People with no name: W.I.T.C.H. preface, A - B (repost)
Preface After a long hiatus spent celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kamen Rider Ryuki, welcome back to W.I.T.C.H. Now, I began batch-reviewing the first season after I had a hard time making it through "The Stone of Threbe," and I decided this format would be easier (which I also did with the latter half of season 2 of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. However, I was shaky with my new batch-review style, and I didn't get the hang of it until Ryuki, where I revamped the style entirely (for example. It's essentially everything I put into my long-form reviews, but in a compressed format. Smaller bits of analysis within the recap, and little notes sprinkled throughout. If there's something that I really want to put focus on (particularly story themes and the process of character development), I leave a note there to explore later in the Endpoint Analysis, or in this case, the Season Summation.
Also, there will be no Endpoint Analysis for W.I.T.C.H. Instead, I'm doing Season Summations-I've already done season 1's after all. I did this as sort of an experiment in Ultimate Alien so I could explore the amazing storyline of season 1 in depth, and all the character progression throughout, and then do a short bit for the less-than-stellar season 2. In retrospect, this was a really good idea. Both seasons were contained stories within themselves, although the writing staff remained the same between them. The Endpoint Analysis ended up being more of a compare-and-contrast, though in that case, I really wanted to do an Endpoint as a tribute to its late story editor, Dwayne McDuffie.
W.I.T.C.H. has two rather self-contained stories, similar to the two Ben 10 sequels I reviewed. However, they also have an entirely new writing staff take the helm in season two. Massive changes come in terms of characterization and storytelling, and that's why I really need to explore the seasons separately. They're all but different shows entirely.
And if you noticed that I'm referring to episodes as letters rather than numbers, well, it's a great idea in the series. Kamen Rider W would later do the same kind of thing for their episodes (in that case, two-part story arcs), but not in alphabetical order like W.I.T.C.H. did. If it's all neat and tidy like this, why complicate matters by adding numbers?
I can't say yet how many episodes I'm going to do for each batch. I was originally planning four episodes to a batch with the final two grouped together, like I did Ryuki, but since I'm not following a regular schedule, it might just be however many I've got done after two weeks.
A is for Anonymous (Greg Weisman): You may notice a new writer on staff. This is the celebrated Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles, head of The Spectacular Spider-Man, and at the time of this writing, one of the heads of Young Justice on Cartoon Network. Basically, when you see this man's name attached to a project, you can count on three things things: There are going to be plans-within-plans by scheming villains and heroes desperate to stay one step ahead, there will be Shakespeare (and references to his old shows), and it's going to be an amazing show. Also, if you're in the U.K., you got a new opening sequence to go along to the theme song. I'm not a big fan of the European theme or the fact that the opening sequence really stresses that slice-of-life aspect of the show that dragged too much, but it is a shame that the U.S. action theme didn't do anything new for the new season. Ah well.
The episode starts in the immediate aftermath of "The Final Battle," during Elyon's coronation. The now ex-Rebels (uh, actually, what are they supposed to be called now? They're not quite soldiers or guards. Are they knights now?) relieve the wardens in the top secret underground prison where Phobos and his followers are held. The group is comprised of familiar faces: Aldarn, Tynar, and Vathek, along with their leader, Drake. He's not really all that important, but he appears enough and actually kicks a fair amount of ass, so he gets a name. The Mage warns them not to take their assignment lightly, for Phobos must never escape. As she leaves, Miranda takes the opportunity to shapeshift into her little girl form, crying to be let out, but the guards aren't buying it, and Phobos tells her they all know she can shapeshift and stop embarrassing herself. As Drake endears himself to me by taking a potshot at Phobos, someone else takes a potshot at him, zapping him with electricity. They turn to find a laughing old witch entering the prison, Nerissa.
Yes, I know, spoilers. And part of the whole point of the episode is that she is anonymous. W title rules. But you know what? I can only come up with so many joking nicknames until her name is revealed in canon.
She uses a power called "quintessence," which lights up her arm and shows off her skeleton as she shoots it. Throughout the episode, we see it do several things: act as electrical energy, control metal, and bring objects (again, typically metal) to life and make them attack their owners. Our brave Rebels are embarrassingly defeated by their own weapons, which makes Phobos lol. But Nerissa only frees Miranda, bypassing Phobos completely. Smart lady. Vathek awesomely breaks free of his chain and charges after them, but Miranda binds him in web, allowing them to escape.
