Secret of the Temple

"" is the tenth episode from the first season of The Mysterious Cities of Gold.

The children set out to find Puna, Zia's home village, but to get there, they must go through a pass blocked by Pizarro's fortress which is built atop an underground temple. Sneaking into the temple, the children find an old priest named Pasha who helps guide them further, but Pizarro sets a trap for them. Pasha reveals a secret escape route through a puzzle room, which once solved, melts a pillar of ice that collapses the temple and likewise brings down Pizarro's fortress. During the collapse, the children become separated from Mendoza and his men.

Mendoza asks Zia what the message was that she read, but she refuses to tell him. The children agree to make their way south to Zia's village, and the sailors join them in the hope that she will tell them sooner or later. However, Pizarro's fortress blocks the narrow route south. Apo, the Inca elder, knows of no other route, but tells them that the exceedingly old and wise Pasha might know. Sadly Pasha was long ago taken prisoner by Pizarro and no-one knows if he is even still alive. Pizarro himself, meanwhile, is angered at the apparent death of Zia and sends Gomez and Gaspard to search for the other children. The children decide to return to the tunnels beneath the fortress in the hope of finding a route to the other side, accidentally alerting Gomez and Gaspard to Zia's continued wellbeing in the process. Pizarro leads Gomez and Gaspard into the tunnels, to an ancient underground temple where he imprisoned the old man Pasha, and wait there in the hope of capturing the children. Sure enough, the party reach the temple and meet Pasha, who shows them a tunnel leading to the south, but Pizarro & co are waiting there for them. With Pasha's knowledge of the temple's booby-traps, the party evade their pursuers, and come to a massive chamber the ceiling of which is supported by a pillar of ice. Pasha instructs the children to use a wall tile puzzle, which activates a mechanism that projects a beam of concentrated sunlight at the pillar of ice. The pillar melts, bringing the temple roof crashing down. Pasha chooses to stay and die with his temple, but the children escape through a secret passage and continue their journey south.

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