| 23 Watches | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Release Date | 19th June 2021 |
| Series | Ben 10: Omniorigins |
| Details | |
| Season | 2 |
| Episode Number | 4 |
| Overall Episode Number | 23 |
| Credits | |
| Written by | SOULARCHER20 |
| Story by | SOULARCHER20 |
| Teleplay by | SOULARCHER20 |
| Directed by | SOULARCHER20 |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous episode | More Than You Can Chew |
| Next episode | Run, Stuart, Run |
23 Watches is the twenty-third episode of Ben 10: Omniorigins, as well as the fourth episode of the second season.
Plot[]
A hooded criminal is running from Meltter and Stuart, carrying something in a cylindrical case. Meltter continuously tries stretching his arms in an attempt to capture the criminal, who easily evades them. As soon as he reaches an alley, Stuart asks him to give back the case while Meltter surrounds him, claiming his time is limited. The hooded criminal simply states that he hoped they’d follow him, and unveils his cloak, revealing a large portal that sucks Meltter and Stuart in it.
Ben suddenly wakes up in the alley again, seeing Stuart unconscious as well. As he wakes Stuart, the latter wonders where the villain is, with Ben only regretting having the Omnitrix turn him into Meltter instead of Powerpipe, otherwise they would’ve caught the criminal as he was leaving the Bellwood Research Center. Stuart suggests that they head to The Fictioverse to strategize on finding the criminal before he strikes again. As they exit the alley, the duo feel that something is wrong.
Looking around, Bellwood feels the same, but the duo still have a feeling of suspicion in them, as if they weren’t home. Suddenly, the Red Robot emerges from the ground, but it is strangely coloured blue and gold, demanding “Ben 23” to face it. Ben is curious as to what the robot mean’t, but begins dialling the Omnitrix anyways. Before he could finish selecting an alien, an indigo Constrictaconda suddenly appears and rams into the robot, claiming itself as Gummy Snake. Ben claims that Gummy Snake was a terrible name, but Stuart suddenly figures out everything looking at a poster at the cinema.
The movie features a Hammerhack-like alien on it, and the cast member features Ben Tennyson, who also appears on the poster, younger and blue. Realising this, Stuart deduces that the villain had taken them to another dimension where Ben was famous and well-known, and believes that Ben was the Gummy Snake battling the Red Robot. After knocking down the robot, Gummy Snake turns back into the alternate Ben, who gets surrounded by fans shouting Ben 23. As he signs autographs, the robot secretly raises a tentacle at the distracted Ben, but Stuart sees this and warns Ben.
As Ben 23 finally sees the danger, the arm is blasted away by eggs fired from Chicolt. Wondering who the alien was, Ben 23 demands to know as he threatens Chicolt with his Omnitrix, causing Chicolt to turn back into Ben, surprising everyone. Ben and Stuart are then shown walking with Ben 23, who claims that he became famous upon finding the Omnitrix when he was 10, and that the Red Robot was one of his longtime enemies. Ben asks if Ben 23’s family or friends knows about this, causing Ben 23 to be silent, but suddenly answers about his followers all seeing him as a world famous celebrity. He then continues to talk about his exploits and success when the prime Ben sees Stuart looking at something.
Stuart sees The Fictioverse, but in a darker shade compared to the shop at home. Entering the shop with Ben, the duo are greeted by a younger looking version of Stuart, who gets surprised to see his other dimensional self. Wondering what was going on, Stuart prime explains the situation to his counterpart, calming him down. He then looks at Ben, wondering what he was doing there, and Ben claims that he and Stuart were a team. Stuart 23 scoffed at this statement, calling Ben 23 a spoiled brat and now knows how he’ll look as a 15-year old. Ben questions what Stuart-23 meant by that before hearing a robbery occuring outside, prompting Stuart prime to tell him to do something, while he looks in confusion.
Ben 23 is then shown chasing the Dimension 23 version of the Violent Offenders, transforming into a Gigobite-like alien named Techno-Mouth, and nearly catches up to the Violent Offenders, only for their tyres to suddenly pop. This was due to the interference of Powerpipe, who asks why Ben 23 didn’t turn into a speed based alien, in which Techno-Mouth claims that speed aliens didn’t give off enough entertainment. Seeing the Violent Offenders beginning to fire a laser blast at them, Powerpipe decides to show Techno-Mouth how it's done and turns into Gigobite, who eats the blast and fires it back at the Offenders. Techno-Mouth then proceeds to eat their car, forcing the Violent Offenders to accidentally run into Gigobite’s mouth.
After ejecting them, Gigobite turns into Transmelt and proceeds to freeze the Offenders, claiming that it’s what his Stuart would do. The entire battle is seen on the news by both Stuart, in which the younger Stuart claims that Ben prime has more experience and doesn’t care about entertainment, in which Stuart-prime claims that he only entertains through comics. Seeing Ben 23’s flamboyant fighting style, Stuart states that Stuart-23 should coach Ben 23 on tactics, claiming that a younger Ben would be able to gain more experience. Stuart 23 is doubtful, but Stuart-prime tells him a story about his Ben when he was younger, causing both of them to laugh.
Back at the battlefield, Transmelt sees a case at the back of the Offender’s car that resembles the case stolen by the villain he and Stuart were chasing. Wondering if it was all connected, the two aliens are suddenly knocked back by a blast and turn back into their respective Bens as the hooded villain suddenly appears. The Stuarts see this happening, leading Stuart-prime to suit up and ask his counterpart to follow. Stuart-23 initially refuses, but Stuart persists, telling him “you’re braver than this because you’re me”. As the Bens recover, Ben-prime sees recognises the villain, who then claims to be named Portallion, and he intended to take over Ben’s dimension by removing him from it, leaving it defenseless.
