Rewatch: #06: NOS-4-A2

• He absorbs various energies like plasma.
  
• He can absorb energy even when he’s in his coffin, even from short distances (this includes disintegrating weapons, apparently).
  
• He seems to only be able to absorb energy from a distance. If he is to mind control a robot, he actually has to bite said robot.
  
• But apparently, his abilities cannot extend outside of a security shield, nor can be absorb the energy of said security shield if he is trapped in it.
  
• He can float a few feet above the ground, but uses energy bat-like wings for heights.
  
• He can mimic voices, such as Commander Nebula’s.
  
• He spouts electricity when he wants to be dramatic (a waste of his precious energy, if you ask me).
  
• He has a blue energy blast to hit enemies with that he fires from his mouth. He fires the exact same blasts from his hands too. They seem to bend machines to his will, as well as stun biological foes.
  
• He can control machines and robots—pretty much anything with an internal battery—through biting them. (Perhaps his hand blast activating a bunch of wires came from a device he had previously bitten. Biting XR wouldn’t make sense if he had other ways to mind-control. Or maybe biting is what turns machines into his minions permanently, and energy blasts are for temporary control. XR does appear somewhat “mutated”, given his set of fangs and snake-like tongue.)
  
• A blast from a Ranger’s wrist laser is actually painful to him. Whodathunkit.
  
• Oh, so now he’s Magneto. He raises his hands and the floor breaks apart trying to crush Buzz. (The logical explanation is that seeing as NOS is in control of Star Command, pretty much everything in the system obeys his will. I guess.)

• I’m sad to say that seeing as this is the second episode ever produced, it shows in the dialogue exchanged by the characters. The others call Mira “princess”, and she has to specify that she’d rather they didn’t call her that. This is also seen in “Lost in Time”, the first episode produced in the series, although given what was going on, Mira didn’t have the chance to point it out.
  
• I hate how this is only the second episode ever produced, but they’ve obviously been on a lot of missions together. Why else would Nebula request an evaluation and how else would there be information Buzz could actually view? They should have planned this better, IMHO.
  
• In this episode, Zurg seems to have a line running down the back of his head, but you only see it for a couple of seconds. This isn’t present in other episodes. Planet Z also has several very Shiv Katall-like ships flying around. Sometimes, the animators like sticking very unsuitable-for-Planet-Z space ships flying around. This can be an eye-popper in some episodes. (Warp also mentions Zurg normally having a “strict failure means death” policy, but it’s never mentioned again in other episodes.)
  
• I get the feeling that the Ranger Mission Log was something they only ran with in the early episodes and “The Adventure Begins”. I’m surprised XR even has a mission log.
  
• ...How did Booster not realise something was up when XR started laughing and his eyes glowed red? I mean, really. Booster’s not that dumb, and if they wanted to show the audience something was wrong, they could have had Booster walk out first.
  
• If Buzz and Mira got in, why didn’t any of the other Rangers follow? Did they really just linger outside of Star Command when it was painstakingly obvious that the red alert had been fake?

• The Space Rangers’ wrist lasers can disintegrate objects instantaneously now...? I guess this can be explained by saying they have different settings like the Star Trek phasers. “Set from stun... to kill.” I think Buzz actually said that once in Toy Story, but I always took it as a spoof. Maybe it’s not that far from the mark!
  
• How strong is teryllium carbonic alloy? It seems to be pretty durable, but XR keeps getting blown up. I suppose his limbs are always pretty intact when he does blow up regardless, so it’s only his joints that are weak points. Also, we know they must have similar basic metals to us if Warp calls XR a “tin can”.
  
• Plasma cannons are outlawed by the Galactic Alliance.
  
• The first time we see Beetle models as well as Hornets. (I’m not sure if the red robots have ever been canonically referred to as Beetles, so I’ll have to look into that when we encounter them again.)
  
• Zurg’s machines seem less durable against concentrated firepower. (XR’s guns can blast holes through Beetles.)
  
