Peril in the Toplands

Peril in the Toplands is the seventh episode of Season 2 and the twentieth episode overall of the Nelvana Redwall TV Series.

Summary

Slagar the Cruel and his gang anticipate crossing the river with Stonefleck at sunset. When Cynthia Bankvole makes noise, Mattimeo insists that he'll keep her calm.

Matthias, Basil Stag Hare, and Cheek Stag Otter encounter Sir Harry the Muse, an owl who offers to help them get to the top of the cliffs in exchange for cake.

At Redwall Abbey, Ambrose Spike trains archery volunteers to defend the Abbey. General Ironbeak and Mangiz observe their efforts and mock them.

Matthias returns to Sir Harry with Log-a-Log of the Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower, who has prepared a shrewcake for the owl. Sir Harry consumes the cake and flies to the top of the cliffs to drop down the rope ladders.

Ambrose continues to struggle with the Redwall defense volunteers as Ironbeak and Mangiz watch.

Sir Harry drops down the ladder, and Matthias and his companions start climbing.

Foremole and his mole crew devise a series of traps for Ironbeak's Flock. John Churchmouse, Cornflower Fieldmouse, Mrs. Churchmouse, and Constance proceed to activate them, throwing food items at the birds.

Stonefleck guides Slagar's group forward as Matthias' crew encounters an attack from the Painted Ones, who kidnap Cheek. Jess Squirrel leads the charge against them with the sword of Martin the Warrior and detains their leader. They conduct a prisoner exchange as Log-a-Log arrives with fire to intimidate the tree rats.

Cornflower and Mrs. Churchmouse attempt to cover the Redwall rooftop in grease, but Rollo distracts them, which in turn gets the attention of Ironbeak's flock. They try to run away, but the birds take all three of them as hostages.

Slagar, the captives, and his gang wait with Stonefleck for his horde to arrive. Mattimeo tricks the vermin into thinking the horde members are nearby, and the captives take off. At the river, they run right into the horde.

Ironbeak demands Abbot Mordalfus surrender to him, revealing his hostages.

Stonefleck's Longtail horde ferries Slagar and the captives across the river.

Mordalfus informs Ironbeak that he can't surrender as the Redwallers need to conduct a formal vote on the terms. Ironbeak gives him two days.

Matthias, Basil, Cheek, Jess, Jabez, Log-a-Log, the Guosim, and Orlando the Axe look on as Slagar's group crosses the river. Log-a-Log orders everyone to begin gathering wood, and they construct a raft.

Slagar's group successfully reaches the shore, but Matthias and his companions are not too far behind. Stonefleck issues orders to his archers, who fire upon them, forcing them to jump overboard. They panic as they're soon surrounded by vicious pike.

Official Synopsis

Safely across the river, Slagar awaits Stonefleck's army of rats. Below the cliffs, Matthias meets Sir Harry the Muse who reveals a way to climb them. Matthias and his band ascend but come under attack in the Dark Forest, almost losing Cheek the otter before making good their escape. Across the river, Mattimeo tries to lead an escape of his own but is immediately recaptured by Stonefleck's rats.

Back at Redwall, Ambrose Spike and others set traps for the invading birds and engage in what is to be a long battle of wits and courage. The birds take Cornflower, Rollo and Mrs. Churchmouse hostage, threatening to kill them unless Redwall surrenders - a stand off temporarily averted by the Abbot, but leaving the captives in great danger.

Matthias and the pursuers launch a raft to rescue Mattimeo but are pushed back to the water - only to find it is alive with nibbling fish. They sweep down the river, all choices exhausted. Across the river, allied with a huge army - Slagar can't lose.

Differences from Mattimeo

• In Mattimeo, the Painted Ones are tree rats, whereas in the Redwall TV series, they are shown as lemurs.
• In Mattimeo, it is Sister May, not Cornflower, who attacks Ironbeak when he grabs Rollo.
• In the TV series, Mattimeo and the other slaves attempt a second escape only to be recaptured by Stonefleck's rats, this does not occur in Mattimeo.

Featurettes

Segments include:

• "Redwall animals"
• "Hares"
• "Redwall Trivia: What do Redwallers desire more than anything?"
• "Character Spotlight: Baby Rollo"

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Trivia

• At the end of the previous episode, Ironbeak, Slagar, Stonefleck, and the gang didn't cross the river at night because of the threat of the Painted Ones, with Stonefleck saying it was too late to cross and Slagar committing to a "daybreak" crossing the following morning. However, at the beginning of Peril in the Toplands, it's daytime, and Stonefleck now says they have to cross at night because they would be caught on the open water in the daylight.

Streaming

Peril in the Toplands is available for streaming on Nelvana's official Treehouse Direct YouTube channel.

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