This episode's origins are kind of interesting. While this is an episode within the show's second season, this episode was intended for the first season of the show. However, there were issues with the episode's script as you can see from this screenshot below. This resulted in the episode being held off until now, and this episode kind of feels like a middle ground between the two seasons.
The episode opens with a new title sequence. It’s incredibly similar to the intro for the previous season with the only difference being that the clips utilised are taken from the later episodes of last season as well as the previous two episodes. However, there’s also two brief glimpses of episodes we haven’t seen yet. The first of these is Bob and Megabyte running from a T-Rex with a tank for a head which we'll be getting in this week's episode, and the second is of Bob wearing a leather jacket, something we'll be seeing next week.
Following the title sequence, we cut to an alien battleground where a strange looking yellow vehicle is floating around. We see that Bob, Dot and Enzo have ReBooted as chrome plated robots. They sneak behind some wreckage and then open fire on the User, although it’s clear that they are outgunned. Outside the game, we see Hack and Slash putting a strange device in position atop the Game Cube. Once it’s in position, Megabyte contacts them via vid window to check if the operation is going according to plan, and tells them to activate the command. After some brief bickering over who pushes the button, the device is activated and wires connect to the cube. Inside the game, the User has slowed down significantly. Bob does a scan with Glitch and discovers that something is slowing the game down. Enzo takes this opportunity to take on the User, using his gun as a baseball bat to hit the User's energy blast back at him, exploding him and ending the game. Enzo is excited that he won a game, but Bob and Dot are perplexed. Dot contacts Phong who informs her that there was an energy surge just before the game ended. Shortly after this, a security binome contacts Dot requesting that she comes to the archives. Bob and Dot take off on their zip boards with Enzo following along behind.
On the way there, Enzo enquires with Bob what Games are like in the Super Computer. He tells him that they’re a lot faster and some games are networked. Enzo is amazed at the prospect of there being multiple systems. This might not seem like a huge deal right now, but the concept of other systems is something that gets explored a lot more next season. Eventually they reach the door of the archives, the place where all of Mainframe's old data is stored. Dot opens the door with a voice command, prompting the door to open and disable all other security measures. Bob, Dot and Enzo enter and we see the Archive is a bottomless room filled with vid windows. Dot checks with the security binomes what happened, and they inform Dot the security field almost lost power during the game. Dot finds this perplexing since only the Mainframe Core has more power. Bob confirms that something happened based on readings picked up by Glitch.
Then we cut to a binome in a trench coat informing Megabyte that they would have succeeded if they had a little more power. Megabyte commands Hack and Slash to prepare for the next game, and to set the leech command to maximum drain once it hits. Back in the archives, we see that Bob and Dot picked up this transmission. Bob goes off to find Megabyte while Dot stays to assist with realigning the archives. Enzo wants to come with Bob, but Bob tasks him with patrolling the perimeter and reporting any strange happenings to Dot. Shortly after Bob leaves, Enzo is joined by Frisket.
At Silicon Tor, we see Megabyte overseeing his henchmen constructing a Stargate. At the archives, Frisket finds a drain cover. He opens it, and Enzo looks inside, although we don’t see what’s inside yet. Bob is on his way to see Megabyte when a Game Cube drops right on top of Silicon Tor. The game is a typical military combat game called Basic Combat. Bob ReBoot's into a Rambo Esque soldier and gets on with the game. Then Hack and Slash activate the leech command. Instead of turning it off, they leave it, draining so much energy that the game crashes. Phong tries to reroute some power to the game, but it’s too late. The User inputs another game that lands right on top of the first one, merging the two to create a hybrid Jungle/Dinosaur and Military Combat game.
This causes a surge of energy to erupt down the wire from the leech command. This wire goes all the way through the sewers where Enzo discovers it. He begins to follow it, and we see that the source of the wire is the device being used by the trench coat wearing Viral binome. Once the energy surges through the device, he declares that they’re through and orders more binomes to go through. Back in the game, we see that Megabyte is also inside. He curses Hack and Slash for draining too much energy. Bob comments that he should have known Megabyte was behind this, to which he responds that he is as displeased about this predicament as Bob is. The two then get ambushed by a T Rex who has a tank replacing the upper half of his head.
Back in the sewers, Enzo spies on the Viral binomes stealing from the archives. We then cut back to the game where Bob and Megabyte are fleeing from the T-Rex. They eventually reach a valley, and Megabyte knocks down a tree to act as a bridge for them to cross. Megabyte throws Bob out of his way, leaving Bov to hold on for dear life. Once Megabyte reaches the other end, he throws the tree trunk down into the valley. Bob gets saved mid fall by a binome piloting a hybrid jet plane pterodactyl. Megabyte ends up in a tar pit where the Dino tank is firing at him while he sinks into the tar. He swallows his pride and admits that he needs Bob's help. Bob decides he needs to help Megabyte as he can’t go against his Guardian programming, much to the disbelief of his binome pilot.
In the sewers, Enzo tells Frisket that they need to tell Dot what’s going on only to be ambushed by the virals. They freeze Frisket within a green cuboid and the leader orders them to place Enzo in the back of the van. Back in the game, Megabyte has almost become fully submerged within the tar. Bob uses Glitch to fire a cable into the tank's turret barrel, swinging from it to kick the emblem on the T–Rex's neck, ending the game. Once the game has ended, Dot informs Bob that Megabyte stole a gateway command from the archives and that Enzo is missing.
At the Tor, one of Megabyte's binomes loads the gateway command into the Stargate. Some more binomes manage to generate a portal with it, but they report that it’s unstable. Because of this, Megabyte steals a harness onto Enzo and orders him to go through. If the portal works, he’ll go to the Super Computer, and if it doesn’t, he’ll be deleted. Bob and Dot then show up and after Bob observes the situation, they begin intervening. During this commotion, the portal stabilises but Enzo's cable snaps. Bob flies into the portal and Megabyte orders Hack and Slash to stop him. They pick up the Stargate, but they end up splitting it in half, causing the portal to crash to the ground and shatter, but not before Bob flies out clutching Enzo. Enzo is amazed about his brief visit to the Super Computer, but then we see Hack and Slash have captured Dot. Megabyte orders them to release her and let them go after Bob points out he owes him one. Once they’ve left, Megabyte comments that he and Bob are now even.
This is a fun adventure which wouldn’t feel too out of place in Season One, which makes sense given that the idea for this episode was conceived for that season. Story wise, it’s not as strong as the previous two episodes, but it makes up for that through some great ideas and fun action sequences.
The introduction of the archive, a place where all files are stored is a cool concept. It makes sense that Megabyte would try and use an old portal command to access the Super Computer, but since there’s no guarantees it will even work, it’s almost as if this is his last resort as he’s seemingly exhausted all other plans to access it. It’s also great to see that Dot is somewhat in charge of Mainframe's security forces, showing that she has a position of significant power when it comes to keeping the system safe.
The merged Game Cube is also a pretty cool concept that is sadly not explored too much in spite of being the title of the episode. It’s a shame as it looks really cool and imaginative and it would have been great to have more of the episode set within it. It’s also cool to see Megabyte in the Game, something we haven’t had since The Tearing. We also get a rare instance where Bob and Megabyte have goals that are on a similar path, even though, of course, Megabyte doesn’t resist betraying Bob for the sake of his own survival.
While this is the weakest episode of this season, it’s still an enjoyable ride and the fact that this is the season's low point speaks volumes about the quality of the rest of the season as a whole.
Next week: The episode that was infamously initially rejected by BSNP, 'Bad Bob'
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