Is it me, or has the pacing been getting worse in these episodes? First the one-swing death of the Omen...

Is it me, or has the pacing been getting worse in these episodes? First the one-swing death of the Omen, then the priestess coming out of nowhere to kill Jack and then getting killed, then the simple death of Jack obsessive anger personified with Samurai Laser Beams rather than a struggle. This episode seems to be filled with padding. Even though some of it is there for a reason (like how meticulous and careful Jack was with the tea), I felt it was done poorly. In my opinion this is the worst episode of Season 5 or really the most mediocre.

Also, how did the army know the Samurai was on the mountain? Heck, how did the priestess know?

>The one swing death for the omen

Watch the Aku infection

>the simple death of Jack obsessive anger personified with Samurai Laser Beams

Jack vs Mad Jack

These fags just didn't watch the previous seasons.

>that second one

and that's kind of what bugs me about his 'unbalance'. Jack's already dealt with his anger before.

In real life, yes, it makes sense that an issue would crop up again and again.

in a narrative? It's kind of lame.

Why was that army even there?

Black Magic. We literally saw her communicate with Ashi earlier, remember?

>I tried discussing this on leddit

heh

Ashi's mother was spying on her (and likely the other daughters) the entire time. The army was sent either to kill Jack or, as things turned out, provide the distraction she needed to get close enough to assassinate him.

Like she used magic to tell Ashi to kill the samurai in her dreams right? user, the moon scene was a hallucination. It was suppose to hammer in the similarities between Ashi and Jack some more, in how both are haunted by their failures, and guilt for not succeeding in their life's purpose.

I thought it was kind of strange that she seemed to appear out of nowhere. But whatever.

The entire battle with the army was fucking smooth. Might have been the best part of this season so far. Reminded me of that Clone Wars episode where Mace is on Tatooine.

I feel like the entire episode would have been better if they just took out the "ashi fighting an entire army" part, and just had one cut of Ashi fighting her mother.

Then why didn't she do anything before? I mean, if she just stalled Ashi for a few seconds earlier, Jack would have sudoku'd.

>user, the moon scene was a hallucination.

Everything that comes after makes a lot more sense if you take it as the High Priestess literally communicating with Ashi.

Well, I assume she can't simply teleport to Ashi's location.

It was pointless and kinda stupid.
>I have to protect Jack! I'd better run down to the bottom of the mountain into a mosh pit of goons!

This. Episode would have been much more clean and smooth, and better from a artistic standpoint.
>Jack fighting his own inner problem that was created from his self hatred at his own failure to kill Aku
>Ashi fighting the same person in her own life that caused the same problems to her as well

The whole episode would have been about overcoming your personal demons of the past. But instead, random army to reaffirm Ashi to be a badass.

it was ill-managed IMO: for a show where the suspension of disbelief is quite high that part made me stop and think "wait HOW?"

Just pop in as a reflection or something during the graveyard scene.

badass not in a plausible way at least, it was like when Donald Duck has his fits of rage and becomes the duck version of Hulk

>The entire battle with the army was fucking smooth
Seriously?

I was laughing hard out loud when she just shoved a hundred of them off the cliff. Shit was so silly. It didnt even look bad ass just goofy as fuck.

Hallucination mom tells her that she was always the weakest. Real mom tells her that she was always the strongest.

Who the fuck is Ashi's dad and why is the mother so devoted to Aku?

So am I the only one who just felt like this whole episode was really lazy? You know I have no objection to Ashi fighting an army, if it's done well, and I have no objection to Jack going on a vision quest to find himself so he can find the sword cause the sword is mystic bullshit like that so a mystic bullshit answer does the trick. I have no objection to Jack facing his demons. I have no objection to the gods helping jack. I object to lazy fight scenes like Ashi pushing half an army down like she was a bowling ball going through pins. I object to the demons going bye bye in like point two three seconds. I object to how lame the vision quest was. I object to the gods just throwing him a bone and now all his problems are solved. Guidance sure, send him on a quest or something, but just "lol here's some new digs and a sword mate" don't sit right with me. It just all seemed like a lazy way to do things that could have been good. I actually liked the season up till now, but I don't know about this episode. It really really irritated me.

Now that she's dead we'll never get an explanation.

>Ashi just roadrunners over all of them

I kek'd pretty hard.

>The moon scene was black magic.
Ok, but this implies that the mother discovered Ashi's betrayal THEN. But when she's revealed, she clearly states that she only suspected that Ashi had betrayed her. Clearly the mother hasn't talked directly to Ashi since when she left the cave to go kill the samurai with her sisters. Which would mean the moon scene was a hallucination, otherwise the mother would have referenced it.

