Just finished watching Samurai Jack season 5 episode 3 which took place after Jack fell into the river and drifted away from the daughters of Aku. This episode was far more darker than the last one as i explain in my review. Once again, spoilers included.
This episode begins with Jack drifting away in the river. Jack probably knows that since he's been stabbed and losing blood, he would not have much of a chance to survive if he tried running on foot. He probably would've lost more blood, fainted or tripped, and left footprints which would make him easier to track. Traveling through a river allows him to cover more distance, escape faster, and remain undetected. Jack hallucinates and sees a frog on the log who abruptly says in a human voice "they are coming!" He swims faster only to get demoralized and allow the river to carry him away. Once again we see a vision of the mysterious samurai in the woods.
What i loved about this episode is that it deals with the physical but also psychological injuries resulting from Jack's last battle. Many shows neglect that and portray the hero as invincible. Jack has to remove the blade correctly to avoid injuring himself further, stitch the wound up, and conserve his energy. As i predicted in my last review, he has to deal with an internal conflict on what he had to do to survive the fight. He begins to argue with the more sinister persona in his conscience on what he did. The voice begins reminding him that he's dealt with worse things before but that killing a human being was what was bothering him. He reminds Jack that he's being hunted by the daughters of Aku and that maybe he enjoyed killing another human being. Jack denies it all and passes out.
He has a flashback of his parents inside a carriage as a child when suddenly we hear swords clashing and Jack's father walks out to face his assassins who killed his guards. He tells them "the decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are.." as he allows them a choice. Jack watches his father kill them all and gets blood on his face. When Jack's father is cleaning the blood off of Jack's face, Jack seems to have the impression that his father is a murderer. His father explains "the decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are...you cannot hide from yourself..."
Later on, Jack hides in the shadows drenched in bloods and finds the white wolf bloodied from the last episode. They both realized they are wounded warriors and nurture each other back to health. From Jack's memories and his relationship with the wolf, he learns that killing one of the daughter's of Aku did not make him a murderer. Jack only killed in self defense and fought for the greater good.
The daughters of Aku look over the waterfall while carrying their dead sister and laying her on the ground. From what it seems like, they are stricken with grief and gave her an improper burial. They continue to chase Jack until they come across a pair of deer in the woods showing affection to each other. They have an argument over what these animals are and whether or not they are Aku's minions. From the dialogue, it is evident that they are heavily brainwashed and misguided to think that Jack is the enemy. This will play a huge role in the story as we shall discover later on.
Jack then speaks the same words that his father spoke ages ago to the daughters of Aku in hiding. Now the roles have switched. Jack turns from being the hunted to the hunter, no longer confined to his past weaknesses. He gives them a choice to flee. Unlike past robots, the daughters of Aku had free will and they choose to fight Jack. He uses the snowy environment to conceal himself until he attacks and kills some of the daughters of Aku without hesitation. He disarms a few and uses their own weapon against them until finally, he retreats to a tree.
I was surprised to see Jack drop his weapon until i realized his true plan. Jack knows that he'll put himself at high risk if he tried going one on one with the daughters of Aku. His mobility and balance would also be compromised. They were highly skilled mainly because they were well coordinated as a team. Jack's strategy was to disarm them and throw them off the tree one by one until Ashi was the last one standing.
Ashi goes into a fit of rage and begins cursing Jack until he lets go although reluctantly. Suddenly the tree branch breaks off and he falls down the grand height as the episode concludes.
What's my prediction for the next episode? Logically, we know that Jack will survive the fall. As for the daughters of Aku, one of them (Ashi at least) if not some of them will survive the fall. They will team up briefly to fight against another evil. We will get some backstory of the daughters of Aku and quite possibly, Jack may help them realize that the true enemy is indeed Aku himself. Jack will probably have to find his sword sometime in the future or he will perish. Let me know what you think about episode 3 in the comments below.
What i loved about this episode is that it deals with the physical but also psychological injuries resulting from Jack's last battle. Many shows neglect that and portray the hero as invincible. Jack has to remove the blade correctly to avoid injuring himself further, stitch the wound up, and conserve his energy. As i predicted in my last review, he has to deal with an internal conflict on what he had to do to survive the fight. He begins to argue with the more sinister persona in his conscience on what he did. The voice begins reminding him that he's dealt with worse things before but that killing a human being was what was bothering him. He reminds Jack that he's being hunted by the daughters of Aku and that maybe he enjoyed killing another human being. Jack denies it all and passes out.
He has a flashback of his parents inside a carriage as a child when suddenly we hear swords clashing and Jack's father walks out to face his assassins who killed his guards. He tells them "the decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are.." as he allows them a choice. Jack watches his father kill them all and gets blood on his face. When Jack's father is cleaning the blood off of Jack's face, Jack seems to have the impression that his father is a murderer. His father explains "the decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are...you cannot hide from yourself..."Later on, Jack hides in the shadows drenched in bloods and finds the white wolf bloodied from the last episode. They both realized they are wounded warriors and nurture each other back to health. From Jack's memories and his relationship with the wolf, he learns that killing one of the daughter's of Aku did not make him a murderer. Jack only killed in self defense and fought for the greater good.
Jack then speaks the same words that his father spoke ages ago to the daughters of Aku in hiding. Now the roles have switched. Jack turns from being the hunted to the hunter, no longer confined to his past weaknesses. He gives them a choice to flee. Unlike past robots, the daughters of Aku had free will and they choose to fight Jack. He uses the snowy environment to conceal himself until he attacks and kills some of the daughters of Aku without hesitation. He disarms a few and uses their own weapon against them until finally, he retreats to a tree.I was surprised to see Jack drop his weapon until i realized his true plan. Jack knows that he'll put himself at high risk if he tried going one on one with the daughters of Aku. His mobility and balance would also be compromised. They were highly skilled mainly because they were well coordinated as a team. Jack's strategy was to disarm them and throw them off the tree one by one until Ashi was the last one standing.
Ashi goes into a fit of rage and begins cursing Jack until he lets go although reluctantly. Suddenly the tree branch breaks off and he falls down the grand height as the episode concludes. What's my prediction for the next episode? Logically, we know that Jack will survive the fall. As for the daughters of Aku, one of them (Ashi at least) if not some of them will survive the fall. They will team up briefly to fight against another evil. We will get some backstory of the daughters of Aku and quite possibly, Jack may help them realize that the true enemy is indeed Aku himself. Jack will probably have to find his sword sometime in the future or he will perish. Let me know what you think about episode 3 in the comments below.
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