Don’t yet know. I think so far we don’t technically know he has; the nearest to an objective source, the October 19th plot recap told from an historian’s point of view, describes the “massive remote projection avatar” showing “the form of Ming the Merciless”. Everyone who’s seen it is confident this reflects the real and true Ming, presumed most likely killed at the start of Dan Schkade’s restarting of the series. But the body’s been noticeably absent.

So, again roaming unpredictably through my plot-recap schedule here’s things on Mongo. You can read all my plot recaps for Dan Schkade’s Flash Gordon, and any news that seems to deserve it, at this link, and if you’re far enough in my future when this is a mere historical microfilm, you might find something more up-to-date over there.

Flash Gordon.

24 August – 6 December 2025.

Empress Aura’s special mission to Flash Gordon, when he’d just got to the end of my last recap, was about the upcoming Tournament of Mongo. This battle royale among representatives from all the planet promises to find the catchiest goofy little tune. The winner gets their wish from the Empress. The Empress wishes Flash Gordon to stall it. This because Queen Fria of Frigia will be attending, under the Tournament’s worldwide truce. And this will be the best chance outside of a funeral for Aura to talk to Fria and see if there’s some way of getting her not to go to war with … everybody, everywhere.  And totally not so she can cover some prop bets so don’t even consider that motive.

Flash is able to call on Sir Bok and Adrane, illegitimate daughter of Prince Vultan. In an ideal world they’ll be the last trio and can stall out forever. The battle goes pretty well for Flash’s mission, considering, but Adrane is critically wounded in beating Viscount Korro, of Frigia. Her father flies down and scoops her away from the story, at least as of this week. Sir Bok makes it to the final four, but faces critical wounds on the part of the mysterious Hiza, from the Kiran lands. She’s massive, heavy, and silent.

Rather than let Bok get killed, Flash feigns an attack from Bok in the champions’ quarters, an act of unsportsmanshippery that gets Bok disqualified. The final three competitors — Flash, Wolfgang the Warrior Mongothic, and Hiza — are to fight each other to the last. Flash and Wolfgang both team up against Hiza, and after a half-hour of rapid tactic-switching and sequence-breaking Hiza falls. Flash and Wolfgang are lined up to fight one another.

Meanwhile, though, it seems — despite Bones Mallock’s reports of poor progress — that Fria and Aura might just make a breakthrough. Frigia, it transpires, has not been planning to rebel against Aura, or even to conquer other lands now that it’s got the Sky City of the Bird-Men conquered. No, honestly. They just wanted the work Prince Vultan had done on recreating Ming’s Planetary Disruptor, the better to defend themselves if and when the balloon goes up. After all, suppose Ming comes back? Does anyone believe Aura can protect Frigia, or anywhere else? Aura proposes some kind of joint rule, making Mongo ruled by three thrones. I’m not sure just how this would work, but that doesn’t need to matter because of the suspiciously simultaneous revelation …

So I bet you fools thought this was even Hiza’s final form. No. Hiza’s final form is this rippling, writhing structure that emerges and towers over the arena. And that form appears to be Ming the Merciless somehow returning. Ming, or “Ming”, declares how he’s not mad the planet rose up to overthrow him, he’s just very, very disappointed. But you can make it up to him by killing a traitor or three, and if those three are Aura, Flash Gordon, or [ checking notes ] Barin, you’ll even get his full forgiveness. The people, many of them high-ranking members of the nations that just barely got Ming off their backs, consider: on the one hand, Ming the Merciless is a cruel despot who oppressed them their whole lives, depending on terror and stoking hatred and suspicion between peoples, but on the other hand, the Kroger-Men have been charging more for Moons-stone Eggs. So everyone turns peaceful, love-filled tourist on thy neighbor’s carotid arteries.

In the chaos suspiciously-well-matched to Fria’s warnings about if Ming were to return, Aura, Flash Gordon, and the rest of Our Heroes have to split up to try making it back to the capital. Aura, Flash, Bok, and Malock swipe a Kiran cruiser, and don’t even get killed when they crash it. They tromp through parts of the forest occupied by Waystalkers, giant bugs that attack travellers but fortunately aren’t actually intelligent so it’s fine that Flash Gordon beats them up instead of trying to talk with them. The Waystalkers’ caches are good for disguises, though.

Malock finds a ferry house, good for a skip to get across the wetlands and back to the capital. The keeper, who curiously initially greets Bones Malock as “Mister”, chats with her long enough for Aura to wonder what’s really going on. That would be an ambush, and in a shocking move, Malock shoots Flash Gordon with her galvanic sword. She directs the ambushers to gather up the captives. But this double-cross is itself a double-cross: Malock remembered Flash’s protective shield shirt, and Flash figured Malock was set up with way too much of a heart of gold to actually betray them and besides, is this really any worse than Dr Zarkov on a bad day? So it seems like they should have a clear shot to the capital, there to join Dale Arden, Dova the Lion-Woman, Velle the Shark-Woman, Dr Zarkov the Kicked-Off-The-Tenure-Track-Man, and [ checking notes ] King Barin the Doing-Interesting-Things-Man, who didn’t have time for an adventure like this.

Next Week!

That’s all going to fall apart. But I can go on talking about Terry Beatty’s Rex Morgan, M.D. where things will work out fine, like we need after a stretch like that.