There’s an odd tonal difference between the Ewoks’ two primary antagonists. The Duloks are all, “We’re going to play pranks on those dumb Ewoks,” whereas Morag the witch is all, “I will extinguish the verminous Ewok race by means both foul and bloody.” (I’m paraphrasing.)
I understand the Duloks’ motivations, mostly. Their lives are horrible – they live in a swamp, they’re stupid, they’re covered in bugs all the time. The Ewoks look like they’ve got it all going on, and the Duloks are jealous. It’s pretty standard cartoon fair. They’re threatening but not too threatening. When Wicket and his buddies are captured by the Duloks in this episode, we know it’s bad, but we also know they’re not going to be slaughtered. A ransom and maybe some light humiliation are all the Duloks are after.
It’s equally obvious what Morag wants – Ewok genocide, she’s very clear and persistent about it – but less obvious why she wants it. Apart from a throwaway line in the first episode hinting at some past encounter with one of the Ewok elders, we’ve gotten no reason so far as to why she hates the cute little teddy bears. She doesn’t want to eat them, like Gargamel does the Smurfs. She’s not searching for greater power, like Skeletor fighting He-Man for control of Castle Grayskull. She just wants all the Ewoks dead.
There’s a lot of continuity in this seemingly simple cartoon – seriously, they’re still introducing new major characters – so maybe this hasn’t been ignored, maybe Morag’s motivation is being held back for a later climactic reveal. I hope so. She’s supposed to be the big scary evil, but without knowing why she’s doing what she’s doing, it’s a little hard to get invested. Whenever she pops up, it’s less, “Oh no, Morag!” and more, “Oh, it’s her again.”
Previous: Droids S1E2 – “Escape into Terror” (1985)
Next: Droids S1E3 – “The Trigon Unleashed” (1985)
