![]() ![]() Another flashback begins, as young Jack is feeding some fish in the same river. A ronin pushing his son in a baby-cart with squeaky wheels reach the bridge, where they suddenly stop and gaze at the bridge. Jack turns and sees four shadowy figures wearing fukaamigasa hats standing abreast on the bridge, blocking the way. Next, Jack comes to a ruined bridge that no longer spans a long dried riverbed. This may very well have been Jack's first kiss. Seeing this makes the girl distraught, Jack makes an origami grasshopper for her, which upon receiving, she kisses Jack on the cheek in appreciation. ![]() The girl and Jack continue their pursuit, before the grasshopper at last spreads its wings and flies away. Seeing his distress, the girl jumps into the puddle as well. He runs into a young girl who is at the same game, chasing her own grasshopper. They combine their efforts and begin to chase a grasshopper before Jack falls into a puddle, ruining his gi. We next see a flashback of young Jack playing in a field of reeds hunting a grasshopper, mimicking how it hops away from him. Realizing that his former home is now a ruin, Jack begins to reminisce about his home, thinking back to what the buildings looked like in the past, images that are juxtaposed by those of ruins. Jack breaks down in tears at the sorry sight of his boyhood home. He then finds and rings an ancient bell that has long since sat in ruin, he brushes away some overgrowth when he beholds the symbol of his nation, which causes him to back away in shock. Jack turns around, bearing bitter cold but at last makes his way to more temperate climes, walking next to a beautiful river where he stoops to drink some water. He looks at the sky and then ponders his reflection, until he sees a weathered statue next to him. He brushes away some moss and then scans the horizon. Jack wanders through a bronze-colored grassland full of crickets, a desert filled with sand dunes and climbs up perilous mountains before reaching a gap that proves impossible to bridge. Jack is thanked for freeing them from the tyranny of the Cossacks. Jack bows, the gesture is returned and he continues his quest. Triumphant, Jack is then greeted by a diminutive race of robed beings who look rather like Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, but resemble raccoons more than bears. Jack's steed alights on the ground and only one Cossack remains, bearing a flagged lance. The insects are now both hopping on the ground and Jack wheels around to joust his pursuer. Jack readies his sword, the feline lowers his lance and the tilt is on. Jack makes short work of the final Cossack, destroying both it and the lance with his sword, causing the feline to explode. The episode begins in the sky, as Jack rides a huge flying insect and is being pursued by a group of robotic felines, called Cossacks, dressed in red cavalry outfits atop robotic flying insects. The robot insects shoot rapid-fire blue laser spheres at Jack, who cleverly makes most of the felines destroy themselves before going on the offensive with his magic sword. Samurai Jack's final season is about as masterful as it could have been, and is another stirring consideration for why we may be living in the golden age of animation.Jack returns to his birthplace and reminisces about his childhood. Jack does indeed succeed in his mission come the end, but not without paying a price, and the end is effectively bittersweet. Samurai Jack was always astonishing for how it found such beauty in its fight scenes, and here they're even more epic and meticulous, as well as well-paced with the story elements, as yes, this season is fully serialized, belying the episodic nature of the show's past. The latter half feels closer to the initial four seasons, with more goofy humor and cartoony antics, but the whole season is a marvel in terms of animation. Perhaps taking a page from Marvel's Old Man Logan, the Samurai Jack introduced in the early episodes this season is a broken man, world-weary and full of regret, ultimately feeling that he's failed his mission. Making the jump to Adult Swim, Samurai Jack is finally able to feature bloodshed, but it also might shock fans of the Cartoon Network years to discover the inclusion of intense character development in this season, particularly in the first half. ![]() The long-awaited final season for Samurai Jack (arriving no less than a dozen years after the previous one), was worth the wait, giving Jack's story a satisfying conclusion, and also taking the series to new artistic and dramatic heights.
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