Darth Vader's shuttle disembarks from a Star Destroyer and heads toward the second Death Star, which is under construction high over the moon of Endor.

Commander Jerjerrod greets Darth Vader on the second Death Star. Vader announces that he is there to oversee the superweapon's construction, which has fallen behind schedule. He adds that the Emperor himself will soon be arriving, someone certain to be less forgiving of excuses for delays.

On Tatooine, C-3PO and R2-D2 approach Jabba's Palace where the Hutt gangster holds the frozen Han Solo captive.

R2-D2 and C-3PO request an audience with Jabba, pleading on behalf of Luke Skywalker for Han Solo's release. Jabba laughs off the request, suggesting he wouldn't want to give up his favorite decoration -- the frozen body of Han Solo displayed on the wall of his palace. Jabba further decrees that the two droids will now serve him.

A bounty hunter named Boushh enters Jabba's throne room with a captive Chewbacca. The hunter wants double the reward for the Rebel Wookiee, and holds an armed thermal detonator to show he's serious. Jabba respects the bounty hunter's nerve, and agrees to pay the requested amount. Chewbacca is taken below to a prison cell.

Later that night, Boushh enters the throne room and frees Solo from the carbonite. He is conscious, but temporarily blind. The bounty hunter removes "his" mask revealing the face of Princess Leia, who tells Han they must quickly make their escape.

Expecting the escape attempt, Jabba's henchmen -- including Lando Calrissian in disguise -- surround Leia and Han. Han is taken to a prison cell below where his is reunited with Chewbacca. Jabba has different plans for Princess Leia.

Leia is clad in a revealing gold costume -- a trophy in Jabba's court -- when Luke Skywalker appears before the great Hutt. He demands the release of Han, Leia and the others, suggesting that Jabba not underestimate his Jedi powers. Jabba dismisses the threats with a laugh and sends Luke plummeting through a trap door into the rancor's den below.

The rancor -- an enormous beast with flesh-tearing claws and teeth -- moves to eat the young Jedi, who successfully wedges a large bone into the creature's jaw. Luke throws a skull of an earlier victim at a switch which drops a heavy armored door on top of the rancor, killing him. Furious, Jabba orders Luke pulled from the den and put aboard his sail barge, along with Han Solo and Chewbacca.

In the Tatooine desert, Luke, Han and Chewbacca await their fate -- a slow death in the stomach of the Sarlacc, a great desert beast with a gaping maw in the sand. Fortunately for them, Luke had planted his lightsaber in Artoo, who launches it to the Jedi on cue.

As Luke and the others wage battle above the Sarlacc pit, Leia -- aboard Jabba's nearby sail barge -- wraps the chain that binds her around the mighty Hutt's throat and strangles him to death.

Their captors vanquished, the Rebels race from Jabba's exploding sail barge on a skiff.

Back on the second Death Star, Emperor Palpatine -- the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious -- has arrived. He tells Vader to be patient in his search for Luke Skywalker -- the Emperor has foreseen that the young Jedi will seek Vader out.

Rather than returning to the Rebel fleet, Luke travels to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda. The Jedi Master's years have caught up to him, though -- he is dying. Before becoming one with the Force, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father. He also offers a tantalizing secret -- that there is another Skywalker.

Troubled by this unexpected news, Luke is visited by the spirit of Obi-Wan. The old Jedi Master explains that Vader had two children -- Luke and a twin sister -- that were hidden from him for fear of being turned to the dark side. Luke's feelings reveal that Leia is his twin sister.

Leaders of the Rebel Alliance plan their attack on the second Death Star, which first requires disabling the space station's shield generator stationed on Endor. Han Solo will lead a strike team to the moon's surface to take out the generator while Lando, now a general, will lead a fighter assault on the Death Star.

Han wishes Lando luck leading the Death Star assault in the Millennium Falcon, fearing he may not see his friend -- or his ship -- again.

Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, the droids and a strike team of Rebel soldiers head for Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle that will allow them to move past Imperial defenses surrounding the planet.

On the moon's densely-forested surface, the Rebels stealthily scope out the Imperial installation.

Spotting two Imperial biker scouts in the woods, Chewbacca takes out one with a blast from his bowcaster while Luke and Leia chase the other on a speeder bike. They can't allow the trooper to alert the Imperials to their presence.

Separated from Leia during the chase, Luke finishes off a second pursuing speeder bike with his lightsaber.

Leia, forced to ditch her speeder bike to avoid a collision with a tree, finds herself at the business end of a spear held by Wicket, a native Ewok. She quickly reveals her peaceful intent by offering the creature a bit of food from her belt.

