Recap / Futurama M 3 Benders Game

The flames in your TV are not part of the show

Bender starts playing Dungeons & Dragons after lamenting that he has no imagination, but the roleplaying game begins to mess with his head. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang become swept up in Professor Farnsworth's plans to stop Mom's monopoly of dark matter. And that's just the tip of the weirdness iceberg...

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Mom, surprise surprise. A flashback shows her using toddler Walt and Larry as human shields, then yelling at them to shut up when they cry (it doesn't help that she was in the middle of breastfeeding them when she did this). She also apparently flipped a coin at Igner's birth on whether to keep him or the afterbirth, and had no problem telling people this at Igner's graduation.
• Alternate Species Counterpart: In Bender's fantasy, the Planet Express crew become fantasy creature versions of themselves. Leela and Hermes become centaurs named "Leegola" and "Hermaphrodite" (pronounced like Aphrodite), Amy becomes a water nymph named Gynecaladriel, Zoidberg becomes some sort of giant centipede creature, and Mom and her sons are demons.
• Annoying Arrows: Leela tries to kill Zoidberg's Cornwood counterpart, but her arrows do nothing more than annoy him.
• Armor-Piercing Question: During his interview with Mom, Morbo notes that despite her claim of losing money on her dark matter franchise, her company is posting record-breaking profits. Mom distracts him by offering him cookies.
• Arrowgram: Played for two consecutive gags: as the siege against Wipe Castle begins, an onlooking centaur fires an arrow to an outpost on a distant hill, where an offscreen messenger fires another arrow to another hill, and repeating for a few turns, even as one of them gets audibly hit and makes an "agh!" sound. Eventually, an arrow reaches the main destination at the home of the centaurs, where they have prepared an arrangements of targets marked with emergency notices: "Flood", "Fire", "Economic Downturn", "Celebrity Breakup" (and that one has much more arrow marks than the rest), and the final one the arrow hits: "War".
• Artistic License – Biology: The scorpion Momon uses to cut her hair has only six legs when as an arachnid it should have eight (the pincers are actually mouthparts). This is especially jarring for the same movie which points out that arachnids are distinct from bugs or insects by having eight legs, not six.
• As You Know:
  Farnsworth: I'm sure I don't need to explain that all dark matter in the universe is linked in the form of a single, non-local metaparticle.
  Amy: Guh, stop patronizing us.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Momon succeeds in claiming the Die of Power and destroys Cornwood. However this just thrusts everyone back to their original reality, where Mom actually gets defeated.
• Body Horror: What's left of the Dixie Chicks after their horrific matter-transporter accident, a deformed blob of flesh with their heads sticking out, in constant and horrible pain. It's also capable of absorbing other people.
• Brick Joke:
  • At the beginning, when the ship breaks down, a punk steals the Planet Express ship's hood ornament, causing Bender to angrily declare no-one will know they have the LX Package. Sure enough, this is what Sal taunts them about at the truckstop.
  • The Professor mentions he only created the dark matter crystals in an experiment to make a more durable harpsichord wax. When he's fired by Mom, Wernstrom taunts him that he's been "played like a cheap harpsichord".
• The Bus Came Back: Rich Little's Head does the commentary for the truck rally.
• The Caligula: The King of Wipe Castle, being Roberto's counterpart, is even more insane than Roberto is. Apparently he declared war on the scallops, tied his entire army to a single boulder and pushed it into the sea, killing them all.
• Call-Back:
  • To the fourth episode, explaining just how Vergon-6 got filled with all that dark matter to begin with, and why Nibbler was on a planet that was about to explode.
  • To "Mother's Day". The Professor handwaves his working for Mom in the flashback by mentioning he'd gone back to her after realizing she was evil. Twice, in fact.
• Calling Your Attacks: Bender, on breaking into the Turanga home, loudly declares "prepare for a surprise attack!"
• Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: After learning about imagination, Bender becomes convinced his entire life is a game of D&D.
• Canon Immigrant: Unless you count a deleted scene in season one, the killbots first appeared in the Video Game. Though they were mentioned in episode four.
• Celebrity Cameo: George Takei appears during the demolition derby just long enough to smash Scott Bakula into a wall while berating him for "killing the franchise."
• Chekhov's Gun: The dark matter Bender takes from Nibbler's litter box during his D&D insanity.
• Delayed Reaction: It takes Nibbler a moment to realize the Planet Express crew aren't surprised to find he can talk.
• Demoted to Extra: Weirdly, Bender, despite being the title character. He's a significant character in the first half, but once they enter his fantasy world, he does very little and is more or less just there for gags. (Even odder, his fantasy persona in the "real world" seemed to be a Knight in Shining Armor, but once they're inside the fantasy proper, he's essentially just Bender in a fantasy world.)
