The BEST episodes of Star Blazers season 1
Every episode of Star Blazers season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Star Blazers season 1!
"Star Blazers" is an American animated television series adaptation of the popular Japanese anime series "Space Battleship Yamato." In the year 2199, a starship must make a dangerous voyage to the distant planet Iscandar and back to save Earth from an alien invasion. The show consists of three television seasons. Each an English-language adaption of its Japanese counterpart "Space Battleship Yamato". Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had a story arc that required the episodes to be shown in order. It dealt with somewhat more mature themes than other productions aimed at the same target audience of that time. As a result, it paved the way for future "arc-based, plot-driven anime translations.
#1 - Jupiter's Floating Continent
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/1974
On its way through the Solar System, the Star Force falls victim to Jupiter's gravity as the Argo is pulled down toward the planet. The Star Force manages to land the ship on a floating continent hidden in the thick methane sea of the gas giant. After repairing its energy storage unit, the Star Force crew gets the Argo flying again. Meanwhile, a Gamilon base on the floating content attempts to attack the battleship. The missiles miss the Argo, but serve to alert the Star Force to the base's presence. Avatar orders the Star Force to fire the ship's Wave Motion Gun at the Gamilon base. However, the weapon is so powerful that it wipes out the entire floating continent! Gamilon's commander on Pluto, Col. Ganz, reports on this unexpected development to General Krypt, only to be rebuffed by Krypt who does not believe that Earth possesses the technology to build such a weapon. Earth has 361 days left.
#2 - Carrier Attacks the Sleeping Yamato
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/13/1974
Cadets Wildstar and Venture return from their trip and are summoned to the Yamato, noticing that it looks brand new from underneath. When they board, they find themselves inside a newly modernized space ship, commanded by Captain Avatar. Wildstar is eager to fight the Gamilons, but Avatar says that the ship's primary mission is to travel to Iscandar and return with the Cosmo DNA. Wildstar and Venture have little time to look around, however, as Gamilon planes attack the ship. Even though the ship isn't prepared for an attack, Avatar orders it powered up, telling Wildstar to take over the weapons system and Venture to take helm control. As the ship breaks free of the Earth's surface, Wildstar aims the ship's main guns at the carrier. Avatar fires the guns, destroying the carrier. On Gamilon, Leader Desslok chastises his generals for their inability to distinguish an underground city from a space battleship. There are 364 days remaining before life on Earth is extinct.
#3 - The Battle at Pluto
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/6/1974
In the late 22nd century, an alien race known as the Gamilons have attacked the Earth, bombarding it with radioactive bombs and forcing the population underground. However, the radiation is seeping into the planet; unless it's removed, Earth will become uninhabitable in one year. War with the Gamilons has also destroyed the Earth's space forces except for two ships -- the Paladin, commanded by Alex Wildstar, and another ship, commanded by Captain Avatar. During a battle at Pluto, Avatar's ship is damaged. The Paladin gives Avatar's ship enough time to escape, but is destroyed in the process. Meanwhile, a non-Gamilon alien ship is hit in the crossfire and crashes on Mars. Cadets Derek Wildstar, Alex's younger brother, and Mark Venture investigate and discover a beautiful, dead woman, ejected from the escape pod and clutching a message capsule. They return to Earth in Avatar's battleship, and Derek notices the absence of any other ships. On the way back, they learn of Alex's fate. After they return, Derek confronts Avatar about Alex, but Avatar says it was Alex's decision to remain. When the message capsule is decoded, it contains a message from Queen Starsha of planet Iscandar. Starsha says the messenger was her sister, Astra, and offers Earth the Cosmo DNA, a device which can remove the radioactivity. The message also contains plans for an advanced-technology Wave Motion Engine -- capable of faster-than-light travel. As the Earth Defence Command deliberates, a Gamilon recon plane is detected sniffing around the ruins of the sunken WWII battleship, the Yamato. Out of sheer boredom, Wildstar and Venture take a plane out (unauthorised) to investigate. The Yamato appears to be nothing more than a hunk of ruins, however, leaving the cadets puzzled as to why Gamilon would be interested in it.
