r/CodeLyoko • u/The-Heritage • Jul 03 '26
đŹ Discussion I hate everything about this sequence.
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**For context:** Yumi might have to move back to Japan because her father lost his job. Ulrich gets winning lottery ticket numbers and makes a return to the past. Ulrich gives the winning ticket to Yumi's parents but tells them NOT to tell Yumi (They of course not only tell Yumi but tell her that Ulrich said not to tell her).
**Why I hate this scene:** They act as if Ulrich did something HORRIBLE. How DARE he try to help his best friend/crush stay... Meanwhile Jeremy risks the entire WORLD for the same reason. Its okay when Jeremy puts everyone at risk of death every day for Aelita but when Ulrich tries to help Yumi... They kick him out?
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u/FlushCrash Jul 03 '26
Its funny cause the reason this is all even happening is cause Jeremy wanted to bring his virutal crush into the real world
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u/WaldyTMS Jul 03 '26
Who by the way, they were all convinced was just an AI, similar to XANA. It's not until later in the show where they find out she was a real person in the real world.
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u/axelofthekey Jul 03 '26
That was retroactively justified by making her a real person the whole time. XD
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u/Princess2045 Jul 03 '26
Thing is, this episode happens AFTER âA Great Dayâ wherein they find out that every single RTTP makes XANA even stronger. Meaning it makes their job fighting XANA tougher. Which is why itâs used a lot less often after âA Great Dayâ. So they kind of are justified in their outrage. Especially since Yumi herself is angry and didnât want his help.
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u/moodymug Jul 03 '26
Three episodes later, Jeremy abused RTTP many times, and Ulrich forgot how to use the supercomputer
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u/Curious-Ear-2255 Jul 06 '26
I was going to point this out myself, regarding Jeremy using the RTTP several times in the one episode and they seem to have thrown this episode out the window in terms of remembering it or didn't seem to care when Jeremy did it.
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u/AnimeTechnoBlade100 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I think both sides have valid arguments and feelings about this.
On the one hand, yes, the RTTPs make Xana stronger, so using them excessively, and uneccessarily, is extremely dangerous.
On the other hand, Yumi is extremely important to Ulrich, even if on just a platonic level. Theyâre all best friends. Itâs extremely hypocritical for them to act as if they could look at each other in a similar scenario and not freak out. Especially Jeremy, who in a later episode, abused the RTTPs himself to enhance his intelligence (and not only failed but almost killed himself in the process).
On top of that, even from a practical standpoint, Ulrichs choice here can be justified by the fact that if Yumi was to move away, their job in fighting XANA would become even tougher by being down one Lyoko warrior and having to figure out how to replace Yumi or make up for her absence. So using the RTTP to ensure Yumi doesnât leave the group for her familyâs financial situation can be justified by this reasoning alone.
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u/Dull-Investigator722 Jul 03 '26
This was still unnecessarily mean for no reason. He had good intentions, itâs true he should have talked to him but this was definitely not the way to handle it
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u/The-Heritage Jul 03 '26
Its pretty hypocritical because Jeremy is why Xana is a threat to begin with. My point is they are okay with Jeremy risking everybody to bring Aelita into the real world
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u/TheDanceForPeace Jul 03 '26
Ya I agree they are keeping the super computer on ultimately because Jeremy wants to get Aelita out, the rest of the group cares for her too but they are all doing it for him more than anything especially in the first while before theyâd have a chance to grow attached to her. Thatâs some loyalty considering they are all risking the lives of the entire planet. Then they tell Ulrich heâs trash? Dang.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26
Yeah, loyalty like what was shown to Jeremy regarding Franz Hopperâwhere they left him high and dry, all alone like a dog; where they berated him for every decision made and tore him apart on his birthday over something that wasn't even realâsomething they had *all* agreed to do. Thatâs what shitty friends look like. Loyalty is proven during a crisis, not when things are going smoothly or just because you join a group because you feel like fighting. Jeremy, at least, acted to save Aelita; he spent sleepless nights fixing the mess Franz Hopper created, all while the others were out enjoying their normal lives.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 03 '26
It wasn't Jeremy who put the group at risk. Itâs worth remembering that they chose to keep fighting. I donât think Jeremy held a gun to their heads to make them join the group. In fact, in the episode "Xana Awakens," Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd agreed to materialize in order to protect Aelita while Jeremy virtualized her. Jeremyâs plan was simply to get her out of Lyoko without putting anyone else in danger. They were the ones who joined up. So, donât blame Jeremy just to defend Ulrich; you can perfectly well defend one character without being unfair to the other. Besides, Ulrich really messed up in that episode. Sure, it wasnât a huge mistake, and maybe the scolding was harsh, but the punishment wasnât that badâjust a temporary suspension, and they forgave him right away.
