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The New
Order
It seems that a big theme of this season is not
underestimating certain threats. For
instance, you have Jack Spicer who in stature is more pretentious and less
mature than most villains. These
drawbacks are a key reason the Xiaolin Warriors are able to beat him most of
the time, the opening Shen Gong Wu hunt he takes on with Cyclops being an
example. In fact, it makes sense that
the Warriors see the much more competent and powerful Chase Young as an even
bigger threat. As for Chase, he
continues to astound in mysterious ways by focusing on his personal goals of
getting Omi to the dark side despite Wuya’s desire to obtain more Shen Gong
Wu. Unlike every other key player in the
series, Chase has no interest in such things, though when another one reveals itself,
he gives in and goes after it.
This
turns out to be more of an exercise in power as he gets it first, and stands
strong as all his opponents try to get it back from him. Then Jack unleashes the Sphere of Yun,
trapping Chase in a large glass ball which also means he gets control of all
Chase’s possessions, including his army of jungle cats. This is actually welcome since given the
subject of the Sphere of Yun’s introductory episode, not much was known about it. Now with Jack in charge of everything Chase
owned, you’d think that things won’t be much different given his
mentality. However, this belief is wrong
because when he raids the Xiaolin Temple, he turns out to be more brutal than
ever. Through commanding the jungle
cats, the Warriors get legitimately beaten hard as emphasized by visuals of
torn clothes and bad facial wounds. The
moves they unleash aren’t enough to beat them either. Master Fung comes in with exciting moves of
his own for once, but his old age is unable to keep him standing for long. Even after the raid is over, there’s lament
over the hard possibility that victory for the side of justice may never be
imminent again with Jack’s new army. Omi
even admits that things were better when Chase had the power considering he
never had an interest in Shen Gong Wu.
Despite visible objections from the others, Omi goes through with his
belief and dares to let Chase out of the Sphere of Yun. For a while, it seems like Omi’s made a huge
mistake with Chase claiming he’ll destroy him.
Then when Jack notices that Chase has been let out, he gets several
humiliating defeats as Chase beats the power of several Shen Gong Wu used
against him.
This allows Omi to take
some of them back with a small Xiaolin Showdown against Chase to finish the
job. During this showdown, there’s
noticeable compatibility between the two fighters as they make their way up a
spikey crag via several randomly named martial arts moves. The big takeaway is how it concludes when
Chase, who’s powerful enough to save himself, instead lets himself fall after
Omi causes him to slip. Afterwards, Omi
gets the feeling that Chase let him win, even to the point of thanking
him. It’s a thought-provoking moment that
suggests that maybe Chase has merit with his plan along with a belief that Omi
daring to go behind his friends’ backs to save him is the beginning.
All of this unfolds in one of the show’s most
insightful works about how different moralities exist in pretty much everyone.
A+
The Ranking
1. Citadel of Doom
2. The Last Temptation of Raimundo
3. The New Order
4. The Evil Within
5. Enter the Dragon
6. The Deep Freeze
7. Days Past
8. PandaTown
9. The Emperor Scorpion Strikes Back
10. The Return of PandaBubba
11. The Sands of Time
12. The Year of the Green Monkey
13. Master Monk Guan
14. Screams of the Siren
15. The Demon Seed
16. Crystal Glasses
17. Dreamscape
18. The Shard of Lightning
19. Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil
20. Sizing Up Omi
21. The Black Vipers
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where even petty old Jack Spicer appears to have some depth to his evilness.
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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