by Ian Doescher
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI, emerging from the water.
OBI-WAN
I know not what hath happen’d—was I shot?
By whose hand hath the harsh blast been releas’d?
Methinks could not have been mine own clone troops,
Who have so bravely serv’d me in these wars.
I’d not have thought—when to Kamino first
I ventur’d—I would be an advocate
For this clone army, nay. Yet they have prov’d
Most admirable in their valor, might,
And strength: an asset proud unto th’Republic.
Still, cautious I must be: these clones think not
By their own will, but programm’d they have been
To act on any order they receive.
It may be that the clones have alter’d been,
And made to turn against their former friends.
I, therefore, shall trust no one—if, perchance,
The clones have turn’d, the times are dangerous.
But, wait, what voices make approach? I must
Conceal myself until I know their minds.
Enter COMMANDER CODY and other CLONE TROOPERS.
CODY
Didst thou Kenobi find?
TROOPER
—Lo, sir, sans doubt
It is that no one could survive that fall.
Ne’er trouble your good self o’er his demise—
Let us assume it all hath gone to plan.
CODY
Pray, do begin the loading of the ship.
Then we shall leave anon, to Coruscant.
[Exeunt Cody and clone troopers.
OBI-WAN
O, misery! Yet this can be no trick:
The conference was sadly borne; I have
The truth of this from the commander’s lips.
I must away unto the Council and
Discover what disaster doth unfold.
My fleet starfighter shall speed me away.
[Obi-Wan enters his ship and begins flying away.
[Into comlink:] Holla, emergency code nine-thirteen!
I’ve no contact on any frequency.
Enter BAIL ORGANA, in beam.
BAIL
O, Master Obi-Wan?
OBI-WAN
—Good Senator
Organa, is it you? My clone troops turn’d
On me, and I require assistance here.
BAIL
We have recover’d Master Yoda just,
Yet, Obi-Wan, I fear the news is grim:
It seemeth this disaster hath o’erta’en
The galaxy entire, and Jedi Knights
Throughout the galaxy have murther’d been.
The clones have turn’d, yet wherefore we know not.
E’en now we’ll send you our coordinates
That with us you may find some sanctuary.
OBI-WAN
Kind Senator, you have my gratitude.
I’ll fly to you anon, with aim renew’d.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 5.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter DARTH VADER.
VADER
What I have done for him, I did for her:
Darth Sidious’ command hath been fulfill’d,
And all the younglings unto death are giv’n.
This have I done that Padmé I might save.
The pow’r of love’s a passing curious thing,
It maketh one man weep, another sing.
I cannot say how much I love my love:
There’s beggary in th’love that can be reckon’d.
To set a measure how far love doth reach,
Then must thou needs find out new galaxies.
I have had exploits in the name of love
That I did ne’er imagine possible
Within the bounds of mine own conscience. Fie!
A slave to love, who, by the pangs of love,
Hath cross’d the borders of morality.
O, love, shalt thou forgive me for my wrongs,
Forgive me for mine oath to Sidious?
Yet what I did for him, I did for thee.
But soft, my Padmé comes, the droids withal.
Enter PADMÉ, C-3PO, and R2-D2.
R2-D2
Beep, meep, beep, squeak!
C-3PO
—Tut, tut, droid—hush thy beeps.
[Padmé and Vader embrace.
PADMÉ
Mine Anakin, O, tell me: art thou well?
Is’t true the Jedi temple’s been attack’d?
From here I saw the smoke as it did swell.
VADER
Sweet Padmé, fear thou not: I am intact.
I came to see if thou and our sweet child
Are well.
PADMÉ
—Yet what, I prithee, hath occurr’d?
VADER
I fear the Jedi Order hath gone wild,
Would have Republic’s pow’r on them conferr’d.
PADMÉ
These tidings ring not true unto mine ears.
VADER
These two eyes did bear witness to the deed:
Bold Master Windu came, with threats and jeers,
And tried to kill the chancellor, indeed.
PADMÉ
Mine Anakin, say what shalt thou do next?
VADER
I’d not betray th’Republic as they did.
Although my mind and soul are sorely vex’d,
My loyalties the chancellor may bid,
He and the Senate and, my dear, e’en thee
Are all that matter in the world entire.
PADMÉ
Yet what of Obi-Wan, thy teacher he?
VADER
I know not how he fares within this mire.
Full many Jedi have been kill’d this day,
Thus do I hope he pins his fealty
Upon the chancellor, his strength and stay.
PADMÉ
Thy words infuse me with anxiety—
Aye, Anakin, thy Padmé is afeard.
