Line #22 Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS2E15GameOfFlags


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/game_of_flags_poster.jpg]]
2
3	Star and Marco attend the annual Butterfly-Johansen family picnic in Mewni. After getting assigned to the kid's table and wanting to prove that she's an adult, Star decides to participate in the Game of Flags against her mothers orders.
4	----
5	!!Tropes:
6
7	* AlmightyMom: Moon shows that while she doesn't have the wand anymore, she is still leagues ahead of Star when it comes to "Dipping Down". And in the process shows that the form Star took during [[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E11Mewberty Mewberty]] is something that can be controlled.
8	* AnnoyingArrows: River has an arrow stuck in his beard/chest, yet is too delirious to notice.
9	* AsinineAlternateActivity: Star wants to sit at the adults' table and participate in the deadly game of Flags, but her mother puts her foot down against her playing Flags and assigns her to the kids' table with her baby cousins. The kids' table is also sized for much smaller kids -- it doesn't even reach Star's knees when she sits at it.
10	* BadassFamily: It turns out being a badass runs on ''both'' sides of Star's family.
11	* BaitAndSwitch: When Star explains Flags to Marco, he at first thinks they have to go up a small hill. Then Star points to the real goal, a huge mountain full of dangerous obstacles next to the small hill.
12	* BarbarianTribe: The Johansens are portrayed in this manner, a tribe of bloodthirsty ProudWarriorRaceGuys.
13	* BearTrap: Star's uncle is caught in one shortly after tricking Marco.
14	* CallBack: Moon shows that she can "dip down", the way she tried to explain it to Star at [[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS2E1MyNewWand the beginning at the season]], if her daughter is in danger.
15	* {{Chiaroscuro}}: When Marco tries to talk Star out of the game and she runs ahead, leaving him behind, her half of the screen is sunlit, while Marco is left behind in the dark, clouded area.
16	* ContinuityNod: Marco's pet peeve of wet socks in "Royal Pain" comes up again when Star pulls him into the rain.
17	* ConvectionShmonvection: The hill has a lava pool that the participants are expected to traverse via stepping stones. Nobody who crosses it is bothered by the heat.
18	* DarkHorseVictory: Marco ends up winning the Game of Flags when Moon and Star distract the others.
19	* DeadpanSnarker: Moon has some epic snark regarding Star's "twin sister", the decoy made out of corn.
20	-->'''Moon:''' I don't even remember giving birth to her. River, did I ever give birth to a corn baby?
21	* DecoyGetaway: Star makes corn dummies of herself and Marco to sneak out of the kids table.
22	* DogPileOfDoom: All the adults pile on top of Star when she takes all the flags. They are all blown away by Moon's magic.
23	* DysfunctionalFamily: That's the nicest word to say about Star's family as they are willing to viciously hurt each other to win a game. Uncle Lump is definitely one such victim of it.
24	* EveryoneHasStandards: Even the Barbarian Johansens did not take kindly to Star embarrassing them on the table.
25	* FormerTeenRebel: Queen Butterfly is heavily implied to have a colored past during a conversation with Star.
26	-->'''Star:''' You played Flags when you were my age?\
27	'''Moon:''' I did a lot of things you won't be doing.
28	* HypocriticalHumor: Marco convinces Star that the Game of Flags is ridiculous, and she's hurting the ones she loves by taking the game too seriously. At the end of the episode, Marco interrupts the tender moment between Star and Queen Moon by using his hoodie as a flag to claim victory.
29	* InsistentTerminology: The game Flags heavily resembles a classic Earth game, King of The Hill. Marco is reminded it’s called Flags in Mewni, and it’s more brutal. At the end, Marco claims the peak, and declares himself King of The Hill, showing that the rules are more or less similar to the Earth game.
30	* JerkassRealization: Star realizes how stupid it was for her (and her family) to perform ruthless actions in their game after Marco calls her out (see WhatTheHellHero).
31	* LegFocus: There's a brief shot of Queen Moon relaxing with her boots off, [[{{Fanservice}} treating viewers to a look at her long, shapely legs]].
32	* LifeOrLimbDecision: Played for laughs when Star's uncle decides he'll have to gnaw his legs off to escape a bear trap. He settles for having a servant carry him up, bear trap and all.
33	* LosingYourHead: Star's Uncle Lump was ''decapitated'' during the previous year's Game of Flags. Not only is he still alive, but he uses a horse body to move around. He loses it again near the end of the game, still fine.
34	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Uncle Lump treats decapitation as an annoyance. It's happened to him before, after all.
35	* MamaBear: Definitely don't attack Star if her mother is anywhere around.
36	* MyBelovedSmother: Moon's Aunt Etheria still nags Her about her husband, and Moon has heard the same speech over and over again.
37	* NoAccountingForTaste: With how embarrassing her husband is, it's quite interesting to ponder just how Moon and River got married. Aunt Etheria certainly thinks she should look into a new husband.
38	* NotSoAboveItAll:
39	** Despite being more preoccupied with dinner etiquette and finery than the Johansens, the Butterflies are just as fierce and cut-throat during the Game of Flags.
40	** After convincing Star that the Game of Flags is stupid and just further divides the family, Marco runs to the top of the hill and declares his victory (using his hoodie as a flag) while everybody else is distracted by Star and Moon.
41	* ObnoxiousInLaws: The Butterfly family doesn't seem to think much of King River and his clan. The Johansens seem to have similar contempt for Queen Moon and her side of the family. That being said, Flags is the only way they can settle this.
42	* OnlySaneMan: Queen Moon is the only adult to not get sucked into the family feud or Game of Flags.
43	* OverlyLongGag: After Star tosses River down the hill, his praise for her while still rolling cuts Marco off several times.
44	* ParentalHypocrisy: A case of trying to stop her daughter from repeating her mistakes. When Moon forbids Star from playing flags, Star points out that she played flags when she was Star's age.
45	-->'''Moon:''' I did a lot of things you won't be doing.
46	* PatchworkMap: The mountain used for the Flags game is a patchwork of different environments; one part is covered in rocky terrain, another is cloaked in a perpetual rainstorm, another is covered in snow, and the final bit before the top has lava.
47	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Moon understands Star's frustration at being the oldest at the kids table, and when she proves her maturity allows her to sit with the grown-ups.
48	* SeriousBusiness: As Marco points out, the Game of Flags is just King of the Hill turned up to eleven.
49	* SlobsVersusSnobs: The Johansen and Butterfly clans are slobs and snobs, respectively. The animosity between them appears to turn ''homicidal'' on a regular basis.
50	* SoProudOfYou:
51	** River tells Star he's proud that she's playing Flags to begin with, then congratulates her again when she betrays him and throws him off the mountain.
52	** Moon tells Star this after Star reveals that she had realized how stupid the flag game was, and how Star tried to turn it into something that brought the families together.
53	* SuperMode: Queen Moon takes on the form of a giant butterfly-woman to stop the Game of Flags. One of the powers this gives her is the power to make everyone float above the ground so they can't fight each other effectively.
54	* TakeMyHand: Star's uncle offers Marco a hand up when they're climbing the first section. When Marco takes it, an entire servant slides out of his sleeve and drags Marco down.
55	* ThrowTheDogABone: ''Marco'' ends up winning the Game of Flags by taking advantage of Moon's MamaBear moment.
56	* WhatTheHellHero: Marco calls out Star more than a few times for being so ruthless trying to win the Game of Flags.

Context Recap / StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS2E15GameOfFlags