The Tenth Alien/Commentary

Ello, everyone! Brandon 10 here with another commentary. I'm the creator of Brandon 10, felt like I should probably start saying that as well as the fact that I'm the writer and artist for the show as well as its sequel, Brandon 10: Alien Force. I mean, it's kinda obvious but still- that's like professional commentary talk.

Today, I'll be doing the season one finale for the series, The Tenth Alien. An episode about Brandon's most powerful form... at the time the episode was made anyways. So let's begin.

Another spaceship opening. After coming straight from A Hero Returns, it feels like there's never a shortage of spaceship openings.

Also, Planet Kiolon sounds cool- why I never mentioned it again after this episode is a mystery to me.

Raptures, the alien species in this episode. I named them Raptures because I thought it was like a reptile thing, I think. Not entirely sure, or maybe the word was on my mind and I just went with it. I think about species names a lot more now. They either mean something or they just sound cool and alien-like.

Alright now this guy is thinking. Put the trackers on the ship then answer the call. I mean, unless it knows about the trackers then that conversation might be a little awkward. 'Did you just track my ship?' 'Uh... no?'

Alien languages weren't my forte, and they still aren't. In fact, other languages aren't really my forte period. I only know a couple of words from a couple of languages. Google translator usually covers that stuff for me and that isn't really useful when coming up with a language on your own. So, I just put down that he's speaking in an alien language as opposed to just writing it out myself. Sounds lazy in my head but actually taking the time to explain it, feels justified now. I don't think there a lot of shows that actually do the whole alien language thing and if there are then I totally respect that. I think I did try to do it though but, like I said, wasn't any good at it then.

Alright the conversation between these two is actually pretty good so far. I noticed that the Bounty Hunter gets upset when just called The Bounty Hunter. This might've been a nod towards THE Bounty Hunter. Wasn't good at naming things or people either so that might explain why most of the villains have 'The' in their names back in the Original Series. Any who, in case you're not familiar, the Bounty Hunter is a, well, bounty hunter that liked blowing things up back in the OS but in AF, he's retired and trying to make a profit (as seen in the Coco episode.) So this Bounty Hunter is Bounty Hunter IV which kinda reveals that they're a organization of Bounty Hunters instead of just individual Bounty Hunters. It also made naming them easier.

(laughs) I like that. "I am the king of bargains". I'd get that on a T-Shirt.

Lendro... Gonna come up front and say, not my favorite character. Just him appearing for the first time, all innocent and captured, made him sick. It's not like him being around insults me and I'm completely offended by his character but he's definitely a bad character and I just don't like 'em. I guess Lendro is like the Scrappy-Doo of the Brandon 10 Universe. We can tolerate him a little bit, expect him to make an appearance every once in a while, but we don't want him around.

Now this is an interesting dilemma, the guy's son is on Earth and since he's a warlord, I'm assuming, been a while since I caught up on my own show, then he's gonna blow up the Earth just to get his kid back. Shows how much this dad would go through just to get his kid back. I'm inspired to do something like this again but more Liam Neeson than intergalactic warlord. And here I was complaining about spilling my ideas in the commentaries. I guess if it's just a concept I can lay it on you but the more concrete stuff will just have to stay with me unless I'm completely sure I'm not gonna use it.

Woo! The Juice Shack. I think this is the first time the Juice Shack made an appearance in Alien Force. Man, this place was popular on Chaturn.

Also Sarah's being meta. The alien warlord won't exactly be taking over the planet though. Also, I feel like that was a reference to The Conqueror but last time I checked he wasn't an alien. At least, not in the Original Series.

I'm already noticing an improvement in this episode compared to the the two-parter season/series premiere. The dialogue sounds- like the natural Brandon 10 dialogue that usually comes out of Alien Force episodes. I also took that element and added it to Ultimate Hero, so there's that.

Brandon adds salt to his milkshake. Gross, yes. That's what I was going for but milkshake mixtures were inspired by what I do in real life, actually. I like mixing flavors and I've been told that I probably shouldn't do that but if it works, it works, right? I don't actually add salt to my milkshakes though, I just couldn't think of anything convenient to add to the milkshake at the time. Why an establishment that sells juices has salt and pepper shakers will forever remain a question unanswered.

Brandon's right though- milkshake time is important. Alien invasions always seem to take that away from him.

Alright, now they're on board the Raptures' ship. Coco claims to know some stuff about trading and bargaining. This is another reference to his illegal days which became a thing back in Wanted. This explains his sudden usage for weapons and knowledge of alien tech but I suppose, if I never went with that for his character, he could have still had that knowledge and liking for weapons from his time in the Original Series. Brandon's inventions were sometimes weapons, or at least tools labeled as weapons, like the Magnet Gun and the Sun Gun. So Coco would familiar with that type of weaponry, get used to using them after losing his Omnitrix and is familiar with alien tech from dealing with alien attacks with Brandon. But being abducted by alien criminals for who knows how many years does seem to be a good reason for that kinda sudden increase in character development.

