Hope is lost. Or is it?

(Source: Adult Swim)

The road to the truth has started for Ashi. I hope it’s longer than just a few episodes. It also serves another purpose, which is to make Jack find himself fully again. So he starts showing the recently former assassin what Aku’s evil has done. In this voyage of discovery for Ashi and rediscovery for Jack, we are immediately faced with the notion that although we’re still in a cartoon, we’re no longer in made for children territory. Victories costs more and battles have fatalities.

We start early on with an army poised to strike at Aku’s stronghold. The tanks and artillery are easy fodder. But the army is made of harder stuff. Leading an regiment of battle maidens that happen to be his daughters, is the Scottsman. He’s now much older but definitely not less louder. Aku reduces him to ashes, but he instantly comes back in spiritual form to inspire his daughters. They need a better plan of attack. And they need Jack.

Meanwhile Jack and Ashi find another of Aku’s cities and yet another group of people that have lost it all to Aku’s minions. Their children have been taken to the factory and reprogrammed. The Samurai is attacked by the feral youngsters while he sends Ashi to locate the source of the mental control. Ashi must face a cyborg that feeds and dispenses electric current in Palpatine-like fashion. Suffice to say, even at a disadvantage she manages admirably.

Jack is another matter. At the sight of the children collapsing, he immediately assumes the worst. So when the horned horseman once more appears in a green haze, Jack decides to submit to whatever he wants. We’re left to wonder what his destiny is.

Highs/Lows/Daaaad!!!

  • The Scottsman returns. He’s on a wheelchair, his hair has gone white, he’s lost an eye, but it’s him alright. He’s taken down by Aku himself and reduced to ashes but he quickly rises back up as a ghost. I’m a little divided here. I was glad to see him again, but the whole sudden death and Obi-Wan style comeback happen a little fast.
  • The Scottman’s Daughters seemed like a formidable army by itself. You kinda understand why they need Samurai Jack AND the sword to defeat Aku, so I don’t think Jack is ready for this meeting yet.
  • Ashi’s got a road to travel to find herself. It should be a longer road, but at the very least we get some resistance to the Samurai’s words and demand of proof. What follows feels a little underwhelming… If that’s all that we’re going to get. Somehow I feel Ashi’s road to redemption should be longer than Jack’s.
  • After that ending, everything is up on the air as to what happens to Samurai Jack now. Except somehow I think this should resolve his hallucinations of guilt once and for all.
  • I also expect that will also set him on the road to finding his sword again.
  • No “scum and villainy” line when looking over one of Aku’s cities? Okey, I know that it’s been overused, but I wouldn’t have mind another classic geek shoutout.
  • I’d rather have no theories about who the Horned Horseman is. If this turn out to be “Jack himself” I will take it in stride as long as it’s done right. It feels like a character inspired by the Green Knight of Arthurian lore. If so, he’s not a foe but a wise man with something to teach Jack.

That will do for now.