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Recap / Atop The Fourth Wall The Clone Saga

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After finishing a review, a duplicate of Linkara suddenly shows up in his house with no memory of how he even got there. Eventually Linksano reveals he'd made a clone of Linkara during his evil days but had forgotten about the project after switching sides. However the clone didn't break out on its own- someone set him free, and now the crew must figure out who and why.


  • Absence of Evidence: One of the most confusing things about the clone that Linksano examines is that it seems to be a perfect clone of Linkara down to his DNA. He explains there are suppose to be telltale genetic signs of something being a clone due to being artificially aged up, and telltale signs if it was from another universe, yet this clone has none of them. When Linksano explains how he cloned Linkara, he states that he wasn't lying about the telltale genetic signs of cloning, and the clone he made of Linkara had those signs, and they can't just be removed either. This initially suggests the clone he examined might not even be the clone he himself created. This is cleared up when it is discovered the "clone" isn't a clone at all, but a revived Mechakara that was accidentally turned human by the Plot Hole.
  • Back from the Dead: Mechakara returns once more despite last seen blown up in the At4W movie. This was due to the Plot Hole's power resurrecting him into a human, though it gave him amnesia for a time.
  • Bait-and-Switch Boss: Two times over even. At first we think it's Whatley (the villain from the Silent Hill comics) but once summoned, he reveals he's not the one controlling things, though he does know who is. Once Mechakara gets his memory back, it seems he will be the main antagonist. But nope, he beams away after a brief fight and the real Big Bad shows up: Mirrorkara.
  • Becoming the Mask: Erinyes was supposed to just infiltrate Linkara's group of friends so she could both steal his coin and aid Mirrorkara in getting his revenge. She came to actually care about Linkara though and became more aware that Mirrorkara was a Bad Boss.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Everyone comes when Linkara calls Nimue to help fight Mirrorkara. Pollo's back online, Jaeris holds Mirrorkara at gunpoint, and 90's Dude, Harvey, and Linksano all warp in ready to kick ass.
    • Of all people, it's Moarte who ultimately stops Mirrorkara in the end.
  • Big "WHAT?!": This is Linkara's reaction to Harvey explaining how he had cloned Spoony following his Final Fantasy VIII review. He utters this again after Linksano reveals why he can't remember it.
  • Body Horror: Upon remembering who he was, Mechakara tried cutting off his face before it dawned on him that he was human now, resulting in his face being littered with torn gashes.
  • Call-Back: Twice in the final episode in the arc. First, Linkara ends up having to do the entire review tied up while while the main villain watches, much like what happened in the final episode of the very first story arc. At the end, he decides that as five more years have passed it's time for another outfit change, much to Jaeris' annoyance.
  • Came Back Wrong: The Plot Hole brought Mechakara back to life, but it made him human in the process.
  • Cerebus Retcon: The bit of Linkara cloning Spoony following the latter's Final Fantasy VIII review is subjected to this for this arc. As it turns out, Linkara genuinely didn't remember that he did this, even after seeing the footage, and is not sure how this happened since he lacked access to such technology back then. Dr. Linksano (uncomfortably on his part) is forced to explain why this is the case.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The arc gives particular focus to both Erin and Linksano.
  • Dead All Along: It turns out that Linkara did have a clone, one created by Linksano back during his villain days, but it was killed by Mirrorkara sometime ago.
  • Easily Forgiven: When Linksano reveals to Linkara about his clone project back in the past- Linkara is initially furious, but eventually calms down and, seeing that Linksano truly is repentant for his actions, forgives him. Likewise Erin is forgiven in her betrayal to Linkara when helping Mirrorkara in his plans.
  • Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
    • At the end of "Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors", after going on a rant about how he has no actual life of his own, Copykara joyously remembers who he is... then starts screaming in horror.
      Copykara: I remember... I REMEMBER! I remember... I remember... I REMEMBER!
      • In the very next episode, Linksano and Linkara's talk is interrupted by the former's computer finding something. He looks over the date only to react in horror. It turns out his computer has revealed that the clone is actually Mechakara, now made human thanks to the Plot Hole.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • During the review for "Batman Odyssey #2", when Linkara as Batman does an "Extreme" gag, several phrases can seen flashing hinting at future developments.
      • The first is "It didn't recreate him correctly", this one likely being in reference to how Mechakara Came Back Wrong, the Plot Hole making him human.
      • The second is "the wizard lied", potentially referring to Linksano going behind Linkara's back after their Forgotten First Meeting.
      • The third is "scales can be manipulated", this one likely in reference to Eliza being manipulated into freeing a malevolent ghost around Christmas.
      • The last is "There were people who supported his quest. They're not happy". During the Contest of Champions, the Blue Knight of Titan warns Linkara that Vyce had followers who believed in what he was doing, and that now that Linkara's killed Vyce, they'll go after him.
