Intermission - ReBoot in the UK

The history of ReBoot's broadcast in the UK was a rather tumultuous one, infamously ending with the show getting taken off the air just over halfway through the third season. However, a lot of the information on this topic is scattered throughout the internet and can be somewhat hard to find if you don't know where to look. Therefore, for this post I thought I would try and piece together all the information that I have found over the years of trying to figure out what the heck happened so that it's all together in one place. Some of this information could be false, however, but I'm going to aim to be as accurate as possible.

ReBoot made it's UK debut in January 1995 on CITV, ITV's programming block for children's programming (which then had it's own dedicated channel in 2006 with children's programming on the main ITV channel getting slowly cut down over the years since then). The program was acquired by Meridian Broadcasting, the branch of the ITV network responsible for broadcasting in the South and South East of England (although ReBoot was networked and shown in all ITV regions). As well as broadcasting the show, Meridian also contributed towards the show's funding, so their logo was attached to the end credits of ReBoot for it's UK broadcast.

ReBoot was initially shown on Tuesday afternoons at 4:40 PM, debuting with The Tearing on 3rd January 1995. The show was sponsored by Skips crisps, who produced special Skips flavours and bendable figures to tie in with the show. As well as this, special idents were broadcast between episodes. This run was moderately successful, with the program getting 60% of the overall viewership. From this point, the next eight episodes (Racing the Clock to Wizards, Warriors, and a Word From Our Sponsor) were shown. During the end credits of the last episode of this run on 28th February 1995, the continuity announcer announced that next week, they would be broadcasting a special 'making of' episode of ReBoot. While this ended up getting pulled from broadcast last minute, one fan managed to get hold of a review copy after contacting ITV. This eventually found it's way to YouTube, and was then featured as a bonus feature on the ReBoot DVD Box Set released by Shout Factory in 2011.

The episode is an interesting one. Rather than being your standard behind the scenes documentary, segments are linked together by footage of Megabyte, who has managed to get hold of a file that serves as a portal to a parallel universe with 'organic lifeforms' (i.e. our world). It serves as a fun look behind the scenes of the show, and gives off the impression that working at Mainframe at the time was a lot of fun.

After that, ReBoot was absent from UK screens until January 1996, changing from Tuesdays to Thursdays and starting with The Great Brain Robbery. This run contained most of the episodes from Season 2 and the episodes that had yet to be broadcast from the first season:

4th January 1996: The Great Brain Robbery

11th January 1996: Talent Night

18th January 1996: Infected

25th January 1996: When Games Collide

1st February 1996: High Code

8th February 1996: Bad Bob

15th February 1996: AndrAIa

22nd February 1996: Identity Crisis Part 1

29th February 1996: Identity Crisis Part 2

7th March 1996: Nullzilla

14th March 1996: Gigabyte

21st March 1996: Trust No One

28th March 1996: Web World Wars

This broadcast looks rather... interesting. For some reason, rather then being aired sequentially, the Identity Crisis two parter was aired in between AndrAIa and the four part season two finale arc. I'm not sure why ITV/Meridian decided to wait until then to broadcast those episodes rather than after Talent Night, since it just seems a bit bizarre, especially since it means that AndrAIa gets introduced then suddenly vanishes for two episodes. Asides from that oddity, the only thing particularly noticeable about this run is the absence of Painted Windows. Apparently, there was a technical fault that prevented The Great Brain Robbery from being broadcast during the previous run. Because of this, the episode was broadcast as the first episode of the next run. However, there weren't enough allocated weeks for ITV to air all the episodes, meaning one episode had to be dropped from the run, which happened to be Painted Windows. Painted Windows was eventually broadcast in a short run in March 1997. This run consisted of four episodes: Painted Windows, Gigabyte, Trust No One, and Web World Wars. 

Now we get to Season 3, which is of course, where things get really interesting. Even though Season 3 was 16 episodes, Meridian only purchased the first 10 episodes of the season for broadcast.  However, the first six episodes of the season were first broadcast in the UK  in July/August 1997, about a month before the season made it's debut in Canada, meaning that the season made it's worldwide premiere in the UK. This is somewhat ironic considering what ended up happening with this broadcast.

While the episodes were, for the most part, aired uncut, there were some slight alterations made to a couple of episodes. The scene where Dot smashes a lamp over Ash's head in 'To Mend and Defend' was cut, and during the sequence where the binomes ReBooted in 'Icons', the original panning shot showing them ReBooting one by one was replaced with static shots of the characters with a purple light engulfing them. It's possible that these edits were made due to the flashing lights.

After the first six episodes were broadcast, the run suddenly stopped. This wasn't planned when the broadcast started, but due to a changeover of staff at the ITV Network Centre (who were responsible for scheduling the various programs broadcast on ITV) in August 1997, the scheduling of the next few episodes was pushed back. When contacted about the matter, Meridian said that while they did provide funding for ReBoot, they weren't obliged to purchase all the episodes, but would definitely buy them if the high ratings continued. 

After To Mend and Defend was broadcast, the ITC (now known as Ofcom), the UK's broadcasting authority, received 19 complaints from parents about the violence in the episode. This ended up being reported by The Independent. Meridian stood up for the show, and while the ITC took their defence on board, their point of contention was the use of characters from the Evil Dead, a film which was rated 18 by the BBFC, and advised Meridian that the sequence was in breach of the programming code, and not suitable for broadcast at that time in the afternoon.

The sequence was later used by the ITC in a study on cartoon violence published in March 1998. Based on the report, it appears that the children who watched the clip (which was presumably shown out of context) generally enjoyed what they saw, and while they found some parts a little scary, they knew that it would be okay in the end. However, the mum's who also viewed the sequence did not approve. While I can somewhat agree that it might be a little too much for incredibly young children, it's no worse than what can be seen in programs like Doctor Who which is similarly enjoyed by a young audience. 

As for why I think that the show got complaints from parents over here but not overseas in the US and Canada, I mainly think it's down to the landscape of TV over here at the time in comparison to overseas. While Cable/Satellite TV was pretty common in the US and Canada at the time (as far as I know), in the UK, it was pretty rare for anyone to have cable or satellite TV. This meant that, unlike in the US/Canada where they had access to several different channels, most households in the UK were only able to access the five terrestrial channels (four in some cases as getting a good reception from Channel 5 was dependent on where you lived). Because of this, the parents who were likely to complain had a 1 in 4 or 5 chance of coming across the show while channel surfing. While nowadays, everyone has access to at least freeview TV, parents still seem to complain every Easter when Watership Down is shown. In the case of both ReBoot and Watership Down, one solution is if you'd rather your child didn't watch what one channel was showing, either turn off the TV or change the channel.

