Editing Back to Virtual Reality

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Rescue Bots (cartoon)|Transformers: Rescue Bots]]'' ep 83
|prev=Plus One (RB)
|next=Vanishing Returns
|image=BackToVirtualReality Morocco virus.jpg
|caption=Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken!
|title="Back to Virtual Reality"
|airdate=[[May 14]], [[2016]]
|production company=[[Allspark (company)|Hasbro Studios]]
|animation studio=[[DHX Media]]<br>[[Top Draw Animation]]
|writer=[[Zac Atkinson (writer)|Zac Atkinson]]
|director=[[Patrick Archibald]]
}}

'''When Chief is convinced by Cody to try a virtual reality video game, an old nemesis is uncovered; the team must stop the villain from destroying the real Griffin Rock.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:BackToVirtualReality Jerry falls in pool.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Can you photoshop your life with better decisions, Jerry?]]
Everyone's coming to the [[Griffin Rock Community Pool]] for the last day of the season before it turns into a skating rink. [[Frankie Greene|Frankie]] calls [[Cody Burns|Cody]] to reveal that she's found an update to ''[[Griffin Rock Element Quest]]'' and ask if he wants to come over to the [[Griffin Rock Fun Zone|Fun Zone]] to try it out, but he doesn't want to miss the last game of "Burnso". [[Kade Burns|Kade]], who [[Heatwave (RB)|Heatwave]] soaked, asks the lifeguard to turn the water heat up; unfortunately, the lifeguard is distracted by some running kids as he goes to adjust the temperature, and he accidentally puts it into ice rink mode. The pool freezes over immediately, and [[Jerry (RB)|Jerry]]'s son Timmy says that his father was under the water when it froze!

[[Boulder]] breaks the ice and [[Chase (RB)|Chase]] pulls Jerry out. [[Blades (RB)|Blades]] offers to take him over to the hospital for a checkup, and [[Graham Burns|Graham]] determines that the temperature control system is stuck on "ice rink"; fixing it is doable, but will take a while. The Burnses opt to head over to the Fun Zone, except for Boulder, who wants to get a library card, and [[Charlie Burns|Chief Burns]] and Chase, who intend to go out on patrol instead. Cody asks his father to come try out ''Element Quest'' 2.0 with them, and Chase points out that he's perfectly capable of patrolling by himself. Chief is convinced to go with the rest of his family to the Fun Zone.

[[File:BackToVirtualReality players in Element Quest.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

At the Fun Zone, the group separates almost immediately, although Blades requests Chief's prize tickets. Heatwave, Cody, Chief, and Frankie decide to try out ''Element Quest'''s new four-player mode. Chief takes a little while to figure out the controls, but once he does he starts enjoying the game quickly. The group opts to play the new level, Air. Meanwhile, at the library, Boulder encounters trouble getting a library card due to his lack of a driver's license. Graham is busy playing pinball and can't provide his own driver's license information, and the librarian is unimpressed with his offer of a license plate number. 

In the Air level, the team discovers a wooden horse that shows them how to get wings to fly up to the goal. When they reach the target, the horse splits apart to reveal a virtual [[Doctor Morocco]], much to everyone's surprise. Chief ends the game and calls the rest of the rescue team over to explain matters. Frankie determines that the game is functioning normally and nothing's gotten into it from the outside, and the power immediately cuts out. Everything with a screen starts displaying Morocco's logo. Cody suggests that this is the effect of a virus embedded in the ''Element Quest'' 2.0 update. Boulder calls from the library; he can't check out the book of American folktales he wants to get because everything in the system is inexplicably checked out to Thaddeus Morocco. Chase reports that the bank is also showing that all the money in every account has been transferred to Thaddeus Morocco; he and [[Harrison (RB)|Mr. Harrison]] have barricaded themselves inside the bank to get away from the angry mob outside demanding their money. Chief instructs him to keep everyone calm until they've got this sorted out, so he decides to try to tell a joke. 

[[File:BackToVirtualReality virtual boating.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Graham shuts down the wireless so the virus can't spread, and Frankie gets a program to remove the virus from her father. When she tries to upload it, everything seems to be going back to normal for a few seconds, but the virus quickly reasserts itself. The group concludes that the virtual Morocco from ''Element Quest'' is the virus itself, and winning the game should let them delete it. Chief, Cody, Blades, and Heatwave prepare to go into the program. Dani and Kade are dispatched to help Chase at the bank and Graham is sent to work on the library, both with copies of the virus-deleting program. 

In the game, Griffin Rock appears to have been transformed into [[Moropolis]]. Morocco appears and forces them into the Earth level, but with the enemies and items of the Water level, like sharks. Cody gets everyone into the boats which came with the sharks, but Morocco sends a group of [[CAT]]s after them. When Heatwave prepares to jump up and attack him, he summons a dragon, which immediately kills virtual Heatwave. Back in the real world, Heatwave attempts to reenter the game, but Frankie realizes that she can't get him back into the program; the virus has control. Blades similarly dies to the dragon. Chief and Cody take one of the boats and make a break for it, and conclude that the bots can't get back into the game. They seize upon the idea of defeating Morocco permanently. 

