You want to honor your father? Then stay alive and help me.
My father?
Sola...
Why would you say that?
That's what drives your compassion,
the blood of your father, Tars Tarkas.
And of all the Tharks, you're the only one worthy of him.
Your duty to your father demands that you see me through.
Just help me find the Gates.
Then you can decide what honor requires.
Just to the Gates, then.
Woola, stay!
Other pilgrims.
Professor.
Impossible.
I've never seen this kind of structure before.
I want to get a better look.
Carter, your feet.
This is not the work of gods.
These are machines.
Your medallion.
A spider.
Nine.
Nine rays.
Nine.
The Ninth Ray is real.
It can be harnessed. Do you see?
This entire structure runs on Ninth Ray isolates.
Mother Issus!
Such power.
And somehow Zodanga has it.
The Therns.
They must be real.
And you
are John Carter of Earth?
Yes, ma'am.
And the ships
that sail on the sea.
You've seen them.
That must be a beautiful sight.
It truly is.
It's our solar system.
- What's it say? - I'm not sure.
What do you think it says?
It appears to be a kind of technical diagram.
Here is Barsoom. There is Jasoom.
This glyph here,
it's like our symbol for a transcription, a copy,
sent along these lines here, between the worlds.
Like...
A telegram.
You're saying I was telegraphed here.
I'm a copy of myself.
Possibly, making these words here the command for travel.
I don't like guessing.
I need more information. I need charts, codices.
Right.
And where might we find those?
In the Hall of Science.
And where's that?
Helium.
Then quick, let's just head on and turn on back to Helium.
What do you take me for?
I take you for a man who's lost.
I won't be lost if you just tell me how to work this thing!
I will!
But everything I need to understand that medallion is in Helium.
I'm trying to get you back to your cave of gold.
Isn't that what you want?
Yes.
No.
I don't believe you.
We may have been born worlds apart,
but I know you, John Carter.
From the moment you caught me in the sky, I knew.
I felt the heart of a man willing to lay down his life for others,
a man willing to fight for a cause.
Here.
On Barsoom.
Don't you see, Carter?
I fled to find another way.
You are the other way.
Dotar Sojat!
Warhoon!
Dotar Sojat!
Pursue them to the Aeolian Plain.
Then overtake them and capture the red woman alive.
The one who jumps?
Let's see what he's capable of.
Sarah!
- Whoa! - Dotar Sojat!
- What are you doing? - Sola, get her out of here.
Carter!
I was too late once.
I won't be again.
No! No!
No!
Woola, go.
Go, damn you!
Father!
Thank the Goddess!
Carter.
Oh, thank Issus.
Who is he?
His name's John Carter. He saved my life.
He's from Jasoom.
Jasoom!
Zodanga's closer. He'll have my personal physician.
He shot me out of the sky!
Daughter, listen to me! Listen.
Sab has admitted to everything.
He came to me, alone, without an escort.
I could have had him imprisoned.
I could have had him killed.
Yet, it was clear he only cared about your safety.
I feared you'd be tortured by the Tharks and condemned to die in their arena.
I could not live with that on my conscience.
I do have one, Princess.
Really?
I thought you had it removed along with...
She does not trust me, Jeddak.
And why should she?
There's never been trust between Zodanga and Helium.
Therefore, Princess,
I offer you this small but sincere token of my goodwill.
My life.
You hold the power, Princess.
The power of life over me and over all Barsoom.
With our two cities united, anything is possible.
All you have to do is marry me.
Is this Helium?
No.
Ah, Zodanga, where the men are as limited as the menu
and the women are as hard as the beds.
What's your business here?
He is my business.
The Jasoomian is to be taken to more secure accommodation.
We've received no such orders!
You're receiving them now!
Straight from the laughing lips of Sab Than himself.
I hear that you are incredibly dangerous.
Take me hostage.
- What? - Take me hostage.
Are you all right?
No! The white imbecile has taken my sword!
Guards!
Carter! Run!
There's a crazy man running amok with a sword!
Carter, this way!
Right, your turn.
- My turn? - Yeah.
- Who are you? - My name is Kantos Kan.
I serve Princess Dejah.
- Dejah? - Uh-huh.
And from what she tells me, you can get us over there.
She said I could make that?
We could always surrender.
Quickly!
Is that what you do on Jasoom?
Come on!
Hello, ladies.
You are expected to bow in my presence, Captain Carter.
Bow.
I suppose that will do.
I fetched him, as you commanded.
Thank you, Kantos.
I wish to speak to Captain Carter alone.
Keep watch outside.
Now, girls. Off you go!
You look beautiful.
It's traditional Zodangan,
worn by the groom's mother, I'm told.
A little vulgar for my taste,
but my opinions are about to become irrelevant.
You can't seriously be considering this.
- What other choice do I have? - Don't marry him.
Give me a reason not to.
Will you stay and fight for Helium?
Dejah.
We have a saying on Barsoom.
A warrior may change his metal, but not his heart.
You were right.
I could decipher the command.
