Above and Beyond

Above and Beyond is the fourthy-thrid episode of Ben 10: Alien Force.

Original Airdate
March 12, 2010

Plot
Max sends a message to the Plumbers where Ben's attacking Max at a space station. Alan, Helen, Manny, and Pierce arrive to the space station and plan to stop Ben. Pierce suggests they work and stay together, but no one listens. Helen, the first to leave the group, finds Ben, but is defeated by his Echo Echo form. Later the team splits into two. Alan and Pierce get separated and Pierce ends up getting attacked and beaten by Goop. Later Manny and Helen get separated and get attacked and beaten by Rath. Helen, Manny, and Pierce regroup and try to find Alan. Alan soon finds Ben where he is attacked by Big Chill. Pierce, Manny, and Helen rescue Alan and try to beat Ben, but he manages to escape. Pierce suggests they work and attack like a team. Soon they find Ben, who goes Humongousaur at full size and fights the Plumber's Helper's. They soon suggest to attack Ben at once and throw Humongousaur into space. Because Humongosaur's weight threw off the balance of the ship's gravity control backup systems, realize the ship is crashing to London, so they sacrifice themselves for Earth by self-destructing the ship but it doesn't explode. Max and Ben tell them that it was a test except the part with the space station crashing to London, and that they're soon heading to the Plumbers' Academy.

Major events

 * The Plumber kids are now going to the Plumber Academy.

Characters

 * Ben Tennyson
 * Max Tennyson
 * Plumbers' Helpers (Main characters in the episode)
 * Alan Albright
 * Helen Wheels
 * Manny Armstrong
 * Pierce

Aliens used

 * Humongousaur x 2
 * Big Chill
 * Goop
 * Rath
 * Echo Echo

Deleted Characters
The following characters were rumored to appear in this episode, but Dwayne McDuffie wrote them out of the script at the last minute.

Villians

 * Vilgax
 * Albedo
 * Sublimino

Aliens

 * Heatblast

Trivia

 * When Manny and Allan were giving ideas why Ben was doing so many weird things, Manny suggests that he maybe must lay eggs again. Big Chill layed eggs in the episode Save the Last Dance.


 * When Pierce was fighting Goop, he broke a single shoulder spike off and threw it but when he threw it and it went through Goop it showed that he broke off two.


 * The reason Cooper did not appear was because his powers would have told him what was really going on.


 * Max's Plumber rank is revealed. He is a Magister, like Labrid and Ghilhil.


 * Rath's transformation sequence is shown for the first time.


 * Rath displays knowledge about intergalactic martial arts when he fights Manny.


 * This is the only episode not to feature Kevin in Alien Force and Gwen in the whole Ben 10 series. According to Pierce, they are on a mission half-way across the galaxy. It is possible they were told that so they could do the mission by themselves.


 * It is confirmed by Dwayne McDuffie that the Plumber's Academy will be seen in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Quotes

 * Ben: (trying to make himself warm) I can't believe you guys ejected me into space! (shivering) That's-that's just wrong!


 * Ben: * Transforms into Rath* RATH!
 * Manny: I always wanted a piece of you anyway.
 * Rath: Let me tell ya somethin' Manny Armstrong, you want a piece of Rath?! You got a piece, but you just bit off an eye bigger than your stomach can chew!!
 * Manny: That made no sense!
 * Rath: ... I know!!! (charges Manny)
 * Manny: Is that all you got? 'cause that was weak. (Contiues fighting Rath) (gets rath in headlock) you're not so tough I don't know why everyone's so scared of you!
 * Rath: Then let me show ya pipsqueak! (pummeling Manny) Polaris piledriver! Antarian arm bar! Ophiuchus face-plant! Sirius butt-kicking!
 * Manny: So, is that "Sirius" like the star, or "serious" like important?
 * Rath: Like the star!
 * Manny: Just wondering. (passes out)
 * Rath: So are ya scared yet?!


 * Manny: (to Helen) You know why I like you? Because you're not useless.