Reign Storm

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For the Super Mario cartoon episode, see Reign Storm (AoSMB3 episode).

"Reign Storm" *Danny Phantom episode*
Reign Storm title card "The KING of All Shows!"
Season	2
Number	24/25
Prod. code	-
Airdate	July 29, 2005
Special Guest(s)	Brian Cox as Pariah Dark Michael Dorn as Fright Knight Peter MacNicol as Sidney Poindexter Martin Mull as Vlad
Writer(s)	Steve Marmel
Directors	Wincat Alcala, Butch Hartman, Kevin Petrilak
Ghost Appearances	Pariah Dark (1st), Fright Knight, Vlad Masters
Abbreviation	RS

Previous episode Pirate Radio
Next episode Identity Crisis

"Reign Storm" is the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth episode as well as the first television movie of the series Danny Phantom. When Vlad Masters unleashes Pariah Dark accidentally, the king of ghosts reigns terror on Amity Park. Now Danny Phantom, Valerie Gray, Vlad Masters, and everyone else must all band together to stop this super ghost.

[edit] Episode Recap

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Vlad Plasmius is in the Ghost Zone, or more specifically, in the Fright Knight's castle, looking for some ancient artifacts that belonged to one of the most powerful ghosts in existence. While Vlad manages to find the Ring of Rage easily, when he goes for the Crown of Fire, he discovers that the powerful ghost -- the Ghost King -- Pariah Dark is still in existence, and very much still there. Vlad attempts to run away, but when the Ghost King catches up to him, he realizes that the Vlad he chased was only a copy. The real Vlad was still at the Ghost King's castle, trying to convince the Fright Knight to work for him instead, though the Ghost King interrupts them and Vlad is shot with an ectoplasmic beam straight to the Fenton Portal where Jack and Maddie are inventing the Fenton ectoskeleton suit, designed to beat back even the most powerful of ghosts. Unfortunately it's still got bugs that need working out. Afterwards, Vlad crashlands nearby and struggles for Jack's help, tightly holding onto the ring.

Danny, Valerie, and Vlad all work together against Pariah's army.

Meanwhile, Danny is heading for school, happy he stopped ghosts and finished his homework in time. He's happiness ends when Dash and Kwan chucks a football at him. Danny retaliates back by shooting a small ecto beam to knock a sign down in their walking directions and later shoving Fenton wipe in Dash's locker. Dash gives chase to Danny who runs and hides under the a table inhabited by geeks. While hiding, he also finds Valerie under the same table, hiding from an unpopular kid named Nathan who wants ask her to the senior prom despite it being three years away. They start a friendly conversation afterwards, finding out they have more in common than they realize.

After school, the two continue running from their current problem, hiding behind a dumpster where they come across Sam, hiding from her mother (who wants her to try on a perky dress). Sam isn't too pleased to see them hanging out together, worried for Danny's sake as the three run to hide in the Fenton household. Inside however, Danny gets a surprise when he sees Vlad in the living room with his parents and Jazz, Maddie still angry with Vlad from his previous flirts from a while back. Vlad reveals his plan aloud to steal the battle suit that Jack and Maddie have been working on, merely claiming he's "joking". Afterwards, he turns his attention to Valerie who (as well as Danny) is shocked he knows her.

An alert goes off with Maddie claiming that a huge ghost attack is on its way. While Danny goes into the Ghost portal to stop the ghosts, Sam and Jazz trip the parents to buy Danny some time. Vlad meanwhile converses with Valerie. Danny heads to the basement lab where he awaits the ghosts to come out of the portal. To his relief, Box Ghost pops out. Then more ghosts (most of whom he has fought previously) comes out of the Fenton Portal, escaping the Ghost Zone. Danny and Skulker fight and they eventually end up outside, though Poindexter expresses that there's a much bigger threat going on, namely Pariah Dark, though that doesn't stop the ghosts from attacking Danny, causing him to fall down nearly unconscious while losing his ghost mode.

Meanwhile, Vlad tells Valerie that he supplies her with ghost hunting gear because he's impressed by her abilities and determination, finally giving her the Ring of Rage, though only as a ploy to get the ghosts to go after Valerie, causing Danny to care more about protecting her while he does his own thing. Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, Pariah Dark is preparing his army.

Danny in ectoskeleton suit, ready to battle.

