In “The Cissy,” Randy Marsh is revealed to be the musician Lorde. The episode is South Park season 18’s third episode and the series’ 250th overall episode, airing on October 8, 2014.
The revelation continues a joke introduced in the preceding episode, “Gluten Free Ebola,” where Randy appears to impersonate Lorde at a children’s party. “The Cissy” escalates the idea by making Randy the real performer behind the fictionalized version of Lorde. He hides the identity from his family and from a reporter investigating the singer.
Randy’s Lorde persona is presented as a creative outlet connected to his use of a women’s bathroom at work. The episode mixes that storyline with Cartman’s manipulation of school bathroom rules and a discussion of gender identity. Musician Sia provides the Auto-Tuned voice for Randy’s Lorde performances, including the fictional song “Push (Feel Good on a Wednesday).” A common mix-up is treating Lorde as a real character within South Park’s world; in the show’s continuity, Randy is the performer behind the alias.