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BRIEF STORYLINE Sick and tired of Merklynn, Darkstorm turns to his imprisioned wizard Falkhama, to shed some light in how to overpower Merklynn for good. Falkhama takes the Darkling Lords on a journey to a temple which is defended by a large dragon. In it, is the ancient book of magic called Omnipiticron. Reekon manages to avoid the dragon's wrath and grabs the book.
Falkhama then explains about gathering some Wizard's Bane which can be used to startle and freeze him temporarily and helpless to keep his hands on the magic ball called the orb. However, they must get him out of his Irontop Mountain shrine.
To do this, the Darkling Lords fake a surrender to the Spectral Knights, and they are taken back to the old Sign Factory, under shackles. According to plan, Merklynn appears, to free them, and Darkstorm uses the Wizard's Bane on him and Falkhama. They dissapear and are teleported to the wizard's jail. Darkstorm now has the orb and the Omnipiticron at his command! He zaps the Spectral Knights into stone, and transports himself to Irontop Mountain. With this immense, great power Darkstorm has, Virulina, Reekon and Lexor are dissatisfied and angry that they have not been rewarded for their alliance. Probably because they moan and complain, Darkstorm give them mean gifts using the orb. He turns Virulina into an old hag, Reekon has feet that makes the sound of a cash register when he moves and creates Lexor a clone who tells the truth. To make their matters worse, he turns them to stone.
Darkstorm feels really powerful and that nothing can go wrong. He conjures a spell so secretive that no wizard knows what its result is. It results in the end of the world! Darkstorm panics and returns the orb to its rightful owner Merklynn. However, Merklynn corrects everything and explains its a failsafe spell. During this time, the other wizard's escape the jail. Merklynn blames Darkstorm and his Darkling Lords for this, and vows never to help them again.
REVIEW: Satisfying episode. The first scenes of Mortdredd and Darkstorm discussing how to dispose of Merklynn are nice. Nice viewpoints of Falkhama in the jail, to empasise that he is down below Darkstorm's Throne room, as we get our first glimpse of Falkhama from the pipes sitting above him.
As Mortdredd tries to snatch the book, from the snoozing purple dragon guarding it, he shreiks and runs away humorously, but the editing is bad. Reekon's turn is better edited, as he successfully grabs the book. Good music used to describe him being gentle on his feet, as he passes the purple dragon. The scene where the Spectral Knights are around the table talking about the construction of a barracks isn't too impressive. However, the part where Witterquick crashes through the door livens it up.
When the Darkling Lords give up so easy, it's too easy against the Spectral Knights, although this submissiveness by them is unique, the editing is very ordinary and lacks punch. We get to see Darkstorm at his most power-hungry and ruthless as his plan gets underway, and uses the Wizard's Bane. Using it on Falkhama immediately after Merklynn is a bit surprising. When the Spectral Knights are all turned to stone, some well-needed humour is installed here. The rest of the Darkling Lords can only hear Darkstorm's shouting, raging voice calling them lazy, for wanting the orb to transport them back to their HQ in a quick flash.
A good strong scene is when Darkstorm gives his followers their "rewards" using the orb. Virulina, Reekon and Lexor get their "just desserts" for their lack of loyalty to Darkstorm, while Mortdredd, Cravex and Cindarr get the real rewards. However, Darkstorm only gives them a vision of their rewards and doesn't receive them yet. Maybe Darkstorm had no intention of giving them rewards after he uses them? That doesn't become known as it doesn't take long for Darkstorm to lose control of the magic orb.
Darkstorm summouning the spell for the end of the world is sharply done, and scary. A huge monster rises up from the landscape annoucing the end of the world. Gulp! The wizard's jail scene, where we get our first glimpses of Bogavus and Weezasqueaza, is edited ok and some funny parts, such as when Virulina's shark bursts through the door and Bogavus reacts with "There's a unique way of bringing our dinner!". Also Merklynn is unintentionally funny, when he discovers the wizards have escaped and moans "oh, drat!" A nice twist that the end of the world spell is actually a "fail-safe" spell that only he knows, to the desperate Darkstorm. The reversing of all the plagues getting shown, where everything seems to be rewinded is very original and likeable. The ending is well done too. THE OVERTHROW OF MERKLYNN GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
