The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E8 - Ophir

Looks a bit like Atlantica from Disney's Little Mermaid.

As our heroes are about to be killed by the olmec Mendoza hits a tile that shoots out a pillar pushing the olmec into the waters. According to the documentary it's the Victoria Falls (which I thought, but got stuck by the name Niagara Falls which I know is between Canada and the US). Ambrosius and the others start up the city of gold and search for the philosopher's stone. The heroes add their medallions as well and they notice that Ambrosius have gotten his medallions out which their's usually don't as they seem to be locked in place, almost as if they gather data from the cities themselves. 

During the fight with the olmec Mendoza was shoot in his hand and as they enter the factory part they see it creating diamonds (which would explain the Queen of Sheba's riches), but a laser seems to fire into it. Closer look into it reveal a DNA-helix which they don't know what it is. This cuts to Tao and Nostradamus in France discussing astrology and such as well this special staircase that I assume is formed like a helix and supposedly created by da Vinci. 

Zia drops one that Mendoza catches, and as he does it lights up and disappears, but at the same time his wounds are healed. Healing crystals. Meanwhile Ambrosius have found the room with the stone, but it flies in the middle of it, hoovering over a gigantic diamond and several rocks flying beside it. Leguerra is forced to get to it, but Esteban jumps in to get it before them. Ambrosius send the other Olmec and Gaspard to deal with the others and tries to follow, but the rocks start turning in circles. The others are attacked by the villains and Mendoza uses one of the laser things to keep them at bay so that Zia can run to Esteban and get to the middle of the room first. Mendoza have to save Pedro from being crushed by the diamond press, but it seems to shut down the whole city and below the waterfall the first Olmec washes ashore.

As mentioned the documentary was on the Victoria Falls and a bit about rainbows. Apparently the inspiration for the city was a local tribes deity of a fish god that protects them. Which is interesting since the city was built 10 000 years ago and never shown I thought. But then, how could the Queen of Sheba have the philosopher's stone? Or the treasures for that matter without having the medallions herself? Or was she the one that had the double medallions that Ambrosius now possess? 

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E7 - The Roaring Smoke

 

Tintin already did this with a hidden city behind a waterfall!

Ambrosius is able to find the place where the city of Ophir is hidden after Leguerra is able to translate the riddle about the smoke that thunders. Not a volcano as everyone thinks, but a waterfall. They land and is about to climb up, arriving at steps made out of orichalcum and a new riddle... which I don't understand what it is. According to the translation it was something about things that seemed to be together. Anyway, one falls move and a pillar of stone shoots out and may push you to your death. Of course, the ones that are pushed are saved, Leguerra and Ambrosius. 

Our heroes meanwhile have a bit of a problem. Tao has lost confidence in himself, again I would say and opts to stay in France and study under the Order of the Hourglass. Mendoza and Esteban clears the rubble, and Pedro is being pretty much hit on by the king's sister during the whole stay until they are allowed to continue their journey. Zia tells the whole story to the king of Zimbabwe who tells them about the waterfall they are looking for after getting the riddle, Francis I shows up and invites the king over to France and then they head off.

They arrive and is captured by one of the Olmecs and they join Ambrosius and Zia, with the stories Tao told her about the different animals and such is able to translate the pictures and take them toward the top where the City of Ophir hides. Ambrosius heads on and tells the Olmec to get rid of them.

The documentary was on the wall of the capital of Zimbabwe, rather interesting building since it hasn't cement or mortar, it was just stones laid on top of each other creating an interesting pattern.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E6 - The Founder

 

I am Nostradamus!

Do You Believe!

Esteban and Zia is brought in front of the French king Francis I that seems to be the protector of the Order of the Hourglass that Esteban's father, Ambrosius and Leguerra founded after their mentor, Leonardo da Vinci. And the scared priest or something was in fact also a member of the Order of the Hourglass named, Nostradamus... how interesting. Ambrosius in his Zares costume follows and attacks the children and the Order, seen as a traitor by the other members of the Order and is able to take the artefact the children found. He jumps back to Africa and is on his way.

Meanwhile Mendoza have infiltrated the airship and is reunited with Leguerra, but she stays behind since she must stop Ambrosius somehow. Mendoza returns to the city but is knocked out by Gaspard, but both gets captured by the city guards.

