Star Wars as if it was my homework
28 Dec 2015Introduction
Background
So here I am at 33+ years of age, not having watched a single Star Wars film, despite my otherwise geeky achievements. The truth is I vaguely remember stumbling upon Star Wars on the television as a teenager, watching a couple of scenes, finding it simply not interesting enough and changing the channel. Later, thanks to internet culture, I caught up with most of the jokes and general trivia, but I had managed to avoid watching anything until last week.
With the new film coming out, Alexandre has been trying to get me to watch the previous episodes. And I tried, I did. We watched the original Star Wars movie (retitled episode IV)the other night, and it was .. OK. There are more than a couple problems with it, of course, from my point of view, but it was entertaining enough to finish it.
However, it was definitely not fascinating enough for me to want to sit through 5 more episodes, so I tried to find summaries online. And the only trick that helped me through History exams in high-school was to take notes, organize and re-structure on my own, so here it goes.
This is going to be a long post so bear with me.
Disclaimer: this is a “one-shot” project. So it will probably be very imperfect.
Table of Contents
Video is better than 1000 words
If you prefer video to a long (albeit structured) wall of text and my mindmap, then I’ve got something for you, impatient creature :
The Summary of Summaries
Presented in episode number order, please note:
- “Shorter” summaries come from source 1,
- “Short” from source 2,
- “Long” from 5.
- The mindmap and other notes are my own.
Episode I : The Phantom Menace (1999)
Shorter
Two Jedi, Obi-Wan and his master Qui-Gon, end up on the planet Tatooine, where they meet a boy named Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon thinks that he is “The Chosen One”, the key to an ancient prophecy which will bring the Force back in balance. Near the end of the movie, Qui-Gon dies and Anakin becomes Obi-Wan’s apprentice.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
32 Years before Episode 4, Young Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui Gon Jin are on Planet Naboo when the Trade Federation Attacks with a droid Army. Naboo politician Senator Palpatine overthrows the Chancellor and takes his place, because the Senate would not help fight off the droid army. They flee with the Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidada to Tattooine, where they meet Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy born of a virgin who has extreme levels of the force with no training. They barter for his release by having Anakin win a pod-race, and bring him to the Jedi Council to approve his training. Mace Windu, and the council allows Qui Gon to train Anakin, and Obi-Wan to become a Jedi Master, and take him back to Naboo, where they defeat the Trade Federation with Anakin destroying their space station. Sith Master Darth Maul fights and kills Qui Gon in the process, and Obi-Wan cuts him in half immediately after. Young Anakin, Obi-Wan, and others are honored for defeating the droids. Obi-Wan takes Anakin as his apprentice.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
Supreme Chancellor Valorum, leader of the Galactic Republic, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to negotiate with the Trade Federation leadership to end a blockade of battleships around the planet Naboo. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation’s secret adviser, orders Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to kill the Jedi and invade Naboo with an army of battle droids. The Jedi flee to Naboo, where Qui-Gon saves Gungan outcast Jar Jar Binks from being killed during the invasion. Indebted to the Jedi, Jar Jar leads them to an underwater Gungan city. The Jedi try but fail to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, into helping the people of Naboo, though they are able to obtain transportation to Theed, the capital city on the surface. They rescue Queen Amidala, the ruler of the Naboo people, and escape the planet on her royal starship, which is damaged as they pass the Federation blockade.
Amidala’s ship is unable to sustain its hyperdrive and lands for repairs on the desert planet Tatooine. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Amidala’s handmaiden Padmé visit the settlement of Mos Espa to buy new parts at a junk shop. There they meet the shop’s owner Watto and his nine-year-old slave Anakin Skywalker, who is a gifted pilot and engineer, and has created a protocol droid called C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin and is convinced that he is the “chosen one” of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force. Qui-Gon wagers Anakin’s freedom with Watto in a Podrace, which Anakin wins. Anakin joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, leaving his mother Shmi behind. En route to their repaired starship, Qui-Gon enters a brief lightsaber duel with Darth Maul, Darth Sidious’ Sith apprentice who was sent to capture Amidala.
The Jedi escort Amidala to the Republic capital planet Coruscant so she can plead her people’s case to Chancellor Valorum in the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council are concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side of the Force and decline. Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to train Anakin himself. Meanwhile, Naboo senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to make a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable chancellor to resolve the crisis on Naboo. Though she pushes for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo with the Jedi.
