Episode 3

## Video

This is the third episode of the Aincrad Arc, and the third episode of Sword Art Online Abridged overall.

## Plot

The episode opens on a man named Sir Jack Dapper, playing his DSi. Upon noticing the audience, he welcomes them and announces that he has been chosen to present the "Sword Art Online Christmas Extravaganza", promising to tell a touching story of whimsy, adventure, and the true meaning of friendship. He then tells the audience to gather round as he reads them the story of "The Red-Nosed Reindeer".

The story itself begins on April 8, 2023, which Jack thinks is an odd starting point for a Christmas story. In the Floor 11 town of Taft, Kirito is enjoying a drink in a tavern when he's approached by a Guild of five. The leader, Keita, says he noticed that Kirito wasn't associated with any Guilds while he was looking through Kirito's character page, which confuses Kirito, as that information was set to private. Keita then takes the opportunity and invites Kirito to join their Guild, the Moonlit Black Cats. However, Kirito repeatedly declines the offer, out of a mixture of wanting to play solo and the fact that Keita is clearly only interested in him because he's currently Level 40, as he moans with delight when he looks at Kirito's level. Not wanting to let such a high leveled player go, Keita persuades Kirito by putting on his Charisma Hat, which increases Keita's Charisma Stat by 50 points, compelling Kirito to join the Guild, much to Kirito's dismay.

With Kirito successfully swindled into joining the Guild, Keita reveals that of the most members are actually NPCs from unfinished quests: One who's looking to save his family, one who's trying to stop a bandit invasion, and the tutorial NPC, who gives overly basic, and sometimes slightly dodgy, instructions, all of whom yell reminders for their quests every four seconds. The only other player is a girl named Sachi, who suffers from lag due to her bad internet connection from "living in the boonies". Kirito then points out the fact that, if Keita has the tutorial NPC, that means he hasn't beaten the tutorial. Keita tries to play this off by saying just because he can't play the game doesn't mean he can't "play the game", but he fails to prove his point when he tries to wink by saying the word "wink". Even though Kirito wasn't happy with the situation, Sachi tries to thank him for joining their Guild. However, she lags in the middle of her sentence, which goes out of control, spreading to the other players and causing a fire that kills four people.

Kirito quickly became a major asset to the Guild, assisting them on many adventures, such when they killed a Killer Mantis together in the Sunshine Forest on Floor 20. Jack then explains to the audience that, as time went on, Kirito grew to "tolerate" the Guild, like how "a fat man tolerates the tapeworms in his intestines". This analogy only gets worse as Jack continues, which he acknowledges, stating that "Granny Dapper didn't raise no quitters".

The story then transitions to May 16, 2023, where Kirito receives a message from Keita, telling him that Sachi has run away. Keita asks Kirito to track her down, explaining that he would look for her himself, but he's currently being held captive by the NPCs, who are inadvertently blocking the door. The tutorial NPC takes this opportunity to advise Keita to take a break, as he's been playing for 4608 hours. Keita yells at the NPC, as he doesn't have a choice but to play the game, after which the NPC proceeds to clip through the wall, much to Keita's annoyance. Initially, Kirito doesn't want to look for Sachi, as it's his day off, but Keita anticipated this and sends him a picture of the Charisma Hat, compelling Kirito find their lost teammate, much to his dismay.

Kirito uses his Searching Skill, which he affectionately calls "Detective Mode", and finds Sachi hiding under a bridge. Sachi is startled by Kirito's arrival, as the Searching Skill causes Kirito's eye to glow, but when he turns it off, he finds that his eyeballs are sizzling. As Kirito groans in pain, Sachi asks if that's supposed to happen. Kirito says he doesn't think so, unless the game was developed by a sadist. Sachi tries to comment on the likelihood of that possibility, given their circumstances, but Kirito shoots her down, having realized what he said.

Kirito then estimates that he has five minutes before he blacks out from the pain, so he asks Sachi why she ran away, in order to pass the time. Sachi explains that she ran away because she's afraid that her lag will get everyone she loves killed. This Kirito surprises, because for the first time in his life he can't think of a way to mock someone else's predicament. Sachi tells Kirito it's not something that needs to be mocked, to which Kirito arrogantly asks, "But then what's the point of other people if not to mock them?" Sachi then tells Kirito that his unbearable arrogance is why people think he's an asshole, a revelation that shocks him.

