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'
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