Wolverine and the X-Men: Episode 17: "Code of Conduct"

[TheVileOne]

Logan saying as such proves he's not hypocritical.

Also Dread this episode had implied slashing and cutting like TMNT. You should be doing jumping jacks of joy.

 

[Dread]

Logan saying as such proves he's not hypocritical.

Also Dread this episode had implied slashing and cutting like TMNT. You should be doing jumping jacks of joy.

Until he apologizes to Scott, he's a hypocrite. Still, I did note that at least it did bother him quite a bit; he's not a hypocrite in terms of his emotions. Thankfully, Xavier is always there for his turmoil. While Scott is there to sulk and tear himself to bits alone, Chuck's always there for Logan when he needs a mental picker-upper, for his "son". In the 90's series and in a lot of the comics, Logan would sneer at Scott about being "teacher's pet"; who is there to sneer at Logan for being the same, now? No one, because Wolverine is teh awesomez.

I mean, think about it; like Scott, this was Logan's past with a woman hitting the X-Men's doorstep. At least with Scott, the X-Men weren't involved until they chose to rescue him, which allowed them to be assembled and ready. Logan's mess caught them in their jammies, practically.

I don't expect a moment somewhere towards the end of the season when Logan sort of grumbles, "Hey, Slim, I may have almost been outta line for a half second back when ya were out huntin' Jeanie back there," but it would be nice.

I did comment at least twice about how good the fight sequences were this episode. The last two episodes, actually, have had some "implied slashing" and they have been working out well. I mean it is the natural evolution, pun intended, of doing Wolverine fights on network TV. Rogue got in some good moves herself before she got gassed.

As a connection, Chris Yost, who has written 5 episodes of WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, also wrote 5 episodes of TMNT from 2005-2008. Kyle & Johnson, of course, have each written 9-10 episodes and then some.

Quite a few people dismissed this episode as useless to the main plot, but I was looking forward to seeing a chance at decent animated versions of Mariko and Silver Samurai, especially from a show where Wolverine is supposed to be the star focused, and I got 'em, and I am satisfied.

 

[sdc10]

My main problem with the episode is that the fights "to the death" seemed rather pointless. Its not entirely possible to have an "honorable" fight with a person who has a healing factor

 

[Dread]

My main problem with the episode is that the fights "to the death" seemed rather pointless. Its not entirely possible to have an "honorable" fight with a person who has a healing factor

A fair point. Although to play Devil's Advocate, Logan's healing factor in this cartoon isn't nearly at the level of "The Crow-esque regeneration" as it is in the comic books. Logan can be rendered unconscious for hours or even days after taking sufficient damages. Even with his healing ability, if Logan did not have enough sword skill to combat Harada, he would have been able to defeat and then finish off Logan in a duel.

I have complained sometimes about some of the writing quirks that Kyle, Johnson, and sometimes Yost have with Logan, but they usually don't dramatically overpower Wolverine. Falling from an airplane in the comics is almost mundane; in the cartoon it slowed him down a bit. Logan was hardly unbeatable in X-MEN EVOLUTION, either.

Plus, while Logan's adamantium skeleton and healing ability would allow him to withstand inhuman amounts of damage even if he was choosing to fight "fairly" without his claws, Silver Samurai also had body armor. His helmet withstood a full on smack from that katanna sword, which is something because a katanna, especially in skilled hands, can slice through lessor samurai armor. So, much as Logan's abilities protected him whether he wanted them to or not, so did Harada's armor to a degree.

Besides, once that final duel began, Logan had the clear skill advantage and Harada barely laid any attacks on him, while Logan had scored at least two "yield" moves with his sword. The point was naturally that even without the claws and fighting under the rules set forth by Harada, Logan still could beat him fairly and Harada would have to resort to cheating, either with his powers or minions, to prevail.

Having been a fan of TMNT, I have seen my share of sword battles against ninjas or creeps in samurai armor, and compared to the prime of that show from 2003-2008, I would say this episode's action was on par with some of the action sequences of that run. Not surpassing it, because those 5 seasons of 2k3 did had a few incredible fight sequences to behold, but at least on par with your average Turtle action, and better than a few episodes worth. After FAST FORWARD, though, it's not worth comparing.

It is possible my bias for Logan's Asian adventures made me support this episode more than some others, but I thought it handled some of those aspects of the character's history well, much better than the 90's episode "The Lotus and the Steel".

 

[Neptune]

Can't Silver Samurai cut trough Wolverine's bones with his power?

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah, but the fight to the death was supposed to be "no powers".

 

[Dread]

The rules were no powers, which for Harada meant no using his energy field to slice through Logan's sword and flesh, and Logan could not use his claws to do likewise. Logan has a healing factor and unbreakable bones regardless, but Silver Samurai also had his body armor, which was sturdy enough to withstand a full on sword smack to the head without any injury to him; a lessor helmet would have been sliced through.

It is worth noting that unlike in the 80's comics and the 90's X-Men episode "Lotus and the Steel", Harada did not have his HYDRA-bought teleportation ring.

