#enzo reboot

[tamara-kama]

🎶I'm a little source code short and stout; This is my input, this is my out! 🎶

[chopprface]

oh yeah other news, my beast wars obsession has metastasized into a general 90s mainframe obsession, i got really into reboot. its actually absurdly good, the writing is amazing, the show has some fucking devastating moments followed up by some of the most gut wrenching moments ever this shit sticks the knife in and twists it, then starts prison shanking you by season 3

it also features a lot of the same VAs from beast wars, so occasionally you'll just hear optimus primals VA garry chalk or scott mcneil show up (they play hack n slash in season 3-4) and youll do a double take its great

[black-velvet-lady]

Reboot/Avatar comparison Pt 3

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Enzo Matrix VS Zuko: The Scar

First a preface: I am tired and I’ll go over everything else later

Ah Matrix and Zuko, the faces that launched a thousand sexual awakenings. That’s not a joke that’s a fact. Either way its just the first thing they have in common.

I suppose I should start with the defining moment of what put them on the brooding scarred eyed protagonist path. For Zuko its the Episode the Storm, and we all know what happens in the Storm:

Gentle doe eyed pre-teen Zuko wants to get into the war chamber and his kind uncle lets him in under the promise that he keeps his big mouth shut or he’ll get in trouble. Zuko can’t help but open his mouth and he gets in trouble, ends up being sent to duel his dad and he begs forgiveness for the transgression.

And Iroh turns away cause he can’t watch.

Matrix requires a bit of wind up.

Unlike Zuko who’s whole defining moment is built up on a flashback that is told from an observer Matrix’s defining moment was over the course of 4 episodes. So this does give Matrix more to work off of. The arch is season 3 episodes 1 through to 4. To Mend and Defend, Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place, Firewall and Game Over.

Season 2 ended with Enzo the pre-teen of twelve to thirteen being given the guardian protocol by Bob and left as sole guardian after Megabyte threw him into the Web. Enzo takes up the position of guardian and to prove that they truly removed some of the kid’s gloves, even though our hero is now a kid, here’s the charred mangled corpse of Hexadecimal.

You’re welcome. This is episode 1 of season 3 by the way, we’re about to tumble down a rabbit hole. I am a glutton for punishment though so...

Dot, Enzo’s adult sister, doesn’t feel right leaving her little brother as the defender of the system, she quickly comes to the realization that the other citizens of Mainframe are not too confident about their defender being a kid either so she attempts to boost his confidence and support him. She still is protective of him though, after losing Bob, Enzo is the last member of her family. She has to be told as the command dot comm of the system she needs to remain in the principal office to monitor the situation with Megabyte.

With Enzo being used as a rally point, and Dot as the general they eventually manage to seal Megabyte behind a firewall. This was the only feasible way of dealing with the issue as Enzo was truly incapable of standing up to him one on one.

And just as Enzo was really starting to get skilled at winning games and containing Viruses a game dropped that he couldn’t win.

Immortal Konflict, a reference to fighting games like Soul Caliber, Street Fighter, and most importantly Mortal Kombat. The User in this game was Zaytan, a demon looking guy with goat legs flaming wings and a sword hand.

They even give him a finisher where he crushes the opponent’s skull in his hand. They even have the sounds played over AndrAIa’s horrified face.

So Enzo has to fight this guy. He’s even wining for a bit then the User gets frustrated and takes a swipe Enzo was not prepared for. Unlike when Zuko gets injured though, you see this. In all the gory detail.

Enzo on his last legs looks up at his immanent death, reaches over to his icon to switch it to game sprite mode to save his life. Then looks up in horror as gruesome demise descends upon him.

And Dot in the command centre unaware of her brother’s fate scrambles to get things prepared to bring him back.

The system voice says the user wins and the music falls away. Dot tenses up tightening as the news hits her. The camera holds on the subtle expressions of sorrow and dread that hit the mainframers as they all one by one look to Dot. And Dot once again is faced with the fact that she couldn’t protect the people closest to her.

Enzo meanwhile survived in game sprite mode and he resolved himself to change. To do away with the pathetic kid that couldn’t defend his dog,

His people

or even himself

And in spite of all that he still manages to do something Zuko never really did.

He self analysized.

His hatred is what drove him on, consuming him and turning him into the very mirror of the Virus that terrorized him. Self-interest leads him putting himself and his interests first draging his girlfriend and dog through the life and death scenarioes of the games facing injury or worse. Shame led him to removing the parts of himself he thought were weak, the very parts his hero Bob and his sister Dot knew him for. He wasn’t the weak defenseless little boy he once was, but what he is now, is not something to be proud of.

