- "It Puts The "Evil" In Medieval!"
Produced 2005, aired in U.S. on 2/24/06
Production order: 32 (2-12)
Hurray, the Miss Teenage Happy Princess Beauty Pageant is coming to Casper High, and all the girls are thrilled! All except Sam, who finds beauty pageants sexist, demeaning, and shallow. So you can imagine Danny's and Tucker's surprise when she announces she's entering, to make a statement about just how sexist, demeaning and shallow the whole thing is. She's not the only one involved — Danny gets chosen to be the pageant's single judge, which instantly makes him the most magnetic Chick Magnet in school. Naturally, he's too distracted by the attention to listen to Sam's concerns about the host, Dora Mattingly, who she thinks is acting very strange but whom the audience just thinks looks oddly familiar...
And what does the winner of this pageant get, anyway? A one-way trip to the realm of the ghost of a medieval prince named Aragon to spend eternity as his bride. Surprise! It was all a trap!
This episode provides examples of:
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Aragon chooses Sam to be his bride. Her feelings on the subject are not considered very relevant.
- Armor-Piercing Question: It's one delivered by Sam that helps Dora realize that she can do so much better than being The Dragon to her brother.Sam: Are just going to let your brother push you around like that?
Dora: What choice do I have? A princess isn’t supposed to think! We just have to smile, look pretty, and live Happily Ever After!
Sam: So, how happy are you? - Artifact of Doom: Sam is forced to wear a tiara that prevents her from leaving Aragon's castle.
- Artistic License – History: It's safe to say that this episode uses a lot of unflattering modern stereotypes retroactively attributed to the medieval period.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Danny (genuinely) makes Sam the Princess of the Pageant, she momentarily flusters how she doesn't know what to say, right before she drops the act and does what she intended from the start (declare pageants a waste of time).
- Beauty Contest
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: What the girls of Casper High try to do with Danny.
- Cain and Abel: Aragon and Dora.
- Chandelier Swing: Sam does this at one point during her huge spectacle to make Prince Aragon call off the wedding, noting that she’s always wanted to do it. Dora then admits that she’s always wanted to do that, too.
- Clingy MacGuffin: The tiara Aragon made for his bride doesn't come off — only he can remove it. Or so he thought. Fortunately for Sam, Dora figures out that, since she and her brother have the same power, she should be able to remove it, too.
- Continuity Nod: The ghost girl who briefly appeared in "Parental Bonding" returns as a major (if unwilling) antagonist. Her Backstory is also revealed, along with more details about the Amulet of Aragon that once caused Danny so much trouble.
- Defiant Captive: Sam, naturally.
- Dragons Are Demonic: Aragon's dragon form is far more monstrous than his sister's, who leans more towards the Delightful Dragon trope (in this episode, at least).
- Feud Episode: For Danny and Sam, although minor.
- Forced into Evil: It wasn't Dora's choice to stage the pageant, kidnap Sam, or prepare her to marry prince Aragon — her brother forces her to do all of his dirty work.
- I Should Have Done This Years Ago: Dora when she finally stands up to her brother.Aragon: Dora, you imbecile! What do you think you’re doing?!
Dora: What I should’ve done AGES ago! - Judgement of Paris: The pageant comes across as a modern version of this, with Danny in the role of Paris. Like Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, all the contestants try to bribe him into picking her. It also turns out Aragon chose him as the judge because "surely a half-ghost would select a perfect human bride."
- Just Following Orders: Dora actually doesn't like any of this any more than Sam does, but she's too afraid to disobey her brother's orders.
- Motivated by Fear: This is the only reason Dora serves her brother.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Danny and Tucker’s “rescue” of Sam happens just when Prince Aragon was about to remove the magic tiara from her.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: Sam helps Dora realize she's just as powerful as her brother and doesn't have to live in fear of him. It works.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: Prince Aragon's plan to marry Sam boils down to this, as he is over a thousand years old and Sam is around 14.
- Pity the Kidnapper: Sam's plan for escape. It works until Danny and Tucker show up...
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Prince Aragon still holds the medieval period's view of women.
- Ring of Power: Dora has one that prevents Danny's ghost sense from detecting her and allows her to communicate with her brother.
- Shout-Out: Aragon's dragon form bears a striking resemblance to that of Maleficent's.
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: Dora only assumes Danny chose Sam as the winner because he unknowingly picked just the wrong moment to say "Sam!"
- Time Stands Still: Prince Aragon's realm is the second part of the Ghost Zone we see works like this (until his sister defeats him and starts time flowing again).
- Trophy Wife: This is Aragon's only goal — he just wants a human bride because no other ghosts have one. Fortunately for Sam, this means none of the usual tropes associated with the villain trying to force the hero's love interest into marriage or the subsequent Fridge Horror apply.
- Two Rights Make a Wrong: The boys' rescue attempt clashing with Sam's escape attempt.
- Unwanted Rescue: Not knowing Sam can't leave the castle unless Aragon removes the tiara, Danny and Tucker burst in to try to rescue her just at the right time to ruin her own escape plan.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Unlike others who wear their amulets, Aragon and his sister are both able to transform into dragons at will.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sam to Dora.
