Mysterious Cities of Gold Story (...continued)     (back to main page)    The manuscript tells the children that they need the 3 manuscripts to tell them where the Cities of Gold are, which are each in a different city. The last manuscript is supposed to be in the forest of statues. Eventually they find the statues and find themselves in an underground city. There are huge doors that lead further into the city, but they are impassable. So the children try the same trick as before and shine light into the door, which crumbles and they find the final manuscript. But the manuscript doesn't make sense and Tao becomes frustrated. But Esteban notices that some of the writing on some of the manuscripts is faded. This gives Tao an idea and he soaks the manuscripts in water. It seems that some of the text is written in different ink and when soaked in water spells out a different message.   It tells them to the west of the land of the Mayas is the burning shield. They make their way towards the west and come across a strange looking mountain that gives off light from the very top of it. As they get closer, Tao's jar starts to glow and beep. They follow a river that comes from the mountain and find a secret passage. This leads them further into the mountain and they find the Olmec city inside. At the centre of the city is a huge crystal that the Olmecs have learnt to use it to convert geothermic energy into mechanical energy. Mendoza tells the children to hide, while he explores the temple. But the children are eventually discovered by the Master Menator, who is the leader of the Olmecs. They try to escape from him, but he bombards them with light and sound and they collapse. When they wake up they are told by Menator that they will use cells from them to stop the Olmec population from ageing.    But Mendoza frees the children and they are chased to the top of the mountain top, where they are all captured. Master Menator decides that the children should be put in suspended animation as they are more trouble when awake. But a Mayan girl called Mayena who has been enslaved by the Olmecs for years cannot stand by and see the children frozen. So she frees Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro, to get them to rescue the children. They grab the children and escape through the tunnels and underground river they first entered the mountain.    But the Olmecs pursue them to the outside and surround them. Just when they think its all over, Wynacocha and his 'Mayans of the New Sun' attack the Olmecs and drive them back. Mayena is so glad to see Wynacocha, as he is her intended and they are to marry when she is older. When he sees Mendoza, he sees him as a Spanish enemy, but Mayena explains that it was Mendoza that had freed her from the Olmecs. He thanks Mendoza, but says that he can never accept him as an ally.    They are all taken back to their town where they are locked up, as they are still not trusted. They don't allow foreigners near to their sick chief, but Sancho and Pedro escape from the hut while the others are asleep and try to ask him about the cities of gold. But they fall through the roof and land in front of the chief called Papacamayo. They are all imprisoned again and they trust them less this time. In the mean time the Olmecs have captured Dr Leguerra and Marinche. They tell Master Menator about that they have a present for them, the Golden Condor. The Olmecs send an expedition to retrieve the Condor. The villagers hear that the Olmecs are excited about a Golden Condor that they have found. Mendoza agrees with the children that it would be disastrous if the Olmecs get hold of the condor. So they set fire to the house they are imprisoned in. Mendoza agrees to hold off the villagers while the children escape and retrieve the condor. Just as the children flee, Papacamayo finds out about Zia from Mayena and suddenly realises that she is his daughter. But he finds out that he's too late and has missed her.   Luckily the Olmecs don't know that the Condor can fly and they try to lift it out of the hole that it was left in. On the way to the condor, the children bump into Gomez and Gaspard, who the children thought they were dead. They explain that they are going to get the Condor from the Olmecs and they agree to help them (as Mendoza does nothing unless its to get gold). The children get to the condor and fly it out of the hole, but don't let Gomez and Gaspard into the cockpit and fly off with them still holding on. Esteban eventually shakes them off over a forest. They then fly the Condor back to the village to find it is under attack from the Olmecs. Esteban uses the condor to swoop down towards the Olmecs and sweep them off their feet. The sight of the great bird scares them and they scatter in every direction, not before they stab the CHief of the village. The condor lands and it is then that Zia finds out that the Chief is infact her father. A dying Papacamayo tries to tell her about the secrets of the Cities of Gold.   