(tense music)
Why...
why have you brought me here?
Because I am surrounded by fools.
(footsteps scurry away)
I requested a hero, but, instead, I got...
you!
- (chair screeches) - Yet, here we are.
(tense music)
Do you know how to play?
You want to play a game? With me? Why?
You're all I have. I have no opponents amongst my own people,
so must look to my enemies. Do you understand?
(stutters) Why should I play?
You're just going to kill me either way.
To waste my energy on killing you would be beneath me.
I'm no savage, little vaanar.
If you win a game against me, you'll return to your people unharmed.
And if I lose?
(sighs)
Then you will rot in my dungeons with the rest of them.
At least you'll be with your people there.
How do I know you'll play fair?
Oh, please! As if I need to cheat.
If my wisdom doesn't eclipse the wit of a monkey in a game,
then I do not deserve to even have any prisoners.
(exclaims)
It would take the greatest of heroes to beat you, Your Majesty.
And I am no hero.
(sighs)
On that, we can agree.
But it seems I have no choice but to play a game with you.
(laughs nervously)
Just remind me, how does this one move?
(title song)
(army yelling)
(thuds)
(weapons clanking)
Leave me, Hanuman.
The men need you. I...
I'll find my way back to camp. (groans)
Don't speak. Save your strength.
(soldier groans)
(flesh squelches)
Our forces are being crushed, Hanuman.
It seems as if Ravan is sitting beside us as we plan our strategy.
He knows everything we are thinking before we do.
How?
Can he have a spy hidden amongst us?
Things are happening too fast for a spy to get word back to Lanka.
- Then how-- - (explosion)
What now?
Has Ravan rallied the very earth against us?
Not quite. It's coming from the front of us.
Ready yourselves, men!
Protect your brothers!
Stand fast!
(elephants trumpet)
(Hanuman screams) Stand fast!
It's been hours. I didn't think you'd last this long.
But yet another of your pieces is lost.
Fortunately for you, it was not a valuable piece.
What a strange bird!
It keeps coming back.
It is just an annoyance. Ignore it. It's your move.
Wow! What's this made of?
The craftsmanship is really so nice.
Play!
(chuckles nervously) All right! All right! There! Happy now?
Most unusual.
Ah! I see.
(Ravan) He uses the wheel formation.
A sensible strategy.
He wants to protect his troops while waiting for me
to exhaust myself in a fruitless attack.
A clever move.
Perhaps he learnt playing against Ram?
This formation is invulnerable from all sides, but there's a fatal flaw.
It neglects the pieces that can jump
and arch themselves over a wall.
Indeed, a strange bird.
So annoying, yet I'm becoming rather fond of it.
Such freedom
to be able to fly and arch over any wall to reach a tasty morsel.
Fly and arch over a wall...
- (raven caws) - no matter how high.
Gone again!
Perhaps it will be back.
The game is far from finished.
(eerie music)
Come closer.
What message from our master?
Our master says you must "fly and arch over a wall."
Whatever that means.
Of course.
The vaanars' only hope
is to form the wheel strategy,
an impenetrable circle.
Good, good, I understand.
Signal the commander of the vultures.
Tell him to release them.
They can fly in an arch over any formation.
(tense music)
Every command he gives must be followed.
Now fly back to him! Fly!
(footsteps fade, changes form)
(tense music)
Do you see anything?
Why has it all gone so quiet?
They must have retreated.
They know they can't break our wheel formation.
(Angad chuckles)
- Good. We'll... - (gasps softly)
Did... did you hear that?
Hear what?
That! It's getting closer!
I hear it. What's making that...
Fight, brothers!
(weapons clanking)
Fight for all you're worth!
(grunting)
(weapons clanking)
They destroyed the wheel formation by coming from the skies?
Ravan's men seem endless!
The vaanars are too few to overcome such a wave of destruction.
Wait, Lakshman. Something isn't right.
Did you see how the birds flew in an arch?
But they are not in sync with the elephants on the ground.
With so many soldiers, chariots, elephants
and other creatures taking to the field,
they'll get in each other's way. Ravan should've devised a strategy
to ensure each piece of his army works perfectly alongside the other.
Without that strategy, it is chaos for him.
That's not like him.
Usually, he's so organised, so precise.
I agree.
Something, or someone, has thrown Ravan's plans into turmoil.
(raven's wings flap)
I was wrong! This game's not so hard after all!
You play an unorthodox game.
You do not follow the accepted rules of strategy.
