A Wind to Shake the Stars

A Wind to Shake the Stars

Opening crawl[]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there came a time of revolution, when rebels united to challenge a tyrannical empire. But most of the citizens of that vast empire of a million star systems took little notice of this tremendous conflict... at least, at first.On the desert planet Tatooine, as on countless other worlds, life goes on while great events are shaping the future of the galaxy. Here amid the endless sands and the dune seas, the hostile wastes and barren lands, human beings struggle and endure. And here too, men and women laugh and cry, hope and dream....

Plot summary[]

Luke Skywalker is in his farm'stech dome listening to a recruitment tape from theImperial Space Academy. Luke has listened to the recording enough to have it memorized, quoting along to parts of it and humming thebackground music. His friendWindy enters unannounced. Luke, embarrassed, tries to quickly stop the recording, but Windy grabs the tape from him and reads its label. He makes fun of Luke for still dreaming of following their friendBiggs to the Academy.

Luke readieshis skyhopper and flies Windy toTosche Station, where they join the three other members of the group of friends:Fixer, a cocky young man who runs the station;Camie, his admiring girlfriend; andDeak, who seems content to follow Fixer's lead in everything. Windy tells the group about the recruitment tape that he caught Luke watching, subjecting him to another round of mocking. Camie in particular accuses Luke of only wanting to attend the Academy because he wants to imitate Biggs.

Luke manages to change the subject when he asks Fixer about his plans for the day, to which Fixer replies that he wants to do "speed runs"– raceskyhoppers throughBeggar's Canyon. Luke accepts Fixer's challenge to a race. With Windy copiloting, they board Luke's skyhopper and begin the race. Fixer and Deak quickly gain the lead and successfully block Luke's attempts to pass them. With a terrified Windy protesting, Luke decides to attempt a shortcut through theStone Needle, a dangerous maneuver known asthreading the needle. Luke wins the race and the grudging respect of his peers, though not without damaging his skyhopper.

Some time later, Luke is having breakfast with his uncleOwen and auntBeru. Owen nags Luke about repairingmoisture vaporators on the farm's south ridge. Luke suggests that the family buy moredroids to help with the workload. Owen retorts that the droids would not be necessary if Luke spent less time daydreaming. Beru chides her husband and says that she could use a new droid around the house, then in private tells him that he should go easier on Luke and not begrudge him for having dreams bigger than the farm.

Later, Luke is on the south ridge with the repair droidTreadwell, working to repair a vaporator. The droid is clumsy and malfunctioning and damages itself while trying to perform the repair. At that point Luke sees flashes in the sky. He looks through hismacrobinoculars to see two starships that appear to be shooting at each other in the upper atmosphere. He leaves Treadwell and hurries to Tosche Station to tell his friends.

At the station, Luke is surprised to see Biggs hanging with the group, just like he used to do before leaving for the Academy. He explains that his graduation has been accelerated by imperial order and that this will be his last visit home before reporting to his new ship, afreighter called theRand Ecliptic. Luke tells the group about the battle that he witnessed. Most of them ridicule him, while Biggs tells him more gently that it was unlikely that there would be a battle overTatooine and that the two ships were probably refueling, not fighting.

Fixer, Camie, and the others go back inside, and Biggs asks Luke to drive out to Beggar's Canyon in thelandspeeder. Once they arrive, Biggs confides his secret plans: that he and agroup of fellow graduates plan to jump ship and join theRebel Alliance. He also criticizes Luke for giving in to his uncle's pressure to stay on the farm rather than go to the Academy himself. This angers Luke, who does not want to abandon his family when they need him. Biggs apologizes. Their parting is bittersweet and emotional. Luke still wants to follow Biggs to the Academy and then, maybe, the Rebellion. Luke comments that the wind is picking up, and Biggs replies that it's rising all acrossthe Galaxy and even Tatooine will feel it soon. He also tells Luke that he believes him that there could have been a battle in the sky.

Development[]

Luke's skyhopper had been seen in the background of the filmA New Hope but not flown or turned on. ThereforeTom Voegeli had to develop an original sound effect for the hoppers during the episode's post-production.^[3]

Continuity[]

None of the events of "A Wind to Shake the Stars" appear in the original film. The episode fills in much of the backstory of Luke's dissatisfaction with life in Tatooine and his difficulty fitting in with hisAnchorhead friends. The first several scenes - the recruitment tape, the race through Beggar's Canyon, and Luke's conversation with his aunt and uncle - are original with the radio drama. Luke had alluded to the race in a scenecut from the firstStar Wars film and included in theStar Wars novelization, telling Biggs about damaging his skyhopper in order to win an exciting race.^[4] The episode's later scenes on the moisture farm and in Anchorhead closely parallel this same set of deleted scenes. The conversation between Luke and Biggs uses most of the same dialogue as the deleted scene, but its location is moved from outside the station to Beggar's Canyon.^[5][4] Together these scenes portray a familiar picture of teenage life with a dynamic not unlike the small-town teens in Lucas' earlier movieAmerican Graffiti.^[6]

In his conversation with Luke, Biggs specifies that theRand Ecliptic is a merchant ship and that he fears being drafted someday into the Imperial Starfleet. This follows the novelization^[4] but would be contradicted by laterLegends works that portray theEcliptic as a military frigate and represent Biggs' Academy training as more explicitly military.^[7]

Credits[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• "S.W. on N.P.R." —Bantha Tracks 11
• The Making of Star Wars For Radio: A Fable For the Mind's Eye
• Star Wars: The National Public Radio Dramatization
• "Del Rey Book Excerpt: "A Wind to Shake the Stars"" —Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 2

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Star Wars: A New Hope The Original NPR Drama on theInternet Archive