AKA The longest concurrent story arc of the show.
The arc begins three months after Linkara defeated Vyce again. After reviewing Batman: A Word to the Wise, the final book for that years PSA Hell Month, a mysterious Gunslinger teleports into Linkara's apartment demanding his magic gun from him. A firefight ensues, and with the timely arrival of a Cybermat, Linkara is able to successfully drive the Gunslinger off. However, after boasting that "Nothing can stop me now!", a white flash goes off from his magic gun, and then stops working.
A week later and analyzing the gun proves fruitless, as all of Linkara's tools have become nothing more than mere toys. And it's here that we learn something new about Linkara's arsenal. All the sonic screwdrivers, power rangers gear, and other such fictional weaponry and gadgets? They are all ordinary toys that were enchanted by a spell from a magic book Linkara owns giving them the same properties of the objects they physically represent. Not only have all the weapons been reverted back into toys but the apartment is now vulnerable because the low level protection spell Linkara cast is no longer working. However what worries Linkara the most is the fate of the girl who lives inside the magic gun now that he can no longer access it.
Fortunately Linksano arrives with some good news; all of the objects on-board Comicron-1 are functioning fine as they were created with science and not magic. Included amongst this list are the ships sensors which are able to detect magic still inside the gun. As far as Comicron-1's sensors can tell there is nothing wrong with the magic gun itself. Linksano then posits a theory; what if the magic inside of the apartment is being suppressed with an anti-magic field generator kit? Linkara decides its time to pay Doctor Insano a visit.
One week later Linkara is able to track down Insano in a hotel room and violently manhandles him demanding to know who he sold an anti-magic field generator kit to. Insano denies this, telling Linkara that he hasn't been able to sell one in months since the blitz ball defect was discovered, and Linkara lets slip that his magic isn't working. After threating to come back and beat Insano if he is lying to him Linkara leaves while the good Doctor thinks about his archenemies recent misfortune.
Back at the apartment Linkara quickly comes to the conclusion that, whatever happened to his magic, it wasn't caused by an anti-magic field generator kit as Linkara's magic was still ineffectual even after leaving the apartment. After 90's Kid reveals that he wasted the BFG's power cell Linkara threatens to wring his neck before Harvey tells him to calm down. Linkara apologizes but notes that, without magic to help them, the strain of maintaining their security relies entirely on NIMUE who can only do so much. Linksano likewise cannot offer much in the way of help as the rules of magic allude him even with the assistance of Vyce's data logs. The Doctor tells Linkara that he needs a magic users help to solve this problem.
Getting inspiration from this idea Linkara calls Cloak #1 and asks him if it is possible that the Gunslinger placed a curse on him that prevents him from using magic. Clock #1 thinks it's unlikely since only a few magic users in the world have that ability to cast a curse that powerful. After finding out from Linkara that every magical item he appropriated from someone else still works Cloak #1 tells Linkara that the problem is centered on Linkara's magic specifically. Cloak #1 doesn't have the knowledge necessary to help Linkara and tells him that he needs to seek out ancient and powerful magic users who can.
One week later and Linkara is preparing for his journey having commissioned Linksano to provide him with some gadgets for the trip. Harvey is incredulous that Linkara is leaving for parts unknown, virtually unprotected, and with no backup. Linkara tells Harvey that he is bringing one of the Cybermat's for protection and that he is going up north since Comicron-1 has determined some magical hotspots that he can explore. Harvey points out that he still has a show to run and the 200th episode coming out soon but Linkara has already prepared in advance. The hologram that was used when Whatley invaded a few years back will be the shows temporary host and the 200th episode has been pre-recorded. Still unsure Harvey tries to talk Linkara out of leaving but Linkara insists that this is the only solution.
After completing his review of Battle for Bludhaven Linkara changes into a "travel outfit" and grabs the wrist communicator that Linksano built for him. Pollo asks Linkara if he wants to wait until everyone else is around to say goodbye but Linkara believes they would just try and stop him from going. After telling Pollo that Holokara will be completing his new body while he is away Linkara takes one last look at the apartment and promises that he will come back and everything will be okay.