How about this?
>Daughters do not come home
>Assume they all died
>Hire army to find and kill the samurai, go with them
>See Ashi appear, and hide
>Climb the tower as she fights the army
>End up encountering Ashi at the top

So much for "appearing out of thin air"

So much for "but muh 10 episode pacing".
This season is absolute dogshit, and those are NOT the reasons.

>Guidance sure, send him on a quest or something, but just "lol here's some new digs and a sword mate" don't sit right with me. I
I get your other points but I'm fine with this. Jack is the chosen one, to hand him things so easily fits really. He lost his sword (i.e. the spirits took it) because he lost his balance. They gave it back because he found his balance. It fits.

I do question how he found that balance though. And his sword. Did he never look for it before?

It also would have allowed more time to flesh out both parts. In particular, I would have liked if Ashi questioned her mother more in order to know what her "intended purpose" was. Throughout the entire fight I was wondering if Ashi was gunna bring up just why her mother hated the samurai so much or why she loved aku so much. But nope, arrow to the back and thrown off a cliff.
Also, there could have been more time to flesh out the scene where jack gets his sword back, nothing deep but a few more visuals and dialogue could have done wonders.

Best episode since three, fuck all y'all
2>1>3>7>4>6>5

>she clearly states that she only suspected that Ashi had betrayed her.
She says "I knew you would fail us"

Episode had too much happen too quick. Was really hoping it'd take Jack an episode or two to get his sword back just so it seemed that Aku at least had a chance of defeating him.

Don't know how the next three ep's are gonna go, but it seems like Aku is just gonna get rused and rush headlong into Jack's sword without realizing it.

Season is getting pretty whack but this episode felt a lot like SJ production wise.

Aku destroyign the last portal, the ashi fight, and the tea preparation were all SJ kino

The plot itself and how its resolving is whatever now I dont think it can be saved

considering the first three were the only real good ones that isn't saying much

Sucks that this season isnt 20 episodes at least, because with only 10 every episodes is rushed as fuck with several storys and plots squished into one episode.

In the old series we would have had an entire episode about Ashis mother trying to asassinate Jack, and an entire episode about jack trying to put himself on the right path and calm his anger.

But fuck that, 10 episodes, cram everything in!

Yea, he dealt with is anger 50 odd years and a mental breakdown ago.

If you think the Ashi fight was in the same fucking universe as kino I don't know what to tell you, user

I agree with this. Actually, I think how it should have played out was Ashi versus her mother and the other masked cultists, including that big beefy one that beat her and her sisters as children. No big army necessary, just the demon-worshiping whackjobs that forged her.

>A cult for a guy that rules the world needs an explanation

You all should fucking sudoku

I wish Suicide Jack would have addressed some of the major issues Jack will be having now:
>"Why even get the sword? The time portals are GONE. We cannot go home!"
>"Why start to act now of all times? Just because you saved a single girl after killing all of her sisters? What will killing Aku do for this world? Everything is already GONE!"
>"And what will you do when you get there? Aku is just going to run away again! This is a waste of time!"

It just would have been nice for Jack to acknowledge these problems and come to terms with them now. By saying something like "I have found a reason to fight. No longer for the village and parents I lost, but for the new friends and people of this future! I realize now, they need me, and if I can't save my past, I can at least save their futures!"

I guess I get that. Its just...It seems so sudden and anti climactic to me. Aw shit the samurai lost his sword, we gotta go find that shit. Hey here you go mate, you stood up to red nigga. Honestly I probably would have not minded as much if him regaining his balance was done better. Killing of ghost jack like that just sucks. Having Jack really overcome him through a fight/debate with the ghost eventually realizing jack was right could have been awesome. Some sort of rush for the sword with Aku hounding them could have been really cool. There are better ways to have done it, and i feel like "your the chosen one time to glowy eye beam you back on model" just doesn't do it for me. I mean I can understand it. I get that he's the chosen one and they gave him what he needed to do the job, but that's just it, they gave it to him. It doesn't feel like Jack earned it. It feels cheap.

well at least we have dank reaction pics

>Aku's literally on speeddial for anybody who's somebody
Priestess confirmed for shit tier.

mercs found him the same way everyone finds the samurai, and they find him the same way he finds anything. they ask around, gather intel. fucking retards.

Why did a cult get founded for Kefka after he destroyed the world? Who founded it and why? Why would people get together and make a cult to worship the most powerful guy in the world, it just doesn't make sense!

