http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/LuzClawthorneTwoWorldsOneFamilyChapter65
Chapter 105: Way Down to Mel's Town
Team Hell-and-Back arrive in the Underworld where Mel gives them a few unpleasant experiences and surprises before revealing her true plans.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: While it may just be his physical form, Papa Titan debuts long before the events of the series finale within Amity's personal hell.
- All for Nothing: After having to re-live all of her darkest memories, Emily has come to see that all the terrible things she did for the sake of securing her future has ultimately left her a hated figure and caused her to accept remaining in the Underworld within her personal hell.
- The Aloner: If the fake in Lilith's personal Hell is any indication, Vina avoided forming any meaningful personal relationships because she found them to be a weakness. She even tried to instill this mindset on Lilith while she was still her apprentice.
- Apologetic Attacker: Lindsay apologizes to every Glandus teacher and student she attacks in Emily's personal Hell until Cross reminds her they're not real, so it's unnecessary.
- Asshole Victim: Cluckington aided Arthur and Destiny in the trial against Odalia, and now he's shown to have been turned into a roasted chicken by Mel.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: Megara/Meg became Hercules' wife after she died and became a goddess alongside him.
- And This Is for...: In Emily's personal Hell, while being ganged up on by Nina, Cain, and Tito, they call her out for what she's done to them; Nina, for robbing her of a future; Cain, for making him hurt his family; and Tito, for lying to him.
- Awful Truth: After spending time in her personal Hell, Emily is made fully aware of how she sacrificed everything including her dearest friends and loving girlfriend just to win the respect of people who don't actually give a crap about her.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Emily loved Glinda and truly considered Nina and Tito her closest friends. Hurting the former two to the point of them coming to hate her and having to lie to Tito and leave him in the Conformatorium is part of the reason she condemns herself to remaining in the Underworld forever.
- Babies Ever After: Hercules and Meg/Hebe are shown to have had two sons at some point after ascending to godhood.
- Bait-and-Switch: Before confronting fake-Nina in Emily's personal Hell in order to save Lindsay, Cross hears someone crying. To his surprise, it's fake-Nina crying because of Lindsay talking some sense into her.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Before Eda can succumb to her inner demons, the dream-Abigail of all people stops her from shooting herself albeit by telling her to suffer the punishment she unintentionally sentenced her.
- Moments before Luz is nearly stabbed by dream-Emily, Maya arrives and cuts her in half before telling Luz what's happening.
- The heroes are nearly overwhelmed by all of Mel's dark minions and right before Nessus can bring his axe down on Lumity, Hercules blocks it and the group he arrives with shows up: his sons Aleciares and Anicetus, Kitsuni, Puck, Jack, and Persephone, ready to bring Mel to justice.
- Trini is set to attack Edric in her cambion form when he attacks her after learning she sabotaged his parents' marriage... and she's taken down when Sam gives Ed some backup.
- Big Damn Reunion:
- Downplayed when Luz and Amity get to have one with Jack and Puck respectively, but have to hold off on it since they're about to fight Mel's forces again.
- Following the battle against Mel's minions, King reunites with Luz and Eda while Amity embraces Edric, who apologizes for the way he acted towards her.
- Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter. Even though Mel tortures everyone, forces them to fight for their lives, and outs Amity once again (this time being over her recent atheism), Kitsuni and Puck arrive in time with Jack, Persephone and their Olympian allies to assist the witches, the Clawthornes and Amity are reunited with King and Edric, and Cross & Lindsay rescue Emily. Sadly things still end on a bad note as Mel escapes and goes to release Cronus from Tartarus while Lilith loses her soul to the Baron who possesses her body.
- Blow You Away: While trying to catch up to Lindsay and fake-Nina, Cross uses wind magic to force away all the attacking Glandus students.
- Break the Cutie
- Brick Joke: Mel mentioned in "Blight vs. Blight" that Edric had a cat-shaped birthmark somewhere on his body. Trini finds said birthmark, which is actually a bat, on his butt.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Jack the Genie returns for the first time since "Whatever Happened to Anu Bist?", Puck and Kitsuni bringing him as backup against Mel.
- Baron Samedi also reappears following his disappearance at the end of "Shaping Up or Nothing", now possessing Lilith.
- Call-Back:
- Hunter fills Boscha in on the events of "Deserve Nothing", deduces that those events are why Luz still doesn't have a palisman, and brings up Maya ripping off his arm in "The Hunting Witch".
- Amity no longer having faith in the Titan because of Belos' actions and her talk with Nina about it from "Fairly God-Witches" is used against her when Mel outs her again.
