Gary and the crew go into Bolo's mind to cure his bout of madness.
This episode provides examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg:
- Bolo, in his madness, rips an arm off.
- In his backstory, Fox got his hand removed.
- Badass in Distress: The guardian of Bolo's mindscape requests help from Team Squad to save Bolo's mind from being fully corrupted by the infection Oreskis gave him after stabbing his arm.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Ash starts out the episode still dead set on finding Fox. And oh, she finds him alright...possessed by Invictus and used to play her and Gary like a fiddle.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Inside of his mind, Bolo has different fragments of himself representing different parts of his personality.
- Avocato (and seemingly Ventrexians as whole) have a "danger gland" that warns him of possible threat, located on his neck.
- The Bus Came Back: Bolo's mindscape guardian returns after being absent since Chapter 8 and is just as short-tempered as ever, although this time it's very much justified since Bolo is in danger.
- Downer Ending: Fox is truly gone and Ash blames Gary for it, unaware that Invictus manipulated her and possessed Gary's arm to stab Fox's empty shell of a body. The last scene of the episode is Ash cradling Fox's body in the void of space.
- Frame-Up: Invictus frames Gary for Fox's murder in this episode by killing Fox beforehand after possessing him then making the corpse appear alive in front of Ash to deceive her, and finally using Gary's mechanical arm to stab the corpse.
- Gory Discretion Shot: In Fox's flashback, just before the buzz saw reaches Fox's hand, the scene cuts to his musical instrument falling to the floor and breaking.
- Killed Off for Real: Fox; by the time that the crew went into Bolo's mind, he was already dead and Invictus was maneuvering him like a puppet.
- Manipulative Bastard: Invictus is in top form in this episode. It manipulates Ash into thinking Fox is still alive, then briefly possesses Gary's arm in order to "kill" Fox right in front of Ash.
- Meat Puppet: Invictus puppeteers Fox's body to have him interact with Ash.
- Mental World: Team Squad once again enters Bolo's mindscape but compared to the bizarre and colorful world seen in Chapter 8, this time it's dark and desolate, inhabited by fragments of his different personalities due to the infection Oreskis inflicted upon Bolo during their confrontation.
- Mistaken Identity: Ash confuses Quinn for Nightfall due to seeing the chip in her head.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Invictus may be the real culprit, but Gary's reaction to Fox's blood on his arm-sword says it all, punctuated by Ash crying out that he killed her beloved brother.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Upon Ash's return to Galaxy Two, Avocato notes how his "danger gland" is acting up. It comes off as a metaphor for instinct or gut feeling, but as he reveals to Gary (much to Gary's disgust), he actually does have an organ on his neck that warns him of imminent danger.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the wake of Fox's death, Gary responds to HUE's cookie offering by smashing up the dispenser in a fit of rage and defeat.
- Origins Episode: We learn more about Fox's past...unfortunately it's also the episode where it's revealed he's been Dead All Along after Invictus possessed him a few episodes ago.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Fox is surprisingly calm upon reuniting with Ash instead of his usual cheerfulness. This is a sign that he is still possessed by Invictus.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Fox, one of the goofier members of Team Squad, dies, to emphasize how dark the show is getting.
- Slasher Smile: Invictus spouts several as Fox.
- Start of Darkness: Ash's begins when Fox is killed by Gary (even though Invictus killed him first) and she blames him for it, thus developing a hatred towards him, which is what Invictus wanted.
- Wham Episode: Fox is killed, or rather, Fox was already dead and Invictus was using him as a means of making Ash fall into despair and disillusion with Gary and the crew.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ash is positively beside herself with tearful rage at Gary for letting Fox die, and even Bolo for trying and failing to alleviate the situation (and implicitly for letting himself become an avenue for the events of the episode to happen to begin with).Ash: GARY! WHAT DID YOU DO?!Gary: I...I didn't...Ash: YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!!!