After the broadcast of 'Where No Sprite Has Gone Before' on the 21st August 1997, ReBoot wasn't seen again until February 1998. This run began with Trust No One on the 12th February 1998. After that, there was five more weeks of reruns (skipping To Mend and Defend and Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place) before going into Number 7. After Return of the Crimson Binome, the run was stopped with no announcement on the channel that this would be the last episode they would be showing. 

ReBoot fans with access to the internet at the time were aware of this, however, since ITV stated that they would be showing 9 episodes rather than 10. Around the time, fans took this to mean that they would be omitting To Mend and Defend from the run (which ended up being the case). The week that Return of the Crimson Binome aired, they planned to contact ITV/Meridian asking for them to air the remaining episodes and broadcast the show in a later time slot where it can be watched by both children and adults. 

When Meridian and ITV replied to the fans who contacted them, the reasoning behind the show's disappearance varied from the different replies. Some replies stated that the show's dwindling popularity made them cautious about acquiring the remaining episodes, and would only purchase the episodes if ratings improved (not sure how ratings can improve if they aren't even showing it, but ah well). Other replies stated that the show was pulled as the ITV Network Centre deemed the content unsuitable. 

Looking at the alt.tv.reboot group, Mainframe's PR representative Mairi Welman talked about potentially getting another UK network to pick up the show, most likely a cable/satellite channel. Sadly, nothing came of this for unknown reasons. However, I think it might have something to do with the broadcasting rights for all of Eastern Europe (including the UK) ending up with German company TV Loonland AG, who presumably didn't try and get a UK broadcaster for the show/weren't aware that Season 3 never finished airing over here. While ReBoot was never shown in the UK again, a brief clip from The Tearing was shown during CITV's 20th birthday special.

That's pretty much the whole story with regards to ReBoot's UK broadcast. If ITV's reasoning about dwindling ratings is true, I have several thoughts on why that could have been the case. The first of these is how the show was broadcast over here. ITV essentially treated the program as filler for when they didn't have enough of their own programming to air, so they'd cram episodes into their schedule where they could, meaning that the show wasn't able to build up a big enough audience. Another is lack of advertising - there was no advertising for the show at the time (at least, not outside of CITV, and even then, the only advertising I can recall is the continuity announcer announcing that ReBoot would be on after the ad break), meaning that the show wasn't able to gain a potential audience through advertisements. Heck, I found the show by complete accident. As well as this, the nature of Season 3's continuing storyline made it somewhat harder for new viewers to jump on and watch the show while understanding what was going on. 

Whatever the reason, the show was pretty poorly handled over here (something that's pretty common with shows on CITV as both Beast Wars: Transformers and New Captain Scarlet were treated equally as shabbily). Luckily, we were able to eventually see the ending we were deprived of, even if this was through unofficial means thanks to the lack of an official home video release. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be a market for animated shows on DVD/Blu Ray over here with a few exceptions, meaning that it's highly unlikely that ReBoot will ever see a PAL release. The show's best bet to reach an audience over here would be the slim chance that it eventually appears on Netflix in the UK.

Next week: We begin Season 4 and get introduced to a new threat in 'Daemon Rising'

Intermission - ReBoot: The Game

Following the end of Season 3, a ReBoot game was released for the original PlayStation in February 1998, developed by Electronic Arts (now known as EA). Initially, it was planned to eventually port the game over to the PC and Sega Saturn, but those ports never materialised, presumably due to this game not doing too well critically or commercially.

This game is an interesting curiosity in the ReBoot franchise, since the cutscenes were produced by Mainframe themselves. The game itself is non canon since the show's creators had no involvement with the game, but they assigned a team to work alongside with EA to work on the game. Based on the cutscenes using models from Season 1/2, and the fact that we have the Season 2 voice cast voicing the characters, I imagine that these cutscenes were produced around the time as Season 2.

Titled 'Countdown to Chaos', the game's story is set before the events of Season 1, and involves a plot by Megabyte to use tears in order to access the core of Mainframe. Bob's mission is of course, to mend all of Megabyte's tears and prove to the citizens of Mainframe that he has what it's take to be a Guardian. There isn't much more to the story, and the cutscenes mainly serve the purpose of tying the various different worlds together. Even then, things just appear to get thrown into the plot at random. The most jarring of these is at the end of the third sector, Web Creatures are thrown into the plot with no explanation to how they got there, and likewise, once you've defeated the Web Creature boss, we see a few Web Creatures getting chased by CPU's and then they're never brought up again.

As for the gameplay, it's not the best. Essentially, all you do is mend a set number of tears in each level and then collecting key cards that will unlock a vid window the player can use to access the next level. There are enemies in the levels, but destroying them doesn't really achieve much asides from meaning there is one less enemy trying to attack you.

The game is difficult, but that's mainly due to poor design. For instance, the tears pull you in when you're trying to mend them, meaning you have to mend the tears while making sure you don't get pulled in. Likewise, the enemies are relentless and shoot barrages of bullets at you. Even the turrets, who are supposed to be the weakest of the enemies you face, end up draining your health.

For some reason, Bob has a gun in this game. I don't know why they decided to do this since he never uses a gun in the show outside of the games. There are three modes to the gun - standard bullets, energy blasts, and rockets. The standard bullets have unlimited ammo, but the energy blasts and rockets both require ammo. Using any gun or Glitch power up drains the bar, meaning you can't switch to one of the other weapons once you're out of ammo for one of them.

Luckily, this game has some cheat codes to make this game easier. I'm normally against using cheat codes in games, but honestly, I see no other way to beat this game without using cheats. The first four to five levels can be beaten without the use of cheats, but once you get to that first boss, you'll need to make use of the infinite ammo cheat since taking out the boss with only the standard gun is pretty much impossible. Then there's the flight mode cheat, which makes your zip board work like it does in the show, and I cannot imagine doing the last half of the game without that cheat since it feels like the developers just gave up and thought that no one would get that far into the game.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is how the cutscenes change depending on how well you do on the levels. There's various different cutscenes for when you get a game over, usually showing that Mainframe has now been turned into Megaframe. Dying on a level due to an enemy doesn't resort in a different ending to the levels, but if a tear explodes, it triggers a section's bad ending. The amount of tears that explode during your playthrough also depends on the game's overall ending. There's three endings depending on how you did - there's one ending where Mainframe is completely destroyed, one where Bob managed to save Mainframe, but there were several casualties (including Enzo), and one where Bob saved everyone. The first two endings end with Bob using a 'revert command' to go back in time and fix the tears he wasn't able to the first time around.

