by Ian Doescher
But that you may resolve this vile attack
Upon our sovereignty even now—
E’en here, e’en on the very instant. Fie!
No more of this delay shall I endure!
My land did not elect me that I might
Deliver it to suffering and death,
Whilst ye in words both weak and impotent
Discuss the dire invasion in committee!
I tell you truly: if incapable
This body is of acting for the right,
Methinks new leadership is warranted.
PALPATINE
[aside:] The trap is set, and she hath sprung it quite.
AMIDALA
I move a somber vote: no confidence
In Chancellor Valorum’s leadership.
[The other senators begin chanting their approval.
PALPATINE
Well done, Your Majesty. They shall elect
Another chancellor—a strong one, sure,
Who shall not let our tragedy endure.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter QUI-GON JINN and OBI-WAN KENOBI on balcony.
OBI-WAN
Methinks the boy shall never pass the test
The Jedi Council will before him place.
He is too old, e’en at his tender age.
QUI-GON
Nay, Anakin shall be a Jedi yet.
I promise thee, in time it will be so.
OBI-WAN
Do not defy the council yet again.
QUI-GON
If I defy them, marry ’tis but what
The situation calleth for. No more.
OBI-WAN
The council, Master, is within your reach:
If you but follow’d faithfully the code,
You would be on the council, I suspect.
Aye, in this matter their thoughts are not yours,
And they shall not approve of what you wish.
QUI-GON
Thou still hast much to learn, apprentice mine.
[Exeunt.
Enter, below, YODA, MACE WINDU, KI-ADI-MUNDI, MEMBERS OF THE JEDI COUNCIL, and ANAKIN SKYWALKER.
YODA
Anakin, young one,
Let thy mind be free, and sense
What thou dost see not.
ANAKIN
I sense a ship … a cup … a ship … a speeder.
MACE
[to Yoda:] The boy hath spoken right in this big game.
YODA
Well ’tis, my young one.
Now, speakest thou verily:
How, pray, dost thou feel?
ANAKIN
In troth, I have been cold since Tatooine.
YODA
Indeed thou mayest,
For climes as thine much heat give.
Yet afeard art thou?
ANAKIN
Nay, sir, I suffer neither fear nor dread.
YODA
See through thee we can.
To be brave excellent is;
Forthright is better.
MACE
Be mindful of th’emotions of the spirit.
KI-ADI
Thy thoughts upon thy mother sadly dwell.
ANAKIN
My soul doth hunger for her warm embrace.
YODA
Mmm, a dish of which
Thou art scared to lose the taste:
A mother’s regard.
ANAKIN
Of what import is that unto this test?
Doth sadness o’er my mother mount to aught?
YODA
Aye, ev’rything ’tis.
To the dark side of the Force,
Fear’s the surest path.
Fear leads to anger,
Onward leads anger to hate,
Hate to suffering.
A bounty of fear
Is present in thy spirit—
Fear beyond measure.
Enter QUI-GON JINN and OBI-WAN KENOBI.
QUI-GON
Wise masters, we have come to hear your will,
To say what shall become of this brave youth.
KI-ADI
The force is strong with him; we all do see’t.
QUI-GON
He shall be trainèd, then? That is your word?
MACE
Nay, though the Force may be unbreakable
Within the boy, he shall not trainèd be.
QUI-GON
Yet wherefore is this so? What reason is’t?
MACE
It is but basic: he hath grown too old.
QUI-GON
He is the chosen one. Had ye but one
Eye working ’mongst you all, it would be seen.
YODA
Mmm, easy ’tis not,
For cloudy this boy’s future
Appeareth in sight.
QUI-GON
Then I shall train the lad, if you will not.
As Padawan I claim young Anakin.
The boy hereafter mine apprentice is.
YODA
Your apprentice is?
Forgotten have you, e’en now,
You’ve one already?
’Tis impossible,
Aye ’tis never permitted,
That one doth two train.
MACE
Rules of engagement do forbid such plans.
QUI-GON
Keen Obi-Wan is utterly prepar’d.
OBI-WAN
Forsooth, I stand a’ready, trials to face.
YODA
Our own counsel shall
We heed on who is ready.
Presume not to tell.
QUI-GON
The man is obstinate and still hath much
To learn about the Force that liveth, yet
More capable in skill and strength there’s none.