Why? Because I don't know them, that's why.
Frankly, it's one less thing to worry about.
I like to keep things simple.
I don't think there is anything simple about you.
But I am starting to understand you.
You and the rest of your ragtag army.
(eerie music)
We have orders from our liege
to level everything
straight down this path. Charge! Crush them all!
How can you play like this?
Like what?
You move without a plan, without thought.
None of your tactics should work.
And yet you survive.
You are quite annoying.
Sadly, you're not the first to tell me that.
I doubt you'll be the last either.
And yet, you've made poor decisions, vaanar.
I was able to rush straight down the board
and take your most precious piece.
You should just concede defeat.
The game is all but over.
(tense music)
The pattern... I am beginning to see it.
What? Whatever do you mean?
Ravan now advances his main battalion
without support, without fear.
He thinks he can win with one stroke. Why? He's made his first mistake. An opening.
Look at the way our forces and his are lined up on the field.
(exciting music)
Hanuman.
My Lord?
I have need of you, my friend.
Look at this formation.
See how Ravan's vultures fly in this outer arch pushing our men inward.
On this side are his elephants trapping us within.
What's missing from this picture?
It's a bow...
but missing its arrow.
Why would Ravan choose the formation of your bow?
(Hanuman) A bridge is a bit like Lord Ram's bow.
It needs a slight arch to properly work.
It's Nil!
Somehow this is his doing.
Nil? How could it be Nil?
I know he's trying to help us somehow.
You have to trust me.
I do, Hanuman.
Nil is warning us that
our armies will be trapped here as the arrow is unleashed.
That's why Ravan's battalion
has been ordered straight.
But now we can take them by surprise.
Ravan has made an error.
Time for us to strike.
Just tell me whom to hit.
Leave it to me and my mace.
And what about us, brother? Are we to just watch?
No, brother. We will go hunting.
Hunting?
Yes... hunting.
It's over, vaanar. Finally!
Though I must admit,
you played a game like no other. I was pleasantly intrigued.
I thought there was more to you,
but you made such a simple mistake at the end,
allowing me to take your most valuable pieces with a straight attack.
If your strategy was learnt from Ram,
then let's just say I have little to fear.
But you've lost the game, vaanar.
The dungeon awaits.
Game?
Oh, did you think this was the game we were playing?
That bird's been gone a while, isn't he?
Probably too late now to send another message.
(dramatic music)
(thuds)
The vaanar army is confused.
Keep them trapped here.
Ravan has commanded Mahodara's men to finish them off.
- The final blow is com-- - (explodes)
We'll celebrate with a big feast tonight.
Ravan will have elephants roasting for us.
(laughs)
What do you think, lads?
One more charge? We'll crush the huddled vaanars.
Line up. Let's trample them into a paste.
Charge!
(demons yell)
(epic music)
(thuds)
(Hanuman shouts)
(Mahodara) No!
(demon) My Lord.
The battle report.
Are both Mahodara and Virupaksha defeated?
Who was responsible?
That vaanar, Hanuman, was seen across the battlefield.
As was Ram.
The bow formation.
I did not see your signal to them until it was too late.
My men walked right into a trap.
So you knew the stakes we were really playing for then.
Well, you weren't too subtle
about that crow going back and forth.
I may have lost this game,
but I knew the game we were really playing.
So it seems.
Never let it be said that I am not one who honours my word.
My men will release you safely back to your people.
You have earned my respect, Nil of the vaanars...
and also earned my hate.
When I see you next on the battlefield,
I will delight in skinning that fur
from your bones!
(eerie music)
Well, about keeping your word.
I do remember the exact terms of our deal.
"If my wisdom doesn't eclipse the wit of a monkey in a game,
"then I do not deserve to even have any prisoners."
You beat him, brother! You beat him at his own game!
We beat him. All of us together.
But we owe our true thanks to Nil.
However he did this, his life must now be in grave danger
and we need to find him and plan a rescue.
(cheering)
What's going on, Hanuman? What is it?
It's Nil!
But how did they escape?
(cheering continues)
I thought I'd never see my brother again.
So I had your breakfast this morning.
You think you're so funny?
Well, Mother always says I'm the funnier one.
She does not!
Just give me a hug, brother.
Tell the prince what you told me, Nil.
I played against Ravan. He challenged me to a game.
A game? But why? (laughs)
Oh, I understand.
He thought to discover our strategy by playing against one of us.
A clever plan, and it may have worked if he'd played against anyone...
but you.
(epic music)