Episode
Defenders of the Earth: The Rites of Zesnan
Overview
While trying to prove their individual prowess during an obstacle course competition, Rick, Jedda and L.J. get a bit too serious, endangering themselves individually and as a flying unit. When the youngsters again risk their safety during a dogfight with Ming's roboships, their parents take them to the Amazon to compete in the Rites of Zesnan, a tribal warrior contest to develop good warriors. Ming intercepts a Dynak X transmission and arrives in South America before our heroes. Posing as a god he preconditions the natives against the Defenders. While Rick, Jedda and L.J. are on their respective paths of the warrior course, the Merciless One traps the elder heroes in a grid pattern with deadly sensor beam canons. Meanwhile our young Defenders, after fighting off an attack from the local tribesmen, band together. Discovering from one native the presence of Ming, they rush back to the Terry and working again as a well-oiled unit, turn all four laser canons against one another, blowing them to pieces and sending Ming fleeing for his cowardly safety.
Details
- Series
- Defenders of the Earth
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 39
- Air date
- 1986-10-30
- Runtime
- 30 min
Episode context
The Rites of Zesnan is Episode 39 in Season 1 of Defenders of the Earth. It aired on 1986-10-30. The runtime is 30 min.
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Episode 38: Rick Gordon, One Man Army
Rick Gordon's new friend at Central City High ! Carlotta Vallejo- requires his help when Ming backs revolutionary forces to dethrone her father from the Presidency of the tropical island of Esmerelda. While Ming gathers all the blue orchid flowers on the island for use turning the world's population into Frost People, Rick and Carlotta fly to Esmerelda and search for her father, but are captured by El Jefe, the mercenary leader of the upsurge. Back at Monitor Dynak X informs the Defenders that the temperature of the island is being unnaturally lowered, posing potential weather problems and prompting the heroes- sans Mandrake and Lothar- to board the Terry and set out to investigate. Rick and Carlotta escape from El Jefe, discover that Ming has diverted irrigation waters to build a huge glacier, and locate the President. To their horror, they find he has been turned into a Man of Frost before they are once again captured. The Defenders arrive and walk right into a trap, however Mandrake and Lothar, who arrived later disguised as a Man of Frost and an Ice Robot, spring them from Ming's dungeon. They invade El Jefe's jungle mercenary camp and rescue Rick, Carlotta and her father- who by now is returning to normal because the Frost Serum only works for two days. Furious, Ming blows up his glacier, causing a raging avalanche, which Rick subsides by employing a solar mirror to direct the sun's rays to melt the ice and divert it underground destroying the Ice Caves and all of Ming's blue orchid Frost Serum.
Episode 40: Audie and Tweak
Ming's computer, Octon, has created the ultimate trap- Tycos, a machine designed by a machine, completely devoid of human flaws- which the evil leader will use to destroy the Defenders. Meanwhile Kshin tries to make friends with Audie, a boy genius whose only companion is his personally constructed robot, Tweak, made with living matter rather than silicon microchips. The elder Defenders are lured to a mountain bunker in Colorado by Tycos and the Phantom is captured. Tycos then shuts down all computer circuitry in the Western Hemisphere, except for Tweak, who is impervious to Tycos' efforts because of his non-silicon makeup. The young Defenders' plea for Audie's assistance falls on deaf ears; however, the fact that they come to his rescue when he is captured by Ming persuades him to help our heroes. Arriving at the mountain bunker, the youngsters discover that Mandrake and Flash are also Tycos' captives. Tweak enters first, sacrificing himself to dismantle the nerve gas which frees the three heroes and clears the way for the others to join in the effort. Audie creates a makeshift lighter to ignite Tycos' power supply and deactivate the evil computer, while the rest of the Defenders escape and prepare to blow the bunker to smithereens. Back at Monitor Audie is made an honorary Defender.
More episodes from this season
Episode 37: The Frozen Heart
Ming's forces kidnap LJ's girlfriend, Kate, turning her into a Frost Person, and have her trick LJ, Rick and Jedda into handing the Defenders' Space Station - now armed with a lethal laser-cannon - over to Ming. When the Swordship is shot down, the adult Defenders initiate the Space Station's self-destruct program but, having survived the crash, they learn that Rick, LJ and Jedda are on the Space Station. There follows a race against time to abort the self-destruct program before it is too late.