Like mother bird who sees her fledgling fly,
There’s little more I can teach Obi-Wan.
I prithee, let him take to wing and soar;
Allow room for a new egg in the nest.
YODA
Young Skywalker’s fate
Shall not yet be unravel’d:
’Tis work for later.
MACE
The present is no time for chirping talk:
The Senate shall soon in their chamber vote
For their new Chancellor Supreme. This may
Cause some unrest within Republic ranks,
Put pressure new upon the Federation,
Thus meeting evil with a broader threat.
KI-ADI
The queen’s attacker you encounter’d there
On Tatooine may be drawn out by this.
MACE
It is for you to safeguard this good queen
And find out the identity of this
Dark foe beyond a reasonable doubt.
We think this shall be circumstance enough
To bring to light this myst’ry of the Sith.
YODA
O, hesitate not!
Success we wish you—adieu,
The Force be with you.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 4.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter JAR JAR BINKS.
JAR JAR
The course of justice never did run smooth.
Those who are weak by laws are weaker made,
Those who have pow’r by laws are given more.
’Tis near impossible to e’er persuade
The ones with power to surrender it.
Indeed, they often claim they’ve power none,
And cannot see their unjust privilege.
When some gross fault of theirs is then expos’d,
They throw their hands unto the sky and cry,
“O, now ’tis us who sorely are oppress’d!”
Thus do the dominating twist the tale
And make themselves the subject of their pity,
Whilst turning blind eye to those truly plagued
&nb
sp; By burthens those in pow’r can never know.
’Tis certain that the Senate’s powerless
And we no justice in its court shall find.
The queen by fear and worry is beset
And cannot make inform’d decisions thus.
We must away, returning to Naboo.
Our hope lies not within the Senate’s care,
For only double crossing there we’ll find.
Our only hope doth lie in joining strengths:
The Naboo and the Gungans fix’d as one,
Leave Coruscant and take the battle home.
The queen shall never listen to a fool,
Yet she may be convinc’d by foolish words
If they are spoken by coincidence.
Then shall the notion flourish in her mind
As though it were her own. But soft, she comes!
Enter QUEEN AMIDALA.
Are yousa thinkin’ people gon’ die?
AMIDALA
I do not know; unclear the future is.
JAR JAR
And Gungans gettin’ pasted too, eh?
AMIDALA
It is my fervent hope that shall not be.
JAR JAR
De Gungans no die sans a fightee.
We allsa warriors—grand armee!
Methinks that’s whysa you no like us.
Enter CAPTAIN PANAKA and SENATOR PALPATINE.
PANAKA
Your Highness, I bring tidings of delight!
Our noble Palpatine is nominee
To soon succeed Valorum’s feeble rule
As Chancellor Supreme. Is not this grand?
PALPATINE
Surprising ’tis, Your Highness. Welcome, too—
If I elected am, I’ll put an end
To all the Senate’s vile, corrupted ways.
AMIDALA
Who else a nomination did receive?
PANAKA
one Bail Antilles of old Alderaan,
And Ainlee Teem of Malastare as well.
PALPATINE
I feel most confident full many votes
Of sympathy our cause shall garner us.
Forsooth, I shall be chancellor anon.
AMIDALA
Once you have o’er the bureaucrats control,
I fear our people shall no longer be:
Our way of life shall, by then, be destroy’d.
PALPATINE
I understand your worry, Majesty.
The Federation, though, doth revel in
Possession o’er our planet even now.
AMIDALA
Good Senator, this is your chosen sphere—
Among the politicians you excel,
Troth, I have ev’ry hope of your success
And faith in your most shrewd abilities.
My sphere doth call most urgently to me,
Its voice doth cry with desperation loud,
And so unto Naboo I must return:
Where I am needed, thither I shall go.
JAR JAR
[aside:] The queen doth walk upon the fool-made path.
PALPATINE
Return, Your Majesty? I bid you, pause,
Consider the reality you face.
If you go back, you shall be forc’d to sign
The wretched treaty most assuredly.
AMIDALA
Nay, hear me now: no treaty shall I sign.
Whatever Fate hath woven for Naboo
Shall be my final destiny as well.
Good Captain?
PAN AKA
—Highness?
AMIDALA
—Go, prepare the ship.
PALPATINE
I prithee, Highness, stay here where ’tis safe.
AMIDALA
I have a good eye, Senator; I can
Yet see a Jedi temple by daylight.
