Episode 34 - Web Riders On The Storm

Last episode left our heroes in pretty bad shape - AndrAIa is still rapidly losing her energy after being bitten by a web creature, and everyone else now has to contend with a new unknown threat that clearly has an advantage over them in terms of numbers. The crew is clearly out of their element, and the odds are stacked against them. This week, we get to see how truly formidable these mysterious Web Riders are and learn exactly what they are as well...

We begin the episode in the Web, and the Web Riders that attacked them last episode appear to have disappeared. Matrix has the feeling that they're still out there and preparing to strike. Ray comments that in all his travels to The Web, he has never encountered anything like the Web Riders. Matrix goes below deck to see AndrAIa, who's condition appears to be getting worse. Ray goes down to join him, and Matrix gets frustrated with him for not being able to cure her. Princess Bula manages to prevent the situation from escalating, and Ray consoles Matrix, saying he understands his frustrations but his fight isn't with him, it's with whatever drove the Web Creature away. Ray leaves to see if he can pick up the creature's trail. After he leaves, Matrix laments that this is his fault, and because of his jealousy, he could now potentially lose AndrAIa forever.

On the decks, Captain Capacitor and the crew are preparing for battle when Mr Christopher approaches them, worrying that this voyage through the Web isn't generating any profit for them. Capacitor says there's some things that are more important than profit, such as repaying a debt to an old friend. Back below deck, Princess Bula brings out a device that will transfer energy from Matrix to AndrAIa. Matrix says that while it won't cure her, it will at least buy her some time. Bula points out that it might hurt, but this doesn't phase Matrix. Bula connects Matrix and AndrAIa together via the machine, and energy transfers from Matrix to AndrAIa. While Matrix becomes noticeably paler as a result, AndrAIa becomes a little more stable and less transparent.

As the pirates are preparing for the upcoming battle, Miss Sally reports that Ray is on his way back - and he's not alone. We then see that Ray is being pursued by the Web Riders. Ray calls out for the pirates to open the hatch. Ray then taps his board, causing him to disappear into it. The board then speeds ahead to the airlock, eventually crashing into it and leaving a large dent. Capacitor orders the crew to open fire. Below deck, Matrix is still with AndrAIa when he feels the ship rocking. Bula goes up to assist with the battle. However, when the battle gets particularly intense, Capacitor asks Mr Christopher to go downstairs and 'extend an invitation to Mr Matrix to join us'.

Mr Norton is able to successfully shoot down one of the Web Riders, but this victory proves to be short lived as another cannon gets disabled by another Web Rider's sword. Ray regains consciousness, although he's still noticeably weak. Matrix is also in a pretty rough way, as he's struggling to remain conscious as he approaches the deck. He climbs up the rigging and eventually reaches the wall. He pokes gun through part of the ship, and uses it to target all of the web riders outside before firing. One by one, the Web Riders get shot out of the sky. After seeing what's become of their ranks, the leader gets the remaining riders to fall back. After this brief victory, Capacitor tells Matrix that Bob would be proud of him, which leads Matrix to ponder if Bob has come across these warriors.

Their victory proves to be short lived, as the Web Riders return herding the pod of Web Creatures towards the ship. They attack the walls, causing a breach in the hull that leads to some of the crew being sucked out into the Web. The breach also allows the Web Riders to enter the ship. A large warrior instantly begins attacking Matrix. Capacitor attempts to use his sword on them, but it has no effect on them. Princess Bula is able to subdue a couple through knocking their heads together. Ray manages to hold his own until a couple of Web Riders grab his board and hit it, causing him to get knocked down.

Matrix eventually manages to get the strength to knock off the helmet of the large warrior he's battling, revealing his face. It turns out these Web Riders are sprites who have been degraded by The Web. The creature speaks in the Web Rider's dial tone dialect 'Disrespect Is Unwelcome' before knocking Matrix down to the ground. At this point, it appears that all hope has been lost for our heroes....

