Lets Watch: Skyland

[Durkoala]

Well, I mean that your desire to explore the world of Skyland and see how it works, how it's the "remnants of an old, scarred Earth, that our heroes never knew" has a really cool feel to me.

Also there will be an update today guys don't worry

Awww, No Edge Chronicles Let's Watch.

As whatshisface is doing some work on block calculations, they are doing something about exploring how things work, it's just feelng a bit like early Attack on Titan, except we never find anything out.
The hard part of exploring a world we know is that it's hard to make it interesting for us. Mortal Engines does this well by having the historians of the post-post-apocalypse trying to work out how things were before the first end of civilisation and not doing it very well. Skyland is too newly formed for that angle to work, and neither Mahad or Lena seem the type to take an interest in ruins.

Rice Krispie Squares make everything better.

[LaZodiac]

Awww, No Edge Chronicles Let's Watch.

As whatshisface is doing some work on block calculations, they are doing something about exploring how things work, it's just feelng a bit like early Attack on Titan, except we never find anything out.
The hard part of exploring a world we know is that it's hard to make it interesting for us. Mortal Engines does this well by having the historians of the post-post-apocalypse trying to work out how things were before the first end of civilisation and not doing it very well. Skyland is too newly formed for that angle to work, and neither Mahad or Lena seem the type to take an interest in ruins.

Rice Krispie Squares make everything better.

I forget to say I'd look into it, sorry

Also working on the update~

[Durkoala]

You don't have to if it's too much for you.

Also, if there's reports of an explosion in Austrailia, it's your fault.

[LaZodiac]

Okay, lets do this!

Episode 15: Heart of the Arena

Spoiler

Show

...well this could be good. Lets see how things go.

We open on a telephone booth in the sky. It appears, to me at least, to be one of the scanners that the pirates have. Cheng is using the phone...and I mean he even put money in. It might of been a washer or something, but still. Kinda silly. Oh, Cheng (and Lena) are testing the phone to see if it can contact Vector, which it can, so they can MAKE IT be a movement detector. Cool!

Mahad is also here, and he's...basically being Mahad. Specifically, he's trying to do a super trick shot with his boomerang. He's been trying to do it all day according to Lena, so I've got a feeling he won't. But he insists. Inside the Hyperion Cheng and Lena call Cortez to tell him what's up and...understandably, he's annoyed. Meanwhile up on the top of the Hyperion...Mahad see's a ship he's never seen before. Wonder what it is...it's causing a very bright light to shine on Mahad, and he shouts for Lena to send a distress signal.

Oh, interesting, the ship had Brigs on it. They start talking with Mahad (evidently not recognizing him) while the camera is focused on Lena and Cheng, who are understandably worried. Then uh...one of the Brig's orders them to disable Mahad with a sound blast...which causes the entire Hyperion to be knocked around. Cheng and Lena pass out.

We cut a bit later, and Cortez is trying to contact them. For the last ten minutes even. Jeez...at least it seems like Lena and Cheng are okay. But uh...Mahad has vanished. The Saint Neziere arrives to rescue the Hyperion.

Later, at Vector's Lighthouse, Cheng is hacking into a Brig corpse they have nearby to try and find out where Mahad could be. I don't entirely understand how this'd work, but maybe all Brig's have information on where to take generic human prisoners? Or...oh, huh. This is a Brig that was found on the Hyperion, and it's an old model. One that was decomissioned ten years ago. I can't even begin to imagine how weak it must be...oh, it's got a leg from aother part entirely. So it seems the Brig was put together from salvaged parts.

They succeeded in getting some information! Hooray! It's a voice that Cortez recognizes. We cut to...what looks like a floating city. And...he not only has a really good voice actor, he's ranting to his servant about how he keeps on finding crappy gladiators. "Levitating wrestlers? What is this, a circus performance!? I need a STAR, man, a horse I can ride all the way to the colosseum!". The Sphere soldier (human, not brig!) he's talking to goes "...horse?" and this pisses the guy off, and he just says to forget it and hangs up. Also he's got a handlebar moustache. I don't know who this guy is but he's awesome.

The brig's from earlier bring in Mahad, and Mahad is like "I'm telling you, let me go. I'll tear this place apart." which is a PRETTY big boast, even for Mahad. The guy totally gets it, too. And he LIKES it. Menacing, but with boyish optimism.

...I don't...ENTIRELY think that's accurate for Mahad, but I can see it, yeah. So, it seems for this episode, Mahad's gonna become a gladiator. This'll be...interesting. The gladiator boss says his boomerang is a little gimicky, but it could work (which is true!). Mahad says "It's a weapon" which is ALSO true. Boomerangs will **** stuff up if hucked properly.

Back at Port Angel, Lena is confused about what is going on. Understandable. Cortez explains that the voice he recognizes is Tac, a former gladiator warrior turned fight organizer for the Sphere. Now THAT'S awesome because it means Tac could probably beat the crap out of Mahad, so his being flippant about Mahad's threats are pretty cool.

Lena obviously wants to go rescue him now, but it'll be too hard. The Colosseum is deep in Sphere territory. So it looks like Mahad's gonna have to deal with being an arena fighter for awhile. Now, this is interesting because...I think it might actually be the Roman Colosseum! Now that's pretty cool, seeing the chunks of it floating in the sky together.

Mahad walks into the middle of a floating platform in the arena, and three Brig's come out. Tac tells him to remember, this is "theatre" so he better fight well and excitingly. Mahad jokes around for awhile, spinning his boomerang around his hand a bit, before suddenly throwing it up into the air! The brigs follow it's path, allowing Mahad to...holy ****, he just jump kicked a Brig off a platform and used the backstep to get into the middle of the stage to catch his boomerang. He leaps at another one, but they both fall off and he barely catches onto the edge of the platform! And like, it's the bottom edge too, so even if he gets up he's still going to be hanging off rather badly. The third one goes to the edge to try and aim at him but gets beheaded by his boomerang!

Mahad manages to climb all the way up to the platform and then catches his boomerang. I'll admit, that was PRETTY impressive. Tac does too, at least in that he thinks Mahad has potential. Meanwhile the Saint Neziere is flying to the Colosseum, dragging...some sort of vehicle behind it. I'm not entirely sure what it is. Cheng says the scanner reads so many Shuttles, it's like a party. Cortez says it won't be like any party he's been to. And the thing they're dragging along IS a steam ship of some sort, so I'm guessing they'll be taking that to infiltrate the Colosseum. Makes sense.

Back with Mahad, it seems Madah...doesn't quite understand what Tac was having him do in the arena. Understandable, he wouldn't know what a death battle is. But Tac explains it. He's offering Mahad the chance to receive fame and glory. To have people talk about his skills throughout all of Skyland. He doesn't specify it's Mahad, which makes Mahad ask who he's talking about...which prompts Tac to say "You're not to bright are yeah brother?" before explaining what he meant. I really do like Tac, even if he is probably going to be a minor one episode villain.

Tac the...basically straight up explains what wrestling is to Mahad. It's all just fake for entertainments sake. They'll build Mahad up, having him fight a couple of losers to be awesome, then...make him into the ultimate Heel. I'll admit, that's ingenious, especially because Mahad would make a really good Heel.

...okay this episode is actually really weird. Tac is...he's voice acted good, but he's a total weirdo. He laughs at Mahad's stupidity, and when Mahad questions this he says that no, this is about getting rich! I'm laughing WIIITH you! Mahad says "I'm not laughing" and Tac gets this...very weirdly animated jump backward as he starts cackling like a mad man.

So, everyone but Vector, Dahlia, and Cheng head off on the steam ship to infiltrate the Colosseum. The others hve orders to come in guns blazing if they get a radio call for help. I have a feeling this won't happen, but we'll see. Back with Tac we see a new arrival from the Sphere, a blonde douchebag in a doo-rag. Reminds me of someone, though I can't play who...but yeah, it seems like Mahad's got his first opponent.

Later on, Tac introduces Mahad to said opponent. His name is Kale, apparently. Mahad would rather NOT fight him, since the guy is, upon reflecting, kind of ripped as ****. Tac says that well, that's too bad. Kale is Diwan's chosen champion, so she'll want to see him fight. Upon hearing Diwan will be here, Mahad tries to get past EVERYONE to try and find her. Shockingly this does't work, since Kale literally just...stands in his way and Mahad runs into him like he's a solid bloody wall. Also, noticed that Kale has a number on the back of his shirt, so he's a prisoner. Interesting.

Tac explains that naw, they don't have to actually fight each other, and Kale's going to win the fight. But they gotta make it look good. Mahad kicks Kale in the legs, managing to trip him from prone, which pisses Kale off REALLY hard. Tac stops Kale from pounding the **** out of Mahad, telling them to save it for the ring.

