RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG SEASON THREE FINALE

Greetings and salutations to all of you who have joined us once again for another episode of Retro-Scrutiny. I am your host, Kendall, alongside my cohort, Alexia.

(Hi everybody! Thanks for joining us today, because we have a huge episode for you all. It’s that time again, ladies and gents. The season finale. Unlike the last time, we only have two episodes to mash together this time. But that means the episode is coming to you quicker than before! Hurray! Right?)

Right! This season has had its ups and downs (And all arounds!), but it will all come to a head in this one episode of ours. This episode, we’re going through a Wormhole to get through the rest of the season.

(We’re also gonna play another round of our favorite drinking game. Same rules as always. Watch the episode and take a shot every time someone in the episodes says Nova’s name. You’re gonna have to keep track of that yourself, since I’ll be busy.)

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with Chiro talking to himself, questioning his role as the Chosen One. Antauri pulls him out of his thoughts via radio. The team is preparing an attack on the Skeleton King Worm. The plan? Operation Burn the Worm.

(Sometime between the last episode and now, the Super Robot and it’s crew found the Worm’s location and have caught up to it, because they’re literally on the thing’s tail now. They have to destroy all of the worm- using a fifteen megaton blast using plasma charges set to go off all at once- or the head will just grow itself a new body.)

And they have to do this before it reaches another populated solar system.

(Yep. No biggie.)

Before they can launch the charges, Nova spots a crashed ship and what looks like survivors. Sparks offers himself and Nova to be the ones to go grab their boots and rescue them. Nova is upset that Sparks called her a ‘coward’ earlier and blows him off when he tries to tell her something.

The two of them make their way to the small, incredibly emaciated crew and try to rescue them.

It is then discovered that all of the crew are ZOMBIES!

(WHAT!? How the heck did that happen!?)

Apparently the corrupting influence of the Worm’s energies have converted them into undead entities. Which is why when the rest of the team comes to rescue them, it’s okay for Gibson to stab one straight through the chest.

(Oh. Okay)

The team can’t manage to hurt them regularly until Chiro discovers the weak spot-  the facemasks. During the fight, a stray attack blasts the crashed ship, causing an explosion that knocks the team and the zombies away. The zombies get blown off of the Worm.

(Bye zombies!)

The Skeleton King Head learn of them and has the Worm open up a wormhole.

The pushing wind pushes Sparks and Nova away from the rest of the team. Sparks manages to grab onto the flag one of the zombies planted into the worm with his tail and grabs Nova.

She slips, but he grabs her boot.

Then her foot slips out the boot.

(WHAT!?!)

Nova flies off of the Worm, screaming as she is sucked into the wormhole, leaving a visibly distraught Sparks.

Antauri, using some hand grapples and hidden spider legs, drags the team back to the Robot.

Once inside, Sparks argues about going back out to look for Nova. The fight is unresolved as the Worm has reached the end of the wormhole and the Robot is bucked off before it disappears into another self-made tunnel.

Gibson gets the Robot in gear again, but discovers that they’re in the same location as before. The planets outside are actually atomic structures. They’ve shrunken down to atomic size. Trapped in the Microcosm.

Chiro suggest reversing the process by opening up another wormhole.

Gibson: “Chiro, you make it sound so easy. why don’t we simply take the risk of flying into a nucleus, hoping the nonlocality of its core electrons will *poof* transport us back home?

Otto: “Sounds like a brilliant plan to me! I guess that’s why you’re a genius and I just fix stuff.”

Gibson: “Normally I wouldn’t disagree with you Otto, but I was joking.”

Sparks tries to go and look for Nova, but gets stopped by Antauri. The alarm goes off, informing the team of multiple intruder alerts in almost every sector. Purple and black wisp-like creatures float in and start messing with the controls.

They’re negatively charged quarks, and the team can’t fight them because they’ll absorb their positive energy.

(What about Chiro? Can’t he do something about them?)

The quarks start feeding on the positive energy of the Robot’s neutron generator, draining it until Sparks draws their attention. They decide to use Gibson’s plan (What plan? The one to- oh.) and push themselves into a nucleus.

(And as luck would have it, the plan works. Sort of. They ended up increasing in size so dramatically that now they’re in the Macrocosm and giving the phrase “Bigger than life” a whole new meaning.)

Sparks tries calling out for Nova, and gets a return call from a voice. The Voice and the Robot talk, before the voice introduces itself as the Being, the Sentient. A part of all things in the Macrocosm, as are all sentient entities.

It tells the Robot that they must all return to help restore balance to their universe. The Robot makes a head gesture before the Being tells it that ‘they are not ready. Their destinies too must be fulfilled.’

Before the Being sends them on their way, Sparks asks about Nova and if it can get her back for them. The Being answers with “I…like Nova.” before the Robot flies them back to their universe, and they’re now standing on the Worm. And there are no signs of Nova.

They destroy the Worm- FOR NOVA!

There are five more charges that need to be set and one of them needs to be placed directly atop the Worm’s head. It has to be a manual job, since the Robot might get spotted. Chiro volunteers.

The boy ends up planting the charge, but before he can set it, the Skeleton King Head spots him and attacks. After blasting at each other and tapping into his Inner Primate, Chiro sets the charge and begins running back to the Robot, but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Skeleton King Droid!

(Where did THAT come from?!)

It blasts the Robot off the Worm, forcing Chiro to jump for it, latching on to the leg. Suddenly, the Worm shifts, knocking the Droid off. The Worm turns around and opens its mouth.

The episode ends with our heroes trapped inside the Belly of the Beast.

