Recap: Alibaba arrives in the Leam Empire, where he seeks to begin his gladiator training.

Zigg’s Thoughts: Man, I’ve defended Alibaba to the hilt in these writeups, but there’s no getting away from it – this episode was just an utter snoozefest and really difficult to make it through. Without Aladdin and Morgiana to bounce off of, Alibaba’s lack of charisma is almost palpable, and his relentless stupidity is grating rather than funny. It doesn’t help that this week’s plot is so incredibly predictable and cliched, and that there’s so little of it that the episode has to spin its wheels for a considerable portion, including chucking in an Aladdin scene which is completely irrelevant.

The thing is, the basic idea here isn’t bad – making Alibaba battle his way into the school is decent fodder for a cool action scene and a little character moment. The show partially delivers on the former – the fight is decent – but throws away any chance of the latter. The moment Alibaba helps the man in the casino, the scenario unfolds with a tiresome predictability. The only wrinkle that addds some sort of interest is the revelation that Alibaba has ‘two kinds of Magoi’, but the accompanying graphics suggest it’s another callback to Kassim and the Balbadd storyline, in which case fuck that noise. It was a great arc and an important moment for the character, but for god’s sake let it die already. Perhaps the wanton blood spilling that the next episode promises can soothe me slightly.

Random Observations

• Why would pirates steal Alibaba’s clothes and money and leave his GOLD AND JEWEL ENCRUSTED SWORD?
• Because cutting off Toto’s top was truly the best way to display your combat superiority.