"Tarzan and the Gauntlet of Vengeance" is the thirty-fourth episode of The Legend of Tarzan. It originally aired on UPN on October 11, 2001.
Synopsis[]
Seeking revenge on Tarzan, Clayton's sister (or rather her valet, Hobson) kidnaps Jane, Tantor, Terk, and the Professor, placing each in a separate, deadly peril. She then injects Tarzan with a fatal poison (via blowdart) and informs him that the antidote lies far away on a distant mountain she's dubbed "Clayton's Peak". He, therefore, has a choice, she says – to suffer as she had (and lose those he loves) or as Clayton had (and lose his own life).
Cast[]
- Michael T. Weiss as Tarzan
- Olivia d'Abo as Jane Porter
- Jeff Bennett as Archimedes Q. Porter
- Jim Cummings as Tantor
- April Winchell as Terk
- René Auberjonois as Renard Dumont
- Amanda Donohoe as Lady Waltham
- Frank Welker as Nuru and Sheeta
Trivia[]
- In this episode, it's revealed that Clayton has a sister, Lady Waltham.
- This episode has a flashback to Tarzan and Clayton's fight from the original film, but in the show's animation.
- The plot of this episode is very reminiscent of other Disney sequels, most notably The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Disney's Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge, and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, where the villains who had some connection to the original film (Zira being Scar's most loyal follower, Morgana being Ursula's younger sister, Nasira being Jafar's twin sister and in this case, Watham being Clayton's sister) try getting revenge on the protagonist(s) for the villains' death in the original film, despite said protagonist not intentionally killing the previous villain (Zira accused Simba for Scar's death when in reality, the Hyenas killed him, Nasira sought vengeance against Aladdin for killing her brother when it was actually Iago who killed Jafar after kicking his lamp into the lava which melted and caused Jafar to explode and Morgana wanted revenge against King Triton to avenge Ursula's death and outshine her sister, when in reality, Eric impaled and killed Ursula in the first film).
- Unlike those three antagonists who refuse to let go of their hate, and meet their defeat, Waltham reforms and learns that her brother's death was not of cold blood by Tarzan's hands. Whether or not she came to the realization that her brother was up to no good however, is unknown.
- On the other hand, the climax of this episode is reminiscent to that of The Fox and the Hound, when true animal antagonists that attack human antagonists are defeated by the protagonist (The Bear to Amos Slade and Copper, and in this case, Nuru and Sheeta to Lady Watham).
Goofs[]
- When Tarzan flashbacks to Clayton's death, the shadow of Clayton's hanged corpse isn't showing. This was likely intentional as Clayton's death was among the most graphic Disney Villain death, (and Disney character death in general), and in some re-written media, it is stated that Clayton merely fell from the trees to his death, rather than getting hanged by the vines.
- In the flashback, Tarzan still looks upward, which implies that Clayton's death was not changed in the show's continuity, but merely the shadow of Clayton's corpse was censored.