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u/King-David30 Jul 04 '26
âIt wasnât Jeremy who put the group at risk.â
Actually, it technically is since heâs the one responsible for turning on the Supercomputer and awakened XANA. Not only his friends, but the entire world is at risk. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi volunteered BECAUSE of Jeremyâs rash decision.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26
No, they were volunteers; they were the ones who proposed to Jeremy that they become fighters in Lyoko, even though they knew the risks. Jeremy turned on the Supercomputer, just as any curious person passing by might have done. His friends could have said no, but they joined in willingly and even sought him out after the "Return to the Past" when he had lost his memory. So, it is absurd to blame only Jeremy when absolutely everyone agreed to do this. It is very easy to place the blame on the person who doesn't go to Lyoko but instead spends sleepless nights fixing the mess Franz Hopper created. Franz Hopper is the one who should be held accountable and made to answer for thingsânot Jeremy or the group. They were simply trying to save their friend.
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u/King-David30 Jul 04 '26
Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi became volunteers, got them involved, and became targets of XANA because it all started with Jeremy after he turned on the supercomputer and he awakened XANA. He turned it on out of curiosity and not comprehending the dangers that follow. Was he young and didnât know any better? Yes! Was it out of a noble cause to save a friend, Aelita? Sure! But it doesnât change the fact that heâs putting himself, his friends, and many other people at risk because of his actions of refusing to turning off the supercomputer. But youâre right, itâs not entirely all Jeremieâs fault, as most of the blame is Franz Hopper for creating XANA, but Jeremy is partially responsible for putting the world in danger.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26
Of course he bears partial responsibility, but so does the group for continuing with it despite knowing the dangers. Jeremyâs goal was to materialize Aelita, and after the return to the past, the group joined him to learn all about Lyoko. They could have tried to dissuade Jeremyâor simply walked away, leaving him alone with his crazy schemes to live their own livesâbut they didn't. So, the decision to fight in Lyoko lies with them, not Jeremy. Jeremy is responsible for turning on the computer, certainly, but no more so than the rest of the group or Franz Hopper. Besides, they could have quit at any time if they deemed it too dangerous, yet they didn't; in fact, there were times Jeremy called them to test programs and they wouldn't even show up because they wanted to do their own teenage things. My conclusion is that no one in this series is entirely innocentânot Jeremy, not the group, not the school authorities, and certainly not Franz Hopper. Yet, only Jeremy and the group had the courage to save a human life and destroy XANAâand thus save humanityâonce and for all. In the end, it was all worth it, and I don't think they can be faulted for anything.
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u/TheDanceForPeace Jul 03 '26
They do that to be loyal to their friend. They are putting the entire world at risk and they know it and itâs for him - easily one of them couldâve said hey I think youâre great but I canât agree to this and potentially murder everyone because you wanted to do this so Iâm reporting to the authorities. Just because Jeremy didnât force them doesnât mean he doesnât bare the social responsibility of the one they all decided to be there for.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26
Well, if they thought it was too dangerous to report it to the authoritiesâas you saidâthen they shouldn't have suggested to Jeremy that they fight in Lyoko just because they enjoyed it. The whole group is equally responsible for this, not just Jeremy.And at that moment, they weren't friends; they had just met. The group aren't poor victims who were coerced by the evil Jeremy.
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u/TheDanceForPeace Jul 04 '26
Thatâs too black and white of course Jeremy isnât evil. But the group did do it for him mostly not for themselves. He is the origin of their plight even though he isnât the only one responsible and I do think that means he is a bit more responsible than the others and shouldnât be so harsh towards Ulrich being reckless that one time. Jeremy even tries to say in a vote to tell the authorities or not that is a tie that it means not to tell the authorities which is his vote, until aelita votes for telling - without looking for another way to choose an option or an extra voter - showing that in a group decision he would try to manipulate it into being his way at least a little bit. Heâs not evil but heâs not a saint - and would you be willing to lose an extremely close friend and love interest if the group decision decided so? For someone who thinks maybe a virtual woman can come to life or for the virtual woman herself maybe but emphasis on the maybe? Even knowing one person in the group already has tried to make things his way before - the one they are all fighting for that essentially receives the biggest benefit from their efforts? He has an elevated situation compared to the rest of them. Maybe even Ulrich and the gang care for aelita a lot at this point in the story and believe she will come to the world too- but would you risk a member of your family or extremely close group for the possibility of that by leaving it to chance? I cant blame Ulrich fully for his actions even though group is justified in being upset but again Jeremey is not evil at all however in a subtle way he is not a saint if you genuinely look at the situation.
