The Vision

"The Vision" is the fifth episode of Season 5 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 161st episode overall.

Synopsis
After finding a secret manifesto on Alan's memory stick, Gumball and Darwin decide to foil his plan for world domination.

Plot
The episode begins with Gumball and Darwin returning from gym class to the locker room to get dressed. After goofing off for a bit, the boys begin to change their clothes; Gumball struggles to put on his clothes because he grabbed another student's gym bag, and the only article of clothing within the bag is a piece of string. Despite feeling discontent, Gumball, only wearing the gym bag, walks home with his brother.

Once home (and clothed), Gumball opens up the gym bag and discovers a USB drive. In order to find out whose bag it is, Gumball and Darwin load the USB drive onto their computer and open a file named "LOVE.JPG." The file turns out to be a love poem dedicated to Carmen, and the boys conclude that the USB drive belongs to Alan. Curious, the two decide to take a look into his private files.

At first, the files are merely innocent photos that the boys find fun in mocking; that is until the they stumble across a file named "MY VISION.DOC." Upon opening the file, the boys are horrified by the content of the file: a manifesto detailing on how Alan plans to become school president and eventually take over the world.

Once the their initial shock passes, the brothers begin to read the document. Alan begins his manifesto by declaring how he must alter his childish appearance and voice for a more mature and serious persona. He claims, "the more serious a leader looks, the more seriously he will be taken."

The next part of his plan involves him manipulating the students in the school yard. By manipulating Clayton, Alan will trigger a chain reaction that will have the children believing that it was their idea to have Alan run for school president, and thus, will have them spreading the idea across the school.

Next, Alan's manifesto states he needs to induce a crisis to motivate change; he will do so by leaving a poster claiming that students with higher grades will have their grades taxed to provide better grades for those with lower grades. The news will instigate a violent revolt from angry students in the form of a riot. To mollify tension, Alan will then deliver a motivating speech to the student body of Elmore Junior High promising change; the speech will inspire students, and therefore, boost Alan's popularity in the ballot. To sweeten the deal, Alan plans to launch slandering advertising campaigns against his opponents; this will only further rise his credibility.

Once school president, Alan will use his power to install a "Happy Camp" program for the school. The intent of these "Happy Camps" are to force miserable students to be happy by having them perform "joyful activities" against their will; those who refuse to change will be "corrected." Alan then finishes off his manifesto by stating how his vision is to have "Happy Camps" all over the globe.

Disgusted with how nefarious Alan truly is, the Watterson brothers determine that they must kill Alan before he can become a danger to anyone. The next day at school, Gumball and Darwin dedicate their day to assassinating Alan; despite their numerous attempts, the boys never successfully end Alan's life.

Finally, in the library, Gumball is in an optimal position to pop Alan with a pin; however, he can't bring himself to commit the act. Darwin then realizes that it was their conscience that made it impossible to murder Alan in the first place. Confused, Alan decides to make it clear that he has no malicious intents and that the "Happy Camps" were simply optional weekend camps to help sad kids cope with their feelings. Recognizing the errors of their ways, the brothers promptly apologize to Alan and walk away laughing at their previous antics.

As Gumball and Darwin walk away, Alan seizes the opportunity to revise his manifesto, but before he can do such, Gumball walks back into the room and successfully pops him, ending the episode.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Alan

Minor Characters

 * Idaho
 * Anais
 * Carmen
 * Neck Beard
 * Dog
 * Eggheads
 * Leslie
 * Clayton
 * Teri
 * Masami
 * Penny
 * Sarah
 * Juke
 * Tobias
 * Bobert
 * Jamie
 * Banana Joe
 * Principal Brown
 * Mr. Small
 * Mr. Corneille
 * Clare
 * Eggman
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Molly
 * Hector
 * Carrie
 * Tina
 * Ocho
 * The Sun
 * William
 * Jared

Trivia

 * This episode reveals that Alan's last name is Keane.
 * A clip of this episode was uploaded to Cartoon Network's social media accounts on September 22, 2016 despite it not airing that night.
 * The fourth wall breaks when Clayton asks Alan who he is talking to.

Continuity

 * This is Alan's fifth major role. The others four were "The Photo," "The Storm," "The Saint" and "The Traitor."
 * This is the thirteenth time we see Gumball naked.
 * The tech support number shown in "The Bet" reappears on the bulletin board when Gumball and Darwin see the grade taxes flyer.
 * In the scene where all students riot, Gumball makes a face that resembles Nicole's in "The Pizza."

Cultural References

 * A lot of selected faces for Alan's dictator-like face are shown:
 * Bane from the Batman franchise.
 * Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon.
 * Dr. Eggman from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
 * Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars franchise.
 * Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
 * Alan's new voice is reminiscent of Frank Underwood from House of Cards.
 * The "Vote for Alan" posters bear a resemblance to President Barack Obama's "Hope" posters used during his 2008 presidential campaign.
 * Gumball's self-destructing message is a reference to the 1966 TV Series Mission: Impossible, where secret government agents receive instructions on a tape which self-destructs as smoke rises from it.
 * Alan's propaganda poster to boycott Hector looks similar to the "Destroy This Mad Brute" poster used by the U.S. Army during World War 1.
 * In Alan's movement on forcibly sending sad people to happy camps, Carrie floats by, looking rather depressed, with a thought bubble filled with squiggly lines, similar to the thought bubbles from the Peanuts comic strips by Charles M. Schulz.