...Nor Iron Bars a Cage

...Nor Iron Bars a Cage is the seventeenth episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Plot
With Kevin having absorbed the Ultimatrix's aliens and gone back to his insane state, he returns to the Null Void prison where he was trapped for about 5 years (it is not, however, Incarcecon because that planet prison resides in space, as seen in Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix, and this prison is on a floating rock in the Null Void). Strangely enough, it is a labor camp as well as a prison, making the prisoners work hard by mining for a strange blue ore non-stop. A prisoner named Trukk comes out of solitary after thirty days and hears there is a new a prisoner in the void, referring to Kevin.

Driving around in his car, Ben and Gwen begin their search for Kevin. While searching for answers they meet a friend of Kevin's named Berry, who was put in the hospital due to injuries inflicted by Kevin while in his mental state. Berry said that the instance occurred because Kevin told him that he owed him 8 bucks from 5 years ago, since he couldn't remember it, Kevin got angry and hurt him, making the team realize that Kevin is actually dangerous.

Back in the prison, Kevin and the other prisoners are seen still mining. Trukk gets jealous at Kevin's skill and attempts to start trouble. His friend, Quince, tells him to stop but he doesn't listen. A fight breaks out between Kevin and Trukk, with Kevin tossing Trukk into a wall. Quince covers for Kevin and lies to the security guard robots, telling them Trukk tripped himself. Quince tries to become friends with Kevin, saying that he reminds him strongly of someone.

In Kevin's room, Ben and Gwen search the room thoroughly finding little evidence. Ben notices an insignia carved on a desk and remembers where its from, the Null Void prison. Back at the prison, Quince tries to socialize with Kevin. It comes to Quince's mind that he now knows the true identity of Kevin Levin. Being revealed, Kevin gets angry and threatens for his name not to be said again. Quince makes peace with Kevin, making him reveal to him that he returned to the prison planet for revenge. The Warden of the planet, Morgg, gets a message from the other side. Gwen and Ben teleport in and try to warn the Warden that he may be in danger. He doesn't listen and tries to get rid of Ben and Gwen, not being able to teleport out (as it only goes one way), they spend the night. Trying to hide something from the plumbers, Morgue tells the guards to keep a close eye on them.

Quince and Kevin began to talk about the last time he was in Incarcecon, when Kevin was first mutated. Kwarrel, a prisoner tried to calm Kevin down due to his outrageous anger. The two fought with Kevin being easily defeated. Over time, Kwarrel taught Kevin how to turn back into his normal self and absorb matter instead of energy. At the time, while Morgg was just a guard. Morgue planned a plot to kill Kwarrel and Kevin. Kwarrel surrendered himself to save Kevin, being shot by Morgg while doing this. Once Morgg became warden, he replaced the old guards with robot ones, and turned it into a mining colony.

While in their bunks, Gwen has trouble opening the door. Ben turns into Goop, slips under, and melts the lock off. They escape their room and look for Kevin. While searching around, Gwen realizes that warden Morgg has something up his sleeve. Catching them wondering around, Morgg and his guards attack them. Fighting them off, Ben turns into Humungousaur and Gwen slams the guards into the ceiling, making a blue dust fall from the ceiling, and the dust is inhaled by Humongosaur. The dust does something to Ben, making him hallucinate and see Gwen as a fire-like alien. Gwen tries to talk to him but sees no effect. She smacks him, making him come back to his senses. Gwen and Ben realize that Morgg isn't only a Warden, but also a intergalactic-drug trafficker. She understands that by using this drug, Morgg can continue to make his prisoners tick and hallucinate, causing them to make dangerous actions.

Kevin goes after Morgue and attempts to attack him. In the beginning, Morgue presses a button causing the collars on the prisoners necks to inflict pain. Ben turns into Echo Echo and helps them by destroying the collars. Ben and Gwen reach Kevin before his can do anything to hurt Warden. Ben turns into Armodrillo and fights him. Things go wrong causing the cave to fall in. Ben, Gwen, and Quince stay outside the cave while Kevin and the Warden are still inside. Morgue tries to escape by escaping into an elevator but runs into Kevin. Kevin throws him into the elevator and cuts the line, making it a free-falling elevator. Gwen and Ben reach the deepest tunnel. They both spot the elevator and spot the warden inside. Gwen saves the fall by using her mana and arrests him. Returning to the prison, it is now under complete destruction. Ben assumes that since they are already stuck in the null void, they should just leave the prisoners alone and let them escape.

Quince tells the team that Kevin has escaped thinking he killed the Warden. Ben talks to Gwen and tells her that Kevin is now too dangerous and if they don't stop him soon, he could hurt more people. Gwen mistakes Ben's words to say that Kevin must be saved, but Ben means that since Kevin is too dangerous and can put others lives in jeopardy, they need to put an end to him, meaning killing him.

Major events

 * This is the Null Void first appearance in Ultimate Alien.
 * More of Kevin's past is shown.
 * Ben assumes they have to kill Kevin.

Characters

 * Kevin (main character of the episode)Picture_13l.jpg (flashback)]]
 * Ben
 * Gwen
 * Kwarrel (flashback only)
 * Quince
 * Berry
 * Trukk
 * Morgg

Aliens Used

 * Goop
 * Humungousaur
 * Echo Echo
 * Armodrillo

Villains

 * Kevin Levin (insane)
 * Morgg

Quotes

 * Ben: Gwen, you see what Kevin is capable of now.
 * Gwen: That's why we have to help him.
 * Ben: I think we're past that... I think...we have to put him down.
 * Gwen: (shocked) What's that supposed to mean...?


 * Kevin: Let me go, Tennyson. Morg's getting away!
 * Armodrillo: I can't let you hurt him, Kevin.
 * Kevin: Then I'll just have to hurt you!


 * Trukk: Fresh meat! Do you know who I am?
 * Kevin: Don't know, don't care.
 * Trukk: Name's Trukk. I'm top dog here.
 * Kevin: Good for you. Go bury a bone or something.

Trivia

 * Kevin's shorts are miscolored blue in the flashback
 * Dwayne McDuffie revealed that after Goop lost his anti-gravity disk, the Ultimatrix would make a new one. This actually came true.
 * This week, Fusionfall released a Goop set.Ff_b10ua_weeklycode_goopset_384x216.jpg
 * The name of the episode likely comes from the poem by Richard Lovelace with a well known verse being "stone walls do not make a prison, nor iron bars a cage".
 * This is the first episode that we see eleven-year-old Kevin from the original series, and we find out how he regained his sanity, human form, and gained his matter-absorbing powers and abilities.
 * The irony in the plot is Kevin trying to right a wrong for a friend, but sacrificed everything the friend stood for in doing so.
 * This episode where Kevin gets revenge on Morgue for Quarrel's death is a resemblance to Vendetta, where Kevin gets revenge on Ragnarok for his father's death.
 * When Ben became Humungousaur, he yelled before he transformed.
 * This is the first time that when Echo Echo told a word, he used his sonics.
 * When the security drones say "uh oh", it could be refrencing the "Star Wars saga."
 * Incarcecan was seen breifly in the "Ben 10: Alien Force" episode Vendetta when Ragnarok escaped from it.
 * This is the very first episode in the series to have drug references.