Season 4 Episode 1: William Returns

[Stonecreek]

The only thing I really liked about the episode, other than the fact its new CL, was the better animation. The mechanations of the plot seemingly remain the same, despite any obvious motive as to why XANA would want Aelita now. Willian appearing when he did was way too convinient, and Sissi reverting to uber*itch mode was a disappointment. Was it just me, or did her voice sound slightly different, as in older? Wouldn;t that mean she matured a little, character-wise? Sure didn't show it here. There were the occasional chuckles to break up the action, but the action itself treaded familiar territory. I want ot see some innovation out of a show going into its fourth season rather than it relying on what worked before.

On the other hand, I can't wait for screencaps of this episode. I saw some captioning gold in the episode.

[Sithking Zero offline]

YAY!!! My TiVo caught the episode!!! I'm not a hopeless outcast from LF.net!

[Carth]

Yeah, I noticed all of that too...

Of course, this being the first episode, and with 29 to go, we have no clue what will transpire. Maybe things will get better again. Maybe the couplings will come back. A lot can be done with 29 episodes, even if there are some lame fillers here and there.

I'm being optomistic here, so don't push me down or anything. I've noticed Rodri hasn't said anything as of yet...

[Tekirai offline]

YAY!!! My TiVo caught the episode!!! I'm not a hopeless outcast from LF.net!

Oi oi... who you calling a hopeless outcast... l_T

I saw the intro though- seems a bit more crisp but not as WAYHEY 6 SCENES AT ONCE as the last two were. They were all season 3 clips excluding the odd season 4 clips... :\ Boo.

[Writing_Addict offline]

I've noticed Rodri hasn't said anything as of yet...

Oh goodie...I'm not the only one!

By the way, I seriously think Moonscoop was bored when they though of Jym dancing at the end....


But no addition to anything important...^^

[yumi_yemimah offline]

This is great..its an awesome episode..I am watching it as we speak..no offense to anyone that cant..but it will be shown...or it will end up online.

HEY where did you guys get to see the episode ? im so jealous

[AmericanLyokoTeam offline]

I did some thinking on XANiam's behavior and destination, and have to conclude it's not Aelita he already cares about as anything but a bargaining chip. XANA isn't afraid of the kids: annoying as they are, he's out beyond their control now in his own setup. He could have just trashed the world already, but my feeling is there is still a thorn in his side named Franz Hopper. In S3 he probably trashed Lyoko with the notion of killing Franz. In S4, he knows Franz is out there too, and probably wants to use Aelita as a bargaining chip against him, hence all the trouble to capture her and take her to a specific location rather than just killing her at any point along the line.

[Reesane offline]

I did some thinking on XANiam's behavior and destination, and have to conclude it's not Aelita he already cares about as anything but a bargaining chip. XANA isn't afraid of the kids: annoying as they are, he's out beyond their control now in his own setup. He could have just trashed the world already, but my feeling is there is still a thorn in his side named Franz Hopper. In S3 he probably trashed Lyoko with the notion of killing Franz. In S4, he knows Franz is out there too, and probably wants to use Aelita as a bargaining chip against him, hence all the trouble to capture her and take her to a specific location rather than just killing her at any point along the line.

To add on to that, if XANA wanted Aelita dead, couldn't he have told William to throtal her in her room insted of draging her to the factory and then through the lyoko? Also, why did William say "Prisoner of XANA" insted of "Killed by XANA"?

[UltimaHedgie offline]

Seriously, I just watched it on YouTube, and... IT'S FRICKIN' AWESOME!

Overall, I give it a 9. However, I voted '8' because 9 isn't available and 10 is too high. I think that everything plays out quite well. I also like how it's clearly shown that this episode doesn't take place immediately after Season 3 as it sounded. Now, to answer some questions.

2. HATE that Lyoko was just reformed. What the crap? Then what, storyline wise, was the purpose of deleting it? It loses all value and coolness if Lyoko is deleated and then can be so simply brought back.

