William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy Read online

  HAN

  Before these ships do from the fleet release,

  They should their garbage dump ere they pursue

  A jump to lightspeed. Then we’ll float away.

  LEIA

  Thy ship with all the garbage, eh? Well said.

  And what then?

  HAN

  —We shall haply find our way

  Unto a port where safety makes its bed.

  Pray, dost thou know of any port like such?

  LEIA

  Mayhap I might, if I knew where we were.

  HAN

  Anoat system, but doth that help much?

  LEIA

  O, the Anoat system? I aver:

  ’Tis bleak.

  HAN

  —But hark! An interesting name

  My ship’s computer showeth: Lando!

  LEIA

  —Han?

  What Lando system?

  HAN

  —“System,” you exclaim?

  He is not system: Lando is a man.

  As Lando of Calrissian he’s known.

  The man doth deal in cards, in gambling and

  In scoundreling—thou wouldst his type condone.

  LEIA

  [aside:] He jests with me as one in love’s command!

  HAN

  He is in Bespin—rather far, but we

  May make it there.

  LEIA

  [reading from screen:]—A colony? A mine?

  HAN

  Tibanna gas mine—I would wager he

  Hath ta’en the mine that someone did call “mine.”

  This Lando hath a hist’ry long with me.

  LEIA

  But dost thou trust him?

  HAN

  —Nay, thou’rt right. But I

  Believe we have no need of fear, for he

  No love doth harbor for the Empire, aye.

  [The ship shakes.

  [Into comlink:] Prepare now, Chewie, ’tis the time. Detach!

  [The Millennium Falcon detaches from the Star Destroyer.

  LEIA

  Thou hast these moments that are unsurpass’d—

  Aye, when thou hast them, they are without match.

  Not numerous are they, but aye: thou hast.

  [Leia kisses Han and exits with C-3PO.

  HAN

  ’Tis said that sometimes those who knew us in

  Our youth did know us best. From them we have

  No secrets and cannot pretend to be

  Another thing than what we are. They keep

  Our living honest, for they know who we

  Have been. And such a man is Lando. He

  And I have known each other many years,

  So he doth know me from my smuggling past,

  The days when I did gamble, cheat, and fight—

  And often in that order, too. He knew

  Me ere I was with the Rebellion join’d,

  And knoweth what Han Solo once hath been.

  Thus is he prim’d uniquely to give aid

  Unto a friend who now hath found a cause:

  A cause to join, a cause e’en to defend.

  O Lando, all our hopes are pinn’d on thee.

  What shall it be, old friend? I here take all

  I have—my ship, my mates, my one true love—

  And stake it all on thee and on our past.

  How shalt thou answer, O Calrissian?

  Will this, my wager, prove a foolish bet?

  How shall the deck unfold, the players end?

  And is the dealing in my favor stack’d?

  The playing of the game is yet to be,

  But Lando: I do seek to win with thee.

  [Exit.

  Enter BOBA FETT.

  FETT

  A smuggler’s ways are e’er unchanging and

  predictable. Thou hast let the Millennium Falcon

  go out with the refuse, Solo, but I refuse to let

  thee play a jade’s trick and go thy merry way.

  Thy course shall I pursue, and e’en best, for my

  ship is swift of flight unlike thy tir’d and agèd

  Falcon. To the last I’ll grapple with thee, and

  in the heart of Bespin make thee cold with fright.

  The Fett doth promise it, and it shall be.

  [Exit Boba Fett.

  SCENE 2.

  The Dagobah system.

  Enter YODA, R2-D2, and LUKE SKYWALKER, doing a handstand and lifting things with the Force.

  YODA

  Now, concentrate, Luke.

  Feel the Force, how it doth flow.

  Be calm, at peace, yes.

  When you use the Force,

  The Force, in your soul, begins

  New paths to open.

  Through the Force, your mind

  Shall see future things, things past.

  Friends nearer and yon.

  LUKE

  Alas, my mind doth see—’tis Leia, Han!

  [Everything drops as Luke’s concentration breaks.

  YODA

  Nay, be in control!

  Thou must, beyond all else, Luke,

  Have control entire.

  LUKE

  O vision most horrendous and most drear.

  A city in the clouds most beautiful,

  Beneath a golden sun—as though ’twere heav’n.

  But hidden just beneath its luster doth

  A harsh and painful nightmare lurk. I saw,

  Beneath a sky of orange hues array’d,

  Dear Leia weeping at some cruel, dark thing—

  She will not be consol’d from her great loss.

  And Han, his screams do echo in mine ears,

  Such cries of suffering I ne’er have heard.

  What signs are these, what ghosts of future hurt?

  What doth the Force attempt to show to me?

  O tell me, Master, tell me plain, I pray:

  Shall Han and Leia die, is that their fate?

