by Ian Doescher
And we’ll rejoice to bear the news unto
Our officers superior. Go now!
[The Imperial troops open the back door and are met by Ewoks and rebels, who disarm them.
HAN
A cunning line! And you are quite the catch—
Deceiv’d by rebels playing Empire’s part!
We dangled all your hopes for victory
As bait to draw you in and hold you fast,
And now we take the bunker in our care.
Let fall your weapons, else I shall release
Your lives unto these creatures’ fearsome pow’r!
Perchance they seem not vicious, yet they have
What thou canst never know: fierce bravery.
Enter PRINCESS LEIA and CHEWBACCA, joined by HAN SOLO, into the bunker. The Imperial troops remain guarded by the rebels at the back door.
LEIA
This bunker shall anon destroyèd be,
And then our friends may strike their final blow.
HAN
Indeed! Pray, give to me another charge.
We shall fulfill this task with perfect skill—
And leave no charge unusèd.
CHEWBAC.
—Auugh!
LEIA
—’Tis set!
Now let us fly! Else we shall bear the blast.
[Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca run from the bunker, which explodes.
Enter LANDO OF CALRISSIAN, NIEN NUNB, ADMIRAL ACKBAR, WEDGE ANTILLES, and other REBEL PILOTS on right side of stage, dueling with IMPERIAL TROOPS in their ships. ADMIRAL PIETT and IMPERIAL CONTROLLER are aside, inside the Death Star.
ACKBAR
’Tis done, the Endor crew hath triumph’d yet—
The shield is down! Upon the Death Star’s main
Reactor let us fly anon. Then shall
We reach the core and give it quite a zap!
LANDO
We fly with haste! Red Group, Gold Group, form up
And follow me! Today rebellion shall
Have reason to exult! Our enemies
Shall soon be vanquish’d! O what triumph shall
Be ours when this great Death Star its own death
Doth undergo. Three things shall be achiev’d
Thereby. The first shall be a victory
For our Rebellion—all the fervent hopes
Of these past years attain’d in one swift stroke.
The second benefit of Death Star’s end
Is freedom and security for all
Within the galaxy—no more oppress’d
By evil tyrants, people shall once more
Be free to dwell in possibility.
And finally, the third result of this
Great Death Star’s fall shall be the rising up
Of all whose pasts conceal some awful guilt,
Some aspect of their lives that brings regret.
I speak of my own past—you all know well
How I betray’d my friend when th’Empire forc’d
My hand. And e’en that friend, good Han, hath through
Rebellion’s cause found purpose he had ne’er
Imagin’d. In this battle we fight not
To merely terminate an enemy—
Full many of us rebels seek the bliss,
The balm and healing of redemption’s touch.
So let it be, my noble comrades all:
Fight now for the Rebellion, fight for all
Who dwell within our galaxy, and fight
Most ardently, indeed, for your own souls.
Thus shall we raise those who by Empire’s might
Have died, and forth from their celestial graves
Shall they ascend and with a rebel’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war!
WEDGE
Well spoken! I fly in for rebels’ gain!
NIEN
N’tiya tih.
LANDO
—We fly with thee, good Wedge:
Inside the station, t’ward the centermost.
TIE fighters follow us adroitly in—
Mark well how they do come behind anon.
We must outrun them e’en as we approach
The place where we shall strike the Death Star’s core.
WEDGE
Form up, good lads, and stay alert. We could
Within this tiny shaft lose space with haste.
LANDO
This passage is a narrow path indeed.
If we can but maneuver cunningly,
We shall escape the Death Star with our lives
And, what is more, our hop’d-for victory.
I prithee, pilots all, attend my words:
Lock all thy weapons to the largest source
Of power, which should be the generator.
[An Imperial pilot strikes Rebel Pilot #1.
PILOT 1
Alas, friends, I am hit, and go to die!
[Rebel Pilot 1 dies.
LANDO
I would not even one more pilot lose
Who under my command doth fly herein.
Pay heed, all: separate by diff’rent paths
And fly toward the surface. See if you
Can draw a few TIE fighters thither, too.
This is the surest hope for our success
Against the Death Star and its minions.
PILOT 2
—Aye,
Thou speakest well, Gold Leader. We’ll obey.
[The rebels inside the Death Star separate. Some exit, pursued by Imperial troops, leaving only Lando, Nien Nunb, and Wedge Antilles inside the shaft.
NIEN
Ah!
[The Millennium Falcon scrapes the wall of the Death Star shaft.
LANDO
—Pardon, Han, I did say not a scratch,
But did, in this tense moment, break that vow.
Yet thou and I both know it could be worse—
Our Falcon hath known scrapes in times now past.
Still, that last brush was far too close; so shall
I try to take more care with borrow’d wings.
ACKBAR
Our fighters must be given yet more time.
This victory is here, within our reach.
Thus, concentrate thy pow’r unto the main,
And give the Empire much o’er which to fret.
