It’s not Lando’s fault

Seriously. Can we just stop getting on Lando’s case about that whole Cloud City fiasco? I mean, come on. It’s not his fault. They told him they fixed it. No pun intended.

Lando gets such a bad rap amongst Star Wars fans, despite the fact that he led the flight into the super structure of the Death Star II. I guess people think that he backstabbed Han and turned him in to the authorities, just so he could save his own skin. I think that oversimplifies things.

Like Lando said, “Our operation’s small enough not to be noticed.” That is, unless an old “friend”, in an attempt to escape the Empire decides to come knocking. It’s Han’s fault that Lando was put in that situation in the first place. It’s not like he called up Lord Vader, “Hey, yeah, those guys you’ve been chasing all over this part of the galaxy. They’re gonna be here.”

It’s nice to think of Lando as all jokey when he declares to Han, “You got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you pulled.” If anything, this was Lando’s true moment of complete clarity. Of all the nerve, a wanted criminal shows up on your doorstep? What are you supposed to do? Not to mention, Lando had been trying to “go legit” with this whole mining operation. I dunno, if The Powers That Be showed up on my newly-law-abiding doorstep to inform me that my old buddy was on his way after breaking several laws, I’d be inclined to turn him in, too.

So, who can fault him, really? It wasn’t until he learned exactly what it was that Han and his band was up to, and being forced to alter the deal at gunpoint, that he decided to take appropriate actions when the time was right. If it wasn’t for his timely actions, there’s a good chance none of them would’ve gotten away. If he had made his break too soon, they would’ve been squashed. If he waited too long, he would’ve missed the window of opportunity while everyone was focused on Luke’s arrival.

The next time you think about throwing Lando under the bus, try cutting him some slack.