Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate April 9, 1967.
Ultra Q didn’t have a conclusion and wasn’t built to have one. Ultraman, however, was designed from the start to reach a finale. It’s since become a tradition for Ultra shows to have a big close-out episode that ends the saga of the current Ultra warrior’s sojourn on Earth. “Farewell, Ultraman” is not the greatest of these finales, but the creative team gets plenty right with an epic story that gives Ultraman and the Science Special Search Party fitting conclusions. The episode also introduces one of the most spectacular continuing adversaries of the franchise, Space Dinosaur Zetton, which in no way resembles a dinosaur.
Note: This review will eventually enter spoiler territory. You’ll receive a color timer warning before then.
Across the globe, SSSP bases detect a fleet of alien craft heading for Earth. Aliens have pestered the planet before, but this looks like the big one, the ultimate planetary conquest. An invasion apparently 40 years in the making, according to Professor Iwamoto (Akihiko Hirata, here for one last guest shot). I’m not sure how Iwamoto-san deduced this, especially with the other alien attackers Earth’s already faced — doesn’t anyone think of Alien Baltan? Zarab? Dada? Mefilas? — but it’s the final episode, so I’ll roll with it. The Japanese Branch of the SSSP must face the menace first because the alien fleet is targeting them in an attempt to first wipe out Ultraman.
The actual alien invaders don’t matter much. They’re known as Alien Zetton, but we see only one member for a moment when its human disguise is blown (a reused Alien Kemur suit). What matters is their huge fleet of flying saucers and their anti-Ultraman construct: Zetton! Say it with me: Zeh-toooon. Get a creepy, computery rumble in your voice, the signature sound of this unique kaiju: Zeh-toooon.
The SSSP vs. the Flying Saucers is the action highlight: one of the best spectacles of the entire show. Lasers flashing, ships exploding, a chase through a canyon … we haven’t seen the Science Patrol and their Jet VTOLs in combat at this scope before, which is something that will become standard for Ultraseven and several later shows.
Zetton is one of Ultraman’s most memorable creations. Its design is a striking black-and-yellow, and the sound that accompanies it is an eerie electronic whirring and the rumbling bellow of its name (Zeh-toooon). Zetton doesn’t initially appear exceptionally dangerous — but it turns out to be a fiendishly implacable foe that can fend off any attack Ultraman can hurl at it with minimal effort. It feels like a true “final boss.”
Unfortunately, the episode rushes how it ultimately deals with Zetton. This is one place where the finale lets down the audience. (That, and having Fuji get left at HQ again when the battle starts. And then getting knocked unconscious by an alien infiltrator. Again.) Still, Space Dinosaur Zetton made the right impression, regardless of how it gets solved as a problem, because it has returned and returned and returned in future shows, often in wild variants. It’s always one of the toughest foes an Ultra warrior can face.
Spoilers about the ending from henceforth.
So Zetton beats Ultraman, leaving the hero’s energy depleted. The Science Patrol is left to destroy Zetton using Professor Iwamoto’s newly invented anti-gravity rocket. This is the disappointing part: the SSSP pulls this off too quickly and easily, and Zetton blowing up is a shaky and unintentionally humorous piece of VFX. Oh well, Zetton will get many more chances.
The real climax comes after: Zoffy, Ultraman’s superior from the Land of Light, arrives to inform our hero that he can no longer remain on Earth. Ultraman tells Zoffy he cannot leave because his body isn’t his alone: he shares it with Hayata, and he won’t sacrifice the Earthling by abandoning the planet. Zoffy — who happens to have packed an extra life with him — is able to separate Hayata from Ultraman so neither is lost. Ultraman must still leave Earth, for, as Zoffy explains, “Peace on Earth only has value if the humans grasp it for themselves.”
This resolution is a compromise to allow Ultraman to make a sacrifice and still live. Writer Tetsuo Kinjo originally had Ultraman give up his life to preserve Hayata. Kinjo rewrote the script after being moved by the pleas in letters from children who didn’t want Ultraman to die. Although Zoffy having the extra life is a bit convenient, I think the compromise Kinjo came up with works. The finale remains a moving one, as Ultraman departs Earth while the Science Patrol waves farewell.
In the brief period we see Hayata after the separation from Ultraman, he seems to recall nothing about what happened after the crash at Mount Ryugamori in the first episode. This brings up many questions about how much Ultraman was in control of Hayata during the show. Hayata’s memory blank could be recent amnesia from the separation, or maybe his consciousness was always dormant. Later shows have explored the concept of the coexistence of an Ultra and its human host in greater depth, but in the moment, we’re left with an interesting enigma.
The episode wraps up mysteriously for Hayata. But for the Science Patrol, it’s an unambiguous victory. The SSSP has shown their ability to handle a massive threat to Earth through their own skill, bravery, and technology.
The script doesn’t push this theme too heavily. It mostly comes through in action: how the Science Patrol operates as a team, and how decisively they defeat the alien fleet and then Zetton, a threat even Ultraman cannot beat. Like “Spaceship Rescue Command,” the episode addresses the question that Ide posed in “A Little Hero” — What is the point of the Science Special Search Party if Ultraman exists? — by showing us the Science Patrol’s ability to save the day without the help of an alien superhero. They prove Zoffy’s point about humans grasping peace for themselves.
And so, as Ultraman leaves Earth to return to Nebula M78, we leave the most important and influential of all Ultra shows. Well … we’re not leaving quite yet. The next post will be my list of favorite episodes and a general wrap-up.
Rating: Great
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