For Whom the Pig Oinks

Season 1, Episode 2

**For Whom the Pig Oinks** is the second episode in the Disenchantment series. It premiered on August 17, 2018.

## Synopsis

How to get rid of an unwanted fiance? Bean's plan involves a Party barge and mermaids. King Zog tries to make Elfo's blood into an immortality potion.

## Plot

As Princess Bean, Elfo, and Luci seemingly fall to their deaths off the cliff, Prince Merkimer cries out, mourning the loss of his bride-to-be. He and the Knights of the Zog Table are confronted by the blind ogre, and engage in a fierce battle. The Washmaster interrupts the fight, begging them not to fight, but he's dropped off the cliff by the ogre, and the fight resumes. Meanwhile, down the cliff, Bean and her friends hang on to a branch, while she struggles with the choice between dying or getting married to Prince Merkimer, joking that, "[it] should be a harder decision". Luci pushes her to fall, while Elfo begs her not to. However, Bean reveals that the branch snapped while they were talking, and the group screams as they plummet to their supposed deaths.

At the bottom of the Wishmaster's plateau, Merkimer and the Knights congratulate themselves on escaping the ogre. They scour the area for the bodies of Bean and her friends, assuming them dead. However, Bean, Elfo, and Luci fall directly on Merkimer's head, surviving their fall and dazing Merkimer. After confusing Elfo's face for his own disfigured appearance, much to Elfo's dismay, the ogre falls on Merkimer as well, crushing him into the ground.

Later, Merkimer and the Knights, having taken Bean and her friends captive, return to Dreamland with their charges. Merkimer greatly annoys Bean on the journey with tales of his supposed greatness. Arriving in the throne room, Merkimer presents Bean and Elfo to King Zøg. Zøg takes an immediate interest in Elfo, greeting him and buttering him up, before ordering him caged. Bean protests, saying that elves need to prance and dance, so Zøg allows him two holes in the bottom of the cage to do so. He then demands Elfo perform for him, which he does, until he falls over and rolls down the stairs. Odval reports that Elfo has been knocked out, and Zøg orders someone to ensure he's still alive. He then crassly returns his attention to the wedding between Bean and Merkimer, much to his daughter's disgust.

Later, in the Royal Baths, Bean is scrubbed down by Bunty. Ignoring Bunty's horrifically cheery story about her son's death, Bean laments that she's being made to marry Merkimer. Odval, also getting a bath, tells her it's her duty as a princess, saying they need the alliance with Bentwood to refill the royal coffers. His bath companion, a beautiful, long-haired man, taunts her, saying he doesn't see anyone, "storming [her] castle" right now, eliciting a withering stare from Bean.

In Sorcerio's lab, the royal wizard looks through his books, while Zøg watches. Sorcerio explains that elves' blood has potent magical properties. Zøg excitedly asks if that means he can finally gain access to the Elixir of Life, which Sorcerio confirms.

Back in her room, Bean dries her hair and prepares to change. Elfo watches, excited at the prospect of seeing Bean naked, until Luci ruins the moment by loudly reminding Bean of Elfo's presence. She pauses, and hooks him to a hat rack, turning him to face away from her. As she changes, she discusses killing Merkimer to avoid the wedding. Luci urges her to do so, but Elfo protests, saying she's not a killer, though he admits she killed Prince Guysbert. However, Guysbert is shown to still be alive, albeit in a lot of pain, still impaled upon the throne of swords. Elfo continues, saying that while Bean is a violent alcoholic, she's not a killer. Dejected, Bean agrees, saying she'll go have a few drinks while she thinks of a way out of the wedding. Sorcerio then enters, asking to take Elfo, so he can, "pick his brain... through his nostrils", which goes unnoticed by Bean and Luci.

