The Rise of Ruthlan (1993 TV special)

Johnny and the Warriors of Chronos: The Rise of Ruthlan is an animated television special and a sequel to the 1991 TV special The Dragon War. Set immediately after the ending of The Dragon War, The Rise of Ruthlan was the last TV special based on the original 1985 TV series before the spin-off, Josie and the Witches of Chronos.

Like The Dragon War, the film was acclaimed by critics and fans alike and Clover was developing a third film based on the franchise. Because of the lack of interest from Zaid Campbell and Jamie-Leigh Gale to produce another film, Clover preferred to not hire new writers for a third film and cancelled the film.

Synopsis
Camelot Castle is surrounded: Johnny and the Warriors of Chronos united Futurus' robotic soldiers, the Cattian warriors, the Amazons and Atlanteans in one giant army to face the Dragon Clan. The battle is fierce, but Johnny is able to advance, along with Ken and Luna, into the castle while Sergeant Cyborg, Fangs and Felina try to free Marcus and Leana from the dungeons. Eventually, they get to the throne room where Kira awaits them, but before Ken can duel her, Morgan bursts into the room, reporting that something is horribly wrong; Kira's soldiers are invincible, no matter how many time they defeat them, they always get up. Morgan adds that this kind of magic is something only a demon could pull off.

Ruthlan, of course, enters the room, and declares that Kira and him made a pact: Ruthlan's powers are endless, but he cannot unlock them unless someone makes a pact with him. Kira allowed him to use his powers to his full extent, as long as he'd use them to help the Dragon Clan take over Chronos. Morgan warns Kira that it was a mistake, that there is never any good to come out of a pact with a demon, but she doesn't listen, instead ordering Ruthlan to take care of Johnny and the Warriors and destroy the castle, since she "doesn't want it anymore".

Ruthlan lifts Johnny in the air with his powers and destroys his Hyperstone, ridding him of his power source. Knowing that they'll be destroyed if they stay there, Morgan uses her powers to briefly distract Ruthlan, which is enough to allow Johnny, Luna and Ken escape. To their horror, the entirety of their army has been vanquished while the Dragon Clan seems unharmed. Fortunately, Sergeant Cyborg, Fangs and Felina successfully rescued Marcus and Leana, but it isn't much compared to what they have lost. As Johnny and the Warriors walks away in search of a hiding place, they see Camelot Castle crumbling down, representing the Dragon Clan's victory.

Three months later, the Warriors are hiding at the Sacred Falls, the rest of Chronos being conquered by the Dragon Clan. Morgan is dead and Johnny's Hyperstone is destroyed; without any magic, there is no way they can match Ruthlan's magic. But one night, the ghost of Merlin visits Johnny: he tells him of the Ultraplant, a unique flower that grows in the caverns of the Mole Tribes. If Johnny forged the Ultraplant into an Ultrastone, he'd have an even more powerful artifact and he'd have a chance to defeat Ruthlan. Unfortunately, the Ultrastone has a limited use, so there won't be any room for mistakes, but it's the only way.

While the others stay at the Sacred Falls, Johnny Luna and Dusk goes to the Mole Mines to request help from the Tribe. They ask the council to be brought to the Ultraplant, and only because it is the only way to save Chronos, they accept to show them to this sacred and unique item. Because it has been kept for so long underground, dangerous creatures who usually guard the plant will have to be defeated before they get their hands on anything. The quest is perilous but they all get to the Ultraplant in one piece, which inspires hope to the Warriors.

The Mole Tribes tell Johnny that since the Ultraplant is undestructible, only the best blacksmith could turn it into an Ultrastone. The Mole Tribes tell Johnny that Myrnor is the only one who'd be able to complete this task, and that he is also the one who crafted Johnny's Hyperstone. Before going to see Myrnor, Johnny decides to head back to the Sacred Falls to inform the team of their success. When told about Mymor, Marcus and Leana admits to have known him, since he is a great friend of the throne, despite not having heard of him for years. Also, Marcus tells Johnny that the Dragon Clan is approaching the Falls, and that since he doesn't wish to cause any trouble to the hospitable Bao, he suggests that everyone leaves to Myrnor's Forge, where it'll only be safer. Only Ken and Dr. Rodent stay behind; Ken expressed his desire to protect his father, promising he'll be there and ready for the final battle, and Dr. Rodent says he prefers hiding, since he will probably end up slowing them down.