With an awesome Omega Red in HULK VS. and Silver Samurai, all the show has to do to make the Dread Logan Rogue trifecta complete is to find some way to bring in Cyber. For some reason I always liked him.

 

[Syncos]

Much like in the X-films, one could buy Xavier being this close and passionate about helping ease Logan's pain or help him learn if he did so for any other X-Man. But he isn't. Scott was in turmoil and Xavier has left him to mope in peace. Ororo is the other natural leader and beyond ordering her rescue from the Shadow King in episode 4, he has nothing to do with her. The idea of Logan being the rag tag leader by circumstance is fine; but do we have to steal away Scott's position in Xavier's heart? Can Logan stand to have any character in the X-Men have or be something that he is not? Does the entire universe have to bend over backwards to prove that the X-Men are nothing without the almighty biker berserker

Y'know, I was thinking about this.
The show has displayed that it's not easy for Xavier to project to the past. It's not exactly a telephone where he can just chat to cheer up mopey Scott.

He put Logan in charge, so he talks to him and essentially gives him orders. And yeah, when the entire team of x-men gets kidnapped, it kinda buggers up Xavier's plans, so he needs to get Logan on the metaphorical phone and *****slap his ass in the right direction.

I don't have a problem with X not helping the others. He's kinda dealing with his own crap atm. Logan is his way of trying to fix things. Scott's obviously not in a good enough place to capably lead (though he shouldn't be such a worthless teammate), and purhaps he doesn't think Storm has what it takes to do what has to be done to fix things. I don't know.

 

[stcardinal]

Aside from the glaring plot holes I thought the episode was fairly enjoyable. Haven't not been all too familar with Logan's pass, I was just wondering, did this occur in the comics as well? I rememebr reading some of the early Wolverine minis when he was in Japan, but it was pretty different than the plot for this episode right?

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah similar but different.

There was a Claremont/Miller Wolverine series in the early 1980's.

Except in the story Wolverine fights Mariko's . . . father, or step-father ish. Wolverine's on his own in Japan. He's defeated in a first fight and disgraced and goes on a bender and starts dating a Japanese assassin named Yukio.

 

[shadowdog]

I figured since it was supposed to be an honorable fight, that if Wolverine would have gotten struck with a killing blow, even though he'd recover from it, he'd still loose the battle

anyway
to me, the best part of the episode was Rogue finally doing something useful....and being pretty badass while she did it!
it's about effing time

 

[Superhero 101]

I actually liked this episode a lot, you really get that Wolverine feel and i like how you learn more about him.

 

[EnDz0n3]

So i guess no new show (or old show for that matter) this week? Instead we got a Charlie Brown Valentine-themed show...

 

[Dread]

Yeah, this weekend W&TXM is pre-empted for holiday programming. At least it is only for a week instead of a whole month.

I agree with the sense of "Wolverine feel" for the episode, and that Rogue got some moments too. Granted, this was from the crew that arguably created the best version of her for EVOLUTION, so they naturally have a soft spot for her (and Nightcrawler).

 

[bryanss3]

I didn't care for this episode much.

I don't like when they have Wolverine in the black costume. it hakes his head look like batman

 

[EnDz0n3]

I also don't get what the point is of the black costumes. It's almost like midseason they figured "hey let's put in them in black costumes".

In the movies, it makes sense, I couldn't imagine Wolverine et al in yellow/blue threads. In a kids show, they can get away with colored get-ups...actually if they want to attract the young'uns they should be more inclined to go that route.

 

[Dread]

The black costumes are "stealth" costumes and a nod to the X-FORCE comic that Kyle and Yost write. The idea in theory at least is for general missions, bright colors don't matter, but for stealth, it is best to be sneakier.

 

[bryanss3]

I understand that but his head looks like batman when he wears it.

 

[Neptune]

So episode 18 hasn't aired yet?

 

[shadowdog]

not until next week, apparently

 

[Dread]

Upon rewatching this episode, I still like it. The only flaw I see it is that in trying to homage UXM #172-173 (where Silver Samurai and Viper poison the X-Men aside for Logan, Rogue, and I believe Storm), they intentionally or unintentionally made the X-Men into jobbers, losing to ninja that Wolverine can pummel five at a time (Rogue does as well, for a while). In some ways it clashes about as often as when the show makes those obvious, and usually awkward, moments, lines, or scenes where they want to basically say, "Logan superior, Cyclops inferior" that seem tacked on and choppy. Arsenal from Toonzone.net claimed the episode could have easily been rewritten to not include the jobbering, and I kind of agree. The only downside is that would have eliminated some of Logan's pangs of guilt about involving the X-Men. Still, no one will ever hold Logan accountable for this incident, so while it was a nice scene, I don't expect it to matter down the line.

