Digimon (1999) Revisted - Dark Masters Arc

In the final arc of Digimon Adventure (1999) the Digidestined return to the Digital World, but this time they come by choice. The fate of two worlds are on the line, and the children are ready to do everything in their power to save them both.

This is the end part in a four-part series looking deeper into each of the arcs of the original Digimon Adventure. For the first three, check out the posts for the Devimon Arc, Etemon Arc, and Myotismon Arc.

The Dark Masters Arc runs from episodes 40-54.

(Note: all references to specific names will refer to the dub of the series. Dubs are my personal preference, and this is the version that I grew up with.)

Recap

The Digidestined return to the Digital World only to discover that everything they once knew had been reformed into Spiral Mountain, and many of the friends they met along the way have been either captured or killed. This is all the work of the Dark Masters, four mega level Digimon that have come together to rule over the Digital World.

One by one the Digidestined come up against one of the Dark Masters, and while each lasts a variable amount of time, the children eventually prove their strength and win. After MetalSeadramon’s defeat the children make their way into Puppetmon’s domain, and Matt decides that he need to split off from the group and figure out his own destiny. Mimi makes a similar choice, only to have Joe decide to stay back with her.

After Puppetmon is defeated, Tai leads the remaining group to continue their mission and take out Machinedramon. Meanwhile Mimi and Joe make the choice to look for all the Digimon friends they met along the way so that they can bring together backup for the final battle. Matt’s adventure instead takes him into a dark cave that is both built from and feeds off his negative emotions.

When it is time for the final fight with Piedmon, Tai sends Sora and TK to find the others. They succeed at finding Matt and Joe and race back to the battle. When MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon seem to be holding their own, Piedmon begins turning everyone into keychains.

The battle reaches the point where only TK, Kari, and Angemon remain, and TK finally activates his crest of hope. MagnaAngemon changes everyone back from being keychains, and Mimi arrives with her army of backup. Together they defeat Piedmon, only to discover that this isn’t the end.

The Digidestined face off against Apocalymon, the ultimate evil that has been the reason for their entire adventure. When all hope is lost, they realize just how much they believe in each other, and that power is enough to crush Apocalymon. They return to the newly rebuilt File Island, and say goodbye to their Digimon when they told they will never be able to return.

Introducing the Dark Masters

In the first episode of this final arc (episode 40, “Enter the Dark Masters”), the Digidestined are riding high and feeling invincible. Keep in mind, in the past 12 hours or so, they brought Kari and Gatomon together, they defeated Myotismon (the first time), they had Agumon and Gabumon warp digivolve, and they defeated VenomMyotismon. It has been an insane day for them, where they proved how strong they were every step of the way. But, even after all that, this arc refuses to let the Digidestined keep that energy for long.

When the children arrive back in the Digital World, they can immediately see that everything has changed. Finding Chuumon, he confirms just how bad it is, but none of this is scaring the children like it might have in the past. After everything they had just experienced, how could it? Unlike most of the major villains, the Dark Masters show themselves immediately and completely change this.

As each Dark Master reveals themselves, the Digidestined come at them with a greater show of force than they have ever demonstrated before this point. As MetalSeadramon appears, they waste no time in digivolving to champion. Machinedramon arrives, they all reach ultimate (except Patamon…). Though Puppetmon knocks them all down to in-training/rookie (except Gatomon), Agumon and Gabumon warp digivolve to mega at the sight of Piedmon.

Compare this introduction to the first time other major villains attacked. When Devimon revealed himself the first time (episode 8, “Evil Shows His Face”), the Digidestined were so thrown off that none of their Digimon even got higher than rookie. When Etemon showed up the first time (episode 15, “The Dark Network of Etemon”), both Agumon and Gabumon digivolve to champion only to immediately have Etemon’s dark network send them back to rookie. And finally, when Myotismon first takes them on (episode 26, “Sora’s Crest of Love”) only Palmon and Gomamon digivolve to champion at first, until Biyomon joins the fight and ends up reaching ultimate for the first time.

Speaking of past villains, it is hard to ignore the way these different levels are used. They are all at the champion level against the first Dark Master, just like their battle with Devimon. They reached ultimate for the next two, just like they did for Etemon and Myotismon (though only one of them were able to against Etemon). And then they warped digivolved to take on Piedmon, just like they did against VenomMyotismon.

While this could just be seen as the natural thing for them to do, and stepping up a single level at a time is an incredibly normal choice for anime, with the amount this arc spends on revisiting past locations and past Digimon they have met, it seems reasonable to assume that this was a purposeful choice. In making this a more direct comparison, it also becomes a moment that reveals to the children just how much more powerful the Dark Masters are than anything they have faced before. It is entirely built to take that confidence that they start the episode with and ripping it away by the end.

Unfortunately, this slow build of their power that conceptually is a highlight of the episode, is also its biggest weak point. It feels like nearly half the runtime of this episode is taken up just with digivolving sequences. While it is amazing to see them all fight together like this, the amount of time eaten up with just digivolving slows the pace of it all and keeps the dread from being foregrounded in the way it seems to be aiming for. These long interstitials between each fight essentially hit pause on all the action.

