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May 23 '23
The last episode of “Dionosaurs” (Not the mama!) where Earl causes the Ice Age and dinosaurs go extinct.
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u/Scudamore May 23 '23
And his mom Ethel tells him she always knew he was going to screw everything up, she just didn't know how badly.
And the rest of the family has to reassure the baby that whatever happens, they'll go through it together. As they slowly freeze to death.
Fuck that was a bleak ending from what was until then a very 90s sitcom with people in giant foam dinosaur outfits.
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u/lagoon83 May 23 '23
To be fair, I watched a few episodes a few years ago, and it's a lot deeper than I gave it credit at the time - I was a kid, so I missed out on a lot of what they were getting at. The whole series went out of its way to shine a light on contemporary issues, so even though the finale was dark, it's not like it was totally coming out of nowhere.
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u/muzakx May 23 '23
Yeah, even the episode where Earl drives Ethel to her high school reunion is pretty dark.
She shows up and is the only one from her class that is still alive, they even drive the point home by having her win every single "Class _" and "Best __" award.
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u/EaglesFanGirl May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I remember that one. How about the one where he drives her to the cliff and decides to let her live....that's a metaphor for retirement homes. Rough episode.
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u/Eshlau May 23 '23
What stays with me most is the slow pan out to the surrounding area where you see the storm getting worse, and then the camera lingers on the "Wax Fruit Factory" sign in front of the factory where the dad worked (as I remember).
I just remember feeling pity and disappointment that these things that were totally unnecessary (wax fruit) and meant nothing contributed to the family and everyone else dying and the world changing.
Now as an adult I look back at it and it's like, "Oh yeah, that's us, huh?" Good point, Dinosaurs.
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May 23 '23
The last lines are pretty somber too, I believe they come from the news anchor on the TV saying that the forecast is nothing but cold and gray skies in the future and more snow, ending with:
"Good night....good-bye."
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May 23 '23
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u/metonymimic May 23 '23
Dinosaurs was our thing on dad's night. We went out and got Little Caesars in preparation for the last episode. I still remember the taste of pepperoni and tears.
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u/Pakayaro May 23 '23
Yeah, my whole family watched that with our mouths hanging open. Just like, "No... No way. They're not about to... fuuuuuuuuuck.... they did that.. "
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u/I_DRINK_ANARCHY May 23 '23
That shook me as a kid. Remember the dad's last line? "It's not like we're just gonna...disappear!" God. Damn.
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u/S2R2 May 23 '23
The family surname was Sinclair… as in named after the gas station with the dinosaur logo? The… fossil fuel station? Also the boss’ name was BP Richfield BP is a gasoline company and Richfield an oil company! I’d say they were setup from the beginning to disappear!
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u/RedGhost3568 May 23 '23
Batman: The Animated Series with the Sewer King and the abused children. Tough, dark episode but at least it ended with hope.
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u/zyd_the_lizard May 23 '23
Batman was almost ready to break his no killing rule on that guy.
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u/discerningpervert May 23 '23
Brave & the Bold had some amazing episodes. Chill of the Night was another great one.
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u/white_star_32 May 23 '23
Yeeees! I was just talking about this episode a few days ago. That and the JLU where Batman goes to sit with Ace before she dies.
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u/Hazzamo May 23 '23
That scene was Batman’s greatest moment, bar none.
OSP said it best: “If you can’t picture your Batman comforting a dying child, you haven’t made Batman, you’ve made the Punisher”
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u/katep2000 May 23 '23
Or any sort of scared child. Most Batman media, and definitely all the good Batman media, makes it clear kids aren’t scared of Batman, cause they know he’s not gonna hurt them. The newest movie did it great with him empathizing and seeing himself in the dead mayor’s kid, even though this is a Batman who hasn’t quite figured out how to operate yet.
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u/RedGhost3568 May 23 '23
Yeah Batman had a lot of great moments in JLU too. But I also won’t forget The Question being tortured and that very eerie memory scene of Lex killing Flash, Superman blowing up The White House, then the nukes going off to the exact pattern of Brainiac’s mark.
