Top 12 Best Episodes of Code Lyoko

Okay, let’s call this one a freebie. A week or two ago, I fell back into watching the episodes of Code Lyoko on YouTube. As I said, it’s like a cycle, I go back to them every couple years. This is why I wrote such a long retrospective for the blog, a few years ago. In hindsight, I realize my reason was tenuous at best; even if Lyoko, the virtual world featured in the show, features video game-like mechanics, that element of the series isn’t sufficiently prominent to bundle the show with other media about video games. Still, it’s a show that I actually like to talk about and analyze. I love the progression from a “monster of the week” format (read: where continuity matters very little and episodes are nearly interchangeable) to a continuity-heavy show where most episodes have value in the myth arc of the series.

I hesitated for a while before making this list, because I wasn’t sure I would actually be able to do it. Since I love the show, I feel that it’s difficult to cut down what I feel are the 12 best episodes. There are just so many awesome episodes to choose from! Bad episodes, that’d be easier; actually, I’d have the opposite issue, where I wouldn’t know if there are 12 episodes I’d consider bad enough to make the cut.

Ultimately, I made my picks based on a handful of factors. Quality, of course, but also the originality of the plot, the place of the episode in the greater scheme of things and who it focuses on. It won’t be objective, but I do think most picks on this list are standouts that are commonly agreed upon by fans.

I don’t care if it doesn’t fit with the theme of the blog, I just want to have fun today. Let’s jump into it, shall we?

12. #74: “I’d Rather Not Talk About It”

Jim has almost equally been an opponent
of the team as he's been an ally to them in the
real world, even if he usually doesn't remember
due to the reset button.

One element I like about Code Lyoko is that, when you study the show as it evolves, you can see some of the directorial decisions made throughout, and how they ultimately benefited the story. One of the most interesting elements may be Jim Morales, the gym teacher, who started out as a somewhat antagonistic adult in Season 1, only to become a lot more comical from Season 2 onwards, and  a lot more interesting as a result. His catchphrase, “I’d rather not talk about it”, follows his offhanded mentions of things he may have possibly done in his life and jobs he occupied, several of which are highly doubtful for an unfit middle-aged guy who teaches P.E. at some French school.

In the episode that bears the name of this running gag, the protagonists hire him for a tough physical endurance session, only to be attacked by a XANA-controlled wild boar. This episode shines a light on Jim that we might not have thought about before – he does have a lot of knowledge that proves a handful of his claims. It was a sweet form of insight into a secondary figure that deserves an episode all to themselves. Plot-wise, since Jérémie stayed behind to help Jim, the Lyoko-Warriors had to use the Supercomputer on their own, which is something they learned literally in the previous episode, “Crash Course”. How's that for continuity?

11. #64: “Double Trouble”

Any time XANA got behind the Supercomputer's
keyboard, it did some crazy things. And yet,
wouldn't it have the power to do much more
if it stayed into the virtual world?

The show deconstructs the “Wake up, go to school, save the world” trope so common in children’s media by showing how the protagonists’ everyday lives are impacted by their fight against their enemy. They’re overworked and exhausted, their grades take a toll, they constantly skip classes, and the adults are starting to notice. Season 3 focuses on that aspect, and this episode marks the peak to that plot thread, as Yumi is threatened with expulsion by the principal of Kadic due to her repeated absences.

Things aren’t any easier on the other side of things as XANA, which could by this point exist outside of Lyoko, has taken to deleting the virtual world one piece at a time, which would leave the heroes incapable of combating him. When a XANA-made Jérémie clone almost drowns the real one, the heroes have to jump on Lyoko again; Yumi has to escape from a photography class, with William electing to cover for her. This is the episode where the team realizes they need a sixth member, and decide to add William to the group. Oh, if only they knew…

10. #81: “A Lack of Goodwill”

The real (read: evil) William was noticeably
unimpressed by his clone/double.

