Wicket's Wagon

"Wicket's Wagon" is the tenth episode in the Star Wars: Ewoks animated television series, and the tenth episode in season one. Written by Paul Dini and directed by Raymond Jafelice, the episode originally aired on ABC on November 9, 1985.

Synopsis
Seeking shelter from a storm while in the woods one day, Wicket Warrick and his brothers found their way into an old battle wagon. The brothers soon learned from Mistress Kaink that the wagon was built many years before by their own great-grandfather, Erpham Warrick, and was used to defeat the Duloks. Wicket decided to rebuild the wagon; he obtained Erpham's original construction plans from Kaink, but when he asked his friends and brothers to help him, the only person who seemed truly interested was Malani.

Over a period of weeks, Wicket, Malani, and Baga worked diligently to restore the battle wagon to its original glory. However, the Ewoks were unaware that the Duloks had been observing the reconstruction. On the day the battle wagon was completed, while Wicket took a nap inside, the Duloks made their move and commandeered the wagon. Wicket was able to escape, but his wagon was gone.

That night, Wicket sounded the village drum and awoke the Ewoks from their beds to tell them of the Duloks' thievery. But the villagers did not share Wicket's concern, not even Chief Chirpa. Only Kneesaa was sympathetic for Wicket's loss. While the Duloks plotted their new attack on the Ewoks, the heavy-hearted Wicket visited the soul tree of his great-grandfather. There, Erpham's spirit spoke to Wicket, telling him how the Ewoks had made fun of him when he first built the wagon, but that it later proved its worth by helping them defeat the Duloks.

With his great-grandfather's encouragement, Wicket chose to go after the Duloks. After he overheard their plot to destroy the soul trees, Wicket disguised himself as the old Dulok Murgoob and tricked the Duloks into driving the wagon into the water. But his cover was blown when the real Murgoob showed up; Wicket was held captive on the wagon as the Duloks led their attack. When they reached the soul trees, Malani and Baga came to Wicket's rescue. The two Ewoks kicked off Duloks until only King Gorneesh and his wife remained onboard. Gorneesh tried Wicket's courage, but Wicket bested the king by pulling the main support peg, causing the wagon to collapse before it reached the soul trees.

The Ewoks later rebuilt the battle wagon for Wicket in appreciation of his courage.

Behind the scenes

 * This episode was released on DVD in 2004 as part of the Tales From the Endor Woods feature film. It can be found on side 2 of the disc.