Zorro the Chronicles episode 17 Drought

We present Zorro the Chronicles episode 17 Drought  — 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 17 Drought — plot summary

Zorro the Chronicles episode 17 Drought begins with young de la Vegas coming to the hacienda with water. Vaqueros and Ines worry about the prolonged drought, which means not only the need to carry water for the animals, but also no feed for winter. Meanwhile, Bernardo plays a joke on Diego, changing the canteens and handing him an empty one.

The Indians are also worried about the lack of rain. The river running through their village has become completely dry. Only the children, especially little Tishi, are happy because they have an argument against bathing. It is deflated by Tainah, who proposes to use sand instead of water. The shaman prepares for the ritual of summoning the spirits of rain. She agrees for the children’s help as long as they clean themselves first.

Operation aqueduct

Water is scarce in the region and pueblo. The last to learn about the trouble is Captain Monasterio, because Gonzales cannot water the horses. He reacts quickly by ordering the construction of an aqueduct from the square to the garrison. He hands Garcia a detailed construction plan, though the sergeant’s face shows that he is not keeping up with the complicated instruction.

 

The inhabitants of the pueblo watch with amazement and curiosity the toiling soldiers who carry building materials and work persistently in the Californian heat. There are protests from the innkeeper and the monk against the army taking all the water. The captain threatens them with jail, so they leave. Fortunately, the serious mood is lightened by Garcia. He tries very hard to direct the lancers, but this results in multiple collisions and falls. Eventually, the sergeant orders the soldiers to drop everything. A heavy board is dropped on his foot.

Aqueduct: the second approach

Garcia, proud of himself, presents the finished aqueduct to his superior. It looks all right according to the plan, but… it leads to the inn instead of the garrison! Montaserio expresses his displeasure rather bluntly, and the sergeant is clearly flustered. Gonzales gets the instruction and is now responsible for overseeing the reconstruction.

The soldiers are exhausted from all day work and hot weather, but the structure finally meets the captain’s expectations. Well, it almost fulfills them as it leaks a bit. It causes another fit of the commandant’s rage and the cheerfulness of Los Angeles residents. It turns out that the corporal was holding the paper upside down. This time we have a draw – Garcia 1 : Gonzales 1. And the captain still doesn’t have an aqueduct.

Eventually, the water pipe is ready to work.

Zorro learns about the aqueduct

The De la Vegas come to the cooper to fix their barrels. They learn from him about the situation in the pueblo. The captain announces that the water will be rationed: half a bucket a day per person. While this may suffice for personal needs, the issue of livestock and crops remains unresolved. A murmur of discontent flashes across the square, but nobody dares to protest loudly.

Meanwhile, Diego, Inez and Bernardo visit the barracks. There the domestic chores are fulfilled as if there was no drought! Garcia is shaving, and the soldiers are doing the laundry without saving any water. Young de la Vega ironically criticizes such a waste of valuable resources. His sister decides to take a more direct approach and knocks on the captain’s quarters. Before the girl gets a chance to speak, she receives flowers from Monasterio along with compliments. She shows what she thinks about the gift by throwing it over the sergeant’s head. Her protests are completely dismissed as the commandant believes that a woman shouldn’t think about such serious matters. Inez is clearly irritated with such treatment.

While leaving the garrison, Bernardo and Diego carefully inspect the supports of the aqueduct.

Zorro destroys the aqueduct

At night, Zorro arrives to the pueblo where he finds the sergeant and the corporal sleeping on duty. He ties a previously prepared rope to the support and the pommel of Tornado’s saddle. He also witnesses how the sleepyheads are caught by the commandant, who anticipates the masked rider’s arrival. Zorro chooses this moment to reveal his presence, claiming that he has only come for his allotted half a bucket of water. He does not seem to care about the soldiers’ drawn swords. The first to be neutralized is Monasterio, who tries to take the bucket off his head for half the fight. The clash of weapons wakes the inhabitants.

In addition to the sword duels, Zorro also shows off gymnastic acrobatics on the aqueduct which will make Kevin Bacon proud. Eventually, he jumps onto the horse while running and rides away, pulling the rope with him. It ends in a construction disaster. The renegade has the nerve to turn back and apologize for forgetting to untie Tornado. Residents take the opportunity to run to the well with buckets.

Unpleasant surprise, or aqueduct number 3

In the morning, the young de la Vegas go to the pueblo, because Inez wants to check whether his brother’s action was successful. They see a completely new construction and resting soldiers. Monasterio is threatening with shuffling dung for a month to any sentinel who lets anyone to get close to the aqueduct.

Diego decides to re-destroy the captain’s project, but his sister warns him against the guards. She offers to distract them. Taught by experience, the caballero agrees but asks her not to get involved in the fight. Bernardo wants to dress up, too.

Zorro, Zorro and Zorro

All three go to the cave where they train with various types of weapons and try on black clothes. Diego points out how important the cape and sweeping it are to his image, but Inez does not appreciate this element of the masquerade.

Night falls in the pueblo, but the sentries are still vigilantly guarding the aqueduct. Only Garcia regrets that he did not go to the navy, allowing himself to sit and fall asleep. He is awakened with the sword stabbing him in the nose and the sight of Zorro lying on the roof. Inez modulates her voice, but the sergeant hears the difference and asks for health with concern! The renegade declares he has come to destroy the construction, and Garcia pleads for mercy. After a few acrobatics, Zorro jumps on the horse and runs away. Garcia takes credit for chasing the criminal away, and the captain takes the squad for a chase. Garcia and Gonzales are to stay in the pueblo to protect the water from being stolen by the townspeople.

