Line #8 Recap/ArthurS15E3BustersSecretAdmirerTheLastKingOfLambland


1	-->'''Original airdate (US):''' October 12th, 2011
2	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2022_09_23_01_24_44_707.jpeg]]
3	[[caption-width-right:350:Who knew Buster was such a {{Kidanova}}?]]
4	"Buster's Secret Admirer": Buster receives a box of chocolates and a card saying they're from his "secret admirer", and tries to figure out who that admirer is.
5
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7	!!"Buster's Secret Admirer" contains the following tropes:
8	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: In his dream at the beginning of the episode, Buster is assaulted by blue-colored squirrels.
9	* BlackEyesOfEvil: The squirrels that assault Buster in his dream at the beginning of the episode have black eyes. But of course, this is TruthInTelevision for squirrels (the black eyes part, not the evil part).
10	* CardiovascularLove: The postcard Buster receives from his secret admirer has a heart symbol on the front. PlayedWith with Buster's card for his mother at the end, which has a ''cardiologically accurate'' heart on the front!
11	* CatapultNightmare: Buster's NightmareSequence in the ColdOpen makes him wake up with a start.
12	* AChildShallLeadThem: In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, James is portrayed as an actual tyrannical ruler of a kingdom, unlike in the real world where it's just a fantasy game he's playing.
13	* ContinuityNod:
14	** Muffy is shown playing with a [[Recap/ArthurS10E9DoYouSpeakGeorgeWorldGirls World Girl doll]] in her bedroom.
15	** Binky again [[ArthurS6E2ArthurPlaysTheBluesBustersSweetSuccess gorges himself on Pinchman's Chocolates]].
16	** Buster makes a mention of [[WesternAnimation/ArthursPerfectChristmas Baxter Day]].
17	* DreamIntro: Buster's dream starts out pretty sweet, with him simply plucking a flower while saying "she loves me, they love me, I love me." Then the flower states it dislikes being plucked by the petals, some squirrels throw heart-shaped strawberries at Buster, and a group of cupid pigs shoots arrows at him. Buster wakes up, asks the audience how it's weird that the nicest dreams can devolve into the worst nightmares, and notices [[OrWasItADream an arrow like the ones the pigs shot in the dream has appeared in his bed]].
18	* EdibleAmmunition: The squirrels in Buster's dream in the ColdOpen assault him by throwing lots and ''lots'' of strawberries at him.
19	* EntertaininglyWrong: Buster assumes that the card and chocolates he received from his "secret admirer" were from someone who has a crush on him, which is a logical assumption to make, but in the end, it turns out they were actually from his ''mother''!
20	* FogFeet: In one of his dreams, Buster imagines his secret admirer as a mysterious cloaked figure that floats a little bit above the ground.
21	* FunWithAcronyms: Buster soon realizes in a dream that the first letters of each line in his card's poem spell "fall", referring to his made-up holiday, Fall Day.
22	* FurryReminder: The commander of the cupid pigs in Buster's dream in the ColdOpen says "Bunny's in sight" when ordering the others to shoot at him.
23	* HomoeroticSubtext: {{Downplayed\|Trope}}, as the subtext isn't exactly "erotic" given the ages of the characters involved, but at one point, Buster asks ''Arthur'' if he is his secret admirer, to which he of course responds, "No."
24	* ImagineSpot: After revealing to Arthur his theory of the "dream reciters", Buster has one where they sympathize with him because of the nightmare he had in the ColdOpen and send him the card and post of chocolates to make him feel better.
25	* InTheHood: Buster imagines the "dream reciters" as people wearing red hoods that leave only their eyes visible.
26	* KnockKnockJoke: Buster gives one to Fern. "Knock knock?" "Who's there?" "I know." "I know who?" "I know that you're my secret admirer." Understandably, Fern doesn't find the joke funny.
27	* NightmareSequence: Buster has two: one in the ColdOpen where he is attacked by squirrels and cupid pigs, and another during the episode proper where he follows his secret admirer to an alley where his friends and even Mr. Ratburn mock him for his obsession with finding out who his secret admirer is.
28	* OrWasItADream: In the ColdOpen, Buster wakes up from his nightmare when the cupid pigs start shooting suction cup arrows at him... and then he finds an arrow identical to the ones they used on his bed. Even after Buster finds out his secret admirer is his mother, he never realizes to ask her whether she placed the arrow on his bed...
29	* OutOfTheFryingPan: In his first NightmareSequence, Buster manages to escape the strawberry-throwing squirrels, only to immediately have a squadron of cupid pigs fire a hail of suction cup arrows at him.
