Episode I : Pilot

“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.” ~ Terry Pratchett

Synopsis:

"When Aku is reborn to set forth on his reign of terror, a young samurai attempts to slay him with a mighty sword, but Aku banishes the warrior to the future."

In this opening episode for the epic that is Samurai Jack, we are first introduced to this mysterious mystical being named Aku. Initially imprisoned by Samurai Jack's father, the reigning emperor of Japan (who by his own right is also a complete badass), Aku is awakened by the powers of a peculiar solar eclipse and lightning action. Needless to say, the people immediately try to defend themselves against this unspeakable evil. In fact, the royal family was rather well prepared - having an emergency action plan already in place for the young, roughly seven year old Jack. It seems that all the authority/royal families of the age are really well connected to each other because Jack is able to bounce all over the globe to complete his training and become a true world-class hero samurai. After he returns to Japan and sees his mother and father again, Jack is now awakened to the horrors of Aku and storms his lair. After a brief battle, Samurai Jack seems to be the victor. However Aku is cunning and resourceful, sending Jack into the future. Back to the Past, Samurai Jack :  A series is now born. 

Breakdown: 

This really is one of the four pillar episodes to this epic series. It lays down some ground rules for the important parts of the Samurai Jack Universe. For example, we know Aku is a shapeshifter, can shoot lightning laser beams from his eyes, is impervious to non-divine weapons, can maintain a demon fog, and is very egocentric. Something most people over look is his minions. Somehow, he is able to create minions - but none are ever like that in the first episode - where they almost appear in his likeness and vanish the same way.  He believes in himself and nothing more. What is equally important is what we learn about Jack. 

Jack travels across the globe. Here is the list of the places he goes and the things he learns at each. 

Japan : Astronomy

Arabs : Horseback Riding and Affinity for Animals

African Tribes: Running, Stick Fighting

Egypt : Literacy

Romans : Wrestling

England : Archery 

Vikings : Sailing

Russia : Ax Throwing

Mongolia : Spear Throwing

Tibet : Sparing + Mixed Martial Arts

This show really has three attributes that make it spectacular for practically all ages. The first being the soundtrack. Every episode has a solid score to keep the magic of the episode alive. Here, there is an excellent job of mixing the audio tracks with the regions of the world Jack travels to. It might not be that special to many people, but this is a rare case when montage music means something to the story - it is the sound of the world uniting. 

The voice acting in the series is fantastic. Voiced by Mako, Aku is the most well acted villain I have ever come across. He has a personality all his own, and we get a taste of it briefly in the pilot. He is cruel, resourceful, hateful, spiteful, political, commanding, terrifying, and evil. (The same voice actor also played the character Uncle Iroh. As a tribute to his death, the creators honor him in the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" and then name him as a main character in the newest series The Legend of Korra.) His voice brought life to the legendary evil: "The Master of Masters. The Deliverer of Darkness. The Show-gun of Sorrow. Aku." 

The action is fantastic in this show. Right away in the first episode, we are drawn into a real world of martial arts. The creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, took great care in modeling the martial arts and defensive techniques of Samurai Jack on real life practices. Sure he is only allowed to fight robots to keep the series PG... but in only fighting robots, we are exposed to Samurai Jack's deep commitment to the preservation of life on this Earth. He just makes sure to defeat all robots in an excellent manner. 

Listening to the commentary for this first episode, I gained an interesting abstract idea from the creators. They imagined the battle of Samurai Jack as a series as "White versus Black over Red." It showcases the innate struggle of good and evil through a new medium - violence, risk, challenge, and sacrifice. Samurai Jack is able to devote himself entirely to his mission for the people of the world and will therefore, always triumph. "The artists are the real writers of the show." - Genndy Tartakovsky

We also learn that Samurai Jack has the ability to capture Aku in his sword. Though this never happens again, it is interesting to know that if Aku is weak enough, he can be contained. However, we find he is not too weak to open portals into time. This is the Aku troll face if I ever saw one.

Lesson(s): 

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one." ~ Bruce Lee

Few things put the series to words better than this quote by one of my personal heroes. It is why Samurai Jack is such a compelling story and why there is no conclusion to the series (though it would be awesome if there was one): In every single one of our lives we will share in triumph and failure. Some will be more or less severe or righteous than others, but with every episode in our lives we have to persevere - and do so with poise. We do not always have to know where we are going in life, but recognizing the significance of those around us (such as the people of the world that Samurai Jack constantly pays homage to as both friends and masters of his training), our accomplishments, and the goals we push towards make a rewarding existence. 

Samurai Jack may never beat Aku, or he might have done it yesterday. It is not the outcome that is important but what we can learn from his struggle so that we might defeat Aku in our own lives. In the episode, Jack's dad tells him that it is the mind over all else that matters. The world is essentially full of tools to help us accomplish our goals. Do not overvalue something that without a strong mind behind it, would be worthless.