Sancho and Pedro lets the gold fever gets the better of them and is caught by the city guards, but they are able to escape and ends up in the hut belonging to the sister of the king that seems to take a very special interest in the two, so much so that they find it's safer to run to the guards. They are all brought before the king, but before Sancho and Pedro is given the capital punishment the king's sister intervenes and takes Sancho and Pedro away. Mendoza and Gaspard almost begins fighting until Ambrosius returns, leaves Gaspard behind and heads for the airship. Esteban follows, but is too late as he watches Ambrosius fly away with Gaspard having escaped and now hanging on for dear life on the airship.

And the documentary was on Francis I and Leonardo da Vinci and his inventions.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E5 - Gate of the Elders

 

I don't think we're in Africa anymore!

Our heroes are flying over Zimbabwe, which roughly lies where I thought the Drakensberg was supposed to be so I was clearly wrong. Instead we end up at the capital of the decendents from the people of Sheba. The Condor crashes into the walls of the city so the children allows themselves to be kidnapped in order for the adults to hide and come out during nightfall. They are shown to the king of the town and he, for some reason shows them around and when he notices Zia's medallion takes them to the gate of the Elders. A monument in gold (or probably Orichalcium) where the children places the medallions and open up a portal where they enter, ending up in the Chatau de Chambord, a French castle were another gate lies as well as a lot of other artefacts from all around the world. They scare a priest or something that calls the guards. Tao escapes and ends up in a room filled with the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci that also appears in his book (maybe hinting that Leonardo got those ideas from a Mu pyramid that seemed to have been stored there as well, which feels a bit reversal off non-European civilisations got their tech from aliens). Apparently some sources believe he designed parts of the castle as well.

Ambrosius picks up the Olmecs and travels to Zimbabwe and are quite shocked to see the Condor there before him and the children already passed through the gate. He already knew what the gate was for having seen the French one as well saved the people from an epidemic in Zimbabwe. He gears up and prepares to jump through the gate. Mendoza corners Gaspard that reveals that Leguerre is captured and that she works for Charles V, Gaspard is then knocked out. Leguerra finally breaks out of her prison (did it earlier in the episode but had to return when Gaspard came to tell her about the Olmecs).

The documentary was about Chatau de Chambord and the second part is about the unfinished part of the Castle in the show. Apparently it took 30 years to build it (sounded like a 100 when I tried to read the subtitles).

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E4 - The Great Escape

 

Foiled again!

Esteban and Sancho stands face to face with Gomez and he confirms that he knows the location of the city of Ophir, Estaban and him makes a deal to join forces so he and Sancho heads back to the others. Gomez meanwhile asks his soldiers to tail them and capture them all. As the others are preparing the escape of the slaves Esteban tells the others about Gomez which alerts them to the soldiers following Esteban, Esteban and Mendoza stays behind while the others run off to enact the plan. Sancho, Kokopetl and Zia distracts a crew on a ship so that they can get their hand on gunpowder while Tao and Pedro buys up all rum they can get their hands on. Mixing them apparently creates a laxative of some kind which they plan to give to the garrison during the celebration, not of the wedding I thought in the last post, but birthday celebration?

The plan goes well and they rescue the slaves. Mendoza and Esteban meanwhile was captured by Gomez men and talk about the city of Ophir. Apparently Gomez have a map showing the city in a mountain straight across from Madagascar which by a map I pulled from Google seems to be named Drakensberg, which I guess means Dragon's Mountain... AWESOME!

Ambrosius meanwhile takes the airship to a ravine and a cave which leads to a hidden city and as Gaspard and Ambrosius leaves the airship three Olmecs appears and greats Ambrosius that hails them as old friends... It was hinted back in season 2 that they would appear again and here they are! Leguerra meanwhile spent her time trying to unlock her door.

The documentary was about how they built the fortress of Saint Sebastian with the ballast from the ships and the mini-documentary was about how you travelled through the city with tuk tuks. I guess, the auto-text is rather limited.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E3 - Chained Up

 

He's back!

