Draft Variations for The Empire Strikes Back
by Jenn Dolari
::NOTES FROM THE OTHER DRAFTS::
-=Story Conferences=-
There is a Water planet
Ttaz = Rock planet with cavemen
Hoth/Ketbrae/Kettlebrae = Cloud City
Bestpenkoluta/Bestpenkoleta/Besspin-Kaaleita = Garden planet Ton-mummd = Grass planet
The City Planet = Capital of the Empire
Wampas are fish like creatures that “swim in the snow.”
Han’s backstory: Han was an orphan rasied by Wookiees, flunked out of the Space Academy and met a rich trader until they had a falling out.
In the beginning, two people are surveying the area. One man calls another on his comlink. The second man is killed, (this is later changed to Luke who dissapears instead of dying).
Vader’s chamber for meeting the Emperor is a grey black box.
Yoda is “The Critter.”
After the battle on Ice Planet , Vader goes into a retreat to his deep lava cave with pet gargoyles and demons.
The falcon lands on the Gas Planet and are attacked by “Whatnots” who live in the fog of the gas planet. Retreating, a patrol finds the Falcon and guides them to the city.
Versions of Lando discussed:
Lando is a trader on a Wookiee planet or a smuggler trader. He believes himself smarter than the Empire and even Darth is intimidated by him.
Lando is a James Bond character, with a woman on each arm and very charming.
Lando is a clone from the Clone Wars.
When 3PO is smashed, Vader take his robotic heart and crushes it.
-=Treatment=-
Luke wears a talisman from Old Ben around his neck containing the location and it contians markings of Dagobah.
No probot. Luke goes back to see an ice formation and is captured by a wampa.
After defeating the wampa, Luke makes it back to the base.
Luke declares his love to Leia, but she says she cannot return it.
Wampas attack the base just before the Empire attacks. Han is nearly killed when Luke uses the Force to help instead of his weapon. Luke is humiliated.
The Falcon escapes the attack on Hoth by going into Lightspeed and comes out at a different rebel base. The Empire is waiting and chases the Falcon into an asteroid field and hides in a cave.
Luke gives directions to Dagobah from the talisman around his neck.
Yoda is “Minch Yoda.”
Luke attempts to raide his X-Wing from the mud. Yoda sneaks up behind and raises it for him. Luke believes he raised the fighter.
The Emperor is a mix of Nixon and the Wizard of Oz.
Yoda tells Luke about the talisman. Ben gave it to Luke to show him the way to Yoda. Luke is starving, but oda refuses to give food to him until he learns the way of the force.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is no living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister training elsewhere in the galaxy.
Luke dreams of Vader. On the dream, Ben tells Luke it is time to leave. He wakes and immediately leaves.
Luke enters Cloud city via a ruined city, and has an encounter with the “Whatnots.”, who take him ot Lando.
During the Vader/Luke fight on Cloud City, Luke gets wedged against a wall and Vader and Luke try to use the force to break a pipe. It becomes a tug of war and eventually, the pipe collapses from both their power,
Vader tries to pursuade Luke to join the dark side instead of telling him that he is his father.
The heroes (including Han who was never frozen) make it back to the Falcon to escape. Just as it begins to take off, a blast door closes. Han manages to blast his way out. He then sees Luke dangling from an exit port on the underside of the city. Luke is rescued and they escape into hyperdrive.
The Falcon lands on the Garden Planet. Han, Chewie and Lando are getting ready to leave. 3PO thanks Chewie for putting him back together and they leave, leaving 3PO, R2, Luke and Leia behind.
-=1st Draft=-
The Rebel base is a buried Ice Castle.
War Room has a 3D map of the galaxy. Commander Willard explains “We are here on the fourth planet of the Granita Clusta.” Most of the map is red, and definds areas held by the Empire
Luke is on the floor of the cave and hears the wampas talking in an alien language. He gets up to leave but a wampa stops him. Hehears ben tell him to use the force. he slashes the forst wampa, and scares the others into not following him.
On his way back, Luke prays to Ben for guidance. Han and Leia find and rescue him.
Luke finds a crystal in the hilt of his lightsabre as he recovers. He plugs it into R2 and finds that it contains information on getting to Dagobah.
Luke declares his love to Leia, but Han interrupts
Wampas attack the base just before the Empire attacks. Luke is attacked and saved by Han. Luke is humiliated.
