Chapter 92: The Gold Hexperience
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- The Ace:
- Ms. Beaks reveals that Barcus became the top student of the Potion track after Boscha was put in the Detention track, then transfered out of Hexside.
- As per canon, Willow mentions that Viney's the best Healer in Hexside. In LC however, this means that she's replaced Cat in this honor.
- Actually Pretty Funny: 13-year-old Luz can't help snickering when she learns Willow got busted for disguising Hunter as an abomination.Luz: Sorry, sorry. It's just... what made you guys think that was a good idea?
- Adaptational Karma: Willow suffered no consequences for using Luz as her abomination and being given Amity's top student badge in "I Was a Teenage Abomination", simply being put in the Plant track by Principal Bump. But here, Willow got in trouble for using Hunter because his Paper-Thin Disguise failed.
- Adaptation Expansion: Gus running away in "the most dramatic way possible" for failing a project and Willow comforting him is shown rather than mentioned like in "For the Future".
- Affectionate Nickname: Willow has two more of these (Tulip from Gilbert, Sunflower from Skara) and calls her girlfriend "Ska-love".
- All Just a Dream: The entire Distant Prologue was Hunter dreaming about several of his past exploits with Luz, Willow, and Gus before Belos shows up, transforms, and attacks Hunter, causing him to wake up.
- Ambiguous Situation: How honest was Emily being when she told Donna about Nina attacking her own sister?
- Anti-Climax:
- The Grim Goblin considers Emily being the Golden Guard this as he sees her as nothing but a pathetic little girl who will be rejected by the public when the truth comes out.
- The build-up for the Azura book scam Tibbles is running on the Boiling Isles, as hinted at back in "Understanding Hunter", ends up getting no closure because Luz and Amity don't actually care enough to investigate now that they know the author's Old Man McGucket.
- Batman Gambit: Since Lindsay's been suspecting Cross of being the new Golden Guard, Adrian has Emily lead the St. Epiderm recruitment drive as the Golden Guard so they can appear in two places at once. It goes off without a hitch, everyone else not even suspecting they're connected. Of course, it just helps confirm Emily's the new guard to LOWTH.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just before the Goblin can stab Emily with his gauntlet blade, in comes Cross summoning a vine to grab him. After fighting for a bit, Donna arrives and backs them up.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- Bitter side: The Emperor's Coven succeeds in getting new recruits from St. Epiderm despite the Grim Goblin's attack and curb-stomping Emily; Gibson decides to pull Teri out of the school as a result of the attack because he doesn't seem able to control the Goblin, only succeeding in earning his anger; Boscha, Gavin, and Angmar are met with a frosty reception when starting at Hexside; Gus becomes depressed enough to step down as H.A.S. president; and despite Hunter beginning to make progress in earning his former friends' forgiveness, he becomes conflicted in whether he should return to Belos thanks to Abel getting into his head.
- Sweet side: Willow and Skara successfully get their flyer derby team approved despite opposition from Faust; Boscha becomes part of Luz and Amity's book club after divulging that she's an Azura fan; Hunter makes amends with Batters; and Eve joins the H.A.S.
- Break the Haughty: The Grim Goblin doesn't just deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle to Emily, he also gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and mocks how her parents abandoned her. It scares Emily and leaves her very shaken up afterward.
- Breath Weapon: While fighting the Grim Goblin, Cross uses fire breath against him.
- Bridal Carry: Subverted early in the day when Luz offers to carry Amity to school, only for Amity to refuse since she wants to use her new staff to fly. Played straight and even exaggerated at the end of the day when Luz scoops Amity into her arms when they go home.
- The Bus Came Back: Batters makes his return after being absent since "After the War".
- Call-Back:
- Emily is put on stand-in/recruitment duty as a way to make up for the failed palismen raid in "The Steve Chapter". It's also to throw off Linday as she's convinced Cross is the Guard following the Scarfish incident, which is brought up a few times.
- Willow and Skara finally put together their flyer derby team after agreeing to create it in "The Pride Special".
- Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve finally go back to school after having a few days to recover since returning to the public eye in "The Return of the Witchlings" for a total of two weeks.
- Cat kicking Tito's butt via dance battle in the school war back in "Masks Off" is brought up as being the reason she decided to enroll in the Bard track: to learn dancing.
- Nina and Batters both remember Hunter as the scout who called in the Emperor's Coven and forgot to speak to the latter's parents about why he went missing.
- The Cameo:
- Lilith, Gwen, and Dell have breakfast with Hunter before Lilith leaves for work.