The next day at school, Dash messes with Danny some more causing him to further abuse his ghost powers on Dash (with some help from Valerie), something Sam isn't too keen on. Back at the Fenton lab, the Fright Knight breaks through the ghost barrier, and takes Maddie when she gets in his way. Jack uses the legs of his incomplete battle suit, the 'Ecto-Skeleton', to quickly beat up the Fright Knight and rescue Maddie, though it drains him of his energy and nearly kills him. Meanwhile, Pariah's ghost army attacks Amity Park, causing a widespread panic. In the meantime, all the ghosts take this time to claim a new haven, invading various stores in the human world to hide, despite Sidney's reluctance who feels they're merely bullying their way in.

At school again, Tucker and Sam express their concern about Danny spending time with Valerie. Danny states however that she is rather good company, something Valerie (who comes from behind) thinks the same of him, too. Afterwards, Danny's ghost sense goes off so he runs, only to bump into Dash. Using his ghost powers again, Danny overshadows Dash and smashes him to the lockers repeatdly. He runs off again to where Vlad is. The older half ghost is keen on letting Danny know how much he enjoys abusing his powers for his own gain, much like that of Vlad himself. While Danny fights off Vlad, Valerie makes note of Sam's crush on Danny, warning her she better make a move before someone else does.

Meanwhile, all the reports about the ghost invasion are on TV, seen by Tucker, Sam, Danny's parents, and Damon Gray (Valerie's father). Meanwhile Vlad leads Danny to the football field where Vlad tells him he has a much bigger threat to fight off, so he helps Danny fight off Fright Knight and his army. As they fight, Valerie comes along and attacks the two, but Danny manages to persuade her to trust him and fight alongside him. They do a good job fighting together, but the Fright Knight puts his sword in the ground and states a royal decree by the king which put the city under control of the Ghost King as well as freeze up the entire army inside when they refuse to give up the ring. Valerie continues to fight the Fright Knight, only for her to be knocked unconscious.

Afterwards, Maddie arrives in the Fenton RV with Damon as well as the other parents to collect their kids. News reports of the emergency team having no luck piercing the giant ghost dome blocking the entire city. At the Fenton household, Vlad is helping Maddie build the rest of the ectoskeleton while Sam and Tucker discuss with Danny further on his close contact with Valerie, thinking the ring on her finger is used for ghost detection. Thinking the ring is the one Fright Knight mentioned, he takes his friends away to ask questions on this subject matter.

Danny manages to find Skulker and after a quick battle that ends with Sidney telling Skulker Danny could help, Skulker tells Danny (along with the rest of the ghosts) about Pariah: A powerful ghost who ruled the Ghost Zone with an iron fist until a desperate move got him to be sealed for all eternity or so it seemed then. Danny afterwards tries to get all the ghosts to ally with him and fight Pariah, but they all merely laugh and leave, causing Danny to go at it alone.

Danny gets ready to confront more of Pariah's army.

Later near his house, Danny requests for Vlad and confronts him asking for the ring back, leading the two to fight each other again (going back to the football field from earlier) while Vlad continues to manipulate Danny, stating he is more like him then he knows. Vlad's mocking frustrates Danny causing him to pull Fright Knight's sword, leading the entire town to be sent into the Ghost Zone, the invading ghosts to resume their march, and causing the arrival of the Fright Knight and Pariah. Pariah easily defeats Vlad and Danny while Jack and Maddie announces to the entire town to hide under the Fenton Ghost Shield which Damon increases the size of as well as send out a Ghost Probe. Pariah Dark was about to destroy Danny and Vlad if not for Valerie who comes and rescues the two while sending the ring which Pariah Dark desires flying on a missile. Pariah heads for the ring while Fright Knight gives chase until she manages to get over to the other side of the Fenton Ghost Shield. She then takes the two to Danny's room where she rests herself from her own injuries. Vlad wakes up and finds the ring gone, now with Pariah who wears it, gaining his full powers.

Vlad leaves using his intangibility by the time Jack and Maddie come to check up on Danny and Valerie, assuming they're just hanging out. After leaving, Danny wakes up and is reunited with Tucker and Sam where he shares his guilt for not fixing this problem sooner. Seeing it as his responibility, he heads to the basement with Sam and Tucker, watching from above as his folks discuss the battle suit with the other parents. Every parent as well as Jazz argue over who gets the suit, knocking each other senseless. Danny then heads over to get the suit only for Valerie to block his path. When Damon comes downstairs, Danny takes advantage of this and removes her mask, thus buying him enough time to go intangible and grab the battle suit while Damon punishes his daughter for her current dangerous job as a ghost hunter.

