Episode:To Battle the Living Planet

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This article is written from the Real World perspective

◄ "To Battle the Living Planet" ►
Series	Fantastic Four
Release Date	November 4, 1995
Season Number	6 of 13
Episode Number	19 of 26
Writer	Steve Granat Cydne Clark Jan Strnad
Director	Ernesto Lopez
87 images More information Guest Stars Kay E. Kuter (Ego) John Rhys-Davies (Thor) Ron Feinberg (Terrax) Tony Jay (Galactus)

The mighty Thor asks the Fantastic Four to help him battle a powerful being that's threatening to destroy Earth. When their enemy proves too much for their combined might, the heroes may have to ask for the assistance of their greatest enemy.

Story

When Worlds Collide

Thing walks into the lab with a large cake replica of the Four Freedoms Plaza to celebrate the new home of the Fantastic Four. Human Torch is amazed at the size. Invisible Woman thinks they'll have to store part of it in the garage.

Mister Fantastic stretches up to examine the cake. He wonders what the bakery thought of Ben's order. Ben says it's just three thousand pounds, a simple mistake. He asks who wants a slice.

Suddenly the whole ground begins to shake. Torch thinks it's an earthquake. Thing stumbles back and falls. The cake flies up and hits the ceiling. Thing catches the cake as it falls but part of it drops on his head.

Fantastic hugs his wife. He tells them that he designed the building to withstand powerful seismic events. Torch goes to a computer and sees that there are problems all over the globe such as floods in Spain, hurricanes in Tahiti, and other fires and volcanic eruptions.

Thing goes to the window and the rest follow. They look down to see the city falling apart. Torch lights up to flies down and Fantastic follows.

Torch flies above the street destroying some falling debris before it his a small crowd. He flies up to absorb some fire in the building. He heads above the city to release it.

Invisible Woman uses her powers to glide her and Thing down to the ground. They see an overpass about to collapse. Thing runs over and pushes a woman in a car out of the way. Woman then lifts Thing up and he grabs the overpass as it starts to fall.

A man and his two children stand hunched on a fire escape. It collapses but Fantastic quickly swoops in and grabs the two with his body.

Elsewhere, a man struggles to stand in his apartment. The wall behind him collapses and he grabs the ledge screaming for help. Fantastic drops the man and his children off as he spots the other man. He dodges some debris and stretches up.

Unfortunately, he cannot stretch far enough. He tells him to grab the his hand but he falls. Mister Fantastic watches has he falls past him.

Luckily, Iron Man flies down and catches the man. Fantastic stretches down next to Iron Man thanking him. He tells him that if he and the Avengers could continue the rescue operations he would return to the Plaza to find answer.

On the ground, Vision phases into a car to see an unconscious couple. He pulls out and lifts the car hood up. Hercules comes in and grabs the woman. Captain America grabs the man.

Iron Man lands next to She-Hulk. Fantastic stretches back to normal next to them. Rage then walks up to the group.

In a subway, Speedball, Darkhawk, and Justice pull some people out of a crashed train.

Back on the surface, Iron Man, Fantastic, Rage, Hercules, and She-Hulk look up to see a bright light in the sky. Vision, Wasp, and Goliath also look up to see, what appears to be, the sky on fire.

It Came From Outer Space

At the Four Freedoms Plaza, Fantastic explains that his tachyon radar tells him the "sky fire" is being generated by an object penetrating the atmosphere. He points to a map of the Earth showing the object approaching.

High in the sky, a large fireball heads to Earth and heading towards New York City.

Invisible Woman wonders where the object is heading. Just then alarms begin to blare.

In the sky, the fireball streaks through the city and hits the Plaza.

The four look up as the building shakes. The fireball bursts through the ceiling and bounces around the lab as the four protect themselves. As it nears him, Thing grabs a metal bar and bats it away. However, the force of the fireball makes him drop the flaming bar on his foot.

Fantastic looks as the flames on the bar die down revealing Mjolnir. He recognizes it as the hammer of the thunder God Thor. As Thing rubs his aching foot he wonders why Thor doesn't just knock.

Suddenly the hammer floats up. Thing leaps up and grabs it from the air but it pulls him away. Mjolnir flies through the wall into the sky carrying Thing. Fantastic stretches after him.

