De acordo com a Júnior novelisation , C-3PO foi deliberadamente enganado por Leia e disse que Chewie foi tomada por um caçador de recompensas.
No caso em que ele é torturado ou fatiado (ou simplesmente Blabs seus planos porque ele é um putz) não vai explodir seu esquema:
The awful place was their destination: Jabba the Hutt’s palace, a large fortress near the southwestern border of the Western Dune Sea. But as the droids trudged once again across the desert world’s desolate terrain, R2-D2 was more optimistic about the fate of their friends. For one thing, Lando could take care of himself pretty well. Also, the droid knew that Chewbacca hadn’t even arrived yet at Jabba’s palace, although he didn’t bother mentioning this detail to C-3PO. Sometimes, the less C-3PO knew, the better. The astromech droid rotated his domed head to whistle a timid response to his gold-plated companion.