The Return of the King

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"The Return of the King"
Season/Series:	3
Original Airdate:	January 4, 1999
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Mario Cabrera
Episodes
Previous "Arthur's Treasure Hunt"	Next "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles"
Read transcript

"Have we ever played soccer against those kids? They seem kind of familiar. " – Arthur, The Return of the King

"The Return of the King" is the second half of the 9th episode of season 3. It originally aired on January 4th, 1999.

Summary

Mr. Ratburn's class go on a field trip to a medieval fair. They compete for a trophy against a class from Glenbrook led by Mr. Ratburn's former teacher, Mr. Pryce-Jones. There are all doppelgangers of all the students in Mr. Ratburn's class. During the competitions, Arthur is sidetracked from a maze after seeing a sword wedged in stone. Mr. Ratburn's class fears that Mr. Pryce-Jones may replace Mr. Ratburn if they lose. Despite their efforts, the Lakewood students lose all of the competitions. However, due to Arthur's curiosity and thinking, he un-wedges the stone from the sword by wiggling the handle. He is proclaimed "Arthur Read, King of the Medieval Fair".

Plot

The episode opens with the kids going on a field trip to a midieval fair. When they make it to the fair, Mr. Ratburn's class sees that another school, Glenbrook Academy, is there too, and the teacher with them is Mr. Price-Jones, who was Mr. Ratburn's teacher when he was in school. Arthur notices a sword put in a stone, and anyone who can get it out will become "king of the fair", but no matter how hard he pulls, it will not come out. Throughout the day the Lakewood kids compete with the Glenbrook kids in several middle ages-themed competitions, losing every single one. Arthur loses at a midieval maze. Francine loses at archery. The Brain fails at a trivia competition. Buster even loses at a pie eating contest! At lunch, it is revealed that Mr. Price-Jones was very strict, and when Arthur, Buster, Francine, and Brain overhear Mr. Haney talking with him, they thin that if Lakewood loses all of the contests, Mr. Price-Jones will replace Mr. Ratburn. The final event is a castle building contest. The Lakewood kids work hard and build a beautiful castle, but they lose to Glenbrook because their castle is not historically accurate. Arthur and the gang are dejected because they think that Mr. Price-Jones will replace Mr. Ratburn. But fortunately, Mr. Ratburn will stay. At the end of the day the Glenbrook kids ad Mr. Price-Jones all try to remove the sword from the stone, but they all fail. When it is Arthur's turn, he is able to pull it out. Arthur becomes the King of the Fair ad everyone cheers.

Characters

• Arthur
• Buster
• Francine
• Muffy
• Brain
• Mr. Ratburn
• Mr. Pryce-Jones
• Rusty
• Buffy
• Mr. Haney
• Chester (does not speak)
• Colleen (does not speak)
• Winky (does not speak)
• IQ (does not speak)
• Mr. Haney's niece (does not speak)
• Mr. Haney's nephew (does not speak)
• Binky (cameo)
• Fern (cameo)
• George (cameo)
• Maria (cameo)
• Sue Ellen (cameo)
• Alex (cameo)
• Jenna (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Female Dog (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Male Goat (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Female Bear (Number 2) (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Female Dog (Number 2) (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Male Rat (Number 3) (cameo)
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 8) (cameo)

Trivia

• The Lakewood kids all sat across from their counterparts at the lunch table, except for Fern sitting across from Maria's lookalike.
  • Arthur's lookalike, Chester, is also an aardvark
  • Buster's lookalike, Rusty, is an aardvark
  • Muffy's lookalike, Buffy, is a rabbit
  • Francine's lookalike, Colleen, is a rabbit
  • Binky's lookalike, Winky, is a rabbit
  • Fern's lookalike, 3rd Grade Female Dog, looks almost exactly like her
  • George's lookalike, 3rd Grade Male Goat, is a goat
  • Maria's lookalike, 3rd Grade Female Bear (Number 2), is a bear
  • Brain's lookalike, IQ, is a dog
  • Sue Ellen's lookalike, 3rd Grade Female Dog (Number 2), is a dog
  • Alex's lookalike, 3rd Grade Male Rat (Number 3), is a rat
  • Jenna's lookalike, 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 8), is an aardvark

Notes

• If Francine wanted to make Arthur forget about the sword, Arthur pulling it out stopped her.
• This episode was adapted into a chapter book King Arthur, the thirteenth book in the Arthur Chapter Book series.
• Buster's doppelganger is voiced by Oliver Grainger, the second actor of D.W.
• Henry the Fifth was Muffy's counterpart's great-great-great-great-great-great uncle. That is, unless she was making it up like Muffy did in "Background Blues".
• When Arthur pulls the sword from the stone, it is a play on the King Arthurian Legends, because Arthur's name is Arthur.

Goofs

• Arthur falls backwards when he sees his "shadow" move, but he rips through the wall facing forwards. It is normally impossible to twist like this in mid-fall.
• The sorcerer's voice is different after Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone.
• Before Arthur tried to pull the sword for the first time, he cutted the whole line so would anyone get frusturated at him?