Thing lets go of the hammer and Fantastic catches him. Fantastic stretches back to the building. He knows that Mjolnir is returning to Thor and believes its arrival to be a summons.

In orbit, Mjolnir is ablaze as it flies away from the planet.

Back on Earth, the Plaza's roof opens up to reveal a space ship that launches off. Inside, Fantastic tells Thing to follow the energy trail. Though Thing jokes he hasn't lost a hammer yet. The ship leaves the atmosphere, goes past the moon, and flies into the Asteroid Belt.

Fantastic looks ahead to see the unconscious Thor, his hammer already at his side. Thing flies towards him noting that even after getting beaten up he still looks handsome.

Invisible Woman uses her powers to pull him into the ship and the side hatch closes.

Inside the ship, Thor lies in a small pod. Torch stands over him looking while Fantastic sets it up. Invisible Woman wonders what could have happened to the most powerful being on Earth. Listening in, Thing wonders when anyone got stronger than him. Torch jokes that it's been a while.

Torch walks over to Fantastic wonder what they could do to something if Thor already lost. However, for once Fantastic doesn't have an answer.

Forbidden Planet

The ship flies forward towards a large green cloud with a shape in it. They suddenly spot large tentacles floating in space. A voice then calls to them saying that he is Ego, the living planet. The ship exits the green cloud to behold a planet. It's surface morphs into an enormous face. It's eyes emit blasts that hit the ship.

Thing struggles to right the ship. The engines flare and it barely misses two tentacles. The four scream in terror as Thor's pod is shaken loose and breaks against the wall. Invisible Woman looks back and lifts Thor with her powers.

Fantastic tell Thing to pull up but Thing says he's trying. Their ship continues to spiral down towards Ego. Torch gets up to help Thor and Invisible Woman keeps him steady. Fantastic asks Thing if he can land and he says he will try if Fantastic will become a landing strip.

The shuttle flies closes to Ego's surface.

Torch notices that the surface contains breathable oxygen and asks to go. Torch flies out and creates a runway for the ship with his blasts.

Thing lowers the ship down on the surface. It goes past several more tentacles and slows just enough to tap a large crystal structure in front of it.

The side hatch opens and the other three leave the ship. Torch lands next to them but Fantastic warns them that Ego could soon find them. Invisible Woman looks up and points out what appears to be a large city.

Fantastic recognizes that it is not a city, but a cluster of thruster rockets. He deduces that Ego uses them to move about. He theorizes that if they destroy the thrusters Ego would stop his path towards Earth. Thing walks up saying this is what he's there for.

However, Thing looks down to see his leg tangled by a tentacle. More pop out of the ground and ensnare the others. Fantastic realizes that Ego found them. Before he can elaborate, Ego ties his mouth shut.

A thick liquid forms atop the surface threatening to drown them. Thing looks down to see a face appear. It becomes a human-like skeleton then forms skin. Ego tells them that he tracked his sworn enemy and will destroy the humans. Ego pulls the four down into the goo.

Indestructible Man

Human Torch struggles then lights up tearing the tentacle apart and flies up. Invisible Woman pushes the tentacle back as Torch flies by and picks her up. Fantastic stretches through the tentacles. Thing flexes his muscles and tears it apart.

Unfortunately, Thing is still stuck in the goo. Just then hears the voice of Thor, son of Odin. Thing looks over to the ship to see Thor in the doorway. He twirls Mjolnir and throws it. Ben reaches up and grabs it as it passes. Mjolnir struggles a bit but Thing is pulled out.

Thing lets go of Mjolnir and flips into a pond. The hammer returns to Thor. Thing stands up and walks over to Thor, saying that Thor is making him angry. Fantastic stretches down to stop Thing and thank Thor.

Thor thanks Fantastic for saving him. Behind them, Torch and Invisible Woman land. Thor says that time is short and they need to talk. He then points towards the engines.

Later, Thing carries Invisible Woman and Fantastic on the Fantasticar as Thor and Torch fly besides them. Thor tells them that he had never heard of Ego until Mjolnir detected the living planet.

In the past, a great storm built. Thor stood atop a mountain. He twirled the hammer causing colorful energies to appear around him. Thor then flew up and into space through the portal he created.

