Adventure Episode 20: The Earthquake of MetalGreymon

In this episode, Tai's recklessness is heralded as a good thing this time. He's rewarded by getting sucked right out of the Digital World.


For all of the problems in using someone like Etemon as a villain, the arc certainly ends big. A dramatic rescue mission, a couple gut check moments, a new evolution and a dramatic turn that shifts the entire series. Elvis has left the building!

Appropriately, we start out with a very pensive group of digidestined sitting around a fire unable to figure out the next move and knowing that their comrade is in captivity. Tai's eager for another chance to rescue Sora while everybody else is trying not to think about what's happening to her. Izzy uncovers more basement to the pyramid where Datamon is holding Sora, and Tai's all ready to rush in blindly yet again to save her. Thankfully he has teammates and they're more interested in formulating a strategy.

As for Sora, she's all tied up to a slab and Datamon is indeed being pretty cruel. With poor Biyomon crucified on a wall, Datamon's creating a copy of Sora so he can have the power of her digivice and crest. It's creepy, sadistic and proof that Datamon is still pretty awesome.

With Etemon loading all of his troops around the pyramid, the ensuing battle gives us something that isn't seen enough in the newer seasons- tactics. Not tactics involved with a single fight, but the kind of straight-up war strategy that pits the digidestined against the villain in a chess match. In this regard, as dense as Tai can be sometimes, he's easily the best strategist of the goggle-heads (with Thomas from Data Squad taking the overall award). Collectively, the team is able to scout Etemon's troops, draw them away from the pyramid and sneak Tai and Izzy inside. The endgame has Ikkakumon, Garurumon and Togemon surrounding Etemon in the desert. Checkmate.

While it's awesome when a plan comes together and everybody fulfills their assigned role, sometimes they have to improvise. As has been established, Etemon actually kicks a considerable amount of ass and is back in the pyramid in no time, forcing Izzy to engage him while Tai goes after Sora. This is actually kinda dumb as there's no real reason Tai couldn't have stayed back while Izzy did the rescue. After all, Izzy has the map. But no, this is Tai's mission and damned if logic's going to get in the way. The writers wouldn't ever think of disappointing the throng of Tai/Sora fans, right?

The real reason, of course, is that Tai has to confront that damned electric fence again. This time with no guide. He's gotta have a feel for it just like he tried to do last time. This time around a reckless guess that's liable to get him killed has him branded a hero, makes his crest glow and leads him to Sora. After snatching her tag and digivice, he makes a diving save to grab Sora before she falls into oblivion. And the crowd goes wild!

While Tai, Sora and Izzy make their escape, Datamon drags Etemon into the darkness which, since we still haven't had a proper boss fight, Etemon absorbs and turns him into some techno-fused boss from a Final Fantasy game. Since the Champions still can't faze him (they never really did), Tai decides to be reckless one more time, charging ahead with Greymon. It's still Tai rushing madly into danger. It's still not caring whether he lives or dies. Perhaps the only thing that separates this from the Skullgreymon debacle is the Digimon's perception of it. Greymon's with him step for step, and that must be what powers the crest and lets him evolve into MetalGreymon. One giga blaster from him and Etemon goes boom. Shame Greymon had such trite lines about courage giving him strength and Tai's high-pitched screaming sounded like it came from a badly dubbed Chinese martial arts movie.

The network goes boom too, creating a huge vortex that sucks in Tai and MetalGreymon. One more bitchslap for good measure. It closes and the rest of the digidestined are left stunned. Their leader is gone. Meanwhile, Tai and Koromon find themselves in an even stranger place. The animation is more subdued and the normal sight of people walking a park become the weirdest thing encountered so far in the show. They're in the real world, and Digimon Adventure just turned the corner.

My Grade: A-

Loose Data:
  • While Tai, Matt, Joe and Mimi are talking around the fire and Izzy is having some alone time with his computer, TK's the only one showing concern for the Digimon. They're all just as scared, and likely worried about Biyomon, who was also kidnapped and isn't mentioned once in that scene.
  • Just as he landed the first blow on Devimon, Ikkakumon fires the first shots in the battle. Goooo Joe!
  • Palmon evolves to Togemon instantly without a transformation sequence. It's actually quite jarring.

