WiC Binges: Disenchantment (Netflix)

Episode 9: “To Thy Own Elf Be True”

“To Thy Own Elf Be True” is one of those rare moments in a Matt Groening created animated series where the comedy leads to a genuinely tender moment for the characters in the show. Episode 9 opens with Bean, Elfo and Luci returning from their quest to nab the amulet of immortality. Bean’s dad wants to use it, but it simply will not work.

All he needs is a drop of Elf’s blood inside the amulet, and boom, immortality. Only, the amulet won’t work because, as it turns out, Elfo really isn’t a full-blooded elf.

In his anger, King Zøg banishes Elfo who returns home to Elfland. But, Bean and Luci follow him there, and all three enter Elfo’s hidden home. Once there, Bean falls into her usual role as the lovable drunk, and she accidentally bops an elf on the nose and uses her handkerchief to clean it up. Even I saw that bit of foreshadowing.

There are some funny bits here, as it’s revealed elves love alcohol and weed, which Bean and Luci have in abundance. Elfo confronts his father who tells him he isn’t really a full-blooded elf, but when he tries to tell him what else he is, the King’s knights invade Elfland and demand three plump elves to return to the castle with them.

Realizing they’re about to be blood bags, the elves revolt and defend themselves…quite hilariously I might add. Just as Bean, Luci and the elves repel the knights, someone shoots Elfo in the back, killing him. Yep, he’s really f**king dead.

When Bean returns home to lay Elfo’s body in the same crypt as her mother, King Zøg appears and tells her he had been searching for the amulet to bring her mother back to life this entire time, and that it really wasn’t for him. Bean remembers she’s got that handkerchief full of foreshadowing in her pocket and squeezes the drop of pure elf’s blood into the amulet.

For a moment, she considers putting it around Elfo’s neck, but instead, she kisses him on the cheek — leaving him dead — and hangs the amulet around her mother’s neck, bringing her back to life.

End of episode…and what a good episode it was.