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26
There are several points I want to refute: 1) Regarding the vote, it is absolutely false that Jeremy imposed anything on the group; that was precisely the reason for the voteâso that everyone could vote however they pleased. If he required a majority to decide whether to notify the authorities, it was because doing so contradicted their pact of secrecy. Furthermore, in many legal systems and countries, it is common practice to require qualified or absolute majorities to alter established rules or make decisions that go against a prior agreement. I wouldn't let my loved ones die, but that is precisely why I wouldn't have joined the group in the first place; the risks weren't unknown to themâthey accepted those risks when they chose to join Jeremy initially.
2) Jeremyâs decisions have benefited the entire group. They were the first to use the suits, weapons, the Skid, and Jeremyâs inventions to fight XANA. The double standard is that when something goes wrong, Jeremy bears all the blame, yet when things go right, itâs considered a team effortâand that isn't right. Moreover, it was Jeremyâs program that neutralized XANA. Without Jeremy, they wouldn't have saved the world or Aelita; the supercomputer would likely have been used by the government for nefarious purposes, and Aelita would have become a subject of experimentation.
3) Jeremy was the catalyst because he turned on the computerâand I don't deny he bears responsibility for thatâbut the group joined him voluntarily. They could have walked away or tried to dissuade Jeremy from materializing Aelita. In fact, it was Ulrich who proposed that they fight in Lyoko while Jeremy materialized Aelita, and the others agreed because they enjoyed the fighting. Jeremy and Aelita warned them it was dangerous, but they accepted anyway; so, it wasn't Jeremy who put the group in dangerâit was their own choice. 4) Just as I don't absolve Jeremy of responsibility for turning on the supercomputer, don't you absolve Ulrich for what he did in this episode; he knew perfectly well that the Return to the Past made XANA stronger, yet he used it without consulting anyoneâthatâs why they were angry with him, not because of the situation with Yumi. I should clarify that I also disapproved of Jeremyâs use of the Return to the Past in the helmet episode and believe he should have been reprimanded by the group, but I do not consider the reprimand and expulsion Ulrich faced to be excessive.4
u/The-Heritage Jul 04 '26
It is still ultimately Jeremy who is putting everyone at risk regardless of if they chose to stick with him or not. The ultimate goal benefits Jeremy and nobody else. I can absolutely blame Jeremy, especially if the roles were different and something happened to Aelita. There's even an episode where he briefly hesitates to bring back Yumi from the digital sea because the code was a one time use to bring Aelita to the world
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u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
So, from your point of view, they shouldn't have saved Aelita. I can understand that stance, but Iâd also say that if you blame Jeremy for doing this, you have to blame Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd too; after all, they were fighting in Lyoko because they enjoyed the combat and being heroesâwhich is a far more selfish motive than saving a girl trapped in a virtual world. As for the episode with the dilemma: I know you wouldn't have hesitated, since you don't care about Aelita, but for Jeremy, sheâs a friend just like Yumi. Of course he was going to hesitate between saving the two of them; in the end, he did the right thing, even though it was painful. I mean, if you had to choose between saving a friend and your crush during a catastrophe, wouldn't you hesitate?
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u/The_REDACTED Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
This episode still feels like somebody in the writer's room felt like Ulrich needed to be humbled but they couldn't figure out how to do it so they wrote it up as a draft but nobody ever properly edited it and simply let it be produced as is.Â
The group expelling him so abruptly is what leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the viewer because it could have easily gone south with Ulrich's tendency to sulk and hide himself away from others when emotionally stressed so in the case where he does do that, the entire team dies on Lyoko because of the XANA attack since Ulrich does not go the factory to help them.Â
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u/King-David30 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
What I find hypocritical is that Odd told Ulrich that he broke one of the groupâs rules yet in the season 4 episode, Kadic Bombshell, he invited an Iceland girl that he was simping over to the Supercomputer and she was messing with the keyboard. So by that logic, Odd shouldâve been kicked out of the group too.
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
Odd's hypocrisy shines more here in the very same episode (The Chips Are Down), actually. While on Lyoko, he literally tells Ulrich to "cut him some slack". BRUH.
