The third movie began almost immediately.
Kate didn't waste any time. The moment the second film ended, she had already clicked onto the next one like this had been the plan all along.
The familiar opening music filled the small cabin again, louder this time in the quiet of the night.
Ray shifted slightly against the wall, stretching his legs a bit while the crawl rolled across the screen. Outside, the camp had grown quieter. The fire pit was still active somewhere in the distance, but the laughter had softened into a low murmur of late-night conversations.
Inside the cabin, the laptop screen was now the only real light.
Kate leaned forward slightly, her attention completely locked on the movie again.
Ray glanced at her.
She looked serious now.
Not the playful, ranting version of Kate that had been yelling about Master Gremlin earlier. This was the version that took the story very personally.
Ray rested his head back against the wooden wall.
"So this is the one where everything goes wrong, right?" he asked.
Kate didn't look at him.
"Yes."
Her voice carried a strange mix of excitement and dread.
Ray watched her for a second longer before looking back at the screen.
The battle above Coruscant exploded into action, ships flying across the screen while the music swelled.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The movie moved quickly, scenes shifting from space battles to tense conversations, the story slowly tightening around Anakin as everything began to fall apart.
Kate stayed completely focused.
Every now and then she would lean forward slightly, reacting to a line she knew was coming or shaking her head quietly when a character made a bad decision.
Ray noticed something.
She wasn't explaining things anymore.
She was just watching.
Completely absorbed.
At one point he glanced sideways at her again.
Kate's expression had changed.
The earlier amusement and teasing had disappeared.
Now she looked… invested.
Almost nervous.
Ray leaned his head back again, watching the screen while the story continued building toward the inevitable moment he had already been warned about.
And judging by the way Kate had gone quiet beside him, that moment was getting closer.
And then it began.
Everything Kate had warned him about.
The cabin was completely silent now except for the voices coming from the laptop.
The moment unfolded on the screen.
"Please don't…" Chancellor Palpatine said.
Anakin hesitated.
Kate leaned forward slightly without realizing it, her hands gripping the edge of the laptop as the tension built.
Then—
The blue lightsaber flashed.
Anakin swung.
Mace Windu's hand went flying as the weapon spun across the room.
Ray's mouth slowly opened.
For a second he just stared at the screen.
Then the shock finally hit him.
"WHAT?!" he shouted.
The scene continued playing.
Palpatine's voice echoed through the cabin as the moment sealed Anakin's fate.
"Rise, Darth Vader."
Ray didn't say anything.
He just stared at the screen, completely stunned, trying to process what he had just watched. A few minutes earlier he had been ready to make another sarcastic comment.
Now he couldn't even find the words.
The movie moved forward.
The story didn't slow down.
Another scene appeared.
The voice from the laptop spoke again.
"Thank you, Cody. Now let's get a move on. We've got a battle to win."
A few seconds passed.
Ray frowned slightly, still trying to follow what was happening.
Then—
"Commander Cody, the time has come."
Ray leaned forward a little.
"Execute Order 66."
Ray's eyes widened.
For a moment he didn't move at all.
The betrayal unfolded across the screen, clones suddenly turning on the Jedi who had trusted them moments before.
Blaster fire.
Confusion.
Falling bodies.
Ray didn't even try to make a joke this time.
He just sat there.
Quiet.
Like a man whose soul had just been crushed.
Ray wasn't angry.
He wasn't shocked anymore.
He was simply… broken.
Everything that followed only made it worse.
The music began.
That slow, heavy piece that filled the room as the betrayal unfolded across the galaxy.
On the screen, Jedi who had fought beside the clones for years suddenly fell one by one.
Blaster fire echoed through forests, battlefields, and distant planets.
Ray didn't move.
The glow flickered across his face as the scenes shifted again.
Then—
Yoda stopped walking.
The small green master froze for a moment.
His cane slipped from his hand.
It clattered softly against the ground as he grabbed his chest, feeling the sudden deaths of the Jedi through the Force.
Ray swallowed.
For a moment the only sound in the cabin was the music from the movie and the faint night noises drifting through the window.
Even Ray knew now.
Something truly terrible had just happened.
Ray felt bad for them.
The betrayal, the sudden murders, the quiet devastation spreading across the galaxy—it hit harder than he had expected. But even with that feeling sitting heavy in his chest, he couldn't look away from the screen.
He was too invested now.
The story kept moving, each scene pulling him deeper, making him want to know what would happen next.
Beside him, Kate noticed.
From time to time she glanced at him instead of the laptop.
And every time she did, a small grin crept onto her face.
She watched the way his eyes stayed locked on the screen.
The way he leaned forward slightly without realizing it.