>seriously injured by a hand thrown arrow

That was a given.

I wanted to see the 3 old monks forge the sword again

Hell, just hit 0 at a payphone and ask for him.

Just finished watching

>super woman Ashi kills an entire army and her mother in one episode.

It really should've been either or but not both.

As for Jack that is fine, the guy has always been the chosen one and sword related magic is nothing new in the show.

>if him regaining his balance was done better.
I agree
I personally still don't see how he even regained his balance. Like, what was the catalyst? Why does he only realise now and not through them 50 years that mad Jack is harmful?

I think maybe the cult was just to stupid and primitive to have a phone. Like they could have got a hold of him if they had any understanding of what the world was like these days, but these people are hella backwards and don't realize it. They think they have to make this big production to get him to come back, and Aku is sitting there wondering if those bitches he partied with that one time are ever gonna call him back.

So in the end, what the fuck was the point of this?

This subplot was pointless and added nothing to the story. If they had stuck to giving Omen more than 4 minutes of screentime, it would've been a much greater climax than the lukewarm shit we got.

They got to say "penis".

Presumably the bots gonna get the word to Aku, Aku will act on the out dated information, and shit will hit the fan. I don't think it will mean the end of Aku, cause that would be way to easy. I think it will just shock him out of his complacency like "damn, if i'd just not been lazing around like a bitch I actually could have been rid of the samurai" and it'll make aku go all in and we'll get a nice epic conclusion with a revitalized Shogun of Sorrow.

There's literally 3 episodes left, don't think that's going to happen unless it's next episode.

She probably offered her body to him and Aku was like alright, and he just snapped his fingers and she was pregnant and he oozed back into his bed of malaise.

Episode was well-paced. We're given action to showcase Ashii, she's given a dillemma, which she resolves. She tackles an important part of her arc by confronting her mother. Jack does the same. He reclaims hope in the last episode and regains his balance in this one. Had good action. don't get the complaints.

They got 10 episodes to finish this shit, the pacing was destined to be fucked

also the tea-making scene was hilarious

Jack regaining his balance, how did it even happen?

He regained his hope, then let go of his immense frustration at everything. the scene is very clear.

He used his mindlasers to kill the funny epic reaction image generator

I think mother will be coming back. She's not that easy to kill off.

So how do you think the season will end?
>Jack kills Aku
>Jack kills Aku but he also dies
>Jack kills Aku but Ashi dies
>Aku kills Jack and then Ashi kills Aku
>Aku just kill himself

This is one of the best episodes from this season though. There's nothing like going back to the roots and seeing Jack have a peaceful and silent adventure.

Jack kills Aku, timeskip, becomes king and returns through guardian portal. He beats Aku in the past in a movie.

Defeating his inner demons and recovering his focus through the power of meditation or something like that

>There's nothing like going back to the roots and seeing Jack have a peaceful and silent adventure

*cuts to mindless action every two seconds*
pssshhh nothin personel

Hope ≠ Balance

You can find your hope back, I'm fine with him doing that. But mad Jack still haunted him. He still didn't have his sword, he was still lost. What made him so suddenly realise Mad Jack was evil?

But how were those demons even defeated. He meditated in a spiritual sense where we saw a physical interpretation of him. He did nothing there to overcome his demons, other than tell Mad Jack to calm down

Shows can't just tell a story through imagery anymore.

Jack is the dad. The babies are clones that they've been making for generations. Who better to kill the samurai then his "beautfiul in every angle but profile" female 1/2 clones?

I do not buy for a single second that the Priestess is dead.

>this episode basically crushed the Jashi theory

I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up but fuck, seeing it crumble right in front of you fucking sucks.

just.
fuck.

Aku tries to throw him through another portal in time. Another Jack jumps through and kills Aku.

>Didn't happen when he saved Ashi
>Didn't happen when he decided not to sudoku
>Happens when Red Jack gets mad at the tea guy
I'm sure they were going for something, but it just felt stupid.

>Frogposting
Eat shit.

it wouldnt have been fucked if ashi wasnt there

jack will kill aku in the future. all the portals are destroyed so there's no going back. jack and ashi live happily ever after like all the tumblerinas want

i thought one of the themes given so far is that jack cannot return to the past, but that doesn't mean he is a failure

all this ghost suicide sword disappearing shit is just "all hope is lost because i cant return to the past"

but people still exist in the future and its still a world worth saving etc etc jesus christ i hate ashi

Not
>Im getting stronger everyday.

