Optimised Like Ondai

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“Optimised Like Ondai”
Ōban Star-Racers episode

Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 17
Guest stars	None
Written by	Savin Yeatman-Eiffel
Directed by	Thomas Romain Savin Yeatman-Eiffel
Production no.	117
Original airdate	2 October 2006
Episode chronology
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Episode chronology

"Optimised Like Ondai" is an episode of the series Ōban Star-Racers.

After losing his wife and first champion, Maya, Don Wei cut off all ties to his past, including his daughter. The Great Race has dredged up long suppressed memories of his family. Disturbed by the similarities between Molly and Maya's style of flying, he decides to break his vow about the past and places a call to Earth. What he discovers will shock him.

[edit] Plot

Don Wei sits in the darkness of his room with his eyes closed. The voices of his wife Maya and daughter Eva play over and over in his mind. Looking across the room, he stares at the small lockbox containing the photograph of his 'lost' family. As he stares he is hit with a strong blast of frigid wind. He walks out of his room into the central courtyard and is shocked as snow and wind swirls inside the housing module. Seeing Stan and Koji, Don asks them why it's snowing and Koji comments that the temperature suddenly plunged. Stan tells Koji they have to cover the Whizzing Arrow III. As they are leaving, Molly comes out of her room and sees Don staring at her from across the courtyard. Unnerved by his silence, she asks Stan and Koji if they need any help but Stan says that it would be better for her to get some sleep before the next race. Koji mentions that there are heaters in the storage room. Molly heads off to retrieve the heaters with Jordan on her heels as Don continues to watch in silence.

Below in the hangar, Stan and Koji fight the fierce winds as they attempt to pull tarps over the Arrow. In their room, Jordan is attempting to start one of the heaters as Molly tries to shield herself from the bitter cold. Jordan complains about the 'low-tech' heater and after a few slaps with his hand the heater flares to life, much to Molly's relief. As she attempts to warm herself, Jordan noticing her discomfort stretches out his blanket and sheepishly invites Molly to warm up with him. Molly doesn't know how to take Jordan's 'gesture' and hesitates. He nervously explains that 'one Eskimo under a blanket freezes, but two Eskimos under a blanket live'. Much to his disappointment, Molly rebuffs him saying, 'this Eskimo dies', and returns to warming her hands.

Back in his room, Don stands at his desk and activates the communication system. Seeing a clear channel to Earth, he contacts the Stern Boarding School where his daughter is a student. The Headmistress of the school responds and berates him for calling at a very late hour. Don apologizes and asks to talk with Eva, which causes the Headmistress to laugh and ask if Eva stole from him. Don responds by saying that he's Eva's father and the Headmistress becomes flustered. She comments that they will find Eva and that they were planning to return his money. Confused Don asks what she is talking about and the Headmistress is shocked that he didn't know what happened. As the signal fades to static, the Headmistress says that Eva ran away from the school the day after her birthday.

The next morning, Molly awakens and realizes that she fell asleep in Jordan's lap and sits up suddenly. As Jordan falls over she rubs her cheek in embarrassment. Changing into thick clothing she walks into the module and sees everything is covered in snow. She walks upstairs onto the balcony. She witnesses a magnificent sight as the floating temple and modules glide through snow-covered mountains. Molly is amazed and comments on how the wide open spaces are perfect for the Whizzing Arrow III. Raising her hands over her head she yells out her intention to win the next race. Amused at hearing her words echo off the mountains, she yells again even louder causing a louder echo. Looking to her left, she sees Prince Aikka standing in the doorway of his own module. Molly greets him warmly and waves, but Aikka only responds back with silence and a small wave. Molly playfully warns him that she's going to win the next race and runs back inside. Seeing that she's left, Aikka turns back into his module to look at General Kross, who was waiting in the shadows.

Kross tells Aikka that it's time for him to stop interacting with the humans and prove his loyalty to the Crogs. Aikka retorts that his relationship with the Earth Team is not the Crog's concern. The massive Crog responds by viciously backhanding the smaller Aikka, sending him flying against a nearby wall. Seeing his prince hurt, Aikka's blademaster draws his sword and reprimands Kross' action and then charges at him. After deflecting the sword, Kross grabs the blade and shatters it with his hand. Kross reaches down and grabs the astonished blademaster's arm and begins to crush it with his brute strength. He lectures the blademaster saying that if the prince of Nourassia can't be trusted then how can his people be trusted? Seeing his blademaster reeling in pain as Kross crushes his arm, Aikka pleads with Kross to stop saying he'll do whatever he says.

