Chapter 135: Kneecapped
Art by Crash X Fusion: Let's lick our wounds and rest for a bit, shall we?
As Willow's group tracks down Luz's family and Cross returns to St. Epiderm, the Porters spend some time catching up in Gravity Falls.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Accidental Misnaming: While Gus and his dad are visiting Gravity Falls High, a teacher accidentally calls Wendy "Wendy Borduroy."
- Adaptation Deviation:
- For "O Titan, Where Art Thou"; Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Boscha, and Belos appear, Luz initially decides to let Eda and the adults handle Belos instead of helping to stop him, and since Steve's already switched sides, Le'Belle takes his place as the scout hanging out with King and deserting the Emperor's Coven. And because of Draco, Belos discovers King's a Titan early and thus, a threat to his plans.
- For "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"; Dipper takes up Mabel's role, who only cameos speaking in a phone call, Pacifica tells her friends that she won't be in Gravity Falls for the Pines twins' birthday and with Stan still in jail and Ford not as close with Dipper, he accepts a chance to leave his family to work with Powers and Trigger. Because of this, Dipper is the one that Bill tricks into giving him the rift.
- Alliance with an Abomination: The moment it clicks for Luz that it'd be a waste of everybody's time to fight Bloody Mary, she proposes one between her family and Mary's group for the time being so they can all focus on stopping Belos from achieving his goals on the Day of Unity. Other reasons include the heroes not being prepared to fight Mary and so they can learn of her own plans by keeping close tabs on her.
- Ascended Fridge Horror: After what he's learned about his true parental lineage, Hunter has come to see that in working for Belos and capturing Luz last season, he nearly murdered his biological mother and used his adopted first cousin to capture his aunt.
- Baddie Flattery: Bloody Mary is honestly impressed that Luz would be bold enough to approach her and propose an alliance in spite of her reputation, showing that she must be that worried about the Day of Unity to make such a deal.
- Batman Gambit: Luz plays an incredibly risky card getting Bloody Mary and her associates to help her family defeat Belos. Having a supernatural Witch Hunter isn't exactly a confidence booster, but they're desperate enough to take any advantage they can get over Belos, even if it means working with their enemies and constantly being on high alert around her. Everyone's impressed by the strategy as they could just sic Mary on Belos and let them finish each other off, but it's still unnerving to have to work with an infamous Serial Killer.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Following a private heart-to-heart about Cross' Character Development, Cross and Lindsay finally share their first official kiss!!!
- Big Damn Reunion: Aside from everybody reuniting with Luz's group, there's also those with the BAT's to account for as the Saltstars have one with Boris, Donna with Amber and Derwin, and Amity with the Thians. Katya later reunites with her adoptive father at his shop.
- Black Comedy: After nailing a 7-10 split during a bowling game, Vee looks up at her score monitor to see the animation for it... which is a father bowling pin mourning his wife and son, who were run over by bowling balls.Father Pin: [anguishly] SPARE!
[Vee gapes at the screen while Masha chuckles.]Masha: Heh, that's dark. - Breather Episode: Looks like the last one in Book 2 due to how it ends. Everyone in the Isles takes the time to catch up on everything with the Day of Unity just two days away. Earth-side, Gus P. gets to hang out with his father and human friends... at least until Bill starts Weirdmageddon.
- The Bus Came Back: Oskar Storms returns since "The Steve Chapter", helping to fortify St. Epiderm by aiding Andrew and the Pinkjoy sisters with the tunnels.
- Call-Back:
- Once again, Eda uses the Full-Name Ultimatum on Luz for doing something that puts/could put her in harm's way.
- Emira convincing Viney to spare Firebees forms the crux of their guilt and emotional pain.
- A flashback of Donna and Nina's original promise to be there for each other is reused when Donna renews her promise.
- Gibson presents his secret project to Belos: guns, the same weapon he took an interest in following "Resolutions" and completed in "The Last Stand".
- Jacob informs Belos about the Archangels taking the Clawthornes' portal door and key, which is what brought him to the Isles.
- Draco figured out King was a Titan thanks to the information Lilith provided him on King's Island.
- Changed My Mind, Kid: Luz was going to spend the whole week hiding in the Knee to keep Belos from possessing her, but Nina talks her out of it.
- Character Development: In-Universe, Cross started out as an introvert who kept everything about both sides of his family hidden because he feared how everyone would react to it all, like he was ashamed of them. But since telling Luz they're family and using his dragon form in public at the Torso Villa, he feels huge weights have been lifted and he can finally start to be himself since everyone accepted who and what he is.
