Finally, those who grew up with the show can rejoice; "Samurai Jack" is back. With the new (and final) season beginning this past weekend, fans can look forward to awesome new adventures awaiting the titular character until his story finally comes to a close. Given previous episodes, the bar is set pretty high for this fifth season. However, with the same creative team & the freedom of Adult Swim, it is likely to be just as epic and badass as the previous four seasons. So in honor of the new season, here are the 20 best episodes of "Samurai Jack" from the first four seasons [in chronological order]:

1. The Premiere Movie ("Part I: The Beginning," "Part II: The Samurai Called Jack," and "Part III: The First Fight")

The first three episodes of the series form together to provide one hell of a kickass opening. "The Beginning" focuses on the evil demon Aku's return to terrorize Japan, while the emperor sends his son to train in combat all around the world until he becomes the perfect warrior. Returning to Japan as an adult, the son uses his father's magical samurai sword to fight Aku and nearly kills him, but not before Aku manages to fling the samurai into a time-warp to the future. The story continues in "The Samurai Called Jack," which sees the samurai in a dystopian future ruled by Aku. It is here that Jack meets a variety of people and alien creatures, who refer to him by the slang term of "Jack," and he adopts it as his name. In "The First Fight," Jack defends a group of dog archaeologists and battles an entire army of Aku's robotic beetle destroyer drones in a seriously epic sequence.

2. "Jack and the Three Blind Archers"

This episode sees Jack makes his way to a tower in hopes of using the wishing well on top to return to the past. The catch though, is that it's guarded by three blind, yet seemingly unbeatable, archers (who in the episode's beginning defeat an entire army of robotic Vikings). To defeat them, Jack has to blindfold himself and use his other senses to beat them, just like how they've been beating everyone else.

3. "Jack vs. Mad Jack"

This episode sees Jack defeat an onslaught of bounty hunters one after the other, causing Jack to become ferociously frustrated. This in turn inspires Aku to conjure a dark mirror image of Jack, spawned from the warrior's own anger. Then, Jack essentially has to fight himself.

4. "Jack and the Lava Monster"

Easily one of the most emotional episodes of the series, this episode sees Jack lured into a cave to do battle with a giant humanoid lava monster, although Jack at first refuses to fight for no reason. However, things change when the monster reveals himself as a former Viking king now cursed by Aku, desiring a true warrior to defeat him & set him free so that he may enter Valhalla.

5. "Jack and The Scotsman: Part 1"

Introducing the fan-favorite Scotsman, this episode sees Jack crossing a seemingly endless bridge, only to come across the Scotsman, a man who is essentially the polar opposite of Jack; big, boastful, loud, and arrogant. They fight to see who must go back to allow the other to cross first, but both warriors are equally matched, but soon they must band together and put aside their differences when bounty hunters show up.

6. "Jack and the Smackback"

This episode sees Jack kidnapped and brought to the Dome of Doom, where he is pitted against a barrage of monstrous robots in a gladiator-style fight to the death. Non-stop action permeates this episode, and it's awesome.

7. "Jack and the Ultra-robots"

After following a path of destruction, Jack comes across a group of killer robots, made of indestructible metal (specifically Adamantium, the same metal from Marvel comics that coats Wolverine's bones & claws). The robots, each equipped differently, have the sole purpose to kill Jack, and are so powerful that Jack needs a mechanized arm to take them on.

8. "Jack Remembers the Past"

While traveling in this episode, Jack stumbles upon the remains of his home, and subsequently begins to remember his childhood. There's not a lot of action in this episode, but it is emotional, thoughtful, and a nice look at some happy moments in Jack's life.

9. "Jack vs. Demongo the Soul Collector"

In this episode, Aku unleashes his servant, the shrill-voiced Demongo, to take down Jack. As Jack discovers, taking down this evil entity is difficult because he uses the essence of great warriors that he's absorbed to fight Jack.