He exited the portal the behold Ego and learned of the planet's plan to destroy Earth. Thor blasted a tentacle but Ego caused a large wave to hit him. Thor pushed back a tornado but was hit by a stalk below. The stalk then melted back into the planet.

In space Ego blasted Thor with his eyes and he flew back.

Back in the present, Thor believes that since his powers have failed that they might be able to reason with Ego.

Ego then appears in a large cloud. He fires a beam out of his eye that causes them all to fall. Torch grabs his sister while Thor grabs Fantastic before they can fall onto large spiky crystals that suddenly form.

Thing struggles to control the Fantasticar but it crashes into a puddle. Thing pulls himself out and wonders why superheroes don't get coffee breaks. As he climbs, Ego forms creatures behind him and follow.

Thing turns to see the creatures following him and likes the chance to clobber something. He punches two but one jumps on his back. He flips it over as more jump on him.

Thor lands with Fantastic as Torch and Invisible Woman land behind them. They look to see Thing clobbering the creatures. He swings his arms causing many to fly back but they keep on coming. They try to overwhelm him but he knocks them all off.

Fantastic stretches up and smashes two of the creatures. He orders them to head to the thrusters and tells Torch to barricade the way with fire. Thor swings his hammer and flies up grabbing Thing along the way.

Have Rocket, Will Travel

Fantastic and Invisible Woman land on the thrusters as Torch creates a large wall of flames. The creatures don't approach the wall. Thor and Thing land among the group.

Fantastic examines the rockets but realizes it's on a scale he thought impossible. He then feels the technology is somehow similar to something he's seen before. Thing walks forward suggesting that they destroy the rockets to stop Ego and Thor follows in agreement.

Thing punches the metal but hurts his hand. Thor throws Mjolnir but it does no damage. Thor wonders at the metal while Thing shakes his hands. Fantastic theorizes that whatever powers the machines protects it.

Mister Fantastic realizes that there's only one being in the galaxy that can destroy the engines, and that is the one who put them there in the first place, the planet-eater Galactus. Invisible Woman is shocked that he would consider such an option, but Fantastic is serious.

Thor reveals that even in the far realm of Asgard they have heard of Galactus. Thing says that he has heard of them and they're not his Christmas card list.

Fantastic explains that since the last attack on Earth he has been monitoring Galactus' movements on a sub-space radar. He asks Thor that if he could give coordinates if the God could take him there.

Thor states that Mjolnir can only carry him and one other there. He asks if Fantastic is ready to face the world devourer with only Thor. Behind them Torch lands. Fantastic says he must do it.

The others walk up to the two. Fantastic tells Torch to get Thing and Invisible Woman back to the ship. They will have to join him when he returns with Galactus. He then tells Thing to remove the auxiliary power packs to slow down Ego. But he warns that they are extremely explosive.

Invisible Woman holds Fantastic and tells him to be careful. The two share a kiss.

Down below the creatures get closer as the flames die down. Torch flies above renewing them.

On the thrusters, Thor tells them to stand back while Mjolnir opens a portal. He twirls the hammer and lightning arcs around. Fantastic steps next to Thor as both are consumed by a bright light. The two disappear.

After the light dissipates, Invisible Woman wonders if Galactus will even help. Thing agrees but first he decides to take out the power packs. He walks over, rips one out, and walks to the edge.

Torch sees the creatures coming through the flames and realizes that they mutated. Torch flies up and offers to carry them out of there by stopping the flames on his hands. However, Invisible Woman refuses and tells Thing to follow her. Thing picks up the power back and walks over to her.

She creates a slide that carries the two of them away while Torch flies next to them. They leave just as the creatures reach their platform. They stop as Ego forms a giant wave in front of them. They turn left and fly away. Torch wonders where they are going and she says down. She drops the force field and the three enter a large chasm as Ego covers it with the wave.

Thor and Fantastic leave the portal and enter an asteroid field with many ships floating and flying about. Fantastic notes that Galactus has fed on another world. Thor wonders why he would ally himself with someone like that. Fantastic claims they have no choice.

Just then the two are struck by a beam of light and disappear.

