The last three episodes of ReBoot have focused heavily on the build of Enzo from just a kid to a guardian who is becoming more and more capable of his abilities. Proving not only to Dot and the citizens of Mainframe, but also to himself that he is perhaps truly capable of filling the shoes of Bob. And if the series had kept things going in that direction, it would have still been very interesting.
But, as we’ll see in this episode, that wasn’t going to be the case. As we’ve now entered the episode that in my opinion changes everything. And any belief that this was just any other kids show would change with one scene. One scene that I feel is symbolic of the entire series. But we’ll get to why when we get to it. Let’s see the first arc of season 3 come to an end with “Game Over”.
We open the episode as Megabyte’s sector is still locked inside the firewall. Megabyte uses his controlled Hexadecimal to try to breach the wall with her viral power. Hex is of course unwilling, but Megabyte’s shock collar still forces her hand. It seems like the breach is working as the viral forces exit the breach and approach the defenseless principal office. But Dot and the others have planned for this, as the CPU guards fire his forces down with their cannons, blowing them out of the sky. Hex laughs in glee over the damage caused.
It seems like Mainframe has succeeded again, but Dot is still distraught. She still feels empty for the suffering caused in this war. Phong tells her that as commander of the system, she needs to be strong for the sake of everyone in Mainframe. And that with the viruses locked up, they can finally focus on trying to find Bob and bring him home.
This scene is a great example of Dot’s character growth. No longer just some savvy businesswoman who seems to run all of Mainframe, she’s become a commander to lead her home to victory. But we finally see that despite everything, she’s still not mentally ready for all this, and with the loss of Bob, and the deletions of so many in this war, it’s becoming harder to ignore the pain, both of others, and of herself. And like Enzo, she’s thrust into a position that she sometimes believes she’s not worthy of, despite being a master strategist.
Back at the Tor, Megabyte wants to finally have Hexadecimal under full control. Herr Docktor instead comes to the conclusion that we’ve all kinda come to at this point… Hexadecimal is insane. In fact, he believes that she likes being tied up and being put into submission. Another plan being under way is to break the firewall. He asks for Hack and Slash, who haven’t finished up with punishing Cyrus. He tells Herr Docktor that he wants them to take point during the next firewall breach. He has finally tired of their incompetence.
The two are planning to crush Cyrus, but are arguing over not doing it. But it seems like neither of them truly want to go through with destroying him. In fact, Slash saves him from death. Hack is against it, but Slash still feels its wrong. He also misses Bob because Bob was always there to stop them from doing something truly bad. Which proves my point that Hack and Slash were never really evil. Yes, they are loyal to Megabyte, but neither of them really wanted to do anything disastrous, or to hurt anyone else. In other words, they aren’t bad. Just lovable morons.
With things finally calmed down, Dot finally has a chance to talk with Enzo and AndrAIa in a much happier tone. But that’s cut short as another game cube is set to drop down. She tells Enzo to be careful, as she is still not settling well with the idea of letting him go to games alone, especially now that he’s the only piece of family she has left. Mouse tells her to make due. The sector is secured, and Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket enter alone as the binomes of Mainframe cheer him on. Cyrus panics about being unable to escape, but he sees Scuzzy behind the firewall and asks to work a deal to help him in.
The game this time is a one on one tournament fighting game between gods, mortals, and demons. The user has to beat five players to win. The downside to this is that the game has 12 active players, giving the high probability of neither of them being able to battle him. Outside of the game, Dot is still in a bit of a panic. The user has chosen a giant devil named Xatan. Enzo’s strategy is to have AndrAIa and Frisket team together as he makes the user pick him early on, giving them another shot.
AndrAIa and Frisket get their character ready as Enzo tries to pick his character, but continues to fail at doing so. Despite the best efforts of the fighters, Xatan is successful, complete with a finishing move which rips the head clean off his enemies. Enzo watches on to learn his strategy. Back at the Tor, Scuzzy has managed to make it inside, and helps to free Hexadecimal, who is none to thankful that it took such a long time.
