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The rightful order has been restored. — Gaz |
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| Invader Zim Episode | |
| Game Slave 2 | |
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| Chronology | |
| Previous: | Bolognius Maximus |
|---|---|
| Next: | Battle of the Planets |
| Information | |
| Episode No: | Episode 12b |
| Production No: | 12b |
| Airdate: | September 21, 2001 |
| Credits | |
| Writer(s): | Eric Trueheart |
"Game Slave 2" is the 2nd segment in the 12th episode of the first season of Invader Zim. It first premiered on September 21, 2001, on Nickelodeon.
Plot Summary
SPOILER WARNING OF DOOM: This section or article may contain spoilers!
When Gaz sees an advertisement for the new handheld gaming console, Game Slave 2, she grows obsessed with getting one. However, when Professor Membrane insists she takes Dib to the mall with her, Gaz's brother forces her to wait until he finishes a new episode of Mysterious Mysteries first, causing them to arrive late, leaving them at the end of an extremely long line.
Gaz is enraged, but decides to get rid of Dib by convincing him that she spotted a chupacabra in the underground parking lot. Finally alone without any annoyances, Gaz waits in line for her new game. However, Gaz ends up standing just in front of Iggins, an irritating kid who constantly boasts about his video gaming prowess. Gaz reaches the counter, where she is told there is only one copy of the Game Slave 2 left that someone has pre-ordered, but they haven't shown up yet. Iggins claims to be the missing person's name, eand takes the game. Gaz seeks revenge by unleashing her terrifying wrath on Iggins.
Game Slave 2 advertisement.
Meanwhile, deep underground, Dib finally realizes that there is no chupacabra. Now, he must escape the underground parking lot, for, while he's there, he meets a colony of horrible rat people.
Back at Iggins's house, Iggins started enjoying his new game, but finds himself being stalked by Gaz, whom he desperately tries to escape. Unfortunately, the batteries on his new Game Slave 2 begin to run low. Panicking like never before, Iggins tears through his house, searching for new batteries to power his game, but is unable to find any. Finally, he looks in the bathroom. There, he finds Gaz with all the batteries in the house, collected in a plastic bag, which she holds over the toilet. She threatens to flush them away, unless Iggins gives Gaz his Game Slave 2. Iggins refuses, so Gaz follows through with her threat; shorting out the batteries in the toilet water.
Absolutely frantic now, Iggins rushes to the battery store. But, when he gets to the elevator, Iggins presses the button so many times in his haste, he shoots to the top of the building. Gaz is already waiting for him on the roof, evidently having climbed the building with nothing but her bare hands. She enters the elevator before Iggins can escape again. Once more, Gaz offers Iggins money for the Game Slave 2, saying that is rightfully hers. When he refuses yet again, Gaz terrifies him by smashing the elevator's controls, plunging them downwards. Terrified of Gaz to the point of hysteria, Iggins finally gives in. Gaz stops the elevator from falling, puts batteries into her newely-aquired Game Slave 2, and starts playing. Her wrath is visibly lifted as the rain stops falling, and the dark purple sky lightens. Iggins is still determined that he is the better gamer, and starts to tell Gaz so, yet again. Suddenly, the elevator cable snaps, causing both the elevator and Iggins to take a fifty-story plunge into the ground below. A short while afterward, Dib wanders by the wreckage, confused. But, as soon as he's out of sight, Iggins literally flies out of the crashed elevator.
End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.
Facts of Doom
Cultural References
- In this episode, there was a game entitled Vampire Piggy Hunter. The character looked very similar to Vampire Hunter D, a popular Japanese anime and literary character.
- The episode was in fact written as a mockery to the respective launchs of the then upcoming PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
- The "I was once a man." line said by one of the rat persons is from the G.I. Joe: The Movie, a line uttered by a mutant Cobra Commander.
- The scenes in which Gaz terrifies and chases Iggins are possibly references to classis Japanese horror film Ring. Interestingly, an American remake entitled The Ring, was released in 2002, one year later after this episode's airing and two months before the release of the series finale "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever".
- The Game Slave 2's appearance vaguely resembles the Nintendo DS, despite the latter releasing in 2004, two years after Invader Zim's cancellation in 2002.
Trivia
- This is the second episode where Zim doesn't appear. The first being "Battle-Dib", and the first episode having to do nothing with him at all (Battle-Dib had Dib trying to show his presentation on aliens, including Zim to the Swollen Eyeball Network; a hologram of an Irken's head, possibly Zim's, is seen on Dib's computer display).
- This is one of Jhonen Vasquez's favourite episodes from Season 1, along with "Bolognius Maximus". However, this is one of Richard Steven Horvitz's least favourite episodes, along with "The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot" and "Battle-Dib", because none of them feature Zim.
- Nickelodeon originally objected to Iggins telling his mother to "have a good time at work", deeming it inappropriate. Jhonen Vasquez and the rest of the crew had to fight to keep the line in, as it did not sound inappropriate to them. It's likely that this line was hinting, at least in the Nickelodeon executives' thought, that Iggins' mother was a prostitute, stripper, or pole dancer.
- When Iggins is running through his house, trying to avoid Gaz, he passes a poster on his wall which has the word "obey" written on it over a picture of a fist. This is most likely a reference to the episode "Career Day" in which Zim shouts "obey the fist" to one of his classmates.
- Innuendo: When one of the rat people say to Dib that she was once a man, Dib points that she is female. This could be a possible hint that this rat woman is in reality a transgender woman.
- Alternatively, she could have referred that she was once a member of the human race prior becoming a rat person.
Changes and Cuts
- Originally, the episode's title and the Game Slave 2 itself were supposed to be Game Slave Advance. Because it sounded too similar to the existing Game Boy Advance, which was recently released in North America and Europe at the time, it had to be changed.
- Iggins was supposed to be killed off in the scene where he fell fifty floors downwards into the parking lot where Dib was, and have the ending be Dib turning into a rat person. Due to Nickelodeon prohibiting deaths, the scene had to show Iggins alive by flying out of the elevator unscathed and Dib just simply walking past the destroyed elevator, completely normal. It's widely believed that this was Jhonen's way of mocking Nickelodeon for objecting to him wanting to show a character death, graphic or otherwise. This also disallowed Dib turning into a rat person as Jhonen had envisioned. Concept art of Dib as a rat person can be found on Aaron Alexovich's website.[1]
Things You Might Have Missed
- You can see Bloody GIR when all the pigs are shot down in the beginning.
- There is a poster above Iggins's toilet that says "No miss fires".
- When Dib is talking with the rat people about the exit, the exit is right behind him.
- The guard who puts the kids on the zip line to exit the mall is named Peaches, according to his name tag.
- The cashier at the battery store bears a strong resemblance to Tess from I Feel Sick. Kathryn Fiore does her voice.
See also