by Ian Doescher
His mother in a bond unnatural,
And suffer’d for the trespass. So proceed thee.
[Player 1 assumes the role of an ancient Tusken Raider.
PLAYER 1
What have I done: mine own dear mother wed?
O, gods above, be merciful to me—
I knew not how I did transgress in this,
For all was like a blindness unto me:
I could not see the likeness in her face,
When I look’d in her eyes, I saw a love,
Ne’er knowing ’twas but folly of the senses,
That in her I did but adore myself.
My vision sore impair’d by greed and lust,
Now have I led us both to tragedy.
What waste of life—she, hang’d on bantha’s horn,
Already is beyond the galaxy,
Above, beyond the stars, I see her rise:
The newest constellation in the sky.
I do remain, yet death would simple be,
And far too tame for what my sin deserves.
By sightlessness I made this bed of woe,
By blindness have I author’d my fate’s course:
Ergo, let lack of sight become my days,
These wretched eyes that on my mother look’d—
That nam’d her friend and lover—let them pay,
Let darkness be mine expiation e’er!
[Player 1 mimes tearing out his eyes and weeps.
O, agony most rare! O, hint of truth—
The world for me is shadow evermore,
And through my blindness comes a keener sight.
I look on what I’ve done, whom I have hurt,
I see quite clearly mine iniquity,
I spy the error of mine actions vain,
I gaze, e’en sans mine eyes, upon my sin.
O, Fate, into your hands my spirit flies,
Let me a’wander o’er the shadowlands,
And howl upon the dunes that all may say:
“There goes a Tusken Raider who did tempt
The gods to anger through forbidden love:
Now by his blindness doth he truly see.”
PALPATINE
’Tis well, a masterful performance, sirrah.
We’ll hear a play anon, my worthy friends.
Go hence awhile until ye are sent for.
Say, can you play the sad and dreadful tale
“The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise”?
PLAYER 2
My lord, aye.
PALPATINE
—Sirrah, here’s a little speech,
Some dozen or sixteen lines to include.
Can ye perform this small addition?
PLAYER 3
—Aye.
PALPATINE
Then let us go, till we’ve an audience,
The curtain shall arise on our fair play!
[Exeunt Palpatine and players.
Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER.
ANAKIN
Will ev’ryone, e’en mine own Padmé true,
Seek to employ my close relationship
With Palpatine to their own private gain?
The Jedi Council plans to turn me spy,
A traitor to my friend, the chancellor,
For that they trust him not—or mayhap fear
That he shall rival their own power grand.
My Padmé doth mistrust his noble aims,
Suspicious of his motivations e’er.
Am I the key with which they would unlock
The secrets of the gallant chancellor?
Nay, nay, I shall not be so us’d until
My reason and my judgment do inform
Me of some treachery in him, not till
I see it for myself shall I indulge
These strange, misguided fabrications. Fie!
To use a Jedi with such skill as I,
To play with me as one would play a pipe.
It shall not be, not e’en for Master Yoda,
Nor my friend Obi-Wan, not even for
My Padmé; I shall play the part of judge
Myself. But soft, here comes the chancellor.
Enter CHANCELLOR PALPATINE.
PALPATINE
My boy, the very lad with whom I’d speak.
Hast thou some time that I may drop a word
Or two within thine ear? Hast thou, I say,
Time in thy busy life for an old man?
ANAKIN
I wait upon your leisure, sir: speak on.
PALPATINE
News advantageous I have lately learn’d:
Our clone intelligence hath found the vile
And wicked Gen’ral Grievous. He doth lurk
And cower in the system Utapau.
ANAKIN
[aside:] Some tidings, finally, to bring me joy!
[To Palpatine:] This glad report doth echo in mine ears
An ’twere the sweetest sound that e’er I heard.
We can the monster capture, end the war.
PALPATINE
The Jedi Council’s wisdom might I doubt
Were thou not chosen to perform this deed:
To go to Grievous and destroy the beast.
Forsooth, ’tis clear thou art the finest choice.
[Palpatine reclines in a chair.
Thou wilt, I hope, come stay with me awhile,
Enjoy this grand performance I have plann’d?
Pray, sit: the players shall begin anon.
ANAKIN
Your invitation I most gladly take,
Some rest for mind and soul shall do me well.
[Anakin sits in the seat next to Palpatine.
PALPATINE
O, Anakin, thou knowest I cannot
Reply upon the Jedi Council, nay.
If they have not included thee within
Their plot to overthrow me, soon they will.
ANAKIN
I am not certain I do comprehend.