The rebel alliance needs Han’s rich trader friend, as he now controls all non Empire related transportation in the galaxy and heads a transport guild. Han is the only one who knows where he’s hiding and the Rebellion needs Han to contact him. He agrees, but the mission is aborted when the Empire attacks the base.
C3PO is encased in ice when a pipe aboard the Falcon breaks over his head.
The Falcon escapes the attack on Hoth by going into Lightspeed and with the help of a device Leia keeps with her at all times, comes out at a different rebel base, but not before a generator is hit knocking out the hyperdrive. Han repairs it and proceeds to the rebel base. The Empire is waiting. He tries to trick them into thinking he’s a lost trader, and they demand to board his ship. The Falcon escapes into the Asteroid Field and hides in a cave in an asteroid.
Luke and Artoo escape just as Vader enters the base. Troopers tell Vader that Luke may be trapped under collapsed ice, but Vader senses his presence as he leaves. Luke begins to choke in his X-Wing and before passing out, he gives the crystal to Artoo and they leave for Dagobah.
Yoda is Minch.
Han tries to sedice Leia, and she says she’s not in love with Han or Luke. Later, Han tries again and they kiss…but they’re interrupted by an annoyed Chewie.
After the battle on Ice Planet , Vader goes into a retreat to his castle with pet gargoyles and demons as Luke begins his training. The castle is black steel on a sea of lava. He feels a disturbance in the force and discusses this with the emperor. It’s Luke and he must be eliminated.
Luke believes he’s in the wrong place and begins to leave. Yoda reveals he taught Ben, and convinces him by levitating Luke’s sabre and calling on Ben. Ben appears and the two begin to fence. Luke sees that Yoda is BETTER than Ben and Yoda takes Luke to his reed house.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is no living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister. He takes the Jedi oath from the spirit of his father.
An imaginary fight between Vader and Luke happens at Yoda’s behest int he swamp. Vader wants Luke as an ally and that his love for Leia and Han stands between them. Luke tries to reach for the stars, but they move away from his touch. He runs away from Vader.
Han leaves the cave and goes immediately into Hyperspace to Lando Kadar’s city on the cloud planet of Hoth. Lando is a refugee from the Clone Wars.
Luke tells Yoda that he ran away from Vader because he couldn’t trust himself. Yoda tells him to always remember that he’s a Jedi. They salute each other with their sabres and Luke leaves. Using the force, he locates Leia and knows Vader will be there as well.
Just as C3PO is found destroyed, Leia begins to suspect Lando as a clone. On the way to dinner, he admits to being one of many sons, cloned from his father. His sister has cloned herself many times as well. Since the war, most of the clones have died, and he feels very alone.
After delivering the heroes to Vader, the group returns to it’s quarters: Vader does not want them at all as anything but bait for Luke.
Luke enters Cloud city via a ruined city, and has an encounter with the “Whatnots.”, who take him ot Lando. When the Empire kills the Whatnot chief Lando begins his turn against the Empire.
Vader and Luke have a surreal fight scene among the stars. Vader’s shadow is completely black, wehile Luke’s is almost as opaque. Vader attempts to pursuade Luke to join him in the Dark Side.
Luke’s shadow gets more see-through when he refuses.
The heroes (including Han who was never frozen) make it back to the Falcon to escape. Just as it begins to take off, a blast door closes. Han manages to blast his way out. He then sees Luke hangling from an exit port on the underside of the city. Luke is rescued and they escape into hyperdrive.
The Falcon lands on Bespinn Kaalida, the Garden Planet. Han gets ready to leave to find Orvan Marekal and pursuade him to join the Rebellion (Marekal is Han’s “stepfather/trading friend.”) Luke salutes Han from a garden balcony as the Falcon takes off.
-=2nd Draft=-
Different crawl up.
Vader’s Chamber is a dark cube with one shaft of light. He sits on another black cube.
Vader tries to communicate with the Emperor but instead talks with Sate Molok grand Vizier to the Emperor. The Emperor eventually tells Vader to turn Luke to the Dark Side.
Yoda takes Luke to his mud house and reveals to him that he trained Ben AND Luke’s father.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is now living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister.
Luke enters a tree filled with the Dark Side of the force. He goes in and swings at a shape in the dark. He comes out trembling. Yoda tells him to go back in.
Han hides on a Star Destroyer before jumping into Hyperspace to Lando’s gas mine.
Yoda and Luke are at a campfire, and he tells Luke to relax and use the force to see friends and far away places. Ben appears and asks how Luke is doing. Yoda tells him he’d be his best student of he would concentrate.
