Brandon 10 vs the Conqueror/Commentary

Ello everyone! I'm Brandon, the writer and the artist for the series, Brandon 10.

Today, I'll be doing a little review/commentary thing for the episode, Brandon 10 vs the Conqueror. This is the final episode of the Original Series and is extra long so whoopee. Anyways, let's jump right into it.

The episode starts with the Conqueror... (wait for it) IN SPACE! Anyways, he's searching for something powerful because he's always about getting some power. That's just his character. Power-hungry guy always wanting more. Actually, plot hole alert. I'm pretty sure the Conqueror has never gone to space before. It's a shame I didn't put any more emphasize on that, like "this is the Conqueror's first time... IN SPACE" not "he's just casually IN SPACE like always even though it's his first time IN SPACE but whatever".

After the titles, Coco is seen trapped within an air-lock, no he's not IN SPACE like the Conqueror. Not everyone can share that experience. The Creator is behind this and plans to turn the people of Earth into his robotic minions. This is where it gets more canon than fanon so I don't think I have much to say aside from that... Well, that's the commentary. Thanks for watching. Come back soon.

I guess I still gotta talk about something, I can't just sit here in silence while I read over it. So let's talk about the Omnitrix. Hopefully, I start rambling off. This is where it malfunctions after attacking the reactor or whatever the Creator is making. Details weren't exactly my forte back then. The Omnitrix malfunctioned before so I guess it's not that much of a big deal. It's not like it's going to self-destruct and that's what the whole episode is about. I actually don't really know what the episode is about. I actually found it to be kinda confusing but like I mentioned before in another commentary, I think, a quick re-read can make a big difference. Anyways, the Omnitrix malfunctioned before. It's not exactly built like the canon one. I mean, when you really think about it, it was built in a basement underground using leftover parts from a weird super computer that someone left behind. It's not even built to be an Omnitrix, it's built to be a containment device. Brandon is lucky the thing can even transform him into aliens safely for that matter. So, basically, what I'm trying to say is it's crude and surprisingly functional. It's also heavily modded as you're able to adjust its settings and what not with the aid of Computer as seen in Dog Gone. So if it malfunctions and breaks down, don't be surprised. Okay, I think enough time went by. Back to the episode.

Now we're in Brandon's Lab, where he is upgrading the Omnitrix to be more powerful. This scene, right here, relates to two points. One, this is exactly what I'm talking about. He's upgrading the Omnitrix, pulling out pieces, adding new ones, this isn't the proper way to make an Omnitrix and that's actually okay. Brandon is smart but he's still a kid and he's definitely not an Azmuth, despite creating his own Omnitrix. But like I said, the Omnitrix isn't really an Omnitrix. It's just a specialized containment device that's heavily modded. Okay, now I'm rambling. Point B, 2, whatever, is that Brandon likes to do stuff like this. Not even that, he has a bond with the Omnitrix. He's dedicated to making it better, using it for good and keeping it in good condition, despite smacking it around sometimes. It's even stated later that he needs a special ingredient (for my own sake, I'm calling it a material from here on out. I mean he's not baking a cake) in order to upgrade it properly which could take years. Sometimes, kids get an interest but then after a while they drop it for something else. They have their whole life ahead of them and so many different things that they could try out but here Brandon is saying he'll stick with the Omnitrix for years to come. Cue Alternate Alien Force where he still had the Omnitrix, it didn't re-calibrate and the secret threat didn't go unnoticed before it was too late. I guess that would just be Original Series but with teenagers. Huh.

Searching for the ingr- er- material, Brandon comes across the Conqueror's ship which is heading straight for it, meaning the Conqueror is after it as well. Brandon then drops everything and decides to construct a spaceship in order to beat him to it. Once it's completed, they head off... (wait of it) INTO SPACE. The final frontier...