And thus begins a three month long journey for Linkara as he encounters various setbacks on his travels...mostly because he keeps getting lost. Along the way he travels to various conventions and other locations in the hope of finding somebody who can assist him with the magic gun. Finally, he stumbles upon some much needed information from ConBravo that directs him towards a great wizard named Aplos who can help him. After having NIMUE teleport him to the coordinates, before he loses communication with Comicron-1, Linkara visits Aplos in his home.
Linkara is befuddled by the fact that Aplos, going by the name Steven nowadays, acts like a normal person and even lives in a suburban house, but the wizard tells him that most magic users have learned to go with the times. Linkara tells Aplos about the problems with his magic and the wizard asks for the magic gun. Aplos is able to commune with the gun, who tells him that her name is Margaret, and after preforming some brief tests, he is able to tell Linkara what the problem is. Linkara is turning evil.
Aplos tells Linkara that the signs of him turning evil have been slowly developing for a while now, he has become power hungry, egomaniacal, and increasingly selfish. Aplos points out that magic is a power and that many often try and learn magic to gain more power for themselves but this is not how magic works. With a rare exception like Malachite magic cannot be utilized for evil purposes. Magic is derived from the soul and, if the soul feels itself slipping into evil, it can no longer access magic.
Linkara is incredulous that his soul is preventing him from utilizing magic but Aplos explains that it is not his soul that cut Linkara of from his magic, it was Margret herself who got see the signs coming and wanted to warn her friend before it was too late. When Linkara still doubts that he is turning evil Aplos asks him if he has ever had moments when he was selfish, greedy, overly threatening and arrogant. Linkara is left disturbed when he realizes that he has had many moments like that and Aplos tells him that, at the moment, his actions are not shaping up as those of a hero.
Linkara leaves Aplos' home feeling dejected after learning such harsh truths about himself when he suddenly runs into a girl. Linkara quickly realizes that this girl is Margaret who has temporarily taken human form to speak with him. Linkara asks in frustration what he has to do to make things right and Margaret tells him that he should try to be better now that he knows what he could potentially become. Margaret admits that she has been deliberately holding back, she hasn't used her full potential, because she was uncertain about Linkara. When Linkara asks if she should use her power to kill him Margaret assures Linkara that she is his friend and that, no matter what happens, she is glad she made the effort to get through to him. Having become invigorated by their talk Linkara tells Margaret that he is ready to go home whilst she replies that she already is before disappearing.
Unbeknownst to our hero, things have not been going so well in the apartment either. In Linkara's absence, Holokara has slowly become malicious and dangerous, threatening to squeeze 90's Kid heart until it stops beating if he interrupts his show with one of his Cutaway Gags again, and threatening crush Harvey's windpipe if he gets in his way after the singer confronts the mad hologram. Unable to re-establish contact with Linkara, and realizing the threat that Holokara poses if left unchecked, Finevoice and Linksano come up with a strategy to slowly drain the holograms energy with an all out assault until it can no longer manifest its physical form. Harvey voices his believe that the Gunslinger must be the one responsible for Holokara's malfunction and their lose of magic.
On cue the story cut's away to an unknown living room that the Gunslinger teleports into, still in the same slumped over position that he ended up in after his encounter with Linkara. The Gunslinger's AI, named Sierra, greets his master and informs him that, due to a space time differential between their location and Linkara's universe, it has been three months normal time since he attacked Linkara. Sierra warns his master that he is still "acclimating" and provides him with some airborne medication to combat his wounds.
The Gunslinger notes that Linkara's universe is like poison to him; in the short time that he was there for he lost focus which allowed Linkara to get the drop on him. However Sierra reports that the readings his master came back with will allow him to extent the time the Gunslinger can stay in Linkara's universe as well as adjust for the time dilation.
Sierra inquires if he was able to make Linkara angry, but the Gunslinger admits that Linkara seemed more annoyed by his presence then anything, but he is confident that he can. Sierra warns the Gunslinger that Linkara is the one who defeated Lord Vyce and he may want to stay clear from him. However, learning this information has made the Gunslinger more determined then ever to acquire Linkara's magic gun, especially since "it is the last one we need", as the camera pans to a table revealing numerous other magic guns that the Gunslinger has stolen from other universes.
