[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

So Vader and the Empire had already paid Boba for locating the Falcon's crew so why do they care if Han biting the dust nullifies a separate contract with Jabba the Hutt? Maybe Vader actually likes Boba Fett, he's just a fan like the rest of us.

In many of the novels and even in the Clone Wars, it is hinted that despite being gangsters, the Hutt clan has some very powerful pull in the galaxy, especially after Jaba was able to lay claim to it. His willingness to compensate Fett and keep peace between the Empire and the Hutts might have had a bit of politics involved. If Hutt felt that the Empire had slighted him, he might be inclined to support the rebel cause through other means like funding, gun running, and guerilla warfare, and Vader, knowing this, thought best to let sleeping dogs lie.

It is also possible that since we now know that Fett was a clone of his father, and of the same lineage of the Republic's Clone army, perhaps there was a bit of unspoken respect between Vader and Fett. Vader in his past life was close with many a clone soldier during the Clone Wars, and admired their loyalty and courage to the cause, even against overwhelming odds. Perhaps he sees those traits in Fett as well, who already has a reputation at this point of being one of the most feared and cunning bounty hunters in the galaxy at the time of his hiring, a reputation that he held for a while, having come close to killing Mace Windu, as well as Anakin, several times as a child.