Back with Cortez. He, Wayan, and Lena are going to try and sneak into backstage to try and find Mahad. This doesn't seem like the best idea, but it's their only real plan that has a chance of success. Speaking of which, backstage, Mahad is talking to Kale through their doors. Kale fights for Diwan because she promised to let him go after ten wins. Mahad says there is no way she'll let him go, and that if he loses she'll just kill him. That seems entirely accurate, honestly. Kale apologizes and says she's his only hope.

Cutting back to Cortez again, it seems that Cortez used to be around here a lot, enough to recognize that things have changed. Wayan and Lena tease him about possibly being a gladiator in his past life, and giving him jokingly appropriate stage names like Block Buster. Though the way Wayan phrases it, and the way Cortez reacts, implies that yes, Block Buster was his stage name as a super badass gladiator. That's...ENTIRELY understandable and explains a lot. At any rate, they manage to infiltrate the backstage. Sorta. They ran into a room full of Brigs, and get captured.

Back with Mahad, Diwan and Tac show up to inspect their "champions". Diwan obviously recognizes Diwan, and Mahad totally honestly believes he could take Diwan in a straight up fight. Oh Mahad . Also, in a move that is actually pretty cool, Diwan TOTALLY UNDERSTANDS that having Mahad fight will attract the attention of Lena, so she prepares to ambush her at the appropriate time.

Back with Cortez and friends, they're captured! But Cortez still has the communicator so he sends a call to Dahlia. We then cut to Mahad and Kale and....and....

KALE. Kale is a blonde sort of douchebag WIELDING A BO STAFF. SOMEONE knew about this . Anyway, they're being escorted to the arena to begin their fight. As they head out, an announcer does his thing, telling us about the combatants. This is apparently Kale's 8th fight, and he's already got a 7 win streak. Thankfully for everyone involved, Cortez and friend's cell is within viewing range of the arena...which makes perfect sense if this is the Roman Colosseum.

Haha. Tac says that he wasn't aware Diwan knew about Mahad, and Diwan counters with "what you don't know could fill a galaxy" which is a PRETTY good line actually. During their conversation Tac reveals that, while he's a great fight organizer and maybe a good fighter, he's not as smart as he seems. He says that the other two with Mahad "got away" when all they did was just...leave them there. Diwan does not approve and tells Tac that she hopes he enjoys prison. Diwan does NOT approve failure.

Meanwhile, Kale and Mahad are fighting. It's...not ENTIRELY the best, by virtue of Mahad really not trying to fight since he wants to help Kale. Kale has no compunctions about it, and sends Mahad to the ground with a pretty rough strike to the back! He's able to recover decently, still focusing on dodging then actually fighting. The few times he actually tries to attack (in melee range with his boomerang : | ) he gets his ass handed to him.

...then Tac asks Diwan for her ruling, and Diwan gives the thumbs down sign. Sadly, that means in REALITY to let him live, since unless I'm SUPER mistaken, it's thumbs up for death. But I can understand making the mistake, since even people now a days do it. Only now does it seem like Mahad's getting through to Kale, but Kale...he can't not kill him. However, this is ALSO when Lena decides it's time to use her Seijun powers to help Mahad out.

Kale strikes the ground near Mahad's head, sparing him, and then...THEN LENA BLOWS UP THE WALL AND FLIES TO THE ARENA LIKE A BADASS! HOLY ****! And...and then Diwan, seeing Lena, LEAPS FROM HER SPECTATORS BOOTH AND BLASTS AN ENERGY BLAST AT LENA WHILE FLIPPING THROUGH THE AIR! This is...FAR better fighting then they normally have, and this...this is PRETTY great. Lena is knocked down, and Diwan orders Kale to kill Mahad.

But no...Kale has decided he's done with this. Diwan knocks him off the arena with a blast (though he manages to catch the edge before falling to his death). Diwan then goes to finish off Mahad, but Lena gets up and slams her into the far side wall...which is over a pit so I hope Diwan isn't entirely knocked out or she's kinda dead. Oh, wait, there was an edge for her to be on. She and Lena start fighting while Mahad saves Kale. And by fighting I mean they two leap hiiigh into the air and...basically have a badass Dragonball Z fight. Holy ****. Tac then shows up, with a bunch of guns. He comes by just as Cortez says he was feeling useless, and we know that Diwan's gonna throw him in prison...so I think he's changing sides.

And change sides he does. With that done they're able to save Mahad and Kale from the group of brigs that are closing position on them. Dahlia is also on her way over, so she'll...probably start raining cannon fire down on the Colosseum in a bit too. Talk about escalation. Speakin' of, Lena just grabbed Diwan and tossed her down like 50 feet. It was PRETTY awesome. Lena then lands on the arena platform and tells everyone to jump, jumping off of it herself. I'm...going to assume the Saint Neziere or something is down there to pick them up and she saw that. Which would make sense she spent quite a bit of time in the sky. Everyone jumps off.

...oh. Lena's plan was to catch everyone with her powers after she landed. Nice one Lena. But yeah, everyone's saved, Kale's gonna become a farmer in Port Angel, and everyone's doing good. Tac's annoyed Mahad won't work with him on his next scheme because he "had one bad show". The end.

And that's the episode! My thoughts? This was a good one. It had a nice, tight plot, though it was a handled in a...lesser way then I'd handle it myself. I would of lingered more on Mahad's being a gladiator, actually have him fight and stuff, toughen up and become less of a jerkass. You know, evolve as a character. That ASIDE, this episode was actually pretty good. And seeing how the Seijun fighting has been...heavily upgraded, lets just say I'm SUPER excited for what could possibly be happening next.

[Rawhide]

We open on a telephone booth in the sky. It appears, to me at least, to be one of the scanners that the pirates have. Cheng is using the phone...and I mean he even put money in. It might of been a washer or something, but still. Kinda silly. Oh, Cheng (and Lena) are testing the phone to see if it can contact Vector, which it can, so they can MAKE IT be a movement detector. Cool!

Wow, you really do have no idea...

[LaZodiac]

Wow, you really do have no idea...

I'm...not sure what this means

[Rawhide]

I'm...not sure what this means

When did you last see a telephone booth?

[LaZodiac]

When did you last see a telephone booth?

A couple of episodes ago, which they also used as a scanner. I thought that this one WAS that one, which made it odd to me that they'd go to it

I'm sorry that my baffling stupidity has confused you, sorry

[Rawhide]

A couple of episodes ago, which they also used as a scanner. I thought that this one WAS that one, which made it odd to me that they'd go to it

I'm sorry that my baffling stupidity has confused you, sorry

How many episodes ago was that?

This was the same proximity sensor, it was set up and working back then, it is being set up and tested now...

[LaZodiac]

How many episodes ago was that?

This was the same proximity sensor, it was set up and working back then, it is being set up and tested now...

...I think last episode, maybe?

Anyway, are we sure it was the SAME sensor? Because like...how could it be the same sensor? That's really odd. I think the issue is that I just assumed it was a different sensor, not the same one, and thus I didn't notice the discrepancy. I know I'm not watching the episodes out of order, so it's not that...this is weird.

[Rawhide]

...I think last episode, maybe?

Anyway, are we sure it was the SAME sensor? Because like...how could it be the same sensor? That's really odd. I think the issue is that I just assumed it was a different sensor, not the same one, and thus I didn't notice the discrepancy. I know I'm not watching the episodes out of order, so it's not that...this is weird.

Try 6 episodes ago.

You are watching it out of order, this is the episode that revealed to me just how out of order the official order is.

Even if it was a different booth, they are all still new to the idea of turning a phone booth into a proximity sensor, like hey "this is a great new idea, hope we can get it to work".

[LaZodiac]

Try 6 episodes ago.

You are watching it out of order, this is the episode that revealed to me just how out of order the official order is.

Even if it was a different booth, they are all still new to the idea of turning a phone booth into a proximity sensor, like hey "this is a great new idea, hope we can get it to work".

Aaah, okay.

Maybe this is just a case of someone getting the scripts mixed up? I'm really curious about finding out WHY the episodes are so apparently out of order. Because like, on the one hand, yes they're "discovering they can do this" for the first time, but it's clear Diwan and Lena are stronger, so time has clearly passed in some way. Maybe the explanation is that this isn't them deciding "oh hey we can actually do this" and more "we can do it with THIS one."

Either way, I'd love to ask a show writer but they're probably about as likely to accept an interview from me as Monty, and is French on top of it. So...yeah, mysteriousness lost in time.

...that said I could TOTALLY TRY ANYWAY.

[Rawhide]

I have no idea what happened or why it happened. All I know is that Episode 15 should logically have taken place before Episode 9, not sure if one was brought forward or the other was pushed back. There's probably a few other episodes which have been shifted around slightly as well. This may have been the production order rather than the intended broadcast order or, given that they are all largely stand alone episodes with no overarching story arcs, someone may not have realised the importance of the order between these two episodes.

