Defenders of the Earth

Season 1

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65 episodes · First aired 1986-09-08

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Episodes

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Showing 20 at a time

S1 E21Oct 6, 198630 min

The Defense Never Rests

The Defenders fly into space to investigate a mysterious comet and discover, too late to break from the tractor beams dragging them toward the comet, that in reality it is an Ilyrian spaceship. Inside the ship the Defenders are informed that they will be tried as the greatest criminals in the galaxy, with Ming as the accuser!! In exchange for his irrefutable evidence against the Defenders, the Evil One receives, under the pretense of "tools to rebuild the Earth", an anti-gravity device, a space warp drive, a machine to quadruple food harvests, and an energy shield to make all weapons obsolete, but these "tools" will actually serve to help Ming conquer the world. When the evidence is presented in court- film of the Defenders (actually Ming's Android Clones)- committing heinous crimes against the people of earth, things look bleak for our heroes. Rick, L.J. and Jedda manage to escape and invade Ice Station Earth, where they locate the androids and uncover Ming's plan. Back on the Ilyrian ship the Defenders are found guilty and sentenced to banishment to a galaxy 300 light years from earth, however just prior to their transport the young Defenders burst into the courtroom with the androids and save the day.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E22Oct 9, 198630 min

Like Father, Like Daughter

Ming's estranged daughter, Aura, crash lands her ship on Monitor and informs the Defenders of her father's latest scheme to enslave the population of earth with his Mind Neutralizer. Flash, an old friend of Aura's who once saved her and her husband, Barin, from destruction at the hands of Ming, immediately sets out for Grand Junction with Aura, Rick, Jedda and L.J. Upon arriving they discover that all the city's officials are already under Ming's hypnosis and that Aura's motivation is revenge- pure and simple. As Mandrake, the Phantom and Lothar rush to the rescue, the Defenders escape and convince Aura that she is an unwitting dupe in Ming's evil scheme. Briefly captured but now free, Mandrake and Lothar, with the Phantom set to work on reversing the polarity of Ming's neutralizer before he hypnotizes the entire world, while Flash, Rick, L.J., Jedda and Aura fly to an alien planet to rescue Barin. Seconds before Ming's scheme enslaves the world Dynak X completes the reversal, and all those previously under Ming's spell are once again free-thinkers.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E23Oct 10, 198630 min

The Would be Defender

At the dedication ceremony for a new courthouse built in honor of our heroes, 13 year-old Earl Sump, bespectacled and dressed in a homemade superhero suit, captures two pick-pockets in the crowd. His reward- a day spent at Monitor with his idols, the Defenders of the Earth. Immediately Earl's overzealous nature endangers our heroes --he almost causes the Defender ship to crash, and when the Defenders fly out to a distant planet to investigate some strange behavior, Earl stows away, his antics on board causing Flash's ship to run aground and nearly be destroyed. Back on Monitor Earl locks Jedda in a storage compartment and hijacks a ship which he pilots to Ice Station Earth. Unintentionally he rewires Octon, turning the evil computer into his amicable sidekick, and brings him back to Monitor. Earl then plans a day of celebration in his honor, inviting all of Central City to take part. This all invokes the wrath of Ming, who invades the party. Earl unintentionally turns Octon back into his old self, and it looks as if Ming will destroy the residents of Central City, however the Defenders arrive in the nick of time to drive Ming away and save the populace.

TMDB 6.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E24Oct 13, 198630 min

Doorways into Darkness

Deep in Africa Ming locates an anti-energy source enabling him to open the Nightgiant Doorway and unleash 7-story tall nightgiants to destroy the earth. Flash flies out to space to destroy a Ming satellite, but his ship is immoblized by the Merciless One's roboships, while the Phantom goes to Africa to terminate Ming's activities in the Forgotten City. As the nightgiants terrorize various parts of the globe Rick intercepts a transmission from Ming to Garax and discovers that a transport invertor will eliminate the monsters. Mandrake, Lothar, Rick, L.J., Jedda, Kshin and Zuffy take on two nightgiants outside of Central City while racing to the stadium to retrieve the saving invertordevice. As they recover the device, Rick is captured by one of the creatures. Jedda departs for Africa, where her father will use the transport invertor to close the nightgiant doorway, while the other Defenders save Rick. Out in space Flash finally fights off all of Ming's minions and blows the satellite. Jedda delivers the transport invertor to the Phantom and they battle Ming's troops before employing the device and sending the nightgiants back to their own world.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E25Oct 14, 198630 min