As Luke runs to Bespin, Yoda says “Now we must find another.” Ben: “He is our only hope.”
A fat alien show up on Cloud City to buy an imprisoned Chewie. The cost is too much.
Lando turns against the Empire and rescues the heroes. They run to an elevator to the Falcon, but the power is cut. Lando goes into the shaft to fix the elevator, but R2 accesses the central computer and starts the elevator again at breakneck speed. Lando fires on the elevator brake just as he’s about to be crushed at the ceiling.
Before Luke falls into the reactor shaft, Vadre tells him that he is his father. Vader joined the dark side during training, and once a Jedi, he extermainated most of them. Ben fought Vader and pushed him down a reactor shaft after severing one of his arms. Vader survived and became a mutant.
While escpaing from Cloud City, Leia hears Ben tell her to go back and save Luke. They find him hanging from a weather vane and just as they get to him, he falls. The Falcon catches him, but he nearly falls overboard when a an explosion rocks the ship. The Falcon goes to hyperdrive.
Leia tells Luke that she loves him, but he tells her that he’s gone into another world, and that she’s better off with Han. They both look onto the Falcon, which has gone to find Han.
-=Revised 2nd Draft=-
Vader tries to communicate with the Emperor but instead talks with Sate Pestage grand Vizier to the Emperor. The Emperor eventually tells Vader to turn Luke to the Dark Side.
-=3rd Draft=-
In Yoda’s house Luke calls Ben himself to prove to Yoda that he wants to learn the ways of the Force. Ben says that Luke needs a cahnce to prove himself.
During the training, Luke is nearly eaten by the same monster that ate R2 earlier in the movie.
As Luke runs to Bespin, Ben says “The boy is our last hope.” Yoda: “No, we must search for another.”
-=4th Draft=-
Luke is about to kiss Leia in the base when the Droids interrupt.
-=Revised 4th Draft=-
Once Luke falls down the shaft, Vader calls back the TIE fighters attacking the Falcon in defeat.
Draft Variations for The Empire Strikes Back
by Jenn Dolari
::NOTES FROM THE OTHER DRAFTS::
-=Story Conferences=-
There is a Water planet
Ttaz = Rock planet with cavemen
Hoth/Ketbrae/Kettlebrae = Cloud City
Bestpenkoluta/Bestpenkoleta/Besspin-Kaaleita = Garden planet Ton-mummd = Grass planet
The City Planet = Capital of the Empire
Wampas are fish like creatures that “swim in the snow.”
Han’s backstory: Han was an orphan rasied by Wookiees, flunked out of the Space Academy and met a rich trader until they had a falling out.
In the beginning, two pwople are surveying the area. One man calls another on his comlink. The second man is killed, (this is later changed to Luke who dissapears instead of dying).
Vader’s chamber for meeting the Emperor is a grey black box.
Yoda is “The Critter.”
After the battle on Ice Planet , Vader goes into a retreat to his deep lava cave with pet gargoyles and demons.
The falcon lands on the Gas Planet and are attacked by “Whatnots” who live in the fog of the gas planet. Retreating, a patrol finds the Falcon and guides them to the city.
Versions of Lando discussed:
Lando is a trader on a Wookiee planet or a smuggler trader. He believes himself smarter than the Empire and even Darth is intimidated by him.
Lando is a James Bond character, with a woman on each arm and very charming.
Lando is a clone from the Clone Wars.
When 3PO is smashed, Vader take his robotic heart and crushes it.
-=Treatment=-
Luke wears a talisman from Old Ben around his neck containing the location and it contians markings of Dagobah.
No probot. Luke goes back to see an ice formation and is captured by a wampa.
After defeating the wampa, Luke makes it back to the base.
Luke declares his love to Leia, but she says she cannot return it.
Wampas attack the base just before the Empire attacks. Han is nearly killed when Luke uses the Force to help instead of his weapon. Luke is humiliated.
The Falcon escapes the attack on Hoth by going into Lightspeed and comes out at a different rebel base. The Empire is waiting and chases the Falcon into an asteroid field and hides in a cave.
Luke gives directions to Dagobah from the talisman around his neck.
Yoda is “Minch Yoda.”
Luke attempts to raide his X-Wing from the mud. Yoda sneaks up behind and raises it for him. Luke believes he raised the fighter.
The Emperor is a mix of Nixon and the Wizard of Oz.
Yoda tells Luke about the talisman. Ben gave it to Luke to show him the way to Yoda. Luke is starving, but oda refuses to give food to him until he learns the way of the force.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is no living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister training elsewhere in the galaxy.
