The More They Stay the Same

The More They Stay the Same
Season 1, Episode 1
Air date	March 29, 2020
Written by	Alanomaly
Episode Guide
Previous A New Dawn	Next Outbreak: Redux

The More They Stay the Same is the first episode of Ben 10: Time's End.

Plot

The episode would open up in the streets of Bellwood. Walking through the crowds would be someone dressed in a complete black outfit including a helmet to hide their identity, not attracting much attention given how diverse Earth's population has become with other races since the Incursean Invasion. What does attract attention, however, is when the person reaches a multi-story building and clenches their left fist, causing the building to seem to fade from existence, though everything inside remains, causing many people to fall and either be heavily injured or even dead. An out of place safe within the building also falls, which the person walks to, phasing their hand inside. In what appears to be way too coincidental, authorities automatically show up, and attempt to open fire on the person, but they disappear before any harm can be done. When the person leaves, the building reappears.

About an hour later, Ben and Rook (now going by Blonko instead of the surname Rook) arrive on the scene. Blonko heads inside to investigate the odd safe the mysterious person was interacting with while Ben is debriefed further on the situation by the chief officer. Ben transforms into NRG and examines the building, saying that it is surrounded in something known as a "background radiation," a harmless radiation caused by time travel or time manipulation in general. Blonko exits the building and informs NRG that the inside of the safe was empty, except for trace amounts of Chronosapien DNA.

The combination of background radiation and Chronosapien DNA worries NRG, but this worry is soon replaced when loud footsteps are heard from the bay nearby. Turning to the bay, no one was able to see anything to go along with the footsteps, until a Way Bad appears out of what seems to be thin air. NRG remarks that the Way Bad also has background radiation, meaning it's from a different point in time. With Blonko using a large shield function with the Proto-Tool, NRG hops into the bay and transforms.

From the water near the Way Bad's feet jumps Ripjaws, who quickly transforms into Snare-Oh and pulls himself up onto the Way Bad's shoulder. He initially attempts to talk the Way Bad down, but this obviously fails, so he resorts to using the creature's size against it whilst maneuvering around it and wrapping it up, causing it to fall with Snare-Oh landing on the other side of the shield. Soon after landing, Snare-Oh notices the mysterious person standing up on a nearby building, watching the event unfold. Snare-Oh makes his way to the top of the building, finding no one there, only to be knocked to the side as the person reappears, kicking him down. Snare-Oh wraps the person in his chest bandages, but the person clenches their left fist and causes the Omnitrix to time out, forcing Ben to release them. The person is then blasted down by Blonko who has also made his way to the top, only for the person to retreat without a word, confusing the both of them.

Inside the building, Ben and Blonko are looking at the safe, which was cracked open earlier by Blonko. Ben reaches the Omnitrix inside and it glows yellow, which reasonably confuses Blonko given the Omnitrix already has Chronosapien DNA. Ben explains the Omnitrix can temporarily overwrite a DNA sample with another individual's of the same species (for things such as infiltration), which only confuses Blonko more and even confuses Ben, the one who said it in the first place. Despite their confusion, this works, and Ben transforms into Clockwork, who appears like Maltruant but with green energy and gears, and the Omnitrix on his chest. As with everything else that's been happening today, this confuses the hell out of both of them.

The scene shifts over to Mr. Smoothie's (which Ben casually remarks on the remodelling of) to ponder more about the situation. Ben immediately assumes the person causing the trouble was Eon, given the time manipulation, similar appearance, and the Maltruant DNA. Despite this, Ben determines it would be of no real use to try to track down Eon, as his constant time jumps make him nigh impossible to track down even with Clockwork tracking his ripple effect. Blonko remarks the same would go for trying to find Professor Paradox for help, though Paradox would likely show up on his own if he deemed it necessary.

Similar to the situation with the Way Bad, the two hear something approaching but initially see nothing, only for a rather large Techadon Robot with dark blue-grey armor to appear. It stops just before reaching them, causing a stand off. The Techadon put out its hand and fired a laser, which went right between Ben and Blonko, hitting what appeared to be an invisible force. Turning back, the two saw that it had indeed hit something, as a 16 year old Rath was up against the wall of the restaurant.