It's a set of sounds.
A simple phrase.
Repeat after me.
Ock, ohem, ocktei...
Open the door!
Say it now. Ock, ohem, ocktei.
Are you all right, Dejah?
Ock,
ohem,
ocktei.
Wies.
- Wies. - Jasoom.
Jasoom. Say it.
- Say it. Say it! - Ja...
Dejah? Are you alone?
Yes.
I am alone.
Well, my Jeddak.
The moons will soon be rising.
Let us not delay the proceedings any further.
Yes.
Yes, of course.
Ssh.
We'll have plenty of time to talk.
Now.
Who are you?
- American. - Who are you, sir?
"Sir." Definitely the South.
The Carolinas? Virginia?
It's Virginia, isn't it?
- Lovely place. - Do you know it?
Not as well as I should. But I will.
Padwar, what's the hold-up?
Sorry, sir. The streets are blocked.
It's the wedding procession.
Increased strength and agility.
Simple matter of gravitation and anatomy,
one we ought to have foreseen.
We?
No apparent increase in intelligence.
Still, this will not do at all.
We can't have Earthmen projecting themselves over here,
leaping about, causing all manner of disruption.
You're a Thern.
Therns are a myth.
Padwar, we'll go on foot.
Yes, sir.
My name is Matai Shang, and I do not exist.
Indeed, I work very hard at it.
Excuse me, excuse me.
Many pardons... Many pardons.
It's a shame, really.
She's a remarkable creature, and she came very close indeed.
You mean the Ninth Ray.
It's of no consequence now.
After tonight's ceremony,
when the two moons meet and vows are exchanged,
she and anyone else with knowledge of the Ninth Ray
will be eliminated.
In effect, cutting the head off the beast.
Quick, clean and precise.
Shame there's no one to warn her.
The balance must be restored.
What gives you the right to interfere?
What do you care? This is not your home.
You have no obligation to these people.
You don't have a dog in this fight.
Is that how you would say it in Virginia?
Man without a cause.
So what is your cause?
We have none.
We're not haunted by mortality as you are.
We are eternal.
I don't understand.
The wedding, this little stroll.
Why not just kill me, kill Dejah?
History will follow the course we have set, Earthman.
And we've chosen Sab Than to rule next.
The Ninth Ray must remain in the hands
of mindless brutes we can control.
And the infamy of Dejah Thoris's wedding death will seal his reign.
We've been playing this game since before the birth of this planet.
And we'll continue to do so, long after the death of yours.
We don't cause the destruction of a world, Captain Carter.
We simply manage it,
feed off it, if you like.
But on every host planet, it always plays out exactly the same way.
Populations rise, societies divide,
wars spread.
And all the while
the neglected planet slowly fades.
Prep a two-man flier immediately for prisoner transport.
Yes, sir.
Argh!
Immortal ain't bulletproof.
I shot one of you back on Earth.
Oh, come on.
I'm trying! I'm trying!
Guards! After him!
Ohh, Woola!
I told you Woola would follow you anywhere.
He did a lot more than just that.
Wait! Wait!
Where are you going?
To save Dejah.
And I'll need an army to do it.
Get on.
No! Tharks do not fly.
Gayor.
Tars! They're going to kill
Dejah.
Issus truly rewards the just.
- I see the dead. - Tars?
The Virginia I knew
traveled the Iss.
What have they done to you?
Tal challenged.
I lost.
Virginia.
When I saw you leap into the sky,
I wished to believe it was a sign
that something new can come into this world,
that the greatness of our Thark race might rise again.
But it is too late.
- Tars. - No matter.
My daughter is with her mother in Paradise.
There is comfort in that.
Tars, it's Sola.
Actually, she's here with me.
Argh!
This is how you repay your debt to me?
I need my sword.
Then it would harvest your thoughtless head from your body!
Up now! We go!
It is done.
Nonsense.
"Leave a Thark his head and one hand, and he may yet conquer."
Right?
Your spirit annoys me.
All this your work?
Banths.
Weakness.
Sentiment.
Allowing this white worm to contaminate the horde.
These are the crimes of Tars Tarkas.
We are united because we cull our freaks.
We are strong because we despise weakness.
Let them be crushed like unhatched eggs.
Is that a banth?
No.
It is a white ape.
Run!
Tars! Get up! Tars!
Give me your hand! You have four damn hands!
Give me one!
- Father! - Father?
Tars! Tars!
Hey!
Hey! Hey, over here, you blind monkey!
Release the other one.
Watch your father die like the whimpering calot he is!
No! Let us watch you!
Sola! Are you mad?
No. The blood of my father drives me.
Sola!
Virginia! Virginia! Virginia! Virginia!
I claim the right of challenge!
You have no right to challenge!
You are not Thark!
He is Thark!
He is Dotar Sojat!
Dotar Sojat! Dotar Sojat!
Who will pledge their metal to mine?
The Jeddak of Zodanga means to crush Helium this very night.
And if Helium falls,
so does Barsoom.