>being triggered about pepe on Sup Forums

how so

I'm betting Jack dies somehow after/during Aku's defeat. Never goes back to the past. Ashi helps pave the way for a beautiful future.

Except it didn't. He was not ready then. He was half-listening to the Mad Jack and was ready to commit suicide. Only after he regained his will to live did he seek the sword, meditate and find out the imbalance within himself.

I'd say this episode was second only to the first one. Even though Ashi's defeat of the army was kind of boring to watch her fight with her mom was fucking wicked. It had a good objective, keep mum from stabbing Jack, and changing the weapons up kept it interesting but most of all it had a really cool looking death scene for the mum. I think having Jack punch it out with his anger would not only be fucking stupid but break the narrative rhythm of the entire episode (Jack has a quiet time and Ashi has a bloody time). The entire point of defeating the last ghost of his was that it had no power over him. To see him sword fight it would be pretty weird.

But knowing your imbalance doesn't cure it. The spirits told him he wasn't all there, he must have known too since having voices in your head telling you to KILL YOURSELF isn't going to help

But even then, he wasn't able to overcome the voices. What happened when he was meditating that let him beat mad jack? Literally nothing.
Mad Jack just got angrier and he just said ayyyy calm down. Suddenly mad jack is dead

> Jack's already dealt with his anger before.

And people can't get angry twice? Aku literally pulled Jack out of the last time portal and blew it up - every single failure and frustration came to a head at that point and overwhelmed him to the point where he killed innocents. He's been carrying that anger around ever since, just coasting on it.

Mind you, I think it would have been better if jack killed something other than random goats - AND it should have been more of a struggle to wrestle with his inner demon. We should have seen waaay more of demented Jack influencing his actions.

So it's not perfect but I think its fine.

>implying Ashi isn't niagra falls wet for Jack's samurai dick

Jack literally sorted himself out.

In the old series, there wouldn't be a serialized story that crosses multiple episodes.

Did you even watch the show before this? They had a livestream for every season in "chronological" order multiple times in a row before the first episode. You don't have an excuse.

What the fuck are you even talking about.

at the rate it's going, Jack finds a portal and gets back to the past rendering all the developings of the entire show moot. yah I mad/

the episode was rushed, but i am viewing this season as if it was a movie, we are reaching the end of the movie and they are starting to answer questions and wrap up subplots, so its not going to be like earlier episodes
but i can see how its different from the older episodic samurai jack

>Ashi covered in blood after fighting the army
>angle of the shot changes, it doesn't even take her out of the frame, but all the blood disappears off her
The little things annoy me way more than they probably should.

I liked the pacing of this episode a lot better than six. We've had plenty of episode of Jack struggling with defeatism and self-destructive impulses, it felt right to see him coming to terms with it after rejecting seppuku. I'd definitely agree that he got over the Omen a little too fast but as a follow-up this felt appropriate.

>You are not balanced Jack
>lol fuck off mad Jack
>ok u r balanced now

Good pacing, am I right?

Are you actually asking me or are you just reinforcing your own opinion?

>you are not balanced jack
>what what are you talking about
>mad jack reveals itself
>jack sees the irrationality and insecurity of mad jack as it's revealed to him
>conflict, but jack realizes it's him who's in control and overpowers his demons mentally
>jack is now balanced

not that user, but come on man, it's not hard to get, unless you're trying to trivialize it for the sake of supporting your argument

He's making a valid point while debating yours. He just greentexted it.
On the other hand, I think him getting over the Omen was fine. Ashi brought back hope in him. But Jack finding balance? I don't understand how it happened and no one seems able to answer.
Mad Jack haunts him. He tells him to calm down, the exact mentality Jack has had towards mad Jack through all the mad Jack rants.
Nothing changed. But suddenly he's "found" balance? What?

If she's really dead for good we'll probably never know.

Since one of the main themes of this season was hopelessness, I get the feeling that if she isn't dead and explains her Aku obsession it'd be along the lines of "I spent my entire life hoping Jack would beat Aku and now I give up and just want him dead in the hopes that it'll get Aku to be slightly less evil, or at least get me on his good side".

Again, if she isn't dead I think it'd tie back to a hopelessness somehow.

You probably could've left the Kefka part out.

...

>it's impossible to destroy the ring frodo
>lol i'll just walk there
>ok the world is saved

what a hack

I think the best part is how it was so obvious if he just looked at ghost Jacks from the previous episodes but for once instead of just hiding in guilt he looks at the crazy nonsense bastards and says fuck off