History Fridge / Onward

** As it turns out, Barley's "Path of Peril" approach turns out to have saved them all. If they hadn't gone through the journey, Ian wouldn't have developed the magical skills needed to [[spoiler: face the Curse Dragon. What's more, it helped stall for time so Corey and Laurel could arrive in time with the Curse Crusher.]]
* It might seem pointless that [[spoiler: Ian never gets to meet (or even ''speak'') to Wilden, almost making the whole journey feel unfair for Ian, but it makes sense. Ian, while never having had a father, always had his mom and brother. While it would've been cool for Ian to finally meet his dad, he'd be like a stranger to Ian because he never actually knew him. On the other hand, Barley had a few memories of Wilden, grieved his death, and deeply regretted not saying goodbye because he was too scared at the sight of him hooked to life support -- things Ian never had to suffer through. Ultimately, it was better that Barley finally got the chance to say goodbye to someone he knew and lost, rather than Ian meeting someone whom he’s never met.]]
* In a way, one could interpret Barley and Ian’s personality’s as developed due to their dad’s absence. Ian is meek, unconfident, and awkward, but still ultimately functional and, while he notes the general absence in his family’s life, he can thrive without it since he was born after his father died. Barley is a reckless, bombastic guy who never fears anything because it was [[spoiler: a decision he made in response to being too scared to say goodbye to his father because of the life support he was hooked up to.]]

* We see Laurel do various feats, like tossing her eldest son like a salad, and [[spoiler: chasing after the Curse Dragon with a giant sword.]] Suddenly, it’s all too clear what [[AmazonChaser Wilden saw]] [[ActionGirl in her.]]

* In a flashback, we see Barley teach Ian to ride a bike. Whilst the latter is wearing a bicycle helmet, the former is not. This is a nice CallForward to [[spoiler: Barley's story of the last time he saw his father, and how he promised he'd never be scared again.]]

* Early on in the movie, Ian’s phone breaks. This not only ensures that he can’t phone his mom about what’s going on, thereby diffusing 50% of the movie’s conflict, but he also can’t use it to take a picture of the Manticore’s map, forcing him and Barely to ask for it.

* [[spoiler: The Gelatinous Cube]] is said to instantly dissolve anything it picks up, and we see that it definitely has that ability. But the skeletons and shields seen inside don't look to be dissolved at all...which means that thing is ''possibly sentient enough'' to choose what to digest and what to keep as a trophy. Running from a [[spoiler: giant cube of acidic goo]] is one thing, but running from one that is ''actively trying to kill you''? Bone-chilling.
** Even more horrifying is to think of why there would be skeletons left at all if [[spoiler:the Gelatinous Cube]] dissolves whatever it touches. After all, if it dissolves everything, then there should be nothing left to show to Ian and Barley that other people were there already. This leaves us with two options; the skeletons were people who [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled took another method before being dissolved,]] or the [[spoiler: Cube]] is capable of only partially dissolving it’s prey, which means it probably, well, [[FateWorseThanDeath took its time.]] It’s like if [[Film/TheBlob1958 The Blob]] lived in a dungeon.
*** Or a third possibility: the [[spoiler: Cube]] ''only just killed'' those people, mere ''seconds'' before the boys encountered it. Had the brothers arrived a little sooner, they might well have heard the previous victims' death-screams.

** Mermaids may move around on land in a wheelchair, hoverboard, Segway, e-scooter...

** Even more horrifying is to think of why there would be skeletons left at all if [[spoiler:the Gelatinous Cube]] dissolves whatever is touches. After all, if it dissolves everything, then there should be nothing left to show to Ian and Barley that other people were there already. This leaves us with two options; the skeletons were people who [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled took another method before being dissolved,]] or the [[spoiler: Cube]] is capable of only partially dissolving it’s prey, which means it probably, well, [[FateWorseThanDeath took its time.]] It’s like if [[Film/TheBlob1958 The Blob]] lived in a dungeon.

* Barley tries, with limited success, to preserve historical sites; in the movie, one of such sites is the secret location of the Phoenix Gem, a powerful, rare magical artifact. So, how many magical amulets and similar stuff had been destroyed by urbanizing and construction companies? And how about the risk of releasing powerful, dangerous curses by accident? If the fountain had been destroyed earlier, then the curse's monster would have destroyed the city, [[AdultFear starting with the school]], and nobody would have been able to stop it without The Manticore's magic sword and a wizard's assistance.

** Even more horrifying is to think of why there would be skeletons left at all if [[spoiler:the Gelatinous Cube]] dissolves whatever is touches. After all, if it dissolves everything, then there should be nothing left to show to Ian and Barley that other people were there already. This leaves us with two options; the skeletons were people who [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled took another method before being dissolved,]] or the [[spoiler: Cube]] is capable of only partially dissolving it’s prey, which means it probably, well, [[FateWorseThanDeath took its time.]] It’s like if [[Film/TheBlob The Blob]] lived in a dungeon.

* We see Laurel do various feats, like tossing her eldest son like a salad, and [[spoiler: chasing after the Curse Dragon with a giant sword.]] Suddenly, it’s all too clear what [[ActionGirl Wilden saw in her.]]

*** Or a third possibility: the [[spoiler: Cube]] ''only just killed'' those people, mere minutes before the boys encountered it.

*** Or a third possibility: the Cube ''only just killed'' those people, mere minutes before the boys encountered it.

*** Which is what unicorns were known for doing to people before Disneyfication.

** He probably went to Heaven or a setting appropriate equivalent when he died, so he wouldn't be "suddenly regaining consciousness." And being that he knew enough about magic to plan this spell, he likely realized that the spell failed or something else went wrong. Still would be a very weird experience.

* Colt. He has horse-like fur, a goofy whinny laugh, and can drum out time with his feet. Yet he’s a centaur, so he’ll never fully replace Wilden.