Admiral Woofington
Member
because if the pay off after 16 years and a terribly paced season was that Jack was a bad person and Aku was really the hero maybe I would have laughed for the right reasons.
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Samurai Jack Season 5 |OT| But Yeah, Im Thinking Im Back.
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because if the pay off after 16 years and a terribly paced season was that Jack was a bad person and Aku was really the hero maybe I would have laughed for the right reasons.
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
Okay, so, in the last minute I had convinced myself something totally amazing was about to happen, and it was this:
We cut to the future, in the past. Fifty years or so after Ashi has disappeared. Jack is this weathered king. In his wanderings, he happens upon the Guardian, but in the past. He's been guarding the portal for eons, including all the way back in Jack's past. The prophecy still holds, it just required Jack's entire journey to complete before he became the right version of himself.
Jack fights, wins, and uses the time portal to travel back to the future, where Ashi is alive. For.. some reason, split timelines, I dunno it falls apart there a little bit. But man would that not have just been the best.
Guess this didn't matter in the end.
Meh ending.
We cut to the future, in the past. Fifty years or so after Ashi has disappeared. Jack is this weathered king. In his wanderings, he happens upon the Guardian, but in the past. He's been guarding the portal for eons, including all the way back in Jack's past. The prophecy still holds, it just required Jack's entire journey to complete before he became the right version of himself.
Jack fights, wins, and uses the time portal to travel back to the future, where Ashi is alive. For.. some reason, split timelines, I dunno it falls apart there a little bit. But man would that not have just been the best.
Unknown One
Member
After episode 3 it fell downhill.
Not a fan of serious Samurai Jack.
Not a fan of serious Samurai Jack.
Never good to do that, only ends in disappointment when it inevitably is not what you wanted lol
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
It is now my official head-canon epilogue.
Captin Quacker
Member
i'm confused why ashi didn't disappear exactly when aku died tho
dramatic effect
Linkstrikesback
Member
Because they wanted a cheap emotional punch. It's bullshit and pissed me off over the rest of the episode, which was good up to that point. Now I'm just angry over that poor decision.
PaulExcellent
Member
This is my new ending. Thx m8.
EmCeeGramr
Member
I was trying to reconcile the fact that I really wanted a straight forward back to the past plot without a dramatic twist and my feeling disturbed that all of Jack's future friends were wiped from existence, and I realized it's because I subconsciously assumed for so many years that it would be a split timeline situation where Jack would destroy Future Aku (the one we spent seasons getting to know) and then go back to kill past Aku. Which would also explain the crown in the Guardian vision, Jack wouldn't accept kingship with Aku still around.
Instead Future Aku doesn't actually get destroyed directly, Ashi and Jack just immediately leave (which is the smart move admittedly) and he's all "welp" and that's that, and all of Jack's allies that weren't killed are now facing temporal oblivion.
Instead Future Aku doesn't actually get destroyed directly, Ashi and Jack just immediately leave (which is the smart move admittedly) and he's all "welp" and that's that, and all of Jack's allies that weren't killed are now facing temporal oblivion.
Phrozenflame500
Member
It was ok.
I thought it was clever how Ashi was able to time travel using Aku's powers.
In retrospect that was neat buildup. But the actual ending with killing Aku and the who marriage thing was rushed and a little dumb.
In retrospect that was neat buildup. But the actual ending with killing Aku and the who marriage thing was rushed and a little dumb.
Also yeah super salty they dropped the guardian.
Earthanoid
Member
I liked it. I didn't really expect the Guardian or his prophecy to factor in so I'm okay with that. But I liked that Jack finally fulfilled his mission but there was some sacrifice involved.
Ashii shouldn't have disappeared, otherwise where did the Jack that was thrown into the future go? If the answer is the future that is Aku, that timeline still exists and therefore Ashii exists. If the answer is the future is changed, is there going to be another future Jack without Aku? What happens if he finds a portal and tries to go home, since our Jack is there?
The simplest answer is both timelines exist and Ashii lives.
The simplest answer is both timelines exist and Ashii lives.
I loved the season but I'm sad it didn't end the way I wanted. I really expected them both to go back to the future since I feel like Jack belongs there more than in the past at this point. Then a flash forward to what the Guardian saw with him basically being a benevolent king.
Captin Quacker
Member
then why bring the guardian back up at all?
