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| The Demon's Quest Part I | |
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| Season 1, Episode 57 | |
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| Air date | May 3, 1993 |
| Directed by | Kevin Altieri |
| Written by | Dennis O'Neil |
| Music by | Michael McCuistion |
| Airdate Sequence | |
| Previous See No Evil |
Next The Demon's Quest Part II |
| Production Sequence | |
| Previous Blind as a Bat |
Next The Demon's Quest Part II |
The Demon's Quest, Part I is an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It features one of Batman's greatest enemies: Ra's al Ghul. This episode is continued in The Demon's Quest Part II.
Synopsis
When Robin is mysteriously abducted from his college campus, Batman begins a fruitless search ... until he is astounded by the sudden appearance in the Batcave of Ra's Al Ghul. Ra's quickly reveals that his daughter, Talia, has been abducted under circumstances similar to Robin's, suggesting that the same persons are responsible. So begins an uneasy truce between the Batman and 'The Demon'.
Plot
On a rainy night in Gotham City, Robin sneaks back into his room in Gotham University, but he is surprised by some men inside his room. One of them shoots a tranquilizer dart
Robin is attacked
at him and knocks Robin unconscious while a tall figure approaches the body and looms over it. The man is wearing a mask, very similar to a devil's head.
Batman arrives at the batcave after a long unsuccessful search for any clue of Robin's whereabouts. Alfred can't help but feel worried for Dick and Bruce, who seems to be very upset about Robin's disappearance a few days ago. Alfred delivers a letter sent to Bruce and goes back to the manor, in case Dick calls. Bruce opens the letter and finds a picture inside. It was a photo of Robin being held prisoner by his kidnappers and a note adressed to Batman and challenging him to rescue his partner. At that moment, a voice speaks from the shadows of the batcave and two men step into the light, much to Bruce's surprise and anger. He demands to know who they are and how they get inside the cave. The man wearing an elegant green robe approaches and introduces himself as Ra's al Ghul and the second man is Ubu, Ra's personal assistant. Ra's is the leader of a group called the Society of Shadows and being a powerful and resourceful man, he had no trouble getting inside the batcave. Bruce is surprised and he wants to know what exactly does Ra's wants from him. Ra's explains Bruce that his own daughter, Talia has been kidnapped the same day as Robin was kidnapped. Ra's starts coughing heavily but recovers fast explaining that he is very old, but not old enough to be unable to help. Ra's gives Bruce a picture as proof
Robin and Talia kidnapped
of the kidnapping and then he offers his help in the search of the abducted. Batman agrees and by looking at the evidence in the pictures, he deduces that the kidnappers must be from the Indian city of Calcutta and they move their way to that place. However, when Bruce moves forward and walks in front of Ra's, he is immediately pushed back by Ubu, who believes that nobody should precede his master. Batman calls it "Strike 1".
On their way to Calcutta, Batman asks Ra's how did he discovered his secret identity. Ra's explains that besides investigating Batma's activities and making the obvious connection to Bruce Wayne, his daughter Talia has already seen him without the cowl. Ra's starts coughing again, but he recovers after a while and quotes words of wisdom told to him by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Batman, Ra's and Ubu walk the streets of Calcutta, following the trail of the kidnappers when they are suddenly attacked by some assassins. Batman takes on them one by one, while Ra's is protected behind Ubu, delightfully watching as Batman takes them all down. One last assasin tries to attack Batman, but he is no match for the dark knight. Batman questions the last man and he tells them about a secret place in Malaysia. Batman tries to walk in front of Ra's and Ubu pushes him back again. calling him "Infidel". Batman calls for "strike 2".