30	* PuppyLove: {{Subverted\|Trope}}. Buster suspects that his secret admirer is a fellow student of Lakewood who's crushing on him, but it turns out it was ''Bitzi'' all along!
31	* TheReveal: In the end, it's revealed that Buster's "secret admirer" is ''not'' a fellow Lakewood student as he suspected, but rather his own mother.
32	* RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue: In a nightmare, Buster is mocked by his fellow students for obsessing over finding his secret admirer. Fern tells him "Roses are red, violets are blue. Rotten eggs stink and so do you!"
33	* ScrewballSquirrel: A whole scurry of them assaults Buster with [[EdibleAmmunition strawberries]] in his first nightmare.
34	* ShoutOut:
35	** The cupid pigs' attack on Buster in his ColdOpen nightmare is a reference to a helicopter attack scene from ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', complete with ''[[StandardSnippet/RideOfTheValkyries Ride of the Valkyries]]'' playing in the background.
36	** When the dream reciters appear for the second time in Buster's dream, the BGM is directly borrowed from the final episode of the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/{{Redwall}}''.
37	* SignificantAnagram: Buster discovers "secret admirer" could be an anagram of "dream reciters", a group of mysterious people who look into and recite a person's dreams at their gatherings, and thinks they're the ones who gave him the chocolates.
38	* WellSeeAboutThat: Buster's response to Arthur thinking all those chocolates have gotten to his brain when the former suggests Fern might be his secret admirer since she'd be [[ShrinkingViolet too shy]] to let anyone know about her feelings for him.
39	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Even after Buster finds out his secret admirer's identity, it is never explained where the suction cup arrow he found on his bed in the ColdOpen came from, implying his dream with the cupid pigs shooting at him [[OrWasItADream may not have been a dream after all]].
40	----
41	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2022_09_23_01_57_43_590.jpeg]]
42	[[caption-width-right:350:[[ABoyAndHisX A Boy King and his Lamb]]]]
43	"The Last King of Lambland": James receives a gift from his Uncle Myles [=MacDoogal=] - a stuffed lamb that is said to grant its owner the magical abilities of an ancient [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] king.
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45	----
46	!!"The Last King of Lambland" contains the following tropes:
47	* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: James lets the supposed magical powers of his new stuffed lamb go to his head and starts acting like a ruthless tyrant toward his classmates for a brief period.
48	* AerithAndBob: The four named heads of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan are named Kilgore, Edna, Oliver, James, and... ''Flurgan''?
49	* AlliterativeName: The first head of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan was named '''F'''lurgan the '''F'''antastic, while one of his successors was named '''E'''dna the '''E'''asily Amused.
50	* AmbiguousSituation: Ultimately, it is left up in the air whether the legend of King James the Squinty having been a BenevolentMageRuler is true or not.
51	* AppleOfDiscord: James receiving a supposedly magical stuffed lamb from his uncle and starting to act like a tyrant as a result is enough to temporarily drive a wedge between him and his friends, D.W. and Emily.
52	* BenevolentMageRuler: King James the Squinty is said to have been a very generous, kind, and wise ruler who only used his magic powers to help his people, though it is [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguous]] whether the "Mage" part was actually true.
53	* BewareTheQuietOnes: The normally quiet and shy James starts acting like a tyrant towards his classmates after receiving the stuffed lamb.
54	* ABoyAndHisX: A bunny and his [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane supposedly magical]] stuffed lamb.
55	* TheCaligula: The tyrannical king version of James in D.W.'s ImagineSpot seems to only care about his own desires and not those of his subjects, such as having all of his kingdom's crayons stolen just so he can look at them, or having all the madeleines in the kingdom stomped on because he personally does not like them.
56	* ContinuityNod:
57	** D.W. mentions the events of the episode "[[Recap/ArthurS11E7HicOrTreatMrAlwaysright Hic or Treat]]", saying she still thinks Arthur's "[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Frankentist]]" costume is creepy.
58	** Inside the preschool, the Good Behavior of the Week Award featured in "[[Recap/ArthurS9E4BustersGreenThumbMyFairTommy My Fair Tommy]]" can be seen in the background with what appears to be a picture of D.W., implying that this story takes place during the same time period as that one.
59	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, James sentences her to clean out every single ''{{unicorn}}'' stable in the land.
60	* CoolCrown:
61	** During his tyrant phase, James wears one made out of paper. In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, he wears a real, GemEncrusted one.
62	** The heads of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan all wore these as well.
