This cut really impressed me. It's amazing how moving the Dagobah stuff to the beginning can completely change the pacing and feel of the movie. I did miss Sir Alec Guinness, and I wish there were a way to have the "father" discussion and the great "point of view" conversation. It would have fit more when Luke first returns. It's a shame, but I do understand the limitations.
The Jabba's palace stuff works so much better now. The introduction is creepier, and we get a sense of mystery to the place. I hadn't realized just how little sense the plan really made until you pointed it out. While I do miss the rancor, those scenes were always obviously green-screened and distracting. My only complaint is that the laughing muppet is gone, and I love him. Since all of his shots are close-ups, perhaps he could be reinserted. I like how things are now. The revised flow is nearly seamless.
I also missed the droids being taken into Jabba's service. There's now no reason for R2 to be present on the sail barge, so it was slightly jarring. I also thought Han's dialogue was cut a bit too hard. I wish his full line about Jabba being slimy and overweight was here. I did enjoy Luke's badassness. You're absolutely right that it makes no sense for him to be so cool in the official cut, but after more months of training with Yoda, it connects perfectly.
Boba Fett is far too cool to have such a bad death scene, so I'm glad he was cut.
When they're flying away from Tattoine, I found myself wondering where Luke was going, since he flies off in a different direction than Han and the others. I would have cut the external shot and just have them agree to meet up back at the fleet.
I did miss Han and Lando's bantering about the battle of Tanaab. We haven't gotten into the real heavy yet, so some light-heartedness wouldn't have been out of place and is a nice contrast with Mon Mothma's seriousness. I would have kept it in.
Luke walking back in feels a bit weird because he supposedly flew back to the fleet with the others. What's he been doing? How come he's late to the briefing? His response to Leia seems a bit off because they were just together in the previous scene.
Moving the Emperor's throne room to a Star Destroyer was brilliant and inspired. In the commentary, you called out the fellow who helped you in that regard, and he did an amazing job (even if there were a couple of shots where the Death Star seemed like it should have still been visible, but that's a minor quibble). I thought the establishing shot of the SD should have been longer, but again, it's minor. Restructuring the sequence really helps with the pacing, and having things start to turn around only when the Emperor is dead actually reflects a storyline in the Expanded Universe novels. Well done.
Good call on removing all the Ewok traps that just sprang up out of nowhere. I found it incredulous, so having them go at the stormtroopers with stone axes and arrows made me a lot happier. I was pleased to see them cut down to more threatening creatures (yes, they WERE going to eat the heroes!). Leia's scenes only served to make them cute and destroy her character. "Guess I'm stuck here." Luke walked back. I'm sure she could have too, and the brassy "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" Leia we know and love would have done just that.
I don't think I care for cutting Han and Leia down. Some of their dialogue was noticeably gone, and I wish Leia could have had her moment where she "knows" that Luke is alive. He's their friend, and to not even acknowledge that he could have been on the Death Star (How do Han and Leia know where the Emperor is? Did they read the script?) feels wrong to me. I appreciate cutting Han's insecurity, but this went too far.
The celebration scenes really dragged me out of the movie. The footage obviously didn't belong. I'm not saying I prefer teddy bears dancing, so I don't know what other choices there were. I was also sorry to not see Sebastian Shaw, Sir Alec Guinness, or Yoda. I liked the confirmation that Anakin really did turn back. Ending on the burning of Vader's body armor was great, and a shot over to the ghosts would have rounded it off. Perhaps Luke could have been cropped to not show any Ewoks behind him.
Bottom line is that I enjoyed this edit a great deal. I don't think it's quite perfect, but it's very close. I give this fanedit a 10/10 for an all-around outstanding effort that is far beyond my feeble skills.