Still, no matter how much I like the episode due to Mariko & Harada, losing to ninjas is jobbering. Has Wolverine ever lost to nameless henchmen in this show to make someone else look good? No. He came very close in "Battle Lines" for Mystique, but, to paraphrase, "close" only counts with horse-shoes and hand-grenades. There was "Badlands", but losing to a Sentinel is not as bad as losing to nameless canon fodder. Plus, now I will have a very hard time taking any threat the X-Men face and overcome seriously, when they couldn't even stop some ninjas. I mean anyone can beat ninjas. Aunt May with a broom could beat ninjas. Throw a rock in any direction in the Marvel Universe, and it hits a ninja. That's how low on the totem pole it was. It was a required story contrivance, and I liked the whole episode, but it was that one crooked sprinkle on the sundae, I guess.

"Jobbering" isn't good writing, it is the easy way out usually taken by such WAR AND PEACE style epics as DRAGON BALL Z. "Oh, my, someone pummeled Piccolo with ease, they MUST be dangerous!" (Not to rag on DBZ fans, but high fiction it isn't.)

Still, "Code of Conduct" was better for me than some of the SIX Wolverine focused episodes, such as "Thieve's Gambit", "Wolverine vs. The Hulk" and even "Past Directions".

 

[TheVileOne]

I feel some day Dread is going to reveal himself to actually be like John Byrne or Greg Weisman.

Wolverine shouldn't be held accountable for this because IT WASN'T HIS FAULT. Unless falling in love with a hot Japanese woman makes him guilty. Wolverine did what he thought was right even though he loved Mariko. He stayed awa from her. He didn't bring that on the X-men. The Yakuza brought it to them.

Is what happened to the mansion and Xavier the fault of the X-men and Xavier?

Please.

 

[Cyma]

"Jobbering" isn't good writing, it is the easy way out usually taken by such WAR AND PEACE style epics as DRAGON BALL Z. "Oh, my, someone pummeled Piccolo with ease, they MUST be dangerous!" (Not to rag on DBZ fans, but high fiction it isn't.)

My little sis watches those anime thingies which honestly bore me to death. And yes she does do that! Even I used to do that with cartoons when I was a kid Thank God I grew out of it. Pretty sure she will too.

But apparently guys don’t mature at all. My bro and cousins still rant on and on about this superhero being more powerful than that And now the writers and their man-love for Wolvie. They could’ve used poison! Or some virus to take down the X-men!

Oh and I ran into the online WATXM game on Marvel’s website and guess what the missions were? Rescue Cyclops, rescue Beast, rescue Shadowcat and Rogue and so on. I’m on level 8 right now

 

[EnDz0n3]

The black costumes are "stealth" costumes and a nod to the X-FORCE comic that Kyle and Yost write. The idea in theory at least is for general missions, bright colors don't matter, but for stealth, it is best to be sneakier.

I get that but haven't they done "stealth" missions in the previous episodes...i don't know...you guys seem to have better memory when it comes to info like this.

So my question is...why now? Why the stealth costumes now? I know this is a kids show but i would actually like to hear a throw away line or just a one-liner explaining the opting of the black costumes out of the blue...so to speak.

 

[Syncos]

There was "Badlands", but losing to a Sentinel is not as bad as losing to nameless canon fodder. Plus, now I will have a very hard time taking any threat the X-Men face and overcome seriously, when they couldn't even stop some ninjas. I mean anyone can beat ninjas. Aunt May with a broom could beat ninjas. Throw a rock in any direction in the Marvel Universe, and it hits a ninja. That's how low on the totem pole it was. It was a required story contrivance, and I liked the whole episode, but it was that one crooked sprinkle on the sundae, I guess.

They did make a point to mention how the ninjas were highly trained assassins. I mean, c'mon they're damned ninjas. If it wasn't for their blatant overuse as henchmen in cartoons (mainly ninja turtles) they'd be untouchable badasses.

I think the point the writers are trying to make (and failing) with the X-Men constantly getting owned, is that they're still not what they once were. They don't have the teamwork they did before disbanding. Oh well.

The scene could have worked better if they would have had the ninjas stealthing up on each member individually and gassing them, without being noticed. Not giving the X-Men a chance to futilly fight back, making them look like chumps. Anyone can lose when you're blindsided, if you get owned face to face it's another story.

I feel some day Dread is going to reveal himself to actually be like John Byrne or Greg Weisman.

Wolverine shouldn't be held accountable for this because IT WASN'T HIS FAULT. Unless falling in love with a hot Japanese woman makes him guilty. Wolverine did what he thought was right even though he loved Mariko. He stayed awa from her. He didn't bring that on the X-men. The Yakuza brought it to them.

Is what happened to the mansion and Xavier the fault of the X-men and Xavier?

Please.

Stick figures are not hot.

But apparently guys don’t mature at all. My bro and cousins still rant on and on about this superhero being more powerful than that And now the writers and their man-love for Wolvie. They could’ve used poison! Or some virus to take down the X-men!

They used knockout gas, was that not good enough?

I get that but haven't they done "stealth" missions in the previous episodes...i don't know...you guys seem to have better memory when it comes to info like this.

So my question is...why now? Why the stealth costumes now? I know this is a kids show but i would actually like to hear a throw away line or just a one-liner explaining the opting of the black costumes out of the blue...so to speak.

I doubt it was the blue they're worried about. More likely the bright yellow.