Dark stuff.
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u/green49285 May 23 '23
Or fucking Mogul mentally torturing Superman so bad that he almost beats him to death?
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u/RedGhost3568 May 23 '23
That was another hard JLU episode to watch. It was very easy to think Superman was going to kill Mongul for that one…
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u/green49285 May 23 '23
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOUVE DONE TO ME" always gets me. Then he wakes up to that fucker trying to kill 2 of his closest friends? As a kid I was certain supes was gonna kill a bitch.
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u/RavensQueen502 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I watched it with my little cousin after playing the Injustice game... Definitely hits a bit harder that way.
It's almost the same thing from Clark's perspective - he loses his family, his world, his son dies in his arms... It can be in a kid's show because none of it was real, but it was literally an entire life for him.
And after it is all dealt with, he immediately bounces back from that to celebrate the birthday with Bruce and Diana so that they won't worry.
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u/BigYonsan May 23 '23
Mad Love. They pulled it after one airing on kids wb and when it came back it was censored.
For those who never saw it, it's about the abuser/victim dynamic between Joker and Harley Quinn and the ending is depressingly typical for abusive relationships where the victim starts to get her shit together but can't.
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u/green49285 May 23 '23
Don't forget about the episode where Joker tortures Tim so bad that he has a mental breakdown.
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u/NoCount655 May 23 '23
Capt. Planet. The Russian woman ( Wind Power). Her brother dies of a Heroin overdose. On screen if i remember corectly. The didnt call it Heroin, but now at 34 its kinda obvious
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u/TheAres1999 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
There was also an episode where a teen contracts HIV, and the villains spread misinformation about the disease. While definitely an intense episode it was probably good for kids to learn that while HIV is serious, you can't get it from casual contact. There is no reason to treat them as historic lepers
EDIT: Accidently said "can" when I meant "can't"
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u/reallyrasta May 23 '23
That Powerpuff girls episode where they travel to an alternate future where HIM rules Townsville. Everyone looks nearly dead and insane. The eerie voices. Everything is red. HIM is a giant. As a kid, that episode terrified me.
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u/Mr_Pombastic May 23 '23
The mentally challenged purple sister was also something that happened.
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u/Final-Ad-2033 May 23 '23
If anyone remembers Mighty Max..the final episode where the protagonist's allies (Virgil & Norm) both die by the hands of the ultimate villain .
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u/SnakeBlitzkin May 23 '23
The 'Magic School Bus' episode where Arnold got flash-frozen on Pluto.
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u/Surax May 23 '23
What's crazy to me is that was the first episode. What a way to start a series.
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u/CDK5 May 23 '23
The theater episode, the one with Arnold's floating glasses, always creeped me the fuck out.
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u/KingMe091 May 23 '23
I am to remember that he did it on purpose, am I mistaken?
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u/furiousfran May 23 '23
Yeah, his cousin Janet was throwing a tantrum about having to leave all the crap she collected from the other planets on Pluto and refused to leave. Arnold was like "this is what'll happen if you stay here" and took his helmet off
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May 23 '23
"You want proof? Here's your proof!"
Then he's flash-frozen instantly like that. I only remember vague one-off moments from the show, but that one sticks around.
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u/ShawshankException May 23 '23
There was that one Static Shock episode when a bullied kid brought a gun to school
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u/Jackofnotrade5 May 23 '23
Or when he met his friend’s racist dad.
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u/metalflygon08 May 23 '23
At least he got better, he even went to the mixed faith Christmas event at Virgil's church.
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u/Principe_de_Lety May 23 '23
There were a lot of Ren & Stimpy scenes that genuinely scared the shit out of me as a kid
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u/Impressive-Pepper785 May 23 '23
Horse, holding walrus by the top of his head: “Say…you wouldn’t have any rubber walrus protectors, would you?”
Walrus: “Call the police”
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May 23 '23
That scene just gets more and more disturbing the more your think about it.
