Welcome to Ōban!
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| “Welcome to Ōban!” | |
|---|---|
| Ōban Star-Racers episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 14 |
| Guest stars | None |
| Written by | Savin Yeatman-Eiffel |
| Directed by | Thomas Romain Savin Yeatman-Eiffel |
| Production no. | 114 |
| Original airdate | September 11, 2006 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Make Way!" | "Fierce Like Lord Furter" |
| Episode chronology | |
"Welcome to Ōban!" is an episode of the series Ōban Star-Racers.
Finally the Earth Team has made it to Ōban, site of the grand finals. Before proper introductions are made, the races immediately gets underway. With new and old rivals to face, a new "points" rule, and no time to study the courses, things are bound to be interesting for Molly and Co. as the race for the Ultimate Prize begins...
[edit] Plot
The Avatar Ship carrying the Earth Team emerges from hyperspace and approaches a massive green planet surrounded by several smaller planets. As the ship enters the atmosphere and plunges towards the surface, pieces of the ship begin to break away. Eventually all that's left of the massive ship is a smaller egg-shaped module flying among the clouds. Inside, Molly is on the ground unconscious and Don Wei's shadow falls over her briefly. She wakes up and notices Jordan asleep nearby. She attempts to wake him but he falls over and continues to snore, which she thinks is funny ("You could sleep through anything."). She begins to explore the chamber containing the Arrow 3 and questions how they got there. Hearing noises above her, she ascends a staircase and emerges into a small garden full of red trees and flowers. There are large stone doorways all around the garden that appear to lead outside and she goes to explore.
She walks out onto a balcony and marvels at what she sees. She raises her arms and makes a proclamtion: "Hello Oban, you better be ready for Molly!". Don Wei, who is standing nearby with binoculars, warns her not to get any closer to the edge...it's a long way down. Looking over the side, Molly sees that they are miles above the ground and backs up. Asking him if they are really on Ōban, Don comments that all they thought they knew about Ōban was wrong. Scientists believed the center of the galaxy was a 'black hole' but looking out over the planet, he says this is no 'black hole'. Molly looks over her shoulder and notices a massive structure similar in shape to their module.
The team walks over a narrow bridge leading to the massive structure. Koji says that he doesn't see anyone else. While Don, Stan, and Koji stop to look at the planet some more, Molly and Jordan walk to the doorway of the large structure. Seeing that it's dark inside, Jordan calls out to see if anyone is there. He's reluctant to go inside which Molly chides him about, much to his annoyance ("Try to act a little tough") . As they walk through the doorway a large door descends and closes the portal behind them. Don pounds on the door calling out to them but decides to go back to the module. He figures that Molly and Jordan are the Avatar's guests and that "they haven't been locked in, we've been locked out".
Molly and Jordan walk through the dark hallways marvelling at the massive size of everything. They walk up a large staircase and enter a massive garden similar to the one in their module. They look around and Molly marvels at all she sees so amazed that she "could stay here forever", but Jordan has spotted something that causes him to get scared. Nearby is a large crab-like alien eating the vegetation. He tells Molly to start moving away but the creature spots them and charges after them. They are able to escape it by moving through some thin stone columns and after wading through some tall grass emerge into a clearing. Standing in the clearing are the other racers. Molly and Jordan sheepishly introduce themselves. The crab-like alien appears behind them but doesn't attack and just moves towards the others. Prince Aikka's voice chimes in and says that it won't bite (or so he has been told). Aikka is leaning up against a tree in the shade and reveals that the alien is one of the finalists. Molly is glad to see Aikka and goes to talk with him.
Molly is glad to see Aikka but he doesn't respond. Thinking he's still mad from their last race she tries to explain what happened. He says that on his planet friends don't break promises, however, friends also forgive each other, and for this reason he is finally able to forgive her. Molly is releaved and Jordan thanks Aikka for defeating Spirit to help them get to Ōban. Aikka clarifies that he's forgiven Molly but not Jordan and asks him if his cheek has healed from their last fight. Jordan gets angry but Molly breaks them up and says they need to focus on the race. Aikka concures and tells them about some of the other racers. When he mentions General Kross of the Crog Imperium (the main invasion force who has its sights set on earth), Jordan asks where Toros is. Aikka says that Kross is replacing Toros because he failed to beat Molly in the last race on Alwas. Kross notices them and walks over commenting on how 'soft' Toros was to have lost to lowely humans. Before further tension arises, however, Setis appears and welcomes the racers.
They all gather around the small pond where Setis is standing in the middle on a stone monument. Ondai, a robotic racer, asks why Setis is there; they had left him back on Sangrar. Molly looks at Aikka puzzled and Aikka explains it's one of the pre-selection planets; Sangrar, Darwar, and Alwas. Setis says he's been promoted to 'spokesman', but Jordan wonders how he could have been on another planet when he was with them on Alwas. Satis calls their attention and says the first race will begin a few minutes and begins to explain the rules of the grand finals.