The way his expression shifted with every new scene.
She had seen this before.
Kate looked back at the movie for a moment… then at him again.
Yeah.
She's got him hooked now.
Kate glanced at Ray again when the next scene began.
She knew this one was coming.
On the screen, the temple halls were quiet. A group of younglings stood together, their small faces full of fear as Anakin approached them.
The voice from the laptop echoed softly through the cabin.
"Master Skywalker… there are too many of them. What are we going to do?"
The children looked up at him.
For a moment, everything felt still.
Then—
Anakin ignited his lightsaber.
The blue glow filled the screen.
Ray immediately leaned forward.
"Nah… what the fuck?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Kate didn't say anything.
She just watched him.
Ray leaned back slightly, still staring at the screen like he couldn't believe what he had just seen.
"I swear… if he somehow goes back to the light side after making war crimes…" he muttered.
He shook his head slowly, clearly trying to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes.
Beside him, Kate stayed completely silent.
She didn't explain anything this time.
She didn't even look at him.
Instead, she just let the movie continue playing while the glow from the laptop flickered across the cabin walls.
Ray kept watching.
And Kate knew better than to interrupt now.
Some moments were better experienced without spoilers.
If Ray thought things couldn't get worse, he was about to have his mind completely blown.
Another thirty minutes passed.
The movie had grown heavier with every scene, the tension building slowly as the story moved closer to its end.
The cabin stayed quiet.
Even Kate wasn't saying anything anymore.
On the screen, the scene between Anakin and Padmé began.
Ray leaned forward slightly as he listened.
"What are you planning to do?" Padmé asked, her voice shaking, her eyes filled with tears.
"Stop. Stop now. Come back. I love you."
Ray frowned slightly, watching the moment unfold.
Then—
"Liar!" Anakin shouted.
Ray blinked.
On the screen, Anakin's head snapped toward the ship behind Padmé.
Obi-Wan stepped out from the entrance.
Ray slowly leaned back against the wall again.
"Oh no," he muttered under his breath.
"You're with him," Anakin said, his voice shaking with anger and betrayal as he looked at Padmé.
"You brought him here to kill me."
Ray's eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
For a second nothing happened.
Then Anakin lifted his hand.
Padmé suddenly gasped.
Ray sat up a little straighter as the invisible grip tightened around her throat.
"You brought him here to kill me!" Anakin shouted.
Padmé struggled for air as the Force closed around her neck.
Ray stared at the screen, disbelief written all over his face.
"Jesus Christ…" he muttered quietly.
Beside him, Kate didn't say a word.
She just watched the scene unfold.
"Let her go, Anakin," Obi-Wan said as he slowly stepped out of the ship.
Ray leaned forward slightly.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then Anakin's hand dropped.
Padmé collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Ray frowned.
Anakin's eyes locked onto his former master.
"You turned her against me!"
"You have done that yourself," Obi-Wan answered calmly.
The tension in the scene tightened like a rope about to snap.
"You will not take her from me!" Anakin shouted as he pulled off his robe, letting it fall to the ground.
Ray sat up straighter.
"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that," Obi-Wan replied simply, removing his own robe.
For a moment they just stood there.
Two former brothers.
Two Jedi.
Then—
Both lightsabers ignited.
The scene exploded into motion as the duel began, the two of them clashing instantly while the music surged through the cabin.
Ray's eyes stayed glued to the screen.
The duel raged on.
The two of them moved across the burning landscape of Mustafar, jumping from platform to platform while rivers of lava flowed beneath them. Sparks flew every time their lightsabers collided, the glow reflecting off the black volcanic rock around them.
Ray hadn't moved in several minutes, his eyes locked on the screen.
His eyes stayed locked on the screen.
The movie cut quickly between scenes.
For a moment the fight shifted to Yoda and Sidious, their battle raging high above the Senate chamber. The small green master struggled, losing his lightsaber as the fight turned against him.
Then the scene snapped back.
Mustafar.
Obi-Wan jumped onto a small floating platform near the lava river.
Anakin followed close behind.
The music built toward its peak.
Then Obi-Wan leapt again, landing safely on the bank above the lava.
He turned to face his former student.
"It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground."
Ray leaned forward slightly.
"You underestimate my power," Anakin replied, his eyes burning red with rage.
Obi-Wan's expression hardened.
"Don't try it."
For a second, everything felt frozen.
Then Anakin screamed and launched himself forward.
The moment happened in an instant.
Obi-Wan's lightsaber flashed.
Ray blinked.
Anakin fell.
His body hit the ground hard, sliding down the black volcanic slope as the terrible realization became clear.
Ray stared at the screen.
"…Holy shit."