After a few days of walking and a clash with a Dragon Clan battalion, the Warriors reach Myrnor's forge, but they are greeted by someone else. It is Akryel, Myrnor's son, and he announces to the Warriors that his father died last year; stricken by an incurable sickness, Myrnor preferred to die humbly without telling anyone to avoid being pitied. When asked about the Ultraplant, Akryel confesses that he did forge a little, but he can't do half of what his father did, let alone forge an Ultraplant. Of course all of Chronos' hope lays into the Ultraplant, so Akryel is forced to at least try. After various demanding steps, it seems Akryel can almost do it, but during the melting of the Ultraplant, he explains that he has to get to that precise temperature, because a degree to high and it would burn the plant. While trying to heat the furnace with Pixie Dust, Akryel drops the bowl of Pixie Dust into the furnace and the Ultraplant catches fire. He is able to save the Ultraplant, but half of it is burnt: he can't forge the Ultraplant, he doesn't have the skills for it and even if he did, there's not enough Ultraplant to do it. Completely torn by his mistake, Akryel locks himself in his room, leaving the Warriors contemplate their imminent defeat.

At night, Luna is the only one who cares looking over Akryel: in his room, Luna surprises him doing alchemy. Akryel explains that he is as good in alchemy as his dad was in forging-- at a young age he found out he was fascinated by potions and ailments, and since then his hobby turned into a talent. Hearing this, Luna has an idea: she suggests that Akryel could, instead of trying to forge the Ultraplant, use alchemy to turn it into a potion Johnny could drink the moment of the fight. Akryel says it could work, but the effects of the Ultraplant, in potion form, would only last for a couple of hours, and since they only half of the Ultraplant, the effects could last for less than an hour. Luna reminds him that the Ultraplant is their only chance to beat Ruthlan, and begs him to do it.

Akryel ends up doing the Ultra Elixir easily, and gives it to Johnny: Akryel says there's no way to know if it'll work, but this is all they've got. Still, Sergeant Cyborg is unsatisfied with what they have: all of the Dragon Clan is powered by Demon Magic and all of Chronos' mightiest warriors were completed destroyed in their last battle. Sergeant Cyborg reminded that all they have now that they didn't have then is a super potion that'll turn Johnny into a super magician for less than a hour, at best. At worst, they have nothing. He then proposes they put more chances on their side before attacking, the problem is that he doesn't know what could help them defeat Ruthlan. He proposes everyone sleeps on it and that they gather the next to try to find a better strategy and not put all their hope into some potion that might not even work.

Overnight, Johnny gets to talk to Marcus: Johnny admits that he is scared, that he has been scared since the day Marcus stopped leading the Warriors and became King. He admits that he never felt like he was doing as great as a job as Marcus did, because of the constant infighting and lack of trust the Warriors seem to have in him. Johnny feels like he is not making any of the right choices, and that Sergeant Cyborg or Luna would make a better leader than him. Upon hearing this, Marcus admits that he felt the same when he lead the warriors: he also believed Leana or Cyborg were more capable than him, and he doubted Merlin's choice to be make him the leader: Marcus would look up to his father and see a great hero and excellent leader, and he never felt like he lived up to him. Actually, he is glad that Johnny feels he was a great leader, because he always thought the opposite. The only tip he has for Johnny is that even though it is hard to make decisions and that he might not always make the right ones, but that in the end Johnny leads a team, and it is not wrong to ask help from the team when he's in doubt.

The next day, the Warriors gathers again with the intention to find how to beat Ruthlan. Luna studied her book of magic last night and found something: the only magic as strong as demonic magic is fairy magic, and contrarily to demonic magic, it isn't limited. If the Warriors could ally with Josie and the Fairies, they'd have an advantage in the battle.