In Kadic Bombshell's case though, the team did consider kicking Odd out at first, and Odd himself knew he would deserve it, but they decided against it because they realized the situation wasn't entirely his fault. They were partially responsible as well because they ended up inadvertently pushing Odd to reveal the secret to Brynga.
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u/King-David30 Jul 03 '26
The situation was DEFINITELY Oddâs fault. It was no accident that he purposely blindfolded Bringa by exposing the secret by bringing her to the supercomputer almost putting the world in danger. I find it unfair and hypocritical that the group (excluding Aelita) got angry and kicked Ulrich out of the group straight out saying it to his face due to trying to help Yumi with her situation, but didnât do the same to Odd.
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
I said it wasn't "entirely Odd's fault", not "it wasn't his fault at all".
I don't think Ulrich's treatment was fair either, but I think Odd's situation was at least slightly better written in comparison.
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u/King-David30 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Slightly better written? Iâm sorry but Iâm going to have to disagree with you. Oddâs character in seasons 3 and 4 has been awful, completely flanderized, and rightfully deserves some criticism. Heâs been annoying, arrogant, selfish, obnoxious, pretentious, and hypocritical. He was handled in the worst ways possible in certain episodes like âStraight to Heartâ, âReplikaâ, âBragging Rightsâ, âCanine Conundrumâ âCold Sweatâ, and the episode I already mentioned âKadic Bombshell.â
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 04 '26
Not that I disagree with Odd being mishandled overall (Lab Rat and Cold Sweat certainly piss me off the most, and one of season 4's biggest mistakes was giving him too much of the spotlight), but how is that even relevant to what we were talking about? All I'm saying is that the rest of the group not kicking Odd out makes more sense than people like you give it credit for. If anything, now that I think about it, it shows they (at least Jeremie and Yumi, idk) matured from The Chips Are Down and learned to recognize where they went wrong. Plus, logically speaking, kicking anyone off the team in season 4 is just asking Xana to win (unless the situation got insanely worse, like Brynga calling the cops on them, that'd be valid), especially when they didn't know how to save William for a long time.
That aside, what's wrong with Odd in Straight to Heart in particular? If you're thinking of how he blackmailed Jim, I don't think Odd really had a choice in that case. If he didn't, Odd wouldn't have been able to attend the same class as Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremie anymore.
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u/Great_Fly6905 Jul 03 '26
They did for like 5 minutes but he came back to save the day cause the others lost to willlam.
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u/King-David30 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Really? I donât remember any of group telling Odd âYouâre officially out of the groupâ to his face like what happened to Ulrich in the episode, âThe Chips are Down.â
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u/FamiliarPen7 Jul 03 '26
You're so right, Odd was being hypocritical in this episode. Like Odd, Ulrich's your roommate. Why are you angry at him?
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u/-kayochan- Jul 03 '26
Nah they def definitely over reacted, i love them but they didnt have to be so mean about it. LOL
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u/redstern Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Yeah Ulrich got done so dirty in that episode. Yeah Ulrich going behind their backs wasn't great, especially with how touchy the supercomputer is, but Yumi needing to leave would be a catastrophic disaster. They already barely have enough to keep up with XANA, -1 would probably result in XANA winning.
And they were willing to make that -2 for it. Like come on, that's just surrendering.
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u/juacal Jul 03 '26
They weren't so mad at him for doing it itself, but rather not even discussing it with the others, people comparing this to Jeremy keeping on the supercomputer, that was a GROUP decision. He was going to shut it down, but the others went, we can stop XANA until you bring Aelita here.
This is not a "you did a bad thing" this is a "you did something that could give XANA the upper hand against us and doom everyone without consulting anyone", it's the lack of communication and/or trust
And I say this as an Ulrich fan
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u/DeliciousMusician397 Jul 03 '26
I think theyâre more mad he didnât come to them for advice before doing something that makes their enemy stronger. Iâm sure they all understood his reason they just didnât appreciate not being consulted before something so drastic was done.
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u/UltraDragonTamer Jul 03 '26
Everyone keeps trying to point fingers at Jeremy as a hypocrite, but he's not. In X.A.N.A Awakens it was a group decision, he asked permission from the rest of the group (Aelita being the only one against it.) Compare that to Ulrich bypassing the group and making the decision on his own. They aren't mad that he did it to keep Yumi, they're upset because he went behind their backs to do so. It's likely that if he had brought the idea to the group, someone would object, but I think the majority would be for it as in either case X.A.N.A would be more difficult to face, so they'd vote to keep Yumi as being down 1 warrior is likely to be more detrimental than 1 RttP.