Meanwhile, after Holokara finishes his review of Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: The Answer to a Riddle, the heroes' assault begins. However, it proves less then effective, as Harvey and 90's Kid are taken out when Holokara reflects a blast from the BFG, Pollo is disabled after Holokara activates an emergency procedure he installed inside his temporary body, and Linksano is contained within a force field. After defeating the collected heroes, Holokara arrogantly declares that there is no person on earth that can stop what he has began. Suddenly, Holokara is hit with a familiar ball of red energy and turns around to reveal... Linkara, who tells his insane hologram that he "might know a guy."
Linkara reveals that he is well aware of what has been happening, thanks to Pollo's short-range transmitter and he asks Holokara if he was responsible for the communications breakdown. Holokara denies this and says that the communications break a month ago was caused from a malfunction on-board Comicron-1. After learning this information, Linkara shuts Holokara down using a emergency procedure from NIMUE. After making sure that his friends are all right, Linkara sits down to review Batman: Jazz #1.
After the review is over, Holokara reappears, having created a backup of himself in case of emergency, and confronts Linkara. Fortunately, Pollo and Linksano have already figured out how he brought himself back online and plan to permanently shut Holokara offline shortly. Dejected but undeterred, Holokara reveals to Linkara the plan he placed into motion while Linkara was gone. Comicron-1's weapons are charged and ready to fire on the coordinates that Holokara provided: the offices of Marvel Entertainment in New York. Holokara reveals that he intends to use Comicron-1 to destroy Marvel unless it undoes "One More Day" and rewrites every storyline that misuses his and Linkara's favorite characters; no more cheap shock deaths and no more superheroes becoming inexplicably evil. From now on, it is the fans who will dictate what stories will or won't be allowed to print.
Linkara, however, has learned a lot from his travels and tells his hologram that what Holokara is suggesting makes him no different from the execs who misuse those characters to begin with. All Holokara is doing is simply replacing their views upon superhero comics with his own views. Holokara angrily tells Linkara that nothing ever changes in comics, and unless they force people to change, superheroes will go on being screwed over. However, Linkara debunks Holokara's claim, telling him that they win hearts and minds with their words and not by the barrel of a gun. Linksano informs Linkara that he has isolated Holokara's signal and can fry the mobile emitters circuitry, which Linkara tells him to do, thus ending Holokara's threat once and for all.
A short time afterwards, Linkara is sitting with his friends and informs them that there was nothing wrong with Holokara's programming; since it was based of his brain patterns, the hologram was merely following the road that Linkara himself may one day have taken. Harvey doesn't by that Linkara was turning evil, but Linksano points out that, in pursuit of a greater good, even the most noble of actions can become evil. While Linkara is dismayed to learn about the man he could have become, he admits that he now is determined to ensure that it never happens again.
Linkara then asks NIMUE why she didn't immediately shut down Holokara when it became apparent what his intentions were and she explains that there have been a number of unexplained malfunctions on-board Comicron-1 that have prevented her from acting at peak efficiency. Harvey wonders what the point of Linkara's journey was and Linkara explains that he now fully believes that he will never turn evil after witnessing his friends banding together to defeat Holokara. With them by his side Linkara believes that he will never again be tempted by evil. Afterwards the gang decide to go to Dairy Queen to celebrate (using Pollo's money since Linkara spend all of his on the journey).
However, once the gang leaves, the Gunslinger arrives at the apartment and picks up the discarded mobile emitter for his own nefarious use.
Two weeks after the defeat of Holokara, at the start of October, Linkara, Linksano, 90's Kid and Harvey are hanging out around the apartment doing their own things. Suddenly NIMUE warns everyone that there is an intruder on the premises before she is suddenly cut off and disabled. Linkara tries to get the secondary command processors online for the computer but gets no reply. The gang try to leave but the door of the apartment is locked and they can't bust it down due to the protection spell Linkara placed on it. And finally none of the communicators they have are available. Everyone is trapped inside the apartment with no way out, no way to communicate with the outside world, and are stuck inside with "something". Linkara tells everyone to arm themselves.
One week passes and the gang has exhausted every possible way they can think of to escape from the apartment and tensions are running high. Harvey eventually starts arguing with Linksano about his role as a scientific adviser to the team and the fact that numerous times his equipment has been faulty and that, without Vyce around, the good doctor has very little reason to play nice anymore. Harvey also points out that Linksano has been on Comicron-1 unsupervised numerous times and that at any point he could have done something to NIMUE's systems.