• Disproportionate Retribution: Greyfarn's response to Ignus (who was trying to help them, mind you) calling a spider a bug is to try to kill him.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In one scene, one orc-thing climbing a ladder while assaulting Wipe Castle catches sight of Gynecaladriel (Amy) taking off her top through a window. Cue abundant drooling, which happens to be acidic and burns through the ladder's steps, sending him falling.
• The Dog Bites Back: Igner, after years of being mistreated by Mom, helps the Planet Express crew sabotage Mom's scheme when he learns his parentage.
• Droste Image: One of Mom's security cameras points at the monitor it's linked to.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Two examples —
  • At the beginning of the movie, when Leela wants to enter the demolition derby to prove that the Planet Express Ship isn't a piece of junk, Zoidberg points that putting the ship through a demolition derby would turn it into a piece of junk anyway. Even Bender agrees that Zoidberg has a point.
  • Igner, on being found alone in the crap-farm, is asked if he's seen anyone:
    Igner: Me?
    Walt: Yes, you, you're the only one here.
    Igner: If I'm the only one here, then how could I see anyone?
    Larry: He's got a point, Walt.
    Walt: So does my knee! [kicks Larry]
• Extreme Omnisexual: Amy's Cornwood counterpart, Gynecaladriel, has the power to seduce anyone she wishes. The list includes a troll bouncer, a Morc, Greyfarn (Farnsworth), Titanius (Bender), and Leegola (Leela):
  Gynecaladriel: [after seducing the troll] Behold, the deed is done.
  Titanius: HOOOOOO!!!
• Eye Scream: Doctor Perceptron decides to drill through Bender's eye to get to his imagination circuits, despite there being a perfectly good access panel.
• Genius Ditz: Amy's status as this gets a note when the Professor delivers a piece of exposition, and Amy angrily demands he stop patronizing everyone.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: Leegola and Gynecaladriel start making out after Leegola saves Gynecaladriel's life, and Greyfarn and Titanius spare a moment from their task of saving the universe to watch.
• Gone Horribly Right: Roberto discloses his origins; namely, that he was built by a team of scientists looking to build an insane robot. He maintains they failed, and will knife anyone who says otherwise.
• Growing Muscles Sequence: Fry accidentally gets a Grow power up from the die that turns him into a muscular giant. After beating the Tunneling Horror to death, he shrinks back, but the experience makes him Drunk with Power and fall into Sanity Slippage.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Leela's temper is at its worst here, with her dragging everyone along to a derby just because of some insults from rednecks.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": When the Professor declares he's embarrassed just to be in the same genus as Mom's kids, the kids behind him chuckle at his choice of phrasing.
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Double Subverted with the Cave of Hopelessness.
  Frydo: Mr. Wizard, why is this place called the Cave of Hopelessness?
  Greyfarn: Oh, fear not, lad. 'Tis named for its discoverer, Reginald Hopelessness...
  Frydo: Whew!
  Greyfarn: ...the first man to be eaten alive by the Tunneling Horror.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Titanius Anglesmith has his dwarf subjects cooked for no real reason. He prefers them mildly crispy.
• Ironic Echo Cut: Having knocked Bender out, Fry is assured by Zoidberg that he'll be fine with some help. Since this is Zoidberg we're talking about, it cuts to Bender screaming for help in the robot loony bin.
• It Runs on Nonsensoleum: An over-active robot imagination mixed with dark matter creates an entire fantasy universe.
• Kick the Dog: Leela straight-up kills a service robot for no reason whatsoever.
• Luke, You Are My Father: It turns out that Igner is Professor Farnsworth's son. Later on, Ignus revealing this to Grayfarn directly parodies the original version.
• Macguffin: The dark matter crystals.
• Magic Pants: When the Die of Power makes Fry grow, all of his clothes except his underwear break.
• Martial Pacifist: The centaur people are extremely precise, artistic archers who will not only not join the quest but declare that if violence be their intent, the fellowship will not be allowed to pass through the valley. It quickly becomes clear that in the face of someone like Leela/Leegola, they have absolutely no way to enforce this. (Later, it's implied that Leegola leads them into war by physically beating their existing leader in what was put forward as "tedious debate".)
• Mook Depletion: Despite her son wanting to leave a small group of guards behind, Momon angrily demands that all her forces be sent to invade Wipe Castle. Not only does it leave the Geysers of Gygax defenseless for Frydo and Zoidberg to sneak in, but thanks to a surprise attack by the centaurs, Momon's entire army is massacred.
• Never My Fault: Greyfarn berates Ignus for starting a fight, even though he's the one who attacked first - Ignus is just defending himself.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nibbler accidentally clued Mom in on the connection between Nibblonians and dark matter when she saw him taking a dump on Vergon 6.
• No Name Given: Dwight and Cubert have two unnamed friends who play Dungeons & Dragons with them.
• Noodle Incident: When searching Nibbler's litter box for some dark matter to refuel the ship, Fry remarks that he's never been this excited to see poop, then states "Well, maybe once." Whatever previous circumstance where Fry was happy to see fecal material, we'll never know.
• Off with His Head!: Zoidberg, in Cornwood, loses his head when Leegola absently tosses her sword away.
  • Potentially subverted as this doesn't actually kill Cornwood!Zoidberg; he just becomes a small squid-like thing that walks around on smaller tentacles.
