The Robots

[Carth]

One happy thing about reading this thread was realizing Zeakari used to go here. The other happy thing was...was I the only one who was sometimes disappointed that the Lyoko Warriors never at any point got a giant mecha? It would've been lulz! Really! Well, this is about as close as we get. I can't remember if this is a good or a bad one. I remember it has robots, more robots, and <s>the high point of Thomas Jolivet's career</s> some more robots.

I just noticed the theme is just credited as "Code Lyoko", and not "Un Monde Sans Danger" or "A World Without Danger". Cheapos.

Oho, we've got doom music! And a doom factory! I like the upper factory, it's all full of awesome broken things. XANA-puters.

I'm curious as to what branch of science they're actually learning. It must be "Relevance to the Plot 101". And I'm also wondering why Hertz is doing that without wearing any sort of protective mask or gloves or whatever. Do you need one to drill at titanium?

"I'm afraid this alloy would be a bit out of your budget range, Herb." No relevance to this at all, but I'm sure that with Jeremie's covert place as a master embezzler he gets whatever he needs to build anything.

Ah, the robot competition. I'm surprised that Jeremie and Herb seem to be the only contestants. Sissi must know this robot is supposed to look like her, cause she looks stoked.

Back to the lab again. Is robot-building time for XANA! Hey, uh, anyone remember those robots XANA made in that one Replika later in the series? I was disappointed those didn't actually come to their full potential. The Lyoko Warriors nipped a potentially fantastic finale right in the bud.

RED EYES. Cool hieroglyphs!

And now...we have Herb's greatest triumph! LOL, there's a soccer poster on the wall that clearly reads "FOOTBALL". Anyway, this looks like Herb's (or Herb and Nicolas's) room. Iron Sissi does not actually look all that bad for a robot made by an eighth grader. And making a robot at all is pretty neat. I mean, humans couldn't make robots for thousands of years.

Did the robot just swipe at her? I'd think the arms were just decoration. Herb, Nicolas, are you really so desperate for friends that you'll take a girl that clearly threatens you?

On the flipside, Jeremie's friends are far more supportive of his robot, which to be sure is more skillfully made. Kiwi 2, how ya doin? Aelita makes the face I don't like, but it's wonderful that they're including her in the conversations. Kiwi looks a little freaked.

"He's almost as cute as the original! Congratulations!" So Aelita can see what's going on on the outside. And something's wrong with her voice filter cause it's really quiet.

Okay, yeah, the pee gag is funny, but why? Do robots *need* to discharge oil in that manner? Oh, so now Jeremie explains it...but why that way? And why's Odd so pi- er, mad? Kiwi seems to go all over the place.

While this episode isn't quite up to Frontier snuff, the plots and scenes are definitely tightening up. It's beyond what most of Season 1 has been, just in the feel of it.

Computer! Why do they see all these other students with it? Maybe it's the Kadic files, not just the supercomputer ones.

Jim is announcer! Oh, so this is the grand finale, meaning Iron Sissi and Kiwi 2 beat the bolts out of all the inferior competitors. Aww, peoples are cheering for the pup! I wonder why they don't question who the original Kiwi was. Tamiya has a point about the lack of suspense.

Okay, Herb, that just generates dislike! Though if my enemy had that kind of smirk on his face I'd be nervous too. This game is a little strange, but, whatever. Why can't they just beat each other? Isn't that what they do in robot competitions?

Mountains! Pulsations! I'm glad they get the super-scan, these pulsations aren't the most reliable. Or quick. And Aelita, you know Jerbutt's busy! Robot robot.

Herb's gonna break his controller if he keeps this up. "Very good, but I've never seen a robot so ugly!" I LOVE YOU, JEAN-PIERRE.

Mountains. Aelita appears to be holding the idiot ball, unfortunately...Bloks. I just remembered we haven't seen a Megatank in a while.

This match is actually pretty suspensefulicious. I mean, Jerbutt and Herb are pretty evenly match. The black and white shots are a bit melodramatic. Jeremie's tuckered out without doing anything at all.

I always think Aelita's very lucky when she jumps through the mountain fog like that.

