Joe's Battle

Tai's group come under attack by one of Piedmon's henchmen, while Mimi and Joe arrive at Primary Village, which is no longer the joyful place that it used to be.

Synopsis

Joe and Mimi, along with the friends they've collected, watch as Machinedramon's city dissolves. As they continue on, Mimi becomes tired, so Gekomon, Otamamon, and Frigimon look for food. As they're resting, Joe remembers that his brother, Jim Kido, told him that he didn't have to become a doctor if he didn't want to. He resolves to become a stronger and better person, rather than one that always screws up. When the group continues on, they arrive at a colorless and broken Primary Village. Hearing a harmonica, the group rushes toward the sound, thinking that it is Matt. When they find the source, however, they realize that it's Elecmon, who has become depressed. They ask him to join their group and when he hears that Patamon and T.K. have been fighting as well, he agrees. Joe asks Elecmon where he got the harmonica and they are able to determine that Matt crossed the nearby lake with a swan boat. Joe decides to leave Mimi with the friends they have gathered in order to search for Matt, feeling that he must go alone to find where he fits in the group. Joe says that Matt was looking for the same thing and he wants to know if he found it. Gomamon says that if Joe feels strongly about this, then it must be the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, after making a marker for the Numemon that died against Machinedramon, Tai's group continues up Spiral Mountain until Sora spots Piedmon's hideout. LadyDevimon offers to take care of the DigiDestined for Piedmon and attacks. Koromon digivolves to Agumon, but is easily defeated. Patamon, Biyomon, and Tentomon all digivolve to Champion while Gatomon digivolves to Angewomon. The battle continues (with Andromon also aiding the DigiDestined), but LadyDevimon seems to have advantage as she easily deflects all attacks made on her. Agumon urges Tai to let him warp digivolve, but Tai refuses, saying that he needs to stay in reserve. When Izzy uses the Digimon Analyzer on LadyDevimon, Tai begins to look at the big picture and realizes the seriousness of the situation. He asks Sora and T.K. to find Matt, knowing that they need to plan ahead to avoid more innocent deaths and to defeat the strongest of the Dark Masters. Birdramon and Angemon leave the battle to help Sora and T.K. in their search, leaving Kabuterimon and Angewomon to fight LadyDevimon. Kabuterimon digivolves to MegaKabuterimon to help Angewomon, but the battle between her and LadyDevimon seems to have become personal. While the boys are uneasy watching the catfight, Kari is very passionate about supporting Angewomon. Angewomon defeats LadyDevimon, but their brief celebration is cut short when Piedmon arrives. Agumon warp digivolves to WarGreymon, but Tai knows that everyone is needed for this battle.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance. Bolded characters are fought by the protagonist(s), and italicized characters feature non-explicitly, e.g. voice, silhouette, image.)

Humans	In-Training	Rookie	Champion	Ultimate	Mega
Mimi Tachikawa (1) Joe Kido (1) Mr. Kido (10) Shin Kido (10) Kari Kamiya (12) Takeru "T.K." Takaishi (13) Sora Takenouchi (16) Taichi "Tai" Kamiya (16) Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi (16) Yamato "Matt" Ishida (31)	Koromon (22)	Palmon (1) Gomamon (1) Otamamon (1) Patamon (13) Biyomon (16) Tentomon (16) Agumon (25) Gabumon (33) Elecmon (34)	Frigimon (1) Ogremon (1) Gekomon (1) Meramon (1) Gatomon (13) Angemon (26) Birdramon (27) Kabuterimon (28) Greymon (36) Ikkakumon (38)	Andromon (16) LadyDevimon (24) Angewomon (29) MegaKabuterimon (35) MetalGreymon (37)^{[please confirm]}	Piedmon (23) WarGreymon (30) MetalGarurumon (31)

Digimon Analyser

LadyDevimon
		Ultimate Virus
		Fallen Angel Digimon
		Special Move Darkness Wave, Poison
Izzy: "LadyDevimon—programmed to be the ultimate, fully digivolved fighting soldier, she serves as gate keeper and bodyguard for the last Dark Master."

Digivolutions

(Number indicates order of occurrence.)

Koromon	1	Agumon	9	WarGreymon

Patamon	2	Angemon

Biyomon	3	Birdramon

Tentomon	4	Kabuterimon	6	MegaKabuterimon (Red)	7	Tentomon

Gatomon	5	Angewomon	7	Gatomon

Quotes

Mimi: "It's like the whole city is moving out of town!"
Joe: "And I thought it was tough packing for camp."

—Mimi and Joe watch as Machinedramon's city gets reconfigured.

