Chapter Ten - Incense of Forgetfulness

The cliffhanger escape is a massive cheat, even worse than that time Flash didn't get knocked down and blown up in the Stratosled. Despite the fact that we clearly saw Flash pass out after being hit by the Disintegration Ray, he isn't zapped at all. Instead he just loosens his straps, gets up and escapes through the skylight, hauling Zarkov and Barin up after him. 

It's all quite clumsy, and Zarkov ends up on top of Flash at one point, then holds his legs as he rescues Barin. 

Also, Flash still has his chains on, which come in quite handy.

Incredibly, Ming somehow manages to miss Flash's escape, despite being right there in the control room. Didn't it have an observation panel, like the other room? Anyway, Tarnak informs him that Flash's friends are trying to free him and Ming, thinking Flash is already dead, says they're too late. But when they open the Disintegrating Room, they find everyone gone. Ming is most displeased. Also, why didn't the Disintegration Ray work? I guess we'll never know.

Creeping across the rooftops and keeping low in case the guards open up on them with the Electro-Gun again (that's what Barin calls it), Team Flash find a ladder back down into the Power House. They're cornered by guards, but Flash does a cool thing where he jumps off the ladder and takes out four guards at once.

Or rather, his stuntman does.

With the guards disarmed and locked up, Flash, Zarkov and Barin quickly find a Stratosled and take off. Fair play to the continuity people, because Flash still has his manacles on. Luckily, Barin finds a file in the Statosled and helps him take them off.

In no time at all, Flash, Zarkov and Barin are back in the Clay Kingdom, where they're reunited with Dale and Happy. 

Flash relates all the business with the Black Sapphire to the Clay King, noting that Ming wants Azura to believe the Black Sapphire has been destroyed. The Clay King says, “Ming can be more merciless than Azura” and that he fears the Clay Curse will never be lifted. However, Flash officially announces that, having destroyed the Nitron Lamp, saving the Clay People is now their new mission.

Barin chimes in and says they'll stand a much better chance of capturing Azura if they get hold of the rocketship he used to fly to Mars from Mongo. Dale points out that the ship will be under heavy guard by the Fire People, but they all agree to Barin's plan.

The Clay King asks Barin why he came to Mars in the first place, and Barin says, “The House of Ming and my own ruling house have long been enemies. It was on Mongo that Ming tried to kill all my friends from the Earth. You remember, Flash?” This is a blatant excuse for a second flashback to Space Soldiers, this time to Chapter Eight – Tournament of Death, when Flash battled Barin (disguised as the Mighty Masked Swordsman of Mongo), as Ming looked on, flanked by Dale and Princess Aura. We don't get the full two minutes and 45 seconds of the fight, but at least we get to see King Vultan again.

Meanwhile, back in the throne room, Ming continues his manipulation of Azura, telling her that Flash is heading to the Fire People with the Black Sapphire. Azura believes Flash will use the sapphire to blackmail the Fire People into attacking her, so she commands Ming to use every power at his disposal to capture Flash.

Searching for Barin's ship, Team Flash land the Stratosled in the Forest Kingdom and split up, agreeing to meet back at the ship in an hour. However, as soon as Dale and Happy out of Flash's sight, they're jumped by Fire People, who have been watching the whole time. Happy is bundled to the ground and knocked out while Dale, you guessed it, is kidnapped again. Oh, Dale.

Happy recovers and calls for Flash, telling him Dale has been taken to the Temple of Kalu. Flash sends Happy back to Zarkov and Barin for help, while he heads off to the Temple to save Dale. Happy: “I'll do it if it cracks a lung!”

A captured Dale arrives at the Temple, where the High Priest (or whatever) says, “She shall stand in the Incense of Forgetfulness and become a servant of the god Kalu!”, as a punishment for the theft of the Black Sapphire. Jean Rogers does her best acting so far as the incense takes effect.

Meanwhile, Flash approaches the Temple, while Happy reaches Zarkov and Barin and tells them what's going on. The High Priest says, “All that you have known shall pass away, and henceforth, you will be a Temple Maiden. You are dedicated to the service of the god, Kalu. You must be ready to slay, if necessary, in his defence!”

Outside, Flash meets up with the others and tells them Dale has been captured. Barin wants to rush the Temple, but Flash says it's better if he sneaks in alone. Zarkov agrees and offers Flash a gun, but Flash being Flash, he refuses.

In the Temple, Dale says an incantation and lays her hand on the Sacred Dagger. The High Priest says, “You are now consecrated to the service of Kalu”, as Flash battles his way into the Temple. Flash says, “Quick, Dale, the others are outside!”, but she grabs the Sacred Dagger and advances towards him as his back is turned. Then she plunges the dagger into his back and he collapses!

Chapter Nine - Symbol of Death

This time there's no cliffhanger cheat. Flash simply gets up, blows a hole in the wall with a blaster and escapes. Ming's pretty angry about it and, frankly, Tarnak is pretty lucky to escape a bollocking off Ming for leaving Flash with a blaster in the first place.

Flash wastes no time. He knocks out a Martian guard, disguises himself in his uniform and heads straight for the Nitron Lamp. 

