Chapter 77: Leaving Echo Creek
Art by Crash X Fusion: ♪ It's gonna get a little weird, gonna get a little wild. I ain't from 'round here, I'm from another dimension! ♪
Amity's preparing to leave Echo Creek, but a few surprising faces may hinder her attempts to do so.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Star has no/doesn't develop any meaningful connections to anyone she was close to in canon and bonds with Toffee, her father in this timeline.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Due to Seth living to the present, he orchestrated an assassination attempt on the Butterfly family. Toffee was ordered to kill the newborn Star but couldn't bring himself to do the deed, so he kidnapped and raised her as his magic-hating daughter.
- Adaptational Explanation: In LC, Rasticore lost his left eye to River Butterfly after trying to kill him and his family.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Contrary to canon, Star has learned just how devastating on a wide-scale wiping out all of magic throughout realms would be as that means a large count of genocide.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Star is also more aggressive and distrustful to people as a result of her life living with the monster army.
- Adaptational Karma: Manfred all but survived the end of Star Vs. with the bare minimum of comeuppance for his monster prejudices. Here, he died at the hands of a monster.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Nicole has Athena and Tom arrested as revenge for throwing her out and "being a negative influence on Boscha". It's zig-zagged as she got her house burned to the ground to accomplish it.
- Berserk Button: Once Janna's injured by a chunk of concrete, Amity uses her abomination matter to destroy the mechanical creature from the inside.
- Beyond the Impossible: Star is left speechless when Amity beats the winged creature as she found it Nigh-Invulnerable.
- The Bus Came Back: Robbie, who was last seen in Book 1's 25th chapter, has finally made a return.
- Call-Back:
- Robbie mentions he still owed Amity for saving him from the Blind Eye Society in "Good from the Bad" and agrees to pay her back now.
- Star telling Tom about the prejudice against monsters was previously referenced in "The Ballad of Eda (Part 1)".
- Nicole's words to Boscha in the last chapter are given clarity as she pays back Athena for kicking her out in "What is it Good For?".
- The Cameo:
- Toffee, Manfred and Rasticore make quick appearances at the beginning of the chapter.
- Sensei Brantley attempts to buy ice cream from Mr. X's truck.
- Oskar Greason is seen facing Robbie in a music battle.
- Brittney is seen trying to find a cat cuter than Ghost.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Mr. X came to Echo Creek to track down Star Butterfly and learned about Amity as a result.
- Amity on the other hand is stunned to see Robbie is in town; as such, she asks him for a ride to Gravity Falls.
- Crime of Self-Defense: Tom gets arrested by the Emperor's Coven despite the fact that he was only defending himself from Nicole.
- Curse Cut Short: Manfred dies before he finishes saying "Oh, shit."
- A Day in the Limelight: Continuing from Chapter 75, Amity's the main focus character again but shares it with Star Butterfly and the three teens she met in Echo Creek.
- Death by Adaptation: In canon, Manfred was still alive at the end of Star vs. the Forces of Evil. In Luz Clawthorne, he was killed by a Septarian assassin fourteen years prior.
- Distant Prologue: The chapter begins 14 years ago on Mewni, as the Septarians launch a disasterous assassination attempt on the Butterfly family which ends in Toffee kidnapping Star.
- Downer Ending: Amity's departure from Echo Creek is on a very negative note due to Janna being given a concussion and Jackie being exposed, which might mean that she and her family will have to leave town to Marco's disappointment. Back in the Boiling Isles, Tom and Athena get arrested as the former is still a fugitive, courtesy of a tipoff by Nicole.
- Dramatic Irony: Amity hopes to meet up with Gus and Willow at Gravity Falls, unaware that Luz failed to make contact with the latter and Willow being unaware of Amity and Gus heading for Gravity Falls.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Toffee just couldn't go through with murdering an infant, so he settled for kidnapping her instead. Either way, he gets his revenge on Moon for severing his finger.
- Everyone Knew Already: It would seem Robbie learned about Mermando sometime before he left Gravity Falls.
- Furry Reminder: Being a cat, Ghost craves fish and can't resist the urge to sink her teeth into the half-mermaid Jackie Lynn Thomas.
- The Ghost:
- Luz and Eda are repeatedly mentioned with Robbie asking if Amity came to Echo Creek with them.
- Willow and Gus are also mentioned as to being standed on Earth.
- Kay's indirectly referenced when Amity sees an Azura character resembling her.
- Boscha is only mentioned by Tom and her parents.
- Moon only appears in portraits or is merely mentioned.
