"Kung Fu": TV Series, Blood of the Dragon

#45 & 46 (Prod #166257-8) "Blood of the Dragon" Parts 1 & 2
Teleplay By:: John T. Dugan (also #20, 29, 34 40 & 57)
Directed By:: Richard Lang (also # 5, 17, 19, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37-38, 39, 42)
First Broadcast: September 14, 1974 (Saturday - 2 hours)
Guest Stars: Patricia Neal, Season Hubley, Kam Yuen (Kung Fu Advisor), Clyde Kusatsu (also #35 & 56), Tad Horino (also #8 & 47)
Special Guest Stars: Eddie Albert & Edward Albert
Regular Cast: David Carradine, Philip Ahn, Keye Luke, Radames Pera

Caine shows up in Gurneyville, on the California coast, knowing (supernaturally?) that his grandfather died there the night before. As Caine tracks down what happened to his grandfather, he is being tracked by three agents of The Imperial Guards of the Dragon Throne's Order of the Avenging Dragon which needs to kill Caine to end the shame of having failed to protect the Emperor's nephew (showing that the hunt for Caine won't end with the Emperor's death in 1875^*1* - though, the Dowager Empress^*1* might have continued anyway).

"I will know him." - Caine, when told the old man's burnt body is unrecognizable

"Peace for his troubled spirit." - Caine, when asked what he is after and whether he wants revenge or justice

"Fear is the only darkness." - (?Master Po)

"It is my duty to remain until the truth is known about my grandfather's death." - Caine

"The nature of wind and fire and ice; the frailty of the human condition in hunger and thirst and fatigue; the predatory instincts of living things; the greed and finality (?) buried in the hearts of men. You must be prepared to survive through all this. These graceful movements [in Tai Chi] you now perform along with the rigors of all those disciplines which your masters impose upon you, will help you develop the inner strength, that which we call ch'i. And when you come to meet your greatest tests, your highest challenges, when you call upon your ch'i, it will not desert you." - Master Kan

"If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past." - Master Po (also in #7 "The Tide")

Pt 2-
"As they are honor bound to come, I am honor bound to stay." - Caine

"Sometimes one must cut off a finger to save a hand." - Po (also pilot)

"We are taught that all things are possible." - Master Po

"I have known of such things." - Caine, on supernatural occurrences

"It shall be." - Caine

"It is often said that to be effective one must act with forthrightness and great force. But what is to be gained by such a choice? If the end one embarks on is a righteous action, it flows the way of the Tao. Forces are in motion to which we cannot add, from which we cannot subtract. If our path is right, there is only one course to follow. The correct action is to do nothing and all will be done." - Master Kan (refers to several sections of the TAO TE CHING including chapter 37)

"No." - Caine, when told to die

"'What will you do about it?'
'Nothing. It is you who will act.'" - Caine (similar to what he says in #19 "The Brujo")

"His clothes were no better than rags. And his feet bare. Absolutely bare." - about Caine

"Where does honor lie?" - Caine

"You are not to blame." - Caine

"To confess my unworthiness...I have disgraced my teachers and shamed this holy place." - Caine, when Master Kan asks him why he came back after Master Po's murder and the killing of the royal nephew

"'Did you not think to run?' - Master Kan
'I thought to run, but I could not find it within me to leave Master Po dying.'" - Caine

"The guilt is not yours." - Master Kan to Caine on the killings

"May his passing in its violence not wake the tigers of outrage, the dragons of vengeance." - Master Kan (also in "The Chalice")

"You remain a Shaolin priest. Nothing is diminished. Nothing is undone." - Master Kan to Caine after the killing of the Emperor's^*1* nephew

"Now, you must leave us forever. And I cannot say which is the greater grief to my heart." - Master Kan, comparing it with Master Po's death

"'You fight well, Priest.'
'I did not wish to fight at all." - Caine

"'Do such things exist?' - Young Caine on the supernatural
'Do wars, famine, disease and death exist? Do lust, greed and hate exist? They are man's creation. Brought into being by the dark side of his nature.'" - Master Kan

"I do not seek to escape." - Caine, when told there was no escape from the Order of the Avenging Dragon

"Each man must start with himself and within himself. By slowly forging his ch'i, the bond between the finite and the infinite, the inner essence of his spirit and the limitless power of the universe, only then can you conquer the power and the presence of evil." - Master Kan

"'Will we ever see [the dead] again?'
'No one may know.'" - Caine

The Order of the Avenging Dragon of the Imperial Guards does help the story line get beyond the fact that it will soon be after the Emperor's death in January 1875^*1*. Strangely, this order uses emblems with fire breathing, winged, European dragons. Chinese dragons don't look like that.

The date on Johnny's tombstone places this story in 1874 so the Emperor^*1* is still alive.

The KF Book^*2* claims Caine "tricks" his opponent into killing himself: he does no such thing though both opponents are killed by their own weapons.