The Thing From Another World

The two reappear in a large ship. They are greeted by Terrax the Tamer, the new Herald of Galactus. He points to a large door that opens revealing Galactus waiting for them. Galactus tells Mister Fantastic that they are unwelcome there. He turns to face the two and says that their time is up as his eyes glow red.

Thor raises his hammer saying that he has brought down giants larger than Galactus. Fantastic stops him pleading with Galactus to hear him out. The platform the two are standing on suddenly raises. Galactus wonders why he should involve himself in "petty mortal affairs." Fantastic explains that he is the reason for Earth's destruction.

Back on Ego, the three remaining heroes lie in a dark cavern unconscious. Moisture drips from the ceiling. Invisible Woman groans as Thing stands up wondering if this is part of her plan. He walks over and helps her up.

She shakes the moisture out of her hair twice and tells them that if they can find the center of Ego's consciousness they can use the explosive power pack to destroy him. Torch walks up saying it sounds like a suicide mission.

She asks what other choice they have. She explains that the longer they wait the closer Ego gets. They imagine Ego getting to Earth and blasting it with his beams. She tells them that Alicia Masters, Cyrstal, and the whole planet will perish. They imagine Alica trapped in her apartment as New York City collapses around her.

Thing then walks over to the power pack and lifts it, ready to destroy Ego.

Elsewhere, Fantastic finishes explaining things to Galactus. Terrax tells them that Galactus does not care about their fates, but Galactus stops him. He reveals to the Earthlings that only Ego's power has challenged his own.

Galactus explains that Ego tried to destroy the galaxy Galactus claimed as his own and fought him. In the past, Galactus stood on his ship and fired his massive energies at Ego. Ego smiles and shields himself. Galactus fires more but each simply reflect off the shield. Galactus attached the rockets to Ego to exile him into the vastness of space. Ego looked horrified as he was first rocketed away.

Fantastic realizes that Ego must have gotten control over the rockets and followed the trail of dead planets to Earth looking for Galactus. He theorizes that seeing Earth spared, Ego assumed Galactus had befriended the planet to protect it.

Terrax finishes the thought by saying that Ego will destroy the world himself, noting the irony. Thor grows angry and demands that Galactus end the threat or face Thor.

Galactus leans over and says he will help, not because of Thor, but for something in return. Galactus will deal with Ego if Mister Fantastic will release him from the bargain not to destroy Earth.

Thor is horrified that they would stop one villain only to have to deal with another. But Fantastic knows that Ego is immediate while Galactus is not. He agrees causing Terrax to grin.

Back on Ego, the three struggle as they near Ego's heart, the beating pounding loudly around them. Invisible Woman doesn't know if she can keep going because of the air pressure, and Torch agrees. The two lean on Ego's body to rest.

Thing puts down the power pack and tells the two that they're not going further. He picks them up and throws them across the chamber. Torch says that Thing shouldn't be playing the hero, but Invisible Woman knows that Thing is the only one who can make it. Thing picks up the power pack and continues.

Torch and Invisible Woman make their way back to the surface. They land near the ship and Torch sees a large flash in the sky. He knows that it's Galactus and the others. Invisible Woman says they have to warn them that Thing is still below.

They enter the ship and the ramp closes. Torch sits in the pilot's chair while she sits next to him. She puts on the radio headset and tries to contact her husband. However, the communicators are dead, probably from the crash. Torch then pilots the ship off Ego and towards Galactus.

On Galactus' ship, Fantastic and Thor watch the ship take off through a viewscreen. Fantastic thinks that they all made it to safety.

Galactus, King of Monsters

Ego floats over to Galactus' ship saying that he will have his revenge. Galactus claims that he will win the battle and fires beams from his eyes. They hit Ego but do little damage. Ego gloats that Galactus is simple compared to him and fires his own eye beams.

Galactus endures the attack and prepares energies in his hands. He says that he could destroy the universe and fires his beams at Ego. Ego is hit and Galactus continues his attacks.

Inside, Fantastic and Thor watch. Thor notes that the two are evenly matched. Fantastic turns and runs away bidding Thor to follow.

Inside the planet, Thing still struggles with the power pack, noting that the pressure is getting to him. He puts the pack on his back and continues on. He then sees light coming down from above.

Thing looks up to see Ego's glowing brain. He sets down the pack near the base of the brain.

