| The Tale of Oblivion | |
|---|---|
| Season 6 , Episode 10 | |
| |
| Air date | April 17, 1999 |
| Written by | James Morris |
| Directed by | Jim Donovan |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Tale of the Walking Shadow |
Next The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge |
The Tale of Oblivion is the tenth episode of the Sixth season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, as well as the Seventy-fifth episode in total.
Cast[]
Midnight Society Cast[]
- Daniel DeSanto as Tucker
- Kareem Blackwell as Quinn
- Elisha Cuthbert as Megan
- David Deveau as Andy
- Vanessa Lengies as Vange
Story Cast[]
- Daniel Clark as Max
- Emma Taylor-Isherwood (credited as Emma Isherwood) as Shelley
- Alan Legros as Kronos the Conqueror
- Bill Corday (credited as Bill Cordau) as Thelodius
- Matt Holland as Chadwick
- Dawn Ford as Their mom Carol
- Una Kay as Mrs. Fitzgerald
- ? as Butch
Special Guest Star[]
Intro[]
That night, the group is looking at a bunch of antique items that are old-fashioned and obsolete. Tucker is sitting on the sofa between Vange and Quinn. Vange is wearing a pair of cats eye glasses and jokingly playing with a rotary dial phone (speaking in a British voice, telling someone that a man actually landed on the moon) then remarks about how ancient the stuff is. Quinn is playing with a long slinky toy. Megan is playing with a hula hoop, and asks Tucker where he found all of the stuff.
Tucker says he found it in his parent's garage. Andy tries walking around on stilts, saying it's great and asks Tucker if he has a story about stilts. Then he trips and falls down.
Tucker says not exactly, because his story is about stuff that isn't around anymore. He points to the stuff and tells them that all of it used to be really popular. Items such as, vinyl records and 8-track tapes. Andy asks what an 8-track tape is, and Tucker says exactly. Because so much stuff disappears so completely that barely anyone remembers it.
But where do things go, when nobody wants them anymore? Also who sends them there? If it's the kind of place that takes anything, then will it also take anyone? Also if send there, is there anyway to get sent back? Or remain stuck there, and forgotten forever?
Tucker throws in the campfire dust to make the fire more intense while he submits his story for approval for The Midnight Society. He calls his story "The Tale of Oblivion" and begins the story.
Story[]
Tucker, tells the story. The story begins in the middle ages, Two monks, Thelodius and Chadwick fearfully lock themselves in a room. Then a fierce viking, who is after them is trying to pound the door down. Thelodius says they must protect the tools. Chadwick tells him that it's a cruel fate. Thelodius says they must, because the Tools of Oblivion must not fall into the wrong hands. Thelodius writes the viking's name "Kronos" on a piece of paper. Kronos forces the door open, closing in on them. His name is erased and Kronos instantly disappears. Thelodius tells Chadwick, that the tools must not be found and must be hidden in another time.
Now back to modern day (when this first aired), a woman named Carol. wakes her teenage twins (brother & sister) up for school. Her son Max, is running them late. This is because he can't find his art supplies and he's looking all over the house. She lectures him about being more responsible for things. She reminds them to be home for their piano lesson after school. Also she expects them to clean the house before she gets home too. Most of all she wants Max to clean his filthy room. Shelley his twin sister, sucks up to their mom saying her room is already clean. Max asks her to clean his for him, since she's so good at it; she tells him no.
On their way to school, Shelley can tell Max is annoyed, and asks him what his problem is. Max snaps at her, saying that he's gotten annoyed that because their twins, they always do the exact same things. They eat together, go to school together, are in all the same classes and she hangs out with all his friends. Shelley snaps at him saying their her friends too. He snaps back telling her she's like a barnacle. and to get her own life and stop doing everything he always does. Suddenly they past by the neighborhood dog Butch. Butch is a black Rottweiler, and Max is afraid of him. Butch growls and barks at Max but can't move because he's chained.