He tells her that - Pizarro found the golden quipu and he commanded his troops to attacked a village to find the chief who knew how to read the quipu. Here a soldier found Zia and was taken to Pizarro. He decreed that Zia must be taken back to Spain as a present for Princess Marguerita. No one knew that Zia was the daughter of the chief. He chased after them trying to get his daughter back, but they were too quick for him and had already set sail for Spain. His heart was broken, so he decided to set out to find the Cities of Gold before Pizarro did. He went on and on through countless countries until he found the Cities of Gold. He tells her that the cities of gold are found on the intersection between the 3 cities with the manuscripts and the mountain of the burning shield.   He tells them that the priceless treasure that is in the City of Gold should not fall into the hands of the Olmecs, as the world will be in great danger if they do. So he decided to take up residence in a village next to the Olmecs to keep an eye on them. At this point Papacamayo  died. Zia was understandably heart broken. Wynacocha knows that the Olmecs will be back to wipe them out, so he tries to persuade the chiefs from other villages to help in the war against them. But the other villages are too scared of the Olmecs and they all refuse. A dejected Wynacocha returns and faces up to the fact that it is only his village that will stand up to them and it will mean certain death for his village.    Now that Mendoza knows where the first City of Gold his, he wrestles with his conscience on whether to help the children and the villagers defend the village. It is when he finds Pedro and Sancho stealing food from the village before they head to the City of Gold, that he makes up his mind. He is furious with the pair for stealing and orders them to help him fight against the Olmecs. Understandably they are confused why he would want to help them. But it seems that the the local tribes have had a change of heart and decide to help Wynacocha's tribe against the Olmecs. So Mendoza gets the Mayans to start building a couple of wooden battle towers. While this is happening, Tao has had an idea to attach a weapon to the golden condor and fix baskets full of rocks onto it, to drop on the enemy.    While this is happening, the rest of the Mayans go to attack the Olmecs and only the children and the women are left in the city. Little did they realise that Gomez and Gaspard had found them and tried to Zia hostage, but the rest of the children and the villagers fight back and overpower them. When the Golden Condor takes off to help in the fight against the villagers, Gomez and Gaspard escape and hitch a lift on the Condor by holding onto the baskets underneath it. The condor then swoops towards the Olmec troops who are currently winning the battle against the Mayas and starts to drop rocks onto the Olmecs. At the same time Mendoza's battle towers are ready and the Mayans now have a way of effectively storming the mountain. The condor lands further up the mountain and waits for the outcome of the battle.   But it seems that Gomez and Gaspard have caught up with the children again and force them into the centre of the mountain, as there must be gold there. Here they come across a Master Menator who lures them further into the mountain (he keeps appearing and disappearing to the annoyance of Gaspard). The children keep telling them that it is a trap, but they don't listen to them. When Mendoza goes in search for the children he finds out the Mayas saw Gomez and Gaspard take the children into the mountain. Sancho and Pedro want to leave the children, as they have no responsibility to them. But Mendoza says that he has grown fond of the children and would miss them if they were gone, so they will go into the mountain and find them.    Gomez and Gaspard eventually come across a room full of Olmecs, which Gomez and Gaspard think are dead. But Master Menator explains that they aren't dead but are frozen, they are the Chosen Ones. He continues to explain that long ago there was a great war and his people were decimated. The atmosphere was poisoned and their bodies changed and they could no longer have children, so the nobles (The Chosen Ones) were frozen for the future. Menator then orders the remaining Olmecs to kill Gomez and Gaspard, and try force Esteban to tell him where the city of gold is, as they want the mysterious treasure it has. At that moment Mendoza turns up and stops them killing Gomez and Gaspard. But in the confusion Zia is taken hostage and will not be released until Esteban tells him where to find the city of gold. Reluctantly Esteban tells him what he knows. As you can probably guess Zia isn't released and the whole mountain starts to shake as an Olmec spaceship carrying Menator and Zia blasts itself out of the mountainside.   