The Three Musketeers (アニメ三銃士 Anime Sanjūshi) is a 1987 Japanese animated television series based on the eponymous novel by Alexandre Dumas, directed by Kunihiko Yuyama (Pokémon: The Series) and aired on NHK.
A feature film sequel, Anime Sanjūshi: Aramis no Bōken, was released in 1989.
The show follows the main plot of the book, however, several changes have been made. Notably, Constance is Bonacieux's daughter, not wife, this is a kid show after all. The action occurs in the matter of months instead of years, exemplified with the Man in the Iron Mask storyline taking place much earlier than in Dumas' timeline.
Obviously, most of the tropes applicable to the first book can apply to this series.
Not to be confused with Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds.
This show contains examples of:
- '80s Hair: Inevitable, since it was made in 1987.
- All for Nothing: When Athos and Rochefort are imprisoned together, they're picking on the stone walls with a dagger so the stones can be moved and allow them to escape. They've just finished when the jailer has both of them transfer to another cell. The look on Athos and Rocherfort's faces is simply priceless. However, Jean is locked in this cell and finds the stones can be moved, so it wasn't completely for nothing.
- Ascended Fanboy: d'Artagnan becomes an actual musketeer after having always dreamt of it.
- The Alleged Steed: d'Artagnan's yellow horse, which he keeps for a big part of the story.
- All Just a Dream: d'Artagnan realizes his dream of becoming a musketeer. He also gets to smooch Constance. Then he wakes up and finds out it was just a dream. He becomes a musketeer for real later.
- Badass Creed: "All for one and one for all!"
- Barefoot Poverty: Jean.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Iron Mask catches a mook's sword with his hands.
- Beard of Evil: Subverted; Richelieu and Rochefort have a goatee, but other characters do too, notably Tréville, as it was common at the time.
- Played straight with Manson.
- The Beastmaster: Milady can control any animals with her whistle and make them do her bidding. She also has a parrot who spies on the Queen. However, she treats her pet monkey Pepe as a friend rather than a tool.
- Big Bad: Milady and Iron Mask.
- Big Damn Heroes: The three musketeers come to d'Artagnan's rescue twice in the same day. First from Rochefort, then later from Milady.
- The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: All blades land with the pointy end on the ground first. Even an executioner's axe.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: After capturing d'Artagnan, you think Iron Mask and his cronies would kill him right away, since the lad has been such a nuisance to their plans. Instead, they tie him up. Predictably, d'Artagnan finds a way to escape from his bonds and proceeds to wreck havoc on the fort.
- Boring Return Journey: Averted. After going to England to retrieve the Queen's necklace from the Duke of Buckingham, d'Artagnan's return to France is far from peaceful. Milady is constantly after him, the necklace is almost lost, a storm nearly sinks his ship, Rochefort ambushes him and his horse collapses from exhaustion.
- Both Sides Have a Point: D'Artagnan argues that Iron Mask is a brigand that must be brought to justice, even if he steals to give to the poor. However, Mr. Bonacieux and Jean don't entirely see it as a bad thing, since the royal government is extremely rich and does nothing for the poor.
- Bound and Gagged: Constance is bound and gagged many times as part of her Damsel in Distress status.
- Cannon Fodder: When the French Navy gain a foothold on Iron Mask's fort, the villain tells his men to defend the keep fiercely and they will prevail. Little do they know that Iron Mask is using them as decoys while he and Milady quietly make their escape.
- Co-Dragons: Iron Mask has Milady and Manson.
- Convenient Coma: Constance falls into a coma after being hit by an explosion.
- Cool Horse: d'Artagnan's horse is very loyal to him. He can even fish!
- Country Mouse: d'Artagnan is one at first. Before moving to Paris, he has never seen so many people in one place and he's very ignorant of how things work in big cities.
- Crash-Into Hello: d'Artagnan accidentally bumps into Constance while riding his horse. Luckily, the girl is unhurt. d'Artagnan is smitten by her beauty and asks her out, but Constance rebuffs him.
- Crazy-Prepared: When d'Artagnan disarms the Iron Mask, he demands that he remove his mask. Iron Mask obliges, only to trigger a mechanism on it that shoot darts from his mouth, catching d'Artagnan off-guard.