10. "Jack and the Spartans"

Visually inspired by Frank Miller's "300" (later adapted into the film of the same name), this a action-packed episode sees the Spartan king recount the tale of when a great warrior (Jack) helped the Spartans destroy the bestial robot enemies they've been at war with for ages.

11. "Jack and the Rave"

This episode is great for the music alone. In it, Jack goes to a rave, filled with kids & teenagers, having vowed to free them from the evil grasp of Aku, who is controlling them with the rave music.

12. "Jack and the Zombies"

In this standout episode, Aku tricks Jack into wandering into a graveyard, where he battles hordes of the undead under Aku's control, before Aku himself arrives to battle Jack. This may be the episode with the most threatening depiction of Aku, who even manages to get a hold of Jack's sword, leading to a really tense & scary battle.

13. "Jack in Egypt"

After arriving in Egypt in this episode, Jack, who was in Egypt once as a boy, finds himself stalked and attacked by the savage dog-like minions of Set (released by Aku, of course). He must then find a way to have them re-imprisoned before they tear him apart.

14. "Jack and the Traveling Creatures"

After being guided there by a different monsters of intelligence, Jack arrives at a time-portal, but meets his match in this episode. The time-portal has a Guardian (who looks and acts like a big, blue Morpheus), and the two engage in a brutal fight. Let's just say, fingers crossed this character makes an appearance in the new season.

15. "Jack and the Haunted House"

Probably the creepiest episode of the series. Here, Jack follows a little girl into a haunted house to return her doll that she left behind. Once in the house, weird things start happening and Jack starts having visions that show something horrible happened there. It becomes apparent that there's a demon inhabiting the house; this leads to an incredibly stylized fight between Jack and the demon in a nightmarish dimension.

16. "The Birth of Evil (Parts I and II)"

Arguably the best and most artistic episode of "Samurai Jack" (which ironically barely features him), this two-part episode explores the origin of Aku and the history of his conflict with Jack's father. Aku was spawned from a piece of darkness that wasn't destroyed by the gods, and it landed on Earth, killed the dinosaurs, and became a dark, forest-like growth that fed on people throughout the centuries. Then, once Jack's father tried to destroy it, he inadvertently created Aku. With Aku laying waste to his land, Jack's father is then gifted with a sword made of his own goodness (crafted by monks blessed by the gods). Then, Jack's father engages in an epic battle with Aku. This episode is the cinematic apex of the series.

17. "Samurai vs. Ninja"

Containing the most thrilling and artistically-creative fight scene of the series, this episode sees a ninja pursuing Jack, who is busy trying to help a village fight off monsters. The ninja and the samurai do end up fighting though, in a tense one-on-one duel that makes excellent use of black & white to represent darkness & light.

18. "Scotsman Saves Jack (Parts I and II)"

This episode sees the Scotsman discover Jack working on a boat, but with a seemingly new identity, personality, and no memory of life as a samurai warrior. The Scotsman then resolves to help discover what happened to Jack and help him regain his memory. Having made a few subsequent appearances since his debut, this two-art episode is a great showcase of him as a character & his relationship with Jack. Thankfully, he'll be back in the new season.

19. "Jack vs. Aku"

In this episode, Aku challenges Jack to a duel; a fair one in which Jack won't use his sword and Aku must in human form, with no assistance from henchmen or magic. This episode is filled with twists & turns though, because a fair fight between these two enemies is impossible.

20. "Tale of X-9"

Told from the point of view of a robot bounty hunter with emotions, this episode is filled with tragedy and a classic film-noir vibe. The robot X-9 has retired from the business to live with his dog, Lulu. However, Aku discovers X-9's emotions and kidnaps the dog, forcing the robot to hunt down & kill Jack if he ever wants to see Lulu again. The sad thing is, you know X-9 won't succeed; that doesn't stop the viewer from hoping for some type of happy ending...but given it's noir influence, don't expect it.

Honorable Mentions:

"Jack in Space"

"Jack and the Gangsters"

"Jack and the Hunters"

"Jack and the Creature"

"Jack, the Monks, and the Ancient Master's Son"

"The Aku Infection"

"Seasons of Death"