40 Years Ago, ‘Ewoks: The Battle for Endor’ Had the Darkest ‘Star Wars’ Opening

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Picture this: you’re seeing The Empire Strikes Back in theaters when it first comes out. The movie starts calmly with Princess Leia, but quickly cuts to a chaotic scene – a full-scale attack on the Rebel base on Hoth. You see Luke Skywalker bravely fighting, and then… he’s suddenly killed! That happens just six minutes into the movie, and the story continues as if nothing happened. Tough break, Luke!

In 1985, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor took a surprisingly dark turn, especially for a Star Wars sequel and a family film. Now, as the TV movie approaches its 40th anniversary – it originally aired on ABC on November 24, 1985 – let’s revisit how it shockingly handled a key young character from the first Ewoks movie.

In 1984, the movie Caravan of Courage: The Ewok Adventure told the story of the Towani family, who crash-landed on the forest moon of Endor. When their parents disappear, the two Towani children, Mace and Cindel, are found and cared for by the Ewoks. Five-year-old Cindel quickly befriends Wicket, and Mace must find the courage to become a hero and rescue their parents from a terrifying monster called the Gorax.


Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

While the story follows several characters, including Cindel and Wicket, Mace is clearly the central figure in Caravan of Courage. From the start, it’s obvious he’s meant to be a stand-in for a young Luke Skywalker. Actor Eric Walker bears a strong resemblance to Mark Hamill, sporting a similar haircut and wearing an orange flight suit throughout the movie. Interestingly, George Lucas liked the name ‘Mace’ – he originally included a character named Mace Windy in early versions of Star Wars before creating Mace Windu for the prequel trilogy.

As a huge Star Wars fan, I always found Mace Towani in Ewoks: The Battle of Endor a bit…familiar. He’s basically a teenage version of young Luke Skywalker – a bit naive at the start, but quickly thrust into a situation where he has to become a hero. Little Cindel is smartly kept safe during the big fight, while Mace and a bunch of Ewoks take on this monster called the Gorax. It’s really touching when Mace’s Ewok friend, Chukha-Trok, gets hurt and gives him his battle-ax right before…well, you can guess. Mace uses that ax to defeat the Gorax and rescue his parents! Talk about a classic hero’s journey – it really hits all the right notes!

Honestly, after seeing Mace in Return of the Jedi, I was so excited to see what happened to him! But The Battle for Endor… wow. It starts right away with the Ewok village under attack by these really nasty guys, the Sanyassan Marauders. And when I first saw Mace, I couldn’t believe it – he was trying to fight them off with a blaster, and… was that his mom?! She was supposed to be gone! He only says a few things – basically yelling at Cindel to get help and find their dad – and then he quickly pulls his mom’s body inside. Then, boom! A huge explosion, and that’s it. Just… gone. It was so abrupt and shocking, and honestly, a really disappointing way to handle a character I’d been hoping to see more of.

It takes a few minutes to fully realize Mace was supposed to die in that scene. It isn’t clear until after Cindel finds her father – Paul Gleason, known for playing villains in movies like Die Hard and The Breakfast Club, but surprisingly playing a good guy here – and tells him, “Mommy, Mace, they’re dead.” Her dad simply replies, “I know.” This might not be a deliberate reference to the famous “I love you,” “I know” scene from Star Wars, but it’s a darkly humorous parallel. Sadly, her dad doesn’t survive much longer, and Cindel soon begins a new journey with Wicket and, predictably, Wilford Brimley! Brimley plays Noa, a kind man who helps keep Cindel safe from the villains as the story unfolds.


Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

It’s hard to ignore the strange decision to kill off Mace, especially considering the main goal of Caravan of Courage is rescuing his parents. It feels unnecessarily harsh, similar to how Alien 3 abruptly killed off beloved characters. Mace was only fourteen and played a key role in the original Ewok movie, making his death feel particularly shocking.

Let’s be honest, Mace isn’t a particularly strong character. While young Walker was just playing the part he was given, Mace spends most of Caravan of Courage acting like a constantly complaining and whiny version of Luke Skywalker – remember how Luke whined about Tosche Station? It’s like if Luke had stayed that annoying for the entire original Star Wars movie, and even gotten worse at times. Mace is just frustrating for a lot of the story before he finally starts to become more heroic towards the end.

According to a 2000 interview with EON Magazine (reported by TheForce.net), Ken Wheat, a co-writer and director of The Battle for Endor, shared that the decision to have Cindel’s entire family die came from George Lucas, who contributed to the story of both Ewok TV movies. Wheat explained that Lucas developed the story during two four-hour meetings, inspired by having recently watched Heidi with his daughter. Lucas suggested turning the young girl from the first Ewok movie into an orphan who would be raised by a solitary hermit in the forest.


Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

So, the original characters were sidelined, Mace Windu was dropped, and Wilford Brimley was brought in – it all comes down to decisions made for Heidi! Lucas likely realized audiences weren’t thrilled with Mace after the first movie, so he moved on. And since the Ewoks mostly appealed to very young viewers, focusing on the youngest character from the original Star Wars film, even if it felt a bit calculated, made some sense. To be honest, neither Ewok movie is great, but The Battle for Endor especially feels like it’s aimed squarely at preschoolers, with a very simple storyline. In fact, Wicket even speaks plain English in that one – or ‘Basic’ for Star Wars fans – which just shows how young the target audience was.

The two Ewoks movies are now considered part of Star Wars Legends, meaning the Towani family isn’t currently part of the official story. However, some things from those movies have made it into canon – for example, the blurrg creatures from The Battle for Endor appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and even The Mandalorian. This leaves the door open for characters like Cindel and Mace to potentially return, and maybe even give Mace a better ending. After all, the Star Wars galaxy is vast, and anything is possible!

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2025-11-24 20:49