Lucasfilm and D’ART Shtajio join forces for a thought-provoking look inside the Empire’s cruelty.
Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is here! New episodes of the anthology series are now streaming on Disney+, featuring original shorts from some of the world’s best animation studios. In Visions Revisited, StarWars.com picks the greatest moments from each short.
Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details from the Star Wars: Visions episode “The Pit."
As the voice of Crux, Daveed Diggs leads a rallying cry for unity in Lucasfilm and D’ART Shtajio’s installment in Visions Volume 2. Written and co-directed by Lucasfilm’s own LeAndre Thomas, alongside Lucasfilm Animation alum Justin Ridge serving as co-director, the short is an intimate exploration of class divisions. Focused on a forced labor camp literally digging themselves into a hole to supply a nearby city with resources, the story unflinchingly examines the price of the Empire’s prosperity. But even in the darkest days, when the Empire declares the work complete and walks away from the people who remain at the bottom of the quarry, hope prevails. Here are five highlights from “The Pit,” now streaming on Disney+.
1. Chaos in the pit.
The Empire’s brutality reaches all new levels as the prisoners reach rock bottom and the stormtroopers declare their work here to be done. Like discarded tools no longer of use, they abandon the prisoners and take the lights with them, plunging the pit into darkness and disorder. Aside from Andor’s heartbreaking portrayal of the Empire’s cruelty, it’s rare for a Star Wars story to turn away from the main heroes and villains to examine the everyday consequences of the Empire’s rise to power. And Thomas pulls no punches.
2. The climb out!
With a little assistance from a wild creature that helpfully burrows through the walls of the pit, Crux makes it to the surface. Now he just has to make it to the city!
3. Crux’s sermon.
It’s disheartening to see so many people ignore Crux’s pleas in the city center, and yet it’s not a totally unfamiliar scene. Only when he stands atop the monument to the kyber crystals he toiled to mine does he gain enough attention to be heard. It feels like a breakthrough, a moment of triumph. For a fleeting moment, we believe that change is about to come. Then, disappointment. Crux is heard but no one’s listening, and he’s unceremoniously stunned and dragged back to the pit in a tragic end to his journey. It’s a blunt reminder that the path to enlightenment and true social change is not without its setbacks and martyrs.
4. Crux’s final gift.
While there are no blatant Jedi here to save the day, Livy’s inner light certainly seems to be related to the Force itself. Safely on the transport, she pulls out Crux’s gift, a kyber crystal, and it jumps to life in the palm of her hand. But it wasn’t her gifts with the Force that convinced her fellow prisoners to come together. It was hope, pure and simple.
5. The end credit scene.
Stay until the end and you’ll see the graffiti art that was hinted at earlier in the short, an homage to Crux and Livy and a memorial to what transpired. A reflection of our own world and the way street artists leave their mark, “The Pit” leaves us thinking long after the credits.
