Line #27 Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E24StormTheCastle


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/storm_the_castle.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie Now light our darkest hour!]]]]
3	After a fight with Marco over a "stupid" quest to get a sandwich from another realm, Star finds her "Earth bestie" kidnapped by monsters.
4
5	''Half-hour season finale''
6	----
7	!!Tropes
8
9	* AdultsAreUseless: Double-subverted. At first it seems that Mr. and Mrs. Diaz are going to be left behind to wait and worry, but they think to call Star's parents to call upon the Mewni army. Unfortunately, they arrive after Star's destroyed the wand and Ludo's castle.
10	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: When forced to choose between her Earth bestie's life and giving monsters the power to destroy the universe, Star chooses her bestie when she can't free him.
11	* AmoralAttorney: Marco assumes that Toffee is this, based on his manner of dress.
12	* AnArmAndALeg: Star's initial attack utterly destroys Toffee's left arm, but it [[GoodThingYouCanHeal grows back]] once the action dies down.
13	* BadassInDistress: Marco for this episode. And for once, he can't get out of the situation even with his karate and GuileHero skills.
14	* TheBadGuyWins: Toffee gets what he wants: the wand is destroyed, and only reformed thanks to a heroic unicorn. [[NeverFoundTheBody We don't even know if he's dead]].
15	* BagOfKidnapping: Subverted; we're led to believe Ludo has kidnapped Marco and was bringing him to Buff Frog. The bag instead contains dozens of tadpoles as a means to purchase Buff Frog's friendship.
16	* BaitTheDog: Ludo brought Buff Frog tadpoles in hopes of bargaining with him to win back his castle, and then taunts him about how he's ditching Buff Frog in favor of teaming up with Star.
17	* BigWhat: Star and Marco have this reaction in unison when Toffee reveals what he really wants.
18	* BookEnds: The season started with Star crashing into her parents' throne room on a wild unicorn and the royals concerned about Star handling her new responsibility. This episode ends with Mrs. Diaz crashing ''out'' of the throne room on a horse, and the royals consulting Glossaryck about the wand.
19	* BoringInsult: Marco calls Toffee "boring". A split-second shot shows [[NotSoStoic the latter is actually affected by this]].
20	* CallBack: Quite a number (befitting the season finale).
21	** Marco declines sticking his arm in a strange hole, as he [[JumpScare quickly flashbacks]] to when his arm was injured previously and was the Monster Arm.
22	** Both Buff Frog and Ludo being kicked out of the Castle.
23	** The Unicorn living in the Wand.
24	* TheCavalryArrivesLate: The Mewni Royal Army arrives right after Star destroys the wand and a unicorn has sacrificed itself to repower it.
25	* CerebusCallBack: The [[HamsterWheelPower tiny unicorn on a treadmill]] previously seen "Quest Buy" returns as a ghost, apparently killed by the whispering spell, that whispers something we don't get to hear to a tearful Star. It's replaced to restore the wand by a more serious looking, Italian-speaking unicorn who speaks of the act as a HeroicSacrifice he's been raised to anticipate since a young age.
26	* ChainsawGood: The chibi monsters go after Star with a chainsaw larger than they are. Buff Frog takes it from them.
27	* CharacterDevelopment: Star realizes that Marco, despite being adventurous like her, is still a mortal human being with his own concerns, and thus she can't risk his life recklessly and insensitively on her various escapades. She also treats Buff Frog like an equal and warns him before the castle explodes.
28	* ChargedAttack: After two failed attempts to breach the crystal prison, Star's cheek markings, eyes, and wand crystal grow, she gathers a massive amount of magic, and hits the prison with a blast powerful enough to completely shatter it. Unfortunately, it quickly regenerates before Star can get Marco out and according to Toffee is now twice as strong.
29	* ChekhovsBoomerang: Star's mirror. Marco's parents use it to call her parents to order in TheCavalry.
30	* ChekhovsGun: The prison that can resist Star's magic saves Marco and Star from the detonation of the destroyed wand.
31	* ChewOutFakeOut: Star waits for her mother to yell at her for the whole mess in this episode, but her mother instead gives her a hug and says though she's mad all the time, she's also relieved Star is okay.
32	* ColorFailure: The color drains out of the wand and the wings disintegrate as Star recites the whispering spell.
33	* ContinuityNod:
34	** In the beginning of the episode, Marco looks at his arm and sees brief glimpses of [[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E5MonsterArm the monster arm]], then immediately puts his arm down.
