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Before Ever After
Before Ever After, The Movie
- Eugene and Rapunzel's morning race with the guards.
- Small moment, but Rapunzel's Bear Hug to one of the visiting aristocrats deserves some mention — she lifts a grown woman, roughly Rapunzel's own size, off the ground.
- Lady Caine managing to effortlessly infiltrate the castle for her plan.
- Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra going to town on Lady Caine's minions.
- Before the battle even commences, Rapunzel removing the wig that hides her newly-regrown hair. What makes this most epic is that she's doing exactly what she did in the movie: letting down her hair.
- Rapunzel effortlessly taming a wolf within the first few second they cross paths.
Season 1
Season 1
- After seeing Varian desperately running through Old Corona to stop the explosion of the heaters he has built, Cassandra chases him across the open field when the heaters explode and the remnants of the heaters fall on all the town. Cassandra manages to reach Varian and protects him risking her own life when one of the debris falls on them
- Eugene effortlessly passes the obstacle course, then goes back to carry Shorty over the finish line to prove a point. And when it looks like the hourglass has run out and Eugene has failed, it turns out he swiped the whistle, paying the Captain back for rigging the course by playing on Exact Words.
- The episode applying safety rules about guns, albeit in the form of crossbows, which includes "Always keep the safety on the trigger".
- Cassandra and Rapunzel both get moments of badassery here, being petite girls who manage to beat stronger, tougher-looking thugs at archery, log riding, and a battle royale.
- Cass disarming Andrew of his sword with nothing but a dagger.
- The entire climax for the episode has a truly epic fight between Cassandra and Andrew, on a hot-air balloon in flight. While this Moment of Awesome primarily belongs to Cassandra, the scene also gives Rapunzel, Eugene and even Pascal the opportunity to share in on the awesomeness.
- In the flashback in the beginning, after losing his mother, little Pascal comes up to the tower and is attacked by the snake that ate his mother. Little Rapunzel shows up and knocks one of the snake's teeth out with her frying pan. The snake charges toward little Rapunzel, but the Badass Adorable little girl swats him right out of the tower with the frying pan, and the snake falls along way down.
- After Pascal runs away, Rapunzel is out of her mind with worry. But when Cassandra tells Rapunzel that they have to briefly call off the search for him because she has a ton of royal responsibilities that day, she puts her foot down and goes full Mama Bear.Cassandra: Listen, Rapunzel—Rapunzel: No, you listen. Cancel everything. Lock down the castle, nothing gets done, until we find Pascal. Nothing is more important than that. Nothing! Is that clear?
- How important is Pascal to Rapunzel? She offers a trillion dollars (or whatever the equivalent in Corona is) for the safe return of her chameleon. They say you can’t put a price on love - apparently you can: one trillion dollars.
- Awesome Music: Varian's "I Want" Song, "Let Me Make You Proud," is downright epic. Yes, even in its Dark Reprise.
- When the Demanitus Device gets jammed by a stone, Pascal does a Heroic Sacrifice and jumps into the gears to remove it.
- The Demanitus Device activating and ending the storm for good. The effects of the device are quite impressive.
- When her friends are in danger, Rapunzel momentarily wakes from Sugracha's spell. Sugracha resumes her Sugarby persona and (threatening to throw Rapunzel's friends off a cliff if she doesn't finish the painting) tries to rein in Rapunzel by reminding her of how life is full of difficult choices. Rapunzel's response?Rapunzel: (Wills herself from the spell) Difficult choices make us who we are! (Destroys the painting)
- Rapunzel holding off the Gray Helmets while in the tower.Rapunzel: Sorry, frying pans are great and all, but... it's time for an upgrade.
Cassandra: Rapunzel, what are you doing?
Rapunzel: Letting down my hair. - Maximus's Big Damn Heroes moment. We've just seen that the combined forces of Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra can barely hold back one of the Gray Helmets. When Maximus shows up, he knocks out all seven Gray Helmets in twenty seconds flat.
- Rapunzel confronts her father about him lying to her about the black rocks, which leads to this glorious line.Rapunzel: You know, you are not the first person to lie to me and tell me I am not ready for the real world.
- The fact that Varian was able to replicate Xavier's mood potion and modify it into a truth serum when he had just ONE drop of it was PRETTY impressive.
- When King Frederic confines Rapunzel in her room, even going as far as putting bars on her window, Eugene is quick to call him out on this, telling him that he's no better than Gothel.Eugene: How is what you're doing to Rapunzel any different than what was done to her for the first 18 years of her life?!
- Awesome Music: Try listening to "Ready As I'll Ever Be" and not feel pumped.
- Varian is on point as the villain here, manipulating everyone successfully, being one step ahead of every move they make against him, and even constructing an army of automatons, including a mech suit for himself.
- The moment when Rapunzel officially becomes the scariest thing in Corona and takes on an apoplectic look of fury.