Back in the ship, the monitors show Galactus' attacks. Fantastic explains that he can channel the power of Mjolnir into Galactus to make him stronger. Galactus agrees and readies himself.

Ego fires his eye beams as Galactus does his. The conflicting forces create a blast that knocks the Fantastic Four's ship around.

Invisible Woman notes that Galactus is trying to destroy the planet with Thing still inside. She begs Torch to get there faster but he's struggling with the blasts.

Inside the planet, Thing throws the power pack and it explodes.

In space, Ego yells out in pain. Thor powers up Mjolnir and fires it into a machine. The machine transfers the power to Galactus. Galactus fires onto Ego causing him more pain.

Ego's body begins to break up because of the energies.

Torch struggles to keep the ship moving through the blasts. He flies it into Galactus' ship.

Fantastic and Thor watch Ego's destruction through the monitors as Torch and Invisible Woman appear. They quickly tell the two that Thing is still in the center of Ego. Thor tells them that Mjolnir will take him to Thing.

Thing struggles to stand in the planet as Thor appears. Thor reaches down and picks up Thing. He twirls the hammer and the two disappear as Ego explodes.

In space, Ego's surface constantly changes as he screams in pain. Soon he explodes littering the area with his body.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Back in their ship, Thing opens his eyes to see the rest of the Fantastic Four. Invisible Woman tells Fantastic and Torch makes a joke. Thing sits up to see Thor standing on the end of the table he's laying on.

Mister Fantastic tells Thing that his rock-hard skin saved him from the decompression. Though Thing thinks it also was because of holding his breath. Thing stands and Torch tells him that Thor saved his life.

Thor says he is honored to have saved someone who would go on such a mission. Thing stands, walks over to Thor, and shakes his hand.

Then an image of Galactus' head appears in their ship. He says farewell to Mister Fantastic but reminds him of the bargain they made. Thing, Invisible Woman, and Mister Fantastic walk over to the image.

In space, Galactus towers over the ship as it orbits Earth. Galactus looks over to Earth and says he is not hungry at the moment. Galactus looks back to see the Fantastic Four and Thor through an energy projection.

Galactus ends the projection and turns. As he enters his ship he warns that he will be hungry some day. The hatch closes and his ship disappears from the area.

The five heroes watch the area of space that Galactus and his ship disappeared to, each looking grim. Mister Fantastic repeats Galactus' final words.

Quotes

"This is big episode. How big? Well, the Fantastic Four fly off into space to fight an entire planet. Hey, you don't get much bigger than that. And when you add The Mighty Thor into the mix, well, this could be the biggest episode ever. Just keep your eyes peeled for a number of other superheroes in this episode as well."

-Stan Lee's introduction

"Ta-ti-di-um! Presenting the Four Freedoms Plaza. The new home of the Fantastic Four."
"Ah man, Ben. That cake's big enough to move into."
"I'm sure we can store most of it in the freezer. Or the garage."
"I suspect the bakery had a slight problem deciphering Ben's order."
"Hey, it's just three thousand pounds. Anyone coulda made the same mistake."

-Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and Mister Fantastic

"Fortunately I designed our building to withstand a seismic shock of 9.5."

-Mister Fantastic

"Whoa, check this. Floods in Spain, hurricanes in Tahiti. Fires. Volcanic eruptions."
"Yeah, well while your yackin', the whole city's crackin'."

-Human Torch and Thing

"Come on Susie, to Benjamin J. Grimm, the ever-lovin' Thing, "if" is a four-letter word."

-Thing

"My tachyon radar indicates that the sky fire is being generated by an object penetrating our atmosphere at enormous speed."

-Mister Fantastic

"Ben, look! That's the hammer of Thor, the thunder God!"
"What's the matter? Can't that long-haired, lantern-jawed lummox ever knock?"

-Mister Fantastic and Thing

"Hurry, to the ship! That hammer always returns to Thor! It's obviously a summons from the God of Thunder himself!"

-Mister Fantastic

"Not to worry. Aunt Petunia's favorite blue-eyed nephew ain't never lost a hammer yet."

-Thing

"Can you believe it. Somebody trashed his tush and he still looks pretty as a picture!"

