Recap / Bowser's Koopalings S 5 E 11 Ludwig's Dilemma (2/2)

While preparing himself to be crowned prince of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, Ludwig discovers that not everything is what it seems in the apparently perfect kingdom. The Koopa Family meanwhile tries to save Ludwig.

Tropes:

• Answer Cut: Lemmy comes up with a plan to infiltrate Frostbohne castle. Iggy, then asks him if his plan consists of disguising as snowtroopers. The very next scene shows Lemmy, Morton, Roy, Larry and Travis disguised as snowtroopers while Iggy guides them.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Iggy asks Bowser that if Ludwig is the prince of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom that went missing along with Sophia Eisenhower in 2004, why did no one notice that he was in the Koopa Kingdom, why did he grow up with underlings like him and the other koopalings, and why isn't his skin green.
• Bait-and-Switch: In The Stinger, Edgar, the mysterious character that appeared at the end of "The Heist" and in "Bowser Jr.'s Gift", is heard saying that he'll do "it" himself, possibly refering to how Fawful and Johann XVIII failed to eliminate the Koopa Family, but then it is revealed that he was simply cooking some meat because Goomburger is closed.
• Bilingual Bonus: After Ludwig gives him "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Fawful says "I'm going to end your worthless life, you traitorus son of a whore!" in German.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Johann XVIII is revealed to be a greedy psychopath who is thirsty for revenge against the Koopa Kingdom for the outcome of Mushroom World War II and who plans on killing all the middle and lower class citizens alongside the tourists and create a new regime controlled by the nobility.
• Broken Pedestal: Johann XVIII is this to Ludwig after he reveals his true nature.
• Consummate Liar: Everything Johann XVIII told Ludwig was an utter lie: His wife Sophia wasn't murdered by some rouge troops, he himself played a part on her death. His first four kids were not still-born, he had them killed. He's not a friendly man who cares about his people, he is a psychopath who wants to see bloodshed.
• The Conspiracy: Fawful and King Johann XVIII have one with a few select high-class citizens. The plan is to use the Green Star to drain the life of the whole kingdom during Chuckola Fest, which many tourists will also be attending. After that they will build an empire known for it's supremacy and not celebrations they hate.
• Crapsaccharine World: The Bohnenkraut Kingdom appears as a clean and lively place, but it is controlled by people who despise the festivities, the tourists, and all the commoners, whom they blame for giving the kingdom a bad reputation following Mushroom World War II.
• Disney Villain Death: Johann XVIII falls to his death after Bowser throws him off Frostbohne castle and into the thermal reactor of the Oblivion Cannon after he tries to kill Ludwig, causing him to be incinerated.
• The Ditz: Ally forgot to bring milk for Eggbert to the Chuckola Fest, so she's giving him Chuckola Cola, an alcoholic drink.
• Evil All Along: Larry was Right for the Wrong Reasons about Johann XVIII. He doesn't care about his people and is actually planning on commiting mass murder.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Bowser Jr. finds Ludwig choosing to save the lives of thousands of innocent people over power to be pathetic.
• Evil Old Folks: A given since Johann XVIII is 88 years old.
• Fantastic Caste System: Attempted by Fawful after King Johann publicly appoints him as chancellor. Only the first part of the caste system is mentioned, where the Bohnenkraut get the best jobs, with blond hair and blue eyes as bonus points, but there is no other mention about where Beanies and other denizens of the Bohnenkraut kingdom fall under the caste system.
• Faux Affably Evil: Johann XVIII. He is involved in Fawful's conspiracy rather than being a target of it but always remains polite even in his more evil moments, unlike Fawful, who always sounds sinister. Then his mask breaks and all hell goes loose.
• Gilligan Cut: After Ludwig's rescue, Morton and Lemmy decide to come up with a plan, which Iggy shuts down immediately. Iggy guesses that their plan would involve everyone escorting Ludwig into King Johann's castle disguised as Snowtroopers. Cut to Morton, Lemmy, Roy, Travis, and Larry doing the exact same thing.
• Halloween Episode: Averted because it obviously isn't one, but the following exchange is pretty funny; King Boo and Boom Boom (dressed up as Blinky and Herman Munster respectively) wish everyone a happy Halloween, but Bowser tells them that there's no time to celebrate Halloween this year because of the critical situation Ludwig is in, which is a nod to how there's always a Halloween Episode in every season of Bowser's Koopalings and this is the first time it doesn't happen.
• Harmful to Minors: Ludwig constantly reminds Fawful and Johann that their plans would end the lives of millions, including children. Unfortunately for Ludwig, those two Would Hurt a Child.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sophia and her confidant Reinhold were apprehended and killed by Johann XVIII and Fawful, but they died saving Ludwig from suffering the same fate they did.
• Ironic Death: Johann XVIII wanted to use the Oblivion Cannon to kill all the commoners and the tourists in Chuckola Fest. In the end, he ends up incinerated by the thermal reactor of the cannon.
• Is This Thing Still On?: After finishing his speech, Kalus X, the new king of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom following his brother's death, insults the "filthy peasants" without realising that the mic is still on.
• It's All About Me:
  • When Ludwig rejects him as his father, Johann XVIII loses it even more, punches him in the face, and states the following:
    Johann XVIII: "Listen to me, you twisted child!! The Kingdom is mine!! The realm is mine!! The people. Are. Mine!!"
  • Bowser Jr. obviously doesn't give a crap that half of his adoptive siblings are missing, with one of them being in great danger, and just wants another birthday party. Then again, it's been stated before that Junior doesn't see the Koopalings as his family, and he is... well... Junior.
• Karma Houdini: Despite being on the run, Fawful escapes during the battle and lives to plot again.