Chiro wakes up and finds he’s disconnected from the rest of his team. As he discovers where he is, the monkey boys wake up and find that the Robot needs fixing and they’re now down two teammates. Otto states that the auto-repair will take long enough for them to find Chiro. Antauri states that he can’t feel Chiro’s presence.

(Sorry Antauri, but Chiro’s got main character immunity. He’s fine, so go take their moon buggy and go find him already. He’s freaking out about now. There’s some weird stuff down here.)

As the monkey boys drive along, Otto admits to Antauri that he’s scared they’ll lose Nova and Chiro like they thought they lost him. They reach some sort of spacecraft. Sparks says he saw something moving in the doorway. Calling for Chiro, they instead find more zombies from earlier. They end up blowing them and the buggy up.

Antauri senses that the Worm is preparing another attack. He orders the other three to go back to the Robot and find Chiro while he goes and destroys the Skeleton King Head.

Chiro finds himself in another area and notices a small figure flitting around. He ends up confronting it and finds it to be Mandarin!

(Whoa! Wait a minute! He was eaten before the season began- how has he not been digested yet? Oh, and the Droid is still functioning and after them.)

Mandarin goes after Chiro with the intent of tearing him apart, but Chiro throws him into some…acid?… and drops something hanging on the ceiling on his head.

(Then he turns around and finds out he missed.)

Mandarin tries flinging Chiro into the acid waters, but he is saved by something surrounded in flames. The fireball lands behind Mandarin, revealing itself to be NOVA!

(WHOO! And it looks like she took a detour at the Macrocosm before arriving to kick some butt and find the rest of the team.)

Antauri, meanwhile, discovers that the Worm has reached another inhabited planet, but can’t call for help since he’s being attacked by creatures that come out of the Worm’s skin and the signal can’t get through.

The boys, meanwhile, are back at the Robot and discover that two large objects are coming directly at them- one in the air and one on land. The one in the air reaches them first, smashing through the Robot’s Hyper-armor and revealing itself to be the Droid. It attacks and chases them before knocking out Otto and Gibson. Sparks magnetizes it, causing it to be temporarily buried. It breaks out in time for Chiro and Nova to knock it into a wall.

(Unfortunately, it’s not done yet. It blasts Nova, causing her to shrink. It then knocks out Sparks, so Chiro unleashes his Inner Primate to fight it. Then the Super Robot learns that Chiro is in trouble and helps out, throwing the ruined Droid at Mandarin’s feet.)

Antauri, who has been fighting off the Skeleton King Head, finally beheads it. The Worm is still going to attack the planet. And the team learns they have less than thirty seconds to escape before the charges go off. The Super Robot takes off- grabbing Antauri while it’s at it- and the team watches at the attack dissipates as the Worm is blown to bits. The planet Earth is saved.

The team rejoices since they can now return to Shuggazoom. Sparks takes the time to tell Nova something.

Sparks: “Nova… Y’know I almost lost you for a second there.”

Nova: “It’s a miracle I made it.”

Sparks: “Nova, I just wanted to say, I’m glad I have you. As my friend.”

(AWW YEAH, HUG IT OUT!)

The festivities are interrupted when Gibson announces they received a message from Jinmay during the several days they were stuck inside of the Worm.

Jinmay: “Monkey team, we need your help back on – Shuggazoom. Something terrible has- I don’t know what to do.”

Antauri and Chiro order a course for Shuggazoom and the episode ends with the Skeleton King Head being picked up from space by Mandarin, who flew to safety in the ruined Droid. He laughs maniacally before blasting off.

And that was the end of Season Three. It feels like we just went through a  dozen roller coasters’ worth of excitement. But as always, let’s get some things out of the way.

Since there were no new characters, we can skip over to the

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S)

1. What happened to Nova while she was in the Wormhole?
2. How did Mandarin manage to survive?
3. Was the Being supposed to be some sort of Higher Power?
4. What happened on Shuggazoom?
5. What is Mandarin planning to do with the Skeleton King’s Head?
6. How did Nova end up inside of the Worm?

FINAL OPINIONS

This two-parter was big and action packed and exciting and probably the best in the season. The team had really good ideas throughout the episodes, the characters were all competent and good, the action was fast paced and fun to watch, and there were even a few good twists thrown in.

(Wormhole is the slow build up to the true action. It has its fun teasing us with what’s to come by having our heroes go through one quick little adventure away from their adventure before getting to Belly of the Beast, where the stakes are high and the results are grand.)

Unlike the last season finale, there isn’t an overlying theme to really be found. I don’t have a problem with this.

(Neither do I, but I do have my grievances. These two episodes are so good that they just bring up all the problems I have with the rest of the season to the forefront. But that’s something for a later post…)

Finally, I love the surprise of seeing Mandarin still alive. The first time I saw that, it blew my mind. I mean, I was twelve, but that was still amazing. Especially since I had forgotten about him. It had been months since he ended up as worm food and with his new claw, I almost didn’t recognise him.

(I know! That was so cool!)

And that’s all we have for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Yes boys and girls, it has been three seasons of action adventure, colors, fighting, quips, giant monster battles, space travel, and decisions good and bad.

(Kendall and I promise to have the Season Three Breakdown up and ready before the end of the week- Saturday- but that means we’ll also be taking our usual break from Retro-Scrutiny. We have mid-terms and projects and all sorts of free time that never feels like enough time. But let us worry about that.)

Saying goodbye to you and to the season, this is Kendall and Alexia, wishing you all a good day, a good night, and a thank you for sticking with us for this long. Until next time…

(Oh, yeah. Don’t forget to tell us how many times Nova’s name was said in the episodes. And I hope everyone was drinking water.)

