War of the Worlds: Part 2

This article belongs to the Classic Continuity

War of the Worlds: Part 2 is the twenty-sixth episode of Ben 10: Alien Force.

Plot

After the events of the previous episode, the Highbreed fleet has arrived on Earth, and are preparing to invade. Ben awakens in the crater formed by Way Big, and his teammates rush to his side. Ben devises a plan to capture the Highbreed commander and force him to order a full retreat. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin fight their way to the Highbreed control tower, and confront the Highbreed commander whom Max previously attempted to destroy with a makeshift Null Void grenade in Max Out.

In the ensuing battle, Kevin is seriously injured by a Highbreed; in response, Gwen transforms into her Anodite form and easily defeats the Highbreed attacking Kevin. Gwen insists that she can stop the entire Highbreed invasion by herself, but Kevin talks her down, reminding her that she’ll lose her humanity if she does so and saying that he can’t lose her. Meanwhile, Ben turns into Swampfire and manages to capture the Highbreed commander by planting vines around him.

Ben demands that the commander call off the attack, but the Highbreed merely laughs, telling them that only the Highbreed Supreme has the authority to do so. A group of DNAliens surrounds the team, but the Plumbers' Helpers and Max appear and defeat them, having returned from their duties in the Null Void. With the Highbreed commander in custody, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Azmuth board Ship and head toward the Hyperspace Jump Gate, planning to confront the Highbreed Supreme. After traveling through the gate, the team arrives on the derelict planet of Augstaka, where they crash-land and are captured by the Highbreed.

Ben and the others wake up in chains in a Highbreed dungeon. Ben activates the Omnitrix voice command and turns into Humungousaur, and the team breaks out and makes their way to the chamber of the Highbreed Council. The Highbreed Supreme refuses to recall the fleet, espousing the genetic purity of the Highbreed and their mission to eradicate all lesser beings. Azmuth reveals, however, that the Highbreed obsession with racial purity has led to inbreeding, loss of disease resistance, and sterility. As a result, they are the last generation of their species, not intent on perishing alone. The Highbreed Supreme reveals that the destruction of Galvan Prime was the signal for the Highbreed to attack every known inhabited planet in the entire galaxy, with the intention of eradicating all life in the universe.

Seeing a way to save the Highbreed species, Ben uses the Omnitrix to send out an energy wave that fuses the DNA of every Highbreed in the galaxy with random species from the Omnitrix, repairing their genetic damage. The council is stunned and horrified at the loss of their genetic purity and immediately considers mass suicide as their only honorable option. However, Reinrassig III enters the council room and convinces the Highbreed Supreme that their new impurity is not undesirable and that they now have a chance to live. The Highbreed Council elects Reinrassig the new Highbreed Supreme, and Reinrassig recalls the Highbreed fleet from Earth.

After the Highbreed fleet leaves, Max decides to become the mentor of the Plumbers' Helpers and the new Plumber's Kids. Julie decides to go home, and Ben promises to walk her to school the next day. Darkstar is nowhere to be found, but Kevin says they won't catch him today, and that he wants to go to the auto show instead. Gwen goes along with him, and Paradox takes Azmuth back to Galvan Prime. As a side effect of modifying the Highbreed species' DNA, the Omnitrix reboots, re-locking the Master Control. Ben also finds that it has also unlocked new aliens and transforms into one of them in the last moment of the episode.

Noteworthy Events

Major Events

• Ben succeeds against the war with the Highbreed.
• Grandpa Max and the Plumbers' Helpers return from the Null Void.
• Ben unlocks Lodestar.
• Gwen transforms into her Anodite form for the first time.

Character Debuts

• Highbreed Councilors
• Highbreed Supreme

Characters

• Ben Tennyson
• Gwen Tennyson
• Kevin Levin
• Max Tennyson
• Julie Yamamoto
• Ship
• Azmuth
• Professor Paradox
• Helen Wheels
• Manny Armstrong
• Pierce Wheels
• Alan Albright
• Cooper Daniels
• Darkstar
• Reinrassig III

Villains

• Highbreed Councilors (first appearance)
  • Highbreed Supreme (first appearance)
• Highbreed Commander
• Highbreed
• DNAliens

Aliens Used

• Swampfire
• Brainstorm
• Humungousaur
• Lodestar (offscreen)

Quotes

Gwen: (attempting to awaken an unconscious Ben, who is on the ground, lying in the snow) Ben, are you okay? Ben? Kevin: (comes over and hits\taps Ben gently on the face with the back of his hand) Wake up. We all know you need your beauty sleep but now's not a good time (he and Gwen both take one of Ben's arms and help him up as he comes back to consciousness).

Gwen (enraged): I said...LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! (turns into an Anodite and blasts the Highbreed away) Kevin: (regains consciousness) Ahh... Gwen! (comes to her and holds her) Gwen: (In deep voice) So much power! Kevin: Gwen listen to me...you gotta shut it down! Gwen: No! I think I can defeat the Highbreed, all by myself! Kevin: Your grandmother said that it will take at least seventy-five years to master all of that power! Gwen: We don't have seventy-five years! Kevin: You will lose your humanity. You won't remember Ben, or me. Ben will find another way.. Gwen.. You got to come back to me, Gwen. I can't lose you, okay? Gwen: (comes to her human form,opens her eyes) Ok (smiles) Kevin: (Smiles) (they hug passionately)

Azmuth: Are you inferring that you're smarter than me because your head is bigger? Brainstorm: No. I'm implying that I'm smarter than you because my brain is bigger.

Naming and Translations

Cast

Allusions

• The title is the same as the 1898 novel by H. G. Wells.
• When Ben calls the Highbreed Supreme "the big banana around here" it was a hint towards Dwayne McDuffie's inspiration for the Highbreed: bananas.
• Gwen transforming into her Anodite form due to anger is similar to Goku's (from the Dragon Ball Z franchise) first transformation into a Super Saiyan.

Trivia

• The Omnitrix mentions 'recombinant DNA' when repairing the DNA of the Highbreed. Recombinant DNA is formed by taking a chunk of genes out of a DNA strand and putting new genes in its place, forming new characteristics, like the Highbreed's new looks.
• If Gwen was fully trained in her Anodite powers, she could have easily stopped the invasion.^{[DM 1]}
• At least one Highbreed gained Celestialsapien DNA during the genetic repair in this episode.^{[DM 1]}
  • When asked if they can use their Celestialsapien abilities, Dwayne McDuffie replied "probably not."^{[DM 1]}

References

Dwayne McDuffie