Same as the old boss: W.I.T.C.H. V - X
Jul. 13th, 2013 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameV is for Victory (Nicole Dubuc): C.H.Y.K.N. arrive on Aridia, a rocky desert world, in search of its Heart. Apparently desiring more interesting conversation, Nerissa has allowed Cassidy enough will to ask if she's going after the Heart of Earth again, but Nerissa explains that she'd rather go after a Heart not protected by Guardians or Regents. She commands the Seal to show her who the Heart of Aridia is, and it cycles through the native life, eventually identifying him as a being composed of stone.
Meanwhile on Earth, the Sheffield Sea Slugs are nearing the end of swim season, and the team is there to cheer on Will. She just loses to Mandy Anderson of East Heatherfield High (I'm assuming high school, at least; they're 14 now). As it turns out, Mandy is an old childhood friend of Matt's from summer camp, and so Will is pissed and gives him the cold shoulder when he congratulates his friend on her win...over his girlfriend. Yeah, this is going to be a problem. Coach reminds Will that if she wants the gold medal, she needs to come in first in the next two competitions, but when she hears Mandy say goodbye to Matt, Will feels like she's lost already. The Guardians and boys go out for celebratory ice cream, but Will doesn't see any victory in silver. She's hard on herself for the swim meet, Mandy, and especially Nerissa. Caleb tries to comfort her, reminding her that he couldn't reclaim the Heart of Meridian from Nerissa, and that suddenly gives her a brainstorm bright enough that she electrokinetically brightens the lightbulbs. She realizes that there is a loophole (yes, ANOTHER one) inherent in the Heart of Meridian—an heir to the throne can take it without Nerissa's permission. Which means they need Phobos.
Being sane, Vathek calls Will out on her terrible plan when she and Caleb visit the prison, but Caleb points out they really have no other option. Will presents Phobos with a deal: They'll give him a full pardon if he helps them take the Seal and swears an oath on the powers of Kandrakar not to take the power for himself. Raythor insists that the power is Phobos's by birthright, so he shouldn't have to humiliate himself in this deal, but Phobos hates prison more than he hates the Guardians, so he agrees to the oath. Will releases him, and on Aridia, the Seal suddenly drops its image. Nerissa realizes one of its spells has been broken, and she suddenly realizes that the Guardians were desperate enough to release Phobos, and she curses herself for not killing him months ago. She gives Cassidy the Mage ring and orders her and the others to kill Phobos.
Caleb calls Sheffield, posting as the father of their new foreign exchange student, Philip, and Phobos uses a glamour to blend in as an Earth teen. For his own protection, he's rooming with Matt, who's also watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't pull anything. But Phobos is a prima donna, kicking Matt out of his own bed and into a sleeping bag on the floor. In science with Taranee, he hands her volatile chemicals that explode on her. And when he doesn't like the school lunch, he tosses it in Cornelia's face. But he has to come along to Will's swim meet. Will pulls Matt away from Mandy to yell at him for not being completely on her side. Matt realizes she's jealous, but she denies it and yells at him to stay away from Mandy. Being ordered around sets him off, and he outright says it's behavior he got from Nerissa and never expected to hear again from Will. But Will is afraid that she'll lose Matt to the competition. When the race begins, it's quickly neck-and-neck between Will and Mandy, and despite his anger with her, Matt forgives her and cheers on his girlfriend. But when Will can't let herself lose, she quintessences the lane lines, causing them to wrap around Mandy's leg, and allowing Will to win. When she gets out of the pool, everyone congratulates her, especially Phobos, who watched her cheat. He congratulates her on showing the right kind of attitude to win at all costs. But his approval fills her with shame, and she escapes to the locker room, where Mandy continues the congratulations. Will argues it was only because of the lane markers, but Mandy insists it was fair and square, so Will should be proud. Instead, this only makes her more guilty.
The others head off past the park, surprised that Will doesn't want to celebrate her win. But Cassidy and the others attack. Being the only one who can transform, Matt does just that and fights back, warning the others to take cover. But he's outnumbered, and Phobos isn't about to use up his HP on self-defense, so the others have to protect him with their limited powers. Hay Lin tries to reason with Yan Lin, but her words get through to Cassidy, who had been given just enough free will to lead the attack (and ask questions earlier). But she's back on-mode soon enough, and Phobos drains the energy from Taranee and Cornelia to force the thralls off. After escaping, the other girls are supporting the weakened Cornelia and Taranee while Matt returns from scouting. Phobos calls them all out on being weak, but Taranee snipes back that they'd probably be better if they had something worth protecting, and they leave. So Phobos decides it's time for a change in plans.
Phobos begins acting a little strange from then on. He takes the floor while Matt takes the bed, and he's affectionate to Huggles, who prefers to sleep by him all of a sudden. He starts eating the crickets meant for the class lizard, grossing Taranee out. He brings Cornelia dessert and starts acting lovestruck around her, much to her horror. At the next swim meet, he even offers to get her popcorn, which she lets him do because it gives her a chance to freak out about how he's hitting on her. But then he comes back from the other side and devours the popcorn. To make matters worse, Matt is acting strangely, and as Will approaches the pool, she sees him kissing Mandy's hand, giving her a challenging look until she sparks with rage. Sweetie, you've seen Matt act like a total jerk and knew it wasn't really him. You should be able to figure this out. He doesn't even cheer her on as the race begins, though Phobos does. Mandy wins, and Will congratulates her with a hug for the fair win. Phobos cheers Will for the second-place win, but Matt is clearly disgusted.