The purpose? It was deleted to add tension. The only reason they were able to reform it is because of Franz Hopper. Furthermore, it is also what put William under XANA's control. The way I see it, William's soul was locked away in the digital void (much like Ulrich's body and soul being split in a previous episode--the difference being that his soul ended up in the real world) and XANA simply went in and took complete control of his body. If it wasn't for Lyoko's destruction with William still in it, XANA would've never gained William as a host.

3. WHERE THE HELL IS THE CONTENUITY? William shows up and hes not slightly pissed at all about being left for dead? Yumi all of sudden forgets that she hates him and starts flirting with him?

She's not flirting with him, she's just psyched that he's alive and well. Everyone was upset about William's death in Season 3, even Yumi. Remember what she said at the end? "And poor William..." Does that sound like she hated him?

As for William himself, (1) he was under XANA's control, and (2) he specificly stated that he didn't remember anything that happened after getting possessed by the Scyphozoa. No, I don't think he was in his own mind during those parts. XANA was trying to get to Aelita. Why Aelita? I think he was actually trying to get them all one at a time, but she was just his first target.

5. Semi-liked William's powers, but his Lyoko outfit is just a tad tooo..... Emo. He needs to look more badass and cocky and show more of his personality.

As I recall, it's gone. XANA's taken it. Plus that, he doesn't look "emo." He looks "evil."

CL is back and bettah than evah, baby!!! Awesome episode, to say the least. I wonder why XANA's possession of William didn't activate any towers. Perhaps because Lyoko was gone when he did and there were no towers to be activated?

The end of Season 3, anyone? William is first possessed there. However, it's quite simple, really. William's soul is trapped in Lyoko, just like Franz Hopper. Perhaps because William was possessed when Lyoko was destroyed, XANA took over him completely. However, I don't think that's the case. I think that XANA merely took control of William's lifeless body after he was trapped in a digital void.

The thing that sorta confused me was, the rest of Lyoko was destroyed...but yet, Jeremie was still talking about no activated towers...Im like huh? There are no towers to activate.

There is a single tower in Sector 5. Jeremie even references this later on in the episode. This tower is what he was referring to. To explain the plural 'towers,' I'd say that he was just so used to saying that so he said it out of habit.

I still think Sissi going back to being a snob was just terrible.

She never stopped being a snob. However, once and a while she left that role for short periods of time when specific things happened. I think it's very likely that she'll get back up later on. Also, anyone note the fact that Sissy has been restored to a more major character, now? Well, at least in this episode. In Season 3, she did appear, but was very minor.

And William gets FIRST? The bad guy gets first? Wow. Think we might not be rid of him for a while

We already knew that. I am curious as to why he's first, though. Actually, it's probably because he IS the bad guy that he's first in line. Jeremie and Aelita, whom I consider to be 'slightly' more major than the others, are last.

The only thing I really liked about the episode, other than the fact its new CL, was the better animation. The mechanations of the plot seemingly remain the same, despite any obvious motive as to why XANA would want Aelita now. Willian appearing when he did was way too convinient, and Sissi reverting to uber*itch mode was a disappointment. Was it just me, or did her voice sound slightly different, as in older? Wouldn;t that mean she matured a little, character-wise? Sure didn't show it here. There were the occasional chuckles to break up the action, but the action itself treaded familiar territory. I want ot see some innovation out of a show going into its fourth season rather than it relying on what worked before.

He was released the moment Lyoko was recreated. It's not at all "convenient." XANA couldn't materialize William until the kids had recreated Lyoko, so he just waited until that time (knowing they would, for Franz had sent them the data to do so).

Now, here's something else to think about. These points are quite excellent, and I wonder why I never thought of them.

