Episode 31 - The Episode With No Name

We now reach the end of the second arc of ReBoot's third season. For the most part, this arc has been pretty episodic; featuring Matrix and AndrAIa entering new systems and having adventures in those systems before leaving at the end (I know that's a pretty big generalisation, but you know what I mean). That's not to say that this arc hasn't contributed to the storyline as a whole as we've been introduced to these essentially new characters as well as getting a glimpse into what drives this new, grown up version of Enzo. However, from this episode onwards, the rest of the season is going to be much more serialised with most episodes starting right after the previous episode ended. This episode not only starts this in a great way, but also plants seeds of a menace in the shadows pulling the strings since the end of last season.

We begin this episode in another new system. This one has a giant tear in the sky that is sending energy down to a giant disk in the centre of the sea and a small desert port surrounding the sea. We zoom across the city and see the game cube leave. Matrix and AndrAIa are in some kind of market square. While it's incredibly empty asides from them and Frisket when they arrive, not long after, the street is bustling with life with several binomes roaming the streets. Matrix uses Glitch to scan the system. Once the scan has finished, he suddenly gets very enthusiastic and picks up AndrAIa. It turns out they've finally found a system that has ports to the net, meaning that they will shortly be arriving back in Mainframe. The two attempt to kiss, but are interrupted by a binome walking into Matrix. He apologises for bumping into him, calling him a 'great and wise Guardian' before running off. AndrAIa asks how he knew Matrix was a Guardian, and Matrix assumes it was because he saw Glitch, suddenly learning that Glitch is now missing and this binome has stolen it. Matrix spots him in the crowd and begins running after him. AndrAIa decides to do some shopping before finding a transport back to Mainframe.

Matrix pursues the binome through the streets, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and watching him from above as he flees through the street. Eventually, Matrix reaches a rope reaching across two rooftops and attempts to slide along to reach the other building only for it to lower to the ground under his weight. Back at the market, AndrAIa is met by several vendors attempting to sell her goods, including 'files and data' (flopping disks), apples, fez buffers, and a wardrobe upgrade. AndrAIa turns these offers all down, and leaves the market with Frisket.

Later on, a beam of energy spurts out of the tear, heading towards the market. One binome shouts in terror 'The Guardians! The Guardians are coming!' before hiding in a vase. The beam lands on the ground, and vanishes as three Guardians emerge. Their leader, a yellowish green woman tells her two companions that they need to do the job then get out of this two bit system. What their job is remains to be seen, but at first, it appears to be general mayhem. Elsewhere, Matrix spots the binome who stole Glitch enter a bar.

We then pan across the system docks, eventually meeting Maxine, the search engine from ReBoot: The Ride, mopping the decks of her vehicle. She complains about the amount of vomit she has to clear up as AndrAIa approaches her, asking if she can book passage to Mainframe. However, Maxine is unable to allow them passage without authorisation codes since internet travel is restricted. AndrAIa is confused about this, and enquires who restricted travel. Maxine tells her that it was the Guardians.

Inside the bar, Matrix enters, causing the patrons to go silent. Matrix goes up to the barman, and orders an 'IO shot'. He spots the binome who took Glitch cowering in fear at a table. Matrix tells him he has something of his and he wants it back. The binome feigns innocence and claims he has no idea what Matrix is talking about, but Matrix activates Glitches homing signal, proving him wrong. However, this binome rallies up a gang of aggressive looking individuals to back him up. Matrix isn't too phased by this, and just orders gun to target everyone in the bar before giving the gun command 'death blossom mode'. Gun starts spinning around in circles, presumably before it shoots everyone with a target on their head. The binome, clearly fearing for his life, kicks Glitch across the floor to Matrix. Matrix then announces to the bar to leave if they want to live since he just wants a quiet drink. The patrons all leave in terror, and Matrix holsters Gun. However, one person hasn't left, a shadowy figure standing at the back of the bar. Matrix asks him if he's got a deletion wish, and the stranger replies that he's looking for Guardian 452. Matrix says he is as well, and the stranger asks Matrix what he's done with Bob. Matrix turns around and asks the stranger to identify themselves. He then steps out of the shadows and we can see that he's Turbo, the Prime Guardian.

Back at the docks, AndrAIa asks Maxine why the Guardians restricted travel. Maxine says that they apparently have their own agenda, and it's something about 'controlling the known net'. AndrAIa is still confused, and wonders if they're talking about the same Guardians. Maxine confirms that they are, although their stance has changed from 'To Mend and Defend' to 'Divide and Render'. AndrAIa asks if there's anyone who can possibly help them, and Maxine points to a prison at the top of the island. Everyone who can help them is there, locked up and awaiting deletion, courtesy of the Guardians.

