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Season 1

On the first few episodes, the show establishes Ali as a problem child. Right from the start, he is shown to be disorganized, lazy, and every undesirable quality you could imagine. His dad is distant, his mom is dead, and the only thing holding this miserable gremlin together is his sweet, sweet best and only friend Viktor.

And then comes this magical device that turns his life upside down and he lives happily ever after... not.

You know the phrase money doesn't corrupt but only amplifies what's already in someone's heart? Well, IRIS is the money in this case, and it amplifies Ali's inner insecurity. The first thing this little gremlin does after obtaining IRIS is to use it to get good marks and impress his classmates and teacher.

Being an emotionally neglected child he naturally craves attention, and nothing satisfies him more than when people give him exactly that no matter how. This ultimately reaches its climax when Ali uses his newfound fame during S1E10: Sensasi to farm his fans' adoration. He learns his lesson at the end of the episode, but this won't be the last time he goes out of his way to seek for others' approval.

This is why Rizwan is such an important figure in Ali's life. Regardless of the man's opinion towards him, Ali sees him as someone worth idolizing. The best agent in MATA, Charismatic to boot, the man is everything Ali wishes to be. And good for him, Rizwan is the perfect teacher.

Guy teaches Ali disciplines, doesn't put up with his childish sense of entitlement, and very much treats Ali like he'd do anyone. For the first time in Ali's life, someone actually sees him as his own person and doesn't demean nor overhype him.

Season 2

In this season, Ali meets the junior agents for the first time, and upon learning that they idolized him, he grows a bigger head. He starts pushing Alicia away, the only person who's looking out for his safety (her wanting to meet her dad's expectation is a discussion for another day).

Now, all this time Ali has actually been praised as an agent. He had his bad moments, but for the most part he believes himself to have contributed a lot to the agency, which isn't inaccurate. But this belief is what resulted in him doubling down in his insecurity when the mentors pointed out his flaws during his training with the other agents. He's already a nobody at school, and now comes another realization that he might also be a nobody compared to the other agents if not for IRIS.

This is where things take turn for the worse.

Again, Ali seeks to prove himself by disobeying the mentors and drags his new friends along as well. This turns out to be a bad idea when Ali watches Rizwan betray the agency and in his anguish starts attacking everyone after activating Override Mode. He later tries to deflect the blame towards IRIS which only makes the other agents hate him more.

Coupled with Rizwan's desertion and that he already burned his bridge with Alicia, he didn't have anyone to turn to anymore. In his pursuit for approval, he loses everything. This is the lowest point in his life.

Thankfully, Zain gets through to him and makes him see his worth beyond his skills, that he's helped a lot more people than anyone else has. This is a bandaid to the larger issue at hand, but it rekindles his spirit enough he can stand on two feet again.

On the flip side however, Alicia later choosing to stand by his side is likely the first time he receives (a form of) affection despite not doing anything to earn it. This is something that he'll finally learn later on during the movie.

Regardless, with Alicia's help, Ali began to take accountability for his actions and reformed his friendships with the other agents.

Movie

This movie is what happens when all of Ali issues accumulate to the point of no return.

This movie starts off with Ali realizing that he's no longer worth anything as an agent. Or rather, he's no longer the main character in the grand scheme of things. Feeling himself having been replaced by more experienced agents, this is where Ali adopts a new crutch to lean on... his mom's legacy.

On top of IRIS, a crutch that he's been holding onto to prove his worth, Ali is also burdened with Zain's expectation of him from the previous season. His excuse is that he wants to help people, which may be true to some extent, but it's obvious from the get-go that it's only one manifestation of his insecurity and self-worth issue. After all, if his MATA agent shtick doesn't have a point anymore, why not quit and start over.

Niki, whether she realizes it or not, capitalizes on this and convinces Ali to join her side. It doesn't help that the people from the slum see and appreciate what he's doing for them, which further incentivises him into staying. His growing resentment towards MATA and the likes of Dato' Othman pushes him further towards deserting the agency altogether. Alicia being his friend warned him of MATA's suspicion of him, but it's too late by then.

We've established before that for Ali, love and adoration always has to be earned before. In an ironic fashion, he runs away from Alicia, the one person who's stood by his side in his lowest point, to seek protection from someone he sees as a mother figure... who just so happens to only see him as a useful tool so long as he contributes to the slum. There is also a reverse-elitist undertone with how Niki treats him which is... yikes.

Niki betrays him and this slaps Ali hard in a lot of ways.

I wouldn't say Alicia's pep talk when they're trying to escape later is any better, cause god, ugh. Both of you need therapists. But for what it's worth, she teaches him one very valuable lesson; that he isn't alone. He has her, he has Bakar, he has so many people who care for him despite him being blind towards them.

Remember when Alicia stood by him in season 2? Well, she does it again and shows Ali that yes, love and loyalty doesn't need to be constantly earned. This is the turning point to Ali's worldview where he stops equating his worth to his usefulness.

At the end of the movie, Ali willingly gives up IRIS to make up for his mistake. But at the same time, we can see that he is much more confident in himself. He still has a need to prove himself, but starting from here, he does it in a much healthier way, as we can see in the following season.

