The New King

"The New King" is the sixth episode in the Star Wars: Droids animated television series, and the sixth episode in season one. Written by Peter Sauder, the episode originally aired on ABC on October 12, 1985.

Plot summary
Jessica Meade transports Prince Mon Julpa, Jann Tosh, C-3PO and R2-D2 back to the planet Tammuz-an, so that Julpa can regain his rightful place as king. Currently, the royal vizier, Zatec-Cha has subverted the throne with plans to rule the planet once he regains the royal scepter of Tammuz-an – his symbol of office. To this end, he hires the bounty hunter, IG-88, to capture Mon Julpa and acquire the scepter.

Jann Tosh and the others are flying through space when a pirate corsair named Gir Kybo Ren-Cha attempts to overtake their ship. Jessica's expert flying prevents them from being blasted into pieces, and they receive assistance from a very unlikely source – IG-88. The assassin droid opens fire on Captain Kybo's ship preventing him from overtaking the heroes. He doesn't want anyone destroying his bounty.

Jann and the others finally arrive at Tammuz-an. In order to secure Mon Julpa's position as ruler, he must return the royal scepter to the Keeper of the Tower at the top of the royal palace by the first sun of the equinox. They take up temporary residence at one of the townhouses in the capital city. Jessica Meade goes to a local medical station to treat some wounds she received during her battle with Captain Kybo. Zatec-Cha's guards intercept her at the med-station and abduct her.

Meanwhile, Jann Tosh notices Zatec-Cha's aide, Vinga skulking about outside the castle. Jann and the droids chase after him, leaving Mon Julpa defenseless. Jann, Threepio and Artoo turn into an alleyway where they find several of Zatec-Cha's guards waiting in ambush. Back at the townhouse, IG-88 grabs the royal scepter and uses it to capture Mon Julpa.

All of the prisoners (including Jessica) are taken back to the royal palace where they are thrown into a pit containing a large monster known as a Durkii. R2-D2 calms the creature down by removing several bothersome insects known as Kleex from its scales. With the pests removed from its hide, the Durkii ceases to be a threat. Once they escape, they race to the uppermost towers of the palace to stop Zatec-Cha before the first sun. They succeed in intercepting him and Mon Julpa places the royal scepter in its housing, thereby solidifying himself as the proper ruler of Tammuz-an. To show his gratitude he makes Jann an advisor to his court.

Cast

 * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
 * Don Francks as Jann Tosh
 * Dan Hennessey as Gundy, Vinga and Jyn Obah
 * Taborah Johnson as Jessica Meade
 * John Stocker as Sollag and Zatec-Cha
 * Chris Wiggins as Mon Julpa

Behind the scenes
"The New King" was released as part of the The Pirates and the Prince feature film on VHS format in 1999 and on the Star Wars: Droids DVD in 2004.

This episode marks the first appearance of the craft retconned to be the R-22 Spearhead, although it is identified in the episode as an A-wing. Some have speculated that "A-wing" may simply be a nickname for the craft developed by the Tammuz-an, which the Rebel Alliance decided to use as their name for the craft when they later used it.

Although the B-Wing wasn't invented until 1 ABY, a B-Wing can arguably be seen in this episode. Although this may be interpreted as a continuity error, Leland Chee has suggested that the vehicle appearing to be a B-wing might actually be an H-60 Tempest bomber. If true, this would be reminiscent of the R-22 Spearhead retcon which was made in order to explain the presence of A-wing-type vehicles in the series, since A-wings have not yet been invented during the time period the series is set in.

Zatec-Cha actually hired IG-88 before the events of The Lost Prince; The droid was mentioned to be searching for Mon Julpa in that episode.

The ship that IG-88 pilots is never given an official classification but it bears a resemblance to the ugly Z-'ceptor.