- Matt Masterson, to Mentor as he prepares to energise his Powersuit.
A concerned Stuart Power arrives at Volcania, to be greeted by a gloating Taggart as he is ushered into what will be Volcania's Throne Room. Taggart sweeps his hand around the room, remarking that the technology in Volcania is a far cry from what they had to make do with in those days and marvels at the tremendous energy generated by Volcania's magna plants. Stuart Power is unimpressed. Taggart brings out his hidden weapon, a music box given to him by Jonathan and his father on Taggart's birthday, a symbol of the friendship that had once been. He tries to appeal to Power's emotions and to revive their once powerful friendship to persuade Power to join his cause. Power is not interested, brusquely telling Taggart that his friend would not have ordered the slaughter of millions of people for no apparent reason. Taggart tries to justify his actions, to explain his ideology but Power refuses to be persuaded. He demands Taggart cut to the chase - he demands to see his son. Mildly annoyed at Stuart Power's disinterest, Taggart gestures to the door, where an aide brings in Jonathan.
Meanwhile, at the Power Base, Matt Masterson discovers Dr Power's ID tags, left on the Power Base central computer console. His voice activates the 'Mentor' and 'Final Word' programs. Matt Masterson is rattled by Mentor's uncanny resemblence to Dr Power and becomes concerned when he discovers that the Mentor program was designed by Dr Power to ensure that his son would never be without him. Mentor then plays him Dr Power's final message and reveals the Power Suits hidden behind the vault.
Back at Volcania,father and son embrace but not for long. Brandishing a blaster, Taggart separates them. The reunion is over, and it is time now to talk terms. Power asks Taggart for his terms, what he wants in exchange for Jon's life. Taggart informs Power that he will release Jon on the condition that Power allow himself to be hooked up to Overmind. An edgy Dr Power reluctantly agrees, hoping that this will win his son's freedom.
During this time, Hawk has donned the Power Suit. With some doubts, he charges the suit and survives the experience. Adapting quickly to the air power of his suit, he heads for Volcania.
Taggart is alerted to Hawk's incoming presence and despatches Soaron to deal with him. Then he returns to discussing the terms of Power's unconditional surrender. Power decides not to haggle with Taggart anymore and agrees to his terms. Anything, so long as his son is freed. Taggart is mildly surprised by Power's sudden acquiscience and moves to close the deal quickly.Taggart adds one more caveat to his willingness to free Jon, he demands that Power reveal the location of his secret base. Only after it has been located and destroyed will Taggart release Jon. Power tries to stall for time but Taggart sees through his ruse immediately. Disapointed by what he perceives to be Power's insincerity, he solemnly informs his old friend that unfortunately, such behavior has to be punished. Levelling the blaster at Jon, he takes aim. Things move quickly from here, Stuart Power charges at Dread in desperation to protect his son. A shot goes off but it hits one of the pipelines on the wall. Klaxons squeal and shriek as the power plants go into overload.
Jonathan escapes through the door as his father and Taggart grapple on the ground. Taggart fights to leave the room, telling Power that if they do not leave, they will both die from the ensuing explosion. Power holds him down even more firmly, telling him 'It ends here. Now.' Meanwhile, Soaron and Hawk are engaged in a dogfight in the sky. They are evenly matched and neither is winning. From a balcony on Volcania, Jon manages to hail Hawk on his suit radio, telling him that he is at Volcania and warning him that an explosion might take place.
In the inner chamber, Taggart and Power are still fighting as the magna plants overload and explode. Both Soaron and Hawk hear the explosion and tear towards Volcania. The explosion blows through the entire level of Volcania and the force of the impact throws Jon off the balcony. Precariously he holds on to the ledge with one hand before Hawk swoops to rescue him. Distraught, he tells Hawk that his father was in Volcania when it exploded.
Taggart survives the explosion caused by the magna plant overflow, but barely. His physical body was so badly maimed that it had to be replaced by robot components. All that remains of the man is half his face. At first Dread is repulsed by what he sees, but is won over by Overmind. As the last of his human emotions are drained away, Taggart casts off the last vestiges of his identity as a man by adopting the title 'Lord Dread'.
We return to the present, and Dread is on his way to Stuart Power's grave. On his monitor, Dread listens to Power as he speaks to his father. He watches as Power puts back on his helmet and prepares to leave. Lackki urges haste - if they speed up, they can still catch Power. Mysteriously, Dread orders Soaron back to base but continues to proceed to the grave.
In the final scene, we see Dread standing before the grave of his former friend. In his hand, he holds the music box that Jonathan and Stuart gave to him. He opens it and the tune plays. Closing it, he places it on the gravestone and leaves.
Comment
The final scene shows us coming full circle - we end where we begun. The final scene featuring Dread is as touching as the opening moment where Jonathan kneels to honour his father. The background unravels fully in this episode, explaining how Stuart Power was killed as well as why Dread looks the way he does today.
I think the episode reflects the beginnings of a thread that explores Dread's residual humanity. Many times we will see how he has Power within his grasp, he is in prime position to strike back at him, but he holds back. This episode is an exceptional demonstration this. We are left asking WHY and the answer is perhaps as Stuart Power remarks, some speck of humanity still remains that Overmind has not managed to obliterate. Or perhaps, in a strange way, Taggart feels responsible for depriving Jonathan of his father and even guilt. Whatever it is, there is something deeper in the relationship of Dread-Jonathan Power than mere arch-enemies. I think we also begin to see the beginnings of Dread rebelling against the control of Overmind. JMS remark about this episode is very telling:
"Basically, A Summoning of Thunder is just something I came up with that sounded boss. In a way, it refers to both Soaron and to Jonathan Power as well. There's a line in the script where young Jonathan says, `There's a storm coming,' I believe it's when he's on the supply run. Soaron is what I kind of meant by that, both a literal and a metaphoric storm. But Soaron, like the lightning, is what results in thunder -- and Jonathan is that thunder, the rumble that comes when the lightning has had its due turn. ASOT marks the turning points for both Dread and Power, with both suddenly gearing up to a much higher level than ever before. They have both summoned the thunder, as it were." (Extract from David Steigers Episode Guide)
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©Copyright Bernice Low