Deal With The Devil

While captives in Ming's jail, Rick and Jedda overhear Octon and Garax's plans to revolt against Ming. In exchange for their freedom, the Defenders offer to help in the scheme. When the uprising begins, Octon contacts Monitor in a plea for help, however Flash and the other Defenders recognize this as another in a long line of Ming's vile attempts to destroy the Defenders. Rick, L.J. and Jedda disagree and with Kshin and Zuffy as stowaways, the three fly off to Ice Station Earth to help defeat Ming. They arrive at Ming's devastated headquarters to discover that it is indeed another of Ming's schemes- the Three Sorcerers Of Teros created the illusion of a battle torn command center explicitly to lure the young Defenders there so that Ming can probe Rick's mind for the plans to Monitor's defense system. When Flash, Mandrake, Lothar and the Phantom arrive to rescue the kids they engage the Sorcerers in combat. Flash uses his sonic-ray blaster to destroy the crystals encircling the Sorcerers, while Mandrake and Lothar unstrap Rick from Ming's mind-draining device. United with Jedda and L.J., the Defenders of the Earth destabilize the shifting ice flow under Ice Station Earth before mounting their ships for the flight back to Monitor, once again victorious in battle- but yet to win the war.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E26Oct 15, 198630 min

Terror In Time

After retrieving a vat of deadly mutant slime from Ming's laboratory, six of the Defenders (LJ and Kshin do not appear in this episode) are chased through a time warp and go back to the days of King Arthur. There, they meet and join forces with Prince Valiant who tells them that his wife, Alita, is being held prisoner by the evil Warlock who has stolen the fabled Eternity Stone. And, to further complicate matters, the mutant slime - which has already infected Mandrake - escaped from the Shuttle when the Defenders crashed into the sea and begins to spread.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E27Oct 16, 198630 min

Ming's Household Helpers

The household helper robot, designed by Ming the Merciless in another of his evil schemes, is the hottest selling item on the market, deployed in over one million homes worldwide- including Monitor. Ming plans to use a space satellite to direct a hypno-beam through the robots to hypnotize their owners and make them slaves of the evil emperor. At the behest of Jedda, Rick examines his robot and discovers the plot, alerting the Defenders. When Flash flies out to space to destroy the satellite, he discovers Ming has a few tricks up his sleeve- a tractor beam renders his ship powerless and drags him towards Ice Station Earth!! Splitting up, Lothar, Mandrake and the Phantom penetrate Ming's fortress to save Flash. While Ming captures the Jamaican and the Magician, the Phantom wreaks havoc on the robot production lab. Ming activates his hypno-beam and sets the final stages of his plan into motion, however back at Monitor Rick mobilizes his frequency inhibitor, overloading the household helper robots and rendering them useless. Back at Ming's fortress, Mandrake uses telekenesis to overload the main generator, enabling he, Lothar and Flash to escape with the Phantom. As the robot production lab blows, Ming evacuates safely- surviving to return and fight another day.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E28Oct 17, 198630 min

The Starboy

While transporting Starchild, a child-like alien who has landed on earth, through the woods around Monitor, the young Defenders encounter two alien scouts who attempt to destroy their new acquaintance. With the help of the elder Defenders the scouts are run from the planet, but not before identifying the alien as an evil monster and promising to return. Back at Monitor, Dynak X informs our heroes that an armada of 200 alien ships are on their way to Earth, prompting Flash, Mandrake, Lothar and the Phantom to fly into space to investigate. Meanwhile, Starchild blasts his way out of Monitor and rampages through Central City, with the young heroes on his trail. Amongst the stars, the senior Defenders talk to Roarke, a reptile-like alien, who tells them that Starchild is a genetically engineered being created by the great scientist Shoar Koron, and he has limitless powers- which he has previously used to wipe out entire civilizations. The aliens intend to destroy Earth, thereby ridding the galaxy of the child. The young Defenders learn that Starchild is not really evil, but like any child he requires love and attention. Mandrake impersonates Koron to explain to Starchild that he must use his powers for good, not bad, and the little alien makes peace with all the space ships, before streaking away into the star system.