PALPATINE
Thy senses must have told thee what I have,
Of late, deduc’d: the Jedi Council would
Assume o’er the Republic full control.
They shall betray me.
ANAKIN
—Truly, Chancellor?
PALPATINE
Pray, search thy feelings, Anakin. Thou knowest
It is true.
ANAKIN
—I do know they trust you not.
PALPATINE
Nor do they trust the Senate, the Republic,
Nay, neither do they trust democracy.
ANAKIN
I shall admit, I have been wary of
The Council for some time.
PALPATINE
—And wherefore, pray?
Is’t possible they ask’d of thee some task,
Some strange employment, which did suit thee not?
Perchance some thing to make thee turn untrue?
Was it that thou shouldst spy on me—was’t that?
ANAKIN
[aside:] Alas, how can he know?—yet plainly doth.
[To Palpatine:] I know not what I should say in reply.
PALPATINE
Remember, long ago, the teachings prime:
Those who gain pow’r are most afeard to lose.
’Tis true, I fear, e’en of our Jedi friends.
ANAKIN
The Jedi use their power but for good.
PALPATINE
Yet what is good? A certain point of view.
’Tis what good is, my lad, and nothing more.
The Sith and Jedi both are similar
In every respect, which doth include
A hearty taste for power’s dividends.
ANAKIN
I have been taught the Sith rely upon
Mere passion to obtain what strength they have.
They think but inwardly, about themselves:
There’s naught can touch the cold heart of a Sith.
PALPATINE
Yet do the Jedi
not seek their own int’rests?
ANAKIN
Nay, Jedi care for others, and are selfless.
PALPATINE
Attend, my boy, the players come anon.
Enter PLAYER 1 dressed as Darth Plagueis and PLAYER 2 dressed as Darth Plagueis’s wife. Enter PLAYER 3, standing aside as narrator.
PLAYER 3
The most lamentable and tragic tale
Of one Darth Plagueis, he the Sith of old.
A story of ambition that did fail,
Of death that conquer’d over life: behold!
PLAYER 1
Darth Plagueis I am call’d, and higher rise
Than any Sith throughout the galaxy.
PLAYER 2
Indeed, my love, most mighty and most wise:
So may you e’er remain and always be.
Yet what shall come of me if thee I lose?
I tremble at the thought of your demise.
Or what if Fate did come, and me did choose,
How shall one live when that the other dies?
PLAYER 1
It shall not be, I’ll pick the lock of death.
By Force th’midi-chlorians I control,
And have obtain’d the pow’r to grant a breath.
In short: I can create life, by my soul.
PLAYER 2
My love, thy knowledge of the dark side frights:
Should any human have such learning, dear?
PLAYER 1
Methinks thou shalt not fear my dazzling heights
When I do rescue thee from death severe.
ANAKIN
Pish! Pray, what is this tale of wonder, sir?
PALPATINE
A story, lad, yet not as thou wouldst hear
From Jedi mouths, for they would keep it hid.
’Tis but an ancient legend of the Sith.
ANAKIN
But could this man indeed his helpmate save?
PALPATINE
Be patient, lad, for they shall come to it.
PLAYER 1
The dark side of the Force is passing strong,
A path to varied possibilities,
E’en if, by some, they are consider’d wrong.
With all my might, these powers shall I seize.
[A dumb show begins. Player 2 falls suddenly, as though dead. Player 1 rushes to Player 2’s side, throwing his hands in the air in sorrow. Then Player 1 mimes using the Force through hand motions and incantations. Player 2 rises, as if from sleep.
PLAYER 1
There never was a Sith like unto me;
The power over life and death is mine!
Now come, my love, away, and let us flee—
Forever thou art mine and I am thine!
[Exeunt Player 1 and Player 2.
PLAYER 3
Alas, the might of Plagueis would not hold.
Although with power he was plenty full,
The thought of losing it did turn him cold;
Though death he trump’d, his fear he’d not control.
Enter PLAYER 1 dressed as Darth Plagueis and PLAYER 2 dressed as Darth Plagueis’s apprentice.
PLAYER 1
My young apprentice, I did teach thee all:
Thy mind doth hold the wisdom that I know.
PLAYER 2
Your wisdom’s light doth hold me in its thrall—
My recompense shall bear an equal glow.
[Player 2 brandishes a prop lightsaber and mimes killing Player 1.
PLAYER 3
The tragic tale of this Darth Plagueis ends
Upon a hopeful moral all should heed:
To save your family, to save your friends:
’Tis possible if you with care proceed.
[Player 1, Player 2, and Player 3 bow, then exeunt.
