Terror in Atlantis

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Challenge of the GoBots ep 55
(Broadcast Order)
Challenge of the GoBots ep 62
(Story Order)
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"Terror in Atlantis"
Production code 0142-8556
Production company Hanna-Barbera
Airdate November 29, 1985
Story by Jeff Segal, Kelly Ward and Francis Moss
Teleplay by Francis Moss
Animation studio Wang Film Productions


The Atlanteans took many secrets to their graves...so let's dig them up!

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

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Doctor Janus believes he has located the lost continent of Atlantis under the arctic, so a joint UNECOM/Guardian fact-finding expedition is mounted, consisting of Janus, his colleague Lois Ransom, Tork (loaded with equipment), Scooter and Matt Hunter, while Leader-1, Turbo Nick Burns and A.J. Foster wait in the Command Center as backup. Finding proof will result in a full-scale UNECOM-funded exploration, but Janus is impatient and progress is slow from the treacherous terrain and things get worse when Cy-Kill and Crasher appear, causing an avalanche. However, Tork is able to trap them under a rockfall; despite the situation being under control Janus sends a distress call to the Command Center, but when a cross Matt snatches the radio off him he finds static interference has cut them off. Soon after they find the secret door that allows Janus to enter Atlantis, though he's very evasive about how he found it himself. Once they're all inside Lois reads up on the books that led Janus to Atlantis, noting a page on the Amulet of Power, which is said to control the Crypt of Dreams. Janus dismisses it as superstition, snatching the book back. As Matt remarks on Janus' bad mood the Doctor slips outside and speaks to Cy-Kill, berating the Renegade for causing the avalanche and urging him to complete his part of the deal. Cy-Kill tells him he wants to wait until all the Guardians are in his trap; unseen by him Janus already has the Amulet. Back inside he leads the UNECOM party to the lost continent of Atlantis itself, which he theorises was submerged when a cataclysmic event altered the Earth's axis. He, Tork and Scooter set up a base camp while Matt and Lois explore - before suddenly being grabbed by Cy-Kill, who reveals that Janus is working with the Renegades; Crasher and Cop-Tur then appear and take out the Guardians.

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Leader-1 and Turbo then arrive to investigate; Crasher and Cop-Tur are sent to intercept but are shot down when Nick and A.J. arrive in a Boomer. The Renegades retreat into Atlantis and Leader-1 plans to follow after Tork is repaired. However, Janus has slipped away from both groups and found the Crypt of Dreams, which he opens with the Amulet of Power. He is then able to summon the ancient powers of the dark dimensions, with a huge Minotaur appearing before him and doing his bidding. Cy-Kill appears and tries to take the amulet for himself but finds the Minotaur is impervious to his weaponry and backs down. Janus explains the Atlanteans had worked out how to bring in creatures from other dimensions; faced with such power Cy-Kill is forced to make a new deal with the scientist - on Janus' terms. Unsure of their next move, the Guardians are set to head back to the Command Center to work out a new strategy when the group comes under attack from the legendary Furies. The humans take cover in the Boomer while Scooter hides; the Guardians find their weapons useless; Turbo drags an injured Leader-1 towards a cave with the Boomer as Janus, flying in Cop-Tur, commands the Furies to destroy them. Scooter and Tork look on, believing their friends to be finished.

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Matt is able to make radio contact but the group have no means of escaping, though Scooter soon devises a plan - to get the Amulet from Janus, who has just brought a dragon into being. Tork makes a dummy attack and Janus panics, getting caught by Scooter. Crasher sets off on a wild goose chase around Atlantis, not realising Tork has hidden from her, while Cy-Kill and the dragon chase off after Scooter. The monster bathes the Guardian in fire, allowing Cy-Kill to take control of the Amulet. However, Scooter is able to trick the dragon into melting the ice burying the others. A.J. is then able to use the ice blocking the Boomer's cannon, firing it into the dragon's mouth and quenching its' fire. Tork meanwhile catches Janus, who apologises for his actions and offers to help them defeat Cy-Kill. The Renegade has summoned a Griffon, a Minotaur and a Cyclops but struggles to command them, having used the wrong incantation, and the arrival of the Gorgon makes things even more chaotic. She turns the Cyclops and Cop-Tur's blades into stone before destroying the Amulet. Cy-Kill orders a retreat, while Turbo tricks the Gorgon into turning the Minotaur and the Griffon into stone. Scooter then uses a hologram to trick the Gorgon into firing its' eyebeams into a mirror, turning itself into stone. Matt says UNECOM will send a team to fully explore the city, to be led by a reformed Janus. Meanwhile on Thruster, Crasher berates Cy-Kill for another over-ambitious failure.