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#4 - The Gamilon Pilot
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/29/1974
On Gamilon, Leader Desslok interrupts his daily treasure pool bath to commission one of his best generals, Lysis, to defeat the Star Force before it gets too far out into space. Lysis welcomes the chance for some sport. Meanwhile, Derek Wildstar and Conroy, his second-in-command, capture a Gamilon pilot during a routine patrol mission. When Dr. Sane removes the pilot's uniform, the Star Force discovers that the Gamilons are just like humans, but with blue skin. The revelation is too much for Wildstar, who bursts in the examination room to confront the Gamilon. Derek has a series of flashbacks from his childhood, starting from the Gamilons bombing his home and continuing with his older brother Alex returning from school. When Alex is stationed at a space station on Great Island, Derek visits him. During their visit, however, their parents are killed by one of the Gamilon bombs. In the Argo's examination room, Derek struggles to avoid exacting his revenge on the pilot. Captain Avatar questions the pilot but learns nothing and orders the pilot released. In a goodwill gesture, Wildstar offers the pilot some food as he departs. Earth has 305 days left.
#5 - Test Warp to Mars
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1974
After escaping the Ultra-Menace Missile, the Star Force takes off from Earth and passes the Moon orbit. A Gamilon aircraft carrier is dispatched to intercept Earth's newest space battleship. In order to provide time for the Star Force prepare for their first-ever space warp, Wildstar takes a detachment of Black Tiger space fighters out to intercept the Gamilon carrier. Wildstar's efforts provide the needed time, and once the fighters are back onboard, the warp is initiated just as Gamilon missiles nearly reach it. The warp takes the Star Force from the Moon to Mars, however some damage is sustained during the transition. Avatar orders the Argo to land on Mars for repairs, while the crew takes the opportunity to play in a Martian snowstorm. On Gamilon, Leader Desslok praises the Star Force's determination to get to Iscandar even by such dangerous means as warp travel. Earth has 362 days left.
#6 - Desslok Mines
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1974
Now that the Star Force have left the Solar System, Gamilon central command begins to take greater interest in them. We see Gamilons in their true, blue, skin colour for the first time as Leader Desslok strides into his court chamber. For his evening entertainment, Desslok's top generals have arranged a trap for the Star Force, littering the space into which they are flying with hundreds of the newly developed Desslok Space Mines. These Gamilon mines are motive, and quickly draw in upon the Argo, thwarting any attempt to evade. They are sensitive to electromagnetic waves, and will explode if they get too close to the ship. Pinned, the Star Force is brought to a complete stop. Will they escape? Earth has 311 days left.
#7 - Paladin
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/1974
An engine issue resulting from the use of the Wave Motion Gun results in a partial failure of the artificial gravity aboard the Argo. To address the problem, Avatar orders the ship to sail for Titan, where the mineral -- titanite -- needed to repair the energy-transmission unit can be found. Two teams are sent out on the surface of Titan, one to collect environmental samples, and the other to obtain the titanite. While the Argo holds orbit over Titan, the Gamilons take the opportunity to scan the battleship, and dispatch a local patrol to the surface of Titan in the hopes of capturing some of the titanite team crew -- Wildstar, Nova, and IQ-9. Wildstar and IQ-9 fend off two Gamilon tanks, and take out the Gamilon patrol team sent to capture them. In the process of doing so, Wildstar discovers his brother's ship, the Paladin, as well as his side-arm. Although initially hopeful that his brother Alex may have survived the crash landing, Wildstar soon accepts that he is dead. Back aboard the Argo, Avatar questions Wildstar as to the find, then informs the younger Wildstar that his brother will live on in him. Earth has 359 days left.
#8 - Galactic Whirlpool
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/12/1975
General Lysis arrives at the Gamilon base on planet Balan, the half-way point between Iscandar and Earth. He is greeted with resentment by Balan's current, jealous commander, General Vulgar, whom Lysis is to replace. Insult is added to injury when Lysis derides Vulgar's taste in decoration. Meanwhile, the Star Force experiences a sudden loss of engine output, and soon determines that they've stumbled into the gravitational effects of a Galactic Whirlpool, a precursor to a black hole. Therein, amidst the wreckage of many other ships unable to escape the gravity pull, they spot a Gamilon destroyer. Lysis, who has set out from planet Balan in a 3000-ship armada to attack the Star Force, is disappointed to learn that the whirlpool will rob him of his prey. Wildstar, too, is disappointed when Captain Avatar overrules his suggestion to fight the Gamilon destroyer, and orders that they find a way to escape. The Captain's wisdom soon proves itself when the Star Force detects Lysis's armada. Lysis chases the Star Force into the dead zone of the whirlpool, where all ship energy is lost. From outside the zone, Lysis's fleet launches salvos at the helpless Star Force. There seems no hope until a miraculous infusion of energy is sent to the Argo by none other than Queen Starsha herself. The ship's instruments come to life once more, and the Wave Motion Engine builds up enough energy to perform a space warp. Later, back on Balan, General Lysis notes in his journal that the Star Force is a worthy adversary. Earth has 273 days left.