SO, I’VE BEEN AVOIDING THIS…

There’s something I’ve been shying away from talking about since the first season of Retro-Scrutiny. Fans of the show (this and the cartoon) may know what I’m talking about. There may be some of you who do know what I’m talking about, but don’t want me to address it and for this, I’m sorry but I just need to say my piece. But for those of you who haven’t noticed it, let me spell it out for you.

SPOVA. There, I said it. That one word- the two person pairing that is so prominent among the fan base of the cartoon. The romantic duo of SPRX-77 and Nova.

I don’t see it.

I get it from a romantic perspective- Sparks has made flirty and cute comments to Nova before and she’s responded to his actions in a number of ways- annoyance, anger, playfulness, ignoring him completely. The fans of the show call them cute- and I agree. They seem to be the pair that always ends up interacting the most- actually, I think Sparks is the closest on the team to Nova. And there probably the best of friends. But in love? No way. Sparks may be somewhat romantically interested in Nova, whether those feeling are romantically returned is a completely different topic.

Some may see them as the show’s version of soul mates, but I can easily see them as nothing past a platonic pairing. Maybe things will change as time passes. But for now, no. 

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY: Ghost in the Machinder

(Hello and welcome back to Retro-Scrutiny, the show we’re we discuss the merits of an animated television show about a teenage boy and a handful of colorful robot monkeys fighting evil and having all sorts of weird adventures. My name is Alexia.)

And my name is Kendall. This week we have quite a change of pace from the usual. The episode is quite the classic mind poker, so get ready to ask some semi-familiar questions as we take a look at the Ghost in the Machinder.

The episode begins with the Super Robot surprising the team by unexpectedly changing flight course in front of their eyes. The team checks the systems, only to learn that the Robot is overriding their commands- thinking for itself. Sparks and Gibson say that the robot can’t be alive and that machines don’t have souls. Antauri disagrees with this just in time for the Plot Alarm to start blaring loudly.

(Ah, the Plot Alarm. Such a useful tool…)

The Super Robot gets sucked into the tractor beam of a fully automated (incredibly creepy) ship. Chiro makes contact with the ship and they meet VX8 Modular Computer Tracking Probe from the Tallas Star System.

(And the thing has a face that only a mother could love. Seriously, this thing is creepy…)

He captured them because they are from Shuggazoom.

(RACIST!)

As they are pulled through the ship’s junky interior, they spot Skeleton King’s droid, TV Monster handing around and decide that it was picked up while floating around in space.

(They completely miss how the screen lights up momentarily, but that’s okay. It doesn’t mean anything.)

Meeting the Probe face to face, the team learns it is the last survivor of a race of mechanical life that was wiped out by an undead entity that could only be Skeleton King. It is now on a mission to neutralize everything that comes from Shuggazoom, as “all organic life that has come into contact with Skeleton King is corrupt and must be eliminated.”

The Robot is attacked by clamps and soon overpowered. The team is forcefully pulled out and watch as the Robot is pulled apart. The Probe scans them, deciding that they are too organic to be of any real use and sends them down a garbage chute to the waste disposal unit.

(However, he keeps Antauri, who is wholly machine and may be of some use to him. Also, don’t the monkeys have jet packs?)

The Probe informs the rest of the team that they will be turned into organic fuel. Otto can’t cut through the can, making Nova wish Antauri was around. Sparks retorts that Antauri didn’t seem to fight back when getting captured and has probably joined forces with the Probe. Chiro disagrees with this.

(The team meet a small, friendly robot, who informs them of the only way out: the large wall fan they somehow managed to miss that turns on and sucks their new friend in.)

Antauri tries to talk the Probe out of destroying his friends and ends up learning that the Probe is infected with some sort of virus and deducts that its systems are being corrupted by TV Monster. The Probe shows the silver monkey that the TV Monster is deactivated, but the monkey disagrees, saying that it still lives. According to the Probe: ‘Machines do not live. We are simple servants to our programming.’ It then starts to assimilate its captive into its core central unit.

The team is still trying to escape the fan.

They can’t make contact with their teammate, but Otto does make contact with the Super Robot (WHOOHOO!) who somehow pulls itself together and starts fighting the security with some new weaponry. It fights some smaller bots before one much larger comes in and knocks it around.

Chiro tries to use the Inner Primate as the Super Robot pulls a large gun from its back and blasts the other robot’s head off, surprising the Probe into contemplating is the Super Robot is possibly alive.

Back with the Hyperforce, the Inner Primate has failed. Sparks take this time to apologize to Gibson for (most of) the mean things he’s ever said to him and starts saying something to Nova before the Super Robot rescues them.

(He then flies out to rescue Antauri. See, I told you they had jetpacks! Anyway, Sparks frees his second-in-command, but gets blasted. So Antauri… does something, and that causes a system crash as they fly back to the Super Robot.)

The Probe’s brain escapes, setting the self-destruct timer for four seconds, and the team makes their escape.

After checking the Super Robot for malfunctions and protective programming and coming up empty-handed, Otto and Gibson state that the Robot never flew off course, but simply knew they were headed in the wrong direction. This prompts Chiro to wonder more about the Super Robot.

The episode ends with the Probe brain floating in space and pulling metal objects towards it. It grabs the TV Monster, which invades it apparently kills the original host while transforming into a new design with a new objective: Hunt down and destroy the Hyperforce.