I did some thinking on XANiam's behavior and destination, and have to conclude it's not Aelita he already cares about as anything but a bargaining chip. XANA isn't afraid of the kids: annoying as they are, he's out beyond their control now in his own setup. He could have just trashed the world already, but my feeling is there is still a thorn in his side named Franz Hopper. In S3 he probably trashed Lyoko with the notion of killing Franz. In S4, he knows Franz is out there too, and probably wants to use Aelita as a bargaining chip against him, hence all the trouble to capture her and take her to a specific location rather than just killing her at any point along the line.

To add on to that, if XANA wanted Aelita dead, couldn't he have told William to throtal her in her room insted of draging her to the factory and then through the lyoko? Also, why did William say "Prisoner of XANA" insted of "Killed by XANA"?

A bargaining chip with Franz Hopper sounds quite convenient, to me. Franz is the person that has helped the kids get this far already. Without Franz, XANA could've long since taken over the world. However, Franz helped them to recreate Lyoko so they could continue to fight XANA's power.

[. offline]

The purpose? It was deleted to add tension. The only reason they were able to reform it is because of Franz Hopper. Furthermore, it is also what put William under XANA's control. The way I see it, William's soul was locked away in the digital void (much like Ulrich's body and soul being split in a previous episode--the difference being that his soul ended up in the real world) and XANA simply went in and took complete control of his body. If it wasn't for Lyoko's destruction with William still in it, XANA would've never gained William as a host.

no, it was deleted to get Xanafied William over with audience as a powerful bad guy. Look how strong it made him, easilly dispatching Team Lyoko. And then destroying the cored it's self with his mighty sword. Bringing back lyoko, even part of it, is just dumb. It defetes the whole purpose of the last season and undermines everything they just built on William as a powerful baddy.

She's not flirting with him, she's just psyched that he's alive and well. Everyone was upset about William's death in Season 3, even Yumi. Remember what she said at the end? "And poor William..." Does that sound like she hated him?

Really? Wow. <.< Remember when Aelita almost died like the half a million times and every time they just plained bugged out? Thats because they cared about her. With Season 3 it was a;; just like "OH NO! WE LOST LYOKO! AELITA'S FATHER IS DEAD! CHRIST NO!!! ...oh and william, yeah, he's gone too." they really didn't care. I could say they cared so less that Jer had NO PROBLEM trying to explain to delmas over the phone while William wasn't around. No a tear drop or a single sign (vocal or facial) that his apparent demise mattered.

As I recall, it's gone. XANA's taken it. Plus that, he doesn't look "emo." He looks "evil."

Please he;s one My Chemical Romance cd away from slicing his own wrist with the purple and black attack he's got going.

[MY85 offline]

Prior to respond to things people have said... this episode was decent, but nowhere near as perfect as the poll says.

First 3-4 minutes were blah until Sissi started to speak. Then, things started to go from okay to decent.

None of the Lyoko action scenes made me go in "holy s**t" mode. except A few things to mention, the Super Smoke move William pulls is good, but I'm still baffled with his gay ass Lyoko suit, so it's not a plus that is enough to counter his outfit. The orange digital sea looked well done, I admit that.

Some of the tactics from past seasons were reused, like the voice faking tactic to fool Delmas, "Paco, The King Of Disco" and fooling the Lyoko team... again.

The villians were the best part of the show (William, Sissi) along with the Jim/Odd Paco segments. William was played well, Sissi didn't made me go blah while watching the other twits surrounding her. Jim and Odd was kinda fun to watch, even giving Jim his 15 minutes of fame. A plus to Jim would be that he didn't said the overused "I'd rather not talk about it" catchphrase.

I liked the episode, but a lot of people here are overrating it. It's better than some of the Season 3 episodes, but it's not a masterpiece.

And the new opening credits was pretty cool. Except... Now Williams in it. >.>

Why do William haters have to make a big f**king deal about every single thing that this characther does? "He appears on the intro, let's cut his testicles!" "He's talking to Yumi, die already!" Jesus Christ. William haters are another subject I could touch.

-PACO! AT THE DISCO.

Don't insult Paco with that overrated punk band, please.