Light beams shoot out of the temple signaling the start of the fourth race. Molly prepares to launch as Don observes in silence. The racers are dropped from their modules and set off over an open snow field. As the Arrow cruises along with the others Aikka slowly approaches from behind with a concerned look on his face. Seeing everyone racing in a group, Molly asks Koji where the first gate is located. Koji indicates that there is only one gate and that the race appears to be a sprint. Molly is excited and prepares to activate the boosters but is stopped by Stan, who says Koji should check the fuel. Koji determines how far the Arrow can get with the boosters and tells Molly that she can fire them in twenty more seconds. Inside his ship, the robotic pilot Ondai is monitoring several displays. He makes an unknown conclusion and comments that all beings of 'flesh and blood' can do is show off, and veers away from the main group in another direction.

Aikka catches up to the Arrow and glances over at Kross' nearby racer. Inside, Kross says it's time for Aikka to prove himself. Jordan looks out his turret at Aikka and is concerned by what he sees. Calling up to Molly, he tells her that Aikka is flying very close and that he has drawn an arrow. Molly responds saying that Aikka would never shoot them and Jordan reluctantly accepts, feeling that Aikka 'owes him one'. The timer reaches zero and Molly activates the hyperdrive. As the Arrow's boosters open up and prepare to activate. Aikka chants a spell and launches his arrow at Molly's engines. Jordan curses Aikka's betrayal and turns his turret to shoot at him, but is too late as Aikka's arrow strikes the Arrow causing the engines to lose all power. Molly is helpless as the Arrow falls and plows into the snow. Aikka looks back dejected at what he just did as Kross laughs inside his racer. The main group continues forward and Aikka, defeated, can only follow. Elsewhere, Ondai flies alone on another part of the course.

Back in the control room, Don Wei believes they have lost and that after four races without any points they may be too far behind to catch up. Jordan, face contorted in anger, promises to repay Aikka in double for what he did. Molly yells at them saying that the race isn't over yet and tries to restart the engines. Failing to get the Arrow started, she slams her fist in frustration, demanding to know why Aikka betrayed her. Don answers that in the grand finals every racer is out to win, and that she and Jordan should return to the temple. Molly suddenly becomes aware that the gate indicator is pointing down and asks Koji if he sees the same thing; Koji believes it's a malfunction. Looking out of the racer, Molly notices a piece of the snow field collapse forming a hole. Back at the main group, Kross is in the lead and watches the terrain fly by on his monitor. Suddenly, he lets out a curse and on the Earth Team monitor, Don sees all the ship indicators fly past the ring symbol and turn around. Stan is confused and asks if all the other racers 'missed' the gate. Back at the snow field, the racers are flying in circles over the area where the gate should be, but it is nowhere in sight. Kross looks back and forth in growing agitation, and begins firing his lasers wildly as he spins his ship around demanding to know where the gate is. One of the lasers strikes Aikka's beetle causing it to rear back in pain. Aikka struggles to control him and looks over at Kross with a disgusted look on his face.

Retracting the boosters, Molly manages to start the engines and upright the Arrow. She calls down to Jordan and asks him to do her a favor, to which Jordan enthusiastically asks if it involves shooting Aikka. Correcting him, Molly asks him to shoot the ice below them. After blasting the snow and ice, to vent some anger, Jordan notices a large crack form leading down into the snow field. Molly joyfully remarks that Aikka may have done them a 'favor' and flies down the opening proclaiming that they are still in the race. As they fly further down Don, Stan and Koji lose contact with the Arrow. Emerging from the crack, Molly discovers that the snow field is actually an icecap covering underground caverns filled with temple ruins and icy rivers. Looking ahead, the lone gate can be seen far in the distance and Jordan cheers Molly's genius. Molly triumphantly proclaims that today was indeed their day to win. Firing the engines, the Arrow moves forward towards the gate. As they fly along the river, Ondai's racer suddenly emerges from a side cavern and pulls up behind them.

