| “ | Nobody is getting in between me and my gem! | ” |
| — Sledkin |
"Of Gods and Monsters" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of Dragons: The Nine Realms.
Synopsis[]
| “ | Tom and the riders must rescue Plowhorn from Sledkin when the villain abducts the dragon to help her find the Gods Realm and the Dragonsite jewel. | ” |
| — Hulu |
Plot[]
In the dragon's lair, Tom is despondent after his latest failure to stop Jörmungandr, so his friends encourage him to try again. However, D'Angelo comes in and reveals that Plowhorn has gone missing. He explains that Plowhorn was last seen sleeping next to his dome, but she was gone without a trace in the morning. When the kids decide to try and have their dragons track Plowhorn's scent, they find van tracks with signs of it dragging Plowhorn away. Eugene blames Buzzsaw for the abduction, believing it was revenge for raiding his camp, but Tom thinks that Sledkin was the one responsible since she is the only suspect with a van. With the trail gone cold, the riders have no idea what to do, until D'Angelo finds Buzzsaw sneaking nearby. Buzzsaw explains that he isn't after them for revenge, and instead, asks for their help to save Jack, who was poisoned by Jörmungandr when it chased them. The riders initially didn't believe Buzzsaw was telling the truth, but D'Angelo decides to follow his vow as a doctor, and risk getting trapped if Jack wasn't really sick.
Meanwhile, Linda frets over Plowhorn, who was injured when she was captured, and locked up inside Sledkin's lab. However, Sledkin is indifferent to the Gembreaker's suffering, and only cares about using her to track down the massive deposit of dragonsite. When Linda asks her about what she'll do when the riders come looking for Plowhorn, Sledkin reveals she rigged the elevator to drop them to their deaths. She then threatens Plowhorn with a cattle prod to keep her under control.
Buzzsaw brings the riders to his camp, and find that Jack really was poisoned, and also received a broken wing. While D'Angelo treats Jack, Buzzsaw mourns for unleashing the Jörmungandr in the first place, and displays an actual bond with Jack, much to everyone's disbelief. With Buzzsaw's alibi proven true, it confirms Sledkin was the kidnapper. After D'Angelo helps Buzzsaw treat Jack's poisoning and wing, he explains that he helped Buzzsaw and Jack because of his code of honor, and he suggests Buzzsaw reflect on his actions. To repay D'Angelo's help, Buzzsaw tells him and the others that Sledkin has a secret lab beneath his old lumber village, and it is probably where she is keeping Plowhorn, then he remains by Jack's side while he recovers. The riders head to Sledkin's lab, but Tom predicts that she had set a trap for them inside, so Alex has them blast a new entrance into the lab. However, they find only Linda and Nibbles inside, but the former reveals that Sledkin has gone insane, and is obsessed with a gem she saw in the Book of Dragons. Jun realizes that Sledkin is searching for the God's Realm, which was dubbed as the "lungs" of the nine realms because it is where the main source of oxygen comes from. Realizing that if Sledkin were to take the gem, she will threaten not only the balance in the Hidden World, but also the very existence of every dragon. Horrified that Sledkin is endangering all dragons, Linda also reveals that Sledkin is constantly staring at the photo of the gem on her phone, which gives Alex the idea to track her through her phone. Meanwhile, Sledkin forces Plowhorn to take her through the Desert Realm; which eventually leads her into a large realm filled with dragonsite. And at the center of the realm lies a large chunk of dragonsite sitting over a pit that is frequently heated by fire, which creates a reaction with the surrounding dragonsite to produce oxygen. With the gem in her sight, Sledkin prepares to take the gem.
But before Sledkin can take the gem, two large Gembreakers, who appear to be guardians of the gem, try to stop her. Sledkin uses her cattle prod to keep the dragons at bay; but as she goes for the gem, the riders arrive just in time to try and stop her. Tom orders Sledkin to surrender, but she refuses to comply, and the situation worsens when guardian Gembreakers mistake the riders for enemies. While the riders deal with the Gembreakers, D'Angelo reunites with Plowhorn, then the latter tries to stop the guardian Gembreakers from attacking the riders. However, Sledkin successfully steals the gem from its stand; and its removal causes the surrounding dragonsite to stop functioning. Suddenly, the source of the fire that was heating the dragonsite, a Gem Blaster dragon, emerges from its pit, and starts to wildly attack everyone to try and reclaim the gem. Tom stands in Sledkin's way, but the latter reveals that she planned to remove the source of oxygen from the Hidden World to wipe out all dragons, which will allow her to excavate all the dragonsite she wants unhindered. Without the gem, everyone starts to weaken, but a greedy Sledkin still refuses to stop even when she starts to suffer from the lack of oxygen as well. The lack of oxygen weakens the Gem Blaster, making it fall back into its pit, which causes a tremor that made Sledkin lose her footing, but Tom quickly grabs her by her hand. However, Sledkin still refuses to abandon the gem to pull herself up, which made Tom lose his grip on her, and she falls to her demise. With Thunder's help, Tom is able to put the gem back on its stand, and the Gem Blaster restores the realm to normal. As the other riders recover, they learn that Sledkin had fallen, and they console with Tom and Thunder.
Back at his dome, Tom tells his mom about what happened, and she assures them it wasn't their fault, but that Sledkin's greed was her own undoing. When Plowhorn taps on the window, D'Angelo goes to check on her, and then embraces her with comfort and relief. With things getting out of hand, Tom resolves to put back Jörmungandr in its prison to set everything right.
Characters[]
Humans[]
- Tom Kullersen voiced by Jeremy Shada
- Jun Wong voiced by Ashley Liao
- D'Angelo Baker voiced by Marcus Scribner
- Alexandra Gonzalez voiced by Aimee Garcia
- Eugene Wong voiced by Vincent Tong
- Buzzsaw voiced by Haley Joel Osment
- Linda voiced by D'arcy Carden
- Wilma Sledkin voiced by Carrie Keranen
- Olivia Kullersen voiced by Julia Stiles
Dragons[]
Dragon Species[]
- Night Light
- Mist Twister
- Gembreaker
- Featherhide
- Deadly Spinner
- Timberjack
- Bubblehorn
- Gem Blaster
- Jörmungandr (mentioned)
Locations[]
- Kullersen Fissure
- Burne Lumber Company
- Hidden World
- Ice Realm
- Desert Realm
- Gods Realm
Objects[]
- Saddle
- Dragonsite
- Alex's Tablet
- Book of Dragons (mentioned)
Flora and Fauna[]
- Dog (mentioned)
- Dungbeetle (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode in Dragons: The Nine Realms where a human character - Wilma Sledkin - dies.
- Wilma's death is very similar to Elsa's death from Indiana Jones and the Last Cascade.
- This episode marks the debut of the ninth and final realm of the Hidden World, the Gods Realm.
- It is unknown what happened to Linda and Nibbles after this episode.
- When Alex calls Sledkin on her phone saying "What's up, doc?" this is a reference to Bugs Bunny's iconic line from the Looney Tunes.
- The Gods Realm is similar to Vanaheim Island, both being essential to Dragonkind and have protectors.
- Its possible that the Gods Realm is supposed to reference the Norse Realm of Asgard which is known as the dwelling place of the gods.
- This is the first time one of the Dragon Classes (Tracker Class) has been mentioned in the series.