- Clé, Thunder, Joana, Scarmeron, Hugh, Skrap, Carter, and Bowen all show up during breakfast time at the castle discussing why Steve would leave the coven.
- All the Coven Heads are shown leaving the throne room as Emily heads there, Napoli telling her to watch where she's going and Alador taking Raine's place in being escorted by Terra.
- Raine and Star are briefly shown as the former teaches the latter about Boiling Isles geography.
- Beck and Samwitch are shown seeing Boscha off as she leaves for school with Simon.
- Ms. Traveler only shows up to help Luz and Amelia put Faust in his place.
- Louis appears with some other students questioning why Amity appears to be talking to herself.
- Kitsuni is shown dropping Mai off in the Baby Class and talks to Ms. Webs while Mai interacts with Scabrina and Moose.
- Collective Identity: With Hunter gone, Emily and Cross alternate on filling in as the Golden Guard for public appearances.
- Conflicting Loyalty
- Continuity Cameo: Korn's mystery solver friends from Merlin Meadows as introduced in "Shaping Up or Nothing", reappear to challenge the Emerald Entrails to a flyer derby match after they become an approved sports team.
- Continuity Nod:
- In the Distant Prologue:
- When Hunter is introduced to Willow and Gus, the latter mentions Luz trying to hit him with a golf club when they met. A bit later, Amity is shown reading the Azura book Willow had given her for her birthday.
- Lake Lacuda and Newt Burger appear as hangout spots that Hunter meet the trio at.
- Hunter's nicknames for Willow and Gus (Flower Girl and Gossamer) are used again.
- It's noted that Ukla is now being homeschooled, which she mentioned her mother would do in "After the War".
- Eve joins the Human Appreciation Society because of her experiences in the Human Realm, and because she wants to know what a "Scooby-Doo" is.
- Luz and Amity are aware of the Azura book scam on the Isles, but they know the author's human now.
- Brenda looks at Amity with guilt, on account of her sister mugging her.
- In the Distant Prologue:
- Costume Evolution: Now that Cat's in four different tracks, her uniform's been updated to reflect the change. Her sleeves are now half red, half yellow, while her leggings are half dark blue, half cyan.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Grim Goblin keeps Emily on the ropes throughout his assault within St. Epiderm, leaving her with several injuries. With Cross and Donna's help, the battle is turned in their favor, which prompts the Goblin's retreat.
- A Day in the Limelight: As the chapter indicates, all the Golden Guards (Hunter, Emily, and now Cross) all have some prominence, with Emily serving as a protagonist instead of an antagonist for the first time.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Faust burns down every club he refuses to approve, by which we mean every club, just because he doesn't like them.
- Distant Prologue: The chapter kicks off four years ago, showing how Hunter first became friends with Willow and Gus, and afterward spordically joined them on their adventures with Luz over the years. It then turns out to be Hunter dreaming.
- Don't Create a Martyr: Principal Faust goes against giving Luz detention for Skipping School so much because she'd either escape again or die and become a martyr to the students, so he has to let her off the hook.
- Dramatic Unmask: Adrian instructs both of his Golden Guards to remove their masks when giving them their mission, the guard besides Emily revealed as Cross.
- Easily Forgiven: After the practice match, Hunter apologizes to Batters on forgetting to vouch for him to his parents; Batters immediately forgives him, admitting he had a revenge plan for Hunter that he abandons.
- Expy:
- Bob, the blue-haired contruction track student who can use water fists is based on Lapis Lazuli.
- Gnashley is one to Enid from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
- The Faceless: Thunder and Skrap mention a scout named Judd who was arrested for criminal activity while on duty.
- False Flag Operation: Beel assumes that the Goblin's attack on St. Epiderm was one of these, caused by the Emperor's Coven so the scouts could do something to the school unnoticed.
- Foreshadowing: The Grim Goblin rhetorically asking Emily how the people of the Isles would react if they find out the Golden Guard's identity.
- Gender-Blender Name: One of the opponents faced by the Emerald Entrails is a girl named Bob.
- Gender Reveal: Olive Slick, the Coven Head before Darius, turns out to be male.
- The Ghost:
- Edric doesn't appear, but he is mentioned to be shopping with Emira in the Distant Prologue.
- Joana learned about Steve defecting from Venoma, who doesn't show up during the breakfast scene among the other acouts at the castle.
- Glamour Failure: Nina is able to see through Hunter's concealment stone disguise due to remembering his scent, and even with his disguise on, all of his former friends know it's him because of Flapjack, who continuously perches on his head.
