Raich crisis

In the early days of Bright Tree Village, a fearsome creature of the forest, the Raich, posed a significant threat to the Ewoks living there. It used a natural gas to hypnotize local animals, leading them away to be devoured. This behavior jeopardized the village's well-being, as they heavily depended on animals for labor. Fearing the Raich would destroy their way of life, but unable to defeat the powerful being, the Ewoks sought assistance from the two-headed Gonster, who claimed to be a skilled beast catcher. The Gonster crafted a magic cap for the Ewoks. When placed on the Raich's head, it would transform the monster into a harmless tree.

Armed with this secret weapon, the Ewok warriors tracked the Raich back to its lair. After a prolonged and difficult battle, they managed to place the cap on the creature's head. As the Gonster had promised, the Raich began to transform, changing into a tree. With the Raich defeated, the spell it had cast on the animals was broken, and the threat to the Ewok way of life was eliminated. To ensure the cap was never removed, the event was documented in the scroll of the Raich, to be passed down through generations. Young Ewoks were warned to stay away from the Raich's tree and never remove the cap, fearing the monster's release.

Despite all the precautions, the Raich was freed once more when the Ewok Wicket Wystri Warrick removed the cap, mistaking it for a piece of clothing to wear to the Shadow Night Festival with Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka. The Raich, now free, destroyed the cap that had held it captive and began to dominate the forest creatures again. Using its natural gas, the Raich mind-controlled many of the Ewoks' animals, along with other wild creatures. The Raich led the animals back to its cave and began to devour them.

Burdened by guilt over what had happened, Wicket and his companions Latara, Teebo, and Kneesaa decided to resolve the crisis by obtaining another hat from the Gonster. Using hang gliders, the Ewoks journeyed to the Twin Hills, where the Gonster lived. After pleading with the Gonster to create another hat, the Gonster agreed to do so. However, the Gonster explained that crafting a hat capable of trapping the Raich would take time. Unwilling to wait, Kneesaa and Wicket chose to go to the Raich's cave and place Dream flower potion into its water. The Ewoks hoped the potion would make the Raich fall asleep, making it easier to place the cap on its head.

Unfortunately, the plan went awry after Wicket and Kneesaa arrived at the Raich's cave. While Wicket was carefully placing the potion into the Raich's water bowl, he slipped and fell, knocking the entire bowl over. The water splashed onto the ground, alerting the Raich. The Raich pursued and captured the two Ewoks, tying them up and holding them captive in its cave. Wicket and Kneesaa remained prisoners of the Raich for nearly a whole day until Latara and Teebo, who had stayed with the Gonster to await the completion of the magic cap, arrived with the secret weapon.

Realizing their friends were in danger, Teebo devised a plan to sneak into the cave and rescue Wicket and Kneesaa by disguising himself as a Zomba. Acting as if he were just another animal under the Raich's control, Teebo managed to slip past the Raich and untie Wicket and Kneesaa. However, as the Ewoks tried to escape the cave, they accidentally alerted the Raich, who began chasing them through the Dead Forest.

With the Raich in pursuit, the Ewoks attempted to get behind it to place the cap on its head. At the same time, the Raich commanded the forest animals to attack the fleeing Ewoks. Pursued by a Zakool, Teebo and Latara were forced to hide in a tree and were unable to assist Wicket in placing the cap on the Raich's head. Similarly, Kneesaa was chased by her pet bordok Baga and could not help. Alone, Wicket used a hanging vine to swing behind the Raich and place the cap on its head. Unfortunately, the Ewoks had forgotten the sparkle seeds, an ingredient necessary for the hat to work on the Raich.

The Raich mocked the Ewoks' failed plan and ripped the hat off its head, throwing it into the air. However, Teebo, still in the tree avoiding the Zakool, caught the cap. Latara then put the sparkleseeds onto the cap and threw the hat back to Wicket on the ground. Resolving that it was now or never, Wicket charged at the Raich and wedged himself through the monster's legs. Wicket then jumped onto the creature and forced the cap onto its head, turning it back into a tree.

With the Raich defeated, the animals returned to normal, and the crisis ended. Because Wicket and his friends had not told the rest of the village that they had accidentally released the Raich, they decided to keep the entire incident a secret to avoid alarming the older Ewok leaders. Wicket, seeking recognition, almost revealed the truth to Chief Chirpa at the Shadow Night Festival but was stopped by Kneesaa just in time.