VADER
Serve our high chancellor, love me, and mend.
These hindrances to love shall soon be clear’d.
The chancellor thine Anakin doth send
Upon a mission of importance great:
The Sep’ratists are gone to Mustafar,
I thither shall go forth to rewrite fate
And end the war that doth our quiet mar.
I prithee, wait for me till I return.
All shall be well, this is my solemn vow.
O, how mine heart within my breast doth burn—
I’d not leave thee, and yet I must, e’en now.
[They kiss. Vader climbs into the ship, as R2-D2 boards.
R2-D2
Meep, beep!
C-3PO
—The man doth have too much distress.
R2-D2
Beep, meep, squeak, whistle, beep!
C-3PO
—Farewell, small friend.
[Exeunt Vader and R2-D2 in ship.
My lady, is there aught that I may do?
Whate’er assistance I may grant is yours.
PADMÉ
I thank thee, kind C-3PO, but nay;
In bottomless confusion I am lost.
[Exit Padmé.
C-3PO
What is a droid who hath no help to give?
What matters etiquette when none receive?
Yea, wherefore practice protocol for th’air?
A helpless droid’s a hapless droid indeed.
I live to serve, yet cannot conquer grief,
I long to brief relief, yet cannot comfort.
O, Fate, look on this wretched Threepio
Whose utter helplessness doth work him woe.
[Exit C-3PO.
SCENE 6.
Aboard the Alderaan starcruiser, and on the planet Mustafar.
Enter YODA, OBI-WAN KENOBI, and BAIL ORGANA above, on balcony.
OBI-WAN
How ma
ny other Jedi have surviv’d?
E’en as the question doth escape my lips,
I am afeard the answer to receive.
YODA
Well may you tremble,
For none of the Jedi Knights
A word have sent us.
BAIL
With mine own eyes I witness’d the assault:
A thousand troops or more who made attack
Upon the Jedi temple. ’Twas most dire,
And thereupon I search’d out Master Yoda.
OBI-WAN
And hath there been an ounce of contact thence?
YODA
A coded message
Urging our speedy retreat
We did receive, aye.
BAIL
The message urges all to make return
Unto the temple, saying th’war is o’er.
OBI-WAN
Then surely we must thither make return.
If any Jedi do remain, they shall
Receive this false word, fall into the trap.
Their fate shall knit be like the rest: to die.
YODA
Dismantle th’message,
This is the path you propose?
Dangerous it is.
OBI-WAN
Indeed, my Master. ’Tis of import vast:
What other course could we, their comrades, take?
YODA
With you I agree,
And more knowledge shall, perforce,
Light our future steps.
Enter PILOT.
PILOT
A message cometh from the office of
The chancellor, good sir.
BAIL
—I’d have it heard.
PILOT
Indeed.
Enter MAS AMEDDA on screen.
MAS
—Bold Senator Organa, hear:
The chancellor supreme your presence doth
Request immediately, as our Congress
Doth meet in special session. Will you come?
BAIL
I shall not fail.
MAS
—He shall expect you, then.
[Exit Mas from screen. Exit pilot.
BAIL
Think ye this is some trap that’s set to spring?
OBI-WAN
Nay, Senator—the chancellor shall not
Control the systems in their thousands sans
The Senate and their influence expansive.
YODA
If there is to be
A special session, wherein
The Congress shall meet,
Simpler shall it be
The Jedi temple to breach:
This to our good works.
[Exeunt Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail.
Enter DARTH VADER.
VADER
I have arriv’d on Mustafar at last,
The bidding of Darth Sidious to do.
R2 is left behind, the ship to watch,
Whilst I walk forth to find the Sep’ratists.
What is this horrid place of warmth and dark?
Volcanoes spurting magma by the barrels,
Which doth run down in rivulets and streams
Upon the planet’s surface. Orange, gray,
And black are all colors of this place,
As though the rainbow’s other hues were banish’d.
The lava doth create a scene intense,
A’scorching the severe ground o’er and o’er.
I sense an awful burning in this place,
As though ’twere made to blister mine own soul
And scald the very core of mine intent.
Yea, somehow I am chill’d by this land’s heat.
I shall fulfill my Master’s task anon,
Then make escape from this most dreadful place.
Here come the Sep’ratists; I’ll hide me here.
[Vader hides.
Enter R2-D2 above, on balcony.
R2-D2
My thoughts do wonder wherefore I was left
To watch the ship whilst Master Anakin
Doth wander on, within this planet bleak.