35	** [[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E7CheerUpStar Marco's ringtone "Space Unicorn" by Parry Gripp]] is heard again.
36	** Marco is once more forcibly strapped to a chair while imprisoned. This time he isn't subject to CoolAndUnusualPunishment, however.
37	* CrystalPrison: Marco is kept in a transparent cube described as crystal that is NighInvulnerable, regenerative and even capable of adapting to be stronger if it's shattered.
38	* DisappointedInYou: Toffee says this to Marco when the latter fails to get past him in a bid to escape.
39	* DisneyDeath:
40	** Ludo gets eaten by a giant chicken. He gets better, but not better-tempered. He's banished at the last minute.
41	** The wand suffers one, due to Star destroying it. {{Downplayed}} in that the wand ''is'' actually destroyed, and the new one is incomplete.
42	* TheDogBitesBack: Ludo's BadBoss tendencies come to bite him back again when his PetTheDog moment to Buff Frog is [[{{Subverted}} ruined]] when he admits to only doing it to use it as a way to get Buff Frog's help. So, when Ludo tries to partner up with Buff Frog to double-cross Star to steal her wand, the latter understandably brushes him off.
43	* DontAskJustRun: Star tells Buff Frog this right before the destroyed wand totals Ludo's castle.
44	* DoubleEntendre: Ludo bribes Buff-Frog with some tadpoles, leading the latter to say later on:
45	-->'''Buff-Frog:''' Ludo give me babies.\
46	'''Star:''' [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Okay, I'm done]].
47	* DoubleMeaning: Glossaryck discusses the meaning of cleave as either taking things apart or bringing them together.
48	* EnemyMine: Ludo attempts this with Star, but it falls apart due to his impatience and backstabbing, because he's waiting to grab the wand first chance he gets. She plays this straighter with Buff Frog, who wants to go back to the castle and give his tadpoles a home.
49	* EpicFail:
50	** How was Star able to get into Ludo's castle? Ludo left his ''keys in the door''.
51	** When Toffee lets Marco free from his chair, Marco attempts to attack him... and punches Toffee's reflection. Which was reflected by a nigh-indestructible crystal wall. Ouch.
52	* ForcedTransformation: As part of her assault, Star turns three monster minions into chibi versions of themselves.
53	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Buff Frog reveals to Star that Toffee isn't like Ludo, because he knows about Star and ''does not'' like her magic. As it turns out, Toffee's goal is different from Ludo's: he wants the wand ''destroyed''.
54	* GivenNameReveal: The king's first name is revealed to be River.
55	* GratuitousItalian: Spoken by the unicorn that recharges Star's wand.
56	* HealingFactor: Toffee displays one, regrowing an entire arm Star had blasted off. What this means for his apparently permanently severed finger is currently unknown.
57	* HopeSpot: In the climax, Star manages to blast one of Toffee's arms off, then suddenly goes OneWingedAngel and fires a tremendous blast that shatters Marco's prison. However, they wait too long to remove Marco and the prison rebuilds itself, now twice as impervious to attack. What's more, Toffee reveals he can just re-grow his limbs, putting everyone right back where they started.
58	* HostageForMacGuffin: Given the ransom message, Star assumes this is the case for her wand. It turns out that Toffee wants her to ''destroy'' it, which she has no choice but to do. In a rare occurrence, Toffee does nothing to spoil this.
59	* IronicEcho: Just before they enter the castle, Buff Frog says that Toffee is not like Ludo, but Star ignores him. When she gives Toffee the wand, he asks if she thinks he's like Ludo.
60	* IShallTauntYou: Marco refuses to be a cooperative captive, and attempts to goad Toffee into setting him free. Toffee refuses to rise to the bait.
61	* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Toffee says this indirectly when Star prepares another ChargedAttack at Marco's newly-regenerated crystal prison, stating it to be twice as strong now.
62	* ItsAllMyFault: While the Diazes don't blame Star for Marco's kidnapping, she disagrees, and she's going to try and bring Marco back.
63	* JustEatHim: When the giant chicken catches Ludo in his beak after another attempt to take the wand, Toffee invokes this trope by telling him to swallow his still-struggling ex-boss.
64	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When Marco's prison reforms and starts to shrink, Star surrenders the wand to Toffee.
65	* LeeroyJenkins: Star's plan is to rush in to assault the court room to Buff Frog's chagrin.
