Aelita is left alone in her dorm for a vacation, and she suddenly gets a message from Franz Hopper, asking for them to meet on Lyoko.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Ulrich is forced once again to put up with his father's constant berating of him, not seeming to care about the reason why Ulrich's grades are so low, and continues have a very low opinion of his friends despite not knowing them; his mother's actions aren't much better, being an enabler that just sits by and watches her husband berate Ulrich.
- Art Shift: Aelita's dream sequence, as per the first time. This time, it fills in more of the story, and Aelita's mother had been taken away by The Men in Black, and she's shown crying her eyes out at this loss.
- Ball of Light Transformation: When we get to see Franz Hopper on Lyoko, he is in the form of a ball of light.
- Batman Gambit: In this episode, the Lyoko Warriors figure out for sure why XANA wants to throw Aelita into the digital sea so badly: to draw Franz Hopper out of hiding, because, being the Papa Wolf he is, XANA knows he'll come out from the digital sea to save his daughter.
- Big "NO!": Uttered by William after Franz Hopper is able to escape him, complete with him gratuitously devirtualizing Aelita and cutting his sword into the ground.
- Big Sister Bully: Odd has five of them, and recalls the day in the last holidays when they locked Odd in the bathroom for an entire night just because they thought it would be funny.
- Call-Back: Multiple:
- Jérémie points out that XANA has previously used Franz Hopper to try to trick the heroes.
- Jérémie also talks about how XANA has trapped Aelita in a simulation bubble, similar to his attack in Ghost Channel; although he doesn't directly allude to the attack, he does use the words "ghost channel" verbatim.
- At the end of the episode, Odd gives presents to the rest of the group, and notices Ulrich and Yumi aren't opening theirs. Ulrich answers that, in Japan, one doesn't open a present in front of the person that gave it to them, as Yumi taught him in Lab Rat. He gives a sideglance at Yumi and blushes as he says this, to which she answers with an appreciative smile.
- Disney Death: Aelita is thrown into the digital sea by William. She gets better however, because she is saved by her father, Franz Hopper.
- Foil: In this episode, Mr. Stern's treatment of Ulrich greatly contrasts with how Mr. Belpois treats his own son, Jérémie.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: XANA Franz did not code in Aelita's Mother, nor does he remember the viking ship name the Skid is named after; both of which clues in Aelita that Franz is still very much out there, and XANA tricked her.
- Love Makes You Stupid: A non-romantic variant. Aelita wants to visit her father so much, that all logic flies off the window, and she doesn't even consider that it's a XANA trap. Aelita wises up later on when XANA doesn't recognize the name of the viking ship the Skid is named after.
- Memento Macguffin: An unintentional one by Jérémie; Aelita's scarf is identical to the one in her flashbacks, which would explain why she likes it so much.
- Open-Minded Parent: Jérémie's father is very receptive to the idea of his 14-year-old son having a girlfriend, even saying how the boy's romance reminds him of his own relationship with Jérémie's mother. Jérémie even reveals that his parents have no issue with Aelita staying over at his house, simply being eager to meet her.
- Shout-Out: To the Star Wars saga, when Odd tells Ulrich "May the force be with you!" when he's about to spend the holidays with his dysfunctional family.
- Uncertain Doom: Aelita's dream reveals that her mother was kidnapped by the The Men in Black. We don't get to know what happened to her afterward.
- Vacation Episode: Similar to "Holiday in the Fog", both episodes feature all the Lyoko Warriors except one going home for vacation, with all of them eventually returning to fight XANA. Both episodes also feature scenes of Odd at the airport about to go through security before turning back to return to Kadic. XANA trapping one of the heroes in a simulation bubble also occurred in "Ghost Channel", and in both cases Aelita destroys the bubble, though events play out very differently in this episode.
- Wham Episode:
- XANA's strategy for this season is finally made clear: He is using Aelita to get to Franz Hopper, his true target, and is trying to throw her into the Digital Sea to force him out of hiding in order to save her. Therefore, giving him the opportunity to try to kill Franz once and for all.
- Also, Franz Hopper himself makes his real, present-day debut.
