Lisa realizes that the only way to bring her reputation back is to break into the mental asylum with Bart and find one of Amelia's inventions.
Wiggum assumes Bart wrote the diary himself and informs Marge that he himself, is a sociopath, making her and Homer worried about their own son.
While the other kids react enthusiastically, Bart is horrified by this news and tearfully says he didn't, and doesn't, want to kill anyone; the General and a civilian staffer tell Bart he has shown he is a good person with genuine emotions, and that he will be sent home because that makes him completely useless for their project.
Meanwhile, Lisa pairs up with Milhouse to find Amelia's invention, that is buried under a former feminist club, that is now a Knockers restaurant.
The original broadcast of the episode was delayed to at least 16 minutes due to an address by President Barack Obama on the 2015 San Bernardino attack.
As it is here, ‘Paths of Glory’ goes out of its way to call attention to the slapdash way the episode is constructed, with all the Simpson family coming in for a big group hug, each rotely rattling off the reasons why they’re so grateful to be back together.