- Cliffhanger: This chapter ends with Bill Cipher kickstarting Weirdmageddon.
- Connected All Along: Apparently Draco had also been Abel's student in learning magic.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Lambi questions how Hunter knows who she is, Nina reminds her of Jasper from the Flyer Derby game.
- Dipper and Ford are still playing DD&MD, and the Gatesfield teens recall their adventure with Luz linked to the game and when Camila and Abigail defeated Probabilitor.
- Continuing from "Hey! Scouts! Leave Those Kids Alone!", Cat and Danny serve as The Leaders for organizing all of the refugees at St. Epiderm.
- Camila mentions that Abigail is considering transferring Clara and her friends to Gravity Falls High School, since they might be moving to the Falls.
- Contrived Coincidence: Le'Belle volunteered to track down the Clawthornes at the Knee so she could be alone to think. She never expected to actually find them there.
- Conversational Troping:
- In the flashbacks, King says the heroes should deal with one Arc Villain at a time, of which Belos serves as for the 'Day of Unity' arc with Bloody Mary being used for a Bait-and-Switch.
- While talking to Hunter about Belos creating him from Lilith's blood without her permission, Luz says Belos has long surpassed the Moral Event Horizon In-Universe.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Like how canon-OTWAT showed Steve defecting from the Emperor's Coven and talking with King about his identity issues, Le'Belle takes his place regarding her guilt over her past mistakes.
- The Porters have their own subplot spending the day together now that Perry's recovered enough to sightsee around Gravity Falls.
- Dipper is shown becoming increasingly depressed as his friends will be out of town on his birthday and none of his family might be there either.
- On a minor note, Cross is shown having to accept his sister's been captured and coming to terms with finally being able to accept himself in full.
- Deal with the Devil:
- Not wanting to waste time fighting another villain when Belos is a higher priority, Luz makes an alliance with Bloody Mary and her gang to focus on beating the emperor together.
- Draco offers up Jacob as a hostage to Belos as well as his information about King in exchange for Venoma's freedom.
- Death Glare: Cross gives Kikimora one using his dragon eyes so she'll tell him what she means by how "the other Drakescale" got captured.
- Defiant Captive: Averted. Kikimora and Pugsley try to avoid saying anything to Willow's group when they're captured until the Brookes go full werebeast, at which point Pugsley spills the beans.
- Determinator: Slasher suggests Willow to hide out in the Knee after learning that Belos has plans for her as well, but she refuses to cut herself off from the rest of the Isles.
- Enemy Mine: Luz convinces Bloody Mary, Grimhilde, and Hook to put aside their grudges with the Clawthornes at the moment to focus on the bigger threat of Belos and the Day of Unity.
- Epic Fail: Gus P. getting gutter balls in his first bowling game is understandable, but Perry destroying an arcade game because he throws his ball too hard on the backswing that it slips from his fingers is another story.Gus G: You guys definitely need to practice. Especially you, Mr. Porter.
- Everyone Can See It: Even though she already knew, Donna snarkily lampshades how obvious Cross and Lindsay's feelings for each other are while explaining how things between the three of them work to Nina.
- Evil Is Petty: When the scouts discovered the Owl House was abandoned, Leonte ordered them to burn it down to send a message to Eda.
- Forgiveness:
- Seeing Le'Belle's guilt over her attacking him, Slasher forgives her for it.
- Soon after, Boscha forgives Nina for impaling her and they both agree to move past it.
- Subverted hard for Emira and Viney, as they both feel guilty for letting Firebees live and blame themselves for the razing of the Torso Villa and the deaths of several of its citizens.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Eda shouts out "Luz Noceda Clawthorne" when she sees her daughter has come down from the Knee.
- Group Hug: Luz and Willow's groups save Boscha and Hunter hug a crying Nina after she reveals to Luz's group what happened at the Villa.
- Heel–Face Turn: Le'Belle has defected from the Emperor's Coven following the events earlier in the day.
- Heroic BSoD: Learning Belos' true plans has left Luz believing that everyone would be safer if she wasn't around on the Day of Unity, so she opts to remain hidden in the Knee while everybody else goes to see their families at St. Epiderm. It's clear that losing the portal key and her door because of Grimhilde left her feeling helpless to avoid being possessed by Belos. Fortunately, Nina (having felt that way just last chapter) talks her out of it by reminding her that hiding in fear didn't turn out well for the werecats, so she needs to keep fighting for her home. After thinking about it, Luz snaps back to her usual self and heads to St. Epiderm with everybody.
