The Devil's Revenge!

"Don't worry, Mugsy. I'll find some other way to bring you home."

—Cuphead setting out to save his brother

**The Devil's Revenge!** is the first episode of Season 3 of The Cuphead Show! and is the twenty-sixth overall.

## Synopsis

Without Mugman, Cuphead doesn't know what to do with himself. Can he strike a deal with the Devil to save his beloved brother and bring him home?

## Plot

The episode begins picking up right where Season 2 left off, showing Cuphead staring sadly while holding the Devil's pitchfork in hand. Only able to say his brother's name, Cuphead rides their conjoined bicycles home and sadly flops onto the sofa. A concerned Elder Kettle asks what's wrong, to which Cuphead lies and says he lost his pocket knife. Elder Kettle says that isn't anything to be upset over, since it wasn't like Cuphead lost Mugman (although he has no idea that's who Cuphead lost). Triggered by the comment, Cuphead starts sobbing and runs out of the house, to which Elder Kettle comments about kids being emotional at that age. Cuphead picks the bike and the pitchfork back up before promising to himself that he would get Mugman back no matter what. With that being said, he rides off into the forest as the scene closes in on him riding away.

The scene quickly changes to the shot of a soldier in Inkwell Hell roaring, before the camera zooms out to show him cracking a whip. A line of disheveled, barely-clothed slaves who are struggling to carry large boulders over their heads appear, groaning as the soldier continues cracking the whip. The camera pans over various people being tortured before it finally zooms in on a whistling Mugman and an old man who are chained to the wall. Mugman attempts to converse with his fellow inmate, but the man only screams, implying he lost his mind after years of torture. However, Mugman doesn't seem to care as he continues talking as if it were a normal day. One of the soldiers stomps over and orders Mugman to not talk to the prisoners. Instead, Mugman points out how large the soldier's teeth are. The soldier gets offended and orders Mugman to not talk to him either, but he proceeds with more questions till he accidentally pulls down a lever, which opens a trap door and sends the soldier falling into a pit of fire. Unfazed however, Mugman continues talking to the man next to him, who only continues screaming.

The camera pans upward to show The Devil and Henchman in an observatory room, where Devil complains about having his pitchfork being stolen. Henchman tries to remind his boss of the rules (he can't just kidnap people), but the Devil angrily states he doesn't care. He complains that the loss of the pitchfork resulted in him losing half his powers. Henchman tries to remind him of the powers he still has, but the Devil brushes him off, complaining that he now didn't know what to do with his hands. Henchman tries to offer the large spoon that came with the pitchfork, but the Devil gets embarrassed and orders him to put it away before someone saw it. The Devil continues looking at Mugman and decides that he would break his spirit. Henchman points out that Mugman shouldn't be underestimated, but the Devil bets he could break Mugman's spirit before noon. The duo decide to make a bet on it, and if Henchman won then he would be rewarded with an all-expense-paid vacation to the destination of his choice. And the Devil is not to cheat under any circumstances.

The scene switches to Cuphead riding through the forest, reaching the pool where the oracle known as Quadratus would usually be. Despite him being on vacation, Cuphead summons him using a jawbreaker. Annoyed but willing to help, Quadratus informs Cuphead that slamming the pitchfork on the ground should help him get to the underworld, but not before mentioning that would take a while to master. Cuphead dismisses that part and attempts to teleport to the underworld, but all it does is switch his body around. After using a few more jawbreakers (due to Quadratus needing them every few seconds) Cuphead realizes the rules to pitchfork ownership and is handed a piece of special chalk that should help him get down there.

The scene switches and fades into a far-away shot of the Devil walking down the stairs leading to the observation room Henchman is still standing in. He walks over to a pipe with a wheel on it, before he turns the wheel in order to make the hell flames rise. He walks over to Mugman (who is on the ground playing marbles) and mockingly asks him if the temperature is hot enough for him. To show how hot it was, the scene changes to show a slave literally melting into a sizzling puddle. The Devil himself begins to sweat and tries to hide it, but to his surprise, Mugman states that he's just fine with the temperature. The Devil then hurries to turn the temperature back down because it had gotten too hot even for him. He then tries again at breaking the kid's spirit by rubbing in the fact that Mugman was stuck in the underworld for all eternity, but Mugman states that he's not worried because he knew Cuphead was coming to rescue him. After forcing laughs out of the inhabitants nearby, The Devil "explains" that Cuphead was actually dead (as it had been 80 years apparently) and had gone to heaven, but Mugman pointed out that if his brother really was dead he'd be down in the Underworld with them. The Devil grows angry that none of his attempts are working, which only grows when he sees Henchman humming a Hawaiian tune and doing a hula dance.