Death in Digimon

Death has been a subject in Digimon Adventure since the very first arc. There is a reasonable argument to be made about Bakemon being the first Digimon to be killed in episode 11, “The Dancing Digimon”. But, his ghostliness and the fact that he isn’t seen becoming data like other dead Digimon makes it a little ambiguous. Without counting Bakemon, the first deaths happen in episode 13, “The Legend of the Digidestined”. Here, not only do the Digidestined all come together to kill Devimon, but Angemon sacrifices himself in the process.

Having Angemon sacrifice himself while he kills the first major villain is way to keep the series from feeling like it is making this kind of fight purely a cool heroic thing to do. They don’t just kill the badguy and celebrate, they have to mourn their own loss to a degree. But, it was with Angemon’s death that the concept of Digimon being reborn after they die is introduced, keeping this as partially a hopeful moment for the day he returns.

It is fitting that the next time we see a “good” Digimon die is in episode 33, “Out on the Town”, the same episode where Angemon makes his first reappearance. In this episode both Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon are killed for helping the Digidestined. Just a few episodes later, in episode 37, “Wizardmon’s Gift”, Wizardmon sacrifices himself because of his loyalty specifically to Gatomon.

Before the Dark Masters Arc begins, those four occurrences are the only times “good” Digimon who die, and always with the caveat that death isn’t permanent in this world. But that all changes from the very first episode of this arc.

In episode 40, “Enter the Dark Masters”, Chuumon jumps in the way of a dagger, sacrificing himself to save Mimi. In the same episode, it is only thanks to Piximon sacrificing himself that the Digidestined are even able to get away from the Dark Masters at all (though, technically Piximon isn’t seen to die until the next episode in the dub). Over the next few episodes, both Whamon and Leomon make similar sacrifices, doubling the death count for the series in an incredibly short period of time. There are more deaths, like the innumerable Numemon, and so many of the Dark Master’s minions that are killed on a whim, but these are the major ones that really spur things on for the Digidestined.

It’s not even just the number of deaths that make this arc so different, but the way it changes the rules of death in this world. When the Dark Masters reshaped the Digital World, they made it so Primary Village no longer functions. This is a concept first brought up in episode 47, “Ogremon’s Honor”, and confirmed in episode 50, “Joe’s Battle”. Until they defeat all the Dark Masters, any Digimon who dies can’t come back to life.

After spending the latter half of the Myotismon Arc in the human world, with the families of the Digidestined on the line, and of course human death always being permanent, this feels like an important change for them to have made. In this final arc, if the stakes were to drop from humans being attacked and possibly dying, to Digimon dying but it is all okay because they can come back, it would feel like a huge step down.

All this death seems to affect Mimi more than anyone else. She is so torn up about everything happening around them, that she decides to stop fighting all together and leaves the group at the end of episode 45, “The Ultimate Clash” (though, Joe decides to stick with her). This kicks off events for what is Mimi’s biggest story in the show. Mimi takes agency for her own choices, not doing things because she is told she has to but questioning things and doing them her own way. While Tai wants to stick to the mission, she refuses. It isn’t until she learns that only through defeating the Dark Masters that their lost friends can come back, that she decides to help, but even that she does in her own way.

Mimi goes around what is left of the Digital World, finding the friends that have helped them in the past, and building an army to help them take down Piedmon. Sadly, a lot of what she does after first deciding to gather their friends is done in the background and never really seen. Her group is bigger nearly every episode she is in, but we don’t get to watch much of the journey she goes on. Even still, it is nice to see her get this kind of development.

The Return of Etemon

Get Digi with it. Etemon is back, baby! The only major villain of Digimon Adventure to come back outside of his own arc for a second stab at beating the Digidestined (this season). Etemon returns in episode 46, “Etemon’s Comeback Tour”, where he shows off his mega level form, MetalEtemon.

While Etemon was a threat to the entire group of Digidestined, in his return he becomes a secondary antagonist to give Mimi and Joe a threat to face off against while Tai’s group handles Puppetmon.

MetalEtemon isn’t the only Digimon to return in a new form in his two episodes. Leomon comes back as SaberLeomon and the two clash in episode 47, “Ogremon’s Honor”. It is this fight which ends with SaberLeomon sacrificing himself for the Digidestined, that gives Mimi the push into what becomes her story for the rest of the season.

When MetalEtemon first appears, he puts on a little show as he sings about how he reached this new level. When he originally lost his fight against MetalGreymon, he was sucked into a blackhole and presumed dead. But, just like how Tai and Koromon were sucked into the hole and just sent to the human world, Etemon also survived and was sent elsewhere.

