This is it. There’s only one week left before new episodes of Samurai Jack will be out of our lives forever.
While this second-to-last episode wasn’t nearly as devastating as others before, it did force us to say goodbye to one of the more adorable, if not slightly annoying characters in the Samurai Jack universe.
[Warning: The following contains spoilers for season 5, episode 9 of Samurai Jack.]
Scaramouche, the lovable robot head, never really got the respect he deserved. He was Aku’s loyal servant and, in the face of his daughter walking off with his greatest enemy, Scaramouche was the only person that Aku could trust. The tiny servant would do anything for his beastly boss, as we saw a few episodes ago, and all he wanted in return was for his boss to acknowledge the good that he did a couple of times a year.
Scaramouche never got that. In what should have been one of the funnier moments this season, Scaramouche is destroyed by the man he vowed to serve — and, in a way, did. Upon returning to Aku and discovering that Jack managed to reclaim the sword he has been without all season, Scaramouche was effectively destroyed.
No longer just a rolling head, it was nice that we got to see Scaramouche in one final piece. Even in death, however, Scaramouche is barely regarded by Aku. He doesn’t get a grand finale in his final moments, nor does anyone pay attention to his lifeless, headless body when he does implode. In fact, right after Aku kills Scaramouche, he turns all his attention to Jack and makes a less than stellar joke about how he must be taking off.
Scaramouche may not have been the most viable or powerful character on the show, but he provided Samurai Jack with some much needed character and comedy when things got tense; this season, that was almost every other episode. Like the court jester, Scaramouche’s talents were seen as nothing to savor, applaud or indulge in, but there was a spark to him that made him interesting to watch. Scaramouche was adorable and he deserved more than what he got.
Following the episode, people mourned Scaramouche’s death on Twitter and noted that the show, although only one episode left, would greatly miss his presence. His grand entrances — this week’s episode featured an octopus — will no longer make us laugh and he won’t be there to detract from the tension between Aku, Ashi and Jack.
Scaramouche’s life wasn’t as important to the storyline as Jack and Ashi’s relationship to Aku is, but his death leaves a hole in our hearts.
Samurai Jack’s series finale will air on May 20 at 11 p.m. ET.