NEW CHARACTER(S):

THE PROBE (Scott Bullock):

Calm and calculating, the Probe is easily the most interesting villain the team has faced this so far. The thing that makes a good villain terrifying is their control over themselves, and this guy has so much of it. I do wish there was more information on him and his people. And I’m sorry he was destroyed in the end, because he could have been an awesome secondary villain for the team to face.

(The same could be said about Mandarin, and look where he ended up.)

Shut up.

(The Probe, in my opinion, is creepy. I agree with what Kendall says, however. Mostly because it’s true and partially because she took all the good things to say about it.)

SKELETON KING DROID (Mark Hamill):

(…it’s an upgraded form of the TV Monster. That’s it for now.)

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. How long has the Probe been on the hunt for Skeleton King?
2. When did the TV Monster end up in space and get captured?
3. What do the others think of Antauri being fully robotic?
4. Will we learn more about the Super Robot?
5. What were the other’s opinions on machines having souls?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode is amazing! I personally think it is one of the best in the entire series. The idea of machines being alive and artificial intelligence working against actual life is a classic science fiction story that works immensely well. And it works here because most of our main characters are robotic. In fact, one of them is fully robotic.

(However, in terms of characters, there’s something I want to address- Sparks. Is it me or did he seem too quick to judge Antauri before suddenly getting defensive of him when he sees him getting hurt? Also, why don’t he and Gibson believe machines can’t be alive or have souls at the beginning of the episode? They’re machines too! Does the Power Primate not count? Then what the heck did Chiro do in the middle of the ‘I, Chiro’ saga? Start up a bakery?

Antauri is another big character. This episode informs us here that he’s fully machine. And it makes sense, seeing as how we all saw his transformation in the season two finale. And it works for me. I see Antauri as the most powerful of the team and now that he’s fully robotic, it helps that idea. He probably doesn’t need to eat or get tired out as quickly, which means he can be a more effective hero.)

But that leads us to the biggest question of all- how does Antauri take this? Is he alright with it? Does he not care and is just happy to be back with his team? What does this mean for him in the future?

One last thing I want to mention is the title of the episode, ‘Ghost of the Machinder’. In the early episodes of the show, we learned that the Super Robot has two modes- vehicle mode, which lets it disengage into six different vehicles, and machinder mode, which is its more human body form. The ‘ghost of the machinder’ could be the soul of the Super Robot machinder mode that’s argued throughout the episode.

And that’s all of the really good, so let’s get to the somewhat bad. The episode’s biggest failing is that it makes for a good one-shot episode. Most of it doesn’t affect the plot of the season, so it feels like well-made filler.

And with that, we have completed another episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Thank you all for sticking with us, and we hope to see you all again come next episode. This is Kendall, signing out.

(And this is Alexia, wondering what the Probe’s fascination was with bugs. Seriously, his ship was shaped like a bug, he had bugs inside of his ship, and he stuck one inside of Antauri’s head!)

SEASON TWO: BREAKDOWNS AND Q&As

Hello everybody! It’s us, Kendall and Alexia here to give you all a little surprise. If you remember the end of the last season, you all should know that we went back and answered as many of the unanswered questions as we possibly could. And just like the last time, we’ll be checking out the characters and their growth over the course of the season.

(Just like the last time, we’ll be starting off with the questions-mostly because those are the easiest to finish up first.)

EPISODE FOURTEEN: SKELETON KING

1. Is Skeleton King gone for good?
2. What awaits our heroes in the future?
3. Why does Skeleton king have all those artifacts from Chiro’s past?

First: As we saw with the rest of the season, no, Skeleton King is not gone for good. It was stupid to think he would be.

(Second: Well, there was some backstory, a load of character development, angry teammates, fighting, huge monsters, hurt feelings, a death, a rebirth or two and a new adventure. But nothing too important…

Third: …he’s a creep?)

EPISODE SIXTEEN: THE LORDS OF SOLTURIX 7

1. Why did the orphanage ship crash on Solturix 7?
2. How did Skurg come to power?
3. Now that the people are free, what will they do?
4. Will we see more of the Inner Primate?
5. What was the idol and how did it steal energy?

The only question that can be answered is number four, because Chiro uses the Power Primate a lot more in this season. But we never see the other from this planet again.

EPISODE SEVENTEEN: IN THE GRIP OF EVIL

1. Why did the Alchemist turn to the side of evil?
2. When will Skeleton King return?
3. What other creations are copyrighted by the Alchemist?
4. Will we ever return to the Dream Lands?

As of this season, none of these questions have answers. And while the silver monkey may have been a project started by the Alchemist, it was Chiro that ultimately finished it, so he can’t hold any credit.

EPISODE EIGHTEEN: VERSUS CHIRO

1. What will happen to Mandarin? What will his new clone do in his stead?
2. Why did he make twin girl Chiros?
3. If most of the monsters explode when the Monkeys fight them, does that make Shuggazoom City’s main business making cleaning products such as shampoo and detergent?

First: The old Mandarin is gone, but his new clone ended up beating up Chiro and Antauri before getting eaten by a giant evil worm that slept in the center of the planet.

(Second: I don’t know, and I’m kind of glad I don’t.)

Third: Well, I’m certain the Clean-Ops get paid plenty for their job, so… maybe? It wouldn’t be too big of a stretch. But as for the regular citizens, I don’t know.

EPISODE NINETEEN: SHADOW OVER SHUGGAZOOM

1. Will the Skeleton King ever return to the surface of Shuggazoom?
2. How is it he can leave the Citadel of Bone?

First: Yes, the Skeleton King does return to the planet’s surface. Otherwise the final battle would’ve been a copy of last season’s finale.

Second: No, we don’t know how he keeps leaving his ship.

