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lavadog · 6 years

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Fixing Versus Chiro

Since listing my brief opinion on every episode of SRMTHFG, I've been thinking a lot about how I'd actually fix Versus Chiro and the problem I have with it. To put this into context, here is the brief review I did of it:

"I only have one problem with this episode, but it's a pretty glaring one. I refuse to believe that the monkeys, Chiro's FAMILY, can't tell the difference between him and a clone. I refuse to believe that the only way they could tell which one was the real Chiro was to cheat and use the fact that the real Chiro was the only one with the power primate. I refuse to believe the episode's way of "explaining" this by showing that science can't find a difference between the real Chiro and his clones. Skeleton King only got Chiro's genetic blueprint, and while Mandarin went out of his way to capture and observe the real Chiro to make the clones act like him, there's no way the Skeleton King or Mandarin could possibly replicate Chiro's memories or his bond with his family. Ignoring this glaring problem, the rest of the episode is alright. We see the return of Mandarin wanting Chiro to rule by his side, even though he's given up on doing this with the real Chiro. We have that awesome scene where Chiro destroys the horror that is all of his clones combined. And we have that hilarious scene at the end where the monkeys try to get payback for something Chiro didn't even do, but Chiro is one step ahead of them and manages to get them back. I'll give this episode a C-."

So as stated above, my problem essentially boils down to the fact the monkeys couldn't tell who the real Chiro was without cheating via only the real Chiro having the Power Primate. This honestly hurts to watch, because it implies that they only know Chiro on a superficial level, and that if the clones hadn't been so unstable and murderous, they could have replaced Chiro without the monkeys noticing. After all Chiro and the monkeys have been through together, there's no way this could possibly be true.

But how to fix this? Let's start with a more in-depth look at the episode:

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The episode starts with Chiro in a strange room fighting formless minions. The fight is a little odd off the bat because Chiro doesn't use any of his special attacks, but there could be a number of explanations for this. It could be a training exercise like in The Lords of Soturix 7, or we could be starting in medias res in yet another situation where Chiro has temporarily lost access to his powers. But before we can contemplate this too deeply, Mandarin comes in praising Chiro for doing so well against the formless and calling Chiro his apprentice, which sends all kind of alarm bells ringing in our head. Chiro actually seems happy to see Mandarin and even calls him Lord Mandarin, but before we can worry about this too much, Chiro's head explodes and it's revealed that he's just a formless Chiro clone. Which, of course, is it's own different kind of alarming. To add to our growing alarm, the Skeleton King contacts Mandarin on his progress, and declares their intention of creating the perfect Chiro clone and getting rid of the real Chiro. Chillingly stated as "The real Chiro will be nothing but a memory".

We cut to the monkeys preparing an actual training exercise with the controls manned by Chiro. At first, we can be forgiven for assuming that this is the real Chiro because Mandarin doesn't seem to be too far into his plan to replace the real Chiro with a clone, but this Chiro quickly proves himself to be distinctly un-Chiro-like by being strangely giddy while watching the monkeys train and turning up the danger level of the training simulation to its highest level, putting the monkeys in legitimate danger. Sprx manages to stop the training simulation, and the monkeys berate Chiro for his reckless actions. Chiro tries to wave it off as a practical joke to "keep them on their toes", and while Gibson is still irate, Nova accepts Chiro's reasoning. Before anything else can happen, another Chiro shows up and accuses the first Chiro of being a clone. The first Chiro naturally denies this, and the two Chiros fight. The monkeys want to help Chiro, but don't know which one is the real one, so they can ultimately do nothing. The second Chiro wins, revealing that the first was sent to get rid of the monkeys. The first Chiro's head then explodes.

The monkeys naturally have a lot of questions. Chiro explains that he was walking to the arcade when he was jumped by a horde of his clones, captured, and taken to Mandarin. But he managed to escape and come back to the monkeys to warn them. The monkeys are alarmed by this considering the sheer damage a horde of clones with Chiro's abilities could do, so they set off in search of the lab Chiro was taken to so that they can destroy it. Chiro leads them to a dirt field outside of the city, but there doesn't seem to be anything there. Chiro is confused, assuring the monkeys that there was a clone factory here when he last left it, but Antauri senses something amiss. Antauri is quickly proven correct when robots burst out of the ground and attack the Hyper Force. The team makes short work of this trap, but in doing so Chiro once again exhibits some suspicious behavior by intentionally sabotaging Sprx mid attack and almost getting Sprx killed. Chiro then claims that it was actually him that built the robots, saying that it was a "shame they failed to chop you up" before his head explodes just like the first Chiro's did, revealing him to be a clone. The monkeys are of course deeply concerned by this, and wonder where the real Chiro is.

