Imperial-Ewok War

Concurrent	Galactic Civil War
Imperial-Ewok War
Place	Endor
Outcome	Ewok victory
Major battles	Battle of Bright Tree Village Skirmish at the Endor shield bunker Battle of Endor
Combatants
Galactic Empire
Ewok Alliance to Restore the Republic (late conflict)

"It is a brave thing to confront such a fire, Honorable Elders. Many will die, that the forest lives on. But the Ewoks are brave."

―Wicket W. Warrick

During the Galactic Civil War, a disjointed conflict pitted the Ewoks of Endor against the invading forces of the Galactic Empire. It began after the Empire chose Endor as the construction site for its second Death Star battlestation. It only ended in 4 ABY, when the Alliance to Restore the Republic managed to defeat the Empire.

Prelude

"Whatever happens to me, they can't say I didn't warn them. This whole Ewok thing… I saw it coming from the very beginning. It's not my fault."

―Lieutenant Kiviett

The forest moon of Endor

After the destruction of his planet-killing Death Star battlestation, Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire had ordered the construction of a second superweapon. Thousands of survey teams were sent to scout locations for the new Death Star's potential construction site. One of those scouting expeditions, Survey Team IX3244-B, was led by Captain Toss. The team's planetologist, Lieutenant Kiviett, landed on the forest moon with a group of four, and they attempted to make contact with the inhabitants of a nearby Ewok village. As the Imperials tried to make their way to the village, unseen Ewoks forced them to hike in circles.

After two hours of being misled, Kiviett's team was completely lost in the forest, and the Ewoks started to beat drums all around them. The Imperials panicked, and started firing their blasters randomly into the woods. Their frenzy, however, did not stop the Ewoks. Ultimately, Kiviett and his men found that in their wanderings, they had returned to the landing spot of their shuttle, and they retreated to Captain Toss' frigate without hesitation. Toss, however, did not believe that the Ewoks could cause any trouble. He dismissed the planetologist's advice, reporting that Endor met all of the requirements, and that its natives posed no threat.

In the aftermath of the IX3244-B expedition, Endor was indeed selected as the second Death Star's construction site. However, Emperor Palpatine was personally displeased with the Toss' sketchy report. As a consequence, a second expedition led by Sergeant Pfilbee Jhorn was sent back to Endor in hopes of gathering more detailed information. Jhorn stated that Toss's rushed report had failed to mention the presence of many hazards of the forest moon, from the giant man-eaters know as Gorax, the flying condor dragons, and a band of ruffians known as the Sanyassan Marauders. Contrarily to the IX3244-B team, Jhorn and his men did meet the Ewoks and had actual contacts with them. Although one of his fellow scouts was fascinated by the Ewok's culture, the Imperial sergeant found them laughably primitive. Jhorn was convinced that the bear-like natives would be no match for the Imperial troops. The survey time soon left the Ewoks and continued their travels.

The conflict

Failed first contact

"They're trying to block up our weapons! Open fire!"

―A stormtrooper commander, to his men,

The first contact between the Ewoks and the Imperial stormtroopers turns awry.

Some time later, a platoon of Imperial stormtroopers was dispatched to Endor. Despite Sergeant Jhorn's previous encounter with the Endor natives, the platoon was tasked with observing first contact protocol with them. The troopers soon met a group of five Ewoks, one of which carried cut flowers. When said Ewok placed a flowers in the barrel of a stormtrooper's blaster rifle, the Imperials interpreted it as an attempt to disable their weapons and opened fire. A few days after the botched first encounter, the stormtroopers were assaulted by a group of Ewok warriors, who swooped down on them from a tree and lassoed trooper Kovacs, taking him away in the night forest with the sound of drums. Several days later, the platoon found the gory remains of their squadmate. Following that incident, the Ewoks kept playing their drums all night long in the vicinity of the Imperial bunker, in an attempt to wear the enemy soldiers out. Some of the stormtroopers went insane with exhaustion, and were killed by the ambushed Ewoks as soon as they dared set a foot outside of the bunker at night.

Battle for the Sunstar

"I cannot believe there's anything on that backwater planet that could be of use to the Galactic Empire."
"What you believe does not interest me, Admiral Kazz. The Emperor himself has approved my expedition."

―Kazz and Raygar, arguing over their mission to Endor

Some time later, the Ewok tribe of Bright Tree Village were led to confront Doctor Raygar, an Argazdan scientist who served Emperor Palpatine. Knowing that the forest moon of Endor housed the Sunstar, a magical gem of great power, Raygar had requested permission from the Emperor to launch an expedition to retrieve that artifact. The doctor traveled to Endor aboard an Imperial-class Star Destroyer commandeered by Admiral Kazz, a man who had doubts about the mission. It so happened that the famed Sunstar belonged to Logray, the shaman of Bright Tree Village. Setting out with a contingent of Imperial Reconnaissance Droids, the doctor laid a trap with which he hoped to catch a wandering Ewok, whom he would then interrogate in hopes of determining the location of Bright Tree Village. Although he only managed to catch a wild perkle, the animal's cries attracted the attention of four Ewoks, Wicket, Kneesaa, Latara, and Teebo. Riding a floating weapons platform, Raygar attacked the foursome. He forced them to reveal Bright Tree's location before incarcerating them in the freighter in, which he had landed.

Doctor Raygar steals the Sunstar.