Oh my god. Sissi's going back to being Prissy McB*tch again. This was not what I personally was expecting. Seriously! I liked it far better when she was nice! And another thing; why was Odd getting distracted with that stupid dancing contest anyway?

We need villians like Sissi since William's on another... level. And Sissi looked decent on this episode, the people that surrounded her pretty much sucked (Milly, Tamiya, Nicolas and Hervé) for the time they had on the screen. Oh, and also Odd has a human life, you think he'll tell Jim to grant him permission to check out Lyoko? At the time being, Odd wasn't aware of a Lyoko attack until he checked his mobile, so I guess it wouldn't be bad to pay a favor to Jim.

2. HATE that Lyoko was just reformed. What the crap? Then what, storyline wise, was the purpose of deleting it? It loses all value and coolness if Lyoko is deleated and then can be so simply brought back.

Between one season and the other, there's usually more than a 1-day gap. I guess there's a 1-3 month gap. But how would I know?

On other notes, here's a plot point for you - Jeremie recovered Ulrich from Sector 5 before he fell into the void meaning he can forcibly devirtualise someone - so why, oh why...didn't he pull Aelita out!

Like I said, plot point

Ulrich = friend.
Aelita = crush/lover/best friend/girlfriend... whatever you want to call it. When Aelita gets attacked, Jeremie also suffers emotionally. For one instant, Jeremie wouldn't think rationally.

But maybe that forced devirtualization process may cost something expensive (the battery, maybe) or it can only be used once for a day in only one person or the whole group... but I dunno.

[knifey offline]

You know, I liked Return of the Jedi...

I would vote 6/10 but that Return of the Jedi comment turns me off. :<

<S>Hi, El Eff! I'm big trollin'.</S>

It bored me plotwise mostly, which is the main reason why I watch it. All that we know is that William is back, he can use his sward to fly despite the fact he uses a manta, he can go into the digital sea, and Lyoko is restored (which they could have done with the diaries even though Jeremie needed Hopper's help for some reason). Disco!Odd amused me, even though I prefer the killer music song to whatever they played in the disco. One point where William was running in Sector five looked really really corny in my opinion.

I don't remember much of the music that played, but I liked whatever was playing at Sector five for one point.

The animation/computer generated imaging overall looks better, but I don't think the action on Lyoko looked all that great in my opinion. Yeah...

I felt the part where Milly and Tamiya were walking out with their hands on their shoulders after they quit the paper felt incredibly cheesy in my opinion. The "common enemy unites people" thing was nicely added in there, though. Pretty nice.

Anyone else think that the subject of making babies could have popped up somewhere in the episode despite the fact it's a kids show?

Shouldn't William going into the digital sea be a bad thing?

<S>ShutupIknowI'mlate.</S>

[nap* offline]

FINALLY I WATCHED THE EPISODE!!!!!Thank you Lyokouncut whoever you may be.

It was a good season opening, but I was slightly disappointed with the fact that XANA's kidnap Alieta plot was introduced straight away. But I guess the writers didn't have a choice, they had to do something.

I can't believe that they were so guliable(sp?). First off all Lyoko was destroyed and William sudden appearance after one sector was formed.
Honestly wouldn't you be a little suspicious, I mean no codes were entered for his return and there he is.

Secondly William not feeling any kind of emotion for being trapped in Lyoko for a week, it's like his personallity was inversed. Where was his giant ego we all loved.

And Finally Yumi's and Williams light flirting.
W:"I wish I studied for the math exam."
Y:"You never study. *giggle*"
I know she was happy to see him but my first thoughts were WTF?

We can see that Sissi hasn't changed at all, suprise suprise, (but to be fair she can't really mature alot in a week, and I must give her a chance).


Now that Xana can go between the "Network" and sector 5, shouldn't the smart thing for Jermie to do is copy sector 5 onto a disk then delete it on the supercomputer so Xana has to figure out how to attack the real world using the "Network". But who knows what's going on in his mind

[Taelia offline]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! I got it! Copy all of Lyoko all on one disk, trash it (delete it, in other words), and watch XANA's reaction before the group thwomps him.

