As Gunmar readies to destroy Jim in the Darklands, Blinky and the gang strike a deal with the Janus Order in their quest to revive an old friend
Tropes for this episode include:
- Back from the Dead: The antidote for Creeper's Sun does successfully un-petrify Aaarrrgghh!!!, which is basically the same as being revived from death for troll-kind, a technicality that is exploitable.
- Came Back Wrong: After his resurrection, Aaarrrgghh!!! briefly reverts to his Gumm-Gumm state and enraged to boot before coming to his senses.
- Continuity Nod: As Jim and Nomura get to know each other, Jim tells her about his fight with Strickler in "Recipe For Disaster".Nomura: Wait, you're saying as you were fighting, your mother was in the other room?
Jim: Yeah! And then, Strickler transforms, and he goes, "Good look for Picture Day?" I mean, come on!
Nomura: He always was a to— [footsteps approaching] - Cutting the Knot: Since there is no gyre-station to where the Killahead Bridge is kept, Kanjigar forces the gyre through the roof of the tunnel right where the bridge was.
- Delayed Reaction: This little bit…Jim: [Chompsky hands Jim a rock to throw.] Oh, thank you. Chompsky!
- Do Wrong, Right: Kanjigar when he possesses Aargh helps the Trollhunters bust out of Trollmarket and helps them open the bridge, despite him saying earlier that to enter the Darklands would mean Jim's death.
- Exact Words: A tear from pain isn't enough to bring back Aargh. Toby needs to cry out of genuine grief to revive him.
- I Gave My Word: Otto gives the right recipe for the antidote. Claire was even worried briefly that he wouldn't.
- Ironic Echo: Gunmar (a Troll King) says "know thyself… and know thy enemy." See Not Evil, Just Misunderstood below for context.
- No Time to Explain: Kanjigar's explanation for why he simply cannot tell Vendel the situation and save themselves a hurricane of trouble.
- Noble Demon: Despite having no reason to do so, Otto did let the Trollhunter team go, trusting they would get the staff. He also actually does give the gang the recipe for the antidote, honoring the agreement.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: We find out from Nomura that she first heard Hall of the Mountain King when she was very young and found the story within the opera Peer Gynt inspirational, hence why she is always whistling it. She even takes to calling Jim "Little Gynt", after the main protagonist of that same opera.Nomura: I was just a young changeling when I first heard it… alone in your human world. But there, opening night, when the curtain rose and the orchestra swelled… Peer Gynt is a little boy who stumbles into a mountain of trolls. He faces a troll king, who tells him "To thyself be true… and who cares what the world thinks?"
- Papa Wolf: Kanijar orders Draal to watch the bridge and not fight, unless Gunmar appears to try and enter into the world. He says it's due to the vision he saw, but it could also be making sure his son doesn't die in the Darklands.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Toby uses the glamour mask to disguise himself as Vendel to get Vendel's staff, but his impression of him is so terrible it nearly gives him away.
- Prisoner Exchange: The change of the creeper's sun antidote for Vendel's staff plays out like this.
- Rules Lawyer: Only *a* Trollhunter can use the amulet to open the Killahead bridge, it doesn't have to be the current one. If the spirit of a Trollhunter past can find a troll that has been to death and back and possess them, they can open the bridge, too.
- Saw It in a Movie Once: Toby has seen many spy and action flicks so he figures he can handle the exchange until Otto's half is on a plain piece of paper.
- Spot the Imposter: When Vendel walks in on Toby (disguised as him) the guards have a hard time guessing which on is which, accidentally seizing the real Vendel to make his escape.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Aargh is revived, and he remembers Toby is his wingman.
- Draal gets to hug his father and talk to him for one last time. Kanjigar also makes it clear that he's happy to have the extra time with his son, and tries to protect him.
- Took a Level in Kindness:
- Death has done wonders for Kanjigar's personality; he's determined to save Jim before the latter dies in the Darklands, and is more affectionate towards Draal.
- Considering the last time they fought each other Nomura gave Jim a nasty head injury and tried to kidnap him, she's much warmer as they exchange stories.
- Was It Really Worth It?: The trollhunters team ask themselves if it was worth taking Vendel's staff and becoming fugitives of Trollmarket to save Jim. Kanjigar asserts that it is.
- Willing Channeler: Having died and resurrected, Aaarrrgghh!!! can allow Kanjigar to possess his body for a limited time.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Toby says he's seen enough spy movies with prisoner exchanges and demands that Otto toss the antidote to them and they'll toss the staff. Except that Otto didn't make the antidote; he wrote down the ingredients on paper, and has tucked it into an envelope. Changelings aren't the type to make an antidote and deliver it when the ingredients are common. When he tries to toss it, it flaps in the wind and falls in front of him.
