Anyway, here's the topic:

What exactly was Luke's plan to rescue Han Solo at the beginning of Return of the Jedi?

The more I dive into this, this less sense it makes. I honestly don't even know where to start with it. I guess I'll start with this question:

Did everything go according to plan or not?

However you answer that, it doesn't make sense.

I guess the next question to ask is "Why?"

I mean why not just walk in with lightsaber in hand and go "I'm a Jedi. Gimme Han!"?

I guess we're supposed to accept that Jabba -- who canonically Han stepped on the tail of just for fun -- is way too powerful for that so you have to be extra double sneaky. Convoluted sneaky even.

So where to start with this plan? I guess try to figure what was the opening move. As far as I can tell, the first thing they did was get Lando to pose as a guard for Jabba.

This is the only thing they did that directly makes sense and leaves no questions for me.

It also amounts to absolutely nothing because by the end the only thing Lando did was need to get saved by a blind Han.

So what's next? I guess Chewie disappears to pretend he's been captured by Leia posing as a bounty hunter (C3P0 remarks on how Chewie is missing, and we can assume he wasn't let in on any of the planning).

I don't really get that, but we'll revisit.

Next, Luke puts his newly crafted lightsaber in R2.

Why?

Again, I guess we have to assume that Jabba is just so powerful Luke knows he needs to be extra crafty and only have his weapon available when it will be a surprise.

So now C3P0 and R2 go to deliver a message to Jabba.

This is where it starts to get really confusing, because the message is "Hey, I'll give you these droids for Han."

So, a lot of questions here.

Did Luke think there was a chance Jabba would say, "Oh cool. Great trade. I'll keep the droids. Take Han."?

If that did happen, what then? Now he lost his droids and his lightsaber. Does he have to go back and rescue them?

I mean, I don't see how this part of the plan wasn't anything other than a step backwards. I mean, best case, he now has two droids to rescue from Jabba. What actually happened is now he has Han and the droids to rescue. But he has a crouching Tiger, hidden lightsaber, I guess.

Now comes Leia dressed as a bounty hunter. And it gets even more confusing.

So, Leia hunter really plays the part -- even threaten to blow everyone up if she doesn't get paid enough -- and gives Chewie over to Jabba.

So, if you're keeping track, we've gone from needing to rescue Han to needing to rescue Han, R2, C3P0, and Chewie.

So Leia hunter sneaks in at night to unfreeze Han and rescue him -- in front of everyone. I mean everyone is in the room and she's just assuming they're asleep or drunk or something.

Is she trying to get caught?

Let's say she isn't. Let's say she unfreezes Han and gets him out. Now you've gone from needing to rescue Han to needing to rescue R2, C3P0, and Chewie. Again, a big step backwards.

But if that's if things went to what (presumably) was the plan. Instead, Jabba wasn't drunk or asleep -- can't outsmart that guy.

So now we've gone from needing to rescue frozen Han to needing to rescue blind Han plus R2, C3P0, Chewie, and Leia.

And, of course, this whole time Lando is just standing there, maybe reporting back to Luke.

"Oh no! They're all captured!"

or

"They're all captured... exactly as we planned!"

or

"They're all captured... even the ones we didn't plan to be captured."

So now comes Luke, the Jedi, who tries to Jedi mind trick Jabba into giving him back all his friends.

Which brings the question: Did he think that might actually work? Because, if so, why not open with that?

*hand wave*
"Give me back Han."

seems much simpler than

*hand wave*
"Give me back Han, Leia, Chewie, and R2. Oh yeah, and C3P0, I guess."

Then, if the Jedi thing fails, have his friends implement some sort of backup plan, hopefully using Lando, the only intelligently placed asset.

Of course, it does fail, and Luke is dropped into the rancor pit.

A lot more questions just on that.

I assume Lando is doing something else other than occasionally tilting up his mask so we can see he's Lando... such as sending information back to Luke. Shouldn't he have like warned him about the rancor pit?

Also, unless Jabba got the rancor that day, it's not like he could keep it a secret. People are going to talk about how he keeps dropping people to be eaten by a rancor. I don't think there's some extreme gangster code protecting that secret.

Actually, the more I think about it, how insane is it that they did all this prep and multiple subterfuges but somehow missed knowing about the rancor pit?

And wouldn't this be a great time for that hidden lightsaber? I mean, fighting a giant monster -- wouldn't it be great for that? No? Still want to save that for later?

And maybe this breaks Jedi code, but why not have a second lightsaber? He could have the one hidden in R2 for a later surprise and then another one on him (it's not like anyone searched him for weapons on his way in -- I mean, there's weapons everywhere in that place).

Assuming, though, making a second lightsaber would be too hard to make, why not bring a gun? Or multiple guns? It's not like he's against using them since he used the force to grab a gun as he fell.

Of course, maybe you're of the theory that Luke purposely got himself dropped in the rancor pit as yet another ploy to make Jabba think he's won again and get his guard down.