On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself to the Gungans as Queen Amidala and persuades them into an alliance against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar leads his people in a battle against the droid army while Padmé leads the hunt for Gunray in Theed. In a starship hangar, Anakin enters a vacant starfighter and inadvertently triggers its autopilot, joining the battle against the Federation droid control ship in space. Anakin ventures into the ship and destroys it from within, deactivating the droid army. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul, who mortally wounds Qui-Gon before being bisected by Obi-Wan. As he dies, Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin. Subsequently, Palpatine is elected as the new Supreme Chancellor and Gunray is arrested. The Jedi Council promotes Obi-Wan to Jedi knighthood and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan’s apprentice. At a festive ceremony, Padmé presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to the Gungans.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Bullets Points
- Planet Naboo:
- target of the corrupt Trade Federation, organized by Sith Lord Darth Sidious
- where negotiations between good and bad guys are supposed to take place
- Queen Padmé Amidala attempts to escape to Coruscant (Republic Senate)
- invaded by droids (orderd by Darth Sidious)
- Battle of Naboo: Qui-Gon is killed
- Tatooine:
- desert
- Queen and Jedis land here fr repairs
- Qui-Gon finds 9yo Anakin
- After Qui-Gon’s death, Obi-wan trains Anakin
- Bad side:
- Trade Federation, they are corrupt
- Good side:
- Gungan people
- do not stand with Naboo but help Jedis
- finally join the alliance against the Federation
- Gungan people
MindMap
Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
Shorter
Anakin has now become a Jedi and has fallen in love with a woman named Padmé, but love is forbidden for a Jedi. Despite this, the two decide to have a secret relationship. Meanwhile, the Republic falls into war with a Separatist group, and due to the army consisting of clones, it is called the Clone Wars.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
Years later, the Trade Federation has more droids and launches war upon the Galactic Senate. The Jedi council fears Padmé is in danger after an attempt on her life and assigns Obi-Wan and Anakin to protect her. They find out there’s an assassin and Anakin and Padmé travel to Naboo for refuge where they fall in love, a direct violation of Jedi practice. Obi-Wan follows the assassin and finds out that a clone army has been made for the Jedi to lead from the assassin’s genes. Anakin has visions of his mother dying, so he goes to his home planet and is too late to save her, so he slaughters the entire Tusken village in rage. Obi-Wan tracks the assassin to another planet and learns that Count Dooku has taken over for Darth Maul, and is leading the Trade Federation, but gets captured, Anakin and Padmé find out and try to save him, but they too are captured. The rest of the Jedi save them with the clone army, and Dooku cuts off Anakins arm in a fight, then flees when his former master, Yoda, just owns his force powers. They all go back to the city planet Coruscant and see the Clone Army is ready.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
Ten years after the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo, the Galactic Republic is threatened by a Separatist movement organized by former Jedi Master Count Dooku. Senator Padmé Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a plan to create an army of the Republic to assist the Jedi against this threat. Narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt upon arrival, she is placed under the protection of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker. The two Jedi thwart another attempt on her life and subdue the assassin, Zam Wesell, a shape-shifter who is killed by her bounty hunter client with a toxic dart before she can reveal his identity. The Jedi Council assigns Obi-Wan to identify and capture the bounty hunter, while Anakin is assigned to escort Padmé back to Naboo, where the two fall in love.
