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| Showdown | |
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| Season 2, Episode 17 | |
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| Air date | September 12, 1995 |
| Directed by | Kevin Altieri |
| Story by | Kevin Altieri Paul Dini Bruce Timm |
| Teleplay by | Joe R. Lansdale |
| Music by | Todd Hayen |
| Airdate Sequence | |
| Previous The Terrible Trio |
Next Catwalk |
| Production Sequence | |
| Previous The Lion and the Unicorn |
Next Riddler's Reform |
"Showdown" is an episode of the second season of Batman: The Animated Series. It is notable for introducing the western bounty hunter Jonah Hex to the series' continuity, although this would be his only appearance on the series. It is also the last episode of the show to feature Ra's al Ghul, some time after "Avatar".
"Showdown" was the 78th produced episode overall and the 13th episode produced in the second season.
Synopsis[]
Ra's al Ghul storms a retirement house with the Society of Shadows in order to take someone with him, leaving only a recording behind. Batman and Robin take the tape and listen to a tale from Ra's' mysterious past during the 1800's, when he attempted to destroy the fledgling railroad and seize control of the US government. The one person who stood in his way was the renegade bounty hunter, Jonah Hex. How Ra's battle with Hex is tied to his present-day activities, is for Batman to discover.
Plot[]
Ra's al Ghul and the Society of Shadows
The Society of Shadows break into the Gotham Retirement Villas and they make sure to knock out all the orderlies and guards spreading knockout gas through the air vents. They get inside the building and their leader Ra's al Ghul guides them to the room of the man he is looking for. Batman and Robin arrive at the place and they fight Ra's men while their leader goes to see an old man in his room. After finishing with the members of the Society of Shadows, Batman and Robin follow Ra's to the old man's room, but they find that Ra's has already left with the old man and just left a recorded tape behind for them to listen. Batman and Robin get in the Batmobile as Batman deduces that Ra's is heading towards the airport and in the meantime, they play the recording Ra's left for them.
It was 1883 in a town known as Devil's Hole and an outlaw bounty hunter known as Jonah Hex is looking for a criminal at large by the name of Arkady Duvall. Hex goes to the nearest bar to ask for Duvall and the barmaid tells him to join him at night and she'd show him Duvall's hideout. Hex returns at night and together with the barmaid they make their way through the desert until they find a mysterious cave. The lady tells Hex a story about a flying monster and that the sightings begun at the same time when lights started to come out from the cave. Hex and the lady part ways and the bounty hunter goes inside the cave just to find an underground factory and hundreds of men working on the construction of an enormous airship held up by zeppelins. Hex notices that Duvall is among them and he mistreats the workers until he is stopped by Ra's al Ghul, who seems to be in control of the entire operation. Ra's wants to finish the construction of the airship called Phoenix in order to destroy the Transcontinental Railroad and force the United States to make him their ruler. Moments later, Hex is spotted and brought to Duvall's presence. Assuming that Hex is a spy, Duvall tells his men to kill Hex, but Ra's stops him again and tells him to stop giving orders. Hex is taken to a cell, where he notices that the soil is perfect for digging.
The next day, the guard comes to Hex's cell to give him some food but he notices that his prisoner is not in the cell and he gets inside to take a closer look. Hex comes out from a pile of hay that was his bed and knocks out the guard, after which he starts running towards Phoenix, which is on it's way out of the cave and using a hanging rope, he climbs to the deck of the ship.
Jonah Hex captures Arkady Duvall
Ra's and Duvall take Phoenix to the inauguration ceremony for the railroad, where the governor is about to drive the final spike and they start shooting cannonballs to the people down below and destroy most of the town and the railroad as well. Hex starts sabotaging the ship from inside and Duvall decides to deal with Hex once and for all. Duvall and Hex start fighting blade vs. knife and eventually, Hex shoots one of Phoenix's own cannonballs to one of the zeppelins above, which in turn starts exploding due to the hydrogen inside reacting to the fire and heat. Ra's notices that the ship is burning and he decides to leave it using a flying device, but before leaving, he orders his men to abandon the ship and when asked about Duvall, Ra's tells them to leave him to his fate.
Hex and Duvall are the only remaining people in the ship and when they're near the land, Hex takes Duvall and they jump out from the ship that crashes against a rock and explodes just a few minutes before. Duvall tries to buy Hex with money, but Hex isn't interested in money; all he wants is to see Duvall taken to justice.
Ra's and his son, Arkady Duvall
Batman and Robin finish listening to the tape, only minutes away from the airport. Robin doesn't understand what the story has to do with the elder that was kidnapped by Ra's, but Batman suspects the truth. When they get to the airfield, Ra's is taking the elder to his plane with Ubu's help and they're confronted by Batman and Robin, who finally discover the elder's identity as Arkady Duvall. Ra's explains that Duvall was sentenced to 50 years of hard labor and that he lost track of him with time. Robin is amazed of the man's age and Ra's tells him that Duvall is over 100 years old, as a result of the exposure to the Lazarus Pit when he was young. Batman wants to know Ra's motives to come back for him now and Ra's replies that a man can never forget his own son. Ra's explains that he had more children besides Talia and that he always knew Arkady was too unstable to be his successor and that his current state is beyond the Lazarus. Ra's promises Batman another battle in the future, but for now he just wants to take his boy home. Batman agrees silently and everyone goes their own way.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Batman |
| Loren Lester | Robin |
| William McKinney | Jonah Hex |
| David Warner | Ra's al Ghul |
| Senator Patrick Leahy | Governor |
| Malcolm McDowell | Arkady Duvall (last appearance) |
| Michael Bell | Airman Captain |
| William Bryant | Sheriff |
| Elizabeth Montgomery | Barmaid |
External Links[]
- "Showdown" at IMDb