-Thing

"Who or what could possible do this to the God of Thunder, the most powerful being on Earth?"
"Most powerful!? Hey, when did I become Wimp of the Year?"
"Uh, April."
"What!? Hey!"

-Invisible Woman, Thing, and Human Torch

"Creatures of the third planet, heed me!"
"Huh, check please."
"I am Ego, the living planet! Feel my wrath!"

-Ego, first lines, and Thing

"Pull it up, Ben!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do? Win the Pillsbury back-off?"

-Mister Fantastic and Thing

"One runway for the orange gentleman in the blue diaper comin' right up!"

-Human Torch

"Welcome to Ego International Airport. Sorry, but your luggage has been eaten."

-Human Torch

"Across the boundless reaches of the cosmos, I have tracked my sworn enemy! Now, for his transgressions, I shall destroy your world and all its populace!"

-Ego

"What a revoltin' development."
"Fear not, Benjamin Grimm! They plight hast caught the eye of Thor, son of Odin!"

-Thing and Thor, first lines

"Son of Odin, eh? Well thou has ticked off Ben Grimm, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grimm. Now, when I need your help, Goldilocks, I'll leave a message at the beauty parlor."

-Thing

"We're grateful for your intervention, Thor."
"Tis Thor who owes a debt to thee, Reed Richards."

-Mister Fantastic and Thor

"I knew not this creature until mine enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, detected Ego's presence with the first storm wind. Using the Uru hammer's power, I did unlock a portal to the very depths of space. And there I came face to face with Ego, the living planet. I learned of his mad plan to destroy Earth and engaged him in battle. But how does one, even a God, battle a planet entire? 'Twas then, with the last of my strength, I summoned thee. Perhaps where the might of the Gods hath failed, the power of reason and intellect may prevail."

-Thor

"You shall never prevail against Ego."

-Ego

"Don't you ever get a coffee break in this blasted superhero business?"

-Thing

"Hot dog! Something to clobber!"

-Thing

"One little, two little, three little mud guys. Four little, five little, six little mud guys."

-Thing

"By Odin! This metal resists even the blows of mine enchanted hammer."
"Ain't done wonders for my manicure, neither."

-Thor and Thing

"Apparently, part of the thrusters' power is used to shield them from direct assault. I'm afraid there's only one being with the power to destroy these engines. And that's the one who put them here, Galactus."
"Reed! You can't be serious!"
"Never more so, darling."

-Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman

"The devourer of worlds is well known e'en on distant Asgard."
"Yeah, he knows us, too, and we ain't exactly on his Christmas card list."

-Thor and Thing

"Mjolnir's magic can protect myself and one other on such a journey. Will thou face the devourer alone, Reed Richards, with only the Mighty Thor at thy side?"
"I'll do whatever I must."

-Thor and Mister Fantastic

"Darling, please be careful."

-Invisible Woman

"Stand thee back, all, whilst mighty Mjolnir doth open a portal through the very fabric of space."

-Thor

"But what if Galactus refuses to help? We have to do something."
"You got my vote in your back pocket, Susie."

-Invisible Woman and Thing

""I have an idea." The four scariest words in the English language."

-Thing

"Galactus has fed on yet another world."
"And you would seek alliance with such a villain?"
"We've no choice, Thor."

-Mister Fantastic and Thor

"Cringe before me. I am Terrax the Tamer, now herald to Galactus, devourer of worlds."

-Terrax

"Reed Richards. You have come where you are unwelcome. Your hour is struck. Your final page is writ."

-Galactus

"Threaten us not, villain. Thor hath brought giants larger than Galactus to their knees."

-Thor

"Susie, this plan of yours better include a medical plan with a real low deductible."
"Hazard pay would be nice too, Ben."

-Thing and Invisible Woman

"Ben, where are you going?"
"Where else? To blow Ego's mind."

-Invisible Woman and Thing

"No! The all-mighty Galactus cannot be bothered with the fate of fleas."
"Enough, herald. As you surmised, in all the universe, only Ego's power has challenged my own."

-Terrax and Galactus

"It was when the mad planet threatened to destroy this galaxy, my galaxy, that I did battle him. His powers were equal to mine. Ultimately I attached the thrusters, and bid them exile Ego into the vast void of interstellar space."

