Escape Into Terror

"Escape Into Terror" is the second episode of Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO. Written by Peter Sauder and directed by Ken Stephenson, the episode originally aired on ABC on September 14, 1985.
This episode was adapted into the children's storybook entitled Escape Into Terror.
==Plot summary==
===Hyperdrive trouble===
While C-3PO and R2-D2 are repairing the ship Sand Sloth, Threepio grumbles about space travel. Inside the cockpit, a bored Kea Moll waits while Thall Joben and Jord Dusat make repairs to the console. Joben grumbles about R2-D2 and C-3PO. C-3PO tells R2-D2 to be careful but discovers to his horror that he has accidentally lets the hyperdrive float away. Still clinging to his tether, C-3PO pleads with R2-D2 to save him.
Demma regrets sending the two droids to fix the malfunction. R2-D2 manages to use the tether to pull Threepio back to safety. Threepio gets R2-D2 to turn a container's gravity amplifier all the way up but finds that he can't stand while holding the container. Back in the ship, C-3PO apologizes to Thall, Jord and Kea for causing them to lose the ship's hyperdrive unit. Kea invites the boys and the droids to stay with her mother on Annoo while they try to secure a new hyperdrive.
Thall asks if C-3PO is alright. C-3PO responds that it is a trick servo disc on his back and says it will right itself but causes his chair to wobble. R2-D2 sets a course for Annoo.
===The Fromms===
Sise Fromm is officiating over a banquet when he is contact by his son Tig Fromm via holoscreen. Tig asks his father if he is still mad at him. Sise is still bitter that his son's Protector droids malfunctioned and turned him over to the police. Tig tries to brush out but Sise reminds his son that he rescued the wrong prisoner instead of him. Sise warns that Tig's bungling will cause the other gangs to discover their secret base, leading to their destruction. He vows that he will beat the other gangs to destroying his son.
Tig reminds his father he is 900 years old and that it is not good for him. Sise tells his son that the two who infiltrated their secret base are here on Annoo with a girl and two droids. Tig vows to keep them on Annoo so that they can secure the future of the Fromm Gang. Sise grumbles that he will have to deal with the intruders and warns Tig that Vlix Oncard will punish him for further slip ups. Sise vows find the two boys, the girl and the droids himself.
===Escaping the spaceport===
At Annoo's spaceport, an announcer tells all visitors to the planet to register with spaceport officials. Jord grumbles about the long registration queue while C-3PO grumbles about droids having to wait in a separate line. R2-D2 argues with a Welding Beetle, who cuts their queue. The rude droid sprays Threepio with a black oil. Later, Artoo notices two Annoo-dat Blue Fromm enforcers as they wait in line to register. The Fromms spot them.
In response, R2-D2 He creates a distraction by pretending to break down and go mad. C-3PO plays along, prompting droids and passengers to flee. Thall, Jord, Kea, and the droids take the opportunity to escape the Anno-dat Blue enforcers in the White Witch speeder.
===The secret base and assassin===
Later at Kea's mother's house, Kea tells a man named Gar to look after the boys' speeder while telling the boys to get some rest. Thall sends the droids to help out with the chores. C-3PO and R2-D2 are assigned to feeding the sand sloths, which Threepio finds disagreeable compared to feeding tauntauns on Hoth. C-3PO gets whacked by one of the creatures' tails. In the process, the two droids discover a passage into a secret Rebel Alliance base and realize that Kea is a Rebel.
Sise Fromm sends a droid to attack Thall while he is sleeping. The droid attempts to gas him but C-3PO and R2-D2 interrupt it. Following a brief struggle, Kea disables it with a laser device. She asks if Thall and Jord are okay. Thall is alright but Jord asks what is going on.
===Into the Rebellion===
Later, Kea's mother Demma Moll explains that the Fromm Gang is building a weapons satellite called the Trigon One on Ingo. The Fromm Gang attacked Thall because he discovered the weapon's location and they want to keep it a secret. When Thall asks how Kea knows about this, she explains that her mother sent her to rescue him because she was searching for the weapon's location in order to destroy it.
Sise Fromm sent the assassin droid to kill Thall in order to prevent him from interfering with the launch of their secret weapon. Demma says that their only hope is to destroy the Trigon One before it leaves for Sise Fromm's base. Kea says that it is up to them because everyone in the Annoo system is a possible victim and freedom is everyone's fight. Thall is sympathetic but Jord tells him that he needs to sleep off that gas. Jord has a plan to take out the satellite.
Later in the sand sloth manger, C-3PO demonstrates his knowledge of the ancient hand-to-hand combat art Gravik-nez to R2-D2, hoping to contribute to the fight for freedom. C-3PO gets R2-D2 to charge at him but panics when the astromech droid obliges. R2-D2 rams into the protocol droid, causing his legs to get entangled with his body. A sand sloth licks C-3PO, much to his embarrassment.
===Infiltrating Sise's ship===
The following morning, Kea and Jord depart on the White Witch for the mission to destroy Trigon One. C-3PO explains that their plan is to sneak aboard Sise Fromm's ship for a free ride to the weapons satellite. Thall thinks they haven't got a chance and enlists the two droid. Later at a spaceport, Thall tells the droids that he has a plan to infiltrate Sise's ship. He tells C-3PO to search for Kea and Jord.
