Treachery

"Treachery"
Redwall TV Series
Treachery
Season	1
Episode	03
Production #	103
Original U.S. Airdate	April 8, 2001
Running time	22:35
Written by	Glenn Norman
Directed by	Raymond Jafelice
Episode chronology
← Previous	Cluny the Scourge - part II
Next →	Sparra's Kingdom

Treachery is the third episode of Season 1 of the Nelvana Redwall TV Series.

Summary

Cluny the Scourge experiences a nightmare where Martin the Warrior's picture on the stolen tapestry comes to life and attacks him. He awakens and calls for his captain Cheesethief. Cluny instructs Cheesethief to find Sela, the healer fox. He needs her skills to fix his broken leg so he can attack Redwall Abbey again.

Inside Redwall, Brother Methuselah finds hidden writing with the phrase "I am that is" on the wall where the Tapestry hung. He and Matthias unsuccessfully attempt to decipher its meaning. Cornflower plays an anagram game with the words when she accidentally finds the arrangement that makes the phrase read "I - Matthias". She then finds more writing hinting at the location of Martin's tomb, somewhere between Great Hall and Cavern Hole. Cornflower recalls an odd sound she heard when she passed through a few minutes before, and takes Matthias and Methuselah to investigate. Cornflower shows Matthias and Methuselah a step that appears to be hollow. With assistance from Foremole, the step is levered out to expose a flight of stairs leading downward to a dark tunnel.

Meanwhile, Sela and her son Chickenhound arrive at Cluny's camp. While the two foxes prepare a healing poultice, Cluny creates a detailed plan to get into Redwall with a battering ram. Sela gives Cluny a concoction to make him sleep, but Cluny only pretends to drink it and fall asleep. Sela and Chickenhound then steal the plans from under Cluny's pillow and leave. Cluny watches them go, having anticipated their treachery. He and his horde follow them to Redwall, where the foxes give the plans to Constance, and are allowed to enter. Cluny reveals to his captains that the battering ram is a decoy and the real attack is through a tunnel.

As Cluny begins construction on his tunnel, Matthias, Cornflower, and Methuselah enter the passageway and discover a large door which leads Martin the Warrior's tomb. Inside, they find Martin's shield and sword belt. Basil Stag Hare enters and tells them that the Abbot has called a meeting.

Abbot Mortimer wants advice on what to do with the plans that Sela has given them. Matthias suggests that they try to find some evidence that Cluny is attempting to enter the Abbey by another way than the battering ram. Constance doesn't trust the fox, and suddenly realizes that she left Sela alone in Great Hall. Methuselah goes to keep an eye on her, and catches her in the act of stealing silverware and candlesticks from the table. He tries to stop her, but is injured by Chickenhound. The foxes try to escape, but Matthias sees them and sounds the alarm. While a small crew of mice pursues the fugitives, Foremole informs Matthias that he found vibrations that indicate tunneling.

Matthias hastily organizes a defense. When the first rat emerges, several mice tip the contents of a massive cauldron of hot porridge that Cornflower made for breakfast into the tunnel. Cluny's army retreats, leaving their leader screaming with the indignity of being defeated. Constance captures Sela, who on the advice of Basil, throws her outside for Cluny to deal with. Shortly afterward, Chickenhound suddenly jumps out of the porridge cauldron and flees through the tunnel.

Chickenhound emerges from the other end of the tunnel, and, laughing over his successful escape, sits down against a tree. As he investigates a rustling noise nearby, Asmodeus Poisonteeth attacks him.

Official Synopsis

Cluny uses the treacherous fox Sela and her son, Chickenhound, to plant a false attack plan in Redwall, while Matthias and his mousemaid friend Cornflower unravel a mysterious motto-- "I am that is." It is an anagram of "I Matthias" written years before he was born; another clue for the quest for Martin's sword. Cluny's real underground attack is inventively repulsed by hot porridge and Matthias sees the fearful snake Asmodeus for the first time and realizes that somehow their fates are horribly intertwined.

Differences from Redwall

• In the book, Cornflower did not help Matthias and Methuselah discover the riddle or the tomb.
• In the book, Chickenhound hits Methuselah with a sack of loot. In the TV series, he hits Methuselah over the head with a candelabra.
• In the book, Methuselah dies shortly after he was walloped by Chickenhound. In the TV series, Methuselah dies a few days later in bed.
• In the TV series, both Sela and Chickenhound went into Redwall, and Sela was later thrown out of Redwall for stealing (and her son for injuring Methuselah) and killed by Cluny almost immediately. In the book, Cluny unveils their spying and has them both executed, though Chickenhound survives and drags himself to Redwall.
• In the book, Cluny only digs a tunnel towards the end of his siege, and it is foiled with boiling water instead of porridge, as it is in the TV episode.
• In the book, after escaping Redwall, Chickenhound encounters Asmodeus when he reaches under the roots of a tree where he stashed his stolen loot, accidentally touching the snake. In the TV series, Asmodeus fully presents himself to Chickenhound from behind the tree the young fox sat by before biting him.
• Despite the text of the official synopsis, Matthias never actually sees Asmodeus until the 10th episode.

Featurettes

Segments include:

• "Coat of Arms"
• "Character Spotlight: Cluny the Scourge"
• "Redwall Trivia"
• "Ask the Author: Brian Jacques"

Streaming

Treachery is available for streaming on Nelvana's official Treehouse Direct YouTube channel.