Rath sees the two, not recognizing Blonko but being able to determine his future self. Rath initially rejects the idea of being helped but eventually gives in, going to attack the Techadon with Blonko as present Ben gets ready. Present Ben dials in Humungousaur, but gets a new transformation instead: Overflow. The fight happens for longer than necessary due to Overflow attempting to both figure out his abilities and switching over to Humungousaur, the latter of which is ineffective. After the trio defeat the Techadon, present day Kevin and Gwen drive up, quite confused by Rath, the Techadon, and Overflow.

Both of the Ben's become human again. Ben then attempts to transform into Humungousaur again, to no avail. He then attempts Crashhopper which also results in nothing. He finally attempts Bloxx, but becomes a fusion of Bloxx and another alien: Sandbox. With Sandbloxx dumbfounded, past Ben inquires about the names "Crashhopper" and "Bloxx," and Kevin agrees, stating he's never heard of or seen them before. Gwen then inquires about the look of the Omnitrix being different. Sandbloxx returns to human and argues against both points, stating several instances the two saw Bloxx, Crashhopper, and the Omnitrix. The conversation getting nowhere, present Ben attempts something slightly drastic and goes to unlock one of the two on past Ben's Ultimatrix, only for past Ben and the Techadon to disappear before he can.

Just after they disappear, Professor Paradox appears, scaring the lot of them. Ben attempts to discuss everything that's happened that day, but Paradox stops him to do things at his own pace. The first order of business results in Paradox grabbing the Omnitrix with his chrononavigator hand, and causing it to change in appearance, Gwen responding that this is more like what she's used to. Blonko inquires as to which memories are correct, and Paradox says that both sets of memories are correct, but a more elaborate answer lies in a place known as Tempparatus.

Without much of a choice on their part, Paradox takes the team to a steampunk styled planet. Looking around, they see Chronosapiens of all shapes, sizes, and colors, wandering about without much of a care in the world. Paradox leads them to a place called the Tempparatus Files. On the way there, Ben remarks on the calm nature of the Chronosapiens being in contrast to the "gone rogue" state his alternate future self once described. Paradox simply explains this away as being an event of the old timeline but not something that has happened yet in this one, and that would make sense once they got to the Files.

The Files show to be an extreme abnormality. Initially, they appear as just a large pit in the planet. However, holographic displays pop up as the heroes approach. The Files are described to be a place where visitors to Tempparatus can observe timelines in a similar manner to the way the Chronosapiens do. Paradox explains that Ben and Blonko are in a separate timeline from their original. Paradox brings up the obvious bits of information first, such as showing the Omnitrix's change in design between the two timelines. He then shows the original timeline events of Ben first transforming into Bloxx, Crashhopper, Walkatrout, and The Worst, which then get replaced with Sandbox, Elastick, Thriller Whale, and Snot Goblin when he switches to them to the new universe.

Paradox says that not only are some transformations replaced, some are simply different. He elaborates on this by showing Humungousaur with Skurd, and Eatle in Undertown in the original timeline, then switches to the new one. When he does this, Humungousaur resembles his Ultimate form, and Eatle is drastically different, with a changed horn, four eyes and arms, as well as blasters in his claws. 

The next thing explained is events. Paradox mentions events that have changed, showing the original timeline's Attea and her Incurseans on Peptos XI, along with Ben using Feedback to defeat Maltruant. When it becomes the new timeline, Attea's forces are shown on X'Nelli, while Ben is shown using Chromastone to defeat Maltruant. It is also revealed that some events never took place at all, with Ultimate Way Big fighting Diagon being shown as a primary example.

The holograms then show the Way Bad and Techadon from earlier. The two are explained as having been "leaks" from the original timeline. Ben asks Paradox why he doesn't just take them back to the original, Paradox describes it as not being that simple. Every time the future interacts with the past, the past is set on a different timeline from that future. That future still exists, but separate from the new past. The events of A New Dawn were this on a larger scale, as Ben, Blonko, and Maltruant travelled to before the universe, and thusly any timelines within this multiverse, began. The ripple effect caused by this was grander than most, which is why there were enemies leaking into the new timeline as well as Ben and Blonko both having some memories from the new timeline, and even the Omnitrix's different functionalities between the two.