#9 - The Sea of Fire
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1974
Desslok, getting some satisfaction out of seeing his inferior officers fail at their attempt to stop the Star Force with space mines, now offers his own solution: a matter-eating Ecto Gas. Desslok plans to use the gas, and an electromagnetic force net, to chase the Star Force into the corona of a red giant star, Voltan -- The Sea of Fire. He is so confident of his new invention that he tells General Krypt not to bother reporting on the success, and strides off to his bedroom to dream of the conquest of other worlds. The Gamilons begin their offensive by ensnaring the Argo in a powerful electromagnetic space net, and then sending a volley of missiles. Captain Avatar suffers a black-out, which he attributes to an earlier battle wound, and fails to order their interception. Wildstar initiates it instead, without the order, leading to a later reprimand. The ship barely manages to pull out of the space net and evade the Gamilon missiles. Dr. Sane knows the real reason for Avatar's collapse -- radiation poisoning. Privately, he urges Avatar to consider hospitalisation, a suggestion which Avatar adamantly rejects. With the Star Force's flight path restricted by the space net, the Gamilons then loose Desslok's Ecto Gas upon the Star Force from behind, forcing them to flee toward the Red Star of Voltan. There is no choice but to fly dangerously close to the corona, and the ship and crew are on the verge of melting. But, the plan backfires when the ecto gas is drawn into the Sea of Fire, and the Star Force clears a safe path through the fire with a blast of the Wave Motion Gun. On Gamilon, Desslok rebuffs his aide General Krypt's suggestion that they send out interceptors, and instead suggests sending congratulations. He muses to himself, "How could the Star Force have escaped? ...It was a perfect trap!" Earth has 308 days left.
#10 - Magnetron Wave
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/2/1975
The Star Force encounters an unmanned Gamilon fortress floating in space, which moves toward them. Sandor takes a plane to investigate, but the magnetron waves the fortress is emitting shake it to pieces. Realizing this is what could also happen to the Argo, Sandor and Wildstar approach the fortress with a special plane unaffected by the waves. Once inside, Sandor tells Derek about his brother Alex. Sandor and Alex were good friends at the academy, and Sandor admits he felt responsible for Alex's death because he was in charge of maintaining Alex's ship. When a robot nearly surprises the two, Sandor says that as a child, he discovered the consequences of acting foolishly when he got into an accident on an amusement park ride. Meanwhile, the Argo, suffering damage from the magnetron waves, prepares for a space warp which will take it out of danger, but leave Sandor and Wildstar behind. When Sandor and Wildstar reach the central computer, it injures Wildstar and captures Sandor. Sandor then tells Wildstar his arms and legs are bionic -- a result of the accident -- and can be removed. When they get to the entrance, Sandor says his bionic arms and legs are also bombs, but he can't trigger them any further than the entrance. Sandor orders Wildstar to get to a safe distance, then detonates the bombs, destroying the computer and stopping the magnetron waves. The Argo cancels the warp and Wildstar heads back to find Sandor. On Balan, General Lysis clenches a Gamilon cigar in his mouth, which Vulgar is unable to light. He chides Vulgar for the uselessness of his lighter and his space fortress. Back on the Argo, Sandor, sporting new arms and legs, greets Wildstar. Derek says that Sandor's resilience gives him hope that Alex is still alive. Sandor says that if so, it will mean just as much to him as it does to Derek. Earth has 260 days left.