Luke dreams of Vader. On the dream, Ben tells Luke it is time to leave. He wakes and immediately leaves.
Luke enters Cloud city via a ruined city, and has an encounter with the “Whatnots.”, who take him ot Lando.
During the Vader/Luke fight on Cloud City, Luke gets wedged against a wall and Vader and Luke try to use the force to break a pipe. It becomes a tug of war and eventually, the pipe collapses from both their power,
Vader tries to pursuade Luke to join the dark side instead of telling him that he is his father.
The heroes (including Han who was never frozen) make it back to the Falcon to escape. Just as it begins to take off, a blast door closes. Han manages to blast his way out. He then sees Luke dangling from an exit port on the underside of the city. Luke is rescued and they escape into hyperdrive.
The Falcon lands on the Garden Planet. Han, Chewie and Lando are getting ready to leave. 3PO thanks Chewie for putting him back together and they leave, leaving 3PO, R2, Luke and Leia behind.
-=1st Draft=-
The Rebel base is a buried Ice Castle.
War Room has a 3D map of the galaxy. Commander Willard explains “We are here on the fourth planet of the Granita Clusta.” Most of the map is red, and definds areas held by the Empire
Luke is on the floor of the cave and hears the wampas talking in an alien language. He gets up to leave but a wampa stops him. Hehears ben tell him to use the force. he slashes the forst wampa, and scares the others into not following him.
On his way back, Luke prays to Ben for guidance. Han and Leia find and rescue him.
Luke finds a crystal in the hilt of his lightsabre as he recovers. He plugs it into R2 and finds that it contains information on getting to Dagobah.
Luke declares his love to Leia, but Han interrupts
Wampas attack the base just before the Empire attacks. Luke is attacked and saved by Han. Luke is humiliated.
The rebel alliance needs Han’s rich trader friend, as he now controls all non Empire related transportation in the galaxy and heads a transport guild. Han is the only one who knows where he’s hiding and the Rebellion needs Han to contact him. He agrees, but the mission is aborted when the Empire attacks the base.
C3PO is encased in ice when a pipe aboard the Falcon breaks over his head.
The Falcon escapes the attack on Hoth by going into Lightspeed and with the help of a device Leia keeps with her at all times, comes out at a different rebel base, but not before a generator is hit knocking out the hyperdrive. Han repairs it and proceeds to the rebel base. The Empire is waiting. He tries to trick them into thinking he’s a lost trader, and they demand to board his ship. The Falcon escapes into the Asteroid Field and hides in a cave in an asteroid.
Luke and Artoo escape just as Vader enters the base. Troopers tell Vader that Luke may be trapped under collapsed ice, but Vader senses his presence as he leaves. Luke begins to choke in his X-Wing and before passing out, he gives the crystal to Artoo and they leave for Dagobah.
Yoda is Minch.
Han tries to sedice Leia, and she says she’s not in love with Han or Luke. Later, Han tries again and they kiss…but they’re interrupted by an annoyed Chewie.
After the battle on Ice Planet , Vader goes into a retreat to his castle with pet gargoyles and demons as Luke begins his training. The castle is black steel on a sea of lava. He feels a disturbance in the force and discusses this with the emperor. It’s Luke and he must be eliminated.
Luke believes he’s in the wrong place and begins to leave. Yoda reveals he taught Ben, and convinces him by levitating Luke’s sabre and calling on Ben. Ben appears and the two begin to fence. Luke sees that Yoda is BETTER than Ben and Yoda takes Luke to his reed house.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is no living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister. He takes the Jedi oath from the spirit of his father.
An imaginary fight between Vader and Luke happens at Yoda’s behest int he swamp. Vader wants Luke as an ally and that his love for Leia and Han stands between them. Luke tries to reach for the stars, but they move away from his touch. He runs away from Vader.
Han leaves the cave and goes immediately into Hyperspace to Lando Kadar’s city on the cloud planet of Hoth. Lando is a refugee from the Clone Wars.
Luke tells Yoda that he ran away from Vader because he couldn’t trust himself. Yoda tells him to always remember that he’s a Jedi. They salute each other with their sabres and Luke leaves. Using the force, he locates Leia and knows Vader will be there as well.
Just as C3PO is found destroyed, Leia begins to suspect Lando as a clone. On the way to dinner, he admits to being one of many sons, cloned from his father. His sister has cloned herself many times as well. Since the war, most of the clones have died, and he feels very alone.