- Good Feels Good: Downplayed. Emily enjoys the attention, the approval, and the praise that comes with being the Golden Guard, who is seen by St. Epiderm as a hero.
- Green Thumb: Although Cross was already established to be on the Plant track, this is the first time he actively uses such magic, summoning vines and roots to restrain the Grim Goblin during their battle..
- Hidden Depths:
- Cat joins the Bard track not just to learn about dancing, but to play keyboard.
- Nina turns out to be a former grudgby player and like Luz, she loathes the Rusty Smidge rule.
- Incompatible Orientation: Seeing the tension between Hunter and Willow, Nina asks if they're a former couple. They both proceed to explain their former friendship with Willow pointing out that Hunter is gay.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- It turns out Willow still snuck someone (Hunter in this case) into Hexside by disguising them as an abomination.
- Mattholomule has now replaced Gus as president of the Human Appreciation Society.
- Internal Reveal:
- Although it happened offscreen, Luz warned LOWTH that Emily is the new Golden Guard and now they get confirmation.
- Gavin and Angmar learn that Cat beat Tito in the school war and that Nina's a Hexside student now.
- Emira told Amity about the SSE splitting up, and she mentions it to her friends and Boscha's group.
- Amity discovers that Gavin is Darius' son.
- Emily discovers that Beocrow is Luz's cousin.
- Nina meets Emira and Felicia while learning that Lambi's in the Healing track.
- Boscha learns Luz is an Azura fan, that the author is human, meets Acorn, and visits Amity's secret study in Bonesborough Library.
- Steve turning traitor and Emily being paroled have now become public knowledge.
- Irony: Cross, a student in the Plant track, is able to use both fire and water magic.
- Kid Has a Point: 10-year-old Luz didn't tell her friends about Hunter being a powerless witch because it wasn't her secret to reveal, Eda saying he would tell them when he was ready.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
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Word of God confirms that Hunter's disguise created by his concealment stone makes him resemble his canon voice actor, Zeno Robinson. - Like in "The Obligatory Beach Day", someone mentions how lucky Luz was not to be involved in the latest chaos on the Isles.
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- Living a Double Life: Cross turns out to be doing this, Graye having him fill in at various Golden Guard appearances with Emily while he still goes to school.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Hunter refuses to tell Gavin that the abomination he saw at the raid might've been Darius because there's no solid proof. That said, Flapjack is trying to get him to tell Gavin about it.
- Willow is unaware of Grease's fate, as she believed the Emperor's Coven arrested him while Angmar thought she killed him. It had already been made clear that Ms. Traveler got to him.
- Donna goes against telling Lindsay who the Golden Guard really is as she would be horrified to learn they were actually a criminal.
- Willow, Gus, and Skara avoid telling Felicia that "Jasper" is actually Hunter to avoid him being detected in public.
- Loophole Abuse: When Principal Faust refuses to let Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve return to Hexside after being absent for two weeks, Amelia pulls out the Hexside rulebook and points out that absences can be dismissed if they have a justifiable explanation (being "kidnapped and held against their will"), saying not letting them back would be violating the rules. Add in Ms. Traveler saying that the extra few days was so they could recover from their trauma, and Faust has no choice but to back down.
- Making a Splash: Cross uses water from a broken changing room shower stall to push back the Goblin, which ends up being frozen by him.
- Meaningful Name: Both of Willow's new nicknames are based on flowers.
- A Minor Kidroduction: Four years ago, Luz introduced Hunter to Willow and Gus before they started looking for "skincada" skins for Eda to sell.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Hunter, when he realizes that he forgot to vouch for Batters.
- Mythology Gag: Willow and Hunter being accused of having an attraction brings to mind their romantic tension in The Owl House. Coincidentally, said tension began in "Any Sport in a Storm".
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: For the first time ever, we see Emily react with genuine fear as the Goblin not only brutally kicks her butt, but proves he knows she's the new Golden Guard and talks down on her enough to nearly break her will.
- Playing with Fire: Cross shows off his skills in using fire magic during the fight against the Goblin, pelting him with fireballs and spitting fire at him.
- Point of Divergence:
- For "Any Sport in a Storm"; Hunter only goes to Hexside to make sure his friends do okay on their first day in class and is recruited by Willow for flyer derby when Jerbo is put out of commission. With Prof. Blanc out of the picture, Faust puts together a rival team to oppose the Entrails and instead of coven scouts coming for them (instead, they go to St. Epiderm for a recruitment drive), another team comes to challenge them. Meanwhile for Luz and Amity, Boscha joins their book club, so they don't rebrand into a writing club and all three girls spend the day hanging out instead of investigating the mystery behind why the Azura books have altered author photos. And unlike the actual episode, Eda and King have brief appearances.
