Rescue of Han Solo The Rescue of Han Solo , also known as the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon , was a mission carried out by members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic to rescue Han Solo , who was frozen in carbonite , from Jabba the Hutt . Solo ' s friends in the Rebel Alliance set out to find and rescue the former smuggler from Jabba ' s Palace on Tatooine . Solo was freed by his friends , but the crime lord ordered that they be executed . This led to a battle at the Great Pit of Carkoon between the small group of Rebels and Jabba ' s forces . One of the Rebels , Prince ss Leia Organa , killed Jabba , while Luke Skywalker and the others fought off Jabba ' s guards . With Jabba dead , the Rebels escaped and returned to the Rebel fleet . Prelude . After Darth Vader set a trap for Luke Skywalker on Bespin , Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and given to the bounty hunter Boba Fett so he could collect the bounty Jabba the Hutt had placed on Solo , in return for helping set up the trap . When Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca found where Solo was being held , Calrissian infiltrated the palace as a guard , and Skywalker traveled to Tatooine , building himself a new lightsaber while there . The rescue . Infiltrating Jabba ' s palace . Arrival of the droids . In preparation for his arrival , Skywalker sent the protocol droid C - 3PO and the astromech R2 - D2 ( inside whom he had hidden his lightsaber ) to Jabba ' s palace , under the pretense of negotiating for Solo . After being greeted and interrogated by a gatekeeper droid , they were stopped by Gamorrean gaurds , led by Bib Fortuna . Upon telling Fortuna that they would only give the message to Jabba himself , they were brought before the crime lord . R2 played a message from Skywalker , who offered the droids in exchange for the smuggler , much to 3PO ' s surprise . The Hutt , however , refused the offer , but still kept the droids , ordering them to EV - 9D9 , who assigned them their jobs within the palace . 3PO became the Hutt ' s new translator , while R2 was assigned to be a server aboard the " Khetanna " . Leia and Chewbacca . Knowing the unlikelihood of Jabba agreeing to Luke ' s offer , Leia Organa enlisted the help of Maz Kanata , who recommended she disguise herself as the bounty hunter Boushh . Organa traveled to the Hutt ' s palace , bringing with her Chewbacca , under the pretense of negotiating for the bounty on the Wookie ' s head . Bringing a thermal detonator to ensure that he accepted her deal of 50000 credits , the two eventually settled on a payment of 35000 . Later that night , when most of the court seemed to be asleep , Organa snuck into Jabba ' s main audience chamber and freed Solo from his carbonite imprisonment . When Han awoke , Leia , still disguised as Boushh , said that he had hibernation sickness , and that his eyesight would return in time . When Han asked who had come to rescue him , Leia revealed that she was " someone who loves him " , and they kissed . However , just as the two were about to escape from the palace , they heard , to their horror , the sound of Jabba laughing . A curtain on a wall was drawn back , revealing Jabba and several members of his court , having anticipated Organa ' s attempt to free Solo . The smuggler attempted to negotiate with the crime lord , offering to pay triple what he owed , but Jabba refused , fed up with Solo ' s delays . He ordered the captain to be taken to his prison , where he was reunited with Chewbacca . Organa , on the other hand , became the Hutt ' s new slave girl , since Oola , her predecessor , had been eaten by Pateesa , Jabba ' s rancor . Skywalker then ventured to the palace himself . After bypassing the Gamorrean guards with a force choke , and Fortuna with a mind trick , he found himself before Jabba . Attempting to coerce the crime lord into giving up his friends with a mind trick , he discovered that Hutts were immune to such manipulations . His primary plan having failed , Skywalker telekinetically grabbed a blaster from the surrounding bounty hunters , intending to make Jabba cooperate by force . However , Jabba activated a trapdoor that dropped him into the rancor pit , though he dragged a Gamorrean guard with him . The Rancor pit . The two tumbled into the pit , and a gate on the far side of the pit lifted . As Pateesa emerged , the guard tried to escape , but the effort was futile ; the beast ate the Gamorrean in one bite . The rancor then turned his attention to Skywalker , who , though unable to avoid the creature ' s grip , managed to grab a bone from the floor . As the rancor lifted Skywalker to his jaws , the young Jedi lodged the bone in Pateesa ' s mouth , distracting him long enough to drop Skywalker . He temporarily hid in a nook in the wall before running under the rancor to the gate he had come from , but that end of the pit did not entail an exit either . With Pateesa approaching quickly , Skywalker noticed a switch on his side of the gate . As the rancor passed under the gate , the