Obi-Wan’s investigation leads him to the remote ocean planet Kamino, where he discovers an army of clones is being produced for the Republic, with bounty hunter Jango Fett serving as their genetic template. Obi-Wan deduces Jango to be the bounty hunter he is seeking, and follows him and his clone son Boba to the desert planet Geonosis via a homing beacon placed on their ship, the Slave I. Meanwhile, Anakin becomes troubled by premonitions of his mother Shmi in pain, and travels to Tatooine with Padmé to save her. They meet Owen Lars, Anakin’s stepbrother who is the son of Shmi’s new husband Cliegg Lars. Cliegg tells Anakin that Shmi was abducted by Tusken Raiders weeks earlier and is most likely dead. Determined to find her, Anakin ventures out and finds the Tusken campsite. He discovers too late that his mother has been tortured by the tribe. As she dies from her wounds, Shmi reunites with Anakin. Anakin kills the Tuskens in his rage and returns to the Lars homestead with Shmi’s body. After revealing his deed to Padmé, Anakin says that he wants to prevent death.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers a Separatist gathering led by Count Dooku, who Obi-Wan learns had authorized Padmé’s assassination and is developing a new battle droid army together with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to Anakin to relay to the Jedi Council, but is captured mid-transmission. With knowledge of the clone army, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is voted emergency powers to send the clones into battle. Anakin and Padmé journey to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, but are also captured. The three are sentenced to death, but are eventually saved by a battalion of Jedi and clone troopers led by Mace Windu and Yoda; Jango is killed by Mace during the rescue. As the clone and droid armies battle, Obi-Wan and Anakin intercept Dooku and the three engage in a lightsaber battle. Dooku wins, injuring Obi-Wan and severing Anakin’s right arm, but then Yoda arrives and engages the Count in a duel. Finding he is unable to defeat Yoda, Dooku flees. Arriving at Coruscant, he delivers blueprints for a superweapon to his Sith master, Darth Sidious, who confirms that everything is going well and as planned. As the Jedi gravely acknowledge the beginning of the Clone Wars, Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and secretly marries Padmé on Naboo, with C-3PO and R2-D2 as their witnesses.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
MindMap
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Shorter
Anakin falls to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader. Obi-Wan battles him and severely wounds him, maiming all of his limbs and throwing him into a lava pit. He is resurrected in a black life support suit. The Republic becomes the Empire, and the Jedi are all killed when the emperor orders the clone army to kill them. This marks the end of the Clone Wars. Only Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Vader’s two children, Luke and Leia, survive.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
Chancellor Palpatine has been captured by the Separatist Army. Anakin and Obi-Wan save him and Anakin beheads Count Dooku. Palpatine takes Anakin under him as a personal Jedi bodyguard. Padmé reveals to Anakin that she is pregnant, and Anakin begins having visions of her dying as she gives birth. Fearing that she will die, Palpatine reveals that he has studied in the Force and the dark side, but that he has the power to prevent death. Anakin reveals to the Jedi Council this information, and Mace Windu tries to arrest Palpatine, Anakin interferes, Palpatine kills Windu and appoints Anakin as his new apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine orders all the clones to kill the Jedi, Obi-Wan and Yoda are the only to survive. Vader kills all of the children and Jedi at their temple. Palpatine declares to the Senate that the Jedi tried to kill him, and in turn he is reforming the Senate into an Empire and declares himself Emperor. Obi-Wan finds out Anakin is evil, tells Padmé, then follows her to him, where he fights and defeats him, cutting off his other arm, and both of his legs. The Emperor saves Vader. Padmé, after being almost choked to death, dies from childbirth and the twins, Luke and Leia are separated to protect them. Obi-Wan and Yoda go into hiding.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
During a space battle over Coruscant between the Galactic Republic and the Separatists, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous. After infiltrating Grievous’ flagship, the Jedi fight Count Dooku with lightsabers, which ends with Anakin killing Dooku at Palpatine’s urging. Grievous flees the battle-torn cruiser, which the Jedi crash-land on Coruscant. There, Anakin reunites with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals she is pregnant. Initially excited, Anakin begins to have premonitions of Padmé dying in childbirth.
Palpatine appoints Anakin to join the Jedi Council as his representative, but the Council declines Anakin the rank of Jedi Master and orders him to monitor the Chancellor, diminishing Anakin’s faith in the Jedi. Palpatine entices Anakin with knowledge of the dark side of the Force, including the power to “cheat death.” When Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Anakin reports his treachery to Mace Windu, who along with three other Jedi Master try to arrest Palpatine, who kills the three masters, and Mace battles him and nearly kills him. In a desperate attempt to help save Padmé, Anakin intervenes on Palpatine’s behalf, allowing him to kill Mace. Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine, who dubs him Darth Vader.