11 comments:

  1. Had you noticed that(at least in this season)Tai has a sligtly more masculine version of the huge anime eyes design? its really quite distracting

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  2. The whole dark-volution thing is complicated. I don't really understand, but I think the difference is turning your personal trait into a virtue and not sin for Tai's case. Courage is considered a sin, since you don't feel fear, and fear is important otherwise you end up a moron. Tai's recklessness in the SkullGreymon episode was just down right stupid. He was fighting for all the wrong reasons, but in this episode (that I can recall, haven't seen the series in awhile) everyone was doubting their chance to win and he just charges ahead, not giving up. In that moment it was more of he had to do everything he can to help everyone or something I think. But overall I don't really think the Digimon's point of view really matters when it comes to digivolving.

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  3. Etemon had the best lines in this episode. Probably the funniest moment with him was when he's saying how he's much smarter than Datamon, only for him to turn around and realize the kids slipped away again while he was talking. The goofy way he asks where they'd go sells it.

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    1. Oh yeah, I loved that too. All the more reason to enjoy Etemon's presence on the show while he lasts. (Though I was bugged how he randomly changed his pronunciation of Datamon only to change it back again later on. What the heck, Richard Epcar - you can do better than that!)

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  4. "The writers wouldn't ever think of disappointing the throng of Tai/Sora fans, right?"

    PAA! HAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!!!!!!!

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    1. We all know what happens later on, but he's saying it as if he hasn't seen Zero Two yet or he's saying it sarcastically + of course, fans will be easy to ship these two according to these moments and Our War Game. Lol

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  5. I know he was probably being sarcastic or ignorant (most likely the former since I think this is a retrospective review) but I still had to laugh at the irony of it all.

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  6. Personally I think anyone who thinks Sorato was planned from the beginning needs to watch this episode. And pay attention to it.

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    1. Tai risked himself to save his friend. Your point?

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    2. I only agree with your shipping goggles because swerve shit like Sora x Yamato was so dumb it created some cancerous copiums (looking at you Rukato weirdos and far later on incest edgelords!)

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  7. I certainly agree 100% with the blog's review of this episode and it being the first one in the series to get an A grade. For as weak as this half-arc was, this finale was just EPIC. I think it was even better than the battle with Devimon. One of the Digidestined's own is in the clutches of a truly vile character and needs to be freed. The wide desert area actually becomes an asset for the atmosphere and battlefield layout of this one, we actually see the Digidestined rebound in competence by strategizing their rescue mission, including how to bypass Etemon and beat back his forces. Etemon himself shows once again why he is absolutely a force to be reckoned with, getting out on the battlefield himself in order to destroy those pesky kids and their mons. On top of that, we have an entire evil Digimon army, the Dark Network, and Datamon to contend with too! This is really big shit going down and really exciting to watch.

    Things REALLY take a dramatic turn once Tai gets inside the pyramid, which Datamon never actually left. He gets his big courage moment in getting through the electric barrier and saving Sora just before she's sent falling into oblivion by crazy Datamon. Almost just as good is the final confrontation between Etemon and Datamon, with Datamon attempting to basically suicide bomb the Dark Network by overfeeding the system until there's nothing left of it, which includes killing himself and taking Etemon down with him. And yet Etemon is so hardcore that he manages to take control of the cable cluster and make it his own power, becoming even more of a threat than before! Which leads to a truly amazing showdown in the desert that ends with the first correct digivolution to Ultimate for Greymon into MetalGreymon, our second Big Bad destroyed, and Tai and his digimon partner transported to another dimension...which happens to resemble Tai's own home on Earth. What the hell? It's another killer cliffhanger that ensures you keep watching. So yeah, I think this episode is where the hair really grew out for the series - the following six continue the process of Growing the Beard, which will culminate with the proper debut of you-know-who. So yeah, the weakest stretch of the series really stuck the landing here.

    (I actually didn't mind Greymon's line before digivolving and I really liked Tai's high pitched yells because of the lines themselves. "ETEMON IS EVERYONE'S ENEMY!" and "FINISH HIM OFF NOW WHILE WE HAVE THE POWER!", coupled with animation of moving sand, just made the whole thing feel that much more epic.

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