Soon after, Bean and Luci wander the streets of Dreamland, and Luci asks how she plans to kill Merkimer. She suggests poison, and enters Little Seizures Poison Shop, but is unable to come to a decision. They exit the shop, and Bean halfheartedly suggests rubbing a sick chicken in Merkimer's face and, "hoping for the best". Suddenly, the clock tower bell chimes, drawing Bean's attention. She sees the automaton clock, and the figures of the sailors chasing the mermaids, and suddenly has an epiphany. She excitedly turns back to Luci, who is devouring the sick chicken whole.

Back in Sorcerio's lab, Sorcerio prepares to extract blood from Elfo for his experiments. He obtains a small sample of blood, proudly displaying it for Zog to see. He then invites the Lord Lingonberry into his lab, and straps him to the table, at Zøg's order. He then places the drop of blood on Lord Lingonberry's head, hoping to regrow the lord's lavish hair. However, the single drop does nothing, and a dejected Sorcerio releases Lord Lingonberry, only to find he's died on the table. Sorcerio briefly mourns his death, before sending him down the chute to the pig pens below, who begin to devour Lord Lingonberry's corpse. Return to his experiments, he blames the failure on the quantity of blood obtained, and orders his servant to extract more blood from him. She begins, "milking" Elfo for blood, prompting a woozy Elfo to comment that, "[his] brain feels dry".

At the campsite of the Bentwood Wedding Delegation, Bean and Luci meet with Merkimer, intending to trick him into being taken by mermaids. They convince him that he needs to have a bachelor party, thrown by Bean, on the seas before their wedding, planning to travel by Mermaid Island. Merkimer expresses his doubts about the plan, fearing being ensnared by the mermaids' siren song, but Bean assures him that only weak men would fall for it, prompting an egotistical Merkimer to agree, much to Bean and Luci's delight.

Back in Sorcerio's lab, Sorcerio and Zog continue their experiments, extracting more and more blood from Elfo, and trying to unlock the secrets to the magic in elves' blood. Bean enters, and sees the emaciated Elfo. Horrified, she angrily confronts her father and Sorcerio for letting Elfo get so emaciated. Zøg brushes off her concerns, much to Bean's disgust. At Sorcerio's suggestion, Zøg issues an ultimatum: if Elfo can't fill the flask with blood by sun-up the next day, he'll grind Elfo up into paste, to see if that works instead, and leaves Bean and Elfo in the lab.

Later, Elfo, Luci, and Bean worry about Zøg's threat. They try to hatch a plan, but come up empty, until Bean notices several pigs in the courtyard, and has an epiphany. She hauls a pig up into the lab, and hooks the pig up to the blood machine, extracting a large amount of blood from the creature.

The next morning, Zøg and Sorcerio return to the lab, finding the flask full, and the lab flooded with several inches of blood. Luci, Elfo, and Bean nervously stand in the room, asking if Elfo's free to go, which Zøg begrudingly agrees to, for the moment, before lamenting at wearing sandals today. He squelches out of the room, followed by Sorcerio, leaving Bean and her friends to celebrate, as they free Elfo from his cage.

At the Dreamland Docks, the Merkimer Bachelor Party, as well as Bean, Elfo, and Luci, prepare to depart. They receive the Barge Captain's welcome, and begin boarding. Bean is initially barred from entering by Sir Pendergast, but she punches him in the gut, and brushes past him. Spotting her, Merkimer beckons her over, and expresses his gratitude that Bean is joining him on the trip. Bean agrees with a mysterious response. The Captain sets sail, and warns his passengers to drink responsibly, warning them of the dangers of Mermaid Island.

As the night goes on, the party goers drink heavily, usually at Elfo's expense. The Captain interrupts to announce their arrival in dangerous waters, pointing to both Mermaid Island and Walrus Island, cryptically warning the group not to mix up the two islands. Bean announces that the men will be lashed to the masts, sarcastically saying she hopes that no one will lose control and jump overboard. With the help of Elfo and the Captain, the trio tie down the other guests, and plug their own ears.