TMDB 6.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E29Oct 20, 198630 min

The Gods Awake

When statues of ancient gods mysteriously come to life the Defenders are summoned to the Himalayas by Mandrake's old magic teacher, Theron. Our heroes learn that Ming and a mystic are behind the bizarre occurances, another element in a plan to recover a sacred dorje which will bestow upon Ming the power to rule the world. When Ming gains control of the sacred dorje, Mandrake tries to warn him about the danger of his mystic collaborator, but to no avail. The mystic snatches the dorje from Ming and uses it to turn himself back into Shiva- the destroyer god- who was banished from his dimension of Bodhidarma ages ago. As Shiva proclaims "Let the time of destruction begin" and he fades into his other dimension, Mandrake must follow. Ming, true to his cowardly nature, flees the scene, leaving the Defenders to amend the world-threatening situation he brought about. In the other dimension Mandrake battles valiantly against Shiva, however it appears his efforts are not enough to defeat the god, until an image of Theron appears and informs Mandrake that in Bodhidarma his illusory powers are REAL, not products of his imagination. Mandrake uses this nifty piece of information to conquer Shiva, and Lothar manages to open up the portal back to our earthly dimension just in time for Mandrake to slip through- with the powerful dorje.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E30Oct 21, 198630 min

The Ghost Walks Again

When industrial tycoon/hypochondriac Kent Madden's plan to buy a magic health elixer from Partha, son of Chief Ajuna of the of r ican Fallu tribe, goes awry, he makes a deal to obtain use of Ming's forces to steal the potion. The Phantom and Jedda learn of the plot and immediately fly to Africa in the skullcopter. On the way the Phantom is shot out of the sky by Madden and is believed killed. The Fallu implore Jedda to take up where her father left off- as Phantom, protector of their tribe- and after some heavy soul searching she does just that. As Madden and Ming invade in full force, Jedda valiantly leads the Fallu in counter-attack. Unbeknownst to her, the Phantom raises himself from the jungle- he is alive- and must call forth the strength of ten tigers just to muster the power to fly the skullcopter. With the father-daughter team together again Ming and Madden flee for their lives. The Fallu people are saved, however the sanctity of their location is violated, forcing them to abandon their obscurity and join civilization.

TMDB 6.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E31Oct 20, 198630 min

The Book of Mysteries

When a two-hundred square mile area of Morocco mysteriously disappears, the Defenders investigate- sans Kshin, who is instructed to choose any book from Mandrake's library for a book report. While Kshin flips through the blank pages of a book titled "Enigmas", Flash, Rick, L.J. and Jedda enter the unexplained area and discover a primitive wall with a door in it. Suddenly the wall image appears in Kshin's book, along with an inscription telling how to get inside. As our heroes are nearly crushed by falling rocks, Kshin relays the information and stops the avalanche. Kshin, once again reading from the book, instructs the Defenders, who are now inside the shrine, to push the gold keys on the control panel, revealing the lost city and removing the jamming field surrounding the area. Mean-while Mandrake and Lothar track down a notorious jewel thief and recover the Eye of the Dragon which is missing from the wall. Back inside the shrine our heroes awaken the Sleeping God before Kshin warns them that he is unstoppable, and it looks like certain death for the Defenders. As Flash, Rick, L.J. and Jedda are about to be boiled in oil, Kshin arrives on the scene and convinces the creature that they are here to help; while Mandrake produces the crystal which will allow the Sleeping God to return home, thereby saving our Champions.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E32Oct 21, 198630 min

The Future Comes But Once

While engaging Ming's roboships in battle over the North African Desert, Flash discovers the remains of an ancient pyramid, where he finds an obelisk that produces visions when touched. The other Defenders arrive on the scene and Mandrake informs Flash that the sacred obelisk was believed to foretell the future. Unbeknownst to our heroes, Ming is in the area- in search of the very same obelisk, which he needs to tell the future so that he may propel his time drive device four-times the speed of light. When Rick and L.J. touch the obelisk they see themselves defeat Octon, giving them the confidence to set out for Ice Station Earth. They get as far as Ming's desert hideout, where they are taken prisoner. Mandrake informs our heroes that the obelisk cannot foretell the future, but rather what a person fears or desires for the future. Scavenger, the desert Arab whose home Ming commandeered as a base for his search, breaks free and sends for the Defenders, who raid Ming's headquarters. Mandrake destroys the evil emperor's time drive device, sending the obelisk beyond the reach of mortal men and Ming fleeing for the coolness of Ice Station Earth.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E33Oct 22, 198630 min

