Lando’s mood swings…
On face value, Lando was prepared to turn Han over, but had a change of heart after his friend was frozen in carbonite. But does that mean that Lando was originally going to go along with Vader? I don’t buy this, otherwise, why did he fire the warning shots and try to weird Han out on the landing pad?
I think he was searching for solutions before the Falcon even arrived in the system. The trouble is, because Leia and Chewie assumed a lot, about Lando being a traitor, our interpretation of the scene tends to be a little colored by their highly emotional states. The first opportunity for him to really organize an escape was after the carbon freezing, at which point everyone got excited and distracted by the arrival of Skywalker giving Lando more room to breathe and take back control of the city long enough to initiate an evacuation, free Leia and company and try to rescue Han from some guy named Fett.
We should remember that Lando lost a lot as a result of Han’s connection to Skywalker. He lost his legitimate livelihood, his reputation and free citizenship within the Empire. He knew Han had come to him because of both trust and friendship. Worst of all, he lost that trust and, more significantly, potentially lost the life of a friend. Rather than defy Vader and be executed and replaced with someone else who would comply without imagination or Han Solo’s interests at heart, Lando, a gambler and opportunist, attempted to find alternatives as they arose. The best way for him to do that, and protect his people, was to retain his position as city administrator. That meant he had to play Vader’s game, at least superficially.
Both Lando and Tarkin were the top dogs of projects over which they held total responsibility. If Tarkin had readied his shuttle, while it may have hurt morale, had he actually escaped the Death Star’s destruction he would have lost face and the Emperor’s favor, perhaps also his life! If Lando had openly helped Han escape then it was not only his life at risk, but the population of the city as well. Towards the end of Empire Strikes Back we see Lando calling for an evacuation. Like a captain going down with the ship, an administrator or governor sometimes has to make the best choice from a set of bad options.
From the moment the Empire showed up on his doorstep, I think Lando knew his show was over and he’d have to find his own way out. Han didn’t pick up on the clues Lando gave him, or the bizarre mood swing, the latter of which is the subject for the strip above. We can see that Han is caught off guard by both the cold greeting and Lando’s sudden reversal. I think it was another subtle attempt by Lando to get Han thinking. If only he had tried charades!
There’s a new poll that asks YOU the question… Was Lando trying to warn Han? Cast your vote!
Another thing –
Lando was turning _Luke_ over to the empire. Lando didn’t know Luke and have never met him, so he wasn’t a traitor to Han (although the empire changed the deal later).
Yes, that’s true. It does not appear that he knew Vader planned to torture Han or hand him over to a bounty hunter. The original deal probably only mentioned some guy named Skywalker.
Actually, he pretty much says that verbatim in the movie. “They don’t want you, they want somebody named, uh, Skywalker.” Up until Vader started changing things, Lando was working under the assumption that they’d *only* be used for bait, and would be left alive (though incarcerated on Cloud City) afterwards.
Very true, but that does assumes Lando trusted Vader. Which I don’t think he did. I think he knew Vader might try something especially given the Sith Lord’s reputation. I think Lando was sending signals early on but unable to move openly until the threat to Solo and co became certain.
Wonderful artwork on this one!
Take a bow Leanne. 🙂
The artwork is collaborative. I colored the characters, and I also created the backgrounds and the Bespin security guards myself. But yeah, Leanne DID an incredible job with the designs for Lando and the Lando/Han cuddle. It would look like C.R.A.P. if I had done it from scratch, myself.
OK then, both of you take a bow. 🙂
What is C.R.A.P. an acronym for? 😉
Cute Robot Anime Porn
You can over think it, Lando was just playing with han, it was all going to be happy times after they trapped this Luke kid, but Lando didn’t know Vader too well…
I think Lando just playing with Han is an innocent view of it, but when we see the full picture, and learn that Vader had Lando’s hands metaphorically tied, it gives meaning to the warning shots and even to his mood swings, which caught Han off guard and implies that this was not the behavior he expected. I think there’s a good argument for it.