After delivering the heroes to Vader, the group returns to it’s quarters: Vader does not want them at all as anything but bait for Luke.
Luke enters Cloud city via a ruined city, and has an encounter with the “Whatnots.”, who take him ot Lando. When the Empire kills the Whatnot chief Lando begins his turn against the Empire.
Vader and Luke have a surreal fight scene among the stars. Vader’s shadow is completely black, wehile Luke’s is almost as opaque. Vader attempts to pursuade Luke to join him in the Dark Side.
Luke’s shadow gets more see-through when he refuses.
The heroes (including Han who was never frozen) make it back to the Falcon to escape. Just as it begins to take off, a blast door closes. Han manages to blast his way out. He then sees Luke hangling from an exit port on the underside of the city. Luke is rescued and they escape into hyperdrive.
The Falcon lands on Bespinn Kaalida, the Garden Planet. Han gets ready to leave to find Orvan Marekal and pursuade him to join the Rebellion (Marekal is Han’s “stepfather/trading friend.”) Luke salutes Han from a garden balcony as the Falcon takes off.
-=2nd Draft=-
Different crawl up.
Vader’s Chamber is a dark cube with one shaft of light. He sits on another black cube.
Vader tries to communicate with the Emperor but instead talks with Sate Molok grand Vizier to the Emperor. The Emperor eventually tells Vader to turn Luke to the Dark Side.
Yoda takes Luke to his mud house and reveals to him that he trained Ben AND Luke’s father.
Ben explains that Vader didn’t kill him, and is now living in another plane of existance. Ben brings along the spirit of Luke’s father and tells Luke that he has a sister.
Luke enters a tree filled with the Dark Side of the force. He goes in and swings at a shape in the dark. He comes out trembling. Yoda tells him to go back in.
Han hides on a Star Destroyer before jumping into Hyperspace to Lando’s gas mine.
Yoda and Luke are at a campfire, and he tells Luke to relax and use the force to see friends and far away places. Ben appears and asks how Luke is doing. Yoda tells him he’d be his best student of he would concentrate.
As Luke runs to Bespin, Yoda says “Now we must find another.” Ben: “He is our only hope.”
A fat alien show up on Cloud City to buy an imprisoned Chewie. The cost is too much.
Lando turns against the Empire and rescues the heroes. They run to an elevator to the Falcon, but the power is cut. Lando goes into the shaft to fix the elevator, but R2 accesses the central computer and starts the elevator again at breakneck speed. Lando fires on the elevator brake just as he’s about to be crushed at the ceiling.
Before Luke falls into the reactor shaft, Vadre tells him that he is his father. Vader joined the dark side during training, and once a Jedi, he extermainated most of them. Ben fought Vader and pushed him down a reactor shaft after severing one of his arms. Vader survived and became a mutant.
While escpaing from Cloud City, Leia hears Ben tell her to go back and save Luke. They find him hanging from a weather vane and just as they get to him, he falls. The Falcon catches him, but he nearly falls overboard when a an explosion rocks the ship. The Falcon goes to hyperdrive.
Leia tells Luke that she loves him, but he tells her that he’s gone into another world, and that she’s better off with Han. They both look onto the Falcon, which has gone to find Han.
-=Revised 2nd Draft=-
Vader tries to communicate with the Emperor but instead talks with Sate Pestage grand Vizier to the Emperor. The Emperor eventually tells Vader to turn Luke to the Dark Side.
-=3rd Draft=-
In Yoda’s house Luke calls Ben himself to prove to Yoda that he wants to learn the ways of the Force. Ben says that Luke needs a cahnce to prove himself.
During the training, Luke is nearly eaten by the same monster that ate R2 earlier in the movie.
As Luke runs to Bespin, Ben says “The boy is our last hope.” Yoda: “No, we must search for another.”
-=4th Draft=-
Luke is about to kiss Leia in the base when the Droids interrupt.
-=Revised 4th Draft=-
Once Luke falls down the shaft, Vader calls back the TIE fighters attacking the Falcon in defeat.
July 9, 2010 at 11:10 am
About the idea of Vader saying fought Vader in a Sheft lost his arms and survived. Why didn’t they use that in Episode III?
July 10, 2010 at 2:23 am
Because Lucas decided on the lava backstory while writing Return of the Jedi. In fact most of the “always there” prequel ideas were developed in ’81 -’82 and again in ’97 – ’98. If you read the earliest dafts of Star Wars they bear almost no resemblance to the films except for some character names. Star Wars has always been made up as Lucas went along.