The episode opens at the principle office, as the rest of the system is still without power, and things continue to look bleak. The citizens have begun to give up hope. Doesn’t help matters with Phong saying that the system is dying. Despite the best efforts, there is little hope left. Powering the system back up will cause more destruction, and what little power the principle office has remaining is running out as well. While everyone else has run out of ideas, Bob does suggest that there may be one hope left. But before he can say it, a game cube begins to drop. And with the system as unstable as it is currently, this is something that isn’t needed.
Matrix’s guardian protocol makes him want to enter the game, but Bob tells him not to. If the user wins the game, it will finally be the thing that finally pushes the system over the edge, and Bob believes that this could possibly force the user to restart the system. The cube drops with no one inside.
While Dot tries to restore the P.I.D codes, the rest of our heroes try to calm the panicking binomes. And Mouse and the surfer seem to gain a bit more of a “friendship” between the two. Mouse is staying with the crew since she’s become attached to this system, and the surfer feels that this place is the right place to be right now. The game cube is about to leave, and all of the PID’s are scanned, and everyone should be protected… except for Hexadecimal, who’s brought biscuits. Despite Phong’s feelings on the matter, he gives Hexadecimal her own P.I.D Icon.
The game cube leaves with the user victorious. The damage from the exiting game finally pushes the system into a full on crash. It’s actually a pretty frightening sight to see the entire system finally fall apart, however we get some levity as we see the crew of the saucy mare, and other characters from the show have one last drink as everything finally goes to hell. Everyone waits for hope that the user will reboot the system.
And that’s exactly what happens, as the user restarts the computer. Data comes down over the principle office, which begins the repairs. First the principle office is restored, and one by one, pieces of Mainframe are placed back to their original spots, and restored to their former glory. Everything is back to normal, as the city is powered back up, and everything acts as it once did.
And if that wasn’t enough, all of the former binomes that have perished have returned. Even those who were deleted before the system crash. The infected binomes are also restored, and Silicon Tor is deleted. Since Hex was registered, she doesn’t get deleted. It seems like everyone is back, even Enzo. Bob and Dot finally get the kiss they’ve been building up all this ti…
Wait, ENZO?
In the last episode, when Matrix was talking to Old Man Pearson, he changed his icon to game sprite mode to show the old binome. Turns out he accidentally left it like that, and when the system was restoring the information, it didn’t read Matrix’s P.I.D, and so Enzo was restored instead. Meaning that technically, we have two Enzo Matrixes now. And so the episode comes to an end.
But wait? There’s still a third act to this episode. So, how do you fill this final act to this season finale? Somehow I doubt whatever you’re thinking wouldn’t match the awesomeness of what we get. A recap of the season set to the song “Modern Major General” from The Pirates of Penzance” . A moment so epic, it’s worth putting in this episode review to end the recap portion.
And thus ends “End Prog”. The episode does a great job in adding tension and making the viewer feel that this could very well be the end of things should Bob’s gamble on the user fail. There are some great moments throughout, like the kiss through the apocalypse with Mouse and Surfer, the final celebration with the crew of the saucy mare, and finally with the restoration of Mainframe, including giving us another Enzo. And of course, that ending. It’s seriously a brilliant way to wrap up this season.
And what a season it was. It really feels like an epic. The story it tells starts strong with Guardian Enzo, takes an unexpected twist with Enzo’s change into Matrix, and ends on a strong note with the system crash arc. This season mixed action, comedy, drama, and suspense better than most animated shows have ever done. And with a voice cast that really helped make things feel real. Well, as real as a cartoon about a world inside a computer could be at least.
It also shows just how much the show evolved throughout all three seasons. From the lighthearted saga that was season one, to a more action and story oriented season two, to the saga of season three. And it never feels like a sudden shift. It all feels gradual, like the show is maturing and growing with the audience. It’s very rare to see that in a show, and ReBoot did it perfectly well. In the end, season 3 was a masterpiece, and if it was the true finale to the show, it would definitely be a way to end the series on the mother of all high notes.
But wait, I almost forgot. Wasn’t there something about some virus named Daemon?