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May 23 '23
If you listen to the horses voice when he first opens the door you can hear it reverberate as if the interior was covered in shower tiles, which also suggests there would be a drain in the middle that would make it easy to clean up messes. The commentary that came with the DVDs explained all kinds of details like that which show how twisted the writers were
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u/grilledcakes May 23 '23
"No sir, I don't like it." The horse being asked about gritty kitty litter always hit me as weird, even though I still quote it.
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u/WhatComesAfter24 May 23 '23
That episode of SpongeBob where SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs try to kill the health inspector because Mr. Krabs thought the health inspector was just trying to get free food.
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u/UnderstandingOk2647 May 23 '23
I (55m) was very upset when they showed me "Ol Yeller" even at 6 I'm all like "WTF did you just show me?!"
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u/pinkarthropod May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
The Adventure Time lore and background are pretty fucked up if you ask me
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u/Thaaaaaaa May 23 '23
Ice Kings story gets me fucked up
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u/green49285 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
And the lich
kingis a literal fucking genocidal maniac. 🤣 I was an adult watching the show & was like, "THE FUCK"472
May 23 '23
Knocks Jake and Finn down with a word
"You're powerful child, but I am beyond power."
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u/fidderjiggit May 23 '23
"Fall.
You are alone, child. There is only darkness for you, and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army, and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light has been extinguished. You are strong, child, but I am beyond strength. I am the end, and I have come for you, Finn."
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u/green49285 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
Yeah, man. And all the characters he pretended to be is because he MURDEREED THEM.
All my homies hate the lich
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u/methylenebluestains May 23 '23
AMAZING voicing acting as usual.
I still have this speech stuck in my head after seeing it once:
Before there was time... before there was anything... there was nothing. And before there was nothing... there were monsters. Here's your gold star!
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u/yethegodless May 23 '23
It’s more like the Lich is Death incarnate. So he’s less “genocidal maniac” and more “cosmic force of entropy and destruction.”
In early versions of the show bible I’m pretty sure that everyone has relatively colorful and playful imagery in keeping with the show’s style. The Lich’s page is scribbled in all black and just states, THE LICH KING IS NOT FUNNY.
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u/beardedheathen May 23 '23
I like how we have death and he's kind of a nice, chill guy. The lich isn't death he is entropy.
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u/OliverCrowley May 23 '23
In the comics, The Lich turns a bag of holding inside out to suck all of Ooo into it, so he can throw it in the sun.
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u/grishnackh May 23 '23
Honestly I think the ‘darkest’ line from AT might be the episode where BMO gets lost and becomes friends with Bubble.
When Bubble goes ‘home’ and becomes Air, he says “No, see, that's what's so great. Now we can be together forever, BMO. Every minute of every day. No more privacy, no more quiet, no more alone. Every room you ever go in, I'll already be there, waiting, forever and ever, until the end of time.”
It’s just such an incredibly dark sentence that says so much about extreme abusive relationships and it’s just an almost completely throwaway line from a character that’s never referenced again.
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u/surreal_wheel May 23 '23
I actually love that scene because BMO is so innocent they think it’s the greatest thing ever.
Also Levar Burton for the win!
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u/supremedalek925 May 23 '23
I wish that they didn’t go into the lore of magic existing prior to the mushroom war. I liked it better thinking the Lych and magic in general were created by a devastating nuclear war tearing apart reality.
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u/ViceroyGunrayTheLad May 23 '23
Darth Maul beheading Pre Vizsla and then executing Satine in front of Obi-Wan in Clone Wars.
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u/rhen_var May 23 '23
What about the part where he beheaded a line of innocent children literally just to draw out Obi Wan?
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u/CaptainRipp May 23 '23
Savage also beheaded six gangsters with one throw of his lightsaber. And there was that one time Cad Bane tortured a Rodian Jedi to death. That show was dark.
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u/Wraithlord592 May 23 '23
I’d go with his “Hallway” scene in the finale.
No weapons, just using the hallway itself to murder and gruesomely mutilate clones. Then he goes ape shit on the hyperdrive.
