With tensions rising between Glimmer and Adora and morale at an all-time low, Sea Hawk, Bow, and Swift Wind go out for some fun. Things get out of hand.
Tropes:
- Achilles in His Tent: Mermista sinks into a Heroic BSoD over failing to protect Salineas from the Horde, but she springs into action when she realizes that the boys are in trouble, determined not to fail again.
- Bittersweet Ending: Mermista regains her resolve to fight the Horde and helps rescue the boys, but Adora and Glimmer's friendship has hit an all-time low, and poor Bow is starting to realize that he can't fix it.
- Clark Kenting: Sea Hawk doesn't recognize Scurvy until the latter takes off his domino mask.
- Dark Reprise: Bow quietly sings a sad, ironic version of the Best Friends Squad song to himself at the end, after he witnesses Adora and Glimmer fail to make up.
- Dramatic Irony: Catra has been so absorbed in the invasion of Salineas that she hasn't noticed that Scorpia left the Horde. She only realises that something is wrong after Scorpia doesn't respond to her commlink and rushes back to the Fright Zone to find her gone.
- Distressed Dude: Bow, Sea Hawk, and Swift Wind spend a good chunk of the episode as prisoners, and the princesses have to rescue them. The trope is initially invoked by Sea Hawk, who paid the kidnappers so that the princesses can fix their friendship by fighting side-by-side, but then the kidnapping becomes real.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Force Captain Octavia of the Horde takes glee in imagining her prisoners being torn to pieces by Catra. But when Bow admits he's so depressed that his friends have forgotten him that he's resigned himself to die, even the Horde leader finds this so demoralizing that she begs for Bow to be taken out of her hearing range.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Possibly the one time this is done in musical form when Sea Hawk sees the guys he hired to "kidnap" them.Sea Hawk: (singing): We'll hang with Bill, the rest of the night/It's fun to be friends with friends/Hey, Bill did you get taller?/And when did you get...that...scar? (stops singing) You...didn't have a scar...This might not be Bill. No, this isn't Bill!
- Eye Scream: Octavia wears her com-badge over her eye socket as an eyepatch because Catra scratched out her eye as a child.
- Failed a Spot Check: It takes a while for Sea Hawk to realize that the kidnappers are not the ones that he hired.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Invoked; Seahawk arranges his own kidnapping so that the princesses will break out of their negative moods by the thrill of rescue. Unfortunately, not only does the kidnapping turn deadlier than expected, but Adora and Glimmer's argument hits such a personal nerve that fighting together can’t repair it.
- Girl's Night Out Episode: Gender-Inverted as Sea Hawk takes Bow and Swift Wind out for a night on the town in order to get their minds of the war. Although it turns out that he had an alternative agenda as well.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: After losing her kingdom to the Horde, Mermista is reduced to lying in a bathtub eating tubs of ice cream, even implying after a while that she went through the castle's supply of them.
- I Meant to Do That: Once Mermista and co arrive to save the boys Sea Hawk insists that his plan went off without a hitch, albeit with real kidnappers as oppose to the fake ones he hired. No one believes him.
- Karma Houdini: Scurvy and his crew receive no comeuppance for turning their former friend over to the Horde. They leave with their money and a hearty laugh.
- Kick the Dog: During her argument with Adora Glimmer places the blame for all the losses the Rebelion has suffered on She-Ra saying that her arrival was suppose to make things better. She then one ups herself by blaming Adora for Angella dying. She clearly regrets saying it almost immediately but the damage has been done and, by episodes end, Adora won't talk to her.
- Love Cannot Overcome: Or rather, friendship cannot overcome. After Glimmer reveals that she blames Adora for everything bad that's happened, including her mother's sacrifice, Adora is so hurt that she doesn't forgive Glimmer even after the battle is won and the boys are saved.
- Mood Whiplash:
- About one second after Glimmer tells Adora she blames her for losing her mother, Mermista bursts from the bathroom to tell them the boys have been captured in a comedic way.
- The episode ends rather bleakly as seen above, with Adora, Bow, and Glimmer ruminating about their actions. The show's credit song, Sea Hawk's earlier shanty, steers the mood in a hard 180.
- Mundane Utility: Adora uses the Sword of Protection as a mop to clean up the water Mermista splashed onto the floor.
- Never My Fault: When the reality of their kidnapping situation sinks in, Sea Hawk is quick to ask why no one talked him out of the idea.Sea Hawk: This was all a terrible idea. Why didn't anyone stop me?
Swift Wind: Because you didn't tell us. Why didn't you tell us?!
Sea Hawk: If I told you, you would have stopped me! - Non-Nude Bathing: Mermista spends much of the episode in the bathtub wearing her usual outfit. She is a mermaid, and she swims a lot, so...
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Catra tends to react to “betrayal”, real or imagined, with lashing out and violent rage. It makes her quiet shock when she learns even Scorpia has left her all the more impactful.
- Oh, Crap!: After Sea Hawk reveals that he arranged to have himself, Bow and Swift Wind kidnapped, he has this reaction when he realizes that the kidnappers are not the ones he hired.Sea Hawk: (trying to sing, but losing steam) Hey, Bill, did you get taller? And when did you get that... scar? Y-You, uh, didn't... have a scar. (stops singing) This might not be Bill. (beat) No, this isn't Bill!Bow: WHAT?!
- Saying Too Much: Glimmer eventually gets so mad at Adora that she reveals that she blames her for everything bad that's happened, including her mother's sacrifice. She instantly regrets it.
- Slasher Smile: Hordak gives one to Glimmer after she is forced to retreat with the refuges from the coastal town that the Horde attacked.
- The Unreveal: The audience doesn't get to see, or hear, the letter that Scorpia left for Catra though it can easily be presumed its telling her that she left the Horde.
- Walk the Plank: Admiral Scurvy tries to make Sea Hawk walk the plank as revenge for setting his ships on fire.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: Catra admits to Scorpia (whom she doesn't realize isn't there) that she thought that winning against the Rebellion would make her feel better but she doesn't feel any happier than before.
