The first disc's episodes do a pretty good job of setting up the show's mythos and style. This cel-shaded CG series takes place on a world comprised of hundreds of mountain-top lands where flying is as common to Atmos' inhabitants as driving is to us. Atmos is under dark times since the evil Cyclonians have taken over a majority of the nations and they have beaten its guardians, Sky Knights, back at every turn. At one point, these gallant defenders were led by a squad known as the Storm Hawks, but they were betrayed and destroyed a long time ago.
Now our hero, Aerrow, has taken up the mantle of Storm Hawke and gathered a crew to once again face the Cyclonians head on. But first, this newly formed squadron will have to prove themselves to the council that governs the Sky Knights. And that's what these episodes are all about. Most of them deal with the Storm Hawks trying to convince other squadrons that they aren't just a bunch of kids and that they might actually have a chance at standing up to the evil ruling empire. In "The Code," the Storm Hawks compete against another Sky Knight group who is known for doing everything by the book. Winning this team's trust is just one of the many hurdles they will have to jump.
In another episode, "Velocity," (found on the second disc), all of the Sky Knights get together to compete in a massive race. This is just another chance for Aerrow to prove their squad has what it takes. Unfortunately, in this and many other episodes, the Cyclonians and their leader Master Cyclonis are constantly running into the Storm Hawks. Throughout these episodes, the Storm Hawks will not only face off against generic grunts wielding various power crystals, but also the Cyclonian that use to be a Storm Hawk and betrayed the original crew, as well as a confrontation or two with Master Cyclonis herself.
The three bonus episodes consist of "King for a Day," "Terra Deep" and "Storm Warning." In "King for a Day," the group land on a legendary terra where it seems their sharpshooter Finn is prophesized to appear and rid their land of some ancient evil. Unfortunately for Finn, it appears that this prophecy ends in him being eaten as well.
"Terra Deep" has the group escaping Cyclonians and diving into the cloudy depths of an uncharted territory that is filled with pirates, while "Storm Warning" heats things up when Piper (the navigator) feels unappreciated and decides to let the boys handle themselves for a while. Her plan goes a little wrong though when the rest of the squad realizes what she is doing and acts like they don't need her. The group will have to work out their differences quickly though, because they soon come under attack by, you guessed it, Cylconians.
Storm Hawks is a fun show with a nice backstory surrounding it. It is the standard, "young-underdog team trying to show they are just as good as everyone else" story (at least so far), and it really works for this show. Its visual style is very unique and pleasing while the overall plot will keep you watching. While not every episode furthers the main story, you can definitely see where it's going by the end of these 13 episodes.
If you like the series and didn't get the two volumes when they first came out, then you should pick this up instead. If you've already gotten those two discs, I'm not really sure the bonus episodes are enough to warrant a re-purchase.