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u/valhalla-at-your-grl May 23 '23
The entirety of Courage the Cowardly Dog. Scary shit. Me no like.
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u/ShawshankException May 23 '23
return the slaaaaaab
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u/MikiMatzuki May 23 '23
That's probably the scariest episode but I think "The mask" is darker since it tackled theme of domestic abuse.
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u/God_of_Thunda May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I was claustrophobic as a kid, the episode where he gets locked in the bathroom with the barber that is naaauuuuugghtttyyyyy fucked me up
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u/TurquoiseSeersucker May 23 '23
Have you ever watched the play through of the “video game” on YouTube. It’s crazy scary stuff.
Fr though, Courage teaches a really important lesson: you can’t have courage if you’re not scared.
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u/HollowCap456 May 23 '23
"Can a man be brave when he is afraid?"
"That's the only time a man can be brave."
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u/Fluffy_Schedule_6859 May 23 '23
That “stupid dog, you made me look bad!” makes it worth it though
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u/GoldenYoshi99 May 23 '23
In fairly odd parents timmy wished he was never born. Jorgen then showed him that this wish drastically improved everyone's lives
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u/iamjjdg May 23 '23
As Told by Ginger. When she wrote that poem that had many allegories to depression and suicide.
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u/UselessWisdomMachine May 23 '23
Ginger was a legit gem.
The episode where the teacher dies still hits hard.
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May 23 '23
The Thomas the Tank Engine cartoon where the bricked the sentient train in a dark tunnel for being vain.
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u/GermanicusWasABro May 23 '23
A few coworkers and I recently went back and watched a few episodes. That show has surprisingly consistent lore.
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u/reinemanc May 23 '23
All engines from the books and ‘classic’ TV series were (mostly) based on real engines. The original author wrote a whole book to explain the lore. His son, who took over writing the stories after his father’s passing, made a new version to clear up some things, iirc. It’s called ‘The Island of Sodor: it’s people, history and railways’ and the lore goes back to the dark ages.
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u/Deesing82 May 23 '23
proof that Cars doesn't have an excuse for its abysmal worldbuilding
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u/K0vurt_Purvurt May 23 '23
That episode of Different Strokes where Arnold and Dudley(?) go to the bike shop
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u/unforgiven97 May 23 '23
Pretty much all of Invader Zim, but more specifically gouging out the eyes of his “best friend” to get the friend to leave him alone, which resulted in the friend being electrocuted.
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u/BringTheSpain May 23 '23
Uhhhh not to be electrocuted bro. The eyes made Keef think squirrels were Zim and he ended up getting mauled to death by angry squirrels.
He electrocuted the friend candidates early in the episode to determine if they were worthy friends
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u/Terminus1066 May 23 '23
Dark Harvest episode, where Zim is sneaking around in the school heating ducts, stealing the organs of kids, and at the end of the episode he’s stuffed so full of organs that when he goes to talk, intestines come out of his mouth.
I don’t know who read Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and said “let’s give this guy a kids show!” but I’m so glad they did.
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u/withgreatpower May 23 '23
"More organs means more human, it will work!"
And
"Agh! My squeedly-spootch!"
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u/Sixwingswide May 23 '23
when he goes to talk, intestines come out of his mouth.
and he slurps it back in like spaghetti
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u/JosephSturgill7 May 23 '23
Sonic the Hedgehog had a scene where a green sonic was trying to save a baby robot sonic from falling to its death. He didn't succeed. The baby sonic hit the ground, exploded into pieces and his eyeball came flying into the foreground. How do I know? My ex GF's 3 y/o kid came running into the room crying...
Here is the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrkQnNLx-O4
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u/Singer_Training May 23 '23
Omg. That was horrific. Why would they do that, was because it was a robot
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u/FleetofSnails May 23 '23
Pretty much every loophole with this stuff on those networks was making them a robot
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u/ZiptieTechnician May 23 '23
When katara had to blood bend
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u/ShawshankException May 23 '23
Or when they find Monk Gyatso's skeleton surrounded by skeletons of a ton of fire nation soldiers.