Suddenly, Harvey points his gun at Linksano and asks if he really is the good doctor or if he has been replaced much like 90's Kid when the Entity attacked. 90's Kid is angered when Harvey calls him an idiot and tells him that he isn't half as smart as he thinks he is, with Linksano agreeing and pointing out that, right before everything went haywire, Harvey left the room to grab his machine gun and that maybe he is the "thing" that invaded the apartment. Paranoia begins spreading within the group as everyone begins accusing the others of being a "thing" and Linkara's attempt to calm the group down enrages Harvey who yells at him for leaving them alone for three months with Holokara.
Emotions hit their fever pitch and everyone starts letting loose the issues that have been boiling under the surface for a while now. Unbeknownst to them, though, the true culprit, a shadow creature, is observing them all in secret.
Two weeks pass from this confrontation, and everyone is tucked away into various areas of the apartment armed and no longer trusting each other. Linkara approaches them and says that whatever the "thing" that is attacking them is it wants them to kill each other and they need to work together. Harvey though still has issues with Linkara for leaving and the two begin arguing with each other. While this is happening 90's Kid notices the shadow watching the confrontation and, after failing to get everyone's attention, stabs it with a sword causing it to scream in pain and alert the others to its presence. Linkara and Harvey try to attack it but the creature quickly blinds them so Linkara throws the magic gun to 90's Kid how destroys the shadow with a well-aimed blast.
Everyone is shocked by the creature's presence and aren't sure what to make of it when suddenly NIMUE comes back online and informs everyone that there is another intruder inside the apartment. The intruder turns out to be the Gunslinger who informs the group that he was the one who set the creature loose on them. He explains that the creature loosens peoples inhibitions and gets them angry feeding off their rage. The Gunslinger wanted to make Linkara angry so that he would unlock the full potential of the magic gun. However, to the Gunslingers joy, it turn out that Linkara's journey has allowed him to already unlock the guns full potential and demands he hand it over. Harvey distracts the Gunslinger with his Tommy gun long enough for Linkara to place him in a force field and the Gunslinger decides to withdraw for now informing Linkara that, he would ask for his help, but it wouldn't work out for either of them.
Soon afterwards Linkara and Harvey have a talk about what happened. Linkara explains that NIMUE was never offline at all; the shadow merely altered their perception of reality and made them think they couldn't hear her or escape from the apartment. Harvey is disturbed by what has happened and he informs Linkara that, regardless of being manipulated by the shadow, the rage he felt towards Linkara for leaving was real. Enough that he would have killed him for it. Harvey decides to leave the group for a while so that he can think and tells Linkara he might not be there for Christmas. Before he leaves Linkara tells Harvey that his opinion from a month ago hasn't changed; he still believes that he wont become evil because of his friends and he still believes in Harvey even if he doesn't right now.
Our story cuts ahead to Christmas time and focuses on Harvey who is in the middle of a concert tour. Harvey returns to his hotel room and finds a Ghost of Christmas Past (played by an at-the-time deceased Nostalgia Critic) who tells Harvey that he needs to start trusting Linkara again. Harvey replies that he does trust Linkara; it's himself that he doesn't trust.
The Critic asks Harvey how he even met Linkara and the story flashes back to a point before Linkara reviewed Amazons Attack when he reviewed Archie Giant Series Magazine #452. It's here that we find out about Harvey's Dark and Troubled Past. Harvey was once a father but his son died and Harvey became a wreck. His wife left him and Harvey's life spiralled out of control. One day he passed by Linkara who was preparing for his review of Amazons Attack and collapsed on the street in front of him. Linkara got him some help and got Harvey's life back on tract. Afterwards Harvey promised he would always look out for "Charlie". When the Critic says "Charlie" in confusion, Harvey gets defensive and The Critic asks where he thinks he is before everything becomes white.
