Jack vs. Aku
Episode numeral: XLVIII
Original air date: 11/24/03
Fed up with the constant failures of his minions, Aku decides to take matters into his own hands. He heads off to Jack and demands a final one-on-one duel at some nearby ruins. Jack agrees under the condition that Aku must not use his powers and fight him only with the form of a man while Jack will not use his sword. Aku agrees, but at the duel, things are a little different.
Tropes:
- Battle Strip: Jack takes off his robe before the fist fight.
- Bait-and-Switch: The opening scene makes it look like Aku is ordering a pizza when, as shown moments after he hangs up, he was actually ordering his then-latest bounty hunter.
- Big "WHAT?!": Aku is incredibly surprised when Jack demands to face him in human form. By the way he reacts, he seems to think Jack initially wanted him to take on his "Ikra" form again.
- Crazy-Prepared: Jack knew that Aku would cheat so he hid his sword. Aku knew that Jack knew he would cheat so he brought a minion to find the sword. Jack knew that Aku knew that he knew that Aku would cheat so he hid more than one fake sword. Aku knew that Jack knew that Aku knew that Jack knew that Aku would cheat so he brought an army of minions to find the real sword. Jack knew that Aku knew that so he hid fake swords all over the place.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Aku sends in an “
EXTRA THICC” robot to destroy the Samurai. Jack just sliced it in half without breaking a single sweat. - Epic Fail:
- Aku sends a robot army to Jack and one trip later, the entire robot army is destroyed. Aku's jaw drop expression clearly sells it.
- Happens moments earlier when giant robot arrives, extends a huge cannon that grows so long till it only shoots a pebble that bounces off Jack's sword, and it falls over, blowing up.
- "Eureka!" Moment: As Aku sulks over his incompetent minions."It's just like people say: if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." (Sulks in his throne for a couple beats, then his eyes pop open) "Do it yourself?" (Grins evilly) "Yeeessss...."
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Unsure if Jack knows where the duel will be held, Aku offers to give him a ride.
- I Know You Know I Know: Jack and Aku duel with this trope. They agree to a fair one-on-one fight. Jack can't use his sword, and Aku can't use his superpowers. Naturally, Aku cheats and uses superpowers anyway. But Jack knew Aku couldn't be trusted, and hid his sword nearby under a rock just in case. But Aku knew Jack would keep his sword nearby as a contingency in case Aku broke his word, and so had a minion steal the sword while Jack was busy fighting Aku. But Jack knew Aku would take away his sword at the first opportunity to deny him that contingency, so the sword he planted was a decoy. But Aku knew Jack would use that kind of trickery to keep his sword out of Aku's hands, so he had more minions search under every rock for it. But Jack knew Aku expected that kind of trickery, so he planted fake swords under rocks all over the battlefield for Aku's minions to find. Jack ultimately wins by revealing that the rocks were a misdirection to keep Aku and his minions from finding where Jack buried the real sword in the dirt.
- Insane Troll Logic: When Jack reveals he hid a fake sword, he states that he is smart, and Aku is pure evil.
- Instant Home Delivery: Aku's "30 Minutes, or It's Free!" bounty hunter arrives within seconds of the order.Aku: You're early!
- Internal Deconstruction: This episode deconstructs the show's own formulaic story structure. The first half of the show reads like an extended Self-Parody, with Aku sending various minions to do his bidding, only for Jack to beat them without effort or for them to be Too Dumb to Live. He then appears before Jack himself, pointing out how both of them are frustrated with doing the same thing week after week and should just go head-to-head and get it over with.
- Jaw Drop: What Aku does when the army of robots obliterates itself without Jack doing anything.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Aku ribs the show's perceived homogeneity (Jack attacks Aku, Aku turns into a beast and flies away while saying "I'll be back!", they do the same thing next week) as justification for their duel.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: After the triple failures of his minions Aku decides to challenge Jack to a duel himself under two conditions: Jack can't use his sword and Aku cannot shapeshift and must enter in human form. Aku holds his own for a while, but when Jack has him on the ropes, he quickly cheats, snatches Jack's sword, and tries to break it, only to find himself Out-Gambitted when the sword he breaks turns out to be fake; Jack was smart enough to anticipate that Aku would eventually break the rules, and thus stashed fake swords all over the place as decoys.
- Master Actor: Samurai Jack pretends to have fallen for Aku's tricks, letting Aku think he has grabbed his sword, for no reason other than to mess with him.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Jack hides his sword and plants fake swords everywhere so that Aku can't tell which is his real sword.
- No, You: This exchange between Jack and Aku:Aku: You see, Jack I knew that you knew I would cheat, so I came prepared. And now you will learn what it means to be a fool!Jack: I am afraid that you are the fool, Aku.
- Rule of Three: Jack gives Aku three conditions for their one-on-one duel: no magic powers, no minions and no shape-shifting, saying he must come in human form. Aku points out that this was four conditions, but Jack brushes this off by saying the last condition was "a two-parter."
- Strictly Formula: Aku's justification for wanting to fight Jack man-to-man (which, in turn, is the show ribbing itself).(Aku appears before Jack)
Jack: Aku!
Aku: (droll) Yes, it is I, Samurai Jack. (rolls eyes) How incredibly observant you are.
(Jack draws sword and runs at Aku, screaming)
Aku: Oh, put that thing away, Samurai. We all know what's gonna happen.
(Jack comes to a stop and watches Aku warily, sword still drawn)
Aku: You'll swing your sword, I'll fly away and probably say something like "I'll be back, Samurai!" And then I'll flutter off over the horizon and we won't see each other for about a week. And then we'll do the same thing all over again.
Jack: (contemplates Aku's words for a moment, then gets mad) Your word play will not trick me, villain! (lunges at him)
Aku: No, wait! (turns into a bird and flutters off into the sky) I'll be back again, Samurai, you'll see! (flies over the horizon, laughing)
(Jack stares after Aku, then rubs chin in thought)
Aku: (reappears before Jack) See what I mean? - 30 Minutes, or It's Free!: Apparently a selling point of Aku's bounty hunter delivery service.
- Troll: Jack goes go for a fake sword, pretends that it's real, just to reveal the sword was fake. Then he goes for another fake sword, just so he can rub it in Aku's face that he's tricked him with a bunch of fake swords before grabbing the real one.
- Villain Has a Point: Aku's Leaning on the Fourth Wall has him nicely pointing out the pattern his and Jack's battles fall into. Even Jack doesn't deny it.
- We Will Meet Again: Aku lampshades this occurrence in their previous confrontations when he confronts Jack personally. He later says this word-for-word as he flutters off over the horizon before Jack can deliver his fatal blow.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: Jack does not need to do anything to defeat the Mecha-Mook armies advancing him; one robot trips and chain reaction led to the robots obliterating each other.
