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Episode Summary
Written
by J. Cole Weston
Only
one member of Britain's Royalty is outside the Zone and he
must be crowned King - whether he wants to or not!
Episode
Notes
Written
by J. Cole Weston In
depth: The Black Widows are out in force and cross through
the Zone. A transport full of soldiers is attacked and disabled
as the Black Widows move through town. In a nearby palace,
Dirk Courage meets with officials who need to pass on the
crown to the last unzoned member of the Royal Family of England.
The Black Widows attack the palace and the Zone Riders spring
into action. Duchess Dire scales the wall of the palace as
Bandit plays lookout. Reaper calls retreat and the remainder
leave for the Zone. Duchess Dire penetrates the room holding
the Marquis and offers him a peaceful reign if Overlord controls
his decisions. She then departs and Lord Tilsbury wants to
put off the coronation but they schedule it for tomorrow anyhow.
On
Eagle, Courage talks to McFarland about his doubts over the
coronation. Dirk is ordered (presumably by the President)
to ascertain if Overlord is in on the coronation. Dire stuns
a guard and steals her Sledge Hammer to escape as Tank fires
at her. Max gives pursuit on the Zone Runner cycle. She escapes
and meets Overlord in Big Ben inside the Zone. Overlord wants
to prove he's not involved, so he stages a full scale attack.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's motorcade is attacked by Overlord
and Max speeds away with one of the cars. Max is knocked off
the car and captured by Zoners. Kat comes to his aid, stunning
the Zoners. Reaper suggests retreat but Overlord vetoes. The
cowardly British soldiers retreat but Courage stops them.
Meanwhile,
Kat and the others begin to make short work of Overlord and
his troops as Courage and the British arrive. Bandit and Dire
argue over Bandits desire to kill Courage. Dirk gets called
out by McFarland on leaving his protection of the King. Courage
requests he be removed from command if McFarland believes
him to be incompetent. He leaves and Dire and Bandit enter,
with Dire disguising herself to her old appearance.
Later
in Eagle, McFarland says the coronation must be stopped unless
Tilsbury can be trusted. Courage shares this information with
Arthur and tells him not to go through with it if he is working
for Overlord. At the coronation, Arthur stops the coronation
and betrays Bandit and Dire. Bandit takes a hostage and retreats.
Arthur commands the Zone Riders to save the hostage. They
enter Big Ben rather than assaulting the Zone Generator as
usual. Reaper is ordered to go the backup plan by Overlord.
As the Zone Riders climb the side of Big Ben, Overlord beats
a retreat as Max destroys the generator. Intruder arrives
with Reaper to rescue Overlord. The hostage is rescued as
King Arthur takes his rightful place as ruler. Items
Noticed: Listen for the first soldier to speak in the episode
- it's Michael Bell doing his "Torch" voice from
G.I. Joe. Duchess
Dire, before undergoing the Black Widow process had sandy
blonde hair. Apparently gray / black coloration is another
side effect. The
Prime Minister reports the Archbishop of Canterbury has arrived
in London - someone did their homework, as he is heavily involved
in actually coronating the monarch in the ceremony. During
the battle, a legendary double decker red "Roadmaster"
bus can be seen. They must be near a tourist spot, since the
"Roadmasters" were taken out of service in London
in 2006 with the exception of major tourist routes. Northern
Ireland has finally achieved its freedom from the United Kingdom
in 2007, as the Archbishop crowns Tilsbury king of England,
Scotland, and Wales. Lastly,
a real kudos to Mr. Eden for the resolution of the story:
it would have been all too easy to have the Royal Family return
when the London Zone is brought down. Thankfully we get a
picture of Overlord's intelligence in that he obviously has
high value targets in a more fortified position, presumably
his New York headquarters. Notes:
The cheaper studio can again be identified here - Max's unrealistic
"cyclic" shooting and head movements indicate reuse
of cels, all of which cheapen production. What
do we learn? Arthur Tilsbury, the Marquis of Uppingham is
the only remaining member of Britain's Royal Family who remains
outside the Zone. Duchess
Dire's full name is Ursula Dire. The
last time Arthur became involved with Duchess Dire, it required
20,000 pounds to bribe a French policeman. Britain
has a female Prime Minister once again, the first time since
Margaret Thatcher in 1987 (current to SPIRAL
ZONE's production), Goof
ups: When radioing Overlord, Reapers black stripe on his forehead
changes color - another trademark of the cheaper animation
studios SPIRAL
ZONE was plagued by. Quotable
Quotes: "An easy reign…or a short one!" - Duchess
Dire
"Play us a tune, son!" - Dirk Courage, rather menacingly
to a retreating Bagpiper
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