Two Shoguns are Better than One/Two Shoguns Are Better Than One (sources vary) is the 14th episode of Mesozoic Meltdown and the 63rd episode of Dinosaur King overall. It is the 1st episode of the 4-part Ancient Japan arc.
Summary[]
Jonathan isn't responding to the D-Team, who worry they may be stuck in Ancient China. The heat is starting to get to Dr. Z, but Zander's suggestion of thinking of something sour to resist thirst backfires.
The Space Pirate Ship arrives in Ancient Japan during a war, their boss sending Shear to find the next Cosmos Stone given a general area to search in. In Max's stolen house, the kidnapped parents are getting tired of Dr. Cretacia's suggestion of charades again. As goo drones bring Drs. Ancient and Cretacia to their job at the lab and Dr. Drake heads to check on the Space Pirates' dinosaurs, the others set back to work on escaping, Dr. Taylor digging a tunnel through the dirt block beneath the house with a pair of spoons and Mrs. Taylor and Drake knitting a rope ladder. In the lab, the Ancients explain the danger of bringing the Cosmos Stones together to the surprise reveal of Seth, now working with the Pirates, the boss also arriving to cackle about his evil plans.
Back in Ancient China, the D-Team and Alpha Gang are searching for a signal, when the Backlander appears over them, teleporting them aboard; Jonathan apologizes, explaining he and Helga went shopping and took longer than expected. Zoe suggests they should've at least left the ship's power on, but gets a lesson from Helga on "wasteful enemies of ecology!". Entering the time vortex, the Pterosaur tells them the seven Cosmos Stones must be kept apart to protect time and space, leading them (briefly upside down) into 1572 in Japan's Chūbu region, an age of civil wars. Deep in a forest, Shogun Tokugawa is being accompanied by Hanzo and other bodyguards in a search for a legendary gemstone. Tokugawa wants to proceed against Hanzo's warning, employing his technique of crying like a baby to get what he wants, but Takeda's Kunoichi (female ninjas) attack. Tokugawa tries sneaking away but is stopped by Shear; she thinks he's familiar but doesn't care, summoning Gojirasaurus, who chases the Shogun off a steep cliff.
Hanzo tries fighting Gojirasaurus, but can't bypass its speed and scales, the Kunoichi vanishing. The D-Team teleport in down below, Chomp immediately finding Tokugawa, who Zoe initially mistakes for her dad given their spooky resemblance. Gojirasaurus drops into their conversation, Tokugawa trying to use pet-sized Chomp as a shield until he's recalled right out of the Shogun's hands and summoned for battle. Meanwhile, the Alpha Trio has been sent to retrieve a new dinosaur card to appease Dr. Z after he was forced to eat through a year's supply of mush prepared by Helga; they look in a random cave. Back on the Space Pirate's ship, Dr. Drake chases a loose Utahraptor trying to avoid its shots, but it knocks him through a disposal chute, zapping him down to the forest, where he's immediately found by Tokugawa's bodyguards, who too are confused by his resemblance to the Shogun. Due to Gojirasaurus' speed, Ace is needed to help defeat it, but during the fight, Shear brushes off Max's warning of bringing the Cosmos Stones together, wanting to control all time and space, Tokugawa realizing they're all after the same jewel. However, during its defeat, Gojirasaurus rams into Shear, slamming her into a tree; unconscious, she's taken by the Kunoichi to use her powers for themselves.
The Alpha Trio is currently playing with a bear cub and small momma bear in the cave, right as the towering papa bear arrives; it chases them out with the axe Ursula apparently had. Hanzo also decides to use Dr. Drake as the Shogun's body double. Tokugawa, meanwhile, is leading the D-Team to help get him the gemstone, planning on getting rid of them later. Then he drops to the ground clutching his leg, as a snake slithers away…
Battles[]
Max/Rex vs. Shear/Gojirasaurus[]
Shear's Gojirasaurus has dropped in, so Max summons Chomp. Gojirasaurus flings and tackles Chomp into a rock, so Rex summons Ace. It dodges Ace, zipping around him, then bites his tail and throws him into a tree. It then leaps over Chomp and Ace trying to come from both sides. After upgrading to Spectral Armor Gojirasaurus, it's even faster and rams the two over.
Getting upgraded to their DinoTector forms, Chomp uses Plasma Anchor, but the attack is reflected by Gojirasaurus' Defense Burst. As Gojirasaurus continues to leap over Chomp's horn thrusts, Ace uses Hurricane Beat, catching it and destroying its Spectral Armor, but Gojirasaurus rams Shear into a tree before dropping to the ground. It staggers before returning to its card, which is reclaimed by Rex.
Max/Rex win
New Cards[]
- Gojirasaurus dinosaur card
- Spectral Armor Gojirasaurus dinosaur card
- Defense Burst move card
Quotes[]
(the D-Team's dinos have taken Tokugawa's hat)
-Tokugawa: "How dare you! No one chews on the hat of the great Shogun Tokugawa!"
-Max: "Hold it! You're Shogun Tokugawa?"
-Rex: "As in Ieyasu Tokugawa? The founder of the Edo government?"
-Zoe: "Oh, so then you're not my dad with a fake mustache?"
-Tokugawa: "I don't know which is the greater insult, that you would call me by my first name, or suggest that my glorious mustache"—(he pulls out his sword)—"is a fake!"
-Zoe (nervous): "I'm so sorry, your Shogunness, but you really do look just like my father—only maybe even more handsome."
(Tokugawa lowers his sword)
-Tokugawa: "He must be a handsome man."
-Max: "Yeah, in a large, round kind a' way."
Trivia[]
- This episode's English title is a reference to the saying "two heads are better than one".
- Despite being spelled "Two Shoguns are Better than One" on the title card, it is spelled "Two Shoguns Are Better Than One" on at least two TCG cards.
- Jonathan says Helga "is dangerous with a credit card", but since they couldn't leave Ancient China to find a market that accepts credit cards, it's unclear if it was simply meant to be a quick (possibly dub-only) joke, or if Helga is so dangerous with a credit card, she can convince shopkeepers to let her buy with one even before they've been invented.
- Helga commenting on not knowing which are the humans and animals when the Alpha Trio and their dinos are eating sloppily is a reference to the ending of Animal Farm.
- This is the first episode to feature all seven of the main dinosaurs' chibi forms as of season 2, including Brontikens.