Now in possession of the information he needed, Doctor Raygar and his droids attacked Bright Tree Village, damaging some of its houses and walkways in the process. The village's leader, Chief Chirpa launched a prompt retaliation that involved the use of catapults, but his warriors were unable to take down the doctor's platform. Ultimately, Logray entered the battlefield. The shaman easily got rid Raygar's droids, but the doctor still manage to fire at Logray, destroying the walkway the Ewok was standing on. As the shaman fell, the Sunstar fell to another walkway below, allowing Raygar to seize the gem. The doctor then raced back to his ship. On the command bridge of Admiral Kazz's Star Destroyer, the doctor decided that he would not hand over the Sunstar to the Emperor. Instead, he would use the stone to create a cannon that would kill Palpatine. However, Raygar's four Ewok prisoners had managed to set themselves free, with the help of the doctor's own droid servant, PD-28. Using an auxiliary pod from Raygar's freighter, the Ewoks successfully infiltrated the Star Destroyer. Eventually, Wicket pounced on the doctor and attacked him. During the scuffle, Raygar accidentally launched the cannon, the blast of which hit the Emperor's shuttle, which was just landing in the destroyer. Even as the scientist was being arrested for high treason against the Empire, the Ewoks recovered the Sunstar and escaped from the destroyer back to Endor.

Skirmish at the Endor shield bunker

What started as a fight between the Ewoks and the Imperials became a three-way conflict involving the Griagh.

In order to build their shield generator bunker to protect the second Death Star, then Imperials invaded and destroyed the Dulok Swamp, which was inhabited by a tribe of Duloks—the bellicose cousins of the Ewoks. The Duloks were deemed to belligerent to be kept as slaves, and the Imperial officer in charge, Lieutenant Renz, ordered their extermination. A Dulok named Agluk, who had escaped the capture, managed to reach the Ewok Bright Tree Village. He convinced Chief Chirpa's tribe that the Imperials, whom he called the Skulls Ones, were committing unprecedented atrocities on Endor. Additionally, the destruction of the Dulok Swamp had awakened the Griagh, a monstrous creature that dwelled below the surface.

After seeing what the Imperials had done to the Duloks, a group of Ewoks consisting of Latara, Wicket Warrick, Teebo, and Kneesaa decreed that no lifeform deserved such a cruel fate, regardless of its reputation, and they decided to combat the Empire. The three Ewoks then followed Agluk in an alleged subterranean shortcut for the Imperial bunker. The tempoorary alliance between the Ewoks and the lone Dulok went awry when Agluk refused to free Zrani, a Wistie whom he kept in a lantern. The commotion attracted the Griagh, and the legendary creature ate Agluk. Knowing that they could not beat the Griag, the Ewok companions fled the cavern. On their way back to Bright Tree Village, the foursome discovered that two members of their tribe, the shaman Logray and his assistant Paploo, had been discovered by stormtroopers, who intended to imprison them with a group of Duloks.

Immediately, Wicket, Kneesaa, Latara and Teebo ambushed the Imperial soldiers, killing them one by one. The fight took an unexpected turn when a dangerous third party entered the arena: the Griagh. Soon, the Ewoks were divided between killing Imperials, free captive Duloks and defend themselves from the legendary beast. The shaman Logray then decided to destroy the Griagh with the energy of the Sunstar. The stone had been critically depleted, but the Wistie Zrani sacrificed her life to speed up and direct the Sunstar tossed at the beast.

Resolution

"Wonderful! We are now part of the tribe."

―C-3PO, a Rebel droid

After they allied with the Rebel Alliance, the Ewoks emerged victorious.

Eight months after the skirmish at the shield bunker, new visitors set foot on Endor. The Rebel Alliance, a movement of freedom fighters that opposed Palpatine's regime, had hatched a plan to overthrow the Empire by deactivating the Death Star's shield generator before destroying the battle station itself. Although their first encounter was rather brusque, the Rebels and the Bright Tree Ewoks ultimately recognized each other as a friends and potential allies against the tyrannical regime whose men had taken over Endor.

At dawn, the Bright Tree Ewoks led their new allies to the Imperial bunker. While the Rebels were trying to figure out a plan to infiltrate the bunker, the young Ewok Paploo climbed on a speeder bike belonging to an Imperial scout trooper and roared away, creating a diversion. As the scout troopers chased after Paploo, the Rebels made for the bunker and started installing explosive charges. However, they soon fell into the hands of remaining Imperials. Seeing their allies in danger, the Ewoks launched their assault, attacking the Imperial troops with their primitive weapons. Using their keen knowledge of the guerrilla tactics, the natives of Endor overpowered the better-equipped Imperials, freeing the Rebels and allowing them to blow up the shield generator in the bunker. Thanks to that ground-based victory, the Rebel fleet was now ready to attack the Death Star, and one of their ships successfully fired powerful missiles at the dreaded battle station. The night that followed the battle, the Ewoks and Rebels threw a celebration, an event that also occurred on many other worlds across the galaxy.

Appearances

• "Apocalypse Endor" — Star Wars Tales 14
• Ewoks — "Battle for the Sunstar"
• Star Wars: Ewoks—Shadows of Endor
• Star Wars: Battlefront
• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi novelization (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
• Return of the Jedi radio drama — "So Turns a Galaxy, So Turns a Wheel"
• Return of the Jedi radio drama — "Blood of a Jedi"
• Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds

Non-canon appearances

• Star Wars: Battlefront II
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II