When Hilda's father comes for a surprise visit, she joins him on a mysterious errand to the castle ruins on behalf of a shady man called "the Polecat".
Tropes
- All There in the Manual: The Polecat's associates are unnamed in this episode. The tie-in novel reveals the man is named Garth and the woman is named Gunther.
- "Awkward Silence" Entrance: Nearly every sailor in the Salty Maiden turns away when the Polecat enters and asks if someone wants to do a job for him.
- Black Comedy: Frida and David lampshading fans’ original expectations that Anders has died, because Hilda never mentioned him.
- Bumbling Dad: Hilda's father Anders is this. He has tendencies to get into wild adventures on air and sticking up to a time table is not his thing. However, he greatly loves his daughter and spends with her as much time as he can.
- Continuity Nod: Several to the movie. There's a poster announcing the Night of the Trolls festival, Hilda tells Anders her mom no longer has a car since a troll stepped on it, and during the trip to the castle ruins Hilda recalls her experiences when she was turned into a troll.
- Disappeared Dad: At the end of the episode Anders once again disappears without a trace in a literal sense.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Gunther and Garth may be thieves, but they too call Anders out for letting Hilda drive the truck.
- Foreshadowing: Before the troll could attack Anders, we can see the shadows of cloaked figures Hilda has previously encountered in Tofoten reaching out for him, as if they're about to grab him. And the next we see, he has disappeared without a trace.
- Heel Realization: During the episode, Anders eventually became guilty over not being in Hilda’s life more than he could’ve been. The Grand Finale eventually gives him a chance at fixing his mistake.
- Kids Driving Cars: Anders gives Hilda a try at driving the truck, on the grounds that they get to make their own rules when they're in the wilderness.
- Lampshade Hanging: When Anders tells Frida and David that Hilda’s adventurous streak is from him, both reveal that they assumed he has died a long time ago, either in incident or from illness. Hilda has to admit she never had time to bring his adventures up… and Anders views fair enough.
- Little "No": Both Johanna and Anders say this to Tontu, when he asks if Anders’ going to live here, since they’re out of space.
- Metaphorically True: Since his past visits ended similar, both Hilda and Johanna assume Anders once again ran off for an adventure without goodbye after he disappeared at the dungeon.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: Hilda's experience as a troll once again serves her well, allowing her to converse with the troll when she thinks it has eaten her father. She also notes how horrible bell ringing felt as a troll, and that the sound still makes her anxious.
- Not What It Looks Like: After Anders gets cornered by the troll, he ends up disappearing on spot. After failing to find him near castle’s ruins, Hilda and Johanna sadly assume he once again went on adventure, despite promising to stick around longer this time, unaware that this time he disappeared against his will (as aforementioned Foreshadowing depicts).
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the Troll shows up, Gunther and Garth flee the scene, leaving Hilda, Johanna and Anders to deal with the troll.
- Shared Family Quirks: As Anders points out, he and Hilda are both freedom-loving adventurers with a need to go exploring.
- Trauma Button: Because of her experience as a troll, Hilda is very uncomfortable around bells, even at the mere sight of them, as she remembers how aggravating they are to trollkind when rung.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Johanna’s annoyed look after Anders takes Hilda and her friends on lunch, expecting Anders to eventually get himself and Hilda into another risky adventure.
- The Un-Reveal: The contents of the hoarder troll's gold chest are unknown.
- Unseen No More: After spending two seasons and a movie not being mentioned, Hilda's father finally makes an appearance.
- Weirdness Magnet: Anders happens to be one, much like his daughter, as at first he takes Hilda and her friends on a lunch and next he gets into a fight with thieves. It’s up to Johanna’s imagination to figure out how it’s always so easy for him and why their daughter inherited this.
- Wingding Eyes: During Gunther's retelling of Polecat's encounter with a troll, the latter was seeing displaying mounds of gold in his eyes, after discovering a chest of gold among the troll's belongings.
