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Pawn of Shadows is the twenty-fifth episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
Premise[]
The gang is attacked by a hi-tech assassin Obliteratrix, which leads them to investigate the mystery of the Cursed Treasure with the assistance of H.P. Hatecraft.
Synopsis[]
Twenty years ago, the original Mystery Inc. investigate an old Spanish church and find a document with a picture of the Planispheric Disk. They are observed by a ghoulish figure, the Freak of Crystal Cove.
The gang meet for breakfast at the K-Ghoul station. Daphne wants to talk with Fred about their engagement announcement, but Fred is more interested in a new phone app that will tell him if his trap stuff is moved in the Mystery Machine. Velma gets out their disk piece to study. A mention of a hot sauce brand by Scooby-Doo makes Velma realize the writing on the disk is backwards, and in Spanish. They also realized that many of the books in the Darrow Family Archives trunk are in Spanish. They load up the trunk in the Mystery Machine and head to the Darrow University campus to get H.P. Hatecraft to help with translations.
Hatecraft doesn't want to help at first as he is too busy trying to learn how to write like Regina Wentworth, author of the successful Dusk novels and Dean Natasha Fenk's current favorite. The gang offers to help him with his writing for teens, in return for Spanish work. As they walk back to their car, Fred says that the Dean will never even know the gang has been there. Just then the Mystery Machine explodes in front of them. A figure wearing strips of black leather and a robotic mask appears out of nowhere. "I am the Obliteratrix," she says in a computerized-sounding voice. "I have only one purpose: to destroy Mystery Incorporated!" They run, and the Obliteratrix fills their path with concussion bombs. They finally escape, only to discover they have charged into a Dusk reading by Wentworth, and the Dean is there.
Later, they watch as Wentworth and the Dean are interviewed by TV news people, with Wentworth snickering about Hatecraft being an "oldie olderson writer." Meanwhile, Angel Dynamite and Mr. E watch on his monitors. Angel wants to help the kids, because she thinks Professor Pericles is attacking, but Mr. E just tells Ed Machine to monitor the situation and not to intervene unless absolutely necessary.
The gang thinks the Mystery Machine is gone forever, and Fred vows to avenge it. Shaggy and Scooby help Hatecraft with a critical reading of his teen novel, while Velma, Daphne, and Fred dig in the library for clues since they no longer have the trunk and files. While searching Fred's cell phone gives a belch, this means that the Mystery Machine is still alive. They collect Shaggy and Scooby at Hatecraft's house, and Hatecraft "borrows" a campus van with Dusk advertising on the side. They get the Mystery Machine back intact, even though they have to face the Obliteratrix again in an old railroad yard, who now has a vast number of weapons which makes Shaggy ask "Where does she get all these weapons?! That outfit has no pockets!" She chases them around the train yard and destroying several box cars in the process. While Fred slams a tarp on her, she is gone when it was pulled away. The news team and the Sheriff arrive (who is no help at all) and Hatecraft loses his job when the Dean finds out about the van.
Professor Pericles watches the second fight on a TV monitor and considers coming to help the gang fight this new enemy, but decides not too because he still needs them alive. With the trunk back in their possession they quickly pick up a clue. The old books mentions colored glass, and that reminds Scooby of the stained glass in the old Spanish Church where he and Pericles went the day Aphrodite attacked the town. At the old Spanish church they discover a pin belonging to the old Mystery Incorporated. Soon after that, they discover the secret entrance to an underground shaft. But before they can look any further, the Obliteratrix appears again. She nearly succeeds in trapping everyone, but Angel Dynamite shows up and fights her, eventually trapping her. When she is unmasked it turns out she is Alice May.
May reveals that Mr. E got her out of prison and was also the one who sent her to attack the gang. She only pretended to put them in danger using special effects and weapons that Mr. E provided through Destroido's company, Quest Research Laboratories. The real purpose was to draw Pericles away from protecting his recently-stolen piece of Planispheric disc. The Sheriff takes Alice May off to jail again, saying he didn't know she had ever gotten out but that won't happen again. The Dean shows up to forgive Hatecraft and offer his job back because the Japanese book rights to his Char Gar Gothakon book are now making money for the university. Daphne asks Angel how she knew they were there. Velma says she had to tell the truth, so Angel admits to everyone for the first time that she is Cassidy Williams a member of the first Mystery Inc. She says that all the original members were forced to leave town by threats against their families after they found the "map." Cassidy warns that it could happen to them, and urges them to give their piece to Mr. E or Professor Pericles, she doesn't care which, to end the case and the danger to themselves.
