WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 30 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "The Mega Digimon WarGreymon," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After a few false starts, it was only a matter of time before WarGreymon made his appearance proper in the Digimon Adventure reboot. Episode 30, "The Mega Digimon WarGreymon," makes his arrival the headline event of the action and, considering how supremely he dispatches his Mega-level opponent, that top billing is more than appropriate.
However, as stylish as the battle is, it's unfortunately undercut by a lack of substance -- something this particular Digimon series has been failing to deliver enough of in general, unfortunately. After all, the preview for this episode not only hyped up WarGreymon's reintroduction but also got us excited about seeing him tussle with yet another villain from the franchise's past: Parrotmon. Instead, Parrotmon ends up getting short shrift.
Parrotmon is an Ultimate-level Digimon whom older fans may remember from the first segment of the first Digimon movie. In this opening section of the film, a young Tai and Kari are gifted with a DigiEgg through their home computer that hatches, eventually growing into a large Agumon -- though likely not the same one that later becomes Tai's partner as a DigiDestined. When a huge Parrotmon also makes its way to menace Tokyo from another dimension, Agumon becomes Greymon and fights it -- claw-to-claw -- in the middle of the street, a ferocious battle reminiscent of a classic kaiju brawl. Greymon (a mere Champion-level Digimon) falters but the desperate blowing of Kari's whistle rouses him to keep going, a moment seared into the minds of a whole generation of Digmon fans.
In Episode 30 of Digimon Adventure 2020, Parrotmon faces MetalGreymon on the Digital World's strange new continent as Tai and Sora are helping refugees escape the burning jungle. Here, however, Parrotmon comes across as just another mindless Ultimate Digimon turned savage by the mysterious dark energy crackling across the land. It has no dialogue or special tension with MetalGreymon -- in fact, it's really just used as another stepping stone for Tai's partner to achieve his next level... which is fine, but it's a real let-down compared to their film fight.
This is only made worse when Parrotmon Digivolves into Crossmon (also known as Eaglemon), which sucks any flicker of personality from the enemy by turning it, essentially, into a silent, metallic laser-gun with wings. From there, it's just a matter of Agumon, beaten down into his Rookie form by Crossmon, working his way up to match the cyborg's level and blasting it out of the sky with a single Gaia force blast. Sure, it's a satisfying transition, but there's no reason that the fight couldn't have been at least a two-parter.
We're not expecting the latest series to be able to fully recapture the cinematic nature of the Parrotmon Vs. Greymon fight on the small screen. But we did at least expect to be charged with the kind of energy befitting a grudge match of this nature. Yes, these Digimon aren't the same ones that waged war among apartment blocks 20 years ago, but the series sets itself up for a fall by underutilizing its throwbacks in this way. We'll take a throwaway Nanimon gag, but Parrotmon deserved to be more than just a hollow Easter egg.
