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
- Now that Mandarin has joined up with the Skeleton king, what does this mean for the Monkey Team?
- Who else from the Team’s past will come back to haunt them?
- How did Mandarin lose his cybernetics?
- Skeleton King said that Mandarin was ‘returning’. Does that mean the two worked together before?
- Will we ever see the new team moves again?
- 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!)
kendallcharleswell 