Now that they're IN SPACE, they end up getting lost. I can already imagine dialogue in scenes like this. Just traveling through space searching for something that may or may not exist. Plot hole alert, if Brandon was searching for the material in space and found out that the Conqueror was after it too, how come he can't find it now? Actually, the episode says "While tracking its position, Brandon finds the Conqueror's ship in space towards the [material]." So he didn't really find its location, he just found the Conqueror's ship which probably has better scanners since it's a bigger ship and the Conqueror knows how to do a lot of stuff. Let's just say he has an idea where it is but that's easier to say when looking at a map of space rather than in space itself... I mean IN SPACE itself.

Anyways, he discovers that the Omnitrix can track down this material somehow so they use the Omnitrix to lead them to- well, not really anywhere. I guess they get close so the Conqueror sends droids to keep away any ships that get too close or maybe he just knew Brandon was gonna show up. Okay, here's the weird part of the episode. The droids are about to attack but an energy pulse defeats them. It turns out it came from Coco's Omnitrix and now Brandon can't transform anymore. Huh? I know that their Omnitrixes are in sync or something like that so if something happens to the main one, the Mark II will become affected but this seems a little bizarre and out of nowhere, even for me, and I wrote this.

They then reach an alien planet known as Pasanon. On the planet, there's a cave which contains light crystals and water pools. The water pools are entrances to the Aqualad lair because there are evil Aqualads on this planet. Bit of canon here but I'm not gonna skip over it because I actually have something to say about one part in particular. Coco gets taken by an Aqualad, Brandon goes guns blazing with Ro-Warasaur but fails to recover Coco after he is taken into an underground area... thing. That's not really the part I wanted to talk about, it's what happens after. Before I get into it, Computer came along too! S/He's inside of the chip attached to Brandon's Omnitrix (and Coco's too because he put the chip on his watch earlier?). So I think that's just rad, having Computer in this thing. Because it's like your own personal mobile assistant. "Computer, scan this rock" "That rock is actually a decomposed variation of plant growth localized on this planet, it contains 50% more vitamins than the regular growth on Earth." "Computer, what's the status on this gate?" "It does not appear to be opening, Brandon." Like it's having a virtual guide talking to you in a space mission. I'm thinking like Iron's Man JARVIS or Cortana from Halo. Anyways, now that we established that Computer is here in mobile form, s/he tells Brandon that they have to move on without Coco. But it's said in a logistical yet sympathetic way. That's just so Computer.

Diving back into the canon side again. Brandon encounters a hologram of a robotic suit who disagrees to help Brandon stop the Universe from being destroyed. I'm just gonna stop myself here and say what the heck just happened to the episode? First, the Conqueror was searching for something IN SPACE, then Brandon was searching for something IN SPACE, then Brandon decides to go TO SPACE to find the something IN SPACE before the Conqueror does and then it slowly turned into a "the Omnitrix is about to destroy the Universe and only this alien can save us" type of story... In Space. Guess this episode needs more than a re-read and some commentary, it needs a whole psych evaluation.

Yeah, I just don't know at this point. It was going somewhere and then it went so off track... I'm just gonna say we never see this guy again- the elder alien, we don't even know his name. Names weren't my forte either back then. So it bothers me that I allowed this to happen to have this elder alien touch the Omnitrix as if it knows how to work it. Now you might be saying, if you have future knowledge, that another elder alien shows up in the sequel and knows how to do Omnitrix stuff. That's because he's smart and works with technology and has experience with Brandon's Omnitrix with each visit. This is different, so different. This is, not only, the first time they are meeting but all we know is that he builds robot suits in a cave filled with evil Aqualads for no reason. I'm so not a fan of the elder alien.

Coco's back, no surprise. Well, actually, no. It could have been a surprise. Anything could have happened but it didn't really sell as much. I dunno, maybe it did, maybe it didn't. Maybe, that's just the way I saw the scene. The scene where Computer tells Brandon to move on and that's it. Nothing before, nothing after.

