Absolute Power: Part 1

Absolute Power: Part 1 is the nineteenth episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Plot
Alan Albright is shown running in some cornfields, looking panicked and worried. Then, he encounters Kevin Levin, who keeps saying Alan has something of his, with Alan keep trying to convince him he doesn't have anything he wants. Eventually, it is revealed Kevin wants Alan's power, and he absorbs it, gaining his powers.

Kevin was going to kill Alan, but Ben Tennyson as NRG stops him and fights him. After a short battle, Kevin leaves and promises to come for Ben's power. Alan explains to Ben that Kevin has gone on a power-hunting rampage, and he already absorbed Helen Wheels, Pierce, Manny Armstrong, and even Dr. Vicktor's powers. Ben finally decides that he must eliminate Kevin in order to stop his rampage, but Gwen Tennyson disagrees, still believing there can be a way to help Kevin. Ben disagrees that Kevin can be helped, and the disagreement between the two cousins becomes a fight, with Gwen trying to trap Ben in a bubble, but escaping as Chromastone. Gwen uses a spell that keeps Ben from moving his legs, but Ben transforms into Terraspin and blows Gwen on her house. Gwen uses another spell to slow Ben down, and Ben transforms into NRG and melts the floor, creating a wave of lava, but Gwen survives it by being protected in her shield. Ben comes up to Gwen as Nanomech, and Gwen traps Ben in her spellbook, but Ben, finally having enough, becomes Way Big and uses his cosmic ray attack on Gwen, finally defeating her and making her go unconscious. After transforming back, Ben says that he was able to defeat Gwen because she cared too much about him, and that she doesn't have what it takes to deal with Kevin.

At a warehouse, Ben is attacking some Forever Knights as Lodestar, asking for Kevin's whereabouts, but they do not know and he proceeds to attack them. Meanwhile, Gwen is visiting Max Tennyson, asking for advice on how to help Kevin and that Ben is going to kill him. But Max says Ben is doing the right thing and Kevin has to be put down in order for innocent lives to be safe. Gwen says she's going to find someone that will help, and ironically, that person is Darkstar, who has been living off the energy of stray dogs. Gwen tries to prepare a spell, but Darkstar tries to absorb her mana. Gwen backs him off, which knocks off his helmet. Gwen completes the spell, and Darkstar regains his old face back. When Darkstar asks why Gwen would do this for him, she says that she needs her help. Meanwhile, Ben is driving in his car, and Grandpa Max contacts him on the Ultimatrix, saying that he agrees with Ben's intentions of stopping Kevin, but also saying that the way he is intending to do it is not the move he would select, as he gives people second chances and they live to his expectations. He explains that he would eliminate Kevin, but never thought Ben would. Ben says that his past friendship with Kevin is now gone for good and that in order to save the lives of innocent victims, Ben must DESTROY Kevin. In a cave, Ben as Humongousaur is fighting Vulkanus, asking him for Kevin's whereabouts, with Vulkanus trying to avoid the questions. He tries to escape Ben by crawling out of his suit and running away, but Ben catches him and starts shaking him. When Ben was about to give Vulkanus the pounding of a lifetime, Gwen stops him. When Ben was charging at Gwen, Gwen traps him in a mana cage, but Ben breaks out by punching the ground, causing Vulkanus to fall through the casam Ben makes. Darkstar arrives, offering his assistance to Ben to find Kevin, though Ben does not take it well. Darkstar explains to Ben that he and Kevin are the same because of their cravings for energy (and Ben points out they're both evil), so Darkstar can predict Kevin's next move. Darkstar explains that when Kevin destroyed the Dominus Librium, the magic artifact that cured Kevin and Darkstar of their previous mutations, he managed to salvage a piece and that it lost all of its power, but with enough energy supplied in it, they could tap into its powers and could cure Kevin. Ben becomes reluctant to follow through Darkstar's plan and is just intent on finding Kevin in order to put him down. At an arcade, Gwen encounters Kevin and explains that Ben is after him and that she wants to help him, but Kevin starts to lose control and attacks Gwen. He uses his fire powers against her and surrounds her with a wall of fire, but Gwen stops the fire using a wind spell, and then Kevin traps Gwen with vine seeds. Gwen still manages to use her spellbook, and uses a spell that summons Charmcaster's stone creatures. The monsters free Gwen and attack Kevin, but Kevin absorbs the mana contained in the creatures and attacks Gwen with a mana blast. Then he attacks her with a powerful sonic scream, which knocks her to the wall, and then Kevin begins absorbing Gwen's powers, and Gwen screams in pain and agony while Kevin looks all the more pleased.

