Sam & Max Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs

Sam & Max Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs is the fourth game in the second season of episodic content, created by Telltale Games and published by GameTap. The episode was released on March 13, 2008 on GameTap, with a Windows release the following day. The episode is contained in the Season Two compilation Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, which was released on May 16, 2008 on Steam, October 14, 2009 on Xbox Live Arcade, and March 9, 2010 on the Wii.

Chariots of the Dogs finds Sam and Max teamed up with their private eye colleague Flint Paper, as he investigates the disappearance of local shop owner, Bosco. Their sleuthing soon takes an unexpected turn, and Sam and Max will need to travel through space and time to protect Bosco and perhaps the fate of the entire universe.

Chariots of the Dogs is the only episode in Season Two without a car driving segment, so no car upgrade is available in this installment.

Bosco's Inconvenience
Sam and Max begin the episode by breaking into Bosco's Inconvenience with their next door neighbor, Flint Paper. Flint has been working a case left to him by his late partner, who first took the job of watching Bosco some 40 years ago. You're looking for any clues that might lead you to Bosco's secret hideout, where you assume he's fled to after being contacted by T-H-E-M in Episode 202. It soon becomes apparent that your first order of business will be getting through the laser barrier guarding the bathroom.



In the bathroom you'll find plenty of model volcanos, but no Bosco. He did leave his paranoid ramblings written on the walls, so maybe they can provide a clue. If you can recreate what Bosco was doing at the time of his disappearance, perhaps you could better understand where he went.



It turns out what Bosco was doing in the bathroom was signaling T-H-E-M! In an unexpected turn of events, you'll be going after Bosco whether you like it or not.

On the spaceship
On the spaceship you'll see that things have not turned out well for Bosco, as he appears to be half cow now. He tells you that he used the elevator nearby, but got spooked and when he returned he looked as he does. You need to help Bosco by correcting his time line so he goes back to normal. In order to do so, you'll be traveling through time and space righting the wrongs of the past and hopefully not causing any more mishaps.

The way the elevator works is by using time cards to specify a time and place and going there. The only place you can go to start with is using Bosco's card, but you'll find a modified carbon dater there that will print time cards for people. You can use the carbon dater on any person, regardless of where they are in their time line, but no inanimate objects. If you try to scan the same person (such as when you see them in different times), you will be informed that you already have that person's time card. When you get a new time card, use it on the elevator to add it to the time card slots. To use the elevator, just pick a time card from the left side to go there, or press the red "Home" button to return to the ship.

Save Bosco
When you first use the elevator you'll end up in a 1963 version of Bosco's Inconvenience run by Momma Bosco. She's a feminist shop owner selling baby needs and guns, as well as a scientist working on creating a baby through in vitro fertilization. At the back of the store is her baby-maker machine, where you'll see her sample and a donor father's sample. Unfortunately, the donor father's sample has been contaminated by milk spilled when Bosco was freaking out there, which explains his current bovine persuasion.

You can talk to Momma Bosco here and pick up anything that's not nailed down, but there's not much else to do here at this point.

Since you don't have anywhere new to go, use the carbon dater to create some new time cards so you'll have some new places to explore. Make sure to scan Sam, Max and Momma Bosco.

Before you can leave, you'll have a conversation with Momma Bosco that leads to her falling for Max. As the portable AI informs you, this causes a catastrophic time-space anomaly. When you use the elevator to leave, the AI will take you back to the ship to show you your handiwork as Bosco is now fading in and out of existence. If Momma Bosco is no longer interested in creating a test tube baby, that mean Bosco will never be born. But if Bosco was never born, then you have no reason to go back in time and make Momma Bosco want to be with Max. This is the paradox that Max's animal magnetism has created, so now you have another task: make Momma Bosco lost interest in Max.

Find Bosco's dad
If you talked with Momma Bosco a bit, you'll find out that she met the donor at the White House, the very same place her time card goes. That seems like the logical place to start, although it doesn't hurt to look around any of the other places you have time cards for on the way. When you get to the White House, you'll find Superball guarding the war room once again. He remembers Momma Bosco, but refuses to spit when you use the chemical sampler on him. Apparently he only spits when he's startled or under extreme distress. You'll have to find something that will shock even the normally imperturbable secret service agent.



You now have access to Superball's saliva, but when you check on Bosco after switching out the contaminated sample at Momma Bosco's, you'll see that it had an unintended consequence. Apparently Superball wasn't Bosco's father after all.



Now that you've returned Bosco to his normal appearance, you'll have to do something about his fading in and out of existence. Somehow you'll have to break Max's hypnotic spell over Momma Bosco.

Make Max less appealing
Speaking with Momma Bosco should let you see she's a feminist who is only interested in Max because he is so thoroughly uninterested in her. Although you don't get a flashback, Max does say that his disinterest started in middle school. It might be a good idea to talk with your younger selves to see if you can stop this behavior before it starts.