    • In "Ravage 2099 #2", 90s Dude makes another trip into the future. While what he learned this time wasn't to the same extent as the Entity possessing Linkara, what he does tell him has implications involved. One such thing is, "Try to go easy on him, he is truly sorry about it." "He" is Linksano, "it" is wiping Linkara's memory and then cloning him.
    • Copykara first appears while Linkara and Linksano are talking to each other. While Linkara is just confused about what's going on, Linksano is horrified.
    • There's a hint that Linksano was doing some kind of cloning a couple of minutes before the reveal via a message on Linkara's whiteboard, in which he reminds himself to clean the cloning tubes.
    • The video that Copykara was watching was the Power Rangers Zeo #1 review, where Mechakara fought Linkara directly a second time.
      • It goes further in that Zeo is a story where the heroes use a blend of technology and magic (like Linkara himself) to fight the Machine Empire, a civilization of robots. When Mechakara showed himself for the first time he claimed to be part of a Robot Apocalypse in his world.
    • Right before the clone claims to remember losing his hand, he's looking at a shelf of various items belonging to Linkara. Among them, a Mimikyu plushie. Mimikyu is a Ghost-type wearing a cloth that makes it look like Pikachu, while its real body is hidden underneath the disguise. Who else does that description fit?
    • The clone remembers losing his hand, and rants about pretending to be Linkara due to being just being a copy in his image. Who does that remind you of?
    • When he pauses before saying the word "Image" in the above quote, he's looking at the Channel Awesome anniversary posters... and in the exact center of them is the poster of To Boldly Flee, which he played a role in.
    • In a way, revisiting the "Smoke and Mirrors" arc of The Clone Saga, given Mirrorkara was the Big Bad.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: Invoked deliberately: when Linkara was struggling trying to clone Spoony, Linksano had reached out to him to help him... only to erase Linkara's memory of the event afterwards (due to his own plan of wanting to clone Linkara and take over the world).
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Linkara's Whiteboard during the Star Trek (2009) comic has some interesting tidbits on it. Not related to the arc per se, but related to the Contest of Champions. This includes how to pronounce Scarn's name, asking where Eliza is, emphasizing that they need to fix Neutro, trying to figure out ways to defeat Pilo, a crossed out idea on dog food training (since Ace Corgi was eliminated early in the tournament), a note from Boffo that just says "Honk", notes from Snowflame, and most hilariously, Training Montage music choice possibilities.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Mechakara immediately took a knife to his face upon remembering who he was, and realizing "it got [him] wrong" only drove him further into insanity.
  • Halfway Plot Switch: The arc begins following the mystery of Linkara's clone, with him and Linksano investigating where it could have come from and revealing that Linksano cloned Linkara in secret years ago, before they eventually discover that it's not a clone at all but Mechakara having been revived by the Plot Hole and turned human by it by mistake. After a brief fight where Mechakara escapes, it is revealed that Mirrorkara is the true villain of the arc, having brought Mechakara back to Earth and killed the clone Linksano had kept at some point off-screen.
  • I Owe You My Life: Erin betrays Linkara due to Mirrorkara saving her in the past from a hostile dimension, though she's clearly not enjoying it. However, even her patience has its limits when Mirrorkara insults her robot buddy.
  • Kick the Dog: After deciding to bring the Anniversary Movie posters into his rant against Linkara, Mirrorkara notices his grimace and can't help but gleefully mention he touched a nerve, and how Linkara clearly didn't like "that whole affair".
  • Killed Offscreen:
    • The clone that was in Linksano's lab was actually kidnapped by Mirrorkara and used as a test subject for his Agony Beam.
    • Also the fate of Mirrorkara after he enters the storage room while it's still October. Moarte's a ghoul, and ghouls in mythology are man-eaters...
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Linksano, back in his villain days, helped Linkara clone Spoony, then mindwiped him with a virus after getting some of Linkara's DNA to clone him as part of a plan he never finished.
  • Lightning Reveal: Once when the so-called-clone reveals his true identity as Mechkara, a brief flash of lightning shows Mechakara's original robotic skull as dramatic emphasis of his true identity.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: When Harvey brings up how Linkara cloned Spoony after he died at the end of his Final Fantasy VIII review, Linkara is genuinely confused to hear that this happened. And even after seeing the footage, he has no idea how this could have happened since he didn't have the technology back then.
  • MacGyvering: When explaining to Harvey that there was no way he had the technology for cloning back in 2009, Linkara admits that Pollo was originally made out of a water heater.
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After Mirrorkara insults Erin's robot friend while demanding she help him, "[her] better" instead, Erin quickly turns on him.
