To date, there have been 11 Return of the Jedi - the final act in the original trilogy of movies set in a galaxy far, far away.
It was the biggest movie of the year and is widely regarded as one of the best the entire franchise has to offer. That said, not everything about it made perfect sense.
Luke's Flimsy Rescue Plan
The beginning of Return of the Jedi sees the gang of heroes attempt to rescue Han Solo, who has been frozen in carbonite by the evil Jabba the Hutt. Luke hatches a plan to try and get their friend back but, while it succeeds in the end, it certainly can't be described as bulletproof. Or blasterproof.
Surely Luke didn't intend to give up C-3PO and R2D2 to Jabba, or for Leia to get captured having just broken Han out of his frozen prison. For somebody with huge power at his disposal, he could surely have come up with something a lot more straightforward. He left far too much to chance and is lucky R2 wasn't searched properly.
Boba Fett Being So Bad
Despite getting precious little screentime in Boba Fett picked up a huge cult following after his debut appearance. With his slick Mandalorian armor, and having succeeded at capturing Han, fans expected him to be badass when he returned for the final act of the original trilogy.
How wrong they were. Instead Boba is bafflingly bad, easily succumbing to the Sarlaac Pit despite appearing to be one of the toughest Bounty Hunters in the galaxy. He's meant to have survived, but fans will have to watch The Mandalorian's second season to find out for sure. If he has, hopefully he lives up to his big reputation significantly more.
Luke Accepting Obi-Wan's Betrayal
Luke is fighting an inner battle during the events of Return of the Jedi. He's torn between the pull of the dark side and staying true to himself and his friends as they look to stop Emperor Palpatine and his tyrannical empire from triumphing. As a result, most would think having a lie about his parentage confirmed would rankle with him.
But when Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms he did fib about Anakin Skywalker's 'death', Luke doesn't seem that bothered. It goes against the way the character feels at the time, because he truly should react more. Instead, he just brushes it aside.
Palpatine Allowing The Rebels To Know The Death Star Plans (Again)
The first A New Hope after the rebels had obtained the plans in Rogue One. Consequently, one could forgive Palpatine for wanting any plans regarding a second Death Star top secret.
Alas, it turns out that isn't the case. He's quite happy to let the good guys know about both the space station and it's biggest flaw, despite the fact it didn't work out the first time. Anybody could have told Palpatine this wasn't the best idea, but at least it helps the plot, right?
Leia Getting A Nice New Dress
On the planet of Endor, Leia Organa ends up stranded by herself after giving chase to two Imperial Scout Troopers who were about to tell the rest of the Empire they'd located the biggest fish in the Rebel Alliance. She soon finds herself befriending an Ewok, who takes her back to their camp.
Soon it becomes clear that Ewoks don't like humans very much and believe they'd make better meals than they would friends. But that doesn't stop her fuzzy little friend from fetching her a nice new dress to change into. It seems pretty odd that they'd have some fancy new clothes around for guests to wear given they didn't seem like people.
Leia ing Pe
For years, Leia ing her mother made sense. After all, fans didn't know the circumstances surrounding her childhood and how long she spent with her before tragedy struck. However, because of Revenge of the Sith, that's now changed.
Everyone now knows that Leia spent mere seconds in the arms of Pe Amidala before she 'gave up the will to live'. Therefore, when Leia tells Luke she can her mother, this is downright nonsensical.
Leia Not Telling Han
After Leia has a heart to heart with Luke on Endor, the Jedi flees the scene. Han Solo eavesdrops on the end of their conversation and, sensing the closeness between the pair, asks the understandable question of what's going on between them. If he's about to have his heart broken, he wants to be prepared for it.
But Leia dismisses him. George Lucas was clearly saving the big reveal about Luke and Leia being siblings, but it still doesn't make much sense for the latter to be so cold and ignorant of Han's feelings when she's otherwise so warm and caring. This is the same person viewer's saw befriend an Ewok, for crying out loud. A simple explanation then and there would have put Han's mind at ease yet, instead, this was saved for later.
Darth Vader's Betrayal Timing
Darth Vader, after years of service, decides to betray the Emperor once his master attempts to murder Luke. But it would have made far more sense for the Sith Lord to switch sides earlier in the day.
The ideal timing would have been when Palpatine manipulates the pair into fighting, itting he'd be happy for Luke to replace Vader at his side. Why doesn't this trigger a change in Anakin? Who would carry out the orders of the same person essentially ordering your execution? Vader could have simply talked things over with Luke and they could have agreed to just team up and wipe their enemy out. This would have been less dramatic but pretty awesome to see at the same time.
Palpatine Surviving
Okay, so viewers only find out in The Rise of Skywalker that Palpatine found a way of surviving Vader's betrayal. But if fans rewatch Return of the Jedi, any prospect of the villain somehow escaping certain death seems completely remote.
Palpatine definitely has no control over himself in that moment. It's extremely hard to believe he was able to transfer his essence into a clone body when he's soaring downwards in a state of shock, having just been stabbed in the back (metaphorically, not literally) by the person who has been by his side for so many years.
Anakin's Force Ghost
During his time with the dark side, Anakin was evil. Pure evil. He slaughtered younglings and many other innocent lives, attacked anybody who opposed the Emperor, and spent roughly two decades doing the bidding of a man who was eager to control the galaxy.
Therefore, it doesn't make sense for him to be standing next to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda as a force ghost at the end of the blockbuster. One act of redemption surely isn't enough for him to become angelic and immortalized all of a sudden. Furthermore, the decision to edit Hayden Christensen into the scene in the 2004 DVD release is odd too. He definitely didn't look like that when he died and Kenobi didn't go back to being young, so why should he?
