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Recap / Ben 10 S4 E3 "Don't Drink the Water"

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While the Tennysons are at a carnival in Florida, Hex shows up looking for the Fountain of Youth, much to the horror of one carnival employee in particular. Things get even worse when an accident with the fountain ages Grandpa Max down to ten and Ben down to four.

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  • Batman Gambit: Gwen talks down to the four-year-old Ben on how there is no way he can beat Hex now that Hex is young again, and specifically mentions him going Heatblast to rile him up and make him mad. She does this knowing that his reduced age will cause him to have a temper tantrum, and Heatblast's fire will grow so strong that it will destroy the fountain of youth. As she says, "four-year-olds always have meltdowns".
  • Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill...: Said while perusing Charmcaster's spellbook to find a cure for an age-regressed Max:
    Gwen: Nope... won't work... wrong spell... only applies to armadillos?
  • Blessed with Suck: When young Grandpa Max marvels at the carnival employee's gift of being a young man forever, the latter says that it's more like a "curse", since he can't marry or have a family. This convinces Max to see his elderly age (along with being a grandfather) in a new, appreciative light.
  • The Cameo: Charmcaster appears at the end to tease the De-aged Hex.
  • Compressed Vice: Grandpa Max suddenly starts being sensitive about his age and how it negatively affects him. Though he has mentioned he is old previously in the series it never stopped him from pulling off death-defying stunts and kicking villain butts with Ben and Gwen. Here he is shown to want to be young forever so he can learn to appreciate the time he has left with his family.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Now that baby Heatblast has (unintentionally) destroyed the fountain, Gwen points out that the carnival employee will no longer be immortal, doomed to eventually grow old and die. But the way he sees it, not only does this free him from his duty of guarding the fountain, but it also means he can live his life now.
  • Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Four-year-old Ben slips into this at one point, to his embarrassment.
    Ben: Going hewo! ...Uh, hero.
  • Fountain of Youth: The entire plot of the episode revolves around the literal one found by Ponce de Leon.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Hex wanted the fountain of youth to restore his youth. He does, but after baby!Heatblast gets excess water onto the warlock, he is de-aged into a small child.
  • Jerkass Ball: Gwen as usual. She makes fun of Ben when he's reduced to 4 years old and at the end tells him "age before ugly" when saying Max should go first.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Max and Ben's maturity takes a nosedive when they're de-aged. Max would rather slack off and have fun, much like Ben does normally, while Ben acts like an actual four-year-old. The latter ends up being pivotal in the Tennysons defeating Hex, as Ben's lowered capacity for emotional regulation makes it easy for Gwen to needle him into throwing an angry tantrum as Heatblast, which evaporates the entire fountain.
  • Really 700 Years Old: The Carnival Employee. Biologically, he looks in his 20s or 30s, but in reality, he's chronologically lived hundreds of years guarding the Fountain of Youth.
  • Too Dumb to Live: The conquistador charged with guarding the Fountain of Youth decided to take some of it and become a carny running a dunking game.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: The carnival employee is the one originally tasked hundreds of years ago with guarding the Fountain of Youth. He laments that the immortality required for the job means he can’t have a normal life.

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