At the celebration, Queen Elyon declares the people of Meridian free and swears to rule fairly. Caleb brings up Trill, first seen in episode 6, praising her heroism in giving the Rebels intel and food. Elyon thanks her, and Trill gives her a jewel that she says once belonged to Elyon's mother, Queen Weira, which she hid when Phobos usurped the throne. Touched, Elyon promises never to take it off. I'm sure this isn't ominous or anything. For the most part, everybody has fun at the party. But Taranee is the only one hanging back, being a wallflower until a little girl asks her to tell all the kids how the Guardians defeated Phobos. Nothing sucks worse than getting stuck at the kids' table. Caleb then pulls Cornelia away to the fountain for a bit to talk, where he reveals he's breaking up with her. Yes, they just got together, and now they're breaking up. He can't return to Heatherfield with them because he needs to protect Elyon from Phobos's minions still at large. Cornelia is heartbroken and angry that he put his duty before his heart, but she's too damn proud to admit that she's crying, instead turning before he can see her tears and hugging Blunk, despite her disgust. Caleb too is hurt and too proud to deal.
And honestly? I don't have any problem with this. It's beautifully handled. They're both immature and proud people who got together in a rush of adrenaline and hormones. If they're going to stay together, they need something real pushing them. It's got great character development and real fallout in the episodes to come, unlike certain other ships of mine. Elyon also has to stay behind, obviously to rule, but she promises to visit soon. The Guardians explain that they told everyone at school that she's been on an extended vacation (this will come up). As they head back, Taranee notices the kids from before. She waves at them, but they run, leaving her depressed. They return to the cave at Shell Beach, where Matt admits that this whole magic thing is going to take some getting used to, but he wants to know everything about Will, totally accepting both of her lives. Excuse me. BEST BOYFRIEND EVER. Really. I'll get into this more down the line, particularly in the Summation. Taranee suggests they fill him in at the Silver Dragon, but everybody else is too tired to go, anxious to return to their normal lives. The prospect of returning to normal days depresses her-seriously, this episode, she's a huge woobie-and at the last minute, she realizes that Will didn't close the portal. Will does, but unknown to them, two figures lurk in the shadows.
Cutting ahead and around, after breaking Miranda out of jail, Nerissa goes around Meridian and finds other enemies the Guardians fought. She starts with Gargoyle. Hey, Greg, I think your bias is showing! If you don't remember him, that's because he was last seen all the way back in episode 2, where his arm got cut off by a closing portal. He's understandably upset about it. She frees him, promising revenge, and uses quintessence to melt the cages and solidify them around Gargoyle's stump as a prosthetic club. Caleb and the palace guards are tracking the Tracker when Nerissa finds him, recruiting him for vengeance and stuff. She goes to the Sandpit of Torus Filney and destroys the glass, animating the sand into a living being with quintessence. Guess what she promises him. It's kind of a thing. Then we see Raythor scaling the endless cliffs, which if they were named, I honestly can't remember. Was it the Abyss of Shadows? Anyway, he's been in there since he got framed in episode 3. He's emaciated and surviving only on glowing moss he's peeling off the walls and the sheer badass of being voiced by Steve Blum. Nerissa praises him for his determination and asks him what he wants. Given that she's been collecting people for vengeance, yeah. Obvious answer. Seriously, what would she have done if he answered, "Real food, a hot shower, and someone rubbing the hell out of my shoulders-they hurt!"?
On the way to school, Taranee notices some guy following her. She races to school in terror, and the guy quickly makes himself scarce. Irma and Hay Lin are whelmed to hear that it's "just some guy," but honestly? Give the girl some credit. Stalkers and creepers exist. Magical girls aren't the only ones who have to deal with them. They calm her down with a short snowball fight, but then the school bell rings. Much to their surprise, Taranee decides not to go, opting instead to build a snowman. She's irritated when they don't think she'll survive three minutes without racing to class, and sure enough, she runs into Mrs. Rudolph's class at exactly that time, eagerly awaiting punishment. But Mrs. Rudolph figures she's got such a good record that she's allowed one bad day. At lunch, Hay Lin and Irma recount everything to a disbelieving Cornelia and Will. Resenting being called a "good girl," Taranee finally snaps as Principal Knickerbocker comes over, starting a food fight by throwing a bowl of putting right on the Principal's head. In the office, she begs Knickerbocker to throw the book at her, bargaining to get a day's detention. Might I ask: Are there no psychologists in this school? No guidance counselors? No sympathetic teachers to lend an ear? Because this girl needs help. She basks in the glow of her first detention, while also torn that she's put a black mark on her permanent record. As she walks home, the guy is at the bus stop, freaking her out. He starts following her again, and she finally confronts him. But he drops his glamour, revealing he's Frost the Hunter, who can actually talk instead of grunt and growl. Taranee manages to hit him with a blast of fire, and...wasn't it a plot point in the first season that they couldn't use their powers without transforming? Or am I misremembering things after a year of Ryuki? He recovers and fights back, telling her to bring will to the Shell Beach cave without the Heart, or the other three Guardians-whom he's captured-will die.