- Edric and Hunter interact with each other for the first time since they broke up, and it's just as awkward as one would expect.
- Luz tames Spot the Cerberus the same way she did back in "Unemployment Filing".
- Hamilskin Tricks is shown to have blue skin and yellow eyes, traits Emily used for her glamour disguise in "Rings of Fire".
- The Cavalry: At first Hercules, his sons, Kitsuni, Puck, Jack, and Persephone arrive to help the Boiling Isles witches take down Mel, then King bursts into the Underdrome arena leading Mel's former animal prisoners and gives them a hand.
- Chekhov's Skill: Luz's Beast Taming abilities, which she first learned in "Prelude to War: Part 3", are credited when she tames Spot.
- Composite Character: Megara/Meg, Hercules' Love Interest in the movie, has ascended to godhood and become Hebe, the goddess of youth and the wife of Heracles in Greek Mythology.
- Continuity Cavalcade: Several characters appear within everybody's personal Hells, namely those they're closest to.
- Continuity Nod:
- Boscha learning that Cross is being forced to work with the Emperor's Coven is brought up.
- Luz brings up facing a hydra once before.
- Alex mentions Lumity slaying the Coachman and Aphrodite meeting Amity while she was in the Human Realm.
- Deal with the Devil: Spoofed. When Emily appears within Luz's personal Hell, she claims that Mel will send her home if she kills Luz. Since it turns out to be a fake that Maya offs before she can kill Luz, it doesn't count.
- Demonic Possession: The Baron possesses Lilith at the end of the chapter, much to Luz's shock.
- Didn't See That Coming: Everyone, especially Mel, is flabbergasted to see Luz taming Spot the Cerberus since she already did it before.
Boscha: You never fail to surprise me, Luz.
- Didn't Think This Through: As Hunter pointed out, Edric didn't bother to use his illusion magic to cover himself up, which he realized in embarrassment.
- Dislikes the New Guy: Luz makes her lack of trust towards Cross known due to her feelings of betrayal and unease from Hunter bleeding over to him. The only reason she's giving him a chance is because Amity asks her to trust Lindsay since she does.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- Amity's personal Hell has her be sent into exile by Belos and chased out by the citizens of the Isles, including her friends, just for being part Fae, something she can't control.
- Cross's personal Hell sees Graye having the rest of the Drakescale family petrified because Cross had failed to save Emily at the Brawl.
- The Dreaded: Hercules has become this to the monsters by modern day, all of them abandoning Mel since they know they can't defeat him. When Mel faces her cousin and her attempt to mess with him fails, even she knows it'd be a losing battle and makes her escape.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Drayden, Damien's father and Cross and Zee's grandfather, is seen as a petrified statue in Cross's personal hell.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: It turns out this is even more of a case for Hercules and Meg, as they found a way to have an eternal life together when Meg became a goddess.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Trini, and to Mel's annoyance Edric, both ogle over Hercules upon seeing him for the first time.
- Forced Transformation: At one point during the battle against all of Mel's minions, Persephone turns a zombie into a tree, to Willow's surprise.
- Foreshadowing:
- Jack mentions that his current master wished to allow him to join Kitsuni and Puck so he can help Luz and her friends in stopping Mel.
- The memory Herc has of the girl who died will make sense later.
- Emily had a tail as a child but not in the present.
- Freak Out: Team Hell-and-Back panics when they see that Mel killed Cluckington and serves him to them for dinner until Mel has D-Josh make them stop.
- The Ghost:
- Mel mentions Meg, who now goes by Hebe these days after becoming a god and starting a family with Hercules.
- Adonis is brought up by Hercules when Luz refers to Herc as such.
- Philoctetes/Phil is brought up, having trained Herc's sons to be heroes as well.
- Granola Girl: Persephone gives off such vibes, as she prefers peaceful solutions when dealing with Mel rather than outright punishment. Mel outright refers to her as a hippie.
- Groin Attack: While fighting Canis and Lupus, King punches Canis between the hind legs and credits Luz for teaching him how to do that.
- The Heavy: Boscha recognizes D-Josh as such for Mel since his magic makes him her most powerful ally. The moment she renders D-Josh immobile is when Mel has to join the battle.
- Hey, You!: Since Luz doesn't trust Cross yet, she doesn't address him by name instead labeling him as "shady guy".
- An Ice Person: Cross is revealed to be one, using ice magic a few times while fighting off the fake Glandus students.