At the bar, Matrix accuses Turbo of ruining his life, and prepares to draw his gun. Turbo prevents him from doing so by holding him in a containment field fired by Copeland, his keytool. He asks Matrix who he is, and what he's doing with Bob's Guardian Protocol. Matrix refuses to tell him anything, since Turbo tried to destroy Mainframe. Upon learning that Matrix is from Mainframe, Turbo asks for his name. Once he realises that it's Enzo, he releases the containment field. He asks Matrix where he's been, and Matrix explains how he became a Guardian, how he lost the game, and how he survived. Turbo reveals that Matrix hasn't been away for as long as he thinks and should only be 11, but has aged rapidly due to time in the games being accelerated in comparison to time outside of the games. Glitch and Copeland greet each other, and Turbo explains that keytools select their Guardians, and that he knew Glitch would never choose poorly. Matrix tells him that Glitch was broken when he got him thanks to Megabyte. Turbo is apologetic, then changes the subject; he came here to warn Matrix about something, thinking he was Bob. Before he can reveal what, however, the Guardians from earlier are outside the bar and begin firing their weapons.

At the docks, AndrAIa asks Maxine what her format is, and she tells AndrAIa that she's a search engine. She begins to explain her function, but is soon cut off by the sound of gunfire. AndrAIa rightfully assumes this is Matrix's doing, and runs off to join him. In the bar, Matrix and Turbo are pinned down by the gunfire. Turbo tells Matrix that he's not the only Guardian who know's he's in the system, and Matrix is surprised that it's Guardians shooting at them. The Guardians stop firing, and the lead Guardian tells them that they're after Bob, asking them to throw down their weapons and come out. Matrix asks if their drones have personality chips, and as soon as the lead Guardian tells them that they don't, Matrix and Turbo fire at the drones, destroying them all.

Following the commotion, Matrix and Turbo resume their conversation from earlier. Turbo shows Matrix that areas of his body are glowing a sinister looking green, which Turbo says is a viral infection, but he's strong enough to fight off it's effects. Matrix assumes that it's Megabyte, but Turbo tells him it's worse than that; a super virus going by the name of Daemon has infected all the Guardians apart from Matrix and Bob, and she arranged the web creature that ended up in Mainframe last season. Turbo apologises for his part in the events that have conspired, and Matrix forgives him. Turbo points out that the Guardians will always be able to track him as they have a lock on his icon. Matrix changes his icon to Game Sprite mode, which causes the Infected Guardians outside to lose their signal. They assume that he used a portal to escape. At this moment, the binome from earlier tries to sneak past them. The lead Guardian angrily berates him, since she thought the binome had taken care of his keytool. He explains that while he took Glitch, he reclaimed it, but it doesn't matter since it was already badly damaged. The Guardian picks him up, and asks where Matrix is. He says that he was accompanied by a female and a dog, and that capturing them will thaw out Matrix. Inside the bar, Turbo tells Matrix that he's their only hope since the only chance they have of defeating Daemon lies in Bob's protocol, and they need Bob's codes to get back into Mainframe. Matrix's mission is now set in motion; he needs to find Bob so he can save the entire net!

AndrAIa and Frisket find themselves back at the market which is now in ruins. Shortly after their arrival, they are joined by two of the Guardians from earlier, holding the pair up at gunpoint. A video monitor flies over the system, making the announcement 'Guardian 452, we have the female and the dog. Surrender or they will be deleted!'. Matrix seems somewhat amused by this, which confuses Turbo, but soon after, Frisket lunges at the screen and the picture cuts out.

At an alleyway near the bar, the lead Guardian is standing by. A flying insect lands in her hand, and she squashes it with her fingers. She peers behind her, and spots AndrAIa, asking what took her so long. AndrAIa says that she arrived as fast as she could, and the Guardian then asks what happened to her men, to which AndrAIa responds 'don't ask'. Frisket growls at her drone, and AndrAIa tells her that he's wondering if the drone has a personality chip, causing the drone to run off. AndrAIa then has a western styled stand off with the Guardian. We get several different shots of the two from different angles as they stand opposite each other, waiting to strike. Eventually, an alarm sounds on the Guardians gun, and she fires at AndrAIa. AndrAIa deflects the blast with one of the gills on her arm, and fires her nails right into the Guardian's neck, causing her to drop dead onto the ground.

