Episode XXI: Jack and the Dragon

"At the fork in the road, follow the rocky path. It will take you to the Dragons Lair! Where will the other one take me? Space Ace!"

- The Scissorsmith referencing Don Bluth games while talking to Jack

"Episode XXI: Jack and the Dragon" is the twenty-first episode in the second season of Samurai Jack. This episode features Jack coming across a village that is plagued by a foul stench caused by a dragon who was suffering from a mysterious ailment.

Plot
The episode begins with Jack spearfishing in a forest when he notices that several of the fish are dead. Suddenly, a stampede of panicked animals runs past him. Jack soon discovers the reason: an incredibly foul smell coming from somewhere beyond the forest. Jack follows the smell to a village, taking notice of the completely decayed crops nearby. A farmer tries to warn Jack to turn back but is incapacitated by the smell before he can tell Jack what it is. The smell starts to close in, forcing Jack to fight and dodge the noxious fumes in order to get inside the city.

Inside the city, Jack sees the citizens suffering from the effects of the foul stench. Suddenly another wave of the smell approaches from the distance, and the villagers run to the shelter, only to find it "full" (it's only occupied by one cat). The smell hits, causing more suffering for everyone in the city. Jack then hears a cheerful whistling, confusing him. He follows it to the shop of a scissorsmith, who is immune to the smell due to not having a nose. The scissorsmith keeps trying to offer Jack a bizarre variety of products and services, but refuses to tell Jack where the smell is coming from without payment. Fortunately for Jack, the scissorsmith's bird, who is apparently his wife ("Never sell a wizard an expired fishing license!"), tells him that the smell is coming from a dragon who lives in a Spire to the east, infuriating the scissorsmith. As Jack leaves to deal with the dragon, the scissorsmith stops him and gives him a sheep's bladder, which will supposedly help him to resist the smell.

Sometime later, Jack starts climbing the spire. He grabs what looks like a strange plant, but turns out to be the antenna of a giant moth that Jack rides up the spire. Approaching another cloud of gas, Jack applies the sheep's bladder but finds that it too smells bad. Compared to the dragon's stench, however, Jack quickly reapplies the bladder. Once past the smell, Jack jumps off the moth and finds himself at the entrance of the dragon's lair. Inside, Jack finds the dragon, who naturally breathes fire at Jack. However, it quickly becomes clear that the dragon isn't actually evil, but rather in pain. The smell that it had been unleashing is actually the dragon farting, due to intestinal distress. Jack offers to put the dragon out of its misery, but the dragon instead asks Jack to enter its body and eliminate the source of its pain, which Jack reluctantly does. Inside the dragon, Jack travels through its digestive system, including its stomach, intestines, and other organs, encountering many bizarre creatures and body parts. Finally, Jack comes across the source of the dragon's pain: a partially-hatched baby dragon (which is confusing due to the dragon being a male) breathing fire on an organ, which responds by unleashing more flatulence. Jack cuts the baby free and tries to carry it out, but is cornered by the gas. Thinking quickly, Jack gets the baby to ignite the gas, somehow launching them both out of the dragon. The baby dragon carries Jack back to the village, who praise Jack for freeing them from the smell. Unfortunately, the baby dragon is overzealous with its fire breath, but the villagers don't seem to mind. The scissorsmith offers Jack a way to put out the fires, but his bird badmouths him again. The scissorsmith chases the bird, while Jack looks on confused, trying to process the incredibly weird day he's just had.

Credits

 * Written by
 * Chris Reccardi
 * Aaron Springer


 * Directed by
 * Robert Alvarez
 * Genndy Tartakovsky


 * Storyboard Directed by
 * Chris Reccardi
 * Aaron Springer


 * Voices
 * Phil LaMarr as Samurai Jack
 * Clancy Brown as The Dragon
 * John Kassir as Scissorsmith
 * Jennifer Hale as Crow/Bird
 * Tom Kenny as Peasant/Man
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Villager


 * Casting by
 * Collette Sunderman

Trivia

 * This episode is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Jack and the Farting Dragon" in fan circles.
 * The Scissorsmith references two laserdisc arcade games produced by Don Bluth Studios. When giving Jack directions to the Dragon's Lair, he states that taking the other path at the fork will take him to Space Ace. Jack is understandably bamboozled, complete with "dong" sound effect.
 * This scene is rewritten in other languages, thereby removing the reference. The French dub, for instance, has the Scissorsmith stating to stop at the rocky path and that Jack should open his parachute if he goes down it. The Brazilian dub, meanwhile, simply have him state that he doesn't know where the other path leads.