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I prithee, attend me now:

More words would I speak.

In your solitude

On the dunes of Tatooine,

More training you’ll have.

OBI-WAN

More training? Am I not a Jedi, sir?

YODA

An old friend hath learn’d

The way t’immortality,

This must thou learn, too.

’Tis one who return’d

From th’underworld of the Force.

’Tis thine old master.

OBI-WAN

E’en Qui-Gon Jinn? Forsooth, this news is rare!

YODA

To commune with him

Shall I, in due time, teach you;

Much hath he to say.

Enter
B
AIL
O
RGANA
, C-3PO, R2-D2,
and
C
APTAIN
A
NTILLES
above, on balcony.

BAIL

My Captain—brave Antilles—sir, a word.

ANTILLES

Aye, Highness, here I am: what is your need?

BAIL

These droids I place within your worthy care.

Pray treat them well and make them brightly shine.

Moreover, as I ponder all that’s been,

Methinks the droid of protocol must have

His mind eras’d, to start anew.

C-3PO

—Alack!

[Exeunt C-3PO and Captain Antilles.

BAIL

Now, for a time, we find a hop’d-for rest,

Now quiet—if not peace—surroundeth us,

Now shall we each go hence our sev’ral ways,

Now doth a time of fortitude begin.

OBI-WAN

The tragedies that we have seen do reach

Beyond the pale of what we humans should

Endure, far worse than mine imagination:

A woeful season for the galaxy.

R2-D2

[
aside:
] Our tale hath reach’d its somber, wretched end,

As we bid our farewell to noble friends.

These star wars stretch our spirits to the brink

Whereon we’ll find new hope, or fade and shrink.

[All freeze as Yoda takes center stage.

YODA

My friends, ’tis the end.

As befits a noble queen—

Regal as the morn—

Lo, here’s Padmé all serene

On a coffin borne.

Whilst the people of Naboo

Each a weeping make,

Watching Padmé, good and true,

Resting, ne’er to wake.

On a ship above, in space:

There Darth Vader stands,

Empire’s rise he doth embrace,

This with robot hands.

Here doth stand the emperor,

Eyeing his new plan:

Pain the Death Star shall confer,

Racking Alderaan.

Ere that time, Organa flies,

Quickly home doth go.

Under care of tender eyes,

Ease shall Leia know.

Later, o’er on Tatooine,

Sojourns Obi-Wan.

Fresh, wee Luke is on the scene,

O, the father’s son!

Riding eopie he appears:

Stranger now, soon friend.

Owen and Beru, sans fears,

One small child shall tend.

There may Luke rest many years:

Here, friends, ’tis the end.

[Exeunt omnes.

END.

AFTERWORD.

William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of the Sith’s Revenge
is aptly named;
Revenge of the Sith
is a classic tragedy in every sense. As in all tragic tales, Fate has determined that a happy ending is not in the cards. When the film premiered in 2005, we fans of the Star Wars saga knew what had to happen: Obi-Wan and Yoda must go into exile, baby Leia and baby Luke must be given to the Organa and Skywalker families, C-3PO must have his memory erased. But, most important, Anakin Skywalker must become Darth Vader. As I watched
Revenge of the Sith
again in preparation for writing this book, I realized how well the movie charts the inevitable course Anakin takes—his tragic fall—complete with hubris, as though he were a character taken out of the ancient Greek tradition. (Or maybe a Shakespeare play!)

In the movie, Anakin and Palpatine have a key conversation as they sit in the Galaxies Opera House on Coruscant, watching a performance that always seemed to me half Cirque du Soleil and half
Koyaanisqatsi
. At first, I intended for this to be a chance encounter between the two characters. When I started to write the scene, though, I recalled the play-within-a-play from
Hamlet
and realized that, within the setting of a theatrical performance, Palpatine could engineer the acting to make his message fully resonate with Anakin. (Along the way, a player recites a speech from an ancient Oedipal Tusken Raider story, to which I first made reference in
William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return
.) Where better than a theater to discuss hard topics? As any parent knows, it’s often on a car ride or in a movie theater—when you and your kids are looking at something in front of you, not at one another—that the best conversations happen. Maybe Palpatine knew that, too. Regardless, he gets his chance to catch Anakin’s conscience as Hamlet ensnared Claudius, though to a different end.

Throughout the book, Anakin borrows lines from each of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. Anakin and Padmé speak in rhyming quatrains when they are alone—as they have since their romance began—but in
Act V
,
scene 2
, when the final rift in their relationship comes, their rhymes are (intentionally) less than perfect. When Anakin becomes Darth Vader and Chancellor Palpatine is revealed as Darth Sidious, I follow Shakespearean convention and change their names in the script accordingly.

Two trilogies are now behind us, dear reader. Launching into the prequels has been an adventure, giving me a new appreciation for the films. I look forward to hearing people debate the order in which the
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
series should be read with the same fervor they argue about the order in which the movies should be watched. (I’m a traditionalist: in my family, it’s 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3.) Thank you for sharing this journey with me, and may the Force be with you onward, into episodes 7, 8, and 9.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

This book is dedicated to my spouse, Jennifer, who is the most caring, loving, intelligent, and beautiful woman I know. Imagine my surprise when she married me! Thank you, Jennifer, for all of it.

Thank you to my two little Padawans, Liam and Graham; to my parents, Beth and Bob Doescher; to my brother Erik and his family Em, Aracelli, and Addison; to my aunt Holly Havens; and to my dear and helpful friends Josh Hicks and Murray Biggs. Thank you to the team at Quirk Books, who have been so kind: Jason Rekulak, Rick Chillot, Nicole De Jackmo, Eric Smith, Suzanne Wallace, Brett Cohen, Jane Morley, Tim O’Donnell, and the rest of the team. Thank you to my agent, Adriann Ranta—you are the best. Thank you to Jennifer Heddle and Leland Chee at Lucasfilm, and to illustrator Nicolas Delort. Thank you to so many supportive family members and friends: Heidi Altman and Scott Roehm, Emmy Betz and Michael Hoke, Jane Bidwell, Travis Boeh and Sarah Woodburn, Chris Buehler and Marian Hammond, Erin and Nathan Buehler, Jeff and Caryl Creswell, Ken Evers-Hood, Mark Fordice, Chris Frimoth, Alana Garrigues, Brian Heron, Jim and Nancy Hicks, Anne Huebsch, Apricot and David Irving, Doree Jarboe, Alexis Kaushansky, Bobby Lopez, Chris and Andrea Martin, Jessica Mason, Bruce McDonald, Joan and Grady Miller, Jim Moiso, Janice Morgan, Michael Morrill and Tara Schuster, Dave Nieuwstraten, Omid Nooshin, Bill Rauch, Julia Rodriguez-O’Donnell, Larry Rothe, Kristy Thompson, Naomi Walcott and Audu Besmer, Steve Weeks, Ryan Wilmot, Ben and Katie Wire, Ethan Youngerman and Rebecca Lessem, Dan Zehr, and members of the 501st Legion.

Finally, thank you to the Star Wars fans, Shakespeare fans, theater buffs, book lovers, students and teachers, eager kids, eager adults, comic con attendees, geeks, nerds, and everyone else who has supported these books. Your enthusiasm and generosity mean the world to me.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(1564–1616) was a poet and playwright. He is widely considered one of the greatest writers in the English language.

GEORGE LUCAS
is a film producer, screenwriter, director, and the creator of the Star Wars motion picture saga. He lives in California.

IAN DOESCHER
is the New York Times best-selling author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family. Visit him at
IanDoescher.com
.