  YODA

  A future sight, this.

  Hard to see is the future—

  ’Tis e’er in motion.

  LUKE

  I understand ’tis hard for thee to see,

  But harder yet the vision echoes in

  My head, and reaches deep within my soul.

  If thou canst not give reassurance they

  Are safe, and shall be safe, ’tis I who must

  Ensure the same. I will not idly stand

  By whilst they suffer many agonies.

  My mind is settl’d: I must thither go.

  YODA

  Decide thou must, how

  Thou shalt truly serve them best.

  Mayhap you may help.

  But also shalt thou

  Sacrifice all for which they

  Shall fight and suffer.

  LUKE

  But Master, tell me what then I should do?

  Wouldst thou allow thy friends to suffer thus?

  Wouldst thou accept the future’s “hard to see”?

  Wouldst thou ignore the screams within thy brain?

  YODA

  [aside:] The boy doth not hear—

  His friends’ fates I cannot see,

  But his looketh bleak.

  Convince him I must,

  Else he shall suffer greatly

  And lost is our hope.

  [To Luke:] Go not, I prithee.

  The training must thou complete.

  To my words listen!

  LUKE

  The vision shall not, will not, leave my head.

  E’en now I witness Leia in her torment,

  And Han, alone, as if upon some isle.

  E’en brave Chewbacca cries for what is lost—

  These signs can only equal tragedy.

  They are my friends, and I must fly with haste.

  Or else, I’ll warrant, all of them may die.

  Enter GHOST OF OBI-WAN KENOBI.

  OBI-WAN

  Thou canst not know this, Luke. E’en Yoda
doth

  Not have the pow’r, their final fate to see.

  LUKE

  But I may help them now; I feel the Force!

  OBI-WAN

  To see is one thing—to control is yet

  Another. Dangerous this moment is

  For thee, for thou shalt be sore tempted, in

  Thy rage, toward the dark side of the Force.

  YODA

  Yes, to Obi-Wan

  Thou must listen. The cave, Luke:

  Recall thy failure!

  LUKE

  But truly, I have learn’d so much since then.

  I know what I must watch for and beware,

  I know how tempted by the dark I’ll be,

  I know this and shall, therefore, guard my soul.

  I tell thee, Master Yoda, I’ll return

  And finish all my training. This I vow.

  OBI-WAN

  Pray, open up thine eyes. ’Tis thee and thine

  Abilities the Emperor desires.

  They are the bait, and thou the colo claw—

  Thou art the fish the Emperor would catch.

  Thy friends do suffer only for thy sake,

  So that, through them, thou mayst be easily

  Drawn in.

  LUKE

  —And that is why I have to go.

  Present unto the Emperor the fish,

  And rest assur’d the bait is off the hook.

  OBI-WAN

  O Luke, I would not lose thee as I lost

  Darth Vader. His betrayal made my life

  A bleak and tragic thing. Thy loss unto

  The dark would make my death a hellish, cold

  Eternity.

  LUKE

  —I shall return, dear Ben.

  My training thus far shall suffice, it is

  Enough; I stand prepar’d to face the dark.

  YODA

  Stoppèd they must be;

  On this depends ev’ry thing.

  But pray, attend me:

  Only a fully

  Trainèd Jedi may defeat

  Vader and his Lord.

  If thou leavest now,

  And here do end thy training,

  Thou art choosing ease.

  And once on the path

  Of ease and haste, like Vader

  Thou mayst become, Luke.

  OBI-WAN

  Attend to Yoda’s wisdom, Luke, and stay.

  O, exercise thy patience, worthy lad.

  LUKE

  And in the waiting sacrifice my friends?

  Is that the choice that ye would have me make?

  YODA

  This hard indeed is.

  But if thou honor the thing

  For which they fight: yes.

  OBI-WAN

  If thou dost choose to face Darth Vader, thou

  Shalt be alone; I cannot interfere.

  LUKE

  I understand, and have been fully warn’d.

  My mind is set; good R2, do prepare.

  Fire up the ship’s converters: we depart.

  OBI-WAN

  O, do not give in unto hate, dear Luke,

  In doing so the dark side shalt thou find.

  [Aside:] Indeed, I once did see it happen thus.

  YODA

  Strong is Darth Vader.

  Remember what thou hast learn’d,

  For save thee it can.

  LUKE

  I shall, and shall return: you have my word.

  [Exeunt Luke and R2-D2.

  YODA

  Warnèd thee I have—

  He a reckless spirit hath.

  Now matters are worse.

  OBI-WAN

  That boy is our first, last, and greatest hope.

  [Exit Ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

  YODA

  But nay, ’tis not so.

  For another yet there is:

  One more hope for us.

