Episode X: Jack and the Lava Monster

Jack and the Lava Monster
Season 1
Episode 10
Prod. code	110
Roman Numeral	X
Airdate	November 5, 2002
Episode Guide
Previous	Jack Under the Sea
Next	Jack and the Scotsman, Part 1

"Episode X: Jack and the Lava Monster" is the tenth episode in the first season of Samurai Jack. In it, Jack must do battle against a earth-elemental.

Plot

The episode starts with Jack walking through a field during a windy day. A wolf sees him coming and starts to run away. He keeps walking until he hears a voice telling him to come. He keeps hearing it and uncovers his hands. He hears it again and asks who is there. But an owl just flies by. He keeps walking and hears the voice saying "come to me". Jack withdraws his sword and tells the voice to show itself. It doesn't show and Jack calls it a coward. He starts running as fast as he can until he reaches a field that looks burnt. He identifies it as a great, familiar evil. He suddenly hears the voice again and goes in to investigate. He passes what looks like old viking ships and skeletal remains of warriors that were killed in combat. He reaches the mountain, hears the voice saying to come, and starts climbing. He enters and discovers booby traps. The ceiling starts to get closer and he runs. It looks like his exit will be blocked. But he uses his sword to cut through and still live. The voice tells him to come further. Jack refuses until he sees the place about to crush him again and runs. He encounters more booby traps like hidden darts, mouths he has to jump through, and gas exiting the walk way. He finally reaches solid ground and is confronted by a giant made of magma and rock, wield a mace made of crystals.

It says "Welcome, to your DOOM"! Jack says that many warriors have died on their way down here and asks why. The monster replies that his purpose is to battle. He starts battling with Jack  until Jack lands a blow on him. He replies that after all these years, a worthy opponent stands now. Jack sheaths his sword and says that he will not fight any more. But the monster denies, stating that this fight will last until the end. With that the giant made a sword using his magma body. But Jack would rather be killed than fight. But the monster refuses to, saying that this battle must be concluded by the warriors code. He tells Jack that the monster he sees is actually a man trapped in a rock body.

He tells Jack his history of when he was human. This land used to be a great village where he lived with his wife, 2 sons, and a faithful canine. One day returning from a victorious hunt, a solar eclipse happened. Aku was released and attacked the village. All the warriors tried to slay him but Aku was to powerful to be brought down. The warrior was the only one left. Instead of killing him, Aku imprisoned him within an unbreakable crystal and thrust him into the core of the mountain, never to join his fallen comrades in Valhalla, the resting place of all great warriors. But the warrior found a way to manipulate the rock, and form a body in order to move. He then created a pathway that only the best warrior could pass. He said that the only way into Valhalla is to fall in combat to another warrior. He also reveals that Jack is the only one to survive. He begs Jack to help him escape. Jack agrees and unsheathes his sword and prepares to battle.

They begin to clash, until it looks like Jack has been bested. The Warrior tells him to rise and that he can not let up. Jack catches a second wind, rises and continues to fight. The Warrior tries to hit Jack, but he dodges the warrior's onslaught of attacks and evades him quickly enough that the warrior has no time to react and defend himself, allowing Jack to pierce his sword through the warrior's torso and into the crystal underneath, compromised by the one and only weapon with the power to overcome Aku's sorcery and actually break it. The warrior's rock body starts to break down, and with a relieved voice, he states that after all these years, his freedom has arrived. Spiting Aku, he shouts that his curse is broken. He screams in victory as he is released. He expresses his joy that at last his flesh is restored and the curse is lifted... but at a cost. Having been locked away in the crystal for millenia, the curse kept him displaced from the natural effects time would have taken on his body. No longer imprisoned, the dark magic which prevented him from aging is removed, and his vitality rapidly fades away until he reverts into a severely frail and decrepit old man. Barely able to move, his hand rattles until he drops his sword and collapses, on the verge of dying. Jack runs over and tries to apologize, but the warrior tells him not to worry and asks Jack to hand him his sword. Jack honors his wish while sheathing his own sword, and gives the warrior a respectful bow. The warrior quietly says, "Thank you," and then passes away. The sky lights up and two Valkyries clad in golden armor on horses arrive to take the warrior to Valhalla.

Jack is amazed and saddened, until he sees the warrior awake from death to commence an afterlife of eternal paradise and give him a smile before going up to the heavens. As a testament to his life, Jack ensures the warrior's final fate is recorded by carving the image of the warrior in a triumphant pose above the word "FREE" on the monolith of the warrior's past, so that anyone who discovers it one day will know he received his salvation at last.

His work done, Jack continues on his journey. As he is leaving the mountain, the warrior, now revitalized and glorified, is seen looking down on Samurai Jack from Valhalla with a proud smile, along with the Gods of Asgard.