The City of Lost Souls (Italian: Le anime erranti nella notte) is the twenty-second episode of the third season (The Two Tigers) and the seventy-fourth overall episode of the animated series, Sandokan.
Plot[]
Sandokan, Marianne, Morugan, Yanez and Kammamuri are again walking down the main road when, upon coming to a ghost-like landscape, they are pervaded by a very strong smell of sulfur. They are still wondering where that smell is coming from when a kind of gnome goes running into a hollow tree trunk. Immediately some horrible men painted in white, with necklaces made of skulls hanging from their necks, surround them. They engage in a furious battle and nothing seems capable of stopping those beings as they go on fighting even when mortally wounded. Then a bolt of lightning strikes the tree and it is set on fire.
Only then do they run away and our heroes have to tend to the petrified and cowardly gnome who is still hiding inside the hollow trunk. Kammamuri takes it upon himself to pull the gnome out by offering him some sweets. Butha, this is the name of that little being, eats them greedily. He then leads them to Buthasvara, the leader of the Butha and father of little Butha himself. Buthasvara explains to them that those men painted in white were the Pretha, who live in graves during the day and then go out at night and feed on the Butha, their favorite food. In addition, their leader named Yama owns an invincible sword that he stole from a living being who walked into Narayama a long time ago.
After Sandokan realizes that it’s the last piece needed to reassemble the invincible sword, all Buthasvara has to do is lead them to the Pretha. But he refuses since the expedition would be too dangerous. In any case, the Pretha smell living beings from a great distance and therefore Morugan has a wonderful idea. After diving into the waters of a putrescent pond, our heroes make their way inside the Pretha territory. The Pretha cannot catch the scent of their presence. Morugan’s plan is working and so they roam around the uncovered tombs until they reach a horrifying statue of the goddess Kalì at whose feet there’s the skeleton of a man still wearing his royal attire that was Krishnayara.
A storm immediately bursts out and our heroes are cleansed from the smell by the pounding rain. The Pretha immediately surround them and Yama attacks Sandokan, saying that in a while they will all end up like that stupid human being who wandered all the way there. The other Pretha don’t attack, but line up in a circle to watch the fight. Following a series of attacks and counter-attacks, Sandokan strikes the sword with his magical dagger and it is smashed into smithereens.
Yama stops in surprise and Sandokan wonders where the perfect sword actually is... then it suddenly dawns on him and he throws the dagger, which drives into the stone heart of the statue representing the goddess. Just one moment later, the statue sets fire to everything that surrounds it and the terrified Pretha run away. The fire slowly dies down and everything becomes as it was before, but in the darkness the perfect sword is suspended in the air and gives off a shining light. Sandokan grabs it and a myriad of rays are emitted by its blade and finally it has been reassembled.
Characters[]
Main[]
Supporting[]
- Buthasvara
- Butha
Villains[]
- Kali
- Yama
- Pretha
