Wild West adventures are typically not what you’d expect from a show like this, but they’ve seemed to go together well in a few past instances. Such is the case with this episode that also stands out for being one of the most important weapon quests for the Xiaolin Warriors.
As part of their new rank as Wudai Warriors, they’re assigned to track down their own Wudai Weapons as well as the powerful Treasure of the Blind Swordsman. Now, out of all the episodes that have utilized the Wild West setup, this does so the best. There’s a distinctive atmosphere to the adventure that immerses itself in the setting, seen mainly through the challenges the Warriors face to get their weapons. Speaking of which, the Wudai Weapons themselves help make the series as a whole stand out. Combined with the aesthetics of the adventure, finding each one makes for creative scenarios. Raimundo’s weapon is a blue sword called the Blade of the Nebula obtained from rattlesnakes. Kimiko’s weapon is a fire based weapon called Arrow Sparrow which she gets by beating a ghost in a saloon with a spittoon full of ancient spit. Clay’s weapon is a multi-faceted boomerang known as the Big Bang Meteorang which comes to him during a fight with sentient cacti. As for Omi, he spends the whole adventure bragging about how great his Wudai Weapon will be and getting disappointed with all the others going to his friends. His weapon is ultimately a seemingly feeble stick called the Shimo Staff.
At first, one might wonder how these Wudai Weapons aren’t in the same class as typical Shen Gong Wu. One big difference is that instead of the Warriors just finding the weapons, they instead go to them and only work for them, so that’s something. I do have to question how they even know the names of the weapons when nothing gives them away, yet they’re shouting them like they were obvious during combat. Speaking of combat, it shows that getting them to work is not very easy. They’re ambushed by Jack and Wuya, their weapons do nothing, and they lose a lot of Shen Gong Wu.
This steers us to the actual Treasure of the Blind Swordsman. It’s in a cave, and is guarded by a wisecracking old blind man. The Warriors beat him to get to the treasure, but it seems to be empty. After they lose their Shen Gong Wu and the old man is captured though, they figure that they could see something through looking with their minds instead of their eyes. This is wise, but it comes very quickly with one line and doesn’t leave much impact. The same is true for the encounter of the actual blind swordsman. It should be grand, but all it takes is one conversation with him, and the Warriors somehow get their Wudai Weapons to work including the Shimo Staff.
Lacking convincing build up to these reveals aside, the Blind Swordsman’s power helps the Warriors reach their enemies in time for an exciting climax. It comes with a thrilling Xiaolin Showdown where the old man fights Jack and Wuya on top of a train in space, and he amazingly wins the stolen Shen Gong Wu back. After seeing their experiences as a lesson in looking beyond what they see, the Warriors realize their terrible mistake of leaving the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman behind. The episode ends with them losing it, and the audience sees it in the custody of Hannibal Bean in all his standard one-dimensional villainy.
All I can say is that they lose points for
boneheaded decisions that didn’t need to be made. This and big decisions coming from single
conversations hold the episode back, but the aesthetics and creativity to the
overall quest make the episode a good time in the Wild West.
A-
The Ranking
1. Bird of Paradise
2. The Treasure of the Blind Swordsman
3. Finding Omi
4. Omi Town
5. The Life and Times of Hannibal Roy
Bean
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where a new Shen Gong Wu brings dinosaurs back to 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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