People of Earth, prepare to taste the mighty foot of my planet! — Zim

Invader Zim Episode
Battle of the Planets
Chronology
Previous:	Game Slave 2
Next:	Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
Information
Episode No:	Episode 13
Production No:	13
Airdate:	April 5, 2002
Credits
Writer(s):	Jhonen Vasquez

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Facts of Doom 2.1 Trivia of Doom 2.2 Things You Might Have Missed 2.3 Inconsistencies and Animation Errors 3 See also 4 References

Plot Summary Edit

Following Invader protocol, Zim sends out space probes to the planet Mars to see if it has any potential use for the Irken Empire. When his probes bring back images of artificial-looking structures, he flies the Voot Cruiser to Mars with GIR, in order to figure out what killed the "Marsoids" who built them. He hopes that whatever destroyed them may also be used to destroy Earth. He stumbles upon the Face on Mars, which turns out to be the control panel to Mars itself, which the Martians had converted into a giant spaceship; this ultimately resulted in their extinction. Zim contacts the Tallest and informs them and the Planetary Conversion Team of his plan, and the Irkens cheer for Zim and his efforts. (This is the second time in the series that the Irkens cheer for Zim; the second is in Hobo 13.)

Zim decides to use Mars to crush out life on Earth. Meanwhile, he calls the Almighty Tallest regularly to fill them in on his plan while the Tallest are busy performing the Organic Sweep on planet Blorch (which includes launching Invader Skoodge in a cannon).

However, Zim's plan is discovered by Dib, who was monitoring the Mars probe video feed on his computer. He witnessed Zim take control of Mars and began flying it to Earth. Dib enlists the help of a mysterious NASAPLACE janitor to help him defend Earth with his own spaceship. This o

ther ship was built on Mercury, similarly to how the Martians built theirs, thus beginning the

battle of the planets. The battle takes them to the Sun, then to Saturn, but Dib and Zim are evenly matched for most of the fight. In the end, neither Zim nor Dib are the victor; Zim tries to lose Dib in an asteroid belt, but Dib doesn't follow (thinking that going into an asteroid belt is "just stupid"), while Zim is rewarded for his rash actions by getting pummelled by asteroids. Dib would have succeeded in exposing Zim during the battle, but the video cameras he was using to record it were stolen by GIR. Zim calls the Tallest later to tell them he wanted to do a warm-up before he conquers Earth, calling himself an 'unstoppable death machine'. This brings gales of laughter erupting from the Tallest and other Irkens as the episode ends.

Facts of Doom Edit

Trivia of DoomEdit

• This episode marks the first and only time that a Swollen Eyeball agent's real identity was revealed: Agent Darkbootie, who works as a janitor at NASAPlace.
• This episode shares the same name as an animated series that was in the 70's.
• This episode was originally planned to be the season one finale, though Nickelodeon later expanded the season order, making Tak: The Hideous New Girl the season finale.
• This episode is a favorite of Nickelodeon's, because it actually helps the plot along, unlike other episodes.
• In one scene, both Almighty Tallest Red and Purple talked and laughed about the time when Zim called being covered in meat. This could be a reference to one of the previous episodes entitled Germs, as was shown to the viewers that Zim came to school covered in meat at the end of that episode. However, Red says that the meat fused into Zim's skin and he almost went blind, which must have happened offscreen. This could mean that the Tallest appear to be watching his missions without Zim noticing himself.
• This episode utilizes semi-3D animation more than any other episode.
• This is one of three episodes with Skoodge before series cancellation. Numbered in order, they all are:
  1. The Nightmare Begins
  2. Battle of the Planets
  3. Hobo 13
• The audio from scene where Courtney Lilly is almost crushed by Mars has become popular as a voice meme on Flipnote Hatena.
• Gaz's voice was heard in this episode, but she wasn't physically seen in the episode. This is the same in Planet Jackers.