EPISODE TWENTY: THE SUN RIDERS RETURN

1. How long have the Sun Riders been on the planet?
2. How did Skeleton King create his latest batch of Formless?
3. Just how old are the Sun Riders?
4. How are they keeping their youth?

(These questions have no answers.)

EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: HUNT FOR THE CITADEL OF BONE

1. What does Skeleton King have planned for the future?
2. What are Quint and his crew going to do now?

(First: Well, according to the rest of the season, he has to destroy Shuggazoom and end up dying. Then, he has to travel the cosmos as a disembodied head attached to a giant monster worm.)

Second: I’m pretty sure we never see these guys again.

EPISODE TWENTY-TWO: SNOWBOUND

1. How has Shuggazoom been without snow for so long? And if that’s so, then why does everyone have snow gear?
2. Did the accident force Mandarin’s armor to be removed? Is that why he’s covered in bandages? Does that mean his glove and shield were not originally part of his design?
3. What plans will Skeleton King use Morlath’s magic for?
4. If there’s a city and an ice cave on the planet, what other locations are there?

(First: Weather is only important for plot and mood elements, as is special gear. That’s how cartoon logic works.

Second: It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch. )

Third: Morlath may never be mentioned again.

Fourth: We got an underground jungle world where the monkeys were created and hosts a variety of Skeleton King Monsters and creations and his biggest fangirl.

EPISODE TWENTY-THREE: WONDER FUN MEAT WORLD

1. Will Cloggy Colon Creature ever return?
2. Will we ever learn more about Cloggy Colon Creature?
3. Why is Gakslapper using Thingy hair in his food? And is that legal on Shuggazoom?

None of these questions have answers.

EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR: THE SKELETON KING THREAT

1. Throughout the episode, clips from the past two seasons were shown. Where did they get some of this footage?
2. What exactly does the Hyperforce expect the citizens to do? Help them in the fight against giant, acid-spraying monsters from space?
3. When does the team grow their hair back?
4. Why was that guy’s mutation so prolonged?

(TV logic dictates that an episode can have clips pulled from other episodes in the series to use in clip shows because they just can. As for the rest of the questions, they don’t have an answer.)

EPISODE TWNETY-FIVE: ANTAURI’S MASTERS

1. Why are Antauri and Chiro the ones who feel the Power Primate so strongly?
2. How long ago did Antauri learn from the Mystics?
3. Who are the Dark Ones?
4. Just what did Chiro do to go through the door?

The only question we get an answer for is number three:

Eons ago, when the galaxy was young and worlds were just coming to be, a vile cosmic force desired to destroy all reality. It implanted offspring-the Dark Ones- within the core of countless planets, knowing that one day far into the future they would be free to spread their evil like a plague across the universe. The Veron Mystics were to make certain that never happened.

EPISODES TWENTY-SEVEN AND TWNETY-EIGHT: THE SAVAGE LANDS

1. When Antauri sacrificed himself, did he place his soul inside of Chiro?
2. Why isn’t the Monkey Mind Scream used more often?
3. What are these other powers and abilities that Jinmay has?
4. How long has Antauri been dead?
5. Just who is Valina?
6. How does Antauri gain the Ghost Form?
7. Why did the team leave Jinmay in charge?

As we stated in the review, that’s possible.

Questions two through four don’t have any answers as of yet.

Spoilers: We’ll be seeing the Skull Witch again. But not for a while…

(Six: Um…being dead has its perks, I guess?

Seven: …they needed someone to watch the city while also giving her something to do to explain her not being shown in the season.)

Okay, so the questions were the easy part. Now it’s time for the hard stuff. Let’s start off the same way we did last time. Sounds good, huh?

While he’s still a good-hearted kid, Chiro mostly grows as a leader and hero this season. There are plenty of moments where I saw him use his head to get out of sticky situations, like escaping demented clones or surviving in the wild on a distant planet. This season showed a much more serious side of him, considering everything that he went through. I can only hope his keeps up. However, I still wish to see him act as a kid every once in a while.

(Chiro has definitely gotten better as a leader. Last season, I kept seeing him act cocky and full of himself, and while I know that’s human nature, it seemed these moments came at really bad times and made him look stupid. There were less of these moments, because Chiro spent the majority of the season growing into the hero he’s destined to be.

The biggest things that happened were some of the heaviest moments in the season. He learned much more about his team, had to adapt to a new way of living on a desert planet, gained a better control on his powers, and was overall a better friend to the monkeys.)

In the first season, it seemed that Antauri changed very little. And in a way, that still holds up. He’s still Antauri. But this season allowed for more character development, and it’s most obvious with his interactions with Chiro. They really seem to be taking off as mentor and apprentice slash father and son figures for this show.

Plus, Antauri died and came back to life.

I mentioned last time that Antauri was a show off with his battle animations. It’s more like he has a flair for the dramatic that he doesn’t fully realize himself. But it’s still fun to watch. And now he can float through walls, so that’s helpful.

(Antauri became Jesus Monkey. Nothing else needs to be said.)

(Sparks is still the purposely funny monkey, but this season gave him some more character development that I’m thankful for. In the past thirteen episodes, we’ve seen him become a bit more sarcastic, mistrusting and cynical while still being likeable. He’s quick on his feet, but that doesn’t always help him (see World of Giants) and he’s a bit more hotheaded and thickskulled.)

Outside of character growth, Sparks didn’t really do much in this season. He’s still the same as he was last season, but something that I noticed was the shift in his relationship with Chiro. He went from being an almost older brother figure to just being a friend due to the emphasis on Chiro and Antauri’s relationship. And that sucks, because it seemed to go so seamlessly. Antauri and Sparks both trying to be the helpful figure in Chiro’s life could’ve made for a bit of interesting drama.

