| Nor Iron Bars a Cage | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 10 | |
 Tekla and Pyrus frantically search for their missing friends. | |
| Air date | 2nd June 1999 |
| Written by | Marv Wolfman |
| Directed by | Steve Ball, Sebastian Brodin |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Divided We Stand |
Next Death of a King |
When the Prison Planet teleports away to an unknown location, Femur finds that he is trapped there with his disgruntled brother Sternum. Meanwhile, Lord Mantel believes that he is the only one fit to rule the now leaderless Alliance.
Plot[]
The Alliance is baffled by the Prison Planet's, and Graveheart's, sudden disappearance, and continue a fruitless search for them. Tekla maintains charge of the Alliance in Graveheart's absence, but Lord Mantel demands that he take over the reins. The remaining Alliance leaders deny his attempts to take control, except for Pelvus. With Femur gone, he declares himself Emperor of Bone and announces his support of Lord Mantel's bid to take control of the Alliance.
Fed up with the others' refusal, Mantel cripples the Alliance fleet by using their defense codes to disable their ships. Since the Beast Planet and its Drone Ships have suddenly caught up to the Alliance, this leaves their fleet sitting ducks as the Beast Drones pick them off one by one.
Mantel refuses to reactivate them until control of the Alliance is given to him. Tekla tries to use Voxx to override Mantel's control, but countermeasures he put in place to prevent this disable Voxx, causing him to require major repairs before he can go back online again. In the end, Tekla has no choice but to give in to Mantel's demands. Mantel's video feed reveals how he got the defense codes: he's seen wearing Jade's Data Crystal, which Tekla gave her in Girls Night Out, indicating Jade betrayed them to him.
On the Prison Planet, Cryos observes the sky and notices the stars are much different then before, as if the Prison Planet has moved. Jewelia curses Sternum, yelling that he must have used the Teleport Engines. Meanwhile, Jade impresses Sternum by besting him in combat, and they trade information about the Prison Planet and the Alliance scouting parties. Then, he has his men cart Femur out, and Sternum reveals to Jade that Femur is his brother. Femur begs Jade to kill Sternum, which she doesn't, but when Sternum tries to kill him, Jade intervenes.
To prove Femur's guilt, Sternum takes them to the cell block in which Femur imprisoned him, and depicts the great labor and tortures he and the others endured there. Sternum explains that the Prison Planet held the Cluster worlds' most dangerous criminals, but his revolt freed him and his fellow inmates from their guards and led him to discover the planet's Teleport Engines.
The Teleport Engines are like the World Engines, and just as ancient, but instead of propelling a world through space with planetary thrust, they instantly transport the entire world from its current location to an entirely different part of space. That's why the planet wasn't detected by their sensors before it showed up; it simply wasn't there before.
Graveheart aids Jewelia on an attack on Sternum's compound, and saves her from a deadly blast. Despite her injuries and Sternum's men outnumbering hers, Jewelia insists her men continue their attack, taking greater delight in her men dying for her than in their survival. Seeing no sense in continuing a doomed assault, Graveheart orders Jewelia's men to retreat, and carries her to safety.
At the cell block, Sternum attempts to shoot Femur dead, but Jade kicks the gun out of his hand. The episode ends with Jade requesting the pleasure of killing Femur herself, as she points the gun at his head...
Trivia[]
- The episode's title is a quote from the poem "To Althea, from Prison" by Richard Lovelace.
See Also[]
| Episode listing |
|---|
| Season 1: Behold the Beast, On the Rocks, Born in Fire, Bad to the Bone, Wolf in the Fold, Mind War, J'Accuse, Blood is Thicker…, Rock and Ruin, Against all Odds, Uneasy Hangs the Head, Ragnarok (Part 1), Ragnarok (Part 2) Season 2: Worlds within Worlds, This is the Way the World Ends…, Period of Adjustment, Blaze of Glory, Sandstorm, Girls Night Out, Timebomb, Embers of the Past, Divided We Stand, Nor Iron Bars a Cage, Death of a King, The Long Road Home, Ascension |