I’m on the fence, but certainly warming up to the new(er) theory. Now I need to watch ESB again 🙂
I guess we are just trying to fill a plot hole in the original script in the most logical way. Lando jumped ship at the moment he realized that Vader lied to him and it was likely that the Empire would get a foot in his door; something a con-artist like Lando could not afford to have. He had lost the gamble. What does a con-artist when he is busted? Yeah, run for it.
The strange greeting might have to do with Lando being tremendiously nervous by the presence of Vader. Like medieval people were uneasy around spanish inquisitors.
BUT your explanation makes in every way sense and i prefer this solution.
I didn’t expect Spanish Inquisitors!
Nooooooooooobody expects a Spanish inquisition!!!
If one reads the Expanded Universe novels, one finds that Han got tricked into tricking Lando and a bunch of other smugglers (see “Rebel Dawn”), which explains the “double-crossing, no good swindler” and “you’ve got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled” comments. However, the commenters are correct, Lando was forced to use Han as bait for some guy named Skywalker. Vader just kept changing the deal on him.
Lando, dude! Watch the hands! That’s where Han’s deathmark is. In permanent marker!
Wow, am I late for the party…
Just discovered your strip and spent the whole evening readiong and öaughing, with still so much material to go through… Thank you very much, an absolute gem, it’s funny, shows in-depth knowledge of the movies and is a beauty to look at.
Hope your back’s doing okay, by the way… I’m prone to back problems myself, although of a lighter nature, and they can really get to you…
Rod, it looks like a shout out to BMS in today’s “Darths & Droids”
http://www.darthsanddroids.net/
Do you know this writer?
No, I don’t. Nice comic.
Yeah, its pretty funny. Like BMS its best to begin reading from the beginning. It requres some tolerence for the prequels, though.
Beat me to it. I want to believe that was a shout out. Its so awesome that way. I’m loving both takes on Star Wars, and hope they both go the distance.
I’ve always seen Lando as a sympathetic character, even from my initial viewing. The Big Boss of the neighborhood muscles in on his home, and pulls his strings, forcing him to betray his friends. But the instant he was free to act on his own, we get to see where his loyalties really lie. It’s nice to see someone else thought similar.
And the butt-grab in this comic slew me good. 😀
Lando could have actually told them… passed a note or something
But he didn’t. His efforts at warning were half-arsed and weak.
He still strikes me as somewhat of a weak-willed coward… easily pushed around and unwilling or unable to push back without help.
Long version short : I didn’t like him. I never liked him. I imagine even his roles in ROTJ had to be coerced out of him.
I think that’s a negative and simplistic reading of his character that completely ignores his responsibility to a city of people under threat.
Years ago, I might have agreed with Lando being a weak-willed coward, but if so, my views on the matter have become less black & white.
I have been re-watching Star Trek DS9 lately, and just the other night saw “Way of the Warrior”. I’ve always been a big fan of Worf and liked how he always seemed uncompromising and uncorrupted. The leader of the Klingon Empire tells Worf to join then threatens to destroy his family when initially refuses. Worf holds on to his ideals and says that he’d still have his honor, but I couldn’t help be think at that moment that: Wow, Worf just ruined the lives of his son, his brother, and the rest of his House for his own personal sense of integrity.
Now while I think that decision was true to his character, I also believe that Worf had benefit of distance from those his decision was affecting.
Lando, on the other hand, lives and works with the people of Cloud City. He is in a situation where one wrong move could get all those people he cares about killed, and that is not an enviable position.
As for being unwilling or unable to push back, I strongly disagree. When push comes to shove Lando is the one who orchestrates Leia, Chewie, and Threepio’s escape once he finds out that the Empire intends to hold them.
Also keep in mind that Vader alters the deal several times. It starts as selling out some faceless kid named Skywalker in order to protect a city of people he does know. Once the deal changes Lando realizes Vader never intended to honor his part of the arrangement, and so he takes matters into his own hands to protect those around him.
To quote Threepio: “I knew all along it had to be a mistake.”
… “What are you doing? Trust him, trust him!”