The Evil Within (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 12) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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The Evil Within

Sometimes the hardest thing in life is admitting you’ve made a mistake.  While keeping it secret can be harmless, when the mistake leads to big problems that can affect the innocent, you must find the strength to tell what happened so it can be fixed.  That’s a very interesting basis for this episode, and it helps that it does justice for a character who at this point has had very few starring roles. 

Kimiko is typically a loyal friend and member of the team, but there isn’t much to her apart from her technical knowledge and comical rage fits.  The latter trait is what leads to her engaging arc her where her actions lead to world-threatening disaster as well as her friend almost losing his free will.  Following frustrations from a poor performance of getting a Shen Gong Wu called the Mosaic Scale, Kimiko drops it and it breaks.  The smart thing to do would be to tell someone what she did to solve the issue.  Instead she hides it while awkwardly convincing her friends that nothing’s wrong, and despite their confusion towards her behavior, they somehow go along with it. 

Given how powerful Shen Gong Wu are, it’s not surprising that it’s a dumb move to keep a broken one secret, and it does lead to bad consequences.  A creepy earwig-like creature called Sibini crawls out of the broken scale and enters Clay’s mind through his ear.  This turns Clay into an evil being who mostly delights in committing violent pranks and even helps Jack steal a good number of the Xiaolin Warriors’ Shen Gong Wu. 

With all these acts from someone no would expect to see them from, Kimiko has to reveal her mistakes.  Through doing so, she learns a reassuring lesson that there’s no real shame in making mistakes.  What matters is that one is willing to reveal them and do everything possible to resolve it.  Fortunately, there’s still a chance to do that with time to get another Shen Gong Wu called the Monarch Wings.  Combined with the Mosaic Scale, it will make Sibini invincible on his own so he won’t need to use anyone for a host like he’s doing with Clay now. 

While this is going on, we see a lot more of Chase Young at work.  He continues to charm with his evil charisma, particularly as he thinks nothing of Jack’s hero worship of him.  He’s even unfazed by the offer of most of the Xiaolin Warriors’ Shen Gong Wu claiming to be powerful enough without them.  He’s also smart to point out that Clay isn’t really evil, but possessed and forced down the path by another being.  Instead Chase dares to observe Omi, believing he would be a strong asset to the ways of evil.  They even have a secret wholesome moment of bonding as Chase teaches Omi most useful fight moves which Omi later uses to face Sibini. 

While there’s progress and potential from these moments, for this present matter, it’s fitting that Kimiko finish the job in a Xiaolin Showdown for the Monarch Wings.  Through a daring race over waterfalls, it already has the benefit of being a visual spectacle.  The big thing about it though is that when Sibini is about to use both the Wings and the Mosaic Scale, that’s when Kimiko fully redeems herself.  Without holding back, she uses the Eye of Dashi’s fire power to seal Sibini inside the Shen Gong Wu.  In the end, her big display of power really pays off as she stops evil, saves Clay as well as the world, and is more comfortable with admitting mistakes as an ending scene shows. 

For a standard episode, it does a lot by legitimately raising stakes, giving interesting character development, and offering one of the biggest lessons ever.

A+

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Evil Within

3.      Enter the Dragon

4.      Days Past

5.      PandaTown

6.      The Sands of Time

7.      Master Monk Guan

8.      Crystal Glasses

9.      Dreamscape

10.  The Shard of Lightning

11.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

12.  Sizing Up Omi

 

 

 

The next Xiaolin Showdown review brings a nice feel of winter when the cast has to face a yodeling snowman who sets out to freeze the world.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a very special Halloween review.

 If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.