This game also takes certain liberties with the source material. For instance, the third sector Beverly Hills appears to have a Roman Bathhouse aesthetic, something that we don't see in the show. The viral binomes in this level also appear to be dressed like centurion soldiers for some bizarre reason. When I first played this game, I was incredibly confused. 'Is Bob in a game right now? If so, why hasn't he ReBooted?'. While you do get to do battle with both Hexadecimal and Megabyte, most the bosses are invented for this game. The first boss is a large vehicle called a 'Mega ABC', the second boss is the aforementioned large Web Creature, and then the third boss is a 'Giant Binome'. However, one of the cooler bosses is Clash. Clash is supposedly the original form of Hack and Slash that Megabyte unleashes after Bob has managed to mend most of the tears he's unleashed. When Bob defeats him, he splits into three elements - Hack, Slash, and Scuzzy (who was supposedly the creature's brain).

It's clear that there was no BSNP involved in the making of this game, so that's probably why this game's tone feels kind of weird. The game's plot seems like the kind of thing that would have been in the first Season, but it feels a little bit 'edgier' for the sake of being edgy. Bizarrely, this has resulted in the game getting a 15-17 rating in the UK/Europe. While I wouldn't place it in the 3-10 category, there's not really anything in the game that I feel pushes it out of the 11-14 category (image taken from Haku's ReBoot Museum).

While I can see this game is pretty mediocre, I still end up having somewhat of a fun time playing through it. It's by no means the best game I've ever played, but I can't help but enjoy it. I have fun exploring the sections of Mainframe (albeit somewhat out of scale). It makes me laugh when Bob says 'Holy Killer Calamari!' when attacked by a squid monster in the sewer level. I also love how one of the enemies in level 2 tries to run you over with a forklift, reminding me of this gem from Mystery Science Theater 3000:

In spite of the fun I had with this game, I definitely wouldn't call it a good game, and wouldn't recommend playing it. This game was made at the time when licensed games normally didn't have as much care and effort put into them (while there were some exceptions to this) and just relied on the brand recognition to shift units. If anything, I would recommend hunting down the games cutscenes on YouTube since sadly, that's the only place to watch them. While EA were contacted about the possible inclusion of the cutscenes as a special feature in the ReBoot DVD box set, EA simply responded that people should just 'play the game' if they wanted to watch the cutscenes, ignoring the fact that the game was a. no longer in print so the only way to access the game would be to either buy a second hand copy or emulate it, and b. the game is borderline impossible to beat without using cheat codes.

Nowadays, most licensed games seem to be relegated to mobile games since they're cheaper to produce. Luckily when a licensed game does appear on a console, it appears to have a lot more effort put into it (i.e. Insomniac's Spider Man game, Alien Isolation). While sadly, it's highly unlikely we'll ever get another ReBoot game, I personally would love a ReBoot game similar to the Spider Man game released on the PS4 last year. One which features a free roaming Mainframe where you play as Bob, either playing through an original story or simply playing through the events of the series. Heck, you'd have plenty of options for alternative costumes since you'd have all the outfits that Bob's worn in the games as well as other outfits he's worn throughout the series. However, this remains a pipe dream of a game that is likely to never exist.

Next week: We look into the tumultuous history of ReBoot's broadcast in the UK

Episode 39 - End Prog

The previous episode ended on a pretty dour note - in spite of everything our heroes had done to try and save their home - Mainframe is still doomed. With one episode left of the season, is there a way to salvage the system, or is everyone going to be meeting their demise?

We begin with the surviving binomes gathered in the crumbling Principle Office. The mood is incredibly sombre, and everyone is feeling the sense of impending doom. Eventually, we reach the war room, and Phong tells everyone that Mainframe is dying. While they've stopped the bleeding, the patient is too far gone to save. AndrAIa points out that they can't affect repairs without powering up a sector, but if they power up a sector, it will just start going offline again.

Bob has a last resort solution, but it's not an ideal situation. The system voice announces an incoming game. Matrix is prepared to enter the game, but Bob says he shouldn't. His plan is for the User to win the game, which would force Mainframe over the edge and potentially force the system to restart. The game ends up landing, sealing their fates. Dot and Phong begin to ensure that all active PIDs are accounted for, and Mouse and Ray decide to go and keep the binomes calm since a game is bound to make them restless.

Ray offers to take Mouse away from the destruction, but Mouse feels that she's stuck with Mainframe for too long to leave now, but says that Ray doesn't have to stay. He simply replies by saying that everyone has to be somewhere, and he likes it where he is. Just after all the PID's are accounted for, Hexadecimal shows up, offering everyone biscuits shaped like Herr Doktor and his assistant. Bob convinces Phong to give Hexadecimal a PID, and he reluctantly agrees.

The system voice then announces that the game is over, and that the user has won. Just as the game leaves, the system begins to crash. Sectors begin to slowly sink into the sea. The crew of the Saucy Mare decide to have one last drink. Mouse and Ray kiss. Our heroes stand and watch the system go down as the voice announced 'Warning, System Crash', and we see Bob and Dot staring into each other's eyes before the screen goes black.

We're then met with green text being typed onto the screen:

SYSTEM CRASH:
RESTART Y/N?:
YES
RESTORE Y/N?:
YES

Suddenly, a light shines on the Principle Office and we see that it's no longer in the state of decay that it has been since Matrix, AndrAIa and Bob's return to Mainframe. One by one, the various sectors fall into place. The various buildings begin to reappear. Then the citizens of Mainframe are restored. Following this, a green wave sweeps over the viral binomes, reverting them back to normal. When the wave goes over Hexadecimal, it seemingly has no effect, as she just remarks that it 'tickled'. With everyone restored, Bob and Dot kiss. Dot tells Bob to never leave her again, and Bob promises not to. Then he's suddenly knocked over by young Enzo. Everyone else is confused as to how he could appear when Matrix is still there, but we see that Matrix's icon was in Game Sprite mode, meaning that the system restored a back up of the young Enzo. He notices Matrix, and asks who the big ugly green guy is.

As the credits begin to show up, they get interrupted by Mike the TV announcing an offer for the viewers - a recap of the season performed by the Mainframe Strolling Players. We then cut to a theatre where Binomes begin playing Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Modern Major General' song as binomes sing and perform a re enactment of the events of the season.

As the ending to this already excellent season, this is just the perfect ending. After watching the characters grow and suffer so much since the end of the previous season, it's great to see them finally triumph over adversity and be gifted with the rebirth of their home as if it had never been destroyed by war. As we begin the episode in such a hopeless position with the heroes faced with the inevitable destruction of their home, seeing Mainframe get slowly resurrected is incredibly satisfying to see.

Bob's decision to let Mainframe crash in the hopes of a restart was a risky move, but it was a last resort to try and resolve a hopeless situation. There was no hope to save the system, so his plan was to let the system die and in the best case scenario, the system will be restored. Luckily, this ended up paying off, and the system is somewhat better since, without Megabyte, his viral forces are now freed from his control. While the scan might have deleted him anyway, back in the very first episode of the show, Phong said that Megabyte has manage to avoid being erased at every scan. My take on this is that now that Megabyte is gone, his hold over the binomes is no more, so the scan is able to free them from his viral command. Likewise, Hexadecimal is somehow unaffected by the scan, but we'll get more into that next season.