Funny story here. When JMS was working on a spin-off series after Babylon 5, called Crusade, he wanted to make another huge scale overarching and deep storyline, but the network wanted space brutes in space with action, fights, and brawls, in space. JMS wasn't happy with this but made a few episodes like that to appease them then tried to swing it to be more like Babylon 5 in scope. In the process, the crew uniforms changed. The network got wind of this (I mean, who would even suspect that JMS would try to make another show as deep as Babylon 5 straight after finishing Babylon 5?) and cancelled what could have been an excellent series. JMS et. al. went back through the recorded episodes and decided on which way they should be ordered. So, now the official order of the episodes is not the original broadcast order, and this means that in one episode they change uniforms to the new ones, then back to the old ones, then back again! The story works better this way, as long as you ignore the uniforms...

Some fans have even created a "laundry accident" explanation.

[Durkoala]

Wow, that sounded like an amazing episode.
I might start watching this in full, wow.

The whole telephone box conversation sounds... like something weird. Parts of the script seem to have been pasted into random bits throughout the show, if this is before the disco episode but there's a clear upgrade in the animation. Editors and Networks, eh?

[Rawhide]

The whole telephone box conversation sounds... like something weird. Parts of the script seem to have been pasted into random bits throughout the show, if this is before the disco episode but there's a clear upgrade in the animation. Editors and Networks, eh?

It's more likely that the disco episode was supposed to be after this, and was moved forward, given that Mahad learns some responsibility in that episode which is quickly forgotten.

[Durkoala]

So at some point in the future Mahad's going to suddenly develop responsibility? It could be worse.

[LaZodiac]

So at some point in the future Mahad's going to suddenly develop responsibility? It could be worse.

True, I could think of worse fates.

But yeah. I think, like that "laundry accident" mentioned above, we can just hand wave it away as either being a new one that they weren't sure about it working, or it's the original phone booth one that was broken. Because the former was what I thought after they revealed they were setting it up for motion detection.

[Rawhide]

Diwan obviously recognizes Diwan

Obviously.

(But seriously, who recognised who?)

KALE. Kale is a blonde sort of douchebag WIELDING A BO STAFF. SOMEONE knew about this .

No monkey tail.

[LaZodiac]

Obviously.

(But seriously, who recognised who?)



No monkey tail.

Mahad. She recognized Mahad. Have I mentioned the typo thing yet : D ?

If Kale shows up more (unlikely) he'll probably become a character like Sun, yeah. Kind of a shame, Kale actually seemed interesting...like Celia : (

[Durkoala]

I see you still hate Sun. I've been finding him more tolerable lately, myself.
Honestly, how likely is Kale turning into Sun 2.0? I'm still on the fence about watching this through, so I have no idea.
Good news, though! If the episodes are out of order enough, we may have Celia on the crew again with no explanation.

If I do start watching Skyland, should I start from the beginning, or just skip to Series two?

[LaZodiac]

I see you still hate Sun. I've been finding him more tolerable lately, myself.
Honestly, how likely is Kale turning into Sun 2.0? I'm still on the fence about watching this through, so I have no idea.
Good news, though! If the episodes are out of order enough, we may have Celia on the crew again with no explanation.

If I do start watching Skyland, should I start from the beginning, or just skip to Series two?

There is a zero sum chance of Kalr showing up beyond this episode, so none.

Thats...tough. Most of Season 1 is alright, especially the one were Oslo mindjacks Dahlia. But Season 2 is...substantially better. So, your choice!

Also, here's hoping. Celia forever!

[Rawhide]

Mahad. She recognized Mahad. Have I mentioned the typo thing yet : D ?

If Kale shows up more (unlikely) he'll probably become a character like Sun, yeah. Kind of a shame, Kale actually seemed interesting...like Celia : (

Yeah, I know the typo thing. But I didn't know if you meant that she recognised him or if he recognised her. Because both happened.

There is a zero sum chance of Kalr showing up beyond this episode, so none.

Thats...tough. Most of Season 1 is alright, especially the one were Oslo mindjacks Dahlia. But Season 2 is...substantially better. So, your choice!

Also, here's hoping. Celia forever!

I think you mean zero chance, not zero-sum chance, because that has a very different meaning.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, I know the typo thing. But I didn't know if you meant that she recognised him or if he recognised her. Because both happened.



I think you zero chance, not zero-sum chance, because that has a very different meaning.

That is what I meant, sorry

[LaZodiac]

Sorry chaps, no Skyland today. Instead lets have another weekend topic!

We've discussed Seijun powers, and the Blocks. So lets talk about our normies, the non-Seijun, non-robot. How do you think the show has handled the unpowered humans like Cortez, Dahlia, and Mahad? Does the reason for thier loss of use (the Brig upgrade) hold water? How would you improve the usefullness of these guys?

[Durkoala]

Well, I think I'd have to have watched Skyland to get a good idea of what's going on. Reviews can only tell you so much. I'm also starting Jojo's Bizarre adventure, so I'll have to see if I can fit Skylands into my viewing time.
That said, I hate characters suddenly getting pushed to the sidelines in favour of those with special powers.

Since Seijuns are unable to fly, the crew should be useful as they have the ship, which is a vital method of transport/getaway vehicle.

As always, the easy path for upgrading Mahad is to give him the symbiont. He'll have power to rival (or maybe exceed, considering Oslo's fear)Lena, but she has more versatility and experience, which keeps her as the main character.

Cortes can apparently punch Brigs to death. I don't think there's many upgrades that can compensate for that, except maybe spiky armour. The 'upgraded Brig' excuse certainly falls flat for him.

As a general idea that won't happen, I used to read a series of Books called The Shapeshifter. It was basic X-men/Harry potter fare, but with telepaths, telekinetics and other psychic powers (and one shapeshifter). One of the interesting bits was that although the heroes were a group of powerful psychic children of mysterious origin(the COLAs), there were also other people who had their own powers despite not being COLAs.
This could be something that Skylands could benefit from. The humans would have weaker or limited psychic abilities, but their powers would work at night. Of course, they might not count as normal people any more.

[LaZodiac]

Well, I think I'd have to have watched Skyland to get a good idea of what's going on. Reviews can only tell you so much. I'm also starting Jojo's Bizarre adventure, so I'll have to see if I can fit Skylands into my viewing time.
That said, I hate characters suddenly getting pushed to the sidelines in favour of those with special powers.

Hnnngh please enjoy *gives a thousand thumbs up*

Since Seijuns are unable to fly, the crew should be useful as they have the ship, which is a vital method of transport/getaway vehicle.

...well that comment is a bit incorrect given what happened last episode

As always, the easy path for upgrading Mahad is to give him the symbiont. He'll have power to rival (or maybe exceed, considering Oslo's fear)Lena, but she has more versatility and experience, which keeps her as the main character.

Yeah, that would of at least helped Mahad. Maybe have the Symbiont fuse with him like you suggested back then.

Cortes can apparently punch Brigs to death. I don't think there's many upgrades that can compensate for that, except maybe spiky armour. The 'upgraded Brig' excuse certainly falls flat for him.

We've yet to see him do it again but it's unquestionably a thing that happened. So I agree, it'd be good to see Cortes do some more stuff.

[Durkoala]

They were actually flying? It sounded like they were just jumping and hovering a lot.
Still, it might be that Sejuns don't have a great flight range compared to ships, which can keep going for days. Were Lena and Diwan noticeably quicker/slower than the flight speed for most ships? If they're slower, that's another advantage.

Also, you have forfeited your right to call anyone, hero or villain, too hammy.

'I WANT TO BE A GENTLEMAN!!'

[LaZodiac]

They were actually flying? It sounded like they were just jumping and hovering a lot.
Still, it might be that Sejuns don't have a great flight range compared to ships, which can keep going for days. Were Lena and Diwan noticeably quicker/slower than the flight speed for most ships? If they're slower, that's another advantage.

For most of the fight Diwan and Lena where in the air. You're right that it's more like hovering, and they'd need the ships for faster travel, but still. It's pretty Dragon Ball Z up in here.

Also, you have forfeited your right to call anyone, hero or villain, too hammy.

'I WANT TO BE A GENTLEMAN!!'

IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. It was made in the 1970s!

...ALSO YES IT IS THE BEST. YOU MUST BE A PROPER, MANLY GENTLEMAN!

[LaZodiac]

Oh hey it's an early Skyland update because I've got to pick up a job application package and also get my ID renewed! STUFFS AND THINGS.

Episode 16: Wind Devils

Spoiler

Show

Okay, you've got me interested. This title seems to imply something!

This episode opens up in...an actually really cool looking place. I can't tell what it is but it's a large floating chunk of wreckage, like a tower that was stripped open with a can opener running down it. It looks cool. Mahad in the Hyperion is escorting the Albatross, a water carrier, through this flying field of debris. Cheng's in the pilot seat with Mahad, and when Mahad makes to leave because they've finished clearing a path for them, Cheng points out that they haven't finished escorting it yet...which is a valid point.

