Season 3, Episode 9
All That Josh
Quentin, Kady and Alice try to convince an old friend to return home.
Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
- Bad News, Irrelevant News: The bad news is that Eliot and Margo have been found guilty. The good news is that they get to choose how they die.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: After the Muntjac saves Eliot and Margo, Margo asks if she's a Bowie fan. Eliot says she's probably a Margo fan, referencing the time Margo asked the Muntjac what she wanted during the pirate situation instead of just ordering her to do something painful and dangerous to save their skins.
- Call-Back: Quentin uses the same Crowd Song spell Margo used back in "Lesser Evils" to link the group for their final performance.
- Deus ex Machina: The Muntjac can fly, which she uses to rescue Eliot and Margo.
- The Dog Bites Back: Tick relishes the chance to seize control of Fillory and send Eliot and Margo to their deaths.
- Fake Defector: The Muntjac pretends to obey Tick's commands, but only so it can get close enough to the infinite waterfall to force him to abandon ship, allowing the Muntjac to rescue Eliot and Margo.
- Happiness Is Mandatory: In the music dimension, negative thoughts cause all the inhabitants to immediately turn on the person responsible for them.
- I Fell for Hours: The infinite waterfall in Fillory, as the name suggests, is a waterfall that you can never reach the bottom of. If the sharp rocks and water don't kill you, starvation eventually will.
- Mundane Utility: Invoked in the music dimension. Magic still works there, but only for cheap tricks like manipulating smoke or filling drinks. Kady trying to blow up a wall doesn't even produce a spark. Even something as simple as untying ropes doesn't work. It has to fit the party theme.
- Musical Episode: The fifth key has to be recovered from a dimension where everyone is forced to be happy and sing. The episode's climax revolves around a cross-dimension "Under Pressure" performance.
- The Power of Friendship: It is the unity key they're trying to get. The point of the song isn't the song itself (it's just one of the few spells actually available, what with the only-themed-magic rule), but that everyone is singing it together.
- Restraining Bolt: The Earth fairies wear necklaces designed to kill them if they use magic, and this has apparently gone on for so long that the latest generation isn't even aware they can do magic until Julia shows Skye how.
- Secret Test of Character: The music dimension was a test designed to see if the group would pull together to save Josh, thus proving they were worthy of the key.
- Sexy Silhouette: As part of her distraction, Kady uses magic to create a dancing, singing silhouette of herself. The illusion betrays itself when it starts reaching beyond the borders of the panel.
- Smug Snake: Tick. He acts all high and mighty when Eliot and Margo are in chains, but quickly turns into a whimpering coward when the Muntjac won't obey his orders, and quickly flees the ship in a life boat.
- Songs in the Key of Lock: The music dimension is accessed by playing medieval sheet music.
- Time Stands Still: Julia's powers evolve to the point that she can freeze time for Skye when her necklace begins to kill her, then reverse its effects. Furthermore, it happens entirely on instinct as opposed to spellcasting.
- We Need a Distraction: In order to get Quentin and Alice alone with Josh, Kady stays on the ground floor to distract the party guests by singing. She then rigs up a magical silhouette to continue the act so she can sneak away.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Alice gets a lot of flak for working for the Library, to the point that Quentin is barely willing to trust her with the book about the magic keys.
- Josh calls out the others for not even considering inviting him on the quest, despite the fact that he left them numerous messages.