-Galactus

"Undo the harm thou hast done or face the wrath of the God of Thunder."
"Galactus shall help, not because of your laughable threat, but on his own condition. Reed Richards, I shall aid you in vanquishing Ego, provided you release me from the vow you once extracted from me, to spare you planet called Earth."
"By Odin's beard! He would trade us one death for another!"
"An immediate threat for a distant one. We have no choice. Offer accepted."

-Thor, Galactus, and Mister Fantastic

"You ain't goin' nowhere. This is where you guys get off."
"Ben, this is no time to play John Wayne."
"No, Johnny. Ben's right. He's the only one who stands a chance."

-Thing, Human Torch, and Invisible Woman

"Galactus! At last my quest is done. My vengeance is at hand. Let this then be your end."
"This time, the triumph shall be mine."
"You mouth madness. You are but a simple being. I am an entire world."
"Your words are true, but in all of space, I stand alone. I am Galactus. The be-all and end-all of the universe."

-Ego and Galactus

"By Heimdall's eyes! The villainous titans are too evenly matched."

-Thor

"Man, now that's what I call a brain. And I thought ol' Stretch had all the marbles."

-Thing

"By altering the circuits of your dimensional generator I can channel the mystical energy of Thor's Uru hammer into your own cosmic power."
"Ah, 'twill make the mightiest weapon the universe hath ever known."

-Mister Fantastic and Thor

"Here's the wind up, and the pitch." [Power pack blows up] "STRIKE!"

-Thing

"Jeez, Louise. Anybody get the number of that planet?"

-Thing

"Only your rock-hard hide saved you from explosive decompression, Ben."
"Yeah. That, and holdin' my breath."

-Mister Fantastic and Thing

"Y'know, if Thor hadn't dragged your orange buns outta there, you'd have been space krispies."
"Oh, no. Come on, you're kidding? You mean I owe my life to the Fabio of the fjords?"
"Twas Thor's privilage, Benjamin Grimm, to rescue one as noble as thee."
"Yeah, well, don't let it go to thy bleached-blond noggin."

-Human Torch, Thing, and Thor

"Galactus bids you farewell, Reed Richards. But remember, a bargain has been struck. You have released me from my vow to spare your planet. I hunger not at this moment...but perhaps another day."

-Galactus

"Yes, another day."

-Mister Fantastic, last line of the episode

Trivia

• The version of Goliath seen here appears to be based off the Clint Barton version, though this is not directly stated that he is Clint.
• With the appearances of the Avengers members, it is difficult to exactly place this episode within the Marvel Animated Universe timeline. Likely it is after the events of The Avengers: United They Stand where Captain America and Iron Man would rejoin the team and could fight along with Vision and She-Hulk.
• Thing "plays" baseball with Mjolnir as the ball. In Ultimate Avengers II, Thor "plays" baseball with Mjolnir as the bat.
• The bake-off Thing refers to is a reference to the real life Pillsbury Company.
• The air on Ego is 25% oxygen, more than in Earth's atmosphere which is about 20%.
• Eight of the creatures form in the pit that Thing fell in. Apparently, at least one formed behind him.
• This is one of the episodes where Galactus is quite short, with Terrax roughly the size of his helmet. However, he becomes quite large as he bids farewell to the Fantastic Four. A possible explanation is that Thor's power caused him to grow in size, thus helping to explain the constant size difference in the series. This would be shown in "When Calls Galactus".

• This episode, and briefly in "When Calls Galactus", is the only time that Galactus has his usual comic book eyes, with the red squares on black. In all other times in the series he has normal human eyes. In Silver Surfer he has pure white eyes.
• Sixteen different superheroes appear in this episode.

