How I Met Your Mother S09E14 – Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra
On Sunday at 1:00 AM, 17 hours before the wedding , picking up immediately where the previous episode left off, Marshall is about to slap an impassive-faced Barney (seen in a slow-motion fashion) when Future Ted says that there is a particular back story to this slap. The episode then flashes back to a few weeks earlier with the gang at MacLaren's Pub . After spilling a stain of mustard on his suit, Barney begins mocking Marshall by saying that his suit was a slap in the face to all suits everywhere. Remembering the Slap Bet , Marshall tells Barney that he wants the next slap from the Slap Bet to be as painful as humanly possible, to which Barney then counters that, due to all the pain and suffering Marshall has inflicted upon him over the years, he is now immune to all of Marshall's torments.
Marshall then proceeds to tell Barney (who keeps interrupting to point out the obvious inconsistencies in the story) that he went to seek "special training" for the next slap. First, he went to a martial arts learning center to ask the teacher for a class that only teaches slapping. After being rejected, a kid at the center informs Marshall about the existence of the so-called "Slap of a Million Exploding Suns", and that he needs to visit three masters to teach him the three virtues of "slapistry" - Speed, Strength, and Accuracy- needed to learn the slap. He then travels to Shanghai for a year to learn the 'speed' component from "The Cruel Tutelage of Red Bird", to the so-called Slap Mountain (a mountain in China shaped exactly like a hand, and the greatest of the Slappalachian Mountains), to learn the 'strength' component from "The Punishing Scholarship of White Flower", and to Cleveland (the city equivalent of being slapped in the face), to learn the 'accuracy' component from "The Some-Might-Call-It-Nitpicky-But-It's-Really-Just-Thorough Schooling of The Calligrapher".
Red Bird (who resembles Robin ) at first refuses to teach Marshall, since she has been retired for a long time and slapping has now become part of her history. However, she agrees after Marhsall reveals his purpose to slap Barney Stinson. The training includes Marshall practicing with a fabled "slapping tree", a tree that slaps back with its branches (which also apparently inspired a Chinese kids book "The Slapping Tree"). After succesfully passing his final test (slapping Red Bird), Marshall moves on to Slap Mountain to learn from White Flower (who looks like Lily ). Much like Red Bird, she refuses to teach slapping again but helps him when Marshall mentions Barney Stinson's name. She instructs Marshall that the real power of a slap comes from the anger behind it, touching Marshall's hand while explaining. This leads to Marshall and White Flower to make love, and then bang, in the Gongqing Forest near the Slapping Tree (which Marshall states may or may not have come into play). White Flower tells Marshall to get slapped by several of Barney's former conquests so he can harness their anger to give him the strength for his slap. We are shown as Marshall approaches several conquests of Barney's (Crazy Meg , Shannon , Shelly , Karina , Mrs. Douglas, and Nora ) before his hand obtains a red glow, symbolizing his success. Finally, Marshall travels to Cleveland to learn Accuracy from The Calligrapher (who looks like Ted ). The Calligrapher accepts the challange of training Marhshall under the condition of going out with his divorced cousin Janice. However, Marshall tries to save him from choking by slapping his back, but without having learned accuracy yet, he accidentally slaps The Calligrapher's heart right out of him, causing him to die. Thus, Marshall ends his story to Barney complaining that he never got to finish his training, and thus shall remain a "mere slapprentice".
Flashing forward back to the wedding weekend, we are shown the slow-motion slap from the beginning. Since Marshall never learned Accuracy, he misses the slap, allowing Barney to run into woods in panic. He runs into four women underneath a willow tree knitting a tiger blanket, which matches Marshall's description of the place where Marshall will give Barney his next slap. The gang finally catches up to him, and Marshall tells Barney that The Calligrapher did in fact teach him the secret to accuracy while dying on the floor, since you only have 10 or 15 minutes to live when your heart is slapped out of your body, and that his training is complete. Barney then says that he is also ready, and Marshall then slaps Barney (again seen in a slow-motion fashion, while a piece of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, op 11 plays on the background). After the slap, Barney and Marshall share a laugh about it, wondering how life passed so fast. In the end scene, Marshall announces to the audience Boyz II Men, who sing "You Just Got Slapped". Marshall then walks up to Barney, ominously reminding him that there is one slap remaining in the slap bet, wiping Barney's smile from his face.