- If Only You Knew: After what she learned about Maya, Amity, and Hunter, Boscha questions what major discovery will be next: King turning out to be a Titan. She and Hunter laugh it off, but...
- Internal Reveal:
- Skara and Nina bring Calypso up to speed on where the other rescue team currently is.
- Boscha informed Amity about Cross's situation with the Emperor's Coven offscreen, and Amity tells Luz about it.
- Lindsay explains her recent outing with Emily to Luz, Amity, and Cross.
- Hunter recaps everything that led up to his exposing his secret identity and losing his friends to Boscha, including his former relationship with Edric and adds in his possibly being a grimwalker.
- Mel announces to the Clawthornes, Luz's friends, Hunter, and Edric that Amity and Nina have lost faith in the Titan, forcing Amity to explain why.
- Trini lets slip to Edric about Mel's plan to divide his family by having her drug Odalia and Lilith.
- Hunter introduced Edric to Flapjack.
- The Clawthornes and their allies meet Persephone, and Luz's friends, Hunter, and Edric encounter Puck and Jack for the first time.
- I've Come Too Far: How Emily feels about her current predicament. She knows her actions have made her hated by the people of the Isles and cost her every meaningful relationship she had, and this has led her to decide against returning to the Demon Realm with Cross and Lindsay until they convince her otherwise.
- Kick the Dog: Mel putting the entire rescue team in their own personal Hells and forcing them to fight in the Underdrome isn't enough; she reveals to them that Amity no longer believes in the Titan and the shit-eating grin she sports tells Luz she did that just to enjoy watching her girlfriend squirm again.
- Mel's nightmare ends up having a greater effect on Lilith than any of the other witches, as she becomes convinced that she no longer deserves love and as a result, her soul appears to have been claimed by the Baron.
- Kid Hero All Grown-Up
- Killed Offscreen: Cluckington, as it turns out.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Letting slip that she drugged Lilith and Odalia with Mel sending pictures of them to Felicity, Trini goes and tells Edric everything regarding their plan.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- For Cluckington in regards to his role in helping Arthur and Destiny getting Alador to divorce Odalia, he is captured by Mel offscreen and cooked into a roasted chicken.
- D-Josh is paralyzed by Boscha during the Underdrome battle and Trini's Humiliation Conga comes to an end when Sam injures her further to the point of destroying all of her teeth before knocking her out.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Literally. To escape Emily's personal hell, all she, Lindsay, and Cross have to do is exit through the projection screen the latter two came in through, the literal fourth wall, which Cross admits he didn't even see.
Lindsay: You didn't notice it earlier? It's been around this whole time.
- Let's Get Dangerous!:
- The Underdrome fights have Team Hell-and-Back going all out both fighting for their survival and dividing their forces in order to protect Lilith. After Luz tames Spot, things get more intense as Mel releases several monsters which overwhelm everybody until Hercules' group arrives and King's escape party breaks in, turning the tide.
- Within Emily's personal Hell, Cross and Lindsay are quick to figure out that they have to fight off the fake Glandus students and staff in order to reach Emily. When Lindsay is kidnapped by fake-Nina, Cross goes all out using fire, ice, and wind magic to get rid of his enemies in order to rescue Lindsay.
- Little Bit Beastly: In Emily's personal nightmare, Cross and Lindsay discover that Emily had a tail as a little girl.
- The Load: Lilith ends up becoming this when she succumbs to her nightmare and is unable to wake up. Everyone ends up having to protect her body during the Underdrome battles.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Upon learning of everything Mel has done, including kidnapping sentient animals from other realms to keep as pets, Persephone admits she never even knew what atrocities her stepdaughter has committed.
- Love Is a Weakness: Fake-Vina, and thus the real Vina, had this mentality, considering family bonds pointless and trying to force Lilith to see that in the past.
- Luminescent Blush:
- Hunter can't stop doing this every time he sees Edric in his slave outfit, forcing him to look away from his ex-boyfriend.
- Edric has one when he sees and admires Hercules, which pisses Mel off.
- Manly Facial Hair: To show he's grown up, Hercules now has a strawberry-blond beard.
- Mind Rape: Mel attempts one on Hercules in order to defeat him: however, the memory she uses to torment him only pisses him off and motivates him into breaking free, forcing Mel to cut her losses and run.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: D-Josh gives himself six arms, each wielding a sword, in order to fight Jack.
- Mythology Gag:
- The way Team Hell-and-Back experiences their worst personal nightmares is the same way Luz, Eda, and King were put under the Collector's mind games in "Watching and Dreaming". Heck, Gus' "Reason You Suck" Speech to Luz is an even worse version of the one he gave her in canon and Lilith has the same Taken for Granite moment Luz did.