That's a stupid, stupid plan.

"So, I'll just let Jabba drop be down there unarmed. Now he'll think he's won again like when he captured Leia."

"But then you'll have to fight a giant monster with no weapons."

"Eh... I'll figure something out. You don't want to over plan these things."

So, in summary, we've gone from:

Han is captured by Jabba.

to

EVERYONE is captured by Jabba (except Lando who doesn't really seem to be doing anything).

For the final part, I don't really have any new questions. Luke finally gets his hidden lightsaber and he and friends slaughter everyone. Straightforward enough.

But it brings me back to my first question: Was this the plan working or going horribly wrong?

The thing is, it all looks like it was a series of plans that went wrong, but each of those plans would have caused problems if they worked -- as we've already discussed.

If Jabba had given Han in exchange for the droids, Luke would need to get the droids (and his lightsaber) back.

If Leia had successfully snuck out Han, they'd still need to rescue Chewie.

I can get Luke expecting the droid exchange not to work (and was just a ploy to smuggle in his lightsaber), but it's hard to buy that getting Chewie and Leia captured was all some sort of ploy. Still, the evidence kind of points to that.

If they thought just unfreezing Han and sneaking him out would have worked, they never would have had Leia and Chewie come in to do that. They would have just had Lando do that as he's already right there inside.

And the last failed plan was Luke using the Jedi mind trick. As I said already, if they really thought that might have worked, seems like they would have opened with that.

As dumb as it is, it does seem like Luke purposely got himself thrown into the rancor pit unarmed to flail around and barely not get killed.

As best as I can make sense of things now, what they did was a bunch of plots that they intentionally expected to fail to get Jabba to get his guard down and think he's won.

And they've definitely eliminated any suspicion they have a man on the inside since one would have assumed someone like that would have helped by now. But Lando has wisely done absolutely nothing.

But why? Why this elaborate, convoluted strategy to come at Jabba? Why not just run in and bop him with your lightsaber and walk out with Han? It makes so little sense.

Well, here's how I'm going to finally close out this thread. I'm going to write the missing planning scene from Return of the Jedi, showing exactly why they settled on this plan and finally making sense of it.

*Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, and R2 meet in... some back room on Tatooine, I guess*

LEIA: "We have to find a way to rescue Han from Jabba."

CHEWIE: *growls*

R2D2: *affirmative beeping*

LUKE: "I shall use the force to try to determine a way that we can defeat Jabba the Hutt."

*Luke goes into a trance for a few moments*

LANDO: "What did you just do?"

LUKE: "I used the force to go forward in time, to view alternate futures... to see all the possibilities of the coming conflict."

LEIA: "How many did you see?"

LUKE: "14,000,605."

LANDO: "How many did we win?"

LUKE: "One."

LEIA: "Wait, I thought Jabba was just some gangster."

LUKE: "No, he is the smartest, most dangerous being in the galaxy."

LEIA: "But he's like a slug criminal."

LUKE: "He is even more dangerous than the Emperor. And that's why the way to defeat him -- the only way -- is an extremely convoluted plan."

LANDO: "Well, Luke, we've seen your great prowess with the force in adventures that occurred after the last episode but the audience has never seen, so we'll go along with your plan no matter how insane it seems."

CHEWIE: *growls*

R2D2: *affirmative beeping*

LUKE: "Great."

*Luke pulls out a whiteboard*

LUKE: "First thing, Lando, you're going to get yourself inside as one of Jabba's guards."

LANDO: "No problem. I can use my gangster contacts to make that happen. Then what do you want me to do?"

LUKE: "Absolutely nothing."

LANDO: "Huh? I'd be in the inside. Seems like there would be a ton I could do."

LUKE: "Anything you do could raise suspicion. Jabba is just too smart. You must do absolutely nothing until you pilot the skiff on our final escape."

LANDO: "What skiff?"

LUKE: "We're getting ahead of ourselves. So Lando will be inside doing nothing. Next, I want R2 to deliver himself and C3P0 as gifts to Jabba. But first, I'll hide my lightsaber inside R2."

R2D2: *affirmative beeping*

LEIA: "So now your lightsaber is smuggled inside."

LUKE: "Right."

LANDO: "I could also smuggle his lightsaber inside since I'll be a trusted guard."

LUKE: "No. That would be doing something and you're not doing anything. So next, Leia you're going to pose as a bounty hunter and deliver Chewie to Jabba."

CHEWIE: *growls*

LUKE: "I know, but you have to trust me on this." *turns to Leia* "And play hardball with Jabba on the price; get him to respect you as a bounty hunter."

LEIA: "So what will I do now that I've got his trust?"

LUKE: "At night, you're going to secretly free Han from the carbonite."

LANDO: "I could do that since I'll already be there."

LUKE: "What part of 'do nothing' are you having a problem with, Lando?"

LANDO: "But I want to do something!"

LUKE: "How about you shut up; that's something."

