History Heartwarming / SamuraiJack

* The ending, when the Viking warrior finally gets his wish: to die at the hands of another great warrior (Jack), thus freeing him from his curse, and earning him passage into [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]].
-->'''Viking:''' "Please. Hand me my sword... [[GoOutWithASmile Thank you...]]"\\
'''Viking:''' "[[IDieFree FREE]]!"
* Let's not forget: ''The Valkyries personally come for him.'' Think about it. The gods of Valhalla have not had faithful followers in millennia. Ragnarok came and passed, and they were left alone, without scores of warriors willing to fight for them to enter Valhalla. The Lava Monster must have been a strong beacon of faith in their eyes for holding on for so long until his passing. So when he dies, as a warrior deserved to die, they come to collect him, body ''and'' soul. It probably also doubles as a "Thank you" to Jack for fulfilling a dying man's wish.

---> '''Jack''': You have now taken the first step, towards the ''true'' path of the Samurai...

*** Also heartwarming on a meta-level, as many predicted that not only would Season 5 kill off a beloved character, but that said character would be the Scotsman. They were right, but the Scotsman returned as a ghost, so he's still not completely gone from the show.

** On a meta-level, the story's central character is a scribe named Creator/{{Mako}} after Aku's deceased voice actor. He also gets well acquainted with a man named [=LaMarr=], a man Jack once saved who is obviously based on Jack's voice actor Creator/PhilLaMarr.
** On another meta-level, the comic could be looked at as a sort of alternate for some of the [[BittersweetEnding bittersweetness]] of season 5's ending. At the very least, Jack's friends aren't possibly RetGone from existence.