Palpatine issues an order for the clone troopers to kill their Jedi commanders, known as Order 66, and dispatches Vader and a legion of clones to kill everyone in the Jedi Temple; however, Obi-Wan (having killed Grievous on Utapau) and Yoda, survive the attempts on them. Vader then kills the remaining Separatist leaders hiding on the volcanic planet Mustafar, while Palpatine addresses the Senate and transforms the Republic into the Galactic Empire, declaring himself Emperor. On Coruscant, Obi-Wan and Yoda return to the Jedi Temple to discover Anakin’s treachery. Concerned by Obi-Wan’s revelation that Anakin has turned to the dark side, Padmé travels to Mustafar to confront him, while Obi-Wan stows away aboard her ship. When Vader discovers Obi-Wan, he accuses Padmé of betrayal and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan and Vader then battle with lightsabers among the lava flows of the planet. In the course of the battle, Obi-Wan dismembers Vader and leaves him to die among the molten lava, taking his lightsaber. Back on Coruscant, Yoda confronts Palpatine, but retreats after their duel in the Senate Chamber reaches a stalemate.
Obi-Wan brings Padmé to the asteroid Polis Massa, where she mysteriously dies and is operated on to give birth to twins Luke and Leia. Later a funeral is held for Padmé on Naboo. Meanwhile, Palpatine travels to Mustafar and finds a badly burnt but not yet dead Vader. Palpatine brings him back to Coruscant, where his burned body is repaired with cybernetic limbs and a respiratory suit at the same time as Padmé’s death. After the repair, Palpatine informs Vader of Padmé’s death, devastating him. As Palpatine and Vader supervise the construction of the first Death Star, Obi-Wan and Yoda decide to hide the twins from the Sith. Bail Organa and Queen Breha adopt Leia and take her to Alderaan, while Obi-Wan delivers Luke to his stepfamily Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, where Obi-Wan intends to watch over Luke until the time is right to challenge the Empire.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
MindMap
Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Shorter
Years later, the Empire has built the Death Star, a space station capable of destroying planets. Learning from Obi-Wan, Luke decides to become a Jedi, but he does not know of his true parentage. Vader and Obi-Wan meet again, and the latter is killed. Luke goes onto to help the Rebellion destroy the Death Star.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
Story begins above desert Planet above Tattooine, where cyborg sith master Darth Vader kidnaps Princess Leia Organa. Two droids from her ship escape with information on how to destroy the evil empire’s space station and land on the planet, and make their way to Luke Skywalker. Luke finds the message and meets up with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who travel with smuggler Han Solo to the planet Alderaan, home planet of Leia. On the way, Obi-Wan tells Luke that he has the power of the Jedi, called the force within him. He begins to train this power. However, the Empire has destroyed the planet with their space station, the death Star. The team eventually frees Leia from prison in the death Star, but Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan Kenobi in the process. After escaping, Han, Luke, and Leia join the Rebel Alliance and a small squadron of fighters led by Luke are able to destroy the death Star via a miniscule weakness.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
The galaxy is in a civil war. Spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire’s Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying planets. Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil lord Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. The droid flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with fellow droid C-3PO.
The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru and their nephew, Luke Skywalker. While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leia’s message, in which she requests help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. The next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, one of a faction of former galactic peacekeepers with supernatural powers derived from an energy called the Force who were wiped out by the Empire. Contrary to his uncle’s statements, Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight before he was betrayed and killed by Vader, Obi-Wan’s former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan offers Luke his father’s lightsaber, a Jedi weapon.
Obi-Wan views Leia’s complete message in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis. Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force. Luke declines, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers searching for C-3PO and R2-D2 have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan and Luke hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca to transport them on Han’s ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Upon the Falcon’s arrival at the location, the group discover that Alderaan has been destroyed by order of the Death Star’s commanding officer, Grand Moff Tarkin, as a show of power. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star’s tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. While Obi-Wan goes to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned aboard and, with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several escapes, the group makes its way back to the Falcon. Obi-Wan engages in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader and is killed. The Falcon escapes the Death Star, unknowingly carrying a tracking device which the Empire follows to the rebels’ hidden base on Yavin IV.