Back to the plot, the Commander tries to hire Brandon to rescue his show. For a guy with a secret identity, a lot of aliens seem to know him. I think I picked up on this more so in the third season of the show though, with only aliens knowing about his exploits rather than anyone on Earth. Also Heroes-for-Hire reference? I wish. I was a serious master at unintentional references. It's crazy.

And yeah, just confirmed the Bounty Hunter organization thing. I guess I didn't even have to mention that in the first place.

Boom! Pluto is destroyed. Lay on the Pluto isn't a planet jokes. That was the one thing that I did remember from this episode. The destruction of Pluto. I just looked into it and I realize that I actually haven't done anything about that since then. So that means Pluto is still destroyed... huh.

Alright so now a bomb is ready to go off by a nuclear reactor and there's a spaceship hovering above with a ray gun ready to destroy the Earth. The situation is tense and time is running out. Time to unleash the tenth alien.

10 X. Now this is an interesting alien to talk about. Is he similar to Alien X? Yes. Is this episode similar to X=Ben plus 2? Yes. BUT! 10 X's whole concept is, while similar, very much different. So Alien X's whole thing was never really explained, probably because of how straight forward it is, but for 10 X I needed to have something more concrete than he just appears there and is greeted by two floating faces. In fact, there aren't any faces here.

Zen is the keeper of the Alterverse, a hidden pocket dimension. Because of that, time and space doesn't work the same as it does within the main reality which results in a freezing time thing. I mean Zen pretty much explains the whole thing, like I said, I couldn't just leave it at he just appears there and now he has unlimited powers. Brandon's situation is slowly broken down, or broken down in a straight forward sorta way to make it more clear as to what situation he is in exactly. Also this might just be the first reference towards anything relating to other dimensions aside from the Capture Zone and the Nightmare Realm, of course, so that's a cool thing to point out.

I also made Zen into a Genie. The way I looked at it when coming up with the idea of 10 X was for his omnipotence to come with a cost and a curse. The curse being immortality, I suppose, and the cost being that you would have to deal with the consequences of your actions. With Alien X, you have to agree on one thing but, with 10 X, you can have anything you want, all on you, but will having that make your situation better or worse?

"No and's" I was really picky when making Zen. Because there was always the multiple wish cheats that were out there. I used to do that when I younger, do those make a wish challenges and saying "and" and asking more three more wishes would pretty much be cheating. So I added that into Zen's character to make the situation more grounded. If you could have multiple wishes then there really wouldn't be any tension.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if Zen is capable of granting more than one wish. The reason he's like this- all unsupportive of Brandon leaving and doing what he wants to do is because he's lonely. But hmm... yeah, I guess I didn't really think about it too much. Everyone's asking what is Zen but not how is Zen.

Alright, this concept was pretty interesting to add into the episode. The Alterverse can alter itself- okay, I didn't even notice that until just now. I'm always finding like little details that I added into these episodes when looking back at them. Anyways, the Alterverse being able to alter itself into different environments in order to better show off the ramifications of one's wish was just a nice touch and makes it more than just a void. I guess it's space by default because that's all that Zen knows. He's an alien, he's all-powerful, he has no visible body. It's sorta the only thing he knows or is familiar with.

Also Zen being 10 X, using him as his avatar when "existing" in the main reality is also pretty cool. Zen is like that character, he's the opposite of Lendro. He's that character that I want to see more of now. I don't think I really appreciated Zen for what he was when I created him. Or maybe I did but I lost that respect for him after a while. It was just overshadowed by what he could do rather than what he can bring to the table. At least, up until UH Season 1 but that's later.

3 more wishes is a rule of the universe. All part of the hidden lore. Honestly, that didn't really mean anything at the time. I guess because of the universe works in a certain way compared to another universe that by allowing something like three more wishes when it comes to omnipotence would just mess with the natural order. Doesn't really make sense but this is a sci-fi fan fic. Applying too much logic to it sorta defeats the purpose.

Okay, this is a good part right here. Brandon claims defeat and Zen shows off his victory. It sorta just makes Zen look like a bad guy really. He's keeping Brandon locked up in an alternate reality by being unhelpful and when Brandon gives up, he celebrates. I don't think this is what I was going for, making him appear greedy and selfish. I mean, his name is Zen. I'm sure he was supposed to be wise and trying to teach him a lesson of some sort. But, I guess, maybe he is. He isn't really showing off in an "Eat it!" kind of way, more like a "What happened? You lost your touch." kind of way. The type that inspires fallen heroes, y'know? It also mentions how much more powerful he is in other realities and how he's considered a legend. Could this be a hint towards alternate Brandons from different dimensions or hints towards alternate timeline versions of him? Beats me but stuff like this just interests me and surprises me how little it actually means. Kinda like the Juice Shack, so much potential in the Original Series but it only made its huge breakthrough by delivering the pay off in Alien Force.

