abstract
| - The opening crawl briefly retells the events of the last film. After the destruction of the Death Star, Luke Skywalker became a bodyguard for the President and his family. First Lady Leia Johnson boards a Republic cruiser heading to Tatooine and meet with Boba the Hutt, a ruthless alien crime lord, to discuss the release of Republic hostages. Luke accompanies the First Lady for protection. They are contacted by Han Solo, who says that he and Chewbacca have already left for the meeting. The Republic cruiser, however, suffers a hyperdrive failure. The First Lady's party crashes on the swamp planet of Mimban, killing everyone on board except for her and Luke. There, Luke and Leia discover an ancient temple. Luke ignores the warnings to turn back and discovers a hidden library. Inside, he discovers a recording of the great war hero Obi S. Columbus. It shows his fight against the Empire in its infancy. However, it cuts off moments before his death. Luke wants to see more, so he goes deeper into the temple and leaves Leia behind. There, he discovers a drunken Imperial guard outside of a chamber, who calls himself a first-class bounty hunter. Luke dismisses him and enters the chamber. As Luke enters the room, he faces the Emperor himself, encased in a metal mask and surrounded by his top advisers and guards. Meanwhile, Han and Chewbacca are at the Tatooine meeting. Boba the Hutt, a "big, furry guy", is getting upset at the First Lady's tardiness. He threatens to kill them and the hostages if she doesn't show up soon. Han warns him not to try anything, which just gets Boba angry. He orders his henchmen to kill the two. Han and Chewie makes quick work of them. They start to chase Boba down deep into his palace. The Emperor orders his elite forces to seize Luke. Luke draws his laser blade and fights off his attackers. He holds the dictator at sword point and demands his surrender. The Emperor confesses that his rule fell apart after the Death Star was destroyed and that he always intended Darth Vader to succeed him. With Vader being dead, he needed a new heir, one who could reunite the Empire. He says that he arranged for Luke to crash on Mimban, for him to discover the temple, for him to end up in this very room. He offers Luke a choice: either join him or die. Luke refuses and prepares to silence the corrupt ruler permanently when he unleashes a barrage of lightning against Luke. The Jedi falls to his knees. The Emperor continues to shoot lightning and as Luke begins to fall into unconsciousness, he calls Luke and the whole Republic swine. Luke gathers up his inner strength and deflects the lightning back, knocking the tyrant off balance. Luke releases a series of powerful sword strikes, bringing the masked Emperor within an inch of his life. Instead of killing him, Luke swore that he would bring him to justice and have him face trial in the Republic. As he drags the Emperor out, he notices the drunk guard wasn't there anymore. He also doesn't see Leia. Worried she may have been kidnapped, he rushes out only to see a massive ship lift off with Leia's faint scream emerging from it. He is horrified that this happened while he was supposed to protect her. He vows to get her back. He puts The drunken guard, calling himself Django, says that he really is a bounty hunter sent to capture the Emperor, but "the First Lady'll do". He takes her to Boba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine. When Boba sees her, he orders her to be thrown to the 'Carkoon', a vicious and deadly monster hidden in an underground pit. Han and Chewbacca are already there, fighting the Carkoon. Thanks to Han's quick thinking, the Carkoon is choked to death by the very chains restraining it. They manage to escape the pit and confront Boba. Chewbacca knocks him to the ground and bites him. Boba screams and realizes that Chewbacca is venomous. Boba's corpse is thrown into the Carkoon Pit. Luke calls Master Jedi Goda and tells him that he has the Emperor but Leia is missing. Goda arrives, taking the Emperor into custody. Goda calls for a search for the First Lady. Han, Leia, and Chewbacca have escaped Boba's territory and are wandering the desert. Just when they think they see civilization, they are confronted by Django. He shoots at Leia, but Han blocks the shot with his body. Chewbacca shoots Django in the heart, killing him. Han says in his dying breath that he's glad to have joined the Republic and he hopes they persevere. He tells Leia to say goodbye to Luke for him. Han then dies. Leia manages to reach a small mining town, where she contacts Master Goda. Goda goes to Tatooine, but has to pass through Imperial space to get there. They are chased by Imperial fighters, whom they barely manage to shake. When they land on Tatooine, Luke and Goda split up to find Leia faster. With no one watching him, the Emperor slips away. Goda senses something wrong, but it's too late. The Emperor sneaks up on Goda and slices his head off, instantly murdering him. Luke finds Leia and Chewbacca. When he hears what happened to Han, he is devastated. He blames himself for letting Django go. Leia denies that, saying that there was nothing he could do. Luke promises that the Emperor will pay. Luke spots the Emperor laughing at Goda's dead body. He charges at him, laser blade in hand. A lengthy duel breaks out. Luke gets the upper hand and in a fit of rage, he kills the Emperor. Moments before death, the Emperor takes off his mask. He reveals himself to be Obi S. Columbus, Luke's father. He hands Luke a hologram tape, telling him to watch it. It then cuts to Han's funeral. Luke looks at the tape in his hand and then at the stars in the sky, his mind full of questions. It zooms into the sky, where the credits begin to roll.
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