAN: A death mark's not an easy thing to live with. You're a good
fighter, Solo. I hate to lose you.

Why didn't Han just aim to leave, pay Jabba and come straight back the next day to help the Rebellion? Why was his leaving, just to pay a debt, seen as a final goodbye, whereby he wouldn't see anyone in the rebellion again? Surely he could have just paid Jabba then come back again the next day or a few days later?

Better yet, with all the futuristic technology of faster than light travel, couldn't he have just stayed on Hoth and wired Jabba the money like we do on Earth? In fact, why didn't he do this three years earlier after he helped blow up the Death Star, and became a hero of the rebellion?

 

Because if Jabba decided to punish him anyway for the delay of payment, Han wouldn't be able to just zip on back to the Rebellion after the payment was concluded. That and if he stayed with the Rebellion, they risk being attacked by Jabba's goons. It was his way of saying, "I need to go pay off my debt to Jabba the Hutt so if I can't come back, it's been nice knowing you."

As for what happened to Solo's money and why he couldn't just wire it to Jabba? Well, from what I've read, his money was stolen so he didn't have anything to wire to Jabba. But good point though, he really should've gotten that debt settled when he got the money three years previous.

 

But really, Jabba and his goons would be no match for the Rebellion. Jabba and his goons are primitive. All Han needed to do, really, if he was worried about his safety would be to take a few people and ships from the Rebellion with him for the couple of hours it would take to travel to Tattooine, give Jabba the money, then come back.

 

with lightspeed it didn't make much sense why he didn't just zip over to Tatooine at some point, and zip on back.

PLOT DEVICE

 

There's another part missing here:

Leia: "Han- I thought you had decided to stay."
Han: "Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind."

This makes it clear that Han has been wavering and dilly-dallying as to whether or not he's even going to pay Jabba at all. Perhaps he's gotten cocky, thinking that as part of the Rebel Alliance, he no longer has to fear Jabba. He bides his time until the bounty gets placed on him, and once he runs into that bounty hunter, he realizes he'll be killed if he doesn't pay up right away. This could endanger both himself, his friends, and the Rebellion. The fact that there's already a bounty on his head means that once he pays Jabba, there might still be repercussions. He may not be able to return to the Rebels very soon, if at all.

 

Among the Clouds and Darklink made excellent points. I want to add on to what they were saying.

-- Bounty Hunters may have been doubly dangerous. In addition to the danger they present themselves, conflicts with bounty hunters could catch the attention of the Empire.

-- Han doesn't say he cannot return; just that he can't stay. In war, you typically need your best soldiers at all times. So if Han cannot stay for the period of time that is necessary to pay the debt, it's still a pretty big deal even if he were able to return.

 

That was the other thing I forgot to mention, enigmaicjedi. Han can't just skedaddle from the Rebellion without telling anyone or else he's in danger of being labeled a deserter who abandoned his post. He plans to leave and not be there when the fighting happens, he should make absolutely sure he tells the other officers, which he does. Even if they're just a raggedy team of rebels, there has to be some protocols in place for when you know you're not going to be able to assist them in the war. He was letting the general know if a battle came, that he wouldn't be available.

The Rebels could very easily curbstomp Jabba and his goons, but why would they want to? Why would they want to start a fight with Jabba and potentially alert the Empire to their presence?

I also don't think the Rebels could afford to let Han take a few people and ships with him to Tatooine. They need all the soldiers and ships where they can get to them, and they know Han is an experienced pilot who can take care of himself. They really don't need to be getting too involved in Han's personal problems.

 

I don't think the Rebellion wants to pick a fight with the Hutts. They're more than just Jabba. As the prequels made clear, they're basically their own geopolitical force.

(Not sure if that was the case when ESB was made, but it works as an explanation now, at least.)

 

I don't think Han, who's keen to fly under the radar at all costs, is going to be wiring money about the place, especially with his links to the rebellion. I'd say Han's a cash in hand kind of an operator. He could've flown over and back the following day, but I think he was aware that it was a dangerous mission and he might not make it, hence the potential finality. Finally, the dialogue in the OP is much more dramatic than:

Han: Ok, I'm off to pay Jabba. See you tomorrow.

Rieekan: Ok, seeya.