Kea and Jord are being held at gunpoint by an Annoo-dat blue enforcer. C-3PO arrives and panics. This allows Thall to ambush the enforcer from behind. The enforcer shoots a bag above C-3PO, causing giant beans to rain down on him. R2-D2 traps the enforcer with a rope-making machine Thall tells Jord and Kea that he has a plan to infiltrate Fromm's ship by hiding in cargo containers. C-3PO convinces the humans to bring breather units aboard the containers. Before climbing into her container, Kea tells C-3PO to take a golden cylindrical device but not to shake it.
The droids and Jord stay behind, posing as cargo workers. One of the Annoo-dat Blue guards teases C-3PO about removing his bolts before letting C-3PO and R2-D2 take the cargo containers away. Jord stays behind to look after Kea's mother. Jord tells Threepio and Artoo to look after the cargo. While loading the cargo, they stand as Tig Fromm and Vlix walks past them. The criminal does not recognize the droids. Short later, Sise Fromm arrives riding on a power chair with two Annoo-dat Blue guards. Sise is displeased with his son and vows to capture the fugitives.
Tig reports that the Trigon One is almost ready. Sise says it better be due to the price. Tig says that he can't put a price on an entire star system and hopes that they will soon control the entire quadrant. C-3PO asks Kea and Thall if they have heard about the Fromm's plans. Thall says yes and asks C-3PO if they are aboard the ship. C-3PO complies and brings them aboard the ship. Jord hopes that his friend succeeds.
While in the cargo hold, C-3PO tells R2-D2 that they cannot lose track of the containers where Kea and Thall are hiding. C-3PO is upset about having to share the cargo hold with two aggressive-looking droids. The green humanoid droid boasts about dismantling the droids with one hand. C-3PO tries to ignore him but R2-D2 insults the green droid in binary, saying that his maker was a trash compactor. The green droid is about to confront them but Sise's ship runs into a meteor storm, which causes cargo to fall all over the place. The green droid is struck by unsecured cargo.
Following the storm, C-3PO and R2-D2 lose track of the containers where Kea and Thall are hiding. After landing on Ingo, the two droids attempt to find their human masters among the containers. When C-3PO tells a Snic 2-4-2 to be more careful, Vlix takes an interest in the cargo. C-3PO claims they top priority, prompting Vlix to order him to open it.
===Inside the base===
However, another droid accidentally drops a large piece of blue freight on the white box, crushing it. Despite his hatred of droids, Vlix is grateful towards C-3PO and asks if he has anymore top priority goods. R2-D2 whistles that he has found the cargo box carrying Kea and Thall. C-3PO claims that box is priority cargo and Vlix lets them do their job. C-3PO is relieved that his human masters are safe inside the white box. C-3PO tells them that he has arranged clearance to the hangar.
Meanwhile, various hover droids work on the Trigon One. Tig tries to impress his crime lord father by claiming that the weapon has the destructive power of anything a thousand times its size. Sise is pessimistic that smaller is better but Tig claims this is the new age and that it consists of advanced little compartments.
Elsewhere in the base, R2-D2 points out that the cylindrical device that Kea gave C-3PO is a thermal detonator. A couple of Annoo-dat blue swipe the thermal detonator Kea gave Threepio, but they give it back and let the droids go when Threepio mentions Vlix gave them security clearance. The guards let them enter the chamber containing the Trigon One. Threepio accidentally activates the detonator ten minutes prior to detonation.
===Stealing the Trigon One===
From the command center, Tig asks Vlix what the droids are doing here. Vlix says that he gave them clearance to deliver cargo. C-3PO frees Thall and Kea from the cargo container. He passes the detonator to Kea. Trig orders the guards to stop the intruders from destroying the Trigon. Running out of time, Thall tells Kea to cover for him while he deals with the detonator. Kea shoots down two labor droids while R2-D2 sprays two security droids with foam. R2-D2 also locks two Anno-dat blue guards out, sealing them inside.
A labor droid attacks C-3PO but R2-D2 trips him over, prompting C-3PO to argue that he was going to stop them. The Anno-date blue guards force their way inside. Thall hurls the grenade at the cylindrical roof exit before boarding the Trigon One with Kea and the droids. The detonator explodes, opening a hole in the ceiling. The weapons satellite gets stuck on a crane. Trig deploys several droid fighters, believing the weapons systems are not activated. Sise points out otherwise.
The rebels use the Trigon One firepower to destroy the crane and escape into space. Trig's droid fighters pursue the weapons satellite but R2-D2 uses the weapons satellite's laser cannon to destroy three fighters. Despite the loss of the Trigon One, Trig is optimistic that his weapon worked and suggests rebuilding it. Sise suggests doing it far away from the attention of the other gangs. He vows to do it alone.
Kea wants to use the Trigon One against the other gangs, but Thall argues that it's too powerful a weapon and must be destroyed completely. Kea and the droids agree, believing that Sise's gang is finished. C-3PO says freedom is everyone's fight before trying to practice martial arts with R2-D2. Following a failed attempt, he decides to leave "freedom fighting" to R2-D2.
==Continuity==
C-3PO mentions the "Rebel Alliance" when discovering Kea Moll's hideout. This conflicts with later sources which give a date of 2 BBY for the formation of the Alliance.
==Behind the scenes==
An ATL Interceptor, a small vehicle released in the Droids toy line, can briefly be spotted facing the Triggon One after it lifts off. It is the only vehicle without solar panels, which appear to be modified variants of the TIE/LN starfighter and also appear as the IG-1000 in the later episode The New King.
==Credits==
==Appearances==
==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
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