The gang finally arrive at the Dark Kingdom, home of the Moonstone. Finally reaching the end of their journey, Rapunzel is set to fulfill her destiny. But someone else is gunning for the same thing, and he or she will do anything to make sure it happens!
Tropes in this episode:
- Achilles' Heel: The ghosts of the kingdom's ancestors are immortal and resilient, regenerating from their statues when they are taken down. Lance of all people figures out that they need to destroy the statues using Adira's Shadow Sword to put the ghosts down for good.
- An Aesop: Be careful who you trust, as they may not be who they seem.
- BSoD Song: Eugene sings "Everything I Ever Thought I Knew," about what he thought he had and who he thought he was, and about how after the revelation dropped on him, he's not so sure about who he's supposed to be now.
- Call-Back:
- Adira reveals she has witnessed Rapunzel's battle against Varian.
- Once Eugene and Edmund get together, they reference the original movie's Running Gag about Flynn Rider's wanted posters never getting his nose right.
- King Edmund tries to use "The Glower" on Eugene. When it doesn't work, he replies, "This is a bit of an off-day for me." This is very similar to Eugene trying to use The Smolder on Rapunzel in the original movie.
- Cliffhanger: The episode, and the season, ends with Cassandra betraying the group and all of Corona by taking the moon stone and merging it with her body. Rapunzel and Eugene can only look on in horror as their best friend, someone they thought they could trust, falls before them.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When spotting a rickety old gondola across a cavern, Rapunzel asks who'd be afraid of it. Lance, Eugene and Cassandra all raise their hands, which Rapunzel interprets as wanting high-fives.
- When Lance hears Eugene address King Edmund with "Dad", he cheerily says "Great, you finally got adopted!" instead of realizing Eugene has just found his birth father.
- Creepy Crows: Downplayed. When King Edmund's crows first show up, they seem scary and attack Rapunzel and her friends. There's an especially scary moment when one of the crows snatches Pascal, seemingly to eat or at least kill him. In later scenes however, the crows turn out to actually be clumsy and dumb, and as such come across as more comical than scary.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: King Edmund takes down Lance, Cassandra, and Adira without much trouble.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: The reason Eugene was orphaned in Corona was because his father King Edmund sent his son, along with every inhabitant of the Dark Kingdom, away in order to save them from the Moon Opal's devastating power.
- The Day the Music Lied: As Rapunzel approaches the Moonstone, it floats out of its compartment, she reaches out her hand, the music swells... but then Cass grabs it first and the music stops, leading to the Sudden Downer Ending.
- Death Glare: After her transformation from touching the Moonstone, Cassandra gives a chilling, disturbing look to Rapunzel.
- Did I Say That Out Loud: King Edmund starts commenting about how his reunion with Eugene is going off on a great start, that they found common ground, and that with time, he'll win him over to his side. All while Eugene is right behind him. Edmund justifies that he isn't feeling mentally stable due to being alone in the castle for nearly twenty-five years and that he always talks out loud to himself.
- Downer Ending: The episode, and the season as a whole, ends on a rather depressing note with Cassandra backstabbing Rapunzel and Eugene, and taking the Moonstone for herself.
- Durable Deathtrap: Subverted. The castle's traps still work after decades of neglect, but crumble into dust the second anything touches them.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Eugene and Rapunzel's worst fears have been confirmed: Cassandra ends up betraying them after all.
- Evil Costume Switch: After Cassandra grabs the Moonstone, she gains a new outfit and her hair glows blue.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Before Rapunzel goes to the Moonstone, she gives Cassandra a hug, and Cassandra doesn't hug back. Literally seconds later, she betrays Rapunzel.
- Foreshadowing:
- In "With You By My Side", Cassandra says, "If we're destined to head in our own different ways." During this, a rock sprouts before her and glows, and she looks at it with interest. This is a hint toward her Face–Heel Turn.
- In the same song, just before that moment, this line comes up.Cassandra: Maybe tomorrow, we'll find to our sorrow, our story has come to an ending.
- Get It Over With: When Eugene wakes up to find the bear figure standing over him, he closes his eyes and asks, "What are you waiting for?" And then the figure in the mask tells him that he won't fight him and unmasks himself, revealing himself to be King Edmund and telling Eugene that he is his son.
