Season 2 - Episode 9: The Ringless Knights
Upon a dark background, white block letters say ‘PREVIOUSLY ON GAME OF ZONES’. The Os are filled in as though they are basketballs.
Scene opens to the practice courtyard where knights fighting for all the lords of the realm are getting ready for the tournament. The clang of swords upon shields rings through the courtyard as we take in the scene. On one end, Sir Karl the Sitemail Man is sparring with Sir Gary the Gloved Knight. Nearby, Sir Charles of the Round Mound is panting, hands on his knees, as Sir Steve runs around whacking him with his practice sword.
Cut to the ravenry where Sir Karl the Sitemail man can be seen untying a sitemail from a white raven.
“I have taken out the knees of two of my teammates, Sir Victor and Sir Michael the Red. I will now focus my efforts on compromising Sir Gary the Gloved Knight and Sir Karl the Sitemail Man.
Sir Karl looks up at Jerry the Raven in concern. “ I should have known he was traitorous. Always following Sir Michael around like a lost puppy. Better let Sir Gary know too. Maybe we will have to plan for an accident to befall him.”
Cut to Sir Karl untying another sitemail off of the leg of a different white raven and unraveling the message. “Ahh, another sitemail from Sir Charles of the Round Mound. Tell me Greg, does that knight ever shut up? Let’s see what he has to say this time shall we?”
Sir Karl reads the letter aloud to his raven friends.
“To Sir Carl, The Snailmail Man,
My fellow ringless warrior, I challenge you to duel for the right to be named the greatest nite to have never won a townament. I’m sure you are as tired of losing to nites like Sir Michael as I am. One of us needs victery. Of course, it will be me who is victeryous. Tonite at Midnite. The practice courtyard. See you there.
Sir Karl looks over at Greg the Raven. “I guess I will have to get my armor ready and my sword sharpened. Sir Charles has more talent to be sure, but he’s lazy. My hard work should give me the easy victory.”
The screen darkens to black and we see a disclaimer in white letters appear: ALL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS CARTOON, EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE, ARE FICTIONAL AND ALL VOICES ARE OBVIOUSLY IMPERSONATED. The letters disappear and new letters take its place: GAME OF ZONES. The Os are basketballs. These letters too disappear and a cartoon knight is seen dribbling a basketball between his legs next to new letters: SEASON 2 - EPISODE 9: The Ringless Knights
Scene opens to a full moon upon a pitch black sky. We hear the murmur of voices below and the camera follows the light from the moon to the practice courtyard. Nearby a table is set up and knights are gathered round. At the head of the table we see Sir Michael of Jordan with a quill and parchment. Next to him are his remaining teammates, Sir T.J., Sir Kyle, Sir D’Angelo, Sir Gordon, and Sir Melo.
Sir Michael: “Alright, anyone want action on Sir Karl? I’m going to parlay Sir Charles winning the bout with Sir Karl getting the first strike. 1000 gold coins. Side bet 100 gold coins for each time Sir Charles takes a snack break. Let’s add-on an over/under 2.5 racial slurs from Sir Karl. I’m taking the over for 250 gold coins. Juice is 5 gold coins for all bets. Anyone want to throw bones before the fight starts?”
Near the gambling table, Sir Gary the Gloved Knight is helping Sir Karl the Sitemail man get ready for the fight. Their teammates are all in the stands behind them. Sir Victor and Sir Michael the Red are holding crutches and sitting next to Sir Kris who is wearing his best furs and looking bitter. The only one not in attendance is Sir Oakley, who is over by the gambling table and sitting next to Sir Michael. We hear Sir Gary tell Sir Karl, “Let him wear himself out. His weak *** won’t last five minutes.”
On the other side of the practice courtyard, Sir Charles is struggling to fit into his armor as Sir Steve attempts to shove his helm on his head. Behind them, their teammates have gathered. We overhear Sir Steve tell Sir Charles, “Get inside his defenses. You’re unstoppable there. Don’t settle for outside strikes.”