To Be Continued...



Major Events

 * Darkstar is turned back to normal by Gwen's magical abilities.
 * Alan Albright returns for the first time since Alien Force.
 * Grandpa Max Tennyson gets his nervous system fixed and returns.
 * Helen Wheels, Manny Armstrong, Pierce, and Dr. Vicktor are revealed to be seriously injured by Kevin.
 * Kevin attempts to drain Gwen of her spellcasting and Anodite powers.
 * Gwen begins to use magic, cast spells, and recite incantations again using Charmcaster's mini pocket-sized spell book.

Characters

 * Ben Tennyson
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Max Tennyson
 * Alan Albright
 * Pierce (mentioned)
 * Helen Wheels (mentioned)
 * Manny Armstrong (mentioned)
 * Dr. Vicktor (mentioned)
 * Darkstar
 * Vulkanus

Villains

 * Ultimate Kevin

Aliens Used

 * NRG (x2)
 * Chromastone
 * Terraspin
 * Nanomech
 * Way Big
 * Lodestar
 * Humungousaur

Allusions

 * The title reference may be to the quotation by | John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
 * "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Errors

 * How Gwen was able to stop Terraspin is questionable, as he is supposed to be immune to magic/mana-based attacks. A possible explanation is that she used spells on him instead of pure mana or that it targeted Terraspin wind rather that Terraspin itself.
 * Way Big's cosmic rays are colored light blue instead of bright green. This is possibly explainable by the Potis Altiare, as it is possible that the Potis Altiare makes Way Big's cosmic rays green. An example of this is Brainstorm, as his electricity is not green like other electric-powered forms in the Ultimatrix.
 * When Gwen raises a mana shield to protect herself from Kevin's mana attack, it cracks before the attack hits it.
 * After turning from Way Big, the floor turned back into cement even NRG melted it into lava.
 * When Gwen entered a spell that threw the flames away, her hair was blowing the opposite direction of the wind.

Trivia

 * Fusionfall released an NRG suit. The Advertisement shows NRG from The Forge of Creation.
 * This is the first time since the original series that Ben and Gwen fight each other.
 * Kevin displays the abilities of Alan/Heatblast, Brainstorm or Dr.Viktor/Benviktor, Echo Echo, Ultimate Spidermonkey, Chromastone, Terraspin, Armodrillo and others.
 * This is the first episode where Terraspin says something other than his name.
 * This episode marks the fourth, fifth and sixth time Ben savagely attacks someone (Gwen, Forever Knights, and Vulkanus).
 * This is the first episode in which Nanomech appears without Big Chill (but Big Chill is used in Part 2).
 * This is the first time we see Vulkanus with visible pupils.
 * Kevin absorbed Dr. Vicktor, Alan, Manny, Helen, Pierce, and halfway absorbs Gwen's magical and Anodite powers.
 * This episode marks the second time a season ended in Los Soladad.
 * The place Gwen confronts Kevin is the first place she met him in the original series, Total Zone.
 * This is the first time Ben uses Way Big's cosmic rays in the series.
 * The Arcade Kevin is hiding out in is called "Total Zone" the same arcade that Ben and Kevin first met back in his titular episode Kevin 11. It has since appeared to have gone out of business as evident by it's ruined state.
 * We saw NRG's back for the first time.
 * It is revealed in this episode that Gwen can create rock monsters similar to Charmcaster's.
 * This is the first season finale, not to be written by Dwayne McDuffie.
 * This is the first time Chromastone appear without Jetray since Fame.
 * We learn that Darkstar has downgraded to stealing energy from stray dogs.
 * This marks the second time the biggest form and smallest form that Ben has obtained (Way Big and Nanomech) have appeared in the same episode, the first being Video Games.