Season 3

This is when Ali starts having a purpose. All this time, he's letting everyone else decide his worth, but after the events of the movie, he begins looking inward for acceptance of all that he is.

He knows he's weak, he knows he still has a lot to improve, so he focuses on that with his mother as his goal post.

Throughout the season, we can see Ali stumbling and standing up again. When he's caught in a hitch, he looks for help from others. This isn't something the old whiny Ali would've done. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he picks himself up and strives to be a better version of himself.

From his new maturity, he also manages to resist peer pressure and doesn't antagonize the international agents like his friends do. It's no surprise that he ends up connecting with Sam the most, a direct reflection of his past insecurities. Of course he'd relate to a kindred spirit and help the guy climb out of the hell he's been through himself all his life.

When Ali loses IRIS to Alicia in the end, it is the best outcome anyone could've hoped for. Not because Alicia deserves it which she does, but because it symbolizes the end of Ali's dependency on cool shiny gadgets to make himself look like a somebody. Because he is already a somebody.

Conclusion

Ali's character growth throughout the series is simply phenomenal.

You know the Ali in season 1 and season 3 are the same characters but if you put them side by side you'll see that they're anything but. They're too different.

Ali's journey as a character may have been riddled with hiccups, but it's those exact hiccups that make us appreciate the person he's become.

Is he perfect? No. He's still flawed as any 12 year old is. He'll learn in time and that's okay.

Anger at his own cowardice.

Sadness at his own incompetence.

Relief at living yet to see another day.

Guilt at his own selfishness.

Multiple emotions struck at once. And where Dos stood, in mere seconds, he'd dashed over to her as if his body had its own mind.

Override Mode, that was the phrase blinking over IRIS's now blurred screen.

He was out before he knew it.

When Ali woke up at the safehouse, he was given a summary of their successful mission:

Ali in his newly discovered Override Mode retrieved Azurium.

The mission was a success.

Dos was detained and was now in interrogation.

The mission was a success.

They lost a teammate.

The mission was a success.

Dissociation was not a word Ali was familiar with, but it was thrown a lot while the other agents talked over him, some familiar and some new.

A man called Karya was looking down at him, his voice gentle with a melodic tune to it. Another called Leon was less graceful in his approach, but he left a gentle but firm squeeze on Ali's shoulder after repeating Agent Karya's words, only in fewer words.

There was a woman, Geetha, who simply gave him a piece of chocolate before leaving to join the rest of the agents.

Uncle Bakar hugged him tightly while Ali rubbed the chocolate between his fingers, watching it slowly melt from his body's heat. Comot remained silent at his feet.

"Alicia's dead, huh." Ali hummed to which Uncle Bakar hugged him tighter.

"Mrow..." Comot nuzzled his feet.

It was only when he returned to the safe confines of his room, when nobody else could disturb him under his blanket, that everything finally dawned on him.

Alicia was dead.

All because of him.

With Comot snuggled deep into his chest, he weeped.

ii. 

Alicia's funeral was somber. Or so he heard through the phone.

With nothing but ash remaining, she was promptly buried with no further cremation. Not that those outside the agency needed to know the detail. Her uncles were the one who took care of everything, while her dad was nowhere to be found per Uncle Bakar's words.

Being a general for MATA was tough. Couldn't even attend his own daughter's funeral. Or maybe he was grieving in his bed too, like Ali was doing right now.

Ali hadn't announced his desire to be left alone, but everyone understood, so now only Comot remained at his side. Communications were either done through texts or between the barrier that was his room door whenever dad brought him food.

"Mrow?"

"I'm not okay, if that's what you're asking."

Comot whimpered, her ears deflating.

When Ali thought he could get some more shut eye, a knock on the door reminded him that he forgot to lock it, evident from the person on the other side shamelessly barging in.

Not that Ali had the energy to care.

"Ali, the General wants to see you," Agent Karya said, not even explaining how he got into the house in the first place. "We'll be downstairs waiting for you."

After deliberating whether he should obey or chance his early demise, he decided he needed a different scenery that was more than just the white of his ceiling.

Agent Rama was stoic, emotionless upon the knowledge that his beloved daughter perished under his watch. With that unemotional state as well he invited Ali to sit on the couch, while the man himself stood in front of the television.

There were several scenarios Ali had drawn inside his head, about why the General would even bother seeing him in person, Agent Karya standing watch like they were a pair of an interrogator and a prisoner. He expected accusations, he prepared himself against the onslaught of unbridled fatherly rage… yet they never came. What came instead was a calm directive, an order like any other. Someone would be put behind bars, and it was not him.

“Ali, I want your testimony against Agent Rizwan.”

iii. 

Protocol Gegas was a taboo, an order unspeakable even in the most dire circumstances. It had been so for the last five years… until it was spoken again by the man standing beside him, bounded by cuffs made of metal and others of shame and guilt.

“Ali Ghazali, you stand before us today to give testimony against Rizwan Malek for his contribution to the death of a fellow junior agent.” Pillar Leader Zain spoke from behind the blackened screen. “Did he, or did he not, order you to initiate Protocol Gegas?”