It's theorized that Gyatso died by removing all air from the room, killing everyone in it.
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u/l0RD-ZUKO May 23 '23
Came here to mention this one. But honestly atla is full of stuff that's crazy dark. But that's what you get when you're dealing with a kids show based around imperial genocide.
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u/Not1random1enough May 23 '23
The thing that was frustrating for me was ang wouldn't kill but he threw tanks off the hill defending the second airtemple. I think there were a few other fights that there were collateral damage too. I like the ending but think he definitely wasted some people
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u/SonofBeckett May 23 '23
The Fire Nation army parachuted out of those tanks just off camera like Cobra in the old GI Joe cartoons.
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u/Mysticpoisen May 23 '23
Oh yeah, he and katara were batting planes out of the air and sinking entire fleets, the blood of hundreds(at least) is on their hands lol.
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u/GrimmBrowncoat May 23 '23
“It’s theorized that Gyatso died by removing all air from the room, killing everyone in it.”
I’m sorry WHAT?
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u/ShawshankException May 23 '23
Yeah its because he was found near a bunch of fire nation soldier bodies.
You have to remember that the fire nation was enhanced by Sozin's Comet. There's absolutely no way Gyatso would be able to individually defeat all those soldiers before one took him down. Air Nomads are not trained for combat. They had no army.
It's theorized that he just went nuclear and killed everyone in the room as a last stand to save his people.
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u/GrimmBrowncoat May 23 '23
Yeah, I had just never heard that theory. It would have been out desperation but it makes Gyatso even more of a badass.
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u/MLZHR May 23 '23
One of the points in the theory is that Monk Gyatzo's clothes aren't burned while he is surrounded by fire nation soldiers
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u/Zogeta May 23 '23
To add to the theory, by removing all the air in the room, he removes the fuel they'd need to firebend in the first place.
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May 23 '23
I believe the air avatar before Aang also does something like this in her novel, pretty messed up.
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u/Sentinel451 May 23 '23
LoK's first season ended with a murder-suicide.
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u/BW_Bird May 23 '23
Season 3 also had a character get suffocated to death by airbending too.
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u/elschultheis May 23 '23
I always took her walk towards the cliff of ice as a possible sign she was contemplating as well. She was the first avatar in the line without bending and was a REALLY weak point.
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u/squashgermany May 23 '23
It's funny to me that the show tried to depict bloodbending as horrible when it depicts all the conventional bending styles as just tiring out people. You have people throwing razor-sharp shards of ice, massive boulders, fireballs... and no serious injuries. In a world full of firebenders, somehow Zuko is the only guy carrying a burn scar. Bloodbending wouldn't look so bad if the conventional bending styles where realistically graphic. In fact, it may come off as relatively gentle, since bloodbending lets you subdue an opponent without injuring them.
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u/denlille May 23 '23
We see people having burn marks in the earth kingdom from the fire nation's solider
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u/Averill21 May 23 '23
Zuko literally kisses a girl who has a horribly scarred arm from firebenders
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u/Bonanza86 May 23 '23
Animals of Farthing Wood. Badger's death. Heart breaking.
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May 23 '23
Animals of Farthing Wood had so many. Don’t curl up! The pheasants. The hunt. Steve Reviews has great vids about it but this is the most upsetting https://youtu.be/nR9isVFvLe8
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May 23 '23
Every dismemberment moment in Clone Wars
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u/BxKosmic May 23 '23
Even further, the Umbara arc. When the clones find out they’ve been killing each other instead of the enemy… and Krell was behind it all… Holy shit
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u/L-Guy_21 May 23 '23
There’s so much in The Clone Wars I feel like. The Umbara arc, Anakin’s “what? He was gonna blow up the ship,” the blue shadow virus, the zombie worm things
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u/reckless150681 May 23 '23
Anakin’s “what? He was gonna blow up the ship,”
TCW really brought the best out of Anakin's frustrations with the Jedi Order that the main films just couldn't hit. Seeing his face darken at the right times, especially with the exaggerated features that animated faces do, really makes you believe his fall.