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: A bad one for d'Artagnan. After disarming Iron Mask, he wants to know who is the mysterious man behind the it. Iron Mask feigns removing his mask and fires darts out of his mouth, disarming d'Artagnan.
- Damsel in Distress: Constance needs rescuing by d'Artagnan more than once.
- Darkest Hour:
- The King has secretly been replaced by his twin brother. The real king has an unremovable mask stuck to his face and everyone thinks he's Iron Mask. He awaits his execution. Milady and Mason are now the false king's advisors. Mr. Bonacieux is still missing. The Queen and Constance are forcibly assigned to residence. Richelieu is imprisoned for corruption. Treville, Athos and Porthos resign from the company of musketeers, but Aramis betrays them by taking Treville's position. d'Artagnan and Jean are forced to leave their home as Iron Mask tries to eliminate them.
- Iron Mask is about to be beheaded while no one knows he's really King Louis XIII under the mask. Athos and Rochefort, who were supposed to provide a distraction, are locked in a cell. Jean is caught while trying to free the Queen.
- Death by Materialism: When it's only a matter of time before the fort is taken by the French army, Iron Mask and Milady make their escape while they tell their men to fight to the end. Before leaving, Iron Mask and Milady take the time to gather as much loot as they can carry. This proves to be fatal mistake, as d'Artagnan is able to catch up with them, which eventually leads to their deaths.
- Death Faked for You: In trying to shake off d'Artagnan's pursuers, the Three Musketeers stage a highly publicized funeral for d'Artagnan with a real priest and an empty coffin. It's convincing enough to throw off Rochefort, Constance and Jean. Milday isn't fooled, however, and she resumes her pursuit.
- Death Trap: Milady sets d'Artagnan and Constance to die by drowning and fire respectively. They both eventually make it out safely.
- Determinator:
- After Constance sees no sign of d'Artagnan or the Three Musketeers, she decides to continue their mission and goes to England herself to retrieve the Queen's necklace. Luckily for her, d'Artagnan shows up at the last minute and goes to England in her place.
- On her mission to prevent d'Artagnan from returning with the Queen's necklace, Milady never gives up and comes up with many different ways to stop him.
- Devious Daggers: Milady is very proficient with daggers.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Rochefort is portrayed as half-blind.
- Disappeared Dad: Jean's father died in the war when he was still very young.
- Distress Ball: Constance and Jean can't seem to stay out of trouble and are captured more than once.
- Disney Villain Death: How Manson meets his end while fighting Aramis.
- Domino Mask: Milady wears one to prevent people from recognizing her. Like her distinctive green hair isn't a dead giveaway. One time, her pet monkey also wears a cute little domino mask.
- The Dragon: Richelieu has two, Milady and Rochefort.
- Dying Alone: Milady is all alone when she's about to meet her end. She prays to God for forgiveness while waiting.
- Easily Forgiven: When it's revealed that d'Artagnan spared Milady's life and lied about her death, he isn't punished or thrown out of the musketeers.
- Easy Amnesia: After an explosion, Constance falls in a coma. Once she wakes up, she loses her memory.
- Elite Army: The King's Musketeers.
- Enemy Mine: Richelieu and Rochefort get stuck in jail during the Iron Mask arc and Athos helps them break out in order to prevent King Louis XIII from being beheaded. Richelieu even Takes a Level in Badass by bashing the guards with a book, commenting that he's upset that they are bungling fools. Later, the Musketeers and the Cardinal Guards join forces to defeat Iron Mask.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even with all his immorality, manipulations and ruthlessness, Richelieu will never overthrow Louis XIII. He will always remain loyal toward the King and only wish to influence and steer him toward his vision of things.
- Everyone Has Standards: Prince Philippe is willing to imprison his twin brother, King Louis XIII, and even strap an iron mask on his face forever. However, he refuses to have him executed, because in his mind, a brother must kill another brother. When he learns that Iron Mask was behind his kidnapping and Milady manipulated him, he's willing to face his brother's judgment, whatever it may be.
- Evil Chancellor: Richelieu, the Prime Minister.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Inverted with Milady's pet monkey, Pepe. It can detect our heroes in the vicinity, even when they are well hidden.