Esteban, Tao and Mendoza give chase in the Golden Condor. But the Olmec ship turns the tables and heads after the condor. It takes all the skill of Esteban to dodge the ship, until he comes up with an idea. He positions the condor on top of the Olmecs machine, which allow Tao and himself to drop onto the roof of it. Poor Mendoza is left controlling the condor, but he is a navigator not a pilot and crashes the condor (he thinks that Esteban makes it look easy). Once Esteban and Tao are inside they make their way to the control room of the ship and cause a diversion. This allows Esteban to attempt a rescue of Zia while Tao continues to try and pilot the ship. Esteban reaches the same room as Master Menator and Zia and seals them in. But the Olmecs are already trying to cut open the door to get to them, so Esteban smashes the glass and throws Zia and himself out of it. You see, Esteban knew that they were passing over a great lake and that they would be safe. Esteban and Zia are then washed ashore on an island in the middle of the lake. Here they are found by some native Indians, who take them to meet the Guardian of the Cities of Gold.   He tells them that they have been waiting for them, as the prophecies had foretold. He shows them a great library that has all books that man has ever created. Next he shows them an indestructible door, which is the gateway to the first City of Gold and the only way to open it is to use their medallions in 2 holes set into the door. Just before they can decide what to do the Olmecs arrive in their ship. They are greeted by the High Priest. But they aren't interested in pleasantries and instead want to force Esteban and Zia to open the doors to the City of Gold. To try to do this they dangle Tao from a rope, from their spaceship and start to smash him into the side of the island.   But the High Priest wants them to understand what is at stake before they think of opening the doors. He tells them that the doors were closed by the people of Hiva. The Emperor of Hiva proclaimed that the only holders of the medallions should choose whether to open the doors or not. The Empire of Hiva had learnt to harness the power of the sun, lead peaceful lives and prospered. The people of Atlantis were similar and had harnessed the power of the sun too, and built their own empire. But war broke out between these two empires, over such a trivial thing that it is too small to mention. The war went on for years until both their armies used weapons of the sun on each other. Both civilisations sank to the bottom of the ocean.   The Emperor of Hiva had foretold this calamity and so built 7 Cities of Gold around the world, each with a great treasure, each with indestructible doors. The stories of the Cities of Gold gradually vanished over the years, till 2 gold medallions materialised. They were handed down through generations until they came into the hands of 2 innocents - Children. Those innocents were Zia and Esteban. If the great treasure got into the hands of the Olmecs, it could cause thousands of peoples lives. But the children couldn't turn their back on Tao and so opened the door for the Olmecs. The city is breathtaking. As soon as the doors were opened the Olmec ship separates and each section smashes through the outer doors of the island towards the doors to the City of Gold.    Once into the City of Gold, the ship reassembles itself and heads towards the high peak. Mendoza and the children chase after them. The Commander of the Olmecs (Kalmec) reaches the top of the high peak and tries to reason with him. He tells the commander not to use the great treasure and offers him the option of peace and that he will help the Olmecs to save his people. Commander Kalmec agrees, but it is a trick and he stabs the High Priest. The commander states that the Olmecs do not share and show no mercy. The High Priest is still alive, but injured and pleads for the commander before a disaster befalls them all. But he is ignored and the commander goes into the high peak and finds instructions on how to get to the great treasure. He presses an number of buttons and levers and the treasure is revealed to him, but there is an empty shape in the middle of the treasure, a similar shape to Tao's jar.   