The Unbearable Lightning of Bean

Season 2 Episode 17

**The Unbearable Lightning of Bean** is the seventh episode of season 2, Part 2 of *Disenchantment* and the 37th episode overall. It premiered on February 9, 2022.

## Synopsis

A lonely Zøg searches the forest for his true love, Ursula the bear, who has a secret. Elfo, Luci and Bean stumble upon the site of an ancient battle.

## Plot

Bean regains consciousness on the beach and looks out to sea. Happy because she now knows that the night with Mora really happened, she touches her necklace. And the ship arrives and she, Zøg, Elfo, Luci and Derek get off. They run up to Bean and hug her. Derek is annoyed when no one has ever hugged him because he is still alive. They walk back along the beach to Elfo's question of how she managed to get back to shore earlier claiming a turtle took her on its back. Elfo doubts this. He takes the answer lying down and decides not to ask Bean about her necklace, which she is obviously hiding. Lucy announces Bean's return and wants Oona's pirate crew to spend their money in his bar. In the enchanted forest of Dreamland, many animals gather around a lake, a raccoon and a woman bathe in it, a mouse washes its clothes, deer sit on the shore and squirrels play with each other. The deer that stole Zøg 's crown is also here. A gnome comes and hastily drinks water. Everyone notices an airship flying overhead, whereupon they all flee. A lovelorn Zøg is just in Dreamland, he walks past many happy couples. Back in the castle, he sees Oona's ship, which has already left. Suddenly he remembers Ursula, the bear. Sadly, she sits down on her throne and asks Bean, who is sitting next to her, to find another seat. She says she was here first. Zøg asks Bean if she is happy. Bean tries to avoid the question. With insistence, Zøg asks Bean again. He realizes that she is in love. They talk about love together. Zøg 's first love was also a mermaid. They both broke each other's hearts. When Ursula comes up, Bean advises Zøg to give it a try. And he shouldn't let fear ruin his happiness. Zøg sets off. Bean walks miserably out of the throne room and tells the page boy to take the throne. He happily sits down on the throne.

Zøg enters Sorcerio's lab and asks him for a magic potion and to attract bears. He is reading in the Omnicon. He offers him runcid butter, fermented salmon oil and hot garbage juice. He wants all of it. Sorcerio and Odval grease him up. Freshly smeared, he also makes his way into the enchanted forest, demanding that Turbish and Mertz not follow him because he is on a "secret mission". The two decide that they will follow him secretly. Zøg is pleased with his solitude, Turbish and Mertz scurry by behind him. He spots Turbish and Mertz and sends them home. Turbish follows Zøg until he hits Mertz with an arrow from his crossbow that was meant for Turbish. Zøg runs through the forest and is watched by P.T and another member of The League of Gallivanting Scruntinators from the blimp. Says runs across the enchanted forest, he encounters the stag we know from season one episode fourteen: "The Lonely Heart Is a Hunter" who has stolen his crown. While trying to shoot him, Zøg is hit in the head by a pine cone, again his crown falls off his head and is stolen by the stag. He now wears two crowns on his head. In the treetop Zøg recognizes a bear cub for which he fancies, the bear cub throws two more pine cones at Zøg. He shoots at the tree, a branch breaks off and slams on his head. He is taunted again by the bear cub before it disappears through the trees.

In Dreamland, Bean walks sadly past Luci's Inferno, loud music blaring from the store. Inside the pub, Elfo and Luci dance on the counter, they are cheered and applauded by the villagers and the elves. Through the window, eleven sees Bean sadly walking past the store. She runs towards the beach. There sat down dreary blissfully in the sand. She recognizes the constellation: "The big Flipper" and wonders how she will ever get over Mora if she is not even here to break up with her. Elfo and Luci join her, and the three of them talk. Elfo tries to cheer her up, which doesn't work very well. Bean wants to head home to stare at the ceiling. Luci asks Elfo if he would carry him because it is uphill and the walk is so long and because he has such bad corns. Elfo suggests a shortcut, the small door whose origin is in Derek's room and leads to the beach. First seen in Season 1 Episode 17: "Love's Slimy Embrace".

