When Joe and David's soccer team loses its star player, Sam volunteers to step in as a last-minute replacement. Meanwhile, Wishbone imagines himself as Louis de Conte in Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain.
Despite the huge number of films based on Mark Twain's works and the huge number of films based on Joan of Arc's life, this Wishbone episode might just be the only time that Twain's version of Joan has ever been adapted for the screen. This is especially ironic considering Twain's opinion of the book.
This is the second of three episodes to be based on a Twain novel. It's preceded by "A Tail in Twain," which adapts The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and it's followed by "The Prince and the Pooch," which adapts The Prince and the Pauper.
One tie-in book was released — Wishbone Classics #4: Joan of Arc, featuring a less compressed adaptation of the original story with comments by Wishbone rather than the modern-day segments.
Tropes
- Bloodless Carnage: Somewhat averted when Joan takes an arrow to the shoulder. There's no blood, but she is clearly in great pain.
- Both Sides Have a Point: After Sam and her friends win their soccer match, the rival team's coach contests their victory on the grounds that Sam signed up one day before and not forty-eight hours before as required. Of course, that was only because she was a last-minute replacement for an injured player. The rival coach comes off as a nitpicking sore loser, especially since he waited until that point to raise the issue, but he is ultimately correct that they broke the rules, and the soccer committee reluctantly decides in his favor.
- Burn the Witch!: What happens to Joan of Arc, though the episode leaves out the witchcraft part. They do say she received an "unfair trial" after the English captured her, but they don't say what she was charged with.
- Demythification: For the Joan of Arc adaptation, the episode pretty much drops the religious aspect entirely, with no mention made of her hearing voices, being charged with witchcraft, or any of that. It does include the scene where she picks the dauphin (referred to in the episode as "the king") out of a crowd, but the episode only vaguely hints at a supernatural explanation for it.
- I Should Write a Book About This: At the end, Wishbone as Louis says, "I'll never forget you, Joan. I'll tell your story. I'll tell it to the whole world." The novel being adapted here is indeed told from Louis' perspective.
- King Incognito: In accordance with the Joan legend (and Twain's novel), the dauphin ("king") disguises himself as a courtier, and Joan still manages to recognize him.
- Loophole Abuse: Subverted. Sam volunteers to play on Joe and David's soccer team since a rule says that as long as she's in the roster submitted a few days earlier she can play. Because she is the one who ends up deciding the game, however, the opposing team contests their win and gets it reversed.
- No Animals Were Harmed: In the behind-the-scenes segment, Wishbone's voiceover notes that, "no humans were injured during the filming of this Wishbone episode."
- Stay in the Kitchen: Surprisingly averted, considering the whole premise is a girl playing on a boys' soccer team. And yet, no one explicitly objects to Sam joining the team on the basis of her being a girl. Even the other team's only explicit objection is that she was added to the roster too late to make her a legal player. Within the fantasy portion of the show, the fact that Joan is female is similarly treated as a non-issue.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Joe's soccer team needs a replacement player, and Sam is convinced to sub in at the last minute during the championship and manages to score the winning point. However, because she wasn't properly registered within a certain time frame (forty-eight hours), the opposing team's coach contests it. Unfortunately, the soccer committee rules in the opposing team's favor and the win is voided.
- Traumatic Haircut: Joan starts the episode with long hair, and she seems to carry it with her into battle, under her helmet. When the English capture her and sentence her to death, however, her hair is noticeably shorter. The episode isn't clear as to whether or not the English themselves did the haircut, but the implications are there.
- The Watson: Wanda fills this role during the soccer game, asking the questions that would be asked by someone who doesn't know the rules of soccer.
- You Go, Girl!: Downplayed. While Sam proves herself by playing on the boys' soccer team, that wasn't her reason for joining the team. Instead, she just wanted to help out her friends, who needed a new player on short notice.
