As we know from the seemingly endless retcons of the Han Solo versus Greedo scene in Star Wars (1977) — regardless of who shot first — Greedo seemed to be fine with killing Han to collect the bounty on Han:
Greedo says this after Han says, “Over my dead body.” So Greedo’s response clearly confirms he’s fine with killing Han to reach his bounty hunting goal.
Then we get to the The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Han has to leave the Rebel Alliance because of a bounty hunter he ran into on Ord Mantell. Okay, that makes sense…
But then a little bit later in the film we see Darth Vader assembling a group of bounty hunters on the Executor to personally instruct and direct them on finding the Millennium Falcon and its passengers. As quoted in the script Vader says the following; bold emphasis is mine:
…there will be a substantial reward for the one who finds the Millennium Falcon. You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want them alive. No disintegrations.
Okay, so what just happened on the bridge of the Executor?
- Did Darth Vader just do a “hostile takeover” of the bounty Jabba had in place?
- Did he simply offer more for Solo being captured alive to — effectively — remove the risk of him being randomly killed by a bounty hunter?
- Did Jabba the Hutt in some “Honor amongst theives…” mindset simply back off from his bounty because Vader is Vader and you just don’t want to mess with him?
Heck, Boba Fett clearly says this to Vader in Cloud City:
“What if he doesn’t survive… He’s worth a lot to me…”
What?!? So Greedo could kill Solo and get a bounty, but Boba Fett needed him alive? Was Boba Fett just hoping to get more of a reward for a live capture?
I know this might read as multiple questions, but the overall question is simply this:
Did the terms of the bounty on Han Solo change between “Star Wars” (1977) and “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)? Or are all of these discrepancies explained by basic underworld politics and improvisation on the part of all parties?
Looking for in-universe, canonical explanations; not armchair speculation and theories. If none (currently) exist, legends explanation would suffice. Regardless, please provide references and context.