10 Star Wars Mysteries Explained Outside Of The Films
9. Why Did It Take Luke & Leia So Long To Rescue Han?
The Mystery:
Given that Return of the Jedi takes place roughly a year after The Empire Strikes Back, why the hell did it take Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) so damn long to hatch a plan to rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from Jabba the Hutt?
The Answer:
The recently released comic book series "Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters" has done a bang-up job of explaining the complications which prevented Han's speedy recovery.
As it turns out, Jabba didn't have Han bought directly to his palace on Tatooine after capturing him, and he was ultimately intercepted by none other than his former flame Qi'ra.
Qi'ra then auctioned the still-frozen Han off, an auction which Jabba actually ended up winning. However, Darth Vader interrupted the festivities and, after a brief show of power, took custody of Solo's carbonite-encased body, wishing to use him to draw Luke out.
The series is still ongoing, but confirms that Han wasn't just sitting around frozen in Jabba's palace for an entire year without incident - he was a majorly sought-after commodity.