| SCRIPTS |
| Early Script - Reunion with Airk to the Battle of Tir Asleen |
| "WILLOW" * Story by George Lucas * Screenplay by Bob Dolman * First Draft Third Revision November 14, 1986 * (c) LFL 1986 Lucasfilm LTD. |
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INT. HOUSE CELLAR - DAY
Madmartigan is bustled underground through a cellar into a hidden storage room and a disguised door shuts behind him. MEN, WOMEN and CHILDREN huddle here in silence, like refugees or criminals. Madmartigan hands the crying baby to a WOMAN then lays Willow on the floor. Suddenly a huge hand clamps his shoulder: his old friend and rival Airk Thaughbaer. AIRK: Madmartigan. Settled down with a family, huh? Madmartigan knocks Airk's hand away. MADMARTIGAN: You left me to die, friend. AIRK: You managed all right. MADMARTIGAN: Is this what's left of your army? Among the refugees is a handful of war-battered WARRIORS. One of them, an OFFICER looks out through the ceiling beams. OFFICER: Keep that baby quiet. They hear hoofbeats outside. Airk gives Madmartigan a flask of whiskey. He squirts whiskey into Willow's mouth and Willow coughs and shudders awake. EXT. VILLAGE - DAY Raziel flies onto a rooftop and looks down. Nockmaar soldiers flood the village, dismounting, kicking down doors, searching houses. Then Raziel sees Kael riding alongside Sorsha. In her armor, at a distance, Sorsha looks fierce. But CLOSER her eyes show confusion, hesitation. Kael watches her closely as he waves his sword at the village. KAEL: Where is it! Tell us or we'll burn your village! Sorsha! He shakes her roughly. She dismounts. Raziel watches as Sorsha and two other soldiers enter the house where Madmartigan and Willow are hiding. INT. HOUSE CELLAR - DAY Willow holds the baby tight. Madmartigan, Airk and the Officer watch through the cracks. Boots pound above, shaking dust down on them. A door opens. Nobody breathes. Willow buries the baby in his chest. Madmartigan peeks through the door. Sorsha, alone, comes down into the cellar. They see her. Searching. Airk's men reach for their swords, begin to draw. Whisper: OFFICER: Kill her. Madmartigan shakes his head. MADMARTIGAN: You'll draw the others. Airk looks at Madmartigan curiously. Madmartigan watches Sorsha. She is right there, inches away. Inaudibly, he says her name. At last she goes back upstairs. INT. HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - DAY Sorsha comes up and begins to leave with the other two soldiers. INT. CELLAR In Willow's arms, the baby lets out a cry. INT. HOUSE - UPSTAIRS Sorsha and the soldiers stop and draw swords. The baby's cry is suddenly drowned out by a loud SCREECH. Raziel flaps in through a window and flies madly around the house, cawing and shrieking insanely. Sorsha and the soldiers sheathe their swords and leave. INT. CELLAR Everyone sighs with relief. EXT. VILLAGE - DAY In the distance the Nockmaar army is setting houses ablaze and Kael is terrorizing the fleeing people with his sword. Sorsha mounts her horse. Her attention is momemtarily caught by a MAN across the street who, from the back, looks like Madmartigan. She gasps. The man turns around. She sags with disappointment, spurs her horse, and rides off. The deadly squad of Nockmaar horsemen gallops out of the village. INT. HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - DAY Madmartigan and Willow come upstairs with Airk and his men. AIRK: It's you they're after, Madmartigan. What did you do this time? MADMARTIGAN: They're not after me. They want the baby. Living in the house is a scrawny, shifty-eyed man named CUTH. He watches and listens. AIRK: Who is this baby? Willow steps forward, both protective and proud. WILLOW: The princess, Elora Danan. They all know of her. They all sigh with respect and awe, and they bow. PEOPLE: The prophecy has come true. AIRK: Give her to us. We'll protect her. Raziel screeches from a ceiling beam. RAZIEL: Not safe! Not safe! Willow looks up at Raziel hopefully. WILLOW: We're taking her to Tir Asleen. She'll be safe there from Bavmorda's powers. Airk looks up at Raziel. Then down at Willow. He clasps Madmartigan's arm. AIRK: Tir Asleen is a myth. It doesn't exist. RAZIEL: It does! It does! I will show you! Airk impatiently waves the bird away and shoves Madmartigan in the chest. AIRK: You gonna be a hero, Madmartigan? I've lost half my men fighting Kael, and Bavmorda, and the Nockmaar army. Now you and this Peck, and that magpie up in the rafters, are gonna take 'em on alone? MADMARTIGAN: (challenging) Then come with us. Airk angrily stabs his finger at the floor. AIRK: The war is here! In towns and villages like this! Airk crosses his arms and turns his back, looking out at the burning houses and the suffering families. AIRK: You're chasing a dream. MADMARTIGAN: Just get me some horses. Airk glares at him furiously. Then he kicks open the door and storms out into the street. Madmartigan and Willow hurry after him. EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE - VILLAGE OUTSKIRTS - DAY Airk and his men, plus some villagers, watch as Madmartigan mounts a large horse. Then some villagers help Willow wiggle up onto a small pony. They sling the baby over Willow's back and stuff saddlebags with provisions. MADMARTIGAN: Once again, Airk, we say goodbye. Sadly and cynically, Airk laughs. AIRK: One day one of us will stand on the other's grave. They shake hands ruggedly. Madmartigan nods at Willow and they head off. Airk watches them go, clearly ambivalent about staying behind. They ride up the snowy slope, Raziel circling above. WE SEE Cuth. He scratches his filthy beard. He sneaks off through the village, in the direction of the Nockmaar army. EXT. MOUNTAIN - DAY Snow circles around them as they climb. Then, oddly, the mountain becomes warmer, and the snow melts away. They reach a slope of dark vitreous lava. RAZIEL: Nockmaar! Nockmaar! Far away, at the top of the mountain, looms the ominous Castle of Nockmaar. The black lava flows from it like a deadly shadow. EXT. CAVE OF THE EBORSISK - DAY Their horses rear up as they approach the mouth of the cave. Raziel waits for them, circling and cawing. RAZIEL: This way! The cave! They dismount and lead the horses. But the horses panic, their frightened neighing voices echoing deep in the gloomy cave, and they break away and run off. Willow swallows hard. He and Madmartigan follow Raziel inside. INT. CAVE OF THE EBORSISK - DAY Daylight is soon replaced by the orange glow of molten lava. WILLOW: Madmartigan! I can't stand being in closed-in places. MADMARTIGAN: Want me to carry Elora? WILLOW: I'm used to her. How's she doing? Willow wears the papoose on his back. Madmartigan looks in at the baby's face. MADMARTIGAN: She's doing a lot better than we are, Peck. Willow and Madmartigan laugh, which breaks the tension. Then a geyser of steam hisses near them and a bat screeches somewhere and the tension's back. They keep going. INT. DEEPER IN THE CAVE Hot liquid drips from the ceiling. Hissing steam bubbles from the floor. They go single-file along a ledge over a foaming lava pit. Raziel is squawking way ahead in the distance. MADMARTIGAN: Willow...this may be a bad time to ask this question but...what if Raziel's wrong? WILLOW: She can't be wrong. She's a very very very powerful sorceress. MADMARTIGAN: She's a bird, Willow. WILLOW: That's my fault, not hers. I've got to keep practicing. I'm still in the learning stage but magic, Madmartigan, requires concentration and-- MADMARTIGAN: Watch it! WILLOW: Ahhh! Madmartigan lunges and grabs Willow just as he is about to fall into the lava pit. He hauls him to safety. They gasp with relief. Then they head deeper into the cave. They stop. They hear something. Something strange. Then, something moves on the wall. WILLOW: I hate this. The cave walls come to life. Down them crawl ugly ROCK PUFFERS, pillow-sized wall crabs that screech horribly like bats. Madmartigan fights them off with his sword. The Rock Puffers bloat themselves up, tripling their size. Madmartigan stabs one and it hisses away like an untied balloon. Suddenly, distant hoofbeats thunder and echo. Madmartigan flashes his sword and turns around, ready to defend Willow and the baby against the army. MADMARTIGAN: Go, Willow! Run! Run! Willow listens as the hoofbeats get louder and louder. At last he turns and runs deeper into the cave. Madmartigan waits. The Nockmaar soldiers, now increased to eighty, come charging down the cave. Kael rides in the lead alongside the turncoat Cuth. As they gallop along the ledge, Cuth makes the mistake of crowding Kael, who angrily elbows him, horse and all, into the boiling pit. The army tramples over the Rock Puffers, which explode underfoot. Madmartigan braces himself as they stampede toward him. But suddenly the horsemen all screech thir horses to a halt. The horses rear and back away. Madmartigan stands there, wondering. Then suddenly a shadow looms behind him. He turns. The EBORSISK roars and the cave shakes and thunders. It's an enormous two-headed