Through this resurrection, we end up seeing the return of young Enzo. The original Enzo was robbed of his childhood by circumstances outside of his control, being forced to take on adult responsibilities while being a literal child, and he ended up paying the price for it. Having this new, younger Enzo gives Enzo a second chance, since this Enzo can now have the childhood that the original Enzo was deprived of.

And then, at the end of it all, we end on a song recapping the season as a whole. The only other show I can think of that's done anything remotely similar to this is Avatar The Last Airbender, which had an entire episode where the characters watch a stage show re enacting the show so far. This song ends the season on a positive note with practically every plot line resolved. This does make the ending of the next season somewhat disappointing in comparison, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

There is one tiny downside to this episode, which is what the creators consider to be the 'biggest failure in all of ReBoot'. Upon watching this episode back once it was completed, they got to the scene where we're greeted by the user choosing to restart and restore the system. When watching this scene, they realised that it probably would have been better if it had said 'ReBoot' instead of 'Restart'. While some argued that it would say 'restart' on a real computer, it was agreed that it didn't matter and it should have said ReBoot.

Now for my thoughts on this season as a whole. If it wasn't already clear, I love this season. It's one of my favourite seasons of any TV series ever. While it does have some flaws in places, overall, it's a great season with a truly engaging story arc carrying us through sixteen episodes broken up into four arcs. 

I've already deconstructed Enzo/Matrix's character arc throughout the season, but I'll summarise it here. This is one of the best character arcs I have ever witnessed. Starting in Season 2, Enzo was thrust with adult responsibilities but wasn't able to carry them out effectively. He was only able to keep up as long as he did because Megabyte allowed him to live, preferring to make the system wallow in how ineffective he was before killing him. In the end, Enzo failed after entering a game he couldn't win. He blamed Megabyte for this since, if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have been in this position to begin with.

This hatred of Megabyte kept him going throughout his time in the games; he used that time to prepare himself to stop Megabyte when he eventually got back home. His hatred of Megabyte extended to all viruses, feeling that they were unworthy of mercy. He also seemed to hate his younger self, feeling that he was 'too weak' to defeat Megabyte, and that he needed to change. In the midst of all this, he feared that what he had become was no worse than Megabyte, and worried that his friends and family would view him as such when he reunited with them (something which he expressed to AndrAIa after they found Bob in the Web).

While he had his hatred, he was kept from going over the edge by the love that AndrAIa provided him with. That love kept him grounded and stopped him from getting too aggressive. As we saw in the third arc, when it looked like he was going to lose AndrAIa, Matrix became much more unhinged and willing to risk everything to save her life.

In the end, when he got back to Mainframe and defeats Megabyte, he decides to spare him and show him mercy. As far as he's concerned, he's defeated Megabyte. Rather than killing him, Matrix decides that it's better for Megabyte to be left alive to live with the humiliation of his defeat.

This season also allows us to see more of the world outside of Mainframe. While we've had hints before this season about a wider world, this season we actually get to explore it and see different systems. This makes the universe of the show feel much bigger than it has previously, and it's interesting to see how other systems operate.

While Dot is sidelined for a lot of the season, she's still as awesome as she has been in the previous two seasons, being given the position of commander of the system. It's great to see her in this position of power commanding the system, and it's also great to see her more vulnerable side come to the surface in a couple of scenes. Another nice touch is that, when Megabyte ends up winning, she mobilises the forces into becoming a resistance to one day take back Mainframe from the virus who's ruined her life.

Even though Dot is only in about half the season, luckily we have AndrAIa to make up for her absence. While I prefer Dot as a character overall, AndrAIa is an excellent character in her own right. She's intelligent and compassionate while also being able to hold her own in a fight, making her Matrix's equal rather than a damsel who needs to be saved by him every episode.

This time around, Megabyte is at his most menacing. While we've always had a sense of the threat he posed, it wasn't until last season when we really got to see how much damage he could do. He begins this season effectively in control of the system. With Bob gone, he's now pretty much got the system to himself. While the heroes have control of the Principle Office, he has the run of the rest of the system, and he ensures that the citizens suffer. In the end, once he's free of the Firewall, he ends up taking complete control of the system, and as a result, the system is devastated. Even when he's eventually defeated, he triggers the system to crash, ensuring his legacy.

At the time they made Season 3, Mainframe Entertainment were under the impression that this would be the last season of ReBoot, so they ended it on a high note with a big celebratory ending and most plot points resolved with a few breadcrumbs scattered throughout in case they got the chance to do more. Following the completion of the season and it's broadcast on YTV in Canada, they completed two more seasons of Beast Wars for Hasbro in 1997 and 1998, and then released it's more divisive follow up 'Beast Machines' in 1999.

Also in 1998, Mainframe were contacted by the toy company Trendmasters and given a box of tiny micro playsets from their 'War Planets' toy line. Trendmasters gave Mainframe full creative control to make a TV series based on their toys. The end result was a great series with a vast universe. While three 13 episodes were planned, only two were produced after Trendmasters decided they didn't want to continue producing the show. As well as this, they also produced the series 'Weird Oh's' in 1999, based on a series of polystyrene model kits. 

Eventually, Season 3 of ReBoot was picked up by Cartoon Network in the US, who aired it in 1999. Sometime after this, Cartoon Network expressed interest in doing more ReBoot, so Mainframe Entertainment got to work on the season. Little did they know that things would shake up behind the scenes big time and affect the production of the season ending up like they planned...

Next week: We take a break from looking at the series and look at the ReBoot game for the PS1

Episode 38 - System Crash

The previous episode saw the effective conclusion of Matrix's character arc for this season through his defeat of Megabyte, a conflict that the season had been building up to until this point. However, with two episodes remaining this season, it proved not to be the end of Mainframe's issues since, after Megabyte ended up getting pulled into the Web, the system began to crash. Will our heroes manage to salvage the system from Megabyte's bane?

The episode starts on Mainframe's docks, where we see some binomes relaxing and fishing. However, this stops once the system shakes and the voice announces that the system is crashing. Several binomes end up meeting a sticky end as a result of this, including Kiss, Sailor Moon, Fax Modem, and Indiana Jones (the latter of whom gets chased by the 8 ball from Bob's apartment). Finally, a young binome child ends up getting separated from his parents in the chaos.

Our heroes come up with a plan to evacuate all the binomes to the Principle Office. Matrix and AndrAIa escort the binomes inside, while Mouse and Ray round up any straggling survivors. Mouse is clearly flirting with the surfer, asking him if he does his surfing alone. Ray says he has to as he 'hasn't found anyone who will take the risks he likes to take' as the two rescue two punk binomes.