Speaking of William Dunbar, he spends most of Season 4 under XANA’s control in the virtual world, adding another layer of complexity to the heroes’ quest to defeat the monstrous program. This forces them to create a clone with basic intelligence, similar to the clones XANA can create, to hide the fact that the real William is gone. That clone is… well… “Dumber than a box of rocks” would be an improvement. Per its limited A.I., the fake William takes everything literally and has no initiative. And yes, many people notice. A program is created to make him a little smarter, but he starts to grow beyond his programming, to the point of acting like a real person. No problem, right? Well… this isn’t a real person, so yes, it’s a problem. It’s unfortunate that the show doesn’t explore this in greater depth; it would be a fascinating science-fiction tale.

Then, the student journal reporters interrogate the clone and learn the entire story. Looking for more, they discover the factory and the supercomputer, just as the real William, still mind-controlled and evil, returns to wreak havoc. It’s an episode with a great story, even if I do wish more was done with the idea of a smarter William clone. It also features the Lyoko-Warriors breaking another Supercomputer by translating their Lyoko avatars into the real world, which was a really cool idea, even if admittedly it takes a backseat here.

9. #37: “Common Interest”

Ah, the age-old trope: Science-fiction writers
think uranium can do anything.

Throughout Season 2, XANA attempts to escape from the factory’s Supercomputer, which would make it much harder to defeat. However, in order to achieve such a thing, it has to survive; hence why it ties Aelita’s being to Lyoko. As a result, both feel the effects of any damages done to Lyoko or the Supercomputer. When one of the quantic computer’s uranium batteries begins to fail, Aelita gets fainting spells while XANA feels its power wane. Something out of its control threatens its victory. It thus makes a surprising truce with the Lyoko-Warriors in order to swap the failing battery with a functional one. Say what you want, it has a sense of self-preservation.

This aligns with other actions it took before, such as forming another truce with the heroes in “Marabounta” (Episode #36), in which a creation of Jérémie threatens XANA, with Aelita caught in the crossfire. It’s fascinating to see how XANA thinks; it’s always a step ahead, but it also isn’t above requesting help if it needs to (especially if it has some bargaining chips). Also note how, in the Season 3 episode “Sabotage” (#61), once freed from the main Supercomputer’s shackles, XANA isn’t above breaking its physical core in order to prevent the heroes from fighting him.

8. #93: “Down To Earth”

"How's my new steed?"

I feel like I’d be missing something if I didn’t discuss one of the final episodes. My choice landed on this one. Bringing William Dunbar back from XANA’s control is an important element of Season 4, alongside destroying Lyoko replicas around the World Wide Web to put an end to all of XANA’s plans. By this point, it’s been revealed that the show’s villain has infected several hundred computers around the world, thus making the team’s original strategy of destroying one Supercomputer at a time futile. However, they do have a plan to bring William back. And it’s about time they act, too, as William’s real parents have shown up at Kadic and can tell that the clone isn’t their son.

Better hope it's the real deal, they were fooled
twice before.

I like this episode as a conclusion of the William arc, but also because it’s where a lot of elements came together: The Colossus on Lyoko, the army of robots (which, while I still think is kind of lame for XANA’s final plan, still turns out to be effective against Odd and Aelita), and of course, the multi-agent program created by Jérémie with a bit of help from Franz Hopper. They do rescue William, but it comes with heavy losses, all of which pave the way to the true final confrontation.

7. #25: “Code: EARTH” + #26: “False Start”

The moment everything changed.
Continuity-heavy serials tend to have one of
those moments. Or, in this show's case, many.

Is it cheating to count two episodes in one entry? The show seldom had two-parters, aside from "XANA Awakens" and the Season 1 “finale”, split in two episodes. Imagine being a kid in 2004/05 watching this show with, let’s say, some rather elastic continuity (the episodes had little to connect them to each other aside from the quest of bringing Aelita into the real world). And then, the show reveals it’s actually going to keep its promise. We’re not gonna wait, like, 5 seasons to see Aelita in the real world? Nope, Season 1 Finale it is. In an era where most cartoons still had a “monster of the week” format, this was a breath of fresh air. Shows with continuity did exist, but they weren’t as common or popular as they are nowadays. It made the entire series a lot more interesting.

