Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Scene 10 Summary

  • Meanwhile, Leia is freaking out in Cloud City—she doesn't trust Lando and is worried about C-3PO. Plus, there's no telling when Han is just going to up and leave her again.
  • Luckily, Chewbacca finds C-3PO (or pieces of him, at least) in a scrap room. As soon as he shows this to Han and Leia, Lando bursts in and offers the group refreshments.
  • Lando explains that he runs his mining operation on the down-low to evade both the mining guild and the Empire. Even better, he's just made a deal that will ensure that this will continue.
  • With that, Lando opens a door to reveal Vader sitting at a dinner table. Han tries to shoot him, which goes as terribly as you can imagine.
  • A host of stormtroopers (along with that bounty hunter) pop in for backup, and Lando reveals that they arrived just before the Falcon did.
  • We briefly cut to space to see Luke closing in on his friends.
  • Back in Cloud City, Chewie is beating against a prison wall. With nothing else to do, he starts rebuilding C-3PO, though he accidentally puts on his head backwards.
  • After coming to, C-3PO makes it clear that he was blasted by stormtroopers after stumbling across them.
  • Meanwhile, Han is being strapped to a crazy apparatus by Vader & Co. There's some serious torture stuff going down, which ticks Lando off—he'd been promised that Han would be spared.
  • Chewbacca is finishing up C-3PO's torso when Han is brought into the room. Leia is dropped off a few moments later.
  • Suddenly, Lando appears. He explains that Leia and Chewie will be free to go, but Han will be turned over to the bounty hunter (Nerd alert: This unnamed bounty hunter is known as Boba Fett) to pay off Jabba.
  • In fact, this whole operation isn't about any of them—it's a trap to snag Luke.
  • Han, finally fed up, socks Lando in the jaw. Yeah, buddy! Luckily, Lando tells his men to hold back and they leave the room.
  • We cut to Vader and his posse hanging out beside an ominous, red machine. Vader claims that it will be used to freeze Luke before he's taken to the Emperor.
  • Lando says that the machine could kill Luke, but Vader has already thought of that—he's going to test it first on Han Solo.
  • We see a quick shot of Luke pulling up to Cloud City before we return to the freezing machine, where our captured heroes have just arrived.
  • Chewie tries to defend his friend, but Han tells him to save his strength. Then—to a lovely musical cue—Han and Leia share one final kiss.
  • Even better, Leia tells Han that she loves him. Even better than that, however, is Han's response, which might be the greatest line in cinema history: "I know."
  • With that, Han is lowered into a chamber, which emits a burst of steam. When it clears, Han's body is raised up, now frozen into a giant slab of metal.
  • He's alive, at least. After turning Han's body over to Boba Fett, Vader once again changes his deal with Lando, demanding that Leia and Chewie be brought to his ship.
  • Finally, we see Luke and R2-D2 creeping through Cloud City's halls. Luke actually spots Boba Fett bringing Han's frozen body to his ship. Fett fires a few shots towards Luke before escaping.
  • Meanwhile, Lando presses a few buttons on his watch that seemingly sends a message to his assistants. Luke runs into their group (which includes Leia and Chewie), though they get pulled away before he can save them.
  • Luke creeps away from the manicured white hallways and finds himself in that crazy machine room where Han was frozen. It's dead quiet.
  • Suddenly, the light turns on and Vader appears. He says that the Force is strong with Luke, but that he's not a Jedi yet. With that, both men pull out their lightsabers and begin fighting.
  • The rest of the heroes are being escorted out when suddenly the Cloud City personnel pull out their guns and point them at the Imperials. Lando just pulled off the rare double-double-cross!
  • Leia and Chewie are none too eager to take his help, but they know that he's their only chance to save Han. Unfortunately, they're not able to stop Boba Fett before he escapes, although they do manage to find R2, who'd been left behind by Luke.
  • As this happens, Luke and Vader's battle continues. Vader manages to disarm Luke and push him into the freezing chamber, but Luke leaps to safety and use the Force to grab his lightsaber.
  • Vader compliments Luke's skills, but says that he must unleash his anger and hatred to defeat him. Luke suddenly starts attacking in flurries and knocks Vader off the main platform.
  • He follows and finds Vader in a long, windowed hallway. Vader uses his Force powers to launch projectiles, striking Luke until he falls through a window and is left hanging on the side above a steep drop.
  • Meanwhile, our other heroes are being pursued by stormtroopers as Cloud City begins its evacuation. Thanks to R2's skills, they manage to unlock the passageway that leads to the Falcon and make a narrow escape.
  • Over in lightsaber land, Luke has just pulled himself up and is standing on the high-set walkway when Vader emerges. The battle rages on.
  • Luke is fighting valiantly, but it's clear that he's outmatched. Suddenly, Vader swings and slices off Luke's lightsaber-wielding hand, sending it falling down into the abyss
  • Vader pushes Luke out onto a narrow overhang, and it looks like all is lost. He informs Luke that his only hope is to join the Dark Side, which Luke angrily refuses.
  • Luke shouts at Vader for killing his dad (which Obi-Wan had told him in the previous film), which Vader responds to by dropping one of the biggest bombshells in movie history—he, Darth Vader, is Luke's father.
  • Luke straight-up trips when he hears this. Vader, on a roll, suggests that they could kill the Emperor, ruling the galaxy together as father and son.
  • Suddenly, Luke lets go of the platform and falls down. Instead of dying in a gross splat, however, he neatly slides into a little tube.
  • Unfortunately, a door opens below him, leaving him hanging from an antenna at the bottom of the city. With nothing else to do, he closes his eyes and starts saying Leia's name...
  • Somehow, Leia talks back to him from inside the Falcon. Whoah, what? She tells Chewie to turn back and pick him up.
  • Big Boy Vader, on the other hand, is done with business and leaves the city.