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The Sands
of Time
Every so often, this show will introduce a Shen Gong Wu
that’s very cool in both concept and execution, but circumstances take it away
given its power. Some of them include
the Golden Tiger Claws which got sent to the center of the Earth and were then
rarely used afterwards, and the Sapphire Dragon which was re-encased in
ash. As for this episode, it introduces
a Shen Gong Wu that gives the user an advantage through time travel and time
altering.
It starts when everyone gets a
message from an old incarnation of Omi from the future. He says that evil will prevail if the Xiaolin
Warriors don’t find a Shen Gong Wu called the Sands of Time. The Warriors think they can easily beat evil
to the punch by following Dojo’s belief to where the Sands might be which
nicely connects to an argument about them with Dashi. They go to Egypt where there’s a pyramid
conveniently marked “Sands of Time” but in a humorous turn of events, it’s for
the filming of a show of that name.
There are a few contrivances here with how Dojo points out an hourglass
as the Shen Gong Wu when you’d think he’d know one when he saw one. It also turns out that the actual Sands of
Time were hidden at the Xiaolin Temple the whole time. Personally, it’s really unbelievable that
Dojo wouldn’t remember hiding a Shen Gong Wu at his own home.
Because they were gone so long, Jack is able
to grab the Sands just as they go active, and then much of the episode is
testing out the Sands for all their potential.
He swiftly recruits different villains from history be they a Hun, a
pirate, and a cowboy. He also recruits
his first grade teacher which, while kind of funny, doesn’t really make sense
since strict and demanding isn’t really the same as evil. Also, if she has a problem with his education
etiquette, why would she help him attack his enemies? Even so, it’s a clear example of Jack’s ideas
being so ridiculous yet working nonetheless.
The Warriors eventually take out his new team, but that doesn’t matter
since Jack still has the Sands of Time and brings back the ultimate member for
his team, an old version of himself.
Despite being a stereotypical old man with impaired movements and
hearing, he’s valuable for how he knows the location of all Shen Gong Wu. This way, Jack is able to get a few long before
activation. It’s just lucky that one of
them, a levitation Shen Gong Wu called the Ruby of Ramses, was spotted by the
Warriors back at that pyramid. They’re
able to get there around the same time as Jack, and Omi easily snags the Sands
of Time to bring his own older counterpart to help fight.
The ensuing climax is a battle for the ages
as both Omis and Jacks take part in a Xiaolin Showdown to reach the top of a
pyramid. The staging, music, and shot
composition through splitting the screen to focus on both opponents make for
some sheer excitement all throughout.
The Jacks are easily defeated with Old Omi skillfully working the Thorn
of Thunderbolt to blast them out of the pyramid at the end. This defeat is enough for Jack to call the
whole setup off, even if it could arguably still be effective.
As for the Sands of Time, they’re prevented
from making any more hunts too easy as we end with Old Omi taking them to the
future to hide them where they’ll never be found. In fact, we won’t see them again until the
series finale. As the episode to really
delve into what this time-traveling Shen Gong Wu can do, despite a few
contrivances, it’s a solidly fun watch with a good number of standout moments.
A
The Ranking
1. Citadel of Doom
2. Enter the Dragon
3. Days Past
4. PandaTown
5. The Sands of Time
6. Crystal Glasses
7. The Shard of Lightning
8. Sizing Up Omi
The next Xiaolin Showdown review features the warriors get really put down by inside insults they here of each other with a Mind Reader Conch.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Fish N Chumps" and "Camera Shy" from Rocko's Modern Life.
If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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