CT Did the Ewok tribe on Endor join the rebel alliance or simply aid them?

Well?...

 

I think they only aided them.

 

I think you've got it backwards. The Rebel Alliance joined the Ewok tribe.

"Wonderful. We are now a part of the tribe." Do you know how much that would suck for a rival tribe?

 

I agree with Mr. K. The Rebel Alliance joined the Ewoks and as a result the Ewoks aided the cause of the Rebel Alliance.

 

In a nutshell.

 

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

 

IMHO, I do not think the Ewoks joined the Alliance. They are primitives. I don't know if Star Wars has a "prime directive" but I have to think it would be unethical to start outfitting the Ewoks with blasters and spaceships, etc....

 

They're smart enough to build gliders.

And we see an Ewok holding a blaster during the RoTJ movie.

 

I don't think the Alliance joined the tribe either. I think people are lumping together an assumption on that.

They likewise don't seem that primitive to me. More simply mishandled.

 

Perhaps not by choice, no- but Threepio makes it pretty clear that exactly what happens. The assumption is whether Threepio was referring to the Rebels as a whole or just the strike team members present. It seemed to me that the Ewoks were rallied behind the Rebel cause- at least so far as removing the Imperial presence on their moon. If the Rebels had managed to talk their way out of the Ewok feast, Wicket might not have freaked out and gathered the other Ewoks upon the strike teams' capture had they not been in the tribe. One also wonders if the Ewoks regarded the Rebels as just a means to an end or if their relationship continued after ROTJ. I take it that the Ewoks had considered the inclusion of the Rebels as part of the tribe as a serious matter of substance- and indeed there must have been a mutual feeling of that following the Battle of Endor. The Rebels might otherwise have said their goodbyes and had their victory celebration in orbit on Home One.

 

And, indeed, Marvel Star Wars has the Rebel Alliance continue to work from Endor for some time afterward.

 

Oh, ok. They can build gliders and treehouses and slingshots, so yeah that's pretty much the same thing as blasters and starfighters and space cruisers.

 

A species that is smart doesn't necessarily need to have high technology, to warrant some kind of representation.

 

Level of technology doesn't equal level of intelligence, Beezer.

Mr K: Interesting take. I happen to feel it is the individuals not the whole organisation. To each their own.

 

Their technology doesn't represent their intelligence but it does represent that they're primitive.

 

Not really. It's all a matter of perception.

Regardless, I think the way the 'team' got the Ewoks' sympathy was underhanded and deceptive. They didn't deserve the Ewoks' loyalty.

 

Well yeah, it represented they were primitive to me.

 

Many agree, Garrett. I'm just not one of them that sees it in the usual light.

 

No, it represents a culture's development and, as I originally stated, ewoks are a primitive species. 3-PO pretty much confirms this by the dialect with which they communicate.

I doubt terribly many human beings 4,000 were looking up at the stars and wondering if there was life out there, especially since humans of 4,000 years ago didn't even know what stars actually were. So I don't see ewoks as being terribly concerned regarding the goings-on in the Galactic Republic and/or Empire.

 

I want a Peter Cushing avatar too...I feel left out.

 

Wookies don't look especially tech advanced from what we see of their home world, but Chewbacca is regarded as a decent engineer and fixer of tech. So maybe it's a case of just learning and adapting. Will we see ewoks amongst the cast of epvii, 30 years on would give them time to integrate into the way of life in the rebel alliance?

 

No, the Ewoks don't join the rebel alliance. Soon after the events of ROTJ, they become power-mad and lead the Imperial remnant forces against their former allies. They are actually going to be the new villains in Episodes 7 through 9 with their devious plans to slow-cook barbecue the entire population of Coruscant. With a population of over a trillion on Coruscant, they realize they'll have an endless supply of yummy human spare ribs to eat.


(Also, technically, they can't join the Rebellion after ROTJ. With that victory, the rebellion ends and the New Galactic Republic is founded. The rebels become the new leadership in that Republic -- that is, until the Ewoks take them over and slow-cook them all to death.)

 

I think it was more like a temporary treaty, sort of a "Hey, just so you know, we're currently fighting a war just outside your planet's atmosphere, and we would like you to take part in defending your own planet from the Empire."

The Ewoks were all, "Sure, let us worship Lord Shiny Gold over there, nearly cook your commanders to death and play drum on the helmets of the slain enemies."

 

In the novel, the Rebels all give speeches trying to convince the Ewok Elders. Ultimately though, the deciding speech comes from an Ewok - Wicket:

"Eepeep, meep eek squee ..."
Threepio translated for his friends: 'Honorable Elders, we have this night received a perilous, wondrous gift. The gift of freedom. This golden god ...' - here Threepio paused in his translation just long enough to savor the moment; then went on - '... This golden god, whose return to us has been prophesied since the First Tree, tells us now he will not be our Master, tells us we are free to choose as we will - that we must choose; as all living things must choose their own destiny. He has come, Honorable Elders, and he will go; no longer may we be slaves to his divine guidance. We are free.
'Yet how must we comport ourselves? Is an Ewok's love of the wood any less because he can leave it? No - his love is more, because he can leave it, yet he stays. So is it with the voice of the Golden One: we can close our eyes; yet we listen.
'His friends tell us of a Force, a great living spirit, of which we are all part, even as the leaves are things separate yet part of the tree. We know this spirit, Honorable Elders, though we call it not the Force. The friends of the Golden One tell us this Force is in great jeopardy, here and everywhere. When the fire reaches the forest, who is safe? Not even the Great Tree of which all things are part; nor its leaves, nor its roots, nor its birds. All are in peril, forever and ever.
'It is a brave thing to confront such a fire, Honorable Elders. Many will die, that the forest lives on.
'But the Ewoks are brave.'
The little bear-creature fixed his gaze on the others in the hut. Not a word was spoken; nonetheless, the communication was intense. After a minute like this, he concluded his statement.
'Honorable Elders, we must aid this noble party not less for the trees, but more for the sake of the leaves on the trees. These Rebels are like the Ewoks, who are like the leaves. Battered by the wind, eaten without thought by the tumult of locusts that inhabit the world - yet do we throw ourselves on smoldering fires, that another may know the warmth of light; yet do we make a soft bed of ourselves, that another may know rest; yet do we swirl in the wind that assails us, to send the fear of chaos into the hearts of our enemies; yet do we change color, even as the season calls upon us to change. So must we help our Leafbrothers, these Rebels - for so has come a season of change upon us.'
He stood, still, before them, the small fire dancing in his eye. For a timeless moment, all the world seemed still.
The Elders were moved. Without saying another word, they nodded in agreement. Perhaps they were telepathic.
In any case, Chief Chirpa stood and, without preface, made a brief pronouncement.
All at once drums began to beat throughout the entire village. The Elders jumped up - no longer at all so serious - and ran across the tent to hug the Rebels.