- Evil Laugh: Iron Mask, Milady and Manson have a good evil laugh when doing evil things.
- Eyepatch of Power: Rochefort, following in the footsteps of the Christopher Lee portrayal.
- Fake Aristocrat: Charlotte is revealed to be a fake noblewoman. In her youth, she was a poor commoner arrested for being Protestant and placed in a convent. Years later, Richelieu gave her a new identity and she received special training from Rochefort. Charlotte was to become the King's newest bride so he would divorce Queen Anne as part of Richelieu's schemes.
- Faking the Dead:
- While in jail, Milady takes a poison that makes it look like she died. The guards find her and dump her body in the water. However, before they can, Pepe secretly gives her the antidote. After the guards leave, Milady resurfaces from the water and continues her mission.
- Milady after d'Artagnan "executes" her for murdering the Duke of Buckingham by cutting her hair and declaring her legally dead, since the show is supposed to be more kid-friendly than the book.
- Freudian Excuse: Milady hates English royalty and English aristocrats because of her mistreatment by them in her younger years.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Milady was nothing more than a servant living a harsh life in a convent. Then, she found love in a young monk who wished to lead a life free of duties and devotion. They ran away only to be caught not long after. The boy was sent to another convent and Milady was branded a witch for seducing a monk. Hated and rejected by all, Milady then turned into a cunning spy and ruthless assassin. She sold her services to the highest bidders of all across Europe. When reaching the other half of the series, Milady is one of the co-conspirators who are taking over France.
- Gender Flip: Aramis is a woman in this adaptation.
- Genre Blindness:
- Every time the Queen speaks privately with her entourage, her parrot leaves its cage and returns later on its own. The bird is a spy and was a gift from Richelieu. You know, the guy who continually plots her downfall. You'd think the Queen would have become suspicious of the parrot, especially when the Cardinal starts uncovering all of her secrets.
- When sailing back to France, d'Artagnan's horse becomes very agitated as it has spotted Pepe on the ship. d'Artagnan thinks his horse is just being stubborn and fails to notice that something is amiss.
- The Ghost: Gaston, Duke of Orléans, is Louis XIII's younger brother. He is mentioned once but never appears in the series himself.
- Gilded Cage: Prince Philippe lived in one for most of his life. He was assigned to a luxury residence with tutors and forbidden from ever leaving. This changes when Iron Mask murders his tutors and capturs him.
- Gold Fish Poop Gang: Rochefort's track record is just terrible. The many failures he accumulates since crossing paths with d'Artagnan is staggering. Rochefort's right-hand man, Jussac, isn't any better as he hasn't done anything victorious of note.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy:
- When a falcon has taken the Duke's diamonds, d'Artagnan chases after it. The Duke's guards simply stand still and do nothing.
- When Milady is arrested, the guards don't search her and they let her keep her pet monkey. Unsurprisingly, she takes advantage of this to escape.
- One of Iron Mask's goons is on patrol at their home base. He's surprised by d'Artagnan and Porthos, who feign being part of Iron Mask's gang. The mook shares his meal with the duo and is puzzled as to why he never saw them before. Seeing that their cover is about to be blown, the musketeers jump on him.
- Hates Being Touched: Manson hates being touched because of an injury he sustained when he was younger.
- Heel–Face Turn: Kopi the parrot serves Milady, but after he is caught by d'Artagnan, he switches sides.
- Hidden Eyes: Jean's eyes are hidden while he reminisces about his missing mother.
- Honor Before Reason: d'Artagnan will not fight dishonorably, especially against Milady. Unfortunately for him, Milady is quite the opposite.
- Hypno Pendulum: Milday hypnotized her victims with the help of her... pet monkey, who swings its tail back and forth.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Milady can hypnotize people with her eyes. Oddly, she sometime relies on Pepe for hypnosis rather than doing it herself.
- Idiot Ball:
- The Duke of Buckingham is held at gunpoint by Milady and they engage in a banter when he notices her English accent. Months later, he's dancing with her at the Louvre and somehow fails to recognize her face and voice. She is also wearing the same mask as last time and she has the same green hair as before.
- d'Artagnan retakes the stolen diamonds from Milady. Rather than arrest her or have the Duke's guards arrest her, he let her go. Unsurprisingly, this causes a lot more trouble for him later.
