The Cursed Pharaoh

**The Cursed Pharaoh** (French titled *Le pharaon maudit*) is the sixth episode of the first season and series overall.

## Summary

The Tempest brings Théti and Papyrus to Akhetaton, the forgotten city of the cursed Pharaoh Akhenaten. Trials follow them one by one. What is the purpose of the strange girls on the chariot, and who is the mysterious old woman who commands the scarabs? Will Akhenaten and Nefertiti find eternal peace in the kingdom of the dead?

## Plot

The episode begins with the city of Akhetaton, and its ruins. Meanwhile, Papyrus is fishing, accompanied by Théti. Théti suggests that they return to Thebes, while Papyrus worries he cannot go back empty-handed. He gives one more attempt at the fishing but has caught only one small fish. He agrees to head back to Thebes and returns the fish to the water. Théti pleas for him to hurry, adding she has a funny feeling.

The two are later caught in a storm and are unable to keep their balance as the waters rise unnaturally, causing Théti, and Papyrus after, to fall. They are soon sent through a whirlpool before Aker sends two demons of Seth to terminate them, regarding Papyrus and Théti as miserable mortals. The demons are seen looming over the city of Akhetaton, and take on the form of two women, Meketaten and Meritaten from a block of Amarna art.

Théti wakes up and finds herself in a desert, awoken by Meritaten (true daughter of Akhenaten). She realizes a set of footprints on one of the dunes and proceeds to look for Papyrus following them. Théti soon notices desolated colossi statues of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, leading her to realize she has set foot upon the lost city. She continues to search for Papyrus when she stumbles across the women recklessly riding a chariot, nearly running her over. Théti protests such a motive and calls them out on it before demanding their identity. One of the ladies confronts her by claiming they are "daughters" of Akhenaten, to which Théti finds it absurd and declares that Akhenaten is dead and the city was abandoned more than a century ago.

Meketaten and Meritaten insist on bribing Théti to a challenge to shoot a spear on a stake of wood, blindfolded, to prove who the real princesses of Egypt are. One of the women aims perfectly at their respective target, impressing Théti, having encouraged to do the same. Unbeknownst to Théti, Meketaten and Meritaten cause the stake to rotate, revealing Papyrus tied to it, and a piece of cloth on his mouth that restricts him from speech. Papyrus tries to warn her but is unable to. Meritaten acts quickly and uses the magic to Aten to cause scarab beetles to distract the horses, making Théti miss Papyrus and cuts the cloth off his mouth instead. Théti removes the fold and is horrified she could have killed him.

Aker is displeased at the foil and pesters them to advance and have them killed through means necessary. While Papyrus is getting untied, he explains to Théti how he got tied to the stake in the first place, remarking them as devils. Théti realizes they are gone, but Papyrus questions where they are. Théti begins to explain to him about the history of the city; Akhenaten is well known for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten. Once his city of Akhetaton fell, his enemies defaced his statues in order to expunge any trace of him or his history, and to this day, the names of he and his wife are deemed condemned.

They soon hear voices calling the names of Akhenaton and Nefertiti. Papyrus and Théti go over to the place and see the ghosts of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. They realize that they are accompanied by Meketaten and Meritaten, as both women pester Papyrus to obey the pharaoh. He goes on along, leaving Théti to walked by with Nefertiti.

Papyrus is on his way when Meritaten tries to stop him, warning him about impending danger. She hides when one of the women pesters Papyrus again. He enters a throne room in ruins and is met by the ghost of Akhenaten. One of the women speaks through the figure and informs to Papyrus that he and Nefertiti have been denied entrance to the Kingdom of the Dead by Anubis, and it is his duty to confront him. Papyrus doubts his ability to defeat him as a mortal, as the lady assigns him the task by transforming him into the god Seth himself. She adds that is he speaks a word, he will be doomed.

