Written by After Han was frozen in carbonite, Boba Fett lost Solo before he could deliver him to Jabba, nearly sparking an all-out war between bounty hunters
Despite Boba’s prowess as one of the most skilled bounty hunters the galaxy’s ever seen, massive misfortune befell the Mandalorian-clad warrior after claiming his token prize frozen in carbonite on Cloud City.
After the events of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in which Boba takes Han Solo – frozen in carbonite – aboard his ship, one might be led to believe that Fett delivered the hopeless smuggler to Jabba without incident. After all, that is of course where we find Solo at the beginning of ‘Return of the Jedi’. But the story is much more complicated and practically led to an all-out war between bounty hunters…
From the Comic Series ‘War of the Bounty Hunters’ (particularly issues 1-5) in addition to ‘Dr. Aphra (2020)’, we learn what really happened to poor Han Solo, frozen in carbonite. After departing from Cloud City, Fett called Bib Fortuna to assure him and Jabba that Solo was in his possession and would soon be delivered to the Hutt on Tatooine. While en route however, Boba quickly discovered that there were strange stains forming on the surface of Solo’s carbonite chamber. Cutting off his call with Fortuna, Boba quickly changed course to the nearer planet of Nar Shaddaa in hopes of diagnosing the issue and preserving his prized bounty.
After landing on Nar Shaddaa, Boba met with an old contact known as Doc Ragon who informed him that the carbonite matrix housing Solo’s body was unstable. Fortunately, Doc knew how to solve the problem – but it would cost Boba. Without sufficient credits, the two settled the deal with Boba agreeing to fight in an arena and kill the Kanji Hutts’ arena pit warrior known as Wyrmen Lictor. Doc Ragon hated Wyrmen since she had killed a fighter that he had bet a large sum of money on. If Boba would defeat her in combat, then Doc would help him save Solo.
Wasting no time, Boba agreed to fight Wyrmen, and using black nano-spray paint to cover up his identity, he quickly rose through the ranks in the arena, killing many skilled fighters to eventually take on Wyrmen Lictor.
After a challenging duel, Boba prevailed, using his jetpack as a detonator to cause the arachnid-like warrior to plumet to her death. But when Fett returned to Ragon’s quarters, he found the Doc dead and Solo stolen.
Frustrated and veangeful, the Mandalorian-clad warrior departed Nar Shaddaa and headed to a nearby moon – relentless to recover his prize and deliver it to Jabba. While at a bar though, Fett was surprised when he was attacked by fellow bounty hunters, Zuckuss and 4-LOM. A duel ensued, but Boba’s rage was not to be tempered and he quickly defeated the two, only to discover that the reason they had attacked him was because Jabba had placed a huge bounty on Boba’s own head!
Arriving on Tatooine and confronting Bib Fortuna, Boba learned that Jabba knew of his loss of Solo and assumed that Boba had sold him, prompting the Hutt gangster to turn on him. During the same conversation, Fett discovered that Jabba had received word of Solo’s whereabouts and that an auction was being held by the thieves who had stolen him – members of the crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn.
Infuriated, Boba left immediately to reclaim his metal prize and end the conflict he had with Jabba. Despite this, Jabba also rushed to the auction, determined to recover the smuggler himself. After arriving on Jekara, Fett was attacked by Bossk and quickly managed to subdue the Trandoshan, leaving him tied to a rock to continue onward. Once inside Crimson Dawn’s flagship, the Vermillion, Boba disguised himself and found Doctor Chelli Aphra, who he planned to recruit in his plan of recovering Solo.
But before the auction could finalize, Darth Vader, flanked by death troopers, broke in on the gathering just as Jabba won the auction. Chaos quickly ensued as the Empire declared Solo for themselves and, amidst the commotion, Qi’ra attacked Vader but was quickly overwhelmed by the Sith Lord’s power. Vader then took Han Solo aboard his ship and departed, but not before the Hutt Council arrived with a fleet of ships, attacking the Empire’s fleet above Jekara.
Privy to Vader’s skills, Boba knew he would be no match if he confronted Vader directly and conceded to let the Empire have Solo…for the moment. Using craftiness and deceit, he managed to trick an old friend of Han’s- Beilert Valance – into teaming up with him and sneak aboard the Executor as if they were working for the Empire. After sneaking through corridors of the ship close to their target, Boba hit Valance with a thermal detonator, and left him for dead. Not long after, Fett ran into Leia Organa and Chewbacca, who had also managed to sneak onto Darth Vader’s flagship.
But before the group could bicker and fight over the carbonite-encased smuggler, a blast from a Hutt ship blew a hole into the Executor, sucking Han into space. The only one with a jetpack, Boba quickly flew out after his prey as it entered the planet’s atmosphere and crashed in the sea.
Fishing Solo’s metal coffin out of the waters, the great bounty hunter, Boba Fett, finally had reclaimed his prize and was able to return him to the treacherous Jabba, demanding that Jabba pay him after all he had been through.
Crazy- I never knew till I starting working on the Timelines that Han took a major detour before he was delivered to Jabba!
It always breaks my heart to think that Han’s old lover could try to sell him- even if she does claim that she thought Han would end up in the hands of the Rebellion. Still just feels wrong