Trolberg lives in fear for the Black Hound, and its presence forces the Sparrow Scouts to end their camp early. Hilda is still determined to help Tontu, but also struggles with having to confess to her mom that she hasn’t earned any badges yet.
Tropes:
- Cat Scare: Hilda looks in a trash can for Tontu, only to be startled by a black cat jumping out of it.
- Chase Scene: In the climax, Hilda, her mom and the two Nisse try to lure the Black Hound out of Trolberg. It chases their car, and is himself in turned chased by the safety patrol.
- Clear My Name: All the homeless Nisse Hilda meets claim they were framed for ruining the houses they used to live in. And they were; the Black Hound was responsible since it can also enter Nowhere Space/Nisse space.
- Companion Cube: Kelly still has a stuffed toy named Fluff-bun, that she absolutely doesn’t want to part with. She still tries to give it away to the Sparrow Scouts since she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s attached to it, but Frida convinces her to keep it.
- Continuity Nod:
- In Episode 4, Frida picked Hilda for her team so she could earn the Level 3 "Helpful and Friendly" badge. This episode she is seen getting this badge.
- While fleeing through nowhere space for the black hound, Hilda finally finds Frida’s lost book and returns it to her room.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite his threatening appearance, the Black Hound isn’t evil. It’s just lost and looking for it’s owner.
- Delicious Distraction: Hilda distracts the Black Hound by throwing it some snacks.
- Dirty Coward: The Marra is willing to let Frida get eaten by the Black Hound just to save their own skin.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Frida attempts to help him pack up his sleeping bag to make amends, David refuses to let her do such thing at first.
- Dull Surprise: After the whole Black Hound incident, in which Frida almost died, Kelly opens up her door to see her alive and well. Her response is to nonchalantly say "Oh. You're not dead." Frida is not amused by this.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After five episodes of a variety of strife, the kids are all friends again, Jellybean and his owner have been reunited, Tontu now lives at Hilda's house, the Nisse are presumably cleared of the distrust surrounding them, and Hilda herself has not only fully settled into life in the city, but is reassured by Johanna that she's proud of her no matter what.
- Eyepatch of Power: One of the members of the safety patrol looking for the Black Hound has an eyepatch.
- False Friend: Kelly’s true feelings towards Frida become painfully clear when she doesn’t hesitate to try and sacrifice Frida to distract the Black Hound.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Or rather, reforged. Frida was friends with Hilda and David before (with the latter already before the start of the series), until the debacle with the ghosts in Episode 9 severely strained that friendship. But when the Marra ditch her and Hilda and David rescue her from the Black Hound, Frida finally admits they were right and reconciles with them.
- Fluffy the Terrible: The Black Hound is named Jellybean. And it belongs to the Nisse inhabiting Hilda’s house.
- Foreshadowing: The Wood Man's last line in the season is enough to convince viewers that the adventure isn't over yet. And it's been long since vindicated.Wood Man: Not likely. Odds are... she'd do it, again.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: In contrast to Hilda who is quick to forgive and forget about what had happened between them in "The Ghost" without as much as an apology from her, David is still pissed off at Frida for the events between that episode and this one, even going so far as to refuse help from her when she asked. It's only when he couldn't get his sleeping bag inside his camping bag prompts him to accept her help, rekindling their friendship in the process.
- Getting Eaten Is Harmless: The Black Hound is suspected of eating three people, after he's reunited with his owner he vomits the them up, a little wet and scared but none the worse for wear.
- Godzilla Threshold: Early in the episode, a Nisse warns Hilda against trying to enter the nowhere space of the outside world, since it’s so big one could easily get lost in it forever or end up anywhere in the world at random. In the climax, Tontu and Jellybean’s owner see no other option than to let the car they’re in (and Jellybean is on) enter this nowhere space, since it’s out of control so the only alternative is crashing into the town wall and either die or get caught. While Hilda, Johanna and Tontu are lucky and emerge seconds later on the other side of the wall, Jellybean and his owner disappear into the void. At the end of the episode, we see they’re fine and ended up in the wilderness near Hilda’s old house. But the protagonists don’t find out, at least not this season.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Jellybean's owner sacrifices his safe home to lure his dog outside the city, where people won't harm it.
- Irony: One of David’s earned badges is the Friend to Insects badge, while he hates insects.
- Just the Way You Are: Hilda's mother hand-sews her a badge and tells her she didn't need to earn badges as a sparrow scout.
- Multi-Part Episode: Takes place after "The Nisse" as part of the two-part season finale.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Though she doesn't say it, Frida is seen guilt-ridden after being saved from the Black Hound to indicate her remorse on her falling out with Hilda and David.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Actually lampshaded by Frida herself; since she wasn’t with Hilda and David during the past few episodes, she’s unaware of their recent adventures. In particular them meeting Tontu.
- Mistaken Identity: Hilda thinks she finally sees Tontu walking down the streets, but when she catches up to him it turns out to be a different Nisse. Who is also named Tontu.
- Net Gun: The safety patrol officers use these against the black hound. The nets are too small however and just bounce off him.
- Oh, Crap!: Tontu when he encounters the Black Hound in the nowhere space of Sparrow Scout HQ.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Hilda gets frustrated with Tontu after searching with him and forfeiting her last chance to get a badge. She yells at him, only to realize that she's being unfair and offers him the Sparrow Scout Hall to rest for the time being.
- Pushed at the Monster: Kelly does this to Frida so she and the other Marra can escape the Black Hound.
- Season Finale: The concluding episode of the first season.
- Second Chapter Cliffhanger: It has a bittersweet ending with Hilda having adjusted to life in Trolberg and Frida successfully mending her friendship with Hilda and David. In the second season, Hilda and Johanna successfully mend their friendship. And then, Hilda is teleported from Trolberg and begins learning what life is like as a troll while Johanna begins her search to bring back Hilda before Erik Ahlberg kills her.
- Series Continuity Error: In "Chapter 7: The Lost Clan", Hilda, Frida and David successfully managed to get their hands on a blue nettle, and thus earn the Botany Badge. Yet, during the badge ceremony, somehow none of them actually get this badge.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Hilda fails to get any badges. Even David earned a few. She's more worried about disappointing her mum than about her accomplishments.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Black Hound never meant any harm, but him using nowhere space, trashing the nisse nests and the houses they lived in led to many Nisse being wrongfully accused of misbehavior and getting kicked out into the streets.
Wood Man: "This was once a cozy little house. The girl who lived here befriended a giant."
Nisse: "Guess she learned her lesson."
Wood Man: "Not likely. Odds are...she'd do it again..."
Nisse: "Guess she learned her lesson."
Wood Man: "Not likely. Odds are...she'd do it again..."
