William Shakespeare's Jedi the Last

by Ian Doescher

  Would never smell as sweet as thou, dear friend.

  Confusion breed’st thou in my thoughts and feelings—

  But ’midst the battle, feeling’s dangerous.

  I’ll pull thee, fast, back to our beaten base.

  KYLO Now, Gen’ral Hux, advance toward the mine.

  No quarter shall we give, no pris’ners take—

  Destruction, pure and simple and complete.

  [The First Order walkers begin advancing. All the Resistance soldiers retreat into the base, stage left.

  CONNIX Our signal of distress hath been receiv’d

  At many points, yet there is no response.

  D’ACY They hear, but turn their hearts and do not come.

  LEIA We fought unto the end: ’twas not enow.

  The galaxy entire hath lost its hope.

  The spark we represent hath been extinguish’d.

  Enter LUKE SKYWALKER to the base.

  O Luke, thou camest! Know I thy next words:

  I chang’d my hair.

  LUKE —The style doth suit thee well,

  Though, by my troth, those words were not my next.

  Dear Leia, sister true, I sorry am—

  LEIA I know. I know thou art, kind brother Luke.

  How glad I am that thou art here at last—

  E’en at the last.

  LUKE —I came to face him, Leia,

  And cannot save the man who was thy son.

  LEIA So long I held out hope that he might turn,

  Yet now I know my son is truly gone.

  LUKE No one is ever gone completely, Leia.

  I go to meet him, but shall kiss thee first,

  In brotherly devotion, hope, and love.

  [Luke kisses Leia on the head and hands her Han’s dice.

  C-3PO Brave Master Luke arriv’d. O, thank the maker.

  POE Was ever there a vision such as this?

  A legend in the making ’fore mine eyes.

  Luke Skywalker, part Jedi and part myth,

  Hath here arriv’d before we have succumb’d.

  If he can stop this onslaught, make some diff’rence,

  The story shall, like wildfire, blaze throughout

  The galaxy from one edge to the other—

  I shall not dare to dream it may be so.

  Yet still, my heart within me quakes with hope.

  The man walks forward, to the battle drawn.

  Out there, such evil things, in robes of sorrow,

  Assail the Jedi’s high estate. Take care!

  O, noble man, come to us just in time—

  The hopes of generations rest on thee.

  [Luke emerges from the base, standing before the First Order.

  KYLO Stop! Nay, this cannot be, but somehow is!

  Grant me the pow’r of ev’ry gun we have,

  Aim’d there, toward that mark: that single man.

  Bring such a violent storm of shock and awe,

  That it shall be as if a burning sun

  Did come from space to smite his worthless soul.

  [The walkers fire at Luke. Exeunt all vulptices save Vulptex 1.

  CONNIX The gripping narrative unfolds below,

  Whilst we do watch with helpless, hopeful eyes.

  HUX Enow, it is enow! Cease this attack.

  The man is dead, thou even must agree.

  Now let the tale that we would write proceed,

  For we shall be the authors of their ruin.

  [The dust settles, revealing Luke, who is unscathed.

  OFFICER 1 Behold how, like a specter, he ariseth,

  As if our weapons did a fiction tell.

  LUKE [aside:] This story shall not end as they do think,

  For, like a poet, I have chang’d the meter.

  KYLO For our next chapter, take me down to him.

  I’ll face him and destroy him where he stands.

  Keep cover on the door—make no advance

  Until I speak the word.

  HUX —O, Supreme Leader,

  Be not distracted by this man. Our end—

  [Kylo Ren knocks Hux aside using the Force.

  OFFICER 1 E’en as you pen the script, it shall be done, sir.

  [Aside:] I know far better than to tempt his ire!

  [Exeunt Kylo Ren, Hux, walkers, and all First Order officers and troopers from balcony.

  D’ACY Ne’er was a fable told, with such profound

  Importance and hostility as this.

  Enter KYLO REN below, facing LUKE SKYWALKER.

  POE ’Tis Kylo Ren. Luke faceth him alone.

  Sir, being ev’rything which now thou art,

  Thou art a valiant hero in th’extreme.

  FINN Pray, let us go and fight the man withal.

  POE Use patience, Finn, and trust the mild-ey’d stars.

  KYLO Hast thou return’d to offer me forgiveness?

  To save my soul like gallant deity?

  LUKE Nay. Thine is not a soul I’ve will to save.

  [They brandish their lightsabers.

  POE Luke doth this for a reason—stalleth he

  That we may make our swift escape, e’en whilst

  Death looks gigantically down on him.

  FINN Escape? One man against an army full?

  If we would help him we must join this fight—

  POE Nay, nay. O, lady bright! Can she be right?

  “We are the spark that, catching, lights the fire,

  Which shall anon restore th’Republic firm,”

  And even then, burn this First Order down.

  Skywalker faces Kylo Ren that we

  May yet survive. There must still be some way,

  This mine to exit. How did Luke get in?

  C-3PO ’Tis possible a natural, unmapp’d,

  Small opening existeth, verily,

  Yet this facility is such a maze

  Of tunnels endless and confusing, that

  Th’unlikely odds of finding any exit

  Are fifteen thous’nd, four hundred twenty-eight—

  POE Tut! E’en if hope has flown away.

