| “Such pitiful creatures. Cowardly. Reckless. Monstrosities. All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart. To cause nothing but chaos and destruction.” |
| — The protective curse |
Pitiful Creatures is the seventh episode of Season 4 and the forty-first episode overall of Monkie Kid.
Synopsis[]
|
As MK faces off with the scroll’s curse, he's forced to confront his mysterious past and his ominous future.[1] |
Plot[]
The protective curse completes its transformation and begins a little chat with MK, trying to persuade him that it understands everything he's going through and is his best friend. When it asks what he thinks they are, MK tells him he's just a noodle delivery guy with the powers of the Monkey King. The curse then demonstrates the like and launches him into battle.
In the middle of their search for MK, the other Monkie Kids land in a plantation that belongs to a Humble Farmer. Tang has a small breakdown, so the others regroup to calm him down. They're about to leave when the Humble Farmer realizes they're looking for Monkey King and says he destroyed her geese stable. While she yakked on about her geese, the Monkie Kids discover a strange light emitting from behind the stable in the sky.
MK and the protective curse continued to fight while the curse interrogates MK about his future and berates him for the dreadful actions that happened because of him, taking on the form of Ink Demon Bull King, Ink Spider Queen, and Ink Lady Bone Demon, as MK watches in horror. Reminding him of what Master Subodhi said before, the curse tells MK that his destiny would actually be far worse compared to Monkey King's acts in the past, in which he would actually become some sort of monkey monstrosity that would end the world. Having enough of the curse's antagonizing, MK tells it to stop talking and ends up glitching into monkey form. Barriers start to break as his voice echoes out, alerting the Monkie Kids and Monkey King. Seeing MK in his monkey form, the curse tells him to accept it, but Monkey King arrives and destroys the protective curse's form. The curse regenerates into a larger form of the heroes' past encounters and begins reprimanding Monkey King, blaming him for the heroes' dilemma. But then Mei and the others arrive as well, although Tang is frightened by the curse's appearance unlike his last encounter with it.
Before they can do anything though, the curse cuts off the view between the Monkie Kids, MK, and Monkey King and surrounds each of them in the forms of the Pilgrims to convince that they are destined to be nothing but chaotic creatures who will always make wrong choices. Monkey King finally puts a stop to the curse's talk and claims that he will never let anyone determine his destiny. The other heroes also take a stand and together, they clear the view and weakening the curse, causing it to revert to Ink MK.
In a desperate attempt to salvage what little power it had left, the curse once again begins to traumatize MK, reminding him of the Lady Bone Demon's words. It claims that MK is a harbinger destined to bring only pain and destruction. Meanwhile, MK experiences glitches as he switches between his human and monkey forms. Determined, MK fights back, commanding the protective curse to leave his mind. He then transforms into his monkey form, diving at the curse to vanquish it. Just before its eradication, the curse challenges MK to prove himself wrong. The Monkie Kids celebrate MK's triumph with cheers.
They're soon aware they have no idea how to get out of the scroll but Azure Lion then comes in and separates them. MK finds himself surrounded by everyone except Monkey King. He sees Azure Lion in the distance and asks where Monkey King is, but Azure Lion doesn't respond.
Cast[]
Features[]
Main:
Supporting:
- Ao Lie (visualized)
- Humble Farmer
- Lady Bone Demon (flashback)
- Mo
- Sha Wujing (visualized)
- Tang Sanzang (visualized)
- Zhu Bajie (visualized)
Antagonists:
Locations[]
- China
- Camel Ridge
- Farm (memory)
- Flower Fruit Mountain (memory)
Objects[]
Vehicles[]
- Bone mech (flashback)
Abilities[]
Species[]
- Celestial beings
- Demons
- Dragons (visualized)
- Geese (memory)
- Humans
- Mystic Monkeys (memory)
- Pigs
Mentioned[]
Names in other languages[]
| Language | Name | Translation, etymology, and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | יצורים מעוררי רחמים | Translates to Pitiful Creatures. |
| Korean | 고난의 운명 | Translates to Destiny of Suffering. |
| Mandarin (China) |
受困保护咒 | Translates to Trapped Protection Spell. |
Trivia[]
- The protective curse name-drops the previous special, "Embrace Your Destiny".
Errors[]
- The protective curse said that MK was the one who freed the Demon Bull King from the Underworld, despite it actually being Red Son. Additionally, MK said he was guilty for losing the Golden Staff to the Demon Bull King rather than picking it up in "Familiar Tales."
- This might not be an error but the protective curse again voicing MK's insecurities, as he currently feels responsible for everything bad that's happened, even if it's not technically his fault.
Characters' roles[]
Protagonists[]
- The Monkie Kids are the main protagonists of this episode.
- They defeated the protective curse and made it out of the Scroll of Memory.
- Monkey King is an additional protagonist.
- He protected MK from the curse when he couldn't fight and aided the Monkie Kids in finally defeating it.
Antagonists[]
- The protective curse is the main antagonist of this episode.
- It toyed with MK, then the rest of the Monkie Kids and Monkey King.
- Azure Lion is a secondary antagonist of the episode.
- He took the Monkie Kids out of the scroll but left Monkey King behind.