Boba Fett Is The Real Reason Jabba the Hutt Died
In this time of social upheaval and political uncertainty, I often find myself pondering life’s biggest questions…for example, who is the main cause of Jabba’s death in Return of the Jedi? Obviously, Princess Leia kills him, but that is only possible because the Hutt fell for a plan orchestrated by Luke Skywalker, someone he didn’t think was truly dangerous. Here’s the thing, though: Boba the Fett failed to warn his employer about how deadly this visitor is, meaning that he may be the main reason that Jabba the Hutt died.
Rescuing Han
The first part of Return of the Jedi (which has always been the best part) makes things look very bad for our Rebel heroes: Han Solo has been encased in carbonite and is being held in the stronghold of the galaxy’s most feared crime lord.
After a failed rescue plan where she frees Han of the carbonite, Leia gets enslaved, and both Han and Chewbacca (the Wookie had been posing as Leia’s captured bounty).
Even Luke Skywalker gets thrown into the rancor pit after some trash talk, and while he kills that creature, he is ultimately imprisoned along with the rest of his friends.
Luke Skywalker
Of course, this is all part of Luke’s plan, and once R2-D2 provides the Jedi with his lightsaber, he is able to save the day and destroy Jabba’s sail barge. Forced to wear a degrading gold bikini, Leia is ultimately the one responsible for snuffing the Hutt.
Considering that she literally chokes the life out of the crime lord, why am I blaming Boba Fett for the death of Jabba the Hutt?
Simple: outside of our heroes, this bounty hunter is the only one in the entire palace who would know who Luke Skywalker is just how dangerous he is. Based on his use of the mind trick, Jabba is able to immediately clock that Luke is a Jedi, or at least, someone who is very strong in the Force.
He still feels confident that the Jedi will be easy to kill, but if Boba Fett had taken the time to warn his employer, then Jabba the Hutt most likely would have survived.
Boba Fett Knew Luke Was Dangerous
Regardless of what else Boba Fett knew about the young Jedi, he had seen the man fight back on Cloud City, shortly after verifying that Han had survived the carbon freezing and could be delivered to Jabba the Hutt.
The bounty hunter had a shootout with Luke that was all part of a trap intended to bring this Rebel hero to Darth Vader. Luke’s arrival at Jabba’s Palace should have told Fett something very important: this Jedi survived a trap and a battle with Darth Vader, the infamous Jedi killer and the undisputed scariest guy in the galaxy.
Boba Fett Nearly Died For His Mistake
In other words, Luke would have been obviously more skilled and stronger in the Force than any other Jedi this bounty hunter had ever encountered. He could have easily warned his boss how dangerous Luke was or simply had him shot to death in his cell.
Some might say Boba Fett had no reason to stick his neck out like this, but considering that hanging around Jabba the Hutt’s base nearly got this creepy clone killed, warning everybody about Luke ahead of time would have been a genuine act of self-preservation.
It Just Would’ve Been One Conversation
Now, in blaming Boba Fett like this, I don’t mean to take credit away from Princess Leia, whose murder of her captor is one of the coolest moments in all of Star Wars.
But the blunt truth is that countless mistakes had to be made before the galaxy’s most feared crime lord could be killed by a disgruntled dancer. Luck, or the Force, was truly with the Rebels, all of whom would have died if Boba Fett bothered to have a two-minute conversation about Luke Skywalker with his boss.