[[folder:Meta]]
* The announcement and premiere of Season 5 gave fans so much hope that the series would finally have a solid conclusion. It may have been DarkerAndEdgier, yet true fans [[WartsAndAll still]] came together to see the story to its conclusion.
* From Episode CI. When announcing that he has captured Jack, Aku broadcasts a message to the world: the original Samurai Jack opening, voiced by the late Mako. After it had been gone the whole season, seeing it again was a great tribute, even if it was used for a DarkestHour situation.
** Not to mention the fact that they did acknowledge Creator/{{Mako}} in the credits. Even years after his death, he still was a big part of this show after all...
* This artist's [[http://snowcloud8.deviantart.com/status/8543925 story]] of how they healed from Ashi's death.
* This particular fanmade [[http://nalemart.com/post/160941622948/wrote-a-silly-epilogue-comic-of-the-samurai-jack crossover comic]] between Franchise/RickAndMorty shows a what-if ... of Rick teleporting in (referring to the April Fool's prank) and bringing an Ashi from an alternate timeline who lost her Jack in the battle against Aku. Some fans are even considering it fanon.
** And then someone added on additional more comedic page with Jack giving Rick a small reward....[[https://lynntv.tumblr.com/post/160975171768/nalem-wrote-a-silly-epilogue-comic-of-the-samurai that's arguably heartwarming in its own right.]]
* [=InYuJi's=] "Samurai Dad" AU sketches, in which Jack finds the Cult of Aku and saves Ashi and her sisters while they still very young--he even takes it upon himself to raise them as his own daughters and also starts training them to eventually help him defeat Aku: [[http://inyuji.deviantart.com/art/Inyuji-Livedraw-Samurai-Jack-Doodles-670032853 Part 1]], [[http://inyuji.deviantart.com/art/Inyuji-Livedraw-Samurai-Jack-Doodles-2-672471088 Part 2]], [[http://inyuji.deviantart.com/art/Samurai-Dad-Doodles-3-dress-up-678311567 Part 3]], and [[http://inyuji.deviantart.com/art/Samurai-Dad-Doodles-4-681965285 Part 4]].
** Part 1 -- Jack first meets the daughters, saving them from their mom and the rest of the Cult of Aku, assuring them afterwards that the cult will never hurt them again. It also shows Jack giving them some clothes to help keep them warm and some training/bonding moments between Jack and the daughters.
** Part 2 -- Jack's reunited with Scotsman and his wife, and introduces Ashi and her sisters to them. The Scotsman initially assumes that the girls are Jack's biological daughters, but Jack explains how he came to meet/rescue the daughters--Jack's also shown confessing to the Scotsman that he feels guilty about killing the Cult of Aku, even if they deserved it. Other stuff includes:
*** Ashi and her sisters meet the Scotsman's wife, who they're initially scared of, because she reminds them of the GiantWoman from the Cult of Aku--however, they quickly learn that she won't hurt them and that she loves children. She also gives Ashi and her sisters some winter clothes that used to belong to her own children--it's too many layers and the daughters can barely move in them, but it's the thought that counts.
*** The daughters meet the children of the Scotsman and his wife, and start helping around their home with things like chores, and they even end up trying some haggis (which they end up liking).
*** Ashi and her sisters (with some help from the Scotsman, apparently) decide to play a prank on Jack by braiding his beard, after hearing a story from one of the Scotsman's children on how his beard got braided.
** Part 3 -- Ashi explains to Jack how she and her sisters came by their black "bodysuits," and Jack takes it upon himself to get the stuff off of the girls and give them new clothes (all the sisters are shown in outfits inspired by Ashi's plant dress). The daughters are shown as they get older, in new outfits and hairstyles--they also apparently end up making him shave off his beard.
** Part 4 -- The daughters get hunted down by some wolf creature, who Jack ends up defeating by killing him. This gets him a visit from (Mad) Inner Jack, who tries making Jack think that he's a monster for having to take another creature's life (even if the wolf deserved it). The girls, knowing at this point what's going on with Jack, help him feel better about what happened.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoiVETkVvnQ Here]] is an alternate ending to the series where the gods decide to smile on Jack for all the good he's done and [[ThrowTheDogABone grant him]] [[EarnYourHappyEnding a happy ending]] after all. Followed by an adorable gif of newlywed Jack and Ashi riding on his restored bike.
** It also features a nod to the future that shows Jack has not forgotten the impact it had on him and sees a reflection of it in his own time.
* So many fans have complained about the way it ended, mainly that poor Jack never got a chance to be truly happy! So much so that many of them have drawn or written alternate endings and posted them on youtube. At least two people have drawn up petitions and posted them online begging Genndy to create an alternate ending to the show, and one has already gotten over 1,400 signatures! After all these years, the fans love Jack so much they want to see him finally happy after all he's been through!
* A couple of fans are even forming a Go Find Me page asking for help in getting their own alternate ending animated by professionals and they even Tweeted Creator/TaraStrong and Creator/PhilLaMarr and asked them if they would voice Jack and Ashi again for it. The fans want Jack to have a happy ending so much they're willing to create a professional one for him themselves!
* During [[https://dotandline.net/samurai-jack-greg-baldwin-new-aku-interview-mako-21ee0139bd34/ one]] of his last recording sessions as Aku, Greg Baldwin recalls how Mako's daughter and grandson were there that day. Even though he was "doing a pale imitation", they cried tears of joy when hearing his performance.
[[/folder]]

* Although it's HarsherInHindsight almost to the point of being a FunnyAneurysmMoment, Jack's developing camaraderie with [[PaperThinDisguise "Ikra"]] is this. The last few episodes he's been very restrained, polite and expressionless (sans his ScreamingWarrior mode), and this is the first episode where we see him opening up emotionally and genuinely bonding with someone as a true equal rather than a victim who needs to be rescued. He seemed genuinely happy to be making friends with another warrior he could relate to and even started developing a romantic attraction to her. In any other situation this [[Film/{{Casablanca}} would have been the beginning of a beautiful]] BattleCouple, but [[TheMole unfortunately for poor Jack...]]