Zøg is still in the forest, it begins to rain and slowly a thunderstorm comes up. He arrives at a cave. When he sees bones, animal carcasses and picnic baskets, he thinks he has found Ursula. He lights a match and realizes that the bear he was talking to is not Ursula. He escapes from the cave and runs straight into Ursula's arms.  She kisses him and they take shelter in a hollow tree. Bean, Elfo and Luci run straight up the stone stairs behind the small door, to the end. The ground beneath their feet collapses and they fall down to a beach in a cave. In the water in front of them is a shipwreck, which looks like it has been down here for a while. Elfo thinks it is very peaceful in this place, but when Luci taps him on the shoulder with his tail, he turns around and is shocked.  In the cave love dozens of skeletons. Back in the forest, the thunderstorm has stopped. Zøg and Ursula leave the hollow tree. Ursula strips off her fur a little, revealing the dress Zøg had made especially for her. The whole situation is observed by P.T. and his companion from the airship. P.T. wants Ursula, the forest Selkie, for his freak show. He has already caught the talking racist antelope. At a lake in the forest, Ursula strokes Zøg’s head and tries to explain to her with some metaphors that they belong together. But as it turns out, he doesn't know what metaphors are. He wants to make her understand that he wants her to be his wife, but Ursula is not familiar with the concept of marriage. He sees the bear cub throwing various pine cones at him. Zøg wants to make fun of his appearance. Spiky red hair, bulbous nose, psychotic disposition, ample belly, muscular calves. He is struck by the sudden realization that he is facing his son.

Bean, Elfo and Luci look around the cave with skeletons, they are elves, mermaids and human skeletons. This is where great battle took place. Elfo thinks it looks more like a massacre and not a battle. For Elfo, this is way too much. Bean counters that there are just as many human skeletons down here.  Bean steps on the fin bones of a dead mermaid. She was killed by a knife in the left breast. Bean kneels down and touches the knife, her eyes light up and she gets a little glimpse of what happened all those years ago. She sees the great battle. The elves and the mermaids were fighting the humans and they were winning but suddenly the cave shines with a white-blue light and the elves and the mermaids are struck by a magical lightning bolt. Which immediately gnaws the flesh from their bones. One mermaid who survived was stabbed by someone. The vision is over. Bean does not tell the other. Ursula and Zøg are watching their son trying to catch fish. Zøg wants to know if it is even his. At the same time, the bear catches one of the fish, but it gets away from him, so he has a little tantrum and hits the water. Sag approaches him carefully and tells him that he is his father. Jasper, his son, throws a stick at his forehead, so hard that you can see an imprint. Zøg goes into the water and shows Jasper that he will not catch any fish as long as they see his shadow. He turns to the sun, sticks a knife in the water and catches a fish. Jasper follows his advice and also manages to catch a fish. Zøg wants to get his third child right. He shows him how to make fire with a flint and a knife. He also shows him how to throw building logs, Jasper tries it too and is incredibly strong, because his building log flies much farther than Zøg's. Right into the roof of the house of a gnome. Zøg and Jasper laugh about it. He wants to wressels with him, Jasper frees himself from his grip and climbs up the belly. Zøg thinks he has another Derek on his hands, but immediately Jasper jumps down from the tree and pulls him to the ground.

It is evening, Zøg and Ursula use Ursula's fur as a mattress. Jasper plays with the knife next to the fire, when he gets tired he lies down next to them to sleep. Zøg and Ursula are roused from their sleep by Jasper's screams. P.T. has caught him in a net and his companion pulls him up to him. Ursula wears her fur again and Zøg rides on her back, they follow the airship. They pass a bunny party, and Zøg steals a cigar from one of the bunnies. P.T. examines his catch. Jasper takes out the knife and cuts the net with it, it falls down. Zøg and Ursula watch the falling Jasper. His impact is softened by various ricochets off branches. During their search for their son, Zøg throws the burning cigar with a harpoon shot from her hand. The forest around them begins to burn. Zøg and Ursula are separated by a fallen burning tree. She sends him off to find Jasper. Zøg raced off to search, climbing a tree to get a better view. He sees him, on the other side of a small ravine. Over a burning log he tries to get to his mother and she comes to meet him from the other side. Zøg warns her not to go over the burning tree yet. The trunk breaks and is only sparsely held by the other side. Slowly the tree slides down. Zøg appears at the precipice and rescues Jasper. Ursula also manages to reach Zøg's hand, but at the same time the tree trunk loses its hold and falls into the flames, together with Ursula. Zøg moves away from the abyss and hugs Jasper tightly, telling him not to worry about the family curse. After some time the fire is out, the airship disappears from the enchanted forest. Sad because they though Ursula has died, Zøg and Jasper sit on a stone. He does not like it in the castle, so Zøg wants to leave Jasper outside in the forest. Just as Zøg runs away, he hears Jasper say something for the first time. He turns back and takes Jasper in his arms. Hand in hand, the two walk back to Dreamland.

## Trivia

* The title of the episode is a parody of Milan Kundera's 1984 novel *The Unbearable Lightness of Being.*
* Jasper is extremely flammable.
* At the end of the last scene, you see P.T.'s airship again. A net dangles from the ship with something inside. As we know, Ursula has survived and is now an exhibit in P.T.'s freak show. Therefore, it is likely that she is in the net.
* Freckles can be seen on the right side hiding behind the wooden pillar at 18:44 till 18:40