After a brief argument, Paradox and Azmuth explain that the Forge of Creation is where all Celestialsapiens (Alien X’s race) are born, and Aggregor hopes to absorb the powers of a newborn Celestialsapien and become all-powerful. When this fails, Paradox arrives and changes Alien X back to Ben. Ben resolves to become Alien X to get Bellicus and Serena to cooperate.
If every episode had been at least as good as this one, I would’ve had very little to complain about, but unfortunately there’s a reason that this is my least favorite series in the franchise and not just because it contains the Garbage Episode.Īnd for anybody who’s worried, I promise I’ll keep trying to give each episode a fair shot, but I’m going to admit upfront that I might have to reach for something nice to say at times.Azmuth is upset with Ben, Gwen, and Kevin for letting Aggregor get all the pieces of the Map of Infinity. It’s a great kickoff to a new series in the franchise. More foreshadowing for “The Ultimate Sacrifice”? Something else entirely? We may never know. However, we never get an explanation for why the pink eyes thing happened. This was said by both Matt Wayne and Dwayne McDuffie himself. Give our titular character some depth instead of just making him unlikable!Īlso, apparently the pink eyes Ben gets when he reverts back from Ultimate Spidermonkey was supposed to be a thing. Show him struggling with keeping up the confident superhero persona so that people will have faith in him. Instead of him acting like a constant jerk, balance it out with moments of him trying to deal with his own insecurities without letting anyone know just how frightened he really is. There could’ve been an entire glorious character arc for Ben in this season with him dealing with the fact that his secret is out and he’s suddenly eternally in the spotlight. You come back and you apologize for your behavior, missy! There is no excuse for deliberately adding to someone’s anxiety! Despite her dissing the guy who’s already super worried about his secret being out and everything, I’m supposed to like her at the end because she’s one person who doesn’t hate him? Uh uh. Also, her comment about Ben not being able to win people over. Why was she needed in this episode? The only thing she does is basically reinforce the “Everybody hates you now!” thing, even telling him it flat-out. Limiting myself to just this episode, Julie. From here throughout most of Ultimate Alien, it’s going to be painful to admit he’s my favorite character, starting with the next episode. Part of me wonders if this is foreshadowing of the Ultimates becoming sentient in “The Ultimate Sacrifice” much like how Ben admitting how much going Ghostfreak freaked him out foreshadowed Zs’Skayr.įirst and foremost is the knowledge that this nice characterization of Ben is about to go flying out the window. He has to face his fellow humans every single day, knowing that they now know just how different he really is from them.Īlso, Ben’s admission that the Ultimate forms freak him out. After all, aliens have to go home eventually. After all, suddenly having the eyes of not just the universe but his entire home planet watching his every move must be terrifying. Because of that, part of me wonders if what we later learn in “Forge of Creation” about Ben acting like a jerk to hide his insecurities was supposed to be hinted at starting here.
He tries to look on the bright side, even telling Julie that maybe he could do more good without having to try and keep everything a secret, but at the same time it’s clear that he doesn’t want the fame.Īt the end of the episode, returning to school is more terrifying than being close to a nuclear bomb two minutes from detonating. I also really like Ben’s initial reaction to being a public superhero. Kevin knows that it won’t be easy for Ben, and him immediately leaping to defend him because he knew that from personal experience was nice since it showed us just how far they’d come.
In Ultimate Alien, Ben’s life–as Gwen predicted back in Ben 10 Returns–can never be normal again. In season three of Alien Force, Ben was famous among the stars but could live a normal life on Earth. There is almost nowhere on Earth Ben could go and not be recognized. However, Jimmy’s exposure of Ben wasn’t just in one city it was global. Kevin’s powers have never been a secret, and he was harassed because of them back in New York. In a way, it’s a subtle callback to Kevin 11. I really like how Kevin gets upset at Jimmy for revealing Ben’s identity.
Even worse, there’s a new threat lurking on the horizon. Plot Summary: Ben’s secret identity isn’t so secret anymore. Ben 10 Rewatch: Ultimate Alien, Episode 1