Back in the game, things aren’t going too well. Another player is easily slain by Xatan. It’s down to the final match, as Enzo finally reboots into his fighterwhich is in an outfit similar to Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Even the music in the character select is similar to the song from the Mortal Kombat movie. Enzo handles himself quite well against Xatan, using his study of the user to good work. He easily wins round one.
But with Xatan winning round 2, it’s all down to the final round. Enzo handles himself to his best abilities, but is unable to defend an axe slash by Xatan, which leaves a giant scar over his eye. Enzo is now partially blinded, which makes him a sitting duck for Xatan to finish off. Before the user can finish Enzo off, he changes his icon to that of a game sprite, as AndrAIa and Frisket do the same.
The game has ended, and the user has won. Dot screams in disbelief that she has now not only lost Bob, but her little brother as well. Mainframe is without a guardian. And the real winner is Megabyte. When he can remove the firewall, there will be no one to stop him. Megaframe is now his to create.
“Game Over” is a dark episode. It shows that not only have we gone far from the lighter tone of the first two seasons, but that this show is not afraid to go in some really disturbing routes. Very rarely in any kids show, be it from this era, or the 90’s, would you ever see a child character left disfigured, and even though we don’t see it, murdered. It’s a moment that just feels shocking, but is so very effective in telling the story this series is trying to convey. In the end, despite Enzo’s best efforts, despite the victories he was gaining, and the trust he was earning. Despite that glimmer of hope that maybe he can be the man that Bob was, he wasn’t as ready for this as he believed. He was still just a boy who wasn’t able to defend himself against everything.
Everything about the final scene is perfectly done, and so effectively chilling. The silence after “User Wins”. The reaction from Dot. The feeling of disbelief and sadness from inside the principal office. And most importantly, the elation from Megabyte. In the end, you feel worse for the heroes, and hate Megabyte even more. Even though he didn’t do anything to kill Enzo, this would have never happened if he hadn’t gotten rid of Bob. And with the bars seemingly breaking, the monster will be free from his cage, and ready to continue with his reign of terror. Free to destroy a system that has no hero left to stop him, and its remaining defense becoming less and less with each attack.
I especially have to give points to Kathleen Barr for her role as Dot in this episode. She really displays a powerful amount of emotions throughout this episode. Her frustration at Megabyte not exiting the firewall, her sadness for the lives lost in the war. Even the scene with Dot talking to Enzo and AndrAIa. How Dot doesn’t just suddenly sound fully happy, but there is still a sense of being choked up and sad, trying to grin and bear the pain, and her frustration that she can’t stop her brother from entering the games anymore. And of course, the final scene, in which you really feel the emotion of Dot finally being fully broken with the loss of Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket. She’s lost everything, and that scream of no at the end lets all of the pain out. Barr really helps make this whole thing feel real, and really helps to bring a tidal wave of emotion throughout the episode. It is easily one of the best character works in any series.
This in my opinion is the emotional climax of the series. And if you’ve followed all the way to this episode, investing in the heroes, even caring about their fictional lives, it will leave you with a feeling of sadness. Especially knowing that this is in some ways for now the “death” of Little Enzo. The little sprite that just wanted to be like his hero, and yet failed. Now he’s trapped in the games. Lost from his home. Separated from his family. A lot of that can do damage to a character. Make them feel guilty for not being able to save their home. Make them feel angry for letting others down. So it would be understandable that this moment means the final breaking of any spirit that Enzo had. To be more specific, this is the death of his innocence. And what remains will change him completely.
I remember seeing this episode when it first aired, and being really shocked at the ending. Not just because of how brutal it feels, and the feelings of sadness and despair left in the final moments of the episode. I also just was wondering “what now”? What will happen to Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket? What about Mainframe? Where do we go from here? The answer would come in the next episode and it certainly wasn’t what anyone would have expected. We’re entering the next arc. The game is changing once again, and so is Enzo.