Sunday, January 14, 2018

Episode 45 : Into the Dark

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(The Dark)

Skull Kaiser, formerly one of Samhain's greatest generals, stages a rebellion against impossible odds. The fate of countless worlds rests upon his ability to protect the Loss Queen and beat back her assailants. Along the way he is forced to fight old friends and make new allies...

Episode 45 : Into the Dark

The episode opens with Skull Kaiser flying through starry space. He notes that he's getting closer to his destination and will be able to aid the Loss Queen very soon now and is in good spirits about this. As he continues, a light begins to shine just before him. Also, though very faintly, he can hear the haunting, minor-key tune of a music box. At first, the light is small and dim but as he approaches, it gets larger and brighter until it takes on the appearance of a gigantic, slowly-opening, spectral eye. The tune gets ever louder as he approaches until it's almost deafening and since Skull Kaiser cannot change his course, he raises his arms to block his face as he passes through the eye, the act of which causes him to cry out in pain. A disembodied (male) laugh echoes at his plight.

Skull Kaiser awakens upon broken asphalt. Concrete debris is strewn about. He's not wearing the Kaiser Bones, only a pair of ragged pants. He's not alone. Before he can even get his bearings, his attention is seized more than once by hidden things scrabbling in the darkness, unseen but threatening. Skull Kaiser notices as we pan out that he's on the outer edge of the crater left by the Undead Vine as we saw it in his flashback/hallucination in episode 42. He cranes his neck in a vain attempt to see the vine's origin and get his mind around its shear size. He gawks, unable to articulate a coherent thought. Then, after a moment of gasping, he shouts out at the top of his lungs, a long, protracted, "Why!?" Skull Kaiser drops his arms and bows his head in defeat. He looks at his hands and finds it difficult to summon Ghost Light to them, only small sparks crackle about his fingers. But then he wonders what good power would be anyway on an essentially empty, unknown world. Once again he's imprisoned and seemingly at the mercy of fate. He wonders why this should make him feel so particularly bad and questions his current ability to think straight. He surveys the blasted cityscape and once again wonders how this place relates to him, why it makes him feel uneasy. What was the significance of that vision he had? Was that really him, maddened with violence and out of control, killing with artless abandon?

The music box tune starts up softly again and, as Skull Kaiser whirls around unsuccessfully trying to determine its origin, cruel female laughter begins to accompany the music. Finally, the female voice, mockingly sweet, asks, "Do you remember?" Skull Kaiser only asks who it is that's addressing him. The voice continues, "Of course you don't remember. Not yet. To remember would be your worst nightmare. We can't have that all at once. No, that's to be a slow, enjoyable process and we've only just begun." She goes on telling him that he has only to survive the night, then after a pause, she laughs musically and adds that the night here never ends. Her laughter trails off and the music box fades eventually as well.

Skull Kaiser calms down slightly and accurately deduces that he's been caught in Samhain's trap. He wonders which of Samhain's agents has the power to conjure the world he's been cast into and while he thinks he might know, he just can't get hold of the memory. Now the shadows, black on dark, seem to lengthen and close in on Skull Kaiser and he readies himself for a fight. Something leaps past him leaving a cut along his cheek. He's momentarily surprised but then narrows his eyes with resolve. He won't give up. He's been through Hell and Samhain will not stop him, not here and not now. He vows anew to aid the Loss Queen no matter the cost. He shouts furiously to the shadows, inviting all that lie within to come at him. Several vague but menacing shapes respond affirmatively and move to pounce as the episode freeze-frames to an end.

To Be Continued...

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