As they sail closer to the islands, Bean and Elfo do some final preparations to tie down the guests. Elfo, tasked with sabotaging Merkimer's knots, tells Bean and Luci that he couldn't do it, much to Bean's annoyance. Under the pretext of wanting one last kiss from him, Bean goes and chews throw the ropes binding Merkimer to the mast, greatly weakening them. The Captain then orders everyone not lashed to the masts to plug their ears, prompting Bean and Elfo to put wax in their ears. Suddenly, a beautiful siren's song can be heard in the distance. The men, mesmerized, struggle to break free. Merkimer succeeds, much to Bean's and Luci's excitement, and Elfo's horror. He jumps overboard and swims towards the source of the song. The fog clears, and the "mermaids" are reveals as walruses, the boat having mistakenly drifted towards Walrus Island. Oblivious, Merkimer mistakes the walruses for mermaids, complimenting them on their beauty, and invites them to, "climb aboard" his body, which they happily do. Merkimer is dragged into the depths of the ocean by the walruses, and the song ends. The Captain expresses his satisfaction at losing only one man, saying he usually loses everyone, a fact he doesn't advertise.

The other guests and the Captain gather on the deck, and toast to Merkimer, partially for his death, but also because he prepaid for the party barge. Bean suggests the group heads back to Dreamland.

The party barge travels through a thick fog. Bean spots several lights in the distance, and cries out, mistaking it for Dreamland. Pendergast corrects her, warning her that it's a Borc warship, and orders everyone to be silent. However, Elfo, still having wax in his ears, loudly asks, "what?", alerting the ship to the party barge's presence. The admiral of the ship orders an attack on the party barge, decimating the ship. The party barge tries to counterattack, but the ships weapons prove to be useless fireworks. With the ship falling apart around them, Bean holds her friends close and prepares for the end. Suddenly, Merkimer arrives with a battalion of walruses, destroying the enemy ship, and saving the party barge. The passengers watch as Merkimer returns, triumphant. Bean, dismayed, kicks Luci into the water in anger when he taunts her about her husband-to-be having, "screwed 30 walruses".

The party barge arrives back at Dreamland safely. Merkimer and several Knights return to the throne room. Merkimer presents the head of the admiral of the enemy ship to Zøg, declaring it the head of the Borc admiral. However, Zøg examines it, and reacts with dismay, informing him that it's the head of the Bozak Admiral, noting that the Bozaks are their closest allies. Odval reminds Zøg that the Bozak wedding delegation never arrived, but their presents have been turning up on shore for some time. Merkimer quickly corrects himself, suggesting that the head serve as a warning to their other allies, placing it on a stake.

In Bean's room, Bean spends some time with her friends before her wedding, depressed and crying. Elfo and Luci silently try to comfort her, but nothing works. She sadly notes that she's wearing her mother's wedding dress, saying she's sure she won't look as happy in her official portrait as her mother did on her wedding day. As the wedding bells toll, Bean steels herself, and leaves for the church. Elfo gives her one last hug, but Bean shrugs him off, and leaves. Heartbroken, Elfo says he can't watch the wedding, and leaves to go to Sorcerio's lab, as Luci follows.

Bean slowly arrives at the church, and meets Zøg outside. He proudly escorts her to the altar. Meanwhile, in Sorcerio's lab, Elfo sits in his cage with Luci. Suddenly, Merkimer enters the lab, and greets Elfo, oblivious to the latter's annoyance with him. He admits he's nervous about the wedding, and tells Elfo he's worried he won't be able to have sex with Bean later, much to Elfo's discomfort. He grabs the flask of Elfo's blood mixed with pig's blood, and suggests drinking that to help him recover his stamina. Luci starts to warn him, but Elfo stiffles him, and urges him to drink the whole potion.