Sensing danger, Wicket ducks under a tree just as Leia is ambushed by a pair of biker scouts. Wicket distracts one of them allowing Leia to knock the soldier out with a heavy log. She takes the second one out with her blaster.

Meanwhile, Luke has found Han, Chewie and the others as they search for Leia. Tripping a booby-trap, the group is dragged up into a net. They have apparently become prisoners of a tribe of Ewoks.

When the Ewoks see C-3PO, they are awestruck. They believe the golden droid to be some sort of god. While Han, Luke and the others are bound and marched back to the Ewok camp, Threepio is raised and carried like a king.

Though regarded as a god, Threepio claims he is powerless to save the others, who are to be served in a feast in his honor. Fortunately, Leia, who accompanied Wicket back to the village, insists they are friends of hers and that they must be freed. With a bit of Force "magic" performed by Luke -- elevating C-3PO in mid-air -- the Ewoks are compelled to cut the heroes loose.

That night, the Ewoks gather to learn of the Empire's threat to the galaxy in a fireside story told by C-3PO, culminating in the Ewoks welcoming the Rebels as honorary members to their tribe.

That night, Luke tells Leia he must leave to face Vader. He reveals to her that Vader is in fact his father, and that Leia is his twin sister. She confides that she's always felt a strong connection to Luke. Luke also tells Leia that she has a connection to the Force that will grow in time.

Luke surrenders himself to the Imperials and is brought before Vader at the Imperial base on Endor. Luke confronts Vader as his father, calling him by his original name, Anakin Skywalker. Vader says the name no longer holds any meaning for him, and deflects his son's pleas to join him. He calls the guards to load Luke onto a shuttle bound for the Death Star -- and the Emperor.

The next morning, Ewok scouts lead the Rebel strike team to a rear bunker entrance to the Imperial base. The Rebels break inside and set charges to destroy it.

On the Death Star, Vader brings Luke before his Sith master. The Emperor gloats that he's aware of the impending Rebel attack, and that they are heading into a trap. Luke's confidence -- and resolve to resist the dark side -- is shaken.

Leading the assault on the Death Star, Lando discovers the space station's shields are up, and that their attack has been anticipated. He orders the squadron of fighters trailing the Falcon to turn around and head back for the fleet, but they are too late -- the trap has been sprung. The Rebel fleet is surrounded by Imperial vessels.

On Endor, the Rebel strike team has fallen victim to the same trap -- Imperial troops flush them out of the bunker and hold them at gunpoint. Above the moon, a fully-operational Death Star destroys one of the Rebel cruisers.

Luke has had enough. He reaches out for his captured lightsaber at Palpatine's side and lunges at the Emperor. His saber blow is blocked by Vader's blade, though, as the Emperor cackles with satisfaction. Luke is drawing closer to the dark side.

The Ewoks attack, allowing Han and the Rebels to break away and take on the Imperials. With the bunker now sealed, Han tries desperately to break back in -- he's got to disable the Death Star's shield generator.

On the Death Star, Luke and Vader are locked in battle. Vader tempts Luke, saying that if he will not be turned to the dark side, perhaps his sister -- Leia -- will. Luke surges with the Force, gaining the advantage on Vader and cutting off the Sith Lord's hand. The Emperor beckons the young Jedi to the dark side, ordering him to finish Vader off.

Luke finds his strength, and throws down his lightsaber -- he will not join the dark side, nor attack his fallen father out of anger. The Emperor responds with a volley of sustained Force lightning bolts aimed at the young Jedi.

Vader watches the Emperor's attack on Luke. With great effort, Vader charges his master and lifts the Emperor's body over his head, the lightning bolts coursing through both their bodies. In a final lunge, Vader throws the Emperor into a deep reactor shaft, killing him. Vader drops to the floor, laboring to breathe.

Han and the Rebels finally breach the Imperial bunker and detonate their charges. The shield generator is destroyed and the Death Star is now vulnerable to attack.

Realizing he cannot be saved, Vader asks Luke to remove his mask so that he may look upon his son with his own eyes. Luke insists that he must save him, but Vader -- Anakin -- affirms that he already has. Luke's father dies as the Death Star begins to come apart around him. Luke moves toward a shuttle, his only means of escape.

Lando and his squadron fly into the Death Star and target the reactor core with torpedoes and missiles.This causes an explosion that chases the Falcon all the way to the Death Star's surface. The Falcon races away as the entire battle station explodes in a huge fireball.

On Endor, the Ewoks and Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire. Luke sets a funeral pyre, the flames consuming the remains of his father.

As he rejoins his friends at the celebration, Luke beholds the spiritual forms of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and his father, Anakin Skywalker.