Lost Temple

The Lost Temple was a large structure made of stone. A long staircase led to the one major opening—a doorway flanked by pillars and topped with an overbearing stone sculpture of an avian creature. Several other full-sized statues of similar looking creatures adorned both the outside and inside of the temple. After entering the building, visitors were met with a mammoth stone statue that contained a large ruby centered in its stomach. Attempting to grab the jewel set off a course of booby-traps, beginning with a trap-door that deposited intruders onto a stone slide, which made its way into the depths of the temple. The stone slide was flanked by a large array of metal spikes, and if the intruders were not eliminated by those, a row of metal blades popped up from the center of the slope, designed to cut the trespassers apart. The slide ended with a pool of lava that would incinerate anything remaining.

Just beyond the lava pit was the treasure room, a great circular area that was filled almost entirely with glittering gems. However, this too was protected, and a large serpentine beast, a fearsome dragon-like creature, guarded the room from anyone that managed to make their way inside. In reality, the gems were eggs of the serpent, and its protection was primarily based on its loyalty towards its offspring. The exit from the treasure room was a long corridor lined with stone pillars. This area too was plagued with traps, and certain stones in the floor triggered large spikes to fall from the ceiling. At the end of this pathway was an exit to the Lost Temple. This exit had a horizontally closing gateway, which could prevent any intruders from escaping. What triggered the closure of this exit was not apparent to the Ewoks who eventually explored the temple.

At some point before the Galactic Civil War, an ancient race created this temple on the forest moon of Endor. The design of the temple contained numerous decorations, and the temple was adorned with several full size statues of bird-like creatures, including a large avian head that hung over the main entrance. The ancient race had created the temple in order to hide a large stash of jewels, and they designed a series of elaborate booby-traps in order to protect their wealth. However, these gems were, in reality, the eggs of the serpent creature, and whether the ancient builders had been aware of that fact was a mystery. Eventually, the ancient race disappeared from the temple, leaving their treasure behind. The building became lost in the forest until it was rediscovered by the native Ewoks. Due to its mysterious nature, the structure was dubbed the Lost Temple. The Ewok Shaman Logray came to possess a scroll that both described the building and pinpointed its location in relation to Bright Tree Village, the Ewoks' home. However, upon exploration of the building, the Ewoks learned how dangerous the temple actually was due to the ancient builders' penchant for deadly traps. As a result, the scroll concerning the temple warned any Ewok traveler to "keep out, or be doomed!"

Around 3 ABY, the Ewok children, Wicket, Princess Kneesaa, Latara, and Teebo discovered Logray's scroll concerning the Lost Temple in a pile of his old records. Wicket had been searching for a present for his mother, Shodu, for her birthday, and believed that a gem from the Lost Temple would be the perfect gift. Latara, intrigued by the prospect of valuable gems, agreed to search out the building. Before their departure, Kneesaa pointed out the warning on the scroll to her friends, but her worries were dismissed, as Wicket claimed that they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. The four friends made their way through the forest and eventually discovered the temple, housed in a clearing among the trees. Climbing the steps, Latara began to notice how unfurnished the temple was, and started to have second thoughts about exploring a dirty old temple. However, after she was reminded of the treasure inside, Latara was the first to enter, dashing into the building and approaching a large stone statue that sat near the temple entrance.

Latara quickly spied a large ruby housed in the stomach of the statue, and she decided to remove it. Despite her friends' warning that the gem might be booby-trapped, Latara pressed her hand against the object, triggering a trap that had been left by the ancient builders. A trap door opened up below the four Ewoks, dropping them upon a steep stone slide. As the group plummeted into the depths of the temple, Latara nearly fell from the slide onto several metal spikes that lined their descent. However, Wicket was able to grab his friend and prevent her demise. Unfortunately for them, more traps lay ahead, and the four friends were barely able to avoid several metal blades that sprung up in the center of the slide. After avoiding the blades, the group was nearly deposited in a lava pit, before Kneesaa was able to user her grappling hook to lasso a stone statue and swing them to safety.

Temporarily safe, the four Ewoks found themselves inside the treasure room. Latara was the most excited by the discovery, and she began to gather as many gems as she could. Wicket was able to pick out a large jewel to give to his mother, but Kneesaa urged the group to depart as quickly as possible, claiming that the temple made her nervous. However, Latara ignored her friend's warning, gathering gems gleefully. Just as Latara began to consider how many jewels she could carry, a large serpent-like beast arose from the treasure room floor. The Ewoks fled through the nearest exit, but they were quickly pursued by the massive creature. Rushing through a long passageway, the Ewoks were unable to lose their pursuer, who easily smashed through stone pillars as it chased its prey. In their hurried escape, Teebo inadvertently triggered another booby-trap, which dropped a series of large wooden spikes from the ceiling. The four Ewoks were able to avoid the onslaught, but the wooden spikes made a temporary wall, which cut the serpent off from its quarry. However, the beast was only momentarily deterred, as it used its tail to smash the barricade away. The large wooden spikes became rolling logs, which threatened to crush the fleeing Ewoks. Amid Latara's claims that the group was certainly doomed, Kneesaa was able to spy an exit to the temple. However, a horizontal gate was rapidly closing on the exit, and the Ewoks were only just able to escape with their lives.

After escaping, the four Ewoks returned to Bright Tree Village, where Wicket presented the large jewel to his mother. Shodu was delighted with the present, but shortly thereafter, Latara and Kneesaa discovered, through the hatching of another gem that they had retrieved from the temple, that the "jewels" were actually the eggs of the serpent beast they had encountered earlier. Realizing that his gift would hatch and might attack his mother, Wicket attempted to get the gem back. However, before he could, he and his mother were captured by Duloks, who stole the gem to give to Urgah, the Queen of the Duloks. Ironically, due to their theft, the egg hatched in Urgah's possession and attacked her instead.

The Lost Temple was created by Paul Dini for use in the seventh episode of the second season of Ewoks, "A Gift for Shodu."