We must throw off the yoke of old hatreds.
Tharks did not cause this.
But, by Issus, Tharks will end it!
We ride for Zodanga!
I know that this is not the fate you would have chosen for yourself,
or for Helium
but choice is a luxury even for a Jeddak of Barsoom.
Even if, in your heart...
A heart is a luxury.
Steady.
Remember, she is not the prize.
The prize is Barsoom.
You!
Why is Zodanga undefended?
Where is everyone?
The army has been repositioned outside Helium.
Only a small contingent remains.
Sab and Dejah Thoris. Where are they?
They're at the wedding in Helium!
Helium?
No! I have made my decision.
It's the only way to get there in time.
Tharks do not fly.
So be it.
This is madness, Dotar Sojat. You'll die!
Then I'll see you down the River Iss.
Follow the canal!
Be careful! The moonlight will force you to fly low!
Like our ancestors before us,
we gather under the mingled light of Barsoom's first lovers,
Cluros and Thuria.
As the moons are joined in celestial union,
so do we unite Sab Than and Dejah Thoris,
Zodanga and Helium.
No! You'll raise the alarm. It's one of ours.
In the time of oceans,
the celestial lovers rose from the sea each night
to consummate their love in the sky.
Drink now of this holy water and be wed.
So may it be again.
I am yours forever.
And I am yours
forever.
Carter!
It's a trap! Zodanga's at your walls!
Now! Do it now!
- No! - Helium falls!
Zodanga!
Dejah!
Argh!
If you'll just get behind me, sir.
Carter!
- It was such a nice wedding. - Yeah, that.
Helium's fate is sealed, Earthman.
As is yours.
Thank the Goddess that's over with.
Virginia!
It is good to fly!
By Issus, they fight with us!
Brother!
Heliumite, huh?
You're going to tell me everything you know about the Therns.
You spare me and I'll tell you.
A fitting solution for your setback, wouldn't you say, Captain?
Dejah Thoris survives her assassins
but will fail to prove her misguided theory
of the Ninth Ray.
Yes.
I'll enjoy playing that out.
Carter!
Dejah!
I'm getting away!
Tars.
The medallion.
Give it to me, my Jeddak.
No!
I'll explain later.
You have won, my Jeddak.
All is finished.
Not quite.
A Jeddak.
I see you have changed your metal.
And my heart.
Dejah Thoris,
would a princess of Mars ever consider marriage
to a wayward Virginia cavalryman
with nothing to offer?
Yes,
John Carter.
Yes!
By the ancient rite of moons and water
are you bound together,
husband and wife.
John?
Homesick for the Thark nursery?
I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep.
I had that feeling you get, suddenly,
that you left a light burning
or a door open.
Go back to bed.
I won't be long.
Be back in one xat,
John Carter of Earth.
Come.
John Carter of Earth.
Yup.
John Carter of Mars sounds much better.
Sire, I must express the deepest of gratitude for saving Helium.
Please. The honor is mine.
Fair enough, Earthman. Now it's your move.
Ock ohem ocktei wies Jasoom.
No, no.
No.
Powell?
No!
Ock ohem ocktei wies Barsoom.
Bars... Barsoom.
50 million miles apart and no way to bridge the gap.
No way to return my body and my soul to their true home.
Like a fool, I had thrown away my medallion.
Then I recalled Matai Shang.
His knowledge of Earth, of my history.
It meant Therns were a presence on this world.
The cave in Arizona was proof.
There might be other such proofs, other Thern way stations
hidden all around the world.
I knew now what the cave of gold must be used for.
So for ten bitter years, I searched.
On the trail of rumor and legend
I ferreted out every possible evidence of the Therns,
but I found no medallion.
And then it came to me.
I've got it!
I've found it!
And once it came, there were many plans
I had to make in secret.
I could trust no one else.
I had long suspected that the Therns were following my movements.
Sir.
I feel remarkably unwell, Thompson.
- Please send for the doctor. - Yes, sir.
And, Thompson...
My attorney as well.
Of course, sir.
Now you will understand the cause of my sudden death.
The reason for my bizarre funeral instructions.
Why the door can only be opened from the inside.
For if my body dies on Earth, then my copy dies on Mars.
You are the key.
This is the task I entrust to you along with all my fortune.
Protect my body. The Therns will attempt to destroy it.
In the time it has taken you to read these pages,
they may have already done so.
I am the key. I am the key.
I, Edgar.
Ed... Ed...
E...D...
Ed!
It should work!
Dear Ned.
You sneaky devil!
You never called me Edgar! You... You called me Ned!
Hello, Ned.
Toxin. Derived from the puffer fish.
Simulates death.
You never found the medallion.
No.
That's why I'm so grateful to you for bringing me one.
I... I was just bait?
No. You're far more than that.
I really do need a protector.
That is, if you're willing.
Goodbye, Ned.
Oh, and, Ned...
Take up a cause.
Fall in love.
Write a book.
It's time I went home.
Ock ohem ocktei wies...
Barsoom.