Code Lyoko

Director
Jerome Mouscadet
Country of origin
France
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2003

Code Lyoko: Seasons Two and Three

By Aki
25th Nov 06

Code Lyoko has finished its second and third seasons, and there are rumors that a fourth season is on the way. Season Two brought major changes to the plot line and certain character portrayals, probably because it was not produced by the same company that created Code Lyoko and launched Season One. Basically, the new writers tried to make the plot more complex, more twisted and interesting, and in doing so they completely undermined the solid structure that the show was originally built on. It’s as if they took a house off it’s foundation, changed the foundation, and then tried to put the house right back on top. But, since the foundation is no longer the same as it was before, the house doesn’t sit right anymore and it’s all tilted and askew.
That’s what Code Lyoko’s second season feels like.
With that said, you can probably tell that this is not going to be a very optimistic review. I am not terribly pleased with the second season of Code Lyoko, and find that I prefer the original episodes.
Where to begin? There were so many changes that it’s almost hard to keep track. We have our five main characters of course, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita, and they are continuing to fight against the rogue computer program Xana as he launches attacks against the real world. That is where the similarities end.
First of all, in the original season, Aelita was a digital being stuck inside the computer on the world of Lyoko. She did not exist in the real world, and she never had. Part of Jeremie’s goal in season one was to create a human body for Aelita, so that she could exist in the real world and they could shut down Xana and Lyoko without killing her.
In the last episode of season one, Jeremie still hadn’t truly fixed this problem of permanently materializing Aelita. In the very first episode of season two, Jeremie suddenly has the answer and Aelita is now living in the real world 24/7, going to the same school and living like a normal human being. Fans of the show are left thinking, “When the heck did this happen?”
As a result of her newfound humanity, Aelita experiences many nightmares and dream sequences. Through these, we discover that she was originally human (not a computer program at all!) and sent to Lyoko by her father who then disappeared.
This is another huge disappointment. In the original season, it is an absolute fact that Aelita is in no way human. There is no doubt that she is a computer program, created to help keep Xana in check. How else could she share the same abilities as Xana? How else could she be the only one able to deactivate his towers and reverse the damage that he causes?
Speaking of Xana attacks, that’s another thing that was changed. Instead of Xana attacking the real world in order to kill humans, he focuses all his energy on attacking Aelita inside Lyoko. His main goal in season two is to steal her memory through the use of a new monster. At the end of season two we eventually find out why his focused switched from humans in general to Aelita specifically, but the reason is not a terribly good one and it doesn’t come across as very satisfying. In the meantime, viewers have no idea why Xana is suddenly acting so strangely, changing is tactics, and it becomes a source of confusion and frustration.
The final major change was the introduction of Aelita’s father, Franz Hopper, who apparently created Lyoko and Xana, and then tried to hide himself and his daughter in Lyoko. Who he was trying to hide from and why, we never find out. All we know is that Jeremie discovers Franz Hopper’s journal, and Aelita begins to have memories about her father and being sent to Lyoko. They assume that Xana has Franz Hopper trapped somewhere on Lyoko, and one of their new goals becomes locating and rescuing him. Unfortunately, everything that the series does with Franz Hopper is too vague, and the issue is never resolved.
One of the few good things that came out of season two was that the writers took the time to really develop some of the supporting characters. There is a girl named Sissi, who happens to be the principal’s daughter. She has a crush on Ulrich, and rivals Yumi for his attention. In season one she is portrayed as nothing more than a whiny snob, and she comes across as extremely annoying. In season two, there are a few episodes where Sissi is used for more than just antagonizing the main characters. At one point she manages to find out the whole secret about Xana and Lyoko, and she is a huge help to the main characters. We get the chance to actually get to know her better and bond with her for a bit, until time is reversed and she loses her memory of everything that had happened. She also exhibits a softer, caring side to her character in other episodes where she tries to protect younger students from harm during Xana’s attacks, the exact same students whom she was mercilessly mean to in the original season.
We are also introduced to a few new characters who complicate the established relationships. One of the more solid original pairings is Ulrich/Yumi, but in season two we are introduced to William, whose character is used fairly often. He is in the same class as Yumi and happens to develop a crush on her, putting some interesting strain on the Ulrich/Yumi relationship. There are also hints that he may eventually find out about Xana and possibly join the original group. It was one of the few things I looked forward to in season three.
And then I watched season three, and if possible, was even more disappointed. At the end of season two, Xana managed to free himself from the confines of Lyoko. He can now exist in any computer system in the world, at anyplace on the internet. Seeing as he is no longer trapped in Lyoko, shutting off the super computer and Lyoko down won’t kill him.
Also, Xana gets the idea in his head that because he doesn’t need Lyoko anymore, he can just destroy it himself. He begins sending monsters into a special sector of Lyoko to destroy its core, and part of the new thing our main characters now have to do is protect that area and keep it from being deleted.
So, in a show called Code Lyoko, the virtual world of Lyoko has become expendable. The only reason Jeremie and the others are still trying to keep it operational is because Xana still launches attacks from time to time, and Aelita needs to be able to get to a tower and deactivate it. If Lyoko were to cease existing, they would have no way of stopping Xana’s attacks.
Unfortunately, the writers don’t seem to take that one reason for keeping Lyoko alive seriously. Xana begins using a tactic to seize temporary mind control of Aelita, and then uses her on Lyoko to begin destroying the sectors one by one. In just thirteen episodes, we lose all four main sectors of Lyoko. I would like to mention that at this point, everything that the series started with has completely disappeared, with the exception of the characters. Aelita is no longer on Lyoko, and in fact the world of Lyoko that we were first introduced to is close to no longer existing.
The good thing that came from Season Three was the addition of the new team member; and a powerful one at that. It was really very cool to have someone new to look at in the computer generated animation, along with the new abilities, weapons, and moves that came with him. Sadly, the writers also managed to take the fun out of that new character by dragging out his addition to the group until what can only be described as the very last second; we only get to see him in action for less than half of an episode, and then they do the worst possible thing they could of done—they immediately turn him evil.
How the writers are going to continue this show, I don’t know. I’ll be watching Season Four out of sheer curiosity.

-- Aki 25th Nov 06

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