Perplexahedron (Episode)

Perplexahedron is the fifth episode of the second season of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and the fifteenth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Ben, Kevin and Gwen race Aggregor through a mysterious artificial planetoid designed to destroy anyone who enters.
==Plot==
Azmuth contacts Ben on the Ultimatrix and is not happy with him for failing to stop Ultimate Aggregor from claiming three of the four pieces to the Map of Infinity. When Ben tells Azmuth that scolding him is not going to help, Azmuth agrees and then teleports Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to the Rustbucket 3 in another galaxy, in which they find the Perplexahedron, a giant cube-like artificial planet. Moments later, they spot Aggregor approaching the planet.
The group chases Aggregor, but he is able to successfully get in using his three pieces of the Map of Infinity and the group is able to get in there as well, but barely. Gwen cannot track Aggregor, and they are going through random doors that seem to defy gravity. Ben gets Gwen to leave a trail of mana on the floor and it shows the hallways are moving down to random rooms. When Kevin punches the locked door, it activates its security system. Ben tries to transform into Chromastone, but he transforms into Humungousaur instead.
Gwen manages to destroy the lasers, but then they encounter a big, white humanoid robot, which they easily defeat. They encounter another trap, which is a wind tunnel and Ben, Kevin, and Gwen are separated. Gwen fights more security drones and encounters Aggregor (who simply ignores Gwen). When the room Ben and Kevin are in is flooding, Ben transforms Ripjaws to free them. The next room they go in becomes filled with acid and Ben transforms into Spidermonkey and barely manages to save himself and Kevin. Gwen and Aggregor keep going through the Perplexahedron, where they keep encountering security, but Aggregor easily destroys the traps. Soon, they come into a room where it is snowing and Aggregor finally gets tired of Gwen when she tries to get his attention, so he hoses her into a wall, where she freezes solid where she stands.
Ben transforms into Swampfire and manages to thaw Gwen from her frozen prison and she and Kevin kiss. Before they go back to wandering aimlessly in the moving maze, Ben explains that he's deciphered a pattern with the guards. The Perplexehedron allows free passage with automatic doors that seal when the traps are activated, but the question raised in that regard was "What would a death trap need with guards?" He summarizes that the whole point of guards is to be protecting something important people normally wouldn't be allowed anywhere near (which in this case would be the Map piece). So, they decide their best bet is to exclusively find and go through all the doors where the guards appear, and the Map is as good as theirs. Their effort yields promising results until they finally reach the Sentinel, the keeper of the final piece of the Map of Infinity, in the center of the Perplexehedron. He presents the gang with the final piece of the Map of Infinity, which is revealed to be his crown, and reveals he knows a lot about Aggregor's plan. He tells Ben that his mission in protecting the final piece has succeeded and that the Perplexahedron has fulfilled its purpose. The Perplexahedron begins to crumble and Aggregor appears and beats the Sentinel for the Map of Infinity. Ben transforms Cannonbolt and Aggregor is able to defeat him, but Cannonbolt becomes Ultimate Cannonbolt and brutally attacks Aggregor for his crimes. But Aggregor is still unbeatable and fights off Cannonbolt, then takes the last piece of the Map of Infinity and Cannonbolt transforms back into normal. Ben, Gwen, and the Sentinel are picked up by Kevin and the Sentinel is unhappy at Ben for his failure to not protect the Map of Infinity, his final words being "all is lost" before he fades out of existence. The team still vows to stop Aggregor once and for all, before he puts his plan into motion.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Aggregor completes the Map of Infinity.
====Character Debuts====
*Sentinel
*Techno Guards
====Ultimatrix Alien Debut====
*Ripjaws (Ultimate Alien debut)
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
===Supporting Characters===
*Sentinel (first appearance; death)
===Antagonists===
*Aggregor
**Ultimate Aggregor
*Techno Guards (first appearance)
===Other Characters===
*Azmuth (hologram)
==Aliens Used==
*Humungousaur (selected alien was Chromastone)
*Ripjaws (first reappearance)
*Spidermonkey
*Swampfire (off-screen activation)
*Cannonbolt (x2; goes Ultimate and reverts; second time was a cameo)
**Ultimate Cannonbolt
==Spells Used==
*Turbo
*Thracius
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Allusions==
*This episode's plot and setting are similar to the 1997 film Cube.
==Errors==
*When Azmuth berates the team for failing to stop Aggregor from getting three pieces of the Map of Infinity, the area of the Ultimatrix with the tubes is light grey instead of blue.
*When Ben inspects another walkway to see if the mana discs Gwen left behind line up, the disc at the edge of the walkway the team came from is halved, while the disc at the edge of the walkway Ben is looking at is whole.
*When Ultimate Aggregor forms a disc on his hand, he looks thinner than usual.
*When Humungousaur touches a wall, the ripple effect is first shown to be near the edge, but in the next shot, it is near the middle of the panel.
*When the Techno Guard moves towards Humungousaur, Humungousaur's toes are colored beneath the outline of the floor panel.
*Before Ben transforms into Ripjaws, the Ultimatrix has the same color as his skin.
*In one shot, Ultimate Aggregor's right hand is miscolored.
*When Gwen gets frozen, she has her mouth open but in the next scene, she has both her upper and lower teeth joined together and the front of her hair had drooped down.
*When Gwen is about to kiss Kevin, Swampfire's head is layered above his neck.
*Despite previously admitting to having a fear of spiders in Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2, Gwen does not show any reaction towards the spider that crawls all over Ben.
*When Cannonbolt becomes Ultimate Cannonbolt, the Ultimatrix symbol doesn't gain the four spikes until after the transformation is finished.
*The last piece of the Map of Infinity keeps vanishing and reappearing.
PH (10).png|Ultimatrix error
PH (56).png|Ultimate Aggregor error
PH (117).png|Half of a mana disc
PH (118).png|Whole mana disc
PH (192).png|Ripple is near the edge
PH (193).png|Ripple is near the middle
PH (210).png|Invisible toes
PH (275).png|Ultimatrix error
PH (318).png|Hand error
PH (339).png|Opened mouth
PH (343).png|Only teeth/drooped hair
PH (349).png|Head error
PH (461.3).png|Ultimatrix symbol error
==Trivia==
*FusionFall released an Ultimate Cannonbolt suit in relation to this episode.
*In India and the Arab World, the scene where Gwen and Kevin kiss is censored.
*Ben didn't give the piece of the Map of Infinity to Kevin because he thought he had a better chance of protecting the map from Ultimate Aggregor.
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====T.J. Collins====
====Dwayne McDuffie====
===Cartoon Network===
es:El perplexahedron
pl:Pomyłkohedron (odcinek)
pt-br:Perplexaedro (Episódio)
ro:Perplexahedron (episod)
Category:Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Episodes
Category:Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Matt Youngberg
Category:Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Season 2 Episodes
Category:Featured Articles