In the war room, Phong is reunited with his body. He says that they need to shut down the power to the other sectors in order to prevent them being completely ravaged by the shut down. The issue with this is that the core control panel was destroyed in the war, meaning that someone will have to go down into the core and do it manually. Bob volunteers to do this. 

Outside, it appears that there's still one binome who hasn't evacuated - Old Man Pearson. Matrix contacts him via Vid Window and tells him that he needs to evacuate as it isn't safe anymore. The old binome is incredibly stubborn and refuses to leave, even after Matrix explains that he's Enzo. It turns out that Matrix's plea was only a distraction since AndrAIa sneaks up behind Mr Pearson and knocks him unconscious with her nails. While everything nearby seems fine, three tears suddenly appear in front of Matrix, Mouse and Ray. Out of one of the tears comes Zaytan, the User who defeated Enzo in Game Over.

Bob is preparing to enter the core, when he hears Specky talk about tears opening in the system. Bob is concerned about this, but Dot reassures him that she's got it covered and he needs to get on with his task. Bob reassures Dot that she'll see him again just as he enters the core. Shortly after this, a tear opens in the War Room and out comes 'Ash' from the 'Malicious Corpses' game.

Back with Matrix, Mouse, and Ray, Zaytan has now been joined by Santa Claus, the Knight from The Quick and The Fed, and the clown from Identity Crisis Part 2. Mouse determines that the users appearing in Mainframe are 'Undeleted RAM' being released by instabilities in the system. The three then take on the users in combat. Mouse takes on both the knight and the clown, Ray takes on Santa, and Matrix has a rematch with Zaytan. While Zaytan was able to put up a fight, Matrix is able to best his foe, and puts him down by shooting him through the head.

Elsewhere, AndrAIa is riding Megabyte's bike with Mr Pearson on the back when the spaceship from The Tearing begins pursuing her. After a brief dogfight, she takes out the ship. Then she gets ambushed by a pterodactyl plane from When Games Collide, but this gets dispatched by the pirates in a CPU, who offer to escort her back to the Principle Office. On the city streets below, Herr Doktor and his assistant are cowering in fear of getting discovered by the Mainframers. However, they then get cornered by Hexadecimal, who seems scarily pleased to see them.

Bob tries to contact Dot at the war room, but communications are down due to Dot having to fend off Ash. Hack and Slash manage to get him off her. Specky and Phong are left to deal with the user from Starship Alcatraz. Bob determines that he'll be on his own, but he's then joined by an unexpected face - Megabyte!

After defeating the last few users, the system begins to crash again. Matrix determines that everyone needs to head to the Principle Office. As they get back, Ash is still taking shots at Hack and Slash. Frisket jumps at him and kills him. Princess Bula snaps the neck of the Starship Alcatraz user. Phong tries to contact Bob, but can't get a signal.

Bob finds out that the Megabyte in the core control chamber is a simulation, designed to mock any 'saviours of the system' trying to stop Mainframe from dying. Bob tries to ignore his taunts while powering down the sectors. Eventually, more Megabyte simulations join him to highlight his futile situation. Bob powers through this and manages to fix a particularly difficult sector, which in turn causes the Megabyte simulations to shatter since one was standing in the way to try and stop Bob.

Bob eventually manages to power down all the sectors, and Matrix and AndrAIa go down to fetch Bob from the core control chamber. As he gets back up, he asks if the system is out of danger. Dot tries to kiss him, but Bob gets knocked out the way by Rocky the Rabid Raccoon, who slobbers all over Dot's face. After this, Phong sombrely tells them that while they've managed to survive Megabyte's bane, Mainframe is still doomed.

While this episode doesn't have as much going on in terms of story, mainly consisting of the battle between the Mainframers and the Users being released into the system. However, it still has some moments scattered throughout that make this episode worth a watch. They key of these being Matrix's battle with Zaytan.

I feel the main purpose the users coming into Mainframe brings is allowing Matrix to have a rematch with the user that bested him all the way back in Game Over. Back in my post on that episode, I brought up that it was a bit bizarre that the user was playing as a character that seemed more like a final boss character, but him being in that form pays off big time later on. This episode provides that pay off.

Within the games, Matrix was literally living with demons from his past, namely the feeling of failing his system. Last episode, he was able to combat most of these demons and put them to rest through defeating Megabyte. However, until now he wasn't able to confront the user that bested him to begin with. This user taking on the form of a literal demon means that he now represents the physical manifestation of Matrix's inner demons that he is now able to combat and put to rest. 

Megabyte existing as a simulation to taunt anyone trying to salvage Mainframe also provides Bob with an opportunity to reunite with Megabyte, and have the two characters interact with each other. It also gives Bob with a greater challenge as he now has to circumvent the Megabyte simulations while trying to stop the system falling into complete disarray. 

While of course, this episode is pretty dark as it deals with the threat of Mainframe being completely destroyed, it does still find the time to squeeze in a little humour here and there to stop the episode getting too depressing and overly serious. While the opening sequence is of course devastating to watch, the blow is slightly lessened through the presence of various binomes taking on the form of pop culture icons such as Indiana Jones and KISS. During the battle with the users, as well, a shark from the Atlantis game in 'AndrAIa' ends up flopping about on the ground, unable to do anything since it's not in water. Just before the episode wraps up and we're told that, in spite of everything, Mainframe is still doomed, we get one last burst of humour through a surprise appearance of Rocky the Rabid Raccoon.

While not the best episode this season in terms of story, this episode is still a joy to watch and the threat of Mainframe being destroyed is a very grave one that the series has somewhat explored at this point, but not at this kind of scale. Of course, so far, it appears that it was all for nothing as, by the end of the episode, Phong says that they're still doomed. With one episode left to go, it's unclear if there's any hope for them...

Next week: Mainframe appears to be done for in 'End Prog'

Episode 37 - Showdown

This is the episode that the season has been building up to since Firewall. That episode featured Enzo's first face to face encounter with Megabyte since becoming a Guardian, which left the young Guardian feeling humiliated and ineffectual - reinforcing the notion that the only reason he was still alive because Megabyte allowed him to live. Towards the end of that episode, Enzo said that he wouldn't rest until he stopped Megabyte. Enzo has been somewhat true to his word, even after losing a battle with the User in Game Over - fighting his way through games and systems as Matrix in order to get back home and defeat Megabyte. Now he's finally returned home and found his nemesis has practically destroyed it, it's finally time for him to face Megabyte and stop him once and for all - but is he up for the challenge?

We begin the episode on the outskirts of the now desolated Mainframe, and we see that several binomes have been left without a home in the aftermath of Megabyte's devastating takeover of the system. They observe the sky and see the Principle Office sub sphere transform into a tear as a squadron of ABC's flies overhead, forming a blockade around the tear. One of Megabyte's binomes informs him that they've successfully formed the blockade around the tear. Megabyte tells him that he will soon be able to escape from this system before turning to Phong. Phong tells Megabyte he will never win, but Megabyte simply mocks him, asking Phong who can possibly stop him.