A loud noise akin to a bell tolling is heard. Hearing where the noise is coming from, Paradox teleports the team to a mechanical cavern, referring to it as the home of Temporal Artifacts. The figure from Bellwood stands there, revealing Ben's Eon assumption to be correct. Eon clenches his left fist and a purple barrier appears between him and the group. Paradox attempts to take it down, but it causes his chrononavigator arm to glow purple and harm him. Eon taunts Paradox by claiming that the Chronosapien technology he added to his own time device allows him to more easily counter Paradox's. Eon runs further into the cavern.

Ben remarks that if Chronosapien tech made the barrier, it can take it down to. He becomes Clockwork again, temporarily remarking on the fact parts of his body still look like Maltruant, then manages to take down Eon's barrier, though with some difficulty. The lot of them run after Eon who summons up some of his minions from portals. Gwen shields herself, Blonko, and Kevin from their attacks as Blonko readies the Proto-Tool into a sword and Kevin absorbs the metal of the ground. Clockwork transforms into Kickin Hawk, gawking at his new look before joining the fight.

During the fight, Kickin Hawk slices the chest of an Eon minion with his wing, noticing a dark liquid on his feathers. He believes it to be oil at first, as Eon had been using robots, but then realizes the liquid isn't black but a dark red. Worried, he takes off the helmet of the minion, realizing that he had just killed an alternate version of himself. He stops his friends from killing any of them, as they're all brainwashed into working for Eon. Paradox, however, counters that the Ben's Eon is using are "already dead," being stuck in temporal limbo in the seconds between life and death. Despite this, Kickin Hawk refuses to let any one of them be "killed" by his group.

Kickin Hawk and Paradox leave the other three to take care of the mind controlled, Omnitrix-less Ben's that are under Eon's control, and head to catch up with Eon. They find him near what he calls the most important part of his plan. Looking on, the two see that he's standing before the red gears of Maltruant. He reaches out with his left hand and red energy shoots off the gears onto Eon, changing his normally purple energy to red with Maltruant taking over temporarily, unsure of where he is before noticing Paradox and Eon, and then recognizing the Temporal Artifacts. He yells that the time loop he was in was broken, and that it's the fault of Ben and his partner. Eon starts to take over again until the energy becomes magenta, the both of them controlling the body at the same time. He shoots a time ray at Kickin Hawk who quickly becomes Diamondhead to block the attack.

With the attack blocked, Diamondhead lowers his defense only to see Eon and the gears gone. Gwen, Kevin, and Blonko enter the room, stating that Eon's minion's disappeared, roughly the same time Eon himself did. Paradox becomes increasingly worried about Eon collecting Maltruant's parts, and says he'll "be in touch" in his own way should he find Eon at a time and place close to the others before disappearing, the flash of light also returning the heroes to Mr. Smoothie.

Diamondhead transforms back into Ben who suggests that the group heads to the Plumber's Headquarters and ask if Max or anyone else has had any sign of Eon or his minions. Kevin and Gwen tense up, looking at each other before coming to the silent agreement that Gwen be the one to inform Ben that in this timeline, Max died during the events of Max Out. The news distraughts Blonko and sends Ben into a fit of denial. He sits at one of the tables and attempts to process the information, only to begin crying and continue pleading that it "can't be true."

In Eon's pocket dimension outside of time, he appears in a flash of magenta light, and the Maltruant gears move away from him, returning his energy and control back to normal. The gears seem to move themselves over to a floating mass of parts of Maltruant, primarily random bolts from his body. Maltruant's consciousness communicates from the gears to Eon, expressing gratitude (albeit not particularly obvious gratitude) for his efforts. Eon brushes this off, retorting that this is purely for his own development, that the Time War will go on his way... or not at all.

Major Events

• It is revealed that the events of A New Dawn caused a shift in time, altering many events within the previous four shows.
• NRG, Ripjaws, Snare-Oh, Clockwork, and Diamondhead reappear.
• Overflow and Sandbloxx debut.
• Eon steals a piece of Maltruant, and is revealed to have been doing so for a while, preparing to continue the time war.
• Maltruant reveals that Ben and Blonko getting involved with his plans broke the time loop in Earth-2018.
• The team's first stop, albeit unintentional, is Tempparatus.