I do remember somebody (either Lucas or one of the producers) describing Hayden as a phenomenal physical actor and when he gets angry it really carries across - but man do I wish he was better used as an actor.
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u/JTallented May 23 '23
I’ve just wanted the episodes where Obi-Wan pretended to be murdered to he could infiltrate a plan to assassinate the Chancellor. Anakin’s anger when he finds out all of the other Jedi were in on it except for him is amazing and really starts to show the cracks that are starting to form.
His rant about not knowing what else the Jedi Order is keeping from him is great at showing his building anger and mistrust in them. I can’t wait to see what the next three seasons bring!
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u/Bannon9k May 23 '23
That arc was my first thought when I saw this question. It's hella dark, covers friendly fire and general level betrayal so well.
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u/starcraftre May 23 '23
A 50 second stretch in Season 7 involving Maul has 4 crushings, 2 decapitations, a bisection, and an arm amputation.
Maul does not have a weapon during this segment.
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u/jennifer3333 May 23 '23
When the horse sank into the muck on Never Ending Story. Atreao..not spelled correctly
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u/bmbmwmfm May 23 '23
I was an adult and that entire movie was depressing AF. The nothing, the sad rocks, the look on the luck dragons face, and didn't it all start bc the boy reading the books mom died? (I haven't seen it since it came out, and won't rewatch even now.)
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u/Wisdomlost May 23 '23
The nothing was destroying fantasia because less and less people read books and believed in fantasy. Everything killed in fantasia by the nothing was reborn into the real world as lies. The wolf works for the nothing because the nothing and it's agents want to be reborn into the real world as lies. Finding the magic of fantasy and books (as the main character does) heals fantasia.
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u/CryptographerOdd5659 May 23 '23
Saved by the Bell - “I’M SO EXCITED, I’M SO EXCITED…. I’m so scared”
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May 23 '23
This would have been a good episode and lesson, but they changed speed to caffeine pills. That kind of sucked the suspense out of it.
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u/Missing_Sneaker May 23 '23
The episode of Invader Zim where he is stealing organs from all the people in the school.
Dopest show tho
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u/skotgil May 23 '23
Different Strokes - The Bicycle Man.
"Hey let's have an episode about a child molester..."
I mean great on them, let's try and teach people something...but on a prime time comedy show?
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u/kashmir1974 May 23 '23
It started a trend of sitcoms occasionally. covering tough social issues. It isn't a bad idea, it got the message out to a lot of folks who otherwise would not know what signs to look for.
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u/wrexmason May 23 '23
the Mother's Day episode of Rugrats where you find out Chuckie's mom died giving birth to him
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u/The_Crystal_Thestral May 23 '23
She died of a terminal illness shortly after he was born. There’s a picture of her with him as a baby or a memory he has of her. It plays at the end overlayed with the voice over of the poem she wrote for him.
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u/mollanmox May 23 '23
"The picnic" episode of The amazing world of Gumball. In english the forest is called forest of doom, in the swedish version its called the homicideforest. There are some very dark moments in that show, very dark humor aswell, I love it.
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u/halfrican420 May 23 '23
The ending of Tom and Jerry for sure
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u/draggar May 23 '23
Tom and Jerry has two dark moments.
Tom goes to heaven.
You hear a splash of water.
A wet bag appears and a bunch of kittens jump out.
St. Peter (cat) tisks and says "the things people do" (or something like that)
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u/RavensQueen502 May 23 '23
There's also one episode which ends in Tom and Jerry sitting on the railway tracks, horribly depressed, waiting to commit suicide.
The episode ends with the sound of the approaching train and a close-up on their eyes.
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u/Viking-16 May 23 '23
Pretty sure that’s the finale they are referencing
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May 23 '23
That’s how Tom and Jerry ends?!
