Episode V : JAAACK IIIN SPAAACEEE

"The best things in life make you sweaty." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Synopsis:

"Jack and a group of scientists join forces to try to escape the wrath of Aku."

Robots, rockets, scientists, and more! Jack haplessly walks through woods and suddenly finds himself battling praying mantis kill-bots. Their target, a group of scientists trying to leave Aku's planet, are simply helpless. Fortunately, Samurai Jack rescues them all. The scientists had constructed a rocket to propel themselves through space to a new home. However, with the destruction of the robots, Aku sends an even larger army - to both cut of their escape in space and on land. Samurai Jack has no choice but to help them again and fly through space. They had a plan to send him back to the past, but when duty calls, Samurai Jack must help others before himself. 

Breakdown:
Having started breaking down every episode, I have found a common trend: Each episode begins with Jack in the wilderness peacefully wandering around looking for his way home. This is already a terrible curse. Then, he will randomly find himself in the middle of a scuffle of some kind and inevitably help whomever he comes across. Here is no different.

Except today, he found a rocket ship. 

Now, this may not seem like much of a surprise given all that he has found already on this new developed planet. However, it should be noted that he Never Goes Back Into Space Again. Ever. He sees all kinds of technology, but this is the first and the last time he will have an adventure quite like this one.  He finds all kinds of scientists.

And just like any team of scientists, all they can find is trouble. That is why Samurai Jack has to fight the killer mantis robots - who only assess the situation after they arrive. Here is what goes down: 1) Jack gets chased by missiles. 2) Jack finds a rocket. 3) Scientists. 4) Kill-bots arrive and assess the situation.

These bots look directly at Jack and view him as a non-threat. Then they look at the rocket and say that they have broken Aku laws 101 and 203 - "Habitation in unauthorized facility" and "Construction of escape vehicle." Aku needs to have his hardware up to date. There should never be a time when Aku does not know where Jack is on his planet. If Jack is there, it is not like he will ignore the robots either. He will destroy them. So it isn't even like Aku is saving himself trouble by just going after the scientists.

Aku is not saving even a lil' trouble. (Jack's got some mad hops.) 

The kill-mantis-bots say the only punishment is extermination. Jack disagrees and flips his way to victory. One of the beheaded robots is actually a homing beacon that blasts off into the distance in order to alert Aku something is up. With this, the scientists ask Jack for his help because there is no possible way they can fight anything off. Even with all their science. They even admit to having been the ones to make Aku's bots...

"Our odds of survival are now 6,352,271 to 1!" 

We also get some other odds presented to us. That purple dude with the glasses points out that it the odds of Samurai Jack saving them in the first place were 6,923 to 1 and that Jack can be victorious fighting a space battle is 5,437 to 1. Little did they realize that Jack never has a chance less than 100% of helping people. These scientists haven't even asked him if he will help yet. Fortunately, simply mentioning Aku and he's all game.

Yep, Aku is definitely coming for us... 

If Samurai Jack didn't just randomly find peoples/species of the world whom needed his help, then that means Aku is just ransacking the globe constantly - murdering everyone and anything that tries to stand up against him. This makes Samurai Jack even more of a thorn in his spine because it doesn't matter what Aku does - he just simply can't make Jack bend. Furthermore, there is no real timetable that discusses how far apart these instances are - they could be days, weeks, months, years, hours and sometimes, minutes!

After some meaningless tests, they equip jack with a space suit and attach a nuclear fusion jet-pack to him. Instead of taking their petty instructions, Jack flies around trying to figure out what he's doing. However, this is no test for him as he is quickly able to learn the controls and pull off some intense acrobatics - such as cutting the tops of trees off as he flies and using his sword as a pivot to turn him around.

Once Jack is situated, we learn about what the problem is with these scientists. Aku has been abusing their intelligence to create robots. They describe it as slavery. They only wish to go to their "new home" (which exists somewhere I guess?). They wear space suits all the time to deal with the pollution. Jack doesn't seem to mind it at all - and he is from a time when pollution was not even a thing. Then they party.

An interesting thought - if there is a planet willing to take these scientists, then surely there is a whole group of planets that are all against Aku. Perhaps there is a legion of planets simply working to bring this crazed demon down. The universe of Samurai Jack is likely very complex - but Jack is a simple man with a simple life. We see only what he sees.

The following morning, they all blast into space. Then Jack starts fighting robots. Again, in space. He is able to fly around without getting disorientated and continue to fight all kinds of bugs-like robots. This is literally Galaga. They were able to devise a place to send Jack back to the past: When their ship hits sub-light speed, they can shoot Jack in a pod in front of them so that he goes past light speed and travels through time. Though Steven Hawking has already described how this is impossible (because instead you just approach the speed of light but never reach it), we all wish the best for our hero.

I Have the POWER!
FLAME OF UDUN!
Flameo. 

From ticks, then to mosquitos, and finally bees. Jack does not care. It is hard to determine, but I have the inclination that Aku could have a moon base. All of these bugs simply appear in the sky and are already out in a perimeter in front of them. If Aku deals with trans-planetary traders and smugglers and people trying to escape, it would make sense that he has some sort of system in place to keep everything in line.

After scaring the rest of the hornet space kill-bots away, Jack takes his place in the ship preparing for light speed. However, the robots wise up and form a giant gun to blast them. The odds are "325 to 1" that they actually hit them, but the best way to ensure the outcome you want is to not take the chance. Samurai Jack pulls out of the space ship in order to ensure that the scientists make it safely. Mortality be damned.

Just as the scientists blast off into space, Jack defeats the mega bug gun and explodes - cartwheeling his way back through the abyss. Fortunately, he sets himself on a collision course for Earth by some bizarre chance. And crashes.

Is now a good time to fart?

Again, Jack does not care. He simply accepts his fate and turns it into what he wants. There was never a doubt in his mind he wouldn't survive space or re-entry or crashing onto Earth. He just ... DOES.

Here is one of the most incredible moments for Samurai Jack. He is crossing the gray area from Myth to Legend and it is only episode V. This was an excellent turnaround from the last episode... all 'pain' from watching this series is really trivial. Jack is just so good.

Lesson(s):

Mr. Smith - "Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. [...] You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?"
Neo - "Because I choose to."

Matrix Revolutions 2003

Why does Jack continue to fight? How does he know he will ever succeed? He talks a great deal about meeting his destiny and fulfilling his fate - but Jack actively decides the outcome of every situation he comes across. Here, he took what could have been a grim situation and morphed it to the outcome he was satisfied with - helping others. In the fight against Aku, where Jack's death could be the ultimate end of the universe, the best way to deal with chance is not to play. Instead, change the game. 

It is difficult for a lesser man accept what he has been given. It takes a great man to question why he has what he has. However, it takes a tremendous man to make a change and give back more than he was given. Samurai Jack only knows how to give. This series blames modern society (and Aku I guess), for us not sharing this mindset.