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.