We hear the sound of a horn and Sir Gary and Sir Steve head out to mid-court where Sir Embiid is waiting. Sir Embiid puts the horn down and turns towards Sir Gary. “Alright knights, you know the rules. 3 points for a headshot, 2 points for a strike to the body. 1 point for a hit on a limb. First to 21, win by two.”
Sir Embiid does a 180 degree turn and faces Sir Steve. “As the seconds to Sir Karl and Sir Charles you will have to step in if either knight is injured to the point they cannot carry on before either knight reaches 21.”
Sir Gary scowls at Sir Steve. “You think you can land even a single hit on me you little smurf?”
Sir Steve flips his hair to the side. “I could get a three point head shot against you whenever I’d like.”
The two seconds return to their respective benches and Sir Karl and Sir Charles approach mid-court. Sir Karl arrives first with Sir Charles resting halfway to catch his breath. Sir Embiid does a 180 degree turn to face Sir Karl. “And he calls
me lazy!”
When Sir Charles arrives at mid-court, the two knights gingerly touch the tips of their swords and the fight begins. Sir Charles bull rushes Sir Karl and gets a quick inside strike. Sir Embiid holds up two fingers. The next couple of strikes from each knight are parried, before Sir Charles strikes again with a body blow followed by a swipe to the arm of Sir Karl. Sir Charles backs off, tilts his head in the air and yells, “AND ONE!” Over by the scoreboard at the end of the courtyard, Sir Mookie puts a 5 on the board for Sir Charles.
Sir Karl advances on Sir Charles who is now panting and slightly hunched over. Sir Karl brings his sword down and Sir Charles raises his own to parry. At the last second, Sir Karl rolls his blade and it slips by to whack Sir Charles on the shoulder. Sir Shuttlesworth puts a 2 on the board for Sir Karl. Sir Charles tries a swipe at the head of Sir Karl, but the three point shot whiffs badly as Sir Karl ducks and rolls his blade again at the body of Sir Charles. The scoreboard reads 5-4, advantage to Sir Charles.
Over by the bench of Lord goetz, 93rd of his name, Sir Murphy yells out, “Stop trying three point shots Chuck! Leave those for me and Sir Steve!” Sir Charles looks over and nods his head. He manages to get inside Sir Karl’s defenses and lands his sword upon the chest of Sir Karl for two points. As he does this, Sir Karl rolls his sword around Sir Charles’s shield to land two points for himself. The scoreboard reads 7-6, advantage to Sir Charles.
Over by the bench of Sir mikee, 1st of his name, Sir Victor and Sir Michael the Red each raise a crutch in the air as Sir Enes yells out, “He can’t stop the roll Sir Karl!” He turns to Sir Victor and Sir Michael the Red. “Seriously. How are you supposed to stop a roll attack? Or any attack for that matter? Where’s Sir Gary? He always seems to know the correct defensive techniques.”
Sir Charles bull rushes Sir Karl once more, but Sir Karl parries, rolls his sword again and whacks Sir Charles across his back. Sir Charles roars in anguish and turns back to Sir Karl. “Is that… the only… attack… you have?” Sir Charles wildly swings his sword at Sir Karl’s head, but Sir Karl calmly ducks, rolls his sword, and connects with Sir Charles stomach. “Why do anything else, when you can’t stop my roll?” The scoreboard reads 10-7, advantage to Sir Karl.
Over by the gambling table, Sir Gary has joined the fray. Sir Michael of Jordan is scowling, having lost all his bets so far. He is now focusing on the dice being tossed by Sir T.J. who rolls a four and a three. Sir Michael bangs his fist on the table. Sir T.J. whimpers next to him. “Sorry your Airness, Sir.” Sir Michael stares daggers at Sir T.J. unblinking. “Throw ‘em again, you midget.” Sir T.J. throws the dice once more and this time they land on a five and a two. Sir Michael lets out a scream of anguish, flips the table, and punches Sir T.J. in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Sir Gary smiles briefly before turning to Sir Michael. “Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size.” Sir T.J. looks up from the ground at Sir Gary. “Thank you, Sir.” Sir Gary looks down distastefully. “You won’t even be in the league next season.”
