find where Grievous doth reside.
R4-G9
Bloop, wizzle, mip!
[Exit R4-G9 with fighter.
OBI-WAN
—Now, unto level ten!
Some transportation I must now obtain
To journey unto Grievous’ secret lair.
Enter WRANGLER with B OGA , a giant varactyl.
O, holla, sirrah, what’s this beast of yours?
Can it be ridden by a one as I?
WRANGLER
No beast—a virtuous varactyl, she.
Her name is Boga: riders choose not her,
But she may deign to choose a rider, see?
OBI-WAN
Your meaning is most clear. [ To Boga: ] Forgive me,
madam:
I do entreat your mercy and your aid,
To venture out upon a noble quest
And help me rid this planet of a vile
And cruel dissembler: Gen’ral Grievous.
BOGA
—Braaee!
WRANGLER
She grants you her consent. Ride bravely, sir.
[Exit wrangler as Obi-Wan mounts Boga.
OBI-WAN
Now, Boga, go!
BOGA
—Braaee, bwawawa!
OBI-WAN
—She flies!
Today shall be the day when Grievous dies.
[Exit Obi-Wan astride Boga.
SCENE 2.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter Y ODA and K I -A DI -M UNDI in beam, M ACE W INDU , A NAKIN S KYWALKER, OTHER MEMBERS OF THE J EDI C OUNCIL , and C OMMANDER C ODY .
CODY
Forgive me, Master Windu, I would not
Make interruption thus, except to bring
This news of greatest import: General
Kenobi hath made contact with the fiend,
E’en Gen’ral Grievous; we begin th’attack
E’en now, directed by myself.
MACE
—’Tis well.
Good Anakin, as our high chancellor
And thou are close as fathers and sons, take
This news to him: observe how he reacts.
His answer shall give clue to his intent.
ANAKIN
I shall do as you say, my Master Windu.
[Exit Anakin.
MACE
An evil plot I sense, which falls not on
The other guys, but us: a plot that would
Destroy the Jedi Order utterly.
The dark side of the Force surroundeth our
E’en darker chancellor. Can ye sense it?
KI-ADI
If he shall not surrender ev’ry pow’r
Once Grievous is defeated, we must act
With haste to take his office from him, aye?
MACE
The Jedi Council then must take, perforce,
Control o’er all the Senate’s dealings so
We may a peaceful switch of pow’r secure.
The sunset limited may be, indeed,
Yet it is now, at least, upon th’horizon.
YODA
The sunset doth come
Only before darkest night.
To that this thought leads.
Great care we must take,
Else the very pow’r we claim
Our undoing is.
[Exeunt Yoda, Mace, Ki-Adi, other members of the Jedi Council, and Commander Cody.
Enter C HANCELLOR P ALPATINE and A NAKIN S KYWALKER , on balcony .
ANAKIN
My worthy Chancellor, well met, my liege—
The Jedi have e’en now receiv’d report
From General Kenobi: he’s engag’d
With Gen’ral Grievous, and we do expect
His swift success and vict’ry o’er the droid.
PALPATINE
Our fondest hope it is that General
Kenobi shall this challenge face with valor.
ANAKIN
Forsooth, I should be there to fight with him.
PALPATINE
Alas, ’tis most unfortunate to me
That thine own Council knoweth not thy skill,
Else they most surely would send thee with him.
Dost thou not wonder wherefore they have not
Made thee a Jedi Master like the rest?
’Tis almost like they slumber, and see not.
ANAKIN
Of all my reveries, this thing I’d know.
Each day, as by degrees, the feeling grows
That I am from the Council being barr’d.
’Tis clear to me there’s much about the Force
They’d hide from me, an ’twere I did but sleep.
PALPATINE
In all thy dreams, thou ne’er imagin’d this:
Thy friends no longer trust thee, Anakin.
For in their nightmares, lo, they see thee rise,
Thy future pow’r doth keep them wide awake.
It is thy destiny to conquer o’er
Their fear and penetrate their winking lies.
If thou’d but look to me, I shall assist
Thee in thy quest to know the Force complete.
ANAKIN
Yet how hath knowledge of the Force come ’fore
Your eyes? Is’t not made known but to the Jedi?
PALPATINE
My mentor brought the Force within my sight.
Such visions—yea, and revels—saw I there:
Beyond mere apparition of the night,
This vision was as though the sun had
R4-G9
Bloop, wizzle, mip!