Back at the church, Zøg orders that Merkimer be brought in. The doors to the church open, and Derek, acting as a flower boy, escorts Merkimer in, watched by Elfo and Luci. As Merkimer walks down the aisle, he begins to groan, and suddenly begins to transform into a pig. Back in Sorcerio's lab, the pig is shown transforming into Merkimer's form. Now fully a pig, Merkimer arrives at the altar, nonchalantly greeting Bean. The congregation holds its breath, prompting Bean to angrily chastise her father for not having any issue with her marrying a literal pig. She chastises him for acting selfishly and not caring about her at all, declaring that she will not marry Merkimer, neither as a pig nor, when the pig that transformed into Merkimer crashes through the window, as a human. Zøg surprisingly agrees, calling off the wedding, much to the shock of the congregation and the displeasure of King Lorenzo I. Zøg challenges Lorenzo I to a fist fight, much to the congregation's delight, and the two begin to brawl. Bean, having snuck onto a balcony overlooking the church, sits with Elfo and Luci, and thanks them for making her wedding day, "a day [she'll] always remember", before urging the others to help her drink until she forgets the whole thing. Luci hands both of them bottles of liquor, and Elfo toasts the group, while Luci toasts himself. The three drink as they watch the king fight happening below them.

## Cast

* Abbi Jacobson as Princess Bean
* Nat Faxon as Elfo
* Eric Andre as Luci/Pendergast
* John DiMaggio as King Zøg
* Billy West as Sorcerio/Mertz
* Tress MacNeille as Crowd
* David Herman as Guysbert/Barge Captain
* Maurice LaMarche as Odval/Ogre/The Washmaster/Lord Lingonberry/Giuseppe/Lorenzo I
* Matt Berry as Prince Merkimer
* Rich Fulcher as Turbish
* Lucy Montgomery as Bunty
* Jeny Batten as (Voice)
* Lauren Tom as (Voice)

## Deaths

* The Washmaster
* Lord Lingonberry
* Bozak Wedding Delegation

## Callbacks

* **Staying Alive** - Guysbert's head wound was non-fatal.

## Cultural References

* ***Cluedo/Clue****:* when Luci says "Sooo, how are we going to kill your fiancé? Candlestick in the conservatory? Candlestick in the face?" this is a reference to the famous board game.
* ***The Dark Crystal*** **(1982)**: The draining of Elfo's blood to acquire it's life rejuvenating properties is uncannily similar to the draining of the essence of Podlings by Skeksis to regain their life force in this classic Jim Henson fantasy film.
* ***Lady and the Tramp*** **(1955)**: when the two pigs suck up the intestines and unite in a kiss, this is reminiscent of the famous spaghetti scene in this classic Disney cartoon.
* **Little Caesars**: the US pizza chain is referenced by "Little Seizures Poison Shop", even the logos are similar.
* **Belladonna**: otherwise known as Deadly Nightshade, this is a classic poison and herb associated with witchcraft.
* **Alchemy**: the precursor to science. Sorcerio is quite clearly an alchemist.
* **Mephisto**: *Mephismo* may be a reference to one of the chief demons of German literary tradition.
* **Ouroboros**: a snake eating it's own tail is seen in a jar in Sorcerio's lab. It is an alchemical symbol from ancient Egypt associated with infinity, eternity and immortality (such as King Zog is interested in).

## Trivia

* **Title explained**: *For Whom The Bell Tolls* was widely regarded to be Ernest Hemingway's best novel (1940). The title comes from a poem by the metaphysical poet John Donne (1624) and informed the song of the same name by Metallica in (1985), amongst other works. The main theme is "death comes to us all", which is of significance in this episode as King Zog's pursuit of immortality is revealed.
* When Sorcerio mentions picking Elfo's brain out with a hook (something he doesn't actually do), this is a reference to the Egyptian practice of removing the brain of a pharaoh prior to the mummification process. This is an esoteric reference to Egypt, the birth place of alchemy: the Arabic word *al-kīmiyaʾ* actually means "the *Egyptian* [science]", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt", *kēme* (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, *khēme*).