Marshall then proceeds to tell Barney (who keeps interrupting to point out the obvious inconsistencies in the story) that he went to seek "special training" for the next slap. First, he went to a martial arts learning center to ask the teacher for a class that only teaches slapping. After being rejected, a kid at the center informs Marshall about the existence of the so-called "Slap of a Million Exploding Suns", and that he needs to visit three masters to teach him the three virtues of "slapistry" - Speed, Strength, and Accuracy- needed to learn the slap. He then travels to Shanghai for a year to learn the 'speed' component from "The Cruel Tutelage of Red Bird", to the so-called Slap Mountain (a mountain in China shaped exactly like a hand, and the greatest of the Slappalachian Mountains), to learn the 'strength' component from "The Punishing Scholarship of White Flower", and to Cleveland (the city equivalent of being slapped in the face), to learn the 'accuracy' component from "The Some-Might-Call-It-Nitpicky-But-It's-Really-Just-Thorough Schooling of The Calligrapher".
Red Bird (who resembles Robin ) at first refuses to teach Marshall, since she has been retired for a long time and slapping has now become part of her history. However, she agrees after Marhsall reveals his purpose to slap Barney Stinson. The training includes Marshall practicing with a fabled "slapping tree", a tree that slaps back with its branches (which also apparently inspired a Chinese kids book "The Slapping Tree"). After succesfully passing his final test (slapping Red Bird), Marshall moves on to Slap Mountain to learn from White Flower (who looks like Lily ). Much like Red Bird, she refuses to teach slapping again but helps him when Marshall mentions Barney Stinson's name. She instructs Marshall that the real power of a slap comes from the anger behind it, touching Marshall's hand while explaining. This leads to Marshall and White Flower to make love, and then bang, in the Gongqing Forest near the Slapping Tree (which Marshall states may or may not have come into play). White Flower tells Marshall to get slapped by several of Barney's former conquests so he can harness their anger to give him the strength for his slap. We are shown as Marshall approaches several conquests of Barney's (Crazy Meg , Shannon , Shelly , Karina , Mrs. Douglas, and Nora ) before his hand obtains a red glow, symbolizing his success. Finally, Marshall travels to Cleveland to learn Accuracy from The Calligrapher (who looks like Ted ). The Calligrapher accepts the challange of training Marhshall under the condition of going out with his divorced cousin Janice. However, Marshall tries to save him from choking by slapping his back, but without having learned accuracy yet, he accidentally slaps The Calligrapher's heart right out of him, causing him to die. Thus, Marshall ends his story to Barney complaining that he never got to finish his training, and thus shall remain a "mere slapprentice".
Flashing forward back to the wedding weekend, we are shown the slow-motion slap from the beginning. Since Marshall never learned Accuracy, he misses the slap, allowing Barney to run into woods in panic. He runs into four women underneath a willow tree knitting a tiger blanket, which matches Marshall's description of the place where Marshall will give Barney his next slap. The gang finally catches up to him, and Marshall tells Barney that The Calligrapher did in fact teach him the secret to accuracy while dying on the floor, since you only have 10 or 15 minutes to live when your heart is slapped out of your body, and that his training is complete. Barney then says that he is also ready, and Marshall then slaps Barney (again seen in a slow-motion fashion, while a piece of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, op 11 plays on the background). After the slap, Barney and Marshall share a laugh about it, wondering how life passed so fast. In the end scene, Marshall announces to the audience Boyz II Men, who sing "You Just Got Slapped". Marshall then walks up to Barney, ominously reminding him that there is one slap remaining in the slap bet, wiping Barney's smile from his face.
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