M.A.S.K. S1E63

Gate of Darkness

A figure carries the white throne across a rope bridge above a red glowing chasm.

At a Shiva festival in India, a floating flute lures a cobra away from a snake charmer, and a rope that Scott is climbing goes limp. M.A.S.K. finds the rope is driven by hydraulics and the flute is magnetized, and learns that the snake is supposedly valuable to the Gate of Darkness, an ancient memorial said to hold a jeweled ivory throne. V.E.N.O.M. has a stolen map and the snake. M.A.S.K. reads the scale pattern on the cobra's head as the key to the entrance, and a chase follows. T-Bob ends up sitting on the throne.

Sometimes the eye does not behold the truth.

A rope that stands up by itself is a good first scene for a heist episode, because the first thing it teaches the audience is not to trust it.

Gate of Darkness opens at a festival, where a snake charmer plays a flute, a rope rises like a cobra, and Scott takes up a dare to climb it. Everything on offer turns out to be a clue or a cover for one: the flute floats away on its own, the cobra follows it, and the rope goes limp the instant the snake leaves. The M.A.S.K. side takes the performance apart, finding that the rope is hollow and driven by hydraulics and that the flute is magnetized, and it hears that the snake matters to a memorial called the Gate of Darkness, lost in the jungle, where a throne of ivory and jewels is said to sit.

Here is what the episode is really about: looking at the wrong thing. The map, the flute, the rope and the crowd are all distractions from the one object that matters, which is the snake, and the final clue is the scale pattern on the back of a King Cobra's head. It is a pleasing piece of design, because the cobra is already on screen in the festival scene.

The craft is strong where the story needs it. The animators give the lost gate a real sense of place: a huge stone elephant statue with a skull above it towering over a tiny black truck on a dirt road, a corridor lined with statues, a pale carved figure with a halo, and a rope bridge over a glowing red chasm that makes the throne's carrying scene feel like an adventure serial. The throne itself, white, ornate and drawn with a dancing deity, is a good prize because it looks like something a person would want. The writing has a gag about V.E.N.O.M.'s flute-playing, which the other villains cut short by observing that snakes are deaf, and a second gag about where the stolen map came from.

The standout scene is the chase for the throne. Helicopters and a yellow motorcycle with a spinning rotor weave among enormous trees, an orange vehicle with a toothed arm sits in the jungle, a spiked disc flies over a truck roof, and a blast of purple energy shatters through the branches. It is a busy set piece, and it ends with T-Bob declaring himself T-Bob the First and being told to make his reign short.

The one awkward stretch is the order of discovery. V.E.N.O.M. is already inside the gate and handling the throne while M.A.S.K. is still outside, noting that the gate looks closed like a tomb, and the cobra-pattern clue arrives only after that. The cutting does little to tell the viewer who has reached what.

As a verdict, this is among the better adventures of the stretch. It borrows freely from serial adventure, it puts its best idea on screen early, and it gives T-Bob a victory that is as small and silly as the series likes.

The M.A.S.K. wiki marks this as the final appearance of Rhino and Firecracker, and its Firecracker page agrees, listing Gate of Darkness as that vehicle's last appearance.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Sharon Noble as both the M.A.S.K. Computer and Scott's friend in the closing safety tip, and Graeme McKenna as T-Bob, Brad Turner and an elderly motorist.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's Safety Tips entry for this episode has T-Bob and a friend of Scott's wanting to climb a tree after a Tarzan movie, with Scott warning them about falling.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's list of Bruce Sato's "Satoisms" includes "Sometimes the eye does not behold the truth" and "A house has many doors" from this episode.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records a misaligned animation cel at about 17:15 that leaves Bruce Sato standing with one foot in a wall just after Matt opens the hidden door.
The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that the ivory throne almost doubles in size after it is tied underneath Switchblade.
The M.A.S.K. wiki also notes that Matt Trakker's trousers change from blue to brown as he runs back to Rhino.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Mark Halloran in this episode as Sly Rax, Cliff Dagger, Buddie Hawks and the fakir.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's quotes for the episode record a V.E.N.O.M. joke about buying the map at a gas station, followed by the admission that it was stolen from a tribe in the Himalayas.

Matt Trakker

Alex Sector

Bruce Sato

Brad Turner

Buddie Hawks

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Bruno Sheppard

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Spectators stand around a seated man in a white turban as T-Bob waits at the market stall.

Alex Sector, Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand among the onlookers watching a seated man.

A snake charmer in yellow plays a flute as a rope-like cobra rises beside him.

Alex Sector, Scott Trakker and T-Bob watch with villagers as a cobra sways above them.

T-Bob looks up wide-eyed among the legs of the crowd.

Scott Trakker kneels in a ring of onlookers beside a gold pouch.

Alex Sector, two young men and a turbaned man look up in alarm.

A cobra flares its hood and bares its fangs against a wall.

A man in yellow trousers walks past a rope with crowds beyond.

Alex Sector and villagers overlap in a dissolve.

Alex Sector grips Scott Trakker by the arm as both look off.

A cobra slithers across a sunny village street as onlookers watch.

Two round gauges and a row of white lights fill a dashboard.

Matt Trakker drives with a black-haired man and a green-turbaned man beside him.

Rhino drives along a jungle road past a domed building.

Matt Trakker faces Alex Sector, Scott Trakker and T-Bob beside Rhino.

Scott Trakker clenches his fists beside T-Bob.

Scott Trakker smiles beside T-Bob, whose eyes are closed.

Matt Trakker smiles beside a man in a green turban.

Scott Trakker sits with T-Bob in a turban beside a plate of noodles.

T-Bob in a turban holds a red tube, close up.

Scott Trakker grins as T-Bob in a turban looks down.

Matt Trakker and Alex Sector face two seated men while a black-haired man stands by.