Episode 41: Return of the Skyband
When an ore transport ship in deep space is looted and notes are found announcing the RETURN OF THE SKY BAND, the Phantom is apprehensive. He recounts the story of his grandfather, who defeated an all-women pirate group in the 1930's whose "Sky Band Leader" was accidently killed. The Defenders fly out to rescue a mining ship in an asteroid belt, and the Phantom comes face to face with Kristina, the new leader of the Sky Band and the grandaughter of the woman killed in the 1930's. While the other Defenders engage the band members in combat, the Phantom chases Kristina through the asteroid-ship which is headquarters for the pirates. Unable to defeat the Phantom, Kristina plans to blow up the entire steroid and to kill both the superhero and herself. The Phantom delays the destruction and rescues her- thereby vindicating his grandfather- before turning Kristina over to the authorities.
Episode 36: Flash Times Four
Ming knows that Flash Gordon is the only man alive who could effectively fly his state-of-the-art warplane The Scorpion, so he lures our hero to Ice Station Earth, where he has created four Flash Gordon clones! The evil warlord places Flash under his vile inquisitor with Flash's clones at the receiving end of the contraption to gather his exceptional flying skills. However, Flash brilliantly manages to dismantle the control box to the machine, therefore only facets of his personality are transferred to the clones. While the Defenders beat a hasty trail to Ice Station Earth, Flash wakes up in Ming's dungeon. When he again meets his clones he finds four distinct personalities- #1, an authoritarian; #2, a braggart fighter pilot; #3, an intellectual planner; and #4, a cool, Burt Reynolds type. Ming places clone #4, who has a bomb in his chest, in the dungeon so that the Defenders rescue him and bring him back to Monitor. Meanwhile he sends the other three against our heroes. Flash manages to escape from Ice Station Earth, destroys the three clones in a superb example of excellent dog-fighting, and confronts #4 in Monitor, disarming the bomb with seconds to spare.
Episode 42: Dracula's Potion
The Defenders set out for Transylvania to investigate the disappearance of John Harker, a young archeologist doing re-search in the area. Upon arrival, they are invited to the castle of Vlad, a mysterious local who serves them dinner at midnight. When Vlad proposes a toast, everyone joins in, except the Phantom, who doesn't trust the shifty host. The next day all the Defenders, with the exception of the Phantom, turn into animals reflecting their personality characteristics- Vlad had spiked their dinner beverages with a magic potion. Dynak X launches an antidote to our heroes via a guided rocket. Kshin, now enjoying himself as a spider monkey, retrieves the antidote from the garden and, with the Phantom, frees the Defenders/animals from their cages and administers the antidote. Restored, the Defenders turn bright lights on Vlad, trans-forming him into John Harker! The young man had been possessed by the older vampire, Vlad.
Episode 35: The Mystery of the Book
Dynak X picks up a bizarre energy transmission from Stonehenge prompting the elder Defenders to investigate. Kshin consults the book of enigma which shows him a blueprint of the ancient stone circle. In England, Flash, Lothar and the Phantom are lured inside Stonehenge by Kronos, a mysterious dark cloud, and turned into statues. Mandrake consults his old magic teacher, Theron, who informs him that Kronos is an evil monster who drove the great magician, Enigma, out of the Land of Magic, then destroyed the dimension. Kronos needs the book, which is actually the old master of magic in "book form", to materialize on Earth and destroy the planet. Our young heroes- including Kshin and the book, Enigma,- rush to the rescue; however, Rick, L.J. and jedda are also turned into statues by Kronos. Mandrake, with the help of Theron, fights off Kronos while Enigma guides Kshin into the Stonehenge circle, where he convinces Kronos to give him a blue crystal which allows Enigma to materialize and defeat the evil monster. The benevolent wizard then restores the Defenders to their natural state, before departing for the Land of Magic.