- Hope Spot: Eugene has been worried about what will happen since receiving the warning from Demanitus about how someone will betray Rapunzel at the end of their journey. He thought it was Cassandra, then when the truth about his heritage and about the Moonstone becomes known to him, he tries to bar Rapunzel from entering the Dark Kingdom since he fears what could happen if she came in contact with the Moonstone. Pascal makes him realize he himself betrayed Rapunzel by preventing her from fulfilling her destiny, and then Eugene goes to set things right. Once everything is over, he thinks they now are all in the clear since Demanitus' prophecy has come to pass, as he took it as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. He is wrong. The prophecy doesn't come to pass yet until the very end when Cassandra takes the Moonstone for herself.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Rapunzel kisses Eugene's hand as she tells him she loves him before she goes to the moonstone.
- Impact Silhouette: One of the crows trips on a piece of armor and crashes through the castle wall, leaving a hole in the wall shaped like a crow.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom reveals himself to be Eugene's father.
- Missing Mom: Although Eugene meets his real father, his mother was killed in the initial attempt to destroy the Moonstone.
- Mood Whiplash:
- As Rapunzel approaches the moonstone, she slowly reaches out for it, then Cassandra swipes it, leading to the Sudden Downer Ending.
- Once again averted with the end credits. Instead of cutting to the cheerful happy closing theme as usual, an ominous orchestral theme plays in its place.
- Mundane Solution: When blocked off by a gate, Max vaults over it. Fidella simply taps the gate, making it crumble.
- No-Sell: Lance attempts to shoulder charge Edmund, and squishes himself against him for his trouble.
- Oh, Crap!: Rapunzel's reaction clearly shows she's scared and horrified when she sees Cassandra take the Moonstone for herself and become corrupted from it.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: When the moonstone is taken by Cassandra last minute, the Moonstone tells her that she doesn't have the Sundrop and isn't the one who can wield it, and corrupts her as a result.
- Shout-Out: After the ravens attack the group, Lance groans "Nevermore." This is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven".
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Knowing of Demanitus' cryptic warning about a traitor in their midst, Eugene decides to bar Rapunzel from entering the castle, to protect her. Pascal makes him realize that Eugene himself was the one who betrayed her by stopping her from fulfilling her destiny. Eugene then tears up the note and tries to find Rapunzel to resume their objective again. Turns out, Demanitus' warning is true after all, but the traitor among them actually is Cassandra, just as Eugene initially thought.
- Sequel Hook: The episode (and season) closes with Cassandra becoming corrupted by the Moonstone's magic. As for Rapunzel, her destiny is still yet to be fulfilled.
- Special Edition Title: To fit with the Sudden Downer Ending, the end credits do not play the usual Ending Theme "More of Me", and instead features a lustful orchestral theme in its place.
- Sudden Downer Ending: At first it seems everything will be all right as Rapunzel faces the Moonstone, but in the very last minute of the episode/season, right before she is about to touch it and finally fulfill her destiny, Cassandra snatches it, saying she's fulfilling her destiny, and becoming corrupted.
- Transformation Sequence: Cassandra's looks change (like her hair turning a glowing blue instead of its usual black color) when the Moonstone is corrupting her.
- Wham Episode: The heroes finally make it to the Dark Kingdom, where it's learned that the king is Eugene's father, and Cassandra betrays Rapunzel and takes the power of the Moonstone for herself.
- Wham Line:Rapunzel: Cassandra?! What are you doing?! (Her hair stops glowing and falls limp)
Cassandra: I'm fulfilling my destiny!- It is then followed by this:
Cassandra: [corrupted] I tried to warn you, Rapunzel. You have to be careful who you trust. - Wham Shot: Two of them within the last two minutes.
- As Rapunzel goes to take the Moonstone, Cassandra snatches it and says that it is time for her to fulfill her own destiny. She merges with the Moonstone and bonds with its power.
- Cassandra's appearance changes, her hair glows blue with the power of the Moonstone, and she laughs as she says that she had told Rapunzel to be careful who to trust.