Will and Taranee head over, under the presumption that it's a surprise, only to find the others in a forcefield bubble, warning them it's a trap. Will fails to find the Heart, and Taranee apologizes for taking it. They're throwing into the sphere, which was created with the last drop of magic Phobos gave Frost, and it's closing in on them to crush them to death. Taranee and Will, however, reveal that they planned it all from the start and pull out the Heart, transforming everyone and breaking out. They kick Frost's ass (after a nasty bout of "bad guys grab Will/others by the ankles" again), but a portal opens, allowing him to escape and disappear into the Meridian bog. Will closes the portal properly this time, giving Taranee all the credit for the Xanatos rescue plan, surprising the others. Taranee admits to her other surprising problems-she's afraid of fading into the background and becoming anonymous again, now that the battle's over. She only felt special as a Guardian, and breaking the rules at least got her noticed in school. But the others insist that she's special to them, and that the battle is far from over.
Nerissa reveals that she rescued Frost, and she invites him to join the Knights of Vengeance...
B is for Betrayal (Cary Bates): Raythor and Frost battle for leadership of the Knights of Vengeance. However, unlike Caleb, who had to do this huge fucking obstacle course all around the damn planet, they get by with just punching the shit out of each other. Or rather, not punching the shit out of each other. Because this is a Weisman series, Raythor demonstrates the benefit of fighting smart rather than fighting hard, never lifting a finger and never taking a blow as he evades Frost's attacks, goading until Frost loses his temper and pretty much defeats himself. Young Justice fans later see this happen with Superboy losing to Black Canary. Being a magnificent bastard herself, Nerissa approves and sends them against those who betrayed Phobos.
It's spring now, implying that there's been weeks to months between this and the previous episode. Cornelia is still sore about Caleb and too damn proud to admit it-too bad there's no "P is for Pride" here. She immediately falls head-over-heels for Taranee's older brother, Peter, but he's not about to date a tweenager, and Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee get a good laugh out of her making a fool of herself. When they get back to her apartment, Will's waiting there with a kitten, which Cornelia's mom said they could keep. Will explains that she's noticed how badly Cornelia's taking the breakup with Caleb, so she thought an adorable kitten would cheer her up. Aww, Will. You've been taking Supportive Best Person Ever lessons from Matt. However, Cornelia isn't happy at all with the adorable kitten and foists him off on Lillian. Right in front of Will. Cold. Yeah, this is a thing going on all episode, and while Caleb is being an equally stubborn ass, this is really uncalled for, Corny. I understand that maybe she should have consulted with you on whether or not you wanted a kitten, but still. You were feeling bad, and she knew it. She was just trying to be an awesome friend. At least Lillian loves the kitten and names him Napoleon. I'm sure that kitten will have no significance whatsoever.