The scene switches back to Cuphead in the woods, where Quadratus tells him to draw a square on the ground in order to summon the elevator to take him down to the underworld. After Cuphead reads the wording on the chalk itself, the square lights up and the elevator appears. After struggling to get the bike in with him, he goes down; allowing Quadratus to finally get back to his vacation.

Once Cuphead makes it down to the underworld, he passes by several paintings of the Devil torturing civilians and complains about the heat, before remembering that he was technically in hell. He hears the Devil and Mugman talking from a tunnel, and he parks the bike against a pillar before venturing into the tunnel. Meanwhile, the Devil storms back into the observatory room before noticing the clock which reads he has 10 minutes left to break Mugman's spirit or he loses the bet. Henchman makes a jab at this, and in a last-minute resort to buy himself time, the Devil tries to fool Henchman that he needs to pick up some laundry for him (although he hardly ever wears anything). The Devil then tries to turn the clock back but is caught red-handed by Henchman. As the two bicker about the issue, Cuphead and Mugman reunite and attempt to sneak out through the exit. As the Devil tries to deny what he did, Henchman sees the cup brothers sneaking away through the window and tries to notify his boss, but he only scolds him for interrupting him. After being forcibly turned around and finally noticing the cups, the Devil screams in rage and attempts to teleport to the cups, but forgets he does not have his pitchfork. Enraged at this, the Devil runs Henchman over and rushes down the stairs, yelling for them to get back there.

As the Devil chases the brothers, Mugman grabs the bag full of his marbles and dumps them on the ground, causing the Devil to comically slip and fall and get some marbles caught in his throat. The brothers manage to get on their bike and begin to pedal down the corridor, and only pedal faster when the Devil gives chase again. The bike hits a pebble which causes Cuphead to accidentally fire the pitchfork into the wall, which sends a river of lava in between them and the Devil. Having enough of these games, the Devil roars and transforms into a dragon before flying after the brothers (a callback to season 1). The cups then weave around each of the many pillars lining the throne room, to where the scene displays a series of the Devil chasing the cups in different forms. He chases them in the form of a giant gorilla, a jaguar, and an octopus, then it shows the cups chasing the Devil, the Devil chasing the brothers while on their bike, before they finally make it out of the maze with the Devil pursuing them as a dragon once more. The bike continues running over pebbles and activating the pitchfork, which destroys the paintings and the throne, much to the Devil's dismay. Finally, the pitchfork hits him on the chest, before he grows angrier and continues his pursuit of the cups.

As they pedal further along, they take notice of the system that is bringing souls into hell, but they have no time to look at it for long as the Devil transforms into a giant bull and charges after them. He hits them with his horns and they land on one of the tubes, which causes Cuphead to fall off the bike and land on a tube below. The Devil orders the brothers to get off the tubes, but he fails to pay attention to his surroundings and ends up running into the large soul vault, creating a hole and allowing the souls to begin escaping. The Devil tries grabbing them and hastily transforms into an octopus to capture them, but he only manages to grab a few as many more keep disappearing. Getting an idea, Cuphead runs around and blasts the tubes in various places, allowing more souls to escape at once. Once the Devil realizes that he is failing he gives the cups a murderous glare which causes them to finally flee. Once they make it back on the ground Cuphead notices the elevator and they manage to find refuge inside it.

Thinking they escaped, the cups share a hug but they realize something is wrong when the elevator doesn't move. The walls suddenly fall, and the camera zooms out to show that it was a fake elevator and they were surrounded by a large tongue and teeth. Mugman screams in fear, and the camera zooms out to show a giant Devil angrily yelling at the brothers for their stupidity. As the Devil's mouth opens, the brothers jump out of it and begin falling. Cuphead tries to catch Mugman while riding the pitchfork like a broom, but the Devil grabs him first and demands Cuphead to hand over the pitchfork (not before getting the bike out of his mouth because it was lodged in his throat). Cuphead refuses, further fueling the Devil's anger. Cuphead then reminds his giant enemy of pitchfork ownership rules, to which the Devil realizes he has a point. Fed up with the cup's nonsense, the Devil shrinks back down to his normal size still holding Mugman by the back of his shirt.

