Plot summary: Batman is forced to join forces with Ra’s al Ghul and go on a globetrotting adventure to rescue Robin and Talia.
Each Saturday and Sunday Matt Waters recaps an episode of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, building an overall ranking along the way. Plus best performances, the ever-popular Villain Watch and more!
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Notes
Episode Title: ‘The Demon’s Quest Part I’
Original Air Date: May 3rd, 1993
Directed: Kevin Altieri (15)
Written: Dennis O’Neil (1)
This part is a direct adaptation of ‘Daughter of the Demon’, also written by Dennis O’Neil in 1971.
Another of the handful of episodes that do not feature a traditional pre-episode title card, after ‘Heart of Ice’ and ‘The Laughing Fish.’
We learn of the exact address of Wayne Manor: 1007 Mountain Drive, Gotham. Neat!
Recap
We open with Robin sneaking back into his college dorm room. In a wild turn of events, he is immediately shot by a tranquilliser gun on orders of a man in a cloak and some kind of Anubis mask. Now THAT is how you open an episode of BTAS!
Two days later, Batman returns from his latest fruitless search for Dick. Alfred hands him an envelope (addressed specifically to Bruce) containing a photo of an imprisoned Robin, encouraging Batman to save him if he can. That’s right, the kidnapper knows both of their identities!
Things go from wild to bananas though, as freakin’ Ra’s al Ghul emerges from the shadows of the Batcave, flanked by a bodyguard, Ubu. He hands Bruce a second photograph, showing his daughter, Talia, tied up next to Robin.
Batman reluctantly agrees to a truce, deducing that the kidnappers are from Calcutta based on small items in the photograph. Thus they depart, but not before some awkward tension between Batman and Ubu.
On the flight, Bruce asks how Ra’s discovered his identity. Ra’s attributes it to a combination of his vast global surveillance network… and Talia seeing his face when they were imprisoned together in ‘Off Balance.’
Landing in Calcutta, the three intensely normally dressed individuals are attacked by a group of masked men. Batman kicks their asses while Ra’s smiles and Ubu… stands.
One of their attackers claims the kidnappers are now in Malaysia, so we’re off again. Ra’s and Batman debate climate change, with Bats referring to Bruce Wayne as a separate person again like the wonderful maniac he is.
Entering a mysterious template alone, Batman is immediately locked in with a black leopard (black panthers aren’t actually a thing, look it up!) He wrestles the beast, wraps it in his cape and then drops some kind of sleeping gas capsule in with it.
Ra’s struts in moments later, and the two analyse a map of the Himalayas, with Bruce detecting a scratch mark from tracing a route. Off we go again!
Batman parachutes into the mountains solo while Ra’s continues in a helicopter… which is immediately shot down!!! Bruce barely evades the intense gunfire and takes out his attackers after hiding in the snow.
Reaching a mysterious cave entrance, Batman finds Robin tied up within, besting a guard troupe. Dick claims to not know who kidnapped him, but Batman has figured out that the person behind all this is… Ra’s.
Yes, he was the Anubis-masked gentleman at the start and faked his death (two minutes ago). Batman knew the whole time, given Ra’s was always ahead of the curve, but went along with it in order to find Robin.
One beat-down of Ubu later, and Ra’s reveals he did all of this to test if Bruce was worthy of being his successor. Talia loves him, by the way. Surprise! Batman refuses and Ra’s collapses (he’s been violently coughing all episode.)
On Talia’s instructions they take Ra’s to a Lazarus Pit, which despite looking like it will kill him, rejuvenates him to such a degree that he’s able to mop the floor with Batman. He raises Talia in the air and laughs maniacally.
To be continued…
Best Performance
David Warner’s sense of theatricality dominates the entire episode, fitting Ra’s grandiose design like a glove. It’s a voice that sounds like it doesn’t belong in this time, which makes sense as The Demon is centuries old. He tackles the slightly silly material admirably and makes sure the character sticks in one’s memory.
Kevin Conroy is the only other person who gets any real lines, and while it’s not his best work, he’s still pretty good, particularly when it comes to communicating that Batman is keeping his cards close to his chest and going along with Ra’s machinations until the time is right.