monster that doesn't like visitors. MADMARTIGAN: Willow! Willow! He looks around frantically. Willow is nowhere to be seen. Then the baby cries out. Madmartigan sees them, cowering behind a rock. He runs toward them. The Eborsisk exhales flames over his head. KAEL: Go after them! Soldiers obey Kael and go after Madmartigan. He fights them, hacking down a few, while a few others are incinerated by the Eborsisk. Sorsha's horse rears as she watches Madmartigan battle for his life. Archers shoot arrows, which pierce the Eborsisk and make it even angrier. Willow digs one of his magic acorns out of his pocket. A head of the Eborsisk gnashes at Madmartigan. Madmartigan looks to Willow for help. MADMARTIGAN: Hurry, Willow! Throw it! Willow winds up and throws with all his might. The Eborsisk blasts a flame, which startles Willow, wrecking his aim. Madmartigan's eyes pop open and he ducks as the acorn whistles by his ear. The acorn bounces off a rock and flies back, trickles along the ground and hits a Nockmaar soldier, who is already dead. The soldier's body turns to stone. RAZIEL: Look out! One of the Eborsisk's heads lunges toward the baby. Raziel dives like a rocket and attacks the monster's eye as Willow whisks the baby away. Then Madmartigan leaps up on the Eborsisk. He climbs up over its flaming head and drives his sword down through its skull. The Eborsisk howls horribly and its wounded head falls. Madmartigan topples down its back and leaps onto a horse, knocking its rider off and, all in one swashbuckling move, scooping Willow and the baby up onto the back of the horse and galloping away. KAEL: After them!! But as his horsemen charge forward, the Eborsisk falls to its knees, half-dead. The surviving head blasts the soldiers with fire. They rear back on their horses and continue to battle the monster with arrows and spears. EXT. CAVE - TIR ASLEEN - DAY They ride out of the mouth of the dark cave into a lush valley of flowers. In the distance stands the beautiful CASTLE OF TIR ASLEEN. Raziel zooms up out of the cave and flies above them as they gallop fullspeed toward it. She soars higher and higher and flies right over the castle wall. EXT. TIR ASLEEN CASTLE - DAY The door of the castle is half open. Madmartigan and Willow gallop inside. INT. TIR ASLEEN - DAY Raziel flies down to meet them as they ride into the castle courtyard. A haunting wind drones amont TWELVE PILLARS which look like stone from a distance. RAZIEL: Tir Asleen. WILLOW: There's nobody here. They approach the twelve pillars. RAZIEL: The Knights of the Pacalcade. The king's bravest warriors. Suddenly they hear hoofbeats and a warcry. EXT. TIR ASLEEN - DAY Kael and his army charge out of the cave and trample across the valley of flowers. INT. TIR ASLEEN Madmartigan rushes to the heavy door and strains to shut it. RAZIEL: Turn them back, Willow! Willow stares at the twelve knights. WILLOW: How?? RAZIEL: Use the philosopher's stone! Hurry! Invocation! Release them! The castle door is rusted and old. Madmartigan heaves against it. Outside he can see the army storming toward him. Willow digs out his philosopher's stone. He squints and strains, concentrating his energy. WILLOW: Beings within, beings without! Danu danu walkail funfawtha! He continues to chant and to concentrate. One of the knights comes to life. WILLOW: I did it! Madmartigan! Come here! Look! You gotta see this! I did it! RAZIEL: More! More! Madmartigan heaves the door shut just as the army charges up, and he locks it with a huge bolt. EXT. TIR ASLEEN - DAY The Nockmaar horsemen rear back from the locked door. KAEL: Assault! Scale the walls! He sends his men in all directions. They leap off their horses and hack down trees from the nearby woods. INT. TIR ASLEEN Willow brings the knights to life, one by one. WILLOW: Tuatha tuatha danu! Each knight shakes himself into action. Madmartigan follows them into an armory. WILLOW: Raziel! I transformed them all! I'm a magician! RAZIEL: You didn't transform them, Willow, you released them. That was nothing. Now change me. Willow's on a roll. He rubs his hands together. WILLOW: I feel like I could do anything! He drops to his knees and stretches his philosopher's stone apart like an accordian. EXT. TIR ASLEEN - ARMORY Madmartigan and the knights grab weapons and armor. Two knights wheel a catapult out on the battlements. Madmartigan sees, displayed specially on a rack, a complete set of armor of shining silver. He reaches out to touch it. KNIGHT: It belonged to our king. INT. TIR