The previous 25 episodes were worth it.

The plot of this two-parter is great as well: While picking up the required disks for Aelita’s devirtualization program, Jérémie is harmed accidentally by Jim, the gym teacher. Apologetic and now jobless, Jim chooses to help them with their goal of bringing Aelita to Earth. "False Start" sees Aelita’s first steps at Kadic alongside Jérémie, Odd, Yumi and Ulrich, with Jim living temporarily in the factory. However, XANA takes control of the devirtualization program and sends its monsters into the real world… With how long it’s been and all that came after, we tend to forget just how impactful that season finale was. It forever changed the series’ status quo, something that would happen with Code Lyoko’s other season finales (+ a handful of other episodes).

6. #82: “Distant Memory”

This all looks a little too perfect...

I’ve barely mentioned Franz Hopper so far on this list, even though he’s central to the myth arc, being Lyoko’s creator and Aelita’s father. He has appeared on-screen only a handful of times. And on two of those occasions, he was a fake version created to trick/trap the heroes. In “Distant Memory”, XANA picks into what it knows of Aelita’s memories to recreate the winter cabin she remembers and lures her in with a fake of her father. Since Aelita had been left alone at Kadic due to the others celebrating the Holidays with their respective families, she jumps headfirst into the trap. And credit to XANA, the plan would have worked, had it not been for small lapses in knowledge that clued its victim in. It’s once again up to the rest of the heroes to rescue their friend.

Can't say I like the resolution, but I love
all that leads up to this.

This episode is also quite notable in that this is the closest XANA ever comes to victory; the only reason it fails is that the actual Franz Hopper, now a nondescript ball of light on Lyoko, rescues his daughter in the nick of time. Deus ex machina aside, the episode is fantastic all throughout, and reveals that the show’s villain has become incredibly good at mimicking human behavior, to the point of fooling even those who combat it. And as you can imagine, we’re not done talking about Hopper…

5. #59: “The Secret”

Not pictured: The XANA eyes on Aelita.

As stated earlier in this article, the crux of Season 3 is about forcing the heroes to realize they need help. This is the last William entry here. After growing aware of their machinations (and being rejected by Yumi for the umpteenth time), William learns the group’s secret. The factory, the virtual world, their enemy… All of it. They realize they have to team up with him this one time. XANA’s plan is simple yet effective: Take control of a demolition expert and set charges to blow up the factory. Charges that will remain active even if the tower on Lyoko is deactivated. Brilliant. The fight on Lyoko isn't any easier, either, as the villain's plan involves taking control of Aelita through its creature, the Scyphozoa, since she can delete Lyoko territories and it can't otherwise.

Yumi was right, William wasn't to be trusted...
But not for the reasons she thought.

Meanwhile, at the factory, William points out that the guy was a demolition worker, and thus he helps the others in finding the detonator and stopping it before the factory explodes on them. In spite of his best efforts, he is not accepted into the team, due to Yumi voting against it (but William believes that Ulrich’s to blame on that front). I think this is the best William-centric episode in the series; it’s smart, has some great moments, and helps to further the point that Season 3 wanted to make. Of course, at the time, I doubt anyone could’ve guessed how thing were actually going to go…

4. #19: “Frontier”

It's unfortunate that the show barely did any
of that 2D-CGI mix like we have here.
Then again, could they have?

In the first season, episodes that focused on the myth arc weren’t common, so they stood out a lot more. Frontier is one of these. After getting into an argument with Aelita, Jérémie tries to go to Lyoko to apologize in person. However, something screws up during the virtualization process and he winds up trapped in limbo between the real and virtual worlds. In order to rescue him, Aelita needs to gather the necessary data. Meanwhile, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi are like sitting ducks against a potential XANA attack, since the only member of the group who can use the Supercomputer is out of commission (and at risk of disappearing forever). Jérémie is rescued in the nick of time (as per usual in Season 1) and has a short moment where he almost reaches Aelita through this bizarre limbo. One of the most powerful emotional moments of the season. It also tempted fans with the prospect of seeing Jérémie’s form on Lyoko… which we never do, and we’re told it’s better that way. The show would rather not talk about it.