[[File:BackToVirtualReality Morocco virus on the loose.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You wouldn't download a supervillain.]]

Cody notices a jump power boost Morocco hasn't noticed, and tells his father to go get it and try to attack. Cody distracts Morocco by throwing arrows at him long enough for Chief to get the flag, which defeats him. With the Morocco virus gone, Frankie can easily fix the Fun Zone computers, and the bank and library computers are even simpler. However, the Morocco virus prints itself into one of the prizes and makes a break for the street, only to discover that it's tiny and can't do much outside a video game. The team forces him into the pool, which has been melting and now has water at the surface, and freezes it. Frankie cuts out the block of ice containing the miniature Morocco and puts it in the frozen section of the [[Hall of Inspiration|Best Left Forgotten Room]] archives.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Boulder]] (1)
*[[Blades (RB)|Blades]] (2)
*[[Chase (RB)|Chase]] (3)
*[[Heatwave (RB)|Heatwave]] (4)

|c3=
*Lifeguard (5)
*[[Timmy]] (6)
*[[Jerry (RB)|Jerry]] (7)
*[[Cody Burns]] (8)
*[[Graham Burns]] (9)
*[[Charlie Burns]] (10)
*[[Kade Burns]] (11)
*[[Dani Burns]] (12)
*[[Frankie Greene]] (13)
*[[Lima|Ms. Lima]] (15)
*[[Harrison (RB)|Mr. Harrison]] (17)

|c4=
*[[CAT]] (14)
*[[Morocco virus]] (16)

}}

==Quotes==
"I still do not understand why human children enjoy swimming but dislike baths."
:—'''Chase'''


"Age. That's in Earth years, right?"
:—'''Boulder''' filling out an application for a library card.


"The cake is a lie!"
:—'''Blades''' channels old memes.


"But...but he's-he's in the future. In France!" ''[everyone looks at him]'' "What? I pay attention."
:—'''Kade'''


"Well, at least I lasted longer than Heatwa-"
:—'''Blades'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* ''Griffin Rock Element Quest'' was previously seen in "[[A Virtual Disaster]]". In that episode, the game was located in the [[Hall of Inspiration]].
* The prizes available at the Fun Zone include 3D printable versions of [[Rayvenous]] (seen in "[[The Attack of Humungado]]") and a lemur (like those seen in "[[Walk on the Wild Side]]"), as well as the ''Element Quest'' dragon.
* Morocco's fate was shown in "[[The Last of Morocco]]".
* In "[[Four Bots and a Baby]]", the bank was situated on a large, grassy property. This doesn't appear to be the case in this episode, as its front door opens directly onto one of the main streets of the town. The bank building itself appears to be different as wall. Maybe they relocated after the events of the earlier episode?

===Transformers references===
* (tbd)

===Real-world references===
* This episode's title seems to be a reference to the ''{{w|Red Dwarf}}'' episode "Back to Reality," in which the cast also wind up trapped inside a video game.
* The wooden horse that hides the virtual Morocco is a reference to the {{w|Trojan horse}}; viruses that hide themselves in benign programs are known as "{{w|Trojan horse (computing)|Trojan horse viruses}}".
* "Do a barrel roll!", "the cake is a lie", "ramming speed" and "you're winner" are all memes, originating respectively from [[Nintendo]]'s ''{{w|Star Fox 64}}'', ''{{w|Portal (video game)|Portal}}'', ''{{w|Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur}}'' and ''{{w|Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing}}''.
* Boulder's suggestion to turn the computers off and on again is a common tech support solution.
* As with ''Element Quest''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> previous appearance, the game's soundtrack is a medley of 8-bit arrangements of classical music.

===Animation and technical errors===
* (tbd)

===Trivia===
* [[Scene transition]]s between Griffin Rock Element Quest and the "real" world use a rudimentary version of the Rescue Bots [[insignia]] in imitation of early video games.
* When Cody tells Chief to do a barrel roll, what he performs is an actual barrel roll, as opposed to what the StarFox franchise calls a barrel roll, which is more accurately termed an aileron roll. Seems like somebody watched [https://youtu.be/dSQcPIt1BQU this informative video].
* Exactly how sentient ''is'' the Morocco virus? If it is a fully sentient being then trapping it in a block of ice and leaving it immoblised on a shelf could definitely be considered torture. Oops?
* If applying for [[Mayor Luskey Library|a library card]] requires a driver's license, how do children apply for them? Or, for that matter, non-drivers like [[Harrison (RB)|Mr. Harrison]]?

===Foreign localization===
'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ritorno alla realtà virtuale'''" ("Return to Virtual Reality")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 13|13 September]] [[2017]]
[[Category:Rescue Bots episodes]]