Within a fiery blaze of weaponry
Let us the Super Star Destroyer wrap.
[The rebels outside the Death Star fire on the Super Star Destroyer. Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are shaken.
CONTROL.
Alas, Sir, our deflector shield is lost!
PIETT
Intensify the forward batteries.
Let nothing break the bounds. Intensify,
As well, the forward firing power.
CONTROL.
—Nay!
Too late it is. We die, Sir—O, we die!
[The Super Star Destroyer runs into the Death Star, and Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are killed.
Enter LUKE SKYWALKER and DARTH VADER on balcony, inside the Death Star.
VADER
O Luke, I prithee: render thy support
And help me take this mask off.
LUKE
—If I do,
Dear father, thou shalt surely meet thy death.
VADER
Aye. Naught shall stop that now, my son. Just once
Let me look on thee with mine own eyes, Luke—
These eyes that miss’d your mewling newborn face,
These eyes that did not see your budding youth,
These eyes that were not there to see you grow,
These eyes that saw thee not when thou wert train’d.
I prithee, let these eyes see thee at last.
’Twill be a fitting prelude to my death.
LUKE
My father, thou dost break my heart in twain.
Behold, for thou shalt see thy son, indeed.
[Luke Skywalker removes Darth Vader’s mask to reveal Anakin Skywalker.
ANAKIN
My misting eyes are nothing like my son’s—
Thou art so beautiful to me. How strong
Thy features, with thy mother’s gentle face.
A man thou art, and ev’ry part my son.
I never have been prouder, all my life.
These final moments are pure gift. Now go,
And take thy leave ere this place is destroy’d.
LUKE
But nay, thou shalt come with me. I shall not
Desert thee, but shall save thee yet.
ANAKIN
—O, Luke,
Thou hast already done. Thou knewest right—
Thou knewest what I was, for still there was
Some good within me aching to be free.
Tell thy sweet sister this: that thou wert right.
[Anakin Skywalker dies.
LUKE
O Father, fare thee well where’er thou goest,
And flights of Jedi sing thee to thy rest!
[Exit Luke Skywalker, dragging Anakin Skywalker’s body.
WEDGE
Good General Calrissian, the core
We now have reach’d—’tis here, within my sight.
LANDO
I see it too, Wedge. Let us strike it down!
Approach the power regulator there,
Upon the northern tower. Let it burn!
WEDGE
I hear and do obey, Gold Leader. Soon
It shall be done, and then I exit quick.
LANDO
Light up, you vicious beast of evil bent,
You sick creation of humanity’s
Most wretched and deprivèd sense of right—
Since you could not inspire love, you caus’d fear.
O that a people e’er should such a harsh
And treach’rous weapon like to this create.
For who would make a thing whose only point
Is to destroy and murder, maim and kill?
What beings would produce such wickedness
As this: an instrument of pain and death?
Thus I do strike at you with vengeance in
The name of those who have no voice to speak.
Farewell, you Star of Death—be now no more!
[Wedge Antilles and Lando of Calrissian fire at the Death Star’s power generator.
WEDGE
’Tis done, and now we make our great escape.
Make ready, Admiral, for it shall blow.
ACKBAR
Move all the fleet hence, from the Death Star, else
Our ships may from the grand explosion take
A mighty slap.
[The Death Star explodes. Exeunt Lando Calrissian,
Nien Nunb, Wedge Antilles, Admiral Ackbar and
other rebels from the space battle. The rebel crew
on Endor looks to the sky to see the explosion.
C-3PO
—Hurrah! They did it!
CHEWBAC.
—Auugh!
HAN
Behold, and all rejoice—the deed is done!
Yet be ye still, my tongue, for what of Luke?
[ To Leia:] Certain I am that Luke was not inside
When it did perish.
LEIA
—Truly, he was not,
For I can sense he safely doth abide.
HAN
[ aside:] O, shall the love I’ve shown thus come to naught?
Her heart doth move toward good Luke, my friend.
Thus shall I play the noble part, and stay
Aside whilst their hearts meet, though in the end
It shall undo me. [ To Leia:] Thou dost love him? Say.
LEIA
Be sure I love him.
HAN
—Thus I ascertain’d
And do respect. Good lady, do not fear:
When he returns you may be unrestrain’d;
The two of you have my consent sincere.
LEIA
Nay, nay, ’tis not as thou dost think, good Han.
Let not thy visions run amok with thee,
But hear these words that must fall strangely on
Thine ears: he is my brother, dost thou see?
Enter Wicket.
WICKET
N’yubba, yubba,
Heezur brubba,
Yoozur luvva,
Nyubba, nyubba.
[Han Solo rises, singing and dancing.
HAN
[ sings:] O revelation kind, my heart doth swell—
A’merrily my feet do trip!
My Leia’s mine, and I am hers as well.
Sing ho, sing hi, sing heigh!
Though Leia and myself did fear the worst,
A’merrily my feet do trip!