Harvey suddenly appears inside the apartment and runs into the Ghost of Christmas Present who greets Harvey. Harvey is in no mood to continue this adventure. The jolly Ghost says he can't force Harvey to come along but points out that he wasn't the one that brought Harvey along on this adventure. Harvey is confused by this but gets distracted by Linkara who suddenly appears and reviews Teen Titans #13. After the review is over Harvey says that "my kid sure knows how to pick 'em". When the Ghost points out that Harvey called him "my kid" Harvey backtracks and says the kid. Once again the Ghost asks Harvey where he thinks he is before everything becomes white.
Once again Harvey appears in the apartment and runs into the Ghost of Christmas Future who reveals himself to be Future Linkara (or rather a future echo of him). Future Linkara points to a tombstone and Harvey is unimpressed. He considers the entire experience a waste of time especially since he already know that he is going to die at some point. Future Linkara is undeterred however and asks, once again, where Harvey thinks he is. Harvey finally goes over and kneels before the gravestone and sees that written on it is not his name, it's the name of Harvey's son, Charles Finevoice.
Harvey cries out and says that he doesn't want to be here but Future Linkara tells him that he is always here. The ghosts aren't the ones who have been taking Harvey on this journey he has been doing that himself. Harvey tells Future Linkara if he could say goodbye, especially if their was someone out there like the one you lost, and Future Linkara tells him that he isn't Harvey's son and he needs to accept that so he can move on. Harvey tells him how angry he was when Linkara left for three months without saying goodbye, that it was like losing his son all over again. Future Linkara reiterates that he can't be the one Harvey want's him to be and that it's time for him to say goodbye. And what better time to do that then Christmas?
Future Linkara tells Harvey that right now this is where Harvey is stuck and asks him where he wants to be. Having finally come to the realization of where he wants to be Harvey looks back at his sons gravestone and tells him goodbye and thanks him. Harvey leaves his sons gravestone and sees he is still in the apartment right when the real Linkara comes out having just finished his review of Batman: Noël. A joyous Linkara greets Harvey asking him when he came back and Harvey replies that he just arrived. Linkara tells Harvey to come with him and celebrate Christmas with his family and Harvey smiles and says he will.
Two months later, after Linkara finishes reviewing the 5th issue of All-Star Batman and Robin, Pollo contacts Linkara on-board Comicron11 and tells him that they are going to do a security overhaul on the systems on the ship and in the apartment. Linkara thinks that's great as hopefully it will stop any more intruders from entering the apartment...right before Linkara is stunned in the back by the Gunslinger who steals his magic gun.
After his successful theft of the gun an enraged Linkara beams on-board Comicron-1 and orders all stations to be manned for an all out assault on the Gunslinger. He orders NIMUE to track down the Gunslinger's spaceship and reviews Youngblood #5 in the meantime. After the review is over NIMUE manages to find the Gunslingers spaceship and Linksano warns that it he is dimension jumping. Linkara orders Comicron-1 to pursue the Gunslinger into the temporal portal. Linkara tells Harvey to hail the enemy vessel (which turns out to be a house) and tells the Gunslinger to surrender. He refuses and a firefight ensues.
Comicron-1 has an easy advantage over the house ship and manages to reduce the enemies shields by 62% however a malfunction happens in Comicron-1 weapons systems which is effecting a bunch on unrelated areas as well. Harvey tells Linkara that they can still fire but the ships energy is dropping fast. With the Gunslinger's ship gaining speed Linkara orders Harvey to fire a whole in the enemy vessels shields which ends up using the last of the weapon systems power. The power drain from the weapons system means that only one human and one smaller being can teleport at the time so Linkara and Pollo teleport on-board the Gunslingers ship.
Inside the Gunslinger's vessel Linkara tells Pollo to cut off the ships engines using the computer while he searches for the magic gun. While Pollo downloads information from the computers interface Linkara finds the magic gun on the table with the other guns. Suddenly the Gunslinger arrives and points his gun at Linkara's head telling him to get off his ship. Pollo begins messing with the ships gravity and flight controls and a fight ensues between Linkara and the Gunslinger and Pollo and Sierra over control of the ship. During the battle Linkara manages to rip off the pocket watch that the Gunslinger carries before he and Pollo are teleported back to the apartment.
