Hello and welcome to another installment of Laughing Place’s regular weekly recap of Disney XD’s animated series Star Wars Resistance from Lucasfilm animation. In this week’s episode “The Relic Raiders,” Kazuda (voiced by Christopher Sean) finds himself sent on a supply run to the planet Ashas Ree alongside Torra (Myrna Velasco), Freya (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), and CB-23 by Captain Doza (Jason Hightower) and Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence).
Provided with the Colossus’ last remaining credits, this group is tasked with visiting a trading outpost to purchase a list of needed goods for the station. Prior to disembarking, Kaz is approached by Kel (Antony Del Rio) and Eila (Nikki SooHoo)– the two kids who first appeared in the first-season episode “The Children from Tehar” and have been occasionally recurring on the series ever since– who want to tag along, just to visit a planet’s surface and breathe fresh air for the first time since they left Castilon. Kaz reluctantly agrees with the condition that they remain hidden during the trip.
Upon arrival on Ashas Ree, the away team finds that the destination is deserted and its marketplace has been entirely abandoned, with Aurebesh graffiti warnings sprayed over various surfaces. After deciding to split up to search for salvageable supplies, Kaz discovers that Kel and Eila have wandered off chasing luminescent butterflies and they stumble across a grown-over Force temple covered in mysterious symbols. Kaz reveals he doesn’t really believe in the Jedi or their powers, just before the three visitors hear a cry for help coming from deep within the temple’s labyrinthine passageways.
Venturing further down one of the corridors, they immediately trigger a series of booby traps and fall into separate underground chambers. Kaz makes his way into a larger room and comes across a strange holocron-shaped relic on a pedestal in its center. Despite a warning from the voice not to touch it, Kaz– clumsy as always– reaches out to grab the artifact and sets off a trap door, causing him to fall down another level. There he finds the source of the voice: an old woman named Mika Grey (Tudi Roche) who demands to know if he works for the First Order.
Meanwhile, while gathering supplies, Torra and Freya receive an alarm warning from their shuttle, indicating approaching ships. Back underground, Mika explains that Kaz and his friends have found an ancient Sith temple hidden beneath a Jedi shrine. Ever graceful, Kaz then sets off another booby trap causing the room to begin spinning violently. Fortunately, Kel and Eila find their way to the chamber above them and help them escape by pressing a series of the symbols on the walls. Mika grabs the relic, Kaz messes up yet again, and the four must make a mad dash up and out of the temple as it crumbles around them.
Outside, they see that Torra and Freya have been taken hostage by a squadron of First Order Raiders, who are apparently specialized stormtroopers assigned to track down artifacts of interest by their leader– with the implication being Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Thinking quickly, Mika climbs to the top of a ruin and gets the Raiders’ attention by activating the relic she stole from the temple and throwing it at them. With our heroes somehow managing to get out of the way just in time, the device explodes in an electrical pulse blast, frying the troopers in their armor.
The threat having been eliminated and her ship destroyed in the battle, our protagonists invite Mika Grey to come back to the Colossus with them. She hesitantly agrees, and Kaz believes they may learn some things from this treasure hunter who is evidently well-versed in both Jedi and Sith lore. Aboard the shuttle, Mika explains that she is not affiliated with either side, but that “the Force is inside all of us” and each person “finds it in a different way.” This new character is a fairly interesting addition to Star Wars Resistance and I’m interested to see how she is further developed as this second and final season progresses.
Next week: “Rendezvous Point”