LEIA: "Anyway, if I free Han, what happens with Chewie and the droids?"

LUKE: "Don't worry about that, because this won't work. You're going to get captured. We're going to let Jabba think he's winning."

LEIA: "Oh. Okay. But what will happen to us?"

LUKE: "Han and Chewie will get thrown in prison. Knowing Jabba, though, he'll most likely put you in some sort of demeaning slave girl outfit."

LEIA: "A what?"

LANDO: "I want to hear more about this outfit."

LUKE: "Like a metal bikini, probably."

LEIA: "I'm not wearing that!"

LUKE: *rolls eyes* "You'll have to. You've been captured. Keep up. So anyway, now I come, and I try to Jedi mind trick him into releasing everyone."

LEIA: "But that won't work."

LUKE: "No, because Jabba is too powerful. Once again, he'll think he's won and drop me into his rancor pit."

R2D2: *excited beeping*

LUKE: "No, it's not time for my lightsaber yet."

LANDO: "Then how are you going to beat that giant rancor monster of his?"

LUKE: "Um... I dunno. I'll grab a bone or something. Anyway, we'll circle back to that. Let's just go forward saying I somehow beat the rancor. Guess what happens next?"

LEIA: "He shoots you?"

LUKE: "No. He'll be so enraged, he'll want to go out on his sail barge to throw us into the Sarlacc pit."

LEIA: "And you're sure he'll do that and not just shoot us all?"

LUKE: "Like 76% sure. And he'll definitely not shoot you because you'll be in that demeaning slave girl outfit. Don't forget that."

LEIA: "I did not forget the demeaning slave girl outfit."

LUKE: "And now we've done it. We've gotten Jabba out of his palace. He's finally vulnerable."

LEIA: "I'm sorry... why couldn't we just go after him at his palace?"

LUKE: "Because he's too powerful there."

LEIA: "How?"

LUKE: "Because... reasons. He just is, okay? But out on his sail barge, we'll finally be able to take him down. And he'll be vulnerable because he'll think he's won."

LEIA: "From my vantage point in the demeaning slave girl outfit, it kind of looks like he has won. And mean, he's captured all of us."

LANDO: "Not me. Which means now I can--"

LUKE: "Are you about to propose doing something?"

LANDO: "No. Sorry."

LUKE: "Anyway, Leia that's why the plan is so brilliant. Jabba will be absolutely let his guard down. But before we're dropped to the Sarlacc, R2 will finally throw me my lightsaber and we'll all fight back."

CHEWIE: *growls*

R2D2: *excited beeping*

LUKE: "And during all that commotion, that's when you, Leia, are going to take out Jabba."

LEIA: "How?"

LUKE: "By strangling him with your chain. Oh, I forgot to mention that along with the demeaning slave girl outfit, you'll also be chained up."

LEIA: "One would assume. So wait, I thought Jabba was some super mastermind, but in the end I'll just choke him with a chain?"

LUKE: "I used to force to look in the future, and the only thing Jabba is vulnerable to a slave girl chain choking. And it will be easy for you because you'll be so mad."

LEIA: "Because of the demeaning--"

LUKE: "Because of the demeaning slave girl outfit. Yeah, you got it."

LEIA: "And what are you all doing during this?"

LUKE: "Just basic blowing things up and shooting things until we defeat everyone."

LANDO: "I get to help with that, right?"

LUKE: "No. According to future I've seen, you'll struggle a bit with one guy and then fall off the skiff and need Han and Chewie to rescue you."

LANDO: "Why am I even a part of this again?"

LUKE: "To pilot the skiff when we all finally leave together."

LANDO: "Do you even really need me for that? Why can't one of you just pilot the skiff?"

LUKE: "Because we'll be too tuckered out from all the action-adventuring."

LANDO: "Fine. Whatever."

LUKE: "So there's the plan. This is it. This is how we win."

LEIA: "There's really not another way to do this where I don't end up in a metal bikini?"

LUKE: "No."

LEIA: "Another question: If you can see in the future and come up with these convoluted plans, can you use this against the Emperor after we get back Han?"

LUKE: "No."

LEIA: "Why not?"

LUKE: "Um... I don't feel like it."

LEIA: "That's not a good answer."

LUKE: "Um... then... Let's say because of his power in the dark side of the force, it makes the future all cloudy around him. Would you buy that?"

LEIA: "Yeah, I guess that works."

LUKE: "Anyway, there it is: Our plan to rescue Han and defeat Jabba and it all makes sense and there are no plot holes. Are we ready?"

LEIA: "I guess. Kinda feels like I need to tan first."

LANDO: "Still doesn't really seem like you need me, but okay."

CHEWIE: *growls*

R2D2: *affirmative beeping*

*C3P0 walks in*

C3P0: "What are you all up to?"

EVERYONE: "Go away, C3P0! No one likes you!"

CHEWIE: *growls*

R2D2: *negative beeping*

C3P0: "How rude!"