Etemon was sent to a place he calls “Digimon limbo”. He describes how this world ripped him apart, and how he had to use all his strength just to pull himself back together into a physical form. He could have left, he could have escaped the constant pain, but he refused to leave until he became more powerful. As goofy as Etemon can be, this feels more like a powerup story that would fit in more with something like Dragon Ball Z. It could easy be a Vegeta story.

There is never a lot of time spent on this Digimon limbo, but it might be the most important concept with MetalEtemon’s return given what we later see with Apocalymon. First off, this moment establishes an important precedent for the final battle. In episode 53, “Now Apocalymon”, all the Digidestined and there Digimon have their physical forms destroyed, turning them all into pure data. This is very similar to what Etemon describes going through, and he was able to reform himself with nothing but his own will and anger.

We might also be able to glean a little more from this, but it is getting more into a less provable territory. Thinking about the way MetalEtemon describes how he was constantly being torn apart, how his entire existence became a tortured pain until he could grow stronger, feels very similar to Apocalymon and how he describes his existence. Apocalymon is a being created by the data of destroyed Digimon and knows only these negative emotions. Given all of this, it takes only a small step in logic to see that there might be a connection here. It is possible that the limbo that Etemon was in, was actually either where Apocalymon lives, or, inside of Apocalymon himself. This entire situation could possibly be Etemon fighting his way out of being consumed by Apocalymon after his lost fight.

This is a little hard to substantiate, it is going off just a couple lines without any definite proof, but it does seem to track with everything we are told. At least, there is nothing obvious jumping out to say it definitely can’t be true.

Origin of the Digidestined: Part II

During the Myotismon Arc the Digidestined came up with the idea that they must have been chosen because they were all witnesses to a fight between a Greymon and Parrotmon four years ago. In the Dark Masters Arc, not only is the confirmed for the children, but a lot is explained to them.

Most of this comes out in episode 45, “The Ultimate Clash”, where Kari’s body is temporarily taken over by a powerful entity within the Digital World. This entity is never actually given a name within Digimon Adventure, but it does get one in Digimon Adventure Tri. While I tend to avoid looking at the future, I’m going to refer to them as this name, Homeostasis, just because it will get confusing to keep everything clear without doing so.

Homeostasis describes themselves as “like Digimon”, in that they were created using data from the internet, but they are different in that they do not have a physical body. They are an entity that seeks out balance between the light and darkness and seems to either be the one who chose the Digidestined personally, or at the very least is one who bore witness to it all.

Essentially, the children were right when they assumed that seeing the fight four years ago had them chosen, but they still didn’t know quite how important that night was. They were all scanned that night, their vital information collected, and that information was used for the creation of their digivices, and their crest, and even their Digimon partners.

Crazy information comes out with all three of these things. The children are told that the digivices and crests were never the things that allowed their Digimon to digivolve. This is a power the comes from the children themselves, and these are merely tools that make it easier for them to share their power. More than that, the crests were designed based off data collected from the children four years ago based off of “special qualities” (positive emotions) most obvious in the child at that age.

When we look at how Sora struggled with even the idea of activating her crest in the Myotismon Arc, or how Matt has a huge problem with his in this one, it creates this sense of hard times in the lives of these children taking away from this positive energy they had when they were younger. Sora’s difficulty with her mother and Matt’s outlook on his parents’ divorce changed these children to a point that they struggle with the parts of themselves that Homeostatis tells them were so present back then.

Then there is the idea that the Digimon were created based off the Digidestined data. This small moment explains so much, from how the Digimon knew who the children were since before seeing them, to why their personalities match so well with the children. Looking back to the Devimon Arc, where it seemed like the Digimon were given these personalities as a shorthand to not have to spend as much time developing them, here we’re learning an in-universe explanation.

These Digimon are essentially clones of the children taking on the forms of Digimon. So, every time a child has used the great power of their positive emotions to have their Digimon digivolve to fight back evil, it can almost be seen as their power going toward an avatar of themselves (to a degree).

And, sorry to bring up the future again, but there are also a lot of implications to these Digimon being based off who the children were four years ago and never really aging, especially when looking at the story of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna. I’m not going to talk about this exact thing here because it isn’t relevant to this arc, but for anyone who has seen the movie, just pointing this fact out should hold a lot of meaning.

We also learn why Gatomon was separated from the rest. How Piedmon attacked and killed many of the hooded figures inside of this this place. Gennai was one of them, though he was much younger. He took the eggs and Digivices and tried to bring them all to File Island but was shot and dropped Gatomon’s.

Unfortunately, we don’t learn about what these hooded figures are. Gennai has told us he is like Digimon, but also not. And they can’t be what Homeostasis is, because they have bodies. But they do seem to work either for or with Homeostasis in protecting the balance of this world.

While this may be everything we learn from Homeostasis, Gennai pops in during episode 53, “Now Apocalymon”, to give us a little more. He tells us he was searching through the Dino Ruins, an area that was never given a name when we first saw it, but is the temple that Centarumon was found in back in episode 10, “A Clue from the Digi-Past”. Gennai found an inscription that described the Dark Masters having come from some source that was able to cross through the “wall of fire” (a literal firewall, like, to keep viruses out of computers). While most of this is about Apocalymon, who will be addressed later, what he says next is important for this section.