Alright, so as it turns out, Zen was playing Brandon the whole time. I mean, I feel like there was some truth in he's whole lonely and selfish act but he really was trying to teach him a lesson. Or just trying to get him to solve his riddle. The riddle on how to get the heck out of the Alterverse. I mean, when you think about it, 10 X isn't the type of alien you use to beat up a bad guy or open up a jar of pickles. He's the kind you use to get out of a sticky situation or to fix a mistake. If you keep digging at this hole you're in, there's a chance you can just end up burying yourself or you might just end up stuck there. Sometimes, it's alright to just start over. I guess that's the lesson?

I thought that somewhere in the episode, Zen would have told Brandon before he left that he can't pull that second chance stunt again. As if, you can't wish for the same wish- that kinda thing but I guess that's not the case. Huh.

Brandon being a ghost from a future is definitely not something I thought would happen in the show but at the time, I think I just sorta let anything happen. I mean, remember the defense dinosaur? I'm sure Season 1 is filled with that kinda stuff. Things gets more stricter on the way down but this is the spot if you want some weird stuff.

Although saving himself in the past does leave the whole paradox thing but he does fade away which means that whole 10 X thing never happened. I'll get into that later. Instead of saying "Ghost Time!" an obvious spoof on Hero Time, I probably should have went with something more unique like a Ghostbusters line or "I'm going Ghost!". It's not every episode where your protagonist turns into a ghost... from the future.

Surprise, surprise. Lendro betrays the team. Also spelled traitors the wrong way but that might just be a nitpick. And yes! I knew it was lizard people! Rapture was- Rapture was from Reptar! I'm convinced that I was hiding easter eggs in my old episodes and I just forgot about it. But that's just a theory, a Brandon 10 theory!

(laughs) Okay, that "I appreciate your comment" line was funny. Caught me off guard a bit with the whole seize him vibe they were going for.

Alright, first off- "evil voice" perfect. Second, had to re-read that whole thing. Just an "oh, ok" to your kid wanting to me commander of an execution. I mean, that kinda stuff must be acceptable for an alien warlord, sure, but- hmm... that just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe if it was a fake out, sure, but just "oh, ok"? That doesn't do it for me.

Now that Lendro- what even is that name- it reminds me of Greedo, for some reason. And we all now how that ended. Now that Lendro has taken over as Commander of the Raptures, again makes me feel better about the name now that's it's confirmed to be based on reptiles, it turns out he betrayed his father because he never spent any time with him. You'd think that'd make me like him more but it's just his whole approach and everything he does afterwards, just makes him appear spoiled and naive.

And now he's calling himself the Great Lendro. (sighs) (cringes) Again, it's just the character himself that bothers me- not like his existence. That stuff's okay, I guess.

"None taken" The ex-commander is like super cool, or at least super chill. I mean does he get worked up because his kid is gone? Sure, that stuff is just natural. But if he dropped the whole alien warlord thing, he might actually be a nice guy to get to know. Nice guy alien warlord.

Lendro, lendro, lendro... you will never change. I think throwing him overboard was a drastic and extreme measure which is exactly why I went with it. Plus I don't think I could stand his character for any longer at the time either. But get this, I had the intention of making his presence ambiguous because I actually wanted him to pop up later at one point. Turns out he did. I don't know if that's what I was hoping for, in fact, I don't know why I was hoping for it to begin with. I think it was because- because of that Scrappy-Doo effect I was talking about earlier! He comes back every once and a while! Wow.

Also I noticed how everyone is freaking out that the Commander threw his son overboard except for Brandon who just doesn't want the Earth to get destroyed. I mean, if it was me, evil annoying kid that tried to destroy me being thrown out into space versus the fate of the Earth, I'd be more concerned about the planet.

Alright, so day is saved and all but something's missing. That whole paradox thing I mentioned? Well, while the whole 10 X thing didn't actually happen, I still felt like it left an impact on Brandon no matter what timeline it is. So he might not remember 10 X completely, at least he retains some of what happened in case something like this were to happen again, which it does. I guess that just leaves the question: Does Zen see into the future? I don't think he does but if he can see the outcomes of different wishes then seeing into the timeline at different points might be what he's doing then, rather then just being a clairvoyant. I'm not exactly sure. Zen's just that type of character. One of those cosmic beings that knows a lot and has unlimited powers with unknown origins and a bizarre personality.

I mean, in the trivia, I confirmed that he does remember it but I guess I wanted to just lay on softly and just allude to the fact that he might have picked up some stuff about that but whatever time for milkshakes. (chuckle)

And that's the end of the episode. While the plot wasn't too unique, what really made this episode stand out was Zen and the whole 10 X dilemma. It really makes me sold on who this character is and what he can bring to this series, which I guess isn't very much since this is his only appearance. I mean that was a lot of potential to tap into but I guess with the main focus being alien invasion and what not, unlocking the secrets behind cosmic omnipotence wasn't exactly on the list at the time. So yeah, from Lendro to Zen, I'd give this episode a 10 X out of 10 X.

Thanks for checking out this commentary. Hope you liked it, I really had some fun doing it.

It's time for an Ultimate Hero! 05:36, April 11, 2018 (UTC)