• Only Sane Man: Fry, of all people, tells Leela to forget about the demolition derby. She ignores him.
• Our Centaurs Are Different: in the fantasy world, there are centaurs who aren’t really ones for war, here Hermes and Leela are one of them.
• Pinocchio Nose: In addition to shocking Leela whenever she gets angry, the shock collar also shocks her when she lies.
• Poor Communication Kills: Ignus tries to help the group, only to get bogged down in a fight with Greyfarn. It's thoroughly lampshaded.
  Ignus: Please, I'm trying to help you!
  Greyfarn: Then why are you hitting me with a stick? How stupid are you that you think that's helping?
• Psychological Projection: Zoidberg claims that Leela’s issues stem from her parents, yet the explanation he comes up with (combined with Leela reminding us she barely knows her parents) make it clear he’s talking about his own parents.
• The Reveal: Igner is the Professor's son. Also, Walt and Larry are Wernstrom's kids.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • Bender, courtesy of playing Dungeons & Dragons.
  • Fry, after his Growing Muscles Sequence convinces him the Die of Power is too good to ignore.
• Sex Is Violence: Leela is forced to wear a shock collar to control her temper. Instead of becoming more docile, she ends up getting used to it and finding it pleasurable because she associates it with the fun of beating people up. In one fight in the movie she ends up on the ground writhing in pleasure.
• Shout-Out:
  • The opening is an extended shout out to The Beatles's Yellow Submarine.
  • On seeing Mom's sons bungling about, Fry declares they're hilarious. Amy and Leela think he's talking about The Three Stooges (they prefer Sex and the City).
  • Entering Mom's factory, the gang encounter a robot voiced in imitation of Scatman Crothers. It then turns into a parody of the Shaft theme song.
    Robot: Maintenance shaft seven, service-
    Professor: Shut yo mouth!
    Robot: I'm just talkin' 'bout the shaft!
  • The title is one to Ender's Game.
  • Bender's subplot in the first act — Bender trying out a fantasy roleplaying game and going mad with the delusion that it is all real — is similar to the plot of the Made-for-TV scare-flick Mazes and Monsters. When Farnsworth finds out about it, he tries convincing Fry to talk him out of it, remarking about an "after school special" based around the topic, so this reference may have been deliberate.
  • The "Geysers of Gygax" in Cornwood, named after Dungeons & Dragons creator (and Futurama guest voice alumnus) Gary Gygax, who passed away during production. The movie is dedicated in his honor.
  • The scene described under Distracted by the Sexy is a reference to Animal House.
  • After getting fixated on the Die of Power, Fry turns into a Gollum parody. The whole Wipe Castle segment is one big Whole-Plot Reference to Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
  • The destruction derby’s contestants include Scott Bakula piloting a replica of the ''Enterprise'', while George Takei pilots a replica of the ''Enterprise'' NX-01. Veers into Take That!.
  Takei: Way to kill the franchise, Bakula!
• Shower Scene: One scene very early into the film takes place in a communal shower, where characters of both sexes shower together (Amy, Leela, Fry, Bender and Zoidberg). Glimpses of rears can be seen, however frontal nudity is obscured.
• Skewed Priorities: When Fry tries murdering Titanius in his sleep, Titanius is distracted by the fact Fry's knife is made of stag horn (and not the cheaper manticore horn).
• Take That!:
  • "When will people learn playing Dungeons & Dragons won't make you cool?" Though given the movie is also dedicated to the recently passed creator of D&D Gary Gygax, it's more like a friendly jab than an actual insult.
  • "As Deepak Chopra taught us, quantum mechanics means anything can happen at any time for any reason."
  • In the Cave of the Tunneling Horror, the first threat the party encounters is a party of Morcs, which they violently slaughter. Fry asks if they might just go away if "we don't laugh at them" but Titanius assures him they won't.
  • Wipe Castle is a shot at the fast food chain White Castle. Gynecaladriel exclaims you can eat as much food as you want there, and not gain any weight "because of all the diarrhea".
• Taxonomic Term Confusion:
  Ignus: (on a giant spider) Quick, jump on the magic bug!
  Greyfarn: That's not a magic bug, you dope! That's a magic arachnid! Can't you count the legs?
  Ignus: No.
  Greyfarn: Six, seven, eight. Not six. Eight! I'll kill you, you imbecile!
• Terrifying Tyrannosaur: An episode of The Scary Door involves an invasion fleet of aliens getting wiped out by the "humblest of all God's creatures" — the Tyrannosaurus rex.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Watching Peaches the Troll practice his nunchucking, Igner declares it's cool, but that he doesn't like what's going to come next - namely, Peaches beating them upside the head.
• Treants: In a direct parody of The Lord of the Rings, the fantasy quest featured a giant tree person called Treedledum. The fellowship ended up using him for firewood.
• Unexplained Recovery: Nibbler returns despite eating himself to escape the universe in "Bender's Big Score".
• Whole-Plot Reference: Well, not whole, but halfway the story shifts into something like The Lord of the Rings, complete with Fry's transition into a Gollum-esque character.

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Gary Gygax: Anyone wanna play Dungeons & Dragons for the next quadrillion years?

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