Gennai tells the children that this has all happened, to some extent, before. Apocalymon is not the first evil Digimon to cross the wall of fire, and they are not the first Digidestined. When it happened last time, the original Digidestined came from the human world and defeated the evil Digimon.

There is an idea brought up earlier on, in episode 47, “Ogremon’s Honor”, where Mimi asks if they were brought to the Digital World to defeat the Dark Masters (or, as we know by the end, Apocalymon), why didn’t they face them first? Why Devimon and the rest? It is Ogremon who tells her that if they went straight for the Dark Masters, they would have died. Leomon takes this idea and runs with it, saying that he believes they were brought to File Island first as a test, to see if they could work as a team. They needed to prove themselves and grow stronger before facing off against the real villain.

If we accept Leomon’s theory as fact (because it does make a lot of sense), then there are a few things that can come out of this. First, if Devimon existed to test the children, who created him? Because he is an evil Digimon looking to take over, the obvious answer is that he is another creation of Apocalymon. But why would Apocalymon create a Digimon that is essentially the first steppingstone to eventually defeating him?

Homeostasis admits to looking for balance, not for fighting specifically for good. Given this situation, it would actually make more sense if Homeostasis was responsible for Devimon, treating him as a necessary element on the long-term journey to balance. We do see that they are responsible for creating the partner Digimon to some extent, so the idea of them creating Devimon isn’t completely without precedence. A similar argument could be made about Myotismon, with Etemon being kind of a wild card on if anyone would have intended to make him or he just happened to turn out like this.

Going back to the question posed in the Myotismon Arc when discussing the origin of the Digidestined, there is at least a partial answer as to why Tai and Kari received the egg that digivolves into Greymon to fight Parrotmon. Homeostasis tells them that they had the power inside them to cause a Digimon to digivolve. So, it wasn’t completely random.

And finally, this is another situation that can end on a pretty major question. If we look at Devimon as a test, that obviously means there is a chance to fail it. If he was purposely designed to be such, was there a plan for what would happen if the Digidestined failed? Were there backup Digidestined waiting to be summoned?

The Crest of Light

Not only does the Dark Masters Arc give us more insight into Kari’s crest, even titling an episode after it, but it also reveals Kari is probably the most powerful of all the Digidestined.

Kari is in possession of the crest of light, but unlike all the others, “light” isn’t exactly an emotion. At least, not as unambiguously. Let’s look at what is said by the entity that possessed Kari’s body (episode 45, “The Ultimate Clash”): “In this world there is a balance of darkness and light. Light represents all that’s good in the world and the darkness is the evil.” Where every other crest is a positive emotion, Kari’s crest of light is instead a pure distillation of the idea of goodness. Much like how light itself contains every color; Kari’s crest of light is every bit of positivity.

In episode 49, “The Crest of Light”, Kari glows with a bright light and has the power to not only heal hurt Digimon but also to give them the energy to digivolve. And not just Gatomon, this isn’t like the other Digidestined giving their own Digimon energy, she gives her power to all the Digimon around her, including giving Agumon the ability to warp digivolve when he was too tired just moments ago.

Keep in mind how the entity that possessed Kari explained that the crests are based off the data of the children. It wasn’t that Kari randomly was given the crest of light, but that she possessed so much positive energy as a child that this was what was deemed most appropriate for her.

There is also the matter of Kari not being the only one able to give her energy to other Digimon. In episode 51, “The Crest of Friendship”, Matt’s strong friendship with Tai is enough to heal WarGreymon. This carries over into episode 53, “Now Apocalymon”, where the children come to realize that they don’t solely get their power from the emotions inside themselves, but the emotions within each other. This seems to go both ways, where, for one example, Tai’s courage gives everyone else strength, but also everyone else’s courage can give him strength.

What this means for Kari is that it isn’t her crest that is so powerful, but her feelings that are. Every one of the Digidestined possess the power to show such emotions that it helps the others, but Kari demonstrates this so powerfully that she heals everyone in relatively large area.

It is also worth looking back to the Myotismon Arc. How in episode 37, “Wizardmon’s Gift” all Kari needed was to just hold her digivice and crest for the first time to activate it and have Gatomon digivolve. Every other Digidestined had their crest and tags for at least a few episodes before anything came of them. But Kari? She didn’t need more than a second to demonstrate her positive energy, she already had it bubbling to the surface.

With the evidence of how well Kari wields the power of light, it is worth looking into just how different it is from nearly all the other crests.

In episode 38, “Prophecy”, the Kari and TK are highlighted as their crests being something special. We could already see a similarity between the two in that they both have angel Digimon, but in this episode it is the power of light and hope that jumpstart both Tai and Matt, giving their Digimon the power to warp digivolve for the first time. Light as pure goodness and positivity works hand in hand with hope to build up the other positive emotions. These are feelings that amplify courage, friendship, love, etc.