[Tekirai offline]

... I just watched it. I'm disappointed. Not much of a season opener to me- it felt like an episode in the middle of S3. But it was still decently good all the same.

Jim has fangirrrrlz. xD Finally. Odd dancing in the elevator was funny too.

Lyoko was recreated way too quickly. And then William pops up and NOBODY'S suspicious? Jebus. This episode was way too rushed. I give it a 5/10 at the least. It was cool, but I expected more. Maybe the next episodes will be better.

[Taelia offline]

I give it a 3/10. Seriously, this episode sucked. Jim still doing disco is getting on my nerves, and William just suddenly popping out of nowhere really irks me.

[phantasm offline]

WHUT it’s already out!
I just had to check here when I only had a few hours of sleep time left… but bugger it!

Twas a nice solid episode, not spectacular, a little rushed, but still fun and everything will unfold soon enough.

Would like a bgm release now. D:<

The whole saga with Jim was so, so… strange.

Was awesome when Aelita was all prone and half-dead… then energy ball BOOM! *eloquent*

William stepping on Aelita was a wicked touch, in both senses of the word.

And… William is now channelling Noob Saibot.

[Cassius335 offline]

Twas a nice solid episode, not spectacular, a little rushed, but still fun and everything will unfold soon enough.

I Second this completely.

And would all the complainers like some bread with their whine? Honestly, it wasn't that bad. The scene with the principal overran, but that's pretty much it.

6/10, mainly for the lack of a '7' option.

[Mewberries151]

The purpose? It was deleted to add tension. The only reason they were able to reform it is because of Franz Hopper. Furthermore, it is also what put William under XANA's control. The way I see it, William's soul was locked away in the digital void (much like Ulrich's body and soul being split in a previous episode--the difference being that his soul ended up in the real world) and XANA simply went in and took complete control of his body. If it wasn't for Lyoko's destruction with William still in it, XANA would've never gained William as a host.

no, it was deleted to get Xanafied William over with audience as a powerful bad guy. Look how strong it made him, easilly dispatching Team Lyoko. And then destroying the cored it's self with his mighty sword. Bringing back lyoko, even part of it, is just dumb. It defetes the whole purpose of the last season and undermines everything they just built on William as a powerful baddy.

Now maybe I'm just weird but, to me...that Black Manta ride of his upped both his "cool", "power", and "baddie" points about 10 fold. Not to mention that Jeremie and Aelita bringing back Sector 5 did anything to reduce any points William got for destroying it in the first place (he still did that...it's not like they stopped him from doing it in the first place)...it just upped their "genius" and "GOD" points to the max. XDXDXD

She's not flirting with him, she's just psyched that he's alive and well. Everyone was upset about William's death in Season 3, even Yumi. Remember what she said at the end? "And poor William..." Does that sound like she hated him?

Really? Wow. <.< Remember when Aelita almost died like the half a million times and every time they just plained bugged out? Thats because they cared about her. With Season 3 it was a;; just like "OH NO! WE LOST LYOKO! AELITA'S FATHER IS DEAD! CHRIST NO!!! ...oh and william, yeah, he's gone too." they really didn't care.

I suppose truth and perception are in the eye of the beholder than.

Although, characteristically speaking, Aelita is naturally going to be more concerned about losing her father than William...that's just the ties of family at work there. Same goes for Jeremie since his emotions tend to mirror Aelita's.

Notice though how Odd only says "This is awful", after Yumi mentions that they've lost William. And how exceptionally happy he was when William came back in "William Returns". (Not to mention I thought his "poketh" and William's subsequent hair ruffle were strangely adorable. ^^ ).

I could say they cared so less that Jer had NO PROBLEM trying to explain to delmas over the phone while William wasn't around. No a tear drop or a single sign (vocal or facial) that his apparent demise mattered.