Elsewhere, the Saucy Mare takes to the skies and flies towards the blockade. The ABC's all notice this, and take fire on the sip. While most of their rockets miss, a few manage to hit and penetrate the hull. We then see that the ship is unmanned, and the ship has been filled with explosives, which all detonate and cause the ship to set alight. The flaming ship then approaches all the ABC's, and causes them all to explode as the Mare crashes into the sea. This is observed by Capacitor, who is saddened to see his ship go down. AndrAIa reassures him that he's helped to turn this hopeless situation into a chance they have to win. Capacitor tells AndrAIa to go to Matrix, assuring her that the Mare will not go down in vein.

Near the Principle Office, Matrix and Mouse observe the Mare sinking into the sea, which Matrix confirms is the signal for them to start their attack. Matrix signals to the CPU's to fire bazookas at the Principle Office. Once they hit, Matrix orders the rebels to attack, and they all begin to head towards the Principle Office. We then cut to Dot in the rebels hideout, where we hear her thoughts on the situation. She feels that her and Bob should be out there with them, but the attack needed to go ahead either way. She wonders where Bob is as the rebels need him, but more importantly, she needs him. At Hexadecimal's Lair, Bob is tied to a chair. Hex pulls Bob closer to him so they can dance together.

Back at the attack on the Principle Office, Matrix and Mouse end up getting pinned down behind some debris by an attacking turret. This doesn't last for long, as AndrAIa knocks out the binome manning the turret with her throwing starfish. Once they're free, Mouse runs off. Inside the Principle Office, Phong is still enduring Megabyte's painful extraction methods. Megabyte gets impatient, and orders Herr Doktor and his assistant to take care of Phong.

Matrix is ordering the binomes into the Principle Office, but then glances the entrance to the main hall where Megabyte has taken up residence. He begins to tell AndrAIa that he needs to do this alone, but she cuts him off before he can tell her, as she understands. She gives Matrix a tender kiss on the cheek, and asks him to come back to her. Meanwhile, Bob is forced to dance with Hexadecimal, and she then offers him a biscuit. Bob asks to leave, but Hex tells Bob that she's unsure whether or not she wants to talk to Bob or kill him.

Matrix tears open the doors to the main hall, and Herr Doktor stands his ground. However, him and his assistant get quickly scared off by Matrix firing shots at them. Matrix approaches Phong, and introduces himself as Enzo. Phong is happy to see him, but is visibly very weak. Matrix asks where Megabyte is, and Phong tells Matrix that he's behind him just before Megabyte can strike him with his claws, knocking Matrix down to the ground. As he realises who it is, Megabyte gives a menacing grin.

As Matrix gets up, Megabyte taunts him. The taunting continues as Matrix pulls out Gun and aims it at Megabyte. Megabyte tells Matrix to put the gun away and fight him 'like a real sprite'. Megabyte cockily stands as Matrix approaches him, preparing to punch him. Matrix punches Megabyte in the chest, sending him flying to the floor and putting a dent in his body. Megabyte is visibly shocked by this turn of events, showing that he underestimated this new foe. As he gets back up, Matrix body slams Megabyte through a wall.

With Megabyte on the ground, Matrix continues to punch him. Megabyte takes a few hits before he grabs Matrix's fist and squeezes it just before his punch lands. Megabyte the extracts his claws and prepares to strike at Matrix, only for him to miss. Megabyte then backs Matrix into a corner with his claws, and prepares to strike. However, just before he can land the killing blow, AndrAIa throws Matrix her trident, which narrowly misses him. He pulls the trident out of the wall, and begins using it to battle Megabyte. AndrAIa tries to break Phong's head out of the jar and stop the codes being extracted. However, it's too late, and Megabyte now has the code to turn the tear into a portal to escape the system.

Bob is being forced into a tea party with Hexadecimal, but she won't allow him to leave since they have 'so much catching up to do'. Bob notices that Hex's mask is damaged. He wants to have a closer look, but Hex hides her mask, not wanting Bob to see it as she's afraid. Bob reassures her, and pulls her close. Hex's hand reaches out behind Bob's head and prepares to strike him. However, she's prevented from doing so by Bob firing a blast of energy from his hand at her mask.

Back at the Principle Office, Matrix and Megabyte are ascending the staircase to the roof of the Principle Office while battling each other. Megabyte is now using some kind of pipe to repel Matrix's trident. Matrix eventually uses the trident to strike Megabyte's torso, exposing some kind of wiring. Megabyte then punches the roof, causing rubble to tumble down the stairs towards Matrix. This causes Matrix to fall down the stairs on a slab of rubble. Luckily, he's able to jump off just before the rubble falls off the staircase.

Bob eventually stops blasting Hex's face with energy, and it turns out this wasn't an attack at all. He's actually healed Hexadecimal's face and now she's able to move her lips. She says that she feels 'whole' for the first time. To return the favour, Hexadecimal sends Bob back to the others.

Megabyte has now made it to the roof of the Principle Office, and prepares to turn the tear into a portal. Matrix soon catches up to him and resumes their battle. After a few blows, Megabyte hits Matrix and sends him flying. As Matrix prepares to get up, Megabyte kicks him again, sending him hurtling down the top of the Principle Office, only stopping at the edge of the roof. Megabyte slowly approaches him, extracting his claws once he's caught up. As he strikes, Matrix moves out of the way, and his claws get stuck in the ground. Matrix, visibly weakened, crawls up to Megabyte who chokes him and prepares to strike again with his claws. However, Matrix frees himself by punching Megabyte in the chest. Once free, Matrix gets out AndrAIa's trident. Matrix and Megabyte then strike each other with Matrix emerging victorious as he shatters Megabyte's claws and sends him to the ground.

Matrix puts his foot at Megabyte's throat, aiming the trident at his head. Megabyte tells Matrix he can't kill him, as it goes against everything he stands for. Matrix tells Megabyte that he took away his life, destroyed his home, and caused nothing but pain and suffering to everyone he's held dear. He pushes the trident down, but we see that he's decided to show mercy to Megabyte. He says that Mainframe will always endure, and that Megabyte should remember this defeat and humiliation, and that he can never win. Megabyte uses this opportunity to escape, turning the tear into a portal and heading towards it. Just as he reaches the portal, Mouse hacks it to turn it into a portal to the Web. A tentacle emerges from the portal and pulls Megabyte inside, and the portal vanishes just as Ray Tracer re emerges. Bob then appears on the roof, but then suddenly, the system begins to crash...