#11 - The Reflex Gun (2)
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/24/1974
Wildstar's strike force is dispatched to locate and destroy the Gamilon's Reflex Gun. The team deduces that the gun must be located under the ice since it does not appear on their radar, which leads to the suggestion that team look for cooling towers to locate the gun. To aid in this effort, Avatar order the Argo to repeatedly surface and submerge to lure the Gamilon commander into firing the gun. Eventually, Avatar and his crew locate the general area of the gun, and launch missiles in the direction to help the strike force find the weapon. This works, and the team enters the Reflex Gun's cooling tower. With IQ-9's help, the strike force manages to bypass the booby traps and plant explosives on the gun. The explosion destroys not only the gun, but most of the Gamilon base. With the Reflex Gun now out of commission, Avatar orders the Argo to surface and prepare to finish off the Gamilon base. Shaken, Gamilon Col. Ganz elects to retreat from the planet instead of staying to fight. Unsurprised at this development, Gamilon Leader Desslok orders Pluto's commander to engage the Star Force knowing that this will mean certain death for the Colonel and his force. Avatar's victory against the Pluto base provides some relief for the Earth by eliminating further planet bombing. Earth has 354 days left.
#12 - Communication Satellite
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/9/1975
While the Star Force is still on its way to planet Balan, Communications Officer Homer visits the Holography Room to view images of his home town, but has an emotional breakdown, declaring, "It's all a lie!" Shortly thereafter, the bridge crew sees Captain Avatar communicate with the Earth Defense Command. The Earth Defense Command says that conditions on Earth are tough, but that they are getting by. Once the transmission ends, however, Homer blurts out that they are all being deceived, saying that the Star Force has no idea where they are going. He then collapses and is whisked away to the infirmary. Venture says that Homer's actions may have been puzzling, but his concern is a valid one that is on everyone's minds. Captain Avatar replies that even though there is no guarantee of mission success, the Star Force is Earth's only hope of survival, and they owe it to Earth to believe in their mission. On Balan, General Lysis muses on the effectiveness of the communications relay satellite which he has planted to enable the Star Force to talk to Earth. The plan is to weaken the Star Force by allowing bad news from Earth to destroy their morale. Back on the Argo, Wildstar discovers Homer secretly making a call to Earth, during which Homer learned his father was very sick. Upset and homesick, Homer bolts, finds a space suit, and jumps out an airlock intent on floating back to Earth. What he floats to is, instead, the Gamilon relay satellite. His depression and delusion melt away as he realizes the danger this presents. Before long, Wildstar, leading a search party, locates Homer and rescues him. Wildstar hands Homer the firing controls and lets him blow the satellite to bits. Earth has 255 days left.
#13 - The Battle of the Rainbow Galaxy
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/2/1975
The Star Force has arrived at the Rainbow Galaxy nebula. General Lysis's task force begins its attack by deploying fighter planes to lure the Star Force's Black Tiger squadron away from the Argo. The plan works, and once the squadron is away, the Gamilons launch precision bombers, and use SMITE to teleport them into close range of the Star Force. The attack cripples the Argo's radar. The Black Tigers are recalled, and drive off the bombers, but not before the Argo suffers significant damage. Not relenting, Lysis next sends torpedo planes, warping them to the opposite side of the Argo. They inflict severe damage to the ship before being driven off, and nearly all of the Argo's gun turrets are destroyed. The Black Tigers then return to the ship for refuelling. Striking the final blow, Lysis teleports the Drill Missile bomber right in front of the Argo. The gigantic missile is dropped, and plows into the Wave Motion Gun, rendering the gun useless. The drill head penetrates into the gun's control room. With the Argo defenseless, the Gamilon fleet moves in close for the kill, and begins a close-range, ship-to-ship bombardment. The Argo's last remaining gun turret explodes, and the ship is utterly defenseless. But, Sandor and IQ-9 manage to break into the missile, and with 30 seconds to detonation, switch some wires and make it back itself out. The Drill Missile flies backward, right into the Gamilon fleet, striking the very battle carrier from whence it came. The debris from the exploding ship strikes the other three carriers, wiping them all out. Only Lysis's command ship remains. Stunned at this turn of events, Lysis attempts to ram the Argo, chasing the Star Force into the black gas cloud. With the Star Force unable to see his ship, Lysis maneuvers beneath the Argo and grapples onto the lower hull. He contacts the Star Force by video to inform them that the battle is now over -- he has placed a bomb against their hull. Captain Avatar tries to convince Lysis that th
#14 - Ultra-Menace Missile
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/1974
To make the journey from Earth to Iscandar, Captain Avatar speaks before the assembled Star Force inductees asking for those willing to make the daring journey to come aboard. In response to his request, a number of volunteers elect to sign on for the trip, including cadets Wildstar and Venture; Nova, a nurse and radar operator; Sandor, an engineer and chief mechanic; Dr. Sane, ship's doctor; IQ-9, a robot with a sense of humour; and others. Meanwhile, Colonel Ganz, the Gamilon commander on Pluto, receives permission to test out the new Ultra-Menace Missile against the new Earth battleship. The newly formed Star Force crew manages to shoot down the missile and avoid the devastation left in its wake. With the fate of the Earth dependent on the success of the mission, the newly operational battleship is re-christened Argo, and departs on her first mission. Meanwhile, Wildstar, who harbours a grudge against Captain Avatar for his brother's failure to return safely from the Battle of Pluto, learns a shocking revelation about the Captain's own family life. Earth has 363 days left.
