Held captive by the pirates aboard the Sea Legs, Team Zym is forced to endure the machinations of its cruel captain.
Amaya makes a decision to save the woman she loves from those who have taken her.
Tropes:
- Always Save the Girl: Despite previously swearing the practice off, Callum has to resort to Dark Magic to free himself so he can save Rayla when her life is threatened by Finnegrin, making true on his previous promise to "do anything for [her]."
- Batman Gambit:
- Callum attempts one when he gives Finnegrin a list of ingredients for the dark magic spell (while giving him one wrong detail) in the hope that he'd let Rayla go. It doesn't work.
- Nyx reveals she told Finnegrin they were going to the Sea of the Castout for something valuable, knowing he would sail there to take it for himself, confident (or so she says) that the team would be able to overthrow the pirate.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Seeing Rayla suffering under Finnegrin's spell, Callum lets out a guttural roar and punches him in the face without hesitation or fear. The rest of Finnegrin's crew stare slack-jawed at the exchange.
- Big Damn Heroes: Callum saves Rayla in the nick of time before she becomes sea leviathan lunch.
- Bittersweet Ending: Callum has managed to understand and learn how to use the Ocean Arcanum, Finnegrin is overthrown with his crew liberated from the captain's control, and the heroes have made it to the Sea of the Castout. However, Callum is guilt-ridden over resorting to Dark Magic once again.
- Blind Mistake: When Nyx rejoins the heroes in the last scene, Villads points at her blamingly but being blind he points in the wrong direction.
- Bound and Gagged: Rayla is tied up and gagged upside down and lowered toward the sea to be fed to sea leviathans.
- Call-Back:
- Once again, Callum makes a connection to an Arcanum after using Dark Magic.
- When Callum gets his Ocean Arcanum superpowers, he cites the poem from the first scene of the season opener."To love is simply to know this:
the tides are true, as the ocean is deep." - In an earlier episode, Callum declares to Rayla that he "would do anything for [her]." When her life is threatened by Finnegrin, he proves just far he will go to protect her—performing Dark Magic against his better judgment.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Deadwood uses electrically-charged sea creatures to torture Callum with electro shocks in the hope of getting the boy to reveal the very spell that petrified King Avizandum in order to kill Domina Profundis. Finnegrin himself uses literal Cold-blooded torture on particularly defiant crewmen, using ocean magic to freeze their blood.
- Damsel in Distress: Rayla, Bound and Gagged, is slowly lowered toward the sea to be fed to hungry sea leviathans, specifically to punish Callum. Thankfully, he arrives just in time to rescue her.
- The Determinator: No matter how many times Soren is hit by Deadwood, he refuses to stay down, or stop trying to get through to the Golem.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Callum is deeply ashamed of his first (and only) use of Dark Magic, and is continuously pressured by Finnegrin (a ruthless criminal) to use it 'one more time' to help him, or to save his friends. Finnegrin asking if he'd ever thought of using it since, and Callum's level of discomfort over the whole thing (as well as renewed shame at having used it after all) feels like a one-off drug user being pushed into giving it another go, and potentially developing an addiction.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Amaya is able to get close to ambush Karim by riding up to him dressed in Miyana's armor and mask, catching him off guard before he can notice the ruse.
- Eat the Camera: The final shot pans below the deck and ends with one of Callum's serpents eating the camera.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Much like how he previously came to use the Sky Arcanum after coming to truly understand its meaning, Callum is able to use the Ocean Arcanum's magic after coming to understand its own meaning while facing off with Finnegrin.
- Everyone Can See It: Played for Drama. Callum and Rayla's obvious affection for one another just gives Finnegrin extra incentive to take out his retribution on her for Callum humiliating him. A fact which the pirate wastes no time tormenting Callum with.Finnnegrin: All that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Finnegrin has no problem with cutting off the hand of a thief, but when every one of Team Zym offers themselves up, he calls them "barnacle brains" and reiterates the price, though he is willing to do it anyway.
- Evil Is Petty: Finnegrin abandons trying to bargain with Callum after he punches him in the face in front of his crew, and just decides to feed Rayla to a leviathan to punish him and her for their defiance.
- Given Name Reveal: Upon being moved by Soren's words to stand up to Finnegrin, "Deadwood" finally reveals his real name: "Elmer".
- Godzilla Threshold: With his loved ones in mortal danger and without any other option available, Callum is forced to use dark magic to free himself.
- Hairpin Lockpick: Rayla manages to unlock her cuffs with a splinter she nicked from Deadwood's shell. Her escape attempt is short-lived though as Finnegrin uses Ocean magic to freeze her in her tracks.
- Hook Hand: Discussed. Villads offers his hand for Ezran's because hook hands are in fashion these days.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Pharos returns to the Sunfire Elves camp to deliver Karim's demand for the Sun Seed in exchange for Janai. Amaya turns him down because she knows that the Sun Seed was most sacred to Janai who would protect it with her very life.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Finnegrin reveals that he uses a freezing spell to keep his crew under control. The only exception is Deadwood, a wooden golem, who doesn't have blood to freeze.
- I Am Spartacus: When Finnegrin tells Callum and his friends that the punishment for stealing is to have a hand amputated, all of Callum's friends offer their hands.
- I Am What I Am: The crux of learning the Ocean Arcanum involves Callum accepting that there are things he can never fully control, including parts of himself.
- I'm Okay!: Callum's response to Bait who looks worried at him after suffering through the Cold-Blooded Torture.
- Irony: Callum learns that a major part of the Ocean Arcanum is accepting that there will always be things you cannot know, or control, and lampshades that despite his Control Freak nature, Finnegrin has known this his whole life on account of his natural connection to it.