Will shows off her silver medal, but Matt insists it's just a symbol of failure. Phobos, however, whispers to her to ignore him and tells her she did a great job. Seriously, if you can't figure out what's going on right now, it's pretty sad. He exits the back door, and as the rest of the team is about to go out for ice cream, Cassidy attacks again. Phobos returns and scrambles into the pool equipment cart to hide. Will yells for Matt to guard him, but he sticks to the sidelines. I have to mention this for creativity: With not much around in the way of plant life, Cornelia is forced to use algae from the pool to stop Halinor, and it goes pretty damn well. Will attacks Cassidy and throws her into the pool, where she crashes the mode again momentarily, remembering that she used to swim there. Realizing that they can get through to her, Will keeps her talking, asking her about her time on the swim team and reminding her that she was a Guardian. Irma hits on the idea of telepathically persuading her to wake up, and Cassidy breaks through, determined to fight back completely now.
Meanwhile, Nerissa has found the Heart of Aridia and glamoured as a female version of his species, trying to seduce him into giving up his power. But before she can get anywhere, the Seal alerts her that the spell on her thralls has broken. She drops the glamour and folds to Earth, ready to destroy the helpless Phobos. But another Phobos is right behind her, threatening to take her power. And yet another prevents her from escaping. She orders her thralls to attack, but Cassidy tells her they're awake and not taking orders anymore. So Nerissa blasts all three Phoboses out of the way and absorbs the four Guardians into the Seal, as they are still bound to her service. And she uses all five elements herself, resulting in a booming voice and tremendous power. But before she can finish off the Guardians, Matt runs at her. She realizes at once who he really is and teleports away.
The Guardians pull themselves out of the pool to confront the Phobos trio and Matt, who drops his glamour to reveal he was the real Phobos all along, with the other three being glamoured Matt, Blunk, and Caleb, explaining their odd behaviors. Phobos reveals he came up with the plan to better protect himself after the attack in the park, and Matt is shocked to hear just who Phobos was kissing in his body. He'd refused to tell the Guardians of the plan because he needed them to fool and distract Nerissa, but again, they lost. He's furious that they don't have what it takes to achieve victory at all cost, but Will argues they still managed to beat him all that time ago, and in any case, it's not a win if you lose yourself in the process. Keep that in mind for later. Phobos argues she's only justifying her defeat, but she reminds him that for the very first time, they have Nerissa running scared...
W is for Witch (Nicole Dubuc): Vathek is appalled when Will, Caleb, and Phobos want him to release more prisoners. Raythor volunteers, proud to serve his Prince, but Phobos declines in favor of the more magically formidable Cedric and Miranda. I'm sure humiliating them didn't leave any hard feelings between you guys. He restores their forms and strength and offers them one last chance to serve him well. Vathek doesn't like it, but as Phobos points out, he's their last hope.
It's Halloween on Earth, and Lillian is dressed as a witch, but she can't find her black cat. Napoleon is busy hiding in Cornelia's closet, spilling pink nail polish into her hair in panic (yes, the pink streak is there all episode, and I'm actually sad to see it go by the start of the next). He's terrified of a particular witch, Nerissa, and he needs Cornelia to hide him. At Irma's house, she tells Chris, a ninja, she's too old to dress up and take him trick-or-treating. Their mom reminds her she's loved Halloween since she was a baby, but concedes that if she thinks she's too mature, she doesn't have to dress up this year. But she does have to take Chris out, or she's not going to Sheffield's Halloween carnival. Cornelia conference calls her and Hay Lin for serious W.I.T.C.H. business, and Irma drags Chris along and plops him in front of the TV next to Lillian. The rest of the Guardians, Regents, and Caleb, Blunk, and the bad guys are gathered in Cornelia's room, where Napoleon explains that Halloween is the one night a year that the Heart of Earth can be taken by anyone. Because we needed another loophole. The key is killing the true Heart's familiar, which happens to be Napoleon. Halloween is an extremely magical day, and tradition and superstition stem from that magical history. Until midnight, Napoleon can't even transform (though, oddly, the other Regents can; you'd think that if his powers were knocked out, theirs would be too if they draw from the same source). Will realizes using Napoleon as bait is the perfect way to lure out Nerissa and...NO. Okay, no. Will, stop coming up with bad plans!
Chris and Lillian bond over trick-or-treating strategy, despite poor first impressions, so Lillian begs Cornelia to go trick-or-treating with Chris and Irma. We ship 'em young these days. Cornelia gives her full blessing, since they've got plenty of people to guard Napoleon and can spare Irma. Hearing that free candy is involved, Blunk dresses up and joins in. The boys usher the kids out as the Guardians transform, and Mrs. Hale is a bit surprised at the "padding" in costumes nowadays. While Irma takes the kiddies, the others will spring the trap, and Cedric recommends Ye Olde Bookstore as the perfect site. The plan is that Nerissa will come after Napoleon, who will lead her inside so Phobos can steal the Seal before Nerissa can hurt the kitty. Cedric, Miranda, Matt, and Huggles transform, but because they're all really conspicuous, Phobos glamours them into bookcases and himself and Will into an elderly couple.
Blunk is super-excited about trick-or-treating, and Chris has to show him the ropes, which is pretty much one of the cutest things I've ever seen. He explains to Lillian that his strategy is pity, acting like an orphan straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Irma is insulted, since it took her years to perfect her strategy, so she's got to show them how it's done. She empties Chris's candy bag into Blunk's, plays up the cuteness, and asks for extra candy for her sick little brother, since everyone else on the block is out. It works like a charm, and an old woman dumps candy into her bag. Chris is thrilled with the haul, but he mocks Irma for supposedly being too grown up for trick-or-treating. Irma tries to play up her maturity, but Lillian's figured out that mentioning Andrew Hornby will make her freeze in her tracks.