Inside the bar, Turbo tells Matrix that he needs to leave as he's been away too long. Matrix creates a tear by shooting the coffee maker on the bar, which Turbo stabilises into a portal back to the Super Computer. Matrix asks Turbo to come with them to search for Bob, but Turbo says he's more valuable to Matrix where he is, as he'll always have a friend on the inside as long as he's able to fight off the infection. Not long after he leaves, AndrAIa enters the bar with Frisket. Matrix tells her about his encounter with Turbo, and asks if AndrAIa was able to get them a ship. When AndrAIa tells him about the Guardian's restrictions on net travel, Matrix says they'll still be able to get a ship as something will come up. He uses Glitch to scan for possible transport. Shortly after this, the doors to the bar open and Captain Capacitor and his first mate Mr Christopher enter the bar.

As well as Firewall, this is another episode that instantly comes to mind when I consider what my favourite episode of ReBoot is. Not only does it pick up the season's storyline in a big way, it also drops some big breadcrumbs for future stories and has some really great action set pieces along with a great story to back them up.

The system that this episode and the next one are set in is possibly my favourite system in the series. I really like the design of it with it's slightly Arabian aesthetic combined with elements of westerns and Mos Eisley from Star Wars. There's even a couple of Stormtrooper Binomes wandering around, and the bar is somewhat similar to the Mos Eisley cantina from A New Hope. The name of the episode somewhat ties into the western feel of this episode by being a reference to Clint Eastwood's 'The Man With No Name' from the Spaghetti Western series.

This episode also demonstrates the massive effort and attention to detail that Mainframe put into their shows. When we first meet Maxine at the docks, we can see The Saucy Mare, Captain Capacitor's ship, at the docks, which of course ties into Capacitor's appearance at the very end of the episode. Likewise, when we first enter the bar, Turbo can be spotted in the background. It's the subtlety of things like this that really show how much love was put into the show by the people making it.

Speaking of Turbo, we're finally reunited with him after his brief appearance in Trust No One last season. While we didn't know much about him then other than his reluctant decision to destroy Mainframe as well as him delaying the destruction timer to allow Bob time to get rid of the detonator, his presence was an interesting one as it introduced the idea that the Guardians aren't 100% good and have shades of grey. Matrix, of course, in part blames Turbo for everything that's happened to him so far since his choice to destroy Mainframe ended up creating the tear that allowed the Web Creature to generate the portal to web which set off the chain of events that have lead to this point.

I think this ties into why Matrix doesn't refer to himself as a Guardian. Part of it is due to him feeling he'd failed as a Guardian after being unable to defeat the user in Game Over, but him blaming Turbo for everything that's happened to him has caused Matrix to be somewhat resentful of the Guardians as a whole, refusing to be associated with them because of this. His encounter with Turbo in this episode allows him the chance to forgive Turbo for his part of what happened and gain an important ally.

This episode introduces us to the plot point of Daemon infecting the Guardians and getting them to do her bidding. What her agenda is remains unclear, but we also learn that she was responsible for the events leading up to this point all the way back in Season 2 since she was the one who arranged the web creature. My theory on what happened is she used the web creature as a distraction to keep the Guardians occupied while she finds her way into the Super Computer, and then she caught the Guardians off guard and infected them all.

While Daemon isn't going to be making an appearance until next season, her appearance her serves two purposes. The purpose in the long run is to plant the seeds for a future storyline in case the show got another season following Season 3, but in terms of this episode, the infected Guardians and their restrictions on net travel provide an obstacle to prevent Matrix and AndrAIa from getting back to Mainframe as well as directing them to search for Bob in the web before going back home since Bob has the codes the need to re enter the system.

The three infected Guardians in this episode also leave a pretty big impression. Design wise, they all have distinct looks and look pretty menacing (not what we'd expect Guardians to look like at this point), and they pose a pretty big threat throughout this episode. We also get what is potentially AndrAIa's finest moment in the entire series as she has a stand off with the lead Guardian, managing to defeat her in the process. It's moments like this which really show how well the show treated it's female characters rather than having them merely be pretty things for the male heroes to rescue every week.

Overall, this is by far one of the best episodes of the show (which is saying a lot considering how good a lot of the show's episodes are) which sews the seeds for things to come and wonderfully sets up the premise of the next arc: The Search For Bob!

Next week: Matrix and AndrAIa help Capacitor free his crew from prison so they can help them find Bob in 'Return of the Crimson Binome'.