MMM: "By The Countless Constellations!" - Ulysses 32

....and onto Disc 1 of 'The Complete Series'. Please note that TheAdamAdamant's episode running order differs from the UK DVD release - Agent Rob assumes it is the original French broadcast order, hence the difference in the numbering of some of the embedded titles....

EPISODE 2

In this second episode the Odyssey encounters the seventh satellite of Zotra - a 'holiday' planet remembered from Yumi's childhood - now to be found wandering in Olympus and ruled by a strange old witch. Is she as she seems...?

A good enough episode, most notable for the leery scene above (watch to find out)....

EPISODE 3

The Odyssey approaches an asteroid that is home to Heratos and Atina. Heratos tells our heroes of how, aboard Atina's ship - incidentally she's a Zotran the same race as Yumi - he saw The Black Sphere of the title, itself a map of Olympus. Naturally he was then struck blind by the gods and doomed to his lonely existence....

Of course, with the gods meddling, Ulysses does not in fact head for The Galactic Glaciers as Heratos (wrongly) instructed but instead is diverted via The Graveyard Of Wrecks and Hulks where the Odyssey collides with Atina's original ship. Will Yumi beat the race against destruction to salvage The Black Sphere, the map back to Earth, in time....?

EPISODE 4

The Odyssey encounters a cyclonic disturbance that puts the ship's gravitation out of control and ends up trapped by Aeolus, King of The Winds....

And thus, on his daughter's birthday, Aeolus pits Ulysses, "the plaything of the gods", against his guests, the North, South, East and West Winds, in a series of deadly games - akin to Target, Chess, Pinball and Bowling. Will Ulysses be able to survive and rescue 'the children'....

EPISODE 5

One of the true classic episodes where Sisyphus, doomed to a cycle of repetition following his attempt to uncover immortality, the secret of the gods, tries to cheat Ulysses into taking his place, forcing him to repeat the same thankless task while he commandeers the Odyssey to make his escape....

'The children', as ever, intervene with these plans and soon our heroes find themselves beneath the surface of the planet, bearing awed witness to the hidden machinery behind the downfall of  Sisyphus's....

An episode notable for an especially bleak opening - the reason why this disc alone of the 3 is rated Parental Guidance? - as we witness Sisyphus foraging desperately for food (before it spoils in the baking sun) as well as the general mood of despair and hopelessness that hangs over the proceedings, especially when Sisyphus discovers the truth behind his endless tasks and the gods mock him for his suspicious, selfish behaviour that prolongs his weary isolation....