Building on this idea of light and hope giving strength to the others, and the importance on innocence in Digimon (an idea first brought up in the Devimon Arc), it is fitting that the children possessing these crests are the two youngest. Taking it further, there is the idea that the strongest positive emotions are coming from the physically weakest Digidestined. This is a point that comes out in part because of the young ages of TK and Kari, but with Kari this goes a little deeper.

Kari is shown to have trouble with illnesses more so than any of the others. In episode 48, “My Sister’s Keeper”, Tai struggles with how Kari once almost died of pneumonia and feels like he is to blame. In this episode, Kari is struck by sickness again to the point that she passes out from overheating. It is never addressed why she is so prone to these ailments, whether her body simply has a weak immunity or what is happening. But, whether it is a chronic illness or not, it is interesting how the show is demonstrating how the character struggling the most physically is also the one with the strongest positive energy.

The Cave of Darkness

Digimon Adventure, especially in its latter half, is a series that puts a strong emphasis on the power of positive emotions. With this being such a strong through-line in the series, it was only a matter of time before it dipped into the darker side of things from a human perspective.

To get some minor background, Matt has lost all sense of purpose. This was a situation that began to show itself in episode 43, “Playing Games”, where he sneaks away from the group in the final moments after TK proves he was able to take care of himself. Things get so bad for Matt that in the following episode, “Trash Day”, Matt isn’t sure he knows what friendship means or if he even believes it can be a real thing at all. There is a degree to which Cherrymon tricks Matt into fighting Tai to prove his worth, but this was always something just below the surface for Matt. The two have fought many times throughout the season, and even gotten physical all the way back in episode 9, “Subzero Ice Punch”.

After this, Matt goes off on his own for a good chunk of the Dark Masters Arc, with his next major moment coming in episode 51, “The Crest of Friendship”. This episode introduces the “cave of darkness”, which appears to be a metaphor for depression. It is a cave that feeds off the negative emotions of the one inside of it and that cuts them off from the rest of the world. When the person falls too deep into their own negative emotions, while their body might still be in the cave, their mind is shown to be deep within a dark ocean.

Matt’s has struggled with letting anyone get close to him ever since his parents split up, feeling like if his own family didn’t want to be with him, why would anyone? He explains how he swore he would never let anyone see him cry, but it was all he ever wanted to do. This bottling of emotions, this feeling of needing to put on a façade to be accept by others, pushes Matt to his darkest point in the cave.

With the help of Gabumon, Matt is able to work his way out of his depression, and the cave disappears. While it was entirely real while Matt and Gabumon were inside of it, the moment he breaks free of the negative emotions he was feeling, the cave is gone and they are able to see rest of the world around them. Matt promises Gabumon to never complain again, but Gabumon tells him that that’s wrong. It is because Matt kept so much inside that he reached this point in the first place. Matt finally agrees to talk about things, but only to Gabumon. It is a small compromise but opening up in even to a single person (or Digimon) in this way helps Matt grow.

But Matt isn’t the only character in this episode that ends up in the cave of darkness. Sora has a very similar reaction, where the pressure of trying to help everyone and keep a brave face in front of the younger children, has gotten to her so dramatically that she falls into her own cave. When Matt, Joe, and TK go inside of Sora’s cave, Matt is giving them tips on how to navigate it. When they see the state Sora is in, Matt is able to open up about his own experience to help her.

As Matt and Joe are speaking to Sora, she is seeing the world as if she were in the dark ocean, just like Matt did in his worst moment. They try to help Sora, but Matt also tells her that there is no one answer, that she has to be able to work through this on her own. He tells her that this isn’t the kind of thing you do because you have to, it is something you need to want to do. Sora struggles with the ambiguity of it all, unsure if she can (or wants to) do anything if she doesn’t have to. She is confused and doesn’t know what is right.

It is Joe who finally gets through to Sora. He talks to her about how none of them know the right answers. How when they first began their adventure, they were completely lost but that never stopped them. That they are in the Digital World for a reason, and that is enough to say that they are the ones capable of doing this.

The entire concept of this cave of darkness is a depiction of what depression can feel like when in the midst of it. The fact that a series that is undoubtably aimed at kids shows off these kinds of feelings, and essentially normalizes that they are things that they may feel, is a big deal. It’s especially great that they are take such a nuanced approach and don’t give any definite one-size-fits-all answers.

Finally, look at who is most involved in this cave. Matt and Sora are the two who personally struggle most and fall prey to it. The two of them possess the crests of friendship and love, and are the only two digidestined we see struggling with the very concept of what their crests mean. Where most crests, say like courage and knowledge, come from something inside of an individual, these two are about emotions as they relate to the people around them. While friendship and love are things that an individual feels, they can only exist in relation to a second person.

Matt and Sora are essentially two character whose strongest traits are about how they connect to other people. The two who put the most into being the kindest to their friends and treating others with love, are the two most struggling with the very concepts of these things, even going so far as to believe they might not be worth of any of it in return.

