Simple

Simple is the fifth episode of the second season of Ben 10: Alien Force, and the thirty-first episode overall.
==Synopsis==
When Ben arrives on a distant planet to try and help broker peace between warring factions, he ends up transforming into a new alien named Lodestar.
==Plot==
The episode begins with Gwen and Kevin at Mr. Smoothy when Ben and Ship arrive. Ben says that he needs them for a mission and plays them a message from a little alien girl named Probity, who is asking him to end a war on her planet. Gwen and Kevin think that Ben is crazy, but Ben says that stopping the war will be simple. 
The team flies to the planet in Ship. Kevin still can't believe that they are helping Ben, and he is skeptical that they will be able to do anything. The team arrives at the planet and perceive a large, dotted line being drawn around its equator. They go lower and see that it is a border being placed by a large ship. Ship is shot at by blue tanks and Kevin wants to leave, but Ben refuses. They are shot by red tanks on the other side of the border. Ben transforms into Jetray and flies to the troops before transforming back to Ben. The troops are impressed, and he tells them that war is bad, puzzling them. Their leader arrives and tells the troops to get Ben. Ben tries to transform into Humungousaur, but he transforms into Lodestar instead and the red troops shoot at him. Lodestar takes the red troops' guns and sends them flying away in order the red troops' attention. The rest of the team arrives to find Lodestar lecturing the troops about war. Kevin picks up a piece of a gun when he notices the stash and runs to it. Argit is trying to take it as well and says that he runs a weapon racket where he takes red weapons, repaints them, and sells them to the blue side. Kevin wants in and Lodestar transforms back into Ben and the Red Leader says that they are only defending themselves. The Blue army attacks and Ben transforms into Spidermonkey. Spidermonkey goes to the general, but he attacks Spidermonkey and knocks him out.
Kevin and Argit paint weapons blue and the customers arrive, and they pay Argit for the guns. Argit tries to keep the money, but Kevin makes him put it in a trunk to repay his debt. Red soldiers arrive and Argit sells them weapons. Gwen arrives and scolds Kevin for war profiteering. The blue soldiers tie Spidermonkey up and prepare to execute him even as he lectures them about war. Probity arrives and tells them not to kill Spidermonkey. The leader tells them to kill Spidermonkey anyway, but Gwen saves him, and Probity frees him. Spidermonkey transforms back into Ben and convinces the troops. The troops, Ben, and Probity go to eat. Ben says that Probity probably doesn't eat this well every day. Ben says that if there was no war, she could have a better life. The blue says that they fight in defense. Ben says that if both sides are only defending, there doesn't have to be a war. Argit is selling blue troops weapons when one says a truce has been declared. Argit is depressed, but Kevin says that the war will resume in no time. The border is pulled up as the generals argue. Probity says that they are arguing over whether their idol, Zavin, was red or blue, and that that is what the war is about. The generals get into a fight and Humungousaur breaks them up before transforming back into Ben. Ben accidentally tries to shake hands with the Blue Leader with the wrong hand, which restarts the war. Tanks roll into battle as the border is replanted.
Argit and Kevin continue selling weapons as the fighting resumes. Ben and Gwen watch from a nearby cliff. Swampfire kidnaps the Red Leader and brings him to a cave with the Blue Leader. He tells them that they can't leave until they work out a peace treaty and transforms back into Ben. The generals tell Ben that the war's true purpose is just to keep the people from blaming the government for their problems. Ben doesn't accept their "treaty" and sends them back into the cave. They come up with a plan to escape and use a flashlight and monocle to blind Ben in order to send him stumbling over a cliff. He transforms into Goop and avoids being smashed before transforming back into Ben. 
The troops later fight near the statue of Zavin. Way Big arrives and reveals to the troops that they are in war so they do not have to fix their real problems. They ignore him and fight each other. Way Big creates a ditch with his hand in order to stop them. Way Big says that he isn't leaving until he stops the war, but then he leans on the statue of Zavin, destroying it. Both leaders order their troops to attack Way Big. Way Big runs away and Gwen tells him to transform back into Ben and take away their target. Way Big transforms back into Ben and Kevin and Argit hear over the radio that the red and blue armies have united against Ben. Kevin takes his money and leaves. The new purple army pursues Ben and Gwen, who get into Ship. Kevin arrives and is shot at. Gwen tells him to drop his money and he does, reluctantly. Later, Probity sends Ben another message saying that conditions have worsened and that she now hates him. She comes across Kevin's money and is overjoyed.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Ben transforms into Lodestar for the first time on-screen, after having used him off-screen at the end of War of the Worlds: Part 2.
*Argit returns.
*Ben manages to stop a war, resulting in the two different armies teaming up against him.
====Character Debuts====
*Probity
*Red Leader
*Blue Leader
====Omnitrix Alien Debut====
*Lodestar
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
===Supporting Characters===
*Ship
*Probity (first appearance)
*Argit
===Antagonists===
*Red Leader (first appearance)
*Blue Leader (first appearance)
==Aliens Used==
*Jetray
*Lodestar (first appearance; intended alien was Humungousaur)
*Spidermonkey
*Humungousaur (cameo)
*Swampfire (off-screen activation)
*Goop (cameo)
*Way Big (off-screen activation)
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*Kevin makes Argit pay him the money he owes him, which was first mentioned in Kevin's Big Score.
==Allusions==
*This episode plays homage to the Red vs. Blue web series created by Rooster Teeth.
*Probity's pet somewhat resembles Stitch from the Lilo & Stitch franchise.
Simple (573).png|Probity's pet
==Errors==
*Lodestar's hologram is shown when Ben intends to transform into Humungousaur.
*Despite transforming into Lodestar off-screen at the end of War of the Worlds: Part 2, Ben seems to be unfamiliar with him in this episode.
*When Kevin runs to the crate with red guns, the sound of his footsteps is faster than the speed at which he runs.
*When Spidermonkey swings around the pole, the end of his tail is cut off.
*When Kevin gives Argit the red guns, most of his face is rock.
*When Probity and her pet untie Spidermonkey, the mana shield that Gwen created to protect him suddenly disappears.
*Ben turns into Humungousaur without being covered in green light.
*Even though the Red Leader uses his monocle to strengthen the flashlight's light, he still has one on his face.
*Goop's hologram faces away from Ben.
*When the Blue Leader talks to his army before Way Big arrives, his mouth does not move.
*After Zavin's statue collapses, Way Big has sky blue eyes.
*When Gwen tells Kevin to grab her hand, she is shot but shows no sign of being harmed.
*After the team leaves the planet, Kevin has less black around his eyes.
Simple (175).png|Tail error
Simple (214).png|Face error
Simple (255).png|No shield
Simple (431).png|Two monocles
Simple (442).png|Hologram error
Simple (482).png|Blue eyes
Simple (552).png|Gwen is shot
Simple (563).png|Eyes error
==Trivia==
*This episode intends to show how pointless and ridiculous a war can be.
*The scene in which Argit meets Kevin was storyboarded by T.J. Collins. It was his first storyboard panel done for the show. Butch Lukic gave T.J. some revisions to make on this sequence after discussing his desire to learn how to board.
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====T.J. Collins====
===Cartoon Network===
es:Simple
it:Semplice
pl:Po prostu
pt-br:Simples
ro:Simplu
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Season 2 Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Butch Lukic
Category:Filler