The two then talk throughout the night, after which Kirito realizes the error of his ways. Jack then breaks the fourth wall to tell the audience that, if they think that's a copout, they get cookie. Kirito promises Sachi that he'll be nicer and show people the compassion they deserve. Sachi then asks if they can talk about her problems now, but Kirito says that nobody cares, much to Sachi's disappointment. She then points out that Kirito hasn't blacked out from the pain yet. Kirito realizes that this is true, confidently saying that he must be tougher than he thought, but it's at this point that the pain sets in again.

On June 21, 2023, Keita announces to the Guild that they're now in debt to the game's Mafia, something that Sachi didn't even know existed. Keita explains that he told the Mafia he could duplicate a rare item in their possession, but when he discovered that the ability to duplicate items got patched out of the game, he subsequently sold it for money, which angered the Mafia. One of the NPCs takes the opportunity to remind Keita that the bandits are coming, which Keita acknowledges is ironically an apt description of their predicament. Keita then states that the Mafia's Don will pardon them once they replace the item, which only spawns in a Dungeon on Floor 27, one of the hardest Floors so far, but if they fail, the Don will have them all killed.

Keita tells the Guild not to worry, as they'll have Kirito with them, who's "practically carrying this crew". Kirito is offended by this statement, as it underplays how much work he actually does, but Sachi signals him to let it go. Keita then asks what the Guild thinks of the plan. Kirito is about to mock how stupid Keita is, but, when he sees Sachi staring at him, he keeps his thoughts to himself. With the plan set in stone, Sachi points out that Keita didn't say what he'll be doing during the mission. To which Keita, once again, uses his Charisma Hat to talk his way out of going with them, teleporting away on Taft's Teleport Gate the next day. Kirito then comments that they really need to take the hat away from Keita.

On Floor 27, after hours of searching the Dungeon, Sachi realizes that Keita didn't even tell them which item they're supposed to be looking for, much to Kirito's annoyance. One of the NPCs then discovers a hidden room with a single chest inside it. Kirito quickly realizes that the chest is a trap, but the NPC opens it anyway, having been set to auto-loot by Sachi to save time. After opening the chest, sirens blare and the door locks behind them. As Kirito voices his contempt for the situation, Sachi tries to reassure him, saying they might've won a prize. However, she is immediately proven wrong when the game spawns in a bunch of Slaughternauts and Murder-Golems. Kirito sarcastically comments on this, stating it must be his birthday. Sachi reminds Kirito that he promised to be nicer, to which Kirito frantically responds, "BABY STEPS!!!"

Trying to look on the bright side, Sachi says that they can get some Teleport Crystals from Gary, the NPC responsible for the situation, but he uses one of them to escape, taking the rest of the Crystals with him. The other two NPCs are quickly dealt with, one of whom had all the Healing Potions, leaving only Kirito and Sachi. The two try to fight their way out, but Sachi starts to lag, allowing a Golem to strike her across the back, fatally wounding her. As Kirito watches on in horror, Sachi tries to reassure him by saying, "This isn't... your fault." However, her lag causes her to repeat the last two words over and over before she finally dies, horrifically traumatizing Kirito.

Jack is caught off guard by how grim Sachi's death was but reassures the audience that there's always a silver lining, as Kirito still has Keita to share his grief with. He then turns the page to a scene of Keita committing suicide by jumping off the edge of Castle Aincrad, presumably out of fear of being killed by the Mafia. Horrified, Jack skips to the Christmas part of the story, stating that, "No one kills themselves on Christmas!", and proceeds to start drinking heavily.

On December 24, 2023, Kirito is on Floor 35, where an info broker tells him that Santa Claus is going to appear under a certain fir tree and give whoever finds him "an item that will give anyone a Merry Christmas". He then runs off to avoid paying the broker. As Kirito makes his way through the Lost Forest to retrieve the item, he comes across BallsDeep69 and his Guild. When Kirito calls Balls by his username, Balls and the rest of his Guild simultaneously say, "My name is Klein." Kirito voices his confusion at this, to which Balls explains that he has corrected people so many times that his own men believe it's how he says "hello". Balls then asks what Kirito is doing in the forest, to which Kirito explains he's looking for the item to help heal a weird pain in his chest. Concerned, Balls asks what caused the pain and Kirito says he's had it ever since he watched all his Guild mates die, but denies this as the cause, since he didn't take any damage during the event. Hearing this, Balls looks dumfounded over how ignorant Kirito is.