There is also something to be said about Joe and his crest of reliability. Reliability is a concept that is almost the mid-ground between the others in how internal vs external it is. A similar thing could be said about Mimi’s crest of sincerity, but the very nature of sincerity seems to imply a kind of sense of being one’s true self already. Joe is highly involved in the cave of darkness situation for Sora, directly after he goes off on his own hoping to learn who he really is. He isn’t at the point that Matt and Sora are, where the cave is created around them, but he does seem to be going in a direction where it could happen. 

It seems like the show is trying to demonstrate here that the characters who are most associated with how they relate to people, are the ones who have the most trouble finding who they actually are. They are seen to go so far as putting others above themselves specifically because they feel unworthy.

Impending Dread – MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon

The Dark Masters can essentially be split into two groups, based on both their physical appearances and the actions that they take against the children. The first group we’re going to look at is MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon.

Let’s start out very surface level with their appearances. These two baddies are both goliath-sized monsters covered in metal. The two of them look incredibly mechanical in nature, and Digimon Adventure goes so far as to give Machinedramon android-like mannerisms. While neither is shaped quite like Godzilla or any other major creature from his movies (with Machinedramon sort of coming close, if you squint), these two have a similarly destructive presence and size to Kaiju, mixed with the more analytic thought of a computer.

When we start looking at the episodes that each of the Dark Masters are highlighted in, we can see that this similarity goes even deeper.

Episode 42, “Under Pressure”, is MetalSeadramon’s main episode. In this episode the children are traveling inside of Whamon after being saved by him at the last second. MetalSeadramon is the first of the Dark Masters that the children are up against, and with their confidence brought to an all-time low after their first fight with them (in episode 40, “Enter the Dark Masters”), they see no choice but to run and hide.

Everything about the children’s actions in this episode are about hiding. They are fueled by dread, believing if they are found they will be killed, and that they have no chance against someone so powerful.

Now, let’s compare this to episode 48, “My Sister’s Keeper”, where the children first enter Machinedramon’s city. Even after having defeated half of the Dark Masters, the Digidestined find themselves back in a situation where they feel like all they can do is hide. In this case it is brought on in part by three of their members splitting off from the group, and out of the five remaining children, Kari gets sick and Sora and TK end up taking care of her. This leaves only Tai and Izzy moving about the city, hiding from Machinedramon’s minions while searching out Kari’s medicine.

Against both of these Dark Masters, the Digidestined are caught in a position of feeling like they don’t stand a chance; that if they are caught, that is the end for them. Throughout both episode is this sense that no hiding place could last, that it is all just a matter of time. With MetaSeadramon, his Divermon (named Phil, Sid, and Jim), are searching everywhere in ocean. With Machinedramon, he is tracking every time Izzy connects his laptop to the internet.

This also isn’t the first time that Digimon Adventure has demonstrated this kind of feeling toward machine-like Digimon. In episode 5, “Kabuterimon’s Electro Shocker”, the children stumble upon Andromon, who is infected by a black gear and looks to hunt them down. He is slow moving, but more powerful than anything they had ever faced (he is the first ultimate level Digimon the children ever come across). Though he is eventually freed from the black gear and proves to be an ally that joins up with them again (in episode 49, “The Crest of Light”), during the time where he is against them he is an unstoppable, inevitable, force.

The only other major machine Digimon that the children ever go up against is Datamon (in episode 19, “The Prisoner of the Pyramid, and episode 20, “The Earthquake of MetalGreymon”). While Datamon is never a physical threat in the way these other machines are, it is in part because his body has been partially destroyed by Etemon. And while he isn’t physically powerful, Datamon proves his calculating mind is still a formidable force when he tricks the Digidestined into helping him in order to go about taking down Etemon.

For a series that is all about technology, taking place inside a world inside the internet, these machine Digimon show us a kind of dread for the idea of what happens if technology turns against us. And in the Dark Masters MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon, the whole concept feels like it has been flipped from “if it happens” to “when it happens”, because no matter what the Digidestined do, this single minded machines will find them.

Of course, it must be mentioned that MetalGreymon and MetalGarurumon are both machine-like Digimon who never demonstrate this kind of theming. But, once again looking at Andromon we can see the argument for how being a machine is not necessarily bad, but being machine who is either a virus attribute Digimon or being corrupted by one, is where things can take a serious turn.

Fun and Villainy – Puppetmon and Piedmon

For the final two members of the Dark Masters, they step away from the machine-like forms of the previous two. Arguably, these two are actually the opposite of the first half of their group. Where MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon are massive machines with animalistic bodies, Puppetmon and Piedmon are a puppet and a clown and relatively small.

Puppetmon and Piedmon actually fit into the previous group of Digimon Adventure’s major villain in a way that is unlike the other two. They are both humanoid in shape, and just like Devimon and Myotismon, they are figures of horror to an extent.

