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akinoameIn a theater props facility, Darkstar rests on a throne while reading an ancient tome when Kevin bursts in to fight. Darkstar reveals that he purposely led his enemy there to resolve an issue they both share. Their powers have been nothing but a curse for them, and now it’s affected their physical appearances. But Darkstar knows a way to restore their original forms, so long as Kevin’s willing to help him. They head to a remote island in the South Pacific, where inside a temple rests an artifact called the Dominus Librium (FYI: My Latin is shaky, but I think it translates to “scale lord,” and I think they were probably going for “god scale” or something). The Librium has the ability to absorb power from one person and transfer it to another. Darkstar reasons that because he can absorb power on his own, the Librium will give him the necessary boost to absorb Kevin’s powers from him safely. The loss of power would restore Kevin while the gain in power would restore Darkstar. And after fighting and escaping the Temple of Doom before the island sinks, the duo take refuge on another island to test the Librium. And it works, leaving Kevin flesh, blood, and briefs. Yes, the briefs he’s wearing in mutant form for the purposes of maintaining that Y7 rating are his own. Get to work on the fanfiction.
The alliance dissolved, Darkstar punches out Kevin, and they go their separate ways. After getting some clothes, Kevin meets up with Ben and Gwen, who are at first confused to see what they think is his ID mask broadcasting a black eye. But after Gwen realizes it’s not the ID mask, they’re thrilled to see Kevin’s somehow back to normal, and Kevin’s glad that he never has to worry about his powers again. To celebrate, they head to take care of a Forever Knight problem, but Ben and Gwen are afraid that the newly powerless Kevin will get hurt and tell him to wait in the car for them to finish. He doesn’t listen, of course, and heads in just in time to help the others out of a rough situation. But when Kevin’s about to drive off, Gwen manages to get a flash of memory from him when she touches his hand, and she sees that this apparent miracle is the result of a deal with the devil. Telling the boys she’s going to run an errand, she tracks down Darkstar and attacks him…only to find he still has the Librium and he plans to use it against her.
After time passes with no word from Gwen, Ben begins to worry, and Kevin admits that it’s his fault. After explaining to a furious Ben about his deal with Darkstar, they head off to try and rescue her, only for Swampfire to also fall victim to the Librium. With his girlfriend and his best friend being completely drained of energy, Kevin realizes what he has to do—he interrupts the energy transfer and destroys the Librium, creating an explosion. While Gwen and Ben come out of it a little weak, Darkstar and Kevin have both reverted to their mutated forms. As Darkstar runs off, Kevin decides he probably won’t be much of a threat for a little while, and he offers to buy his friends some drinks at Mr. Smoothy’s.
When it comes to magic or alchemy, equivalent exchange is the name of the game. You see it in everything, ranging from Justice League to Fullmetal Alchemist, which popularized the idea. You can’t gain anything without sacrifice. The Librium offers an equal transfer of power, which neutralized both Kevin’s and Darkstar’s, but the entire character plot for Kevin revolves around this notion. What is it that he values the most, and what is he willing to give up for it?
Since season one, the Kevin-centric episodes have tended to be some of the strongest, and no matter what the complainers say, Alien Force has done a wonderful job developing his character. “Trade-Off” explores two major character plots for him: his quest to restore his normal form and his eerie parallels with Michael Morningstar.
This is the second time that Kevin has joined forces with one of Ben and Gwen’s (particularly, one of Gwen’s) old enemies in his quest to restore his normal form; thus, “Trade-Off” is almost a sequel to “In Charm’s Way.” Kevin believes that the most important thing is to become (part-) human again, to stop being a “monster.” But in his quest, he does some things that his friends (especially Ben) consider monstrous. At the end of “In Charm’s Way,” he reveals how he subconsciously blames Gwen for not restoring him, which made it easier to fall under Charmcaster’s spell. And here, he betrays Gwen yet again when he joins forces with Darkstar, this time knowing the history they both had with him. But this time, Kevin begins to learn what’s really important. Wracked by guilt when they can’t contact Gwen, he tells Ben about the deal he made and that it’s his fault that Gwen is confronting Darkstar alone. And when Gwen is being drained completely by Darkstar and the Librium, Kevin insists that he won’t let anything happen to her and destroys the Librium. And though he loses the chance to be human again, this time, he’s not as worried because he knows that his relationship with her is more important than himself.
Michael Morningstar was set up from the start to be a dark parallel of Kevin, as I already noted in “Darkstar Rising” and “All That Glitters.” Here, he plays on it to try and get Kevin to go along with his plans. He argues that their powers have been a burden on the both of them, finally resulting in them losing their human appearances, and he convinces Kevin that they would be better off using the Librium to restore their original forms and sacrifice their powers in the process. However, Kevin begins to doubt his value to the team once his powers are gone—Ben and Gwen are afraid that as a normal human, he’ll get hurt, and now it seems his only role on the team is to drive them around, a duty that would end once they turned sixteen and got their licenses (Alien Swarm). At the same time, Darkstar is planning on using the Librium to steal Gwen’s power in full, taking Ben’s too as a sweet bonus. Kevin stopped caring about power and only began to wonder about his value to the team, and Darkstar never stopped caring about power and continued to try and take more of it. The Librium provided him with the perfect opportunity for his motiveless malignity. And where Kevin more or less accepted his return to his mutated form, so long as Gwen was safe, Darkstar was devastated and ran off—alone. In having people important to him and valuing them more than his appearance and powers, trusting them to help him find a solution, Kevin proves to be far stronger than Darkstar. If this ends the arc between them from “All That Glitters” and “Darkstar Rising,” then it’s a good conclusion.