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes[edit | edit source]

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"As Turbo says ad nauseum, Time to go!"

Matt knocks Turbo's awful catchphrase.

"You guys had better head for the Boomer."
"What about you, Scooter?"
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm gonna hide."

Scooter and Nick discuss the finer points of heroism.

"We could have conquered Earth, Cy-Kill, but noooo, you were too greedy, you wanted all the creatures..."
"Oh, shut up! Some day... Some day!"

Crasher and Cy-Kill squabble over the problems with being a villain in an eighties cartoon show while a heartbroken Cop-Tur cradles his petrified rotors.

Notes[edit | edit source]

One of us is wrong!
Uh-oh!

This episode has continuity problems that might be from it being aired out of order.

Check our story order for more information!

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  • Tork appears as a Guardian in this episode where literally yesterday he aired as a Renegade in "The Gift". Unfortunately, his next and final broadcast appearance in the series proper will confuse things even more, as he appears as a cadet in "Guardian Academy". In story order the most logical place for this episode to happen is after Tork's graduation as this is the only episode he is seen to convert in, and that the other Secret Riders were elsewhere. Curiously Tork was omitted from the team's stated first mission in "Quest for New Earth".
  • UNECOM give out gender-coded parkas for this sort of mission.
  • The Guardians use a Boomer for the first time this episode - though it's Blast, the one that was sold as a Renegade vehicle in the toy line.
  • Lois gets really handsy with Matt at the end, and has a surprisingly wide range of almost anime-style facial expressions through the episode.

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • Gadgets and Powers:
    • Scooter uses a hologram to disguise a giant mirror as himself, tricking the gorgon into reflecting its petrifying gaze. Where he got the giant mirror, though, we'll never know.

Continuity and plotting errors[edit | edit source]

  • While Janus' call to the Command Center is panicky you'd think it would make sense to call something in even if the Renegades were totalled. As it is Matt reacts like using the radio in itself is a bad idea.
  • It's unclear why Janus needs either the Guardians or the Renegades; he already has the amulet, can already access Atlantis and finds the Crypt without anyone's help.
  • After using the Amulet to open the Crypt, Janus carries it around in his hand rather than putting it back around his neck. Which is handy when the third act revolves around a good old MacGuffin scramble...
  • Scooter is shown using blasters against the gorgon.
  • They don't actually sort the dragon properly, unless that ice kills it.

Animation and technical errors[edit | edit source]

  • Nick is wearing the blue parka when first seen instead of the proper brown.
  • Lois appears in the brown parka instead of blue when they first spy Atlantis.
  • A.J. is colored Caucasian when she arrives in the Boomer.
  • Crasher is missing her left red rectangle when talking about crushing the weasel Janus. When she finishes her line her mouth just stays open too, which isn't impossible but does look really, really weird.

Real-world references[edit | edit source]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • This may be another episode to get a late rewrite to include a later toy; Tork gets a very "Turbo" role in this episode, exchanging a few sharp words with Crasher and being the dumb lug when paired with Scooter, while Turbo himself gets one of his smallest roles in the whole series, not speaking for the whole first act. Then when Turbo does appear Tork's portion of the action declines rapidly.

Foreign localization[edit | edit source]

Home video releases[edit | edit source]

DVD

2015 — Challenge of the GoBots — The Series, Volume Two (Warner Archive Collection)

External links[edit | edit source]

Footnotes[edit | edit source]