- Hypocrisy Nod: Marco questions why Amity would watch an Azura movie since it's for kids and ends up conceding his hypocrisy when Janna nearly blurts out his enjoyment of "Space Unicorn".
- In Spite of a Nail: Someone destroyed the Royal Magic Wand and now has half its star crystal embedded in their hand.
- Internal Reveal:
- Robbie and Marco learn Amity's a witch and see Sam moving independently. They along with Janna also learn Jackie's half-mermaid.
- Robbie also learns about Luz's origins and life in the Demon Realm.
- Amity, Janna, Jackie, Marco and Robbie meet Star and encounter Mr. X, Jenny and a winged mechanical creature for the first time.
- Robbie and Marco learn Amity's a witch and see Sam moving independently. They along with Janna also learn Jackie's half-mermaid.
- Killer Robot
- Made Myself Sad: Amity chose a re-release of Good Witch Azura III: The Lost and Founders to watch before she leaves town. When she sees a character that reminds her of Kay, she decides to leave immediately because she misses her.
- Master of All: Before fighting Marco, Mr. X warns him that he's mastered every form of Martial Arts.
- Multi-Part Episode: This chapter continues on from "Amity in Echo Creek".
- Neck Lift: Manfred is killed when a Septarian uses this method.
- Out of Focus: The rest of the main cast is merely mentioned.
- Point of Divergence:
- Star was raised by the Septarians after Toffee kidnapped her as a baby. Instead of Ludo, she now has half the crystal of the Royal Magic Wand embedded in her hand.
- Manfred was killed by Septarians while Star was just a baby.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Nicole gets revenge on Athena for kicking her out by getting her and Tom arrested, but it results in their house burning down.
- The Reveal:
- Toffee kidnapped Star as a baby during a failed assassination attempt on the Butterfly family. She was raised to resent magic and at some point got half the Royal Magic Wand's crystal cleaved into her hand.
- Robbie moved to Echo Creek after leaving Gravity Falls and traveling down Southern California. He offhandedly mentions he knew about Mermando.
- Mr. X and Jenny came to Echo Creek to investigate the sightings and destruction caused by Star while she was hiding out from one of the winged mechanical creatures that followed her from Mewni.
- River is revealed to be on Earth and is currently looking for Star.
- Running Gag: Ghost keeps expressing a desire to eat Jackie.
- Secretly Selfish: Janna repeatedly finds excuses to keep Amity from leaving, even after seeing her spiral from missing Kay. She admits that after spending her whole life reading about magic, she didn't want the first person she'd ever met associated with it to go and owns up to it.
- Seen It All: Robbie has developed this mindset due to his experiences in Gravity Falls.
- Sequel Hook: Mr. X and Jenny have gotten their hands on the unnamed Killer Robot, and plan to examine it.
- Shout-Out:
- Mr. X sings along to "Alien Heart" from Phineas and Ferb.
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Word of God confirms the designs of the winged creatures were inspired by the Exorcists from Hazbin Hotel.
- Synchronous Episodes: This chapter occurs simultaneously with the previous one.
- Trash the Set: Thanks to Nicole attacking him, Tom panics and sets the Hieron home on fire.
- Uncertain Doom: Things aren't looking great for Amity's new friends as she is leaving Echo Creek. While it's downplayed for Janna who will have to stay in the hospital to recover from her concussion, Jackie was exposed as a mermaid which may mean her family will have to leave town. All Amity can do is hope that things will work out for them.
- While several royal staff members died in the Distant Prologue, we're given no hints as to whether or not Moon was also a casualty.
- The Un-Reveal:
- Marco and Robbie may have seen Sam moving, but did Amity tell them she's part Fae?
- Where on Earth is River currently?
- Wham Episode: Amity leaves Echo Creek with Robbie and Star for Gravity Falls after defeating a winged mechanical creature, Jackie being exposed may result in her leaving town while Janna will need time to recover, Mr. X begins examining the creature, Tom and Athena are arrested thanks to Nicole, and River is on Earth trying to find his long-lost daughter.
- Wham Shot:
- As Amity observes the music battle, she finds Robbie participating in it.
- Star hops out of Mr. X's truck to avoid a winged creature crushing it.
- Star unwraps her bandaged hand, and a green fragment of the wand's crystal is shown to be fused into it.
- The last scene shows a disheveled River asking someone on Earth if he's seen Star.
- Wham Line
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Mr. X accuses Amity, Star and Jackie of being aliens which leads to them clarifying that they're magical beings.
- You're Not My Father: Star doesn't consider the Butterfly family her own, having disowned them due to their abuse of magic.