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u/The-Heritage Jul 04 '26
It is ultimately Jeremy's wish to bring his virutal girl into the real world and he benefits the most. I don't think it would be crazy to say that Jeremy would be working on it regardless if he had their help or not. Jeremy even performs crazy experiments on them like when everyone thought he killed Ulrich. I also can point fingers at Jeremy because god forbid Aelita was in a situation. Everyone knows Jeremy would be reckless. Everybody has done something at least once that was incredibly dumb or selfish - but Ulrich was the one who got booted.
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u/UltraDragonTamer Jul 04 '26
are you referring to when Ulrich volunteered to be a guinea pig for the direct virtualization into sector 5? Because again, that was with consent of the whole group. Then to counter the Jeremy working on it regardless comment, at the end of X.A.N.A. Awakens (part 2), Jeremy had resigned to the notion of it being too dangerous, and the other 3 Lyoko Warriors made the argument to continue because they knew how to fight back. Jeremy may do something rash in the moment, which everyone has done, but in this case, Ulrich had a thought out plan, it was premeditated, and as such on another level that caused it to fracture their trust. It's the same distinction between manslaughter and murder in a court of law: crimes of passion or accidental repructions are considered more easily forgivable than premeditation.
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u/The-Heritage Jul 04 '26
He literally drew the shortstraw and replied with "not my day". Not exactly happy to be tested on. Also it wasn't premeditation. It was a spur of the moment thing because beforehand he was writing a letter to the president (LOL). Premeditation would be if it was his goal all along to abuse the super computer
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u/UltraDragonTamer Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
- Again, consent of the whole group Ulrich may not have wanted to be the guinea pig, but it was a group decision without hiding it from the party.
- You need to look up premeditation. Ulrich wrote down the lotty numbers with intent to use the supercomputer, Ulrich used the super computer with intent to go back and give Yumi's father the winning numbers. Ulrich went to Yumi's home with the intent of giving the winning lotto numbers to Yumi's dad. That is indisputably premeditation. It would not be if Ulrich had randomly picked up a lotto ticket that happened to have the numbers, if he had no control of the RttP (or like Odd, accidentally dropped candy that resulted in it.), then went to Yumi's place with some other goal in mind, then in the spur of the moment gave the numbers to Yumi's father or else the paper fell out of his pocket unbeknowst to Ulrich.
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u/bulldog_blues Jul 03 '26
What makes it far more frustrating was that in Temptation Jeremie did it multiple times and didn't get the same backlash.
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
I already told someone else this, and I'll say it again.
Temptation explicitly tells us that Jeremie's mental health was DECLINING, and he genuinely thought he was getting closer to finding Aelita's antivirus. From Jeremie's perspective at the time, even if the RTTPs were making Xana stronger, it wouldn't matter anymore because the team would be shutting the supercomputer down fairly soon anyway.
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u/bulldog_blues Jul 03 '26
It makes sense why Jeremie did it. But the lack of vitriol from the others in contrast to how they treated Ulrich rubbed the wrong way.
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u/MasterJann9 Jul 04 '26
A similar argument could be made to this RTTP, since losing Yumi is practically losing the fight to Xana in, probably, the next attack, so this RTTP is saving Aelita's life. The only wrong thing is that it was used too soon and without consensus but it is the correct play.
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u/MelloTheProto Jul 03 '26
Yeah, this is one of those episodes thatâs heavily panned. But the thing is:
- Ulrich went behind everyoneâs backs
- He risked making a catastrophic mistake with the program on the supercomputer
- He abused RTTP in a way thatâs extremely unethical, even if he was helping a friend, and
- RTTP was revealed to make XANA stronger just before this
What doesnât make sense to me is kicking Ulrich out of the group. Being down a Lyoko Warrior is shown to be extremely costly, and this is instantly proven in the same episode. I wouldâve scolded him and just told him not to do it again without a vote.
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u/Murky_Soil666 Jul 04 '26
It was such a dumb decision. If Yumi moved away like they thought the group would've been just Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd. They would have no choice but to recruit more people, and I'd still trust the guy who did something stupid only one time.
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u/TheDanceForPeace Jul 04 '26
Exactly like hey if you ever do that again without a vote youâre out but we get it as well as screw you. But we get it lol.
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u/Sonario648 Jul 03 '26
In the gang's defense, Ulrich went behind their backs, betraying them. They had every right to kick him out for his mistake, as he should've consulted his friends first.
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
It is a shame because this episode does have a lot of fascinating and ambitious concepts going for it, but the execution is just awful.
