History YMMV / TheMysteriousCITIESOfGOLD

* VillainDecay: [[spoiler:Gaspard makes his return in season 3. Rather than being TheBrute, he's been reduced to a villainous ButtMonkey. To illustrate this, The children aren't afraid of him anymore and they kicked his ass embarrassingly more than once.]]

* VillainDecay: [[spoiler:Gaspard makes his return in season 3. Rather than being TheBrute, he's been reduced to a villainous ButtMonkey. To illustrate this, Estaban wasn't afraid of him on their first meeting after one season skip and Gaspard got his ass kicked embarrassingly.]]

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:At the end of the India StoryArc, everyone is saved and all is well except for those guys who belonging to the Order of the Hourglass. Last we saw them, Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho had them tied up underneath the palace. When the palace crumbled under a big fire, the only way out was buried under tons of smoking debris. Not that anyone will miss their company, but there was also a poor innocent elephant among them and he wasn't seen escaping with the slaves.]]

* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler:At the end of the India StoryArc, everyone is saved and all is well except for those guys who belonging to the Order of the Hourglass. Last we saw them, Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho had them tied up underneath the palace. When the palace crumbled under a big fire, the only way out was buried under tons of smoking debris. Not that anyone will miss their company, but there was also a poor innocent elephant among them and he wasn't seen escaping with the slaves.]]

* InferredHolocaust: At the end of the India StoryArc, everyone is saved and all is well [[spoiler:except for those guys who belonging to the Order of the Hourglass. Last we saw them, Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho had them tied up underneath the palace. When the palace crumbled under a big fire, the only way out was buried under tons of smoking debris. Not that anyone will miss their company, but still.]]

* InferredHolocaust: At the end of the India StoryArc, everyone is saved and all is well [[spoiler:except for those guys who belonging to the Order of the Hourglass. Last we saw them, Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho had them tied up underneath the palace. When the palace crumbled under a big fire, the only way out was buried under tons of smoking ruins. Not that anyone will miss their company anyway, but still.]]

* GrowingTheBeard: There were complains about season 2 regarding pacing, the plot, out of character moments, IdiotBall and unfunny humor. The general census is that season 3 greatly improved and fixed many of those problems. The animation and the action also take a surprisingly turn for the better.

* GrowingTheBeard: There were complains about season 2 regarding the pacing, plot, out of character moments, IdiotBall and unfunny humor. The general census is that season 3 greatly improved and fixed many of those problems. The animation and the action also take a surprisingly turn for the better.

* GrowingTheBeard: There were complains about season 2 regarding the pacing, plot, IdiotBall moments and unfunny humor. The general census is that season 3 greatly improved and fixed many of those problems. The animation and the action also take a surprisingly turn for the better.

* VillainDecay: [[Gaspard makes his return in season 3. Rather than being TheBrute, he's been reduced to a villainous ButtMonkey. To illustrate this, Estaban wasn't afraid of him on their first meeting after one season skip and Gaspard got his ass kicked embarrassingly.]]

* OneSceneWonder: [[GoodShepherd Father Rodriguez]], Esteban's first ParentalSubstitute who raised him prior to the events of the series. While he dies in the first episode, his two scenes really show that he was a good and loving man. The gorgeous and sad music [[spoiler:just after his death]] turns [[spoiler:the death]] of this minor character into one of the biggest [[TearJerker Tear Jerkers]] of the show.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7x-QhIUlwE The theme song]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5IPSVffCw Season 2's version isn't too bad, either]].

* TearJerker: [[spoiler:The HeroicSacrifice of the High Priest of the City of Gold, who we have only just discovered to be Esteban's DisappearedDad]].
** The death of Zia's father Papacamayo just after they'd finally been reunited after years apart is also sob-inducing.
** From season two, there is the [[spoiler:very likely death of Mayuca from season one]] and Esteban finally learning his father's fate.

* CanonSue: Mendoza's hyper-competence at (almost) everything almost puts him in this category. But mostly, he's just a cool guy for the KidHero to hang around with.
** One notable (and rather amusing) exception comes to mind: in one episode, Mendoza uses his trickery to steal a cannon from the other Spaniards and bring it to the allied fort they're about to attack. Mendoza is confident the powerful cannon will hold the Spaniards at bay... until the time comes to use it and ''almost every single shot goes wide''. Turns out he knew how to set the cannon up and how to arm it, but not how to properly ''aim'' the damn thing.
*** Oh, he knew how to aim it - [[spoiler:he explicitly states the first two are "warning shots", with Pedro aiming - Gaspard tells Gomez that must mean Mendoza cannot aim a cannon. The third shot (aimed by Mendoza) misses, but only just, giving Gaspard a haircut in the process. The fourth is likely to hit, but spoiled by the cannon ropes giving way - nevertheless, the ballistic trajectory comes close to making Gaspard a lot shorter and considerably less alive]]. This leaves the plot to move forward, while avoiding the fact that sword and spear injuries are easier to bowdlerize than those made by a cannonball.
** And not to mention, Mendoza's only there to get the kids out of situations they don't get out of themselves. The kids actually manage to outsmart him, even ''within'' the episode with the cannon. That said, in that particular incident it becomes clear for the first time that while his guile and cunning work well on the Spaniards, the natives tend to be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later (for ''very good reason'', given the historical precedent).
** There are several instances where Mendoza's planning and BatmanGambit strategy does not work out the way he intends. He's pretty adept at rescuing the situation via XanatosSpeedChess, however - I don't think the children outsmart him so much as his adult predispositions lead him to try adult solutions (e.g. firing the cannon), which the children can circumvent (e.g by sneaking past the bad guys and using their own methods, which in later episodes usually involve fetching the Condor and scaring the bejeezus out of the antagonists).

** Also, while the show is entirely set in Latin America, and a Spanish dub exist, it was never broadcast, aside from some Latin America channels. Understandably, as Spain conquistadores are the Big Bads.
*** The Spanish being the big bads is actually ''very'' debatable. If anything, the ''Olmecs'' are the Big Bads while everyone assumes the ''Spaniards'' are the Big Bads. There have been shown to be plenty of despicable people on both sides, with Marinche, probably being the worst you can get in this series, is an Aztec. (Even the Spanish Doctor who's traveling with her is [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusted]] when she suggests poisoning a villages's river supply)

** And not to mention, Mendoza's only there to get the kids out of situations they don't get out of themselves. The kids actually manage to outsmart him, even ''with'' the episode with the cannon. That said, in that particular incident it becomes clear for the first time that while his guile and cunning work well on the Spaniards, the natives tend to be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later (for ''very good reason'', given the historical precedent).

* GatewaySeries: For UK and other viewers outside North America this (along with ''Anime/{{Ulysses 31}}'') was the Gateway Series to anime in the same way as ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' or ''Anime/SailorMoon'' was for US viewers.

** In season 2, Zares manipulate our heroes in various BatmanGambit in order to facilitate the children discovering the City of Gold for him. In the end, all he need is reaping all the rewards. But his greatest accomplishment is keeping his true identity a secret: he's truly Ambrosius, the diminutive eccentric and friendly alchemist our heroes have being working with near the beginning. By the end of season 2, no one still hasn't discovered his secret identity (save for Tian Li who was too dumb enough not to warn our heroes.).

* ToyShip: Esteban×Zia
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: After the release of the preview trailer for the sequel series, which showed that the series would be animated with CelShading, a lot of comments pretty much declared that the whole thing was permanently ruined.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: After the release of the preview trailer for the sequel series, which showed that the series would be animated with CelShading, a lot of comments pretty much declared that the whole thing was permanently ruined. Surprising? [[FanDumb No.]]

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The entire soundtrack not only fits perfectly, it also never seems overly repetitive through ''39 episodes'' and practically every motif is memorable.

* DevelopmentHell: The sequel series slipped into this for quite some time, being pushed back repeatedly until the first episode finally aired at the end of 2012.

* UnfortunateImplications: Invoked - When the children are captured by the Olmecs, one person says "The Olmecs ''love'' children." Enough to invoke AdultFear.
** Season 2, Prince Zhu has his guards bring Mei Li brought to his bedroom in the Imperial Palace. While the two are friends and Prince Zhu only brought her so they can play ball together, this can come off as very wrong. A girl being brought against her will and is locked in a bedroom with a guy? PrisonRape.

* NightmareFuel (by children's TV standards): The Jade Mask. ''Dear God, The Jade Mask...''.
** The documentary of a chicken's head being cut off ''in a children's show''.
** The BBC never screened the documentaries (which also contained re-enactments of sacrifice and grave-robbing), possibly for time constraints as much as content.
** The slaughter of the helpless Mayas by the Olmecs with the DeathRay built into their flying machine.
** The FamilyUnfriendlyDeath of [[spoiler:the High Priest of the City of Gold]] who is exposed to heat so intense that his clothes literally burst into flame on his body. [[spoiler:The fact that he's Esteban's father only makes it worse.]]