Team Flash look for Dale in some cool-looking passageways strewn with tree roots. It turns out the Fire People are very small, so it's quite comical when they attack. Anyway, attack they do, and there are quite a few of them, so Flash, Zarkov and Happy are eventually overpowered.
A now captured Flash, Zarkov, Happy and Dale are all brought before Mighty Turan, who is presumably the Fire King, given how naming works in this serial. He's not very sympathetic to their plight and says “To the Death Cell with these Earth people!”
It turns out that the Fire People are secret allies of Ming (so his questions to Azura about them last episode were entirely disingenuous) and they send him a message via a surprisingly sophisticated electro message device.
Back in the Death Cell, Team Flash try everything they can think of but they can't get out. Also, Happy has taken to calling Zarkov “Zarky” for some reason. Suddenly, they hear a scraping sound and the wall starts smoking. Is it acid? Poison gas? Whatever it is, it's enough to get Dale to do the panicked “Flash, look out!” thing she does in the opening credits of the first episode.
Everyone braces for the worst. A hole opens up in the wall and out tumbles...Prince Barin! It's kind of a shame the opening credits (see “Starring” post) spoiled his involvement, because his surprise appearance is such a laugh-out-loud moment. Flash, in particular, is clearly delighted to see him again.
After some brief introductions (“This is Prince Barin – he's the king of the Forest People on Mongo”), Barin explains that he came to Mars to ask the Fire People for help in the fight against Ming, but he was taken prisoner. He also explains that he rescued them with a vial of Amphitron, which can “eat through armour”. So...why did it take him so long to escape then? Anyway, no doubt that Amphitron will be Important For Later.
Barin isn't done explaining yet. He informs Team Flash that the Forest People are immune to Azura's magic by virtue of a black sapphire that counteracts the white sapphire that gives her her powers. That's why Barin came to the Fire People in the first place. As a side note, it's nice to see that Barin still has his penchant for short shorts.
Anyway, thanks to Barin's brains, Team Flash now have a plan. They decide to break out of the Death Cell and steal the fabled Black Sapphire of Kalu from the equally fabled Temple of Kalu. The escape goes well – Flash lures some guard into the cell and Barin knocks them out.
Once outside, Team Flash quickly find the temple. Flash posts Dale and Happy as lookouts, while he goes ahead with Zarkov and Barin. As soon as they're gone, Dale and Happy spot a Stratosled coming in for a landing. When it lands, Martian guards emerge and greet a couple of Fire People, with both groups of extras delivering their lines really badly. Happy heads off to warn Flash, while Dale stays behind to keep watch.
Back at the Temple of Kalu, Flash notes that the shrine is heavily guarded. He spots a handy tree that he can climb, in order to swing in and avoid the guards. However, he's spotted by a Fire Man, who sounds an alarm! Fire People keep coming after Flash in his tree and he fights two of them off. Then he swings away, but the vine breaks and he crashes to the ground. Just as he gets up, a Fire Man hits him with a heat ray and he passes out as his clothes start smoking!
Note: Annoyingly, the DVD cuts off the title page for the next chapter and replaces it with “The End” (no question mark), because it's the end of Disc One. If ever I find out who's responsible for that, they'll find themselves on the wrong end of a Tigron.
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