At this point, my DVD copy of the episode started glitching due to a bad burn, and my backup was unavailable because it was saved to my old computer, which chose this particular day to finally die on me. So apologies if I leave out some details. Napoleon paces at the window nervously, but when he sees a grey cat nearby, he starts flirting with her. Unfortunately, the cat is Nerissa, and she drops her glamour and chases him inside, freezing his paws to the floor. Will urges Phobos to attack now, but he insists on waiting. Napoleon manages to escape and jumps onto one of the "bookshelves," which screams ow and ripples from movement. Nerissa realizes it's a trap and dispels the glamours on the furniture, but Will counterattacks. Nerissa stops her attack in its tracks and starts setting everything on fire, but Napoleon manages to escape. The others try to stop her, but she takes chase again. Will and Phobos dispel their glamours, and Will calls Phobos out on not taking the Seal when he had the chance. He just says it was her fault the plan failed and that they need to find Napoleon.
Irma manages to whip the three trick-or-treaters into shape with her successful strategy, though Blunk got a bag full of mothballs, but he's as happy with them as he is with candy, so that's good. At the next house, the guy won't give over any candy, so, furious, Irma goes up and coerces him into giving her a huge sack of candy. Lillian is thrilled, and Chris is proud of his big sister. To Irma's surprise, they bump into Andrew Hornby, who is dressed as a pirate who's clearly supposed to be Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite proclaiming himself too cool for trick-or-treating, he admits now he can't pass up free candy. Plus, with a look at Irma's chest, he's convinced now that dressing up is the best part. Irma's pretty happy about that.
The team heads to the carnival, turning heads with their "costumes." Martin geeks out over the spectacular spider-Miranda and snake-Cedric, wondering how they were put together, and Hay Lin just saves him from a maiming. But Knickerbocker has announced the skit contest, so he heads that way instead. They find Napoleon hiding among carnival prizes, and Caleb tries to win him. Cornelia has to use telekinesis to help him win because Caleb. They win Napoleon back, and Cedric asks how long they have to keep this up, but Phobos reminds him their patience will be rewarded. Irma and Blunk rendezvous after dropping Chris and Lillian off at home, but five minutes to midnight, Nerissa attacks. Irma explains to Knickerbocker that it's a last-minute skit, because clearly this is all Irma's fault somehow, and everyone backs away to watch the show. I've got to say, this is probably one of the most intense battles of the show, and pretty damn dangerous. Napoleon is snared by tree branches, just barely rescued by Matt. But the same branches wrap themselves around Matt, binding his wings against him and forcing him to fall into a table full of pumpkins. Huggles tackles Nerissa, landing her near Phobos. But when he doesn't take the Seal, Will realizes that he plans to take the Heart of Earth on top of everything else. Cedric grabs Will at that point, but she electrocutes him. The others continue to attack Nerissa, and they're not surprised when Will tells them of Phobos's sudden but inevitable betrayal. Nerissa corners Napoleon in a stack of jack o' lanterns, but Caleb throws off her aim with a softball and keeps throwing them at her until she has to attack her son. This allows the Guardians to fight, but they're defeated, and Nerissa chases Napoleon again. But when she captures him on stage, she sees the real Napoleon safe in Matt's arms. Midnight strikes, and Phobos drops his cat glamour, seizing the Seal. Nerissa is absorbed into it, and the Mage ring appears on his finger. You have no idea how many times I have to stop myself from making a joke about Kamen Rider Wizard. But amid everyone's celebrations, Will reminds them it's not over. Believing the show to be a skit, Knickerbocker awards the prize to Phobos, and the most chilling thing the Guardians can hear sounds through the crowd: cheers for Phobos...
X is for Xanadu (Andrew Robinson): Elyon's palace is under siege by Phobos's forces. When he finally arrives, the Guardians are forced to call a retreat of Elyon's forces, now rebels again, through a double-fold Blunk and Will make to HQ. Phobos reclaims the palace and reinstates the darkness across the capital, creating his own Xanadu.
The Guardians are left exhausted, having fought him almost nonstop since Halloween. Though Cornelia wants to return to Meridian to help Caleb, Will convinces her they need some downtime to recover. As Hay Lin and Taranee head upstairs to the restaurant, they hear Hay Lin's father ranting in worry over how he hasn't heard from his mother in a while. To excuse Yan Lin's disappearance, Hay Lin said that she was dealing with an emergency with relatives the rest of the family didn't know about back in China. To further her story, Hay Lin adds that she got a call from Yan Lin earlier but forgot to pass along the message, and it might be a while before Yan Lin can call again because she's in a small mountain village with poor phone service. This is actually a really good cover story she came up with, and we'll see how well it ends up working at the end of the season. The excuse depends on Mr. Lin's worry about his mom to distract him—he's too upset to notice any inconsistencies or suspicious elements to the story. In fact, he even begins scolding Hay Lin for not passing on the message sooner, until his wife elbows him as a reminder that he's got a message to pass on to her: Knickerbocker called to let Hay Lin know that the art contest she entered is tomorrow night. Hay Lin had entered it months ago but forgotten all about it with the recent battles. The theme is "my Xanadu," which Taranee explains is a reference to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan". Xanadu had been Khan's summer capital and personal paradise. But Hay Lin can't envision paradise because all of the beautiful worlds she's visited have now been spoiled by war and darkness.
