Assault on Questworld

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Assault on Questworld"
Episode no.	H00616-94036
Airdate	September 4, 1996
Chief locations	Mugu, Nepal (N/A miles)
Writer(s)	Samuel Graham Chris Hubbell Michael Ryan
Guest roles	Michael Benyaer (Captain) Frank Welker (Surd / Computer Voice / Fournier) Meyim Bialik (Julia / French Woman) Chick Vennera (Lorenzo) Robert Ito (Prasad) Page Leong (Choi Li)
Episode sequence	East of Zanzibar <--> Ezekiel Rage
Other episodes

With Dr. Quest and Race in the Himalayas for a phenomenology conference, Jonny and Jessie are helpless in their attempts to free Hadji, whose mind is being drained by Surd as part of a plan to take over the Quest Compound.

Plot Summary

Teaser

In Mugu, Nepal, two riders approach a small village high in the mountains during a blizzard as a shady man watches. They enter a small inn, and as they unpack, the innkeeper removes her knife from her sleeve while the shady man signals the other villagers, who turn the lights off in their huts and begin moving towards the inn. The two travelers sit down in front of the fire, revealing their identities as Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon. One of the villagers enters, dressed in green; he nods to the knife woman, who addresses the two travelers by name and seemingly threatening them with the blade.

Act One

Race, Benton, and Prasad

She notes that she's been waiting for them, as dinner is prepared—domesticated yak. Race wonders if yak are endangered, and she jokes that everyone is endangered this high up. The man in the ornate clothing greets Dr. Quest; he is Prasad, a colleague of the scientist, and anticipates comparing notes on phenomenology with him. Race begins dining as Dr. Quest is alerted to the flying of a satellite overhead, prompting him to contact Jonny Quest back at the Quest Compound. The signal is weak, and Benton notes that he'll contact Jonny again in thirty-six hours. Jeremiah Surd overhears the conversation, noting that opportunity knocks. Back at the lighthouse, Hadji Singh is apparently visiting the astral plane through meditation while Jonny and Jessie Bannon watch. He returns as his pulse comes back to normal, and feels he cannot describe the place to Jonny. This prompts the young Quest to connect Hadji's brain to Questworld, granting an image of the plane on the main screens. They see purple and beige clouds floating behind a blue sky which change colors every few seconds. Meanwhile, Prasad asks Dr. Quest why he scheduled the meeting three weeks earlier than previously planned; Dr. Quest is surprised, as he notes that Prasad sent him a schedule change. Race wonders who was actually behind the differences as a ship (probably Surd's old one) sails to three miles within range of the lighthouse.

The unconscious Hadji

Surd detects alpha brain wave signatures in Questworld, and jacks in, causing the appearance of the astral plane to turn sinister. Beforehand, he had made sure that Race and Dr. Quest were helpless in Nepal. Hadji's heart rate is still low as Jessie surmises his brain is being downloaded, and Jonny goes hot in cyberspace to find a landscape he did not program. A giant Surd appears, displaying a helpless, unconscious Hadji set to die soon from the process, and Jonny asks for Surd's demands. He desires that Dr. Quest and Race appear to him within five minutes, impossible due to their distance around the world. Surd boots Jonny out of Questworld, then tells Julia and Lorenzo to prepare to take over the Quest Compound, which will give him undisputed control of cyberspace. Jonny and Jessie suggest going in as their fathers, despite having to break the golden rule of having an external monitor to pull them out of danger. They enter as a motorized boat makes landfall on the beach, containing Julia and Surd's team. Inside, Surd apparently believes that the real Race and Dr. Quest have appeared, and pursues them as a flash of green energy as they take refuge in a cannon. Unfortunately, it is a box canyon, and they are trapped as Surd speeds towards them.

Act Two

Jessie tries to log out

Jonny reminds Jessie that he programmed in a "Surd Protector", and reveals a huge gun. He blasts part of the canyon wall away, forcing Surd to collide with it and destroy his energy ball. They climb out of the canyon, wondering if it was really that easy to stop him as he looks down from the sky. In Nepal, Prasad is meditating and becomes cognizant of the plight of Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji in Maine. He bursts from his room and tells Benton of the situation. At the Quest Compound, Julia and her team move closer, and dodge laser alarms by using high tech goggles. After Race and Dr. Quest struggle to make contact, Julia uses a plastic explosive to destroy the main Compound security network. Jessie and Jonny hear the alarms in Questworld, but Jessie cannot log out to secure the mansion as Surd has negated her verbal commands. He reverts them back to their real Jonny and Jessie bodies in cyberspace, noting that he knew all along that their fathers were in the Himalayas. Prasad manages to wake Hadji up telepathically; he springs to action after seeing the security alarm and pulls Jonny and Jessie out of Questworld before they're smashed with Surd's huge rocks. Julia and Lorenzo are inside the study when Julia sees Jonny and Jessie dart by with night vision. Jonny sprays a fire extinguisher in her face before knocking her out cold. Lorenzo aims his gun at Jessie, but Jonny emerges behind him threatening to shoot. Jessie takes his gun, and when Lorenzo finds out that Jonny was merely holding the extinguisher, Jessie keeps him frozen. As they lead the two through the Compound, the rest of their team breaks in. Bandit saves the day by distracting them, allowing Jessie to recover her gun as Julia and Lorenzo flee. Jonny later explains that nothing was wrong as Dr. Quest suspects he's lying. He laughs that he must shelter his father from the harsh realities of life.

Notes

Quotes

• Race - "It's colder than the north end of a southbound moose out there."

~

• Choi Li - "These yaks are domesticated, of course."
• Race - "Tell that to the yak I rode in on."

~

• Dr. Quest - "Above all people, Prasad, you know that phenomenology is a little more than simple adventure."

~

• Jonny - "Nothing's impossible, Hadj. There are only possibilities waiting to be discovered."

~

• Race - "No offense Prasad, but this yak meat is tougher than my thirty-year old combat boot."
• Prasad - "I'll take that as a compliment, Race."

~

• Jonny - "Whoa, something's not right."
• Jessie - "Not right? It looks downright evil!"

~

• Surd - "I want your father and Race Bannon here in five minutes! Or little Hadji will be on the menu tomorrow as the vegetable dujour."

~

• Dr. Quest - "Notwithstanding the fact that we're all phenomenologists...you look as if you've just seen a ghost!"

~

• Compound Systems - "Compound security systems have been breached."
• Hadji - "What!?"
• Compound Systems - "I am not kidding."

~

• Lorenzo - "So tell me chiquita, where's your little friend?"
• Jonny - "Right behind you, chiquita, with your little friend's gun cocked, safety off, and ready to rock."
• Jesie - "Gracias."
• Jonny - "See, I'm not too hot on guns."
• Lorenzo - "You little punk!"
• Jessie - "I, on the other hand, don't have a problem with them. It's all a matter of how you use them, isn't it?"

~

• Dr. Quest - "I have a feeling that he's not being entirely honest with me."
• Race - "Heck, Benton. You don't have to be a phenomenologist to know that."

Goofs

• Dr. Quest's gray hair is missing in Questworld.
• Towards the end of the episode, a scene from the beginning featuring Dr. Quest in a coat is re-used for a later meeting with Predad. In the next shot, Dr. Quest has no coat.
• Prasad's name is incorrectly spelled "Pradad" in the credits.

Trivia

• This episode does not feature a Quest Byte.
• The script was auctioned on Ebay; download it here (11.1 MB)

Cel

A cel from this episode of the Himalayan inn was auctioned on Ebay.

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From: Episodes