In this episode, Christopher is
shocked when his blatant disregard for his allies and a false sense
of strategic superiority is countered by Gravimon's blatant disregard
for his allies and false sense of strategic superiority.
After Zamielmon's defeat, the Fusion
Fighters were shocked to learn that Nene's brother is working against
them. Fighting Splashmon, the Fusion Fighters were shocked when it
appeared that Dorulumon had turned against them. Fighting Olegmon,
the Fusion Fighters that hadn't turned against them were shocked to
learn that Ballistamon had turned against them. You'll never guess
what happens when they fight Gravimon!
The last three Dark Generals worked
with a degree of deception. Whether it's through size disruption,
water illusions or sound manipulation, there was a curtain to be
pulled that required some sort of ingenuity. While they weren't
always the smartest, they allowed character moments, required some
thought, and offered challenges that couldn't be defeated with brute
force. You know, an actual stage to battle through with interesting
enemies and platform puzzles before the boss fight. Canyon Land is
set up as a linear corridor with hundreds of generic bad guys and a
giant gate with a big sign around it reading “come at me, bro.”
It's a slog to Robot Master #6.
Mikey and Nene have always relished in
complicated scenarios. Christopher sees the simplicity here and jumps
all over it. After the NeoMyotismon thing went down, we were supposed
to believe that he could at least pretend to be a team player for the
cause. While we saw his harsh attitude in every land visited since
then, we also saw an element of trust that in the end he does the
right thing for the team. Suddenly, and without any warning, he's
making a big speech about how his ultimate objective is proving his
superiority over both Lord Bagra and Mikey. He says it's because the
finish line is tantalizingly close. Somebody should tell him there
are two whole Dark Generals left, plus the final boss. Even if we
abandon the Mega Man jokes and assume Bagramon won't revive all seven
generals (that would just be dumb, right?), they're only a little
more than halfway home. Don't get cocky!
But no, cocky he gets, and boy does it
feel forced. His plan is terrible- send Nene's team (of two) against
hundreds of Gravimon's troops, then send half of Mikey's team
(basically three) against hundreds more, send the other half (only
two bother to pop out) against hundreds more, while Christopher
crashes the gate and defeats a relatively unguarded Gravimon. It's
selfish and puts everybody in dangerous positions. That's the point,
of course, but Christopher levels up in asshole in such a short time
that we can't help but roll our eyes.
It also relies on what appears to be
tactical incompetence on Gravimon's part. When faced with limited and
divided firepower from three sides, why send massive squadrons
against all three, leaving nobody back home to defend the fort? Even
if it's only a copy and you have even more massive squadrons lying in
wait, it's an inefficient use of manpower on a Zapp Branigan scale.
Was he afraid his ridiculous numbers advantage would be so great he
wouldn't get a chance to corrupt Christopher? God forbid he kill
Mikey the easy way!
When Cherrymon corrupted Matt, the
warning signs were there, built up slowly but triggered decisively by
one incident that made him question his worth to the team. Even then,
it was hard for us to buy that he'd really turn on Tai. Christopher's
always been an ass, but there was no warning sign that he would
suddenly mismanage the Fusion Fighters to this extent. When Gravimon
crushes him and the first part of his tragic backstory emerges,
Christopher is too easily convinced that defeating Mikey will prove
his power, especially with Bagra poised as such a strong adversary
and their precarious position against Gravimon. If he's really out to
be king of the mountain, he should at least be shrewd enough to wait
until they actually start climbing before pushing his allies off.
My Grade: B-
Loose Data:
- Christopher claims that Gravimon wasn't expecting them, despite the massive army and the fact that word about their conquests seems to get around. Judging by the look of the world, Gravimon has nothing else to do but expect them.
- Shoutmon and Nene are pretty hostile to Christopher's plan, but Mikey agrees to go along with it. Terrible as it is, given that level of opposition, something along those lines is probably the best way to go. Where Mikey goes wrong is not making adjustments (like suggesting that Christopher use some of his less essential troops to help Mikey draw out the enemy) and, most importantly, lecturing Christopher about prioritizing defeating the Bagramon army above overcoming his daddy issues.
- Lost in all the Christopher drama is that Nene pulls off some amazing moves in this episode. The midair digifuse (complete with suicide leap) is sweet.
- Given their respective situations, you can almost give Christopher a pass for attacking Nene and Dorulumon along with their opponents. But Mikey seemed to be in control of his side of things, even if it involved covering and hiding. That's proper tactics and Christopher seems to disrupt it just for the lols.
- That said, his digi-defuse to take out the pair of Anubismon might be one of the great moves of the season.
Yay, we're back!
ReplyDeleteI think you're way too critical of Gravimon. Firstly, he's supposed to be an evil monster who toys with his enemies before destroying them, which is exactly what Splashmon was doing a few episodes back to extract negative energy. Everything, from the fake body for luring out the Fusion Fighters to him driving Christopher to the dark side, makes sense for a sadist like him.
And secondly, isn't the impressive size of his red herring army the point? The Fusion Fighters waste them all, convinced that they've struck a severe blow against the Death General... and now find themselves stuck in the General's zone and learn that they merely scratched his military resources. If he sent out a smaller army, they'd probably smell a rat.
Sadists don't usually employ good strategy. It's about sending a force appropriate response. Gravimon could have easily gotten the same effect (with the same expected results) with twenty or so in each army, holding back the rest. At least that way it's more believable that the likes of Sparrowmon could actually get through them unscratched. Really, leaving the gate that unguarded should have signaled a trap. If Gravimon's intentions were always to get into their heads rather than overwhelming them with sheer power (a fair enough objective thanks to D5), even having an army of that size (which takes effort to grow and maintain) was pointless. I respect Splashmon more since he didn't bother with all that.
Delete"Sadists don't usually employ good strategy."
ReplyDeleteMyotismon and Machinedramon would like a word. In any case, it's not like even less obvious Digimon villains haven't mixed strategy and sadism in the other seasons.
"It's about sending a force appropriate response. Gravimon could have easily gotten the same effect (with the same expected results) with twenty or so in each army, holding back the rest. At least that way it's more believable that the likes of Sparrowmon could actually get through them unscratched."
It seems to me the problem is not Gravimon's strategic thinking, then, but the old Conservation of Ninjitsu trope. Agreeing for the moment that a 1 against 100 fight is just silly, how does this harm Gravimon's objectives? If they win, he springs his trap on a severely tired and weakened force. If they lose, Gravimon has just wiped out a dangerous foe ahead of time. It's a win-win situation. The only difference is how many troops he pays, and he's clearly well-equipped enough to afford the loss if it means destroying the only possible resistance that has so far killed five generals in a row.
And this doesn't answer the point that the kids would get suspicious if the army was too small, which it almost certainly would be with twenty per regiment. It's not like he's throwing nearly all his forces at them: this episode and the later ones show his army is HUGE. It's one of those cases where the We Have Reserves mentality actually makes sense and isn't just done because that's what evil guys do. And he hasn't got any stronger opponents than the Fusion Fighters, so it's not like he has to save the army up for a second team of overpowered superheroes. Why not pay a lot to get back even more?
"I respect Splashmon more since he didn't bother with all that."
I agree Splashmon's tormenting tactics were the more sensible as far as extracting negative energy from the Fusion Fighters went, but overall? This is the same general who wiped out his entire world's population to extract negative energy from them. If Gravimon wasting a fraction of his immense army is strategically bad, how does destroying an entire source of negative energy not count as even worse?
Where was the complaints on Christopher's very sudden leveling up in jerkass back in episode 25? You actually praised that one and thought it was interesting, but how was it really any different or better than this?
ReplyDelete