We both agree that Gibson didn’t change or really grow as a character. He is still Gibson-still smart and proud and strict- maybe too much for his own good, because it’s still easy for the others to pick on him.

And that’s still why Alexia doesn’t mind him being so linear. But it didn’t impress me at all- especially his actions in the season three opener.

(Unlike Gibson, Nova had more way more character development. There are episodes that have her acting as an antagonist and she seems to be the most dangerous of the monkeys so far. She’s also a bit more easily irritated in this season. For me, however, it’s her interactions with Chiro that interest me. She gets closer to her leader by opening up about a rather traumatizing moment in her life and worries heavily for him when he’s in trouble.

At the end of the season, she shows how level-headed she can be in times of distress. She isn’t arguing about who does what, but instead just does what is needed to be done immediately when it needs to be done. So it makes sense for her to be the third-in-command. The team would be in trouble if it was anyone else…)

I don’t have much to say about Nova this season. In my opinion, she didn’t change outside of becoming a bit more open with her leader. She’s still awesome, but everything that can be said about her was taken by Alexia, so I don’t have anything else to offer.

(Sorry.)

You’re not sorry.

Like Gibson, Otto didn’t do much in growth, if not any at all. But seeing as how he was our favorite in the last season and he’s still Otto in this season, that doesn’t bother us. He’s still emotional, funny, and adorable.

I think out of all of the characters, this one did the most in terms of advancing the plot.

(He’s the bad guy- if he didn’t, the team wouldn’t do anything and we wouldn’t have a show.)

To list all of his accomplishments: he gets Mandarin working for him, gets the guards of an evil entity to switch sides, set up shop on a different planet, stole and corrupted the Power Primate, traps the heroes numerous times, manages to unleash a demon-beast from the center of the planet and unleashes it on the universe, and gets one of the monkeys killed.

(He also got rid of the original Mandarin and replaced him with a clone, and died in a plan that both failed and succeeded. SK was really on top of his game this season. And what we learned about him was just amazing- he’s not just a bad guy who wants to be bad. He has an actual connection to the team.

I still want to know why he has all of Chiro’s stuff.  Seriously, what was up with that? )

(Mandarin started out awesome. Then he became a bloated looking lackey and stereotypical evil scientist. That was disappointing, seeing as how he could’ve been so much more…)

Then he was replaced with his own clone that was almost as cool as his original self. And then the clone was eaten by a monster worm. We also learn that he was still a jerk even when he was a good guy, as explained by Nova. Mandarin was all over the place.

(Yeah, it’s just too bad we’ll never see him again…)

Why was Jinmay in this at all? She appears in the season premier, only to disappear for the rest of the season. When she did return, she ended up not doing much, but filling space, getting captured like a stereotypical damsel in distress, and suddenly getting a job protecting the city as an honorary Monkey Team Member.

(Gyrus Krinkle must be so mad…!)

She shad powers and abilities, but we never see her use them. How big of a character would she be if she regularly helped out the Monkey Team? When they were off-world, she could’ve filled in and been a ton of help.

(And didn’t she leave last season to learn more about herself? Are we ever going to learn about what she found? Did she find anything at all? And where was she during this season? And how long did it take Nova to train her for her to suddenly be ready to watch over Shuggazoom? WHY IS SHE HERE?)

We like Jinmay, but she seems to be pretty superfluous to main plot of the show outside of ‘Girl that Chiro likes a lot.’ That can be any girl they make up on the spot.

And with that, ladies and gents, we have finished our evaluation of Season Two. This one was a bit different from the last one, but that might just be a sign of progress. So, let’s get this newest season started right!

(We already started the season…)

Shut up and say goodbye already!

(Goodbye already!)

Until next time!

Retro-Scrutiny SRMTHFG EPISODE Twenty-Nine: SEASON OF THE SKULL

Hello and welcome back to Retro-Scrutiny, the show where we look back on one of our old TV series and see if it still checks out today. I am your host, Kendall.

(And I’m your other host, Alexia. Today, we’re really starting off with Season Three with a special episode. It’s a holiday episode, and from the title, I’m sure you can all tell the holiday. So let’s not waste any more time and start up the Season of the Skull.)

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with the Super Robot chasing the Dark One Worm through space. They hit it with their cannons, but the worm only gets angry (Nah, really?) and hits them with a beam that transports them across the cosmos.

(It looks like a Halloween themed acid trip.)

They end up in the middle of a foggy area. They exit the Robot, not seeing anything, but Antauri senses life as they are surrounded. Imp monsters attack and whoop them before an old man in a cheesy mask scares the imps away.

Suddenly the fog dissipates, revealing a town.

The man explains that they are right outside of Crytptilvania and that he is the Magistrate of the town. As they walk through the town, only Otto seems to be openly fascinated by everything. Sparks isn’t, and Gibson is suspicious of everything.

The Magistrate explains due to a curse, demons from the netherworld come on a nightly basis to steal the children. The only things that ward them off are the masks that are ‘more frightening then they.’

(And there’s the first lie- that mask of his is more silly then than scary. I don’t even know what his is supposed to be.)

They reach the Magistrate’s home and his wife, Severina, appears out of the lightning flashes and says that they call the curse ‘the Season of the Skull’.

(Title drop!)

Sparks refuses to go inside; Gibson states that everything is just a load of superstitious mumbo-jumbo. Antauri says to not condemn their beliefs so quickly.  (Geez, what’s up with Gibson? That’s a real jerk thing to say.) Sparks follows after seeing a spirit-like creature float past his head.