We immediately cut to where the real Chiro is being held. He is still in the cell that the second Chiro claimed to have escaped from. Chiro angrily tells Mandarin that he can't keep Chiro here forever, and that he'll get Mandarin when he gets out, but Mandarin brushes this aside with a laugh. Mandarin tells Chiro that he will stay in that cell collecting dust until Mandarin decides his fate, adding that it will be grim after cutting off communication with Chiro. Skeleton King checks in for a status report, and Mandarin assures him that he will have the perfect Chiro clone by the end of the day. He better not be lying, because if he doesn't deliver on this promise, Skelton King will stop the cloning operation himself and Mandarin will be terminated. Mandarin lets Chiro into another room and claims that he's been experimenting with Chiro's genetic blueprint, sending in three mutated Chiro clone creatures for Chiro to fight. Chiro has more than a little trouble holding his own, but ultimately manages to win. Mandarin, meanwhile, reveals that he is doing this in order to observe Chiro and record his emotions so that the Chiro clones can be programmed to act like the real Chiro. Though Mandarin still feels like something is missing.

Chiro cleverly pretends to be more exhausted by the fight than he really is, prompting Mandarin to send him to sickbay because he's not finished with Chiro yet. Chiro uses this opportunity to escape, fighting off another two mutant Chiro creatures in the process.

Meanwhile, we cut back to what the monkeys are doing. They've scanned the city and have found no sign of Chiro, which is really starting to worry them. Gibson suggests using the long ranged scanners once they get back to the robot, but this proves to be unnecessary when they finally spot Chiro, presumedly the real one that we just saw escape. Chiro is relieved to see them, but the monkeys aren't quite so willing to just accept that they've found the real Chiro after being duped twice. To be sure that this is the real Chiro, they test him using science. To the monkeys relief, Gibson's experiments find no difference between this Chiro and the scans they have on record. Sprx apologizes for doubting Chiro, and they move to the command center to plan their next move. But before we can do more than breathe a sigh of relief, Chiro tries to attack Sprx from behind. He is caught by Nova, and his head promptly explodes. It seems like the monkeys are back to square one, but Gibson discovered a rare mineral residue while testing the third Chiro clone, pointing them towards the real location of the clone factory in the Pit of Doom.

We go back to Chiro. He's still wandering around the clone factory trying to find his way out. In the process of doing so, he runs into what Mandarin has been using to clone him, which is the genetic blueprint from Flytor's eye. Countless clones of Chiro are being produced one after the other. Chiro watches this in horror before taking the opportunity to destroy the eye. Unfortunately, this activates the alarm and alerts Mandarin to Chiro's location. Mandarin, having been previously unaware that Chiro had gotten out, immediately seeks to correct this by sealing the doors and sending some more mutant Chiro clones after Chiro. Said mutant Chiro clones are two girl versions of Chiro that quickly cut him off and attack him. This fight is mostly comical in nature, but the danger Chiro is in is still very real, and he experiences a few close calls before the monkeys burst in and rescue him. The monkeys are once again suspicious, but Antauri senses the Power Primate flowing through Chiro, guaranteeing this to be the real Chiro. Finally all together, the team go off to confront Mandarin.

Mandarin, meanwhile, finally realizes what his clones are missing: the Power Primate. He combines the clones into one horrifying blob in a desperate bid to find the perfect Chiro clone, because surely one of them must have the Power Primate. This doesn't really make sense considering that the resulting amalgamate can never be a perfect Chiro clone.

The team is quickly overwhelmed by the Chiro blob, and flee the factory. They go back to the robot and activate it so that they can stop the blob from eating the city, but the robot proves to be no match for it. The Chiro blob grabs the Super Robot, and they are unable to pull away before the blob plunges the robot into itself. The team is briefly at a loss for what to do, but Chiro declares that he has a plan. He goes outside of the robot and activates his inner primate. The Power Primate being the one thing that Mandarin couldn't replicate, the blob is repealed by it. The monkeys combine their Power Primate energy with Chiro's, and Chiro uses this to wrangle the entire blob up and destroy it all at once. Chiro is left unable to move afterwards, but he is ultimately okay. The monkeys are relieved, and Antauri is impressed by the control Chiro demonstrated.