Ranking
This is our final two-parter of the series, and one that is renowned for its quality, with some even calling it the best episode in the whole show. Aaand much like previous multi-part affairs, I think reviewing it in a bubble hurts it. From memory Part II is much stronger, but I don’t have overwhelmingly positive things to say about this one.
At no point is it not painfully obvious that Ra’s is behind the whole caper. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, especially as Bruce knows the whole time too, but it does undercut the drama. Likewise the pacing is incredibly frantic as they have to show Robin’s kidnapping, introduce Ra’s, travel to three different countries, reveal the non-mystery, and then close on the cliff-hanger ending. That’s a lot to try and achieve in 22 minutes, and leads to things like them landing in Calcutta, walking down a single empty street, getting attacked, and then immediately departing for Malaysia. I just think the whole thing would have been better served as a film to give more breathing room to each locale.
Still, it’s Batman being a detective, getting into scraps in exotic locations and wrestling wild animals, which is a nice bombastic break from the show’s regular formula. Ra’s is fun, too. Those things elevate it above being a failure, but aren’t enough to push it past other globetrotting fare such as Day of the Samurai, which also struggled with pacing, but at least paid off with an exciting action set-piece.
- The Laughing Fish
- Almost Got ‘Im
- Heart of Ice
- Shadow of the Bat Part I
- I Am the Night
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- The Man Who Killed Batman
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Joker’s Favor
- Feat of Clay Part II
- Harley and Ivy
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Mad as a Hatter
- Heart of Steel Part II
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- Pretty Poison
- Shadow of the Bat Part II
- Feat of Clay Part I
- Off Balance
- Vendetta
- Birds of a Feather
- Heart of Steel Part I
- On Leather Wings
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- It’s Never Too Late
- Joker’s Wild
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- Zatanna
- Day of the Samurai
- The Demon’s Quest Part I
- The Mechanic
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
- Terror in the Sky
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- What is Reality?
- Night of the Ninja
- Mudslide
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Tyger, Tyger
- Blind as a Bat
- If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Moon of the Wolf
- Paging the Crime Doctor
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Villain Watch
Ra’s al Ghul (David Warner) (second appearance)
Despite laying the world’s most transparent test as our protagonist’s feet, Ra’s is a cool character who is well drawn with a distinctive voice. We are still barely scratching the surface of what he can be, such as the brief conversation about cleansing the world, but his army of loyal assassins lurking in the shadows gives him a sense of gravitas. Plus everyone loves his gimmick of exclusively referring to Batman as “Detective.”
Perhaps the most impactful aspect of the character is him deducing Batman’s identity and rocking up in the Batcave, which I don’t want to undersell conceptually. It’s always effective when you break unwritten rules of a world, and bad guys entering Bruce’s secret headquarters is one of the strongest of those ever.
Ubu (Manu Tupou) (first appearance)
I originally was just going to fold Ubu in with Ra’s, but he makes three appearances, and I’ve ranked villains with less screen time, so fair’s fair.
He’s an aggressive henchmen who engages Batman in a fun little mini-feud. He does his job effectively. Nothing too thrilling, but solid.
Talia al Ghul (Helen Slater) (second appearance)
She’s here. She’s in a skimpy outfit. She loves Batman despite betraying him. She’s been rejected as her father’s successor and is apparently fine with that. She may now be his murder victim. Not great, Bob!
- The Joker
- Mr. Freeze
- Poison Ivy
- Harley Quinn
- Two-Face
- Mad Hatter
- Penguin
- Catwoman
- Clayface
- The Riddler
- Clock King
- Killer Croc
- HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Count Vertigo
- Ra’s al Ghul
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Rupert Thorne
- Sid the Squid
- Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
- Tony Zucco
- Man-Bat
- Hugo Strange
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Tygrus
- Kyodai Ken
- Gil Mason
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Cameron Kaiser
- Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
- Talia al Ghul
- Mad Dog
- Ubu
- Professor Milo
- Romulus
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
- Montague Kane
Plugs
Eager for more long-form coverage of Batman? Why not check out my podcast with Mike Thomas, The Tape Crusaders, which reviewed every Batman movie and delved a tiny bit into the animated series.
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