Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Back in Black (S2E14)

The Guardians meet Sam Alexander, an Earth teen experimenting with his father’s Nova helmet, but the Guardians aren’t the only ones who know of the helmet’s power.
| Runtime (min) | 22 |
|---|---|
| TMDB Rating | 5.0 (1 votes) |
| Air Date | 2017-07-08 |
| Genres | Action & Adventure, Animation, Family |
| Network(s) | Disney XD |
Storyline
In the episode "Back in Black," the Guardians of the Galaxy encounter Sam Alexander, a teenager from Earth who has stumbled upon his father's Nova helmet. As he experiments with its powers, he inadvertently draws the attention of dangerous foes who seek the helmet for themselves. The Guardians must navigate this new challenge while helping Sam understand the responsibility that comes with such immense power.
As the episode unfolds, Sam grapples with his newfound abilities and the implications of being a hero. The Guardians, known for their misfit camaraderie, guide him through the complexities of heroism and teamwork, all while fending off threats from those who covet the Nova helmet. The story emphasizes friendship, bravery, and the importance of making the right choices.
What parents say
This episode introduces viewers to Sam Alexander, a relatable young character who embodies the struggles of adolescence while facing extraordinary circumstances. The Guardians' dynamic interactions with Sam highlight themes of mentorship and responsibility, making it a great episode for discussions about support systems in challenging times. Parents may appreciate how the show portrays the challenges of balancing fun and responsibility.
As Sam learns to harness the power of the Nova helmet, viewers witness the importance of self-discovery and the consequences of one's actions. The episode encourages children to think critically about their choices and to seek guidance from trusted figures, a valuable lesson for young audiences. Parents may find the blend of action and character development engaging for their kids.
What kids learn
Kids watching this episode will learn about the significance of teamwork and how working together can help overcome challenges. The Guardians model effective communication and collaboration as they assist Sam in understanding his powers. This reinforces the idea that seeking help from friends or mentors can lead to personal growth and success.
Additionally, the episode conveys a strong message about responsibility. Sam's journey illustrates that having power comes with the need to make wise decisions and consider the consequences of one’s actions. This can spark important conversations with kids about their own responsibilities, whether in school, with friends, or at home.
Finally, viewers will see how bravery can manifest in various forms, not just through physical strength but also through making tough choices and standing up for what is right. This encourages children to feel empowered in their own lives, emphasizing that heroism can be found in everyday actions.
Parents' top 5 questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the main conflict in the episode? | The main conflict revolves around Sam Alexander, a teenage boy who discovers his father's Nova helmet and its powers. This attracts unwanted attention from adversaries who wish to seize the helmet for their own purposes. The Guardians must step in to help Sam navigate this dangerous situation while also teaching him about the responsibilities that come with such power. |
| How do the Guardians help Sam throughout the episode? | The Guardians support Sam by providing guidance and mentorship as he learns to control his newfound abilities. They share their experiences and strategies for being heroes, emphasizing teamwork and the importance of making thoughtful choices. Their interactions also showcase the value of friendship and support when facing overwhelming challenges. |
| What lessons about responsibility does Sam learn? | Throughout the episode, Sam learns that with great power comes great responsibility. As he experiments with the Nova helmet, he realizes that his actions can have significant consequences not only for himself but also for those around him. This realization prompts him to think carefully about how he uses his abilities and the importance of making the right decisions. |
