This week’s South Park sets up The Fractured But Whole

This week’s episode of South Park probably isn’t required viewing for understanding what will happen in Ubisoft’s upcoming video game, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, but it definitely helps set up the events for the game’s Civil War-style conflict. And it does so in a way that’s typically topical of the show while managing to lay the ground work for a game that’s been in development for more than two years.

Here’s the official synopsis of “Franchise Prequel,” the episode that aired on Comedy Central last night:

Professor Chaos has found the perfect tool to spread lies and misinformation about Coon and Friends. In trying to save their reputation, the boys come face to face with Mark Zuckerberg.

In other words, while Cartman and company desperately try to establish a Marvel Cinematic Universe-caliber superhero franchise, Butters has other plans. He uses an army of online trolls to spread fake news to attack and splinter the group. There are some digs at Facebook and some topical jokes aimed at Harvey Weinstein and Russia. Last night’s South Park effectively ends with a scene that’s almost identical to The Fractured But Whole’s E3 2016 trailer, with a few noticeable differences.

You can watch “Franchise Prequel” — the 10th episode of South Park’s 21st season — for free on Comedy Central’s website (availability may be dependent on your country, however).

South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be out next week. The PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One game drops Oct. 17.