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The New Batman Adventures episode

"The Demon Within"
Airdate:	May 9, 1998
Production Number:	18
Airdate Order:	10
Animation Services by:	TMS-Kyokuichi Corporation
Written by:	Stan Berkowitz
Directed by:	Atsuko Tanaka
Episode images (8)

"The Demon Within" is the twelfth episode of The New Batman Adventures, which originally aired on May 9, 1998. Batman and Robin enlist the aid of the demon Etrigan when an ancient artifact is stolen.

Plot Edit

Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake visit Gotham Auctioneers, Ltd in an effort to keep Tim away from playing video games. Tim encounters another boy known as Klarion who claims he is there by himself.

Klarion leaves and sits down for the auction which is for the branding iron used by Morgaine Le Faye. Klarion bids $100,000 but a man named Jason Blood bids $110,000. The two soon enter a bidding war until Klarion bids $250,000. The auction is about to end when Bruce unexpectedly bids one million and wins.

Bruce picks up the iron and is confronted by Klarion who gives a warning but is interrupted by Jason Blood. Klarion acknowledges that they meet often but claims they will meet on purpose next time. Bruce greets Jason and he tells Bruce that Klarion turned his own parents into mice.

At Jason's apartment, Jason promises to pay back Bruce but he calls it a "professional courtesy". Tim discovers a statue of Etrigan and Jason tells him that it was a demon that Merlin summoned to protect Camelot. As they are talking, Klarion's cat tries to grab the iron while Bruce notices it and takes it away. The cat then morphs into a human-like creature and knocks Bruce down. Tim interferes but is quickly overpowered. Soon, Jason morphs into the demon Etrigan to Tim's amazement. Etrigan attacks the cat but a fire erupts and Etrigan decides to save Tim and Bruce and warns the cat of its reckoning. The cat quickly escapes into the night with the iron while Klarion waits. Klarion takes the iron and begins an incantation.

Jason heals Tim's wounds by placing a powder on his arm which makes the injuries disappear. Suddenly, Jason starts to feel pain and the spirit of Etrigan leaves Jason's body. Bruce questions Etrigan but informs him that his new master awaits and throws Bruce down. Klarion laughs at the developments.

At his home, Klarion informs Etrigan that while he has the brand, Etrigan has do whatever he says. Etrigan knocks down the door and they leave. Meanwhile, Jason tells Bruce and Tim that the demon kept him from aging but with it gone, he will show his age until he dies. Bruce declares that won't happen if he can help it. Tim wants to help too, but Bruce instructs him to stay with Jason.

In town, Klarion walks out of a movie theater but claims he hates sequels and has Etrigan destroy it. Etrigan then wrecks an ice cream truck but doesn't find Klarion's favorite flavor, strawberry. Klarion sees a cake store and Etrigan throws the truck into the window and Klarion starts eating the cakes. A train is heard overhead and Etrigan throws the train off the track. Afterward, he demolishes old buildings for Klarion's amusement.

Batman soon appears and informs Klarion has done enough damage. Klarion disagrees and puts a spell which makes spikes come out of Batman's body. Jason and Tim look on and Jason performs a spell to reverse the effects and the spikes disappear. Upon viewing the disappearance, Klarion makes tree limbs form out of Batman. He manages to knock Klarion down while the tree limbs also disappear. Klarion notices the help from Jason and instructs Etrigan to kill him.

Jason performs another spell which makes an illusion of several Batmen but Klarion finds the real one and tells Etrigan to follow him.

Batman tries to elude Etrigan, but finds himself into a dead end. With Etrigan approaching, Jason performs a spell which makes Batman go into the wall and become invisible, but Jason's strength is weakening. Klarion scolds Etrigan for losing him and tells Etrigan to go kill Jason.

With the danger imminent, Jason tells Tim to spread a powder in a circle while he chants. Etrigan appears, but the powder forms a force field and Etrigan is unable to break it. Jason loses his strength and the force field collapses while Klarion visualizes it. Batman knocks Klarion down and grabs the iron. As Etrigan grabs Jason, Batman reverses the spell and Etrigan and Jason become one again.

Klarion becomes angry and sends his cat which morphs into its human-like form. Batman brands it with the iron and tells it to sit and it reverts back to normal form. Klarion soon releases energy blasts which knock Batman off a railing. As Klarion forms a big blast and sends it, a blast from Etrigan sends it back. Klarion is unable to withstand the blast and it sends him crashing into a stack of boxes.

Etrigan recites a spell and he disappears with Klarion. A confused Robin asks Batman about the evening, but Batman, having had enough of magic for one night, doesn't want to talk about it.

Klarion is seen trapped in a magic ball on a shelf, while a fully restored Jason reads the newspaper.

Continuity Edit

Etrigan would return in the Justice League episode, "A Knight of Shadows".

Background information Edit

Home video releases Edit

Trivia Edit

Jason's quote "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy" comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act I, scene v).
Klarion has Etrigan break into the "Kirby Cake Company". Both characters were created by legendary comic artist Jack Kirby.
Devastator 3, the movie that Klarion saw and scoffed for being a sequel, seems to spin its title from the Terminator movie franchise.
This episode was Stephen Wolfe Smith's final performance before his death in 2000.

Cast Edit

Actor	Role
Kevin Conroy	Batman/Bruce Wayne
Matthew Valencia	Robin/Tim Drake
Billy Zane	Etrigan/Jason Blood
Stephen Wolfe Smith	Klarion
Peter Renaday	Auctioneer

Quotes Edit

Jason Blood: Gone. Gone the form of man, rise the demon Etrigan!

Bruce Wayne: Surely his parents...
Jason Blood: Don't expect any help from them. The little witch boy turned them into mice.
Bruce Wayne: You're not serious.
(Teekl opens mouth wide and hisses)

Batman: You've done enough damage for one night, young man.

Etrigan: Mother's grief, father's shame, soon he goes to whence he came.
Robin: What's that mean?
Etrigan: I'm sending him to his room.
(Etrigan vanishes with Klarion)
Robin: About tonight...
Batman: Don't ask. Just don't ask.

Previously produced episode: "Old Wounds"	Episodes of The New Batman Adventures	Next produced episode: "Legends of the Dark Knight"
Previously aired episode: "Mean Seasons"	Episodes of The New Batman Adventures	Next aired episode: "Over the Edge"

Wikia

The Demon Within

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