| Are there any themes of friendship in this episode? | Yes, friendship is a central theme in this episode. The Guardians not only help Sam understand his powers but also show him the importance of relying on friends during difficult times. Their camaraderie sets an example of how strong relationships can bolster one's confidence and courage, encouraging viewers to appreciate their own friendships and support systems. |
| How does this episode connect to broader themes in the Marvel universe? | This episode connects to broader themes in the Marvel universe, such as the journey of self-discovery and the balance between personal desires and responsibilities. Sam's character represents the potential for growth and heroism that exists in everyone, a common motif in Marvel storytelling. The Guardians' role as mentors also reflects the idea that even heroes need guidance, reinforcing the importance of community and support in any hero's journey. |
Cast
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Writing
Directing
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | The newly-christened Guardians of the Galaxy come into possession of a dangerous artifact that has Thanos’ new lieutenant, Korath, after them. |
| 1 | 2 | The Guardians struggle to subdue the suddenly-sprung-to-life Celestial head that is the Knowhere space colony, as well as storm Korath’s ship to rescue Quill, Gamora and the mysterious CryptoCube that holds the Cosmic Seed. |
| 1 | 3 | Feeling underappreciated, Rocket accepts an offer to work for The Collector, only to realize his “job” is working as another prisoner in The Collector’s collection. |
| 1 | 4 | The Guardians crash land on a space station run by the Grandmaster, who schemes to get Drax back in the gladiatorial arena to battle his ultimate opponent: Gamora. |
| 1 | 5 | When Groot is infected by a parasitic fungus, the Guardians must embark on a perilous journey in order to save him. |
| 1 | 6 | Caught red-handed by Titus, the Guardians are coerced into infiltrating a notorious gang of weapons dealers known as the Black Order. |
| 1 | 7 | Quill gets mixed up in a game of deceit when Gamora tries to pit her siblings, Nebula and Korath, against each other. |
| 1 | 8 | Peter Quill is Star-Lord, the brash adventurer who, to save the universe from its greatest threats, joins forces with a quartet of disparate misfits — fan-favorite Rocket Raccoon, a tree-like humanoid named Groot, the enigmatic, expert fighter Gamora and the rough edged warrior Drax the Destroyer. |
| 1 | 9 | Rocket is abducted and taken back to his home planet, Half World. |
| 1 | 10 | The Guardians encounter a living planet that's fallen under the control of a revived Ronan. |
| 1 | 11 | The Guardians get caught up in a rivalry between The Collector and The Grandmaster. |
| 1 | 12 | The Guardians must help save the City of Attilan from Ronan. |
| 1 | 13 | The Guardians find the Asgardian Destroyer Armor that leads to an epic battle pitting the Detroyer Armor against Drax the Destroyer. |
| 1 | 14 | Quill goes missing while following the Cryptocube's readings. |
| 1 | 15 | The Guardians must stop Ronan's plan to blow up the Kree Supreme Intelligence. |
| 1 | 16 | In search of the Cosmic Seed, the Guardians unexpectedly find themselves in Asgard where they must outwit Thor and Angela in order to discover the seed's origins. |
| 1 | 17 | Following a falling out with his father, Star-Lord finds a ship containing the A.I. Rora as he takes it off of Spartax with the Drax the Destroyer and Groot providing a diversion for the Spartax Royal Guards. Afterwards, the Guardians of the Galaxy have to deal with Lucy and Supergiant who are jilted that Star-Lord is the Prince of Sparta. |
| 1 | 18 | When Asgard attacks Spartax, Quill and the Guardians become caught in the middle trying to expose the deception behind the conflict. |
| 1 | 19 | The Guardians and Asgardians team up to rescue Quill from Thanos. |
| 1 | 20 | Gamora attempts to make amends for her past misdeeds only to find herself in a deadly trap set by Nebula, Ronan and the Grandmaster. |
| 1 | 21 | The Guardians pay the Inhumans a visit to learn more about the Cosmic Seed. |
| 1 | 22 | The Guardians discover that the Cosmic Seed is back on Earth. In the company of Cosmo, Star-Lord returns to his hometown where he runs into his childhood bully Michael Coogan who is now the sheriff. Now Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy must find the Cosmic Seed before Korath the Pursuer does. |