ASLEEN - COURTYARD The knights light a fire and boil vats of oil. Willow struggles to transform Raziel, trying to remember all he has learned. WILLOW: Capture the energy...limitless power of the will...avvdachh doth indicht rredd baerkinhaekin! Raziel begins to change. From a bird, she expands, stretches, and turns into a GOAT. WILLOW: Raziel? Is that you? Oh-oh. What happened? Raziel tilts her goat head. RAZIEL: I hate this. Suddenly flaming arrows rain down over the castle wall. Willow scoops up the baby and he and Raziel run for cover. EXT. TIR ASLEEN From their horses Kael and Sorsha watch as the soldiers climb the wall. They suddenly hear a hacking noise above and several Nockmaar men tumble down the ladders. Sorsha looks up. High on the wall stands Madmartigan, magnificently dressed in the glimmering armor of the King! Kael roars and points his deadly sword up at Madmartigan. Then several soldiers attack the castle door with a huge battering ram and smash it open. KAEL: Attack!! Kael and Sorsha gallop into the castle with other Nockmaar horsemen, while Madmartigan continues to battle attackers on the castle wall. INT. TIR ASLEEN Willow looks up as the horsemen charge into the courtyard. He makes a run for the hallway. SIX HORSEMEN chase after him, jumping off their horses and drawing their swords. Sorsha dismounts, draws a sword, and strides up the stairs toward the top of the wall. INT. ARMORY Willow runs into the armory and sets the baby down in a corner. The six horsemen run in and corner him. He grabs an enormous broadsword. Swings it like a baseball bat. The momentum of the heavy sword hurls Willow across the room. The blade pierces a Nockmaar man. Willow grunts and yanks the sword out. The remaining soldiers come after him. Willow swings and flashes the sword as they close in on him. EXT. TIR ASLEEN In the courtyard, Raziel the goat butts a few soldiers as the battle rages. UP ON THE WALL Madmartigan stabs a minion and sends him hurtling down the wall. Then he turns around. Five more enemy swordsmen slash at him. Madmartigan is amazing: spinning, lunging, ducking, he takes out one, two, three, four of them with ease. But not the fifth. It's the Nockmaar Lieutenant. He and Madmartigan swordfight. The Lieutenant hacks the sword out of Madmartigan's hand: it clatters down into the courtyard. Madmartigan throws up his arm. The Lieutenant's sword clangs against his wrist armor, knocking Madmartigan onto his back. With two hands the Lieutenant lifts his sword high and goes to kill Madmartigan. Madmartigan shuts his eyes. But nothing happens. Madmartigan opens his eyes. the Lieutenant stands there, frozen, staring at him. Then falls forward. Rolls over Madmartigan. And plummets off the wall. In his place stands Sorsha, holding a bloodied sword. MADMARTIGAN: Sorsha. SORSHA: Madmartigan. He props himself up on his elbows and smiles. MADMARTIGAN: Whose side are you on? She reaches down and pulls Madmartigan to his feet. SORSHA: Yours. They look into each other's eyes. They go to embrace. MINION: Arrrggghhh! Out of nowhere a Nockmaar minion attacks them, his sword flashing over his head. Sorhsa hardly moves. She simply dusts him off the wall with her sword. She turns back to Madmartigan. SORSHA: I love you. Their armor clanks as they throw their arms around each other and kiss, high up on the castle wall. INT. TIR ASLEEN - COURTYARD Kael looks up from his horse. KAEL: Sorsha!! He sees Sorsha and Madmartigan coming down the wall, fighting Nockmaar troops. Kael holds up his great hand. In it he holds the baby. KAEL: Bordak! Kael waves his men after Sorsha and Madmartigan. KAEL: Kill them both! He laughs viciously then gallops toward the castle door. As he reaches it he abruptly stops. EXT. TIR ASLEEN Two hundred HORSEMEN are charging straight toward Kael. Led by Airk Thaughbaer! CLOSER, riding in Airk's saddlebags, with their tiny daggers flashing, are the long-lost brownies, Teemo and Rool! INT. TIR ASLEEN Kael stuffs the baby deep inside his tunic. KAEL: Troops! To Nockmaar! Ride with me! EXT. TIR ASLEEN Kael and his men gallop across the valley of flowers and hack their way through Airk's army. INT. TIR ASLEEN Madmartigan and Sorsha mount horses. Willow staggers out of the armory, wounded and bleeding. WILLOW: I'm sorry. There were too many of them. Madmartigan scoops him up. With seven surviving knights, they ride out. EXT. TIR ASLEEN Many of Kael's men fall in battle. But Kael and a dozen horsemen plow through and escape into the cave. |