"Sword of Destiny" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American television

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

''. It is the 37th overall episode of the series, and was written by producer

Brad Copeland Brad Copeland is an American television writer, producer and film director, best known for his work on the Fox TV series ''Arrested Development''. Television career He has written for the television programs ''Arrested Development'', ''My Name ...

and directed by

Peter Lauer Peter Lauer is an American music video and television director. He directed the music videos " Run's House" for Run-DMC and edited " It Takes Two" for Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. Lauer made his television directorial debut in 1993, directing an ep ...

. It originally aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on March 27, 2005. The series, narrated by

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy,

dysfunctional family In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...

, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, his twin sister Lindsay, his older brother Gob, his younger brother Buster, their mother Lucille and father George Sr., as well as Michael's son

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

, and Lindsay and her husband

Tobias Tobias is the transliteration of the , which is a Graecisation of the Hebrew biblical name . With the biblical Book of Tobit being present in the Deuterocanonical books and Biblical apocrypha, Tobias is a popular male given name for both Chri ...

' daughter Maeby. In the episode, Gob performs the Sword of Destiny illusion as Buster's assistant, and Michael is hospitalized with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

Plot

(

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

) asks

(

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

) to become his assistant, when Michael feels a pain in his side. Gob (

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and the titular ch ...

) goes to buy erection pills, where he buys the "Sword of Destiny" for his magic act. After visiting George Sr. (

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...

), who had asked Tobias to be a mole in the Bluth Company, Michael teaches

(

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera ( ; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor. Over his career he has received nominations for a British Academy Film Award, three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. Cera beca ...

) how to drive. Michael goes to the hospital, where he finds out he has

. Gob asks Buster (

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his comedic leading roles in the Fox series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth, and as Gary Walsh on the HBO series '' Veep''. For the ...

) to help him with his magic act to outshine his rival Tony Wonder (

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...

), who Buster and Gob meet at the Gothic Castle. Tobias, as George Sr.'s mole, fills in for Michael at the company, while Lindsay (

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series ''Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

) lets George Michael drive. During the magic act, Gob knocks off Buster's mechanical hand, which the audience and Tony believe was part of the act. Tony hires Buster and Gob to appear on his DVD, while Michael wakes up from his

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

annoyed that George Michael has started driving without him. The doctor (

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta ( ; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, ...

) informs Michael that he has a bacterial infection from the operation, meaning he will need another operation. Meanwhile, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

has located George Sr. from a video he had recorded of himself and think he is in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Gob and Buster meet with Tony Wonder, with Gob telling Tony that the real Sword of Destiny trick has yet to be performed. Michael wakes up from his second surgery, but the doctor tells him they might have left a pair of scissors in him. Michael and George Michael head to the office as Tobias and the FBI arrive at his hospital room to prove Michael isn't in Iraq. At the office, Michael finds the company has moved down a floor to save costs. Gob performs the Sword of Destiny act, where Buster swaps the fake sword with a real one and accidentally cuts off Gob's fingers. Michael lets George Michael drive home, but he hits Michael with the car.

On the next ''Arrested Development''...

In the hospital, Michael and Gob become roommates, and the FBI finds footage of George Michael on the video of George Sr., thinking he is a terrorist.

Production

"Sword of Destiny" was directed by

and written by producer

. It was Lauer's second directing credit and Copeland's sixth and final writing credit. It was the seventeenth and penultimate episode of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

to be filmed.

Reception

Viewers

In the United States, the episode was watched by 4.72 million viewers on its original broadcast, a decrease of over 1 million viewers from the previous episode, " The Immaculate Election".

Critical reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' writer Noel Murray commented on negatives of the episode, saying "The first two-thirds of ''Arrested Development''s second season is so tightly constructed that by comparison, the last third seems to be more of a mess than it actually is." Murray also commented on the episode feeling "like a grab bag of disconnected scenes, characters, and in-jokes, held together by excessive interjections from The Narrator, some sloppy ADR, and, oh yeah, comedy." Brian Tallerico from ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' ranked the episode 25th out of the whole series, saying "Ben Stiller delivers one of the best-ever ''Arrested Development'' cameos as Tony Wonder".

Accolades

was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the

57th Primetime Emmy Awards The 57th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2005, and were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. BBC America received its first major nomination this year. The ceremony, which aired three weeks afte ...

for "Sword of Destiny".

References

External links

* {{Arrested Development 2005 American television episodes Arrested Development season 2 episodes Television episodes directed by Peter Lauer Television episodes written by Brad Copeland