Code Lyoko S2 E26

## Plot

**Content Warning:** A murder-suicide is attempted onscreen, although it's framed as a heroic sacrifice. However, in real life, death is never the answer/solution. The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. They are open 24/7 and are fluent in both English and Spanish. It's available to anyone that has suicidal thoughts or is suffering from emotional distress. 988 is the number for the mental health hotline that launched on July 16, 2022, in the U.S. Jeremie has been watching video logs made by Franz Hopper. The date was Monday, June 6th, 1994. He created the supercomputer, Lyoko, and XANA to destroy Project Carthage, which was a military program used to block enemy communications. He wanted to destroy the supercomputer and erase all evidence of his activities, when he "discovered" the Return to the Past program. But how could he have discovered it if he's the one who built the supercomputer in the first place? Maybe XANA was always evil and made the program instead, which would make sense, since it makes him more powerful. Franz Hopper used the RTTP to repeat that same day over and over again for years in order to perfect the supercomputer and Lyoko, so that he could finally escape his enemies. It arguably drove him crazy and made him paranoid about someone watching him, like the men in black in Aelita's visions. Okay, fine, he was right about that part, but still. He repeated the same day over for *almost seven years.* I know this because 2,546 days divided by the normal 365 days per year equals 6.975, which when rounded up equals 7. Wait… Oh. Oh no. Oh f––k. The kids learned earlier this season that using the RTTP increases XANA's power, so the reason he's the Big Bad of the show and has so much power in the first place… is all because of his creator, who admittedly, might not have known this, or thought that his A.I. was peaceful. But you created it to destroy something else. In trying to escape all of his enemies (and be basically immortal, which was probably just a plus), he doomed himself and his daughter. Damn. That's f––ked up. Now *that* is a tragedy. He and Aelita have the keys to Lyoko. XANA wants to steal Aelita's memories to get them. If he succeeds, he could escape from the supercomputer and take over the world. It turns out that XANA didn't give Aelita a virus. He took a fragment that belongs to her. It's in Sector 5. They plan to go get it after the end of the year dance. Aelita never wants to go to Lyoko again though. She's worried that the mission will go wrong and XANA will get the keys to Lyoko. She's angry at her father because he stole her life from her. Jeremie tries to convince her that after everything is done, they'll shut down the supercomputer and put everything behind them, so she can have a brand new life. Yumi turns down William's offer to go to the dance with him, saying she'd like to go with someone else. Ulrich sees them talking though, and agrees to go with Sissi. Aelita turns off the supercomputer to get rid of XANA for good, despite that meaning that she'll die too. Luckily, Jeremie gets there in time and saves her. Attempted murder-suicide on a children's show! What am I watching? Can I even classify this as a kid's show anymore? It's definitely a cartoon, but Code Lyoko has always been darker than what you usually see, at least on American television. I mean, I guess it's *technically* not murder because XANA isn't even alive to begin with, but still. Yumi is mad at Ulrich for taking Sissi to the dance. A call from Jeremie interrupts him from apologizing to her and asking her to the dance. They're going on their final mission to Sector 5 right now. No idea why it was moved up, but it could be that Jeremie is worried about Aelita's mental state and doesn't want to give her another opportunity to try you know what again. After being ambushed by hordes of monsters, Odd is devirtualized. So is Yumi. Ulrich and Aelita are saved by friendly Mantas that are being controlled by Franz Hopper. However, the "fragment" turns out to be a trap, and the whole place starts collapsing. Ulrich is devirtualized. Aelita is all alone with no one to protect her from the Scyphozoa. It takes all of her memory, which kills her. Lyoko starts dying as well, and all of the towers turn red. XANA escapes from the supercomputer and onto the network. It's over. They've lost. Thankfully, Franz Hopper is able to use his own set of keys to save Aelita and Lyoko, and gives her her memory back. She remembers living in a cabin in the mountains with her parents. Her mom had pink hair and her name was Anthea. She remembers getting Mr. Pück as a Christmas present and playing the piano with her father. Then her mother disappeared and they moved to the Hermitage. The men in black came to their house and they escaped to the factory, where they were virtualized onto Lyoko for ten years. The towers turn white. They couldn't stop XANA though. Shutting down the supercomputer wouldn't do much good now. Franz Hopper might be dead, and even if he isn't, they don't even know if he's still on Lyoko. The fragment that XANA took from Aelita was her memories of her prior life on Earth, and Franz Hopper managed to give them back to her. The group decides to keep fighting XANA using the supercomputer.

## Review

Well, this was an exciting episode. Definitely my favorite episode in season 2, and maybe even the whole series. I'm looking forward to season 3. My only complaint would be that it's too short. Only 13 episodes? Really? But it's still really good! See you later, after my own well earned, real vacation!