A purple portal opens suddenly in the living room, and realizing that it's some kind of summons, they transform and enter. They arrive to a castle in the clouds in a world shrouded in purple. Yan Lin is there and explains that this is the Veil close up. They are in Kandrakar, the Heart of Infinity. The Mage arrives with Elyon, flanked by her honor guard, Caleb and Blunk. Though Caleb initially tries to be friendly, Cornelia refuses to talk to him. Two Council members approach, Althor and Halinor, and it turns out that Halinor is an old friend of Yan Lin's. More on this in a few episodes. The two show off the Fortress, introducing them to Luba, the keeper of the Aurameres. The Aurameres are globes of elemental magic that are the source of the Guardians' powers. Acting like transmitters, they channel the energy of Kandrakar itself across the worlds to the Heart. They also meet Tibor and Oracle, the head of the Council and the wisest being in the Infinite Dimensions. Will initially mixes them up, but everything's explained when the Mage suddenly glomps Oracle, much to his surprise since she's never acted this affectionate before. I'm sure it's nothing. He explains that since "time immemorial," the Council has protected the Infinite Dimensions-kinda dropped the ball a few times, didn't you? I mean, there's Decade, Kingdom Hearts, and DC, after all. But when Phobos took over, the Council quarantined Meridian by setting up the Veil, preventing him from accessing the other worlds. Again, why didn't you do this against Decade/Dai Shocker, the Heartless/Nobodies/Unversed/etc., and goddamn near every DC bad guy? But now with Phobos deposed and I'm sure no other villains ever attacking any world ever again, they lower the Veil, allowing the sky to become blue. Will is a little uncertain of the future, since why are there Guardians if there's nothing left to guard? The Oracle offers Council membership to the Mage and Yan Lin. Yan Lin declines, citing she's retired (you know how many times I've heard that one?), but the Mage accepts, as long as she can still perform her duties on Meridian, ensuring Phobos remains in jail-all the more important now that Miranda escaped. This is news to Elyon-okay, it's been weeks to months. When were your trusted advisors going to get around to telling you this very important news? Understandably, she's pissed and wants to go out and kick some ass. However, Oracle is a little hesitant to send her out half-cocked and chockfull of magic-clearly, he's met Nanoha. Caleb says he'll go, but Elyon insists on him working with the Guardians. The Oracle reveals that the Guardians of the Veil are now the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, and without the Veil, the "old ways" of traveling between worlds are now open-folds in space. There is such a thing as a tesseract. The Mage can do this with her ring, Will can do it with the Heart, and Elyon will be able to do it naturally as her birthright.
The trouble in Meridian is bad. Tynar's forces are helping to rebuild a village he wiped out when the Knights of Vengeance come for...vengeance. Henceforth, I will refer to the Knights of Vengeance as KoV. I'd call them "the Knights," but there's a lot I've had to refer to: the Knights of Vengeance, the Knights of Destruction, the Forever Knights of Ben 10, and even any time when Kamen Rider Knight uses Trick Vent. It gets confusing. But knowing my luck, KoV is probably some ethnic slur in Russia or something. If that's the case, I'm horribly sorry. Gargoyle attacks, and Tynar spares Drake from becoming a Red Shirt. But in the ensuing battle, Tynar is captured and the others are defeated by Sandpit. Drake manages to make his way over to the Guardians and Caleb and recaps everything for them. Vathek shows up, figuring he's next if the KoV are out for anyone who betrayed Phobos. Also, he did frame Raythor. That's got to put him on his shit list. So he'll take on Raythor alone so nobody else gets hurt. Presumably, they all convinced him this was a terrible idea, because when Raythor shows up with the KoV and web him up, he reveals he gets by with a little help from his friends. They're kicking ass, but Cornelia's powers go out of control when she starts snarking at Caleb, imprisoning everyone with vines and creating a minor earthquake. This buys time for the KoV to escape with Vathek.
Blunk, who totally missed the explanation about the Veil on account of treasure hunting, fails to find a portal out. Oracle catches him with the loot. But instead of punishing him, he gives him a valuable treasure-the tooth of a tonga, a creature that could travel dimensions. Apparently, remove the teeth of people who can travel dimensions, and it'll let you use those powers. Excuse me. I have to take up a new career as Tsukasa Kadoya's dentist. Blunk is touched, but the Oracle tells him this is no time for being touched, since his friends need help. The Guardians are tracking the KoV on foot, mostly mad at Cornelia for losing control. Cornelia insists that her powers were the problem, but Irma and Hay Lin are convinced she was being stupid and trying to show up Caleb. Caleb can't keep his big mouth shut and starts an argument with her, only for Will to tell them both to shut up and work together until this crisis is solved. Blunk drops in, literally, explaining about the tonga tooth, but Irma puts him to work as a bloodhound. They track down the KoV's camp, all unaware of the highly conspicuous bats behind them providing surveillance. They still pull off an awesome ambush, though-Taranee increases the size of the fire into a massive column of flame, and Irma extinguishes it to make a huge smokescreen. Caleb then hooks his foot around Sniffer's leash, leaps into the air, twirls, and lands on his toes on the point of Crimson's horn, like one of the most badass ballerinas I've ever seen. What is it with my favorite sword-wielders always seeming to be good at ballet or dance? The leash is caught around the horn, so when Crimson takes off, Sniffer is dragged along with him. Unfortunately, Miranda is sealing off the canyon roof, and Cornelia is afraid to use her powers, fearing they'll betray her again. Caleb urges her to fight, praising her powers and challenging her to show him what she's made of. She proceeds to create a massive rosebush that breaks through the web and forces the KoV to retreat.
