Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 Zorro the thief

We present Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 Zorro the thief — plot summary, our subjective review, the episode itself and the list of creators. Don’t forget about the next episode! You’ll find a link to it at the bottom of the page.

Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 — plot summary

Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 Zorro the thief begins with Diego, Inez and Bernardo coming to the pueblo on the day of collecting taxes. The queue of citizens is guarded by armed soldiers. Manuel de la Cruz protests that the taxes were collected a month ago, and he brings only one peso. Monasterio corrects him that the money won’t be transported to the kingdom of Spain, but will fund the governor’s protocol costs instead. A miserable sergeant takes the poor farmer to the cell. The de la Vegas and the Villalongas discuss the situation. Inez finds it outrageous, the older caballeros criticize don Parasol’s lavish lifestyle. Diego has to play his role, though, claiming that taxes bore him. Carmen tries to make him more interested in the problem, using Zorro as an example. However, the young man explains that his hobbies are philosophy and art, not fencing.

But of course, it doesn’t mean that Zorro will do nothing. At night, he sets a trap in the mountains for the travelling convoy. The captain voices out his dreams about the promotion and admits that he’s collected more money to impress his superior and beat other pueblos. Suddenly, an avalanche comes down to the narrow road. With chasm on one side and a steep wall on the other, the cart can’t go past the fallen rocks. Garcia is sent to blow up the obstacle with a barrel of gunpowder. However, he doesn’t reach the destination as Zorro swiftly takes over the barrel. Playing with matches near the fuse effectively keeps the soldiers at bay. The army backs out and the captain has no other choice than give the gold and his notebook to the renegade.

Has everything gone according to the plan?

While Gonzalez and Garcia are transporting the money to Tornado, Zorro discovers fireworks for don Parasol’s ball. He decides that they’ll look better near Los Angeles. One of them chooses the sergeant as its aim. The soldier runs away in panic and the bandit escapes with the money.

Suddenly someone throws Zorro off a horse and pushes him into a rock. This someone turns out to be La Rana. The renegade loses consciousness. Tornado is coming to save his master and tries to wake him up. The animal doesn’t notice that in the meantime, Malapensa’s subordinates take the bags with money off his back. However, when the Dentist wants to take off Zorro’s mask, Tornado throws him up in the air and protects his friend. La Rana the toreador gets beaten, too, and the bandits run away. Tornado finally manages to wake Zorro up. The renegade quickly assesses the situation. He follows his opponents, using the traces of the hooves. When he hears a troop of soldiers coming back with an empty cart, he hides behind a rock. Unfortunately, lancers add new footprints to those left on the road. Following the thieves becomes impossible.

Ungrateful citizens

Next day, Garcia tells about the adventure and, encouraged by Diego, draws the longbow. People don’t believe that Zorro has stolen from them. Their opinion changes, though, when the captain announces that he’ll collect the money again. Malapensa raises the reward for catching the renegade and many volunteers for a manhunt. Diego, Bernardo and Inez talk about don Rodrigo’s eagerness and the fact that the young man was attacked by the masked duo. The conversation is interrupted by the captain who sarcastically offers young de la Vega to join the Fox hunt. After pretending to hesitate for a while, Diego finally agrees.

But Monasterio and Malapensa quickly discover that Diego only interrupts and slows everyone down as he admires the views. They leave him behind, which provides him with an excuse to sneak out to the cave. All-day searching for Zorro are fruitless, the participants tired. Don Rodrigo invites the troop to his house so they can freshen up and rest.

Zorro finds the real thieves

Meanwhile Zorro and Bernardo try to see what’s going on in Malapensa’s basement. There, among the bottles of wine and barrels, the Dentist and La Rana enjoy their haul. They intend to take some money for themselves, believing the boss won’t notice. The Fox recognizes them as bandits who attacked him and Bernardo confirms his suspicions with smashing a fist into his hand. The sound alarms the thieves and the Dentist looks through the window. He sees nothing suspicious. The audience has fun, though, watching the acrobatic poses of Zorro and his friend.

