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Minions · 2015 — Chapter 1 of 14 · 4'16" · B2

Minions Can't Keep a Boss, Explained: therein lies the rub

This opening prologue isn't about one boss. The Minions' whole purpose is to serve "the most despicable master they could find," yet the narrator admits finding one is easy and keeping one is the problem. Their loyalty keeps ending in disaster.

What happens

A narrator traces the Minions across prehistory: they existed long before humans and lived only to serve the worst master available. Dinosaurs, cavemen, Egyptians and medieval kings all take a turn. Each boss is found easily enough, then lost, and the tribe is forced to keep moving.

StorytellingMonologuesExplainingBoss & employeeB2slowamericanClean
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Listen for

therein lies the rubthe party was overtook an instant liking tono other choice but to

00:00 / 04:16
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  9. ❝ MonologueLoyalty as a survival law5 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

therein lies the rub

that is exactly where the difficulty is

旁白先承认找到老板很容易，紧接着说留住老板才难，用这句点出总出问题的环节。

The plan looks cheap, but therein lies the rub: nobody wants to run it.

Also in this scene

  • the party was over

    the good times came to an end

  • took an instant liking to

    to like someone immediately

  • no other choice but to

    别无选择，只能……

Everything marked in this scene

24 notes across 43 lines

Phrase · B1far longer than somethingMinions have been on this planet far longer than we have.
Phrase · B1share the same goalThey're all different, but they all share the same goal.
Phrase · C1the most despicable someone could findTo serve the most despicable master they could find.
Phrase · C1the very reason for existenceMaking their master happy was the tribe's very reason for existence.
Phrase · B2that is not to say that ...But that's not to say that they didn't have other passions.
Phrase · C2therein lies the rub

that is exactly where the difficulty is

But keeping a boss, therein lies the rub.
Phrase · A2never give upBut they never gave up.
Phrase · B2with the emergence of somethingWith the emergence of the Stone Age came the rise of a new species.
Grammar · C1came the rise of a new species

inversion after a fronted phrase

With the emergence of the Stone Age came the rise of a new species.
Phrase · C1take an instant liking to someone

to like someone immediately

The Minions took an instant liking to man, and helped him the best they could.
Soundtook an instant

liaison

The Minions took an instant liking to man, and helped him the best they could.
Phrase · B2one's quest for somethingTheir quest for a boss put the Minions front and center for some of civilization's most historic moments.
Phrase · B2hold great promiseAncient Egypt held great promise.
Soundheld great

elision

Ancient Egypt held great promise.
Phrase · B1have a tendency to do somethingTheir new master had a tendency to party all night and sleep all day.
Phrase · B2the party is over

the good times came to an end

But eventually, the party was over.
Soundthe party was over

weak form

But eventually, the party was over.
Phrase · C1bounce from one something to anotherThey bounced from one evil boss to another, but they never seemed to find their perfect fit.
Phrase · B2find a perfect fitThey bounced from one evil boss to another, but they never seemed to find their perfect fit.
Phrase · B2take something badlyOne particular employer took their failure very, very badly.
Phrase · B1have no other choice but to do somethingThe Minions had no other choice but to keep moving.
Grammar · B1no other choice but to keep moving

but plus infinitive

The Minions had no other choice but to keep moving.
Phrase · B2when all hope seemed lostAnd then, when all hope seemed lost,
Phrase · C1find sanctuarythey found sanctuary.

Minions Can't Keep a Boss, explained

What's really going on

The joke and the theme are the same: the Minions need a master the way other creatures need food. "Making their master happy was the tribe's very reason for existence," the narrator says, and the film plays that need for comedy rather than comfort. Every era gives them a new employer, and every employer meets the same fate, because the Minions' devotion is sincere but catastrophic. The real subject isn't any single villain; it's the pattern of wanting to belong to something powerful and watching it fall. The closing beat makes the point gently: after all the wreckage, safety is just a cave and a chance to start over.

Theme

DutyThe Minions exist to serve a master; loyalty is their only purpose, even when it destroys them.
AbsurdityThey chase the worst villains in history and ruin every one, turning devotion into slapstick disaster.

What you'll learn

  • Use therein lies the rub in a comparable exchange.
  • Listen for the attitude around therein lies the rub.
  • Notice how the reply changes the scene.

Listen for

  • took an instant — liaison
  • held great — elision
  • the party was over — weak form
Making their master happy was the tribe's very reason for existence.

Serving a master isn't a job for the Minions; it's the entire point of their species. The line frames blind loyalty as an instinct, not a choice.

But keeping a boss, therein lies the rub.

Finding a boss is easy; holding onto one is the real difficulty. "Therein lies the rub" is a Shakespearean way of naming the catch.

They bounced from one evil boss to another, but they never seemed to find their perfect fit.

They kept switching villains, never settling. "Their perfect fit" makes the search sound like dating or hiring, which is the joke.

The Dark Ages were actually fun times.

The narrator calls a grim historical era "fun" because the Minions partied through it — the gap between history and their experience is the humor.

Questions about this scene

Why do the Minions keep serving villains?

Because serving the worst master is their whole reason to exist. The prologue presents it as instinct, not a moral choice, and the comedy comes from how badly it always ends.

Why can't the Minions ever keep a boss?

Their devotion is sincere but disastrous. Every scheme to please a master backfires, so the employer is lost and the tribe has to move on. Finding a boss was never the hard part.

What does "therein lies the rub" mean?

It's an old idiom meaning "that's where the problem is." The narrator uses it to say that finding a boss is easy, but keeping one is the difficulty.

Are the Minions evil?

Not exactly. They are loyal to evil masters and accidentally ruin them, but their motive is simply to belong and please. The film treats that as absurd rather than malicious.

Minions · 14 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 2Truth be toldKevin Volunteers to Find a New Master
Watching · Chapter 1therein lies the rubMinions Can't Keep a BossChapter 2Truth be toldKevin Volunteers to Find a New MasterChapter 3marked downMinions Wreck a Department StoreChapter 4a new bad man in townScarlet Overkill's Villain-Con AdChapter 5stretch one's legsThe Nelsons Give the Minions a RideChapter 6let's not kid ourselvesScarlet's Henchmen TryoutChapter 7get down to businessScarlet Assigns the Crown HeistChapter 8Bob's your uncleBob Pulls the Sword from the StoneChapter 9above and beyond the call of dutyScarlet Confronts the MinionsChapter 10take this the wrong wayScarlet Breaks Up with the MinionsChapter 11I proclaim theeScarlet's Coronation Turns into a ChaseChapter 12how's that working out for youScarlet Gives Kevin Until DawnChapter 13so help meScarlet Taunts Kevin, Then FleesChapter 14from here on outThe Queen Knights Kevin
Chapter 1 of 14 · about 65 min to go