#15 - The Reflex Gun (1)
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/1974
As the Argo approaches Pluto, Col. Ganz, the Gamilon commander stationed at the base on the planet decides to lure in the Star Force to Pluto so he can destroy it and claim the glory of the kill. To execute the attack, the Gamilons launch a barrage of planet bombs toward Earth, and dispatch the fleet on Pluto to coax the Star Force towards the planet where Ganz hopes to strike the killing blow with the Gamilon's new Reflex Gun. The plan works, as the Star Force sets sail for Pluto in hopes of stopping the missile bombardments against the Earth. Unfortunately, this places the Argo within the range of the Reflex Gun, and the weapon's first shot hits the Argo. Navigator Mark Venture manages to stabilize the Argo by using the rocket anchor and side thrusters to stop the battleship in the orbit of Pluto's moon. Thinking they are hidden from the Reflex Gun by the moon, the Star Force takes a moment to rest. But, the Gamilons make use of reflector satellites in orbit around Pluto to strike at the battleship from the far side of the planet. They hit the Argo again, this time forcing it into Pluto's equatorial sea. The Star Force notices that the Reflex Gun's beam can't penetrate the water surface, but they cannot stay submerged forever. So a plan is devised to send out a strike force to destroy the gun, and Wildstar is put in charge of it. Earth has 356 days left.
#16 - The Asteroid Ring
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/1/1974
To make the needed repairs to the Argo, Avatar orders the battleship to sail for the asteroid belt remains of Minerva, the 10th planet in the Solar System -- the first to have been destroyed by the Gamilons. To hide the battleship from Gamilon radar detection, Sandor devises a plan to cover the hull with asteroid fragments. Meanwhile, Colonel Ganz orders his fleet to locate and destroy the Argo. When the Gamilon fleet loses track of the Star Force, Ganz initially suspects the Earthlings of performing a space warp. But when his crew locate the Argo in the asteroid field, he seizes the opportunity to attack. To repel the Gamilon fleet, Sandor advises Avatar to reverse the polarity of the magnetized asteroid fragments covering the ship. This results in the creation of a defensive asteroid ring that blocks incoming Gamilon fire. When the Gamilon fleet closes in on the Argo, the battleship releases the revolving asteroid fragments, causing them to scatter in all directs. In their attempt to avoid being struck by the fragments, most of the Gamilon ships end up colliding with one another, which results in the destruction of the fleet. Although the escorts are destroyed, Ganz's flagship is undamaged, and lurches directly toward the Argo on a collision course. To prevent the two ships from colliding, the Argo fires a rocket anchor into the Gamilon commander's ship, knocking off course just enough to narrowly avoid impact. Ganz's flagship then careens into an asteroid and explodes. Earth has 338 days left.