On the way, they go to Sardo's Magic Mansion. This is where Max and Shelley go inside to look for art supplies. As Shelley is looking around, she finds the silver box. Sardo reveals it has an eraser and charcoal piece in it. Max doesn't want it, because it has only one charcoal. To make a quick sale, Sardo lies about it saying it's a very special piece. A piece that had been passed down throughout the centuries. Which many artists such as Da Vinci and Picasso used. This convinces them and Sardo offers it for $30. Shelley is shocked and snaps at him about the high price. Then he reconsiders saying $10 and he's losing on the deal, and Max buys it.
During art class, their drawing a bowl of fruit. Max has worked beautifully on his charcoal drawing. Then decides to erase the apple from his drawing. Suddenly Shelley mentions that the actual apple disappeared. Then the same thing happens again, when he erases the pear from his drawing. Max is curious, and decides to see if he can erase his sister's pencil. So he writes the word, "Shelley's pencil" then erases it. Then sure enough, she mentions her pencil is now gone too.
On their way home, Shelley asks him about the weird things that had happened. Max says he has no idea what happened. Suddenly, Butch has broken free and begins to chase after Max. Max is terrified and runs up a tree screaming for her help. Shelley, still mad for being insulted earlier leaves him to fend for himself. Butch keeps barking at him and he keeps screaming for help. Finally he takes out the tools and writes down on a paper "Butch" and erases it. Then Butch vanishes leaving nothing but his collar behind.
Max gets home just in time for their piano lesson, but says he doesn't feel like practicing today. Shelley tells him he has no choice. Their piano teacher Mrs. Fitzgerald will be over any minute now. Shelley answers the door to let Mrs. Fitzgerald in. She is furious to discover the piano is gone, she state has no time for nonsense and leaves in a huff. Shelley asks Max what happened to it, he reveals that he erased it. He explains that with his charcoal and eraser, he can erase anything he wants. Shelley doesn't believe him until he proves it to her. Max promptly writes and erases Shelley's underwear, while she privately checks and is shocked to see that the eraser's power is real. Shelley is also furious to find out that he made the fruit in art class and Butch disappear. She tells him that he just can't erase what he doesn't like. Max threatens her, that if she gets in his way that she'll will be next. Then he shows her name written on paper.
Shelley is mad, and decides to phone their mom and tell on him. Then just as Shelley speaks to their mom on the phone, Max erases her name. Shelley begins to disintegrate, screaming at her brother for doing it. Then disappears, Max tells their mom that Shelley left because she had to go to the bathroom. Max feels awful that he actually did it, and runs off to ask Sardo for help. Sardo tells him the right way to say his name (as he always does) and that he gives no refunds. Max yells at him about what just happened and that he has no clue what to do. The best thing Sardo can think up, is telling him To save his sister he must send himself to where she went; in order to find her.
Then in his room, Max carefully erases himself and the silver box. Then in a flash of bright light, he is sent to a place that is packed full of old-fashioned, obsolete and broken items. There is old-fashioned music playing and old news announcements playing all around. He can hear someone playing the piano and asks where they are. The viking introduces himself as Kronos the Conqueror, explaining they're in Oblivion. The place where everything that gets erased ends up. When he is free, all will fear him once again. He asks Max who erased him.
Max explains to him that he erased himself to rescue his sister. Kronos reveals to be able to do that, he must have the Tools of Oblivion. Max is stumbled and shows them, saying he only has an old eraser and piece of charcoal. Kronos is ecstatic and states that they are the tools. Which he has waited centuries for and demands he give them to him. Max not trusting him, runs away from him. Kronos begins to chase after him swinging his battleaxe. He tries to erase Kronos but he just reappears, laughing that it didn't work.
Max runs away, hiding inside an old red car. He erases Sardo who is instantly sent there. He tells Sardo he followed his advice but doesn't know what else to do. Sardo has no idea, and when Kronos finds them, he and Sardo run off screaming for help. Then further ahead, they hear Shelley screaming for help. Shelley is locked inside a giant bird cage, and butch is trapped on a cart in front of it. It would seem their are on a conveyor belt machine, to send items into a garbage disposal. Max apologizes for everything and Shelley forgives him, being more worried about Kronos. Kronos runs up to them and Shelley screams that he was the one who put her in the cage. Kronos tells them eventually Oblivion needs more room. So eventually everything is thrown into the garbage disposal.
