The Coming Storm

"The Coming Storm"

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. Nowit is a dark time for the Rebellion. The freedom fighters have established a base inside the ice caverns on the frozen planet Hoth. Luke Skywalker, patrolling the Hoth wasteland for imperial probe droids, has been injured by a savage wampa ice beast. Wandering in a delerium, he has seen the image of his Jedi instructor and been told that he must seek further training.But Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghostly figure has faded from sight, leaving Luke alone to face the terrible blizzard...

Plot summary[]

The episode opens with the pained voice ofLuke struggling to continue in rising winds. He calls afterBen andYoda. Back in Echo Base,General Rieekan tellsPrincess Leia about a strange energy signal that appeared on the sensors. It seemed to be moving and sending a transmission. There is no way to track it during the night, but Rieekan wantsSolo and Skywalker to go patrolling for it the following day. Solo arrives and tells Rieekan and Leia that he will leave the Rebellion soon, withChewbacca, to settle his debts. Leia tries to convince Han to stay with the rebels; Han counters that she has romantic feelings for him but will not admit it.

Outside, Luke is still calling Ben's name. His strength finally gives out; he collapses in the snow. At the base, Han approaches Chewie, still working on theMillennium Falcon: Han wants leave the planet immediately, even before the doors close for the night. But the ship is not ready. While Han rushes to finish the repairs,See-Threepio approaches to tell him that Luke cannot be found. Han drops everything to go find him. Once it is clear that he never returned to base, Han resolves to ride out on atauntaun to search for him, despite the obvious danger of being trapped outside on a Hoth night.

Outside, Han finds Luke half-conscious, delirious, and steadily freezing. His tauntaun keels over dead: Han then activatesLuke's lightsaber and cuts open its carcass. He keeps Luke warm inside it while he builds anemergency shelter. Luke regains consciousness but cannot see. Han does what he can to keep Luke alive and his spirits up. Luke alternates between despairing and joking about the situation. He asks Han why he did it: "What's your excuse this time?... I guess you can't claim it was the money." Han sidesteps the question and tries to keep Luke comfortable as outside the wind blows and the temperature drops.

Leia, Chewbacca, Threepio, andArtoo-Detoo remain just inside the base'sshield door watching for Han and Luke. The droids had been outside using Artoo'sscanners to try locating them, but it is now too cold for them. Alieutenant tells them that the doors cannot remain open in this cold, and Artoo ominously calculates the narrow odds of surviving outside in it.

Continuity[]

In the scene between Han and Leia, the radio actors interpret the dialogue quite differently from the film. In the original version, Han is angry with Leia throughout the exchange as he accuses her of having feelings for him.^[3] In the radio drama, Han speaks softly and flirtatiosuly. His offer of a "goodbye kiss" is playful rather than sarcastic.

The scene between Luke and Han in the emergency shelter is original with the radio drama. It serves as a window into how their friendship has deepened since the events ofStar Wars: Episode IVA New Hope.

Music‡[]

^[4]

Credits[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• The Empire Strikes Back: The National Public Radio Dramatization

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama on theInternet Archive