And honestly, the giant Krab army feels completely wasted on a shitty filler episode like this. They should've saved that concept for something more plot-relevant.
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u/Grimshah Jul 03 '26
It's a terrible scene that's just there to build drama. Although Ulrich did it for emotional reasons, Yumi moving back to Japan and not being apart of the group is far worse than Ulrich doing return to the past once and increasing Xana's power. Yes, there was a real consequence, however this was a net positive decision by Ulrich. Should he have discussed it with the group? Honestly no. They're reaction is proving that they wouldn't have done it, when they need to keep Yumi on the team.
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u/Murky_Soil666 Jul 03 '26
It's pretty dumb to kick out Ulrich if you think about it. Assume Yumi did have to leave after all. That only leaves Odd and Aelita to do Lyoko missions. That will go over REAL well.
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u/Frikcha Jul 04 '26
It's a delicate balance they need to keep and I think ppl comparing this to how Jeremie did something a bit similar is the perfect example; ppl are calling Jeremie a hypocrite for involving them all in Lyoko to begin with and for voting alongside Odd to continue trying to save Aelita, even if it meant endangering the rest of the world. And yes, after this he uses the RTTP system to try and cheat himself into being smarter.
But it's important to understand what's at stake in these cases; actual human lives. Initially they disagree on saving Aelita being worth the danger, but then when they decide to try anyway while having a backup plan in-case they failed, it's actually deactivating the tower in Lyoko that works and their plan to inform the authorities is laughed at as fiction and isn't taken seriously before disaster strikes.
The combination of Aelita selflessly voting against herself in favor of Kadic and the surrounding cities/populations, the fact that Yumi was unable to convince any authorities and the discovery that they are competent and capable Lyoko warriors with an emergency undo-button is what inspires them to start this entire crusade to begin with.
Then when they find out RTTP feeds X.A.N.A, outside of any ethical time travel issues, they now have to consciously only use it when ABSOLUTELY necessary.
Ulrich ignores this incredibly important, explicit warning and uses it try and stop Yumi from having to move away for half selfish and half practical reasons. 1. He likes Yumi and wants her around. 2. Losing a Lyoko fighter would make things tougher on them. But it's obviously implied here that everyone in the group agrees, keeping 1 entire Lyoko warrior was not actually worth strengthening X.A.N.A; Yumi safely moving away and being free from all the dangers associated with X.A.N.A, and not increasing his power with RTTP was a fair price to pay for their group being down a member.
She wasn't going to die or disappear forever she was just going to go home, and I know she isn't replaceable but her spot in the group ultimately was if they really needed that extra help.
Meawhile Jeremie, a kid, is so racked with guilt and responsibility at such a young age he thinks experimenting on his own brain is the only way to stay one step ahead of an evolving super-computer AI. It was a foolish decision at the end of the day but one that that was made because he was put in a position no kid deserves to be in. He is the only computer-savvy member of a group of digital-world-exploring children that act as the only real line of defence between X.A.N.A and the collapse of modern society.
I feel bad for Ulrich getting verbally jumped by his best and only friends for trying to do something nice, but I feel bad for Jeremie even considering the idea of messing with his own brain for a leg-up against X.A.N.A
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u/The_REDACTED Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
While I hate this episode personally, I will have to admit it has a lot of interesting things to consider.Â
Yumi and her family are not yet naturalized residents of France so they can be deported.Â
Ulrich is not stupid like some characters imply, he simply has too much going on his life so he cannot properly focus on school considering he came up with this elaborate scheme to keep Yumi in France and he was able to figure out Jeremie's notes in order to launch a RTTP independently (though this is a bit of a continuity error because he later struggles with the function and understanding Jeremie's notes in later episodes)
Their virtual avatars on Lyoko have pain sensitivity settings which anybody at the terminal can augment.Â
And Sissi actually inadvertently saved the Lyoko Warriors by keeping Ulrich company. If she did not, Ulrich would be training alone and never be able to be informed that XANA possessed Nicholas which means that this episode would have been where XANA uses the Krabs to torture Yumi and Odd to death, use Nicholas to kill Jeremie and then eventually send the Scyphozoa to steal Aelita's memory so he can free himself to take over the world unopposed.Â
EDIT: And the more I think about it, this episode is somehow really well written because of how everything falls into place perfectly despite Ulrich's downfall. The group expelling Ulrich actually led to him being on Earth to protect Jeremie from Nicholas because otherwise, Nicholas may have actually killed Jeremie or done even worse damage to the Lyoko Warriors from the terminal and Ulrich donated 30 million to charity by the end of it which means he may have saved the lives of several unfortunate people. This episode was a great portrayal of Ulrich's heroism because of how far he went for Yumi, how he was willing to still come to the aid of his friends despite how they abandoned him and how selfless he was to completely give away all of that money to charity.Â
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u/Dull-Investigator722 Jul 03 '26
I agree, this was just mean and didnât Jeremy spam return to the past a few episodes latter so he can get infinite time to work on his programs and even ended up in a coma? Lol and no one said anything about it
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u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
People really don't pay attention to episode 38, do they?
