Darkstar Rising

Darkstar Rising is the fourteenth episode of Ben 10: Alien Force. It's also the first episode of the second season.

Plot
When the team finds Forever Knights activity, they realize that it was bait meant to lure them into getting arrested for impersonating Plumbers. They are then prohibited to continue their investigations on alien activity and Magister Prior Gilhil takes Kevin's badge away. Ben gets ready to attack but Magister Prior Gilhil tries to prevent Ben and Gwen from attacking; Ben turns into Goop and traps Magister Prior Gilhil and he drops his gun so he is powerless.

Meanwhile, a masked figure breaks into a DNAlien hideout and fights the Highbreed Lord. He then absorbs some of the Highbreed's power so the Highbreed can listen to what he says. He then demands the Highbreed to go attack Kevin and Gwen who are in Kevin's garage. They are about to kiss when all of a sudden the Highbreed busts through the wall and tries to kill them. The Highbreed proves to be too strong; he knocks Kevin out while he was trying to prevent Gwen from getting killed. Ben's finally comes along as Humungousaur and throws the Highbreed. Then Magister Gilhil comes and puts them under arrest for impersonating Plumbers, but they soon get attacked by the same masked figure who tries to absorb all their powers and captures them, while Gwen manages to escape.

The masked figure takes all of them (except Gwen) to his hideout where he reveals to them who he is. The enemy shows himself to be Michael Morningstar who now calls himself Darkstar since as a result of his previous defeat he has gained a zombified appearance while his powers have been greatly amplified and thus he needs even more power to feed his burning hunger, and then he tries to absorb all of their powers. Then Gwen comes in with an army of DNAliens who beat up Michael Darkstar along with Ben, Kevin, Gwen and the Magister. After Ben defeats him, they realise the Highbreed Lord and the DNAliens have escaped. Magister Ghilhil gives Kevin his badge back, and tells the group that now they are the ones in charge of protecting Earth. He then sends Darkstar to the Null Void.

Allusions
The name of this episode has a resemblance to the Marvel Uncanny X-Men comic Deathstar Rising.

Major Events

 * Michael Morningstar takes on the name "Darkstar."
 * Ben and the gang are now honorary Plumbers.
 * Gwen and Kevin almost kiss.

Debuts

 * Magister Prior Gilhil

Characters

 * Ben Tennyson
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin
 * Magister Prior Gilhil

Villains

 * Highbreed Commander
 * DNAliens
 * Michael Morningstar/Darkstar
 * Forever Knights (hologram only)

Aliens Used

 * Chromastone
 * Goop
 * Humungousaur (2x)
 * Echo Echo
 * Spidermonkey
 * Jetray

Error

 * For a short time, when the Gilhil was talking to Kevin, the red button on his suit disappeared.
 * In one scene, when Ben and Gilhil, Ben's white line on his jacket was gone.
 * Echo Echo, Spidermonkey and Jetray all appear in this episode, but they have no lines.

Trivia

 * It is revealed in this episode that Kevin's biological father was a Plumber.
 * It is also revealed that impersonating a Plumber is an interstellar-class felony.
 * Gwen and Kevin are about to kiss, but the Highbreed Commander interrupts them.
 * When beating up Darkstar, Ben didn't say the name of the aliens he was using but probably because it wasn't in his best interest to call them out.
 * Gwen uses the quote "He's fine" sarcastically again, where she first used it in Secret of The Omnitrix.
 * When Darkstar was absorbing their powers, Kevin said Ben should turn into Alien X, but Ben said if he did that Darkstar would absorb all of that power and become invincible.
 * When Ben said "We don't need no stinkin' badges!", it's a reference to the quote from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Blazing Saddles.
 * In the garage, you can see a pink version of Kevin's car, meaning the car was painted green by Kevin.
 * This is the first episode Kevin is seen absorbing wood.
 * This marks the first time in the series that Vilgax was mentioned.
 * This is the first time Ben was completely drained of energy after using the Omnitrix for massive changes as he nearly fainted.
 * When Gwen and Kevin encountered the Highbreed, Kevin absorbed the paint on his car, but strangely, he then absorbed the ground before he even attacked.
 * If you look closely, when Kevin was about to say that Darkstar tried to steal Gwen from him, he blushes.
 * This episode's name has a resemblence to The Uncanny X-Men comic, Death-star Rising.