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"Slimer's Sacrifice" is the twenty-third episode of Extreme Ghostbusters (production number 121). It first aired November 5, 1997, was written by Adam Gilad, and directed by Gloria Jenkins.1 The episode pulls Slimer back into the action when a Norse harbinger of the apocalypse breaks loose in New York, and it ties the new team's Containment Unit back to ghosts captured by the original Ghostbusters.
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On a clear day in Central Park, a wolf-like ghost freezes a park pond and emerges from the water, driving away bystanders. The creature surfaces next at the Museum of Natural History, which is hosting a "Dinosaurs of the Jurassic" exhibit. Egon Spengler identifies it as Fenris, the harbinger of Ragnarok, whose role in Norse legend is to prepare the way for his master Surt, the destroyer. To fulfill the apocalyptic prophecy Fenris must enslave three human souls: one for the air, one for the land, and one for the sea. Egon notes that the threat should have ended long ago, because the original Ghostbusters and Slimer captured Surt years earlier and remanded him to the Containment Unit.
The team corners Fenris near the museum's dinosaur exhibit and traps him, but his frost breath sabotages the Trap's circuitry. They rush the failing Trap back to the firehouse to transfer him into the Containment Unit, and Fenris breaks free before the transfer is complete, loose in the basement. Other captured ghosts begin to escape through the open slot. Slimer gathers himself and flies into the group, forcing them back inside, and seals the inner hatch from within, trapping himself in the containment universe alongside Surt's gathered legions.
Inside, Slimer is surrounded by hostile entities who view him as a traitor. Surt senses Eduardo's presence and forces Siren to hypnotize Slimer, bending him to Surt's will. The plan is to lure Eduardo Rivera into reuniting with the ghost and then have him open the exit, releasing the legions. Out in the firehouse, Fenris attacks Egon, Garrett Miller, and Roland Jackson in succession, converting them into the Vanguards of Fenris: Egon as the Vanguard of the Air, Garrett as the Vanguard of the Sea, and Roland as the Vanguard of the Land. Kylie Griffin reads up on the prophecy and warns that if Fenris collects all three vanguards, nothing will stop Surt's arrival.
Roland rigs up a Molecular Destabilizing Suit so Eduardo can enter the containment universe. Inside, Eduardo navigates hostile entities including the ghosts of Surt's army and an encounter with Lotan, the serpentine destroyer from an earlier case, before finding Slimer. Eduardo realizes the easy reunion is a trap: Surt has handed him a Wireless Signal Device and expects him to press it, which would open the exit from within. Eduardo destroys the device instead, foiling Surt's escape plan. Surt retaliates by siccing the hypnotized Slimer on Eduardo, biting through his air supply. With Eduardo's life support failing, Surt orders Siren to release Slimer from the spell, and the two make for the portal.
As Surt and his forces press toward the exit, Kylie wrangles Fenris with her Proton Pistol and shoves him into Surt. Because Fenris embodies ice and Surt embodies fire, the collision of opposites drives both entities back behind the inner hatch. The Containment Unit is resealed manually by Egon (who smashes the control panel with a wrench after the electronic controls fail), and the three vanguards return to normal.
Fenris is a large wolf-like entity with cryokinetic frost breath. In Norse mythology, Fenris serves as Surt's harbinger, obligated to enslave three human souls before his master can emerge. He is able to phase through solid surfaces and convert humans into elemental Vanguards by exhaling on them. His weakness is contact with fire: when Kylie shoves him into the fire-entity Surt, the collision of elemental opposites neutralizes both. The official Extreme Ghostbusters website mislabeled Fenris a "Fire Demon" who breathed fire, which contradicts the episode itself.
Surt is the episode's primary villain, a god-level pyrokinetic entity imprisoned in the Containment Unit by the original Ghostbusters and Slimer. During his captivity he assembled a personal army of other contained entities and added the Glostic Sisters, Banshee and Siren, to his ranks. He possesses remote viewing, the ability to command lesser entities, and fire-based attacks.
Banshee and Siren (the Glostic Sisters) are entities serving Surt under duress. Banshee's shriek disrupts Slimer's form. Siren's singing can hypnotize and enthrall other entities. Siren is shown to be reluctant to follow Surt's orders and is punished for hesitation.
Lotan, the Class 6 serpentine destroyer encountered in the earlier episode "Moby Ghost," appears inside the containment universe. Eduardo runs across the top of Lotan's extended tongue during his search for Slimer. His presence there is consistent with Egon's statement in "Robo-Buster" that ghosts cannot be destroyed, only contained: even Lotan's apparent destruction in "Moby Ghost" left a weakened version of the entity that was subsequently trapped and placed in the Containment Unit.
The episode's regular voice cast includes Tara Charendoff, Maurice LaMarche, Jason Marsden, Alfonso Ribeiro, Rino Romano, and Billy West. Guest voice actors are Joe Alaskey, Mary Kay Bergman, and Melissa Disney. Animation was produced by Yea Rim Productions.
The team uses Proton Packs with Particle Throwers and a Ghost Trap in the initial museum confrontation, along with a PKE Meter for identification. Kylie's Proton Pistol is the weapon that resolves the climax. For the containment universe rescue, Roland builds a Molecular Destabilizing Suit for Eduardo to wear during entry and exit. A Wireless Signal Device is provided to Eduardo as part of Surt's escape scheme; Eduardo destroys it to foil the plan. Ecto-1 is used for transport to the museum. Egon ultimately shuts the airlock by smashing the control panel with a wrench when the electronic controls become unresponsive.
Surt states explicitly that Proton Packs are useless inside the containment universe: Proton Streams pass through entities without any lasting effect, rather than wrangling or containing them.
Fenris first surfaces in Central Park, freezing a pond in the middle of a sunny day. The first combat encounter takes place at the Museum of Natural History during its "Dinosaurs of the Jurassic" exhibit. The remainder of the episode takes place at the Ghostbusters' firehouse and inside the containment universe itself.
The episode reaches back to The Real Ghostbusters era: Egon states that the original Ghostbusters and Slimer captured Surt years before, placing him in the Containment Unit where he assembled an army. As Egon prepares to enter the containment universe himself (before Eduardo volunteers), he tells Roland he has done it before: this is an implicit callback to the RGB episode "Xmas Marks the Spot," in which Egon enters the unit to recover the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
The containment universe escapees who briefly slip out when Fenris breaks the Trap connect to earlier breach incidents, including the events of "Sonic Youth," in which ghosts were released while Roland was under Siren's hypnosis.
Lotan's appearance inside the containment universe resolves his apparent fate from "Moby Ghost," and Egon's principle from "Robo-Buster" (that ghosts can be contained, not destroyed) is the in-universe explanation.
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
Episode credits per the Extreme Ghostbusters episode guide. Adam Gilad's other animation work includes Gargoyles and RoboCop: Alpha Commando. ↩