- After two failed assassination attempts on d'Artagnan and Constance's lives, you'd expect our heroes to be more on their guard. No, they don't take any precautions and Milady is onto them once more.
- An actress has all the new jewels stitched on her robe while she wears fake jewels as a trick to throw off would-be robbers. However, she confines her secret to Milady and her robe is stolen.
- I Have No Son!: Jean believes that a new noblewoman in the King's court, Charlotte, is his mother. However, Charlotte denies that Jean is her son as she claims that she's unmarried and never bore children before. As it turns out, Charlotte lied and admitts she did have a child, but it wasn't Jean. She just happens to resemble Jean's mother greatly.
- Just Like Robin Hood: Iron Mask has a Robin Hood-like reputation among the poor in France, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. However, he doesn't really care about the poor. This is merely a ploy to gain popular support in order to overthrow the King.
- Karma Houdini: The thief that pickpockets d'Artagnan's gold pouch during the first episode. He never gets caught and no one ever sees him again.
- Killed Off for Real: Buckingham, because Milady tricks him into letting his guard down.
- Large and in Charge: Iron Mask is the leader of his gang and easily the tallest of them all.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Richelieu orders all the boats in port to prevent d'Artagnan from going to England. Later in England, the Duke of Buckingham does the same to prevent Milday from leaving the country.
- Latex Perfection: Milady uses a flawless mask to disguise herself as an old woman so she can kidnap Constance.
- Leitmotif: Milady has one. It's a violin and it has an unsettling melody to it.
- Lightning Bruiser: Iron Mask is strong, fast and agile. He can break down doors with just one karate chop, leap high into the air and land gently on his feet.
- Longing Look: The Duke of Buckingham can't stop starting intensively at his old flame Queen Anne while she's dancing with King Louis XIII.
- Loophole Abuse: When d'Artagnan returns from England, Rochefort and his men prepare an ambush for him. Knowing this, the three musketeers ask Treville's permission to rescue d'Artagnan. However, he refuses the request, as all musketeers must guard the King for that night's ballroom. The musketeers are upset, but Treville assigns them to guard duty at St. Denis, which happens to be where the ambush will take place.
- Love at First Sight: d'Artagnan falls in love with Constance after seeing her for the first time.
- Love Makes You Dumb: The Duke of Buckingham is infatuated with his old flame, Queen Anne. He takes several risks to himself and endangers the Queen's reputation in the process.
- Make Way for the New Villains: Later in the series, Iron Mask and Manson replace Richelieu and Rochefort as the new bad guys. The latter two are still around and plotting, however.
- Malevolent Masked Men: The Iron Mask, of course.
- Master Swordsman: d'Artagnan, the three musketeers and Iron Mask are all highly skilled swordsmen.
- Missing Mom:
- Jean is looking for his mother throughout the series. He reunites with her in the movie.
- Constance mentions that her mother died of disease when she was young.
- Mook Chivalry: Played straight as Iron Mask's goons will gang up on d'Artagnan, but only one will fight him at a time. When they do attack all at once, d'Artagnan is simply too powerful for them.
- Mooks:
- The Cardinal's guards.
- All of Iron Man's goons wear the same uniform and mask. Interestingly, a flashback shows Manson starting as a mook before becoming one of the Co-Dragons.
- Mugged for Disguise/Dressing as the Enemy: d'Artagnan and Porthos infiltrate Iron Mask's fort by taking the uniforms of the two mooks they just beat up. The uniforms fit them perfectly. Later, they deliver a meal to Prince Philippe and Porthos poses as a cook. Somehow, none of the guards notice that the cook is a different person. It's only when the real guard in charge of meal deliveries starts asking questions that their cover is blown.
- Naïve Newcomer: d'Artagnan is completely clueless on how things work in Paris. Per his grandfather's advice, he is to seek Captain Treville or Cardinal Richelieu in case he needs help. Therefore, he barges into Richelieu's residence in the middle of the night and demands to see him. When that doesn't work, he tries to enlist in the musketeers with no letter of recommendation.
- Never Found the Body: At the end of the series, Iron Mask is presumed dead as his mask is found on the shoreline of the ruined fort. His body was never found.