That's bad extenuating circumstances. Pushing aside the idea that most guys do not express feelings of sorrow through tears, Jeremie wouldn't have been able to allow himself to cry or sound sad because it would have shown up in the voice of Mr. Dunbar.

Remember, voice changers only change the pitch of one's voice...not the emotion held in it.

If Jeremie had sounded sad, or started sounding weepy, it would have registered in Mr. Dunbar's voice as heard by Mr. Delmas. This would have raised Mr. Delmas's attention and it would have meant a whole lot of further explanation, and it might have also ruined the whole idea altogether.

Not to mention, the gang seemed to be trying to remain optimistic that they could get William back (much like Franz Hopper) throughout the first part of the episode.

As I recall, it's gone. XANA's taken it. Plus that, he doesn't look "emo." He looks "evil."

Please he;s one My Chemical Romance cd away from slicing his own wrist with the purple and black attack he's got going.

So purple and black automatically = emo now? Yumi better look out then too...no Evanescence for her. ^^;

I'm going with UltimaHedgie here. William doesn't look anymore emo than Ulrich does...he just looks sinister...and in a cosmic sort of sense, like Ulrich's darker half. O.o

[Taelia offline]

Rescuing William or no, they're gonna beat him down.

[Writing_Addict offline]

I keep wondering about the remark Ulrich made when he entered Sector five first seeing Xanliam. Do I sense a spark of humor in Xana, or he's he's just thinking 'you will die' and laughing at it? I can't remember if Xana's ever laughed before. That or William's is in there somehow and laughing...I dunno...^_^ (I'm tired)

[Carth]

On a different note...

I've just been looking though the new opening sequence in slow motion, out of boredom, and...well, some of the frames kind of caught my eye. In the spoiler, sneak-peek kind of way. I'm taking screens right now, and I'll have em up soon. With commentary.

[MewmiC offline]

Everyone just about said what i was gonna probably say, but I'll give my opinion.

This episode was okay, as an opener it has a lot to set up and I think it did pretty well. Though it could have been better and felt pretty rushed. It may have done better if longer, but it might have been worse.

Anyway the episode did what it was supposed to do, give us XANA's new tactic introduce, show William's new powers and black Manta and...actually that's all I can think of. Oh yeah, recreate Carthage, but their might be something else I'm missing.

The humor was also their, Odd being forced into doing Disco as well as the return of the Paco movie made me chuckle a little, as did Odd's assumption of what Jeremy and Aelita were doing at night, but it didn't seem as funny as before. Plus Sissi's conclusion to why William returned to the school 'because of Aelita' made me cringe (though Jeremie's loss of words was a little amusing).

Overall if this episode happened later in the season I'd give it a six, but since it's a season opener I'll cut it some slack and give it an eight. It did it's job, but could've been better.

All we need is that long awaited Ulrich v. William/XANA sword fight and I'll be a very happy fan .

[Carth]

Well, I've finished the opening caps. I'm sorry about the awful quality- I've tried to remedy it by making the images smaller.

I'll change the pics to links if asked. I can only post six (out of 36) for now- I'm being herded to bed. Sorry.



This shows up right at the beginning. It's a reuse from "The Secret", played backwards. I know, it tripped me up too.



Now this I don't think I've ever seen. I checked through The Secret (the only episode that William shows up in the lab, I think) and it wasn't there. If only his eyes weren't covered...



Xanaliam in the Desert Sector, with a Tarantula, looking pissed. Awesome armband there.



Have we seen this? I don't know...but it looks cool. He could do some serious damage with that stick. [size=0]I'm gettin a 'Caption This' BKO idea...[/size]



I'm getting a familliar vibe here. Not too noteworthy, but...I dunno.



I was getting really hyped about this one, until I found out it was a Secret reuse. -_-

That's all I can get on time constraints. More tomorrow.

[Kazuma Torisuna offline]

could some1 plz tell me what happened at the begining and at the end. My neice was blabbling her mouth while they began and ended... When will it be playing on Miguzi again with season 4.