Zim was (almost) brutalized.
Earth is stolen by the planet jackers, a race of aliens who steal planets and throw them into their sun for kindling. Zim must save the Earth from being destroyed by anyone but him.
Tropes
- Artistic Licence - Space: All over the place in this episode, but the biggest is easily the Planet Jackers' entire plan. Not only are planets tiny compared to stars, but stars die either because they run low on hydrogen or, for bigger ones, because heavy elements accumulate in their cores and produce less energy from fusion. If anything, adding more heavy elements from rocky planets like Earth would make their sun die sooner.
- Badass Boast: Zim delivers one to the Planet Jackers after he annoys them enough.Zim: FOOLS! I am Zim! Irken Invader Zim! I am responsible for the safe obliteration of the Human Race: not you! Release the planet, thief!
- Big "NO!": When Zim realizes that Earth has been stolen.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Zim goes head-to-head with the larger Planet Jacker and is promptly beaten to a pulp. Justified in that the battle was purely a distraction from Zim's ship laser-cutting through the dome containing the Earth.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: Zim fighting the Planet Jackers to save the Earth and Humanity from being destroyed within the sun of the Planet Jackers home star system, all so he could go about trying to destroy the planet himself for the glory of the Irken Empire.
- Eye Scream: When Zim and Gir crash into the fake sky that the Planet Jackers are projecting back down to Earth, one of Zim's eyes briefly pops out of his skull. He pops in back in in the next shot.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: Zim managed to free the Earth, except it's now wandering aimlessly in orbit, and the moon crashes onto the surface before being carried off.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Zim wants to save the Earth from the Planet Jackers not out of concern but because he'd hate for anyone to destroy it but him.
- Planetary Relocation: The title characters attempt to throw Earth into their dying sun in order to sustain it, like kindling to the fireplace. It doesn't seem to occur to them that they could just move their own homeworld around a healthy star instead.
- Shout-Out
- While Zim is standing at Dib's door, Gir pretends to crush his head.
- The Planet Jackers' opening conversation mirrors a similar scene in Fargo.
