The Return of the King

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"The Return of the King"
Season/Series:	3
Number in season:	9B
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

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

Summary

After losing several competitions with Glenbrook, the Lakewood students are afraid their principal will replace Mr. Ratburn with Mr. Pryce-Jones because he isn't good enough.

Plot

The episode opens with the kids going on a field trip to a medieval fair. When they make it to the fair, Mr. Ratburn's class sees that another school, Glenbrook Academy is there too.

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 medieval 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 think 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 and 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.
• 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.
• The title for this episode is a reference to the third instalment of J.R.R Tolklen's The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King

Goofs

• Arthur falls backwards when he sees his "shadow" move, but he rips through the wall facing forwards.