Snow King

"You see, our brother, the Snow King, has fallen in love with an evil frost sprite: Odra, the Duchess of Sleet. She's frozen his heart, leaving him selfish and mean."

- The Leaf Queen

The Snow King was a powerful "god" who ruled the winter season of the forest moon of Endor. He could only bring about winter with the Season Scepter. He was the brother of the Leaf Queen, the Sun King, and the Flower Queen. During the Imperial era, he was seduced by Odra, Duchess of Sleet, and engaged in an affair with her. During this time, she froze his heart, turning him into a merciless dictator.

Just shy of declaring war on his siblings and turning the forest moon into a battleground, he had his Ice Head Commandos apprehend the Season Scepter from the Sun King, and then used the scepter to cast an eternal winter over Endor. Only the efforts of Wicket W. Warrick, under the banner of the Coalition of the Freezing, were able to stop Odra and the Snow King, and in an altercation at the Snow Palace, the King's heart was thawed. Seeing the wrong he had done, the Snow King reversed his evil, and any damage he had caused was repaired.

Rise to power
Prior to or during the Imperial era, the Snow King became the ruler of the season of winter. His siblings gained power over autumn, spring, and summer at the same time. A system was set up where the four siblings would rotate their seasons on a regulated basis.

The Snow King took up residence in the Snow Palace, a massive structure, almost impervious to attackers. From there, the Snow King would host his season. It also housed his Ice Head Royal Guard, and Commandos. With the use of the Sun King's Season Scepter, the Snow King could bring about winter at any time he deemed worthy, despite not having any visible knowledge of the Force.

An affair to remember
"Anything for you, Odra, my dear Duchess of Sleet."

- The Snow King

During the Imperial era, the Snow King met Duchess Odra of Sleet. Against the wishes of his siblings, he fell in love with her, and entered into an affair. During their tempestuous romance, the Duchess literally froze the Snow King's heart. Due to his power, this did not kill him; rather, it turned him into a cold, hard dictator. His appearance also changed to reveal what Odra had done; he bacame a hard-edged ice-like being, as opposed to his original snow-like state. Whether or not this was Odra's intent is not known, however, she did use the situation to her advantage. In his frozen state, the Snow King was easily manipulated. Practically appointing herself head of the Ice Heads, she launched an attack on the Sun Palace. The raid was successful – the Ice Heads had stolen the Season Scepter right from under the corpulent Sun King. Returning to the Snow Palace, she persuaded the King to cast an eternal blanket of snow over a large portion of Endor, most notably, Bright Tree Village, with a view to stealing the powerful Sunstar from them. In response, the Snow King's siblings formed the Coalition of the Freezing, in order to form a resistance against the winter. They tried to negotiate with the Snow King, but he hardened his heart, and peace talks broke down. Though there was no official state of war, things were teetering close.

Fatal attraction
"You're not getting warm-hearted on me are you? We can't have that if you're to freeze the Ewoks and take their Sunstar."

- Odra

The Coalition retaliated by contacting Bright Tree Village, and in particular, Ewok shaman Logray. However, their transmission went awry, and was instead received by Wicket W. Warrick. Warrick and his companions took it upon themselves to travel to the Sun Palace, and to the Coalition's aid. To prevent this, Odra dispatched the Ice Head Commandos to intercept the four Ewoks. Though the raid did not turn out to be a complete success, Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, daughter of Chief Chirpa of Bright Tree, was captured, and brought to the Snow Palace. There, the Snow King froze her in a block of ice, so that she could serve as an adequate incentive for the Coalition and Bright Tree to surrender to his terms. Meanwhile, back at the Sun Palace, the Coalition planned a covert operation, in which Warrick, shaman-in-training Teebo, and amateur actress Latara would infiltrate the Snow Palace, and reclaim the Season Scepter for the Sun King. Warrick was able to successfully gain entry to the palace by disguising himself and his friends as Ice Heads; however, in the throne room, Odra was able to smoke them out.

After a failed attempt to take the season scepter by enticing the Snow King with ice-on-a-stick, a confrontation ensued, and Kneesaa was freed with a minimum of fuss. Warrick was able to wrest control of the Scepter from the Snow King, and turned it against the tyrant. The Scepter, in the hands of Warrick melted the frozen heart of the King, restoring him to his former, jovial state. The Scepter's power also struck Odra, who was forced to retreat. Despite losing his lover, the Snow King remained in a good mood, and asked for clemency for his past crimes, on the grounds of ignorance. The Sun King forgave his brother, and allowed him to retain his position of power.

Personality and traits
"Did I do that? I'm so sorry."

- The Snow King

Before his heart was frozen, the Snow King was a kind and caring leader, always waiting his turn to administer his season. He was a highly stable individual, with no tendencies or vices, apart from Odra, the Duchess of Sleet. When Odra froze his heart, however, he turned into a violent, cruel, and unrelenting tyrant, who would not even stop to consider the repercussions of freezing an Ewok child in ice. His political tact even altered, with him publicly moving against his siblings, in what could be construed as acts of war. When defrosted, the Snow King acted as he had before, and suffered amnesia, not even realizing the extent of his previous atrocities.

Powers and abilities
There are a number of ways in which the Snow King could have existed. It is not known if the Snow King is a manifestation of the Force, a being deformed by the Force, or a fraud, but there are a number of arguments for each possibility.

Force manifestation
The Snow King and his siblings were physically unique. They did not correlate to any known species, and, though they were related, bore no physical resemblance to each other. Since they were regarded as gods by the people of the Forest Moon, it is possible that they were in fact non corporeal manifestations. However, this theory is contradicted by the fact that they were seen by all, which would be impossible, unless all those who saw them were, in fact, Force-sensitive themselves. It should be noted, however, that the use of the Season Scepter on the Snow King drastically altered his appearance.

Deformed sentient
The most likely possibility, the Snow King may well have been a Force-sensitive humanoid who, along with his siblings, discovered the scepter and used it to influence the seasons on Endor. It is known that concentrated use of the Force could lead to deformation, and so, this is what may have caused the four siblings drastically altered appearances.

Fraud
Without the scepter, the Snow King displayed no power. In fact, he almost developed a complex of anxiety when not in possession of the scepter. This may well mean that the scepter was the only thing that granted him power, and he was, thus, a fraud. However, the idea of a Force-imbued artifact such as the Season Scepter conflicts with this, as it could only be used by someone who was Force-sensitive. The Scepter itself may well have been a simple technological device, but this is unlikely. Also, the fact that his physical composition altered when his heart was struck by the Season Scepter further invalidates this theory.

Behind the scenes
The Snow King first appeared in Raymond Jafelice's "The Season Scepter," an episode of the Star Wars: Ewoks television series. He was created by Bob Carrau. In Daniel Wallace's unpublished article, Castaways of Endor, an indirect mention was made with the line "What of the shamanism and earth-magic that has turned local kingpins into weather-controlling warlocks?"

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Ewoks
 * "The Season Scepter"