63	* ADayInTheLimelight: This episode marks the first time that James has been in the spotlight, and we find out a bit about his family history.
64	* DoesNotLikeSpam: The tyrannical ruler version of James in D.W.'s ImagineSpot does not like madeleines because he finds them too sweet, which is why he [[EvilIsPetty orders his guards to stomp on every single one in the entire land]].
65	* DrunkWithPower: James slowly becomes less friendly towards his fellow students as he lets the supposed powers of his lamb plush get to him, going as far as to have his personal guards, the Tibble twins, steal Maryann's apple juice for him.
66	-->'''D.W.:''' I've seen this before, Emily. Like when Mom and Dad leave Arthur in charge. [[LampshadeHanging He goes mad with power]].
67	* EasilyForgiven: D.W. and Emily don't hesitate to have James back as their friend once he's given up his tyrannical ways.
68	* EvilIsPetty: In D.W.'s ImagineSpot of James being a real tyrannical king, he orders his guards to steal all the crayons in the land. Is this because he wants to use them to draw? No, he just likes ''looking'' at them. Then, when Emily comes to him begging for bread for the starving people of the kingdom, he at first says they should eat madeleines, then instantly changes his mind and orders his guards to ''stomp on all the madeleines in the land'' simply because ''he'' finds them too sweet for his liking. Finally, when D.W. attempts to stand up to his tyranny, he sentences her to clean out all the {{unicorn}} stables in the entire land.
69	* EvilLaugh: In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, James has a tendency to let out these. "Mwahahaha!"
70	* FictionalCounty: The [=MacDonald=] family's ancestors lived in the fictional [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] town of Kilflurgan.
71	* GemEncrusted:
72	** The crowns of both Edna the Easily Amused and King James the Squinty, with Edna's having a single red gemstone on the front, and King James' having red and green ones going all around it.
73	** In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, present-day James wears a golden crown decorated with several emeralds.
74	* GenerationXerox: Myles says of King James the Squinty, the current day James's ancestor, that "he was very timid and couldn't see very well", which certainly sounds just like his descendant.
75	* HeelRealization: James finally realizes how much his tyrannical behavior is hurting his classmates when the Tibbles demand him to smash Liam's toy truck and Liam starts crying as a result. At this point, he gives the truck back to Liam, apologizes to him, and throws out his paper crown.
76	* HesBack: James ultimately gives up his tyrannical ways and goes back to being the nice boy he used to be.
77	-->'''D.W.:''' [[LampshadeHanging Welcome back, James]].
78	* HiccupHijinks: Liam has the hiccups for the whole episode. What finally cures him is when James tries to offer him his stuffed lamb after getting past his tyrant phase, which scares the hiccups out of Liam due to seeing how it made James act like a tyrant.
79	* ImagineSpot: D.W. has one where James is a real tyrannical king who orders the Tibbles to steal all the crayons in the land [[EvilIsPetty just so he can look at them]]. When Emily (portrayed in the imagination sequence as a peasant woman) comes to King James begging for food for the people, he orders his guards to stomp on all the madeleines in the land because he finds them too sweet, and when D.W. attempts to stand up to him, he sentences her to clean out all the {{unicorn}} stables in the land.
80	* InsistentTerminology: According to James, his stuffed lamb is not a mouse or a "mouse-lamb" like the Tibbles call it, just a lamb.
81	* KilledOffscreen: Or rather, Died Offscreen. The animated tapestry in the ColdOpen shows the explosion of Flurgan the Fantastic's haggis, but his resulting death is not shown on-screen.
82	* TheLastTitle: "The Last King of Lambland".
83	* TheMagnificent: Played straight with the two of the ancient rulers of Kilflurgan, Flurgan the Fantastic and Oliver the Walloper, but [[InvertedTrope inverted]] with the other three, who had unflattering titles: Kilgore the Dim, Edna the Easily Amused, and James the Squinty.
84	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: While Molly ''says'' the stuffed lamb's magic powers are just a legend, the fact remains that it ''did'' start raining right after Timmy insisted while holding the lamb [[TemptingFate that it can't make rain]]. Whether this is evidence of the legend actually being true or a ContrivedCoincidence is unknown.
85	* MeaningfulName: All the ancient rulers of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan had these. [[TheDitz Kilgore the Dim]], [[FunPersonified Edna the Easily Amused]], [[HairTriggerTemper Oliver the Walloper]], and King James the Squinty, who did indeed have squinty eyes.
86	* NamedInTheSequel: While Liam's name had already been said in [[Literature/{{Arthur}} the picture books]], this episode marks the first time it's been used in the cartoon.