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
Well we could make this easier, Ashi doesn't disappear because her timeline is erased, she disappears because her lifeforce is linked to Aku. When she "felt him leave her," it started the countdown to her fading away. She could live as long as either past or future Aku lived, but without him her power source is gone and she evaporates.
Because if they didn't give that little nod to him people would be asking why Jack didn't just use the guardian's portal.
Mr. Smiley
Member
I'm gonna read that comic series now.
Nothing about this ending makes sense to me.
1. Why didn't Aku follow Jack and Ashi into the past? Like, he knows how to go back so why didn't he went there to stop them. He was at the peak of his power then, he could have easily went back to aid the old Aku or even grab those two and return them back into the present.
2. How did Ashi know exactly when and where Aku was at his weakest to travel there? Following up on that, how the hell did she master her powers in a few seconds after gaining control?
3. How the hell did everyone Jack met suddenly appeared next to the tower when they were across the world? Like, they were watch Jack's capturing live, they only had a couple of minutes to be there and actually organize an attack.
4. How the Jack's village and the surrounding environments got repaired so quickly? How did people from across the world reach Japan at the current technology point in humanity in just a few days? Why does his parents look younger than they were when Aku took over?
5. The Time Travel stuff makes no sense, Jack going back and killing Aku killed Ashi, so that means there was no way for her to bring him back to the past to kill Aku. Had they went with the many worlds theory, it would make more sense, but the killed her off showing that the time line was linear. I feel they did it for some cheap emotional shock.
Outside of that, everything felt rushed and underdeveloped. Things went to fast, the pacing was really off. It just all feels like a fever dream to me. Plus what about all the build up in the past 4 seasons, the King Jack thing and so on. It was all thrown out of the window at the end and that was disappointing.
Just everything about this feels poorly thought out and implemented. I honestly have never seen such a terrible ending before that just makes me ask for questions as time continues. After more than a decade of waiting for an ending, I have to say I'm not only disappointed, but also depressed that this was it. I feel it needed more time to be worked on, and definitely more than 22 minutes to tell it
1. Why didn't Aku follow Jack and Ashi into the past? Like, he knows how to go back so why didn't he went there to stop them. He was at the peak of his power then, he could have easily went back to aid the old Aku or even grab those two and return them back into the present.
2. How did Ashi know exactly when and where Aku was at his weakest to travel there? Following up on that, how the hell did she master her powers in a few seconds after gaining control?
3. How the hell did everyone Jack met suddenly appeared next to the tower when they were across the world? Like, they were watch Jack's capturing live, they only had a couple of minutes to be there and actually organize an attack.
4. How the Jack's village and the surrounding environments got repaired so quickly? How did people from across the world reach Japan at the current technology point in humanity in just a few days? Why does his parents look younger than they were when Aku took over?
5. The Time Travel stuff makes no sense, Jack going back and killing Aku killed Ashi, so that means there was no way for her to bring him back to the past to kill Aku. Had they went with the many worlds theory, it would make more sense, but the killed her off showing that the time line was linear. I feel they did it for some cheap emotional shock.
Outside of that, everything felt rushed and underdeveloped. Things went to fast, the pacing was really off. It just all feels like a fever dream to me. Plus what about all the build up in the past 4 seasons, the King Jack thing and so on. It was all thrown out of the window at the end and that was disappointing.
Just everything about this feels poorly thought out and implemented. I honestly have never seen such a terrible ending before that just makes me ask for questions as time continues. After more than a decade of waiting for an ending, I have to say I'm not only disappointed, but also depressed that this was it. I feel it needed more time to be worked on, and definitely more than 22 minutes to tell it
George Washington
Member
What a waste with that ending; rushed and stupid.
Edit:
They needed a full season for this, not 10 episodes; this is the end result of that constraint.
Edit:
They needed a full season for this, not 10 episodes; this is the end result of that constraint.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
You know, I kind of took the scene where Aishi got Aku's powers to mean that Aishi had become like aku and immortal, as she embraced becoming his daughter but her own person. So her just disappearing seems weird to me.
Then again, if Aishi could teleport herself to the past, how come Aku from the future didn't follow them? Or how come like, future Aku never went back in time and killed Jack before he got the sword?
God dang this train of thought.
EDIT:
YEAH, I'm with you.