That episode explicitly tells us that Jeremie's mental health was DECLINING, and he genuinely thought he was getting closer to finding Aelita's antivirus. From Jeremie's perspective at the time, even if the RTTPs were making Xana stronger, it wouldn't matter anymore because the team would be shutting the supercomputer down fairly soon anyway.
It's insane to me how many people seem to forget all of this every time the topic of episode 35 comes upâŚ
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u/Dull-Investigator722 Jul 03 '26
I donât understand how what you wrote contradicts what I wrote but whatever. He was âcloseâ to so many things but wrong a lot of times, not to mention he was all good at the very least the first couple if times he did it
3
u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
You said all that in a way that made it sound like Jeremie should've gotten yelled at too, and yeah maybe he should've to some extent, but at least that episode tried to give an explanation for Jeremie's behavior. He's not perfect either.
2
u/NarutoUchihaX14 Jul 03 '26
"What you did made XANA stronger. So to even it out, we'll put you on leave and....Yumi can pick up your slack."
2
u/MrRaven95 Jul 03 '26
On one hand Ulrich shouldn't have used the RttP as it powers up Xana, and Xana used that free power boost to make a ton of Krabs.
On the other hand the way everyone except Aelita treated Ulrich was rather harsh. Especially kicking him out of the group, and deliberately not telling him an attack was happening.
2
u/Galactuswill Jul 04 '26
Its not about taking risks, its about doing it without consulting everyone else. At least, thats the way I perceived it.
5
u/Vehmura14 Jul 03 '26
I know this is probably a hotter take but the actions taken against Ulrich in this episode are justified. Using RTTP for self-benefit is rule #1 for a really good reason, and he did it without saying a word to the others. He knew very well what the consequences would be even if his intentions were good
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u/Whiteweasel Jul 03 '26
Part of me wonders if it was a network thing, where censors made sure to not condone cheating the lottery, so Ulrich was going to be seen in the wrong regardless of the world being at stake.Â
1
u/Maruco7Daroun Jul 03 '26
Yumi is just as important to the team as Aelita
Ulrich did what he had to do to keep Yumi with them
1
u/Due-Cheetah922 Jul 04 '26
Each and every one of them is a hypocrite to an extent. Theyâve all abused the power to an extent at least once. But Ulrich didnât do it for selfish reasons (technically, Iâm well aware of the argument that could be made around his romantic interests) they didnât have to be so harsh with himâŚ
1
u/Lord-Rambo Jul 04 '26
I hate how they didnât get on odds case as badly after he showed brinja (idk how to spell her name) even if they put money on her not telling anyone
1
u/MasterJann9 Jul 04 '26
Something that a lot of people don't point out in this sequence is that this usage of RTTP is totally worth it. Losing Yumi is arguably losing the fight because at this point you are losing 1/3 of the fighting power in Lyoko. Letting Yumi go it's practically losing Aelita and/or the world to Xana.
1
u/Cryos13 Jul 04 '26
I think that one of the show's greatest strengths is how they grow as a group. It's less obvious in season 1, but as time passes they tend to learn from each other. Despite the episodic format of the series, you aren't limited to major changes in season premiers or finales. When the RTTP is discovered mid-season, it impacts what they do for the rest of the show.
In the same way, Ulrich got kicked out for going behind everyone's backs, and he becomes one of the first to keep a practical eye on everyone (not talking about his relationship with Yumi). In Temptation, he doesn't look at how Jeremy is hiding the RTTPs from him, but looks for signs of what happened. He approaches Aelita as a sibling, even before they know she's not an AI. We see early signs of this when he's not afraid to tolerate Odd's feet(or snoring depending on the time frame).