They go to the place the man told them and on their way there, Ra's explains Batman about his devotion to preserve the natural resources of the planet and how he blames humankind for ravaging earth of it's former natural habitats. Ra's wants to cleanse the world from the evil that ails it and he knows that with enough time, he could be the one doing the cleansing, much to Batman's disgust. When they arrive at the place the man told them, they all hurry but Batman gets inside the secret temple and finds himself surrounded by statues and a map in the middle of the temple. As soon as he steps further inside, the doors and windows are locked by metal shieldings and a black panther appears in the room. Batman makes his best trying to fight the panther but he is unable to take on the animal with bare fists. Batman takes off his cape and cowl and uses it to trap the panther and put inside a capsule of knockout gas. Once the panther was asleep, Ubu breaks down the metal shieldings from the outside and lets Ra's inside the temple. He compliments Batman for taking care of the dangers and then they all go to the map in the room. Batman notices a mark in the map, and they realize that the mark is a tracing left by fingernails from the place they where to another place near the Himalayas and they know where to go next.
In Ra's helicopter, Batman prepares to jump to the place that was marked in the map. Before he jumps, he notices that Ra's starts coughing again and Ubu mentions something about a pit; but Ra's hurries Batman to jump off the chopper. Batman does as he is told and opens his parachute on his way down. However, he sees a missile aproaching his location and in less than a few seconds, the missile pass through him towards the helicopter, blowing it to pieces. Then, people starts shooting at him and he is forced to drop down to the snow. His attackers go to the place and shoot at the place where he landed, but Batman was already sneaking behind them and he easily took them down.
Batman enters the secret lair and finds Robin tied up to a chair in the middle of the room. As he approaches Robin, a number of assassins come out of the darkness and attack him, but Batman takes them all down with ease. When he is finished, the tall man with the devil's mask comes out and claps at Batman's display of power. Robin wonders who is that man, but Batman know perfectly who he is; Ra's al Ghul. Ra's is intrigued and wants to know how did Batman figure discovered who was behind it all. Batman explains that he knew from the beginning since the only way he would have known about Robin's kidnapping was because he was the kidnapper. The assassins in Calcutta that knew their exact location; when they were in Malaysia, he noticed that Ubu didn't pushed him back when he went in front of them to the temple and the reason was because they knew there was danger inside the temple and lastly, the fact that he deduced that when the helicopter was attacked, they would've jumped out and landed in a safe place.
Talia loves Batman
Ra's confirms that everything is true and he is impressed by Batman's deductive and combat skills. Talia appears in the scene and joins her father. Batman tells Robin that it is time for them to go home, but Ubu tries to stop them because they had no permition to leave. When Batman ignores him, Ubu tries to attack him, and Batman, calling for "strike 3", knocks Ubu unconscious. They continue their way out, but the exit is blocked by Talia, who doesn't want them to leave before listening to Ra's final offer. Batman turns around and faces Ra's, who tells him that he has been looking for a heir, someone who can keep his legacy going on and Batman seems to be the perfect man for the role. Ra's also mentions the fact that Talia is in love with Batman.
Bruce considers his options for a while, looking only at Talia, but in the end he refuses Ra's offer. Ra's is enraged by Batman's defiance but he starts coughing again and this time, he loses all his strength and falls down. At first, Batman doesn't believe him, but Talia is truly worried and after checking his pulse, Batman realizes that Ra's is actually dying. Talia explains Batman that they must take Ra's to a Lazarus Pit in order to keep him alive.
Ra's loses his mind
Batman carries Ra's to the pit while Talia explains that the pit is the source of Ra's lifespan of over 600 years. They lower the body of Ra's to the pit and for a while, nothing comes out of it. Robin thinks Ra's is dead, but Talia knows that he is fine. Ra's comes out of the pit with a tidal wave and falls to where the rest of them were standing. He looks young and stronger than before, but he also looks deranged. Ra's starts laughing and Talia approaches him, but he grabs her and raises her up with both arms. Batman tries to make him let her go, but Ra's kicks Batman back and keeps laughing like a maniac.
Cast
- Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred
- Loren Lester as Robin
- Helen Slater as Talia
- Manu Tupou as Ubu
- David Warner as Ra's Al Ghul
- Frank Welker as Thug
Notes
- This episode is an adaptation of the comic book Batman #232.