During lunch, she stares at a copy of her favorite painting, Freedom by Leelee Quinones, for inspiration. But Knickerbocker destroys the zen by revealing Quinones will be a judge at the contest. Hay Lin freaks about her idol judging her painting, but then Eric makes it worse by reminding her she has no painting. She heads to the art room later to work on the painting, and Taranee reads "Kubla Khan" to try to inspire her—and as a note, Miss Kittie has an amazing poetry reading voice. It's hard to read poetry well, and she really gets the flow and rhythm. Hay Lin tries to envision the paradise of the poem, but it's shattered by Nerissa. Cornelia tries to suggest fashion and the high life, but Hay Lin's fantasy is invaded by Phobos and his posse posing as servants waiting to attack. Irma tells her to forget all that and just focus on bunnies, and it works...until Cedric eats them all. God, what is it with Cedric in season two and eating? Dude's going to put on a lot of weight. Will realizes that they're doing more harm than helping and calls everyone to leave the room so Hay Lin can concentrate. Hay Lin laments that her artist's block is as hopeless as Meridian's fate, and it's just the inspiration she needs.
The KoV (yep, them again) battle Caleb, Vathek, and Matt in the mountains. The trio of badasses are trying to hold out until Drake arrives with reinforcements. Unfortunately, Drake was the only one with a horse, and the rest of his men are lagging behind on foot. That's when Phobos decides he needs to have some fun, and Matt realizes that they're all officially fucked. But Caleb decides to piss off Gargoyle and provoke him into starting an avalanche...one that Phobos easily stops. And then sends another one their way. Luckily, Matt has wings and muscles, so he grabs the other three and flies them away. Despite everyone surviving, Phobos still counts this as a victory, gloating that Nerissa lacked vision. For all she had power, she never used it to exert her will on the world itself as he does. And so he decides it's time to rename the Seal of Nerissa to the Scepter of Phobos. Which sounds even more clunky. You know what? I'm sick of renames, so I'm renaming it myself. It's the Magic Stick from here on out, got it? Within the Magic Stick, Nerissa is outraged that Phobos said she has no vision, pointing out that he's only destroying things and doesn't have a plan or goal. She's got you there, Phobos. But Elyon calls her out on having no conscience and starting this whole mess in the first place. Nerissa tries to sass her back, but Elyon zaps her mid-tirade, revealing that Yan Lin's taught her how to reabsorb the power of the Heart of Meridian. And right now, Elyon, Cassidy, Halinor, and Kadma are just looking for a reason to kick Nerissa's ass. When Elyon prepares to deliver the finishing blow to Nerissa, Yan Lin stops them, arguing they need to work in harmony to escape and defeat Phobos. Yan Lin 2, henceforth known in this review as "Mera," the alias they give her in the finale, agrees wholeheartedly. Yan Lin then offers Nerissa an ultimatum: Join them or forever remain in the Magic Stick.
Blunk sneaks onto the castle grounds to spy on Phobos's plans, but Miranda smells Passling. However, Jeek is on the scene, easily blamed for the stink. He offers Phobos some information in exchange for a reward since he's a little turd: The rebels hid their families to keep them safe from Phobos and his army. After following Blunk's Mama, Jeek found the rebels in the Infinite City. Phobos rants that this is useless since he knows they abandoned their HQ there back in season 1, but Raythor gets a little memetic and reminds him that the Infinite City is infinite, so it must be a new base. And Blunk realizes that Mama and everyone else in the rebellion are in danger.
Hay Lin just finished her painting in time for the show, and the other three Guardians, her parents, and Eric are there to support her. The judges arrive to see Meridian at Dawn, but most of them think she's misunderstood the topic. The painting shows the palace of thorns and Cedric attacking, everything dark and gloomy. However, Hay Lin shows off that the sun is rising behind the Guardians and argues that paradise is a state of mind—a promise of dawn to chase away the nightmares and shadows. But the judges award the prize to a painting of bunnies by Clubber of all people. However, Quinones was greatly impressed by Hay Lin's painting and talent, putting Hay Lin on cloud nine. The good vibes are broken when Matt and Caleb have to pull them from the party to rendezvous with Blunk, where they reveal the danger to everyone's families on Meridian. The heroes transform and fold to the Infinite City, but Jeek leads the bad guys to the entrance just at that moment, and the moment of battle arrives. The rebels take their stand, but for all the Guardians' and Matt's power, they're overwhelmed. Phobos takes out Matt and easily defends against the Guardians, dropping the roof on everyone. Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin hold it up while Blunk opens a fold to try to evacuate everyone. Julian takes Blunk's Mama, Aldarn and his father are ordered through, Elyon's parents pass through, Matt and Irma help Vathek, but as the rest of the Guardians escape, Cedric throws a spear at Blunk. Not about to let his buddy end up like Dobby, Caleb tackles Blunk into the water. They miss the fold out but survive the cave-in, only to be captured by Raythor. Phobos seizes the tonga tooth and claims victory—Caleb and Blunk are his prisoners, the Rebels are either killed by the cave-in or scattered, and the last of Elyon's army has surrendered. With Meridian finally conquered, he gives the order to attack Zamballa. But Raythor suggests a grander vision: Attack Kandrakar and destroy the Heart of Infinity, and all worlds will fall to him, which sounds perfect to Phobos.
The remaining rebels reconvene in Kandrakar, but Cornelia and Mama notice Caleb and Blunk are missing. Will gives them the bad news, and Hay Lin tries to offer hope, but Drake argues that there is none. He blames the Guardians for releasing Phobos, knowing what he was capable of, and I seriously have to wonder if this was going to be a plot thread for season 3. Drake did come right the hell out of nowhere this season, so was he going to become a new enemy? Vathek talks some sense into him, reminding him how much the Guardians have risked, and Aldarn adds that if it hadn't been Phobos who conquered Meridian, it would have been Nerissa. But Will holds them off from trying to give them too much credit, revealing a stunning truth—this loss was all according to plan...