- Instead of Luz, Willow snuck Hunter into Hexside by disguising him as an abomination, and it happened a year prior.
- Matt replaces Gus as H.A.S. president a full season after he did it in canon, and he doesn't get it by default due to Gus being removed from the club; rather, Gus steps down and nominates him as his successor.
- Punch Catch: The Goblin tries to land a hit on Cross, and he catches his fist.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- During Emily's interview with Tina, the latter uses this opportunity to completely deconstruct Emily's Freudian Excuse.Tina: Well, clearly she has abandonment issues that she projects onto others. She blames Eda and Luz because she feels like there has to be someone to blame for her parents abandoning her, someone to hurt and transfer her pain to. Especially since her parents are no longer around, meaning there is no catharsis or closure, so she needs someone else to place the blame on. Emily Tricks is a control freak, trying to make up for the fact that what happened to her was an accident that she was unable to prevent. Instead, she has convinced herself that what Eda did to her ruined her life and if she can likewise ruin her life, then all of her problems and pain will go away and she will be happy. Her life will be perfect and she will have control over everything and everyone in it. And because of this, she can't accept the fact that it isn't Eda or Luz's fault that her parents abandoned her. It has to be their fault and she has to make them pay so she can feel like she can do something about what happened to her instead of accepting, since the alternative is accepting that she can't do anything about it, since it's in the past. She can only move on, but I don't think she knows how to do that.
- The Grim Goblin also does this to Emily.Grim Goblin: Misery, misery, misery, that's what you've chosen for yourself. How's being the hero doing for you lately? You don't appear to be the type, if I am being honest. I think we both know that it is just part of your parole. (Emily's eyes widen as the Goblin chuckled.) That's right. We all wear masks, Goldy. But which one is real? The one that hides your face or the one that is your face? Do you know how the people of the Isles will react if they learn who you really are? Despite everything you've done for them, they'll turn on you. Why even bother, Tricks? It's true, Goldy! I know everything. And like a kid who sneaks in to look into their Krampmus present, I have to say... it's sadly anti-climatic. Behind the golden garb and tricked-out staff, you're just a little girl playing pretend, crying for mommy and daddy who left you, so you just take it out on everyone else… how pathetic. Sometimes the people love their heroes. (Popping out from his sleeve gauntlet was a blade.) And sometimes, they love to see their heroes fall!
- During Emily's interview with Tina, the latter uses this opportunity to completely deconstruct Emily's Freudian Excuse.
- The Reveal:
- It turns out Cross is the Golden Guard, too: he and Emily has been juggling the role on Graye's orders, but why he was recruited is unknown.
- Emily was the Golden Guard on duty at the Coven Day parade while Cross was the Guard who fought the Scarfish at Tibilas Bay.
- Boscha has been re-admitted into Hexside, and Gavin, Angmar and Mai have been enrolled, as had Batters. Ukla, on the other hand, is now officially confirmed to be undergoing homeschooling.
- It's been two weeks since Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve were stranded in the Human Realm.
- Cat has joined the Bard, Illusion, and Potion tracks, making her Hexside's first quad-track student.
- Boscha admits she's a closeted Azura fan, and while she never read the whole series, all the books she did have were lost when her house was burned down.
- Nina used to play Grudgby, but stopped because she was too rough with other players, and she hates the rusty smidge.
- The Grim Goblin knows that Emily is a stand-in for the Golden Guard.
- Gibson has the Grim Goblin equipment stored in a lab in his house, implying it's him. He's also connected to St. Epiderm for reasons beside his son.
- Delara, Ulrich, Vitimir, Orsan, Olive Slick, Scooter Crane, and Staggertarius were all alumni of St. Epiderm.
- Abel reveals to Hunter that Belos knows he's alive and staying with Lilith right now.
- Lilith can't remember what happened after her lunch with Odalia.
- Batters has a hamster palisman while Sioux has a tanuki.
- St. Epiderm is mentioned to have their own Flyer Derby team.
- It turns out Cross is the Golden Guard, too: he and Emily has been juggling the role on Graye's orders, but why he was recruited is unknown.
- Rule of Three: Nina gets electrocuted by her shock collar three times because of Felicia. The first two times she just startles the werecat, but the third time Felicia annoys Nina by filming her when she explains why she's supporting Skara and friends with her, hoping to market her "redemption story".
