The Lepidopterists

"The Lepidopterists" is the 36 episode of The Venture Bros. and is part of Season 3.

Plot
The episode begins exactly where "Tears of a Sea Cow" left off, with the Monarch's Cocoon rapidly approaching Spider Skull Island. Jonas Venture Junior, The Sea Captain, observe the incoming threat with calm readiness. When the Monarch identifies himself and declares he is coming to kill them, Jonas Junior and his team immediately deploy a Voltron-like "combiner" robot named Ventronic. The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend observe this with stunned surprise and quickly realize that they are in over their heads with this new nemesis.

The Cocoon's lightning cannon proves completely ineffectual against Ventronic, which in turn badly cripples the cocoon with a blow from a laser sword. The Monarch immediately cries foul, informing Jonas Junior that he needs to pull his punches in "arching" combat situations. Jonas Junior, utterly confused, reveals that nobody briefed him on the protagonist-villain program offered by the Guild of Calamitous Intent and was simply defending his home. The Monarch advises him to check with the Guild, and the battle is put on hold. Meanwhile, the Monarch dispatches henchman #21 and #24, aware of their ability to somehow avoid death, on a secret mission to perform a "Dark S-7" Maneuver; Dr. Girlfriend adds Henchman #1 to the team, a professional, savvy, and physically fit henchman who can think quickly on his feet.

Jonas Junior, meanwhile, is dealing with a great deal of red tape trying to sort out this new "arching" issue. The Pirate Captain is getting more and more irritated with what he perceives as second-class treatment in this particular Team Venture. There is a knock at the door of the Headquarters entrance, and the Captain answers the door and is immediately shot with a tranquilizer dart. J.J. meets two suit-sporting agents at the door who identify themselves as Mr. Doe and Mr. Cardholder. They are agents interested in apprehending the Monarch and refer to themselves as lepidopterists which J.J. confuses for stamp collecting (philatelists). They deny any connection with the Office of Secret Intelligence (OSI), pointing out that OSI officially denies the existence of the Guild while they do not. Other than the fact they have come to assist Jonas Junior with the current standoff, nothing else about them is revealed. They do explain that they shot The Pirate Captain to knock him out so he didn't overhear them talking to Jonas.

Downstairs, the Henchmen strike force has made its way into the Jonas Venture Junior Museum of Jonas Venture from "Now Museum, Now You Don't". While #1 is meticulously carrying out the enigmatic mission by rewiring a computer console, #21 and #24 stand idly by. The two lesser henchmen have no idea what the mission is or how to carry it out, and keep predicting how their comrade will die. When it comes time to escape, #1 suggests they take an elaborate escape route he has planned out, but #21 and #24 prefer to walk out the front door. When #1 points out that this is surely alarmed and booby trapped, the other henchmen don't care, pointing out that nothing bad ever happens to them, while #1's death is inevitable no matter what happens. #1 tries to argue but #21 points out that he's not even important enough to have a name. When #1 replies that his name is Scott Hall, #21 dismisses this as a way to create pathos over an unimportant character's death.

Back in Jonas' office, Doe and Cardholder reveal that they have brought Brock Samson along to help with the situation. Brock dismisses Jonas Junior's plan to ignore the Guild rules and kill the Monarch outright, pointing out that it is in everyone's best interest to keep the death-ray wielding "nutballs" playing by the rules, no matter how silly they may be. Instead Jonas Junior must find a way to defeat the Monarch that is allowed by the rules of costumed villainy.

The Pirate Captain bursts into the room, gleefully asking to be shot again with tranquilizer darts, which the agents happily do. They leave him ecstatically twitching on the floor as Jonas leads Brock and the agents to a giant laser on top of the island. It was installed by Spider Skull Island's original owner, Scaramantula, and Jonas Junior smugly comments that this is the perfect time to try it out. Doe and Cardholder take the console targeting controls, while Jonas mans the firing position. Brock is slightly jealous that he doesn't get to fire the weapon, but he is soon dispatched to investigate the intruder alert on the Museum Level (triggered by #1 after #21 and #24 pass through without effect). The laser deploys and begins positioning to fire at the incoming Cocoon.

On the Museum Level, Brock arrives and engages Henchman #1 in battle across the room's extensive catwalks. #21 and #24 wisely lay low and avoid detection until the Pirate Captain spots them. However, the Captain is desperate for another tranquilizer fix and begs to be shot. The henchmen, puzzled, comply. The Captain collapses in another tranquilizer-induced high. Meanwhile on the catwalks, #1 tries to kill Brock with a pair of bolas, but Brock turns them around so they strangle #1. At the very same moment, the laser fires, appearing to blow the Cocoon to smithereens.

In the epilogue, #21 and #24 are sitting on a quay under Spider Skull island, assuming they are the only survivors of this utter debacle. However, they are contacted by the Monarch. The Dark S-7 Maneuver is revealed as patching the Spider Skull Island observation cameras into a small studio in the Monarch mansion, in which a scale model of the Cocoon was blown up against a painted backdrop, convincing Jonas Junior that he had destroyed the Monarch. Jonas Junior's unprecedented escalation of aggression opens the door for the Monarch to exercise "Extended Vengeance" against the entire Venture family, and he orders #21 and #24 to a rendezvous point (one they have no idea about the location) so they can rejoin him for an assault on the Venture Compound.

Production notes
*One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a "nickname" inserted into his credits. For "The Lepidopterists" the credit reads Kimson "No-No Word" Albert.

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See Also

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