Mahad doesn't care, he's gonna go wave sailing. Whatever that is. Cheng again points out that since the Albatross is full of water, it's basically a sitting duck, hardly able to dodge. It NEEDS an escort like the Hyperion. Mahad...continues to not care, saying that the waves he's going to be surfing in the Hyperion only show up once a year, and he's NOT missing out. I'm going to assume he just read this from a book because I doubt they've been pirates for a year, especially with Mahad's attitude...though with Mahad's attitude I imagine it's about as likely he'd of read a book.

Oh, okay. The wave sailing isn't done with the Hyperion. Mahad's just...gonna go out and surf the sky waves with like a surfboard or something. He's leaving Cheng in charge of the Hyperion, something Cheng's apparently always wanted to do. You...you know, Cheng is an experienced pilot despite being a kid, and a master technician and a very smart dude. Mahad's just leaving to surf some waves on a personal flying surfboard or whatever...why NOT let him go off to do something stupid when that means Cheng can pilot the Hyperion? I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually feel like I'm on Mahad's side for once. Cheng's a good pilot, at least with the Saint Naz, he can probably do this.

...oh. Mahad is going surfing on a Mosquito that was attached to the Hyperion. I'd bring up questions about how it was able to do that since the Hyperion itself is a fighter jet with no real storage or toeing capability, but then...it's a Mosquito, I bet it can latch onto anything. Also when he disembarked I think he forced the Hyperion to run into some debris. Good job Mahad.

Unfortunateley for Cheng, suddenly a massive wind storm happens, and he panics! He's able to escape unharmed, mostly, but the Albatross...their engine has failed, they're listing to the side, and they're basically all going to die. There's even CREW on the Albatross, who radio in to Cheng. Cheng frantically tries to find Mahad, who's busy surfing on these deadly winds, as the crew of the Albatross basically await their doom. It's...actually really tense. Thankfully, the Albatross is able to land on some wreckage, but it's smoking heavily and basically destroyed.

Meanwhile on the Saint Naz, Wayan relays the situation, in short, to Cortes. The Albatross sent a distress signal. Luckily, they ARE able to repair their engines...if they have time. And according to Vector, they...they kind of don't. The gravity wave currents are getting stronger at an exponential rate. I'll note that what Vector's saying is basically techno babble, but he mentions solar flares and stuff, and I know that Solar Flares CAN mess up with stuff so I suppose he has SOME basis in reality, if we assume that the core of Skyland is the one doing it. Still technobabble.

Ooh...the Albatross has six hours before the waves tear it asunder. Cortes is annoyed since the plane was to use these waves to get the Albatross home, since the Sphere (wisely) doesn't fly in these wave storms. Oof, that's bad. The reason why this happened is explicit. Sky Debris hit the Albatross, sending it into a wave current, that destroyed it's engine. Mahad was supposed to be clearing that debris away...and since he left Cheng in charge, who although he is a pilot of some degree with the Saint Naz, clearly wasn't up to the task of the Hyperion. Which I'll be fair, DOES make sense, though a part of me feels Cheng could of done it.

Cortes continues to have an actually pretty good voice actor, by Cortes saying gruffly and, quite clearly, annoyed voice "Why is nothing ever easy with him. Someone get me Mahad!"

We then cut to Mahad, and we get to see him pulling some Top Gun level **** with the Mosquito, flying around, loving the waves. Oh Mahad. We then get a nice contrast of Cheng trying to pilot the Hyperion, but having difficulty because of the waves, saying "I HATE THESE WAVES". It contrasts nice with Mahad saying he loves them, and also shows that Mahad really should of been the one to do this because he actually has the ability to deal WITH these waves, unlike poor Cheng here.

Cortes contacts Cheng and Cheng...actually covers for Mahad, saying he's busy doing repairs on the intake valves, since small chunks of debris got inside. I...I don't know how to feel about this. Cheng really should just throw Mahad to the dogs here, but I can sort of respect the fact that he's covering for his friends stupidity. Still though, Mahad's an irresponsible **** head, throw him under the buss.

Cortes and Vector fall for it, because Cheng's knowledge of technobabble allows him to make it sound believing. They leave...but Lena sticks around Coms to contact Cheng. Lena can easily see through the fact that he's lying through his teeth. He tries to resist, but Lena gives him a "Cheeeeeng" and he caves in under her glare of shame, and tells her what happened.

Lena, to her credit, does help cover for Mahad. She says she'll try to stall Cortes so Cheng can find Mahad. I can understand WHY she does this, since maybe Cheng will get in trouble and she's friends with Cheng. And I suppose she doesn't want to see her brother beaten black and blue by an angry scotsman, even if he does kind of deserve it.

Cheng goes off to find Mahad, saying that Mahad owes him big this time. I fully anticipate that Mahad will never pay his dues, but we'll see.

Meanwhile with Mahad, another Mosquito shows up! Mahad and the other Mosquito start combating each other to get the best waves. They then both land on a large chunk of debris. Out of the mysterious Mosquito is...a girl who looks sort of like Celia sort of. She's got more well kept hair...with strange twirly side burns, and she's got a star shaped tattoo on her cheek. She appears to recognize Mahad, saying "well well well, look who's back."

It's Lucretia! Pronounced Lou-creashyeah, not Lou-cretch-ia! Mahad clearly knows her, and tells her that she should of been more careful, she could of gotten them killed. Then grabs his shoulder and shushes him. She points out four Sphere shuttles that are flying by, and Mahad is like, oh no how did they track me here. But Lucretia reveals that naw, they're not after you Mahad. They're after ME!

Back with Saint Naz, they've finally made contact with the Albatross and can at least start evacuating the crew so they don't all die horrible deaths. Wayan says that he wishes they could have the Mosquito's to protect them, but the Mosquito's had to fly home so they would have room for the Albatross's water. As long as they don't encounter any Sphere shuttles everything will be fine. Oh dear.

...****in...and then Vector shows up and is all, and I'm quoting here, "Friendly reminder, we've only got one hour until the currents hit this area". He actually seems kind of happy to be saying it, too. Vector, we might all DIE. Stop being so cheerful. They begin transporting the crew and water, Cortes bemoaning the fact that they PROBABLY don't have any news from Mahad yet. Wayan simply says that he is right.

Anyway, back with Mahad and Lucretia, she's complaining about how Mahad almost killed her, and how it's pretty rude of him to do that just because he lost to her. Mahad says that no, SHE almost killed HIM, and "as to that race last year, I WON, but was disqualified on a technicality". Interesting...also at least this isn't a girl from Mahad's past that has an inexplicable crush on him like Honako. Though her voice DOES sound familiar...I think Dahlia's voice actress is doing Lucretia, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, Lucretia says losers always make excuses, and shoves Mahad. Mahad tries to say he's not a loser but her shove causes him to trip over the Mosquito's wing, causing him to fall over. Lucretia repeats that clearly, he is a loser. Mahad says that okay, maybe she's right, she won. But it wasn't decisive! So lets have a race right now to see who's the best. I...question the ability for someone to win but for the win to not be decisive, but then I think about Rocky and Real Steel and I realize hey, actually he's right. You can win and still feel like it's not a satisfying, "worth it" win.

Anyway, they begin racing. Lucretia flies a red Mosquito, so clearly she had the advantage. There isn't really much to say other then "and then they fly around for a bit". But then something happens, they come across a bulky looking pirate ship, which Mahad points out as "The Wind Devils!"

They land on the ship's hull, and Mahad is like "you're a Wind Devil?!" and Lucretia gloats, saying she's the LEADER. Mahad then actually gives us some backstory on this, by saying "Little ole Lucretia from Babylonia is the leader of the most notorious band of outlaws in Skyland?" which succeeds in telling us basically everything we need to know about their entire relationship. Lucretia was from Babylonia, the race they had a year ago was there, they likely WEREN'T involved romantically since he had Honako. SO yeah, now we know what her deal is.

Oh, okay. The ship they landed on is actually a sort of mobile HQ that they set up. The Wind Devils are stealing water from fringe colonies of the Sphere, to sell to people on the black market, all to fund their Wind Sailing hobby. I'll be honest, this is KIND of stupid, but I can totally understand it. Sometimes bandits just wanna have fun.

Meanwhile with the Saint Naz, they've got all the crew and the water onboard. Unfortunately...since the Water Carrier is designed to carry tons of water, the Saint Naz can't really hold it all as effectively, so it's hull is straining. Oh dear...and as the gravity swells get stronger, it starts messing up with communications. So Wayans says, with some regret, that it's getting too dangerous to wait around.

Speaking of which WHERE IS CHENG?