Alongside both Firewall and The Episode With No Name, this is another episode that instantly comes to mind when considering my favourite ReBoot episode. While this might partially come from the joy I felt finally watching this episode when I was 13 after waiting 9 long years to see what happened after the show was taken off air mid season in the UK, this episode serves as an incredibly effective conclusion to Matrix's character arc.

At the end of Season 2, Enzo was forced into being the defender of Mainframe through circumstances outside of his control. While he was able to fend off The User, he was no match for Megabyte, who only allowed him to live so he could convince the citizens of Mainframe how ineffective he was. His first encounter with Megabyte since becoming a Guardian left him feeling both humiliated and ineffectual. While he was eventually able to contain him in a Firewall, last episode showed that it was only a temporary measure since Hex was able to disable the Firewall and allow Megabyte to take over the system.

Not only did he fail against Megabyte, but in the end, he couldn't even defeat The User. Again, this is through no fault of his own, since as a literal child, his opponent outmatched him in both size and strength. This obviously made Enzo feel that he'd failed to defend his system, but it also lead to Matrix deciding to become tougher in order to not only survive in the games, but also defeat Megabyte. After all, if he couldn't defeat a mere User, how could he expect to stand up to Megabyte?

In Firewall, Enzo told Megabyte that he wouldn't rest until he stopped him. This episode shows Matrix fulfilling that promise by taking on Megabyte in combat. Upon seeing Enzo had returned, Megabyte initially belittles his foe, still seeing him as the mere ineffectual delivery boy. However, as the fight begins, Megabyte realises that he underestimated his foe. While Matrix is able to hold his own against Megabyte, Megabyte proves to be more than a match for his foe. The question during this fight isn't just whether or not Matrix will be able to defeat Megabyte, but also if Matrix will be able to show the virus mercy if he does manage to best him.

When we first met Matrix in Icons, he quickly took care of a virus and killed him without mercy, feeling that viruses are not worthy of mercy. This stems from his experiences with Megabyte and how he blames him for everything that he has been through. This episode shows Matrix's character growth as, in the end, he decides to show the virus mercy and spares him. As far as he's concerned, he's bested his foe, and now the virus is stuck with the humiliation of this defeat in the same way Enzo was in Firewall. The moment where he spares Megabyte is really well done, as we are initially lead to believe that Matrix has killed Megabyte only for the camera to reveal that he has spared him. This is done through a trope fairly common in programs intended for children where the impact of killing blows is shown off camera - something that is equally as effective as showing the death itself.

Megabyte's attempt to turn his defeat into victory ends up costing him in the end as well, since Mouse turns his escape into imprisonment. Ironically, being given the same fate that he subjected Bob to last season. Of course, Megabyte could still get the last laugh since as soon as he leaves the system, it begins to crash - something he's put in place in order to ensure his legacy.

Hexadecimal ends up getting somewhat redeemed in this episode, as well. This is thanks to the efforts of Bob causing her to feel whole again, somewhat helping to calm down her somewhat fragmented and chaotic personality. While we won't truly see the effects of this until next season, this episode plants the seeds for this plot line.

While it's a bit of a shame that the other characters end up a little sidelined in this episode, it's for the purpose of us focusing on the conclusion of Matrix's character arc and his final confrontation with Megabyte - something the show has been building up to for a while. With Megabyte gone, it appears that things are going to be okay - for a few seconds, then the system begins to shut down. With two episodes left this season, there's no telling if the system can be saved...

Next week: Our heroes try in vein to stop the system shutting down in 'System Crash'

Episode 36 - Megaframe

It has been eight whole episodes since we last saw the system of Mainframe (Matrix's dream sequence in Number 7 notwithstanding), the setting of the show up until that point. Since then, we've followed Matrix and AndrAIa travelling through games and systems, hoping to eventually find Mainframe. This search brought them into The Web in order to find Bob and get back home. Now, they're finally home, but things aren't quite the way that they remember them.

With a new arc, comes another new intro. Much like with the intro to arc 2, this intro kind of spoils the suspense of what Mainframe will be like when the heroes return, as we're greeted with shots showcasing a devastated looking Mainframe. While it is of course a good intro, it does kind of spoil the reveal of this now devastated Mainframe. However, it is nice to hear Dot narrating the intro.

Following this intro, a Web portal forms above the energy sea as the Saucy Mare enters the system before the portal closes. On the deck, Bob, Matrix, AndrAIa, and Capacitor are clearly devastated by what they see, and the camera reveals Mainframe, which is now in complete and total ruin with every sector being destroyed. Matrix's first concern is if Dot is okay, and Bob reassures him that she's a Matrix, and he's sure that she'd have found a way to survive like Matrix did.

Matrix and Bob decide to go into the system to investigate. AndrAIa stays behind in order to affect repairs to the ship since it's nowhere near battle ready, and she has a feeling that they're going to need her. Matrix and Bob's first stop is Megabyte's sector. Bob mends the tears in the area. Matrix is perplexed since when he left, the viruses were contained in the Firewall. 

Since the Tor is in ruins, Bob reckons that Hexadecimal must have broken free and destroyed it. We then cut to a flashback where Hexadecimal flies out of Silicon Tor, tearing her collar off and destroying the Tor with an energy blast. She then proceeds to shoot at the roof of the Firewall, causing the generators to overload and the Firewall to offline. Back in the present day, Matrix walks over to the generator, pointing out that it was overloaded with energy. Bob notices that one of Megabyte's ABC's has viral scorch marks on it, theorising that there was a battle between Megabyte's forces and Hexadecimal, who also brought reinforcements of her own.

In another flashback, we see Hexadecimal commanding a sea of nulls to attack Megabyte's ABC's, including Hack and Slash who are on the front lines. The two get blown up by Hexadecimals blasts, and the remaining ABC's are destroyed by nulls. Back in the present day, Matrix wonders who won the fight, and Bob theorises that the answer lies in the Principle Office. 

In the main hall of the Principle Office, we see that Megabyte has made the place his new headquarters. A binome informs him that he's seen Bob. Megabyte takes this to mean that Mainframe is back online, and tells Herr Doktor that it's time for them to leave since he's ruled over this decaying system for long enough.

Matrix and Bob approach the Principle Office, and see that it's guarded by ABC's patrolling the area and several searchlights. One of the searchlights shines on the pair, and Matrix initially launches into a rage, flying straight at one of the searchlights and shooting it. This causes a siren to sound, and a platoon of ABC's comes out to battle the two of them. Matrix eventually ends up getting knocked off his zip board, and separated from Gun. One ABC has him locked in their sights, and fires at him. However, Matrix is saved by Bob shielding him. Bob deflects the ABC's blast back at it, causing it to blow up before he creates a portal that allows him and Matrix to escape to elsewhere in Mainframe. Just as they leave, one binome remarks 'Those rebel scum, will they ever learn?'