#17 - The Artificial Sun
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/16/1975
The Star Force finally arrives at planet Balan, the half-way point to Iscandar, unaware that the Gamilons have a base there. Derek Wildstar and the Black Tiger squadron scout the area, noticing that Balan's sun seems to orbit the planet, and not the other way around. They then encounter missile fire from Balan, and discover the Gamilon base. When they return to the Argo, Wildstar suggests they destroy the base now, so they don't have to worry about it on the way back. As the Star Force begins to attack the Balan base, Wildstar asks one of the other bridge members to keep an eye on the sun, saying he has a hunch about it but will explain later. Meanwhile, General Lysis, who is with his fleet far out in space away from the planet, shoots an activation beam at what turns out to be an artificial sun. Lysis says he wants to trap the Argo between the sun and the base, even if it means sacrificing the base. Horrified, Vulgar reports this to Desslok. As the sun forces the Argo closer to the Gamilons' Balan base, Wildstar points the ship toward the sun. Suddenly, the sun stops. Having heard of Lysis' plan, Desslok has ordered him to call off the attack. The delay gives the Star Force the time it needs to use the Argo's Wave Motion Gun to destroy the sun, fragments of which rain down on the Balan base and also destroy it. Lysis and his fleet retreat into space. Back on board the Argo, Wildstar explains how he suspected that the sun wasn't real. Captain Avatar then formally designates him the Argo's Deputy Captain, ceding some of the responsibilities of running the ship to him. Earth has 253 days left.
#18 - Dragged to Gamilon
Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/9/1975
As the Star Force enters the Great Magellanic Cloud, the galaxy in which Iscandar resides, they receive a strong radio signal which affects all of the navigation instruments. It turns out to be a transmission from Queen Starsha herself. She congratulates the Star Force on its brave journey, and instructs them to follow her guide signal to Iscandar. But, once they enter visual range of Iscandar, the signal is cut off, and navigator Mark Venture makes an even more startling discovery. The video data indicates that there are two planets at Iscandar's location. Radar detects a group of missiles coming from Iscandar. The missiles detonate around the Argo, releasing a magnetic ferrite cloud which hovers around the ship. Analysis reveals that the missile fragments are of Gamilon origin. Wildstar then realises that one of the two planets must be Iscandar, but the other is Gamilon! On Gamilon, Leader Desslok's treasure pool massage is interrupted by a call from Queen Starsha. She chides the Gamilon leader for his unprovoked attack on Earth, but he explains that the Gamilons need to find a new home, and that Earthlings are not a sufficiently civilised race to worry about preserving. A short time later, Desslok addresses the Gamilon senate. He explains the plight of Gamilon, a semi-hollow planet which is volcanically unstable, with seas poisoned with sulphuric acid from the lava. Gamilon can no longer support humanoid life, so a new home is needed -- Earth. Desslok's plan is to use a magnetic ray to drag the ferrite cloud, and the Star Force, to Gamilon, and into the sulphuric acid sea. On the Argo, shock waves are felt as Gamilon's magnetic ray is put to use. As planned, the ship is dragged helplessly into the seas on Gamilon. When the Star Force realises the danger of the sea, they take off, but not before the acid manages to melt the third bridge strut. The entire third bridge falls off and into the sea! The Gamilons then begin dropping depth charges on the Star Force
#19 - The Battle of Gamilon
Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/16/1975
Trapped between depth charge bombardment and the sulphuric acid seas of Gamilon, the Star Force desperately tries to find a way out. At his command centre, a building suspended from the ceiling of Gamilon's upper shelf, Leader Desslok monitors the battle's progress. He lashes out at General Krypt's offer to relax and have a drink. On the Argo, out of ideas, Wildstar seeks advice from Captain Avatar who suggests that they actually submerge the ship for 10 minutes in the acid sea, and seek out a volcano to disrupt using the Wave Motion Gun. After a few minor pieces of the ship have fallen off, IQ-9 spots the desired volcano. One hit from the Wave Motion Gun sends Gamilon into seismic upheaval. Desslok momentarily loses his sanity, exploding into a fit of uncontrollable hysteria. The Star Force ascends from the Gamilon sea. Leader Desslok orders the ceiling missiles above the central Gamilon city to be dropped upon the Argo. His aide, General Krypt, wigs out at this suggestion, knowing that it will destroy the city as well, and begs Desslok to end the battle and seek a truce. This earns Krypt a snide comment from the Leader (though in the Japanese version, it's a shot in the chest). Missile fire rains down on the Star Force, and so Wildstar orders the Argo to fly directly above the central city in hopes of discouraging further attacks. But this does not dissuade the Gamilons, and ceiling missiles drop like stones, wrecking the city and causing further volcanic eruptions. Gamilon's tectonic structure becomes unstable, and huge sections of the upper shelf collapse and fall upon the cities below. A shot from the Argo'smain guns strikes Desslok's command centre, which plummets to the ground below. Desslok himself is covered in rubble, but falls through a trap door, his fate uncertain. Gamilon falls still and silent. Wildstar finds Nova weeping on the main gun deck, and declares that he believes that this was their last battle. The Argo, badly damaged, lifts off. As C