And then we cut to Cheng. Thanks Skyland! Cortes contacts Cheng and asks where Mahad is...and Cheng finally caves in and tells him the truth. Cortes simply orders Cheng back, saying that since Mahad got himself into this mess, he can get himself out of it. Harsh, but completely understandable.

Meanwhile with the Wind Devils, Lucretia is setting up the headquarters and everyone to start moving out, to avoid the Sphere patrols. Mahad is annoyed, saying that she should come with him to Port Angel to meet Cortes. Which makes sense, they're an experienced group of pilots who specialize in flying fighter jets, have their own mobile station, and have practice raiding the Sphere. They'd make good allies. Lucretia says she's no Robin Hood...which is ALSO accurate, since she's just doing this to fund her dangerous wave sailing hobby. Mahad says "right...you're a Wind Devil" and Lucretia counters by saying it's better then being a loser.

...a part of me doesn't want Lucretia to be recurring, since she's basically a female Mahad. ON THE OTHER HAND, it'd be nice for Mahad to learn some respect from having to deal with...what is essentially HIMSELF. Mahad insists he isn't a loser, and Lucretia tells him to check the race records, because his being a loser is clearly official. Mahad actually shows he does have some intelligence by saying that no, life has more to it then just racing. He says that unlike her, he has family, solid relationships that he can rely on. She's just a mercenary, as are her other Wind Devils, and when push comes to shove they won't help.

I'd argue that no, even a band of mercs would be faithful to each other...but they aren't actually a band of mercenaries. They're just people who work for Lucretia, getting paid to help steal water to get money, so they can wave sail. The Wind Devil hq is more like an inn, for people to come to to rest and pick up jobs. It COULD develop into a band of mercenaries, but it seems unlikely given the people who come to it. Of course I might just be wrong.

Oh dear. Two of the four Sphere shuttles are trailing Cheng. And since the Mosquito's are gone, it's up to Wayan to make some tricky shots with the Saint Naz's turret. Good luck, Wayan. And...and Lena is going to help too. She runs out and OH **** YEAH. She fires off a Seijun laser blast that tears through one of the shuttles, causing it to start dovetailing dooown into the sky. Wayan unloads a round of turret blasts into the other shuttle, and they get Cheng on board. Unfortunately, the Brigs on the other two shuttles are able to send out a distress call, since they haven't engaged with the enemy.

We cut back to the Wind Devils, and I'd just like to note something. The Saint Naz looks like a flying ocean liner, the Mosquito's and Hyperion look like thrown together Star Wars vehicles, as do the Shuttles and water carriers but with less thrown together-ness. But the Wind Devil hq...it honestly looks kind of alien. It's a floating cube with an extended roof to serve as an air strip. It reminds me of something out of Homeworld.

Anyway, Mahad is leaving because he feels he needs to help. Lucretia says that naw, it's too dangerous to leave, and besides they'll be fine. Then she gets a report that her men have cracked the Sphere communication codes and have a message. The message is a Brig reporting in for reinforcements from Oslo. This only makes Mahad want to leave MORE, so he can help...especially since Lucretia tells her men to stay out of it. Mahad's actually really annoyed at Lucretia, and she just says that he's crazy. He'll never make it back.

Also, minor note. TWO of the Brig shuttles where shot down. One from Lena's laser blast and another by Wayan's turret. Why are the Brig's always reporting only one was shot down? I...suppose it might be because technically Lea didn't destroy hers, just sent it spiraling downward, and she didn't use a gun and therefor didn't TECHNICALLY shoot it...but still. Seems like an error.

Diwan contacts the Saint Naziere to gloat, and Cortes says he doesn't engage in small talk with wannabe dictators. Cut to the chase, what do you want Diwan? Her answer is that she wants the water, Cortes himself, and Lena. In return everyone else will get to go home unharmed! Cortes orders Wayan to give the kind lady her answer, which is to unload the main cannons on her shuttle. She manages to escape harm. She orders the reinforcement of shuttles she's got to engage in attack. TAKE ONLY THE SEIJUN ALIVE!

So yeah, time for a dog fight. For the second time in the entire series, we get a cool sky battle, and we remember that the Saint Naziere has Star Trek style shielding. Vector helpfully points out that according to his calculations there are two things we're gonna have to deal with in like the next two minutes. First is, their shields are getting cut to pieces. Second is, in two minutes a huge gravity wave is going to swell up.

But then they see something on their scanners! A Mosquito has shown up...or at least I think it is, because apparently the vehicle Mahad and Lucretia where piloting aren't Mosquito's, but instead similiar looking ones called Wave Riders. I don't know, they don't have any real appreciable differences. Anyway, Mahad says he needs a real ship, SO HE OPENS UP THE COCKPIT MID FLIGHT AND CLIMBS ONTO THE BOTTOM OF A SPHERE SHUTTLE, SOMEHOW SNEAKS INSIDE, AND BASHES THE BRIG PILOT'S HEAD INTO THE WALL TO DESTROY IT.

This confirms two things. One, Brig Pilots ARE weaker then regular Brigs. At least I think it confirms this. The second thing it confirms is that if Mahad had a better personality he'd be a REALLY cool protagonist. Also, unfortunately for Mahad, the radio isn't working because of the gravity swells so he can't radio in to tell them to NOT blow him up. OOPS.

However, Lena tells them to stop shooting. Seijun sensing powers at work, my friend. They do, and Mahad leaps from the shuttle onto the Saint Naziere. So on the plus side they can start escaping...on the negative side the gravity wave is coming and it's so strong we can actually see it's pulsating black cloud. Cortes tells Mahad that...they have a big, big problem. Mahad says we can solve it once we're out of this mess, which is understandable.

Mahad then actually does something cool. He comes up with a plan to deal with the gravity wave. Be rerouting all energy to the shields, they'll be able to ride out the wave. Cortes is hesitant, but considering they probably can't make it out of the gravity wave, it's basically a do or die situation anyway. Cortes trusts Mahad...though he admits he must be crazy to do this.

To Mahad's credit it works. Cortes says he'll make an excellent pirate one day...when he learns to obey orders. Unfortunately for our heroes, Diwan and some of her shuttles made it out as well...though less in tact then they'd probably like to be, Diwan's even lost an engine. But uh...the Saint Naziere is a sitting duck with basically no power since the shields are dead. Uh oh.

...hahahaha. Then the Wind Devil station flies in and Diwan crashes into it, causing her shuttle to tumble down into the sky. Try and Seijun yourself out of this mess Diwan.

We get some nice banter between Cortes, Lucretia, and Mahad, and it all leads up to them having one final race to see who is the best, Lucretia or Mahad. Unfortunately for Mahad, his wave runner mosquito thing fails to lift off and instead screech's along the deck. It's completely destroyed, and he very easily could of died. Lena says her brother has the worst luck...only for Cheng to get this great grin on his face and say that it's not all luck. Lena says "You didn't!?" and Cheng lifts up a wrench is like yeah, yeah I did. He OWED ME. Mahad kicks the thing and hurts his foot, the end!

And that's it! My thoughts? This was pretty alright. I do think it's probably the weakest of Season 2's episodes so far...though that's not saying much considering overall it's been pretty great. It was nice seeing Mahad on the receiving end of...Mahad, for once. Lucretia is an interesting character, as is her Wind Devils, and though I DO think that of the side characters they're the least likely to return, and the ones I'd be least sad ABOUT them not returning, it's still a shame that we probably won't get to see them show up in a squadron of fighter jets to blow the **** out of some Sphere shuttles, Han Solo style.

Overall, this was a pretty decent episode.

[Coidzor]

Whee, playing Catsup!

Spoiler: Episode Thirteen: Finally, the show is teenager of episodes.

Show

This is it, mon cherry*, it's time for the final episode of Skyland, season 1.

Cheri. Also, yay.

*LaZodiac, despite the name, does not know french

I still wonder at that name even after hearing the expanation for it.

Episode 13: Life in Puerto Angel

A belowdecks episode about normal people in the Puerto of Angels? ... ... Wait a minute. Is Puerto Angel the result of what remained of Puerto Rico crashing into the remains of Los Angeles? The world may never know.

...well that sounds like a clip show, now doesn't it.

Oh, right. That would be horribad. And worse than actually fleshing out the setting by showing us people and life not engrossed in dodging the plot.

We open on...not Puerto Angel. Huh. It looks kind of like a...what do you call it. An inner city area, with street lights and buildings with stoops and stuff. Mahad is playing rock paper scissors with Lena, a game he's actually good at since he has a 1 in 3 chances of winning.

An entirely new part of the setting? But The Tiny Tot and her sidekick Annoying Lad are there. Though with Mahad I'd suspect that there'd exist some way for him to mess up that probability.

...though from what I can tell he's actually playing it against himself. He's also throwing his boomerang around. Mahad is very bored, it seems. He complains that Cheng is taking so long. Lena says that he should lighten up, he knows Cheng loves exploring old electronic shops. Makes sense, especially since Cheng is the techie.