A black-haired man in a white shirt and blue tie stands with arms crossed.

Alex Sector and Matt Trakker look off to the side.

A coiled rope lies on a white cloth.

Matt Trakker holds a piece of rope beside T-Bob in a turban.

Hands pull at a coil of rope on a white cloth.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob in a turban stand by a rope that stands upright.

A dark cobra with yellow eyes rears up on rocky ground.

Miles Mayhem frowns, a gloved hand at his chest.

Bruno Sheppard and other V.E.N.O.M. agents gather around a snake on a forest path with Miles Mayhem.

Bruno Sheppard rubs the back of his neck and winces.

Bruno Sheppard holds a rod up beside Cliff Dagger.

Bruno Sheppard raises the rod in his glove in front of Cliff Dagger.

A gloved hand holds up a scroll with carved symbols.

Miles Mayhem meets Cliff Dagger and Bruno Sheppard on a forest path.

Miles Mayhem studies the scroll with his chin on his glove.

A black SUV, an orange vehicle and a motorcycle speed down a dirt road.

A black-haired man in an orange vest studies a paper while T-Bob in a turban sits nearby.

Matt Trakker smiles beside the black-haired man in the truck cab.

Rhino drives along a forest track seen from above.

T-Bob in a turban walks along a dirt path.

Scott Trakker looks up at Matt Trakker beside T-Bob in a turban.

Rhino faces the viewer between trees on a forest road.

The Boulder Hill gas station sits below a red cliff.

A wireframe monitor shows a standing man, a red mask and two heads in sunglasses.

A man in sunglasses and a navy suit plays a drum kit.

A wireframe monitor shows a standing man, a red mask and two heads in caps.

A man in a red suit and bow tie runs beside a yellow truck near a toolbox.

Rhino faces the viewer in a forest clearing.

Dense forest covers a hillside with a pale path through it.

Scott Trakker and a boy chase a hen as Rhino waits at the end of a village street.

A truck tire rolls over a bed of spikes.

Matt Trakker looks to the side in a vehicle with an orange glow behind him.

Scott Trakker leans against a black-haired man in the cab as other figures sit behind them.

Two villagers in white turbans run past an overturned machine while a mustached man watches.

A black-haired man in an orange vest looks off with a stern face.

Villagers in turbans and a woman in an orange veil overlap in a dissolve.

Scott Trakker holds a finger to his lips beside T-Bob in a turban.

Miles Mayhem holds a scroll in a vehicle cab.

A jungle path winds beneath an arching tree branch.

A speaker grille and red lights fill a control panel.

A giant stone elephant statue looms over a tiny black truck on a dirt road.

The carved elephant figure with a skull above it towers over a tiny black truck.

A giant tree root rises in a dim forest.

Scott Trakker gestures as he talks beside T-Bob in a turban.

A green monitor shows orange contour lines.

Matt Trakker smiles at the wheel of a truck cab.

A pale carved figure of a goddess with a halo raises one hand.

Miles Mayhem leads V.E.N.O.M. agents down a stone corridor lined with statues.

An empty white throne glows in a green landscape.

Miles Mayhem points forward with a gloved hand beside Bruno Sheppard and Cliff Dagger.

A rope bridge crosses a green chasm with a distant figure on it.

Cliff Dagger looks ahead on the rope bridge.

V.E.N.O.M. agents walk across a rope bridge.

Cliff Dagger's face dissolves into the white throne over the bridge.

Rope lines cross a sketchy drawing of the carved throne.

Miles Mayhem sits on the white throne with a clenched fist.

Miles Mayhem lounges on the throne with a gloved hand out.

Scott Trakker smiles beside T-Bob in a turban.

Alex Sector works at a control console.

Scott Trakker beams while T-Bob in a turban gestures.

A speaker panel and red indicator bars fill a control wall.

Alex Sector, Matt Trakker and a black-haired man stand at a console room.

Alex Sector faces Matt Trakker and a black-haired man.

Matt Trakker folds his arms as a black-haired man raises a finger.

Matt Trakker looks toward a screen on the console.

A yellow cloth bundle sits on the roof of a red pickup.

A forest canopy has a small clearing with a tiny vehicle.

Rhino sits in the forest as two masked agents in red and orange walk beside it.

Miles Mayhem grins in front of a carved throne.

Four tiny figures stand before a carved doorway in a rock wall.

Four V.E.N.O.M. agents run through a stone passage carrying the throne.

Three masked figures in yellow, red and green stand in a stone passage.

Miles Mayhem in a blue helmet runs with agents carrying the throne.

Two V.E.N.O.M. agents carry the throne along a forest path.

Six masked team members in orange, yellow, red and blue walk out of a stone doorway.

The masked team strides out of the stone doorway.

A man in red walks toward a red pickup as a yellow motorcycle rider arrives.

A yellow motorcycle with a spinning rotor flies among giant trees.

The yellow motorcycle-helicopter flies through the trees as a dark helicopter passes overhead.

A yellow car races along a plank road through the forest.

An orange vehicle with a toothed gray arm sits in the jungle.

Rhino drives forward with a spiked front.

A red-masked agent and an orange-masked agent sit in a cab.

A small helicopter flies between giant trees.

A small dark object clings to a giant tree trunk.

A spiked disc flies over an orange vehicle roof.

A masked agent in orange with glowing yellow eyes and a respirator stands at a truck door.

A blast of purple energy shatters through the trees.

A carved white throne with a dancing deity sits against a pale yellow background.

Scott Trakker, T-Bob, Matt Trakker and a man in yellow lean over the throne.

Scott Trakker poses hands on hips between a yellow-suited man in sunglasses and Matt Trakker.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand in a park with a person in overalls.

A small figure in blue stands on a paved path below a fallen tree trunk.

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