* And by the end, in her own special way, the Scotsman's Wife proves she does care about her husband and is even boisterously happy once her anger is sated. She quickly proves that despite being rather ugly, her personality more than makes up for it and showers praise on both her husband and Jack for coming to save her, and even gives Jack a bearhug and promises to feed him once they're home safe.

--> '''Wife''': (''smiles and gives him a bone-crunching hug that actually '''bends his word''''') Don't ever stop, Love, don’t ever stop!

-->'''Spartan:''' "The three hundred... fight for the one!"

* Second time you watch it, Aku finding Ashi's scent familiar and (initially) not knowing why is comparable to a father dog meeting its puppies for the first time and not understanding why they smell and look just like him.

--> '''Wife''': *glare* You sweet-talkin' me?

--> '''Wife''': *smiling* Don't ever stop, Love, don’t ever stop!

* Then, when he finally finds the Sirens who enchanted Jack in the first place, he demands an explanation for what they did to his friend and the sirens smugly confirm they were the ones who wiped Jack's memories and even show him Jack's kimono and sword which they kept as a trophy, cue the Scotsman going utterly ''[[UnstoppableRage ballistic]]''.
-->'''The Scotsman:''' "[[ThisMeansWar That's it!]] She-dogs ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge must pay!!]]''"

--> '''Jack''': You have now taken the first step, towards the ''true'' path of the Samurai...

-->[[spoiler:'''X-9:''' "[[FamousLastWords Lulu. Take care of Lulu...sweet thing.]]"]]

-->'''The Scotsman:''' "[[ThisMeansWar That's it!]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar She-dogs]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge must pay!!]]''"

[[caption-width-right:350:[[MeaningfulEcho Back in the past]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding at long last]].]] [[spoiler: [[Bittersweet But not without a price...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[MeaningfulEcho Back in the past]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding at long last]].]]

** If Scaramouche somehow got created under different circumstances, he doesn't die a villain in the new future, and instead comes back as an anti-hero in the same league as, say, SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}. Or he's just a performer with no violent impulses.

** The very fact that, upon reuniting after so long, the first thing they do is [[https://youtu.be/gM-tp-lxWRQ?t=12s give each other a]] ManHug (only stopped by the Scotsman being a ghost). After which, they proceed to have a SeinfeldianConversation that involves [[ShipperOnDeck the Scotsman offering the hand of one of his daughters]], and Jack denying because he has a girlfriend. Then the Scotsman quickly changing his tune from being angered that Jack is rejecting his girls to being eager to meet his friend's new lover.

-->'''Ashi:''' "SAMURAI JACK!!"

[[AC:The Tale of X-49]]
* Generally, X-49's affection towards Lulu. Out of context, one would think it was just another romance about a guy who softens up when a girl comes into his life. And a girl did come into his life, but in the form of an adorable little Pug dog. It's refreshing to see how love comes in many forms.
* X-49's trumpet playing. It's so nostalgic and haunting.
* This episode is all about a retired robot assassin being forced to come out of retirement and fight Jack when his pet dog is abducted and used as a bargaining chip by Aku. [[TearJerker After Jack inevitably slays X-49]], his last words are to tell him to take care of his pet, and it is clear that Jack wasn't ignoring this statement, as can be seen by the sympathetic look he gives afterwards.
-->[[spoiler:'''X-49:''' "[[FamousLastWords Lulu. Take care of Lulu...sweet thing.]]"]]

* Jack has ''finally'' caught a break in managing to finally return to the past, defeat Aku, re-unite with his family and friends, and is about to marry Ashi. [[MoodWhiplash Then Ashi falls victim to]] NoOntologicalInertia and fades away in his arms on their WeddingDay. Distraught, Jack rides away and crouches under a tree before a ladybug lands on his hand, giving him hope for the future again.

** The three little goats whom Jack accidentally killed in a rage will not meet their fates anymore, remaining as guides of the last remaining Time Gate should it ever be needed