Linkara tells Pollo to review all of the material they got from the Gunslinger's house before the man himself arrives out of breath and in pain. The Gunslinger demands Linkara return the watch and in a rage Linkara lists all of the things he has done to him and his friends since he arrived in this universe before destroying the watch against Pollo's wishes. Suddenly the Gunslinger glows blue as the watch is destroyed and he tells Linkara that he will kill him before he is teleported out of the apartment. Linkara's happiness over driving the Gunslinger off is short lived as Pollo tells him that he wasn't their enemy.
Shortly afterwards Pollo explains all he learned about the Gunslinger after combing through his logs. The Gunslinger's name is Jaeris and he has been traveling to different universes collecting magic guns for a reason which he shows through one of the logs. On the log Jaeris explains that, in his universe, he was an internet critic who reviewed music. One day new legislation was passed that was suppose to protect the rights of the artists but as time went on the legislation began abusing the rights of those on the internet who used said materials to the point that people were kidnapped in the night never to be seen again. Jaeris was one such person who only managed to escape because resistance fighters freed him from prison.
Realizing that the resistance didn't have the resources to fight off the entire government Jaeris sought help. Utilising the magic and technology he had at his disposal Jaeris traveled to another universe in the hopes of finding people who would help him. Jaeris also reveals that the gun he uses is one created by linking his soul with his wife's soul so that, as long as both of them are still alive, he will remember what he is fighting for.
Harvey asks, if Jaeris is a good guy, why did he attack them? The reason is explained in another log. Jaeris was successful in recruiting eight other people with magic guns to help him fight the war back at his home and took them with him. However when he got there they all started dying, some quickly, some slowly, until Jaeris was the only one left.
Linksano explains that certain universes are toxic to individuals from alternate realities and that a lot of the time, without something to ground them, they simply can't exist in said universe and end up dying. Jaeris' log shows that, after this event, he came up with an idea. While his crew may have died their guns still remained. Some of them still worked and through Sierra Jaeris discovered that when a magic gun is fully unlocked it can be utilized by anyone. Jaeris realised that the best way to fully unlock a magic gun is through great emotional stress, by making them angry. With this information in mind Jaeris set out to begin his new quest and the Gunslinger was born.
Linkara asks what this has to do with the pocket watch and Linksano explains that, in order to survive in another universe, an "anchor" of sorts needs to be created so that individuals can temporarily exist in alternate universes for short periods of time. If it's destroyed the person in question will either die or become acclimated to the new universe to the point that they can't leave.
Linkara realises to his horror that he has condemned Jaeris to never again return home and wishes to find and apologize to him. However that will have to wait as suddenly a distress call from earth sounds. Neutro is attacking cities! When Linkara asks how it can be running around Comicron-1 receives a transmission; a shrill laugh telling the populace of earth that their lord and master has returned. Doctor Insano is back.
Meanwhile on-board Jaeris' spaceship Sierra informs his master that, while he was able to save him extensive pain, the acclamation has already been completed. Jaeris can never again return home without dying in seconds. Sierra asks his master what he wants to do as Jaeris quietly sits and drinks.
Linkara asks how it is possible for Doctor Insano to have gotten his hands on Neutro when NIMUE was suppose to be watching it. NIMUE replies that she has been severely offer taxed over the last year and as such had to relax certain security measures in order to stay functional. Linksano realizes that, after Linkara let slip about his lost magic, Insano must have been planning for months. With patience he was able to hack into Neutro's systems without anyone noticing.
Linkara tells NIMUE to fire the forward lance at Neutro and destroy it. However Neutro has been equipped with an energy shield that absorbs Comicron-1's weaponry. Insano hails Linkara and asks him about his lost magic. While he is dismayed to learn that Linkara has his magic back now he replies that he has also equipped Neutro with a magic negater and, with the energy shields, not even a blitz ball can stop him now. Linksano promises Linkara that, with an hour, he can penetrate Neutro's shields enough so Linkara can teleport into the robot. Until then Linkara decides to gather his thoughts with a comic book (specifically Star Wars 3-D #1).
After he finishes his review Linksano contacts Linkara and informs him that he can teleport one person and one small object into Neutro. Pollo offers to come along again but Linkara has another plan. He teleports himself and a Cybermat into Neutro and sends the little robot out to damage the big robots machinery. In the meantime Linkara distracts Insano by giving him the same speech he gave Linksano that ruling the world is hard work and he can give him a holodeck that can appease his every desire. However Insano denies this request and tells Linkara that he wants to rule the world and do what he wants.