• XR loves calling Nebula “Pop” and “Daddio”. He also calls him “Pater” in this episode.
  
• There is a “Robo-Freighter Company”, which confirms my previous theory that only robots are found on cargo freighters. And like all ships, the auto-pilots possess black boxes, which you can read more about here if you’re unfamiliar with the term.
  
• Nebula seems to despise robots of all kinds. This extends to machines and computers on a whole. Pretty funny for a futuristic space age if you ask me. xD
  
• Performance evaluations can be conducted if necessary to determine if a Space Ranger is up to snuff. This can be viewed via the mission recorders. I’d assume it’s a camera hidden on their space suits somewhere for other teams, but XR seems to be in charge of that for Team Lightyear. (He really ought to know better than to mock people when a camera’s recording. Everything goes on the service record.)
  
• If Zurg can easily hire freighters to carry his stuff around, no wonder crime is rampant in the galaxy... and hey, who doesn’t like water, hmm? xD
  
• Damn, Star Cruisers actually have pretty big cargo holds!
  
• I also love those one-person bikes the Rangers have. Is it just for space travel or can it be used planetside too, I wonder...
  
• Cool, Star Command has nifty security shields in the science bay. As well as the communications network... or at least a part of it, this wasn’t elaborated much on.
  
• XR sleeps in the science bay? I wonder where all the other Rangers sleep... and he dreams too? Well, I’ll be.
  
• Prior to the events of “NOS-4-A2”, XR saved the Althurian ambassador from a shape-shifting assassin. By the sounds of it, he was to sign some sort of treaty.
  
• When there’s a red alert, there’re white strips on the walls with red lights interspersed along the hallway that blare out and shine brightly.
  
• Nebula likes playing cards with the LGMs, hahaha.
  
• Zurg himself made NOS-4-A2, probably, seeing as he “slaved away for hours in his evil lab” to “give [NOS] life”.
  
• Nebula’s peg leg is amazing. It’s a freaking blaster! It fires purple blasts in quick succession like a machine gun. Also, Nebula’s good at hotwiring stuff. Sweeeeet!
  
• Cool security doors. Very durable. I wonder if they’re made out of teryllium or something even stronger. XR tried to punch through it and it only make an indention of his fist. But NOS-4-A2 streaked clean though it without any problems whatsoever, and even pushed Buzz through one with how fast NOS was going. Maybe not that strong, then... xD
  
• Zurg seems to hold Buzz in high esteem. According to NOS:
  “Zurg led me to believe you were a foe to be reckoned with. He overestimates you.”
  And Buzz says:
  “Leave it to Zurg to create a villain even more arrogant than himself!”
  
• I love XR’s compartment storing so much stuff. Also, that must’ve been some phoney mind-control if XR could snap out of it with Booster showing him his work order... aww, XR must really love Nebula if that’s all it took to snap him out of it. And hooray for suction fingers that can drain all of NOS’s energy. It was rather easy to defeat him, come to think of it...
  
• Okay, I find it funny that Star Command can call Zurg and vice-versa. (In “A Zoo Out There”, they even have his number on speed dial, LOL!)

Steel wrote:
LORE AND OBSERVATIONS

[list]
[*] I also love those one-person bikes the Rangers have. Is it just for space travel or can it be used planetside too, I wonder...
[*] XR sleeps in the science bay? I wonder where all the other Rangers sleep... and he dreams too? Well, I’ll be.
[*] Nebula likes playing cards with the LGMs, hahaha.
[*] Nebula’s peg leg is amazing. It’s a freaking blaster! It fires purple blasts in quick succession like a machine gun. Also, Nebula’s good at hotwiring stuff. Sweeeeet!
[*] Cool security doors. Very durable. I wonder if they’re made out of teryllium or something even stronger. XR tried to punch through it and it only make an indention of his fist. But NOS-4-A2 streaked clean though it without any problems whatsoever, and even pushed Buzz through one with how fast NOS was going. Maybe not that strong, then... xD