Well, Ambrosius catches up to the Esparanta and as Leguerra notices that she accuses Gaspard, who insist he is innocent and Ambrosius confirms this and Leguerra and him have a duel until she is knocked out. Gaspard convince Ambrosius to let her live so she is locked in to the airship. Ambrosius and Gaspard attacks the Esparanta and fires a harpoon that catches on to the ship and then Ambrosius begins pulling the rope and... begins lifting the ship up in the air... I assume it might be that Gaspard at the same time is steering the airship so that it would work, otherwise I have a really time believing that could happen. After some fighting Ambrosius corners the captain and gets a chest containing the item Leguerra had and a letter addressed to Charles V. With this it's revealed... I think if Ambrosius just didn't jump to conclusion, that Leguerra is a spy working for the Spanish king. The item was a holder for liquid orichalcium that he uses to blow the Esperanta leaving the crew swimming in the ocean and flies away, effectively dooming them if no other ship sails past.

Meanwhile our heroes ends up in Mozambique and the Fort Saint Sebastian where the portuguese slave trade is in full parade. Seems to be a wedding ceremony as well. They split up with Pedro and Tao sitting at an inn trying to get information on the Portuguese, Mendoza and Zia helps some slave girls that tried to steal items from a black smith in order to break free some other slaves and Sancho and Esteban ask some ruffians and are lead to the Governor I think who turns out to be Gomez, one of the main antagonists from the first season and I thought presumed dead at Eldorado as Gomes and Gaspard's boat with gold collapsed as the world shock as the thermal reactor was on it's way to the Earth's core. Well, Gaspard survived so I shouldn't be that surprised. And the fact that the preview from the last episode clearly showed his coat.

The documentary was on the fort and its use for the slave trade and the second part was about cannonballs since it was used by the Esperanta trying to repel Ambrosius. Overall the close caption got worse since it's auto-generated and I fear from this way on then I assume. So the text only gives bit's and pieces.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - S4E2 - Zia's Dream

 

She's sleeping on the job!

Well, had to continue sometime and I got the craving and there was still no physical release of the thing (or even streaming or digital release either) so I had to make it with the France dub on youtube. At least the english subs are fairly decent, except at some point. There's a point when Leguerra says canaille, which roughly translates to scoundrel, but it was translated here to fucker... I don't think this is what they where going for cause it's so out of place in a children show. And then I haven't studied French but I least I know that word.

Well, story continues where the last one ended. Tao and Esteban is trapped under the rubble from the earthquake and the others tries to find them. Zia uses her mind powers to speak with some mole rats (you know, Rufus from Kim Possible) and gets them to help locate the boys. The village elder helps with the digging and they are able to uncover the children, but another quake collapses the rubble over them again and then Zia turns super sayan and lifts all stones with her mind long enough so that they can escape and then she falls into a coma. And the music is back!

As the other stands guard over Zia the village elder tells them the story of the Queen of Sheba that lived during the age of Solomon and apparently lived in a golden city with a mine, the city of Ophir and apparently had the worlds largest diamond. Zia meanwhile have a prophetic dream and sees a mask in the sky and a vision of the city of gold. More musical callbacks... although the scene would have been better with some technicolor hallucinations like in the first season, although I suspect that it is a callback to that very moment. She wakes up and they set out looking for a Portuguese that have studied the city.

Meanwhile on Ambrosius ship Legueera seems ready to rebel so while Gaspard steers the ship and Ambrosius have hidden himself in his secret lab Legueere sneaks in and finds his Grimoire that tells us that the diamond that the Queen of Sheba have is really the philosophers stone, the stone that can turn lead into gold, cure every disease and thwart death itself. The stakes are high now! Another tussle between Leguerra and Gaspard also reveals that Leguerra had given an item to the captain of Esperanta back in the last season and as Ambrosius overhears that he plots the ships course and then decide to follow, eager to get the item back.

The mini-documentary is about the food the heroes ate in the Ethiopian village and I had actually eaten that in an African restaurant in my city, but they closed half a year ago or something. Fascinating taste of the bread, but maybe to sweet for my taste (and I'm frankly one who like sweet). And then it followed with the mole rats and that they actually had added fur to them since the designer thought they looked ugly which Kokapetle call bullshit on... here I think yet another translation problem arise, but this time I didn't know the word instantly.