Samurai Jack/Tear Jerker

• Main
• Characters
• Trivia
• YMMV
• Fridge
• Headscratchers
• WMG
• Crowners
  • Awesome
  • Funny
  • Heartwarming
  • Nightmare Fuel
  • Tear Jerker
• Wikipedia
• All Subpages
• Create New

• Near the end of episode L (#40), when X9, now powering down, and dying, asks Jack to take care of Lulu. Cue Jack showing a worried expression at possibly killing a perfectly innocent robot.
  • "Lulu... sweet thing."
• How can you forget "Jack and the Lava Monster"? Jack fights his way through a maze of death only to confront a near-invincible giant lava monster Then we learn that the lava monster was actually a Viking warrior, bound by Aku to fight until the world's greatest warrior defeated him. Which Jack does... sending the fallen Viking on to eternal rest. Blast it, I'm tearing up just writing this one.
  • "Free"
• The ending to "Jack and the Mountain."
• "Jack Remembers the Past" is heartbreaking.
• The season five premiere reveals that thanks to Aku, Jack can no longer age. Sure, he can die, but we see that eternal youth is a curse for him. He can definitely develop facial hair, and he is mentally in his sixties given the cynical look when he shows up on a motorcycle and saves a family. Even when returning to the past, it means he will likely outlive any of his friends.
• Jack has a My God, What Have I Done? reaction when he sees that the Daughters of Aku are human, after slitting one's throat in self-defense. It takes him an episode to remember that sometimes you don't have a choice but to take a human life, especially when you can't reason with a person wielding a deadly weapon.
• Ashi eventually comes to the horrible Heel Realization that not only is Jack definitely not evil, but that she was raised as a weapon, for a big lie. She believes him when he shows her the factory where children are enslaved, and goes to save him when he goes on a suicide run.
• The fight between Ashi and her mother. It is awesome, as Ashi defends Jack and calls out the Priestess for stealing her childhood, but also sad that Ashi acknowledges that her sisters died for nothing, and it wasn't Jack's fault. Jack was defending himself against a hostile threat, and Ashi needed a long time to listen to him.
• The fact that in the finale, the friends and allies that Jack helped all come to rescue him from Aku when his execution is being broadcast. They know that if Jack returns to the past, they will cease to exist, including the Scotsman and his daughters. Aku may also kill them anyway. Yet they come, providing much-needed backup.
• For the series as a whole, especially regarding the ending: Not only does the ending feel very rushed and compressed, but it also ends on a bitter-sweet note. Thanks to Ashi, Jack is able to return to the past and kill Aku once and for all, but in doing so, Ashi ceases to exist as well. She fades from existence right in his arms during their wedding in a manner reminiscent of the ending of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann with the woman our hero fell in love with dying. Yes, the lives Jack saved and affected were beyond count, but when one considers all he's lost and been through, he doesn't seem to get anything for his trouble. Genndy promised us a great ending, and while it could have been worse, that doesn't mean it was great either.