Episode - Season 3, Episode 13 (Production Code: 3-39)
First Aired - August 24, 2008
Agents Doe and Cardholder enter the office of General Treister, head of the O.S.I. They inform him of the situation with Brock Samson, and that their top three assassins (Herr Trigger, Go-Fish, and Le Tueur) are all dead. Treister decides to personally take over the mission to track Samson down.
At the LAPD station, Brock and Dr. Venture are being brutally interrogated by the two arresting police detectives. In another room, a police psychologist is questioning Hank and Dean. Hank gives an entirely truthful account of the events, but the psychologist assumes they must be delusional. Back in the interrogation room, two SWAT officers enter to inform the detectives that the body and all evidence at the crime scene are gone. The detectives are incredulous, but suddenly, The Cleaner bursts in and kills the officers with chemical spray. He dissolves the handcuffs on Brock and Rusty and helps them escape with the boys.
The Monarch and his henchmen are torturing H.E.L.P.eR, trying to get the location of the Ventures out of him. He resists at first, until Dr. Mrs. The Monarch comes in acting sympathetic. She then tricks H.E.L.P.eR into giving up the coordinates of the Ventures family.
Under a bridge over the Los Angeles river, Brock suddenly puts his knife to The Cleaner's throat, knowing that something is amiss as Hank never actually called The Cleaner. Molotov, in her civilian garb, tells him to stand down, as she was the one who called the Cleaner, knowing that even Brock might have trouble fighting the entire O.S.I. on his own. Just then, The Monarch arrives in his Cocoon, calling out Venture over his wrist communicator. Molotov and the Cleaner speed off in her car, leaving the Ventures taking cover under the bridge. At that same moment, General Treister contacts Brock over his communicator watch, asking Brock to turn himself into the O.S.I. "to talk." Brock, thinking fast, speaks into both communicator watches at once, saying that he'll meet them both at the Venture compound at dawn.
The next day, The Monarch's Cocoon arrives at the Venture compound with Brock and the family having hitched a ride in the bottom hatch. They head inside the compound, with Brock directing the family to the panic room.
The Monarch reveals to his wife that he has implanted H.E.L.P.eR with a bomb while H.E.L.P.eR manages to escape. General Treister arrives with Doe, Cardholder, and an army of O.S.I. soldiers aboard his own ship. From inside the compound, Brock orchestrates a battle between the O.S.I. and the Monarch henchmen. Meanwhile, 21 and 24 have hidden themselves in the backseat of the Monarch mobile to avoid the battle. H.E.L.P.eR climbs into the driver's seat to escape. 21 bails out but 24 cannot, as his seatbelt is stuck. 21 berates 24 for buckling in as the car drives away.
Sgt. Hatred, still hanging out in the compound waiting for Rusty to come home and kill him, visits the Ventures in the panic room. Dr. Venture tries in vain to strangle Sgt. Hatred while Dean is crouched in the corner terrified of the battle going on outside. Hank wants to join the battle and gives a rallying speech, saying that they can help if Rusty "let's him open his Christmas present early." (His and Dean's clones.) Venture activates the clones and Sgt. Hatred, with newfound purpose, leads them into battle.
Brock, seeing the clone army entering the battle, runs outside to surrender. Just as the fighting stops, The Monarch arrives in his new prototype battle armor, the "deathshead panoply." His suit immediately malfunctions, leading him to flying erratically over the battlefield, firing lasers in all directions. After killing many of the O.S.I. agents, his own henchmen, and all of the Venture clones, he crashes back to the ground, sick from dizziness.
With the battle over, Treister approaches Brock, explaining that he was concerned over Brock's sanity and that the assassins were not sent by him. Brock, disgusted with these circumstances and by the carnage he witnessed at the battle that day, decides to quit the O.S.I. and as the Venture family bodyguard. As he approaches the Monarchmobile, planning to take it, the bomb in H.E.L.P.eR goes off, destroying the robot, the car, and killing 24. 24's flaming head lands in the arms of 21, who screams as the credits roll.
The Stinger shows Molotov burning the files of Herr Trigger, Go-Fish, and Le Tueur. She is surrounded by her all-female Blackheart mercenaries, and they celebrate, thanking Brock for killing their only competition in the assassination field. As they raise a toast, Hunter Gathers, in a Blackheart uniform, makes a toast specifically to Brock.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Toby Huss voices General Treister in almost the same way as Cotton Hill.
- Anyone Can Die: Henchman 24, having grown into a Mauve Shirt Comedy Duo with 21, is killed in an explosion at the end of the episode.
- Awesome, yet Impractical: The Monarch's "deathshead panoply" can fly and has built-in weapons. It's also so bulky he can't move in it, needs henchmen to carry him as a result, and when it flies, he can't steer it.
- Bittersweet Ending: The three assassins who tried to kill Brock turned out to not have been with the OSI, but they were Molotov's assassin rivals. However, the others don't know yet and Molotov is still likely not an enemy of the Venture family, so they're safe for the time being; it also appears Sergeant Hatred might perform a Heel–Face Turn. However, Brock's experience with the whole situation convinces him to quit the OSI, thus he also quits being the family bodyguard. Finally, the attack on the Venture Compound by the Monarch left the boys' clones destroyed, but Dr. Venture may be likely to protect his boys more often (as he told Hank, "You only live once"). His cloning experiments (which are illegal) have been made public. Henchman 24 and H.E.L.P.eR are dead; the former now talks with his best friend, Henchman 21, from beyond the grave (he also helped said friend become a badass) and the latter had his head placed on a walking eye Dr. Venture made some time ago.