Meanwhile on Earth, the Sheffield Sea Slugs are nearing the end of swim season, and the team is there to cheer on Will. She just loses to Mandy Anderson of East Heatherfield High (I'm assuming high school, at least; they're 14 now). As it turns out, Mandy is an old childhood friend of Matt's from summer camp, and so Will is pissed and gives him the cold shoulder when he congratulates his friend on her win...over his girlfriend. Yeah, this is going to be a problem. Coach reminds Will that if she wants the gold medal, she needs to come in first in the next two competitions, but when she hears Mandy say goodbye to Matt, Will feels like she's lost already. The Guardians and boys go out for celebratory ice cream, but Will doesn't see any victory in silver. She's hard on herself for the swim meet, Mandy, and especially Nerissa. Caleb tries to comfort her, reminding her that he couldn't reclaim the Heart of Meridian from Nerissa, and that suddenly gives her a brainstorm bright enough that she electrokinetically brightens the lightbulbs. She realizes that there is a loophole (yes, ANOTHER one) inherent in the Heart of Meridian—an heir to the throne can take it without Nerissa's permission. Which means they need Phobos.
Being sane, Vathek calls Will out on her terrible plan when she and Caleb visit the prison, but Caleb points out they really have no other option. Will presents Phobos with a deal: They'll give him a full pardon if he helps them take the Seal and swears an oath on the powers of Kandrakar not to take the power for himself. Raythor insists that the power is Phobos's by birthright, so he shouldn't have to humiliate himself in this deal, but Phobos hates prison more than he hates the Guardians, so he agrees to the oath. Will releases him, and on Aridia, the Seal suddenly drops its image. Nerissa realizes one of its spells has been broken, and she suddenly realizes that the Guardians were desperate enough to release Phobos, and she curses herself for not killing him months ago. She gives Cassidy the Mage ring and orders her and the others to kill Phobos.
Caleb calls Sheffield, posting as the father of their new foreign exchange student, Philip, and Phobos uses a glamour to blend in as an Earth teen. For his own protection, he's rooming with Matt, who's also watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't pull anything. But Phobos is a prima donna, kicking Matt out of his own bed and into a sleeping bag on the floor. In science with Taranee, he hands her volatile chemicals that explode on her. And when he doesn't like the school lunch, he tosses it in Cornelia's face. But he has to come along to Will's swim meet. Will pulls Matt away from Mandy to yell at him for not being completely on her side. Matt realizes she's jealous, but she denies it and yells at him to stay away from Mandy. Being ordered around sets him off, and he outright says it's behavior he got from Nerissa and never expected to hear again from Will. But Will is afraid that she'll lose Matt to the competition. When the race begins, it's quickly neck-and-neck between Will and Mandy, and despite his anger with her, Matt forgives her and cheers on his girlfriend. But when Will can't let herself lose, she quintessences the lane lines, causing them to wrap around Mandy's leg, and allowing Will to win. When she gets out of the pool, everyone congratulates her, especially Phobos, who watched her cheat. He congratulates her on showing the right kind of attitude to win at all costs. But his approval fills her with shame, and she escapes to the locker room, where Mandy continues the congratulations. Will argues it was only because of the lane markers, but Mandy insists it was fair and square, so Will should be proud. Instead, this only makes her more guilty.
The others head off past the park, surprised that Will doesn't want to celebrate her win. But Cassidy and the others attack. Being the only one who can transform, Matt does just that and fights back, warning the others to take cover. But he's outnumbered, and Phobos isn't about to use up his HP on self-defense, so the others have to protect him with their limited powers. Hay Lin tries to reason with Yan Lin, but her words get through to Cassidy, who had been given just enough free will to lead the attack (and ask questions earlier). But she's back on-mode soon enough, and Phobos drains the energy from Taranee and Cornelia to force the thralls off. After escaping, the other girls are supporting the weakened Cornelia and Taranee while Matt returns from scouting. Phobos calls them all out on being weak, but Taranee snipes back that they'd probably be better if they had something worth protecting, and they leave. So Phobos decides it's time for a change in plans.
Phobos begins acting a little strange from then on. He takes the floor while Matt takes the bed, and he's affectionate to Huggles, who prefers to sleep by him all of a sudden. He starts eating the crickets meant for the class lizard, grossing Taranee out. He brings Cornelia dessert and starts acting lovestruck around her, much to her horror. At the next swim meet, he even offers to get her popcorn, which she lets him do because it gives her a chance to freak out about how he's hitting on her. But then he comes back from the other side and devours the popcorn. To make matters worse, Matt is acting strangely, and as Will approaches the pool, she sees him kissing Mandy's hand, giving her a challenging look until she sparks with rage. Sweetie, you've seen Matt act like a total jerk and knew it wasn't really him. You should be able to figure this out. He doesn't even cheer her on as the race begins, though Phobos does. Mandy wins, and Will congratulates her with a hug for the fair win. Phobos cheers Will for the second-place win, but Matt is clearly disgusted.
