"The Ice Tape" is the twentieth episode in Season Eight (and two hundred and thirty-seventh overall) of Regular Show. The episode first aired on November 3, 2016.
Synopsis
The gang must travel to an ancient VCR that will play a VHS tape, made of ice, so that they can learn Pops' origins.
Plot
The episode starts with the gang walking to a video store. The trio (Joel, Fi and Kai) ask if the gang are here to rent a movie or for any other reason. Benson tells them that he and the park gang don't know what they are trying to look for. He then pulls out a hologram map and tells Joel, Fi and Kai that the map might be the clue. The trio then take Pops to a secret base underneath the video store and find a tape made out of ice. Unfortunately, the tape cannot be played in any regular VCR and can only work at a forbidden mountain, where the contents of the tape will be revealed.
The gang later head on snowmobiles and travel to the mountain. Whilst on the snowmobiles, Mordecai and Rigby wonder what Pops actually is. They are interrupted when they come across three obstacles being a lava lake, a stormy sea and a lake frozen off in ice. The group later take the frozen lake route seeing that it is the only safe route there. Whilst on the snowmobiles, Eileen notices the ice cracking, forcing the gang to go off the snowmobiles and make a run for it. Everyone except Joel manages to make it over to the other side as Joel reveals that he doesn't know how to swim. He is then eaten by a fish, mourning the gang.
Fi, Kai and the park gang reach the mountain and take refuge there. At the time, Pops stares into the fire and has a flashback about him playing with a ball and then noticing a fire tape. After resting, the gang continue the journey. During the trip, they get a glimpse of some bones and skulls from past visitors to the cave. They then realise why they are there when a snow monster arrives. Fi sacrifices herself by holding on to a rock and eventually gets dragged away by the monster.
With Kai being the only one left, she and the gang approach a dark hole and enter it, only to find it being a cave with rushing water. When the gang stop, the find themselves at the three tapes, being fire, ice and a regular tape. When the approach the island with the three tapes, the meet the Eggscellent Knight, where he tells the gang about the three tapes. Since Pops is the chosen one, he decided to put the tape in the fire tape after yet again having the vision. Before he can insert the tape, the ice monster returns, forcing Kai to sacrifice herself. Before her death, she tells the park gang that "It was totally worth it to die for Pops!" (In the UK, this line is "It was totally worth it!")
After Kai's death, Pops plays the tape where Mr. Maellard reveals that Pops was not his biological father, and instead, found him after a meteorite crash. He also states that Pops has an evil-twin brother, being Anti-Pops. Towards the end of the tape, Mr. Maellard tells the gang that, in order to defeat Anti-Pops, a mentor named Earl will train him on his journey. The tape stop playing and melts. Later, Earl arrives and tells the Park Gang that it's time for training.
Characters
- Pops
- Mordecai
- Rigby
- Benson
- Skips
- Muscle Man
- Hi-Five Ghost
- Eileen
- Joel, Fi, & Kai
- Earl
- Eggscellent Knight
- Mr. Maellard (video tape)
Trivia
- Mr. Maellard reveals that he is not the biological father of Pops.
- He also reveals that Pops is actually an alien being who arrived on Earth and was adopted by Mr. Maellard as a baby.
- Anti-Pops is Pops' evil brother and they're both part of a prophecy that deals with the fate of the Universe.
- This is Mr. Maellard's and Egcellent Knight's last speaking appearance in the series.
- This is also Egsellent Knight's last appearance in the series.
- This episode was dedicated to David Ogden Stiers who died on March 3, 2018 from complications of Bladder Cancer.
Episode Connections
- This is the second appearance of Pops' mother and Mr. Maellard's wife, who previously appeared during a flashback montage in "Skips vs. Technology."
