Looks like no more Mario for SMG4...
Nintendo's influence leads to Lawyer Kong separating Nintendo and non-Nintendo characters with a giant firewall, with the former side turning back to their normal selves. As SMG4 and Meggy struggle to accept this new and cruel reality, Mario sets off to rescue those Nintendo imprisoned, and finds someone who might provide the necessary help...
The second episode and official debut of the Lawsuit Arc.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil: Oddly, Bowser still retains this trait and is saddened when Mario refuses to save the princess from him.
- Animation Bump: Though the amount of actual "animation" is used is still at a minimum, Mario's poses and facial expressions become much cleaner after he is reset to his canon self.
- Big "NO!": Mario does this when he sees that Luigi has been reverted to his old self.
- Call-Back: SMG4's arrival causing everyone to become stupid from the spread of memes is brought up. In addition, all of the Nintendo characters are slowly reverting to their canon selves.
- Crapsaccharine World: All of the Nintendo characters are not only gradually reverted to their old selves, which might not sound bad at first, but it's also clear that whatever transformed them also caused them to become oblivious to the more depressing aspects of the situation.
- Cliffhanger: Mario is forcibly turned back into his game self, while SMG4 and Meggy set out to bypass the firewall and rescue him thanks to Phoenix Wright giving them a temporary IP contract that allows Meggy to turn back into an Inkling for the time being.
- Death of Personality: Kinda inverted. Every Nintendo character seen on the other side of the firewall has their SMG4 personalities overwritten with their canonical ones with none of their SMG4 ones remaining.
- Defensive "What?": SMG4 responds to Meggy's quizzical reaction to hearing the last thing he remembered was sitting on the toilet watching memes with this.
- Fantastic Racism: Lawyer Kong has this mindset about non-Nintendo characters and OCs like SMG4 and Meggy, calling them "trash". While he has reason to be hostile towards SMG4 for reducing the world to its idiotic state with his arrival, he has no such excuse for the rest.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Meggy is beside herself with excitement when she meets Phoenix Wright, asking for his autograph. Her admiration and trust in him are so great, in fact, that she signs the IP change contract without reading it first when he arrives to help them on Mario's behalf.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Meggy looks struck with remorse when SMG4 says the whole firewall situation is her fault because she defied Lawyer Kong, even if she only did it to help Mario. This leads her to back off from trying to solve the problem through reckless force, realizing Nintendo's power to erase their channel and everything they've done.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It turns out SMG4 wasn't kidding when he scolded Meggy for messing with Nintendo. Sure enough, they retaliate by setting up a huge firewall that not only separates Nintendo characters and OCs, but also allows those on their side to turn back into their game selves, as Mario, Luigi and a few Nintendo characters experience.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Mario's first sign that something's wrong is when Toad shows genuine concern about Peach's kidnapping.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite permitting the firewall in the first place, Miyamoto is quite accommodating to Mario and accepts his request to include all the non-Nintendo IPs in a crossover game so they can be set free.
- Self-Deprecation: While trying to move on without Mario, SMG4 comes up with the idea of a "Depression Arc". Meggy retorts that all of his story arcs are depressing, and even SMG4 himself admits she has a point.
- Smart Ball: Mario needs to get Phoenix Wright's help so that he can help save his friends, but Wright is locked up due to being a third-party character. When Miyamoto comes to ask for advice on the next big game, Mario has the idea to tell him to make a Massive Multiplayer Crossover to set all of the third-party game characters free, winning him Wright's respect.
- Spanner in the Works: The only reason SMG4 and Meggy have a chance at saving the Mushroom Kingdom from Lawyer Kong is because Mario was barely able to get Phoenix Wright freed during his last moments as Stupid Mario.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: None of the guards pay any mind to the fact that Mario is trying to break down the third-party characters' cage.
- Wham Episode: SMG4 and the original characters are locked out of the Mushroom Kingdom, the third-party characters are locked up, and all of the Nintendo characters are reverting back to what they used to be before the day SMG4 arrived, Mario included. Oh, and Meggy changes back into an Inkling, if only temporarily so she can bypass the Nintendo firewall.
- Wham Shot:
- The zoom out showing the firewall separating the Nintendo characters from the non-Nintendo characters.
- Meggy temporarily turning back into an Inkling thanks to a IP contract.
- What the Hell, Hero?: SMG4 lays into Meggy for suggesting they break through the security checkpoint with brute force, reminding her that her reckless attitude from before is what pissed Lawyer Kong off into going to such extremes in the first place. He quickly apologizes for snapping, though, understanding she was only trying to help.
- World-Healing Wave: A gradual, rare negative example. All of the Nintendo characters are gradually reverted back to their canon personalities, causing their old relationships (for example, Mario being friends with Bowser) to be reset.