Sir Michael tilts his head back and screams once more before taking out his dagger and stabbing Sir Oakley in the striking arm. As Sir Oakley crumbles to the ground, Sir Michael turns to Sir Gary. “He big enough for you?” Sir Gary smirks and walks back to his team’s bench as Sir Michael collects all the coins on the ground. He pauses to thrust his sword downward through Sir T.J. We hear him mutter as he bounds away, “This ought to cover at least a couple of those debts.”
Back in the center of the courtyard, Sir Karl rolls his sword around Sir Charles’s shield once more and lands a body blow. This time however, Sir Charles is able to trap Sir Karl’s sword against his body with the shield and deliver three quick strikes to the chest of Sir Karl. He then winds up and swings erratically at Sir Karl’s head. Sir Karl ducks and detangles his sword. We look up at the scoreboard. It reads 13-12, advantage Sir Charles.
Over on the sideline, Sir Steve is shaking his head. “Why does he keep going for that three point shot? He’s never going to hit it.” Sir Murphy responds, “He hasn’t missed a two point attack all game. If he just stopped trying threes he would win easily.”
We see the two swords meet and Sir Karl is able to roll his blade and strike Sir Charles once more. Sir Charles roars and charges, smashing Sir Malone with his shield and getting in a quick inside strike as Sir Karl stumbles to the ground. Sir Charles raises his sword and brings down a finishing blow, but Sir Karl rolls his body to the side and the strike hits the ground harmlessly. Sir Karl is able to roll his blade once more around the shield for mid-range two pointer. The scoreboard reads 16-15 Sir Karl.
Sir Gary has rejoined his squad over on the sideline. He leans over to Sir Kris and says, “Has Sir Karl destroyed that fat *** yet? And no, I’m not talking about your ex-wife.” Sir Kris scowls and turns to Sir Gary. “Sir Karl has taken the lead actually. I was a little worried after he fell down 5-0, but he is making a nice comeback.” Sir Gary smirks. “Everyone likes a good comeback story huh Kris?”
At midcourt, swords clash once again. Sir Charles lands a slash to the arm of Sir Karl. He then dodges a counterstrike and lands a blow on the other arm of Sir Karl. He takes a swipe at Sir Karl’s head, but misses the three point attempt badly. Sir Karl dodges easily, presses his own attack, rolls his sword around Sir Charles’s shield, and lands two points against the broad midsection of Sir Charles. The portly knight responds by slamming Sir Karl with his shield and then bringing his sword down upon the chest of the Sitemail Man. The camera cuts to the scoreboard where Sir Mookie is placing a 19 for Sir Charles to give him a one point lead.
Sir Steve shouts from the sideline, “Only two points away! Get inside and finish this!”
Sir Charles nods, and promptly launches an errant swipe at Sir Karl’s head. Sir Karl rolls his sword and connects once more with a body shot. Sir Charles bull rushes Sir Karl and their shields collide with a loud thud that knocks them both backwards a step, their shields flying out of their hands. Sir Charles slashes his sword and Sir Karl doesn’t bother to defend it as it connects with his body. Sir Karl slashes with his own sword and lands a body blow of his own. The two knights trade inside attacks back and forth, neither one bothering to defend the other. The camera widens to include the scoreboard. Sir Mookie and Sir Shuttlesworth are frantically trying to keep up with the action. Each knight goes up by one point, only for the other knight to take the lead a moment later. We zoom in on the scoreboard as the point tallies continue to go up by twos, neither knight gaining more than a one point advantage. Two pointer after two pointer is added to the board as our screen goes black and white block letters take over the screen: GAME OF ZONES