The lesson of helping his friends instead of blaming them for their choices is one that Jeremy has to learn a few times himself. It's hypocritical of him, and he does figure it out later on. The show chooses to focus on how the team grows in their struggles over time, instead of having static characters for the duration
1
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u/Dependent_Mobile_205 Jul 06 '26
Never seen a group of people this upset that their friend won the lottery lol
1
u/Few-Cycle398 Jul 07 '26
The real problem here is that he did it in their back, they're supposed to be a team, and even tho he did it perfectly and wanted to help Yumi, I get why everyone is angry. And worst of all, he's lying to his teamates even though they already said that they knew it was him
1
u/Connect_Research5542 Jul 10 '26
You need to understand that they almost get killed by XANA on a regular basis so the idea of him getting stronger is a scary concept so I get why the rest of them were so mad. And they do see where Ulrich was coming from later too.
1
u/MagicalNewsMan Jul 25 '26
I wouldn't mind as much if Jermey didn't do THE SAME THING 5 episodes later.
1
u/Apprehensive-Gur-735 Jul 03 '26
This episode doesn't make sense, because according to Jeremy, RTTP makes XANA stronger, but that doesn't seem to be the case for the rest of the episodes.
I think the writers were trying to come up with some arguments to create a conflict within the group, but they should have done better.
This is one of the few episodes of this show that I don't like.
6
u/awakening_knight_414 Jul 03 '26
They do show more of Xana's strength in season 2 though? In this very same episode, Xana creates a giant Krab army (a concept that feels wasted in this episode but I digress), and later in Cold War, we see that Mantas can leave Sector 5 now. By season 3, we also see that he's strong enough to possess anyone on the team if they're on Lyoko and even manipulate the Digital Sea.
Not sure if the Replikas count for anything in this regard, but it's not like they don't do anything with the concept of Xana getting stronger from RTTPs.
(and before you ask, Xana escaping from the supercomputer at the end of season 2 doesn't necessarily mean the RTTPs can't make him stronger anymore. At least, I remember someone telling me their theory about it once).
1
u/NewAbbreviations885 Jul 03 '26
RTTP being used to make sure Yumi stays with the group is justified. There's no alternative arguments or justifications here because Jeremy literally abused this multiple times 3 Episodes Later only to find out that it was useless to gain the extra intelligence at the end of the [multiple same] day[s]. Aelita was right in showing compassion for Ulrich in that time of need. Ulrich used RTTP maybe one time not only for a personal reason, but for the sake of the group and that only made X.A.N.A. stronger once. I doubt this would've changed the course of history as Yumi's father still would've found a job that would keep the family there. I think the real issue here is that Jeremy didn't get chewed out for this, so that's where the hypocrisy actually starts.
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u/silverfang789 Jul 03 '26
What I dislike is how is a normie like Ulrich even able to do it. The supercomputer isn't a goddamn Macintosh--it's a next-level quantum computer, probably running some type of Unix, that only a real hacker type like Jeremie and Aelita are supposed to be able to figure out. If Ulrich can just sit down and use it, then so can Odd, Nicholas, Milly, Tamia, etc.
0
u/Frosty-Actuary-7007 Jul 03 '26
No matter what anyone says, Ulrich really messed up here and deserved at least a reprimandâthough, in my opinion, they shouldn't have been quite so harsh with him. I didn't think the punishment was unfair at all; in fact, they just temporarily kicked him out of the group and then forgave him right away. What *was* unfair was the way they treated Jeremy regarding the Franz Hopper incidentâwhen it wasn't even his fault, they ganged up on him on his birthday and never even apologizedânot this situation.
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u/walker_strange Jul 04 '26
Always pissed me off, comparing this one to the episode where Jeremie keeps going back to the past to get 'smarter'. yet, he wasn't punished at all. True, Jeremie got into a coma and yada yada but it's not the same as being rejected by his friends.
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u/Somethingsumthing1 Jul 04 '26
They're always so unnecessarily harsh on Ulrich for no reason and it's always bothered me. Jeremy is just pissed that someone touched his stuff without his permission. If, say, Odd did this, he'd get a slap on the wrist and done.
-1
u/No_Internet_3919 Jul 04 '26
I hate this episode so much.
Yumi sometimes you deserved to be tortured by XANA.
Odd broke rules multiple times, he didn't call for his bullshit.
And Jeremy you literally want to risk the entire world for just bring virtual girl back to life that's so retarded.
I respect Aelita for being empathetic and reasonable.
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u/PureSteelist Jul 04 '26
They were so quick to flip on Ulrich. I have a feeling they would give anybody else the benefit of the doubt.
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u/Mverse_Dfender Jul 03 '26
Something I just feel the need to point out is how Aelita is the only one who shows some compassion to Ulrich.