Don Rodrigo peeks out the hacienda’s door and catches his subordinates on playing cards. They quickly hide them. The sergeant walks in after him and lounges on the couch as if he were at home. Monasterio reprimands him and takes his place. Malapensa goes to the basement to bring refreshments, ordering the Dentist and La Rana discreetly to guard the guests. He’s very surprised to find Zorro there, who passes the bags with a haul to his helper outside. There’s the only one left so Bernardo leaves with his lot.

An unusually quiet duel

Don Rodrigo draws his sword and creeps near the Fox, but he’s not quiet enough. He’s been noticed. An accurate movement of the whip and the blade is thrown out of his hand. It gets stuck in a basket on the shelf. However, Zorro honourably gives the weapon back to Malapensa and proposes a duel. Greedy caballero knows he stands no chance, so he backs off. At least until his subordinates come to help.

La Rana accidentally knocks a lamp over and his boss tells them not to make any noise. He goes back to the guests. The renegade is having the fun of his life, though. He provokes various loud noises with a pot, a barrel and a whip, watching how his opponents try harder to stop the noise than fight.

Alert captain and a duel with a ham

Upstairs, Malapensa tries to cover up the noises, but the captain gets more and more suspicious. Finally, they go to the basement. They see the Dentist and La Rana wearing the barrels, and the whole mess in the room. It’s Garcia who notices Zorro hidden in the niche. Monasterio asks uncomfortable questions and believes in none of the caballero’s lame excuses. An effective duel begins, with some acrobatics and using the ham hanging from the ceiling as a weapon. During the fight, the meat is cut off. The sergeant heroically saves the falling delicacy. The captain corners his enemy, but Zorro manages to escape. Exchanging the thrusts is very even until the renegade’s blade gets stuck in a basket. As it’s the same thing that met don Rodrigo’s weapon earlier, we can say the basket isn’t having the best of the evening. 🙂

Monasterio already starts to celebrate his triumph, but the lack of weapon doesn’t bother Zorro. He swiftly avoids all thrusts, balancing at the top of a ladder. Eventually, he “borrows” the ham from the worried sergeant. With two accurate blows from this improvised club, he incapacitates the captain and Malapensa, who’s trying to attack him from behind. Everyone gets their Z cut on clothes apart from good old Garcia, who has a “signed” ham.  Zorro escapes through the window.

The commander runs to the front of the hacienda and wakes the sleeping troop up. However, the soldiers aren’t used to such sudden actions and have problems with mounting horses in the right way. They collide with each other, sit on a horse backwards and run pointlessly in every direction. There’s no chance for a good pursuit with such lancers.

Good morning Monasterio 🙂

That’s why Zorro calmly visits every house, leaving pouches with money on thresholds. In the morning, when the inhabitants wake up, a pleasant surprise is waiting for them. What waits for the captain, though? Loud cheering for the masked defender of Los Angeles raises him from his beauty sleep. Even his soldiers can’t hide their joy. Monasterio is just about to attack Garcia when one of the cheering people grabs him to a spontaneous dance. (He very well could’ve wanted to save the poor sergeant, though.) The captain, spinned and confused, lands next to a big bag with gold and a note. The present situation is a nightmare for him. Discovering that “gold” is made of round cookies with Z cut on them is the last straw. And the day has only begun…

Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 Zorro the thief — review

Captain Monasterio came to his senses (I still can’t forgive him the whole thing with canons from episode 6, you know). He created a simple yet delightful intrigue. He intended to collect additional money and bring it to the governor in order to buy himself a promotion. It’s so like him, right? And the main advantage of this episode are the characters, all of them behaving…well, in character. 😉 And driving the plot.