Then Way Big shows up, I definitely remember writing this part. I think I was excited because I liked Way Big, he was a cool alien and I guess he still is. That's the problem with balancing between canon and fanon aliens, you like your aliens because you made them but then you have these canon aliens that inspired you to create the fanon ones in the first place. It's a struggle when you have these choices in front of you, especially when the fanon choices don't have certain abilities that are needed for the plot. But then again, the plot can easily be changed to fit the show. If there were no canon aliens to begin with, the series would probably have ended up differently. Back to Way Big, it's a dip of canon but it's different. And not the type of different where it's worded differently so that makes it original. I'll admit it's still a dip of canon but this decision actually affects the episode. I remember now. The episode... doesn't end here.

What Way Big does is he sees the Conqueror fleeing to his ship and, since he's too far away and doesn't want the Conqueror to escape, Way Big grabs the tip of a mountain, snaps it off and tosses it at the Conqueror's Ship, when sends it crashing through space like on a direct course, away from the planet. And then it seems like the end of the episode.

Now we're talking about the elder alien and it feels like I just trolled myself right now. So the elder alien was a fraud, he said he was the creator of the Omnitrix to insure that nobody would hurt him but- but BUT here's the twist. Brandon should know that he's not the creator of the Omnitrix, he made the dang thing, I just said that earlier. And that's not why I brought it up, stayed tuned for that. Maybe he means the DNA Rod which powers the Omnitrix but even that isn't a creation, it came from a meteor which is a natural formation. At least, Brandon thinks it's a meteor. So if he thinks it's a meteor then why would a meteor have a creator? None of this makes any sense. And then the alien bails for no reason too. So now I'm not too upset at the elder alien, he had his reasons for doing what he did. It's Brandon that I should be upset at. He should know this guy is lying and then, afterwards, even after finding out the elder alien is a fraud, he wonders- he actually wonders who the real creator is? It's you, ya dweeb. I feel like I was trying to set something up like a story line, even though it's the last episode of the series haha- but still, it could have been executed better or at least without the canon stuff messing up the story. Will I fix this in reboot? You're dang right I will. Just except the good scenes to be more or less the same, everything else? That's going out the window, rewriting that completely. That storyline? Adding that in, making it better. Just- yeah. (exhales) I actually need to take a breather after that rant. Be back in a sec.

...

Man, this thing is long. So yeah, Coco brings up a good point. That point being that the Conqueror might just crash onto the Earth after Way Big's attack. See? Set up. Although plot hole alert check in progress here. How on Pasanon does a spaceship then thrown to the other side of the galaxy within an hour or so and directly crash into the Earth? That's some crazy coincidence. But I suppose it might be scientifically accurate. I'm gonna research this actually, like right now... Okay so meteors can travel pretty fast like 25,000 miles per hour. But this is a spaceship and, going that fast, should probably rip it apart but let's say, for the sake of the plot, the ship remained in tact because science stuff happened when making the ship, easy to rip apart for a powerful dinosaur alien but durable and resistant to flames and such. Using Pluto as a reference, because its the farthest thing on record from the Earth, it takes 9.5 years to travel to Pluto in a regular spaceship. Let's say it take a few hours to get from Earth from Pasanon, that means the ships are faster than regular spaceship from NASA, obviously, and they are more resistant because sake of the plot. Okay even with crazy division, it'll still take a long while to get from Earth to Pluto and that's compared to an alien planet across the galaxy but then again, I'm not too great at math so just forget about it. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, coincidence. Meh, it is what it is. That stuff happens, it's a bit of a stretch but I'm sure with enough force something can travel from one side of the galaxy to another, besides we don't really know how far away Pasanon is from the Earth. I dunno, I'm just gonna move on the next part of the episode.

So the elder alien gives Brandon a lift to Earth because his makeshift spaceship is faster than Brandon's makeshift spaceship. I guess when you put it like that, it makes sense. Now in Earth's atmosphere, Brandon leaps from the ship and lands inside of the Conqueror's Ship. Yeah, he just jumps out into space. I'm not gonna question it, there were far more questionable things in this episode than that. But here's the great thing, the Conqueror is just waiting for him like he knew Brandon would show up. They've been facing each other for this whole show and they always seem to find themselves in this situation. Facing off against each other on the Conqueror's property. Look back at A Hero is Born, Coco 10, not so much in The Revenge of the Conqueror but oh well, you get the gist. So even if the Conqueror is gonna crash into the Earth, create a big explosion and get caught up in it, he still knows his enemy will come for him, at least to stop him from harming the Earth and he's right.