66	* LetsGetDangerous: For kidnapping Marco, Star is much more aggressive and serious in her rescue of him. She quickly and efficiently takes out all the monsters in the room. When she can't break Marco's cage with normal strength spells she keeps the guards at bay with a force field to charge up probably the strongest blast she's ever made that makes her [[PowerGlows facial markings and eyes glow]].
67	* LiteralMetaphor: Ludo says he knows his castle like the back of his hand. That's because he has a giant mole there that really does resemble it.
68	* LittleNo: Star simply says ''"no"'' to the aggressing monsters and stops them with a force field as she focuses a ChargedAttack to break Marco's prison.
69	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Star has no idea who Toffee is or why Ludo got ousted from his castle.
70	* MeaninglessVillainVictory: Since as of this episode we have no clue just how far Toffee's plans go, the end result of his actions here. He gets Star to destroy her wand...and when the dust settles, another tiny unicorn re-powers it. On the other hand, the wand is no longer complete and Toffee is last seen grinning before his [[NeverFoundTheBody apparent]] demise, suggesting he is fine with how things ended up and was planning for this exact result.
71	* MoodWhiplash:
72	** After Marco somberly hugs Star to console her after the loss of her wand, a tiny Italian-speaking unicorn arrives on the scene, gives a dramatic monologue about sacrifice and destiny, and then re-powers the destroyed wand in the span of minutes.
73	** King and Queen Butterfly have a serious talk with Glossaryk about the state of Star's wand... while the latter is clad in only a towel, and briefly takes it off at one point (thankfully, the audience only sees him from the waist up).
74	* NeverFoundTheBody: Any of the monsters. Most importantly, we only see Toffee's suit remaining.
75	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If not for Star accidentally bumping into Marco after freeing him, the prison wouldn't have regenerated before he could get out.
76	* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Toffee offers the imprisoned Marco a sandwich and tells him he should eat it. Marco refuses, given he and Star had a fight over sandwiches.
77	* NoNonsenseNemesis: Toffee proves himself to be one in comparison to Ludo. His plan is simply kidnapping Star's best friend and threatening to kill him if she doesn't do what he wants.
78	* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: Somehow the monsters got the jump on ''Marco'', who has beaten them effortlessly before. We will never know how Toffee did it.
79	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In one of the few moments we've seen her cry, Star sheds a few tears after the unicorn's ghost whispers in her ear.
80	* PartingWordsRegret: Star and Marco have an argument shortly before he gets kidnapped. In fact, when Star goes to apologize, she finds Marco missing.
81	* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: When Glossaryck discards his towel as a demonstration of the word "cleaved", River urges him to put it back on while Moon covers her eyes.
82	* PoliceAreUseless: First thing they do when they find out Marco is kidnapped is call in the police. The officer doesn't believe Star's explanation and presumes she's talking about stage magic, talking down to her like she's a child. The only help he really offers is bloodhounds past a certain point of time. Thankfully, they had another alternative, the Mewni Royal Guards.
83	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: A unicorn in this case, though he gives himself willingly to recharge Star's wand.
84	* PsychoticSmirk: While revealing that he wants Star to destroy the wand, Toffee gives a nightmarish smirk. Worse, he instantly goes back to his bored monotone afterwards, [[MaskOfSanity showing that he's been holding back his sadism the entire time]].
85	* PutOnABus: This is the fate of both main villains, but the other monsters may not be so lucky.
86	* PyrrhicVictory: Toffee gets his desire to destroy the wand fulfilled, but it self-destructs and takes him and his allies with it. Subverted, however, since his surprise at the wand starting to short-circuit quickly turns to glee, and we see him grinning evilly right before it explodes, implying that this was AllAccordingToPlan.
87	* RedemptionEarnsLife: Because Buff Frog helped Star rescue Marco, she warns him to run before the castle explodes. He gets out in time with his babies.
88	* ReforgedBlade: Downplayed; the wand isn't broken for long, as a unicorn arrives shortly after to become the new power source. The wand is revived with a slightly more elegant appearance including gold highlights, but half the Star emblem missing.
89	* RuleOfThree: Star's first two attacks fail to break Marco's prison. The third shatters it.
90	* SadisticChoice: Star has to give up her wand to save Marco's life. Marco tries to encourage her not to do it, but she decides to when her EnemyMine with Ludo fails.
91	* SelfDestructMechanism: The Whispering spell is the first spell taught to all who receive the wand, to be used to destroy it. It creates a massive explosion that makes a crater of Ludo's castle, seemingly destroying all the monsters, Toffee included.