Inside his racer, Ondai comments that he didn't expect the Earth Team to find the cavern so soon, even with their 'small brains'. Warning lights go off inside the Arrow signalling Ondai's approach. Ondai remarks that he calculated the possibility of them being there but that nothing surprises him and he fires on the Arrow while predicting the possible directions it could dodge. The Arrow avoids the first shot, but is struck by a second energy blast precisely after the first dodge, to Molly's surprise. The Arrow hits several snow drifts but manages to stay on course. Jordan fires back at the 'toaster' but Ondai's ship swerves back and forth avoiding every shot. Inside his ship, Ondai is tracking every shot from Jordan's cannons and predicting their locations. Ondai states that until now he has kept a low profile collecting data on all the other racers. Jordan can't believe the other ship is dodging all his shots at such a close range. Ondai, a dark look upon his robotic face, declares that he's waited long enough and that it's finally time for him to take his place among them. His ship transforms into a humanoid-shaped robot with a glowing sword and he slashes the Arrow, plunging it into a snow drift.

Recovering from the sudden landing, Molly defiantly states that she will not be defeated again. Ondai lands nearby and stalks towards the Arrow saying that resistance is futile. He gloats that his super-processors can predict all her actions and that nothing can stop him now from claiming the Ultimate Prize. Molly answers his boast by charging him with the Arrow and slamming him into an icy pillar. Ondai resists and pushes the Arrow away proclaiming that robots are the next stage of evolution. Molly sees that the impact is causing the cavern ceiling to collapse and flies away. Ondai notices the collapse as well but states that he can predict where every chunk of ice will fall. His racer begins running forward on its 'legs' dodging back and forth as icy boulders strike the ground around him. Molly dodges the ice as well and Ondai catches up and runs side-by-side with the Arrow. Above, Aikka notices a large section of the snow field collapse. Below, as the Arrow inches ahead, Ondai suddenly comes to a stop and looks up at the falling ice. Inside, Ondai is transfixed by all the 'possibilities' he is calculating due to the large amount of falling ice. As he stands motionless, a large boulder crushes him. Molly punches the hyperdrive and rockets forward through the stone ring and back to the surface before the ring is destroyed by the falling ice.

In the floating temple, Satis dances about joyfully as Molly's pillar rises from the pond to join the other racers. Stroking his beard he remarks that since the other racers gave up on the hidden gate there will be no second or third place points. Lying down in the grass, he mentions that the Earth Team didn't make many friends with their victory but that is the nature of the Great Race; only the most worthy can claim the Ultimate Prize. Back in the module, Molly and Jordan exit the Arrow to cheers from Stan, Koji, and even Don Wei. He congratulates Molly on her win causing her to blush from the unexpected compliment. Later that evening the team celebrates their win in the courtyard. Jordan tells Stan and Koji about how Ondai tried and failed to stop them from winning. Don notices Molly walking up to the balcony and follows her. Outside Molly looks over at the Aikka's darkened module and hears Don Wei standing behind her.

Don admits that he hasn't asked Molly very much about herself and would like to know more. He asks about her family to which Molly responds that she's an only child. Don asks about her parents stating that as an only child she must have gotten a lot of attention, causing Molly to flinch angrily. Pressing more, Don asks her where she worked as a 'mechanic' before joining the team. Thinking for a moment Molly responds by saying she worked for Brokarow Racing. Don, after taking in her answer for a moment, responds by saying that he knows the owner of Brokarow Racing, and that the company went out of business years ago. Realizing she made a mistake, Molly grips her cup more tightly but can't say anything. Becoming more serious, Don asks her if she's ever heard of the Stern Boarding School; Molly doesn't answer. Coming to the point, Don asks her if she's his daughter, Eva, but Molly can only look away. She then looks back and says that if she were his daughter he would not need to ask, he would just know. Taken back by this statement, Don is unable to ask anymore questions before Molly runs off.

Below, Jordan notices Molly coming down the stairs and is obviously upset by something. Jordan enquires if she got into another fight and that if they did he'd give Don a 'good talking to'. Molly replies that it wasn't exactly a 'fight'. In their room, Molly and Jordan prepare for bed and light the heater. As Molly climbs into bed, Jordan asks her to explain more about what happened. Molly just responds with the cryptic statement that Don discovered she 'lied' about where she came from before joining the team. Jordan says that talking about it might make her feel better but Molly just thanks him for his concern but would like to go to bed. Jordan congratulates her again on her performance in the race. Lying awake in bed, Molly remarks that she will get her family back but not the way it is now. She would rather stay 'Molly' forever than have the current Don Wei as a father.

Above, Don Wei stands in the dark looking over the mountains with a look of sad realization. "Oh Eva, it's you."