Though Caleb praises her and says it's okay they got away, she still manages to be pissed off at him, prompting another argument until Will folds them out...by the basketball court. Though they transform back, Cornelia still has her older, Guardian-like appearance. When Peter and his team come to check, Taranee and Irma insist this is Lillian, Cornelia's older sister, though Peter swears that she had a younger sister instead. After he manages to hurt himself from being lovestruck, his team drags him off. Cornelia's able to change back now, but she too is in love. And in Kandrakar, the Oracle foresees interesting times ahead...
Also, there will be no Endpoint Analysis for W.I.T.C.H. Instead, I'm doing Season Summations-I've already done season 1's after all. I did this as sort of an experiment in Ultimate Alien so I could explore the amazing storyline of season 1 in depth, and all the character progression throughout, and then do a short bit for the less-than-stellar season 2. In retrospect, this was a really good idea. Both seasons were contained stories within themselves, although the writing staff remained the same between them. The Endpoint Analysis ended up being more of a compare-and-contrast, though in that case, I really wanted to do an Endpoint as a tribute to its late story editor, Dwayne McDuffie.
W.I.T.C.H. has two rather self-contained stories, similar to the two Ben 10 sequels I reviewed. However, they also have an entirely new writing staff take the helm in season two. Massive changes come in terms of characterization and storytelling, and that's why I really need to explore the seasons separately. They're all but different shows entirely.
And if you noticed that I'm referring to episodes as letters rather than numbers, well, it's a great idea in the series. Kamen Rider W would later do the same kind of thing for their episodes (in that case, two-part story arcs), but not in alphabetical order like W.I.T.C.H. did. If it's all neat and tidy like this, why complicate matters by adding numbers?
I can't say yet how many episodes I'm going to do for each batch. I was originally planning four episodes to a batch with the final two grouped together, like I did Ryuki, but since I'm not following a regular schedule, it might just be however many I've got done after two weeks.
A is for Anonymous (Greg Weisman): You may notice a new writer on staff. This is the celebrated Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles, head of The Spectacular Spider-Man, and at the time of this writing, one of the heads of Young Justice on Cartoon Network. Basically, when you see this man's name attached to a project, you can count on three things things: There are going to be plans-within-plans by scheming villains and heroes desperate to stay one step ahead, there will be Shakespeare (and references to his old shows), and it's going to be an amazing show. Also, if you're in the U.K., you got a new opening sequence to go along to the theme song. I'm not a big fan of the European theme or the fact that the opening sequence really stresses that slice-of-life aspect of the show that dragged too much, but it is a shame that the U.S. action theme didn't do anything new for the new season. Ah well.
The episode starts in the immediate aftermath of "The Final Battle," during Elyon's coronation. The now ex-Rebels (uh, actually, what are they supposed to be called now? They're not quite soldiers or guards. Are they knights now?) relieve the wardens in the top secret underground prison where Phobos and his followers are held. The group is comprised of familiar faces: Aldarn, Tynar, and Vathek, along with their leader, Drake. He's not really all that important, but he appears enough and actually kicks a fair amount of ass, so he gets a name. The Mage warns them not to take their assignment lightly, for Phobos must never escape. As she leaves, Miranda takes the opportunity to shapeshift into her little girl form, crying to be let out, but the guards aren't buying it, and Phobos tells her they all know she can shapeshift and stop embarrassing herself. As Drake endears himself to me by taking a potshot at Phobos, someone else takes a potshot at him, zapping him with electricity. They turn to find a laughing old witch entering the prison, Nerissa.
Yes, I know, spoilers. And part of the whole point of the episode is that she is anonymous. W title rules. But you know what? I can only come up with so many joking nicknames until her name is revealed in canon.
She uses a power called "quintessence," which lights up her arm and shows off her skeleton as she shoots it. Throughout the episode, we see it do several things: act as electrical energy, control metal, and bring objects (again, typically metal) to life and make them attack their owners. Our brave Rebels are embarrassingly defeated by their own weapons, which makes Phobos lol. But Nerissa only frees Miranda, bypassing Phobos completely. Smart lady. Vathek awesomely breaks free of his chain and charges after them, but Miranda binds him in web, allowing them to escape.
