Lilo and Stitch hear from Cobra Bubbles about an asteroid that is about to hit and devastate Earth, so they go out into space using Jumba's ship to destroy it. They then find an alien living on the rock, forcing the duo to decide which home they need to sacrifice to save the other.
Lilo and Stitch are visiting a planetarium when they find and overhear Cobra Bubbles speaking to a scientist about a large asteroid that's expected to collide with and destroy Earth. The duo head home to tell Jumba about the imminent danger. Jumba offers to prepare his spaceship for escape, and Lilo and Stitch head out to warn their ʻohana about the evacuation.
Later that night, when it's almost time to leave, Lilo looks at the stars and wonders what kind of planet they'll have to move to. Out of all the people they warned, only six of Stitch's cousins showed up, and out of all the townspeople, only one random surfer showed up. Not willing to just give up and leave, Lilo decides she wants to try to save Earth instead, and Stitch hatches a plan that will blow the asteroid into a million pieces.
Just as they are about to leave, Nani tries to stop them, not believing that such an asteroid could exist without making it onto the news. Lilo retorts that she should ask Cobra Bubbles about it, and the ship takes off when Nani isn't looking. Nani bumps into Cobra and realizes that Lilo was telling the truth about the asteroid. After Nani explains the situation, Coba contacts Lilo via communications uplink. He warns her to be extremely careful on the mission because even if they did destroy the asteroid, their ship would likely be destroyed by the debris. Jumba tries to call off the mission and escape to his home planet, causing Stitch to tie him up and start driving the ship himself. Lilo tells Jumba that Earth is his new home, and convinces him to help save it.
After the ship lands, Lilo, Stitch, and Jumba leave to find a weak point in the asteroid's terrain. While everyone is roaming the asteroid, a mysterious cloaked figure attacks Stitch by dropping a giant boulder on him. It turns out to be an "asteroid squatter" that speaks an ancient dialect and calls the asteroid its home. Jumba and Stitch are more than happy to blow up the asteroid without hesitation to save Earth, but Lilo sympathizes with the squatter when she realizes that by saving her home, she'll be destroying his.
Lilo voices her concerns to Jumba, who theorizes that they could instead use the ship's hyperdrive to simply knock the asteroid off course without destroying it. Of course, removing the hyperdrive from Jumba's ship means that he and Pleakley may never be able to return to their home planets again. However, they decide that their true home is on Earth with their ʻohana. Swirly (X-383) hypnotizes the squatter into pacification while Kixx (X-601) pries the hyperdrive from the ship. Digger (X-529) digs a hole in the ground as Stitch places the hyperdrive in it. Everyone boards the ship, which takes off while the hyperdrive pushes the asteroid safely out of Earth's trajectory.
Everyone celebrates as the ship lands safely back on Earth, and Cobra thanks Lilo and Stitch for saving the planet. Of course, the government will pretend that the asteroid never existed, so the duo is forced to keep their victory a secret, but Cobra presents them with a document stating that they are now honorary agents in the Earth Defense Agency... "Under-12 and Illegal Genetic Experiment Division." Cobra decides to stay for dinner, but after it's revealed that Jumba did the cooking, everyone decides to order pizza instead.
Experiments who appeared or were mentioned in this episode:
All of the below experiments join the mission.- Hammerface (X-033): He is mistakenly called "Hammerhead" by Pleakley.
- Sparky (X-221): He jump-starts the ship when its battery is dead.
- Spooky (X-300)
- Swirly (X-383): He hypnotizes the alien squatter to prevent him from interfering with the ʻohana's plans to save his asteroid home.
- Richter (X-513)
- Digger (X-529): Digs a hole in the asteroid to place the hyperdrive in.
- Kixx (X-601): He helps pry open the ship's hyperdrive in order to deflect the asteroid.
Tropes in this episode include:
- An Aesop: Home is where your heart is.
- Aliens Speaking English: Averted with the squatter for whatever reason, making him one of the Lilo & Stitch franchise's few aversions among non-experiments. Jumba claims that he speaks an "ancient dialect", implying that his language is so old that it's nearly extinct.
- Artistic License – Space: Sprinkled all over the episode, but there are a few particularly egregious examples. An asteroid of the massive size shown would have actually been detected years in advance rather than hours before it hits. Also, Lilo and Stitch can communicate in space even though the latter does not wear a spacesuit, and sound cannot travel in a vacuum.
- Call-Back: Stitch is once again used as an audio speaker by having his mouth wide open, only this time he's relaying what he's hearing instead of playing back something from a vinyl record.
- Colony Drop: The episode's plot is about the characters stopping an asteroid before it hits the Earth. They were initially going to destroy it, but then they find that it's not deserted.
- Filler: One of two in the first season. Since no experiments are rehabilitated here, this episode is inconsequential to the rest of The Series.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The squatter on the asteroid is a grouchy little hermit who will try to scare anyone off, but Lilo can empathize with how it must feel to basically be told he's about to lose his home. This prompts her to find an alternative to saving the Earth without destroying the asteroid.
- Patriot in Exile: Jumba starts missing his home planet "Kweltikwan / Quelte Quan". During the mission to intercept the asteroid, Jumba hijacks the ship and attempts to return to his home planet. Pleakely has to remind him he was banished from his home planet and will be apprehended the instant he sets foot on it.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Lilo pegs the squatter as this. Though his face doesn't express anything except a grouchy frown, she can read that he's probably unhappy to learn our heroes will destroy the only home he knows.
- Space Episode: Yes, in a series with aliens. This is the only episode where the title characters actually go out in space to resolve the plot's conflict.
- Series Continuity Error: Hammerface is shown activated, on the good side, and is called "Hammerhead". He's not supposed to appear until "Dupe", where he's on Gantu's side.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Despite the ʻohana trying to save his home, the asteroid squatter just angrily yells at them the whole time. Justified since he cannot speak English and doesn't understand what they are trying to do.
- We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: Played for Laughs with Jumba's greeting to the squatter."Hello! We come in peace to blow up your home."
- You Can't Go Home Again: While Jumba is exiled to Earth, his ship still has a hyperdrive that allows him to head out to anywhere he wants in the galaxy, including his home planet Kweltikwan. However, he sacrifices the hyperdrive to quickly redirect the asteroid away from Earth, accepting that Earth is his home now even though his ship is no longer capable of heading anywhere in a short period of time.note