Before Balls can explain, he and Kirito are surrounded by the Mafia. Having tracked down Kirito, one of the mobsters explains that, since Kirito is the sole survivor of the "Midnight Black Cats", the debt falls on him, sinisterly telling him that, "The Don sends his regards." In the standoff, after voicing his confusion over the situation, Balls explains to Kirito that he isn't injured, he's sad that all his friends died, something Kirito never even considered. Balls tells Kirito he's heard rumors that the mystery item might be able to resurrect players and offers to hold off the Mafia. Touched by this act of chivalry, Kirito thanks Balls, calling him by his preferred name, Klein, before running off. Klein is deeply moved by this, but the moment is almost ruined when one of his Guild mates asks who "Klein" is.

Kirito then arrives at the fir tree the info broker mentioned, just as the clock strikes midnight, and the day transitions into Christmas. Jack then builds up the scene of Kirito meeting Santa Claus, only to find it's a fight to the death with a monstrous Boss named Nicholas the Renegade, much to Jack's confusion. Kirito then rushes into battle, hoping to retrieve the item and see his friends again.

Sometime later, after Klein has defeated the Mafia, Kirito returns to Klein with a look of emotional vacancy on his face. Klein asks if Kirito didn't get the item, but Kirito reveals that he did, only to find that it's actually a Charisma Hat, the very item that caused all this. Although Kirito was unsuccessful, he thanks Klein for showing him that there's still a part of him that knows how to care about others. However, just as Klein starts getting his hopes up, Kirito says he's realized that forming connections with people only makes it hurt more when they inevitably die and announces that he has "killed" that part of him forever. He thanks Klein for "freeing [him]", going back to calling him Balls, and proceeds to leave. Balls tries to stop Kirito, heartbroken that, after everything Kirito has gone through, he still rejects humanity, and bursts into tears. He then lets Kirito go and collapses to his knees as the snow falls around them. Jack then narrates to the audience that Kirito's heart grew three sizes that day, only for it to implode into a black hole, "from which no love could escape", thus ending the story.

Jack, now drunk, tells the audience that not everyone gets a happy ending, as that's not how the world works. To prove his point, Jack proceeds to drunkenly rant about how his wife left him for a cabana boy half her age, taking his children with her to Tahiti. He then curses his ex-wife, stating that he still has all his money, before reflecting on how alone he is. Jack begins to tear up, but he immediately interrupts himself when he collapses to the floor and starts vomiting. His butler, Gregory, comforts him, while wishing the audience a Merry Christmas.

After the credits, we see the Mafia's headquarters, where one mobster tells the Don that they managed to track down Kirito, but they were fought off by the legendary BallsDeep69 and his Guild. As such, Kirito escaped them yet again. The mobster states that he has no excuse for his failure, but promises that they will get back what was stolen from them before asking the Don for his orders. The Don then emerges from the shadows and is revealed to be Fluffles, the cat player that was part of the assault team on Floor 1, who growls sinisterly.

## Cast

* **Cheesemanjoe:** Sir Jack Dapper, BallsDeep69, Nicholas the Renegade, Additional Voices
* **Misanda:** Gregory the Butler, Info Broker
* **YamatoSFX:** Kirito, Additional Voices
* **Spritestuff:** Keita
* **AtomicVoice:** Gary
* **LordMegatronG1:** Charlie
* **NikokoTee:** Sachi
* **Hayabusa449:** Derrick, Additional Voices
* **Sonicring123Dubs:** Additional Voices
* **Sakiseshy:** Dungeon Announcer
* **Connor McKinley:** Mobster
* **Fluffles:** Himself

## Music

* **Thirty Seconds to Mars:** "This Is War"
* **Sword Art Online Original Soundtrack vol.1:** "Everyday Life", "He Rules Us"
* **Vienna Symphony Orchestra:** "Jingle Bells"
* **Trine 2 Soundtrack:** "Trine 2 Main Theme", "Waltz Of The Temple Forest Elves"
* **Mass Effect 3 (Original Soundtrack):** "I Was Lost Without You"
* **Jens Sonntag:** "Winter Wonderland"
* **Darksiders (Original Soundtrack):** "Eden"
* **Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game (Original Videogame Soundtrack):** "Area Clear"

## Differences from the Original

The following is a list of differences *only* from this episode. To view any differences for the characters, view their pages, or if you want to see more click here.