Yeesh, you know things are bad when a guy is left playing with himself in front of his sister and firing off a deadly weapon haphazardly in an inhabited area.

Also, I'm suddenly reminded of Megaman Legends and I suspect that some of their equipment may very well be magicked up like that from random junk. XD

Mahad mutters that he's a geek, which is very rude, even for Mahad. Odd.

I'm mostly surprised Mahad would know what a geek was.

...odder still is the fact that Cheng leaves from..."The El Sombrero Restaurant". And he leaves it with a gramophone. Not the mind splitting high tech device I'd expect to find in 2088.

"I'll use this old gramophone to make some kind of sonic weaponry-focus component so Lena can shoot sonic boom bangers!"

Kind of impressive that such an antique would still be around with all the cataclysming.

Even Lena thinks that his gramophone is just a waste of time, but Cheng insists it's a collector's item. Which, to be fair, it is. It's a collector's item NOW, I'm going to assume futureland has even less of them. Cheng walks into the street and...suddenly a flying car drives by. Remember to always look both ways when crossing the street, even when the street is visibly destroyed on both ends and thus has no way of any cars to come by unless they happen to be flying for some reason.

Indeed, and he's planning on taking that collector's item and using it to make some kind of sub-weapon. For shame, Cheng. For shame. Destroying what little cultural heritage that humanity has left after they angered the gods or applied too much phlebotinum or whatever it was that borked up their reality.

Gotta have them flying cars, after all.

Out from the flying jalopy is...a dude who looks a lot like Vector but is incredibly british, wearing a bowler hat and glasses. He apologizes and introduces himself as...Max. Then out from the car comes a girl in generic green clothes who looks a hell of a lot like Celia, which Max introduces as Astrid. She smiles and waves. I'm noticing that we've now officially run out of character models.

If only there were some kind of scarf involved, then we'd know for sure that Mahad was going to end up racing him like Johnny from Chrono Trigger.

Mahad is awestruck by her beauty. This is not surprising. He does seem so awestruck that he doesn't trip over any horrible attempts to hit on her, though.

Finally, a woman Mahad doesn't stick his foot in his mouth around and she's dating some old British cousin of Vector's.

We cut to the Hyperion flying off. Cheng is entertaining Not Celia and Not Vector in the...lounge that the Hyperion apparently has, while Lena and Mahad argue in the cockpit. Lena thinks bringing Astrid and Max to Port Angel is unsafe. Mahad says that naw, it's fine. Anyone who's an enemy of Sphere is a friend of theirs.

Interesting. Why are they bringing them in the first place? Where were they? What were the pair doing flying into that alley(?) in the first place? Looking for them? And that wouldn't be suspicious?

This absolutely screams a trap but given that the car only appeared infront of our heroes because it literally started dying, I'm...NO! I refuse to believe it's NOT a trap. This is DEFINITELY a trap.

Oh, they crashed without crashing. That explains them ending up in that alley, then.

Finally, an honest to goodness trap! Whee!

As if to support this, Lena asks the obvious question of "how do you KNOW they're enemies of the Sphere?" Mahad counters by saying that even HE, without his super special magic powers, can see that this pastor (!!!) is way to kind and friendly to be a Sphere agent.

Religion in a kid's show being discussed on GITP? Oh dear. This can't end well.

Back at Port Angel...Pastor Max is playing a card shuffling gambling game. Um...sir? If you're NOT a bad guy, you're doing a pretty poor job of hiding it. I mean, I don't know how common this would be in say, Firefly, but a Pastor doing gambling games is kind of a bad sign.

Either that or it's to show he's a real... Card. That or it's to reveal that it's just a disguise.

Seems like it was a short trip, though, so I guess the Sphere's narrowing in on Tiny Tot and the Skyland Pirates' general area if they're that trap we're hoping them to be.

Oh hey I see Patroochi in the crowd. Anyway, Dahlia goes to pick which of the three cards is the Ace of Hearts, after watching him shuffle around for awhile. It's a ten of...clubs, I think. Dahlia is annoyed. Wayan goes next, and he gets the King of Spades. Everyone laughs at him like they did Dahlia. Dahlia especially.

So is it like... Find the Lady or something, only with cards instead of shells?

Oh dear. Did they just make a race joke using playing cards? Not sure why Dahlia especially would laugh at that, though. Did they used to date or something?

Cortez comes down and asks what's going on. Max pegs him to be a man with a keen eye, and goes to play the card following game with him. Only he doesn't actually show where the Ace IS to Cortez, so....yeah. Cortez is havin' none of this and demands Max tell him who he is. Max insists he's just a simple traveler, and everyone else tells Cortez to just play along with the game and find the Ace of Hearts.

How strange. Very subtle mind control powers that make people susceptible to suggestion from him?

Good to see that they waited until he was in the same room as their boss before thinking to ask "who are you people anyway?" XD

Cortez sighs, flips over a random card (which is not the ace) and tells everyone that game time is over, it's time to
pack up. He then asks where Astrid is...and also where Mahad is. Oh dear. Oh dear.

Ahah, the honey trap has been sprung!

Suddenly the Hyperion rises up from outside and Cheng goes "there he is!" as it flies off. Seems Mahad is taking Astrid out for a joy ride to impress her. We then cut to the Monolith. Diwan and a squadron of Brig's are looking for a man named "Shaun" and Oslo wants him found quickly, even going so far as to have Diwan hand out holograms of his appearance to every bar, inn, and tavern in Skyland. They're even giving out a reward! Though Oslo reveals he's only doing that so "the peasents will think they have a stake in helping us".

Oh, Mahad. Oh, Oslo, promising a reward that you could give and then saying "I never intend to give a reward even if people do help me, muahahahahaha, Crimestoppers, eat your hearts out." Oh, peasants.

Someone really needs to read the Evil Overlord list over here.

Back with the Hyperion, turns out ASTRID is driving. Mahad she's pretty good for- but then is cut off by Astrid saying "A girl, right?" to which Mahad implies "for your first time!" but then Astrid intentionally causes the Hyperion to take a heavy turn and starts stalling and it's sort of implied she's not actually doing this on purpose but I can't be sure because she started this by saying "oops~" but it sounded so...fake of an oops I'm not sure. Also Astrid's voice actor is fairly good.

I think you... spelling and grammar'd yourself a bit there early on in this paragraph, miss. Pretty sure he'd have to reply instead of imply there, for starters.

Oh noes, ambiguously intentional attempt to get them killed/shang-haied/crash-landededed alone together for an indeterminate length of time.

After she manages to even things out, Mahad starts small talking her. Asking her what she and her father do. Astrid says that they just go around traveling. Seeing new Blocks, meeting new people. It's great! Mahad...actually gets kind of somber here, and asks if she's ever considering staying in one place. "Where's home for you?" he asks, his voice actor...actually doing a pretty good job of making Mahad seem like he genuinely has feelings about this kind of thing. Astrid just smiles and says "Like Dad says, wherever we can put our hat." They both kind of lean in a bit, before Astrid says that maybe they should go back, and they do.

Oh, old man is her father, not her wossname. At least in terms of their cover.

Alas, no smooching for Mahad. I mean, yay, no smooching for Mahad. Boo, no crashing and dying for Mahad.

Also just noticed that Astrid kind of has a split between her front teeth. It's kind of weird.

You mean buck teeth? Like a rabbit or the archetypical view of an all-American cornfed child?

Back with Cortez, who's in Vector's Lighthouse, it appears they've found the signal for a hologram message. It...shows Max's face, and details all his crimes against the people of Skyland. Max is Shaun, and has been charged with burglary, though Cortez figures it's just scamming people out of money with gambling games, not strait up robbing people. Cortez also wonders why the Sphere wants THIS guy, so badly. He then decides to send Dahlia and Mahad to go check the ship. After they return, presumably.

He's just a harmless old grifter and codger, what could they want him for? Unless, he's a SPAH! A SPAH gone rogue. Or something. Or didn't sap enough sentries.

We then just sorta cut to that inner city area. Mahad is throwing his boomerang around while Dahlia investigates their old junker of a sky car. Mahad continues to be bored in this place, despite having a job to do in investigating their jalopy. Dahlia meanwhile says she's got a feeling Cortez is right. There's something suspicious about them! IS IT A TRAP OR NOT?!

Woo, it hasn't been stripped by jawas yet. Somehow.

Mahad is just lazy and easily bored so he'd rather be bored than actually do something. XD

While investigating the car, Dahlia...finds one of Astrid's hair clips and throws it to Mahad. Mahad catches it and starts swooning about how shiny her hair is. This is unbelievably awkward but I'm sure Dahlia is glad to have Mahad off of her for once. Though even she has a limit, and bops her head on the inside of the car door, saying he's disgusting her and it'd be pretty great if he could get off his ass and help her search the car.