Jedi threw a skull at the control , causing the gate to close on the creature ' s neck , killing it immediately . Shocked , Malakili , Giran , and another guard entered the pit . While the guard secured Skywalker , Malakili confirmed Pateesa ' s death , and wept with Giran . Enraged , Jabba had Solo and Chewbacca brought to him , and ordered them , along with Skywalker , cast into the Great Pit of Carkoon . Carkoon . The prisoners were taken to the pit on a Bantha - II cargo skiff , with another skiff for security , and Jabba and his court watching from his luxury barge , the " Khetanna " . On the plank of the skiff , Skywalker warned Jabba that it was his last chance to avoid death , a threat the crime lord brushed off . Saluting to R2 - D2 , the young Jedi jumped off the plank , catching hold of the plank as he fell and springboarding himself back onto the skiff . As he landed , R2 launched his master ' s lightsaber into his master ' s waiting hand . Skywalker promptly activated the weapon and began disabling the guards on the skiff , knocking several into the pit in the process . Calrissian also helped to disable a few guards , but was knocked overboard by a shot from the " Khetanna " . Further complicating matters , Fett rocketed to the commandeered skiff and promptly engaged Skywalker . The Jedi quickly cut the bounty hunter ' s blaster in half as it was aimed at him , only for Fett to launch a whipcord at Skywalker ; however , he quickly cut the cord , and in the same swipe deflected another blast from the sail barge , temporarily disabling Fett . As the other skiff swung around , the young Jedi lept over to it and began disabling the guards onboard , oblivious to Fett rising and aiming his gauntlet blaster at Skywalker . Solo , who had grabbed a vibro - ax to help Calrissian , was alerted to Fett standing behind him by Chewbacca , and frantically swung the ax around , causing Fett ' s jetpack to misfire and sending him tumbling into the Sarlacc pit . Meanwhile , onboard the " Khetanna " , Organa , taking advantage of the chaos , shut the windows on the barge and proceeded to choke Jabba with her chain , an act that took all of her strength . Solo , in the meantime , had reached the ax over the deck of the skiff to help Calrissian , only for another shot from the sail barge to cripple the skiff , sending Calrissian further out of reach . Solo , now with Chewbacca holding his feet , continued to reach out to Calrissian , but the Sarlacc had wrapped one of its tentacles around his feet , and began dragging him towards its maw . Skywalker , noticing the heavy fire the skiff was taking from the " Khetanna " , had jumped over to it and fought his way to the upper deck , disabling the gunner and several other guards . Meanwhile , with the Sarlacc pulling at his friend ' s feet , Solo , after being handed a blaster by Chewbacca , and having gained just enough sight to aim properly , shot the tentacle , which relinquished it ' s grip on Calrissian and allowed him to grab the vibro - ax , after which Solo helped him onto the skiff ' s deck . R2 , meanwhile , broke Organa ' s chains after she had strangled her erstwhile master , and noticing Salicious B . Crumb was ripping out C - 3PO ' s photo receptors , shocked the monkey - lizard , freeing the protocol droid . Organa , in the meantime , worked her way to the upper deck , where she pointed the barge ' s main cannon at the deck while Skywalker finished off the guards , getting his mechanical hand damaged in the process . The droids then tossed themselves overboard , getting half - buried in the sand , while Skywalker and Organa swung to the skiff after activating the cannon . The group of rebels picked up the droids using magnetic clamps on the skiff , and sped off as the " Khetanna " exploded . Aftermath . Jabba ' s death heralded the disappearance of anything that resembled law on Tatooine , and the dissolution of his cartel . The courtiers who had stayed at his palace thought a new Hutt would come to take his place , but when one failed to appear , they eventually wandered off , with the beastmaster Malakili being one of the last to leave . Law would eventually return in the form of Cobb Vanth , a sheriff who found a corroded suit of Mandalorian armor in a Jawa sandcrawler , and used it to bring law to the lawless world . Many of the Hutt ' s slaves were also freed due to Jabba ' s death , leading one of the species most prominently enslaved by the Hutts , the Niktos , to admire Organa for her slaying of the crime lord , giving her the name " Huttslayer " . The Sarlacc was partially exposed by the explosion of the " Khetanna " , leading Jawas to split open its bowels in search of salvage . Behind the scenes . The Rescue of Han Solo first appeared in the beginning of the 1983 film " Return of the Jedi " . Though popularly assumed that George Lucas thought up the opening , it was , in reality , the idea of writer and director Richard Marquand and Lawrence Kasdan . The fact was eventually revealed via transcripts of meetings from " The Making of Return of the Jedi " .