Plot Summary
Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a civil war in space between the liberal-minded Rebel Alliance and the oppressive Galactic Empire. As the first Star Wars film begins, Princess Leia Organa, a Rebel leader, obtains the schematics of the Galactic Empire’s Death Star, a massive space station. However, the feared Darth Vader, a powerful commander of the Galactic Empire, and his stormtrooper soldiers intercept her ship before she can take them to the Rebel base on Alderaan, her home planet. Leia knows she will be searched, so she conceals the plans, along with a recorded plea for help, in a mechanical droid called R2-D2. The droid gets away, along with a droid called C-3PO, in an escape pod. The pair crash-lands on the nearby desert planet Tatooine, where Jawa traders later kidnap and sell them to moisture farmers named Owen and Beru Lars. Owen’s nephew, Luke Skywalker, soon discovers Leia’s message pleading for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi and then learns from his uncle that Kenobi knew Luke’s father. When R2-D2 escapes, Luke and C-3PO go in search of him. He discovers R2-D2 in the desert, but then Ben Kenobi swoops in to save Luke from the Sandpeople's attack. Luke learns that Ben used to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi warrior for the Old Republic. Ben was also friends with Luke’s father, who was a Jedi warrior himself. Ben tells Luke that his father was killed by Darth Vader, Kenobi’s former student, who was drawn to the dark side of the Force. The Force is a potent energy field that flows through the universe, giving life and power to everything, including the Jedis and their evil counterparts, the Sith Lords, who serve the evil Empire. Kenobi then shows the young man the lightsaber that was owned by Luke’s father, explaining that it is a traditional Jedi weapon. Kenobi offers to act as a mentor to Luke, and he urges Luke to join him on his journey to Alderaan, where they can join the Rebel Alliance. However, Luke declines the offer. Leia is subjected to an intense interrogation, but she refuses to reveal any Rebel secrets. Darth Vader wields his impressive power over the Force and chokes an officer without even touching him. However, Leia’s runaway droids have been traced to Tatooine, so when Luke returns home, he finds that his uncle, aunt, and family home have been incinerated. The young man then decides to join Kenobi in his quest, and the droids come along.
The group arrives at the cantina at the Mos Eisley spaceport in search of a pilot who will take them to Alderaan. They strike an agreement with Han Solo, a cocky pilot who smuggles illegal shipments for a living. He agrees to take them aboard his ship, the Millennium Falcon, along with his Wookie copilot, Chewbacca, who only communicates in guttural snarls. Han gets into trouble regarding one of his previous smuggling assignments for Jabba the Hutt, an obese alien crime lord, so the pilot has to use his wits and his gun to get out of a potentially nasty situation. The Millennium Falcon is then forced to leave the spaceport in a hurry when Imperial troops start firing on the ship. Their destination, Alderaan, gets compromised because Leia gives up the location of the rebel base on Alderaan in the hope of saving her home planet from the Galactic Empire’s wrath. This proves to be futile, and Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star. When the Millennium Falcon comes close enough to where Alderaan used to be, it is captured by the Death Star’s tractor beam, but the group onboard hides to evade capture. Kenobi then goes to switch off the tractor beam, while Luke, Han, and Chewbacca try to rescue Leia. Kenobi disables the tractor beam and then sacrifices himself in a lightsaber fight with Darth Vader, his old pupil. This distraction allows the rest of the group, including Leia, to escape to a Rebel base on Yavin IV. Having rescued Leia, Han leaves to pay off his debt to Jabba the Hutt.
By this time, the Rebels have noted a vulnerable thermal exhaust port in the Death Star schematics, and they try to exploit it by launching an X-wing starfighter attack against the Death Star that is hunting them down. Luke joins the Rebel pilots, but their group suffers huge losses due to the Imperial fleet’s superior firepower. Han and Chewbacca dramatically return in the Millennium Falcon to save Luke from certain death. Luke is then guided by Obi-Wan’s spirit to use the Force to his benefit. In the nick of time, Luke fires a torpedo into the exhaust port of the Death Star, which causes an explosion in its reactor. The Death Star is destroyed, and the Rebel base is saved. As the film ends, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their bravery.
Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
After the Death Star’s destruction, Imperial droids comb through the galaxies in search of the Rebels. One droid lands on the icy planet Hoth, where the new Rebel base is located. When Luke sees the droid and goes to investigate, a yeti-like wampa knocks him out. When Luke regains consciousness, he uses the Force to retrieve his lightsaber and escapes. However, he is still in danger of freezing in a deadly snowstorm. Luke gets lost and wanders around, and then Obi-Wan Kenobi’s spirit instructs Luke to visit the planet Dagobah to seek out Yoda, a Jedi master who will teach him to master the Force. Meanwhile, Han is preparing to leave Hoth. Leia tries to convince him to stay, and Han tries to get her to admit her feelings for him. The two quarrel, and Han goes off in search of Luke, who has not yet returned. Han manages to rescue his friend just as Luke collapses in the snowstorm. Luke recovers quickly, but the Rebels soon realize that the Empire has located their base. Darth Vader orders his troops to attack Hoth. Luke leads the counterattack to stall the Imperial AT-ATs and escapes to Dagobah with R2-D2. Meanwhile, Han, Leia, C-3PO, and Chewbacca escape in the Millennium Falcon, which is crippled by its broken hyperdrive system. In order to escape the Imperial fleet, Han performs risky maneuvers and hides the ship in an asteroid belt, eventually finding shelter in a cave. Han and Leia start to grow closer, despite the tension surrounding them.
Meanwhile, Luke crash-lands on Dagobah, a swamp planet teeming with animal life. They meet a small, wizened creature who promises to take them to Yoda. Luke loses his patience when the elderly creature delays them, but he soon learns that this is Yoda himself. Yoda is not too keen on training someone this young and brash, but after Luke hears Obi-Wan speak on his behalf, he asks Yoda for a chance to redeem himself. Yoda agrees to train him as a Jedi and warns him of the stern tests that lie ahead. Darth Vader gets frustrated and summons bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, to track down the Rebels. Then, Vader receives word from Emperor Palpatine that Luke has started his Jedi training. Vader is ordered to either lure Luke to the dark side or destroy him completely. Meanwhile, the Millennium Falcon is forced to take off when the crew realizes that they have landed their ship inside a gigantic space monster. Since their hyperdrive still doesn't work, Han quickly hides the Millennium Falcon on an Imperial Star Destroyer that is hunting for them. The audacious decision seems to work, and the Rebels slip away to the nearby planet of Bespin, where Han’s friend, Lando Calrissian, governs a floating city. Boba Fett, who has seen them, promptly follows them. The group meets Lando, who greets them warmly, but Leia senses that something is off. Her suspicions are confirmed when they learn that Darth Vader has forced Lando to betray the Rebels. Vader’s plan is to entice Luke back to him by capturing his friends and using them as bait.
Back on Dagobah, Luke is pushed to his physical and mental limits as Yoda trains him to master the Force. The wise Jedi teacher warns Luke that negative emotions like rage and recklessness will take him further toward the dark side of the Force. Later, Yoda teaches Luke to trust the Force and believe in his own abilities by levitating his ship out of the swamp where he crashed. Luke then gets a premonition that his friends are in trouble, and he rushes off with R2-D2 to save them, despite Ben and Yoda’s warnings about his impulsiveness. Meanwhile, Darth Vader freezes Han Solo in carbonite as a test run for what he plans to do to Luke once he arrives. Before Han is frozen in this state of suspended animation and handed over to Boba Fett, Leia confesses her love for the snarky pilot. Lando Calrissian shows his true colors by regretting his decision to betray his friends. As Luke finally faces Darth Vader and the two warriors square off, Lando redeems himself by ordering his men to fire at the Imperial troops as he frees Leia and Chewbacca. They manage to get back to the Millennium Falcon, but by this time, Boba Fett has already left with Han Solo. Luke and Darth Vader draw their lightsabers and fight near the floating city’s central air shaft. Luke is gradually losing the battle. Vader slices off Luke’s hand and invites him to join the seductive dark side. Luke refuses to do so, saying that he would never join the man who killed his father. At this point, Darth Vader dramatically reveals that he is actually Luke’s father. Unable to digest this news, Luke plunges into the air shaft, hurtling to what seems like certain death. Meanwhile, Lando has ordered the city to be evacuated, and he takes off with Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids in the Millennium Falcon. Luke is now dangling precariously from some metal rods near the shaft’s exit. He is rapidly losing blood and in danger of falling, so he uses his connection to the Force to call out to Leia. She hears his distress call, orders the ship to turn around, and the Rebel party rescues Luke just in time. R2-D2 manages to fix the ship’s hyperdrive system, and the Rebels escape the pursuing Imperial fleet. Once back on Rebel turf, Luke is given a new cybernetic hand. He and his friends watch as Chewbacca and Lando take off in the Millennium Falcon in search of Han Solo.
Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi (1983)
A year has passed since Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and taken to Jabba the Hutt. The film opens with the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 entering Jabba the Hutt’s headquarters on Tatooine. They deliver a recorded message from Luke Skywalker, who claims that he wants to bargain for Han’s life. He also offers the droids to Jabba as a goodwill gesture. It is revealed that Hans has been kept frozen as a decoration in Jabba’s throne room. C-3PO proves useful as he translates negotiations between Jabba and a bounty hunter who has arrived with Chewbacca. After Chewbacca is taken to the dungeons, the bounty hunter extends their visit. Later that night, the bounty hunter unfreezes Han and reveals that they are Princess Leia in disguise. However, Jabba the Hutt catches them and enslaves them both. Luke then pays Jabba a visit and attempts to use his Jedi mind control on Jabba, but it does not work. Jabba sends Luke down through a trapdoor to be eaten alive by a gigantic monster called the rancor, but Luke outsmarts the creature and kills it. Next, Jabba tries to feed Han, Chewbacca, and Luke to a giant sandworm monster called a sarlacc, but Luke retrieves his new lightsaber with R2-D2’s help and starts fighting back. Lando Calrissian, who was disguised as one of Jabba’s guards, helps free the Rebels. In the ensuing confusion, Boba Fett inadvertently falls into the sarlacc pit, along with Jabba’s guards. Leia then manages to strangle Jabba the Hutt with the chains that enslaved her, and the Rebels escape.
Darth Vader visits the new Death Star, which is still under construction, and intimidates the commanding officer into getting the space station ready in time for the Emperor’s visit. Luke travels to Dagobah and discovers that Yoda is dying. However, Yoda assures Luke that his Jedi training is nearly complete and that Luke just needs to face Darth Vader again. Before fading into the Force realm, Yoda reveals that some goodness still remains in Vader. Obi-Wan’s spirit then appears and reminds Luke that Anakin, Luke’s father, was technically killed off by Darth Vader, the brooding figure who arose in his place. In addition, Kenobi tells Luke that he has a sister, and Luke realizes that Leia is his sibling.
By this time, the Rebels have received intelligence about the new Death Star and the Emperor’s visit. The Rebel leaders tell Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar to lead the attack on the Death Star directly, while Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids are tasked with traveling to Endor, a nearby moon, and dismantling the forcefield generator on it that protects the Death Star. On Endor, Luke becomes aware of Vader’s nearby presence on the Death Star thanks to the Force, and Vader similarly realizes that Luke is now on Endor. The Emperor instructs Vader to bring Luke to him. The Rebels engage in a cat-and-mouse game with Imperial guards on hoverbikes in the forests of Endor, and Leia befriends Wicket, an Ewok—a forest-dwelling creature that resembles a teddy bear. Wicket takes Leia to his village, but the other Rebels assume that she has been killed. Shortly after this, Chewbacca unwittingly springs a trap set by the Ewoks, and so the entire Rebel party ends up at the Ewok village. Things take a surprising turn when the Ewoks assume that C-3PO is some sort of god, and the furry creatures then prepare to cook the other Rebels. However, Luke uses his Jedi powers and the creatures’ misguided beliefs to his advantage, and the Rebels are freed. Luke informs Leia that she is his sister and that he intends to go confront Darth Vader.
Luke then voluntarily turns himself over to the Imperial forces and tries to convince Vader to leave the dark side. Vader declines the offer, even though he is clearly conflicted. Meanwhile, the Ewoks help Han and the Rebels set explosives around the forcefield generator on Endor, while Lando and Ackbar wait for their cue in hyperspace. Luke is then ushered into the presence of the Emperor, who reveals that the intelligence the Rebels received was all part of the Empire’s cunning trap. Stormtroopers suddenly surround Han and his team on Endor, but the Ewoks aid them in fighting back. Similarly, Lando and Ackbar now find themselves outnumbered by the Imperial fleet’s Star Destroyers. The Emperor has another surprise—the Death Star is now operational. It starts firing on the Rebel fleet, so they are forced to take evasive measures. Luke struggles to control his negative emotions and engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader as the Emperor watches in glee.
Back on Endor, Han outsmarts the Imperial troops and disables the Death Star’s forcefield. Meanwhile, Vader realizes that Leia is Luke’s sister, and he goads Luke into saving her by attacking him. Luke finally defeats Vader but refuses to kill him, resisting the pull of the dark side of the Force. Seeing this, the enraged Emperor attacks Luke with bolts of lightning. Back in space, Lando Calrissian and a few other fighters manage to blow up the Death Star’s reactor by flying directly into it and launching an assault. Meanwhile, Luke is succumbing to the Emperor’s lightning bolt attack, so Darth Vader springs into action and saves his son by throwing the Emperor into a gaping chasm. However, in doing so, Vader incurs heavy damage himself, and he realizes that he is dying. He asks Luke to take off his mask and gives him a poignant face-to-face farewell. Luke drags his father’s body into a ship and takes off just before the Death Star explodes. Back on Endor, the Rebel forces reunite and make merry. Han finally learns that Leia and Luke are siblings. Anakin Skywalker is given a fitting cremation, and Luke glimpses his father’s spirit in the Force realm alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke smiles and joins the others in their celebrations.