Goofs

• Actually, Invisible Woman did not need to lift Thing to support the overpass. Realistically speaking, Thing was only able to support it when she supported him. She could have cut out the literal middle man.
• Mister Fantastic claims he cannot stretch any further, but he has not stretched his arms at all. Plus he is shown to be able to stretch that far. Additionally, he would only have to catch the falling man, not reach him.
• In "Mortal Bounds" it is shown that if Mjolnir leaves Thor long enough he will revert back to Donald Blake. So how did he not revert when Mjolnir went all the way to Earth and back? Unless he won't revert if in conditions that would kill Donald.
• When Ego's tentacles are capturing the four, why does no one initially use their powers? It's understandable that Ego is stronger than Thing. But Mister Fantastic could easily stretch out and Human Torch and Invisible Woman don't even try. It's only after the commercial break that they successfully try.
• Invisible Woman asks Thing where he is going after she tells him that Ego will destroy the Earth. Why would she asks if he's clearly heading to the power pack after the story of his girlfriend being killed?
• When Mister Fantastic and Thor see the Fantastic Four's ship leave Ego, the energy projector and Thor are slightly see-through.
• When Thor picks Thing up, Thing's shirt is missing.

Continuity

• First appearance of Iron Man on the series. Though in "The Silver Surfer and the Coming of Galactus, Part One" Human Torch and Thing were watching a cartoon based on his adventures. He would later appear in "Doomsday". Iron Man had been appearing on Iron Man, which aired along with Fantastic Four as part of The Marvel Action Hour.
• This series is the only time Iron Man and Captain America are shown fighting as part of the Avengers. In the The Avengers: United They Stand episodes "Command Decision" and "Shooting Stars" they fight with the team but not as part of them.
• The next time Iron Man and Captain America would be seen with the Fantastic Four is in the Spider-Man episode "Arrival".
• First appearance of She-Hulk on the series. Her origins would be explored in the The Incredible Hulk episode "Doomed". This means that this episode takes place after "Fantastic Fortitude" where she had just been given powers.
• Only appearance of Captain America on the series. His origins would be explored with the Spider-Man episode "The Cat" and make more appearances later in the series.
• First appearance of Vision on the series. His origins would be explored in the The Avengers: United They Stand episode "Avengers Assemble, Part One".
• First appearances of Justice, Speedball, Darkhawk, Hercules, Goliath, and Rage.
• First appearance of Wasp. She would become a regular character on The Avengers: United They Stand.
• Thing doesn't like knowing there are others stronger than him. In "Nightmare in Green" he tries to take on the Hulk, who severely outmatches him. Though this episode would take place after "Fantastic Fortitude" where She-Hulk had just been created.

• Thor previously appeared in the X-Men episode "The Dark Phoenix". He would come back for "When Calls Galactus" and appear in the The Incredible Hulk episode "Mortal Bounds". He would appear in the opening titles of The Avengers: United They Stand but not in the series itself.
• First appearance of Ego. He would be explored in the Silver Surfer episodes in the chronologically earlier "The Origin of the Silver Surfer, Part Two", and "Return to Zenn-La" where he is less of a villain.
• Terrax last appeared in "The Silver Surfer and the Coming of Galactus, Part Two". His last appearance would be in "When Calls Galactus". He would have appeared in the unproduced second season of Silver Surfer.
• The swirl of multi-colored energy that Thor uses to teleport, possibly the Rainbow Bridge, is similar to the energy Century uses to destroy E.L.F. in the Iron Man episode "Data In, Chaos Out".

Background

The episode is very loosely based off of Thor #133, Thor battles Ego; #160, Galactus and Ego begin fighting; and #161, Thor helps Ego defeat Galactus.

In the comics, Thor teamed up with Ego to defeat Galactus. In response, Ego allowed the Wanderers, those whose planets were destroyed by Galactus, to live on his surface. But after Thor left Ego consumed them all.

The episode aired on November 8th, 1995, the same day as X-Men's "The End of Time" and Iron Man's "Iron Man, On the Inside".

Reaction

"Stu" of Marvel Animation Age said it was one of the best episodes of the series, an example of what couldn't be done on X-Men, Spider-Man, or Iron Man. He liked how they changed Galactus for this season, making him into one of the better villains for the series. Plus he liked the build up for his return. He felt the scene where Mister Fantastic had to lift the embargo on Earth was one of the best scenes in the series. He liked Thor's appearance and felt he worked well as a guest star as he did on The Incredible Hulk. He thought Ego was a worthy villain and well done. He appreciated the cameos by the Avengers. "One of the best aspects of the episode is the fact that you know it’s going to have a follow up, with the return of Galactus; a great episode on so many levels."

External Links

• Marvel Animation Age
• Internet Movie Database
• Marvel Database