[9.2/10] Hell of an episode. It did a nice job at setting up Jack’s preexisting familiarity with the Egyptian site, so that he knew what to do (at least a little bit) when confronting it in the future. The scenes of Jack and his young chums tooling around the temple helps sell the ominousness of what’s to come.
But things are really cool in the future too. For one thing, the Minions of Set were a really cool baddies. Sure, Jack says they’re tougher than anything he’s faced before, but the show conveys that much more through their actions, design, and movement without him needing to make that declaration. They have an animalistic gait to their movements, and the way they tear through Aku’s goons sells them as a threat. At the same time when Jack faces them at first, he’s totally overpowered and beaten up, which demonstrates that, especially as a trio, they’re formidable opponents. Their silent pursuit and their distinctive weapons makes them a really neat threat.
Jack’s plan to fight them is really good too. As good as the combat is in this one, I’m always up for episodes where Jack has to use his head and not just his sword. There’s a bit of video game plotting in this one, where Jack has to collect the three pieces of scarab to summon a Guardian who can defeat Set’s minions, but it also requires him to solve some mysteries and use the knowledge he gained when he was a kid.
The design of it all is just great. I love the look of the minions, of the old temple, and the other hieroglyphic-inspired items and backdrops throughout. That, along with the music, really helps give this one a flavor to it.
I also love the solution. The show builds the tension and god-like majesty of the temple guardian’s arrival so well. The way he just descends from the sky amid a beam of light, blasts the minions with his eye-rays, and silently looks at Jack without answering his question about the time portal adds to a sense of unknowability of the gods. The summoning effect is really cool and a unique solution to the problem. (I wonder if we ever have a cross-over with the Viiking gods we saw in a prior episode)
Overall, this one had style out the wazoo, convincing villains, and a hell of an interesting solution to the problem. Definitely a winner.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-06T02:34:38Z
[9.2/10] Hell of an episode. It did a nice job at setting up Jack’s preexisting familiarity with the Egyptian site, so that he knew what to do (at least a little bit) when confronting it in the future. The scenes of Jack and his young chums tooling around the temple helps sell the ominousness of what’s to come.
But things are really cool in the future too. For one thing, the Minions of Set were a really cool baddies. Sure, Jack says they’re tougher than anything he’s faced before, but the show conveys that much more through their actions, design, and movement without him needing to make that declaration. They have an animalistic gait to their movements, and the way they tear through Aku’s goons sells them as a threat. At the same time when Jack faces them at first, he’s totally overpowered and beaten up, which demonstrates that, especially as a trio, they’re formidable opponents. Their silent pursuit and their distinctive weapons makes them a really neat threat.
Jack’s plan to fight them is really good too. As good as the combat is in this one, I’m always up for episodes where Jack has to use his head and not just his sword. There’s a bit of video game plotting in this one, where Jack has to collect the three pieces of scarab to summon a Guardian who can defeat Set’s minions, but it also requires him to solve some mysteries and use the knowledge he gained when he was a kid.
The design of it all is just great. I love the look of the minions, of the old temple, and the other hieroglyphic-inspired items and backdrops throughout. That, along with the music, really helps give this one a flavor to it.
I also love the solution. The show builds the tension and god-like majesty of the temple guardian’s arrival so well. The way he just descends from the sky amid a beam of light, blasts the minions with his eye-rays, and silently looks at Jack without answering his question about the time portal adds to a sense of unknowability of the gods. The summoning effect is really cool and a unique solution to the problem. (I wonder if we ever have a cross-over with the Viiking gods we saw in a prior episode)
Overall, this one had style out the wazoo, convincing villains, and a hell of an interesting solution to the problem. Definitely a winner.