1.43 - The Beasts Beneath

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Title The Beasts Beneath Episode # Season 1, Episode 43 First aired February 26, 1999 Directed by Written by Summary Iolaus, Lilith, and Marco are stranded in the desert, surrounded by sandsharks.

FoxKids Spoilers

• While searching for three lost cadets -- including Iolaus and Lilith -- Hercules and Theseus find themselves trapped in a terrifying desert, occupied by a ravenous Sandworm. When Herc and Theseus take temporary refuge on a rock-pile 'island,' they are able to see that Iolaus and Lilith and a third cadet, Marco, worse for wear but alive, are trapped on a similar rock-pile island a few hundred yards away. As the five cadets struggle to find a way to get themselves to safety while the fast-burrowing sandworm circles, like the shark in 'Jaws,' waiting to strike Marco is lost. Hercules and his friends, who had done all they could to get everyone out safely, must come to terms with their inability to save their friend -- and still make it out alive themselves.
• Hercules and some fellow cadets become trapped in an expanse of sand known as the Dune Sea, which is inhabited by man-eating sand sharks.

Synopsis

Title card - End credits can be found here.

To Be Added

Characters (in order of appearance)

• Iolaus
• Marco
• Lilith
• Cheiron
• Hercules
• Theseus
• Cadet Albert - (listed in the credits, but did not appear in the aired episode)
• Traveler (a.k.a. Mad Medicine Woman) - (listed in the credits, but did not appear in the aired episode)

Characters (mention only)

• Zeus

Places

• Dune Sea
• Cheiron's Academy
• Marco's Village

Items

• Philosophy Scrolls
• Marco's Walking Staff
  • More items from this episode...

Mythology

• Centaurs
  

Plot Arcs

• Character Deaths

Other Pages

• Colosseum Games
• Sand Sharks
• Property Damage

Television Tropes

• Plot Tropes:
  • A Death in the Limelight
  • Crossing the Desert

Trivia & References

Mythological References - Theseus's line, "You may be a half-God, but I'm the best tracker there is, no track too faint, no trail too hard. Except for mazes, though, they still get to me." is a humorous allusion to the famous Greek hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur. It lived in the Labyrinth of King Minos of Crete. He would never have found his way back out of it after killing the monster if the Cretan Princess Ariadne hadn't fallen in love with him and helped him.

Nod to HtLJ and X:WP - Sand Sharks are introduced, making a nod to the HtLJ episodes "3.01 - Mercenary" and "4.19 - War Wounds" where the deadly creatures are main foe.

Déjà Vu - The footage of the sand sharks burrowing through the sand is similar to the Dryads in 1.20 - Fame, which is recycled footage from H:TLJ "3.01 - Mercenary".

Guides, Scripts, Transcripts, & Reviews

• The Beasts Beneath Transcript (Dialogue Only)
• IMDB's Episode Guide
• TV.com's Episode Guide
• ShareTV's Episode Guide
• Watch the full episode online at Hulu.com.

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