As soon as the commander removes the great treasure from its housing, a light beams into the sky and the dome that the City of Gold was encased in starts to break up and eventually recedes. Then solar panels are deployed around the city, encircling it totally. It is at this point that the High Priest calls to Esteban to call forth the sun, which he does. The sun hits the solar panels and sends beams of light to the highest point in the city, where the beams converge and shoots a beat out of the top of it at the Olmec ship.    The Olmecs ship is severely damaged, which crashes into a section of the city and sets part of the city ablaze. But the Olmec ship limps back to mountain of the blazing shield, with the Master Menator and Commander Kalmec. But Menator is wounded and he orders the commander to install the great treasure into the heart of the reactor, at the bottom of the crystal. But the reactor explodes as the treasure is in fact missing Tao's jar. The reactor starts to burn its way through the earth's crust, which will cause earthquakes and let poisonous gas into the atmosphere killing everyone on earth. At this point Master Menator and Commander Kalmec perish in the crumbling mountain.   The wounded High Priest is carried by the Mayans to the mountain of the burning shield, with the children and Sancho and Pedro. He tells Esteban that his father was a travelling prophet and he didn't know where he was now. They know that the High Priest is going on a suicide mission to stop the great treasure. He bids them farewell and enters the mountain with Tao's Jar which is the key component that would control the great treasure and stop it burrowing into the earth.     At the same time, the City of Gold is nearly empty, apart from Gomez and Gaspard, who are still trying to collect gold. Mendoza had just left the city and he comes across the guardians of the city who are looking onto the city. They inform him that they are making sure the city is destroyed, the direct wishes of the real High Priest. Mendoza then finds out the person they call the High Priest isn't the real High Priest, who died 3 years ago. He was a travelling prophet who took on the role of the High Priest when he was sure that his son would come to the City of Gold. Mendoza guesses that the new High Priest was Esteban's father and asks the guardians not to tell Esteban, as he knew that the priest was on a suicide mission. The city is destroyed, taking Gomez and Gaspard with it?   Meanwhile the High Priest slides down the hole that the great treasure has created. When he gets close to the treasure he starts to catch fire, the pain he is going through is excruciating and after collapsing a couple of times he eventually places the jar in the great treasure and it stops burrowing. The last thing that happens is the priest’s gold mask falls on the floor and starts to melt. He is not seen again.   When everyone returns to the City of Gold they find out that it has sunk without trace. Pedro and Sancho are gutted that they have lost all their gold. But Mendoza cheers them up when he shows them the gold he stashed away when they helped the High Priest get to the Mountain of the Burning Shield, as he knew something would happen. The children bid farewell to everyone as they have decided to take the golden condor over the western sea to adventure. Mendoza says that they will meet again in the tavern across the sea in Barcelona. Then the children fly off in the Golden Condor and into the horizon. Mysterious Cities of Gold T-Shirts - NONE Mysterious Cities of Gold DVDs Region 2 (Europe) - Mysterious Cities of     Gold DVDs Region 1 (USA) - Mysterious Cities of     Gold DVDs Mysterious Cities of Gold Video Mysterious Cities of Gold Episodes Series 1 (1982)  1. Esteban, Child Of The Sun  2. Crossing The Atlantic  3. Heroes Again  4. Adrift On The Endless Sea  5. The Abduction Of Zia  6. The Ship Solaris  7. Secret Of The Solaris  8. The New Continent  9. The End Of The Solaris  10. Secret Of The Temple  11. Messengers Of The Region  12. Secret Of The Medallions  13. Mystery Of The Parents  14. Esteban's Medallion  15. The Subterranean Secret  16. The Urubus  17. The Great Condor  18. Maiden Flight Of The Great Condor  19. The Nazca Plateau  20. The Spaniards' Cannon  21. The Amazons  22. The Mirror Of The Moon  23.The Jade Mask  24. The Manuscript  25. The Lake Of Gold  26. The Swamps  27. The Doors Of Night  28. The Forest Of Statues  29. The Burning Shield  30. The Escape  31. The Village Of The New Sun  32. Attack Of The Olmecs  33. The Reunion  34. Revolt Of The Mayas  35. The Olmec Machine  36. Aerial Pursuit  37. The City Of Gold  38. The Great Legacy  39. End Of The City Of Gold  Mysterious Cities of Gold Images (click to enlarge) © JedisParadise.com Toys & Gifts T-Shirts Bargain DVDs