[Exit R4-G9 with fighter.
OBI-WAN
—Now, unto level ten!
Some transportation I must now obtain
To journey unto Grievous’ secret lair.
Enter WRANGLER with B OGA , a giant varactyl.
O, holla, sirrah, what’s this beast of yours?
Can it be ridden by a one as I?
WRANGLER
No beast—a virtuous varactyl, she.
Her name is Boga: riders choose not her,
But she may deign to choose a rider, see?
OBI-WAN
Your meaning is most clear. [ To Boga: ] Forgive me,
madam:
I do entreat your mercy and your aid,
To venture out upon a noble quest
And help me rid this planet of a vile
And cruel dissembler: Gen’ral Grievous.
BOGA
—Braaee!
WRANGLER
She grants you her consent. Ride bravely, sir.
[Exit wrangler as Obi-Wan mounts Boga.
OBI-WAN
Now, Boga, go!
BOGA
—Braaee, bwawawa!
OBI-WAN
—She flies!
Today shall be the day when Grievous dies.
[Exit Obi-Wan astride Boga.
SCENE 2.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter Y ODA and K I -A DI -M UNDI in beam, M ACE W INDU , A NAKIN S KYWALKER, OTHER MEMBERS OF THE J EDI C OUNCIL , and C OMMANDER C ODY .
CODY
Forgive me, Master Windu, I would not
Make interruption thus, except to bring
This news of greatest import: General
Kenobi hath made contact with the fiend,
E’en Gen’ral Grievous; we begin th’attack
E’en now, directed by myself.
MACE
—’Tis well.
Good Anakin, as our high chancellor
And thou are close as fathers and sons, take
This news to him: observe how he reacts.
His answer shall give clue to his intent.
ANAKIN
I shall do as you say, my Master Windu.
[Exit Anakin.
MACE
An evil plot I sense, which falls not on
The other guys, but us: a plot that would
Destroy the Jedi Order utterly.
The dark side of the Force surroundeth our
E’en darker chancellor. Can ye sense it?
KI-ADI
If he shall not surrender ev’ry pow’r
Once Grievous is defeated, we must act
With haste to take his office from him, aye?
MACE
The Jedi Council then must take, perforce,
Control o’er all the Senate’s dealings so
We may a peaceful switch of pow’r secure.
The sunset limited may be, indeed,
Yet it is now, at least, upon th’horizon.
YODA
The sunset doth come
Only before darkest night.
To that this thought leads.
Great care we must take,
Else the very pow’r we claim
Our undoing is.
[Exeunt Yoda, Mace, Ki-Adi, other members of the Jedi Council, and Commander Cody.
Enter C HANCELLOR P ALPATINE and A NAKIN S KYWALKER , on balcony .
ANAKIN
My worthy Chancellor, well met, my liege—
The Jedi have e’en now receiv’d report
From General Kenobi: he’s engag’d
With Gen’ral Grievous, and we do expect
His swift success and vict’ry o’er the droid.
PALPATINE
Our fondest hope it is that General
Kenobi shall this challenge face with valor.
ANAKIN
Forsooth, I should be there to fight with him.
PALPATINE
Alas, ’tis most unfortunate to me
That thine own Council knoweth not thy skill,
Else they most surely would send thee with him.
Dost thou not wonder wherefore they have not
Made thee a Jedi Master like the rest?
’Tis almost like they slumber, and see not.
ANAKIN
Of all my reveries, this thing I’d know.
Each day, as by degrees, the feeling grows
That I am from the Council being barr’d.
’Tis clear to me there’s much about the Force
They’d hide from me, an ’twere I did but sleep.
PALPATINE
In all thy dreams, thou ne’er imagin’d this:
Thy friends no longer trust thee, Anakin.
For in their nightmares, lo, they see thee rise,
Thy future pow’r doth keep them wide awake.
It is thy destiny to conquer o’er
Their fear and penetrate their winking lies.
If thou’d but look to me, I shall assist
Thee in thy quest to know the Force complete.
ANAKIN
Yet how hath knowledge of the Force come ’fore
Your eyes? Is’t not made known but to the Jedi?
PALPATINE
My mentor brought the Force within my sight.
Such visions—yea, and revels—saw I there:
Beyond mere apparition of the night,
This vision was as though the sun had
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