Down in the Mines

Down in the Mines is a Spyman's Cosmos series. It's the eight regular series and the third made by Dr Saturn. It began on January 23, 2021 and ended on August 5, 2021. It is also the second series in the history of Spyman's Cosmos to have its episodes released without any interruptions, the first being Deep Sleep.
==Synopsis==
Alice Marbleford with the help of her boyfriend Dr Saturn and his pet ghost Charles travel to Ireland to discover the mysteries of a powerful energy source, that shines deep below the ancient grounds.
==Parts==
Down in the Mines is a traditional 4-part series. The episodes were released weeks prior with a long hiatus in the middle. As of 2021, it is the longest 4-part series.
Part 	Release date 	Length
1/4 	January 23, 2021	13:26
2/4 	February 2, 2021	11:35
3/4 	July 27, 2021 	13:13
4/4 	August 5, 2021 	17:57
Total	Total 	56:11
==Plot==
The series starts off with a mysterious opening sequence narrated by Alice, where she tells a kid the story about the usage of clutfunium gems by ancient civilizations in Ireland. She also briefly mentions the antagonists of the story - the Polyhare Knights and how they want to get their hands on clutfunium and use it for evil goals.
After the story, it is revealed, that Alice was narrating it. She also mentions the book she's reading: Age of Clutfunium by professor Turlough Marbleford, and how he's the reason why Saturn and her are flying to Ireland.
A while later on the Dublin Airport, it's revealed that Charles was hiding inside the suitcase. The three then ride a train to Wexford - Alice's home town, where they encounter professor Marbleford, Alice's father. He explains how clutfunium research is a dangerous topic and that his daughter should stay away from it. But after Saturn and Charles calmed the professor down, he adviced to ask the local baroness, Griselda, for more info. Professor Marbleford landed the couple his old car. To make its engine more powerful, Charles entered the car's transmission system through the filler neck.
Upon arriving at Griselda's Castle, Saturn and Alice encountered one of the castle's butlers, which spoke Shakespearean English. After specifying the purpose of their arrival, the butler escorted the two to the main feast hall, while Charles stayed outside. In the castle, a party was taking place involving many VIPs from the world of science. Soon after Saturn and Alice entered the feast hall, the baroness herself appeared on the stage. It was time for the reveal of some treasure found by Sir Murray's crew, which was funded by Griselda. After overhyping the event, it's soon revealed, that the 'treasure' was actually an ordinary amethyst geode. Alice quickly hops on the stage and corrects the hosts, but her statement gets quickly mocked by Griselda, which makes Alice mad. Saturn takes Alice into a quiet corner while she's angry at the baroness's ignorance. While chatting, they notice Griselda giving Sir Murray a briefcase full of money. Saturn senses a fraud and suggests to follow Murray.
The trio soon arrives at Griselda's excavation place, which appears to be a gorge with primitive mineshafts and old tools scattered around. There, they encounter one of the two miners, who work there. He explains he's the only one here besides a friend named Dwight, who's currently at home. The three soon finds out, that Sir Murray defrauded Griselda's money to fund his own goals.
When the scientists arrive to a nearby town, they hide behind some barrels and notice Sir Murray hiring new workers for a secret mining job. To find out more about that job, they encounter Sir Murray late in the evening inside a pub. Alice, disguised as a man with a fake mustache, convinces Murray to hire them immediately.
The next morning, Murray takes the three to a private bus and orders to wear blindfolds; he claims he doesn't want them to know where the workplace is. During the ride, Saturn, Alice and Charles take off the blindfolds without Murray noticing after they deduce they're inside a long underground tunnel, judging by the lack of the sound of wind. Upon exiting the tunnel, they spot a giant mining facility complex inside a gorge by the ocean. Alice also notices, that the Polyhare Knights guard the entire facility.
Immediately upon their arrival, Murray takes Alice, Saturn and Charles on a tour around Shaft number 15. He introduces them to the rules of the facility and presents types of drillers used in the complex - the Mole Crickets, the Groundhogs and most notably, the Desman. Before leaving the mineshaft, he orders the three, that they should stay away from everything besides their job, or else they'd face cruel consequences. In the meantime, Alice notices a stone slab sticking out of the mineshaft's wall.
After a day of hard work, the miners return to their sleeping quarters, where they remain locked until the morning. Saturn then reveals he smuggled a small clutfunium crystal inside his mouth. Alice quickly studies the crystal and recalls the ancient slab. She then tells a story about Bhaile Clutfun, an ancient city, known for its advanced clutfunium technology and its struggles to protect itself from Fari. According to legends, a giant stone was shattered to unleash unimaginable power and form a powerful dome above the city. The pieces of the shattered stone were never found.
In the morning, the trio goes to their workplace by a Groundhog. Murray explains the rules of the mineshaft and orders all the miners to get to work. Sometime later, the gang rides a Mole Cricket to the stone slab area. Not knowing what to do, Charles suggests, that places like this often hide a secret entrence, just like in video games. Saturn notices a crevice behind the slab, which, to Charles' surprise, proves his theory. The ghost yet again uses his shapeshifting body to grow powerful arms and lifts the slab, which leaves the scientists speechless.
It turns out, that behind the slab lies an ancient sanctuary, which makes Alice excited. The two notice a map of Ireland carved on the wall divided by a mysterious network of lines and shapes. Unfortunately, they are unable to investigate further, as Charles mentions, that the Knights will notice their absence.