"Jérémie really ought to teach us how to do
this on our own."
"No worries, we just have to wait 54 episodes!"

3. #49: “Franz Hopper”

That's some dark glasses there.
Makes it easy to hide some XANA eyes.

Ah, there he is again! In this episode taking place near the end of Season 2, XANA hides behind the guise of Franz Hopper. Using the argument of appeal to authority, XANA rallies Odd, Ulrich and Yumi to his side, turning them against Jérémie by claiming that the virtualization process is causing cellular deterioration in Yumi. And this, on the preteen genius’ birthday! The fake Franz Hopper appears very professional, human and fatherly – one of XANA’s nigh-perfect attempts at mimicking human behavior, to the point that the only element that gave it away was a slip of the tongue, mentioning something that it would know, but that the actual Franz Hopper wouldn’t. And when Jérémie arrives to confront the fake researcher, the rest of the group is already in danger’s way on Lyoko, made defenseless against the mooks! It’s only quick thinking and some sweet trickery that allows the team to beat the villainous program this time. This episode shows how far XANA has come to understanding the human psyche, and how dangerous it can be when utilizing that knowledge. It’s also a great episode on the “slice of life” side of things, with the drama around Yumi’s so-called affliction.

Three boxing rounds against the Rampant!
It's Punch-out time!

2. #30: “A Great Day”

Oh right, there was also that friggin' thing from
Season 2 onwards. A sign that XANA had
grown very powerful.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved “Groundhog Day” plots. I saw “Happy Death Day” recently and loved it and- I’m straying from the point. This may be one of the best twists on the idea. XANA gets its grubby AI mitts on the Return to the Past feature of the Supercomputer, and it becomes a race against time to deactivate the tower on Lyoko before it resets the day again. But, why would it do such a thing? The revelation is shocking: Every Return to the Past increases XANA’s power. This episode sets two things in motion: The heroes have to use the Return to the Past less often from now on, lest they want to fight against an enemy constantly improving. And two, the evil program has at that point grown powerful enough to take direct control of human beings. This episode changed the status quo forever, and it’s not even a season finale. It’s also a great story on its own, between the XANA attack and the Kadic School side of the story, in which Sissi tries to blackmail the Lyoko-Warriors with an audio file she recorded of Jérémie and Aelita talking about the latter’s (then) mysterious origins.

Noticed how this is the only mention of Sissi
on the entire list? Gee, it's almost like I think
she's an annoyance or something.

1. #24: “Ghost Channel”

Which one is the real Jérémie?

It was a tough choice between this and “A Great Day”. I ultimately went for this one because I think it’s the most interesting story the show got to tell. After fending off a XANA attack and launching a Return to the Past, Jérémie notices that Yumi, Ulrich and Odd haven’t returned. Meanwhile, they’re in class somewhere else with a strangely antagonistic Jérémie. The nerdy kid gets in trouble with the school over the disappearance of his friends, while the rest, in the other version of Kadic, are noticing bizarre glitches in the matrix. It turns out that they’re still on Lyoko, in a bubble that replicates Kadic School and its surroundings.

Looks like this Matrix needs a quick reboot.

Listening to his courage and proving that he’s a true Lyoko-Warrior, Jérémie goes into a scanner and gets himself virtualized, and this, in spite of what happened the previous time (see my entry about "Frontier"). The mere concept of “virtual bubbles” is fascinating, yet only used twice in the show. I love the creepy feel of the false Kadic, with random things repeating movement patterns (the aforementioned “glitches”). I really think it uses the full extent of the universe’s elements (or at least what existed at that point, in season 1), to create the most interesting story possible. It’s also in a fantastic spot in the season, right before the season finale. And, oh yeah, that evil Jérémie is frightening as Heck! This episode deserves its #1 spot.

This is it, this is my list. Hope you enjoyed! I should return to my regular programming very soon.