Fortunately Linkara's distraction payed off as the Cybermat has successfully absorbed Neutro's power supply leaving the giant robot dead on its feet. Insano lunges at Linkara in anger and Linkara tells NIMUE to teleport him and the mad doctor to the apartment. Once they reach the apartment Insano puts on a pair of gloves and, when Linkara comes up to beat him up, sends his enemy flying to the other side of the apartment.
Linkara realizes that the gloves Insano is using are the power enhancing gloves that JesuOtaku made during To Bodily Flee which Insano got when he stole the USS Exit Strategy. Not only that but Insano has improved upon the design so that they can create force fields and shoot energy projectiles. With them Insano is now an equal match to Linkara and the two begin to fight after the latter transforms into his white Ranger mode.
However, their fight is interrupted by the arrival of Jaeris, who wants to kill Linkara for destroying his anchor. Linkara apologizes to Jaeris and promises him that, with Comicron-1 and Doctor Linksano, they can help him get back home. Insano, seeing an opportunity to get the drop on Linkara, tells Jaeris that, if he helps him, not only can he get him home he can create and army of robots to fight Jaeris' battles for him. Jaeris asks what Linkara could do to convince him and Linkara offers him both magic gun and Comicron-1. With this gesture Jaeris turns his gun on Doctor Insano and a two-on-one fight begins.
Jaeris and Linkara come up with a strategy to defeat Insano. While the Gunslinger distracts the mad doctor Linkara communes with Margaret. He remembers that Margaret told him that she held back because she wasn't sure she could trust him. Linkara asks that she trust him now and use her full power. Margaret agrees and the two use her full power to fire a magic beam that goes around Insano's energy shield and defeats the mad doctor.
After teleporting Insano out of the apartment Linkara thanks Jaeris for his help, tells him that with their combined resources they can get him home, and that he would be honoured to call him a friend. Jaeris isn't ready to call Linkara a friend but says that he will need his help to get back home and departs.
Some time after the fight Spoony arrives and apologises for Insano's behaviour. Linkara tells him not to worry about it and the two start ribbing each other. Spoony asks if Linkara is really going to trust Jaeris even after he almost stole his gun but Linkara replies that he will but it will take some time tracking down exactly where in the multiverse Jaeris lives. Spoony decides to call for some Pizza and the two can get started playing Tekken. After he leaves the room Linkara speaks to Margaret one last time and asks her if she will stick around. Unfortunately she can't as it's against the rules of magic. She also warns Linkara that he will need to learn those rules for the future threats he will have to face. After telling Linkara that, while there will always be a new evil, there is also a new hope, Margaret departs.
On-board Comicron-1 NIMUE is concerned by the number of malfunctions she has experienced over the last year and realizes that they are too specific to be mere malfunctions. She decides to run a self diagnostic on herself to determine the fault when suddenly her monitor begins sparking. Afterwards, NIMUE says "Self diagnostic... cancelled" as her monitor goes from green to red, ending the story arc.
Tropes
- Aborted Arc: Before setting off on his journey, Linkara suggests with some reluctance that he might have to seek Malachite for help with his Magic Gun going offline. Malachite never even appears and Linkara ends up seeking someone else's advice instead.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Holokara starts threatening Linkara friends and eventually tries to destroy Marvel Studios with Comicron-1. Although it's assumed he's malfunctioning at first, it turns out Holokara was doing exactly what he was programmed to do; to be a perfect duplicate of Linkara. It's just Linkara himself was slowly turning evil and would've become just like him had Margaret not disabled his magic in fear of a Face–Heel Turn.
- A Day in the Limelight: Harvey gets more focus during the Christmas reviews, as the Ghosts of Christmas reveal how he first met Linkara and try to convince him to finally move on from his son's death.
- Deconstructed Trope: Several of the tropes commonly associated with the angry internet review persona - an tantrum-throwing nerd who treats all reviews as Serious Business and either destroys the reviewed material or beats up the characters of said material as a means of enacting "justice" - are taken apart in one scene where Holokara attempts to destroy Marvel over their handling of Spider-Man. Instead of being the usual "Oh, that wacky reviewer! Ha ha ha!" moment, it's treated exactly as it would be in reality: as a terrorist willing to murder and destroy over something far from worth it.