* There is never a character called "Sir Jack Dapper" who serves as a narrator at any point in the series.
* In the original, the Moonlit Black Cats and Kirito met prior to the episode and went on a quest together, which is why they were celebrating. In the abridged version, they just randomly approached Kirito at his table.
* Keita isn't presented as a con man in the original.
	+ Keita doesn't have a hat that raises his Charisma Stat that he uses to get people to do what he wants.
		- Kirito joined the Guild of his own free will in the original.
* Keita doesn't ask Kirito to join their Guild because of his level. Kirito hides it from them out of shame, thinking that they wouldn't want him around if they knew, because high leveled players had a reputation of being selfish and greedy.
	+ It's never implied that Keita hacked Kirito's account.
	+ Kirito's level progression throughout the episode is skipped.
* In the original, Keita initially talks to Kirito formally until Kirito tells him to stop. In the abridged version, Keita is overly casual with Kirito to the point that it disgusts him.
* Kirito commenting on his repetitive level grinding strategy is skipped.
* The majority of the Moonlit Black Cats are not NPCs; they were all the members of their school's computer club. This means their names were Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru, not Gary, Charlie and Derrick.
	+ It's also never implied that Keita hasn't completed the tutorial, nor that he stole the tutorial NPC.
* Sachi doesn't experience lag, nor is it stated that she "lives in the boonies".
	+ Sachi's death wasn't caused by lag.
* The part of the story where the Guild were trying to make Sachi a DPS player is skipped.
* A fire doesn't start in the tavern that kills four people.
* A scene where Keita tells Kirito he thinks they can be as strong as the Floor clearers if they work hard enough is skipped.
	+ The revelation that the assault team made it to Floor 28 is skipped.
	+ The fact that the assault team doesn't share their level grinding information is skipped.
* Kirito admiring Keita's mindset, stating that it could change the elitist outlook of the assault team, is skipped.
* A scene where Klein finds out Kirito ended up in another Guild while the two are coincidentally Level Grinding in the same field is skipped.
* SAO's messaging system is now presented as voicemail system that can share images, rather than a text message system.
* In the original, the reason why Keita asked Kirito to look for Sachi in town was because he and the rest of the Guild were looking for her in a Dungeon. In the abridged version, the reason why he asked Kirito to look for her was because he was trapped in his room.
* Kirito isn't reluctant to search for Sachi.
	+ Kirito isn't stated to have "days off" from the Guild.
* The color of the Searching Skill's filter has been changed to match the Detective Mode from the Arkham games.
	+ Kirito doesn't call the Searching Skill "Detective Mode".
* Kirito doesn't forget to turn the Searching Skill off when he finds Sachi.
	+ Sachi doesn't get freaked out by Kirito's glowing eyes.
* The Searching Skill doesn't cause the players' eyes to start sizzling once it's turned off.
* In the original, the reason why Sachi ran away was due to a general fear of dying. In the abridged version, she's worried that her weakness will get everyone she loves killed.
	+ The part where Sachi asks Kirito to run away with her, which Kirito initially thinks is her talking about suicide, is skipped.
	+ The part where Sachi says that she hasn't been sleeping is skipped.
* The conversation between Kirito and Sachi doesn't last until daybreak.
	+ The conversation topic doesn't change to how Kirito should be nicer to people.
* Kirito doesn't ignore Sachi's worries, he instead reassures her that she won't die.
* A scene where Sachi sleeps in Kirito's bed is skipped.
	+ Kirito's inner monologue about how he's never thought about the players who are scared of dying but keep fighting nonetheless and vowing to protect them is skipped.
* The Moonlit Black Cats never get indebted to the game's Mafia, and most of the Guild don't die trying to retrieve an item they owed them. The reason they died was because they went to get some extra loot in a Dungeon while Keita went to buy a base for their Guild.
	+ The scene where Keita informs the Guild of their debt replaces an earlier scene where the Guild discussed their improvement.
* While Floor 27 was a higher difficulty than the Moonlit Black Cats were used to, it's never stated to be as difficult as it is in the abridged version.
* Kirito's surprise at the hidden door's existence is skipped.
* In the original, most of the Moonlit Black Cats run in and open the chest before Kirito can tell them it might be a trap. In the abridged version, Kirito instantly tells them it's a trap and that they should leave it, but Gary opens it before Kirito realizes what's happening.
	+ It's never stated that players can alter an NPC's settings.
* The enemies that kill the Moonlit Black Cats aren't called "Slaughternauts" and "Murder Golems", they're called "Dark Dwarf Miners" and "Granite Elementals".
* It's never stated that certain members of the Moonlit Black Cats had all the Teleport Crystals or all the Healing Potions.
* No one manages to teleport out of the trap room, it was an Anti-Crystal Zone.