While making this comparison, it is also notable to bring up that Piedmon is presented as the leader of this group and is the one who fits in most with Devimon and Myotismon. These three all have their own unique silhouettes, details, and even coloring, to an extent that there is little chance of them being mistaken for each other, but, are similar enough in style and relative size and shape that if you put the three together they would feel like they belong in a group (aesthetically, at least).

Puppets and clowns exist in a weird middle ground, one that the show plays with heavily in the characterizations of Puppetmon and Piedmon. I’ve already called them out as figures of horror, but that is only right to an extent. Both puppets and clowns began as existing to entertain children, but a shift eventually occurred in a lot of contexts. Whether this change occurred because horror movies saw the potential in the juxtapositions of these harmless, usually funny, symbols or if it came out of an uncanny-valley-like off-putting nature that the two already possessed then being utilized by horror, I’m not totally sure. But either way, the two ride the line between fun and scary.

The show demonstrates this line itself when Piedmon introduces himself to the Digidestined in episode 40, “Enter the Dark Masters”. Piedmon first comes out as a playful clown balancing on a big red ball, as he tells the story of what he believes to be their inevitable defeat. In this story, we’re already starting to see the lines blur with Piedmon. Everything about his look and actions seem to innocent and playful, but his words are becoming more threatening as his story goes on. After this, he reveals his true form to the children, where he is still a clown, but a far more dangerous looking one. The classic children’s party clown disappears to reveal one with swords on his back and images of skulls and eyes on his outfit.

The other Dark Masters are presented almost like forces of nature that can’t be stopped and will kill the Digidestined on sight. The central drama of their episodes is primarily about the children hiding from them. Conversely, the children are almost never hiding from Puppetmon and Piedmon. These two prioritize playing with the children before killing them. They are looking for their own fun as much as they are looking for any kind of domination.

Puppetmon starts playing with the Digidestined in episode 43, “Playing Games”. This episode reveals Puppetmon to have essentially voodoo dolls of each of the children that he using to move them around his forest, and even cause other physical effects. And, again, the contrast between Puppetmon using a slingshot against Joe’s toy (hurting the real Joe in the process) but then just tickling TK, demonstrates the way these villains combine playfulness and pain.

The main action of the episode revolves around TK being kidnapped by Puppetmon. While having the smallest, youngest, of the Digidestined with one of the Dark Masters sounds incredibly threatening, TK is actually fine the whole time. What Puppetmon wants more so than killing the children is to have friends. He decides to play hide and seek with TK, before TK eventually uses Puppetmon’s desire for friends to trick him into getting distracted and letting TK get away.

Where Puppetmon’s antics fall into the arc is also where Matt begins to question the entire concept of friendship. The show is presenting a villainous character with a twisted concept of what it means to be friends while it has one of its lead character questioning if friendship can even be real. Puppetmon is basically a lonely bully, with his outlook on friendship being connected to his power to control what other people do. This feeds into Matt’s disbelief that anyone can be friends.

In episode 52, “Piedmon’s Last Jest”, the Digidestined are in their epic final battle with the last of the Dark Masters. Just like Puppetmon, Piedmon has no interest in killing them all right away and instead wants to toy with them. Though, Piedmon takes this extra literally by turning them all into toys.

Digimon Adventure is a show where the main characters are children and is aimed to be watched, at least in part, by children. In both of these Dark Masters, but especially Piedmon, we are seeing a point where the fun and the childishness is twisted in evil ways. The villain is looking to have fun, while the Digidestined need to be more focused and take it seriously. This isn’t a game for any of them, this is life or death stakes not only for the children themselves, but for two entire worlds. This final battle with Piedmon is almost like the show fighting against the perception of itself, where some people may wave it off as just a kids show, or even its original purpose of being there to sell the toys.

With these villains being so connected to the concept of fun, TK, as the youngest of them, plays a major role with both. And to continue on the concept of the battle with Piedmon being representative of the show fighting against the concept of it being just for kids, by the end it connects itself back to the Devimon Arc, where the show was much more of a commercial. In order to finally defeat Piedmon, TK finally activates his crest. Just like Patamon was the last to reach champion level, and was the one who ultimately defeated Devimon, he is also the last to reach ultimate and be the one to defeat Piedmon.

Both Puppetmon and Piedmon use this kind of fusion of fun and villainy to not only push character development and build out themes, but to prep that children for what is to come. While the Digidestined have always dealt with such stakes that this adventure was never seen as purely fun by them, these fights are like the final nail in the very concept that it could be.

The Final Despair – Apocalymon

In the final two episodes of the season it is revealed that there is an even more powerful evil force that is behind the Dark Masters. Apocalymon arrives in episode 53, “Now Apocalymon”, and continues into episode 54, “The Fate of Two Worlds”. He is the ultimate evil and final fight of the entire season.

Starting on appearance once again, Apocalymon is actually most reminiscent of Etemon when he was connected to his Dark Network. With Etemon being kind of the odd one out with the villains of the season, the general appearance here calling back to him is really interesting.