Okay so they fight and Brandon tosses the Conqueror, by himself?- into a fusion cell er- energy core which causes the ship to go critical as if a spaceship crashing into the Earth wasn't bad enough. Now that I think about it, it's probably not big enough or powerful enough to do world-ending damage but a nuclear reactor is a nuclear reactor, can't argue with the facts. Except with the facts forget that Brandon created the Omnitrix but oh well, whatever, past me. Brandon tries to stop the explosion from occurring but it's too late to stop it. The only thing powerful enough to stop the explosion is the Omnitrix. And here's where it all comes into play. Brandon has to make a choice between the Earth and his future with the Omnitrix, the future that he was planning back in the beginning of the episode. He plans to continue being a hero and upgrading his Omnitrix, being more powerful and more helpful but now he has to throw those dreams aside in hopes of saving the world. It's not really a choice to make. He can't be a hero of Earth without an Earth to hero, now can he? However, it is still a difficult decision to follow up on. Brandon then uses the Omnitrix core to stabilize the ship, or at least, overload the system and cause it to explode before it reaches the Earth. Brandon then jumps out of a spaceship, still in the atmosphere and splashes into the ocean as the spaceship explodes. If that isn't the craziest thing a child can do, I don't know what is. And with that explosion, the Conqueror is launched into the far reaches of space where he'll do space things... (wait for it) IN SPACE. Bringing it back.

Now on Earth, Brandon swims to the shore where he finds the Omnitrix landing there momentarily, critically damaged. Another reason why the set up in the beginning works so well here, he just lost the Omnitrix and he had to accept that making that choice would save the Earth but now it's back and there's hope for that future he dreamed for. So he runs back to his lab, from where ever he is, and gets straight to work on trying to repair it. Or he doesn't. I mean he must have taken a crack at it and then put it in the chamber because you don't just say it's beyond repair without taking a look at it. Unless it's a bunch of ashes, then that might take a long while. He then walks away from the lab, pretty much defeated. The series ends on this note that even though they saved the Earth, it was at a cost and the future might not be what he wanted it to be. In fact, we don't know what his future would hold. Well, technically we do because this commentary is from the future and not 2011/12... 2012, actually, but the point still stands. We don't know where the series will go after this, the hero is powerful, the bad guy is no more, it feels like it's really over. And it turns out, it is. Well, aside from the glimmer of hope from the Omnitrix as it repairs.

So that was the episode? What did I think? Well, it was going somewhere then it took a wrong direction then it hit home with the ending. With a title like Brandon 10 vs the Conqueror, you'd expect more battle between the two rather than a fight at the end and the lost of an iconic figure. Commentary for a 2012 episode so is that jab/reference is too soon? It's too soon! But seriously, you'd expect more battle between the two. But yeah what really bothers me is the misdirection towards the middle. If you're going to space, make it a big deal. If you're fighting the Conqueror, the main villain for the entire series, make it a big deal. If it's the last episode, make it a big deal. I did like the original take on the episode, I'm just disappointed that it got lost in writing. They were going to do space stuff, fight the Conqueror, find this rare material, the ultimate source of power out there in the galaxy ready for the taking, then after the battle, the Earth is in danger, Brandon fights the Conqueror, he has to get rid of the Omnitrix and the power he was searching for, and deal with the consequences and maybe start living a normal life again. Elder alien needs to go away though, he's unnecessary and makes no sense to the entire course of the series. I was thinking about adding in a new alien too, not Way Big, a new original alien but I couldn't think of any cool ideas at the time so I just rolled with what I got.

But was it a good end to the Original Series? I'll say this, compared to some previous episodes, this isn't the greatest thing but there are moments in this episode that make it feel like this is it, this is the end of the Original Series especially the final ending scene. And I think that's what counts.

Thanks for checking for the commentary and I'll see you all later.

It's time for an Ultimate Hero! 03:06, April 20, 2017 (UTC)