There will be nine races where all nine pilots will race against each other at the same time. One of the pilots says they need time to study the course. However, Setis points that each race will take place in a different region of Ōban and that the course is marked by stone rings that they must find and fly through; as such they will have no time to study. Points will be awarded based on the order the pilots finish the race: nine points for first, six points for second and three points for third. The pilot with the highest combined score at the end of the nine races will win the Ultimate Prize. Setis then reminds them that they are not allowed to kill their fellow pilots, which Kross scoffs at. Setis threatens the Crog that anyone who breaks that rule will be disqualified immediately from the finals. With his speech concluded, Setis wishes them luck and tells them it's time to get underway. He taps his cane on the ground sending out an energy pulse, causing the temple to shake and begins to fly up into the air. When asked what they will do about all their racers Setis mentions that their housing modules will be coming as well and the nine smaller modules fly up to join the floating temple. When asked how they get back to their modules Setis tells them to use the 'magical portals' then suddenly disappears.
Molly and Jordan walk back to the doorway they entered from but find it closed. Nearby is a small stone structure which they explore. Molly touches her hand to a round depression on the wall and it suddenly glows green; she and Jordan jump through and appear inside their module. She tells Don Wei that the race is about to begin and he tells them the Arrow 3 is ready to go, with Stan and Koji standing by. Aikka prepares to step through his doorway when he's grabbed from behind by Kross. He berates Aikka for being friendly with the humans, but Aikka reminds Kross that he's there to win. Kross then warns him that Aikka will not betray the Crogs again and that they are his 'true' friends. Molly jumps into the Arrow and prepares for launch. Koji stands nearby and give the ok to fire up the engines. Suddenly glowing lines appear on the floor and the floor begins to split along the lines. Stan and Koji run and barely get to the edge before the Arrow drops out of the bottom of the module.
Back in the control room, Stan and Koji remark that star-racers aren't meant to fly and has Molly engage the hover boosters at maximum power. After a rather bumpy landing, she manages to stabalize the racer and proceeds down a series of winding canyons. Flying along she approaches Furter and his 'space galleon' racer. His crew and Jordan exchange a series of cannon fire before Molly pulls ahead leaving Furter very angry. She spots a stone ring and when she flies through it it glows briefly. Koji says it giving off a signal and if he can isolate it he may be able to help her find the other rings. Molly spots Aikka and catches up to him. As they approach another ring Aikka casts a spell that sends out a blue energy wave knocking Molly away and causing her to miss the ring. A little miffed by this she calms herself and flies through the ring. Aikka flies on ahead and spots Kross in his Crog fighter, a more advanced version of the "trident" used by Toros on Alwas. Spotting Aikka from behind, Kross, deciding that Aikka still hasn't "learned his lesson" engages his fighter's cutting blades. As he flies along, he cuts through large vines causing a massive boulder to fall into the canyon right on top of Aikka. Molly sees the commotion and sees that Aikka's beetle is trapped under the rock while Aikka tries to help him. Don Wei pipes in and tells Molly that she is not to stop. Jordan notices something moving on his turret's targeting system approaching Aikka. He aims and fires into the vines behind him as they fly by. Molly thinks he's "gone completely nuts" but Jordan says she needs to trust him more, and that he was repaying a debt. As Aikka watches them leave a huge ugly bug with large teeth drops through the vines to the ground with bullet holes in it. Molly now understands and thanks him.
Koji informs the team that he's isolated the signal and changes her cockpit display to have a small pointer that moves to indicate the direction of the next stone ring. She begins flying in its direction. As she approaches, the pilot duo, Ning and Skun, fly by her through the ring first. Back in the flying temple, three columns rise up out of the pond, each with a different team symbol. As Molly approaches another ring is suddenly turns to dust before she can fly through and Don Wei says that the race is over. He says that Sül came in first, followed by Oh and Kross. The Earth Team came in fifth behind Ning and Skun and get zero points. He then says it "could have been worse for our first race" and tells them to head back to the flying temple. Molly fumes, knowing that zero points is "like no race at all". She is determined to get better ("I don't have a choice. I have to win the Ultimate Prize"). The Arrow flies along the ground towards the flying temple in the distance.
[edit] Standings
Current points as of the first race "The Canyons"
| Pos | Racer | Points Awarded | Total Points | Points (Behind) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sül | 9 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2 | O | 6 | 6 | -3 | |
| 3 | Kross | 3 | 3 | -6 | Replacing Toros |
| 4 | Eva (Molly) | -- | -- | -9 | |
| 5 | Aikka | -- | -- | -9 | |
| 6 | Ning & Skun | -- | -- | -9 | |
| 7 | Ondai | -- | -- | -9 | |
| 8 | Furter | -- | -- | -9 | |
| 9 | Muir | -- | -- | -9 |