“He did.” Ali stood tall, crossed hands behind his back to hide his fumbling fingers.

“Are you, or are you not, aware of the implication behind the order?” Pillar Leader Dayang.

“I was previously made aware of it by Junior Agent Alicia and Agent Bakar,” he answered, not too quick, but not too slow, just like he’d rehearsed.

“And you followed your order obediently, leaving your teammate to die?” Pillar Leader Ganz.

“Indecision is a decision. By the time I got over my shock, it was too late.”

“Agent Rizwan, what do you have to say against the accusations?” Pillar Leader Zain spoke again.

“Five years ago, the three of you allowed the same tragedy in the name of Cyberaya’s wellbeing. Agent Djin is no longer with us today,” he defended himself, tone defiant and deflecting the blame onto their judges.

There was a low growl coming from Agent Ganz’s screen, but Agent Dayang addressed Agent Rizwan first.

“And what makes you think what happened back then was comparable to the transgression you committed, all for an insignificant jar of Azurium?”

Agent Rizwan’s lips tightened, unable to rebut her words. Agent Ganz picked up where she left off.

“Rizwan Maliq. Today, you are hereby stripped of your Agent status. You are to be incarcerated as a criminal, never to step foot again beyond your jail cell. Dismissed.”

Ali didn’t look at the man’s face, too shaken to even walk steadily on the platform that led to the exit. A pair of robot guards standing watch by the doorway went inside to drag Agent Rizwan to his new home. Uncle Bakar took Ali to his, where he could forget the aches and hide his tears under his blanket.

iv.

Ali exchanged the hell that was MATA to the torture that was school. Eyes stared, mouths hushed, ears listened. Wherever he went, Alicia’s ghost haunted him as his classmates spoke of the buried dead and the dead that barely functioned beyond nodding and shaking his head.

A student’s death raised a stir among the school population, all sympathising a car crash victim and its survivor, yet all ignorant of the real truth that it had all been nothing but murder. Ali was a murderer, blood in his hands that he used to write in his notebook.

Viktor’s gentle hand almost never left his, ready to squeeze him assurance whenever his breath so much as picked up at a trigger; Alicia’s desk, Alicia’s empty seat, Alicia’s non-existence at this school because he had been a coward who only cared about himself.

At some point, he barely registered the changing scenery, going from his classroom to the infirmary where he let himself sob onto his best friend’s shoulder.

His dad was called, the press was called, slurs were called against the paparazzis invading the school for a scoop of a Cyberaya’s Helm’s traumatised son.

Ali took one day off from school. One day became two. Two became several, and several became homeschool. He absentmindedly absorbed the lessons coming his way, never raising a voice nor head as he wrote his notes. His no-name teacher cared more for money than offending him to ever question whether he was paying attention in class. It was the silent rule they agreed upon, and both of them were happy with the arrangement.

Comot stayed by his side, claiming his lap with each day that droned on and on. At nights, she climbed on his chest and sang her purrs to drive away the phantoms lingered along the edges of the room.

“Do you think I did the right thing?”

Comot didn’t answer.

“If I’d jumped in to save her, we’d have died together.”

Comot didn’t answer again.

“I’ve always wanted the attention, you know. To be loved, to be touched. Dad always used to care more about his work, but now he’s here for me every time I need him. Viktor too. You too… But it still hurts.”

Comot never replied, because a cat could never understand that a useless coward had survived while a girl with a bright future had not. That her owner deserved none of that love, none of the affection everyone was showering him with. Because he was worth nothing, not against Alicia.

“I wish I’d died instead.”

“...Mrow…” Comot snuggled on his chest.

v.

Rizwan had escaped, Dos disappearing along with him. 

Agent Jenny had gone missing too.

IRIS was under MATA’s surveillance, never leaving the agency until it was thrown into his hand by a disgruntled General Rama.

“My dad can file you for trespassing,” Ali threatened the man who drank from Ali’s favourite Detective Jebat cup.

“And you won’t?” The General glared at him while also sipping every last drop of his tea.

“I don’t want to deal with people.”

“So do I, but it’s my job.”

When it got through his thick Bollywood skull that Ali wasn’t going to entertain him, he continued.

“Jenny helped Rizwan and Dos escape.”

“So?” Ali raised an unimpressed brow. “I’m not an agent anymore. I quit.”

“You’re not safe here.”

“And MATA’s safe how? Last I checked you have two defectors that poofed under your nose. Who’s to say there aren’t more?”

“Who’s to say people working for your father aren’t infiltrated either?”

Ali faltered.

“Th-they wouldn’t.”

“They will. They’ll do everything they can to get IRIS and unsync it from you. You, your loved ones, no one around you is safe.”

“...unless I’m trained,” Ali finished, shoulders sagging. “So here I am again huh, being your property you can flaunt around to bait your enemies.”

“Your answer is?” The general set down his tea and showed the first real emotion since he barged into the house uninvited. He looked hesitant, not wanting to force him to say yes or no. But neither of them made the decisions, the higher-ups did.

“...I’ll do it. I’ll be your bait. As long as you can promise to keep my dad safe. Keep Viktor and his family safe.”

“It will be done.”