History Recap / CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS1E24And25TwoFutures

* WhamLine: In the bad future, when Wheeler arrives to Hope Island and finds Gaia lying lifelessly among toxic waste, he drops to his knees, effectively begging her to not be dead. However, a moment later, Greedly shows up and coldly makes it clear to him that it's not going to work.
-->'''Wheeler:''' Not you, Gaia! You're the Spirit of the Earth!\\
'''Hoggish Greedly''' ''(from behind Wheeler):'' She WAS the Spirit of Earth. Past tense, kid.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Wheeler's inaction in helping the planet caused an ozone layer hole over Russia, which would not happen as the Ozone Hole can only be over Antarctica because it can only happen over super-cold areas, no other place on Earth can have that happen to it - not even the North Pole.

* CruelToBeKind: In theory, Gaia could have brought Wheeler to Hope Island, so that he could see the horrible future on the Planet Vision. Instead, she makes MAL send him thirty-five years forward in time, and stops responding from the moment he goes to talk to Gi. She reappears only after the timeline is restored, Wheeler gets saved, and Captain Planet sends the eco-villains to the good future. However, without the first-hand experience, Wheeler might not have understood the lesson.
* DeadAlternateCounterpart: After being unable to get any of his teammates to re-form the Planeteers, Wheeler heads for Hope Island as his last chance. Once there, he finds Greedly has transformed the place into a pleasure resort. He manages to locate Gaia, or rather, her body, in the toxic waste dump.

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: Wheeler ends up trapped in a cave with Dr. Blight and the time portal she came to use. Upset, he voices a wish that he'd never gotten his Fire Ring, which Dr. Blight happily grants by shoving him into the portal. Gaia then shows him the future of each area, including a Hope Island in bad shape, so he goes back in time to undo his changes and return things to normal. The eco-villains escape into the timeline but end up in a better future thanks to the (now middle-aged) Planeteers.

* RetGone: The eco-villains jump into the time stream, with Dr. Blight gloating that they're going to make sure the Planeteers were never born. However, Captain Planet spins the pool in the opposite direction, sending them into the future, which is now substantially better, much to their distaste.

* TreesIntoToothpicks: The episode ends with some of the Eco-villains trapped in a version of the future where everyone is actively trying to protect and care for the environment. Hoggish Greedly gives a speech about how, in the 20th Century, "if you wanted a toothpick, you chopped down a forest", prompting one young girl to ask how "stupid, selfish people" like Greedly could have had any influence.

** Linka uses her wind power on a civilian who demands more food, because they need to ration the food to have enough for the villages she supplies.

* AffablyEvil: {{Downplayed|Trope}} Though he's not extremist enough to demand more than a few spare coins from the people he's influencing, the BadFuture Ma-Ti has lost his scruples about using the mind-control facet of his Heart power. However, he's still about as friendly as his younger self. When Wheeler unthinkingly addresses him by name, Ma-Ti apologizes for having forgotten who he is.

* AffablyEvil: [[DownplayedTrope Though he's not extremist enough to demand more than a few spare coins from the people he's influencing]], the BadFuture Ma-Ti has lost his scruples about using the mind-control facet of his Heart power. However, he's still about as friendly as his younger self. When Wheeler unthinkingly addresses him by name, Ma-Ti apologizes for having forgotten who he is.

* FriendshipMoment: Gi and Kwame often argue with Wheeler over the issue of the week and can sometimes be snappish when he doesn't understand things. However, when Wheeler gets trapped in a cave-in, leaving him with a limited supply of air, they and Ma-Ti unhesitantly spend two hours tunneling through the ice to retrieve him.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Greedly, seeing Wheeler wandering around and hearing him say something about Greedly's past activities, comments that such knowledge is a dangerous thing...for the person who knows it.

* NewYearHasCome: The episode starts on New Year's Eve and ends right as the new year starts. Linka brings out a small keyboard and sings "Auld Lang Syne", and in a few moments the Planeteers join in the song.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Wheeler's decision to turn down the Fire Ring, believing it would be easy for the team to find another bearer, spirals into the team's breakup, Earth's destruction and Gaia's death. Luckily, he's able to fix it again by keeping his recent past self from interfering with his earlier past self.

