Adventure Episode 37: Wizardmon's Gift

In this episode, two Digimon take forever to die. One gets time for a heroic send-off. The other is apparently an RPG final boss and has a second form to chew more gameplay hours.

I'm beginning to see an unfortunate trend in season one. It doesn't carry over to other seasons much and is responsible for some inspiring moments in subsequent episodes, but it deserves reprimand nonetheless. Sometimes an arc doesn't know when to end and sometimes the bad guys just need to stay the hell dead.

For the sake of this argument, let's call Apocalymon an extension of the Dark Masters. We're not calling that two-episode post-script at the end an arc, are we? With that in mind, none of the major villains in season one die the first time around. Devimon has a bit part in season two. Etemon not only returns from the brink in his arc, but will also butt in again later. As the king cockroach, Myotismon is the worst offender, while Apocalymon just seemed to be tacked on as an excuse to buy a couple more episodes and a more rounded conclusion to the series. Why don't they just go away?

This is a more appropriate conversation to be having next episode when the guy actually returns, but what triggers this thought is how quick and anti-climactic Myotismon's death was in this episode. After brushing off all the initial foreplay, Myotismon ends up going down in one hit. It was a beautiful hit from the newly evolved Angewomon and the sequence leading up to her arrival is among the best in the franchise, but come on! All that and he's dead after one shot? No wonder nobody believes it.

The simple solution would have been knocking him off the roof with the hit, but having him somehow survive to advance to his final form. That would lead us into the epic 1.5-episode final battle (culminating in the dramatic warp evolution/yaoi fuel that lies ahead). Don't even pretend that Myotismon actually died here. You couldn't fool us with the eighth child mystery and you aren't fooling us here.

The other death in this episode had a far bigger impact. On the way to Odaiba, Joe and TK are finally able to contribute as they rescue Wizardmon and Kari's crest. Wizardmon proves his allegiance to all the cynics when he heals Lillymon (conveniently getting her back to game strength without having to devolve). As everybody comes together, the battle begins... and Myotismon's in God Mode. He's shrugging off blows that used to at least hurt him and making up shielding and misdirection moves as he goes along. Myotismon doesn't really feel anything until Wizardmon drills him in the back. It's a shock then that Myotismon would turn his back on Angemon for his surprise attack on Kari and Gatomon... leading to the big moment. The already injured Wizardmon leaps in front of the attack and the world stops. Or at least it would if the dub would have been smart enough to turn down the music for that scene. A moment of silence from the orchestra would have been appreciated.

It still felt like we needed more than two episodes to fully appreciate Wizardmon's story, but it ends exactly how it needs to. He sees a narrow window to finally make Gatomon's life bearable and charges at it with no concern for the consequences. Future heroic sacrifices tend to be for the sake of the Digital World, keeping the digidestined alive to continue the fight. Wizardmon's is special because his intentions aren't that grandiose. For him, it's not about saving the world or stopping Myotismon. His actions are driven only by his desire to help out a friend. After seeing how miserable Gatomon's life had been and what it would mean to bring her and Kari together, he throws himself at any obstacle that stands in their way. To him, it has nothing to do with saving the world and everything to do with making Gatomon happy. To die for that alone means so much more than any other sacrifice we'll encounter.

My Grade: A-

Loose Data:

• I previously asked when Demidevimon gained the ability to put a convention center's worth of people to sleep. Now I ask when the crests gave digidestined like Mimi the power to wake up from that.
• When Wizardmon explains that Kari is the eighth child (and Joe somehow remembers that Tai's sister is named Kari), TK complains about being the last to know. He's actually not. Ironically, the last one to gain this knowledge is actually Izzy, Mr. Crest of Knowledge himself.
• Kari has the most incredible hands. Not only does she catch the tag from Wizardmon, but she also catches the digivice Tai throws her from another rooftop... twice!
• Phantomon, a major player in the invasion and a significant thorn in everyone's sides, is blinked out completely after a partial hit primarily directed at Myotismon.
• It's a pretty awesome sight to see two angel Digimon judging Myotismon and asking him to repent... but did they really expect him to be sorry about all this? He is a virus type, after all. Sorta his nature.