Back to ElamenSTAR Episode Guide

Episode 79-and-a-Half

The one fabled "lost episode" of ElamenSTAR.

Out of the five seasons, only the fourth fell short of 26 episodes. Rumors from the production studio paint a clear, if frustratingly uninformative, picture.

What we know is this: not all of the writers of ElamenSTAR were happy with the end of Season 3. The introduction of multiple Battals and alternate timelines had been kicked around from the beginning (as timesorc'ley was always available and canonical reconciliation grew increasingly difficult in the rapidly expanding universe of Battal). But some writers, obsessed with the purity and independence of their creation, wanted to preserve their work as "pristine" no matter what marketing decided to do with the "universe as a whole."

These writers considered the ElamenSTAR timeline completely sacrosanct. Whether or not it was ultimately considered "canon" by the franchise owners, at the very least their goal was to generate something that could stand alone, or alongside any given iteration of Battal, and remain comprehensible, entertaining, and (perhaps above all) whole. These writers began work on an episode for Season 4 that would explain the end of Season 3, as well as laying the groundwork for some canonical defenses against future assaults on the overall cohesiveness of the ElamenSTAR story.

Theirs, they believed, would be the definitive telling of the story of the Four Underdogs. They could not stop the retellings, but they could at least establish themselves as the ultimate source material--after all, their work pre-dated even The Elemenstor Cycle.

Alas, it was not to be.

It is not known how much of the episode was written or which plot devices were to be employed, but someone got word to upper management before the script could be completed. The writers involved were reprimanded for "undermining the larger goal of ElamenSTAR" (profits) and for "insubordination to intellectual and moral superiors" (marketing and management). The episode would never air.

Of course, some of the writers, disgruntled and annoyed, released some fairly convincing "Fan Fiction" along with the basic details of their situation. But because the episode had been partially written, most of the plot devices intended to cement the ElamenSTAR timeline are now property of the producers, who adamantly refuse to publish them--and prevent their authors from publishing them under threat of legal action. Even so, wishing to complete their grand plan, most of these writers continued writing for the show.

The ultimate result of this particular confrontation is that there is no official word on whether seasons one through three occur in a different timeline than seasons four and five. While it is generally accepted that the writers of the show intended one unified timeline, it is also generally accepted that the owners of the franchise don't care what the writers think as long as they're bringing in the money and pimping out the merchandise. The lack of clarity has resulted in a rift between fans; ElamenSTAR purists argue (often violently) in favor of unification, while fans of the Elemenstor Radio Dramas seek to further legitimize their own choice of medium by tying it to the cartoon.

In the end, however, the debate was rendered moot by the events of Countdown to Infinite Wizbits, a comic book "crisis" event that (at least temporarily) straightened out the timelines of Battal.