  C-3PO —To one.

  POE I bid ye, use your ears and listen. Hear?

  Here is the corp’rate silence: dread it not!

  C-3PO O, Captain, now I see what thou dost mean!

  My sensors audio do not detect—

  POE Forsooth! Gone by a route obscure and lonely!

  FINN Where hath the crystal critters fled and gone?

  VULPTEX 1 Bay, bay! Bark, bark! The dark, the dark!

  POE Ye gentles, follow me! And all day long,

  Shine bright and strong, whate’er may come to us.

  CONNIX [aside:] It would not be first time Poe has beckon’d—

  I wonder, what will Leia say of this?

  LEIA Look not for answer different from me:

  I bid ye, follow Poe with all due haste.

  R2-D2 [to Rey:] Beep, meep, beep, squeak! [Aside:] I must my comrades find!

  REY If thou canst sense the beacon just beneath,

  They must be somewhere, though we see them not.

  Continue scanning for life forms below.

  VULPTEX 1 Whimper, whimper! Whine, whine! A shine, a shine!

  PORG Porg!

  REY —There, beneath us, creatures flee the mine!

  Good Chewie, bring us down to rescue them.

  [The rebels reach an exit, but it is blocked by rubble.

  POE Nay! Now come thoughts of what entombèd hopes!

  Nay, nay! We’re firmly trapp’d, our battle lost.

  VULPTEX 1 Ruff, ruff! Woof, woof! I hoof, I hoof!

  [Exit Vulptex 1 through
a small hole in the rocks. Rey disembarks the Falcon outside the mine.

  REY I see whereby my friends are trapp’d within,

  By mighty pile of stubborn, rough-hewn stone.

  Perhaps what I did once imagine shall

  Be true: the Force shall help in lifting rocks.

  [Rey uses the Force to lift the rocks in the air, creating an opening for the Resistance soldiers. The soldiers begin to exit the mine.

  KYLO [aside:] I’ll make my charge, and wipe the calm, smug smile

  From off his face. A-ha! Yet even so,

  He dodges, parries with unheard-of speed,

  Especially in one as old as he.

  Another strike anon, and he shall die—

  Yet he doth duck and moves with grace and strength,

  Although my lightsaber hath come so close.

  LUKE I fail’d thee, Ben, I’m sorry.

  KYLO —Verily!

  Thy weak Resistance now is dead and gone,

  The war is over now, forevermore,

  And when I strike thee down, I will have kill’d

  The final Jedi in the galaxy.

  LUKE Impressive, lad. Each word thou speakest was

  Entirely false. The good Rebellion is

  Reborn today, the war hath just begun,

  And nay, I shall not be Jedi the last.

  FINN This vision’s peaceful and majestic both—

  Rey moves the stones. O Force, O woman miss’d!

  REY Around me, how it flows in unity—

  In me, in all these rocks, in great accord,

  As if all were in perfect harmony.

  And there behind the stones, my rock—sweet Finn.

  [The rocks fall aside. Rey and Finn embrace.

  LUKE [aside:] I sense my humble role is finish’d here.

  ’Tis well. ’Tis well.

  KYLO —I shall destroy the girl,

  And thee as well, and all for which thou standest.

  [Luke turns off his lightsaber.

  LUKE Nay. Strike me down in anger and I shall

  Be with thee ever—even like thy father.

  KYLO [aside:] The fool lets down his guard—have at him, then!

  I charge at him and strike him at the core!

  [Kylo Ren runs Luke through, but Luke does not die.

  Confusion, what is this? How can it be?

  I’m sure I hit him, yet he doth remain.

  Now, walking up to him, with my lightsaber,

  I put the very point straight through his heart.

  Yet he doth stand. Nay!

  LUKE —Now farewell, cur.

  [Luke falls through the trap door.

  KYLO —Nay!

  Enter LUKE SKYWALKER above, on balcony, on Ahch-To. All freeze.

  LUKE Now my charms are all o’erthrown,

  And what strength I have’s mine own,

  Which is most faint. Now, ’tis true,

  I must be here confin’d by you,

  Or sent to th’Force. Let me not,

  Since I have my legend got

  And help’d the brave Resistance, dwell

  In this bare island by your spell,

  But release me from my bands

  With the help of your good hands.

  Gentle breath of yours my sails

  Must fill, or else my project fails,

  Which was to please. Now I want

  Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,

  And my ending is despair,

  Unless I be reliev’d by care,

  Which pierces so that it assaults

  Mercy itself and frees all faults.

  As you from crimes would pardon’d be,

  Let your indulgence set me free.

  [Luke dies.

  Enter KYLO REN, GENERAL HUX, and several FIRST ORDER OFFICERS and TROOPERS into the empty Rebel base, stage left.

  KYLO The rebels vile shall pay for this disgrace,

  Their weak Resistance shall not long survive—

  Soon, of their ilk the world shall find no trace.

  We come, too late, unto the rebel base,

  For they are fled and gone, ere we arrive—

  The rebels vile shall pay for this disgrace.