According to Severia, there are only a handful of little ones left and the people need their help. She gives each of the team members their own masks:

• Chiro gets a Frankenstein’s monster mask
• Sparks gets a Devil mask
• Nova gets a Witch mask
• Gibson gets a vampire mask and cape
• Antauri gets a ghost mask
• Otto gets a jackalope mask

The team beats them wearing the masks, but it’s too late- the little ones were taken away. To get them back, they must find the Mystic Flame of Xanatos, which fire is the only thing that can destroy the demons. It’s in a sacred cemetery that’s through the Haunted Forest. As the team leaves, Severina states to stay on the path before she and her husband disappear in the fog and an explosion of magic sparkles.

(The woods are creepy, and Gibson points out that moon’s position hasn’t changed position since they arrived, but that’s because the Hyperforce is just that special.)  

Sparks decides to fly above them, but gets attacked by trees, prompting a rescue.

(New rule: STAY ON THE PATH!)

They continue their journey, Antauri noticing the book of magic Gibson took. Otto uses it to give Gibson a chicken head. They reach the cemetery and grab the flame, only for pumpkin-headed ghosts to attack them.

(Guess what their weak point is?)

They return to the Magistrate and his wife and hand them the flame, which brings the townsfolk and the demons to surround them. The Magistrate and his wife reveal themselves to be demons and the imps are their children.

(Also, the masks don’t really work.)

The town brings the team to a giant wicker skeleton. The Magistrate says they are there to honor their lord Skeleton King, who’s floating above them along with the Worm. Using the Flame of Xanatos, they bring the wicker skeleton to life.

The team can’t activate their weapons, but Nova frees her tail and uses the fan inside of it to cut them free. Their energy attacks are useless, so Antauri distracts the creature while Chiro gets Gibson to use the spell book. When it doesn’t work, Chiro urges him to believe, even if it isn’t logical.

Chiro holds the burning monster off with his Inner Primate while Gibson finally uses the book properly. The monster explodes and Chiro congratulates the blue monkey, who sheepishly grins.

(Okay, that look on his face is kind of adorable…)

The explosion’s flames attack the Worm (I forgot about that!) and send it away. The evil energy in all of the townsfolk dissipates, freeing them, but leaving them with no memory of what transpired. Later, the team uses the book and the Super Robot to leave the planet. The team back on the hunt for the Skeleton King Worm. Sparks notices that they have one of the carved pumpkins with them. Chiro states that they’ll bring it back to Shuggazoom and start their own little spooky holiday. Otto, who has the Grimoire of Necrotus, agrees.

The episode ends with Otto accidentally turning Sparks into a giant rat, who attempts to eat Nova, much to the team’s amusement.

(Well, Nova’s not very amused… but that was it for the episode! I personally don’t think the townsfolk were all that interesting, so let’s skip over them and ask ourselves some…)

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. If the Skeleton King Worm has the power to transport them anywhere in the cosmos, what other powers does it have?
2. Why is Gibson so degrading towards magic?
3. Why does the Skeleton King Worm even arrive at the town?
4. Why doesn’t the team use the Grimoire of Necrotus more in the episode? And will they use it again?
5. How long were the townsfolk possessed? And where are their actual children? Do they have children?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode is harmless fun. The animation and story hold up and make this a good one-shot episode, but not much else. It doesn’t add to the main plot of the show, but it does have its merits.

(The episode is more about the team members themselves and giving a few of them some character development. First off is Otto and Nova, because they are my favorites. It’s not much, but Nova is pretty okay with all of the weird and creepy things- but I think it’s mostly due Sparks’ apprehension to it all. And Otto gets to show off his childish wonder as he’s the only one who openly enjoys the new setting they’ve arrived at. He’s honestly excited up until the trees try to kill him.)

On the other side of the scale, there’s the rest of the team. Chiro and Antauri don’t seem too bothered by it all- just sort of quietly accepting of it. Sparks has an obvious dislike of the supernatural creepy atmosphere for obvious reasons.

But Gibson is the one with the most development of the group. He first waves away the ideas of magic and spirits- which makes sense, since he’s a hardcore science nerd. Over the course of the episode, he encounters magic, but still refuses to believe until he’s somewhat forced to do so. At the end of the episode, he keeps the book, and I think that signifies his newfound belief in magic…

(…but it shouldn’t have been a newfound belief! The biggest problem is that Gibson should already know about magic! His creator made him and his teammates using science and magic, and his main enemy utilized the same things. Magic shouldn’t be beyond his suspension of disbelief- he’s a blue cyborg monkey created by an alchemist to fight the evils of the universe and protect it from a giant evil worm with a smaller robotic skull attached to an umbilical cord on its head. If he’s encountered so much magic beforehand, why is he so disbelieving?)

Besides the characters, this episode is full of fun little horror references:

• The spell the monkey team uses to leave the planet comes from the third “Evil Dead: Army of Darkness” movie
• The Grimoire of Necrotus literally means ‘giant book of the dead’
• Xanatos is the name of the main villain of the show “Gargoyles”
• The town has little touches such as the lighting, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, etc.
• The town itself sounds similar to the game series “Castlevania”

And with that, we must end our episode. The next time we meet however, we’ll be leaving the realm of the supernatural and heading into more technological realms of adventure. Until then, I’m Kendall and she is Alexia. Have a wonderful day.

(And please, do two things for me. One, enjoy your Halloween-in-August episode. And two, wish for an episode based around everyone’s other favorite- Arbor Day.)