- The Nose Knows: Rossinante, d'Artagnan's horse, has an incredible sense of smell and can track better than dogs.
- One-Man Army:
- Iron Mask faces off against several of the Cardinals' guards and comes out unscathed. And he never even drew his sword once. Another time, he's able to hold off an entire battalion of the King's guards and shove them on the ground with a single push.
- d'Artagnan is capable of fighting off an army of mooks and come out unharmed.
- Parental Abandonment: Milady never met her parents. His father refused to marry her mother when she gave birth to her. Shortly after, her mother gave her up to a convent and she never saw her ever again.
- The Peeping Tom: Jean becomes one when he spies on Aramis having a bath. He accidentally finds out she's a woman.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: Jean has a boomrang for a weapon, despite the setting being 17th century France.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Treville is a strict musketeer captain. However, when honor is at stake or the Queen's prestige is in jeopardy, he can be understandable and let some things slide.
- Red Herring: Athos suspects that Manson and Iron Mask are working together. However, news comes that Manson has been robbed by Iron Mask, so the musketeers abandon this lead. The robbery was part of the Iron Mask's plan as he and Manson really are working together.
- Redemption Equals Death: At the end of the series, Milady stays behind with barrels of explosives ready to blow up rather than run away with Iron Mask, urging d'Artagnan to escape and warn everyone of the danger. She explains that she's tired of all the constant scheming and evil. No doubt d'Artagnan sparing her life earlier in the series caused her change of heart.
- Revenge:
- Milady hates losing. She tries to kill d'Artagnan for foiling her plans. She also tries to kill Jean because the boy prevented her shot from killing the King. While all these attempts failed, she did succeed in killing the Duke of Buckingham for imprisoning her.
- Aramis wants Manson's head for killing her fiancé.
- The Mole: Aramis becomes this once she realizes Manson is her fiancé's murderer. She joins the enemy to gather intelligence and serve her friends secretly. Only Athos suspects that she hasn't betrayed them.
- Riddle for the Ages: What was Iron Mask's real identity?
- Rule of Three:
- After d'Artagnan's death has been faked, three groups of people see the priest in charge of the funeral at three different times of the day: Rochefort first, Constance and Jean second, with Milday being third.
- Milday tries to get revenge on d'Artagnan with three assassination attempts. All three fail.
- Three people discover that Aramis is a woman: Jean, Manson and d'Artagnan.
- During the course of the series, Iron Mask is disarmed three times in a sword duel: by d'Artagnan, Aramis and d'Artagnan again.
- Running Gag:
- D'Artagnan's many failed attempts to kiss Constance because of one reason or another. They do kiss in the opening title, however.
- Aramis being secretly a girl, she occasionally tends to her natural beauty. Not knowing this, d'Artagnan sometimes barges into her room uninvited and get something thrown at his face by her.
- D'Artagnan oversleeping and being late for an important event.
- In a convent, an unnamed nun keeps running into men (either d'Artagnan or M. Bonacieux). After freaking out, she hysterically calls the head nun to investigate only for the men to disappear. Finding no men, the head nun chastises said nun for daydreaming.
- Samus Is a Girl: It's revealed at some point that in actuality, Aramis is a girl in disguise, effectively posing as her dead twin brother who died young.
- Schizo Tech: A submarine made out of wood and running on Bamboo Technology definitely qualifies.
- Secret-Keeper: Treville knows that Aramis is a woman and has agreed not to share the secret with anyone. Jean also finds out and promised to keep it secret.
- Separated at Birth: Unbeknownst to King Louis XIII, he has a twin brother named Prince Philippe. The Prince has been living in a small village, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Six years before the start of the series, he was kidnapped and sequestered in a miserable cell by Iron Mask, forced to wear a mask. Milady manipulated him to get revenge on his brother by taking his place. Philippe will essentially be the Puppet King of France for the Big Bad. However, when Milady urges Philippe to execute his brother before the subterfuge could be discovered, he refuses to do so. At the end of the series, the two brothers have reconciled.
- Sinister Minister: Richelieu, again.