#20 - Iscandar
Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/23/1975
After defeating the Gamilons, the Star Force lands at Iscandar, where Queen Starsha welcomes them. At first she mistakes Nova for Astra, her sister, but Wildstar says that Astra didn't survive her trip to Earth. He adds that Earth owes both Astra and Starsha a great debt for their help. As the Cosmo DNA is loaded onto the Argo, Starsha mentions that she has been taking care of a wounded Earthling who is now ready to travel, and she wants to send him back to Earth. The Earthling turns out to be Derek Wildstar's older brother Alex, and upon seeing his brother actually alive, Derek breaks down and embraces him. Meanwhile, Assistant Engineer Sparks kidnaps Nova and leaves with several others to settle on Iscandar. Trouble is, the island Sparks picks could, according to Starsha, be destroyed any minute. Derek Wildstar tries to reason with Sparks, then warn him of the danger, but Sparks blows off the warning. Immediately after, an earthquake and the resulting tsunami kill everyone on the island except for Nova. As the Argo prepares to depart, Starsha, who wants to remain on Iscandar because it's her home, tells Alex she loves him and runs off. At the last minute, Alex runs to Starsha, asking Derek to forgive him. Derek and Nova wave goodbye to Alex and Starsha, and the Argo blasts off for the return voyage to Earth. Earth has 131 days left.
#21 - The Journey Home
Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/30/1975
Having obtained the Cosmo DNA from Queen Starsha, the Argo begins the return trip to Earth. The trip is mostly uneventful, but when the Argo initiates one final space warp to bring it into the Earth's solar system, it narrowly misses a shot from the Desslok Cannon, a weapon similar to the Argo's Wave Motion Gun. Desslok orders an immediate warp to follow the Argo, but without time to calibrate, both ships collide. Desslok releases a radioactive sleeping gas, then leads a boarding party onto the Argo. Derek Wildstar leads a team to confront Desslok and finally meets the Gamilon leader face to face, but is partly subdued by the gas. Meanwhile, Nova, with Sandor's help, activates the Cosmo DNA to neutralize the gas, but the gas overcomes her and she collapses, comatose. Desslok retreats but promises Wildstar they will see each other again. His ship warps away before the Argo can fire. When Wildstar asks Sandor what cleared the gas so quickly, Sandor tells him what happened to Nova. When Nova doesn't wake up, however, Wildstar becomes despondent and goes to Captain Avatar for advice. Avatar consoles him, commending Nova's bravery and emphasizing the importance of hope. He then shakes Wildstar's hand one last time. As the Earth comes into view, Wildstar carries a still-unconscious Nova to the bridge. Just then, Desslok fires his cannon at the Argo. With the Argo unable to escape the shot, Sandor activates his latest invention -- a reflector force field based on the Gamilons' Reflex Gun -- which sends the energy from the cannon back to Desslok's ship. Desslok's flagship is destroyed, and his face disappears, engulfed in flames. In his cabin, Captain Avatar holds an old photograph of his wife and son as he views Earth with his own eyes. Seeing it, he is satisfied, and dies. As Dr. Sane comes down to the main bridge to deliver the news, Nova begins to stir, and Wildstar takes her in his arms and dances with her on the bridge. The Star Force returns to Earth in the ye
#22 - Stop at Beeland
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/19/1975
The Star Force's food reserves begin running low, so the navigation crew locates an Earth-like planet nearby where foraging might be possible. Survey crews are dispatched to the planet, including a plane carrying Nova and IQ-9. IQ-9, it seems, is beginning to develop romantic feelings, and has become enamoured with Nova. An inappropriate confession of his feelings startles Nova, who ends up soft-crashing the plane in a jungle. They set out on foot to explore the area, and are soon captured by insectoid beings which resemble bees. The Bee People take the two to a holding cell while they deliberate what to do with them. IQ-9 seems to understand the local buzz, and informs Nova that there is civil unrest brewing, and that they have been captured by the rebel faction. The rebel Bees think that Nova and IQ-9 are Gamilons, and plan to use them in a plot against the Bee Queen whom they suspect is in league with the Gamilons. In fact, the Queen is supplying the Gamilons with Royal Bee Jelly in return for letting her stay in power. A Gamilon tanker ship arrives to pick up the jelly, and the rebels insist she disprove her alleged Gamilon loyalty by firing a cannon at the tanker, or else they will kill the captive "Gamilons". The Queen instead has her guards rush the rebels, and chaos breaks out. IQ-9 pledges to defend Nova unto destruction, and Nova begins to realise the depth of the robot's selflessness. Fortunately, it doesn't come to that, as Star Force commandos arrive and rescue Nova and IQ-9. Once back on the Argo, IQ-9 confronts Nova, and explains that even though he knows she does not return his love, that it isn't wrong for a robot to love. Nova concedes that this is so. Earth has 267 days left.