The team immediately travels to the Fairy Kingdom, but finds out that the Dragon Clan was quicker: the Fairies were captured: Josie, Rosethorne and the other fairies were captured by Ragnar and Raptor in a camp no too far away. Quickly, they notice Ragnar and Raptor are accompanied by Boarians, meaning Kira and Ruthlan turned them into slaves once more. Luna feels that the Boars are being mind controlled, and that ironically enough, only a powerful Fairy spell could turn them back to normal, which is the only thing Luna can't do. The first thing they have to do is to find a way to get the fairies out of their cage without being caught by the Boarian soldiers, which is impossible. Johnny understands that time is running out and that he has to try something, so he jumps into Ragnar and Raptor's camp, ready to fight. Of course, Johnny is outnumbered and easily captured by the Boar soldiers, put in a cage next to Josie.

Johnny informs Josie that he wishes to ally with the Faries to defeat Ruthlan, and she promises an alliance if they escape. Johnny then asks Ragnar and Raptor which one of the two will get the reward, since only one will be rewarded for capturing him. Raptor says he captured Johnny since he is the one who told the Boarians to capture him, but Ragnar disagrees because he is the one who locked Johnny in the cage. Their argument leads them to fight, and Ragnar drops his ax next to Johnny and Josie. Using the ax's sharp edges to open their cages, Johnny frees the Fairies as Josie breaks the spell controlling the Boarians, which frees them and allows them to put Raptor and Ragnar into cages.

The Warriors fills Josie and the Fairies on their plan: with the Boarians gladly allying with the Warriors as their army, their plan is to pair each Boarian with a Fairy to fight off the Dragon Clan, with Johnny and Josie fighting Ruthlan and Kira together to defeat them, with their secret weapon being the Ultra Elixir. Now that they have turned the Boarians back to normal, Kira and Ruthlan will be informed shortly, so the thought of a surprise attack is out of the question. Their only option is to attack right now, which leads little to no time for Josie and Johnny to prepare themselves for the final battle.

Their attack on the Red Mountains parallels their attack on Camelot Castle months earlier: everything works just as planned, the Warriors and Boarians fighting off the Dragon Clan as Johnny, Josie and Marcus enters the Dragon Temple, ready to face Ruthlan and Kira. While Marcus fights with Kira, Johnny tries to bargain with Ruthlan, but he can't break the pact between Kira and Ruthlan. Instead, Johnny proposes a challenge; if Johnny were to be defeated, the Warriors will kneel to the Dragon Clan, but if Ruthlan was the one defeated, he would prove eternal allegiance to King Marcus and the Kingdom of Camelot. So sure of himself, Ruthlan accepts and the fight ensues.

During the duel, Johnny and Josie are losing, but they didn't use the Ultra Elixir yet; Johnny has an idea, and he throw the Elixir to Josie, asking her to drink it. First resilient because it wasn't the plan initially, Josie is able to push Ruthlan to the wall, defeating him. Because the existence of the Elixir wasn't specified when proposing the challenge, Ruthlan accuses Johnny of cheating, and demands a rematch, with adjusted rules. With Josie's powers already fading out, Josie passes out, leaving Johnny alone with Ruthlan. In this rematch, Johnny can't use the Elixir or any other help. Of course, Johnny is easily beaten by Ruthlan, but before he can receive the final blow, he feels Merlin's magic powering him, and as he harnesses the powers of his father, he becomes even stronger than he would ever have been with the Ultraplant. As Johnny powers up and gains the upper hand in the fight, Morgan turns out to have survived her previous fight with Ruthlan and she shows up in the temple, opening a breach to the Void Dimension. Ruthlan accuses Johnny to have cheated once again, but Johnny defends himself by telling him that this isn't a game, and that all is fair in saving the world.

Once Ruthlan was sent to the Void Dimension, the Dragon Clan was easily defeated and Kira was ultimately also sent to the Void Dimension. All of the Kingdoms had to be rebuilt, populations were to be reformed, but in only a year, with everyone's help, Camelot Castle was rebuilt from scratch and Marcus and Leana returned to ruling Camelot.