The Mother of All Monsters

Infobox Television episode
Title= The Mother of All Monsters
Series=


Season=2
Episode=207
Airdate=16 October, 1995
Production=
Writer=John Schulian
Director=Bruce Seth Green
Guests=Liddy Holloway (Alcmene)
Bridget Hoffman (Echidna)
Martin Kove (Demetrius)
Graham Smith (Leukos)
Prev=Under the Broken Sky
Next=The Other Side

Overview

Echidna, the self-proclaimed "Mother of All Monsters", is out to get revenge on Hercules for killing all of her children.

Plot synopsis

Hercules and Iolaus help a man being beaten up by some thugs, but are them ambushed by Demetrius' men. Iolaus tells the man to take of his mask but he does not. Hercules asks if he would prefer to fight a monster, Iolaus asks if there are any left.

Meanwhile, the man is in a cave talking with Echidna. She says he knows no loss. Her children, the Hydra, the She-Demon and the Stymphalian Bird, were all killed by Hercules. He tells Echidna he has come to her because she is the only one with power enough to kill Hercules. She says there will be no trace of Hercules when they are finished and Demetrius will be the known as the man who killed Hercules.

In the mean time, Alcmene is doing some shopping in the market. A man comes and steals her bag, but Demetrius stops him and it is revealed that the theft is a set up so that Alcmene will accept Demetrius ' offer to walk with her a while. Elsewhere, there is a charity event being held to raise money for widows and orphans. Challengers go up against Hercules in different events. One man challenges Hercules and he tell him that Alcmene is getting married, Hercules is shocked and heads off home, with Iolaus following close behind.

In the cave, Echidna uses her powers to create some archers and she tells them that Demetrius is not enough because he is a mortal challenging the son of Zeus. She says they are to kill Hercules, but she wants Alcmene to see it, so she can know the suffering Hercules inflicted on her by killing her children.

As Hercules and Iolaus go to see Alcmene, Hercules voices his reservations about his mother's new suitor, Iolaus says he will probably like him when he meets him. Hercules and Iolaus arrive at Alcmene's house. Hercules enters the house to find Alcmene and Demetrius kissing on the sofa. Demetrius introduces himself and then leaves and Hercules and Alcmene have dinner.

In the market, Iolaus meets a man named Leukos, who says that Hercules may be in danger and he wants to talk to Hercules. While Iolaus tells him to go to a place to meet Hercules one of the archers, disguised in a cloak, passes by them and listens in on the conversation. At home, Hercules and Alcmene talk about Demetrius, he questions whether he is worthy enough for his mother and she tells him that she feels he is and that should be enough for Hercules.

Iolaus comes looking for Hercules and tells him what Leukos had told him. They go to meet Leukos and find him dead. Shot by an arrow that Hercules says no mortal could have fired. Iolaus says that Hera must be involved and Hercules runs off to his mother. Demetrius and Alcmene have planned a picnic, as they go outside Hercules arrives and tells Alcmene there is trouble, the archers appear from behind a wall and one of them shoots an arrow into Hercules' side, Alcmene cries out, but Demetrius stop her from going to him. Iolaus runs to help, Demetrius restrains Alcmene and says she will see him on the other side.

Alcmene is shocked to discover that Demetrius' plan. She calls him "a monster", he says, "I am nothing compared to what you are about to see." She tells him to just kill her, as it is the only he will satisfy Hera. He tells her that Hera did not send him, but Echidna.

In Echidna's cave, the leader of the archers tells Echidna that Hercules is dead and that Demetrius has Alcmene. Echidna says "then tomorrow she will die." Iolaus, having pulled the arrow from Hercules' side drags him inside, when he wakes he says they must go after his mother or she will be killed. Iolaus tries to get him to rest, but Hercules, even though weakened by the arrow insists he is going and Iolaus says he will go with him.

Hercules realizes that the wagon is headed towards Dronos, where Echidna lives. He says that she wants revenge for killing her children. Iolaus tries to get Hercules to rest, but he says they have to continue. Meanwhile, Alcmene escapes from her bindings and runs but is caught by Demetrius. Demetrius and Alcmene arrive at the cave and Demetrius takes her inside.

Hercules and Iolaus arrive at the cave, while inside Echidna asks Alcmene if it hurt when she saw her son die. Outside Hercules and Iolaus get rid of the archers and Hercules goes inside to help his mother. Her rushes into the cave and demands Echidna to release his mother. Demetrius tries to fight Hercules but he knocks him out with one blow. Hercules and Echidna begin to fight and he tells Alcmene to run. As she flees, she is caught by Echidna and Demetrius knocks over a pillar she is holding on to. Then Iolaus comes and hits Demetrius sending him flying. He rescues Alcmene but the Demetrius comes back and they fight. Hercules tells Iolaus to use the archers' arrows, but Demetrius knocks him out and then turns on Hercules.

While trying to kill Hercules, Demetrius cuts off one of Echidna's tentacles, she hits him and sends him flying into a rock, knocking him out. Iolaus throws the arrows to Hercules and he uses them to spear her tentacles to the cave wall. He then picks up a sword ready to kill her, but Alcmene pleads with him to spare her life, telling him that they are "not monsters. . . We're human beings." Hercules collapses the cave with Echidna inside, Alcmene tells her son, "Hercules, you make a mother proud."

Continuity and notes

*Echidna wants revenge against Hercules for killing her children. The Hydra is killed in "Hercules and the Amazon Women", the She-Demon is killed in "The Wrong Path" and the Styphalian Bird is killed in "The Road to Calydon".
*Although, in the original myths, the Hydra is the offspring of Echidna, the Stymphalian Bird and the She-Demon are not. Also Echidna would have looked like an uglier version of the She-Demon, not a multi-tentacled monster. Furthermore, Hera never separated her from her husband, Zeus did.

Main cast

*Kevin Sorbo as Hercules
*Michael Hurst as Iolaus

External links

*Tv.com episode|id=38945