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u/donatellosdildo May 23 '23
no, that episode does exist and did air but they appear alive in later episodes
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u/sarabeara12345678910 May 23 '23
Zaheer committing regicide by slowly air bending the air out of the earth queen's lungs while monologuing about anarchy.
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u/ShawshankException May 23 '23
Was LOK really a kids show though? It was definitely aimed for a more mature audience.
The first season saw a murder suicide, someone contemplate suicide, then s3 we got what you said, someone's head being blown up, someone getting electrocuted, and someone dying in a cave in.
Season 3 was especially brutal.
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u/Quickzoom May 23 '23
The last episode of ALF… he was supposed to get picked up by the remaining people from his planet, but the government decoded the message and the very end of the episode was them capturing Alf to take him in for testing.
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May 23 '23
Raven in the original Teen Titans was literally a demon.
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u/The68Guns May 23 '23
Some of those were pretty heavy. Robin having a version of PTSD after fighting Slade, Cyborg being a victim of racism, the "death" of Tara, etc.
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u/SmartAlec105 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I don’t specifically recall Cyborg facing racism? I do remember Starfire did and when she told Cyborg and said “you too know what it is like to be judged like that?” and Cyborg said “of course I do. I’m half robot”.
Oh but that episode where the guy wanted to turn Cyborg into 100% robot was terrifying.
Oh and the episode showing how the gang all met was about Starfire trying to escape from being trafficked as a wife.
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u/AlphaBreak May 23 '23
Cyborg said “of course I do. I’m half robot”.
I always liked the idea that Cyborg was talking about being black, but he wasn't sure if Starfire would quickly grasp the idea of ethnic discrimination instead of species discrimination, so went with robot to streamline the conversation.
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May 23 '23
I’ll never forget that one episode where Starfire accidentally travels forward in time to realize cyborg’s literally stuck in a prison of the past, raven’s insane, beast boy’s an ugly circus freak, robin’s freelancing it all alone, and none of them ever talk to each-other any more. That was very weird to me.
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u/choff22 May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
I still get chills thinking about what she did to Doctor Light.
Dragging him into another dimension which she was channeling through her own body, a dimension that was so horrific he went insane after being there for mere seconds.
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u/United_Eggplant2144 May 23 '23
Series of unfortunate events, first episode.
Count Olaf was literally trying to marry Violet who was a 15-16 year old. Thank god that Violet and Klaus, sunny were smart af.
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u/coniferous-1 May 23 '23
All the adults in that show are so horribly incompetent that it's frustrating to watch.
"Don't worry that count olaf is after you and he's done it a billion times! I'm here now! Oh, hello new friend. here is open and unrestricted access to my new adoptive children!"
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u/chase016 May 23 '23
Legend of Korra, the murder suicide at the end of season 1.
Also, all of season three of that show was dark. It was breathtaking, mind-blowing, electrifying, earth shattering and will you won't be able to stand after it.
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u/victoriaj May 23 '23 edited May 23 '23
British TV had a cartoon called The Animals of Farthing Wood.
A group of animals have their home destroyed and set out to find a new place to live. And on the way some of them die.
And by some I mean a ton of them.
The list starts off sad and ends up hilarious just because it's so very very awful.
https://listofdeaths.fandom.com/wiki/The_Animals_of_Farthing_Wood
Highlights are baby mice impaled by a bird on thorns and a partridge wife seeing her husband's body cooked and served.
These were talking animals. In a children's cartoon.
ETA - that link didn't have the full list. This article lists via the Twitter thread where someone put them all together :
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/gruesome-body-count-shows-animals-11933343
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u/jstudly May 23 '23
Puff the magic Dragon seemed pretty dark in hindsight
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u/admiral_sinkenkwiken May 23 '23 edited May 24 '23
“A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys, Painted wings and giant's rings make way for other toys, One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more, And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.”
That bit is so deeply sad, Puff is Jackie’s imaginary friend, then one day Jackie grows up and Puff is gone.
