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Episode CI is the tenth and final episode of Season 5, and the sixty-second and final episode of Samurai Jack. It aired on May 20th, 2017.

Premise

The fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance as Samurai Jack faces Aku.

Plot

The episode begins with many of Jack's allies gathering around their televisions to watch a live broadcast of Aku's lair. After trolling everyone with the show's original opening monologue (complete with Mako's dialogue), Aku announces that he has captured Jack and plans to execute him on live television.

Initially unsure how to finish off Jack, Aku finally decides that Ashi (still under his control) should be the one to kill him. Jack begs her to resist, but (on the surface) she appears to ignore him. As Ashi is about to stab Jack, the samurai's allies break into Aku's lair and begin attacking the demon. Seizing his chance, Jack escapes and makes a run for his sword, only to be stopped and attacked by Ashi.

Meanwhile, Aku laughs off the armies' attacks as he squashes a group of Blind Archers on Woolies, corrupting them into smaller versions of himself. Despite their best efforts, Jack's allies are slowly overwhelmed by the clones until the Scotsman and his daughters join the fray. Jack regroups with the Scotsman, who proceeds to introduce him to his many daughters. When Jack politely declines the offer to marry any one of them, he explains that he already met someone and gestures to Ashi, causing the Scotsman to question Jack's taste in women.

Following a savage beating from the Robo-Samurai, Aku goes up into the sky and releases a rain of spikes onto the army, killing most of the combatants. At the same time, Jack is swallowed by Ashi and tries once more to get through to her. After Jack confesses his love for Ashi, she finally breaks free of Aku's control. Aku then confronts Ashi, who declares that Aku isn't her father. Ashi then discovers that she still has Aku's powers, and after a brief battle, she fetches Jack's sword and uses her power to create a time portal to return to the point where Aku sent Jack to the future. Being unable to stop them in time, Aku realizes in horror that he'll cease to exist if they kill him in the past.

The scene then returns to the final scene in Episode I, when Aku sent Jack to the future. Jack and Ashi return shortly after, to Aku's surprise. Jack proceeds to slash Aku with his sword as Aku tries to fight back, but he's too weakened from his previous battle with Jack to stand a chance against him. Jack slashes Aku in half and destroys one half of his face while the other half is desperately trying to escape. Jack leaps into the air and stabs Aku, trapping the demon around his blade. Jack then thrusts his sword into the ground, finally destroying Aku and his lair and escaping with Ashi just in time. Some time later, Jack and Ashi are about to be wed, but Ashi suddenly collapses. She explains that due to Aku's death, she will cease to exist as a result, before fading away in his arms. A depressed Jack mourns in the forest over Ashi's passing. Suddenly, Jack sees a ladybug which likely reminded him of Ashi. Jack realizes that even though she's gone, he's grateful for the memories he has of her and his mood improves, knowing that there's hope for love as well and realizes that without her sacrifice he would have never saved the universe from Aku. Jack lets the ladybug fly away and smiles as the clouds part revealing the beautiful forest below that will never again be decimated by Aku, showing that the future will be bright.

Credits

Trivia

  • This is the official series finale of Samurai Jack.
  • Many of Jack's former allies and acquaintances return from previous episodes to aid in the final battle. These include:
  • All of Jack's teachers, except the Russian boyar, the Mongol warrior, the Egyptian priest and Master Chu attended his wedding with Ashi. Instead, three Shaolin monks attended on Master Chu's stead.
    • It is likely they were deceased or unable to attend for some reasons.
  • Max's voice sounds rather different than in his initial appearance.
  • Jack was finally able to return to the past and successfully destroy Aku for good.
    • Tragically destroying Aku came with a cost: Ashi would cease to exist since she was Aku's daughter. The same would apply to her sisters as well.
    • After the past Aku's destruction, everything he was responsible for in the future was undone. This may affect the existence and life of the people in the future, since Aku in some ways was the catalyst for their own existence, not to mention some events that has occurred. However, since no one else will suffer from Aku's tyranny anymore, Jack actually saved every race and planet in the universe from misery under his rule.
    • There is an ancient Chinese legend that links ladybugs with love. The legend goes that when a ladybug comes to call, it is a sign that a true love will pay the person a visit. Further renditions of the legend state that the number of spots on the ladybug indicate the amount of months that will pass until the person is united with his/her true love[1]
      • This also ties in with the red string of fate. According to the red string of fate, the two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. This myth is similar to the Western concept of a soulmate or a destined flame.[2]
  • The Guardian is officially confirmed to be killed.
  • The ending scene from Episode I, where Jack defeats Aku but is propelled into the future, is completely re-animated with new voice work in this episode.
  • This episode reveals that Jack spent fifty years in the future, but was absent from his era for ten seconds.
  • This episode also features the old opening within the episode (including Mako's narration as Aku), albeit with the horse whiny sound effect removed, and different sound effects and foley for the sword swings and the time portal.
    • The final portion (from "Now the fool seeks to return to the past..." onward) is a newly animated sequence.
    • Mako is credited posthumously as Past Aku.
  • This is the second and final episode in Season 5 without the classic ending of Will.I.Am rapping "Gotta get back to the past". The first was Episode XCIX.
  • Jack sees a ladybug and lets it fly on his hand. He also lets it fly away which is similar to what happened at the end of Episode XCV.
  • The ladybug was the first thing to change Ashi's mind.
  • The tree Jack stands under in the end of the episodes is the same one Jack shows Ashi in Episode XCVI. Since Aku did not destroy it, its beauty was restored.
    • It was also the first place where Ashi learned of Aku's destruction.
  • The Scotsman refers to his bagpipes as "The Phantom Pipes of Lagavulin." Lagavulin is the name of both a small town in Scotland and a whisky company located there.
  • The shot of Jack mourning Ashi's death alone under a tree with his hair flowing, is similar one to the introduction of Season 5 when he watches "Aku's grasp [on the] past, present and future".
  • Mako being credited in this episode makes him one of the few voice actors who appeared at least once in every season.
  • The female vocal at the end of the episode, "renchaku ha na hanasanai" is Japanese for "This unforgettable love I will not let go".
  • The wedding scene in which Ashi vanished from existence is similar to the one in Gurren Lagann where Nia Teppelin vanished during her wedding with Simon, since her own existence was tied with that of the Anti-Spirals, similar to Ashi with Aku.

Goofs/Errors

  • When Jack attacks Past Aku, Aku's eyebrows are missing in one frame.
  • During the wedding, Jack's parents appeared to be the same age that they were when Jack was a little boy, whereas they were shown to be older after he had completed his training and returned to defeat Aku in the very first episode. Jack's father was also highly emaciated, due to his enslavement.
    • They were likely being nursed back to health. Over time, they regain their health and strength.

Temporal Paradox

If the past Aku was destroyed, then he wouldn't be able to provide his essence that impregnated The High Priestess. Ashi and her sisters wouldn't have been conceived and thus were erased from existence in the future. So, Ashi wouldn't be able to produce a time portal that allowed Jack and herself to travel to the past so that Jack can destroy the past Aku.

It should be noted that it was Aku that created the future Jack was sent to. Since Jack has destroyed the past Aku, by doing so he has created a new future replacing the one Aku has created. This in turn would affect the existence of every single being in the previous future, and all of Jack's memories and experiences of the future he was sent to would be unmade since that future has ceased to be.

Gallery

Main article: Episode CI/Gallery

Reference

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