The Birth of Evil (Part 2)
Episode numeral: XXXVIII
Original air date: 8/16/03
The origin of the magic sword is told, as the Emperor is left helpless while Aku ravages his kingdom. But the three divine powers that defeated the mass of evil so long ago bring the Emperor to a sacred mountaintop, where they forge a sword out of his righteous spirit. With his newfound strength, the Emperor returns home to defeat Aku.
Tropes
- A Day in the Limelight: Much like Part 1, it is an episode dedicated to not just Aku, but the Emperor.
- Artifact of Hope: Here we discover the origin of Jack's sword; it was forged from the righteousness in the Emperor's spirit by Odin, Rama and Ra with the express purpose of slaying Aku.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Aku is portrayed this way as he destroys the Emperor's land.
- Bait-and-Switch: After his dragon form is defeated, Aku briefly reverts to the form of an octopus, which we've already seen before, but then quickly transforms further into a spider.
- Battle Cry: Both the Emperor and Aku do this frequently in their Final Battle.
- Battle in the Rain: The final half of Aku and the Emperor's battle takes place during a storm.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: The Emperor seals Aku in a tree just in time to hear his newborn son crying.
- Bittersweet Ending: We, the audience, know that it won't take Aku even a decade to return and wreak havoc once again, but at least everyone is safe until then.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Emperor's forces are effortlessly slaughtered by Aku, as their mundane weapons are no match for the Shape-Shifting Master of Darkness. The Emperor returns the favor once he gets the divine sword.
- Death Glare: Once the Emperor is done cutting down Aku's clones, he gives Aku this when he finally narrows down which one is the real Aku.
- Determinator: The Emperor fights Aku for hours on end despite numerous injuries.
- Evil Laugh: Aku does a particularly memorable one as he slaughters the people of the Emperor's kingdom.
- Hero Killer: Aku kills the men who were sent to stop him from destroying Japan.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Aku shoots a barrage of Eye Beams at the Emperor and misses every single shot, although a few of them had to be deflected by the Emperor.
- Knight of Cerebus: After being portrayed as Laughably Evil for the past few episodes, Aku is portrayed much like he was in "The Beginning", having zero humorous quirks and being portrayed as a genuinely serious threat.
- Kryptonite Factor: Since up to this point, Aku is only a few days old (the identity of Aku not the mass he was formed from), he had no idea anything could hurt him. He finds out the hard way that divine forces, powers, and WEAPONS can in fact hurt him when the emperor slashes him with the divine sword given to him by the gods which not only causes Aku immense pain but retards his Healing Factor and destroys the small segments separated from the main body.
- Me's a Crowd: During the final battle between the Emperor and Aku, Aku slips into the armor of fallen soldiers and makes clones of himself to attack the Emperor.
- Oh, Crap!: Aku has this reaction when the Emperor gives him a Death Glare.
- One-Man Army: Aku duplicates himself using the armor of the Emperor's fallen soldiers in an attempt to overwhelm him with numbers. This fails, as the Emperor cuts down each and every one of them.
- Pre-Violence Laughter: Shortly before the final battle, Aku splits himself into multiple bodies wearing the armor of the Emperor's deceased countrymen before mocking him with raucous laughter.
- The Reveal: The "three wise monks" who forged the Emperor's sword was actually the three gods who vanquished the evil black mass at the beginning.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After realizing he is outmatched by the Emperor, Aku attempts to run away. He doesn't get too far.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Emperor manages to seal Aku into the Earth once more, but as we all know, it wasn't permanent.
- Shout-Out: The Emperor seems to have borrowed the Flying Nimbus from Son Goku.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Indeed it does, as the Emperor uses this move to imprison Aku within the sword.
- Underestimating Badassery: When the Emperor gains the sword and goes to fight Aku, Aku mocks him by calling him an insect and calling the sword a "mortal blade." This gives the Emperor a chance to slice Aku across the side, resulting in Aku finding out about the sword's true power.
- The Unreveal: Even though we now know where Aku came from, we still don't know what that black mass floating in space which birthed him originated from.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Subverted. Aku attempts to run away when the Emperor destroys his clones but the Emperor throws his sword into Aku's back, imprisoning him into the sword.
- We Will Meet Again: Before the Emperor seals him in a tree prison, Aku shouts that he will eventually return and exact vengence. Unfortunately, we know that's going to happen.Aku: (while being sealed within the ground) I WILL RETURN!