Will shows off her silver medal, but Matt insists it's just a symbol of failure. Phobos, however, whispers to her to ignore him and tells her she did a great job. Seriously, if you can't figure out what's going on right now, it's pretty sad. He exits the back door, and as the rest of the team is about to go out for ice cream, Cassidy attacks again. Phobos returns and scrambles into the pool equipment cart to hide. Will yells for Matt to guard him, but he sticks to the sidelines. I have to mention this for creativity: With not much around in the way of plant life, Cornelia is forced to use algae from the pool to stop Halinor, and it goes pretty damn well. Will attacks Cassidy and throws her into the pool, where she crashes the mode again momentarily, remembering that she used to swim there. Realizing that they can get through to her, Will keeps her talking, asking her about her time on the swim team and reminding her that she was a Guardian. Irma hits on the idea of telepathically persuading her to wake up, and Cassidy breaks through, determined to fight back completely now.
Meanwhile, Nerissa has found the Heart of Aridia and glamoured as a female version of his species, trying to seduce him into giving up his power. But before she can get anywhere, the Seal alerts her that the spell on her thralls has broken. She drops the glamour and folds to Earth, ready to destroy the helpless Phobos. But another Phobos is right behind her, threatening to take her power. And yet another prevents her from escaping. She orders her thralls to attack, but Cassidy tells her they're awake and not taking orders anymore. So Nerissa blasts all three Phoboses out of the way and absorbs the four Guardians into the Seal, as they are still bound to her service. And she uses all five elements herself, resulting in a booming voice and tremendous power. But before she can finish off the Guardians, Matt runs at her. She realizes at once who he really is and teleports away.
The Guardians pull themselves out of the pool to confront the Phobos trio and Matt, who drops his glamour to reveal he was the real Phobos all along, with the other three being glamoured Matt, Blunk, and Caleb, explaining their odd behaviors. Phobos reveals he came up with the plan to better protect himself after the attack in the park, and Matt is shocked to hear just who Phobos was kissing in his body. He'd refused to tell the Guardians of the plan because he needed them to fool and distract Nerissa, but again, they lost. He's furious that they don't have what it takes to achieve victory at all cost, but Will argues they still managed to beat him all that time ago, and in any case, it's not a win if you lose yourself in the process. Keep that in mind for later. Phobos argues she's only justifying her defeat, but she reminds him that for the very first time, they have Nerissa running scared...
W is for Witch (Nicole Dubuc): Vathek is appalled when Will, Caleb, and Phobos want him to release more prisoners. Raythor volunteers, proud to serve his Prince, but Phobos declines in favor of the more magically formidable Cedric and Miranda. I'm sure humiliating them didn't leave any hard feelings between you guys. He restores their forms and strength and offers them one last chance to serve him well. Vathek doesn't like it, but as Phobos points out, he's their last hope.
It's Halloween on Earth, and Lillian is dressed as a witch, but she can't find her black cat. Napoleon is busy hiding in Cornelia's closet, spilling pink nail polish into her hair in panic (yes, the pink streak is there all episode, and I'm actually sad to see it go by the start of the next). He's terrified of a particular witch, Nerissa, and he needs Cornelia to hide him. At Irma's house, she tells Chris, a ninja, she's too old to dress up and take him trick-or-treating. Their mom reminds her she's loved Halloween since she was a baby, but concedes that if she thinks she's too mature, she doesn't have to dress up this year. But she does have to take Chris out, or she's not going to Sheffield's Halloween carnival. Cornelia conference calls her and Hay Lin for serious W.I.T.C.H. business, and Irma drags Chris along and plops him in front of the TV next to Lillian. The rest of the Guardians, Regents, and Caleb, Blunk, and the bad guys are gathered in Cornelia's room, where Napoleon explains that Halloween is the one night a year that the Heart of Earth can be taken by anyone. Because we needed another loophole. The key is killing the true Heart's familiar, which happens to be Napoleon. Halloween is an extremely magical day, and tradition and superstition stem from that magical history. Until midnight, Napoleon can't even transform (though, oddly, the other Regents can; you'd think that if his powers were knocked out, theirs would be too if they draw from the same source). Will realizes using Napoleon as bait is the perfect way to lure out Nerissa and...NO. Okay, no. Will, stop coming up with bad plans!
Chris and Lillian bond over trick-or-treating strategy, despite poor first impressions, so Lillian begs Cornelia to go trick-or-treating with Chris and Irma. We ship 'em young these days. Cornelia gives her full blessing, since they've got plenty of people to guard Napoleon and can spare Irma. Hearing that free candy is involved, Blunk dresses up and joins in. The boys usher the kids out as the Guardians transform, and Mrs. Hale is a bit surprised at the "padding" in costumes nowadays. While Irma takes the kiddies, the others will spring the trap, and Cedric recommends Ye Olde Bookstore as the perfect site. The plan is that Nerissa will come after Napoleon, who will lead her inside so Phobos can steal the Seal before Nerissa can hurt the kitty. Cedric, Miranda, Matt, and Huggles transform, but because they're all really conspicuous, Phobos glamours them into bookcases and himself and Will into an elderly couple.
Blunk is super-excited about trick-or-treating, and Chris has to show him the ropes, which is pretty much one of the cutest things I've ever seen. He explains to Lillian that his strategy is pity, acting like an orphan straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Irma is insulted, since it took her years to perfect her strategy, so she's got to show them how it's done. She empties Chris's candy bag into Blunk's, plays up the cuteness, and asks for extra candy for her sick little brother, since everyone else on the block is out. It works like a charm, and an old woman dumps candy into her bag. Chris is thrilled with the haul, but he mocks Irma for supposedly being too grown up for trick-or-treating. Irma tries to play up her maturity, but Lillian's figured out that mentioning Andrew Hornby will make her freeze in her tracks.
