Episode Recap: A Pharaoh to Remember

Bender wants to be famous, but his heist at a community swimming pool does not bring the notoriety he wants. Other attempts at fame also fail. Bender, afraid he will not be remembered after his death, becomes despondent. The next day, the whole crew surprises Bender with a mock funeral but despite their best efforts to eulogize him effectively, Bender is not appeased and continues to sulk. The Professor sends the Planet Express ship to Osiris 4 the following morning to deliver a large sandstone block. When they reach Osiris 4, Leela, Fry and Bender find out the block will be used for the monument of Pharaoh Hamenthotep and the three are enslaved by Khatten, the slave driver, to help build the Pharaoh’s tomb.

Extremely impressed with the monuments honoring the dead rulers of Osiris 4, Bender gives Khattan tips on how to get the slaves to work harder and faster. Pharaoh Hamenthotep arrives to survey the enormous monument of himself on his tomb, but his hastily attached nose falls off and crushes him to death. At Hamenthotep’s funeral, Khatten announces that in the morning the Wall of Prophecy will identify a new Pharaoh. That night, while the other slaves celebrate the death of Hamenthotep, Bender imprints his name and face in the Wall of Prophecy and plants clues indicating he is the new Pharaoh. His plan works and the next day Bender is crowned as Pharaoh.

Pharaoh Bender brings a new and harsher wave of cruelty to the land but gives special dispensation to Leela and Fry who become his personal slaves. Work begins on memorial statue of Bender and weeks later it is finished—by far larger and louder than all of the other monuments combined. Afraid his tomb will outshine the personal memory of him as a pharaoh, Bender orders it torn down and a more tasteful memorial put in its place. The High Priests revolt, capture Bender, toss him into the monument with Leela and Fry, and announce Pharaoh Bender has died. In the bowels of the sealed tomb, Bender sips whiskey from his still and Leela suggests they use the whiskey still to blow up the gargantuan statue. After some resistance and threats by Fry and Leela to forget him, Bender agrees. The three run out as the monument explodes and take off in the Planet Express ship hidden nearby. Bender is distraught to see his huge likeness collapse until Leela reminds him that he most certainly will be remembered for his despotic oppression of the people of Osiris 4.