Expedition to Khumbu

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Expedition to Khumbu"
Episode no.	H00616-94006
Airdate	September 25, 1996
Chief locations	Kingdom of Nepal, Khumbu 87.12E, 28.03N (N/A miles)
Vehicle(s)	PBY Catalina
Writer(s)	Peter Lawrence Harv Zimmel Michael Ryan (additional material)
Guest roles	Michael Banyaer (Monks) Frank Welker (Yeti / Baby Yeti / Mother Yeti) Earl Boen (Kyle) Nick Jameson (Himalayan / Sherpa) Peter Renaday (High Lama) B.J. Ward (Iris the Computer)
Episode sequence	The Secret of the Moai <--> Ice Will Burn
Other episodes

Betrayed by a colleague who wants sole credit for proving the existence of yeti, Dr. Quest is all but lost in an avalanche in the mountains of Nepal; when his family begin searching, they are threatened by a similar fate.

Plot Summary

Teaser

Benton prepares for the worst

Dr. Benton Quest is in the mountains near Khumbu to track the infamous yeti, a joint venture with one professor Kyle. As they near the beast, Kyle notes that the storm is swelling and they should head back to the monastery. He then orders his guide to throw a grenade in a snowbank to engulf Benton in an avalanche so that he can take full credit for bringing the first yeti back alive. The Sherpa does as ordered, causing a huge snowfall which buries Dr. Quest's guide and sends him plummeting off the side of a bank. Once the dust clears, his hand emerges from a deep pile of snow, and is grabbed by a yeti's arm.

Act One

The search begins

At the temporary base in Nepal, Jonny Quest is hot in Questworld to play an adventure game. He is on level eight, and must grab an emerald atop a Buddha's face to proceed to the next level. Doing sparks attack by a huge Buddha-faced scorpion; Jonny requests a Gatling gun, but Iris equips him with only a shield and sword per level restrictions. He asks for a bigger sword, and cannot hold it; it breaks, and he makes do by trying to chop off limbs on the scorpion. His victory is short lived when the scorpion replicates, and he swings the sword violently, acting out his movements in real time. Hadji Singh and Jessie Bannon enter to find him about to twirl off the edge of the room's balcony, and deactivate Questworld just in time. Race Bannon solemnly enters and tells Jonny that his dad is missing. They take off in a helicopter to survey the avalanche site and launch a ground expedition, but their search is hindered by a coming storm. They descend a slope, each tethered to one another with Jonny leading and Race in the rear. Hadji remarks that they are going too fast when a huge metal cage trap is activated, and slides down with Jonny and Hadji trapped inside.

Race struggles to hold on

Jessie and Race are helplessly dragged down with them; the first three go over the edge of a huge cliff as Race digs in with his ice pick. He can't haul them up, sparking Jessie to undo her safety latch and climb down to release the cage. Doing so nearly sends her to her death, but she grabs on to Jonny's foot and climbs up. The rest soon follow, and the team retreat to the Khumbu monastery. There, monks regret that the only other visitor they've had is not Dr. Quest, but professor Kyle. He appears, and Jonny angrily accuses him of abandoning Benton, to which the head monk responds with tranquility that he must conserve his strength. Kyle inquires of the Hand of Khumbu, the mummified hand of a yeti allegedly held at the monastery. The High Lama states that it is a sacred artifact, never removed from its sanctum or shown to outsiders. The team then turn in for the night, but Race stays awake to take a look around. He peers in a window to see a monk exchanging something before being knocked out and dragged away from behind.

Act Two

The team with the Hand of Khumbu

Three hours later, Jessie and the rest begin searching for Race, and witness the theft of the yeti's hand by professor Kyle. Hadji prepares to nullify the sacrilege by appealing to their nobler instincts, but Kyle has bought out the monks. Jonny takes the hand in a flash and the three flee before coming face to face with a horde of monks in a hallway. Behind them are Kyle, who accuses them of stealing the hand. The monks draw bladed weapons, and Jonny throws the hand at them to distract them before leaping out of a window several feet below to a snowy outcropping. Hadji and Jessie follow, and the three take off despite not having any weather gear. The wise High Lama is suspicious of Kyle, whose monks were not at morning prayers and who is eager to condemn Jonny Quest despite his father's seeming status as his friend. Kyle then draws guns after the Lama wants the kids found alive, and locks them in the chant room. Far away outside, the team slip on treacherous ice and fall to find a hand reaching out from the snow; it is Dr. Quest's guide. They take his supplies, and that night, Jonny feels that his father is dead. Jessie reassures him, and the three sneak back to Khumbu, where they find a baby yeti on a chamber. Kyle appears behind them and tries to takes them prisoner, but several yeti assault the monastery and hurl Kyle and his guards outside to the snow. One frees Race, and the rest destroy the baby's prison and escape. Race is reunited with Jessie, causing sadness and envy within Jonny; the High Lama reassures him, and he perches near a window come night. The next day, Benton appears at the door and reunites with the team; he notes that he was escorted by two yeti. He produces a book detailing their culture and order, noting that they have several dwellings around the region. He concludes they're descendants of neanderthals, and the High Lama agrees, noting that they only hid after modern man grew away from harmony with nature. Dr. Quest decides to leave the book with the Lama, as exposing their existence would only destroy them. The Lama takes it, revealing himself to be a yeti by showing his hands as the astonished team look on.

Notes

Quotes

Jonny discusses his fears

• Jonny - "You never told me about these things' duplicating!"
• Iris - "You never asked."

~

• Hadji - "It is true what they say—that the mountain makes its own weather."

~

• Race - "Fur on a catfish!"

~

• Jessie - "I'm okay, dad...kinda."

~

• Jonny - "Careful, Jess!'
• Jessie - "I never understand why people say that; it's like, what!? Am I stupid enough to take an impossible risk?"
• Hadji - "But indeed, you are taking an impossible risk!"

~

• Jonny - "Gotta hand it to her, Hadj. She's pretty cool."
• Jessie - "I thought you guys would be lighter!"
• Hadji - "Ah, you see, we are heavy with wisdom."

~

• Jessie - "Jonny, you idiot!"
• Jonny - "What? What did I do?"

~

• High Lama - "You have betrayed your faith."
• Monk - "No, your holiness. I have found a new faith."

~

• Hadji - "You are an unconscionable pig, Mr. Kyle."

~

• Race - "Thanks...what the heck do you say to a yeti?"

~

• Dr. Quest - "We came here hoping to find a monster, and instead found a sapient culture more evolved in many ways than ours."

Trivia

• This episode does not feature a Quest Byte.

From: Episodes