At the celebration, Queen Elyon declares the people of Meridian free and swears to rule fairly. Caleb brings up Trill, first seen in episode 6, praising her heroism in giving the Rebels intel and food. Elyon thanks her, and Trill gives her a jewel that she says once belonged to Elyon's mother, Queen Weira, which she hid when Phobos usurped the throne. Touched, Elyon promises never to take it off. I'm sure this isn't ominous or anything. For the most part, everybody has fun at the party. But Taranee is the only one hanging back, being a wallflower until a little girl asks her to tell all the kids how the Guardians defeated Phobos. Nothing sucks worse than getting stuck at the kids' table. Caleb then pulls Cornelia away to the fountain for a bit to talk, where he reveals he's breaking up with her. Yes, they just got together, and now they're breaking up. He can't return to Heatherfield with them because he needs to protect Elyon from Phobos's minions still at large. Cornelia is heartbroken and angry that he put his duty before his heart, but she's too damn proud to admit that she's crying, instead turning before he can see her tears and hugging Blunk, despite her disgust. Caleb too is hurt and too proud to deal.
And honestly? I don't have any problem with this. It's beautifully handled. They're both immature and proud people who got together in a rush of adrenaline and hormones. If they're going to stay together, they need something real pushing them. It's got great character development and real fallout in the episodes to come, unlike certain other ships of mine. Elyon also has to stay behind, obviously to rule, but she promises to visit soon. The Guardians explain that they told everyone at school that she's been on an extended vacation (this will come up). As they head back, Taranee notices the kids from before. She waves at them, but they run, leaving her depressed. They return to the cave at Shell Beach, where Matt admits that this whole magic thing is going to take some getting used to, but he wants to know everything about Will, totally accepting both of her lives. Excuse me. BEST BOYFRIEND EVER. Really. I'll get into this more down the line, particularly in the Summation. Taranee suggests they fill him in at the Silver Dragon, but everybody else is too tired to go, anxious to return to their normal lives. The prospect of returning to normal days depresses her-seriously, this episode, she's a huge woobie-and at the last minute, she realizes that Will didn't close the portal. Will does, but unknown to them, two figures lurk in the shadows.
Cutting ahead and around, after breaking Miranda out of jail, Nerissa goes around Meridian and finds other enemies the Guardians fought. She starts with Gargoyle. Hey, Greg, I think your bias is showing! If you don't remember him, that's because he was last seen all the way back in episode 2, where his arm got cut off by a closing portal. He's understandably upset about it. She frees him, promising revenge, and uses quintessence to melt the cages and solidify them around Gargoyle's stump as a prosthetic club. Caleb and the palace guards are tracking the Tracker when Nerissa finds him, recruiting him for vengeance and stuff. She goes to the Sandpit of Torus Filney and destroys the glass, animating the sand into a living being with quintessence. Guess what she promises him. It's kind of a thing. Then we see Raythor scaling the endless cliffs, which if they were named, I honestly can't remember. Was it the Abyss of Shadows? Anyway, he's been in there since he got framed in episode 3. He's emaciated and surviving only on glowing moss he's peeling off the walls and the sheer badass of being voiced by Steve Blum. Nerissa praises him for his determination and asks him what he wants. Given that she's been collecting people for vengeance, yeah. Obvious answer. Seriously, what would she have done if he answered, "Real food, a hot shower, and someone rubbing the hell out of my shoulders-they hurt!"?
On the way to school, Taranee notices some guy following her. She races to school in terror, and the guy quickly makes himself scarce. Irma and Hay Lin are whelmed to hear that it's "just some guy," but honestly? Give the girl some credit. Stalkers and creepers exist. Magical girls aren't the only ones who have to deal with them. They calm her down with a short snowball fight, but then the school bell rings. Much to their surprise, Taranee decides not to go, opting instead to build a snowman. She's irritated when they don't think she'll survive three minutes without racing to class, and sure enough, she runs into Mrs. Rudolph's class at exactly that time, eagerly awaiting punishment. But Mrs. Rudolph figures she's got such a good record that she's allowed one bad day. At lunch, Hay Lin and Irma recount everything to a disbelieving Cornelia and Will. Resenting being called a "good girl," Taranee finally snaps as Principal Knickerbocker comes over, starting a food fight by throwing a bowl of putting right on the Principal's head. In the office, she begs Knickerbocker to throw the book at her, bargaining to get a day's detention. Might I ask: Are there no psychologists in this school? No guidance counselors? No sympathetic teachers to lend an ear? Because this girl needs help. She basks in the glow of her first detention, while also torn that she's put a black mark on her permanent record. As she walks home, the guy is at the bus stop, freaking her out. He starts following her again, and she finally confronts him. But he drops his glamour, revealing he's Frost the Hunter, who can actually talk instead of grunt and growl. Taranee manages to hit him with a blast of fire, and...wasn't it a plot point in the first season that they couldn't use their powers without transforming? Or am I misremembering things after a year of Ryuki? He recovers and fights back, telling her to bring will to the Shell Beach cave without the Heart, or the other three Guardians-whom he's captured-will die.
