Star Wars: A New Hope
(the triumphant protagonist)
Metaphorically speaking, Star Wars: A New Hope is a classic hero’s journey about a young knight trying to save a princess from an evil castle. Luke is a triumphant protagonist, and his Rubicon is attached to the Climax.
Luke’s flaw vs. virtue argument = doubt vs. faith (basically a science vs. magic story, or technology vs. the Force) stemming from the Wound of having never known his true father (carried over from the previous story: Revenge of the Sith) but for the sparse and partial truths his uncle Owen then Obi-Wan tell him of Anakin.
Act 1
1. Inciting Incident: Luke accidentally triggers Princess Leia’s holographic message to Obi-Wan requesting help.
2. Key Event: Luke discovers his aunt and uncle dead courtesy of the Empire and joins Obi-Wan in leaving home.
Act 2A
3. Pinch Point: After hiring passage out of the Mos Eisley spaceport aboard Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon, Luke and Obi-Wan are chased off-planet and under fire by Imperial Star Destroyers.
4. Midpoint: After emerging from lightspeed to a destroyed Alderaan, the Millennium Falcon is captured by the Death Star’s tractor beam, and they barely escape by hiding in Han’s smuggling compartments. Luke then discovers Princess Leia is a prisoner aboard the Death Star and decides to rescue her.
Act 2B
5. Punch Point: Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are forced to hide in a trash compactor where a dianoga sewer slug tries to eat Luke and the Imperials then turn on the compactor to crush them, but they barely escape thanks to Artoo’s intervention.
6. Anchor Point: Just as they return to the Millennium Falcon, Luke spots Obi-Wan dueling Darth Vader, during which Obi-Wan allows Vader to strike him down.
Act 3
7. Climax: After escaping to the Rebel base on Yavin IV, Artoo’s plans are used to formulate an attack strategy against the Death Star—which is closing in because it tracked them. Luke joins the X-wing fighters scrambling to head out for battle.
Rubicon: With Darth Vader hot on his trail, Luke hears the voice of Obi-Wan’s force-ghost telling him to “use the force”. Luke switches off his targeting computer, choosing faith over doubt, trusts in the Force and makes the otherwise impossible shot that blows up the Death Star.
The story’s dramatic question: Will Luke get revenge (a.k.a. personal justice) against the evil Empire for the murder of his aunt and uncle? The answer is quite obviously a resounding Yes!
*Parting Note: Way back in 2014, when I published ‘Punching Babies: a how-to guide’, I mistakenly said the Inciting Incident of The Matrix is when Neo answers Morpheus’ phone call at work. We all live and learn, and clearly I was wrong, but I’ve since lost the means for updating that book so I’m mentioning the necessary correction here.