The rebels analyze the Death Star plans and identify a vulnerable exhaust port that connects to the station’s main reactor. Luke joins the rebel assault squadron, while Han collects his payment for the transport and intends to leave despite Luke’s request that he stay and help. In the ensuing battle, the rebels suffer heavy losses after several unsuccessful attack runs, leaving Luke one of the few surviving pilots. Vader leads a squad of TIE fighters and prepares to attack Luke’s X-wing ship, but Han returns and fires on the Imperials, sending Vader spiraling away. Helped by spiritual guidance from Obi-Wan to use the Force, Luke successfully destroys the Death Star seconds before it can fire on the rebel base. Leia awards Luke and Han with medals for their heroism.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
MindMap
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Shorter
Luke goes to Dagobah to learn from Yoda, and meanwhile, Vader is plotting to capture Luke and convert him to the dark side. Vader sets a trap for him by capturing his friends on the planet Bespin. There, Vader and Luke fight. Luke loses, and Vader reveals that he is his father.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
The Empire is now chasing down and locating the Rebel Alliance, and they are hiding on frozen planet Hoth. Luke, Han, and Leia are all on Hoth. Luke gets lost in the snow and a vision of Obi-Wan in a blizzard tells Luke to visit a jedi master named Yoda. A probe droid from the Empire finds the base, and Darth Vader comes and destroys it. Han and Leia escape to Cloud City to find refuge with Han’s homie Lando, and Luke travels to see Yoda and begins training, but leaves early because he senses that Vader catches up with Han and Leia… who then freezes Han in a cryogenic carbonite. Luke catches them and has a lightsaber battle with Vader, who cuts off Lukes hand after revealing that he is actually Luke’s father. Luke escapes and he and Lando rejoin the Rebel Alliance who give Luke a mechanical cyborg hand.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their former base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. Princess Leia leads a contingent including Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in a new base on the icy planet Hoth. The Imperial Fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.
While investigating a potential meteor strike, Luke is captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, but soon succumbs from the sheer-cold temperatures. The spirit of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han, who uses the warmth of his dead tauntaun for shelter and brings him back to base to recover.
On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the asteroid is actually a probe droid, which alerts the Imperial Fleet to the Rebels’ location. The Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca, but their hyperspace drive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer. Vader summons bounty hunters including the notorious Boba Fett to assist in finding the Falcon. Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a diminutive creature who is revealed to be Yoda; after conferring with Obi-Wan’s spirit Yoda reluctantly accepts Luke as his pupil.
After evading the Imperial Fleet, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating gas mining colony in the skies of the planet Bespin hosted by Han’s old friend, Lando Calrissian. Unknowingly, the Millennium Falcon has been tracked by Boba Fett; shortly after they arrive, Lando leads the group into a trap and they are handed over to Darth Vader. Vader plans to use the group as bait to lure out Luke with the intent of capturing him alive and presenting him to his master, the Emperor. During his intensive training on Dagobah, Luke sees a premonition of Han and Leia in pain and, against Yoda’s wishes, leaves to save them.
Vader reneges on his agreement with Lando and takes Leia and Chewbacca into custody. He intends to hold Luke in suspended animation via carbon freezing, and as a test freezes Han in a block of carbonite. He hands the frozen Han over to Fett, who intends to leave for Tatooine to deliver Han to Jabba the Hutt to claim a bounty. Lando, who was unwillingly forced into cooperating with the Empire, initiates an escape and frees Leia and the others. They try to save Han but are unable to stop Fett from departing, and flee Cloud City in the Falcon.
Luke arrives at Cloud City and falls into Vader’s trap. The two engage in a lightsaber duel that leads them over the city’s central air shaft where, as his mentors warned, Luke proves to be no match for Vader who severs Luke’s right hand, causing him to lose his father’s former weapon. After Luke refuses to join Vader against the Emperor, Vader reveals that he is Luke’s father. Horrified, Luke falls through the air shaft. He is ejected beneath the floating city and makes a desperate telepathic plea to Leia, who senses it and persuades Lando to return for him in the Falcon. R2-D2 repairs the Falcon ’s hyperdrive, allowing them to escape the Imperial Fleet and a now-despondent Vader.
