The precociousness starts to lose its cute factor when you're the one getting constantly upstaged.
Production Code: 205
Much to Jake's shock, Haley officially starts her dragon training. Now, with Haley's prodigious skills on full display as a dragon, will she prove herself to be a better magical protector than Jake?
This episode provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Marty pulls the classic "Pull my finger" gag on Jake, but being a skeleton it simply breaks off.
- Lao-Shi seems set to put Jake through a typical trust exercise. Except, he lets Jake fall and says "The lesson, of course, is to trust no one."
- Cat Up a Tree: The magazine paparazzo fairy suggests having Hayley rescue a gnome stuck in a tree to highlight her cuteness.
- Continuity Nod: One to "The Hunted", when Lao-Shi has Jake train with Bertha, making him clean her mouth and lift her up on top of a pyramid of other magical creatures.
- Damsel in Distress: Haley at the end of the episode, when hobgoblins capture her. After Jake rescues her, Haley admits that the Dragon Giggles wore off shortly after, but she was so scared she didn't know what to do.
- Klingon Promotion: Apparently, this is how one becomes the Grim Reaper in this show's universe. According to Fu Dog, when Marty landed the job, he had to "tap out" his predecessor. Ultimately, Fu Dog uses this knowledge to win the prank battle he's got going on, paying someone to dress up like another Grim Reaper who's come to do in Marty.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Fu Dog mentions a Pixie Lohan and Katie Gnomes while reading his weekly magical gossip magazine.
- The Reveal: After her rather suspicious first appearance in "Half Baked", both Jake and the audience learn that Sun is a dragon—and not just any dragon. She's the Korean Dragon and Haley's mentor.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: A non-lethal version. Jake gets revenge on Haley by spiking her water with something called "Dragon Giggles", which makes Haley lose control of her dragon powers. Jake intends for it to ruin her photo shoot, but things go way worse.
- Teen Idol: A Fan Disservice example as we're treated to Lao Shi reminiscing on his days as a magical pin-up boy.
- That Was Not a Dream: At the beginning of the episode, after Jake winds up in a humiliating position (in his underwear in front of his sister, his home economics teacher, and a magical photographer) following an encounter with hobgoblins, he assumes he's having a "stress dream". Under the illusion that it's not real and thus there are no consequences, he proceeds to make an even bigger fool of himself. Then, the truth dawns on him...
- The Stinger: Fu Dog reveals what other dead-end jobs Marty had before he became the Grim Reaper.
- Wham Shot: When the hobgoblins who were fighting Jake are blasted from offscreen by a fireball, Jake (and the viewer) assumes that it’s Lao-Shi. But nope! The one who flies out of the shadows is Haley, who has now mastered her dragon form.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Despite the effects of his Tampering with Food and Drink on Haley being just temporary, Jake still gets chewed out by his grandpa and Sun in the end. He realizes that he shouldn't make any excuses for his behavior and deserve whatever punishment they give him.
- What Were You Thinking?: Lao-Shi says this verbatim to Sun after finding out she was already bringing Haley into battle for her dragon training. This is a pretty justified reaction, seeing as how despite being a Child Prodigy, Haley is still only 8 years old.