- Foreshadowing: Because Holokara is based on Linkara's personality, it's Face–Heel Turn makes more sense when it's revealed that Linkara is also becoming evil.
- Idiot Ball:
- When questioning Dr. Insano on whether or not he sold an anti-magic field generator to anyone, Linkara lets him know that not only was his Magic Gun not working, but also that his magic wasn't working at all. Considering just how smart Linkara usually is, this probably wasn't one of his brightest moves. While the reveal doesn't come back to bite him directly, Linkara later admits he made a big mistake by telling him and it's eventually revealed that Insano took advantage of his evident distraction to steal Neutro.
- Jaeris's plan is to take magic guns from their owners and unlock the guns' powers by making their owners very, very angry at him. Did it never occur to him that essentially trolling people with access to magic weaponry might be a bad idea?
- Magic A Is Magic A: Linkara can actually use a spellbook to cast spells, which he did to create his arsenal. But it's made clear that magic has clear cut rules that can't be broken and Linkara is completely unaware of them so he's out of his depth against those that do understand the rules or when they prove an impediment. Said rules that get brought up are as follows:
- The magic that humans can use falls exclusively under White Magic that originates from the soul. It can not be used maliciously or selfishly or users will find themselves no longer able to use magic. It's implied that this hasn't always been an established rule as Aplos notes that Malachite is exempt from the rule by merit of predating the governing rules of human magic.
- Using dark magic like what created the Magic Gun can only be done by making pacts with dark forces that are beyond typical human means, by dint of said dark forces originating from universes where the rules are different.
- Linkara notes that his enchantment to turn his toys into real versions of what they represent has some restrictions on what he can and can't do. He can't just build convenient weaknesses for his enemies for example. It's implied that Linkara has to recreate every aspect of the object or the spell partially fails, as he notes Power Rangers equipment didn't work so well without the Morphing Grid in this universe. Linkara also believes that he spell doesn't work so well on things with text as it didn't go well when he tried it on a Yu-Gi-Oh card.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When he discovers that Jaeris had stolen his magic gun, in a fit of rage, Linkara retaliates by confiscating and destroying Jaeris' pocket watch, only to be told afterwards that Jaeris is not in fact an enemy. After learning of his complicated background and that his pocket watch was an "anchor" that protects him while in alternate universes, without which he can never go home, Linkara feels extreme remorse for his actions and vows to set things right.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Two of these, both towards points brought up by Harvey:
- When Linkara explains where he gets his stuff, Harvey wonders why never made a 'Destroy Mechakara Forever' button or something, prompting Linkara to explain that the magic involved has limits (see above).
- When coming up with ideas on how to take out the out of control Holokara, Harvey suggests shooting his mobile emitter. Linksano explains that, since Holokara is based on Star Trek technology, he's partially made of force fields, which he could expand to protect said emitter.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The wizard Aplos lays down an epic one on Linkara, interspersed with clips from previous episodes demonstrating exactly what he's talking about:Linkara: I am not turning evil!Aplos: Oh really? Tell me how often you use your powers selfishly. How many people have you threatened or lashed out against unreasonably? How many times did you worry about your own problems before anyone else's? And how many times did you arrogantly assume that your solutions were the right ones, your answers were the only answers? Do you ever ignore the suffering of others? Or are you just off in your own little world when others are trying to get you to listen for just five damn minutes? Our actions and our thoughts shape who we are, and yours are not shaping up to be the ones of a hero. I suggest you go home and take some time to ponder who you really are, because you are going to need to help yourself.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Harvey believed that Linkara got his arsenal through connections to people who could create such advanced technology. The weapons are actually toys that Linkara enchanted to function like they do in their respective series of origin through a spellbook.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Harvey Finevoice is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas, who try to help him move on from the death of his son. Notably, The Nostalgia Critic has taken up the Ghost of Christmas Past title as a temp job, since being the universe doesn't really pay the bills.
- Your Mom: While Linkara battles Jaeris, Pollo engages his A.I., Sierra:Pollo: Your mother was a ColecoVision!
Sierra: And yours was an Amstrad PenPad!