Characters

• Ben Tennyson
• Rook Blonko
• Gwen Tennyson
• Kevin Levin
• Professor Paradox (first reappearance)

Villains

• Eon (first reappearance)
• Way Bad (first reappearance)
• Techadon Robot (first reappearance)
• Maltruant (first reappearance, voice and pieces only)

Tempparatus Files

Original Timeline

• Maltruant
• Diagon
• Blukic
• Driba
• Skurd
• Esther
• Attea
• Incurseans
• Gourmands

New Timeline

• Maltruant
• Blukic
• Driba
• Skurd
• Esther
• Attea
• Incurseans
• Manzardills

Aliens Used

By 18-year-old Ben

• NRG (first reappearance)
• Ripjaws (first reappearance, cameo)
• Snare-Oh (first reappearance)
• Clockwork (2x, first reappearance)
• Overflow (debut; selected alien was Humungousaur)
• Sandbloxx (debut; selected alien was Bloxx)
• Kickin Hawk
• Diamondhead (first reapparance)

By 16-year-old Ben

• Rath

Tempparatus Files

Original Timeline

• Bloxx
• Crashhopper
• Walkatrout
• The Worst
• Humungousaur
• Feedback
• Eatle
• Ultimate Way Big

New Timeline

• Sandbox
• Elastick
• Thriller Whale
• Snot Goblin
• Humungousaur
• Chromastone
• Eatle

Trivia

• The title of this episode is a reference to the first episode of Ben 10: Omniverse, The More Things Change.
• NRG being the first alien used hearkens back to the theme of fire aliens being first used, with Heatblast for the original series, Swampfire for Alien Force and the Ultimatrix, and Ultimate Swampfire for the first Ultimate that Ben used. Although NRG is technically radiation, he is meant to fill the "fire" category of the Andromeda aliens.
  • Technically, however, ChamAlien was the first alien used of the series, as he was used by Rook in The New Outbreaks, but NRG was the first used in the series proper.
• NRG is revealed to be able to see and properly identify different types of radiation.
• Rook goes by Blonko now, as that is his actual "name;" "Rook" is Blonko's surname, as he has the naming conventions of eastern Asian countries where the surname comes first.
• The Omnitrix is revealed to be able to temporarily overwrite the DNA sample of an alien with a DNA sample of the same species.
  • In the case of Clockwork, Ben accidentally merged his DNA with Maltruant's because the Omnitrix was still adjusting to the new timeline and this new function, thus giving Clockwork his new look.
• The temporal displacements of trying to adjust to the new timeline result in callbacks to two episodes that took place in the original timeline:
  • A Way Bad from The Frogs of War appears.
  • The Techadon and Rath are both from Greetings From Techadon.
• The Omnitrix did not allow Ben to transform into Humungousaur because it hadn't adjusted to Humungousaur's new DNA yet. Now that the Omnitrix has been sped up by Paradox, this is no longer an issue.
  • The same would have happened had Ben attempted to become Eatle, Kickin Hawk, Atomix, or Toepick prior to Paradox speeding up the Omnitrix.
• The Tempparatus Files showcase the new and old versions of the events of the following episodes:
  • The More Things Change: Part 1
  • It Was Them
  • Outbreak
  • Stuck on You
  • A New Dawn
  • Hot Stretch
  • The Ultimate Enemy: Part 2
  • Tummy Trouble
• Eon has returned to using enslaved alternate Ben's as his minions rather than robots.
• The episode title is a reference to the first.second episode of Ben 10: Omniverse, The More Things Change.
• A sneak peek of the episode was given at Fall Fanon Con 2018.

Ben 10: Time's End
Prerequisite Episodes
The New Outbreaks | Permanently Ultimate, Ultimately Permanent | A Look Back at Feedback | Sand-Bloxx'd | Life Cycle | Bounce Back From This | Ra'ad Dude, Man
Season 1
The More They Stay the Same | Outbreak: Redux | Sound Syndrome | Cannonbolt v. Wildmutt | Rise of the Antrosapiens | The War for Abscondas | Piscciss Reignited | Salag Under Siege | The Racomitrium Revolt | The Last of the Titans | To the Bone | Exodus | Between Two Worlds | Non-Stop | Encephalonus V