The Saga of Carl

"The Saga of Carl" is the twenty-first episode of Season 24 that aired on May 19, 2013, alongside "Dangers on a Train" in a one hour season finale.
==Synopsis==
Homer, Moe, Lenny, and Carl share a winning lottery ticket, but when Carl makes off with the money, the others follow him to his country of origin, Iceland, where they learn why Carl would do that.
==Plot==
Bart and Lisa become addicted to Ki-Ya Karate Monsters, a new animated show that features monsters and mythical creatures who are karate warriors. Marge becomes annoyed at their focus on this game and insists they go to a museum, only to find the main attraction there is The Science of Ki-Ya Karate Monsters. At another exhibit on probability, Homer becomes fascinated by an educational video featuring French philosopher Blaise Pascal that discusses the odds of winning the lottery. That week, Homer, Lenny, Carl and Moe's weekly lottery ticket wins them a total of $200,000 which they agree to share four ways. Carl goes to cash in the ticket while the others prepare for a celebration party that night. When he does not show up, the others realize that he has fled with all the money.
After some genealogy research assisted by Lisa, Homer discovers that Carl fled to his home country of Iceland. Carl's Icelandic heritage was first alluded to in the Season 14 episode "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky". Homer, Lenny and Moe fly out to Reykjavik to track him down and claim their rightful share of the money. They learn on the plane that Iceland is actually green and Greenland is icy (the Vikings switch the names to trick everyone), but when they arrive Moe shouts out loud "hey Vikings it's still pretty damn cold"(it is snowing in Iceland when it is summer). They arrive and meet a man who tells them about the Carlsons' shameful family history, detailed in an Icelandic saga. The ancient text depicts them as cowards who allowed barbarian invaders into the country to cause massive death and destruction over a thousand years ago. When they track down Carl at the Carlson family home, they learn that the reason he traveled to Iceland was to clear his family name by purchasing a lost page from the sagas that he believes will reveal that the Carlsons were actually brave warriors. He also says that he did not tell them this because he does not consider them real friends; according to Carl, friends share their feelings, their hopes, their dreams, and friends know that their friends are from Iceland whereas Homer, Carl, Lenny, and Moe are just guys who sit next to each other in a bar and talk about guy stuff.
Displeased by this, Homer, Moe and Lenny attempts to take back the case with the $50,000, only to learn that Carl already spend it on the missing page. However, because they felt betrayed, Homer, Moe and Lenny take the missing page from him. At first, they want to destroy it, but a Skype call from Marge makes them have second thoughts about their feelings for him. They learn to read Icelandic, and discover from the page that the Carlson ancestors were actually even more cowardly and treacherous than was previously thought: they were actually collaborators who not only immediately surrendered to the barbarians, but also let the barbarians into Iceland without any qualms and joined them in sacking, looting, arson, and the "volcanoing" of the village elders; the Carlsons then wrote this saga so that no one would ever forget the treachery and cowardice.
Gathering the Icelandic people in a public square, the boys explain to them the good deeds that Carl has done for them over the years; he once helped Lenny move house, helped Moe to paint his windows and always leaves leftover beers in Homer's fridge. Impressed by his good qualities and "many small kindnesses", the villagers officially forgive the Carlson family and their reputation is cleared. Touched by their efforts, Carl apologizes and reconciles with his old friends.
Back in Springfield, Carl thanks his friends for having taught them the true values of friendship. Homer, who had planned to put in a fancy swimming pool with his $50,000 share of the lottery money, partners instead with Moe, Lenny and Carl to create mini-pools made out of beer kegs that everyone enjoys except for Homer himself, once he gets stuck in his new Duff-pool, courtesy of Bart and Lisa.
==Citations==
fr:La Saga de Carl
pl:The Saga of Carl
pt:A Saga de Carl
Category:Season 24 episodes
Category:Episodes
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Carl episodes
Category:Lenny and Carl Episodes
Category:Moe episodes
Category:Episodes showran by Matt Selman
Category:Travel episodes
Category:Episodes named after a character
Category:Episodes named after Carl Carlson
Category:'Of' Episodes
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Episodes showran by Al Jean
Category:Directed by Chuck Sheetz
Category:Episodes with a alternative Gracie Films logo
Category:History
Category:Film Roman