  • Never Trust a Title: The title of the arc is ultimately misleading, as very little of it has to do with an actual clone. The copy of Linkara met at the beginning is established by Linksano to not be a clone after he scanned him, and is later revealed to be Mechakara having Came Back Wrong, Mechakara originally being a mirror counterpart to Pollo wearing Linkara's skin. The true antagonist of the arc is Mirrorkara, and while he's an Evil Counterpart to Linkara, he's not a clone either. The only "clone" mentioned is the one Linksano is revealed to have made of Linkara when they first met and had been stolen, but even that is a Red Herring as Mirrorkara stole and killed it while testing his Agony Beam.
  • Oh, Crap!: It was blatant Tempting Fate, but in the middle of Linkara stating that he now feels like he knows who he is, he trails off mid-sentence... because another him has appeared at the bottom of the stairs, confused and scared.
  • Out of Focus:
    • Eliza disappears after the events of the Sleepwalker Arc, with no one knowing where she is. Ninja Style Dancer in particular is looking for her.
    • Pollo is attacked early in to the arc and left in critical condition, requiring he be repaired by Linksano for most of the arc. By time he does return, its already the final battle.
  • Red Herring: The clone the title is named after. We're lead to believe that the Linkara that appears before the main one is the clone and that he escaped from Linksano's lab, supported by the fact that one of the tubes in there has a hole in it. However, Linksano's initial scan reveals he is not a clone, and that the tube was broken from the outside, meaning someone stole him. This is later supported by Whatley meeting the copy and recognizing him while saying he isn't a clone. We later find out that said clone was stolen and killed offscreen by Mirrorkara, and the copy we see is Mechakara, whom Mirrorkara used for his plans.
  • Revenge: Mirrorkara's endgame is naturally revenge against Linkara.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Linkara gives one to Mirrorkara who spent all his time since his last defeat just plotting to take revenge on Linkara rather then just move on with his life.
  • Sanity Slippage: Regaining his memories and realizing he was now human has basically destroyed what little remained of Mechakara's sanity.
    Mechakara: I hate this face... Am I doomed to it forever now?!
  • Shout-Out:
    • While looking for what Copykara's origin might be, Linkara mentions he went to ask all his fellow former Channel Awesome reviewers. He briefly mentions Phelous asked if his family name was D1.
    • When Mirrorkara is starting to talk about what happened since he last met Linkara and wonders if he should tell Linkara about his "scars", Linkara retorts "Was your father a drinker and a fiend?"
    • "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Mirrorkara sees one to both Camelot and Judd Winick's Outsiders (2003) run in Linkara's mocking of Mirrorkara's plan: the former by quoting, "Revenge, the most worthless of causes," and the latter with an homage to a similar line in Winick's first arc, where Lex Luthor mocks the Joker's obsession with Batman, telling Mirrorkara he'll never take him to the prom.invoked
    • Later in the episode, Moarte, just as he is about to kill Mirrorkara, gives him a Pre-Mortem One-Liner that is a nod to the beginning of Phantasm.
  • A Simple Plan: Mechakara rants about this, citing his plan to kill Linkara has going much longer then intended.
    Mechakara: One... Mission... I CAME HERE FOR JUST ONE! MISSION! AND I HAVE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS!
  • The Stinger: At the end of the Hellraiser review (and likewise the end of the saga) we see Mechakara in an unknown location, getting ready to start his plans again.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After a brief scuffle, Mechakara finds himself too wounded to finish off an incapacitated Linkara and opts to flee for the time being.
  • Vocal Evolution: A subtle example, but Mechakara's voice as Copykara starts out soft and reserved, slowly grows louder and more like Linkara's voice, then flips into screaming rage and insanity upon his realization of his true identity and new nature.
  • Webcomic Time: Inverted: Linkara made a point of recording a bulk of episodes up to the 10th anniversary video in advance in preparation of the yearly October nonsense. As such, the storyline segments take place over a short time frame.
  • Wham Line:
    • When Harvey reminds Linkara of when he clones Spoony after he died at the end of Final Fantasy VIII review, how does Linkara respond?
    • "I am the one they call Mechakara."
    • Mirrorkara: Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
    • A more unfortunate one occurs during the "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" review, when it's all but stated that the #ChangeTheChannel ordeal happened in-universe.invoked
      Mirrorkara: I'm in pain seeing you needing (gestures towards the Anniversary Movie posters) other people to prop you up! (Linkara noticeably grimaces) ...oh, that touched a nerve, didn't it? Yes, that whole affair was really not fun for you, was it?
    • Linkara revealing that Mirrorkara doomed himself by going into Moarte's room: "It's October, and we stay out of the supply room in October."
  • Wham Shot:
    • Linkara's clone of course showing up for one.
    • Linksano heading into a part of his lab... and revealing a tube with a hole in it.
    • The clone, holding a knife, with his face sliced and bloody.
    • The ultimate instigator behind all of the events of the Clone Saga is revealed to be... Mirrorkara!
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Naturally Linkara isn't happy when he finds out Linksano cloned him. To his credit, Linksano makes no excuses for his actions and accepts all responsibility for them.

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