| “They Stole Max's Brain!” | |||||||
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| Telltale episode | |||||||
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| Episode # | 303 | ||||||
| Release date | June 22, 2010 | ||||||
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They Stole Max's Brain! is the third episode of The Devil's Playhouse.
Synopsis
The episode continues where The Tomb of Sammun-Mak left off. Sam has just returned from his bathroom break and discovers that Max is dead, his brain removed. Enraged, he goes to the Moleman Cultists, who are awakening after having been knocked out, and begins furiously questioning them. Using some pointers given to him earlier by Flint Paper, he learns from them that they were knocked out by General Skun-ka'pe, who somehow has gotten out of the Penal Zone, who then removed Max's brain from his body. Sam takes Max's body with him and begins driving around the streets, narrating his trip in noir-style...
Outside a pet store, Sam finds one of Skun-ka'pe's minions working as a sign spinner. After gaining information from him, Sam travels between the ex-minion, a European tourist and Frankie the Rat before gaining enough clues, the Rhinoplasty toy and a note reading "Doctor Norrington", to narrow down the location of Skun-ka'pe to the Museum of Mostly Natural History. Upon arriving, he sees flashing lights in the museum planetarium and goes there. Inside, he sees Skun-ka'pe and some of his minions engaged in a firefight with, surprisingly, Papierwaite, who should be over 120 years old. Also in the room is Max's brain, alive and well inside a jar fitted with a voice speaker and filled with some of Grandpa Stinky's demon broth. Upon spotting Sam, Max accidentally makes his presense known. Skun-ka'pe and Papierwaite, having found a common enemy, enter an alliance. Sam flees into the museum while Skun-ka'pe and Papierwaite send minions into the museum and set up machinery connected to the Devil's Toybox.
Outside, Sam is approached by the security guard, Sal, who threatens to dispose of Max's body in the incinerator if Sam leaves it lying around. Desperate, Sam retrieve's an old pharaoh's brain from the Egyptian exhibit and places it in Max's body, causing it to spring alive again. The pharaoh, who also has psychic powers, agrees to help Sam retrieve Max's brain in exchange for a new body when they are done. After successfully breaking up the alliance through some staged "misunderstandings", Sam goes into the planetarium and takes back the brain. The pharaoh, revealed to be Sammun-Mak himself, takes control of the Toybox and of Skun-ka'pe, his minions and Papierwaite. As Sam tries to flee with Max's brain, a bright light engulfs the planetarium...
When the light fades, reality has been warped into a new one in which Sammun-Mak is lord of everything and worshipped as a god by everyone except Molemen, sometimes declaring on a whim that certain everyday objects are the most despicable or the best things in the world. Sam and Max are still Freelance Police, but Max, who appears to be one of the few people aware that reality has been altered, is still a brain in a jar and, according to Sam, he has always been that way. After being psychically contacted by the mysterious "Dr. Norrington" and instructed to seek out rebels to overthrow Sammun-Mak. After finding them, who turn out to be the Molemen, Max is given the brain screw used to remove Sammun-Mak's brain the first time and some of the Toys of Power. He is instructed to get close enough to Sammun-Mak for it to be used by the rebels. After tricking Sam into believing it belongs to Sammun-Mak and that they have to return it to him.
After obtaining the necessary Accessories of Privilege, Sam and Max go to Sammun-Mak's throne room in the planetarium and procure the brain screw. Upon spotting this, a Moleman assassin jumps forward and attempts to reomve Sammun-Mak's brain with it, but is stopped by Sam. Though ordered to kill her, Sam refuses and lets her escape and is sent to the fighting pit. Inside is Skun-ka'pe, who in this reality is Sammun-Mak's gladiator. After defeating him with a little accidental help from Papierwaite, who is that reality's grand vizier, Sam is pitted against Sammun-Mak. Because of Sam's worship of him, he is unable to strike him directly. In spite of this, he manages to remove Sammun-Mak's brain, causing reality to collapse and revert back to the way it was before Sammun-Mak took over. The only one who remebers the details of it is Max. Sam returns his brain to his body, bringing Max back to life. As they reclaim the Toybox, Papierwaite rushes in, shouting "Sam is coming". Suddenly, Sam and Max are surrounded by a group of half-naked Sam clones, who close in rapidly...