When the two leave the grotto, Charles points out, that the entire mineshaft appears like unknown ancient symbols. Meanwhile, Saturn notices remotely detonated explosives sticking from the cavern's wall and the Polyhare Knights planting them. Right when they want to alert the miners, Murray suddenly appears. Anxious Alice pretends to work, but Murray notices, that her fake mustache is gone. Alice and Saturn get caught by the Knights, but Charles manages to escape with a timed explosive in hand.
A while later, Charles finally surrenders to Murray. He wants to inform him about something, but the boss doesn't let him to and references a "mistress". Murray then takes the gang to the main control room, where they find Griselda, who's revealed to be the mistress of the Polyhare Order. The baroness begins a monologue, where she mentions how it was the Polyhare Order, who threatened professor Marbleford and how she wants all clutfunium for herself. To show an example of clutfunium's power, Griselda asks the trio to look at the facility's main power core, where just a pinch of clutfunium dust was sparkled. Charles still wants to tell everyone his thing, but is interrupted by Saturn. The scientist mentions, that the entire area is covered in lines, shapes and symbols, which appear to be remains of an ancient city. Griselda silences him and loads her shotgun to kill the gang, but Charles steps forward and says, that he planted an explosive somewhere in the area, which will explode in thirty minutes. This causes a panic and all Knights rush towards the entrance to the Desman. Before Alice and Saturn hop aboard the driller, they are stopped by Griselda, who locks them in jeopardy and drives away with tons of clutfunium in the vehicle's storage. Knowing the baroness will remotely detonate the explosives in the mineshafts, Saturn quickly orders all the miners to evacuate. When the explosives blow up, the mineshafts and nearby facility buildings collapse.
While still being in danger and waiting for Charles' explosive to kill them, Alice finally confesses her love towards Saturn herself for the first time. The couple decide to kiss before death, but before they managed to do that, Charles takes an embarrassing photo. The two are mad at the ghost for putting them in such danger, but he calms them down revealing, that he actually planted the dynamite on board of the Desman. The trio finally reunited leave the ruined facility. Charles shows a clutfunium crystal he brought with him for the scientists to analyse at home.
Meanwhile, the explosive planted by Charles blows up and destroys the Desman littering the road with tons of green crystals. Distressed Griselda orders the Knights to gather as much clutfunium as they can in their helmets and underwear and head for the castle. The remaining crystals were tossed off a cliff into oblivion.
A while later in a factory in Orange Canyon, the Knights finish off an energy source built from clutfunium they were able to bring home. Right when the final touches were made, a Polyhare Order airplane lands on the factory's frontyard.
Multiple Polyhare Masters equal to Griselda gather outside the factory waiting for The Grandmaster to show up. The baroness tries to kindly welcome the guests, but the fearsome giant knight wants her to get to the point. Griselda explains, that her team had objective difficulties and were able to build just one energy core. After a modest reveal, Griselda introduces the Masters to The Polyhare Brain, a giant clutfunium crystal, which is supposed to contain enough energy to light up the whole world for millenia and be used to rule the world in evil's hands. Grandmaster, which has been doubtful towards Griselda over the years appears to be satisfied with the creation. He pokes the crystal, which immediately cracks and shatters to everyone's surprise. Enraged Grandmaster leaves the confused baroness and heads towards the plane saying, that because of all this, his plans to rule the world must be delayed.
In the meantime, Alice learns the truth about clutfunium. It is an unstable variant of prasiolite, which loses all of its properties when taken away from a catalyst. While heading to the mansion's rooftop balcony, the couple discusses the topic of clutfunium and its usage by the ancients. While being sad, that the secret of the crystals is lost forever, Charles comforts her by saying, the secret still lives in the ancient city.
=== Cut post-credits scene ===
In the post-credits scene, that didn't make it into the video, The Grandmaster takes off his helmet and ominously whispers the declaration of war against humanity teasing the sequel.
== Sequel ==
A sequel to the series called Knights in Time is planned to tell a story about the gang trying to stop the Polyhare Knights from travelling through time and causing interdimensional havoc.
== Characters ==
=== Main ===
* Alice Marbleford
* Dr Saturn
* Charles
=== Villains ===
* Polyhare Knights (debut)
* Griselda (debut)
* Sir Lochlann Murray (debut)
=== Episodic ===
* Turlough Marbleford (debut)
* Arthur (cameo)
* Unnamed miners (debut)
* Unnamed party guests (debut)
* Fari (cameo)
* Lenny Jester (mentioned)
* Looney Bird (debut) (cameo)
== Trivia ==
* The series is based on a 2016 comic from Dr Saturn's Life of Patrick series called What the Depths Hold, which is also a slight alteration of a Mickey Mouse comic about Atlantis.
* Down in the Mines has went through major changes with its setting and title. It was originally meant to be a western styled series set on a canyon planet with Griselda being the antagonist for the gang. The prototype was named Orange Towers and the final project was later renamed to Orange Canyon. While having the exact same story as Down in the Mines, Orange Canyon would be a 5-part series with heavy western influence.
** The prototype Orange Towers was meant to have a different story. Being set on the canyon planet, the series would be about discovering the secrets of an alien castle with Griselda being the twist villain. This story was influenced by the 2015 video game Armikrog.
Category:Spyman's Cosmos series
Category:Series
Category:Modern Era