ROBOT. And robots. So of course it looks like Kiwi 2's gonna git it...until Herb presses the secret button! You cheating skank! So Team Sissi is winrar. And now for the screenshot that made everyone go "wtf", him blushing and pinching at her shirt...I find it hilarious how she just sort of tossed him aside. If she'd kept him there another second, he might have asked her out on a romantic experience in the moonlight.

"And remember, class 9-B, you've got Phys. Ed in 9 minutes! Poor bubs.

ROBOT. And Jeremie's a sad panda...but Milly and Tamiya expose the bull!

"I guess we did win, but it's still the ugliest robot I've ever seen." Woof, Sissi, you're a tough customer. But I guess Herb's happy. And Nicolas got a hug.

And all of a sudden, Herb cheating doesn't seem to be all that big a deal, as ROBOT makes his entrance! ROBOT's actually pretty neat lookin, for something made in a cave with a pile of scraps. Poor Jeremie...he has a lot of suffering.

YAY THIS SCENE! I love how Yumi's all like "huh"? I know the "Phys. Ed. in 9 minutes" was maybe supposed to explain this, but do we care? THOMAS JOLIVET IS SHIRTLESSSS~ And he's covering himself and blushing, that's so cute! And I think the other guy is Christophe M'Bala, the only 9th grader so far that's actually in 9th grade. He's a stereotypical ebonics talker. How sad.

Anyway, back to ROBOTS! No s**t, Sherlock, she's been trying to reach you for a while now! Her voice filter's still bad. Not much to say here, except that they really work well now as a team...at least compared to Big Bug, when they were all separated and disjointed.

It might actually be better that ROBOT is *out* of the factory...unless XANA's making more...!

Looks like the Blok situation is still bad. At least Aelita's getting her exercise. I wonder if exercise on Lyoko translates to exercise on Earth...

Oh, right! The robot screwed with the computer! (What's the purpose of the holomap, anyway? He has a better one on the screen!)

Ah, so now we have to turn to Herb to save the day!

The computer has a lot of wires. I wonder if Jeremie knows what they all do. And we have computer!

LOL! They just kidnapped Herb! I should make an avatar of that. It appears Herb has intense loyalty to Sissi. Even though she abuses him horribly. Uh.

It might've been more in their interests to paint Herb as a hero for stopping the robot. But this works too!

LOL! Ulrich's got an even bigger forehead than before!

Franz Hopper should have tightened up the computer's programs a little more. They always seem to fall apart at the worst junctures.

Scanner. Now they have purpose in wondering whether the transfer went alright.

I have to say Herb's pretty smart in his own right. He's just not mature. See, he made that robot in a very short span of time. And would there be titanium lying around in the factory? If it really is expensive and Jerbutt wanted scrap, he would have yoinked it all by now.

Ulrich go smack. This is actually pretty good real world action for the time. And the little robot is messing around with the big robot...

And some slight Ulrich/Yumi cute! Aww. Robot. Little robot worked! Yay! (Anyone noticed that the past few nail biters have not really been nail biters?)

Okay, Lyoko! Pretty awesome! I just noticed- in all of Season 1, Odd only actually ran out of arrows...once? Did he run out more?

Aww, Herb blushed when Yumi complimented him! I'm not sure if it'd be better for him or worse for her for him to chase her...

The tower is spinning! That's not good!

ANOTHER ROBOT. I like the frantic feel of this episode. It feels...real.

A THIRD ROBOT. And now this one's got guns! It's almost like a primitive version of that one episode.

Scanner.

Shooting guns at children, are we? And where'd that Kankrelat come from all of a sudden?

And we're in the tower! Nail biter minute. Returntothepast.

Meanwhile, back at the competition...Kiwi 2 is winrar! Again, the smirk...and now, instead of being a hero, Herb's a sore loser and spoilsport.

I think CL's losing the tiniest track of its character dynamics. And yet it works. I don't know what Odd's thinking...

My copy of the episode just cut off. But did Sissi dissolve her gang? If she did, that's another non-enduring event.

Anyway

PROS
- Threatening XANA attack
- Great teamwork
- ROBOTS
- JOLIVET~
- Herb gets some time to shine

CONS
- Clearly filler. But good filler.
- Robot competition was iffy

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, I have to say. Only six episodes to the end of Season 1! I can't wait- I'm getting a little tired of Season 1's linear format, I have to admit. It's getting a little repetitive- a collective con.