Matrix and Bob find themselves elsewhere in Mainframe. The two are in disbelief that Megabyte is in the Principle Office, and Bob theorises that Megabyte needed somewhere to set up shop after his Tor was destroyed. We cut to another flashback where Megabyte's limo pulls up outside the Principle Office with a battalion of ABC's behind him. While the Principle Office fires at the invaders, all the ABC's fire at once and manage to significantly weaken the Principle Office. Back in the present day, Matrix questions if it can get any worse, and the two are asked to surrender and put their hands up by Hack and Slash, who are noticeably worse for wear.

In the Principle Office, Herr Doktor is drilling screws into some kind of device. Megabyte asks how progress is coming along on their portal generator. Herr Doktor tells him that the device is useless without Mainframe's codes, so Megabyte says that they need to 'talk to the head'. Herr Doktor initially laughs at this, but then looks shocked once he realises what Megabyte is referring to.

Matrix points Gun at Hack and Slash, but Bob reminds Matrix that the pair 'were never that bad'. Hack and Slash eventually realise that this is Bob, and seem very happy to see him. They ask who Matrix is, and Bob introduces him as Enzo. The two are initially relieved that he's on their side, and then realise who it is, and decide to take the pair to see Dot, who they have been taking care of.

Dot is commanding the resistance out of a warehouse. As Hack and Slash enter the building, two guards aim their turrets at the pair. Hack and Slash tell Dot that they have a 'very big surprise' for Dot, then split apart to reveal Matrix. Dot is initially unsure of who this sprite is, and then Matrix greets her, calling her 'sis'. She realises who it is, and then begins crying as she runs up to her brother and hugs him. Matrix tells her he kept his promise to her and has brought Bob home, and then we see that Bob is preoccupied as Mouse has decided to greet Bob by kissing him, much to Dot's displeasure. Bob and Dot aren't sure how to greet each other, but eventually settle with a handshake. Dot asks if AndrAIa and Frisket are okay, and Matrix tells her that they are both on the Saucy Mare with the pirates. This pleases Mouse, who tells Dot that her plan can now work. Bob then notices that Phong is absent, and asks where he is, causing Dot and Mouse to give each other sad looks.

We then cut to another flashback inside the Principle Office war room. After Megabyte's forces manage to successfully infiltrate the PO, Phong suggests that they evacuate. Dot gives a command that causes a secret door to open. All the forces manage to evacuate, but Phong decides to stay behind in order to give everyone else enough time to escape, ordering Hack and Slash to look after Dot, as this is the purpose he rebuilt them for. Just as they escape, Megabyte tears down the door to the war room, and extracts his claws.

Back in the present, Megabyte approaches 'the head', which turns out to be Phong, who's head has been decapitated and kept alive in a jar full of liquid. Megabyte asks Phong for the codes he needs, but he refuses. After he refuses, Megabyte commands Herr Doktor to activate the extraction device. This causes electrical impulses to fire into Phong's brain, slowly giving them the access codes required. 

Dot is sat alone in her office, crying to herself when Mouse makes an entrance. Dot tries to put on her 'fearless leader' act, but Mouse isn't buying it, and demands to know what's going on between her and Bob. It turns out that Dot feels guilty as she gave up hope that Bob would ever come back, and feels that she can't face him as a result of this guilt. Mouse reassures her that everyone has lost hope and changed, but what hasn't changed is Bob and Dot's love for each other, encouraging her to go to him.

Herr Doktor manages to get another character of code from Phong, which completes phase one of the plan. This causes the sub sphere on the Principle Office to shatter and become a tear that appears in the sky. This is visible from the Saucy Mare, and AndrAIa tells Capacitor that she has a 'bad feeling about this'. On the ground, Bob uses this sight to determine that Phong is still alive, as there would be no other way to get the codes needed. He tells his friends that they don't have much time, but he ends up being teleported away mid sentence...

Bob finds himself in Hexadecimal's Lair. She tells Bob that she's been so bored since Bob's been away, but now that he's back, things will begin to get interesting...

As the beginning to this final arc of the season, this episode does a great job of both establishing the new status quo in Mainframe since we've been away, but also filling in the blanks of what has happened in the intervening time through the use of flashbacks nicely spaced out throughout the episode to slowly allow us to figure out what has been going on.

The reveal of the war ravaged Mainframe is incredibly well done, initially hiding it from the audience and letting us see the reaction of the characters before we get a glimpse of the decaying system. The only things that let this sequence down are the intro sequence spoiling the reveal, and the sad music that plays throughout the entirety of the sequence, even before we see Mainframe. This wasn't always intended to be the case, as the idea was for the music to start off sounding victorious, only for a record scratch to stop the music before the sombre sounding music begins. Sadly, composer Bob Buckley was briefed too late to make this change, so the music ended up how it did in the final episode. However, these things don't diminish the effect of our heroes seeing that the place they've been trying to return to for eight whole episodes has been turned to ruin in their absence.

This Mainframe is somewhat similar to Dot's vision from 'Identity Crisis Part 2', which showed a Mainframe where Megabyte had complete and total control over the system. Of course, this one is a little different since in that episode, Mainframe's buildings were still intact as opposed to this episode where Mainframe is in complete ruin. 

This episode also has the first instance of flashbacks in the series, slowly showing us snippets of what's been happening in Mainframe since we last saw it in Game Over. The Firewall was obviously not going to be a permanent measure to stop Megabyte, so in the first flashback we see Hexadecimal disabling it after she's destroyed Megabyte's fortress, her payback for his imprisonment of her (or her choosing to free herself now she's got bored of playing his prisoner). Seeing these events played out in flashbacks is a lot more satisfying than if we simply had Dot or Mouse giving a lengthy exposition detailing the events.

It's also great to finally catch up with Dot and Mouse and the other characters we haven't seen in a while. Dot's reunion with Matrix is an incredibly moving moment where Dot, currently in a hopeless situation where she was forced to flee and hide from Megabyte to the extent that she gave up hope on Bob coming back, finally regains a little bit of hope when she meets her brother, whom she believed to effectively be dead.

Megabyte keeping Phong's head in a jar for his own nefarious means is a pretty dark twist, even before it's revealed when Megabyte suggests to Herr Doktor that they talk to 'the head', and even he is worried when Megabyte brings it up. When even your own henchmen have issues with what you are doing, that's a pretty big sign that it's a messed up thing to do.

This episode does a great job of setting up what's going to go down in this arc - our heroes need to somehow reclaim their dying system from Megabyte, but what next? The system is in pretty bad shape, is it broken beyond repair. Plus now Bob has been kidnapped by Hexadecimal, so he's effectively out of action until he can find a way to escape her clutches. This leave it up to Matrix, who blames Megabyte for everything he's been through, to take him down. Will Matrix show the virus mercy?

Next week: The resistance begin their assault against Megabyte's forces in 'Showdown'