1x13 XIII

[7.3/10] A fun lark of an episode. I think I appreciate what it’s going and the ideas at play more than the episode itself, but it’s still entertaining. There’s a root idea about the power of stories to inspire people, particularly the younger generation. That works in-universe to give Aku a reason to want to propagandize. The fact that it doesn't work speaks to a sort of innate goodness and understanding of youth, where they admire the stories of Jack’s heroism. Those stories inspire them, which allows them to see through Aku’s B.S.

But at the same time, there’s metacommentary there, with this episode working as a talisman for the show itself, showing the value of telling these epic, superficially simple, but complex and mythic stories for a younger audience. Tartakovsky and company seem to be justifying the utility of this show. “Aku’s Fairy Tales” suggests that Samurai Jack is a fairy tale like those that came before, one whose morals and lessons, wrapped in excitement and intrigue, help instill those values in the young.

Separate and apart from the highfalutin takeaways like those, it’s just an amusingly silly episode. There’s something downright fun about seeing “Master of Evil” Aku sit down and read biased fairy tales to a powwow of kiddos. The show squeezes laughs out of classic tales where Aku is made into the hero, and it’s especially funny when the Dark Lord casts himself as Little Red Riding Hood.

But it’s just as chuckle-worthy when he starts retelling similar tales while making Jack the villain, over the disbelief and continuity-questioning queries of his young audience. The final sequence, a giant mishmash of various fairy tale stories with Jack as an insert villain beaten by whomever he comes across, is particularly laugh-worthy, and speaks to Aku’s insecurities and fear that he’s losing the hearts and minds (and, well, fear) of his subjects.

The episode also manages to capture the storytelling panache of youth. The little kids playing at the beginning feels accurate to how kids treat their epic heroes when playacting with one another. And the final story, of Jack defeating Aku in a momentous battle, works both as a representation of how kids tell stories to one another, hint that eventually Jack wins even if the show never got another season to show it, and suggest that even if he doesn't, his inspiration of a new generation of children planted the seeds that will one day topple Aku regardless.

Overall, this is a little too high concept for its own good, but it takes chances as a season finale, and works on multiple levels, so I certainly admire it.