- Clone Army: Venture releases all of his remaining Hank and Dean clones to join the battle between the O.S.I. and Monarch's henchmen. Between the fighting and chaos of Monarch's "Deathshead Panoply", they are all wiped out.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The list of disorders the police psychologist has in his notebook for the boys can be briefly seen: "Paranoid Delusions, Arrested Development, Crybaby, Oral Fixation (due to Hank asking for a cigarette before telling his story,) and Stockholm syndrome".
- Funny Background Event: 24 gets out of the car and waves excitedly right before it blows up.
- Gambit Pileup: The events of the previous three episodes were set up by Gathers and Molotov to get Brock to kill their top competition in the assassin community. The Monarch's assault on the compound and the O.S.I.'s attempt to bring Brock back into the fold also clash, leading to a ton of henchman/O.S.I. soldier/Venture clone deaths.
- Giving Up on Logic: While most of those involved in the battle at the end of the episode (the Ventures, the Monarch, the O.S.I.) treat it like business as usual, it is finally the straw that breaks the camel's back for Only Sane Man Brock. He mentions some of the weird things he's seen over his years as the Venture family bodyguard and quits on the spot.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Done badly by the detectives interrogating Brock. Done spectacularly by Dr. Mrs. the Monarch on H.E.L.P.eR.
- Idiot Ball: #24 buckles his seatbelt while he and #21 are hiding in the (parked and not running) Monarchmobile to avoid the huge battle outside, which gets stuck and traps him in the car as H.E.L.P.eR. commandeers it and leads directly to #24's death only a few minutes later. Neither henchman can believe he'd do something so pointlessly stupid:#21: "WHY DID YOU BUCKLE IT? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"#24: *sheepishly* "...I don't knooow!"*the Monarchmobile speeds off with him inside*#21: "WHY DID YOU BUCKLE UP?! WHY?!?"
- I'm Melting!: Basically what happens to anyone who's sprayed by the Cleaner.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Invoked in the DVD commentary for season three, where Doc Hammer gives away one of the season's biggest developments in the commentary for every episode."24 dies this season. (...) I just want to do that every time, because nobody should be watching this unless they've seen the season."
- Let's You and Him Fight: Brock setting the O.S.I. and Monarch against each other.
- Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement: Rusty tells Hatred about a time his father made him kill a man with a house key when he was 10.
- Percussive Maintenance: When General Treister's electronic heart stops working momentarily after a workout, this is how he gets it working again, along with verbal "encouragement".
- Pet the Dog: Rusty warns Hank and Dean to stay away from the battle as their clones are being slaughtered, indicating that he does value his sons' lives if he can't replace them.
- Plot Armor: After bragging about it for so long, particularly in The Lepidopterists, finally averted by 24 as he is killed by the bomb strapped to H.E.L.P.eR.
- Powered Armor: Subverted by Monarch's "deathshead panoply." It's just a solid, immobile suit in which he can't move his arms or walk. It can fly (erratically due to design flaws) and fire lasers quite well, however.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Brock at the end:Brock: "I've seen enough spinnin' butterfly... naked boy armies... screw this... I'd rather, uh, quit."
- Secret Weapon: Subverted with the Monarch's Death's Head Panoply, a set of Powered Armor that isn't actually powered, and is in fact too heavy for the Monarch to move in. Doubly subverted when the Monarch actually activates it and does manage to take out a large chunk of three armies with it (well, two armies, one of which was his own, and a bunch of naked clones), and then fully zig-zagged when he loses control and falls over. The armor spun so fast the Monarch was dizzy to the point of vomiting uncontrollably.
- Shout-Out:
- Molotov's civilian clothes are based off of Mayday's in A View to a Kill.
- Brock mentions Molotov "Catwoman-ing" around in regard to her usual attire.
- When the Venture clones enter the battle, they do so to the tune of "March of the Toys"
- The Cleaner is pretty obviously based on Mr. Clean
. - General Treister shares a number of similarities with Nick Fury, including his eye patch and being in charge of a top-secret government organization.
- One of the cops interrogating Brock and Rusty resembles Al Pacino, including the voice.
- Spanner in the Works: Brock's "Let's You and Him Fight" plan pitting the O.S.I. against the Monarch probably would have worked until Sgt. Hatred showed up with the clone army.
- Tempting Fate:The Monarch: "It's Rusty Venture, not the OS-freaking-I! Anything he can throw at us, we can throw back tenfold."
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Deconstructed. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch states that the "deathshead panoply" wasn't tested and sees using it as a mistake. She is correct, since the Monarch can't actually move while using it, steer it in flight, or even aim its weapons.
- Unwitting Pawn: Brock to Molotov and Gathers' plan.
- Wham Episode: 24 DIES! and Brock QUITS!
- Wham Line: At the end, after Brock quits the O.S.I.:Dr. Venture: Where are you going? Aren't you gonna help clean this up?
Brock: I said "I quit". - Why Am I Ticking?: The Monarch straps a bomb to H.E.L.P.eR as another way to kill Dr. Venture. This backfires on him when the bomb not only destroys their car, but it also kills 24.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: The police holding Brock and the Venture family assume they are in a standard Police Procedural and don't believe the claims that assassins are hunting Brock.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Molotov and Gathers set this entire chain of events up so that Brock would take out their top competition. Given everything that needed to happen for it to work, it practically borders on Gambit Roulette.