Things You Might Have MissedEdit

• As the Tallest are launching the organic sweep on Blorch, you can see one of the Rat People about to eat a rabbit.
• When the Tallest initiate the Organic Sweep, the Shuuvers laser the Irken symbol onto Blorch.
• When they re-enter earth's atmosphere, GIR can be seen roasting a weenie.
• Mars can be seen approaching Earth when Dib's rocket splits.
• When Skoodge gets launched onto Blorch, the Shuvvers in the background are black with red "eyes", instead of being purple with yellow-green "eyes".
• Two Bloody GIRs are seen in this episode; one on the bottom right corner of GIR's sand face face before he puts the eyes on it, and the other on Professor Membrane's most visible foot when Dib is talking to him on his desk.

Inconsistencies and Animation ErrorsEdit

• When Zim drives Mars after activating the thrusters and after the scene where everybody was screaming, Zim was eating a sandwich with a Irken insignia on it. However, in the next scene, GIR had the sandwich, without the insignia on it.
• During the scene where GIR goes to Mercury to mess with Dib, the face on Dib's shirt is missing.
• When Zim launches Mars' moons (Phobos and Deimos) at Mercury, it causes a crater to appear on the front of the planet. However, the crater disappears after a few scenes.
• Dib's rocket broke into separate parts when it flew by Zim, though it appeared to be connected together when Dib was seen on Mercury after Zim says "You horrible interfering Dib!".
• When Dib is flying past Zim, headed to Mercury, he appears as if he is going in the wrong direction; however, since the planets are often in varying orbits, he may have had to pass Mars to get to Mercury.
• When Zim contacts the Almighty Tallest in his bear suit, his eyes become crooked for a moment.
• Although it took Zim a while to get to Earth, during the battle both Dib and Zim went out as far as Saturn in no time at all. However, Zim was going at full throttle and with the boosters on during the battle, so this could be possible.
• In the episode, Mercury was coloured grey even though the planet is brown.
• It was impossible for GIR to take Dib's cameras; The cameras can still be seen after GIR flies away from Mercury, yet they are gone later.
• When Zim first takes off the hood to the bear suit, his antennae are green like his skin, not black.
• If you watch carefully, you can see Zim's PAK disappear for a moment when he is getting the data from the Mars probe.
• When the face of Mars is transforming and GIR falls in, when Zim yells "GIR!" his tongue is orange, the same colour as the sky.

See alsoEdit

• Battle of the Planets (Transcript)
• Battle of the Planets Screenshots

References Edit

• http://www.tv.com/invader-zim/battle-of-the-planets/episode/114856/summary.html

Episodes of Invader Zim
Season One
The Nightmare Begins • Bestest Friend • NanoZIM • Parent Teacher Night • Walk of Doom • Germs • Dark Harvest • Attack of the Saucer Morons • The Wettening • Career Day • Battle-Dib • Planet Jackers • Rise of the Zitboy • Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain • Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy • A Room with a Moose • Hamstergeddon • Plague of Babies • Bloaty's Pizza Hog • Door to Door • FBI Warning of Doom • Bolognius Maximus • Game Slave 2 • Battle of the Planets • Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom • Mysterious Mysteries • Future Dib • Hobo 13 • Walk for Your Lives • Megadoomer • Lice • Abducted • The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot • GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff • Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom • Tak: The Hideous New Girl
Season Two
Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars • The Girl Who Cried Gnome • Dibship Rising • Vindicated! • The Voting of the Doomed • Mortos der Soulstealer • Zim Eats Waffles • Gaz, Taster of Pork • The Frycook What Came from All that Space • The Most Horrible X-mas Ever
Canceled/Unfinished
Simon Says "Doom" • Invader Poonchy• Return of Keef• GIR's Big Day• When Pants Ruled! • Mopiness of Doom • Nubs of Doom• The Trial• Top of the Line • Ten Minutes to Doom • Roboparents Gone Wild • Squishy: Hugger of Worlds • It Feeds on Noodles • Day of da Spookies • Those! • Invader Dib