I'm watching The Empire Strikes Back for the umpteenth time and one scene, other than the famous Darth Vader "I am your father" revelation stood out with me. It's when Han Solo informs the rebel general, Antilles, that he can no longer participate in the rebellion because he has a mark on his head. If Solo doesn't pay off Jabba the Hutt, he's a dead man. What does Antilles say to that? The general smiles, shakes Solo's hand, tells him he's sorry to see him go and that "a death mark is not an easy thing to live with."
Is that all Antilles has to offer to the man whose last minute act of valor paved the way for the destruction of the first Death Star, thus saving the Rebellion and striking a monumental blow against the Empire? Sorry to see you go?!? A death mark is not an easy thing to live with?!?
How about, "oh don't worry about Jabba, old buddy! We're grateful for your service to the Rebel cause, so here's what we'll do, we will protect you from that vile Hutt. We'll force him to lift his bounty against you, and if he threatens you again in any way, we'll send a few squadrons of tie fighters to blast him and his criminal base off the face of Tatooine."
That's what Antilles should have told Han Solo. I mean really! Am I off base for believing that the Rebel Alliance simply left Solo hanging high and dry and vulnerable to every villainous bounty hunting scum in the galaxy?
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