Episode Six: The Secret of the Sixth Monkey

Before we begin, we would like to apologize for this episode taking so long. There are no proper excuses- I was lazy and forgetful and distracted by a Let’s Play of Pikmin 2.

(And I’ve been preoccupied with other things, like my finals and a few questionable financial pop-ups.)

So, without further ado, we present to you: The Secret of the Sixth Monkey.

OVERVIEW

The team appears to be in the middle of a fight with a many horned floating eyeball and losing immensely. However, this turns out to be a recording of one of their battles- a training exercise of Antauri’s. While most of the monkeys humbly admit their failures, Chiro decides to show off the fact that he took the monster down with one blast.

(Well, in Chiro’s defense, he had the right idea. When in doubt, just use your biggest laser!)

Afterwards, the spiritual master monkey assigns everyone some homework: design and present one new battle move by the next day. Chiro is so full of himself that he decides he’s too good for the assignment.

While goofing off in his room, the boy hero discovers a secret compartment in his wall and finds a monkey helmet and glove. (He doesn’t question why they’re there, just thinks it’s like finding a ten dollar bill on the ground.) So he ends up sending some strange signal into some far spot in the galaxy and awakening someone being held in a prison cell… and steering the prison straight to Skeleton King…

The next day, the monkeys are showing off their new moves. Chiro arrives and proceeds to terrify the monkeys out of their fur with his new toy. And that leads to the reveal of our newest character- Mandarin.

(To fully explain Mandarin, Antauri downloads the backstory of their former leader into the kid’s head- with pictures and everything! Now, why doesn’t he do this more often? If the monkeys are the ones training their teenage leader how to save the universe, wouldn’t they want to do it as fast as possible?!?)

 

For those who decide not to watch the episode, Antauri says:

“Mandarin was the first of the Super Robot Monkeys created. By far, the wisest, smartest, and strongest, he was our leader. Though our mission was to protect Shuggazoom, Mandarin felt he was above serving his guardian. He wanted to rule; this, we could not let happen. As a last resort, we exiled him to an off world prison.”

(And speak of the devil, the Hostile Outlaw Observation Prison, with its singular prisoner, ends up arriving on the scene…)

Mandarin ends up taking out the entire team in a matter of two minutes. He decides to keep Chiro while he sends his ex-teammates to the Skeleton King. When Chiro wakes up, Mandarin gives him two choices- train under Mandarin and rule over Shuggazoom, or let the Skeleton King rule over Shuggazoom.

Chiro ends up escaping, however. Skeleton King, knowing the team will return to take back their home and kick Mandarin’s butt, gives the bad monkey a helpful little multicolored gift…

The Team returns and end up paired against the Hyper Formless, who have all the Monkey moves downloaded into them. (How?) So the team uses their new moves on them, only for Mandarin to remotely shut them down. After giving Chiro one last chance to join him, his ‘family’ comes back and kicks around a little more. Mandarin makes his escape, the city is freed. The last shot of the episode is of Mandarin pledging his allegiance to the Skeleton King…

MANDARIN: Arrogant, powerful, and able to hold of grudge for who knows how long! Mandarin may not be the first case of ‘rogue teammate’, but he’s a great example of one.  He left a big impression on the team before Chiro, and did so again when he returned.  I like the design of him as well.  The bandages and armor and lack of cybernetics make a good combination. I just wish we’d gotten to see him fight a bit more.

Mandarin is easily one of the season’s highlights.  Also, he’s voiced by James Hong.

(I want to point out just how many hints the show dropped about him. Chiro joined the team after he found the Robot, right? So he had to notice that they were all color-coordinated. He couldn’t have missed the missing orange monkey. Also, the colored elevators in the Robot also had to be a tip off. Why have six elevators and only five monkeys?)

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

1. Now that Mandarin has joined up with the Skeleton king, what does this mean for the Monkey Team?
2. Who else from the Team’s past will come back to haunt them?
3. How did Mandarin lose his cybernetics?
4. Skeleton King said that Mandarin was ‘returning’. Does that mean the two worked together before?
5. Will we ever see the new team moves again?
6. Why doesn’t Antauri implant more info into Chiro’s head more often!?!

FINAL THOUGHTS

This episode was great, in my opinion. It holds up after time and is enjoyable to watch. The villain is good and it gives us some of the backstory of the team.

(Chiro is still being a cocky idiot, but I’m still holding out for him doing some serious growing up. I also noticed that Antauri was really starting to get some character development as well, when he began questioning Chiro and then admitting his doubts.)

I also like the new moves the team made up.

Otto: Vertical Razor Chariot- Otto uses his saws to turn himself into a monkey motorbike. It can be used for quick escapes and climbing walls.

Sparks: Gyro-Roll (Sounds tasty!)-A spinning move that blocks and deflects attacks. It can also filing attackers away.

Nova: Knuckle Duster- A sneak attack where she punches, halts the attack, then shoots her knuckles, surprising the enemy.

Gibson: Biostatic Energy Amplification Darts- Shifting the containers in his drills, he can fire various lasers.  Otto decided to name it “Spin Shocker”.

(I personally would have shortened it to BEAD.)

…Sounds like the next SPOON!  

(EXACTLY!)

Antauri: Mega Monkey Paw- A drill move where he dives down, spinning his way through the enemy.

Well, that’s all for this episode, folks! Let’s pray that the next one doesn’t take this long!

(In the meantime, we’re gonna finish that Pikmin walkthrough and then get right to work! What, we can’t just leave it unfinished! They left Louie back on the planet with the Pikmin!)