Fred and the others refuse as they don't want to listen to Angel because she lied to them. Fred says, "The mystery isn't over until we say it's over." As the gang drives away, Angel calls out to them that the Freak is still out there. Sure enough, the Freak is watching from on top of the church, muttering a threatening poem.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Original Mystery Incorporated (first full appearance)(flashback only)
- Brad Chiles (first full appearance)(flashback only)
- Judy Reeves (first full appearance)(flashback only)
- Ricky Owens (first full appearance)(flashback only)
- Angel Dynamite (first full appearance)(flashback only)
- Professor Pericles (unscarred) (flashback only)
- Professor H.P. Hatecraft (final appearance)
- Dean Natasha Fenk (first appearance)
- Regina Wentworth (only appearance)
- Angel Dynamite
- Mr. E
- Sheriff Bronson Stone
Villains:
- Freak of Crystal Cove (first appearance)(flashback only)(cameo)
- Obliteratrix (only appearance)(Alice May's disguise)
- Alice May
- Professor Pericles (cameo)
Other characters:
- Harlan Ellison (mentioned)
- Todd (only appearance)(cardboard cutout)
- Cassidy (only appearance)(poster)
- TV reporter 1
- TV reporter 2 (no lines)
- Ed Machine
- Librarian (only appearance)(no lines)
- Dr. Benton Quest (first appearance)(no lines)(cameo)
- Race Bannon (first appearance)(no lines)(cameo)
- Jonny Quest (only appearance)(no lines)(cameo)(unnamed)
- Hadji (only appearance)(no lines)(cameo)(unnamed)
- Bandit (only appearance)(no lines)(cameo)
- Mayor Fred Jones, Sr. (no lines)(flashback only)
Locations[]
- Crystal Cove
- Old Spanish Church (main story and flashback)
- K-Ghoul
- Darrow University
- Abandoned railway yard
- No Tell Motel
- Destroido Corp.
- Quest Research Laboratories
Objects[]
- Brad Chiles's flashlight (flashback only)
- Eggs
- Doughnuts
- Piece of the Planispheric Disk
- Darrow Family Archives
- Fred Jones, Jr.'s smartphone
- Dusk books
- Char Gar Gothakon: The Beast That Hath No Name (mentioned)
- The Disinterment of Groth Van Annuroth. Yo, Yo, Yo!
- Obliteratrix's weapons
- Planospheric Disk (drawing)
Vehicles[]
- The Mystery Machine
- Angel Dynamite's van
- Replica Mystery Machine (destroyed)
- Dusk Van
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Regina Wentworth | She is a rival of H.P. Hatecraft. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Alice May as Obliteratrix | To draw out Professor Pericles for Mr. E. |
Cast[]
Continuity[]
- Velma found out Angel Dynamite was really Cassidy Williams in The Siren's Song.
- The gang met H.P. Hatecraft in The Shrieking Madness, where the Char Gar Gothakon case happened.
- In this episode, it is revealed that what looked like a simple bail-out in The Legend of Alice May of Alice May by Ed Machine was actually a jail-break. Mr. Machine released her from her cell without Sheriff Stone even being aware she was gone.
Notes/trivia[]
- All of Daphne's sisters (outside of the Wedded Blake sister) have been engaged at least once, but they all handled the announcements badly, at least in Daphne's opinion—especially Dawn, who apparently tried training chickens to spell out her name.
- Shaggy says the gang has been teenagers forever, an in-joke to Mystery Inc. being portrayed as teens for most of the franchise since 1969.
- When Angel was revealing who she is to the rest of the gang, Netflix's subtitles initially said Cassidy Jones instead of Cassidy Williams. This error was later corrected when the series was added back on April 24th, 2023.
Cultural references[]
- The woman who resembles Cass Elliot is in the audience at the Dusk lecture.
- There is a cameo by the cast of Johnny Quest.
- On the wall of H.P. Hatecraft's office, to get him in the mindset of a teenage girl, he has two Wonder Wheels posters, a DC Comics Prez poster, Schleprock from The Pebbles and Bamm Bamm Show, Drak Jr. from the Drak Pack, Josie and Alexander from Josie and the Pussycats, Butch Cassidy from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids and one of Suzie and Stanley Chan from the Chan Clan band. This Suzie may or may not be the same as the Suzie Chan lookalike who attends Crystal Cove High School.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- TBA
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- In their high school photos, Judy Reeves and Brad Chiles had darker hair than the blond hair they clearly have here.
- The piece of the Planispheric Disk that Velma examines in Angel's trailer has the shape of the piece from the Jones mansion that should be in the hands of Professor Pericles (since A Haunting in Crystal Cove), not the piece from the Darrow Mansion the gang had.
- At one point, the word "fuego" can be seen clearly written on the piece, not in mirror writing as Velma says later.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Το Πιόνι των Σκιών | The Pawn of the Shadows |
| Hungarian | A titokzatos rém | The Mysterious Freak |
| Italian | Pedina Delle Ombre | Pawn Of Shadows |
| Polish | Klątwa z zaświatów | A curse from beyond |
| Spanish (Latin America) | La Verdadera Identidad | The True Identity |
| Turkish | Gölgelerin Rehinesi | Hostage of the Shadows |
Home media[]
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season One, Part 2 - Crystal Cove Curse DVD set released by Warner Home Video on January 24, 2012.- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Season 1 DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 8, 2013.
- Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Scooby-Doo! DVD set released by Warner Home Video on August 13, 2019.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystères associés: L'intégrale de la saison 1 (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The entirety of season 1) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 3, 2012.
Quotes[]
External links[]
- TBA
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| Dead Justice | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Season 1 |
All Fear the Freak |