Then a new player enters the battle on a zip board. He orders the Web Riders to stand down, referring to the crew as his friends. The riders behind him close the ship's breach. This mysterious new rider approaches Matrix, and extends his hand out to him. Matrix isn't sure what to make of this, but then Glitch flies off of Matrix's belt and into the stranger's hand. The stranger then attaches it to his wrist - confirming that this is Bob. Mr Christopher staggers onto the deck, saying that there's not much time to save AndrAIa. Upon hearing this, Bob makes his way down below deck.

As Bob enters the room, Frisket growls at him. Bob says hi to Frisket, causing him to briefly stop and sniff, and then resume growling after realising who it is. He hooks himself up to the machine, and AndrAIa instantly stops becoming transparent. Bob taps his chest, revealing his Guardian Icon that has been absorbed into his suit. He uses his icon to restore AndrAIa's code, allowing her to regain consciousness. As she wakes up, she says 'Oh Bob, we found you'. With the rest of the Mare below deck with them, Bob removes his helmet. Everyone is expecting him to be fully degraded, but as he turns around, we see that, while he's certainly got some scars from his time in The Web, he hasn't degraded fully like the other Web Riders. Matrix is certainly excited to see Bob, briefly reverting back to Little Enzo and preparing to pounce on Bob. However, Bob stops him, saying he's a little too big to do that now, so the two settle on a handshake.

A large chunk of this episode's focus is on the conflict between the crew of the Saucy Mare and the Web Riders. While this is certainly an exciting sequence with a lot of great action, it does mean that as a consequence of this, there's not as many character moments throughout the episode. It doesn't hurt the episode too much since the onslaught of the Web Riders doesn't leave much breathing room for the characters to reflect.

The scene with Matrix at the start of the episode is a good one at establishing that Matrix is aware that he is somewhat to blame for AndrAIa's condition. His frustration with Ray this time around doesn't come from his jealousy, but from his fear of losing AndrAIa and how helpless he is to do anything about it. When Ray leaves, Matrix blames himself for what happened, claiming that he could have been there to protect AndrAIa if it wasn't for his jealousy. We also see how prepared Matrix is to save AndrAIa, giving up some of his energy in order to keep her stable.

The battle with the Web Riders that makes up the chunk of the episode is a pretty intense battle that really takes it's toll on the characters, who are greatly outnumbered in both strength and numbers. It also provides us with one of the gorier moments of the series when we see the corpse of a Web Rider floating in mid air with green blood spilling out from his head in the aftermath of Matrix's attack.

As for the Web Riders themselves, we find out more about them and learn that they are degraded sprites. This is an interesting plot point since it creates more of an intriguing aspect behind their character - they are sprites who, much like Bob, have somehow ended up in The Web, and now roam the wastelands as warriors trying to survive. This concept was one that was pitched by Brandan McCarthy as a potential sister series to ReBoot called 'Web World', which would follow these warriors who assist those who end up in The Web. While this idea was scrapped, it ended up somewhat making it's way into Season 3.

Of course, the main point of this episode is the return of Bob, largely absent from the season asides from the dream sequence in Number 7. He doesn't appear until the end of the episode, but his return is built up pretty well. Up until this point, there hasn't been any signs of Bob in the Web, and then suddenly this mysterious stranger shows up, and orders the Web Riders to stand down since he considers the crew of the mare as his friends. Of course, since he's masked, we don't know who he is. However, when Glitch is drawn to the stranger it makes it pretty clear that this is Bob.

The reveal of Bob's face at the end is interesting since it's pretty clear that the stranger is Bob up until this point, but since the other Web Riders have all degraded, it's assumed that Bob would have also been degraded as well. Luckily, it's revealed by the episode's end that Bob has only partially been degraded, and very much looks like his old self. The way his mask operates is very similar to that of Predator.

This is a great episode that builds off the promise of the previous episode of the threat of the Web Riders, revealing their identities as degraded sprites and living up to the threat that they were built up as in the previous episode. Likewise, the end of the episode saw the return of a familiar face in the form of Bob, the one Matrix had ventured into The Web to save to begin with. With that part of his quest now complete, there's only one thing left to do - return to Mainframe!

Next week: Matrix, AndrAIa, Bob, and the crew of the Saucy Mare begin the treacherous journey back to Mainframe in 'Mousetrap'