Will and Taranee head over, under the presumption that it's a surprise, only to find the others in a forcefield bubble, warning them it's a trap. Will fails to find the Heart, and Taranee apologizes for taking it. They're throwing into the sphere, which was created with the last drop of magic Phobos gave Frost, and it's closing in on them to crush them to death. Taranee and Will, however, reveal that they planned it all from the start and pull out the Heart, transforming everyone and breaking out. They kick Frost's ass (after a nasty bout of "bad guys grab Will/others by the ankles" again), but a portal opens, allowing him to escape and disappear into the Meridian bog. Will closes the portal properly this time, giving Taranee all the credit for the Xanatos rescue plan, surprising the others. Taranee admits to her other surprising problems-she's afraid of fading into the background and becoming anonymous again, now that the battle's over. She only felt special as a Guardian, and breaking the rules at least got her noticed in school. But the others insist that she's special to them, and that the battle is far from over.
Nerissa reveals that she rescued Frost, and she invites him to join the Knights of Vengeance...
B is for Betrayal (Cary Bates): Raythor and Frost battle for leadership of the Knights of Vengeance. However, unlike Caleb, who had to do this huge fucking obstacle course all around the damn planet, they get by with just punching the shit out of each other. Or rather, not punching the shit out of each other. Because this is a Weisman series, Raythor demonstrates the benefit of fighting smart rather than fighting hard, never lifting a finger and never taking a blow as he evades Frost's attacks, goading until Frost loses his temper and pretty much defeats himself. Young Justice fans later see this happen with Superboy losing to Black Canary. Being a magnificent bastard herself, Nerissa approves and sends them against those who betrayed Phobos.
It's spring now, implying that there's been weeks to months between this and the previous episode. Cornelia is still sore about Caleb and too damn proud to admit it-too bad there's no "P is for Pride" here. She immediately falls head-over-heels for Taranee's older brother, Peter, but he's not about to date a tweenager, and Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee get a good laugh out of her making a fool of herself. When they get back to her apartment, Will's waiting there with a kitten, which Cornelia's mom said they could keep. Will explains that she's noticed how badly Cornelia's taking the breakup with Caleb, so she thought an adorable kitten would cheer her up. Aww, Will. You've been taking Supportive Best Person Ever lessons from Matt. However, Cornelia isn't happy at all with the adorable kitten and foists him off on Lillian. Right in front of Will. Cold. Yeah, this is a thing going on all episode, and while Caleb is being an equally stubborn ass, this is really uncalled for, Corny. I understand that maybe she should have consulted with you on whether or not you wanted a kitten, but still. You were feeling bad, and she knew it. She was just trying to be an awesome friend. At least Lillian loves the kitten and names him Napoleon. I'm sure that kitten will have no significance whatsoever.
A purple portal opens suddenly in the living room, and realizing that it's some kind of summons, they transform and enter. They arrive to a castle in the clouds in a world shrouded in purple. Yan Lin is there and explains that this is the Veil close up. They are in Kandrakar, the Heart of Infinity. The Mage arrives with Elyon, flanked by her honor guard, Caleb and Blunk. Though Caleb initially tries to be friendly, Cornelia refuses to talk to him. Two Council members approach, Althor and Halinor, and it turns out that Halinor is an old friend of Yan Lin's. More on this in a few episodes. The two show off the Fortress, introducing them to Luba, the keeper of the Aurameres. The Aurameres are globes of elemental magic that are the source of the Guardians' powers. Acting like transmitters, they channel the energy of Kandrakar itself across the worlds to the Heart. They also meet Tibor and Oracle, the head of the Council and the wisest being in the Infinite Dimensions. Will initially mixes them up, but everything's explained when the Mage suddenly glomps Oracle, much to his surprise since she's never acted this affectionate before. I'm sure it's nothing. He explains that since "time immemorial," the Council has protected the Infinite Dimensions-kinda dropped the ball a few times, didn't you? I mean, there's Decade, Kingdom Hearts, and DC, after all. But when Phobos took over, the Council quarantined Meridian by setting up the Veil, preventing him from accessing the other worlds. Again, why didn't you do this against Decade/Dai Shocker, the Heartless/Nobodies/Unversed/etc., and goddamn near every DC bad guy? But now with Phobos deposed and I'm sure no other villains ever attacking any world ever again, they lower the Veil, allowing the sky to become blue. Will is a little uncertain of the future, since why are there Guardians if there's nothing left to guard? The Oracle offers Council membership to the Mage and Yan Lin. Yan Lin declines, citing she's retired (you know how many times I've heard that one?), but the Mage accepts, as long as she can still perform her duties on Meridian, ensuring Phobos remains in jail-all the more important now that Miranda escaped. This is news to Elyon-okay, it's been weeks to months. When were your trusted advisors going to get around to telling you this very important news? Understandably, she's pissed and wants to go out and kick some ass. However, Oracle is a little hesitant to send her out half-cocked and chockfull of magic-clearly, he's met Nanoha. Caleb says he'll go, but Elyon insists on him working with the Guardians. The Oracle reveals that the Guardians of the Veil are now the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, and without the Veil, the "old ways" of traveling between worlds are now open-folds in space. There is such a thing as a tesseract. The Mage can do this with her ring, Will can do it with the Heart, and Elyon will be able to do it naturally as her birthright.