#23 - Balanosaurus
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/26/1975
After leaving the planet of the Bee People, the Star Force is on its way to Balan, the half-way point between Earth and Iscandar. The jealous Vulgar, now demoted to being General Lysis's aide, decides to see if he can curry favour with Leader Desslok by defeating the Star Force on his own. Vulgar employs a biological weapon which he had been developing prior to Lysis's arrival -- the Balanosaurus. Using a mental telepathy device, Vulgar forms a neural link between himself and billions of microscopic organisms collected from Balan. Under his control, they join into a giant super-organism, shaped like a salamander swimming through space. Meanwhile, the Star Force is cruising toward planet Balan. Captain Avatar is undergoing an operation to treat the effects of his radiation poisoning, and the remaining bridge crew are left to run the ship in his absence. Vulgar and his support squadron fly out to the Star Force, and bring the Balanosaurus to bear. Without the Captain, Derek Wildstar is forced to make decisions on his own. He fires the Argo's main shock cannons at the beast, but they merely blast it temporarily into bits -- the fragments rejoin! Finally, Wildstar resorts to the Wave Motion Gun, which incinerates enough of the creature's mass to destroy it. On Balan, Lysis goads Vulgar for his failure. Meanwhile, on board the Argo, a recovering Captain Avatar commends Wildstar for his actions and for taking the initiative to lead the crew when Avatar was unable to do so. Earth has 263 days left.
#24 - Challenge of the Rainbow Galaxy
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/23/1975
After the disaster at planet Balan, General Lysis is summoned to Gamilon to stand trial for his failed operations. General Krypt, presiding over the hearing, delivers a unanimous verdict: a death sentence. But when he delivers the paperwork to Leader Desslok, Desslok refuses to sign them, and issues a pardon along with new orders. He knows that Lysis, reckless or not, is the only general capable of stopping the Star Force before it enters the Magellanic Cloud -- the galaxy where Iscandar lies. Lysis assembles a special task force of three triple-deck fighter carriers, one battleship/carrier combo, and a command ship. Each carrier sports a specialised kind of plane: fighters, precision-bombers, torpedo planes, and one heavy bomber bearing a special drill missile designed to be fired into the Argo's Wave Motion Gun muzzle. Lysis's command ship has a device called "SMITE" (Space/Matter Instant Transforming Equipment), capable of causing fighter planes to undergo a space warp for a surprise attack. On the Argo, the Star Force receives an audio message from General Lysis proposing that they meet for a decisive battle at a nebula called the Rainbow Galaxy, just outside the Magellanic Cloud. This nebula contains several stars, each of which shine with a different colour, as well as a black gas cloud which is impenetrable to radar. After much deliberation, the Star Force decides to take up the challenge. Captain Avatar delivers a rousing speech, as the entire Star Force crew drinks a toast to the occasion using bottled spring water. Preparations for the battle begin. Earth has 215 days left.
#25 - We Will Return
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/8/1974
The Star Force are contacted by the Commander of the Earth Defence Force, who requests an update on the mission. Aware that this will be the last chance the crew will have to speak with anyone on Earth for quite some time, Avatar arranges for five minutes for each crewman to say farewell to his/her family before the Argo makes a warp out of Earth's solar system. One by one, the crew says their last good-byes, leaving both the crew and the families on Earth emotional. Although the crew has been given the opportunity to speak with their family members one last time, both Wildstar and Avatar are without a family to bid good-bye. Eventually, Wildstar ends up in Avatar's quarters, at which point Avatar invites Wildstar to share a drink with him before they depart the solar system. Earth has 315 days left.