Iron Vegiemon

The kids answer a call for help from Gabumon, who's attempts to liberate a village of captive Digimon have so far failed, thanks to RedVegiemon, who is under the Emperor's control.

thumb|225px|left|Episode recap for Iron Vegiemon.

Synopsis
In the Digiworld, Gabumon is helping Gazimon escape from the Digimon Emperor's jail. He is caught by RedVegiemon and is knocked out cold. Yolei receives a message from Gabumon for help. The DigiDestined ready themselves go, but Yolei is unable to because Izzy is examining her Digivice. Once in the DigiWorld, they disguise themselves as slave Digimon, Gabumon included. They gain access but are once again caught freeing Digmon by RedVegiemon. Gabumon is unable to Digivolve. Apparently Digimon cannot Digivolve naturally because of the Control Spires. The DigiDestined free the captured Digimon after being horribly beaten by RedVegiemon. They destroy the mysterious Control Spire in that area. Gabumon is then able to Digivolve into Garurumon and defeats RedVegiemon. Yolei realizes that the Control Spires power the Dark Rings. The Digidestined deduce that they have to destroy the Control Spire for any particular area to disable the Dark Rings in said area.

Real-world references

 * The English dub episode title is a reference to the cooking show, Iron Chef.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * This is the first episode in the series to feature a normal Digivolution to the Champion level.
 * The Control Spires, which cause a lot of trouble throughout the series, make their first proper appearance in this episode (though they did appear briefly in the first episode).
 * Ken announces the episode title in the Japanese episode.