- Lying by Omission: When Callum relents and gives up the spell Finnegrin wants, he actually omits part of one ingredient: Callum tell Finnegrin he needs "blood filled with hatred," while in actuality (according to Viren), the spell requires blood filled with hatred *from someone who loved the victim*. Suggesting that Callum had given Finnegrin the wrong details on purpose to prevent him from actually carrying out the spell.
- Mexican Standoff: One ensues between the Bloodmoon Huntress and Amaya. The Huntress threatens to kill Queen Janai and Amaya keeps Karim as a hostage. Janai explains that if the Huntress kills her then Amaya will kill Karim and end their bloodline which in turn means the Huntress will never be able to repay her mercy debt and the binding around her neck will tighten and eventually kill her. The Huntress realizes that she has to let Janai go and wait for a better opportunity to undo the binding.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Inspired by Soren's words Deadwood turns on his abusive captain and throws him into the mouth of the very same sea leviathan he had summoned to feed Rayla to.
- Musical Chores: The episode opens with the crew singing a Pirate Song while cleaning the ship.
- Neck Lift: Deadwood holds Callum in the air by the throat after Callum dared to give Finnegrin a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Never My Fault: Karim refuses to take responsibility for using Kim'dael and deflects blame by accusing his sister of forcing his hand.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episode's title is a pun on Finnegans Wake.
- Portal Statue Pairs: The final scene reveals that the entrance to the Sea of the Castout is flanked by two giant elf statues. One depicting Aaravos on his knees while the other is, presumably, another Startouch Elf looking upon him ashamed.
- The Power of Friendship: Callum points out to Finnegrin that so long as the heroes protect and love each other, he has no control over them. Finnegrin laughs it off.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Kim'Dael was helping Karim solely so he would release her from her life debt. Once it becomes clear that only Janai can do so, she releases the Queen and ends her arrangement with the former prince, not wanting to risk wiping out the royal line dying and killing her with the failsafe. She then simply leaves, opting to wait for another opportunity.
- Rage Breaking Point: Seeing Rayla painfully suffer under Finnegrin's spell and hearing him boast about how he uses it to pressgang his crew's service, causes Callum to absolutely lose it, grab the pirate by his coat and land a solid hit on his face before Deadwood can pull him away.
- Sadistic Choice: Finnegrin lets Callum choose which of his friends should get a hand cut off for stealing the three little Glow Toads. Callum refuses to make a pick.
- Security Cling: After the harrowing events aboard the Sea Legs, Rayla hugs Callum in relief, but after a moment's hesitation he returns the hug, silently distraught at his own actions as he takes some comfort in holding her close to him.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Berto is nowhere to be seen throughout most of the episode; after Finnegrin is eaten, it turns out Berto was hiding under Villads' hat the whole time.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: After Finnegrin's talk about why he wants to kill Domina, Callum tells Finnegrin that what he truly wants isn't freedom like he says, but to control the entire ocean.
- Special Edition Title: Once again, the usual Mystery of Aaravos opening for this episode has Callum in Viren's place in relation to the young mage's path and Dark Magic once again becoming intertwined.
- Staring Contest: Finnegrin and Callum have one when Finnegrin suspects that Callum is lying about never having used dark magic. Callum's guilt makes him eventually look away which confirms Finnegrin's suspicion.
- Swallowed Whole: Finnegrin gets hurled by Deadwood into the mouth of a sea leviathan who swallows him in one piece.
- Take Me Instead: Everyone on the heroes' side offers to have their hand cut off in place of the others which confuses Finnegrin and Deadwood who have no concept of The Power of Friendship.
- "Take That!" Kiss: The Bloodmoon Huntress kisses Janai on the cheek while promising that they will meet again. Right in front of Janai's fiancée, at that.
- This Cannot Be!: Finnegrin shouts "Impossible!" when Callum reveals that he has mastered the Ocean Arcanum by way of Enlightenment Superpowers.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: After Team Zym had secured the ship, Rayla goes over to quip with Callum, who simply sits quietly staring off in the distance, too shocked and guilty from what he had to do.
- Underestimating Badassery: Finnegrin clearly did not expect Callum would strike him for hurting Rayla, nor did he anticipate that Deadwood, his only crewman without any blood to freeze, would, or even could, turn on him.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend:
- Rayla slips her shackles to protect Callum from being exploited by Finnegrin. Likewise when the pirate immobilizes her with an ice spell, Callum rushes to her side, before then rushing over to Finnegrin and hitting him right in the nose.
- Not one to sit around, Amaya singlehandedly rides out to rescue Janai from her traitorous brother and the Huntress, leaving a scar over Karim's eye at the end of their confrontation.
- Wham Shot: After everything has been said and done with Finnegrin, with Callum having somehow broken free to save the others, the mage appears heavily guilty once things have settled as the scene changes to the captain's room to reveal a pair of snakes slithering out... The same kind of snakes as when Callum last used Dark Magic to turn chains into snakes.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Drawing on his own experience of being treated as nothing but Dumb Muscle by an amoral mage, Soren convinces Deadwood that he doesn't need to do what Finnegrin tells him anymore.Soren: He's cruel... but you don't have to be.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: Originally, Finnegrin said if Callum revealed the Dark Magic spell used to kill Thunder to him, the captain would let his friends go free. While Callum initially refuses, after the mage attacks and punches Finnegrin in the face in anger towards his torturous treatment of Rayla only to be knocked out, he desperately reveals the spell to the captain to keep him from further harming Rayla... only for Finnegrin, more livid than ever that Callum defied him in such a way, to state that the deal's far Off the Table.
