Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat is the fourty-six episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and the fourteenth episode of the third season.

Summary
The gang chases off Darkstar to Kevin's garage. He tears out a page of Gwen's Grimoire and easily runs off even with Ben as Fast track pursuing him. In flight he does the spell and it works, opening the Door to Anywhere but roughly as both him and Ben crashed from the impact. Charmcaster comes out from the other side of the door and was intrigued by Darkstar that she brings him with her through the door.

The door already disappeared as Kevin and Gwen caught up, while the latter examined that the spell Darkstar used was to conjure the Door to Anywhere. Gwen blames Kevin because he removed the grimoire into his garage claiming it was in a sitting duck spot when he doesn't know Gwen had fifteen security spells guarding her home. Gwen remains angry and ignorant of Kevin, referring to Ben to tell his 'friend' each time she instructs something as if he wasn't there. Ben tries to get in between them saying Darkstar probably went to Ledgerdomain and there's a possibility Charmcaster might eat him alive, Gwen agrees that something bad might happen and that is why they have to go there. Kevin claims this shouldn't be much of a problem, and that Gwen was more angry because she didn't want to go back to Ledgerdomain because all of them had been killed there before. In Ledgerdomain, Charmcaster finally has a companion to mess around with referring to Darkstar. The realm has given him back his looks and evidently Charmcaster and Darkstar both have a mutual attraction for each other. Charmcaster expresses her childlike joy while Michael appears to care for her. Charmcaster says that her absolute reign of the realm doesn't matter when she doesn't have someone to share it with. It is only when he finds out a kiss from Charmcaster feeds him with so much mana that he turns gold, his ideas changed. In the night Michael tries to get back to Earth in the reason of revenge, Charmcaster finds out that he was running off from her but lets him be, even telling him that the secret to magic is names, giving him a mark for the name of the realm so Michael could come back as he please. On a final note, she tells him Hope is her name.

Michael causes commotion in the powerplant as the trio tries to incapacitate him. They (mostly Gwen) notice Michael has problems adapting to electricity since he was so accustomed to mana (and that he was caked with mana in the first place). Gwen performs a spell and rids the mana off him, returning it to Ledgerdomain. This prompts Darkstar to return and access the gate easily. Ben finds out that Michael had a cheat on his hand and the trio use the symbol to cross the realm as well. They successfully arrive to Charmcaster's castle.

They speculated either Charmcaster and Mike were voluntarily teaming up, or Mike was subduing and forcefully taking her power. In her chambers, Mike explains to Charmcaster about his dilemma of losing power so soon in Earth and Charmcaster explains that it is standard, to which she adds she can be of some help to him. The two share a kiss, with Michael turning golden, and the trio walked in on the scene, half surprised.

In the commotion, several combined rays of Mike and Charmcaster's mana was shot leading to a fight outside between Ben, Kevin and Michael while Gwen remains in the castle with Charmcaster. Michael displays a vigorous strength, as Ben and Kevin noted. He is also abled to summon rock golems powered by his energy. Gwen whom at this point realizes Charmcaster is in love with him, tries to talk her out of helping Michael in which she grows skeptical of how does Gwen know his name, this made her learn that the two dated in the past. Enraged, Charmcaster commands her rock monsters to destroy Gwen but still she made an attempt to get Charmcaster into her senses.

Gwen and Charmcaster both inspect Michael's fight from a top. He remarks vain, confident, selfish things about conquering Earth and Ledgerdomain. Charmcaster says that Michael is beautiful, while Gwen says that she should see him inside, because he truly wasn't. Charmcaster still remarks that he loves her deep down. It was only when Mike boasts that he'll take 'lovely Gwen' as his trophy, there was a reaction out of Charmcaster. Gwen meekly defends herself that they weren't even going out so serious. Charmcaster in a fit of anger pushes Gwen off the building, but Ben safely catches her.

Michael flies up, hoping to combine his power with Charmcaster to destroy the three. Snidely she challenges would Michael even destroy his lovely Gwen. He defensively replies it was a casual mistake in the heat of the moment, and that Charmcaster's power was the ultimate one, calling her beautiful. Charmcaster hesitates and doesn't quite let her hand touch his. Gwen, Kevin and Ben watches this in anticipation.

Charmcaster softens. She tells Michael that he always calls her beautiful and he never says her name. He says that he does call her by her name. This encourages Charmcaster to ask Michael her name. He answers wrong and Charmcaster's wrath came. The trio gets out of Ledgerdomain and into the powerplant.

The Door to Anywhere opens with Charmcaster kicking a powerless Darkstar out coldly. He begs pathetically, still having her name wrong. Kevin calls him, and he turns to find that he is under the mercy of Ben, Gwen and Kevin whom he has unfinished business with. The episode ends with Charmcaster standing alone in the ruins of her castle gazing at Michael's mask that was left behind.

Characters

 * Ben Tennyson
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin

Villains

 * Michael Morningstar

Neutral

 * Charmcaster
 * Stone Creatures
 * Scrutins

Aliens Used

 * Jetray (2x)
 * Fasttrack
 * Four Arms (brief)
 * Diamondhead
 * Humungousaur
 * Ultimate Humungousaur

Spells used

 * Contego (Gwen)

Errors

 * When Jetray was talking, he only had 3 top teeth.
 * Gwen says she dated Michael two times, but actually she only dated him once in All That Glitters in the series Ben 10: Alien Force.

Trivia

 * This is the second time where Charmcaster kisses a boy (the 1st being Kevin in "In Charm's Way").
 * This is also the second time Charmcaster ends up helping the team (the 1st being "Where the Magic Happens")
 * All the team says that Charmcaster is more powerful than Darkstar.
 * Charmcaster drew an upside down "2" on Darkstar's hand, so it is possible that "2" is a Magic symbol.
 * Gwen has 15 security spells on her house.
 * Gwen and Kevin kiss.