Selflessness doesn’t pay

The episode begins with a standard element of every Zorro adaptation: Diego is criticised for not acting like Zorro. Then, the boy makes a wonderful performance, acting out his reluctance to take part in the Fox hunt. Finally, he’s immensely delightful when pretending to be totally uninterested in the search and admiring the landscapes and the sunset instead. Wearing a black costume, he naturally tries to get the inhabitants’ money back. It doesn’t pay off too well, though.  When he’s robbed and accused of stealing the money, all citizens of Los Angeles suffer from collective amnesia. They no longer remember how Zorro has defended and saved everyone. It takes one unconfirmed information to ruin the masked hero’s reputation. It’s slightly disturbing. And far-fetched.

A horse is a man’s best friend

Tornado proves in this episode that he’s not only Zorro’s steed but also a valuable partner. The animal doesn’t prevent the robbery, but he bravely protects his master from getting his identity revealed. He defeats the Dentist and La Rana, who really surprised me with their competence! After all, they got and knocked out Zorro, so they did something the whole troop fails to do since episode 1. But of course, later everything’s back to normal. Zorro effortlessly beats two bandits in the end. His final fight with Monasterio is so packed with acrobatics that it ruins a very well-done duel.

Hard life of the soldier

As usual, food is more important than a duty for Garcia. Though nobody can say that being a soldier is his calling, the sergeant has become a character with whom we can easily identify. Plus his escape from the firework is really spectacular! Monasterio also shows his human side. When the captain, discouraged, admits that the search for Zorro is yet another failure and his people need rest, we can truly feel sorry for him.

The commander, although frustrated and tired, remains admirably alert and competent. Hearing suspicious noise, he unceremoniously moves don Rodrigo aside (in Malapensa’s own house!) and runs to the basement to fight a great duel with Zorro. Honestly speaking, if the Fox hadn’t suddenly revealed Spiderman’s skills by walking on walls, the captain would’ve had a chance to win the fight.

If anyone disappoints in this episode, it’s don Rodrigo. Incredibly effective and dangerous so far, now he turns out to be a terrible liar. What’s more, he shows that he knows the Dentist and La Rana. I don’t know if that was a reasonable thing to do. Time will tell!

Oh, captain Monasterio

As all readers may have already realized, I’m a fan of señor the commander. Monasterio has a couple of wonderful moments in this episode that deserves special attention. I couldn’t help but smile when he ironically invited Diego to go hunting for Zorro. That was the captain at his sharpest! At the end, he also performs his infamous facepalm. And looking at his subordinates, we can’t really blame him. The end is simply amazing when Monasterio first orders to arrest everyone, then is grabbed for a cheerful dance and finally mocked by Zorro. It’s not easy being a tyrannical comandante!

Psst, take a look at his pyjamas! He’s got epaulettes there. And the scene with sleeping Monasterio definitely proves that the captain is only cute when asleep! 😉

Zorro the Chronicles episode 10 Zorro the thief – Youtube

World premiere: 13.12.2015

Production: Cyber Group Studios
Directed by Olivier Lelardoux, Pierre Sissman
Animation: Nicolas Davoust, Yann Martinat

Voices:
Don Diego/Zorro: Johnny Yong Bosch, Valéry Schatz
Ines: Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Sandra Lou
Monasterio: Jamieson Price, Paul Borne
Demetrio Garcia: Kirk Thornton
Ignacio Gonzalez: Fabrice Fara
Other voices: R. Martin Klein, Kyle McCarley, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Joe Ochman, Alan Shearman, Keith Silverstein, Anne Yatco, Michel Bedetti, Martin Billany, Bernard Bollet, Lucien Dodge, Richard Epcar, Pascal Casanova, Melora Harte, Vincent de Bouard, Marie-Christine Darah, Jean-Christophe Dollé, Bubba Kuchow, Patrice Dozier, Joey Latsko, Dave Mallow, Karine Foviau, Stéphanie Hédin, Tony Joudrier, Juan Llorca, Patrick Messe, Michel Voletti,