Mysterion Rises

"Mysterion Rises"

"Mysterion Rises" is the twelfth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park. It aired on Comedy Central on November 3, 2010 and is the second of a three-part arc that began with the previous week's episode, "Coon 2: Hindsight." In this episode, the true identity of Mysterion is revealed to the viewer, it already being known to the citizens of South Park.

Plot

Led by Mysterion, Coon's former Friends are working together to help the people in the Gulf who are at the mercy of the dark lord, Cthulhu. The Coon, scorned by his fellow super heroes and now working alone, is out to get revenge. He does this by allying himself with Cthulhu, hoping he will send his "friends" into oblivion. The episode ends when Mysterion (Kenny) awakes in his bed after a Cthulhu-worshipping cult kills him and his friends do not appear to remember his death despite seeing it with their own eyes.

Mysterion

Mysterion first appeared during South Park's thirteenth season as part of the episode The Coon. The character's true identity, despite being revealed to the citizens of South Park at the end of the episode, remained unknown to the viewer due to the fact that without any particular hairstyle, clothing, or other distinctive characteristics, most of the children of South Park look virtually identical.

The character's true identity was the subject of repeated fan inquires to the creators of South Park who claimed that they never chose an actual secret identity for him, and because the children of South Park tend to look alike without any additions to their faces, Mysterion's unmasking at the end of The Coon left viewers still wondering who he was. He reappeared in "Coon 2: Hindsight", the eleventh episode of season fourteen of the series, though his true identity remained unknown at the time of the episode's airing and despite his heroics in the first episode in which he appeared followed by his subsequent unmasking, Mysterion is ignored by the public in his second appearance.

Kenny is revealed to be the Mysterion, as he is addressed as Kenny by the other members of Coon and Friends. Kenny's numerous deaths were also acknowledged in this episode, by the character himself:

"I can't die. I've experienced death countless times. Sometimes I see a bright light. Sometimes I see Heaven, or Hell. But eventually no matter what I wake up in my bed wearing my same old clothes."

Kenny is also shown to use his secret identity to intimidate his parents into (unsuccessfully) quitting drugs and treating him and his brother better.

Because Mysterion speaks unmuffled, this is one of the few episodes where Kenny gets censored.

Secret identities

Coon and Friends

• Kenny is revealed to be Mysterion by the other members of Coon and Friends
• Clyde is revealed to be The Mosquito by his mother
• Kyle is revealed to be The Human Kite when he announces Kenny's death with Stan
• Bradley is revealed to be Mint Berry Crunch

• The Coon: Eric Cartman
  • In first appearance gave monologues in the style of Batman in The Dark Knight and Rorschach in Watchmen
• Toolshed: Stan Marsh
  • Has taken his dad's tools to outift himself.
• Tupperware: Token Black
  • Costume made of Tupperware, which ironically reveals identity by his skin color.
• Iron Maiden: Timmy
  • A parody of Iron Man as Timmy has his wheelchair covered in metal plates.
• Mint Berry Crunch: Bradley
  • A parody of Two-Face in having half of a costume, which is criticized by The Coon.
• The Mosquito: Clyde Donovan
  • Wears a mosquito costume, complete with wings and a vuvuzela over his nose to resemble a mosquito's mouth.
• Human Kite: Kyle Broflovski
  • Wears a kite as a costume, a parody of the Batman villain Kite Man.
• Mysterion: Kenny McCormick
  • Like The Coon is based on Batman and Rorschach, but had much more credibility in his first appearance.

Enemies

• Professor Chaos: Butters Stotch
  • Has been locked up in Cartman's basement, or "The Coon's secret hideout". Claims to have been locked up for six days. No longer speaks in his character's voice, possibly due to his starvation.

Continuity

• The two Star Trek nerds from "4th Grade" reappear as members of the Cthulhu cult.
• Mr. Adler from the episode "Tweek vs. Craig" is also a member of the cult.

Cultural references

• Cartman interacting with Cthulhu while on his belly as well as the song playing while flying with Cthulhu is a reference to My Neighbor Totoro.
• In this episode there is a parody clip of LeBron James' newest Nike commercial.
• The episode's title is a reference to the upcoming third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.
• The episode contains many allusions to the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

External links

• "Mysterion Rises" at SouthParkStudios.com