The tale of Zuko’s scar is deliberately meant to invoke sympathy and compassion for this brooding, aggressive teenager that reacts in violent manners to achieve his ends. Matrix’s turn though is that of a kid growing into a role before being spiked back into the earth before coming back with hellfire and brimstone.

[black-velvet-lady]

Reboot VS Avatar Comparison Part 1

A little while ago I stated that Reboot did much of Avatar the last Airbender’s tropes and beats a lot better then the show and I suppose I should put my money where my mouth is and explain why I think such.

Reboot was eleven years old when Avatar first came on the air and was somewhat of a children’s show rock star at the time. Especially in North America. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine the show runners being at least a little inspired by the show. One can actually see how influential the series was when they take into account the very striking similarities between Mad Max Fury Road and the Mad Max the Road Warrior inspired episode of Reboot titled Bad Bob. Both plots involve the protagonist driving a transport truck down a deserted post apocalyptic highway, hauling a fuel source while the antagonists attempt to stop them. And then you look at the writing staff and realize Brenden McCarthy, who worked on the art during the production of Reboot, Co-wrote Mad Max Fury Road. An episode of a children’s show went on to influence a movie twenty years later.

Enough padding though lets get down to the comparison.

The Hero

Bob from Reboot and Aang from Avatar

Both main series protagonists are very similar. Both are goofy at times and serve the role as the main hero often coming to blows with the early villain. The part I find striking is that both have humanitarian values preferring non violent solutions to defeating their enemies. With Avatar Aang he uses the removal of bending, Bob uses reformatting of the core programming. These are later called into question as to whether they are worse or better then actual death by other characters. Reboot actually had time to bring up the reformatting of viruses and call into question that such an act erases some of victim’s personhood during the shows run time. It even presents Bob with this question and it wouldn’t be addressed until years later In the Avatar series with the advent of Amon, even still we would not see Aang confronted with this very same question until the Imbalance comic.

Heroic Siblings

Dot and Enzo Matrix vs Sokka and Katara

Both siblings have the sister being the more parental figure of the group as well as being the love interest of the main hero, while the brother suffers from an inferiority complex brought on by being less capable then the people in his life and an older male figure in their life whom they admire.

While Katara suffers from parentification due to her being the younger sibling, Dot is not quite so burdened being the MUCH older sibling. Dot is already a responsible adult with her own thriving business and a good head on her shoulders when she is forced into the position of being a parent to her brother Enzo after the death of their actual parent Welman Matrix.

Not the only parallel. Welman is the father but shows a kind and supportive nature while having a very close bond with his daughter Dot. He does die in a round about way, Sprites after deletion tend to turn into little slug monsters called Nulls that absorb energy like a leech. Its a rather bittersweet reunion when his consciousness returns in the form of a collection of Nulls forming a humanoid body. Dot spent a desperate amount of time trying to bring her father back and now that he’s there, she can’t even hug him cause his new form would drain her of energy.

Enzo in a similar vein to Sokka is left feeling inferior no matter how much he may try to help. He lacks in ways different from Sokka’s non-bending, he’s a kid surrounded by adults. Enzo aspires to be a successful business-man like his older sister Dot, just as much as he aspires to be a guardian like his Hero Bob. Eventually he gets his chance when Bob is sent off into the web via betrayal. Much like Sokka who desired to be a warrior and leader like his father Enzo flounders at first but gets the hang of it quickly with a unique style of his own that is not quite like Bob but is something akin to his hero.

Villain Siblings

Megabyte and Hexadecimal vs Zuko and Azula

Personality wise Megabyte has closer comparisons to Ozai than Zuko but in a sibling Dynamic Hex and  Megabyte have closer ties to Zuko and Azula. And I would be remiss if I ignored it for character personalities. One of the closest similarities is that they both share a violent sibling rivalry but will join forces if the need arises, one gets a redemption arch while the other comes back as a more dangerous villain with a grudge, the sister is shown as more mentally unstable, both have a royalty motif throughout their design, etc etc... but how do they compare on an individual level?

Megabyte much like Zuko was a much more frequently shown villain than Hex. He has aspirations to higher power and it often brings him into conflict with the heroes as he attempts to use the main hero and their assets to achieve this end. He also has a very violent rivalry with his sister often resulting in his humiliation. This ultimately culminates in an arch where the brother has his sister captured and restrained and made to co-operate under threat of violence. Sound familiar yet?

In this case, Megabyte is placed in the wrong clearly by the narrative, but with avatar the shoe is on the other foot. Hex and Azula deserve their on parallel page cause there is a lot to cover.

Next time.

Main Female Villain and the Treatment of Mental Illness