The two of them agree to make a deal: the Devil gets his pitchfork back, and Mugman is returned to Cuphead. After the two of them bicker if they should do the trade on or after 3 and shouts made by an annoyed Mugman, Cuphead and the Devil threw each of their desired items towards the other. Once the deal is done, the Devil orders the two brothers to get out of his domain. At first, they mock him for being so angry, but after the Devil barks the order in a booming voice, the brothers pedal the bike through the gates in an instant (a callback to season 2). After putting things back in order (fixing the wall, reversing the effects on his paintings, sealing up the soul vault, and re-insegrating his throne, the Devil is happy to have his pitchfork back, only to realize that it is slightly damaged due to the cup brothers' reckless choices they made when it was in their possession. If that wasn't enough, Henchman shows up in a Hawaiian outfit and packed luggage, reminding his boss what their deal was. The Devil sighs, realizing he has no choice.

Back on the surface world, Cuphead and Mugman are pedaling through the woods as fast as they could. Mugman points out that he hopes Cuphead learned his lesson from all this, but not even three seconds later the scene switches to Cuphead playing Soul Ball again. Just like in season 1, Cuphead is on a winning streak and everyone is cheering for him, and Mugman passes out from the sheer shock at his brother's stupidity.

Meanwhile, the scene changes to Henchman lying on the beach enjoying a drink. He comments how it is nice to get away from it all, and the camera zooms out to show an equally relaxed Quadratus sitting next to him. Henchman offers the oracle a sip of his drink, although Quadratus seems to drink almost all of it, much to Henchman's annoyance. However, the two of them continue their vacation anyway.

(Episode ends)

## Transcript

The Devil's Revenge!/Transcript

Characters

* Cuphead
* Mugman
* The Devil
* Henchman
* Quadratus
* Elder Kettle
* Soul Ball Game Voice
* Ghouls
* Elephant (cameo)
* Saxophone
* Inkwell Isle Citizens
* Souls
	+ Telephone (cameo)

## Trivia

* This episode was aired on November 17, 2022, one day before the airings of all the other episodes on Netflix's social media accounts.
* Originally, the episode was, in fact, named "The Devil's Pitchfork - Part 2".
* In the beginning of the episode, there might be a slight nod to the video game; unlike in the game, it's Henchman that makes a bet with the Devil, instead of King Dice. Furthermore, much like King Dice does in the game, Henchman warns the Devil not to underestimate the brothers (in this case, Mugman).
* In the scene where Henchman and Quadratus are at the beach, a music track from SpongeBob SquarePants is used.
* Apparently, there's a Mugman cloud hidden somewhere.
* This is the final episode of The Devil's Due Arc.
* This episode shares its name with a similarly named movie, named "Devil's Revenge."
* At one point, the Devil tries to convince Mugman with a lie, that he is stuck in the Underworld for 80 years and Cuphead is likely not only dead, but sent to Heaven. 80 years is the time gap between the series' release year, 2022 and the year the series takes place, 1930's/40's.
* It's revealed that Old Scratch got his pitchfork as part of a utensil set alongside a giant golden spoon, that he tells Henchman to put away before someone sees it.
* Mugman helps ring in *The Cuphead Show!* Season 3 premiere with the first barely-disguised dark-humour joke:
	+ **Mugman:** Great. So he's here, then.
	+ **Devil:** What? No. He's dead, but he's not here. He's... *(points upward)*
	+ **Mugman:** *(Beat)* Not buying it.
	+ **Devil:** What?! Oh! Not buying it?
	+ **Mugman:** Listen, I know my brother, and if he's not *down here*, then he's not dead. Which means, he's coming to save me.
* Cuphead draws a square on the ground with a chalk in order to summon the elevator to take him down to the underworld. It’s a reference to *Beetlejuice,* when Adam and Barbara draw a door with a chalk in order to go to the Afterlife.
* When the Devil turns up the heat in the Underworld, it seems strange that he feels uncomfortable long before Mugman even works up a sweat. But then again, it makes sense that hot air would affect him more than Mugman, given the fact that the Devil is covered in fur, while Mugman isn't.
* The Devil turning into a giant massive version of himself is a likely reference to the second and fourth phase of his boss fight in the game. In addition, he appears to be the same size, if not bigger, compared to Cala Maria.
* The tapestries in the Devil's throne room show the different forms he takes in the first part of his boss battle in the game.