- Smurfette Principle: Milady is the only female in her crew of misfits, even after joining a new gang.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Constance is murdered by Milady de Winter in the novel, but survives the series intact.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Manson was once known as a feared brigand called "The Chamel". He got his nickname because of a lump on his right shoulder, due to an old injury.
- Spoiler Title: All over the place.
- Standard Female Grab Area: When Milady kidnaps Constance, she grabs her by the wrist in order to douse her with some knockout spray. Constance doesn't try to pull away or even attack with her free hand, and instead just stands there whimpering with a scared expression until she's knocked out.
- Storming the Castle: The last part of the series involves France's naval army attacking Iron Mask's fort which is extremely well-defended.
- Street Urchin: Jean is poor and lives on the streets before the start of the series. D'Artagnan joins him when he arrives in Paris.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Aramis does this in order to be able to be in the musketeers.
- Tempting Fate: d'Artagnan asks the ship's captain how long it will take to return to France. The captain replies that it won't take long if they don't hit a storm. Guess what happens next?
- Then Let Me Be Evil: A flashback reveals that Milady was literally branded as a witch when she was young. Everywhere she went, people rejected her and showed her contempt when they saw her mark. Milady then embraced her role as a witch and learned Black Magic. She then became the evil and cunning assassin we know today.
- Time Skip: Six months have passed between Milady's execution and Iron Mask's first appearance.
- Trauma Conga Line: d'Artagnan leaves for Paris to become a musketeer. However, captain Treville refuses his request and breaks his sword. Without money, d'Artagnan lives on the streets with Jean and struggles to make a living. In one instance, Aramis throws a bucket at his face causing him to tumble off the stairs. In another, d'Artagnan runs into trouble with the same Cardinal's guard three times. With his sword broken, he's forced to decline a duel and is publicly humiliated. Next episode, Treville summons d'Artagnan to berate him for giving Musketeers a bad name because of his earlier altercation with the Cardinal's guard.
- True Companions: The Three Musketeers and d'Artagnan, but also d'Artagnan and Jean.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Pepe, Milady's pet monkey, is ever loyal to her mistress.
- When d'Artagnan goes to England, he leave his horse behind. Said horse, however, swims to his boat and refuses to leave his side.
- A villainous example: Rochefort will always defend Cardinal Richelieu no matter what.
- Ungrateful Bastard: While fighting, d'Artagnan saves Milady from falling into the sea. She immediately rewards him by attacking him. Later, d'Artagnan is ordered to execute her. Instead, he secretly lets her go because in his mind, killing a defenseless woman is wrong. Rather than starting a new life, she becomes part of a conspiracy to overthrow the king. Averted in the last episode, where Milady spares d'Artagnan's life because she hasn't forgotten his refusal to execute her.
- Unwitting Pawn: The Duke of Buckingham is the favorite target of Milday and Richelieu for their schemes to bring down the Queen.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Modus operandi for Milady, Manson and Iron Mask — running away when things get ugly.
- Villain Has a Point: When speaking to a crowd, Iron Mask denounces the royal government and nobility who lead a life of luxury, free of concerns while it is commoners who bear the burden of heavy taxes and perpetual poverty. While Iron Mask is right, he's in part responsible for the recent hardship the citizenry has to endure and he just makes his speech to gain popular support.
- Villain with Good Publicity:
- Manson, a rich merchant, is hailed as a hero in Paris. When Iron Mask causes a salt shortage, Manson comes to the rescue with his supply of salt. Little do people know that the two men are accomplices. Athos suspects this and urges Treville to investigate the merchant. Unfortunately, the two villains throw off the musketeers with a subterfuge.
- Iron Mask as well, but only toward the poor.
- Whip Sword: Manson use this as his backup weapon.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: d'Artagnan reluctantly fight women, meaning Milady. However, he will not kill her while she's defenseless.
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Iron Mask throws off Jean from a moving wagon.
- Milady kidnaps Jean and straps him to a burning windmill.
- Yes-Man: Rocherfort never contradict or protest Cardinal Richelieu's decisions.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Not long after Iron Mask make his debut, d'Artagnan disarms him in a duel. Unfortunately, Rochefort intervenes because he doesn't want the musketeers to take credit for Iron Mask's capture. This interference allows Iron Mask to escape and d'Artagnan will have to wait until the very last episode to finally stop him.