“Trade-Off” was written by Len Wein. Wil Wheaton reprised his role of Darkstar.
The alliance dissolved, Darkstar punches out Kevin, and they go their separate ways. After getting some clothes, Kevin meets up with Ben and Gwen, who are at first confused to see what they think is his ID mask broadcasting a black eye. But after Gwen realizes it’s not the ID mask, they’re thrilled to see Kevin’s somehow back to normal, and Kevin’s glad that he never has to worry about his powers again. To celebrate, they head to take care of a Forever Knight problem, but Ben and Gwen are afraid that the newly powerless Kevin will get hurt and tell him to wait in the car for them to finish. He doesn’t listen, of course, and heads in just in time to help the others out of a rough situation. But when Kevin’s about to drive off, Gwen manages to get a flash of memory from him when she touches his hand, and she sees that this apparent miracle is the result of a deal with the devil. Telling the boys she’s going to run an errand, she tracks down Darkstar and attacks him…only to find he still has the Librium and he plans to use it against her.
After time passes with no word from Gwen, Ben begins to worry, and Kevin admits that it’s his fault. After explaining to a furious Ben about his deal with Darkstar, they head off to try and rescue her, only for Swampfire to also fall victim to the Librium. With his girlfriend and his best friend being completely drained of energy, Kevin realizes what he has to do—he interrupts the energy transfer and destroys the Librium, creating an explosion. While Gwen and Ben come out of it a little weak, Darkstar and Kevin have both reverted to their mutated forms. As Darkstar runs off, Kevin decides he probably won’t be much of a threat for a little while, and he offers to buy his friends some drinks at Mr. Smoothy’s.
When it comes to magic or alchemy, equivalent exchange is the name of the game. You see it in everything, ranging from Justice League to Fullmetal Alchemist, which popularized the idea. You can’t gain anything without sacrifice. The Librium offers an equal transfer of power, which neutralized both Kevin’s and Darkstar’s, but the entire character plot for Kevin revolves around this notion. What is it that he values the most, and what is he willing to give up for it?
Since season one, the Kevin-centric episodes have tended to be some of the strongest, and no matter what the complainers say, Alien Force has done a wonderful job developing his character. “Trade-Off” explores two major character plots for him: his quest to restore his normal form and his eerie parallels with Michael Morningstar.
This is the second time that Kevin has joined forces with one of Ben and Gwen’s (particularly, one of Gwen’s) old enemies in his quest to restore his normal form; thus, “Trade-Off” is almost a sequel to “In Charm’s Way.” Kevin believes that the most important thing is to become (part-) human again, to stop being a “monster.” But in his quest, he does some things that his friends (especially Ben) consider monstrous. At the end of “In Charm’s Way,” he reveals how he subconsciously blames Gwen for not restoring him, which made it easier to fall under Charmcaster’s spell. And here, he betrays Gwen yet again when he joins forces with Darkstar, this time knowing the history they both had with him. But this time, Kevin begins to learn what’s really important. Wracked by guilt when they can’t contact Gwen, he tells Ben about the deal he made and that it’s his fault that Gwen is confronting Darkstar alone. And when Gwen is being drained completely by Darkstar and the Librium, Kevin insists that he won’t let anything happen to her and destroys the Librium. And though he loses the chance to be human again, this time, he’s not as worried because he knows that his relationship with her is more important than himself.
Michael Morningstar was set up from the start to be a dark parallel of Kevin, as I already noted in “Darkstar Rising” and “All That Glitters.” Here, he plays on it to try and get Kevin to go along with his plans. He argues that their powers have been a burden on the both of them, finally resulting in them losing their human appearances, and he convinces Kevin that they would be better off using the Librium to restore their original forms and sacrifice their powers in the process. However, Kevin begins to doubt his value to the team once his powers are gone—Ben and Gwen are afraid that as a normal human, he’ll get hurt, and now it seems his only role on the team is to drive them around, a duty that would end once they turned sixteen and got their licenses (Alien Swarm). At the same time, Darkstar is planning on using the Librium to steal Gwen’s power in full, taking Ben’s too as a sweet bonus. Kevin stopped caring about power and only began to wonder about his value to the team, and Darkstar never stopped caring about power and continued to try and take more of it. The Librium provided him with the perfect opportunity for his motiveless malignity. And where Kevin more or less accepted his return to his mutated form, so long as Gwen was safe, Darkstar was devastated and ran off—alone. In having people important to him and valuing them more than his appearance and powers, trusting them to help him find a solution, Kevin proves to be far stronger than Darkstar. If this ends the arc between them from “All That Glitters” and “Darkstar Rising,” then it’s a good conclusion.
“Trade-Off” was written by Len Wein. Wil Wheaton reprised his role of Darkstar.