That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about. You remember some thing as being in an early version of the movie. That wasn’t. Because of that novelization (which has apparently spawned a few of these).
I get the feeling that a lot of the really old fan theories or “authoritative” claims have roots in these sorts of things. Your rumors of a version with those scenes in having been released. And I’m willing to bet “George Lucas has 9 scripts written and we’ll get a trilogy every 10 years until” had roots in people remembering “Epsiode IV: A New Hope” being included from the beginning.
He is apparently one of whole flocks of seabird like creatures that just happen to inhabit a setting in the movie. Its an animal not a character.