Papyrus, in the form of Seth, awaits for his opponent. Anubis steps into the game and both have a match to the death. Papyrus is about to end his opponent when Meritaten again brings up her scarab beetles, and through the light of Aten, Papyrus returns to his original human form. He is surprised when "Anubis" transforms to Théti, further perplexing each other. But aware that the god of Akhenaten is helping them. This does not stop Aker from causing the walls around them to start to collapse, trapping both Papyrus and Théti. They are saved when Meritaten leads them to an entrance before the entire place fell to the ground.

Soon after, Papyrus and Théti find themselves in the dark, wondering the mysterious old woman has gone. Théti picks up a glowing scarab and looks onto it. Papyrus and Théti decide to take a route and are met with a slab with various hieroglyphs. This leads them to recognize the words beneath it belong to Aten and the scripts matches the one on the scarab beetle. They put it together and the slab opens.

The room reveals to be the tomb of Akhenaten and Nefertiti where their sarcophaguses lay. A swarm of scarab beetles gathers around and make a tunnel, lifting the sarcophaguses. Papyrus finds it incredible and decides they should help them. One of the women then causes vines surrounding the tomb to grab onto Papyrus and Théti and trapping them. Théti falls unconscious, from having the vines slowly suffocate her, while Papyrus struggles to reach for his sword. A prehensile vine picks up the sword and attempts to strike Papyrus, but is shocked by the sword, causing the magic on the vines to die out. Papyrus is set free and proceeds to help Théti out of the entanglement.

Meketaten and Meritaten plan to stop the scarabs by placing burning plants in order to scatter them. Papyrus and Théti make their way out of the tomb, only to realize the sarcophaguses have disappeared, and they do not have much time as the sun sets. They hear the chariot horses of Meketaten and Meritaten and begin to follow them. As Papyrus and Théti run after them, one of the demons causes the sand to soften, creating a quicksand. Papyrus gets stuck in it and uses his sword to try to get himself out, but no luck. Théti uses her red strap from her dress and pulls him out with it. Papyrus is being saved but his sword remains in his quicksand. Since they don't have time to retrieve it, they move on, with the sword gone into the quicksand.

Meanwhile, Meketaten and Meritaten take their intention further and send out crocodiles from the bushes, in hopes they will maul Papyrus and Théti. The two walk through a tunnel and are met with the crocodiles, with Papyrus commenting they have taken it too far. Théti continues to find a way out while Papyrus tries to deter the crocodiles by throwing rocks nearby. Théti manages to find an irrigation tunnel, and the two head out.

Meritaten is where the Sword of Horus had sunk, she uses her scarab beetles to pull out the sword. Papyrus and Théti continue to drift on the water and make it to the irrigation where the sarcophaguses are. Meketaten and Meritaten gloat that they have fallen into a trap, and begin to call on the dark powers, having the water whirl and rise. Papyrus and Théti decide to hold on to the sarcophaguses until they have a rough landing after. Meketaten and Meritaten are further aggravated and transform into demonic fiery monsters, intimidating both Papyrus and Théti as they back away.

The real Meritaten declares her identity and denounces the imposters posing as daughters of Akhenaten. She lends down Papyrus his sword, and he and Meritaten both use the magic of Aten to destroy the demons. The last thing remaining from the disintegration is the block of the Amarna art they had taken on.

Meritaten believes she has done what she needed to do and thanks both Papyrus and Théti before vanishing. At sunset, the sarcophaguses of Akhenaten and Nefertiti are placed on an altar. Théti finally declares their souls to pass on and find eternal peace in the Kingdom of the Dead. As done, they watch the sun go down. Théti adds that it was with the help of Meritaten who sacrificed herself for her parents to achieve peace.

## Characters

**Main**

* Papyrus
* Théti
* Meketaten and Meritaten
* Meritaten (first appearance)
* Aker
* Seth

**Major**

* Akhenaten (first appearance)
* Nefertiti (first appearance)

**Mentioned**

* Nebou

## Trivia

* This is the first episode to not feature other main characters, and the second episode where the city of Thebes is not seen.
* The original story from the comics featured pretenders for all six of Akhenaten and Nefertiti's daughters.