Asterix and The Great Divide - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

In a village similar to Asterix's, two rival chiefs, Cleverdix and Majestix, have been elected. Through various incidents, a ditch has been dug through the village dividing it into the party of the left (led by Cleverdix) and the party of the right (ruled by Majestix). Both men contest the leadership of the entire village. The two sides regularly show their dislike for each other.

Histrionix, the son of Cleverdix, and Melodrama, the daughter of Majestix, are the only villagers who do not agree with the fight, and constantly try to get their fathers to stop fighting. To add a twist to the plot, Majestix's mind is poisoned by his evil advisor Codfix.

After a failed attempt by both chieftains to convince the other side to join them, Codfix comes up with an idea: in exchange for Melodrama's hand in marriage, he will invite the Roman troops to help Majestix become chief of the whole village (in fact, he plans to overthrow Majestix and become chief himself). However, Melodrama overhears the conversation, and gets her nurse, Angelica, to arrange a meeting with Histrionix.

That night, Melodrama reveals the plan to Histrionix (whom she is in love with and vice-versa), who alerts his father. Cleverdix tells his son to go to the village of Vitalstatistix, who fought alongside him at Alesia, and get help.

Arriving at the village, Histrionix explains the problem to Vitalstatistix, who agrees to send Asterix and Obelix to help. As the Romans have been quiet lately, Getafix decides to go too.

Meanwhile, at the Roman camp near the divided village, the legionaries are tired of doing their own work and want slaves. Codfix arrives, and convinces the centurion to help by telling him his camp can have the defeated villagers as slaves.

When the Romans arrive, however, Majestix refuses to let them take any villager, left or right, as slaves. Enraged, the centurion takes Majestix and his men as slaves.

Exploiting the local Romans' ignorance of their identities, Asterix, Obelix and Getafix go to the camp and claim to be slaves, intending to set the prisoners free from inside. A bit of trouble with the guard over the word "fat" leads to the demonstration of another of Getafix's potions: an amazing cure-all elixir, which restores the subject to full health with the only apparent side-effect being a loss of short-term memory.

Inside the camp, Getafix makes the magic potion in the guise of soup. When the suspicious centurion orders them to test it, they give some to the prisoners, enabling them to escape. Back at the village, Getafix makes more potion, and they decide to keep it on neutral ground- a house specifically in the middle of the village, with the ditch cutting directly between it- with Asterix guarding it.

However, Getafix has left the elixir near the Roman camp. Codfix takes it, and uses it to cure the Romans while exploiting the amnesia to claim that the Gauls attacked the Romans unprovoked. That night, he sneaks back into the camp (pretending to want to ask for forgiveness), knocks out Asterix and takes the potion.

The next morning, the Romans take the potion and head to the village. However, as they had taken the potion after the elixir, the mixture of the two first causes them to swell up like balloons, and then shrink down to a size where they are smaller than blades of grass. With Dogmatix apparently interested in eating them, they are scared back to their camp after promising to never bother the village again.

When the villagers return to the village, Majestix learns that Codfix has kidnapped Melodrama and is demanding a ransom of 100 pounds of gold. Histrionix goes after him, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix.

Codfix is escaping via river with the bound and gagged Melodrama. However they are captured by the pirates, to who Codfix claims he is ransoming Melodrama for 50 pounds of gold, if he leaves her with the Pirates he will collect the gold and they can share it. However they are then attacked by the Gauls. Having taken some magic potion to counter Codfix's current strength, Histrionix clashes with Codfix in armed combat until Codfix's dose of the potion wears off. Histrionix subsequently knocks him into the Roman camp, where he is made a slave.

Back at the village, the chieftains agree to end the matter once and for all in a fight between them. The last man standing is chief of the whole village. When morning comes, neither has lost, so Asterix tell the villagers to make Histrionix chief, with Melodrama as his wise and beautiful wife.

The villagers divert the course of the river, filling in the ditch. Histrionix and Melodrama are married, and Asterix, Obelix and Getafix return home.