The Principal and The Pauper - Plot

Plot

On the eve of his twentieth anniversary as school principal, Seymour Skinner is lured by his mother to Springfield Elementary School for a surprise party. The celebration goes well until a strange man arrives, claiming to be the real Seymour Skinner. Principal Skinner soon admits that he is an impostor, and that his real name is Armin Tamzarian. Armin then tells the story of the events that led him to steal Seymour Skinner's identity.

Armin was once a troubled young man. He stole an old woman's purse and, while making his getaway on his motorcycle, hit a pedestrian who happened to be a judge. As punishment, Armin had to join the Army and fight in the Vietnam War, go to jail, or apologize to the judge. Skinner decided to join the army, not knowing the country was in a middle of war. There he met and befriended the real Sergeant Seymour Skinner, who became his mentor and helped him find meaning in his troubled life. Seymour told Armin that his dream was to become an elementary school principal after the war. Later, Seymour was declared missing and presumed dead after he was caught in an explosion. Armin took the news of the apparent death to Seymour's mother, Agnes. Upon meeting him, however, Agnes mistook him for her son, and Armin could not bear to deliver the message. He instead allowed Agnes to call him Seymour, and took over Seymour's life. Meanwhile, the real Seymour Skinner spent five years in a POW camp, then worked in a Chinese sweatshop for two decades until it was shut down by the United Nations.

After these revelations, the people of Springfield begin to distrust Armin. Armin decides that there is no longer any place for him in Springfield, and retires from his job. The real Skinner is then offered the chance to realize his dream and take over as school principal. He takes the job, but the townspeople soon realize that they prefer Armin over him. Even Agnes Skinner misses Armin, since she had lived with him for 26 years, and does not believe her actual son still needs her. Armin, however, has already left Springfield and gone to Capital City.

Marge heads to Capital City with Edna Krabappel, Agnes and the rest of the Simpson family. After Agnes orders Armin to return home, Homer persuades Mayor Quimby and all the other citizens to allow Armin to resume his assumed identity as Principal Skinner. The real Skinner is unhappy about this, and refuses to give up his job and his dignity just because the people of Springfield prefer Armin to him. In response, the townspeople banish the real Skinner from town by tying him to a chair on a flatcar of a freight train. Judge Snyder declares that Armin will again be referred to as Seymour Skinner, that he will return to his job as school principal, and that no one shall mention the name "Armin Tamzarian" again, under penalty of torture.