 

Nobody sees two more Zorros lurking in the bell tower and church tower. Bernardo steps in and uses the whip to disarm the sergeant. He does not answer his questions, so the soldier is still worried about his health and suggests lemon tea. The noises wake up residents who witness an unusual duel with the soldiers. Instead of a sword, Gonzales is handed a hen on a sombrero, which sits persistently on the hat even when he is running around the square. The fun ends with the departure of Zorro and another unit, which is watched by… Zorro, hidden behind the pump. This time, the real one.

Chasing Zorro

Inez realizes that she will not outspeed the captain who is hot on her heels. Therefore, she jumps over the bushes to loose at least some soldiers that chase her. One of them is thrown from the saddle by a low-hanging branch. However, Monasterio himself is very determined to catch his nemesis. As predicted by Diego, Inez, dressed in black, is disarmed in a sword duel on horses. Fortunately, the girl spots a broken branch and uses it as a club. The captain who gets hit on the head has no chance and falls off his mount.

Bernardo and the second unit led by Gonzalez, who is already imagining his promotion to sergeant, are also going the same way. While Zorro efficiently bypasses Monasterio and his people, the corporal and his companions spectacularly collide with them. The commander orders the return to the pueblo.

In the morning, Inez and Bernardo meet on the hill above Los Angeles, still wearing Zorro’s clothes. The girl boasts about a duel with the captain, and Bernardo makes her realize that only Garcia is left to defend the aqueduct. They joke that this time they did the hardest part of work, but all the praises, as usual, will go to Zorro-Diego.

Seargent’s brave fight

Garcia remains on guard on his own. Carlos the innkeeper brings him a huge plate of potato tortillas. The sergeant knows perfectly well that it is a bribe for him to turn a blind eye to the inhabitants getting water into barrels. He eagerly devours the dish, but before he has a chance to finish it, Zorro approaches him and proposes a deal. Garcia will be eating calmly while Zorro will be destroying the aqueduct. The soldier cannot agree, though, because he knows that the short-tempered captain will order to rebuild the structure again.

 

However, the bandit has a different idea for destruction. He fights the lancer in such a way that Garcia falls into or hit the support poles. The fist duel goes on all night. In the morning, we see a sergeant who is already very tired, but cheered on by the townspeople. The soldiers return to the pueblo and surround the bandit. Garcia boasts how bravely he defended the aqueduct for hours. Unfortunately, he leans against a strained pole and… the whole thing falls apart again!

Rain

The captain’s desperate scream is truly poignant. Zorro thanks the sergeant for help and departs. The furious Monasterio is looking for his subordinate who hid in the barracks a moment earlier. A huge black cloud that covers the entire sky saves poor Garcia from big troubles. Everyone – the soldiers and the inhabitants – rejoices at the downpour, and Gonzales grasps the commander for a joyful dance.

The only dissatisfied person is the captain himself, who gives the corporal a month’s service in cleaning the dung. The sergeant, in turn, is to clean up all the remains in the square as a punishment. Contrary to the intention, Garcia is happy because it means that the aqueduct will not be rebuilt.

Zorro, who is returning to the cave, also celebrates. He drives past an Indian village and greets Tainah with a knowing smile. The shaman was relieved that in the end her singing to the spirits had an effect, because her repertoire has limits.

Zorro the Chronicles episode 17 Drought — review

I really like when the Chronicles’ creators make use of geographical aspects of the place where the action is set. It’s both educational and refreshing. They have already built a plot around a tornado. Now, the time of drought has come to California.

Captain Monasterio approaches the situation with all seriousness. He even presents an admirable piece of knowledge when ordering his soldiers to build… an aqueduct. According to the instruction he prepared on his own. Of course the aqueduct is ready only after the third trial. After all, neither Garcia nor Gonzalez has experience with such complicated tasks. But in the end, it IS constructed and working to the proud captain’s satisfaction.

Just one problem

Monasterio could’ve turned out to be a really good commandant. During the time of crisis he builds a device which makes obtaining water easier, and rations the resources. Quite severely, sure, as it’s only one bucket per person daily, but it’s hard time for all Californians. It’s a pity, though, that he provides these water supplies particularly for the garrison. There, the soldiers do their laundry and morning routines together with shaving – in the middle of a drought! This way, Monasterio spectacularly fails the test for caring and thoughtful leader.

Three times Zorro

Luckily, there’s Zorro! Even three of them, as Diego gets helped by Bernardo and Ines. They work really well as a group and as a result, they achieve their goal. I can’t help but wonder, though, how come nobody recognized Bernardo’s tattoos that are visible when he’s dressed as Zorro. Maybe we can assume it was a REALLY dark night…? Garcia, who’s defending the aqueduct all night on his own, makes me forgiving towards everything else. He’s so eager! While struggling with Zorro, he crashes into the structure so many times that the aqueduct finally collapses. The disaster is witnessed by the captain who wails so pitifully that it’s impossible not to feel for him. Even for a while, despite all his mistakes and cruelties.

Nice touches

I got the impression that this episode was particularly abundant with picturesque views of Californian landscape. Even the dry land presented itself in an aesthetically pleasing way. It was also the first time I took notice of very fitting, Spanish-like music playing during the duels. It completed the fight scenes splendidly.

Zorro the Chronicles episode 17 Drought — Youtube

World premiere: 24.01.2016

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.