Later aboard a Rebel medical frigate, Luke’s amputated hand is replaced with a robotic prosthetic hand, as Lando and Chewbacca set off in the Falcon to find Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett in order to save Han. As the Falcon departs, Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO look on and await their contact.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
MindMap
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
Shorter
A second Death Star is built, and the Rebellion has to destroy it. The emperor also comes to the Death Star, secretly plotting to also turn Luke to the dark side, but to also replace Vader with him. Luke meets both Vader and the emperor on the Death Star, and there he and his father have a duel. Luke wins and nearly kills Vader, but does not give into his anger and remains on the light side. Angered, the emperor tries to kill Luke with the Force, but Vader redeems himself and sacrifices his own life to save his son, fulfilling the Chosen One prophecy.
| Jump to Shorter Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Short
Han Solo is still frozen in carbonite but has been brought to Jabba the Hut, a gangster on Tattooine. Leia tries to save him but is captured and made a slave hoe in the process. Luke shows up and after letting himself be captured, saves all of them in the process, with Lando. Luke then travels to Yoda one last time to finish training. Yoda dies, but confirms that Vader was telling the truth, and Obi-Wan’s spirit reveals that he must confront Vader to become a Jedi. He also tells him that Leia is his twin sister. The Empire has begun building a second death Star, which is functional. Luke fights Vader a second time as Vader’s master, The Emperor watches, and succumbs to his anger, and owns Vader, but realizes he is becoming evil, and spares him. The Emperor in turn begins killing Luke with lightning from his hands, and Vader kills the Emperor to save Luke. Vader dies, the second death Star is destroyed by a squad of ships led by Lando, and everyone celebrates. Vader’s evil is gone and he becomes Anakin Skywalker, shown in spirit with Obi-Wan and Yoda in celebration of the destruction of the dark side.
| Jump to Short Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
Long
Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabba’s palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner. Lando is already there disguised as a guard. Leia releases Han from his carbonite prison, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward but after a tense standoff, he is captured. After Luke survives his battle with Jabba’s Rancor, Jabba sentences him and Han to death by feeding them to the pit monster Sarlacc. They are taken to the great pit of Carkoon, Sarlacc’s nesting ground, where Luke frees himself with R2-D2’s help and battles Jabba’s guards. During the chaos, Boba Fett attempts to attack Luke, but Han inadvertently knocks him into the Sarlacc pit. Meanwhile, Leia strangles Jabba, and Luke destroys Jabba’s sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah where he finds that Yoda is dying. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke’s father, and there is “another Skywalker”. The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that this other Skywalker is Luke’s twin sister, Leia, after Luke realizes this truth. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must fight Vader again to defeat the Empire. Obi-Wan also alerts Luke to keep his emotions and feelings in check, as they do him credit, but could lead him to serve the Emperor.
The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a new Death Star under the supervision of Emperor Palpatine himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so would allow a squadron of starfighters to destroy the Death Star. The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and, after an initial conflict, gain their trust. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and that he must go and confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, Luke is brought to Vader. Luke tries to convince Vader to turn from dark side of the Force, but fails.
Vader takes Luke to the Death Star to meet the Emperor, who is intent on turning him to the dark side. The Emperor reveals that the Death Star is actually fully operational and the Rebel fleet will fall into a trap. On Endor, Han’s strike team is captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to battle the Imperials. Meanwhile, Lando, piloting the Millennium Falcon, leads the Rebel fleet to the Death Star, only to find that the station’s shield is still active and the Imperial fleet is waiting for them. The Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join the dark side of the Force, and Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke attacks Vader and severs his father’s prosthetic right hand. The Emperor entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi as his father had been. On Endor, the strike team defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch their assault on the Death Star. At the same time, a furious Palpatine tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader kills the Emperor but is electrocuted in the process. He asks Luke to help remove his mask before dying in Luke’s arms.
As the battle between the Imperial and Alliance fleets continues, Lando leads a group of Rebel ships into the Death Star’s core and destroys the main reactor. As Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father’s body, the Falcon flies out of the Death Star as the station explodes. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they kiss. Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father’s body on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Luke smiles as he sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the redeemed Anakin watching over them.
| Jump to Long Summary of: Ep I, II, III, IV, V, VI |
MindMap
Complete MindMap
Interactive
So, here’s an Interactive version of the map. It’s my notes regarding the characters, and the choices I made organization-wise, might not hold to real-fan scrutiny.
Well that grew a lot, right?
I actually re-organized and added information and colours/pictures many times throughout its development. I kind of regret some choices of how I grouped characters, but I think it’s ok for such a <1 day project. I also would have liked to make a map of the places and/or alliances, but maybe for another (automated) time…
Collapsed
In its full glory