Kronos threatens to send her and Butch into it, unless he gets the tools. Max does the right thing, (but privately breaks them in half first). Kronos cheers in victory, having them at long last. Because now he can return home and conquer. Then Kronos draws a medieval door to take him back home. He erases it, and it appears. The door opens and Thelodius and Chadwick back away terrified at the sight of him. Then before entering the door, Max takes out his pieces of the tools. He announces he's going to erase all of Oblivion. Kronos screams at him not to erase oblivion, but Max erases it anyways.
Then in a flash of light Max, Shelley, Sardo and Butch all appear in a solid white place. They figure that they are literally in "Nowhere" now. Shelly is puzzled and asks why they weren't erased. Max reveals because he wrote their names on the back and didn't erase any of them. Max draws his bedroom door and they return back home.
Just when they come home, their mom is home too and asks what's going on. Shelley stands up for Max and says the piano was out of tune so they asked Sardo to take it away and fix it. Carol asks them why the house isn't clean yet, and what they've been doing the whole time. Max explains that all they've just been sitting down petting the dog. Max and Butch are now friends, as he sits down nicely petting him.
Ending[]
Tucker ends his story saying: So Max had the power to create and destroy. And it all just came from a simple piece of charcoal and a tiny piece of rubber. Then he ends his story saying the end. Tucker is now finishing a drawing, he drew a charcoal portrait of his four friends sitting around the campfire. The drawing is amazing, but he feels it's not that good and he's going to throw into the fire.
Taking his story too seriously, the four of them all stop him from doing it. Tucker tells them it's just a story, but he'll take care the drawing.. if they help him take all the old vintage stuff back. They agree and quickly help gather it all up. Tucker watches happily as they pick it all up for him.
- One of eleven episodes where the New Midnight Society didn't leave and douse the fire with the water-bucket (they were gathering Tucker's artifacts).
- Although they portrayed twins in the show, in real life Daniel Clark is actually two years older than Emma Taylor-Isherwood.
- Sardo's First appearance in the series revival. also his Seventh appearance in total. His next and final appearance would be in "The Tale of the Time Trap".
- Sardo tries to sell Max a doorway that could tell the future, referring to The Tale of a Door Unlocked.
- Emma Taylor-Isherwood, who portrayed Shelley, reappeared in the show again just the next season. She next appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Reanimator" as Julie.
- Daniel Clark also appeared in the Goosebumps television show. He portrayed Mark Rowe in the two part episode "How I got My Shrunken Head".
- Daniel Clark also co-starred in "Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension" a show about an Indiana suburb with strange occurrences that led to only the two protagonists seemed to notice.
- Daniel Clark became very well known for his long recurring appearance as Sean Cameron in Degrassi: The Next Generation.
- Alan Legros' first credited appearance in the entire show.
- Alan Legros, who portrayed Krono the Conqueror, previously made two uncredited appearances in the original series. He made his first uncredited appearance in "The Tale of the Guardian's Curse" as a Construction Worker. Then he made his second uncredited appearance in "The Tale of the Crimson Clown" as The Crimson Clown.
- Bill Corday, who portrayed Thelodius, previously appeared in the show before. He first appeared in the original series episode "The Tale of Station 109.1" as The Scared Looking Man.
- Matt Holland who portrayed Chadwick, later reappeared in the show again just the next season. He next appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Laser Maze" as Drake.
- Una Kay who portrayed Mrs. Fitzgerald, previously appear years before in the original series. She first appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Whispering Walls" as Violet, The Old Elegant Lady.
- D.J. MacHale has said this is one of his favorite episodes from the revival seasons.
- DJ once met someone who did their high school thesis on this episode.
- The cage Shelly is in was recycled from The Tale of Cutter's Treasure.