Oh, Mahad, you and not being able to keep quiet to women about other women. Glad someone calls him out for being lazy.

Mahad says there's no point to help since they're obviously good people. Dahlia says it's better safe then sorry, which is completely true. Mahad starts getting indignant, saying "everyone's a suspect to you" even though Dahlia's never really thought anyone was a spy up until this moment, that I recall.

Mahad's just a mood swing from remembering that he still has some puberty to finish up.

Mahad...starts ranting about how the problem with "you people" is that you think everyone is Sphere. HE starts flailing around like an idiot while shouting "Sphere here, Sphere there! Sphere everywhere! Help me help me it's the Sphere!" which is actually kind of funny, if out of place (though not out of character).

He's such a chickenwuss. XD

Dahlia gets pissed and hits the wheel of the car, causing something to fall from the...little sun blocker thing on the top of the car that would give car seat information. Before she can rightly investigate what this is though...Mahad interrupts his rant to note that the Sphere are ACTUALLY here. Since Diwan said she was heading to Shaun's last known location, this all but confirms that Max is Shaun. And that it's not a trap. Mahad grabs Dahlia by the arm and they run off, unable to get the thing that fell.

Hooray, things found through frustration and wanting to violence a main character!

And then Mahad was the boy who cried wolf. Hope Dahlia grabbed it instead of just leaving it for Baldy, though.

Diwan roughs up the car a bit, disgusted by how crappy it is, saying "is this a joke?". Unfortunately, after tearing one of the doors off by slamming it into the car, the shiny gold thing Dahlia almost found falls out. Diwan is veeery interested in what it is.

Haha, no, of course not.

Back with Vector, he's looking at some kind of fancy sigil thing on paper. This is apparently the design of the thing that Dahlia found, that she was able to remember long enough to tell Vector what it is. Apparently, it's an Aragonian Freedom Metal, the highest form of honour a civilian can get in all of Skyland. Interesting...wonder what it could mean. Did Maxshaun steal it, or is it his?

Argonians!? NOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh, Aragonian. ... ... What's a British Man doing with a medal from a defunct proto-Spanish Iberian Kingdom?

...Vector says that the last person to obtain this medal is "Shaun of Aragon", a scientist. He was awarded this medal for "almost" finishing his work on Hydrogen Oxygen Subdivision...which means he almost created water out of nothing, essentially. This...this guy was kind of a big deal. Also likely not a civilian given he's a scientist.

Oh my. A scientist who is also a royal. And who can almost just make water out of thin air.

Mahad asks what HO subdivision is because he skipped science class. Dahlia...explains this...sort of. She says it's a "way to make water out of water" which...isn't ENTIRELY accurate, but okay. Basically the idea is that you take hydrogen and oxygen and then fuse em together to make H2O, water. Now, according to MY science teacher, the energy required to make an H2O molecule artificially like they're doing here would be so much that it would destroy an equal amount of H2O molecule's in the process, effectively giving no gain what so ever.

Oh, ok, so at least they're actually fusing hydrogen and oxygen together rather than just magicking it up with science?

OF course when I asked "what if they tried to do this when there was no water left at all" his answer was "that's a weird question" and he never tried to elaborate on the possibilities as a proper scientist should so...GRAIN OF SALT and all that. Point is, Shaunmax was almost able to create water.

Alas.

More like Sham and Max.

The radio then picks up a Diwan radio alert that says they're looking for Max, by the name Max. This seem's kind of silly, that she'd know his new name, but it's likely she found it inside the car. Though...now I'm wondering, why hasn't Astrid been mentioned in any of this? At any rate, they decide to interrogate Shaunmax and see if he really is Shaun of Aragon.

Astrid is secretly.... THE CARGO HE STOLE AS A SPAH SCIENTIST!?!!!!

Meanwhile with Mahad, he's visiting Astrid in a rather dark room. Every scene that involves Mahad and a non familial female tends to start off kind of creepy doesn't it? Astrid asks if they'll hurt Max, but Mahad ensures her that no, they won't, after all they're not the Sphere. Mahad then adds that he suspects Astrid hasn't been completely honest with him, which she agrees with. Oh dear.

Oh, the things some do in the dark. And Mahad never actually seems to do but keeps going in that way.

Mahad's being asked to betray his friends and he hasn't even gotten some answers from her in exchange for it, eh? Soun

Cortez grills Max for awhile, until suddenly Mahad and Astrid show up at the door! Mahad has something to tell them. Max is all like "Astrid, you told them?" and she goes "I had to. They want to help us Daddy" which is a little uncomfortable because people who'd be around 17 years old likely wouldn't call their Dad "Daddy" anymore.

Oh, that was about Astrid and Maxamillian Shaunasus being hurt, not Mahad being hurt for betraying his friends. How silly. XD

Depends on how creepy/saccharine/manipulative said 17 year old girl wants to be, in my experience.

Maxshaun then caves and reveals that yes, he is Shaun of Aragon. He faked his death via explosion to protect his daughter from The Sphere when he was on the cusp of mastering his research, since he knows the Sphere would attack him if he did so. Mahad says that he's in danger NOW, so he might as well finish his work and then release it to the public so that everyone can make their own infinite water device that is apparently also easily arm-able into some kind of bomb. Clearly this is a good idea, and if Shaun does this the Sphere would have no reason to chase him anymore.

...Who awarded him his medal if the Sphere would want him dead for actually giving them the ability to create water from raw materials?

Oh my. Infrastructure that doubles as WMDs. Whee! XD

Mahad apparently has no concept of revenge. Neither does Vector, who agree's with this plan, saying that if everyone could create water themselves, it'd end the Sphere dictator ship. Not...not exactly, guys. Anyway, this convinces Shaun, and they head off to create infinite water for everyone which certainly won't incite Sphere to just blow that **** up.

Well, it'd make chasing him out of anything but spite/revenge pointless, bumping him down in terms of priority and letting capturing Lena and making her Oslo's loli-bride become top, plot-driving priority again. So there's that, I suppose.

I suppose it'd weaken part of the Sphere's power base, but, well, once they've got armies and material and control to the point where all rebellion and resistance has to be clandestine-ish...

....hahaaahahahaha. Metric VS Imperial joke as Shaun and Vector start fighting over temperature math in his lighthouse. This is great also I think it all but confirms Shaun's lying. Shaun claims that this slip up is just due to him being rusty. RUSTY WITH THE BRAINTHINKING, I suppose. Meanwhile Mahad and Astrid are just sorta sitting together in a garden of wheat, talking about how Mahad is being hunted by the Sphere as well. More talking about staying here, making a life here, but being unable to because Shaun doesn't want to, being too afraid of Sphere. It's a good scene.

Temperature math? Oh dear.

Wheat garden. That is a very amusing mental image. "I'm too afraid of the Sphere to stay with the people who have been hunted by the Sphere for ages and have gotten a pretty good system in place of avoiding the Sphere." Oh, Sham and Max. XD

Astrid actually gets pretty emotional. Mahad's the first person she's trusted in a long time, and she knows that soon...she'll have to leave again, and it hurts her. She gets up and runs off. We cut back to the lighthouse, where Vector is...just plain furious that Shaun is as dumb as a sack of bricks. He doesn't know a THING about Science!

More like the only person near to her age that she's seen in a long time, amirite? Leading us to the "run away from him" school of flirtation. XD

Must be Shaun's long-lost twin brother, then. Or maybe he experienced brain damage in that explosion and lost his science cortex?

...HAHAHA! CORTEZ SAYS "IS THIS SOME SORT OF TRAP?!" YES! YES IT IS CORTEZ! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP! TRAP!
Please be a trap it's been so long! Cortez threatens to hand him over to the Sphere if he doesn't hear the truth, now! Shaun admits, finally, that no, he is not Shaun. He's tired of running and hiding, constantly living on the suffering of others. While he admits all of this, Astrid watches from hiding. Max is just a deliveryman, who was bringing materials to Shaun's lab. After he left...it exploded.

You just really need it to be a trap this time.

Well, that just makes things even weirder. Why would the Sphere, who would know what Shaun looked like mistake a deliveryman for Shaun when they used him to deliver their bomb to assassinate Shaun in the first place?

The...the reason he lied is because he just wanted his daughter to think he was someone special and important. That's...REALLY twisted, man. Astrid runs off, while Mahad says that it's okay. They'll help them, right Cortez? Before Cortez can answer Mahad's question we cut to Astrid and she's stealing a Mosquito to run away! As she flies off she says to herself "Now it's time to help my father"...oh dear

She... ... ... How long ago did this happen? I mean, that's... My brain hurts.

Astrid's going to do something stupid and suicidal. yaaaay.

