Silent Like Spirit
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| “Silent Like Spirit” | |
|---|---|
| Ōban Star-Racers episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 11 |
| Guest stars | None |
| Written by | Savin Yeatman-Eiffel |
| Directed by | Thomas Romain Savin Yeatman-Eiffel |
| Production no. | 111 |
| Original airdate | August 14, 2006 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Resistant Like Rush" | "The Will to Win" |
| Episode chronology | |
"Silent Like Spirit" is an episode of the series Ōban Star-Racers.
With the finals slowly approaching The Earth Team prepares for it next race against Spirit. During the race, both Don and Molly re-live the crash that killed Molly's mother Maya. With Molly gunning for Spirit, truths are finally revealed on two fronts.
[edit] Plot
| “ | In the first part of the playoffs, Molly and I totally bombed. It took the coaching of superstar, Rick Thunderbolt, to put us back on track...and we made it bigtime. After four races, we're now tied for second place with both Super-Racer and Aikka; right behind the Crogs. To win our ticket to Oban for the grand finals, all we have to do is stay in the top three for the next two races. Huh...easier said than done.
~Jordan Wilde |
” |
It's time for the Earth team to participate in another race. This time their opponent is Spirit and his shadow-like Star Racer. Molly and Jordan set out with their ram horn 'full', adapting to Rush's philosophy. Don Wei is very anxious, commenting that as they reach closer and closer to the ultimate prize he gets more worried about "the fall".
The Earth team is summoned forth for the race. In the audience, Prince Aikka and Rush are sitting together. Rush asks if Aikka is there to cheer for the Earth team but Aikka, probably still hurt over his race with Molly, comments that he doesn't cheer on enemies.
Spirit is called forward, but he delays in coming out. He seems to visibly react to seeing Molly's Star Racer. Jordan makes fun of his absence until he appears. Both Molly and Don Wei react to his arrival with derision (Molly is absolutely terrified) and Spirit seems to be fully scrutinizing the Earth racer. His own Star Racer is nowhere in sight and Jordan laughs about how easy the race will be since he's walking. But Spirit tosses off his coat, revealing a body with disproportioned limbs, afterwhich he gets down on all fours. This causes Molly to have a flashback of the day her mother died.
It's the finals of the first Star Racer race. As a little girl Molly rushes into Earth's hanger to see Maya. Don Wei is telling her to be careful, that's it's 'just a race'. Molly pleads with Maya to take her with her but Maya says she can't. She does make a promise to Molly that they'll race together later; a promise that Maya (who has never lost a race) eventually will not be able to keep.
Don Wei and Molly go out to watch the race. Maya arrives in her Star Racer and shortly after Spirit walks up as he did in the present. Molly is frightened by his appearance, more so when he throws off his coat and gets on all fours.
Back at the present Spirit is morphing into the shape of a bird. His Star Racer is in fact, himself. Both Molly and Don Wei realize with horror that this is the one who raced Maya when she died. Molly can't overcome the shock and she's filled with rage. Don Wei is also filled with rage and he reveals to Rick that it was Spirit, this 'evil' racer that (supposedly) killed his racer...his wife. Don Wei stresses caution to Molly, telling her how dangerous Spirit is, but Molly doesn't seem to listen.
As the race gets underway, she's suddenly intent on killing him more than actually participating in the race, all the while screaming 'coward' and 'murderer' at Spirit. Everyone's shocked by her behavior and their words to try to calm her down go unheeded. Jordan tries firing upon Spirit, but he seems to disappear. Jordan can't see him, but Molly quickly finds him out of his racer form and standing on the Earth Star Racer's reactor. She spins several times to try and shake him off, but it doesn't work. She sees an overpass and rams right at it to try and crush him, severely damaging her own Racer. Perhaps disturbed by her behavior, Prince Aikka gets up from the audience.
Meanwhile, the sudden collision has knocked Jordan unconscious and Don Wei is still unable to get through to Molly. Her vital signs show that she is physically healthy but is currently mentally unstable. Rick wonders why exactly she's so angry with Spirit. He puts two and two together when comparing Don Wei's anger and realizes that Molly and Don Wei's daughter Eva are in fact, one and the same. He leaves the room and connects to Molly through a private communicator, telling Molly ("or whatever her name is") he knows she's Don Wei's daughter and tells her to calm down and that this isn't what her mother, Maya would want, and that maybe she and her father can find each other again. His words help calm Molly long enough to make it out of the tunnel. But Spirit, who had taken the lead, ambushes her and envelopes the cockpit with his whole body.
Molly can't shake him off and is suddenly face to face with Spirit's masklike face. She freaks out, swinging the racer in an attempt to shake him off. Unfortunately, such efforts prove disastrous as she makes one crash after another, her racer being literally torn apart.
Don Wei screams at Molly and Jordan to get out of there, but Jordan is still unconscious and Molly only manages enough strength to sit up against a rock before passing out. Oddly enough, instead of going on to complete the race Spirit circles overhead before landing and changing back. He heads towards Molly just as Aikka flies up. Aikka takes a fighting stance to protect Molly, but Spirit throws up his hands to show he means no harm. Thoroughly confused, Aikka lets Spirit go by and kneel next to Molly.
He puts his hand on her head and starts looking through her memories, probably to see what was fueling her rage. He sees her memory of Maya's crash and it appears from both Molly and Don Wei's perspective that Spirit deliberately caused the crash to happen by flying so close to her.
However, Spirit strokes her head almost comfortingly before sending her a memory of his own. It's right in the middle of the race and Maya is flying low to the ground. The underside of her left reactor is sparking and dripping something brown, presumably engine oil or fuel. He knows that Maya is in trouble, but she quickly signals to him to fly ahead before her racer explodes. The cause of Maya's crash turns out to have been an accident and it appears Spirit flew so close to her because he saw the dangerous leak and wanted to save her. In her sleep Molly cries at seeing the memory, calling for her mom. Spirit stands up and sheds a few tears of his own perhaps feeling responsible for Molly losing her mother (Not to mention all the angst that happened as a result).
Much later, Molly is resting in her room. Rick checks up on her, calling her "Ms. Wei". She gets up shortly after and goes to see Jordan. She apologizes to him for screwing everything up, but he's more interested in why she acted like she did. He asks if she knew Spirit and she responds that she thought she did (after seeing what really happened that day).
Rick finds Don Wei outside, who's brooding over the events of the day. Rick comments that he should think of Eva but also be a lot nicer to Molly. Don Wei counters that they can only afford to be harder on her. Rick pushes Don Wei to tell him why the Ultimate Prize is so important and after refusing a few times Don Wei relents. He talks about the Avatar, whose power is limitless and can grant any wish anyone desires; wealth, the destruction of a civilization, and even bringing back a loved one. Molly, who's eavesdropping on their conversation, infers that Don Wei (who still doesn't see that Molly and Eva are the same person) wants to bring back Maya, his wife...her mother.