Most of the rest of the main villains have been humanoid, apart from the two Dark Masters who were much more machine-line. Apocalymon is a sort of fusion between the two. He is immensely large, with most of his body taking the shape of a massive dodecahedron. This main body appears primarily mechanical and geometric, expanding to unveil the rest of him that is contained inside. The top side of this dodecahedron body opens up for a humanoid figure to come out of. But he isn’t quite as human as many of the other villains. He is far more grotesque, with pulsating tubes feeding into him from his larger body.

Even while the main body comes off so mechanical, it is interesting that the arms that come out of it are connected by double helix shaped chains. This being the shape that DNA takes is symbolic much more of natural biology than what most of his appearance seems to imply.

The entire battle with Apocalymon takes place in a kind of dark void universe. This is where Apocalymon exists, in world without light. He explains to the Digidestined that he is essentially sadness incarnate. He is built out of the data from Digimon who died when unable to Digivolve (though exactly how this meshes with the idea that when Digimon die they are reborn as eggs is never really addressed).

In his most infamous speech, Apocalymon describes his pain:

“Do you think it’s fair that I should have to live with all this agony? Why should you get to laugh when I am forced to cry? Why do you get to taste the best that life has to offer while all I do is choke on its leftovers? Answer me this! Why do all you get the pizza while I get the crust?!”

He tells the children that he is formed from pain and misery, but then takes it one step further. He asks them if they believe he is worth existing alongside them if all he is made up of is these negative traits. And, well, they can’t answer. They don’t jump at the question, telling him that he is a living thing and therefore deserves life. They go quiet. They turn away.

For some perspective, the Digidestined at this point have killed 7 major Digimon villains, and now the one who is responsible for at least creating the final four of them, is asking if he deserves to live. Their answer is clearly no. They know from the moment they see Apocalymon that they have to kill him to save two worlds. But to be asked so directly, they don’t know what to do.

While the Digidestined are representations of positive emotions, their final fight is the embodiment of the exact opposite. This is demonstrated in one way by his “reverse digivolve” attack. While the children use their positive emotions to give their Digimon the energy to reach higher levels, Apocalymon’s main attack is to take away that power. But he doesn’t just dedigivolve their Digimon, he destroys their crests, and in doing so it drains them of their own positivity. Maybe not directly, but by making them feel powerless, he is making the children lose any hope in the battle. This is taken even further when he turns them all into pure data, destroying all their physical forms.

Once again, this is a series about the power of positive emotions. The crests were revealed to simply be tools for the children to harness this power back in episode 45, “The Ultimate Clash”. This comes into play here, where the children prove that they have the power inside of them even without the crests.

Not only do the children gain power from their own emotions, but the emotions of those around them. Matt specifically calls out that it wasn’t the friendship inside of him that lit up his crest, but the friendship he felt from all of them. After this each of the others make similar declarations. With the positive emotions they all share, they are able to bring themselves back into physical forms and defeat Apocalymon once and for all.

Apocalymon is also the most literal interpretation of a virus in Digimon. The Digital World has been spoken of as being based on digital technology and the internet since early on in the series. Izzy makes the connection as early as episode 5, “Kabuterimon’s Electro Shocker”, where he discovers that computer code can influence the world around them. And the concept of virus as one of the three major attributes of a Digimon has been a concept (though a relatively unexplored one) since episode 28, “It’s All in the Cards”, when Gennai explains attributes to Izzy. Not only is Apocalymon a virus, but he has entered the Digital World from behind the “wall of fire”. He has literally entered the computer world through bypassing a firewall and is manipulating the world though creating other viruses that reshape and destroy it.

I don’t know that this goes any deeper than the fact that of course the world inside of computers would have a final villain be such a literal virus, but it feels worth pointing out at the very least.

Conclusions

And that is the end of Digimon Adventure. At least, the first season. If it isn’t clear from the fact that these posts seemed to get longer with each arc, this is a show that starts off fairly shallow only to really find its footing and create something that feels incredibly worth diving into as it goes on.

This entire four-part series has been evidence of just some of the ways in which this show manages to be so much more than what its origins would imply. Honestly, it might be deeper than it has any right to be given where it started. And this series hasn’t even covered everything (because it was a goal to keep these at a semi reasonable length).

This is currently planned as the final part of this retrospective look at the original Digimon Adventure (1999), but there is always a chance of returning. Not only is there more to say about this season, but there are the subsequent seasons, the movies, and even the reboot that spurred on the concept of doing this in the first place.

There is already some thought going into doing this for Digimon Adventure 02, but that season doesn’t lend itself to sectioning off episodes into neat arcs in the same way the first season does. The most clearly defined split kind of just breaks the whole season in half, which is pretty big chunks to do this for at a time. But I’m not opposed to figuring out a system for it.

If you want to see more of these kinds of posts, be it about Digimon or even another series altogether, please leave a comment. I am more than happy to put in the time if I see that it is something that people really want to read.