THE EMPEROR'S PLAN IV

"Hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea..."
Michael Caine, The Italian Job

"No wait... I got an idea."
Harrison Ford, Return of the Jedi

Make no mistake, the Emperor Palpatine was a tactical genius. His plan to destroy the Rebel Alliance once and for all was a masterpiece.
First, set the bait: A Death Star, but with a weak point: the shield generator, which he would personally visit. This meant the Rebels could take out both at once if they attacked at the right time.
Second, set the trap: The Rebels send some people to destroy the shield generator, then their fleet flies in and blows up the Death Star, which has been left relatively unprotected because it has the shield so the Empire thinks it doesn't need much else.
When the Rebels arrive on Endor, they will be captured and/or killed by "an entire legion" of the Emperor's finest. This would mean that the Death Star is still protected by the shield when the Rebel fleet arrives. This fleet is then caught between a Death Star (which is actually fully operational) and the entire Imperial fleet, and is promptly destroyed. The only Rebels remaining after this are a few politicians, who are swiftly rounded up and dealt with.
Not only this, but while he's waiting for his men to kill all the Rebels, he gets to watch two Jedis duel for a personal audience of one, with whichever one wins being his sidekick.
A true master-plan, but, alas, with one fatal flaw.

Ewoks.

The biggest complaint about 'Return of the Jedi' is always that the Emperor's finest are beaten hideously by a bunch of what are essential teddy bears. I am not saying anything new or radical here, this complaint has been made many, many times before. But here is (I think) a new theory: what if the success of the Rebels on Endor is not entirely due to the Ewoks help, but mainly due to the tactical genius of Han Solo and the improvisational skills of Chewbacca? Not convinced? Let me take you through the stages of the assault on the generator:

1. The Ewoks show the Rebels the back door.
2. Han Solo and co. go in the back door and take over. C3PO, R2D2 and the Ewoks remain outside.
3. The Imperial reinforcements go in and capture the rebels. C3PO and co. witness this.
4. The Rebels are taken outside the bunker, possibly to be executed?
5. The Ewoks attack and the Rebels escape.
6. Han Solo and Princess Leia get to the door and try to get R2D2 to open it.
7. R2D2 is damaged and cannot open the door. Leia is shot and things look a bit grim.
8. Chewbacca captures the Scout Walker.
9. Solo's idea gets the Imperials inside the bunker to open the door.
10. The Rebels go in and blow up the shield generator.

My supposition:
Han Solo's plan-A-to-blow-up-the-shield-generator: Get in, take over, blow it up (a masterpiece of simplicity).
Han Solo's emergency-plan-B-for-if-things-go-wrong-and-they-get-captured: The Ewoks attack and create a diversion so they can escape and have another go at plan A.

Stages 1-4: plan A.
Stages 5-7: plan B.

Unfortunately, when R2D2 is damaged, they are left (up sh*t creek) without any means of getting back into the bunker. Stage 8 is where we see the brilliant improvisational skill of Chewbacca. He sees they're in a spot of bother, so he goes and captures a Scout Walker (with a bit of hindrance from the teddies) and brings it up to the door so Han can pretend to be an Officer wanting reinforcements. Of course, when Han says he's got an idea, Chewie is thinking "Oh well done, you're quick..."

Of course, this theory still leaves some questions unanswered, such as (1) why the Imperials inside the bunker were stupid enough to open the doors without first checking the situation, (2) how exactly the Emperor's finest, who all had blasters, were beaten by a bunch of teddies armed with rocks, sticks and bits of string, and (3) why so few Ewoks died.

My answers:
(1) As most (if not all) Imperial Officers were played by British actors, it is not, in my view, too silly to compare the Galactic Empire with the British Empire during the 19th century, where the Ewoks are representative of the "fuzzy wuzzies". To the Imperial mind, when the Ewoks attacked them it was no more of a threat than if one of the captive Rebels had sneezed, so the men in the bunker were probably all sitting around bored, jealous of their mates who were outside having all the fun. When the call came for reinforcements "to continue the pursuit", they couldn't wait to get out there and give the teddies a damn good thrashing.
(2) To continue the metaphor about British colonialism, I think it is reasonable to compare the Ewoks to the Zulu nation, who gave the British army such a kicking at Isandwana (or whatever). The reason the teddies won against such a vastly better armed foe was through sheer weight of numbers. Think about it: there were probably thousands of Ewoks there, dying in droves for each Storm trooper they overpowered, and there was only one legion of Storm troopers. Besides, I expect that once the Rebels were free, they did most of the actual work.
(3) Remember, Return of the Jedi is a family film, with a U certificate, so expecting to see Ewoks getting massacred is probably a bit much (mind you, in Star Wars we do get to see two charred skeletons). But take comfort in the fact that the teddies will all die out when the Endor Nuclear Winter occurs...

The Emperor's Plan V