Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Scene 5 Summary

  • It's now morning and a gaggle of ships are cruising along Hoth's surface.
  • We see some sweet first-person shots from the cockpit while a pilot desperately tries to make contact with our two heroes. Suddenly, his pleas are responded to with a cocky quip—it's Han.
  • Back at the base, Han, Leia, and C-3PO are standing in front of a large, cylindrical tank, where Luke is floating in a blue liquid. Seems like a medical device. Suddenly, Luke wakes up and is shot through the top of the tank like it was a pneumatic tube.
  • It seems like everything went fine because the next shot is a close-up on Luke's grinning face, which is a little scarred, but no worse for the wear.
  • Han engages in some playful ribbing of Luke before turning his attention to Leia. She tells him that he can't leave the system now until the General activates the "energy field," which Han takes as an invitation for shameless flirting.
  • What follows is a series of playful insults that includes the word "nerf-herder." It's not really an important plot point or anything, but it must be noted.
  • Han claims that he must be hitting the mark if she's getting upset, which Leia slyly responds to by kissing Luke. This, of course, is pretty hilarious in hindsight.
  • The whole crew (sans Skywalker) meets with the General at HQ. The Rebels have been picking up a strange code being transmitted from the surface, which C-3PO suggests might be Imperial in origin. Han and Chewie run off to check it out.
  • We cut to one of the robo-jellyfish (Nerd alert: Our robo-jellyfish are actually called Imperial probes) sitting within spitting distance of the Rebel base. Uh-oh.
  • Chewie and Han pull off some diversionary tactics and manage to shoot it down, which causes a huge explosion. This surprises Han—he suspects that it was programmed to self-destruct.
  • That's bad news—the Empire is now here. The General informs everyone that it's time to evacuate.