• Kick the Dog: Bowser Jr. taunts Ludwig after he comes back from the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, saying that he will never amount to anything and insulting him for deciding to save innocent people's lifes over power. However...
• Kill the Poor: The king, Fawful, and all the aristocrats in Joke's End plan on killing everyone in the Bohnenkraut Kingdom and leaving only the high class citizens alive in order to reestablish a new empire under new rules.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Ludwig first falls into a mental breakdown after he notices his now deceased mother in the sewers he ended up in. When Ludwig gets bailed out of jail, he later apologises to Bowser for running away to the Bohnenkraut Kingdom and putting everything and everyone from the Koopa Kingdom behind in favour of another king.
• Never My Fault:
  • Camilla wants to make Wendy pay for shaving off her hair while completely ignoring that she tricked her into becoming overwight in the first place, as Lauren points out.
  • When Ludwig tears his biological father, Fawful and all the aristocrats of Joke's End a new one, he states that the only reason they came up with their plan to Kill the Poor is because all their lifes they have being blaming people for the outcome of their own actions and never learned from their mistakes.
• Offing the Offspring: Johann tries to have Ludwig killed after he uncovers he and Fawful's conspiracy to Kill the Poor and the tourists. He later mentions that his first four children, whom he claimed were still-born in the previous episode, were all killed under his orders. He also describes them as "monstrosities", implying that they either were physically deformed (probably due to the Bonhenkraut royal family's tendency for inbreeding) or tried to defy him in some way.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Johann XVIII wants to Kill the Poor and the tourists because he thinks they are part of the reason why the festivities he loathes are so popular, therefore making the kingdom a laughstock in everyone else's eyes. Fawful on the other hand hates everyone equally and wants to drain their vitality to extend his lifespam and become a supreme ruler.
• Rage Breaking Point: Johann XVIII reaches it after Ludwig verbally tears him a new one and says that his empire will be a failure, just like his father in the war.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ludwig gives one to Fawful and Johann XVIII, calling them pathetic for actually believing that their plan to Kill the Poor was the solution to all of their troubles without taking a second to think that an empire cannot support itself if all of their citizens are all a bunch of Upper Class Twits. He also critizises Fawful's tendency to blame others for his own failures and also insults his Gratuitous English.
• The Reveal: A 'lot'' of them:
  • Ludwig's mother was not murdererd by rouge troops and the egg from which he hatched was not stolen by the Koopa Kingdom. She was saved from the assassination by her closest confidant and trusted Ludwig to Bowser and Peach after her four other kids mysteriously dissappeared. Sadly, she and her saviour met a terrible fate.
  • Johann XVIII is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who is in cahoots with Fawful's conspiracy and wants to Kill the Poor and all the tourists of the kingdom to establish a new empire.
  • Johann XVIII and Bowser II are distant cousins. Queen Mariah Koopa's half-sister married the prince of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom in secret and had a family together, which means that Ludwig does have a claim to the throne of the Koopa Kingdom, and is named next-in-line to the throne after Bowser Jr. until the latter has kids of his own by the end of the episode.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Larry regarding Johann XVIII. He didn't trust him, but because he thought he was trying to take Ludwig away from his family, not because he was trying to kill more than half of the kingdom's population.
• Really Royalty Reveal: King Boo accidentally lets the Koopalings know that Queen Mariah Koopa, Bowser's great-grandmother, had a half-sister, Princess Luciana, who began a romantic relationship with the Bohnenkraut Crown Prince and married in secret, meaning that Johann XVIII and Bowser are cousins and therefore Ludwig actually is able to claim the throne of the Koopa Kingdom as the great-great-great grandson of King Richard Koopa IV. At the end of the episode, Bowser names Ludwig second-in-line to the throne after Bowser Jr. until the latter has kids of his own.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: As Fawful tells Ludwig, he was non-suspiciously walking around the castle.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Given Ludwig's status as the resident Butt-Monkey of the show, him being named second-in-line to the throne of the Koopa Kingdom until Bowser Jr. has kids of his own must feel like a huge accomplishment.
• We Will Meet Again: Fawful escapes Joke's End and avoids being arrested like the rest of the members of The Conspiracy, promising revenge.
• Wham Line: When Johann XVIII enters the room so Ludwig can tell him about Fawful and Midbus' plan to use the Green Star to kill millions of innocents at Chuckola fest, Johann drops this line that changes everything the audience thought they knew about him.
  Johann XVIII: "You didn't think to lock the bloody door?"
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Morton speaks in Gratuitous English while disguised as a snowtrooper in order to avoid suspicion.
• Would Hurt a Child: Johann XVIII, Fawful and all their allies are willing to kill millions of innocents to achieve their goal, including children as Ludwig points out numerous times. Johann and Fawful also ordered Midbus to murder Johann's first four children, as they are implied to either have been physically deformed or to have tried to defy their father, and then lied about them being still-born.
• You Killed My Father: Gender-inversion, in this case. Ludwig finds the decomposed body of his biological mother Sophia and swears to avenge her and everyone else who died at the hands of Johann XVIII and Fawful.
• Your Mom: "Your Dad" in this case. Ludwig tells Johann XVIII that his attempt of creating a new empire by commiting mass murder of commoners and tourists will only cause him to be remembered as a failure, just like his father on Mushroom World War II. This is the final straw for Johann XVIII, whose mask of politeness cracks down and reveals his true nature as a deranged maniac.