Back in the Lighthouse, Diwan starts radio broadcasting another Skyland wide message. They've captured Max's daughter, and are saying "Hey...Shaun of Aragon. We've got your daughter. Surrender to us and we'll let her go." Astrid, meanwhile, continues to insist that no, Max isn't Shaun of Aragon, please stop thinking he is. So...so much for that plan eh Astrid!

Dumb dumb dumb. Like... Dumb all around. So dumb.

They then begin planning a way to save Astrid without giving up Max. Mahad of course suggests a full frontal attack...which is shot down about as easily as they would be if they attacked a Sphere squadron. Mahad says he's not going to sit around and do nothing, no matter what the plan is. However, Max could honestly care less. He wants to give himself in. Cortez says this is a VERY poor idea, since he's not actually Shaun of Aragon. Max helpfully points out that THEY don't know that, and by the time they DO Astrid will be free anyway so who cares. Max is a good father.

Pfft. Like they'd give up his daughter in exchange for him turning himself in.

...pffth. Okay, okay, that's good. They set up Max's communicator in his hat, and after Vector tests it with him Max says "this gives talking through my hat a new meaning" and I'll admit I LAUGHED DAMNIT! I feel awful for laughing at it but I did. Cortez says not to get attached...and kind of forgets to do his scottish accent in this scene. Ooops! Anyway, they have a plan, apparently to get the both of them back.

Yay voice acting goofs.

Anyway, Max begins the trade of himself for his daughter. Diwan notes that this is almost too easy, cursing herself to the failure we sort of expected was going to happen anyway because Diwan is a failure. To support this, Diwan says that Astrid's attempts at tricking them (which where clearly on Shaun's orders) are no match for her! Max flatters her intelligence for seeing through the ruse, which she appreciates and compliments him on his eloquence. Today is a good day for Diwan.

Everything's coming up Diwan.

...the plan involves Vector feeding Max lines. Problem, he's kind of half deaf because he says watering cans instead of "water can" at one point, and other such goofs. Vector is absolutely bothered by this incompetence, but it seems to be working. Emphasis on seems to. The lie is that "Shaun" totally found out a way to create water and energy out of itself.

Woo, poor signal and bad hearing.

Oh **** son, Diwan is actually kind of smart, and says that hey, does that mean you're going to try the *technobabble equation name that might be a real equation I don't know* and Max's answer is "..." because Vector's connection to the hat radio dropped. This is why you splurge for the better carrier, guys.

Ahh, lost signal. And weird that Diwan knows anything. I guess being a Seijun doesn't make you automatically completely stupid at book-learning, just other forms of smartness?

So...yeah, it's up to Max to start bull****ting like his life depended on it. Because it does, now more then ever.

Ayep.

...**** is he bad at this. He literally says "I...I'm I'm sorry, but I'm just waiting for the little voice in my head" and I mean he explains that away, but JEEZ he is not subtle or good at this at all wow. No wonder they had to move so often.

Ayeeep.

Diwan obviously see's through this, takes his hat, and puts it on her head just as Vector gets back the connection to say it's a trap because the equation is in fact a fake one! Diwan says "YOU'RE JUST A FOOL" which actually sounds pretty funny from the girl who now looks like a gender flippped, inverted colour scheme Clockwork Orange character.

A fake test? What fiendish Diwanish insight and cunning.

Diwan shouts "TRANSMISSION TERMINATED!" and throws the hat away, and surrounds the two with her Brigs. We get a cheesy message about how Max was ALWAYS special to Astrid because "you're my father" and so on. They hug, Diwan says this is sickening (I kind of agree, if only because it's a bit...generic, I suppose) and...oh jeez, Diwan orders her Brigs to prepare to fire. She's gonna straight up execute the guy!

What, they didn't even shoots the hat? XD Oh, Diwan, missed opportunities.

That is pretty cheesy and silly, though I'm still left wondering what's wrong with the Sphere's bureaucracy that led to this situation.

However before she can all five Brig's get their heads cut clean off by Mahad's boomerang. Yay consistency. Mahad compliments Diwan, saying "did you do something with your hair?". This is funny only in the fact that Diwan is bald, so it's kind of a good line. Mahad is on top of a building by the way.

Buzzsaw Boomeranging. And he plays with it like a toy. XD

I don't think that was a compliment, I'm pretty sure that was just a straight up dig.

...jeez, Diwan just slugs Mahad with a Seijun blast, knocking him down. But he's alright...though minus his boomerang. Diwan taunts him about that, saying "dropped your toy?" in a really weird way because Diwan's voice actor seems kinda...strange after Mahad showed up. Not sure what's up, just feels wrong.

Heh. Just straight up knocked on his ass and disarmed after showing up and getting rid of her minions. Oh, people.

Interferencey strange? The mic started going out but this was their only take strange?

Mahad hurries down a fire escape to try and retrieve his boomerang while Diwan slow walks towards it. If she put in any effort she'd totally beat him to it and then be able to kill him at her leisure. But Diwan's never been the brightest of baddies. Also, it's so close to her she's able to get to it anyway. She quips to herself about how boys who leave their toys around should lose them...only for Lena to appear, tell her to get her hands off of her brother's stuff, and Seijun Blast Diwan...right off the edge of the platform again

Well, it's just so much more evil when you leisurely stroll towards things. And only appropriate if you have the time to do so. And of course, her most crucial mistake was forgetting that when Annoying Lad shows up, the Tiny Tot Avenger is never far off.

This time instead of holding onto the edge, she strait up falls like 20 feet and slams into a small person sized block. She's hurting and, worse, kind of can't do jack **** at the moment. I think we get a reused shot from episode 3 of Diwan getting angry at being beaten by children, but I'm not sure.

Oh my. That actually sounds relatively serious as far as battle damage and consequences go for this series.

So yeah, Max and Astrid are saved, Max gets his hat back and established communication with Vector. HE starts saying that hey, he's been thinking about the water creation thing and he has some ideas! Cortez stats making static sounds so Vector can say they're losing connection and hangs up. Okay, that's...pretty great. They've had enough of his fake science.

Yay for Diwan not shooting it or crushing it or vaporizing it with her Seijun Fightan Magic.

Max is baffled by this and spends the rest of the episode (just like a minute or so) looking into and talking into his hat, trying to find out what's wrong. Mahad...actually smoothly and politely offers his hand to Astrid to show her around Port Angel, which she accepts, and the episode ends.

Mission accomplished: Mahad actually has a date.

And that's the episode! My thoughts? I...take it or leave it. This episode was kind of alright I guess. Not bad, but certainly not...GOOD, either. It had some really good scenes with Mahad, and it appears that at least with girls, he's gaining some character development. I like this! We're NEVER going to see Astrid or Max again though, are we? Isn't that right, Celia and Symbiont? Yeah...yeah. We're never seeing these guys again. Also this was in NO way a season finale holy crap guys.

Good scenes? With Mahad? Inconceivable. XD Yay for one-off characters that aren't really dealt with or written off and are instead just dropped despite having several threads dangling. And as an alternative to ending the season properly, too. XD

So, that was the final episode of the season. Over all? This was a...pretty good season. It had more good then bad. It started off great, kind of dipped in quality substantially, then quickly rose back up to becoming a FAIRLY decent show. It's requirement to stay locked firmly within the Status Quo box hurt it a lot, and I hope in the future they're able to get away from that. As it stands the only real negative I can give is...there's really no plot beyond getting Mom back, and we've got one or two things that could help with that in a 13 episode season. We're not heroes, we're not rebels, we're just people living with pirates, trying to get our Mom back maybe if we are able to. It's kind of weird. We've got a prophecy and opening narration that makes Mahad and Lena a big deal, they're the ONLY way to stop the Sphere...and really all they've done is sit around doing random stuff.

Yep. Pretty weak arc so far, all in all. I mean, it'd be one thing if Oslo had kept up with his whole "I WILL CHASE THEM DOWN AND MAKE THE LOLI MY WAIFU" shtick from the get-go, but that got dropped onto the back-burner fast and hard, probably with good reason, but actively having to run from and evade a big bad would at least have provided some unity to it and have explained the low rate of actually doing things or acquiring medium-and-long-term goals.

Oh, one last personal thought. The Seijun powers could afford to be more unique and interesting. I was thinking it might be like say, One Piece or Needless, where the sun powered powers was just justification for whatever crazy powers they'd come up with. Instead it's a pretty down to earth psionic power set, that could afford to be elaborated on a little more since it's one of the more interesting aspects of the series. Here's hoping for better Seijun stuff next season.

Yep.

So, here's MY question to you guys. What are YOUR thoughts on the series?

Needs more fleshing out of basically everything and a real raison d'etre for a bunch and to actually build the show rather than having several one-off characters who, while briefly entertaining, don't really build the world or the main cast. So basically a lot of what you've said.

And I have to split it up so it doesn't overwhelm the post character limit. XD