At Stinky's, you'll find your former selves playing with Bluster Blaster, who you should note is quite a bit kinder than you're used to from playing any of the previous episodes starting at Episode 105. Talking with the kids, you learn that there's a prom tonight, but Max is to wrapped up in the video game, which he loves because of it constantly praises him. If you can get Max to the prom, you might be able to change his view of the fairer sex and prevent the anomaly.



You now have an idea of what you need to do, although not exactly how to go about. You'll need to look around the places you've uncovered for anything helpful.



You now have the tools necessary to get your younger selves off their lazy butts and out the door. Help Sam out with his work to hopefully repair the time line.



Now that Momma Bosco is thoroughly disgusted with Max again, she'll go through with the in vitro fertilization and Bosco should be assured of his existence. Head back to the ship to check in on him and see if you can find a way off the space vessel.

Get rid of the crew
When you get back to the spaceship and see you've successfully returned Bosco to his former self, you'll be able to venture out of that room and into another part of the ship. Here you'll meet the crew, a trio of mariachis, all the same person from different times. They love to sing and make music, and if you've played earlier episodes you probably remember them showing up anytime someone has a birthday. They tell their story with song, but poor Bosco can't take the surprise and has a heart attack. The mariachis are using the ship to go around and collect souls for the triangle vortex from Episode 202, and Bosco's soul heads out between the Moai heads to start the soul sucking process.

With this new development you objective is clear: rescue Bosco (again). You can't enter the platform where the Moai heads are crushing Bosco's soul, because the captain keeps overriding you when you press the button by Bosco's body. Actually, all the mariachis are willing to stop you from rescuing Bosco, because they need to send his soul through the vortex to meet their quota and finish paying off the spaceship. You'll need to get rid of the crew before you'll have a chance to save Bosco, and luckily they all dream of something more. You can use their hopes and dreams to make them leave by making them come true.

The birthday mariachi
Back on the bridge you'll find the middle-aged mariachi listening intently to the device by the elevator. He won't leave his post until he hears that it's someone's birthday. He listens all across time, so it can really be anywhere. You'll need to find someone who's birthday it is and announce it so he leaves the ship.



With the middle-aged, birthday-singing mariachi out of the way, you just need to rid the ship of two more pesky crew members.

Captain mariachi
The captain longs to be a singer, and in fact he was inspired by your success on Embarrassing Idol back in Episode 102. If you recall, you were awarded a record contract without having a shred of talent. It so happens that the captain has set a course for the set of Embarrassing Idol to celebrate the Soda Poppers' birthday. The time card for the show was printed by the computer, and you can grab it from behind the captain's chair. You'll need to fulfill the captain's dream of following in your footsteps if you want him off the ship.

Since you have a new time card, you should go explore the Embarrassing Idol set. When you get there you'll be treated to past Sam winning the show and getting the record contract before everyone leaves. When you go talk to them, you'll have a bunch of options for how to explain why you're there, but eventually you'll tell them you came for the record contract. They refuse to give it to you, since they need it for their own case, and after your conversation they jack your elevator and leave you stranded in time. A year and a half later, after creating another signal at Bosco's, you'll be abducted again to find your past selves looking around the ship. At least they brought the record contract with them.



With his new singing career ahead of him, the captain will take off and leave just one crew member behind.

The old mariachi
The last mariachi is keeping watch on the soul sucking process out by the Moai heads. He is dedicated to the ship, as he believes with time travel he can eventually answer some big questions. He wants to know how he dies and which came first, the chicken or the egg. You'll need to satisfy his curious mind before he'll think of leaving the ship so you can rescue Bosco.

Start off with the easy question: when will the old man die. You have access to a time machine, so it can't be that hard to figure out. A good place to start looking would be the future, since he seems to be alive at present.



One big question answered, and one to go. Now that he knows he will die from inhaling ink ribbon fumes, he's no longer protective of the printer, if you've tried to mess with it. Now it's time to answer his last question: whether the chicken or the egg came first. You have a time machine but no time card to the beginning of time, so you'll need to find one.



Now that the mariachi knows all of life's mysteries, he takes off and leaves you in command of the ship. Unfortunately, before you can figure out a way to get to Bosco's soul, Max accidentally hits the suck button and the soul gets drawn into the vortex. The plan has changed, and now you'll need to go after Bosco's soul and see if you can reunite it with his body.

Escape the ship
As soon as you hit the button by Bosco's body to extend the bridge out into the time vortex, the mariachis show up again in another elevator to warn you not to extend the bridge. Unfortunately it's too late and the ship goes into self-destruct mode and sets a course for the beginning of time. Don't bother trying to escape with your own elevator, as it gets hijacked by your past selves the minute you step foot back on the bridge. You'll need to get yourselves and Bosco through the triangle portal before you all die.



You've gotten yourselves and Bosco's corpse through the portal to a destination unknown, but the ominous chanting that accompanies the trip doesn't bode well. Tune in next episode to see where Sam and Max land what this season's mystery is all about in Episode 205.