 

Well we knew Han had the money to payoff Jabba. As he states if he doesn't payoff Jabba he is a dead man in TESB. He still could have brought a squad of rebels and made the payment with a contingent of rebels by his side to make sure the payment is made and he can leave in in one piece. He stated that he was a dead man if he did not make that payment. So that shows me that if the payment was made he would be in the clear. If he was already a dead man than why even worry about the payment to begin with? Even though he does have a death mark on his head which the general makes clear. And why did he stay with the rebels all that time, which was 3 years up until that point? He could have had representatives make the payment on his behalf. It kind of makes me wonder why he spent all that time helping the rebels to establish himself among the rank and file just to want to make the payment and leave the service of the rebellion.

 

Why did he stay with the Rebels?



I also think Han didn't really want to get the Rebels tied up with all his issues with Jabba, hence he wanted to get away from them and deal with that stuff.

 

I can totally understand that now!

 

Han was still Han Solo at this point. While he had stayed for the time he did, he was starting to get that itchy feeling about staying in one place for a long time. Furthermore, things weren't quite going the way he had wanted with Leia, so in some ways it was an excuse to cut ties with the Rebellion and return back to his life as a loner/smuggler. It was legitimate excuse, I am sure he did want to pay off Jabba, and I am sure the Bounty Hunter they ran into also helped hasten Han's decision, but, there was a reason why Solo was Solo....

 

Right. His major character arc is in TESB. That's part of the reason many people love his character.

 

Maybe not once Luke was a full fledged Jedi. But the last thing the Rebellion needed was another enemy.

 

Yep, and Han knew it.

 

In addition, given Han's character, I'm sure Jabba would've wanted the cash in hand, rather than a hyperspace wire transfer that might end up being worthless. As for Han not coming back, he might want to come back once he'd paid Jabba off, but there's no guarantee the Alliance would still be on Hoth by that time. They might have to bug out and hide someplace else; Han might not be able to find them.

Besides, as was previously noted, Han's not really an official part of the Alliance, anyway. At this point, it's almost just a hobby for him. He might figure that it's time for him to get back to work and leave the heroism to the idealists of the Alliance.

 

If there is such a system for transferring money, then in all likelihood it's controlled and monitored by the Empire. Just like how in real-life, the U.S. is constantly trying to shut down bank accounts associated with terrorist groups and known terrorists, the Empire would almost certainly be doing the same to deny financial services to the Rebels.

As for why Han can't just run over, pay Jabba, and come back...in addition to the reasons others have listed, perhaps Jabba would demand that Han continue to work for him for some time afterwards as part of the repayment.

 

He actually has much more of an arc in ANH than TESB. In ANH, he makes the decision to come back and help his friends despite the risk to his life and to his ability to pay off Jabba. In TESB, he basically spends the entire movie trying to abandon his friends again, and only fails in doing so due to circumstances beyond his control. He's martyred at the end, but he never actually had a choice in the matter, so it's more tragic than it is noble.

 

That's why it's more interesting.

 

I would argue that he decides to do something major and heroic in ANH. In TESB, he changes as a person.

 

I'm not sure how. He basically just starts being a little nicer to Leia, leading to them both admitting to the feelings they clearly already had for each other. He's not much different at the end of the movie from how he is at the beginning.

He already cared about his friends. He was already willing to risk his life for them. The sum total of his character development was to graduate from middle school to high school in his courtship techniques. It definitely makes for an entertaining movie, but it's not a particularly deep character arc.

 

Jabba is not a reasonable person, he is a mobster, you can't just leave them even if you pay your all debt, I am sure Han meant that, even if he pay all of his debt, Jabba would still want to hire him or he could lie about Solo's debt.

 

"I think everyone has covered it already but...Han had a price on his head and didn't want the Empire alerted to the Alliance's location through bounty hunters looking for him.

And no, at that point it was not as simple as wiring the money."

If that was the case, why did he tell the General he had to leave? If Han's leaving was so dangerous for thee Alliance (because, as you put it, he'd have Bounty hunters looking for him, alerting them to the Rebels presence) why would he want to leave at all? Why not never pay Jabba off?

Face it, it's a plot hole that doesn't make sense.

1. With hyperspace travel, there is no reason he couldn't just go and come back in a very short time
2. If there was a bounty on his head, and was going to suffer repurcussions regardless of whether he pays Jabba or not, why pay him at all?
3. Why take three years to suddenly come to the decision? That doesn't make sense.
4. If going to pay Jabba might be risky in alerting the Empire to where the Rebels are, then it makes no sense for the loyal Han Solao character to risk the Rebellion

Sorry, but it just doesn't make sense.