At this point, my DVD copy of the episode started glitching due to a bad burn, and my backup was unavailable because it was saved to my old computer, which chose this particular day to finally die on me. So apologies if I leave out some details. Napoleon paces at the window nervously, but when he sees a grey cat nearby, he starts flirting with her. Unfortunately, the cat is Nerissa, and she drops her glamour and chases him inside, freezing his paws to the floor. Will urges Phobos to attack now, but he insists on waiting. Napoleon manages to escape and jumps onto one of the "bookshelves," which screams ow and ripples from movement. Nerissa realizes it's a trap and dispels the glamours on the furniture, but Will counterattacks. Nerissa stops her attack in its tracks and starts setting everything on fire, but Napoleon manages to escape. The others try to stop her, but she takes chase again. Will and Phobos dispel their glamours, and Will calls Phobos out on not taking the Seal when he had the chance. He just says it was her fault the plan failed and that they need to find Napoleon.
Irma manages to whip the three trick-or-treaters into shape with her successful strategy, though Blunk got a bag full of mothballs, but he's as happy with them as he is with candy, so that's good. At the next house, the guy won't give over any candy, so, furious, Irma goes up and coerces him into giving her a huge sack of candy. Lillian is thrilled, and Chris is proud of his big sister. To Irma's surprise, they bump into Andrew Hornby, who is dressed as a pirate who's clearly supposed to be Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite proclaiming himself too cool for trick-or-treating, he admits now he can't pass up free candy. Plus, with a look at Irma's chest, he's convinced now that dressing up is the best part. Irma's pretty happy about that.
The team heads to the carnival, turning heads with their "costumes." Martin geeks out over the spectacular spider-Miranda and snake-Cedric, wondering how they were put together, and Hay Lin just saves him from a maiming. But Knickerbocker has announced the skit contest, so he heads that way instead. They find Napoleon hiding among carnival prizes, and Caleb tries to win him. Cornelia has to use telekinesis to help him win because Caleb. They win Napoleon back, and Cedric asks how long they have to keep this up, but Phobos reminds him their patience will be rewarded. Irma and Blunk rendezvous after dropping Chris and Lillian off at home, but five minutes to midnight, Nerissa attacks. Irma explains to Knickerbocker that it's a last-minute skit, because clearly this is all Irma's fault somehow, and everyone backs away to watch the show. I've got to say, this is probably one of the most intense battles of the show, and pretty damn dangerous. Napoleon is snared by tree branches, just barely rescued by Matt. But the same branches wrap themselves around Matt, binding his wings against him and forcing him to fall into a table full of pumpkins. Huggles tackles Nerissa, landing her near Phobos. But when he doesn't take the Seal, Will realizes that he plans to take the Heart of Earth on top of everything else. Cedric grabs Will at that point, but she electrocutes him. The others continue to attack Nerissa, and they're not surprised when Will tells them of Phobos's sudden but inevitable betrayal. Nerissa corners Napoleon in a stack of jack o' lanterns, but Caleb throws off her aim with a softball and keeps throwing them at her until she has to attack her son. This allows the Guardians to fight, but they're defeated, and Nerissa chases Napoleon again. But when she captures him on stage, she sees the real Napoleon safe in Matt's arms. Midnight strikes, and Phobos drops his cat glamour, seizing the Seal. Nerissa is absorbed into it, and the Mage ring appears on his finger. You have no idea how many times I have to stop myself from making a joke about Kamen Rider Wizard. But amid everyone's celebrations, Will reminds them it's not over. Believing the show to be a skit, Knickerbocker awards the prize to Phobos, and the most chilling thing the Guardians can hear sounds through the crowd: cheers for Phobos...
X is for Xanadu (Andrew Robinson): Elyon's palace is under siege by Phobos's forces. When he finally arrives, the Guardians are forced to call a retreat of Elyon's forces, now rebels again, through a double-fold Blunk and Will make to HQ. Phobos reclaims the palace and reinstates the darkness across the capital, creating his own Xanadu.
The Guardians are left exhausted, having fought him almost nonstop since Halloween. Though Cornelia wants to return to Meridian to help Caleb, Will convinces her they need some downtime to recover. As Hay Lin and Taranee head upstairs to the restaurant, they hear Hay Lin's father ranting in worry over how he hasn't heard from his mother in a while. To excuse Yan Lin's disappearance, Hay Lin said that she was dealing with an emergency with relatives the rest of the family didn't know about back in China. To further her story, Hay Lin adds that she got a call from Yan Lin earlier but forgot to pass along the message, and it might be a while before Yan Lin can call again because she's in a small mountain village with poor phone service. This is actually a really good cover story she came up with, and we'll see how well it ends up working at the end of the season. The excuse depends on Mr. Lin's worry about his mom to distract him—he's too upset to notice any inconsistencies or suspicious elements to the story. In fact, he even begins scolding Hay Lin for not passing on the message sooner, until his wife elbows him as a reminder that he's got a message to pass on to her: Knickerbocker called to let Hay Lin know that the art contest she entered is tomorrow night. Hay Lin had entered it months ago but forgotten all about it with the recent battles. The theme is "my Xanadu," which Taranee explains is a reference to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan". Xanadu had been Khan's summer capital and personal paradise. But Hay Lin can't envision paradise because all of the beautiful worlds she's visited have now been spoiled by war and darkness.