The episode ends on the monkeys attempting to prank Chiro with a replica they built of one of his girl clones, which frightens him. The monkeys claim that this is retaliation for trying to smash them during training practice, and Chiro is not amused considering that wasn't even him. He gets them back by pretending that his head is about to pop like one of his clones, getting a good laugh out of the monkeys alarmed reaction. We cut to Mandarin in the ruins of the clone factory moments before he is replaced by his own clone by Skeleton King and then cut to the credits.

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The episode itself leaves us with some unanswered questions. For how long did the first Chiro clone (The one who tried to smash them during training practice) replace the real Chiro before he made his move? Was the second Chiro clone actually telling the truth about how the real Chiro was captured (This isn't actually that important, but I'm curious)? What was Skeleton King and Mandarin planning to do if they succeeded in creating the perfect Chiro clone? One would think they'd use said clone to replace Chiro and lead the team into a legitimately threatening trap. But while something like this was attempted in the episode, the traps that the clones used were short-sighted and ultimately ineffective. Another option could be that Skeleton King wanted Chiro on his side but knew that he couldn't corrupt the real Chiro, in addition to wanting to leave the monkeys leaderless and eliminate the Chosen One. This makes the most sense considering the events of Hidden Fortress/Skeleton King.

Going back to my main problem with the episode, you could argue that they just used the Power Primate to identify Chiro because it was readily available and convenient. But the episode never has any of the monkeys say something like "It's a good thing we didn't have to quiz you with personal questions to make sure it was you. It sure saved us a lot of time just using the Power Primate". Instead, they say things like "Kid, for all I know you're still a clone" and "I'll believe it, as long as his head doesn't pop". Also, if it was really so easy to identify the real Chiro via the Power Primate, why didn't Antauri just do this to begin with? It's not like he hasn't used it to find Chiro before.

Beyond that, the episode reeks of wasted potential. There were so many things they could have done with this episode that they didn't. For one thing, Mandarin is portrayed as never being anywhere close to creating the perfect Chiro clone. Sure, they looked like Chiro and acted like him, but they were all unstable and liable to explode. This feels especially out of place considering that Skeleton King created a perfect Mandarin clone in the same episode that could use the Power Primate. For another thing, they don't bother to keep us guessing which Chiro is the real one. Sure, they try to trick us a couple of times, but said tricks are immediately ruined with obvious clues that they aren't really Chiro. It would have been infinitely more interesting if we didn't know what had happened to the real Chiro or if he was okay until the monkeys found out in-universe. This was also an excellent opportunity for the Mandarin from Secret of the Sixth Monkey to come back and manipulate/mentally torment his former team. But instead we get the monkeys never even actually interacting with Mandarin.

With all that in mind, let's see how the episode could have gone:

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To begin with, let's kill two birds with one stone and have all of the clones possess the Power Primate. The cloning process hasn't been perfected yet--there's still a problem with the Power Primate rejecting the clones and causing them to explode--but this is a problem that Mandarin is quickly overcoming. He's already managed to have the clones match the real Chiro's power signature so that the monkeys can't use the Power Primate to sense the real Chiro.

Let's also bring back the melodramatic monkey we knew Mandarin as in Secret of the Sixth Monkey who would enjoy messing with his former team/brothers.

The beginning scene with Mandarin is still largely the same, but this time, he smirks when the Chiro clone explodes and mentions just how much longer this Chiro lasted than the previous Chiro clone. This time, he's close to having a perfect replacement of the real Chiro. Soon, the real Chiro really will be nothing more than a memory.

When we cut to the monkeys, things go as they did in the original episode until we get to the second Chiro bursting in to accuse the first Chiro of being a clone. This time, there is no second Chiro. After all, if the Chiro clones are still unstable, why not just wait for the first one to explode on its own? Mandarin won't be around to see their faces when it happens, but he can still picture them in his head just fine. The clone ends up exploding not long after the so called "joke", which simultaneously alarms, terrifies, and confuses the monkeys. It's immediately clear that the thing they thought was Chiro was actually just some kind of formless clone, as evidenced by the black ooze. But if that wasn't Chiro, where's the real one?

