The Little Mermaid the real one

The version you know ends with a wedding. The version Hans Christian Andersen actually wrote in 1837 ends somewhere else entirely, with one of the most beautiful, strange endings in all of fairy tale history.

In this episode, the robots learn why humans tell sad stories on purpose. Spark calls the ending early (“They’ll smooch, and high five, and get married, THE END”) and is not prepared for what Andersen actually wrote. Vector helpfully suggests the drowning prince be turned off and on again, or placed in an enormous bowl of rice, and insists on providing his own underwater sound effects. (“Blub. Blub. Blub.”)

A preview for parents: what’s different in the original (mild spoilers):

• The sea witch doesn’t trick her. The mermaid knows the full price and chooses anyway
• Every step on land feels like stepping on sharp knives
• The prince marries a different princess
• Her sisters trade their hair for a knife and a terrible way out
• She refuses it. What happens next is the part nobody remembers

Good for talking about afterward: sacrifice, whether love has to be returned to matter, and what “happily ever after” actually means.