  O how this plagues me!

  The boy for training hath come,

  But too soon is fled.

  A young bird he is,

  Too eager the nest to leave,

  Yet trying to fly.

  But young birds fly not—

  Their wings still too fragile are.

  Instead, they do fall.

  And fall this one shall.

  But how far, how fast, how long?

  Time only shall tell.

  Little bird, be safe.

  If thou the nest seest again

  I shall meet thee then.

  [Exit Yoda.

  SCENE 3.

  Bespin, the cloud city.

  Enter HAN SOLO, CHEWBACCA, PRINCESS LEIA, and C-3PO, attempting to land the Millennium Falcon in the city, speaking with GUARD 1 in comlink.

  HAN

  Nay, nay, good Sir, as I have said before:

  I have no permit that shall let me pass,

  But Lando of Calrissian I seek.

  GUARD 1

  [through comlink:] Thou shalt not enter unto Bespin, nay.

  HAN

  Why dost thou fire at me and my good ship?

  Be not so quick to turn to blasters, Sir—

  I prithee, grant me time but to explain…

  GUARD 1

  [through comlink:] Make thou no deviation from thy course.

  C-3PO

  These Bespinites are rather petulant—

  They’ve nothing of my disposition sweet.

  LEIA

  [to Han:] I thought that thou didst say thou knowest this

  Man Lando.

  CHEWBAC.

  —Auugh!

  HAN

  —But ’twas so long ago.

  Nay, surely he doth hold no grudge by now.

  GUARD 1

  [through comlink:] Thou hast permission now to land upon

  The platform three–two–seven.

  HAN

  —Many thanks.

  Now do ye see, ye doubters all? I tell

  Ye truly: Lando is a friend, indeed.

  LEIA

  Nay, who hath worri’d? [Aside:] Verily, there is

  A something here that seemeth not aright:

  This welcome hath been less than welcoming.

  Yet Han with brave nobility hath led

  Our troubl’d quest—I shall not doubt him now.

  [The Millennium Falcon lands and Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and C-3PO disembark.

  CHEWBAC.

  Egh.

  C-3PO

  —O, there is no one to meet us here.

  LEIA

  I do not like this, Han.

  HAN

  —What wouldst thou like?

  C-3PO

  At least we are no more upon the ship—

  Enough of space I’ve seen to last a life.

  ’Twas kind of them to let us land.

  HAN

  [to Princess Leia:] —Be calm

  And trust me, all things shall end well.

  Enter LANDO with LOBOT and GUARDS.

  My friend!

  [To Chewbacca:] But keep thou watch now, Chewie, just in case.

  LANDO

  [aside:] How shall I play this? Shall I distant be?

  Nay, then he shall become suspicious and

  May have some cause to fear ere Vader comes.

  I shall be jovial and shine with joy—

  A colt is ridden best by kindly rider.

  I know ’tis true: it worketh ev’ry time.

  Thus, to deceive I shall employ a jest.

  [Walking to Han:] Thou slimy, double-crossing, no-good swine!

  Thou hast a nerve to show thy cheating face,

  Since thou hast prov’n thyself a lying thief.

  HAN

  Is’t possible? Is friendship’s mem’ry slain?

  LANDO

  Heigh-ho, I mock at thee, my goodly friend!

  How art thou, pirate? ’Tis a joy to see

  Thee here.

  C-3PO

  [to Princess Leia:]—He doth seem full of friendship’s mirt
h.

  LEIA

  Aye, truly, he seems full of it indeed.

  LANDO

  What brings thee here to Bespin?

  HAN

  —Ship repairs.

  Methought thou couldst some kind assistance grant.

  LANDO

  What hast thou done unto my ship?

  HAN

  —Thy ship?

  Remember thou didst lose her o’er to me

  As fairly as the day is long.

  LANDO

  —And how

  Dost thou, Chewbacca? Hang’st thou still around

  This aging renegade?

  CHEWBAC.

  —Egh!

  LANDO

  [to Princess Leia:] —O, what light

  Doth break upon mine eyes? What beauty’s this?

  I give thee welcome, gentle lady. I

  Am Lando of Calrissian, and do

  Administer this great facility.

  And who, pray tell, art thou? Eh?

  LEIA

  —Leia, I.

  LANDO

  [kissing her hand:] Most welcome, Leia.

  HAN

  —Aye, ’tis well, ’tis well.

  Thou ever wert a lover of fair things.

  C-3PO

  C-3PO am I, and at your service…

  [Lando turns his back.

  [Aside:] I wonder that I still am talking here:

  Nobody marks me.

  LANDO

  [to Han:] —What doth ail the ship?

  HAN

  The hyperdrive.

  LANDO

  —My people shall begin

  Work on’t immediately. I tell thee,