ANAKIN
[aside:] Herein doth lie a moral I should learn—
This tale a morass of keen intrigue op’d;
’Twas ’gainst all mores, yet my soul more would hear.
PALPATINE
Ironic, is it not? The man could save
His lov’d ones, but he could not save himself.
ANAKIN
Is’t possible to learn his pow’r o’er death?
PALPATINE
Not from a Jedi, nay. They fear the tale.
ANAKIN
I would hear more of this when time allows:
Mine utmost interest it doth inspire.
PALPATINE
[aside:] O, wondrous work of art that moves him so—
The play hath caught him, shall not let him go.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 5.
On the planet Kashyyyk.
Enter YODA. Enter TARFFUL and CHEWBACCA aside, with CLONE TROOPERS.
YODA
[aside:] Now upon Kashyyyk
I am, the Wookiees withal.
Safe, in the present.
The brave clone troopers
Here by my transport have come:
They protect us all.
Yet some misgiving
In mine old green gorge doth rise—
Fear most unresolv’d.
So quickly we come
On these troopers to depend.
What if they were turn’d?
What if over them
Our control most tenuous
We lost? ’Twould be death.
Away with these thoughts.
The Jedi Council doth meet;
Connect now I must.
Enter MACE WINDU, KI-ADI-MUNDI, OBI-WAN KENOBI, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, and other MEMBERS OF THE JEDI COUNCIL in beam above, on balcony.
KI-ADI
Is’t true, young Anakin, that Palpatine
Thinks Gen’ral Grievous hides on Utapau?
ANAKIN
A message partial apprehended was,
In diplomatic packet, which did bear
The name of Utapau’s own ruler, sir.
YODA
Act on this we must.
If General Grievous we
Capture, th’war shall end.
With bold decision
And swiftly as nexu’s stride
Must we forward move.
ANAKIN
The chancellor hath made request of me
That I should lead ’gainst Grievous this campaign.
MACE
Though he’d advance thy cause at turbo speed,
The Jedi Council our own counsel keep
O’er who shall go and who shall here remain.
The chancellor hath no voice in our midst.
YODA
A Master ’twill be,
With experience greater
Than young Anakin.
KI-ADI
Indeed. Methinks ’tis Master Obi-Wan
Who is most fit for this employment grave.
MACE
Then ’tis decided. Obi-Wan shall go
Turn Utapau from lair of vicious knave
Into a freedom land for the Republic.
Our Council is adjourn’d, so fare ye well.
[Exeunt Mace, Ki-Adi, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the rest of the Jedi Council from beam.
TROOPER 1
[to Yoda:] Sir, do behold: the army of the droids
Hath just engag’d their power generators.
YODA
Then now the time is,
Commander, ne’er a better
Time henceforth shall come.
TROOPER 1
Yea, Master, all shall be as you do say.
TARFFUL
Auugh!
CHEWBACCA
—Egh!
TROOPER 1
—Keep ready, all: the droids attack!
Enter BATTLE DROIDS in vehicles.
DROID 1
Forsooth, forsooth!
TROOPER 2
—Take cover, lads, and fight!
YODA
O, battle senseless:
Vicious blasts and lasers vile,
All life destroying.
[Exeunt all as the battle continues offstage.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI and COMMANDER CODY, on balcony.
CODY
’Tis fortunate, good sir, most cities on
Yon planet Utapau are found upon
The farthest side, on one small continent.
OBI-WAN
I shall keep their attention till thou com’st.
Yet be not too long in the coming, sirrah.
CODY
Nay, when was it I last did let you down?
OBI-WAN
’Tis true. My task, then, is not to destroy
The droids entire until thou dost arrive.
I’d not deprive thee of that pleasure fine.
CODY
Until we meet again, my liege, godspeed,
And I shall see you o’er on Utapau.
[Exit Cody.
Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER, on balcony.
ANAKIN
You shall have need of me on Utapau.
OBI-WAN
Indeed, I shall. Yet, peradventure, it
May be a foolish bantha chase, no more.
ANAKIN
My Master, let me speak: I fear that I
Have giv’n you reason to be disappointed.
Methinks I’ve not the proper gratitude
Display’d for your great care in training me.
I have been proud, and do apologize.
’Tis my frustration with the Council that
Hath color’d mine exchanges with you, sir.
OBI-WAN
Thou art both passing strong and deeply wise,
My dear friend Anakin. Of thee I’m proud.
Thou have I train’d since thou wert but a boy,
And taught thee ev’rything that I do know.
Thou hast surpass’d me quite, and hast become