Episode 43: One of the Guys
Rick and L.J. accompany Kshin's class, which includes Marty, a wheelchair-bound boy, on a field trip to the Amazon where they encounter hostile natives. When Kshin and Marty are separated from the group, L.J. and Rick search for them, prompting the teacher to call in the Defenders. Stumbling upon a field of strange flowers cultivated by Ming's minions, Kshin is sprayed by a plant and rendered paralyzed from the waist down. At first he believes the situation hopeless, but Marty points out that they still have their brains. Captured by Ming, Marty uses his remote control device to summon his air-wheelchair and attempts a getaway from Ming. Meanwhile, the Phantom locates Rick and L.J. in the jungle. Ming, furious at being outwitted by two "helpless" boys, stalks Marty and Kshin. Just before he corners them, the Defenders arrive in Terry and foil the Merciless Ming's scheme to take over the world. Kshin's paralysis wears off and Marty is made an honorary Defender.
Episode 34: The Carnival of Dr. Kalihari
Dr. Kalihari's carnival is in town and the Defenders are on hand to see the show. What they don't know is that Dr. Kalihari has taken over the carnival from its owners and populated it with collaborators in his get-rich-quick scheme. Kalihari is infuriated when the Defenders embarass his mediocre performers, so to get revenge he dupes Kshin into unleashing a magic shrinking potion on them! Steadily getting smaller --until they will eventually vanish- our senior heroes battle Kalihari, his cohorts, dogs and common household items which pose significant obstacles to 3 inch people, before finally locating the magic antidote potion which restores them to their original size. Once again the "normal" Defenders of the Earth, they waste no time in disposing of Kalihari's gang and restoring the carnival to its rightful owners.
Episode 44: 100 Proof Highway
At school, Jedda is invited to a party by Eric, who freely admits that, "Everything looks better with a little vodka". At first a bit hesitant, Jedda eventually agrees- she thinks Eric is cute and exciting. Rick and L.J. warn Jedda to steer clear of the trouble-maker, but she reminds them that they are neither her brothers nor her father. At the party that night, Erick is dead drunk, and his best friend Sam spikes Jedda's punch to "loosen her up". Confused and dizzy, Jedda asks Eric for a ride home. On the way he passes out at the wheel, with Jedda barely gaining control in time to avert disaster. Jedda gives a repentant Eric a second chance and attends a drag race with him. Disturbed by the drinking and dangerous driving, she once again demands that Eric, secretly drunk, take her home. This time they crash into a lake where Rick and L.J. must dive in for a risky rescue. The incident finally opens Eric's eyes to his alcoholism and he begins daily counseling, confident that although sobriety is a tough road, it's worth it.
Episode 33: Kshin And The Ghost Ship
While on vacation in Jamaica with the Defenders, Kshin sees a ghost ship; however, no one believes him. Determined to get proof of the ship's existence, Kshin rows a dinghy out into the bay one night, and he not only finds the ship, but is taken on board by its ghost pirates!! Meanwhile our heroes are busy trying to figure out why Ming's roboships are in the area. Unbeknownst to them, the warlord is searching for Morgan's Compass, which he will use to turn the ghost pirates into his unconquerable slaves. On board the ship, the pirate captain tells Kshin that they have been searching for years for Morgan's Compass- the only object which can release them from their aimless wandering. Kshin offers help, and with the ghost first mate he goes ashore and returns with a sonic probe to locate the compass on the ocean floor. While Kshin is lowered into the water in a makeshift diving bell, Ming's roboships attempt to fire a freezebeam on the ship putting the ghosts in his power. However, the Defenders blow Ming's minions out of the sky! Kshin emerges with the compass, freeing the pirates and sending them on their way.
Episode 45: The Time Freezer
The Defenders attend an inter-galactic science convention in Monaco which coincides with a junior magician's competition that Kshin enters. Mandrake tells the boy the secret to opening locks through telekenetic activity, a trick which he uses to win the competition. When a big, roughhousing alien named Brutan steals a Time Freezer device from Yonda, a soft-spoken scientist at the fair, and uses it to rob the casino and local jewelry stores, Kshin is a suspect in the robberies. Kshin, with Zuffy, set out to clear his name, discovering from Yonda that Brutan plans to rob Fort Knox! They inform the Defenders and our heroes arrive on the scene to discover Brutan in the act. Using another version of his Time Freezer, Yonda captures the thief.