- The final scene for Hunter's personal Hell is being told by Belos that he looks the most like his brother before he gets dragged down into the ground, a fate he nearly suffered in "Hollow Mind".
- Mel uses the keyblade to reopen The Underdrome, a fighting arena in the Underworld.
- Offscreen Karma: Cluckington was cooked alive by Mel at some point, which she considers fitting for helping to divide Amity's family.
- Oh, Crap!: Once Mel reveals her plan to release Cronus, Eda has such a moment before explaining what this means to everyone else, turning it into a Mass "Oh, Crap!" moment.
- Opening Shout-Out: In Boscha's personal Hell, she sees Athena and Tom moments before they're wrapped in chains and dragged away into darkness; this is a nod to the "Glandus War" intro, where Boscha herself was subjected to the same fate.
- The Paralyzer: Boscha shows that she created a potion to use on D-Josh during the Underdrome battle that will paralyze him, successfully hitting him with it.
- Party Scattering: Since Cross and Lindsay are the only members of the Boiling Isles witches who want to rescue Emily, Mel has D-Josh send them to where she is, sparing them from fighting in the Underdrome.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Played for Horror. Mel invokes this by killing Cluckington for his actions in the trial, of which she had a hand in herself.
- Point of Divergence: Amity is seen sporting her original green hair after getting her Important Haircut in present time without being seen in a photo prior to the change.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Willow hits her limit with Mel's Entitled Bitch attitude, calling her out for her actions as well as her desire for worship, and at one point swears, taking everyone by surprise.
Willow: Are you kidding me?! So you want us to fight in some violent tournament for your own fucking amusement?! How can you be such a bitch?! You call yourself a goddess, but really you're nothing but an entitled brat who thinks she can do anything she wants! You ruined Amity's life, kidnapped our friends, and you honestly think you'll get away with it?! What right do you so-called gods have to meddle with mortal affairs?! Sooner or later, your day will come.
- The Reveal:
- According to Calypso, Lindsay had behavior issues as a child and went to the same institute Calypso took Skara to for controlling her wolf side.
- Cross was caught practicing wild magic by the Emperor's Coven which is how he got stuck working for them. He's shown to be able to use ice and wind magic and it's implied that he's a lycan.
- Mel had siblings, a sister and two brothers. Persephone is also her step-mother.
- Mel had her shadow spy on the Boiling Isles civilians, explaining how she knew about Emily being the Golden Guard. As a result, she also knew Amity and Nina talked about losing faith in the Titan.
- Mel is planning to use the keyblade to release Cronus from Tartarus and unleash him on the mortal realms.
- Hercules has found eternal love with Meg, who became the goddess Hebe and they had two sons: Aleciares and Anicetus.
- Rousing Speech: King gives one that inspires Mel's pets to escape and regain their freedom.
King: Accept our fates? No, I shall not! Things are not hopeless. After all, I was right that my family was coming for me, not to mean to brag. But if they were able to find a way to reach the Underworld, then nothing's impossible! And what's the alternative? Would you rather accept your dismal fates or at least try to seize a chance to reclaim your lives?"
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: All the monsters in the Underdrome make tracks once Hercules arrives on the scene, telling Mel that they didn't agree to fight him. Later when Mel's Mind Rape makes Herc angry instead of breaks his spirit, Mel decides to escape to Tartarus with her shadow to avoid her cousin's wrath.
- Secretly Selfish: Luz and Amity are accused of this in each of their personal Hells;
- Luz is critiqued by fake-Camila and Abigail for wanting the Clawthorne sisters as her family without realizing how uncomfortable both women are with the witches while fake-Gus lays into Luz for focusing on her own family so much, she hasn't done anything to help find Perry weeks after he disappeared.
- Amity is chewed out by Emira for leaving their family and leaving her and Edric behind when she declared herself nameless.
- Self-Serving Memory: Played with for the dream version of Cain in Emily's personal Hell. He blames Emily for making him hurt his family, but the real Cain willingly did everything she (and the teachers to an extent) asked of him in order to prove his might.
- Shout-Out:
- "One of Us" is sung to Amity in her nightmare, and she's chased out of the Boiling Isles just as Kovu was banished from the Pride Lands.
- Luz's group is forced by D-Josh to sing "Day-O" during the dinner scene.
- As Luz best puts it, Mel forces Edric into a male "Slave Leia" outfit.