- Hidden Depths:
- Trigger shows himself to be a nerd, recognizing Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons when he sees Dipper and Ford playing it and hoping that Ford's technological prowess will allow for the creation of hoverboards by 2015, like in Back to the Future Part II.
- Le'Belle mentions that she was on St. Epiderm's student council when she was in school.
- History Repeats: Just like forty years ago with Stan, a conversation between Ford regarding his future in which it's recommended that he leave behind a family member in order to pursue a great opportunity is eavesdropped on by said family member, resulting in them holding resentment towards Ford that leads to catastrophic consequences.
- If Only You Knew: As the main Clawthorne family looks on the bright side of things, Eda mentions that with the allies they have now, they could be getting some they don't even know about. Cut to Emily in the castle discovering Aqua, which means she's about to learn what happened to Zee and perform her own Heel–Face Turn...
- Internal Reveal:
- Willow's group learn from Kikimora and Pugsley that Zee and Barbara have been arrested. Kevin gives Cross the full story, and Cross later informs Luz about it.
- Perry meets the Gatesfieldians, Vee, Blubs, Durland, Ivy, and Wendy for the first time, and learns that Megan has also been brought to Earth.
- Both Luz and Willow's groups catch up on the events of the last four chapters.
- Eda tells Cross the truth about why Belos is obsessed with Luz.
- Nina, Donna, Lambi, and Slasher learn why the Hexside Four really disappeared, and where Gus P. and Perry are.
- The Saltstars, Luz, Amity, King, and Donna discover that the BAT's are alive.
- Le'Belle learns about Belos' plans and that Barbara's a member of the Clawthorne family.
- Nina learns that Donna and Lindsay are openly dating Cross after seeing Cross kiss Lindsay.
- Donna tells Nina about her finding her twin brother on Titan Trapper Island.
- Because of Draco and Jacob, Belos, Abel, and Gibson learn about Luz having a portal door and the key, the Archangels briefly possessing them, and King being a Titan.
- It's All My Fault:
- Since she's still blaming herself for Beel's death, Luz does the same upon learning of everything that happened in the last 24 hours because she wasn't around to help her friends and family. Everyone has to remind her that she couldn't have known what would happen.
- Both Emira and Viney feel responsible for the Torsa Villa fire because they spared Firebees.
- Just a Kid:
- Luz tells her friends this is the reason why she shouldn't have to be involved in fighting Belos since he's determined to claim her, wishing she could be a normal teenager again.
- Dipper spells this out to Ford as a justified reason for why he's getting emotional over the only family he has left leaving him behind.
- Keeping the Enemy Close: Luz's plan for making sure Bloody Mary doesn't give the heroes anymore problems to deal with so everybody can put all of their attention into defeating Belos.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: After getting info on Zee and Barbara from Kikimora and Pugsley, Cross breaks off from Willow's group and returns to St. Epiderm to be with his family.
- Literal-Minded: Perry admits when he heard the Gravity Falls gang were taking him and his son to a bowling alley, they'd be going to an actual alley.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Belos may have found out about the Clawthornes' portal door and key, but he has yet to learn that they're gone.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Nina was the most convinced that Donna and Cross were a thing even before they hooked up properly, so seeing Cross and Lindsay kiss makes her angry enough to believe Cross is cheating on Donna with Lindsay until the healer explains their relationship to the werecat.
- Mook–Face Turn: Larry was never evil, but he officially defects to the CAT's since Eda, Steve, Sunny, and Le'Belle are members.
- Mythology Gag: Gus P. sports his dino shirt and jeans from the Time-Passes Montage in "Thanks to Them".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ford fails to see why Dipper would get upset over him leaving to work with the government while Dipper would end up being placed in Child Services. This is what leads Dipper to giving Blendin-Bill the dimensional rift and being able to have his family back, making Ford partially responsible for starting Weirdmageddon.
- "Not So Different" Remark: After hearing how driven Le'Belle had been and the sacrifices she made to get into the Emperor's Coven, King notes that she was a lot like how Amity used to be.
- Out of Focus: Emily has a non-speaking cameo showing her trying to deal with what she's recently gone through.