The monkeys immediately start scanning the city for him, but like in the original, they don't find him until they're about to return to the robot to initiate long range scans. This Chiro is battered and actually looks like he just escaped from somewhere. The monkeys haven't been duped twice this time, but they also weren't given any advanced warning about Chiro being a clone before he exploded on them. As much as they want to believe that they've found Chiro after searching for him for what had to be several frantic hours, they're uneasy and still test him using science like they did in the original. There is no difference between this Chiro and the scans Gibson has on record, and Antauri senses the Power Primate within him, assuring the team that this is the real Chiro (It's important to note here that we haven't seen any confirmed clone using the Power Primate thus far).

Now confident that they've found their leader, they fuss over him, tending to his injuries. They have questions. One of them tentatively asks how long Chiro'd been at the clone factory, and Chiro is immediately very hurt by this question. "Couldn't you tell that thing wasn't me?" he asks, and to the monkeys immense guilt, they can't honestly tell him "Yes". They have no idea when the real Chiro was replaced with a fake, and that terrifies them. It had acted so much like him. The monkeys do their best to apologize, and while Chiro does forgive them, its clear that he doesn't mean it and his feelings are still very hurt. Like the second clone did in the original, he explains that he was jumped by a horde of Chiro clones on his way to the arcade, but he doesn't know that Mandarin is behind the cloning. The monkeys ask him to lead them back to where he was being held so that they can shut it down. He agrees, and unlike the original, he actually does lead them to the Pit of Doom where the real clone factory is.

They sneak in, but not long after they do so the alarms sound and steel doors drop down to trap them in the room they are currently in. Mandarin joins them, smirking. The usual banter is exchanged, and a fight breaks out. The monkeys attack Mandarin, but to their shock and confusion, they are attacked by Chiro. The monkeys freeze, watching as Chiro walks over to stand by Mandarin's side. Mandarin laughs, wrapping his hand around Chiro's shoulder.

Mandarin praises Chiro for leading the monkeys into a trap, calling Chiro his apprentice. He tells the monkeys that all he'd needed was a little more time with Chiro to get Chiro to come around to his way of thinking. Chiro agrees, saying that Mandarin would know right away if Chiro had been replaced and affirming Mandarin's ideals.

The monkeys are stunned. This can't be happening. But science proved this to be the real Chiro. Antauri confirmed it. Sprx is the first to break, unshaken in the belief that this Chiro HAS to be a clone. He attacks Chiro to prove his point, confident that Chiro will dissolve into ooze and reveal itself as the clone it is. Otto, Gibson, and Nova protest, but Sprx manages to catch Chiro off guard, seriously wounding him. Mandarin and Antauri simply watch, Mandarin smirking and Antauri looking subtly devastated.

But despite the serious wound, Chiro doesn't immediately dissolve into black ooze. Sprx is stricken, horror slowly dawning on his face as he rushes to cradle Chiro's fallen form. Otto, Gibson, and Nova join him as Sprx gently cards his fingers through Chiro's hair, apologizing quietly. Suddenly, it's as if Chiro didn't just betray them for Mandarin, and all Chiro can do is stare at Sprx with undisguised betrayal until his eyes close for the last time...and he dissolves into ooze, revealing himself to be a clone after all. Sprx stares at the ooze now pooling in his hands where Chiro was.

The monkeys all look at Mandarin with varying degrees of anger on their faces, but Sprx looks absolutely murderous. They advance on him slowly, only to freeze again when Mandarin causally mentions that the real Chiro died several weeks ago.

"He was so sure you were coming for him," Mandarin adds gleefully. "But you didn't even know he was missing."

The monkeys can't refute him. They want to shout back that they would've realized it given enough time. But they can't. All they can do is think back to the pain in clone Chiro's voice when he'd asked them "Couldn't you tell that thing wasn't me?" All they can do is think about how Chiro's been dead for weeks and they didn't even know. The denials come slowly, but grow in strength.

"You can't have gotten rid of him," they say. "You need him to make the perfect clone. All we need to do is rescue him."

Mandarin just continues to smirk, having expected this. "I haven't needed him for a while," he tells them flippantly. Mandarin explains how close the Chiro clones are to being perfect, how the Power Primate rejected them at first but they've been lasting longer and longer and growing in strength. He laughs at the devastation on their faces.

"You can just replace him, can't you?" Mandarin asks. "You replaced me quickly enough. It wasn't as if you actually cared about him. You couldn't tell the difference between him and a clone. Maybe I even did you a favor." He directs his last comment towards Antauri. "It wasn't very hard to convince you that he turned against you, eh Antauri? That boy's loyalty in you was sadly misplaced."