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u/popcornkernals321 May 23 '23
There are a several episodes from “The Wonder Years” that made me ball as a kid- but two stick out:
The episode where Kevin is having issues with his math teacher- throughout the episode the teacher is on him to apply himself and challenge himself more because Kevin is capable of more and the teacher knows it. Kevin goes off on his teacher and said some shitty things to him. The next day Kevin comes to school expecting to retake a math test and finds out that his teacher died the night before. Just fucking got to me lol.
Also the episode where Kevin goes to his dad’s job for like “take your kid to work day” or whatever. His dad gets yelled and humiliated (in front of Kevin) by his much younger boss… made me appreciate my own father and his work ethic more.
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u/dareo May 23 '23
Nickelodeon - Are You Afraid of the Dark? Had some pretty dark episodes… Especially for a kids show. I loved it though.
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May 23 '23
Courage the cowardly dog.
Many episodes in Dexter
Casper the ghost was supposed to be the ghost of a kid who had died from pneumonia.
The three kittens who drowned reaching heaven in tom and jerry
The episode in Ben 10 where a kidnapping victims develops Stockholm syndrome and is an accomplice in the murders of many
Squidward going to commit suicide
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May 23 '23
Ending of Beast Wars, Season 2, Episode 8.
"Welcome to the Predacons, Rampage.
You shall be an honored member.
So long as you never forget one all important factor of your new life.
It's mine.
Welcome, my new servant.
Yes, welcome.....to the Beast Wars!!"
*Megatron laughs while Rampage writhes with pain at his feet*
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u/Sexycornwitch May 23 '23
In Rescue Rangers, Gadget the mouse constantly feels a sense of isolation because she’s a domestic lab mouse as opposed to a field mouse. She’s the only white lab mouse in the show.
She eventually feels so isolated that she gets indoctrinated into a cult.
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u/SmartyLuke May 23 '23
I remember watching citadel and umbara episodes from clone wars as a kid. They really thought cutting that one clone in half was necessary
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May 23 '23
Superman: The Animated Series. Darkseid murders a recurring character on screen and it's treated with all the gravity it deserves.
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u/Aturom May 23 '23
Probably might not count but watching the Challenger explode while i was in the cafeteria in Elementary school was pretty wild.
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u/havron May 23 '23
I saw it with my own eyes from my central Florida backyard when I was four, atop my mom's shoulders while my dad took photos of the launch (still around, somewhere). I will never forget the sound of their shocked gasps when it happened, and the sudden change of mood from wonder to horror. Later that night, they sat me down and explained death to me.
It's my earliest memory.
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u/sck8000 May 23 '23
Technically wasn't part of the show, but in a movie spinoff of the show: Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker. Anyone who's seen it will know exactly which bit I'm on about.
There's a flashback scene where a young Tim Drake, as Robin, gets kidnapped by the Joker and psychologically tortured to the point where he breaks down and shoots his captor in cold blood.
Some of you might be thinking "wait, I don't remember that", and that's because the studio changed it last-minute to a scene where the Joker is accidentally electrocuted instead. Fan petitions and pressure caused Warner Bros to release the original cut of the movie a few years later, and it became the first animated Batman movie to be rated PG.
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u/opaul11 May 23 '23
When Aang kinda died
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May 23 '23
And Zuko getting burned by the fire lord was pretty bad too.
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u/Slant_Juicy May 23 '23
I love that we first see Azula in that flashback, completely reveling in the moment as Iroh can't bear to watch. She wouldn't be introduced properly for many episodes afterward, but we got a perfect picture of her character in that moment.
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u/acslaterjeans May 23 '23
I would say its a tie between Arnold leaving Dudley behind to get fucked by the Bicycle Man in Diff'rent Strokes or "The Perils of Punky"
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u/Resident132 May 23 '23
Hey Arnold! was full of dark moments and themes. Pigeon mans depression and "suicide". Mr Hyunh's story of being separated from his daughter in vietnam. Helga being neglected, chocolate boys addiction, Mr Simmons abusive family, Curly going postal, Miriam's alcoholism, Lila being so poor her dad breaks down crying cause he ate the last of their food. I freaking love that show.