* FaceRevealingTurn: A non-monster example; as Wheeler emerges from the time stream in Ma-Ti's neighborhood, he initially fails to see a beggar with his back turned. When the beggar turns around, he sees that it's Ma-Ti, thirty-five years older and much sadder after his people's lives were destroyed along with the rainforest.
* FriendshipMoment: Gi and Kwame often argue with Wheeler over the issue of the week and can sometimes be snappish when he doesn't understand things. However, when Wheeler gets trapped in a cave-in, leaving him with a limited supply of air, they and Ma-Ti unhesitantly spend two hours tunneling through the ice to retrieve him.

* HeyYou: Wheeler never gives his name, so the older Planeteers from the alternate timeline have to find something else to call him. Their terms vary from businesslike ("young man" from Gi) to affectionate ("young one" from Ma-Ti). The Planeteer who matches the usual disrespectful connotation of the trope best is Kwame, who's grown considerably gruffer over thirty-five years' time and defaults to calling Wheeler "boy".

* NewYearHasCome: The episode starts on New Year's Eve and ends right as the new year starts. Linka brings out a small keyboard and sings "Auld Lang Syne", and in a few moments the Planeteers join in the song.

* PlatonicKissing: After spending a horrifying few hours exploring a BadFuture where the team broke up, Wheeler returns. When Dr. Blight starts yelling in frustration about his being back, he kisses her. Given the context and the location (he kisses her on the cheek rather than the lips), it's presumably not romantic but rather an expression of how overjoyed he is that everything has returned to normal.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: A time-sensitive element comes into play as soon as part of the cave collapses, trapping Wheeler and Dr. Blight away from any fresh air. The others barely manage to tunnel through the ice barrier before the pair use up the last of the oxygen, and Gi admits that Linka's plan to do so was a long shot.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Wheeler decides he'd have been better off not being a Planeteer, so he goes back in time and convinces himself to refuse the Fire ring. This results in a hellish present where there isn't a Planeteer team. Wheeler then has to go back and stop himself from stopping himself.

* TwoFacedAside: Dr. Blight begs Captain Planet to dig out her and Wheeler, promising to behave herself from now on. Then she adds to the viewer that she'll lie her head off to get out of here.
* TheUnreveal: While we learn of what happened to the other Planeteers' future selves, Wheeler, despite seeing his home destroyed in the future, doesn't even think to stop and find his alternate future self to see how much it changed for him (especially unusual given that Wheeler changed history to avoid dying in an ice cave).
* WasntThatFun: The Planeteers have to slide/tumble down an ice tunnel during the current mission. Afterwards, [[CheerfulChild Ma-Ti]] says that once the mission is complete, he wants to repeat the experience.
* WastelandElder: Linka appears as an authority figure in the bad future, handing out food to the starving people and making sure (with force if necessary) that they leave some for others.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Three-quarters of the remaining Planeteers have gotten used to using their powers in less benevolent ways in the alternate future.
** Kwame appears as an embattled old man using his Earth power to protect Africa's last remaining oasis.
** Linka uses her wind power on a civilian who demands more food, because they need to ration the food to have enough for the villages she supplies.

** In order to make Wheeler understand the consequences of his messing with time, Gaia first politely asks MAL to send him into the future. Predictably, MAL is unwilling, even asking disdainfully what would happen if he were to refuse. Gaia points out to him that [[ItMakesSenseInContext he's rather close to the North Pole]], asks him what could happen if the Earth's magnetic field were to suddenly become a lot more powerful, and without missing a beat, carries out the threat. MAL quickly realizes where this is going, and gives in.

** Later, after the all the crises have been dealt with, Gaia asks MAL to show [[ItMakesSenseInContext the future in which the villains ended up]]. This time, he doesn't even ''try'' negotiating.