On his way to the Nitron Lamp tower, Flash once again crosses the Light Bridge that will no doubt be Important For Later.

Flash has clearly thought things through this time. He grabs hold of a large ray gun on what Ming refers to as an aerial platform and uses it to shoot down the Nitron Lamp. We don't actually see it destroyed, but it wobbles about a lot and that apparently does the trick. 

Ming's guards arrive and shoot at Flash, destroying his ray gun. He's quickly captured. Tarnak takes the Black Sapphire off him and tells him that he can neutralise its power by placing it within a special box, which he does. Tarnak orders his men to take Flash to Ming.

Meanwhile, in the Clay Kingdom, the Clay King asks Azura to perform an act of justice and lift the curse on the Clay People with her White Sapphire. Azura says, “And if I refuse?” and Barin tells her, “You will remain here a prisoner until you yourself become clay.” 

However, Azura refuses to play ball. She asks for her hands to be freed, on the pretext of complying, and then says “You will cease to be clay...when my soldiers destroy you with their Nitron guns!" Then she does the smoke trick and disappears. It's not clear how she knew the Black Sapphire had been neutralised, but either way, she's gone. 

Dale, Zarkov and Barin quickly realise that something must have happened to Flash, and Barin concludes that the Black Sapphire has been neutralised with Utrainium. Barin and Zarkov head to Azura's kingdom using a Stratosled, figuring that Azura will have placed a heavy guard on the Vacuum Tube entrance by now.

Meanwhile, Flash is brought before Ming, where he announces, “I've done what I came here to do – destroyed the Nitron Lamp with which you're devastating the Earth. My work here is finished.” Ming replies, “Finished? Your Earth hasn't heard the last of me yet. I'll not stop until it lies a useless cinder in the universe!” 

Flash tries to punch Ming for that, but he's held back by the guards. Ming orders them to take him away, having told Flash, “You have interfered with my plans for the last time, Earth Man – now, you shall pay with your life.”

With the Nitron Lamp destroyed, we get an odd bit of filler where we check back in with Earth for a bit, including a series of hilarious headlines that say things like “Mysterious Disturbances Suddenly Stop!” A committee forms in Washington where they agree to try and establish communication with “Flash Gordon and his party”.

Back on Mars, Barin and Zarkov land the Stratosled and head for the Power House. Meanwhile, Tarnak hands the Black Sapphire to Ming, who says that he plans to give the empty box to Azura as a gift, with a leer that suggests he's got another of his cunning plans.

Back in her throne room, Azura is told that Ming wants to consult with her before killing Flash. She teleports to Ming's lab, where he presents her with the Black Sapphire and then fakes shock when it's not in the box. He gives Tarnak a fake bollocking (perhaps to make up for the real one he should have given him earlier) and tells him to bring Flash Gordon to him at once.

There's a nicely lit shot of Flash in his chains as they open the prison chamber door. 

He's then brought before Ming and Azura, where Azura questions him as to the whereabouts of the Black Sapphire. Flash realises what Ming is up to and says, “Why don't you ask Ming, Your Magnificence? His soldiers took it away from me.” Ming has had enough of Flash's impudence and says “Take him to the Disintegrating Room!”, though he stumbles a bit on the pronunciation with a little pause after “IN”.

When Azura vanishes, Ming sends Tarnak to “Turan, the Forest Monarch” and tells him to tell Turan that Ming has the Black Sapphire, suggesting that he's planning a full-on attack on Azura's people. He then instructs another henchman to turn on the generators, because he wants to use the Disintegrating Ray. Evidently it needs to warm up a bit. Also, the generators turn out to be the sparky things in the room from the beginning of the episode.

Outside, Zarkov and Barin have been fruitlessly searching for Flash. They spot Tarnak and Zarkov says, “That's Tarnak, Ming's first assistant. If anyone knows where Flash is, he does.” Barin grabs Tarnak (hilariously lifting him completely off the ground in the process) and does a strangle on him until he tells them where Flash is. 

Meanwhile, Flash is strapped to a chair in the Disintegrating Room. Ming speaks to him over the intercom and arranges a demonstration. He draws Flash's attention to a black statue of a face, describing it as “a symbol of death, made from the hardest metal on Mars.” He then destroys it with the Disintegration Ray. The effect is the same as we saw with the Fire People's idol in Chapter Six. Flash looks a little bit worried.

Zarkov and Barin have done a hilariously poor job on tying up Tarnak and have basically just wrapped him in his own cape, leaving his feet free. Some guards free Tarnak and he tells them to stop Zarkov and Barin. An alarm sounds, and Barin tells Zarkov to head for the roof of the Power House while he fights off a few guards.

Barin joins Zarkov on the roof of the Power House as they try to get through a skylight and rescue Flash. The Disintegration Ray is now fully charged and Ming prepares to activate it. A guard instructs some Martians in the aerodrome tower to turn one of the big guns that Flash was using earlier on the Power House. They shoot at Barin and Zarkov and they both fall through the skylight into the Disintegrating Room just as Ming activates the ray!