Danny prepares for battle atop the Fenton roof, while Tucker and Sam watch emotionally, afraid for him due to the suit's unreliability. Danny tries to reassure them, but asks if they have anything to say. Sam tries to express her feelings, but Pariah appears, giving a message to the humans. Danny then goes off to fight as he goes ghosts, giving the Ecto-Skeleton a touch of his own personalty as well. He then gets Tucker to prepare to lower and raise the ghost shield as he leaves. Everyone cheers on "Inviso-Bill" to which Danny corrects as "Danny Phantom" before heading off to fight Pariah.

Sam warns Valerie over the matter of Danny.

Pariah's castle is guarded by a seemingly infinite number of ghosts, and Danny uses a lot of energy trying to destroy them, though when it appears he has no chance, Sam and Tucker arrive in the Specter Speeder where they drop off many of Danny's ghost enemies, all who help Danny fight off the army and get him into the castle. Once inside, Danny finds Pariah and he begins to battle him as the suit slowly drains away his life force. While Pariah puts up a good fight, Danny duplicates himself for the first time (thanks to the suit extending his power), to easily outmatch him and remove his crown. Danny stuffs him in the coffin, the suit nearly drained away his life as he does so. Vlad locks him in place and Amity Park returns to its original home. Afterwards, Danny passes out.

When Danny wakes up, he finds himself surrounded by his family, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Damon, and Vlad. Maddie expreses how Vlad rescued him, no longer hating him for doing such a kind thing. Later on, the news states the current recovering of Amity Park as well as Inviso-Bill, now understood to be Danny Phantom, to be a hero to the majority of Amity Park. The next day at school, feeling guilty for abusing his powers, Danny goes to apologize to Dash who then hangs him to the flag pole by his underwear. Meanwhile, Valerie goes to Tucker and Sam, stating she is starting to like Danny, something neither Sam and Tucker enjoys. As a result, they send Nathan after her.

[edit] Allusions

The "geek poker" looked suspiciously like various other trading card games.

The ghosts on the Ecto-Exodus Alarm strongly resemble the ghosts found in Pacman.

After Danny asks the ghosts how Sam and Tucker crammed all of them into the Specter Speeder Ember comments, " Hey, you ever been inside your stupid thermos? Compared to that it was the Taj Mahal in there!". The Taj Mahal is located in India and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

When the Danny clones beat up Pariah Dark, the word "Zark!" appears as an exclamation. In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "zark" is used as a swear word.

[edit] Trivia/Goofs

Starting with this episode, Amity Park now knows "Inviso-Bill" as Danny Phantom. Also 64% percent, including some Casper High students, believe he is a hero. While 36%, including his parents and Valerie, still believe he is not to be trusted.

Reign Storm is considered the second best of the Danny Phantom TV movies. While many fans loved it for its promotion of the Danny-Sam-Valerie love triangle (and many Danny-Sam shippers cite this episode as their final proof that Sam does have feelings for Danny), others found it mediocre because of its rushed pacing and dislike of Pariah.

All of Danny's main villains return, except Youngblood, Kitty, and Freakshow.

In the opening sequence where Vlad tries to steal Pariah Dark's Crown of Fire, it is on his head, who is in the sarcophagus, but in the flashback, the seven ghosts are seen taking his crown off before putting him in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

Technus appears briefly in this episode in his form from "Teacher of the Year" despite still being trapped in the "Doomed" video game until the next episode, "Identity Crisis".

When everyone is arguing about who should wear the Ecto-Skeleton, Maddie is seen with her hood off before she is knocked out. Seconds later, when the screen shows everyone unconscious, she has her hood on.

The ghosts' hiding places:
- Box Ghost — Box shop;
- Lunch Lady Ghost — Nasty Burger;
- Ember — Music school;
- Skulker — Chase items shop;
- Dora, Poindexter, Desiree, Spectra, Bullet and the other ghosts — Unknown. But Pointdexter is seen frequently with Skulker.

When Vlad transforms back after being defeated by Pariah the first time, his ring disappears as he becomes his Masters form. Likewise, while the ring was in his right hand, he later clutches it in his left in the next scene he appears.

Danny's battle with King Pariah is later referenced in the episode "Infinite Realms" as the reason for Frostbite and his people's great respect and the title "The Great one" they give him.

The number of Ancient Ghost who defeated King Pariah is left in question as during Skulker's story they are shown to be six at the beginning then seven by the story's end.