During lunch, she stares at a copy of her favorite painting, Freedom by Leelee Quinones, for inspiration. But Knickerbocker destroys the zen by revealing Quinones will be a judge at the contest. Hay Lin freaks about her idol judging her painting, but then Eric makes it worse by reminding her she has no painting. She heads to the art room later to work on the painting, and Taranee reads "Kubla Khan" to try to inspire her—and as a note, Miss Kittie has an amazing poetry reading voice. It's hard to read poetry well, and she really gets the flow and rhythm. Hay Lin tries to envision the paradise of the poem, but it's shattered by Nerissa. Cornelia tries to suggest fashion and the high life, but Hay Lin's fantasy is invaded by Phobos and his posse posing as servants waiting to attack. Irma tells her to forget all that and just focus on bunnies, and it works...until Cedric eats them all. God, what is it with Cedric in season two and eating? Dude's going to put on a lot of weight. Will realizes that they're doing more harm than helping and calls everyone to leave the room so Hay Lin can concentrate. Hay Lin laments that her artist's block is as hopeless as Meridian's fate, and it's just the inspiration she needs.
The KoV (yep, them again) battle Caleb, Vathek, and Matt in the mountains. The trio of badasses are trying to hold out until Drake arrives with reinforcements. Unfortunately, Drake was the only one with a horse, and the rest of his men are lagging behind on foot. That's when Phobos decides he needs to have some fun, and Matt realizes that they're all officially fucked. But Caleb decides to piss off Gargoyle and provoke him into starting an avalanche...one that Phobos easily stops. And then sends another one their way. Luckily, Matt has wings and muscles, so he grabs the other three and flies them away. Despite everyone surviving, Phobos still counts this as a victory, gloating that Nerissa lacked vision. For all she had power, she never used it to exert her will on the world itself as he does. And so he decides it's time to rename the Seal of Nerissa to the Scepter of Phobos. Which sounds even more clunky. You know what? I'm sick of renames, so I'm renaming it myself. It's the Magic Stick from here on out, got it? Within the Magic Stick, Nerissa is outraged that Phobos said she has no vision, pointing out that he's only destroying things and doesn't have a plan or goal. She's got you there, Phobos. But Elyon calls her out on having no conscience and starting this whole mess in the first place. Nerissa tries to sass her back, but Elyon zaps her mid-tirade, revealing that Yan Lin's taught her how to reabsorb the power of the Heart of Meridian. And right now, Elyon, Cassidy, Halinor, and Kadma are just looking for a reason to kick Nerissa's ass. When Elyon prepares to deliver the finishing blow to Nerissa, Yan Lin stops them, arguing they need to work in harmony to escape and defeat Phobos. Yan Lin 2, henceforth known in this review as "Mera," the alias they give her in the finale, agrees wholeheartedly. Yan Lin then offers Nerissa an ultimatum: Join them or forever remain in the Magic Stick.
Blunk sneaks onto the castle grounds to spy on Phobos's plans, but Miranda smells Passling. However, Jeek is on the scene, easily blamed for the stink. He offers Phobos some information in exchange for a reward since he's a little turd: The rebels hid their families to keep them safe from Phobos and his army. After following Blunk's Mama, Jeek found the rebels in the Infinite City. Phobos rants that this is useless since he knows they abandoned their HQ there back in season 1, but Raythor gets a little memetic and reminds him that the Infinite City is infinite, so it must be a new base. And Blunk realizes that Mama and everyone else in the rebellion are in danger.
Hay Lin just finished her painting in time for the show, and the other three Guardians, her parents, and Eric are there to support her. The judges arrive to see Meridian at Dawn, but most of them think she's misunderstood the topic. The painting shows the palace of thorns and Cedric attacking, everything dark and gloomy. However, Hay Lin shows off that the sun is rising behind the Guardians and argues that paradise is a state of mind—a promise of dawn to chase away the nightmares and shadows. But the judges award the prize to a painting of bunnies by Clubber of all people. However, Quinones was greatly impressed by Hay Lin's painting and talent, putting Hay Lin on cloud nine. The good vibes are broken when Matt and Caleb have to pull them from the party to rendezvous with Blunk, where they reveal the danger to everyone's families on Meridian. The heroes transform and fold to the Infinite City, but Jeek leads the bad guys to the entrance just at that moment, and the moment of battle arrives. The rebels take their stand, but for all the Guardians' and Matt's power, they're overwhelmed. Phobos takes out Matt and easily defends against the Guardians, dropping the roof on everyone. Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin hold it up while Blunk opens a fold to try to evacuate everyone. Julian takes Blunk's Mama, Aldarn and his father are ordered through, Elyon's parents pass through, Matt and Irma help Vathek, but as the rest of the Guardians escape, Cedric throws a spear at Blunk. Not about to let his buddy end up like Dobby, Caleb tackles Blunk into the water. They miss the fold out but survive the cave-in, only to be captured by Raythor. Phobos seizes the tonga tooth and claims victory—Caleb and Blunk are his prisoners, the Rebels are either killed by the cave-in or scattered, and the last of Elyon's army has surrendered. With Meridian finally conquered, he gives the order to attack Zamballa. But Raythor suggests a grander vision: Attack Kandrakar and destroy the Heart of Infinity, and all worlds will fall to him, which sounds perfect to Phobos.
The remaining rebels reconvene in Kandrakar, but Cornelia and Mama notice Caleb and Blunk are missing. Will gives them the bad news, and Hay Lin tries to offer hope, but Drake argues that there is none. He blames the Guardians for releasing Phobos, knowing what he was capable of, and I seriously have to wonder if this was going to be a plot thread for season 3. Drake did come right the hell out of nowhere this season, so was he going to become a new enemy? Vathek talks some sense into him, reminding him how much the Guardians have risked, and Aldarn adds that if it hadn't been Phobos who conquered Meridian, it would have been Nerissa. But Will holds them off from trying to give them too much credit, revealing a stunning truth—this loss was all according to plan...