Kshin And The Ghost Ship

While on vacation in Jamaica with the Defenders, Kshin sees a ghost ship; however, no one believes him. Determined to get proof of the ship's existence, Kshin rows a dinghy out into the bay one night, and he not only finds the ship, but is taken on board by its ghost pirates!! Meanwhile our heroes are busy trying to figure out why Ming's roboships are in the area. Unbeknownst to them, the warlord is searching for Morgan's Compass, which he will use to turn the ghost pirates into his unconquerable slaves. On board the ship, the pirate captain tells Kshin that they have been searching for years for Morgan's Compass- the only object which can release them from their aimless wandering. Kshin offers help, and with the ghost first mate he goes ashore and returns with a sonic probe to locate the compass on the ocean floor. While Kshin is lowered into the water in a makeshift diving bell, Ming's roboships attempt to fire a freezebeam on the ship putting the ghosts in his power. However, the Defenders blow Ming's minions out of the sky! Kshin emerges with the compass, freeing the pirates and sending them on their way.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E34Oct 23, 198630 min

The Carnival of Dr. Kalihari

Dr. Kalihari's carnival is in town and the Defenders are on hand to see the show. What they don't know is that Dr. Kalihari has taken over the carnival from its owners and populated it with collaborators in his get-rich-quick scheme. Kalihari is infuriated when the Defenders embarass his mediocre performers, so to get revenge he dupes Kshin into unleashing a magic shrinking potion on them! Steadily getting smaller --until they will eventually vanish- our senior heroes battle Kalihari, his cohorts, dogs and common household items which pose significant obstacles to 3 inch people, before finally locating the magic antidote potion which restores them to their original size. Once again the "normal" Defenders of the Earth, they waste no time in disposing of Kalihari's gang and restoring the carnival to its rightful owners.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E35Oct 24, 198630 min

The Mystery of the Book

Dynak X picks up a bizarre energy transmission from Stonehenge prompting the elder Defenders to investigate. Kshin consults the book of enigma which shows him a blueprint of the ancient stone circle. In England, Flash, Lothar and the Phantom are lured inside Stonehenge by Kronos, a mysterious dark cloud, and turned into statues. Mandrake consults his old magic teacher, Theron, who informs him that Kronos is an evil monster who drove the great magician, Enigma, out of the Land of Magic, then destroyed the dimension. Kronos needs the book, which is actually the old master of magic in "book form", to materialize on Earth and destroy the planet. Our young heroes- including Kshin and the book, Enigma,- rush to the rescue; however, Rick, L.J. and jedda are also turned into statues by Kronos. Mandrake, with the help of Theron, fights off Kronos while Enigma guides Kshin into the Stonehenge circle, where he convinces Kronos to give him a blue crystal which allows Enigma to materialize and defeat the evil monster. The benevolent wizard then restores the Defenders to their natural state, before departing for the Land of Magic.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E36Oct 27, 198630 min

Flash Times Four

Ming knows that Flash Gordon is the only man alive who could effectively fly his state-of-the-art warplane The Scorpion, so he lures our hero to Ice Station Earth, where he has created four Flash Gordon clones! The evil warlord places Flash under his vile inquisitor with Flash's clones at the receiving end of the contraption to gather his exceptional flying skills. However, Flash brilliantly manages to dismantle the control box to the machine, therefore only facets of his personality are transferred to the clones. While the Defenders beat a hasty trail to Ice Station Earth, Flash wakes up in Ming's dungeon. When he again meets his clones he finds four distinct personalities- #1, an authoritarian; #2, a braggart fighter pilot; #3, an intellectual planner; and #4, a cool, Burt Reynolds type. Ming places clone #4, who has a bomb in his chest, in the dungeon so that the Defenders rescue him and bring him back to Monitor. Meanwhile he sends the other three against our heroes. Flash manages to escape from Ice Station Earth, destroys the three clones in a superb example of excellent dog-fighting, and confronts #4 in Monitor, disarming the bomb with seconds to spare.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E37Oct 28, 198630 min

The Frozen Heart

Ming's forces kidnap LJ's girlfriend, Kate, turning her into a Frost Person, and have her trick LJ, Rick and Jedda into handing the Defenders' Space Station - now armed with a lethal laser-cannon - over to Ming. When the Swordship is shot down, the adult Defenders initiate the Space Station's self-destruct program but, having survived the crash, they learn that Rick, LJ and Jedda are on the Space Station. There follows a race against time to abort the self-destruct program before it is too late.