- Present Absence: Zee doesn't appear, but her capture has everybody fearing for her life and Cross is driven to rescue her from the Emperor's Coven with Luz promising to help him. At the same time, Emily finds Aqua among other captured palismen, tipping her off that Zee's in trouble.
- The Reveal:
- Leonte had the Owl House burned down out of spite and told Kikimora and Pugsley to stay there in case anybody came by.
- Perry knew that Tres and Megan were basilisks due to his investigating and believes that Raine always knew the truth.
- Tracy has been branded into the Bard Coven.
- Because of the threat Belos poses to all their loved ones, Eda had Odalia tell Ban to bring the orphans to St. Epiderm while Lilith told her parents to bring Blazer there, leading to Brolin bringing the entire Clawthorne clan.
- The main Clawthorne family, Amity, Boscha, Hunter, Kay, and Maurice began hiding out at the Knee because the magic there could block out Belos from Luz's mind.
- Luz proposed an alliance between her family, Amity, Boscha, Hunter, and Bloody Mary, Hook, and Grimhilde to hold off on battling each other until Belos is taken down.
- Back when she was Mary Gates, Bloody Mary was told by Gabriel to remain behind while he wiped out witchkind. When he didn't come back, she made her own portal and an accident that should've killed her caused the magic water from the In-Between Realm to enter her wounded body and turn her into what she is now.
- Le'Belle is a St. Epiderm alumni, was part of the student council, and participated in a competition with numerous scouts.
- Dr. Pox called Donna "D.A." because it means 'direct assistant'; she thought it was 'drug addict'.
- Draco is Abel's former pupil and figured out King's a Titan using the information Lilith gave him about King's tower.
- Vanz Ator has somehow escaped the Magic Mirror.
- Sequel Hook:
- Gus P. considers enrolling in the Gravity Falls school system for the Fall break.
- Boris vows to help his family avenge Delara... by killing Osran himself.
- Luz promises Cross that she'll help rescue Zee from Belos. Unbeknownst to either of them, Emily picks up the clues and might beat them to the punch.
- Vanz Ator gives off a dark look while hugging his daughter, hinting that something happened to him before he got out of Grimhilde's mirror.
- Shout-Out:
- During her conversation with King, Le'Belle mentions participating in a competition as a teenager with Venoma, Alburno, Meg, Grip, Napoli, Gidget, and Judd, obviously referencing the series in which all the characters they're based off of originated from.
- Powers mentions being acquainted with a CIA agent who, while not directly named, is clearly Cobra Bubbles. Trigger also references Kaua'i's strange inhabitants.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: To hide out on Earth, the Porters now wear human clothes.
- Gus P. wears a black shirt with gray sleeves and a blue dinosaur print, a blue flannel jacket wrapped around his waist, blue jeans, red sneakers, and a blue hat with a few buttons on, one of them having the aromantic flag on it.
- Perry now wears a red flannel shirt, cargo pants, and black shoes.
- Spanner in the Works: The heroes don't know that Jacob was on the Isles or that Draco was alive, so the two of them end up in Belos' throne room where they tell the emperor things they didn't want him to know.
- Stepford Smiler: Dipper gives fake smiles the whole day so nobody will know that he's not okay with them not being in town for his birthday.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Felicia was never truly a bad demon, just working under her mom's orders, but Luz, Amity, and Boscha feel bad that her own mother nearly killed her.
- Tears of Remorse: Both halves of Vinira shed these under the belief that they should've killed Firebees to avoid the disaster at the Torso Villa.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Once Donna sees the sorry state Felicia is in after her injuries have been patched up, the healer hugs her former friend since their turbulent relationship doesn't change the fact that Felicia has suffered so much.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: While the events of "O Titan, Where Art Thou" are playing out, the events of "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" occur.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If Powers and Trigger hadn't given Ford that job offer that would require him to leave Dipper behind, he wouldn't have gotten desperate enough to have his family back to take a deal from Blendin-Bill.
- Wham Shot:
- After coming to St. Epiderm, Cross finds most of the Clawthorne clan, Eda included, settling in there.
- Katya brings a coven guard to CAT headquarters. Before Luz can attack him, he speaks and removes his mask...and it turns out it's Larry!!!
- While watching a guard passing a scout a crate of palismen to be taken to Belos' reserves, Emily immediately recognizes one of the staffs: Aqua.
- You Don't Want to Know: Inverted. Cross sees the orphans tending to the dograptor and starts to question it, but decides to ignore it to ask Lindsay where his parents are.