87	* NeverSayDie: According to Myles, the first head of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan, Flurgan the Fantastic, "perished" when his haggis exploded at the Feast of Saint Ninian.
88	* NeverSayThatAgain: After getting past his tyrant phase, James tells D.W. and Emily to ''never'' call him "Your Highness" again.
89	-->'''Emily:''' So, is it going to rain today, Your Highness?\
90	'''James:''' Don't call me that...ever.
91	* OneShotCharacter: Molly and James' uncle Myles only appears in this episode. Same with the members of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan.
92	* OneSteveLimit: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. One of the ancient rulers of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan was named Kilgore, which is also the name of another character in a [[Recap/ArthurS16E8BustersBookBattleOnTheBusterScale later episode]].
93	* PassingTheTorch: Once his tyrant phase is over, James attempts to pass on his stuffed lamb to Liam so he can be "king" in his place, but having seen James' tyrannical behavior while he had it, he refuses. Thankfully, this also scares his episode-long case of hiccups out of him.
94	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The password D.W. needs for Tommy to let her into "King" James' room is "ridiculous".
95	* PosthumousCharacter: All the members of the [=MacDoogal=]-Donald clan shown in the ColdOpen are naturally already long dead by the time the {{plot}} of the episode happens.
96	* TheReveal: This episode reveals that the [=MacDonald=] family are [[RoyalBlood descendants of an ancient Scottish clan of monarchs]].
97	* RoyalBlood: It's [[TheReveal revealed]] that the [=MacDonald=] family has this, being descended from an ancient [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] royal family called the [=MacDoogal=]-Donalds.
98	* ShoutOut:
99	** The title of the episode is a reference to the phrase "The Last King of Scotland", a title that is most famously associated with UsefulNotes/IdiAmin, and which is also the title of [[Literature/TheLastKingOfScotland the book written about him]] and its [[Film/TheLastKingOfScotland film adaptation]].
100	** James starts behaving like a ruthless king after he receives a stuffed lamb from UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}, a nod to the several RealLife Kings of Scotland who shared his name, such as UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI.
101	** In the ColdOpen, Myles mentions the Feast of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninian Saint Ninian]].
102	** In D.W.'s ImagineSpot, James uses a variant of UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette's apocryphal phrase, "Let them eat madeleines" instead of "Let them eat cake!"
103	** When D.W. confronts King James in her ImagineSpot, she is wearing a feathered cap that resembles Myth/RobinHood's.
104	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: According to legend, King James the Squinty had this ability, and according to the same legend, the stuffed lamb that James receives gives its owner the same ability.
105	* StatusQuoIsGod: In the end, James gives up acting like a tyrant and is back to his normal self.
106	* StealthPun: James starts to act like a ruthless king after receiving a plush toy from UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}. In RealLife, there have been several kings of Scotland named James.
107	* StuffBlowingUp: Apparently, Flurgan the Fantastic's haggis somehow ''exploded'' at the Feast of Saint Ninian, which is what caused his death.
108	* SuckSessor: According to Myles, the rulers of Kilflurgan that came between Flurgan the Fantastic and King James the Squinty were ''all'' terrible, with ones like [[TheDitz Kilgore the Dim]], [[FunPersonified Edna the Easily Amused]], and [[HairTriggerTemper Oliver the Walloper]].
109	* SuddenlyVoiced: Liam, the overall-wearing bear boy at D.W.'s preschool, speaks for the first time in the series in this episode.
110	* SweetTooth: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. The version of James in D.W.'s ImagineSpot does ''not'' like sweet things, which is all the motive he needs to [[EvilIsPetty order his guards to stomp on every single madeleine in the entire kingdom]].
111	* TemptingFate: Timmy takes James' stuffed lamb from him and, while holding it up, insists that it can't create rain like James claimed it can... and right after that, there is a clap of thunder followed by a downpour. This [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not imply]] that despite what Molly says to James near the end of the episode, the lamb's magic powers actually ''are'' real.
112	* WeatherManipulation: The legend of King James the Squinty states that he had the ability to create rain, and James' stuffed lamb is said to give its owner the same ability. There's actually a scene in the episode that implies [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane the latter part may be]] ''true'', as Timmy, while holding the lamb, insists that it can't make rain, [[TemptingFate after which there is a clap of thunder followed by rain]].
113	* TheXOfY: "''The'' Last King ''of'' Lambland".

Context Recap / ArthurS15E3BustersSecretAdmirerTheLastKingOfLambland