Ben wonders what were in the cases he stole, and Portallion claimed that they were devices that when combined with his powers, enabled him to reshape multiple realities, meaning that if Portallion could take over one dimension, all other dimensions would experience the same fate. But his initial plan to leave Ben in another dimension backfired when he sees the two working together well, meaning that he first needs to defeat both Bens. Ben 23 begins to lose his confidence at seeing an enemy this powerful, claiming all his bad guys were considered C-listers. Ben-prime gives him motivation, stating that all bad guys can get to this level, but it proves that the Bens can get stronger too. They then hear Stuart-prime stating they’re not alone in this and joins them in preparing to battle Portallion. Believing none of his current aliens can take on Portallion, Ben decides to try and unlock a new alien while Ben 23 begins to dial one of his own.
The two Bens transform, with Ben 23 turning into Poison Knight and Ben turns into a new maroon alien. Stuart looks amazed, as he had never seen these aliens before, while Poison Knight asks Ben why he turned into Water Volcano. Hearing the name and looking at the nozzles on his body, Ben figures out what the alien can do, and the trio then charge at Portallion. Ben’s new alien fires water from his arms, but they are reflected by Portallion. Poison Knight and Stuart try shooting toxic darts and freeze rays at him, but are unsuccessful and end up hitting each other. Knowing they need to think outside the box, Ben claims they need to work together, and strategizes with his team. The trio then charge at Portallion with Ben’s new alien (which he names Geyser) firing water jets backwards, with Poison Knight and Stuart riding on him.
Portallion opens another portal just as Geyser fires Poison Knight and Stuart at him, but the duo then fire their attacks at him in rapid succession. Portallion gets exhausted at having to create so many portals to the point where he then sees the trio standing back. Claiming that all 3 of them couldn’t defeat him, he is then knocked out by a metal pipe used by Stuart-23, who had snuck up behind him thanks to Stuart’s cloaking camera. With Portallion unconscious, the Bens turn back to normal, and Stuart-prime searches Portallion’s body, finding a portal generator in it. He claims that he could fix the portal and possibly take them home, but he needs some time.
While Stuart fixes the machine, Ben asks Ben 23 why he had been so scared despite his initial confidence. Ben 23 remains silent, causing Ben to realise he was scared of big threats because he no longer has anyone to truly support him, for he had lost his family. Ben 23 wonders how he knew, causing Ben-prime to claim that he had the same experience. Stuart 23 then intejects, claiming that his fame and fortune were just facades to hide his true inner turmoil, leading him to apologise for misjudging Ben 23, who acquired all his glory easily while he had to work daily in order to make ends meet. Ben suggests that Ben 23 and Stuart 23 help each other just like his own relationship with his Stuart, and the 23 counterparts happily accept.
As the police take Portallion away, a crowd sees the Bens and Stuarts saying their goodbyes to each other, with the prime counterparts giving some final advice to their 23 counterparts. As the primes prepare to enter the portal, Stuart asks Ben how he feels after seeing his possibilities. Ben simply replies “Being famous is great, but it isn’t as great without anyone to share it with”, and fist-bumps Stuart. The duo then enter the portal seconds before the generator disintegrates, with Ben and Stuart 23 looking at each other with newfound respect.
Noteworthy Events[]
Major Events[]
- Ben and Stuart encounter Portallion.
- Portallion teleports Ben and Stuart to Dimension 23, where the duo meet their Dimension 23 counterparts.
- Ben 23 and Stuart 23 form a team.
- Ben unlocks Geyser and uses him for the first time.
Character Debuts[]
- Ben 23
- Stuart 23
- Portallion
- Red Robot (Dimension 23)
- Violent Offendors (Dimension 23)
Omnitrix Alien Debuts[]
- Gummy Snake
- Smart Shark
- Techno-Mouth
- Poison Knight
- Geyser
Minor Events[]
- It is revealed that when they were younger, both Bens lost their families.
Characters[]
- Ben Tennyson
- Stuart Garner
- Ben 23 (First Appearance)
- Stuart 23 (First Appearance)
Villains[]
- Portallion (First Appearance)
- Red Robot (Dimension 23) (First Appearance)
- Violent Offendors (Dimension 23) (First Appearance)
Aliens Used[]
By Ben[]
- Meltter (Off-screen transformation; accidental transformation; intended alien was Powerpipe]]
- Chicolt (Off-screen transformation)
- Powerpipe (Off-screen transformation)
- Gigobite
- Transmelt
- Geyser (First Appearance)
By Ben 23[]
- Gummy Snake (First Appearance)
- Techno-Mouth (First Appearance)
- Poison Knight (First Appearance)
Allusions[]
- The name of this episode is a parody of the song, 21 Guns, by Green Day.
- This episode takes several plot elements from the Ben 10: Omniverse episode, Store 23.
- The way Portallion uses his portals is based of Blink's portal powers from X-Men: Days of Future Past.
- The movie poster featuring Ben 23, Shark World 3-D, is a parody of the film Jaws 3-D.
- Several movie parodies are seen on the cinema screentime. These include:
- The Mythical Maze, a parody of Labyrinth.
- Riders of the Last Rock, a parody of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Attack of the Bones, a parody of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
- Fast, a parody of Speed.
- Breakout of Incarceration Island, a parody of Escape from Alcatraz.
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode where the unlocked alien is only used once.
- Stuart claims that his Dimension 23 self is 16 years old, while his counterpart claims that Ben 23 is about 12. This would make Stuart 19 years old.
- It is revealed that Ben got his job at The Fictioverse after Stuart caught him spoiling the plots of some comics.