| 1 | 23 | When the Guardians of the Galaxy's search for the Cosmic Seed continues on Earth, Star-Lord contacts Gorgon where he gets the location of the former site of Attilan. While checking out the area, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax the Destroyer have visions of the Cosmic Seed energy helping them out like Rocket Raccoon's family being re-evolved, Groot being able to restore the Flora colossi, and Drax the Destroyer being able to see his family again. Even after fighting their way past the Cosmic Seed-enhanced worms and spiders, the Guardians of the Galaxy must keep Ronan the Accuser and Nebula from getting the box containing the Cosmic Seed. |
| 1 | 24 | Now that Thanos has the Cosmic Seed, he takes control of the Earth and molds it into his personal planetary weapon of mass destruction. The Guardians of the Galaxy must work to reclaim the Cosmic Seed from Thanos even when Ronan the Accuser and Nebula plan to dispose of Thanos with plans of having the Earth be destroyed alongside him. |
| 1 | 25 | The Guardians discover that Yondu has been impersonating them in order to con unsuspecting victims. |
| 1 | 26 | The team stages a Christmas Carol inspired con-job in order to frighten a despot out of his ill-gotten riches and free his enslaved people. |
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | While trying to dispose of Thanos' asteroid, the Guardians discover it has been taken to a secure facility that belongs to the Avengers. |
| 2 | 2 | The Guardians and the Avengers team up to find out what powerful secrets lie inside Thanos' asteroid. |
| 2 | 3 | When Rocket and Drax wake up with absolutely no memory of the night before, the Guardians must piece together their adventures. |
| 2 | 4 | While the Guardians search for the missing sarcophagus, Groot finds a mysterious egg and does everything in his power to protect it. |
| 2 | 5 | When the Guardians are charged with escorting the young and rebellious Rigellian Princess Tana back home, Drax's hardened heart melts as he is reminded of his own daughter. |
| 2 | 6 | After being infused with incredible power from a Nova Helmet, Gamora leads the Guardians and her sister Nebula on a mission to infiltrate the Believer flagship. |
| 2 | 7 | Quill and Gamora battle the High Evolutionary, his minion hybrids and a teleport-hijacking Nebula. |
| 2 | 8 | Cosmo goes undercover on the Believer Flagship but loses his powers when his cover is blown. |
| 2 | 9 | When the Believer Flagship embeds itself in Knowhere's brain, it causes a planetoid-wide telekinetic zombie outbreak. |
| 2 | 10 | When the cocoon opens and reveals a baby warlock inside, the Guardians have to step in to be a positive guiding force to keep his powers in check. |
| 2 | 11 | The Guardians discover Groot's homeworld, Planet X, has been overrun by Symbiotes who will stop at nothing to get Groot's restarted World Pod for themselves to conquer the galaxy. |
| 2 | 12 | As a comet covered in Symbiotes hurls toward Spartax, the Guardians must team up with Quill's sister to save the planet. |
| 2 | 13 | When the Symbiotes escape to Asgard and venomize Thor, Odin and the other Asgardians, it is up to the Guardians to save them, the World Tree and all of existence. |
| 2 | 14 | The Guardians meet Sam Alexander, an Earth teen experimenting with his father’s Nova helmet, but the Guardians aren’t the only ones who know of the helmet’s power. |
| 2 | 15 | The Guardians chase after J’son and Mantis as they try to manipulate Sam to do their bidding by promising him clues to the location of his missing father. |
| 2 | 16 | When the Nova Corps catch up with the Guardians and Sam, the fight reaches Sam’s hometown. |
| 2 | 17 | Searching for a weapon strong enough to match J’son, the Guardians seek out master boom-maker Ja Kyee. |
| 2 | 18 | When the guardians travel to Drax's home planet in hopes of summoning Warlock, they discover Xeron seeks to destroy Adam and Drax's homecoming, which becomes a fight to protect his friends. |
| 2 | 19 | Rocket and Warlock travel to Halfworld to try and re-evolve Rocket's family. |
| 2 | 20 | Gamora trains Warlock to be a strong and powerful warrior like herself. But when Gamora’s lessons become too intense, Warlock clams up and gets kidnapped by the Collector. |
| 2 | 21 | When Quill and Warlock are hunted by J'son and the Black Order, Quill teaches Warlock the importance of never letting himself slip into the path of evil. |
| 2 | 22 | During the Xandrian Feast of the Three Grinning Moons, the Guardians must pull a reverse heist by planting a dangerous weapon inside a Nova Corps vault. |
