Produced 2006, aired in U.S. on 7/9/07
Production order: 39 (3-2)
Getting lost in the Ghost Zone leads to Danny and friends meeting Frostbite and learning of the Infi-Map, an artifact Vlad himself is keen to get his hands on.
Tropes found in this episode:
- Androcles' Lion: Played with; Danny does remove the shard of ice that is enraging Frostbite, but because he and his tribe already know of Danny as "Savior of the Ghost Zone", they were his (unknown) allies from the start. So saving the hurting animal didn't create friendship or loyalty, it simply restored what would have been there to begin with.
- Artistic License – History: A very common mistake made in media, but the Salem Witch Trials did not have the accused burned at the stake.
- Been There, Shaped History: Danny uses his powers to help the Wright Brothers land their plane after Vlad blasts a hole in the wing. He poses for the photograph, albeit invisible.
- Covers Always Lie: Frostbite looks like an antagonist in the title card. In the cartoon, he and his tribe are Always Lawful Good and Danny's allies from the beginning.
- Call-Back: It turns out Frostbite and his people worship Danny for defeating and resealing Pariah Dark in Reign Storm.
- Dramatic Irony: This is played for comedic effect towards the end, when Danny and his friends donate a "statue" to town hall in honor of 'Mayor Vlad'. Everyone is proud to see the statue, and Jack even comments on his admiration of it. The thing is, the statue is Vlad, turned to ice by Frostbite and the collective denizens of the Far Frozen.
- Foreshadowing:
- Whenever Vlad asks the Infi-Map to "take him to his destiny" so he could rule the world — in every period of time (from Rome and China to North Carolina), Vlad is condemned and banished by the people he wanted to control for himself. This episode highlights Vlad's true destiny: to be isolated, alone, and lose everything in his thirst for supremacy.
- By the end of the episode, one of Frostbite's people wonders if Danny will ever return to the Far Frozen. Frostbite confirms he will by saying "[Danny] has more in common [with the Far Frozen tribe] than he realizes".
- Hypocrite: Vlad expresses great annoyance at Team Phantom following him around in the Ghost Zone to foil his plans, never mind that he followed them to Salem to take the Infi-Map from them.
- Make Wrong What Once Went Right: Vlad attempts to use the map to rewrite history in his favor. Thankfully, Danny foils all of his attempts to do so... that, plus a combination with Vlad's own ego destroying all his chances of ruling the world.
- Ninja: For no reason other than Rule of Cool, Danny stops Vlad from finishing off the Shaolin Monks while dressed in Ninja garb.
- Non-Indicative Name: The episode is not just about the actual infinite realms of the Ghost Zone, but is also a time travel episode. One wonders if this happened because David Carradine was unavailable to play Clockwork and they didn't want to recast him.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Downplayed, but the mother who comforts her child before Danny unwittingly scares them lacks the "lipstick look" other females in the series have. This is justified; as this is set during the era Roosevelt was president, she likely couldn't afford it.
- Potty Emergency: After eating three pounds of Blood Blossoms, Tucker ends up having to run to the can every three minutes.Tucker: Curse you, vegetables!
- Rampage from a Nail: The whole reason Frostbite was acting animalistic is because a shard of ice was in his neck. Once Danny gets rid of it, he calms down and returns to being a very amiable Nice Guy.
- Strong Family Resemblance: John Fenton Nightingale looks very much like Jack Fenton in a Halloween costume, right down to the same orange of his jumpsuit. Rob Paulsen also does his voice the exact same as Jack's.
- Take Over the World: This episode marks the first instance in which Vlad expresses a desire to rule the world, something that was only barely hinted at in the previous two seasons. It's implied that losing the perfect clone of Danny in "Kindred Spirits" and Maddie denying him numerous times has caused Vlad's sanity to slip and resort to world domination.