  Now I have risen in my master’s place,

  And those, once true to Snoke, will join my hive—

  Soon, of their ilk the world shall find no trace.

  My father’s dice do disappear sans trace,

  From this foul trick Skywalker did connive—

  The rebels vile shall pay for this disgrace.

  Though Hux hath seen my failure come apace,

  He’ll see me hunt the rebels with new drive—

  Soon, of their ilk the world shall find no trace.

  From now, the darkness fully I embrace,

  Anon the light shall nowhere have to thrive—

  The rebels vile shall pay for this disgrace.

  Soon, of their ilk the world shall find no trace!

  REY Safe—e’en for now—to space beyond we’ll fly

  To make the brave Resistance rise again.

  I pause, though, as we leave, for I do sense—

  Like whisper o’er the air, in voice most true—

  Luke’s death on Ahch-To, on the mountainside.

  It was a brave and noble act he did,

  When he did send th’appearance of himself

  In apparition, fooling Kylo Ren.

  Lo, such an effort must have brought him low,

  Life would it drain from any Jedi Master.

  But he hath done it, given us the time

  Escape to make, so we may build once more.

  The Falcon shall be our conveyance sure,

  Hie we into its waiting entry ramp.

  E’en as I go, I here sense Kylo Ren—

  Join’d by the Force, though not as strongly now,

  Endeavors he to make me turn to him.

  Damnation come to thee, O man of evil—

  I’ll none of thy temptation to the dark.

  Since thou dost live, we two shall meet again,

  Ne’er shall I, though, be so naïve as to

  Envision we two on the side of light.

  What path thou takest is thine own decision,

  For I shall ne’ermore worry o’er thy soul.

  O, thou hast been the cause of so much death,

  Unleashing all thy rage upon good Han,

  Now causing, in a way, the death of Luke.

  Death is thine only friend and true companion,

  Death follows thee wherever thou dost go,

  And waits for thee upon thine own life’s end.

  We are for light and life, and so adieu:

  Ne’er shall Rey look on thee in hope again.

  [Exeunt Kylo Ren, General Hux, and First Order officers and troopers.

  C-3PO Upon the bold Millenn’um Falcon yet

  Again, this time to celebrate escape.

  Good R2-D2, there thou art, my friend—

  How I did miss thee when thou wert away.

  R2-D2 Beep, meep! [Aside:] My circuitry is fill’d with joy!

  CHEWBAC. Auugh!16

  LEIA —Chewie! Welcome back, O Wookiee dear.

  BB-8 Zzwa roilflig bloo, zoozflir bloxblee zilf blay!

  REY Sweet BB-8, a glad reunion this!

  I’ll straighten thine antenna for thee, friend,

  As ever ’twas my privilege to do.

  POE Hello, thou art well met, brave lady rare—

  In sunshine and in shadow, I am Poe.

  REY And I am Rey, though thou mayst know me not.

  POE I know thee well, though never met. Thou wer
t

  Amazing, in the battle down the dell.

  FINN Sweet Rose, still fast unconscious and asleep,

  I’ll give thee care myself until thou wakest.

  REY [aside:] Why should his care for her make me feel strange?

  Do I feel jealousy, the green-ey’d monster?

  [Leia approaches Rey.

  [To Leia:] Our Luke is gone—I felt it when he left.

  Yet ’twas not sadness or a sense of pain;

  ’Twas peace and purpose.

  LEIA —Yea, I felt it, too.

  REY How shall we build Rebellion back from this—

  This remnant small and beaten, scarce alive?

  LEIA Yet ev’rything we need, we have, strong Rey.

  FINN This chapter of our tale is finish’d now,

  Another play shall tell of how we build—

  E’en from these ashes rises something new,

  For hope is that which ne’er can be confin’d.

  POE Let us remember those we lost herein,

  Let us recall the feats of Luke, the Jedi,

  Let us—e’en me—show new humility,

  Let us go forth, and taste the fragrant air.

  REY These final lines must sing a song of hope,

  That light may overcome the darkness bleak.

  These star wars are not finish’d yet, dear friends,

  The spark is still alight, and thus shall burn.

  Enter CHORUS as epilogue.

  CHORUS The rebels do depart on Falcon’s flight,

  And leave their violent enemies behind.

  Elsewhere, across the galaxy, by night,

  The story of th’Resistance thou shalt find,

  Upon the lips of children, women, men,

  Who long to know of freedom from oppression.

  How Skywalker outsmarted Kylo Ren,

  Becomes the story told at ev’ry session.

  The young on Canto Bight—who witness’d Rose

  As she did make her flight with daring Finn—

  Do tell the tale in poetry and prose,

  Then look toward the stars, with hope within.

  May all their hopes be only topp’d by thine:

  Prepare thy soul—we come anon to nine.

  [Exeunt omnes.

  END.

  12 Editor’s translation: I hope our entrance cometh not too late—

  We’re ready, rebels, for this worthy fight!

  13 Editor’s translation: Thy plan is worthy; I shall make it so.

  14 Editor’s translation: I’ll take them on a tour of Crait’s deep mines,

  And see if they have skill enow to follow.