The Galactic Enforcers are no more.
After having taken over ten planets as well as having defeated their greatest champions, Vilgax returns to Earth to challenge Ben in an upcoming battle for control of the planet.- The Bus Came Back: After not appearing since the original show, Vilgax makes his grand return to the series. The Galactic Enforcers also return, but...
- Bus Crash: Vilgax defeats Ultimos and steal his powers, seemingly killing him.
- Call-Back: Ben and Kevin's love for Sumo Slammers is brought back when the two of them get excited over the announcement of a live-action movie.
- Costume Evolution: Vilgax notably wears a much colourful outfit than his previous one, with both blue and red colours. He also has removed his cybernetic implants.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Max and the Plumbers' helpers attempt to battle Vilgax and force him off the planet, but he utterly defeats them by demonstrating all of his abilities on them.
- Cliffhanger: Kevin attempts to hack the Omnitrix and unclock Master Control, but he fails, which causes a massive explosion, with the episode ending here.
- Insane Troll Logic: Ben somehow gets the idea from Azmuth telling him not to hack the Omnitrix, that it is a test where he must earn the Master Control power in the Omnitrix by hacking it.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: During the scene where the two of them attempt to hack the Omnitrix, Ben decides to make a little joke about the animosity he and Kevin had back in the original series.Gwen: I don’t think this is such a good idea.
Kevin: Relax. I’ve been, uh, acquiring stuff we need to fix the Omnitrix for months.
Ben: (smirking) Years if you count back to when you were trying to steal it from me.
Kevin: (smiling) Let it go, Ben… - Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?: Ben keeps on reminding people that he saved the universe.
- Retcon: The previous episode strongly implied the Omnitrix had been reset to another new 10 aliens, but this episode shows Ben still has his main Alien Force roster, along with the original series aliens he'd used in "War of the Worlds" (those being Cannonbolt, Upchuck, and Way Big).
- Same Character, But Different: Vilgax returns, but his voice, mannerisms, and abilities are nothing like they were in the original series; instead of relentlessly chasing after the Omnitrix, he's been spending the last five years conquering worlds to steal the powers of their greatest warriors. The only quality that truly remains is his hatred of Ben.
- Shout-Out: Vilgax can shoot lasers out of his eyes as well as direct them at his targets similarly to Darkseid. His glove also resembles Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet.
- Soft Reboot: Despite continuing where "War of the Worlds" left off, the new season establishes a vastly new direction and status quo for the series: Ben is regressed to act more like his 10-year-old self, and a highly revamped version of Vilgax returns as Ben's Arch-Enemy. While it's most obvious with Ben and Vilgax, all the other characters have been similarly altered to fit the more episodic, lighthearted tone.
- Squee: Ben "fangirl screams"
upon learning that there’s going to be a Sumo Slammers movie. - Took a Level in Jerkass: Ben notably has gotten more cocky after ending the Highbreed war.
- Tuckerization:
- All 4 of Man of Action’s founders get a Shout-Out. Joe Casey and Joe Kelly as the name of the peace accords that Vilgax abuses to conquer worlds with zero effort (the Casey-Kelly Accord) and Steven Seagle and Duncan Roleau as the names of Vilgax’s new weapons (the Ruby Ray of Roleau and the Shield of Seagle).
- Ultimos's home planet is named here as T.K, after his original voice actor.
- Uncertain Doom: Ultimos is defeated in battle and never returns again, but it's left vague wether he was killed or not.
- The Worf Effect:
- The Galactic Enforcers get utterly curbstompted by Vilgax in order to establish he's still as powerful as before.
- On a minor note, Kevin and Gwen are also unable to defeat Ssserpent without Ben's help.