TMDB 6.0/10 from 2 votes

S1 E38Oct 29, 198630 min

Rick Gordon, One Man Army

Rick Gordon's new friend at Central City High ! Carlotta Vallejo- requires his help when Ming backs revolutionary forces to dethrone her father from the Presidency of the tropical island of Esmerelda. While Ming gathers all the blue orchid flowers on the island for use turning the world's population into Frost People, Rick and Carlotta fly to Esmerelda and search for her father, but are captured by El Jefe, the mercenary leader of the upsurge. Back at Monitor Dynak X informs the Defenders that the temperature of the island is being unnaturally lowered, posing potential weather problems and prompting the heroes- sans Mandrake and Lothar- to board the Terry and set out to investigate. Rick and Carlotta escape from El Jefe, discover that Ming has diverted irrigation waters to build a huge glacier, and locate the President. To their horror, they find he has been turned into a Man of Frost before they are once again captured. The Defenders arrive and walk right into a trap, however Mandrake and Lothar, who arrived later disguised as a Man of Frost and an Ice Robot, spring them from Ming's dungeon. They invade El Jefe's jungle mercenary camp and rescue Rick, Carlotta and her father- who by now is returning to normal because the Frost Serum only works for two days. Furious, Ming blows up his glacier, causing a raging avalanche, which Rick subsides by employing a solar mirror to direct the sun's rays to melt the ice and divert it underground destroying the Ice Caves and all of Ming's blue orchid Frost Serum.

TMDB 6.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E39Oct 30, 198630 min

The Rites of Zesnan

While trying to prove their individual prowess during an obstacle course competition, Rick, Jedda and L.J. get a bit too serious, endangering themselves individually and as a flying unit. When the youngsters again risk their safety during a dogfight with Ming's roboships, their parents take them to the Amazon to compete in the Rites of Zesnan, a tribal warrior contest to develop good warriors. Ming intercepts a Dynak X transmission and arrives in South America before our heroes. Posing as a god he preconditions the natives against the Defenders. While Rick, Jedda and L.J. are on their respective paths of the warrior course, the Merciless One traps the elder heroes in a grid pattern with deadly sensor beam canons. Meanwhile our young Defenders, after fighting off an attack from the local tribesmen, band together. Discovering from one native the presence of Ming, they rush back to the Terry and working again as a well-oiled unit, turn all four laser canons against one another, blowing them to pieces and sending Ming fleeing for his cowardly safety.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

S1 E40Oct 31, 198630 min

Audie and Tweak

Ming's computer, Octon, has created the ultimate trap- Tycos, a machine designed by a machine, completely devoid of human flaws- which the evil leader will use to destroy the Defenders. Meanwhile Kshin tries to make friends with Audie, a boy genius whose only companion is his personally constructed robot, Tweak, made with living matter rather than silicon microchips. The elder Defenders are lured to a mountain bunker in Colorado by Tycos and the Phantom is captured. Tycos then shuts down all computer circuitry in the Western Hemisphere, except for Tweak, who is impervious to Tycos' efforts because of his non-silicon makeup. The young Defenders' plea for Audie's assistance falls on deaf ears; however, the fact that they come to his rescue when he is captured by Ming persuades him to help our heroes. Arriving at the mountain bunker, the youngsters discover that Mandrake and Flash are also Tycos' captives. Tweak enters first, sacrificing himself to dismantle the nerve gas which frees the three heroes and clears the way for the others to join in the effort. Audie creates a makeshift lighter to ignite Tycos' power supply and deactivate the evil computer, while the rest of the Defenders escape and prepare to blow the bunker to smithereens. Back at Monitor Audie is made an honorary Defender.

TMDB 7.0/10 from 1 votes

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