Mandarin correctly guesses that the monkeys used something as impersonal as science to prove that the second clone was Chiro, and that Antauri had been satisfied just because the clone had the Power Primate (AKA the thing that makes Chiro the Chosen One). Before the monkeys can gather their wits, he retreats, sending in multiple Chiro clones to get rid of them.

The monkeys are forced to fight the Chiro clones, faulting more than once when the clones use the fact that they're clones of Chiro to their advantage. During this fight, it's revealed that the actual reason Antauri hesitated earlier was because he realized that the second Chiro clone couldn't have been the real Chiro, and he was trying to find the real Chiro using the Power Primate. This didn't work because all of the clones feel too much like the real one and are blocking him. And because they are blocking him, he has no idea if Mandarin is lying or not. He also feels guilty for not realizing the truth sooner. He'd made the mistake of thinking that only the real Chiro would have had the Power Primate, and as such didn't look too deeply.

Eventually, Sprx manages to tear one of the metal doors off its hinges with his magnets, and the team makes their escape. They refuse to believe that Chiro is really dead, but they don't know how to begin searching for him. At some point, it's the monkeys that come across Flytor's eye instead of Chiro like in the original. Nova is the one to destroy it, expressing the team's collective fury at Skeleton King for stealing Chiro's genetic blueprint. This triggers the alarm again, and they flee as more Chiro clones come running after them.

It isn't long before the monkeys are cornered by several Chiro clones, and they square off, the monkeys growling. But just as a fight is about to break out between them, one of the Chiros punches another Chiro. The Chiros quickly descend into chaos, losing track of who threw the first punch. The fighting ends with only one Chiro standing, looking worse for wear.

He smiles at them, staring at them in undisguised relief. "Monkey team! I'm glad to see you."

The monkeys stare back at Chiro with varying degrees of hope. They want to believe that this is the real Chiro, but how can they know for certain? Otto comes forward first, asking Chiro something only the real Chiro would know (Maybe referring back to an earlier episode like Circus of Ooze). This prompts the rest of the monkeys to come forward with their own personal questions, and Chiro gets every one of them right. Now sure that they've found the real Chiro, they reunite properly, hugging.

Antauri is the first one to apologize to Chiro, admitting that they hadn't been able to tell that he'd been replaced. Sprx mentions that Mandarin told them he'd died, and grumbles about how Chiro shouldn't worry them like that. Otto apologizes for taking a few weeks to find Chiro.

Chiro stares at Otto, confused for a moment before it dawns on him that Mandarin must have told them that. He assures the monkeys that he's actually only been here for a day or two at most, if that. The monkeys would have barely interacted with the first clone outside of the training exercise at the beginning of the episode. The monkeys were right earlier. They WOULD have noticed if Chiro had been replaced if they'd been given enough time to do so.

Mandarin was also lying about not needing Chiro anymore. The clones are getting better, but they're still not stable. He kidnapped Chiro to try to figure out how to keep the clones from exploding once and for all. It was actually thanks to the chaos that the monkeys created that Chiro managed to escape and blend in with his clones until he could find them.

Together now and having reaffirmed their bond, they rush off to confront Mandarin. With Flytor's eye destroyed, Mandarin can't make any more clones, and the clones he does have are all still unstable and will eventually explode. Furious, he tries to pool all of the clones collective Power Primate into one clone in the hopes that this will leave him with the perfect clone. This prompts the monkeys to combine their Power Primate energy with Chiro like they did in the original episode. Chiro faces off against his clone, eventually managing to defeat it while the monkeys get back at Mandarin for his earlier taunts. The Hyper Force leaves in triumph after rigging the clone factory to explode.

Later, Chiro is going to bed when he finds Otto in his room asking if it's okay if they have a sleepover tonight. The rest of the monkeys soon join them, making various excuses about why they need to stay in Chiro's room tonight, and they all fall asleep cuddled up to each other.

Mandarin, having failed the Skeleton King, is replaced like he is in the original episode, and we cut to the credits.

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I welcome any suggestions if any of you have your own ideas about how the episode could be improved. But if you prefer the original, that's fine too.

Excuse me while I go cry about how beautiful Chiro and his monkey family are.

#srmthfg #versus chiro #episode rewrite

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