- Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XIX: Jack and the Monks
- wiki: link
“It. Is. Impossible.”
Throwback Thursday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. Jack‘s (Phil LaMarr) faith and perseverance is tested in “Episode XX.” After the minions of Aku destroy a time portal before the samurai can use it to travel home, a disheartened Jack encounters three monks who are on a quest to climb a mountain where, it is said, truth can be found at the mountain’s summit (while admitting no traveler has ever made it that far). While neither welcoming or discouraging the samurai, Jack joins them on their quest only to face obstacle after obstacle which further break his spirit.
Despite knowing there is no tangible reward at the top of the mountain for the samurai to use against Aku, Jack continues his climb as he is thwarted by both the elements and various creatures determined to stop him. When his spirit grows weak as it did on the battlefield in the episode’s opening, Jack is visited by a vision to remind him what he has lost and what Aku has done to the world. This provides the necessary final push the samurai needs to reach the top of the mountain and once again proclaim his mission to defeat Aku and return home. The monks’ appearance, manner, and sudden appearance at the exact moment when Jack needed help fighting off despair (along with their disappearance on the mountain) suggests they were more than just travelers the samurai came across, although their true identities are never revealed.
