Rudolf wakes up from a bad dream and looks at his ring, wondering if he'll ever get home. In the morning, he asks to be taken to Guygalos, saying that there will be a reward. He also asks Van to teach him how to pilot a Zoid. Van is startled but he agrees. Meanwhile, Prozen is organizing search parties to find Rudolf (yeah right. haha). Redlers and Rev Raptors are looking for Rudolf, but Raven spots them and decides to go check them out. Moonbay and the others are ready to go, but Van's letting Rudolf pilot the Liger, and Rudolf's really bad at it (the Liger's running really weird, like it's legs can't move forward or backward that well). Rudolf tries to stop, but only manages to make the Liger go faster. They almost fall off of a cliff, manage to stop just in time, but then they fall. Later, Van and Rudolf have to run behind the Gustav with Zeke as punishment, but Van looks at it as training. They take a break and Rudolf vows never to give up so he can be strong and fight for what's right.
Moonbay calls them over and shows them some completely destroyed Imperial Zoids and all their cores have been hit. Dr. D pops up out of nowhere (like always) and shows them some strange footprints. They follow them to some ruins, where they find a carving of a dragon-like Zoid, the Death Saurer. Meanwhile, Prozen moniters the Zoid in the large tank. Dr. D tells everyone the story of the Death Saurer. It was a legendary evil Zoid that could destroy a whole nation and 1,000 Zoids in one night. Dr. D doesn't know what Raven's Zoid looks like so he can't tell them if it's the Death Saurer or not. They wonder if Raven was the one who destroyed all those Imperial Zoids, but they can't figure out why he would attack his own side. Dr. D suspects something and Van wants to fight Raven's new Zoid. Dr. D tells him that that's a stupid idea and he should run if he ever sees Raven again.
Dr. D explains that if the core, the heart of a Zoid, of the Shield Liger is hit, then it will never be able to recover. Dr. D and Fiona tell Van not to fight Raven. That night, Fiona wakes up to find that Van can't sleep. She explains to him that she gets a different feeling from ruins containing carvings of the Death Saurer than she gets from Raven's Zoid, so Raven's Zoid might not be the Death Saurer. They find Rudolf praying, and he tells them that these Imperial Zoids were looking for him. Dr. D reveals that Rudolf is the Emperor-to-be. Rudolf says that Prozen wants to get rid of him so he can take his place and rule the Empire, which will of course start another war. Prozen sends out search parties, but then orders Raven to destroy them. Van attempts to make Rudolf feel better in his own unique way. He taunts Rudolf, making him fight, but always pushes him back. Finally, Rudolf lands a punch when Van is distracted by Rudolf's ring falling. Van has shown Rudolf that he has to stand up for himself, and Rudolf knows that now. Van picks up the ring to give it back to Rudolf, but Shadow flies down and grabs Rudolf, carrying him away.
A lot of Imperial Zoids arrive and accuse Van and the others of destroying the other Imperial Zoids, so they get into their Zoids and fight, taking out all of them quickly. Then Raven arrives in the Geno Saurer. His orders were to kill Rudolf, but he's decided not to. Van promised not to fight, but he knows he has to. Zeke merges with the Liger and protects the core. Raven beats Van around for a while, and then Van puts up the shield while Raven powers up a charged particle beam. Raven fires and the beam shoots through the Liger's chest/stomach. The Shield Liger's core is destroyed and the Liger becomes a gray, motionless figure as Zeke ejects from the Zoid. The Organoid falls to the ground and Fiona rushes over.
Quotes:
"Sure, we'll take you to Guygalos." -Van Freiheit
"But don't you remember what happened to Rosso and Viola? You smell a reward, I smell danger." -Irvine
"If your Zoid core is destroyed, your Shield Liger will never be able to recover!" -Dr. D
"Allow me to introduce you to my new Zoid, the Geno Saurer!" -Raven
