The Night of the Lord of Limbo - Recap

Jim and Artie receive anonymous tickets to attend the performance of a magician, Abu the Magnificent. When they see nothing impressive, the agents prepare to leave but Abu gestures with a sword and causes King Solomon’s Throne to appear. His assistant, Jasmine, goes into the audience and tries to select Jim as a volunteer. He hesitates and Artie goes up with her and sits in the throne. With a gesture, Abu causes himself, Artie, Jasmine, and the throne to all disappear. There’s a round of applause, but after a few seconds the manager comes out and tells the audience that the performance is over. Jim goes backstage and the puzzled manager informs him that he has no idea where Abu went, and that there’s no way he could have disappeared. Abu has left his saber behind, and it is inscribed with a regimental insignia and the words NBV, Vicksburg, MS. As they look around, puzzled, Artie calls out to Jim but there’s no sign of his presence.



Jim rides to Vicksburg with the sword and goes to a regimental club matching the insignia on the sword. When Jim asks the bartender about NBV, Captain Vincent Scoffield takes notice and asks if Jim is a member of the regiment. Jim admits that he fought on the Northern side and Scoffield claims he doesn’t recognize the initials. When Jim shows them the sword, Scoffield says that he recognizes the owner’s initials and offers to take the sword. Jim refuses and a fight breaks out. He quickly knocks out Scoffield and the bartender secretly slips Jim a piece of paper along with his change. Outside, Jim reads the note, which has an address and an explanation that NBV stands for Noel Bartley Vautrain.

Jim rides to the manor at the address and discovers that the grounds are overgrown and the manor is in disarray. There’s no answer to his knock and Jim goes inside. Jasmine, now wearing a Southern belle’s dress, comes down the stairs and Jim introduces himself. Jasmine has no idea where she is but runs up the stairs when a wheelchair-bound man enters the room. The legless man, Vautrain, is clearly Abu the Magnificent. He explains that the woman, Amanda, is his niece and apologizes for her flights of fancy He asks for his sword and points out the space on the wall where its twin is mounted. Jim puts it back in place and Vautrain lights the candles with a gesture. He explains that he is only using magician’s tricks, but refuses to discuss the missing Artie. Vautrain invites Jim to dinner and Amanda comes down to join them. When Jim hesitates, Scoffield and his men come in and attack him. Jim fends them off and then tells Vautrain that he’ll accept his invitation.



Vautrain summons a dining table with a gesture and they eat. The colonel explains that Amanda is his brother’s daughter and that he died in the war. When Jim points out that they were at the theater, Vautrain freely admits that he was there and that Amanda was supposed to choose Jim but refused since she found him handsome. The colonel admits that he has hated Jim for seven years and explains that Jim found him on the battlefield, his legs shattered. Vautrain blames Jim for saving him and condemning him to a life trapped in a wheelchair. Jim plays along and asks what the penalty is, and Vautrain reveals his leg stumps. He explains that Jim is going to help him recover his legs, takes out a crystal ball, and reveals that Jim is only staying because he knows where Artie is. Vautrain tells Jim to go up the stairs to a room. Despite Amanda’s warning, Jim goes up the stairs to a room and finds himself in a limbo of smoke and darkness.



Jim finds himself standing on a field at dawn. Several men are waiting and their leader, Levering, informs Jim that Jack Maitland is 20 minutes late. Maitland finally rides up: it’s Artie, who has believes that Jim is a man called Reuben that he challenged to a duel the previous night. Levering presents them with swords and Jim tries to leave. Artie refuses to accept his apology and tells Levering, his second, to step back. When Jim refuses to fight, Artie leaves him no choice and the two men duel. Before Artie can finish Jim off, robbers arrive and shoot Levering. Jim and Artie fight back but Artie is mortally injured when the robber leader shoots him. As Artie lies dying, Jim tells his puzzled friend that he’s gone to too much trouble to find him to let him die now.



Jim picks up Artie and carries him away, and finds himself back in limbo. He finds himself back on the stairs and Vautrain explains that he traveled through time. Artie is next to Jim, and is back to normal and wearing his suit from the night at the theater. He has no memory of what happened except as a dream, and the agents demand an explanation. Vautrain directs their attention to a bronze bust, concentrates, and makes it disappear into thin air. When they ask for an explanation, Vautrain says that he has sent it through time using the power of his mind. He sent Jim and Artie back in his first attempt to send a human being through time. Now Vautrain plans to go back to the morning when his legs were lost and preventing it from occurring. He insists that Jim owes him and that there may be perils in the trip, and tells them to make themselves comfortable for the night while Jim makes his decision.



As the agents consider what to do, Jim hears music from the patio. He goes outside and finds Amanda admiring a musical figurine. She regrets Jim’s presence and explains that Vautrain has become dark and sinister since losing his legs. Jim invites her to dance and she accepts, and then insists that Jim leave. He tells her that it’s his duty to find out if the fourth dimension poses a threat to the security of his nation. When Amanda starts to warn that there’s more than Vautrain has said, the colonel comes out and tells her to tell Jim the rest. When she hesitates, Vautrain slaps her and Jim moves to her defense. Amanda runs off and Vautrain tells Jim that the next day they can meet on equal terms.



The next morning, Vautrain takes Jim and Artie into limbo and they find themselves seven years in the past, at the manor at the height of its glory. Vautrain is seven years younger and his legs are restored. He walks down the stairs in triumph and removes his robes, revealing a Confederate uniform beneath. Scoffield and his men come in and explain that everything has been prepared to receive Grant’s attack. As cannons roar outside, Vautrain reminds them that Jim served as Grant’s aide de camp and they used Vautrain’s house as a headquarters. The colonel has loaded the house with explosives and plans to stay and blow up Grant when the time comes. Vautrain planned to use Jim as a decoy, but it’s no longer necessary so he’ll execute the agents.



As Scoffield and his men prepare to kill them, Artie asks how killing Grant will win the war. Vautrain explains that with Grant dead, the North will lack any other strong leader. The agents attack Scoffield and his men, defeat them, and Jim grabs a gun. Before Vautrain can shoot, a union shell strikes the manor. A beam falls, shattering Vautrain’s legs. As the flames spread toward the explosives, Vautrain orders them to leave before it’s too late. Realizing they have no choice, Jim and a stunned Artie go up the stairs. Jim tells his partner that Vautrain died in the tradition of the military, fighting until the last.



The agents wake up on the lawn of the manor. The manor is in flames and Amanda asks where her uncle is. She tries to run into the manor to save him but Jim stops her and the manor explodes.

Later aboard the Wanderer, Jim reports that Artie suffer a concussion that gave him amnesia for the 36 hours that he was missing. Artie insists that he doesn’t have a concussion and says that they should tell their superior, Colonel Falk, the truth. Jim points out that the fact they were trapped in a fourth-dimensional limbo and went back seven years might be a little hard to swallow. Falk comes in and Jim invites Artie to give his report. Artie starts to tell the story and then realizes how insane it is and goes with Jim’s story.



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