Tear Jerker / Disenchantment

"If this is sadness, I don't like it one bit."

Despite being comedy oriented, there are moments of sadness that pops up in the series from time to time.

Spoilers Off applies to all "Moments" pages, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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Season 1

"A Princess, an Elf, and a Demon Walk Into a Bar"

• Bean's and Luci's talk just before the wedding, especially when Bean says she doesn't even have bridesmaids or friends for support.

"Castle Party Massacre"

• The montage of Bean trying to get someone, anyone, to dance with her at the party, and getting constantly rejected, because everyone's too afraid of her dad killing them.

"Faster, Princess! Kill! Kill!"

• The dilemma that Bean faces over being hired as an executioner, her first assignment on the job being to behead an old lady named Gwen, who was convicted of murder (though this being medieval times, she wasn't given anything even close to a fair trial). Bean's guilty conscience gets the better of her, and she's so reluctant and hesitates multiple times, before emotionally confessing that she doesn't have the guts to kill this woman, and quits the job on the spot.

"Love's Tender Rampage"

• The bigotry and prejudice that Tess suffers during the dance. Nobody cares about her except for Bean.

"To Thine Own Elf Be True"

• Elfo's sudden death by an arrow wound, which greatly saddens both Bean and even Luci. Luci reacts with a quiet, hurting, "Who did that?"
• A while later, a tear evaporates in Luci's eye.
  Luci: Oh, man... If this is sadness, I don't like it one bit.
• The Reveal that the statue of Bean's mom Dagmar is actually Dagmar herself. Long ago when Bean was young, her mom drank a poison that turned her to stone. Even worse, the poison was meant for Zog, but Bean accidentally switched their drinks. Zog screamed as he shielded Bean from seeing the rest of this horror. And to top it off, the whole reason Zog wanted the Elixir of Life in the first place was to get her back. And then Bean is forced to choose between Elfo and her mom.
  • And even with all that, there is no triumph when Bean chooses to revive her mother. They embrace, but the episode doesn't end on a hopeful note. It ends with Bean glancing down at Elfo's body and clinging even tighter to her mother, who has no idea what a grueling decision she just had to make, without saying a word.

"Dreamland Falls"

• Elfo's funeral. Even Luci cries.
• The Reveal of Dagmar's true nature. This whole time, she was all too willing to betray her own husband, and Zog was too blinded by his love to see the horrible truth until it was too late. By the end of the episode, Dagmar has turned nearly all of Dreamland's citizens into statues, has taken Bean away to manipulate her for some sinister schemes, has driven a huge wedge between Zog and Oona, and leaves Zog all alone to process how he's lost everything important to him.
  • Zog asking "Do you know what I gave up for you?" to Dagmar when the truth is revealed. You can just hear the heartbreak in John DiMaggio's voice as he says it.

Season 2

"The Disenchantress"

• Jerry's death while trying to save Bean from Dagmar. Bean is genuinely saddened by his death, while even Cloyd expresses shock that Dagmar would dare kill their youngest brother.
• Bean's slow, horrible realization that her mother doesn't love her and likely never did. She's left completely guilt-stricken when she realizes she doomed Elfo for someone so evil. But even worse, she's still clearly guilty when she accidentally sets the oil around Dagmar ablaze.

"Stairway to Hell"

• Elfo's personal Hell is an eternity of watching Bean decline to bring him back to life in favor of her mother. Bean's is watching Elfo.

"Love's Slimy Embrace"

• Derek's entire situation, where we see the poor kid is entirely alone, and when he tries to hang out with Bean, he's told to beat it. He's so alone he's actually considering drowning himself. The only reason he doesn't is because he can't, what with being an amphibian and all.

"The Lonely Heart is a Hunter"

• Zog and Ursula genuinely make each other happy, but they are literally from different worlds, and can't stay together. Zog at first hides Ursula's bear skin so she has to stay human, but when he sees just how difficult she finds living as a human - something so simple as using a fork is a chore that makes Ursula embarrassed and frustrated - he realizes he must let her go back to the forest.

"Tiabeanie Falls"

• Derek's relationship with Bean, which was just starting to improve, is now ruined as Derek sees Bean with a bloody dagger looming over King Zøg.
• There's something sad about the fact that when Bean, Luci, and Elfo are being burned at the stake, Bean doesn't even try to beg for her life. After the way she's been treated her whole life, she seems resigned to this fate.

Season 3

"Beanie Got Your Gun"

• Zog is utterly distraught by Pendergast's death and is horrified when he comes across his corpse during the wedding. The next episode even begins with Zog cradling his decapitated head.

"Last Splash"

• Bean's entire monologue about her inner monologue. Girl is sitting on a mountain of issues.
• Specifically, the reveal two seconds before the end of the episode, when the star pendant washes up on the beach, only to be swept away again without Bean ever looking back.

"Bad Moon Rising"

• Bean returns to Dreamland utterly depressed, made worse by the fact that she's still not sure if what she had with Mora was real or just a dream. She's so depressed that Oona actually lets her take snakeroot just so that she'll be functional.

"Hey Pig Spender"

• Having located his original body, Merkimer uses the poor pig-brained sap as a living ventriloquist dummy so that he can return home to Bentwood, only to learn that his parents and subjects only put up with him because he was the last living heir, and they all see him as a failure for his inability to wed Bean. He's also painfully aware that the only reason Bean and her friends are helping him is because they wanted him to secure money and weapons for Dreamland.

"The Madness of King Zøg"

• After looking out for and trying to help her father recover and regain even a part of his sanity through the entire episode, Bean finds Zøg sitting on his throne in the middle of the night. They have a conversation where Zøg (through his emotional support doll) tells Bean that despite her hopes, he's not getting better, and only keeps deteriorating the longer he stays as king, and Bean, in response, begs him not to leave her, saying she can't rule Dreamland alone. It's heartbreaking from both sides, as Zøg is lucid enough to realize how damaged he is and weep because of it, while Bean has to come to terms with the fact that despite trying, her love and support alone aren't enough. The scene hits too close to home for anyone who has had to watch a loved one deteriorate, whether because of mental health issues, addictions, or dementia, while being unable to help them.

"Bean Falls Down"

• If Elfo sacrificing himself to be captured by Ogres doesn't do it...
  • Then Luci's death will definitely have you with tears.

Season 4

"The Unbearable Lightning of Bean"

• Bean's vision of the massacre that happened in Dreamland after touching the knife.
• Ursula's apparent death, including Zøg telling Jasper he has to be a bear, only to stop when Jasper asks, "Papa? Where are you going?"

Season 5

"Goodbye, Bean"

• While Elfo is able to get a happy ending as king of Dreamland and being married to Mop Girl, he ends up losing both of his friends. Luci dies and isn’t revived and Bean runs off with Mora, not even giving Elfo a chance to say goodbye to her. Elfo looks so sad standing on the beach alone, not knowing if he’ll ever see his best friend again.

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