92	* SequelEscalation: Implied by the Italian unicorn, who notes that by powering the wand, he would be fulfilling a responsibility "greater than this dimension".
93	* SequelHook: Star gains a new wand, but half the star is missing, the other half is still in the monster realm. Although Toffee appears to be gone, his last smile indicates he ''wanted'' this to happen. Considering that he could regrow limbs, there's a good chance [[FromASingleCell he could pull himself back together to return]].
94	* ShoutOut:
95	** Star reaching for the sandwich while tangled in vines is akin to Elsa reaching for the Holy Grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.
96	*** It also resembles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dt1AeolGWs the "Arborean Test of Manhood" scene]] from ''Film/{{Flash Gordon\|1980}}''.
97	*** While doing so she also says, [[Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea "Haaaaaam!"]]
98	** When Star calls Marco's cell phone and hears his ringtone, she remarks [[Film/WhenAStrangerCalls "The call is coming from inside the house!"]]
99	** Toffee using holograms to trick Marco is a direct lift from [[Film/{{Thor}} Loki's strategies]].
100	* SkewedPriorities: Marco is furious that he and Star risked their lives to steal a sandwich from a monster.
101	* SlasherSmile: Toffee briefly flashes one after his WhamLine.
102	-->''Surprise~!''
103	* SomethingWeForgot: Half of the Star from Star's wand is still among the rubble in the monster realm.
104	* StealthPun: The unicorn that speaks Italian is male. It's an Italian stallion.
105	* StormingTheCastle: It's in the title. A bit unnecessary in this case, as Star was invited and the keys are in the door.
106	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Both Star and Toffee want Marco to have a magical sandwich, at different points in the plot. Marco lampshades it angrily after tossing the second one away.
107	* SympathyForTheDevil: Marco feels empathy for a monster that nearly breaks his hand on Marco's prison, the way Marco did earlier.
108	* TalkToTheFist: Star doesn't even bother hearing Toffee out at first, immediately blowing his arm off and getting to work on freeing Marco. It's only after the prison regenerates from her strongest attack that she stops to listen.
109	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Marco refuses to eat what Toffee offers him--a sandwich--because he just had a fight with Star about risking their lives for a sandwich. Probably a wise idea since it might have been drugged.
110	* TranquilFury: After two attacks fail to break Marco's prison, Star calmly freezes the monsters trying to attack her and hits it with a ChargedAttack that even Toffee is surprised by.
111	* TrashTheSet: Ludo's castle gets completely eradicated as a result from the impact of the wand.
112	* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: CerebusSyndrome comes back and hits the show in full force, marking a major turning point for the characters and the story going forward.
113	* TheUnreveal: The words to the Whispering Spell itself; when Star is reciting it, it just comes off as whispering unintelligible gibberish. It isn't until the GrandFinale where we will finally hear its words audibly.
114	* VillainousValor: Toffee actually [[IGaveMyWord keeps his word]] after Star destroys the wand, opening the door to Marco's prison and not killing him. Star joins Marco in the prison and closes it again in order to be safe from the coming explosion, and Toffee seems to have counted on her doing this as well.
115	* WhamEpisode: Star sacrifices her wand to save Marco's life, Ludo's castle is destroyed (and Toffee and his minions seemingly destroyed with it), Toffee has set a much larger plan in motion thanks to what happened here, Ludo himself is banished to another dimension, and Star's wand is reformed, but a piece is missing, and we're left [[{{Cliffhanger}} waiting for the next season to see what happens to it]].
116	* WhamLine:
117	-->'''Toffee''': I don't want your wand. Destroy it.
118	* WhamShot: The second half of the wand's star lying on the ground somewhere, only now the shard has turned green.
119	* WhatTheHellHero: At the beginning of the episode, Marco criticizes Star for recklessly risking their lives over a [[ItMakesSenseInContext sandwich]]. Initially, Star brushes this off, but realizes she was wrong soon after.
120	* TheWorfBarrage:
121	** Virtually nothing can damage Marco's crystal prison. Punches by Marco and a muscly monster only hurt their hands, and Star's magic blasts have no effect. She finally manages to penetrate it with an apparent SuperMode... [[HopeSpot but then it repairs itself to twice its prior strength]].
122	** Toffee has his arm blasted off by a shot from Star's wand, but regenerates it in a few seconds.
123	* WreckedWeapon: Downplayed; After its destruction and restoration the wand is missing half of its star emblem along with a redesign and it's described as being "cleaved".

Context Recap / StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E24StormTheCastle