The Littlest Dragon
Original Air Date: February 22, 1985
Written By: David Abramowitz
Directed By: Cliff Bole
Produced By: Ralph R. Riskin
Guest Appearances: Leslie Bevis as Angela; Brett Cullen as Robert; Wendy Fulton as Glenda. Also starring Frank Ashmore as Philip.
After receiving information from a Fifth Column contact about a new Visitor weapon, Willie sets out with Mike Donovan and Kyle Bates to investigate. They don't realize they're walking into a trap set by Diana, who is monitoring their every move from her perch on the Mother Ship. The Resistance trio evades a Visitor patrol and eventually arrives at the secret location of the Mentamorph, a mind-control device that destroys its victims' wills to live and to fight. As Mike remarks that their progress was entirely too easy, the device prematurely begins to pulsate and explodes in a shower of debris. Willie realizes the real Mentamorph would never have shattered, and the group makes a quick getaway after the close call.
Diana is furious that her trap failed, especially considering the fact that Philip already regarded the entire mission as an overstep of her bounds. Diana attempts to salvage the situation and rid herself of the three Resistance members below by ordering the entire area blasted with laser fire. But nothing happens — the Mother Ship's lasers have been sabotaged! Indeed, the crystals required to fire the ship's lasers have been stolen by a Fifth Columnist, leaving the Mother Ship largely defenseless.
Philip and Diana trail the saboteur — a Visitor named Robert and his pregnant wife, Glenda — to the landing bay where the renegades plan to make their getaway. Instead of stopping them, Philip decides to let the pair depart on a shuttle without interference. He expects that they'll run straight to the Resistance, and Philip will then use the shuttle's homing beacon to track them and put an end to the Resistance personally.
Diana insists that Philip take a body guard on his mission, and she knows the perfect choice. She takes Philip to a training room where a Visitor named Angela is in the middle of a sparring match. Angela defeats a male twice her size and is about to finish him off, but Philip intercedes and knocks the woman down. Apparently the two are no strangers — Philip was Angela's combat master at the Academy. Philip comments that Angela still takes pleasure in inflicting pain, and Angela retorts that Philip still cares about the weak and the beaten. Philip doesn't like the prospect of Angela as his escort, but he is forced to accept the idea.
Alone with Diana, Angela explains her contempt for their commanding officer: After killing a fellow cadet while in training, Philip had Angela retired. His decision destroyed any chance she had to become an officer, and she hates him for it. Diana suggests that if Philip weren't alive, she could give Angela a battlefield commission right away. Playing along, Angela admits it wouldn't be easy — Philip is a combat master after all. Diana theorizes that when Philip meets Mike, the two will fight and of course Philip will win, but that's when Angela can strike . . .
Later, Diana invites Lydia to her quarters and manipulates Lydia into ordering that there be no survivors when Philip and Mike fight. The Leader will believe that Philip was killed by the Resistance, and Lydia will take command. Diana agrees to relay the orders to Angela, but Lydia doesn't know that the conversion — and her order — have been secretly recorded by Diana.
On Earth, Mike, Kyle, and Willie finally evade the Visitor patrols in their pursuit and hide out in an abandoned warehouse. Spotting a Visitor shuttle going down nearby, Mike and Kyle investigate and meet Robert and Glenda. Robert explains that he's with the Fifth Column and is looking for the Resistance. They take him and his wife back to the hideout where Glenda prepares to give birth.
With Willie's help, Mike delivers the baby — or rather, a large egg about the size of a watermelon. It quickly hatches and the baby boy is united with his parents. Willie accepts the role of wantu, which is essentially a teacher, role model, and second father all in one.
Philip and Angela later arrive at the location of the downed shuttle. Using a special optical device, Philip is able to track their prey's invisible footsteps. Philip and Angela engage in some verbal sparring, barely hiding their contempt for each other. Angela mentions rumors that Martin was a Fifth Columnist, and Philip adamantly insists they are lies. Philip plans to kill Donovan, the man he thinks murdered his brother. He'll then leave the rest of the Resistance to Angela to deal with as she pleases.
Only minutes after Glenda gives birth, Kyle spots Philip in the vicinity. Mike is confused by the Martin look-alike, considering how Diana killed his friend long ago. But Robert identifies Philip as Martin's brother and explains that, as a warrior-turned-jurist and a pacifist, Philip was supposed to be their greatest hope for peace. Trapped in the warehouse, the group prepares to fight. Robert thinks they're after him and the beryllium crystals, so he tries to surrender in the hopes his action will allow his family to live. Angela shoots Robert, but not fatally, resulting in a chastisement from Philip for unnecessary force. Mike drags Robert back into the warehouse and patches up his wound, but the crystals are left behind for Philip to retrieve. Having watched Mike save Robert, Philip is impressed.
As Philip prepares to rush the building, he orders Angela not to harm the child — he doesn't make war on children. Furthermore, he reminds her that Donovan is to be left for him. In the ensuing fire fight, Kyle is shot in the arm and leg. Philip challenges Mike to unarmed combat, and they fight as Mike tries to convince Philip that Martin was his friend and worked for peace. Mike gains the upper hand and is about to hit Philip with a metal pipe but suddenly decides to spare his opponent. Seeing the sudden truce, Angela points her sidearm at the two and prepares to finish things herself. She reveals that Diana setup the entire plan, and that Diana is indeed the one who killed Martin. But before Angela can fire, Glenda comes out from her hiding and shoots the body guard.
Philip realizes that he owes his life to the people he came to capture and kill. As a show of appreciation, he crushes the crystals and arranges for a shuttle to take Robert and his family to an island in the South Pacific where Diana will never find them. It seems the Resistance now has a new ally.
In the Mother Ship landing bay, Diana and Lydia await what they think is Angela's shuttle returning with Philip's body. As they wait, Diana orders the guards to arrest Lydia for planning the murder of Philip — and she has the recording of Lydia's treasonous order to prove it. But then Philip appears, much to the surprise of the two women. He explains that he had Mike in his sight, but Angela got in the way and was killed instead. And, since Donovan was such a formidable adversary, Philip announces that he'll be staying on Earth for a while — maybe for a very long while.
Notes
- Elizabeth and Julie do not appear in this episode, and it is mentioned that they are "up north at the research center."
- Robert is the Fifth Columnist who unwittingly provided the false information about the Mentamorph to Willie.
- Angela was found by Philip on Andromeda's moon. Revealing her adversarial relationship with Philip, she suggested that he should have killed her when his armies killed the rest of her people. Later, she remarks that her "tribe will finally have revenge" as she is about the shoot Philip.
- Glenda exhibits the characteristic green discoloration around the neck of a pregnant Visitor female (as Robin did in The Final Battle).
- Water should not be present during a Visitor birth.
- Willie makes an impromptu bath of rock salt and motor oil for the Visitor baby and explains that "it's very soothing and good for the scales."
- Quote from Robert: "Your world is a wonder. It is worth fighting for."