- Willow and Boscha copy the Back-to-Back Badasses moment between Cappy and Piper during the final battle in Robots.
- Mel sings "I'm the Bad Guy" with altered lyrics.
- Young Emily sings a reprise of "Waiting in the Wings".
- Lindsay and Cross end up having a conversation about the fourth wall similar to the one Huey gives his family in the Ducktales 2017 episode, "Quack Pack".
- Hercules, the Wonderboy himself, shows up to aid our heroes just in time.
-
Word of God confirms that Luz's reaction to seeing Jack again is based off of Thor seeing Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. - Jack takes the form of a blue Pac-Man when he begins to fight D-Josh.
- Taken for Granite: In her personal Hell, Lilith finds herself looking down the bridge of the Emperor's castle to find everyone she knows turned into petrified statues. On a smaller scale Cross sees his whole family, including his grandfather, in the same position as punishment by Graye for failing to save Emily.
- That Came Out Wrong: While rescuing Edric, Hunter tells him to "hop onto his staff", then immediately clarifies he meant his witch's staff and introduces Flapjack to him for good measure.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Rather than risk repeating what happened with Hunter, Luz decides to give Cross a chance to prove his loyalty instead of assuming he's spying on her for Belos.
- Undignified Death: Cluckington got what was coming to him; being captured by Mel, who cooked him into a roast chicken.
- The Un-Reveal:
- Where are the Holder brothers during all the chaos?
- The plate of food looks more appealing to Edric (from hunger) than ever. But did he eat said food before the Underdrome battles?
- Villain Reveals the Secret: Mel reveals one of Amity's again. This time, she tells her loved ones that she and Nina lost faith in the Titan, forcing Amity to confess why and bringing her to tears because Mel keeps exposing her like this.
- Villain Respect: Willow's "Reason You Suck" Speech towards Mel earns her Trini's for how angry she gets.
- Villainous Breakdown: The moment Hercules' party arrives to shut the Underdrome tournament down, Mel slowly undergoes one.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Seeing Amity in tears after Mel reveals her recent lost faith in the Titan provokes Luz into attacking the goddess, only for D-Josh to stop her in midair.
- Wham Shot:
- What Is This Feeling?: Touched by Cross and Lindsay's dedication to helping her, Emily begins to feel warm inside.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The Underdrome portion of this chapter is this to the Olympus Colosseum visits in Kingdom Hearts II.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Everyone's personal Hells shows what they currently fear deep down:
- Luz worries that she's being Secretly Selfish with wanting the Clawthorne sisters in her life and not respecting Camila and Abigail's feelings about having to spend time with them, feels guilty about not helping Gus find his father, and worries that she may have to fight Emily again;
- Amity fears being exiled from the Isles and chased out by her friends with Boscha leading the charge, receiving a lecture from the Titan for turning her back on her belief in him;
- Eda feels remorseful over Angel's death and how it affected both her and Abigail while also fearing that she's going to commit suicide as atonement;
- Lilith is chewed out by Vina for making her family's lives more difficult with her continued presence. This ends up leading to her giving up and being possessed by the Baron;
- Gus is concerned that he's just like Michael and Jenny, not to mention worried that Vaggie would be disgusted that he's using an illusion of her to alleviate his guilt;
- Willow is afraid of ending up back in the Gatesfield Historical Society, being drugged by Jacob with no one to save her this time;
- Hunter worries about going back to being the Golden Guard only to be killed by Belos for not being like William;
- Boscha fears being paralyzed again, having to watch as Skara, Athena, Boris, and Tom are captured as Demon-Puck tortures Gavin, Angmar, and Ukla;
- Lindsay is afraid of the possibility that Luz and Nina are right about Emily being irredeemable, being captured by the Grim Gobln again and killed, and her inner self;
- Cross is afraid that Adrian will go back on his word and execute his family, killing him in cold-blooded vengeance because he loses control of his supposed lycan side;
- Maya, of course, is afraid of facing the Horned King again;
- And Emily believes she'd be relentlessly harassed by everyone associated with Glandus after she wronged them.
- Would Hit a Girl: Edric attacks Trini upon realizing that she and Mel planned to tear his family apart. When she asks if he'd really hit her, he says the following:
Edric: As Captain Coven would say; "Justice is unisex!"
- You Are Worth Hell: Emily comes to see that Cross and Lindsay care about her enough to travel through two realms of death at the risk of their own lives for hers. It comes as platonic for Cross and ambiguously romantic for Lindsay.
- You Have Failed Me