| 2 | 23 | Warlock has gone dark! By absorbing J’son into his gem, Warlock has become Dark Warlock (Magus) with his sights set on conquering the galaxy, starting with Spartax. |
| 2 | 24 | The Guardians and Nova battle Dark Warlock (Magus) and J’son on Planet Y. Can our heroes save their friend Warlock and the universe before it’s too late? |
| 2 | 25 | In order to save the Guardians from the ruthless asteroid Korvac, Quill must bust J'Son out of prison on Spartax and in the process he sees a new side of his father. |
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | The Guardians must work together to escape the elaborate prisons created for them by The Collector. |
| 3 | 2 | The Guardians meet up with Spider-Man in New York City to defeat Thanos’ super-powered symbiote. |
| 3 | 3 | The Guardians team up with Spider-Man to battle Thanos, who has harnessed the power of the Carnage Symbiote to become the ultimate weapon. |
| 3 | 4 | The Guardians have captured Thanos, but it's no easy task transporting the most wanted criminal in the galaxy. |
| 3 | 5 | The Guardians chase Thanos and Sam Alexander (Nova) to Thanos’ home planet of Titan, where they discover a gladiatorial arena featuring Jesse Alexander - Nova’s father! |
| 3 | 6 | The Guardians now have everything they ever dreamed of, but money can’t solve their problems. |
| 3 | 7 | Gamora decides to use her new riches to repay all of the people she has wronged throughout the years. When Nebula shows up, Gamora tries to teach her the value of doing good. |
| 3 | 8 | Drax decides he no longer wants to be a Destroyer and looks into new occupations. |
| 3 | 9 | Quill starts his own talk show after beating Thanos! But to his dismay, everyone seems to hate it, especially the Grandmaster who is rigging the segments to destroy Quill. |
| 3 | 10 | The Guardians squander their riches and take on a simple transport job. It turns out that they are stealing from the Kree, and Phyla the Accuser will do anything to get it back! |
| 3 | 11 | The Guardians find themselves in prison for stealing a mysterious package from the Kree - but it was all a set up by Howard the Duck. |
| 3 | 12 | The Guardians track down Howard the Duck to find out who set them up and why, but they don’t get far before Phyla the Accuser catches up to them to deliver some Kree justice. |
| 3 | 13 | Phyla-Vell reluctantly teams up with the Guardians to bring The Collector to justice for destroying her home planet. |
| 3 | 14 | When the Guardians become separated in the Black Vortex, Gamora wakes up in a children’s fairy tale, while Drax is trapped in a comic book. |
| 3 | 15 | While caught in a CG sinister packing factory, Rocket must search for his best friend Groot and escape. |
| 3 | 16 | Quill finds himself in a claymation world where the Milano is flying into the sun, threatening to melt him. Meanwhile, Groot and Drax must fight Ronan in a Golden Age world. |
| 3 | 17 | Gamora and Quill battle their way through an 8-bit Super Marvel World. |
| 3 | 18 | The Guardians finally make it out of the Black Vortex, only to find that the galaxy has been taken over by sinister robots called the Darkhawks, who are disguised as their friends. |
| 3 | 19 | The Guardians don’t know who to trust as the Darkhawks seem to have duplicated everyone, including Quill. |
| 3 | 20 | The Guardians finally make it out of the Black Vortex, only to find that the galaxy has been taken over by sinister robots called the Darkhawks, who are disguised as their friends. |
| 3 | 21 | The Guardians don't know who to trust as the Darkhawks seem to have duplicated everyone, including Quill. |
| 3 | 22 | The Guardians have to team up with Loki in Asgard when The Serpent infects the World Tree and threatens to destroy the universe. |
| 3 | 23 | As the Guardians prepare to take the fight to The Serpent, they Bifrost around the galaxy to gather reinforcements. |
| 3 | 24 | The Guardians and their friends search for the fragments of Dragonfang, a legendary weapon that will finally be able to defeat The Serpent forever. |
| 3 | 25 | The Guardians, Loki and Iron Man travel to the castle of the evil Hela to ask her help in fighting The Serpent. |
| 3 | 26 | With the Nova Corps defeated and the fate of the entire universe in jeopardy, the Guardians must turn to an unlikely ally to stop The Serpent. |
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