	+ Ducker's death is skipped.
* Sasamaru attacking the Granite Elemental that killed Tetsuo is skipped.
* Kirito trying to reach Sachi before her death is skipped.
* Sachi's last words weren't "This isn't your fault" in the original, they were "Thank you. Goodbye."
	+ Kirito couldn't hear Sachi's last words and only found out what they were months later.
* In the original, Keita killed himself because he fell into despair after learning that his friends had died and because he felt betrayed after Kirito told him he was a beta tester. In the abridged version, it's heavily implied he committed suicide because he was afraid that the Mafia was going to kill him.
	+ Keita's suicide is moved to before the Christmas section of the story, rather than having it be a flashback during it.
	+ It's now unclear if Keita ever learned that Kirito was a beta tester.
* In the original, we see the conversation with the info broker, and she tells Kirito that the event is a Boss fight. In the abridged version, the conversation is now depicted in memory form, and event is now explained as a simple visit from Santa.
	+ The info broker doesn't have a cockney accent.
	+ The fact that Kirito has been taking risks to increase his level is skipped.
	+ The info broker mentioning that the Christmas event wasn't in the beta test is skipped.
	+ The info broker mentioning that the major Guilds are looking for the tree is skipped.
	+ In the original, the info broker doesn't mention the revival item, Kirito had already heard the rumor about it. In the abridged version, the info broker mentions the item, but it's explained as something vague that will "give anyone a merry Christmas". The idea that it can resurrect players is later suggested by Klein.
	+ Kirito doesn't run off to avoid paying the info broker. The info was free because the two knew each other from the beta test.
* A scene of Kirito preparing for the Boss fight is skipped.
* Kirito doesn't struggle to understand that what he's feeling is sadness over his friends dying. Kirito's whole motivation to fight the Boss is to resurrect Sachi, and if he dies trying that'll be his punishment for letting his Guild die.
* Because the abridged version skips straight to Kirito in the forest, the town we see in the episode is now portrayed like it's the Floor 35 town of Mishe, instead of the Floor 49 town of Myujen.
* The shot of Kirito running through the Dungeon's barrier is skipped.
* In the original, Kirito met up with Klein and his Guild because Klein was following him out of concern. In the abridged version, it seems like they bumped into each other by coincidence.
	+ Kirito doesn't directly tell Klein what happened to his Guild.
* The part where Klein asks Kirito to team up with them to get the item, followed by Kirito threatening to fight him, is skipped.
* The group that ambushes Kirito and Klein isn't the Mafia trying to collect Kirito's debt, they're a Guild that's also trying to get the revival item.
	+ The group was tracking Klein and his Guild in the original, not Kirito.
* Kirito's initial refusal to leave Klein to fight off the other Guild is skipped.
	+ Kirito doesn't thank Klein at any point during their encounter.
* Nicholas the Renegade doesn't talk.
* Klein never asks if Kirito was successful, he sees Kirito's face and realizes something's wrong.
* The item that Nicholas the Renegade drops isn't a hat, it's an item that revives players, but only within ten seconds of their avatar's death.
	+ In the original, Kirito gives the item to Klein, in case someone he knows dies. In the abridged version, Kirito states that he doesn't care what happens to it, so it's unclear if Klein kept it or not.
* Klein doesn't stop Kirito/get upset because he was "so close" to being a person in the original. He stops Kirito to tell him to survive until the end, and then cries over how sad the entire situation is.
* In the original, the episode ends with Kirito receiving a pre-recorded from Sachi, which she made in the event of her death. It is at this point she tells Kirito that her death wasn't his fault, as she probably would've died at some point anyway. She then hums Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, hence the episode's name. It's implied that Kirito did receive this message at some point in the abridged version, or a version of it, as it was one of the scenes Jack skipped over trying to get to the Christmas section of the story.

## Errors

* During Keita's message to Kirito, Charlie says that Keita has been playing for 4608 hours. However, 4608 hours is 192 days, which would make the date May 17, 2023, not May 16, 2023.
	+ Also, 4608 hours would be roundabout when Keita started playing SAO, which should be sometime between 1PM and 5:30PM, but it's the middle of the night.
* Sir Jack Dapper claims that Saint Nicholas was the patron saint of prostitutes. However, this isn't true. He was the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, and students. Vitalis of Gaza was the patron saint of prostitutes.

## Trivia

* This is the second episode with a narrator, the first being in Episode 2.
* This is the last episode with Misanda before she left with Cheesemanjoe due to creative differences.
* The line about how Kirito's heart grew three sizes is a reference to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss.