The alternate world of “The Serfsons” also made references to video games, RPGs, and fantasy novels.
Even though âGame of Thronesâ fans are in for a very long hiatus before its final season, âThe Simpsonsâ filled the void by paying homage to HBOâs fantasy epic on Sunday night. The animated seriesâ Season 29 premiere is set in an alternate world called âThe Serfsons,â in which fantasy references abound from popular TV shows, movies, novels, video games, and RPGs.
First, itâs important to make the distinction between any general Medieval or fantasy reference and an actual homage to actual properties like âLord of the Ringsâ or âGame of Thrones.â Even though J.R.R. Tolkien is accepted as the father of modern fantasy (high fantasy specifically), he did not invent the genre, and therefore many hallmarks of the genre â such as flying fire-breathing dragons â seen in the episode are not credited to any particular source.
To the best of IndieWireâs knowledge, here is every fantasy reference made in âThe Serfsonsâ:
Opening Sequence
âGame of Thronesâ: The music introducing the Kingdom of Springfieldia is reminiscent to the theme song for HBOâs series, composed by Ramin Djawadi, and âThe Simpsonsâ theme song combined.
âGame of Thronesâ: âKing Quimby, the First of His Nameâ echoes the honorific title patterns seen in the show. Tommen (Dean Charles-Chapman) was also a âFirst of His Nameâ monarch.
âGame of Thronesâ: This could be a stretch, but in the frame that touts âcunning wizards,â Professor Frink is seen in wizardâs robes summoning a shadow version of himself from the fire. This could be a light reference to how a shadow baby with Stannisâ (Stephen Dillane) face was birthed expressly to carry out an assassination.
Dungeons & Dragons: The three floating creatures fanning Lord Burns are Beholders.
âGame of Thronesâ: Although severed heads on pikes have appeared before, the HBO series brought the practice to light when its hero, Ned Stark (Sean Bean), was famously beheaded in the first season, and his daughter was forced to look at the mounted severed head later.
The Serfsons
âThe Serfsonsâ episode of âThe Simpsonsâ
FOX
âGame of Thronesâ: A three-eyed raven lands in the window, which then becomes protein for the water soup the destitute Serfsons are eating. In the original show, however, the Three-Eyed Raven is a being with mystical powers and greensight, which is combo of clairvoyance, precognition, and retrocognition. (Of course, in âSimpsonsâ lore, it also calls to mind Blinky, the infamous three-eyed fish from Springfield.)
âGame of Thronesâ: Margeâs mom is turning into an Ice Walker, which is a reference to the White Walkers and the mindless wights they create from the dead.
Barber Hibbertâs Surgery
Dr. Hibbert is presented as the local barber/surgeon as well as apothecary for Springfieldia. Most of the references in his office are labeled potions on the shelf in the background.
âThe Smurfsâ: Krusty the Jester has come down with a jolly horrifying case of the genital snurfs, complete with high-pitched voices and white caps getting tossed from his crotch.
âLord of the Ringsâ: One bottle on Hibbertâs shelf is labeled âEnt-draught.â These were magical draughts that the Ents drank to either refresh or nourish themselves. The only other time that anyone was known to have drank an Ent-draught was in the novel âThe Two Towers,â when Merry and Pippin took it during their time in Fangorn forest and later became the tallest hobbits in the Shire, towering everyone else by a few inches.
âHarry Potterâ: The âPolyjuice Potionâ should be familiar to any Potterhead. It is used to temporarily transform the appearance of one person into another person, using a bit of tissue (usually hair clippings) from that person.
âGame of Thronesâ: âMilk of the Poppyâ is given to patients usually who need to manage pain or help sleeping. Itâs most likely a reference to the real-life poppy flower that is the source of opium.
Dungeons & Dragons: âBarkskin +2â toughens a creatureâs skin and enhances the natural armor with a bonus of 2.
The Legend of Zelda: The red potion restores health, the green restores magic, and the blue restores both.
The Quest for the Amulet of Warming
âThe Serfsonsâ episode of âThe Simpsonsâ
FOX
As the cure for Margeâs mom of the Ice Walker disease, the Serfsons need to acquire the Amulet of Warming.
Dungeons & Dragons: Unfortunately, the amulet costs 100 gold pieces, or as Homer says, â100 GP â thatâs more than a 10th-level fighter makes during an entire campaign.â
Dungeons & Dragons: The gelatinous cube is a wholly original monster by D&D father Gary Gygax that is a 10-foot square gelatinous cube that can absorb and digest organic matter. Itâs a scavenger, but it doesnât wait until something is dead to digest it.
âGame of Thronesâ: Marge mentions she should have listened to the witch, which is a reference to the witch who had predicted that Cersei (Lena Headey) would become queen but lose all of her children.
âGame of Thronesâ: Marge extends the Cersei reference to include a twin brother Markery (who looks like a male version of Marge) and is voiced by guest actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who of course plays Cerseiâs twin and lover in âGame of Thrones.â
âGame of Thronesâ: A man who looks much like author George R.R. Martin, complete with cap, walks by Moeâs with a sandwich board that reads âThe End Is Not Nighâ on the front and âIâll Tell You When Itâs Nighâ on the back, referencing how long fans have been waiting for him to finish writing the fantasy series source material.
âGame of Thronesâ: Homer laments having to sleep on the âIron Couch,â an homage to the Iron Throne.
âGame of Thronesâ: Moe and Bart trade messages via raven instead of the usual crank calls.
âThe Chronicles of Narniaâ: The lion Aslan wearing a cross pendant tries to convert the Serfsons to Christianity. C.S. Lewisâ âChroniclesâ is classic childrenâs fantasy novel series that often borrows from Christian themes, with Aslan standing in as a Christ-like figure.
After the Amulet
âThe Serfsonsâ episode of âThe Simpsonsâ
FOX
âLord of the Ringsâ: In celebration for obtaining the amulet and saving her mother, Marge wants to celebrate by making a special recipe: P. Jacksonâs Overstuffed Hobbit. The recipe card instructs one to: Cut Hobbit into three pieces; Pack with unnecessary stuffing; Serves many, satisfies none. This is a reference to Peter Jackson adapting the Tolkienâs solo volume of âThe Hobbitâ as a trilogy of films. Later, Marge picks a hobbit from a cage to cook and Homer is seen chomping on a hairy hobbit foot.
âGame of Thronesâ: Instead of the shop Victoriaâs Secret, Homer stands near Victarionâs Secret, a reference to Victarion Greyjoy, one of Theonâs uncles.
âMagic: The Gatheringâ: Only the title is referenced when citing why Lisaâs use of alchemy is forbidden under the âMagic: The Gatheringâ Act.
âThe Serfsonsâ episode of âThe Simpsonsâ
Elric of MelnibonĂ©: A reference to Michael Moorcockâs albino sword and sorcery antihero Elric of Melnibone is first seen in the town square with the sign that looks as if it reads âMelricâs Melniboners.â An albino Sideshow Bob is standing underneath the sign. Later, the Sideshow Elric gets a line, and there we can see that heâs also wielding Elricâs dark sword, Stormbringer.
Dungeons & Dragons: Before storming the castle, the villagers break into the Weapons and Armor shop.
âLord of the Ringsâ: The tree-like Ents are an ancient race that appeared in Middle Earth around the time the elves did. They protect the forest. Sadly, here the beings are used to make ladders to scale the castle walls.
âThe Dark Is Risingâ: A major nemesis in the books by Susan Cooper is Mitothin, one of the great Lords of the Dark and also known as The Black Rider. In âThe Simpsons,â a statue is seen inscribed with the words, âKing Mitothin the Statue-Worthy.â
âLord of the Ringsâ: The sketched portraits for each character mimic the end credits for âLord of the Rings.â
âThe Simpsonsâ airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on FOX