Gomamon: "Tai must have defeated another Dark Master."
Palmon: "There can't be too many of them left. We're almost home free"
Ogremon: "You think so huh? Well, the toughest one's still out there."
Frigimon: "Piedmon, the worst of the worst!"
Meramon: "He's the darkest of the Dark Masters."
Mimi: "Well, like rain on our parade, why don't you."

—Mimi and Joe's new allies worry about the fight with Piedmon.

"I wonder if superheroes are listed in the phone book."

—Joe tries to figure out an easier way of defeating Piedmon.

Gomamon: "Joe, why is it we're always walking uphill?"
[Later]
Sora: "Ever notice how we're always walking uphill?"

—Gomamon and Sora independently make the same observation.

Mimi: "Wow! Everybody's being so nice. So sweet."
Palmon: "It must be because of your charming personality!"
[...]
Ogremon: "Somthing tells me we should just nod our heads and go along."
Meramon: "Yeah, right."

—Good call guys.

"Yeah, good old Joe. You can always rely on him to fall into the mud or off a cliff. Well, not anymore! It's time for a brand new Joe!"

—Joe is gaining some self-confidence.

"Pretty depressing, unless you're a big fan of charcoal."

—Joe's impression of Primary Village after the Dark Masters took over.

Sora: "See? I told you we were close."
Tai: "We'll give you a medal later."

—With Piedmon so close, Tai doesn't want to waste time on "I-told-you-so"'s.

Sora: "We should've known there'd be a welcoming committee."
Kari: "She looks like a witch."

—Sora and Kari are openly disgusted by LadyDevimon.

"The time's come to stop acting like a bunch of children. We're facing the last of the Dark Masters. [...] We don't know where he'll strike, or when, but it'll be somewhere close by... and soon. And he's strong, we know that. Real strong. This won't be just another fight. This one's for keeps. We've got to be ready for him. [...] All we've been doing is meeting each threat as it comes, barely holding on. Now we've got to put it all together, as a team. That means Matt, Mimi, and Joe too. We've let enough Digimon sacrifice themselves for us. It's our turn now."

—Tai has finally become a true leader, realising the importance of battle strategy.

Joe: "They don't call me 'Old Reliable' for nothing."
Gomamon: "But they don't."
Joe: "I'll ignore that."

—Joe tries to convince Mimi to let him look for Matt on his own.

MegaKabuterimon: "Gotcha!"
Angewomon: "Let me go, let me at her!"

—Angewomon loses her cool fighting LadyDevimon.

Tai: "Wow... Look at 'em go!"
Izzy: "I know I shouldn't watch this but... I can't take my eyes off!"
Kari: "Get her, Angewomon! That's right, knock that witch's crock off! Go!"

—Tai and Izzy are transfixed by the catfight between Angewomon and LadyDevimon, while Kari tells Angewomon to let LadyDevimon have it.

LadyDevimon: "Aaargh! YOU BROKE IT!!"
MegaKabuterimon: "Awwww....send me the bill!"

—How are you gonna pay it, MegaKabuterimon? With DigiDollars?

"You're right, LadyDevimon. This game is over."

—Angewomon recovers her composure before defeating LadyDevimon with Heaven's Charm.

"I'm melting!"

—LadyDevimon's last words. Apparently, she's a fan of The Wizard of Oz.

Tai: "Remember, he's strong, we don't even know how strong."
Wargreymon: "No problem. At this rate, I'm only worried about dying of old age."

—WarGreymon comments on Piedmon's walking speed.

"We're gonna need everybody for this one. TK and Sora, Mimi and our Digimon allies, and Matt, and good Old Reliable Joe."

— Hey! The nickname is catching on!

Other notes

Animation errors

When speaking to Elecmon, during one shot, Joe's shirt is clearly a darker tone.
During Kabuterimon's digivolution into MegaKabuterimon in the English dub, just before Kabuterimon actually transforms, MegaKabuterimon's original Japanese name, "AtlurKabuterimon", can be seen in the background.

Dubbing changes

Sora and Kari look disdainfully at LadyDevimon in both versions, though in the English dub it is only because of her appearance. In the original, it's because the first thing she says translates to, "Welcome, you adorable little boys!"
Kari calls LadyDevimon a "witch" in the English dub, instead of a "bitch" in the Japanese version.
When Angewomon and LadyDevimon are slapping each other, the actual slaps are removed from the English dub.

Real-world references

When Mimi and Joe arrive at Primary Village, Joe says that it looks like "an old Twilight Zone episode".
LadyDevimon shouts "I'm melting!", a second reference in the series to the movie The Wizard of Oz (after Myotismon in the episode "Wizardmon's Gift").

Miscellaneous trivia

LadyDevimon announces the episode title in the Japanese episode.
The English dub episode title is the second (and last) of the season to feature the name of a DigiDestined, the other being "Sora's Crest of Love".