The trouble in Meridian is bad. Tynar's forces are helping to rebuild a village he wiped out when the Knights of Vengeance come for...vengeance. Henceforth, I will refer to the Knights of Vengeance as KoV. I'd call them "the Knights," but there's a lot I've had to refer to: the Knights of Vengeance, the Knights of Destruction, the Forever Knights of Ben 10, and even any time when Kamen Rider Knight uses Trick Vent. It gets confusing. But knowing my luck, KoV is probably some ethnic slur in Russia or something. If that's the case, I'm horribly sorry. Gargoyle attacks, and Tynar spares Drake from becoming a Red Shirt. But in the ensuing battle, Tynar is captured and the others are defeated by Sandpit. Drake manages to make his way over to the Guardians and Caleb and recaps everything for them. Vathek shows up, figuring he's next if the KoV are out for anyone who betrayed Phobos. Also, he did frame Raythor. That's got to put him on his shit list. So he'll take on Raythor alone so nobody else gets hurt. Presumably, they all convinced him this was a terrible idea, because when Raythor shows up with the KoV and web him up, he reveals he gets by with a little help from his friends. They're kicking ass, but Cornelia's powers go out of control when she starts snarking at Caleb, imprisoning everyone with vines and creating a minor earthquake. This buys time for the KoV to escape with Vathek.
Blunk, who totally missed the explanation about the Veil on account of treasure hunting, fails to find a portal out. Oracle catches him with the loot. But instead of punishing him, he gives him a valuable treasure-the tooth of a tonga, a creature that could travel dimensions. Apparently, remove the teeth of people who can travel dimensions, and it'll let you use those powers. Excuse me. I have to take up a new career as Tsukasa Kadoya's dentist. Blunk is touched, but the Oracle tells him this is no time for being touched, since his friends need help. The Guardians are tracking the KoV on foot, mostly mad at Cornelia for losing control. Cornelia insists that her powers were the problem, but Irma and Hay Lin are convinced she was being stupid and trying to show up Caleb. Caleb can't keep his big mouth shut and starts an argument with her, only for Will to tell them both to shut up and work together until this crisis is solved. Blunk drops in, literally, explaining about the tonga tooth, but Irma puts him to work as a bloodhound. They track down the KoV's camp, all unaware of the highly conspicuous bats behind them providing surveillance. They still pull off an awesome ambush, though-Taranee increases the size of the fire into a massive column of flame, and Irma extinguishes it to make a huge smokescreen. Caleb then hooks his foot around Sniffer's leash, leaps into the air, twirls, and lands on his toes on the point of Crimson's horn, like one of the most badass ballerinas I've ever seen. What is it with my favorite sword-wielders always seeming to be good at ballet or dance? The leash is caught around the horn, so when Crimson takes off, Sniffer is dragged along with him. Unfortunately, Miranda is sealing off the canyon roof, and Cornelia is afraid to use her powers, fearing they'll betray her again. Caleb urges her to fight, praising her powers and challenging her to show him what she's made of. She proceeds to create a massive rosebush that breaks through the web and forces the KoV to retreat.
Though Caleb praises her and says it's okay they got away, she still manages to be pissed off at him, prompting another argument until Will folds them out...by the basketball court. Though they transform back, Cornelia still has her older, Guardian-like appearance. When Peter and his team come to check, Taranee and Irma insist this is Lillian, Cornelia's older sister, though Peter swears that she had a younger sister instead. After he manages to hurt himself from being lovestruck, his team drags him off. Cornelia's able to change back now, but she too is in love. And in Kandrakar, the Oracle foresees interesting times ahead...