Welcome back to Multiversity Comics’ Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts reviews. This week there’s Dave, Dave, David (that guy’s so weird), Doctor Dave, and a whole lot of Daves. Also the Fan (AKA Little Breezy), the Fanatics, and a 160-year war.
“Requiem for a Dave”
Written by Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler
Directed by Bridget Underwood
1. The Heroes on Fire together again
Season three feels so different from prior seasons because of how often it separates Kipo, Wolf, Dave, Benson, and Mandu. So when an episode comes along like this, where they’re all together again, it feels so much more important and vital than it otherwise would.
I love that Kipo’s friends know her so well, they’ll fight to save her from a terrible mistake, to protect a wonderful spark of her personality that should be treasured, not snuffed out. Wolf, who at the beginning of the series was all alone and didn’t want or need anyone, is now reminding Kipo that the people from her burrow are people she grew up with, people that she loves. Coming from Wolf, this moment is especially touching. Plus Wolf is so sincere and yet awkward. She’s trying, she really is. I just loved all this stuff.
2. Dave
But really this is Dave’s episode. Or should I say Daves’ episode? From the beginning of the series, Dave has always been a great character for humor, so it’s very appropriate that this flashback showing his previous 200 years is so ludicrous. Dave leading an army of Daves in a conflict against the Fanatics that want to capture the Fan is perhaps the most Dave-ish backstory imaginable.
But that merely makes this episode good. What makes it great is the way Dave’s story shows some genuine insight. Dave is tremendously thoughtful and his story is exactly what Kipo needs to hear. What a great way to showcase the way his character has changed over the course of the series.
3. The weakness of Daves
When this episode’s title first appeared, “Requiem for a Dave,” I was immediately worried. I mean, surely they wouldn’t kill Dave? Or have Dr. Emilia turn him into just a regular bug? Honestly, after the last few episodes, I wouldn’t have put it past the creators to go that dark. Thankfully they didn’t go either of those routes.
That said, a lot of Daves die this episode, and not just in the usual phoenix-esque way that Daves die. They really die. Apparently all Dave’s have a very simple weakness. What intrigues me about this is Dave’s response when his friends ask about this. “Oh, it’s so dumb. All you have to do is—— WAIT A MINUTE, NO WAY! I am not falling for that again!”
AGAIN.
So, Dave has told someone the weakness before, and that’s probably what got all the other Daves killed. C’mon, there’s a story there. We don’t have time for it in this episode, but there is definitely a story there.
4. The last of the Fanatics
A lot of time is spent in this episode talking about the deaths of the Daves, but the deaths of the Fanatics is sort of brushed over. Was their deaths a direct result of their conflict with the Daves, or attrition from living in the surface world, or perhaps something else? It’s not relevant to this story, but I can’t help wondering if there’s more to be told here. Considering this would’ve led to Benson becoming an orphan, I can’t help but curious.
Either way, the important thing is the last of the Fanatics, Benson, and the way he and Dave bond. As Kipo pointed out in the previous episode, if people just talk to each other, they can start to each other as something other than enemies. Kipo’s suggestion at the time was to mimic the situation with Zane and Label, where Zane was stuck in a trap, unable to attack, so he had to listen to Label. And in this episode, we see the same thing, where both Benson and Dave are “Zaned.”
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This is the core of the episode, as both start to see each other as people. The key is empathy.
5. “You can’t end a war by fighting it”
I want to point this out, because the episode doesn’t make a big deal about this, but it is a hugely big deal—Dave makes it all the way to Dr. Emilia’s boat. He is a mute, and he’s taking a tremendous risk to be with Kipo at the end. And Dave’s given it his all, so much so that he’s in his vulnerable elderly state. But he’s still there.
It’s things like this that reveals how flimsy Dr. Emilia’s hateful rhetoric is. It doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Kipo and her friends are living proof of this.
The entire episode is leading up to this moment at the end, when Kipo offers a chance for peace instead of more fighting. This is totally something Kipo would’ve done back in season one, but doing it here, after she’s pulled back from her darkest hour, after she came so close to destroying a part of herself that’s so special, made this moment feel so much more earned.
Bonus thought: The Flaming Phantom
OK, so we have a little more insight into Benson and Dave’s trap, “The Flaming Phantom,” first referenced back in “To Catch a Deathstalker,” but it just raises more questions. Why a cowboy? Why sheep??
So, what did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments.