’Tis plain to me that our Republic doth
No longer function for the good of all.
’Tis plain that your proud Senate doth exist
To serve itself, not its constituents.
’Tis plain that if I would for justice seek,
I must look elsewhere than on Coruscant.
If you would serve me here, bring reason once
Again unto the Senate. Now, adieu.
[Exeunt Queen Amidala, Jar Jar Binks, and Captain Panaka.
PALPATINE
A royal wish doth move my soul no wise,
For I am made to answer no one’s wish
Save for mine own. This sniv’ling, sullen girl
Shall be but slight impediment unto
The plan for the Republic I’ll devise.
Devising shall become division when
I sow the seeds of discord in this place,
Which shall spread o’er the galaxy anon.
O, Queen, your words do reek of schoolgirl’s moans,
E’er braying for some smear she hath endur’d.
Your actions are no wiser, as you seek
Nobility in death upon Naboo.
Yet, ’tis no matter: I shall write the end
I carefully have plann’d despite—or e’en
In spite of—her departure to her home.
My plans shall by no regal deed be still’d,
For I’ll perform whatever I have will’d.
[Exit.
SCENE 5.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter JEDI 1 and JEDI 2.
JEDI 1
Well met, my friend! Say, art thou well?
JEDI 2
—Indeed,
As merry as the day is long. And thou?
JEDI 1
A pleasant afternoon I just have spent
A’poring o’er the Jedi archives here.
JEDI 2
What is within to perk thine interest?
I do confess I find them rather dry.
JEDI 1
O, say not so! The archives are a key
That opens up a world of scholarship.
JEDI 2
I never took thee for a bookish owl.
What didst thou find today t’excite thy mind?
JEDI 1
A pattern hid within the history
Of our vast galaxy leap’d fore my sight.
JEDI 2
A pattern, aye?
JEDI 1
—As clear as is the sun.
It seemeth each millennium or two
There is a backward movement in the Force—
Indeed, in all of life—such that the things
That now seem commonplace would, in some years,
Seem wildly futuristic.
JEDI 2
—An example?
JEDI 1
We have technology appropriate
Unto our era, and we Jedi have
Th’ability to leap across large chasms.
Imagine, then, if in some future time
All life betook a giant backward step:
Our ships would duller seem, we Jedi would
Not soar and spring as we are wont to do.
Canst thou imagine such a sharp decline?
JEDI 2
Such retrograde must be impossible.
JEDI 1
Nay, ’twas the pattern I so clearly saw!
More fascinating is: it seemeth we
Are due for just another swift step back
Within mere decades hence.
JEDI 2
—But can this be?
JEDI 1
The hist’ry doth not lie. If I have done
The calculations right, within a span
Of thirty years, we’ll see a sharp turn back
In our technology and Jedi skills—
E’en fashion shall regression undergo.
JEDI 2
What wilt thou do with this discovery?
JEDI 1
I first did think to share with Yoda.
JEDI 2
—Aye,
’Tis sensible enough as he is wise
And pure, and serveth on the council with
A voice most fair and just. Keen choice, my friend.
JEDI 1
Yet in the end, ’twas not he I did choose.
JEDI 2
Then whom?
JEDI 1
—The senator, e’en Palpatine—
A noble sort of fellow, good and kind.
I shall inform him of the things to come.
JEDI 2
Art thou most sure thou shouldst not give this news
To one among the Jedi, worthy friend?
If it shall be the Jedi are less skill’d,
Should not this news be shar’d among our own?
JEDI 1
Alas, we Jedi are becoming known
For our mistrust of others! Troth, this news
Shall show us ready for collaboration:
The Jedi and the politicians join’d
As one in mind, with peaceful harmony.
JEDI 2
Mayhap thou art correct. And even so,
Perchance the pattern thou observ’st is false.
JEDI 1
would it were so. I would not like to see’t!
JEDI 2
I sooner dead would be. Now shall we keep
Our habit and go dine at Dex’s place?
JEDI 1
A pattern I shall haply follow, friend.
[Exeunt Jedi 1 and Jedi 2.
Enter QUI-GON JINN and OBI-WAN KENOBI.
OBI-WAN
of disrespect I’ve none, sir, ’tis but truth.
QUI-GON
The truth, yet from thy certain point of view.
OBI-WAN
The boy is dangerous, they all sense it—