Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series Ep. 20

At last, we get to what is unanimously considered to be the best episode of the entire series! The greatest D&D adventure that never was. 

You can buy the complete series right here. 

Check out the previous episode recaps: 

Part One (Episodes 1-6)
Part Two (Episodes 7-13)
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Episode 24
Episode 25
Episode 26
Episode 27
Episode 28

Episode 20 - The Dragon's Graveyard

We start off with the group fighting a frost giant. A combination of Bobby's club and Hank's magic bow sends the giant over the side of a cliff.

The adventurers are in a land of ice. A huge radiant beam of light is shining from one mountain to another. Hank shoots his bow at the spot the light is hitting, which causes the entire mountain to split in half.

Inside the mountain is a portal leading to Earth. The group runs toward it, but Venger shows up and closes the portal, then causes the walls of the mountain to slowly close in on the heroes.

Hank fires a single arrow that creates a huge tunnel in the ice wall for them to escape through.

When the heroes emerge from the ice, Venger is seemingly gone and the group is extremely upset. Bobby starts crying. He wants to go home to his parents. Hank decides that they need to stop Venger once and for all. He thinks that they should use Tiamat to kill Venger.

Dungeon Master arrives. He tries to give them some quest about a "duke of darkness" but Hank cuts him off. Dungeon Master reluctantly tells the group where they can find Tiamat.

"Tiamat lives where the dragons go to die - the place that is the source of your weapons, the dragon's graveyard." He says that Tiamat may help them, or she may not. 

How do they get to the graveyard? "You carry the way with you."

Dungeon Master leaves. Hank reiterates that he actually wants to kill Venger.

The heroes quickly realize their magic items can open a portal to the graveyard, but before they can do anything about it, Venger swoops down from the sky and attacks.

They take refuge in a cave. Uni is hit by one of Venger's bolts on the way in, and is wounded.  The entrance to the cave collapses. The heroes are trapped.

Uni is hurt pretty bad. Little Bobby is now 100% ready to kill Venger.

They use their magic items to create a portal to the dragon's graveyard. It goes like this:

• Hank fires an arrow that ricochets around the cave and lands in Presto's hat.
• A ball of light emerges from the hat that touches Erik's shield, then Diana's staff.
• Shiela puts her cloak on the ball of light, causing the light globe to expand.
• Bobby strikes it with a club, and the group vanishes.
  

The graveyard appears to be on a moon..? There are massive skeletons of dragons everywhere, along with a rift containing glowing light.

We get another panning shot of the skeletons. Among them are skeletons of what today would be called a dragonborn. Each skeleton is clutching what appears to be a magic item.

Bobby picks up a sword, it glows. He drops it and it slices a boulder in half. It's a vorpal sword. You're uh... going to want to keep that.

Presto picks up a horn and blows on it. This alerts Tiamat to the group's presence.

Tiamat flies into the sky, and the black dragon head spits acid near the heroes.

Hank fires an arrow that misses but is bigger than normal. Erik's shield not only blocks but actually reflects a breath weapon. Bobby creates a huge rift in the ground that Tiamat avoids.

Hank and Diana ask Tiamat to help them kill Venger. Tiamat informs them that in the dragon's graveyard, their weapons are stronger than Venger.

Tiamat says that she will go and lure Venger to the graveyard.

We cut to Venger's lair. I can't even tell if this is one we've seen in the show before or not.

Tiamat breaks through a wall in Venger's tower and forces Venger through a portal.

In the graveyard, Erik picks up a trident. It fires a lightning bolt. He puts it down. Shiela picks up a net that glows.

Venger has arrived. He casts a spell that animates the magic-item-wielding skeletons.

The group comes alive when Venger badmouths Uni. They shatter the skeletons with their enhanced weapons.

Hank presses Venger back up against a rock with his arrows. Presto flings a ball of energy that pins both of Venger's hands to the rocks. Venger is now defenseless.

Hank takes aim at Venger. The group asks Hank what he's going to do. Hank frees Venger, explaining that if they killed him, they'd be no better than him.

Dungeon Master shows up and covers Uni in the net. The net is some kind of net of healing.

Approaching Venger, Dungeon Master says, "rise, my son" and uses magic to make him vanish.

As DM teleports the group back to the realm, we pan over to Tiamat who watches, eyes glowing. 

This is, by far, the best episode of the series. In my opinion, it's the only one that really "matters" in that it feels like it is not filler. Every other episode is essentially a bait and switch, pulling the rug out from under the viewer again and again.

There are a pile of great ideas here to use for your campaign, but to me the biggest one is: The place where dragons go to die is littered with magic items, and is a place where the power of magic items are greatly enhanced. I am reeling at the idea of making a random chart of magical properties that are added to a magic item while in the graveyard.

This could be the ultimate "dragon hunt" type adventure, or the location of the final adventure of your campaign.

Stuff that Presto's Hat Does:

48. Fires off a blast that shatters a skeleton.

Hank's Bow Can:

55. Stagger a frost giant.
56. Cause a teetering frost giant to fall into broken ice.
57. Trigger a magic effect that splits a mountain open.
58. Fires an arrow that nullifies one of Venger's energy blasts.
59. Fire a series of arrows that momentarily rattles Venger.
60. Generate a glowing arrow that lights a cave.
61. Fires an arrow that momentarily wraps around all five of Tiamat's heads.
62. Fires an arrow that has no effect on a trident-wielding skeleton.