- Save the Villain: Just when the Grim Goblin is about to kill Emily, Cross saves her.
- Sequel Hook: Whatever Emily told her, Donna now has doubts about Nina.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a combination of the Prince album "The Gold Experience" and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's "Golden Wind".
- Gus is said to be reading a Team Go comic (which was Based on a True Story) in the Distant Prologue, and he's reached the part where the sister becomes tempted in joining the dark side.
- The fate of Hexside's previous flyer derby team is a nod to the ending of Space Jam if it was bleaker.
- Jerbo breaking his leg during the practice match before the Entrails' first match (which he calls terrible timing) also occured in the Pragmatic Adaptation of "Any Sport in a Storm" in A Blight on Bonesborough. Coincidentally, like said chapter, Hunter sneaks into Hexside with a concealment stone that makes him look like his voice actor.
- The Grim Goblin's speech to Emily combines lines spoken by The Green Goblin in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Spider-Man with The Joker's speech in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
- After accepting Hunter's apology, Batters claims that he had a revenge scheme planned out. Similar to Past Rigby apologizing to Past Mr. Ross.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift:
- Boscha has gone back to wearing her Hexside uniform since she's been re-admitted into the school.
- Gavin, Angmar, and Batters on the other hand, are now sporting Hexside uniforms of their own since they've all been enrolled into Hexside, with Angmar keeping his hood up to replace his Glandus cap.
- As for Cat, she's started wearing her headband full-time and is using her all-jean outfit for recruiting members into the Human Appreciation Society.
- Status Quo Is God: As of this chapter, Boscha is once again a Hexside student.
- Stealth Insult: Graye tells his Golden Guards that they're very good at doing what they're told: Emily doesn't get it while Cross narrows his eyes at the head witch.
- Sympathy for the Devil:
- Back then, Willow saw how nervous Hunter was around her, Luz and Gus over being magicless and comforted him by admitting her being "half-a-witch" at Hexside, which allows him to relate to her. In present day, she gives him a chance to join her flyer derby team because she knows he wants to make up for all the misdeeds he committed to Luz and her family.
- Cross gives Emily a look of pity while they're in the Emperor's Castle and he asks if she's okay after their fight with the Grim Goblin.
- Talking to Themself: Amity brings Acorn to school and keeps her hidden under her cowl: hen she talks to Acorn, a few nearby people including Louis think she's talking to herself due to schizophrenia from being locked up, but can hear bells from Acorn talking.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- Tag-teaming as the Golden Guard usually has Emily and Cross juggling when they are on duty, but the former ends up filling in for the latter at the recruitment drive to throw Lindsay off his trail. They later end up working together with Donna to take on the Goblin.
- None of the Entrails besides Willow are open to the idea of Hunter being on the team due to all the bad blood with him, but it's averted when he works well with them in both of their flyer derby matches.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Throughout the day, Danny annoys Emily about his suggestions to contribute to the Emperor's Coven without magic. It gets to the point that she finds an excuse to ditch him when he unknowingly insults her.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Though angry with how the day turned out for her, Emily at least thanks Cross for saving her from the Goblin.
- The Un-Reveal:
- As mentioned above, why was Cross recruited to be the other new Golden Guard?
- What did Emily tell Donna about Nina?
- How did Belos find out that Hunter is alive?
- Villain Episode: Emily has her own plotline in this chapter.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Emily and Cross are both filling in for Hunter as the Golden Guard, clearly because the Emperor has something on both of them. As Cross best puts it; "Whether we like it or not, we're in this together... since neither of us have much of a choice in the matter."
- Wham Episode: St. Epiderm is damaged by the Grim Goblin, who knows Emily's wearing the mask along with LOWTH, and everyone is unaware that Cross is also the GG on Graye's orders. Gibson is implied to be the Goblin, and Abel approaches Hunter to tell him that Belos knows he's staying with Lilith and her parents but hopes he will return to the castle so they can resolve their issues, leaving Hunter feeling conflicted in either returning to Belos or regaining his former friends.
- Wham Shot: Emily heads to the throne room dressed as the Golden Guard per Graye's orders, and a second Golden Guard soon joins her. Graye appears soon after and tells them both to take off their masks, with the second guard being revealed as none other than Cross Drakescale!
- What Were You Thinking?: Pretty much 12-year-old Hunter's reaction to Luz angering the skincadas in order to steal their skin.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: One of the clubs at the Club Fair is the X-treme Sportz Klub, which Gavin and Angmar use as a cover to get away from Nina.
