Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather is the nineteenth episode of the first season of Ben 10: Alien Force, and the nineteenth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Ben and company help the prince of the Arachnichimps, Simian, return to power.
==Plot==
Ben, Gwen and Kevin are surrounded by a large number of DNAliens near a forest. Ben transforms into Spidermonkey to fend them off. As Gwen and Kevin have a hard time handling them, a different Spidermonkey, who's assumed to be Ben by Kevin, helps. To their surprise, he fights impressively until Kevin says, "Man, I have never seen you fight like that". Spidermonkey doesn't answer, making them realize that it isn't Ben. Afterwards, his name is revealed to be Simian, and Ben thanks him and wonders what he can do to make it up but Simian wanders back to the forest. While Ben is home wondering about who Simian is, Gwen and Kevin toy around with an acid dispenser dropped by the DNAliens from their battle earlier.
Goop finds Simian again, this time at a cryogenics laboratory stealing a piece of scientific equipment. After Goop scolds Simian for being a thief, Ben takes him to a place where they build a bonfire. There, Simian reveals himself to be the prince of Arachnichimps and that his dad, the king, died when he was finishing school. He reveals that the only way he can prove his worth as a king is to retrieve a missing crystal which is the symbol of monarchy on his planet. Ben offers his help, but Gwen and Kevin are skeptical. They are swayed by Ben's argument and decide to go to the fortress on the moon where the crystal is held.
As the gang infiltrates the fortress, Ben and Simian venture into the deepest unknown corridors when a sinking-ceiling trap separates them from Kevin. Ben trips a silent alarm and awakens a single guard named Lu in his command center. Appearing quite frightened and not expecting intruders, Lu politely orders Ben and Simian out of the fortress, only for Simian to destroy the speaker. When they come to an impenetrable door, Ben transforms into Big Chill and freezes it to a brittle so Simian can break it down. Lu is waiting for them on the other side, only to complain that the door is something else he needs to fix now (next to the speaker). Simian tells Big Chill that Lu needs to "chill" out, but Big Chill refuses since he doesn't like freezing people. Simian takes things into his own hands and sends Lu over the bridge before running away, prompting Big Chill switch into Jetray to catch Lu just in time and they exchange notes.
Simian finally arrives at the central chamber where the crystal is and tries to take it, only to have a near deadly encounter with the laser cannon defense systems. Ben transforms into Chromastone, rescues Simian, and takes the crystal. When the fortress loses power and emergency lighting kicks in, Simian wakes up and claims that they make a good team. However, Ben refuses him the crystal, as he is upset with how Simian was going to kill Lu in cold blood back on the bridge. He tries to explain that there are more lives at stake on his home planet, but Ben still doesn't believe him since a real king can't go around murdering innocent people who stand in his way. Simian tells Ben how he's come to his senses, but Ben sees through his lies and a battle for the box Ben put the crystal inside ensues. In the midst of the battle, Simian reveals his true colors as a con artist who needed Ben's help in stealing the crystal, which is actually the power source for an intergalactic communications station. Worse yet, Simian reveals himself as a selfish mercenary hired by the Highbreed to steal the crystal to prevent Earth, through the Moon, from calling for help against the incoming invasion force.
Simian incapacitates Ben before he can transform into Humungousaur and leaves with the box. He fools Kevin into thinking Ben's right behind him and knocks Gwen aside, taking his ship and stranding the gang on the moon. However, they let Simian escape and Ben reveals to the gang that Lu's going to let the gang use his shuttle to get home, and how he knew Simian was lying; he initially claimed he had never heard of the DNAliens, but wound up blowing his own cover when he openly recognized the acidic ear cleaner. Ben also reveals that he still has the crystal on him, leading to Gwen asking him what Simian escaped with. Back on Earth, Simian makes the exchange with a Highbreed, only for things to get ugly when it opens the box only to find the ear cleaner instead of the crystal.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*The team meets Simian.
====Character Debuts====
*Simian
*Lu
*Moon Robots
===Minor Events===
*Simian mentions his and Spidermonkey's species by name.
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
===Antagonists===
*DNAliens
*Simian (first appearance)
*Highbreed
===Other Characters===
*Lu (first appearance)
*Moon Robots (first appearance)
==Aliens Used==
*Spidermonkey
*Goop (off-screen activation)
*Big Chill
*Jetray
*Chromastone
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*Gwen references the events of Good Copy, Bad Copy when she says "Tell me this isn't one of those evil twin things again".
==Allusions==
*The title of this episode comes from the saying "Birds of a feather flock together".
==Errors==
*Before Ben transforms into Spidermonkey, the Omnitrix's dial is sideways.
*When Goop and Simian dodge the cops' shots, Goop's Omnitrix symbol is missing.
*The closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 6 DVD misspell "Arachnichimps" as "Arachnachimps".
*In one shot after Ben, Kevin and Simian enter the fortress, Kevin is thinner.
*When Big Chill unfolds his wings, his chest and stomach are black.
*When Ben enters the chamber where the crystal is, he is no longer wearing his jacket and it is no longer seen for the rest of the episode. In the same scene, Chromastone's hologram faces away from Ben.
*Ben pulls the box that contains the DNAlien ear cleaner out of nowhere.
*The Highbreed has six eyes in one shot.
BoaF (194).png|Missing Omnitrix symbol
BoaF Arachnichimp Subtitle Error.png|Incorrect closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 6 DVD
BoaF (317).png|Kevin error
BoaF (456).png|Black torso
BoaF (481).png|No jacket/Hologram error
BoaF (604).png|Six eyes
==Trivia==
*The episode's title is listed as Birds Of A Feather on Amazon Prime Video.
*Ben again shows his martial arts skills, as the majority of the time he fights Simian, he uses hand-to-hand combat rather than transforming into an alien.
==Notes==
==References==
===Production Material===
====Model Sheets====
===Cartoon Network===
es:Ayudando al enemigo
pl:Małpi książę
pt-br:Diga-me com Quem Andas
ro:Oameni din aceeaşi categorie
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Season 1 Episodes
Category:Episodes
Category:Highbreed Wars
Category:Episodes Directed by Dan Riba
Category:Episodes Aired Out of Production Order