My Master kind doth not seem like himself—
No expert am I in the human mind,
Yet e’en my droid’s eye senseth something wrong.
What can I do but here remain as told?
My fear doth keep me here, in frozen state,
Although the wind howls like a storm inside.
O, let it go—fear not, but be at ease:
The heat ne’er bother’d R2 anyway.
[Exit R2-D2.
Enter NUTE GUNRAY, WAT TAMBOR, SHU MAI, SAN HILL, POGGLE THE LESSER, other MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF SEPARATISTS, and several BATTLE DROIDS and MAGNAGUARDS. Enter DARTH SIDIOUS in beam.
NUTE
The plan proceeds as you design’d, my lord.
SIDIOUS
Thou hast done well, good Viceroy, in this matter.
When mine apprentice, Lord Darth Vader, comes,
He shall take care of ye, as fits a Sith.
[Exit Sidious from beam as Vader reveals himself.
NUTE
Lord Vader, welcome! You have entrance made
E’en as Darth Sidious hath promis’d it.
VADER
You shall have more than promis’d, Viceroy. Ha!
[Vader uses the Force to close the blast doors and begins killing the Separatists and destroying battle droids.
NUTE
What villainy hath come? What treachery?
[Vader approaches Nute.
The war is over—wherefore would you strike?
Lord Sidious hath giv’n his bond of peace.
VADER
This is the peace that he to you hath pledg’d—
A peace eternal is your promis’d due.
[Vader kills Nute.
Now all is quiet, enemies subdued.
Our victory complete hath come at last,
So wherefore do mine eyes begin to weep?
When I was young, this future I did ne’er
Imagine—wed to Padmé, made a Sith,
And killing far more people than I e’er
Would have believ’d existed. O, this life—
Yet have I not a righteous path pursued?
When right with right wars, who shall be most right?
Then should these tears dry by my righteousness,
But still they fall, as though for that small child
Who never saw the man he would become.
Forgive me, Padmé, for what I have done,
Yea, well I know thou’d not set me to kill,
To turn to murther, e’en for the Republic.
My fate is twisted with a thousand knots—
Shall I untangle all its complex weaves?
Or shall my cord of life be scissor’d short?
The needle turns its eye on me again:
Darth Vader I’ve become, not Anakin.
[Exit Vader.
SCENE 7.
On the planet Coruscant, in the chamber of the Galactic Senate, and at the Jedi temple.
Enter DARTH SIDIOUS and SENATORS, including PADMÉ and BAIL ORGANA.
SIDIOUS
The traitorous rebellion of the Jedi,
Hath been, by our clone army, foil’d and block’d.
BAIL
[aside to Padmé:] What hath occur’d ere I did hither come?
PADMÉ
[aside to Bail:] The chancellor with words unending doth
Tell how the Jedi treas’nously conspir’d
To overthrow the Senate mightily.
SIDIOUS
The Jedi who remain shall hunted be,
And when we find them, forfeit are their lives.
The vile attempt upon my life hath left
Me scarr’d, deform’d, yet listen to these words:
My fierce resolve hath ne’er known greater strength!
Now, to ensure the ongoing defense
And firm stability o
f our Republic,
I hereby make clear mine intention to
Reorder it into the first, the grand—
Galactic Empire! Thus, forsooth, shall our
Society be finally secure.
[The senators applaud heartily.
PADMÉ
[aside to Bail:] This thunderous applause sounds like a bell
That hath been forg’d within hell’s own dark heart;
With its sharp knell the hope of freedom dies.
[Exeunt Sidious, senators, Padmé, and Bail.
Enter YODA and OBI-WAN KENOBI.
YODA
These troopers, once friends,
Now turn’d mortal enemies,
No match for us are.
Subdued them we have,
Thus proceed freely we may
To our objective.
OBI-WAN
Unto the temple we have safely come,
And, O—what sight horrific is herein!
The Jedi younglings slaughter’d—none survive.
YODA
Observe Obi-Wan,
Not by clones was this one kill’d,
But by lightsaber.
OBI-WAN
O, say it is not so! Who could do this?
YODA
Let us to our work,
And answers we shall pursue
When all complete is.
[Obi-Wan proceeds to a terminal.
OBI-WAN
The code hath been recalibrated, sir,
And any Jedi who receive its call
Shall know that Coruscant is no safe harbor.
YODA
’Tis well. For the clones
To discover this one change,
Much time it shall take.
OBI-WAN
Pray, Master, ere we two depart from here,
One thing I must needs know else there shall e’er
Exist a wondering within my soul.