Then again, if Aishi could teleport herself to the past, how come Aku from the future didn't follow them? Or how come like, future Aku never went back in time and killed Jack before he got the sword?
God dang this train of thought.
EDIT:
YEAH, I'm with you.
EmCeeGramr
Member
Yeah, the implication that Aku had the power to send himself back and undo the past that is the Samurai Fool all this time is just a hell of a can of worms to open up in the final episode
The easy way to brush this off is that maybe the time travel portal thing was a one-and-done type of power.
But regardless, this entire episode felt like there was a big fat WRAP IT UP sign glaring in the background, which is unfortunate.
Arby 'n' the Chief
Member
Should've just had Jack kill Aku right there and stay in the future with Ashi. Accept that you lost everything but move forward and rebuild with what you have now.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
I mean, Jack is immortal so it could very well get to that point eventually.
Or he was only immortal since Aku's powers, so when Aku is killed does he lose his immortality too? then why did him not aging 50 years catch up with him like it did with Aishi disappearing?
GREhdjaskhask (though I guess in fairness Jack klled Aku after he was sent in a time portal, so maybe the effects would still be with him? I don't know, Jack using the time portal and becoming immortal seems to be unusual and implied because Aku did it, there's other time portals in the world and I doubt Jack was the only person to ever use one ever yet they seem surprised when he stops aging).
This is especially considering the fact that he's stayed in the future waaaaaayyyy longer than in his original timeline.
That said, it'd be a little bothersome if there was no denoument with the parents somehow.
Admiral Woofington
Member
I wish I could go back
Back to the past
Before this fucking episode aired
Back to the past
Before this fucking episode aired
Yeah, that would have been more satisfying and there could have been a Mufasa-like scene where Jack's parents look down on him and are happy that despite his failure in the past he acquitted himself honorably in the future and saved an entire world, and that they are happy for him in the future with his new love.
Arby 'n' the Chief
Member
They also could've used the Scottish magic bs to undo Jack's immortality LOL
But the whole point was to save his parents and his people and the entire universe from Aku's evil.
Choosing Ashi would be selfish as hell.
After however many millennia of Aku enslaving everything not just earth but everything else, jack is supposed to say naaah fuck it, I need a wife. Would be dumb as hell, not the Samurai Jack way at all
I think they just decided to go bittersweet on the ending instead of full tragic and have her last act be sending him back.
And herein lies the dilemma.
You either fuck over everyone in the past or fuck over everyone in the future (a lot of these blokes wouldn't exist if not for Aku's reign).
I think the best way this would've been handled was through an alternate universe mechanic where both timelines can still exist and prosper. But that would definitely necessitate the death of future Aku.
TheFierceGentleman
Banned
Don't forget, every time that Aku had the sword, he either said that he would destroy or attempted to destroy the sword. For the ending, he had the sword on display in his own fortress not far away from himself or Jack.
BackwardCap
Member
The thing is, all those people in the future were already screwed due to having lived under Aku's reign. Now all of them won't have to suffer through that, even if it means they won't exist.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Scaramouche truly died for the show's time travelling sins.
The whole future is based on pain and death and torture and enslavement, the whole point of the series, from the get go, is literally to "undo the future that is Aku". Dunno why people are disappointed. Was stated from the very beginning.
I love this ending. Jack was screwed from the beginning, destined to a life of sadness no matter what.
Edit: that's what makes Samurai Jack such a great character. Pure selflessness
BackwardCap
Member
He could have always tried his best to not form bonds with anyone but I guess he never realized the true weight of his quest.
I think he understood that the whole time, he's not exactly sitting around crying over the Scottsman. Ashii was the first thing that was truly just for him and really let that guard down and then whoops...
Funyarinpa
Member
I liked it and despite being a plothole (and Ashi's final line, what the fuck was that, she should've at least smiled), and besides the season (especially the part after Ashi regaining control) feeling extremely rushed, I'm satisfied. Eleven goddamn years in the making, and I cannot complain.
Tears were rolling by the end.
Tears were rolling by the end.
TheFierceGentleman
Banned
That's the whole thing, they wanted a better future for themselves. The characters suffered under Aku's reign and wanted to a better future, hence the final battle at the ending and Jack's whole journey despite his said mission. If they had known that Jack going back to the past would have undone their existence, they'd be singing a different tune towards Jack.
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