Wheeler and Dr. Blight are trapped in a cave-in together and running out of air. When Wheeler voices his wish that he'd never gotten the fire ring, Dr. Blight pushes him into the time pool. Wheeler prevents himself from joining the Planeteers, causing a horrific future for his teammates, his city, and the world.

* FaceRevealingTurn: A non-monster example; as Wheeler emerges from the time stream in Ma-Ti's neighborhood, he initially fails to see a beggar with his back turned. When the beggar turns around, he sees that it's Ma-Ti, thirty years older and much sadder after his people's lives were destroyed along with the rainforest.

* HeyYou: Wheeler never gives his name, so the older Planeteers from the alternate timeline have to find something else to call him. Their terms vary from businesslike ("young man" from Gi) to affectionate ("young one" from Ma-Ti). The Planeteer who matches the usual disrespectful connotation of the trope best is Kwame, who's grown considerably gruffer over thirty years' time and defaults to calling Wheeler "boy".

* MathematiciansAnswer: While she and Wheeler are discussing the planned time trip, Wheeler asks what happened to his teammates in the future. Gaia drily answers that they aged thirty years.

** Ma-Ti, now a beggar, uses his Heart power to brainwash an apathetic businessman into donating money, which he gives to a local woman so she can buy food for her daughter.

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: Wheeler ends up trapped in a cave with Dr. Blight and the time portal she came to use. Upset, he voices a wish that he'd never gotten his Fire Ring, which Dr. Blight happily grants by shoving him into the portal. Gaia then shows him the future of each area, including a Hope Island in bad shape, so he goes back in time to undo his changes and return things to normal. The eco-villains escape into the timeline, but end up in a better future thanks to the (now middle-aged) Planeteers.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: MAL's observation that he and Dr. Blight are running out of oxygen tips Wheeler over the edge into frustration with his status as a Planeteer. He's fought hard for the environment, and it got him into this cave-in. Captain Planet can't dig them out because of the pollution, and the other Planeteers may or may not manage to get through before they use up all the air.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Wheeler's inaction in helping the planet caused a ozone layer hole over Russia, which would not happen as the Ozone Hole can only be over Antarctica because it can only happen over super-cold areas, no other place on Earth can have that happen to it - not even the North Pole.

* TheUnreveal: While we learn of what happened to the other Planeteers' future selves, Wheeler, despite seeing his home destroyed in the future, doesn't even think to stop and find his alternate future self to see how much it changed for him.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[{{Tsundere}} Linka]] is one of the most distraught of the Planeteers when Wheeler gets trapped, and when they finally dig him out, she hugs him and says she was so worried.

* NewYearHasCome: The episode starts on New Year's Eve and ends right as the new year starts. Linka brings out an accordion and sings "Auld Lang Syne", and in a few moments the Planeteers join in the song.
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: All Wheeler's former teammates complain about how the world went downhill because others didn't help (with Linka explicitly saying that an American boy was tapped as a member, but refused). However, the most direct guilt trip occurs when Wheeler tracks down Ma-Ti and finds him using his ring to convince people to donate to charity. When Wheeler coaxes him to try to save the world rather than just his home, Ma-Ti praises the amount of heart he has and wishes he could have known him when he was a young Planeteer. This doesn't make Wheeler feel any better, given that he knows he was ''supposed'' to be a Planeteer.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Linka is one of the most expressive of the Planeteers when Wheeler gets trapped, and when they finally dig him out, she hugs him and says she was so worried.

* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: When Wheeler coaxes him to try to save the world rather than just his home, Ma-Ti praises the amount of heart he has and wishes he could have known him when he was a young Planeteer. This doesn't make Wheeler feel any better, given that he knows he was ''supposed'' to be a Planeteer.

** Kwame appears as an embattled old man using his Earth power to protect one of Africa's last remaining oases.

* AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Linka is one of the most expressive of the Planeteers when Wheeler gets trapped, and when they finally dig him out, she hugs him and says she was so worried.

* NewYearHasCome: Right at the end of the episode. Linka brings out an accordion and sings out "Auld Lang Syne", and in a few moments the Planeteers join in the song.