- When everything explodes in a flash of light, everyone is blown around or wincing—except Max, who takes it in a "bring it on!" expression.
Season 2
Season 2
- The introduction of Adira. Despite Cassandra's tough defiant attitude, Adira easily kicks her sorry ass without even bothering to use her sword.
- Stalyan mocks Pascal (calling him a frog, etc.) but Pascal isn't intimidated by the fact that he's much smaller than her, and retaliates by shoving his long tongue in her face. She clearly didn't see that coming, and it confuses and shuts her up for a while.
- Red and Angry have an Offscreen Moment of Awesome when the Daylight Thieves, after posing as their parents to avoid their hideout being discovered, attempt to dispose of them...only for the girls to subdue them before Rapunzel and co. show up to save them.Eugene: Oh man, I love these girls!
- The gang meets up with Hector, an extremist from the Brotherhood who gives even Adira a hard time. Cassandra tries to take him on, but seems hopelessly outmatched. At least until she reveals that she's been manuevering him closer to the cliff, and flings him off the edge in one swift motion.
- Rapunzel calls out Hookhand for demeaning his brother Hookfoot's dream of dancing, especially when his own dream of playing piano was no different. Friend or not, Rapunzel knows where to draw the line. The episode ends with not only the brothers reconciling, but them giving a mutual piano concert / dance, which is a big succes.
- Eugene's smolder actaully works! And on Rapunzel's demon-mirror-double, no less.
- Let's not forget Rapunzel against all the mirror clones. She even manages to fool them into thinking she is Mirror!Rapunzel, and for a while, we are left convinced this is a scenario of The Bad Guy Wins.
- Villainous example for Mirror!Eugene, who is the first to make the swap but lasts the longest before being outed because he cleverly swiped Rapunzel's diary early on to do his research and pull a very convincing Eugene. He has Rapunzel completely fooled, unlike the others who only raise suspicions, until he eventually calls Pascal a "chameleon" instead of a "frog" and then fails to replicate Eugene's smolder when she finally gets suspicious.
- While Rapunzel is trying to appeal to her with a motherly attitude to leave the dog kennel, kid Cassandra points out that Eugene is right about how Rapunzel is such a pushover at being a parent, then derisively remarks how she and Eugene will make lousy parents. Stung by this remark, Rapunzel finally adopts Eugene's strict approach and firmly scolds young Cassandra to quit playing around and start listening. When Rapunzel further asserts her authority, Cassandra meekly affirms, "Yes, Ma'am!"
- What's more, when Rapunzel finally reprimands young Cassandra, she has to do so while whispering (so she doesn't wake up the attack dogs in the kennel). So she had to put the kid in her place without raising her voice. Now that's the mark of a good strict parent.
- Even under the spell of a dream spell, Rapunzel is so determined to escape that her subconscious created a copy of herself that tried to wake herself up. Heck, Rapunzel's other self is a remarkable embodiment of how far she's come since season 1, having learned responsibility and the importance of making tough choices. She even lampshades that her "persistence" is what she likes most about herself.
- Rapunzel telling off Matthews that he thought he could dangle an easy life in front of her, but from now on, she only follows her destiny.
- At some point when Rapunzel masters control over her mind, the vision of Gothel mocks that Rapunzel should learn by now "Mother knows bes"... before Rapuznel cuts that sentence short with a frying pan to the head. Even in death, Gothel is handed her comeuppance by Rapunzel.Rapunzel: I always wanted to do that!
- Rapunzel realizes that she has the absolute reality-warping power over her dream and puts it to good use. She turns her chains into pretty little flowers, turns Matthews' fireball into a pink cupcake that promptly splashes all over the warlock, makes the tower disappear, takes control of the black rocks again, restores her hair, and breaks free.
- The season finale gives us King Edmund, who curb-stomps Adira and later is easily able to take down all of Rapunzel's friends when they attack him all at once.
- During the song "Everything I thought I knew", Eugene looks back on his memories from the series alone. He has many adventures to account for, showing that even as himself, Eugene Fitzerbert has accomplished more than he ever did as "Flynn Rider".
- Regardless of how you feel about Cassandra's betrayal in the season finale, you gotta admit that her new outfit and look when she bonds with the Moonstone is pretty damn cool.
Season 3
Season 3
Rapunzel's Return- Cassandra’s Villain Song, “Crossing The Line” is partially a tearjerker, but it’s also undeniably awesome. After the latter’s betrayal, Rapunzel and Cassandra engage in what can best be described as a rock battle duet, where Rapunzel tries and fails to stop Cassandra from leaving her. After bottling up her true feelings for two seasons, Cassandra finally unloads all the jealousy and resentment she’s felt about living in Rapunzel’s shadow, and the pay-off for her previous "I Want" Song, “Waiting In The Wings”, comes when she decides to stop waiting around for her life to change. Cassandra is going to take control of her destiny and have her time in the spotlight as her own woman, no matter what, even if she has to do it as a villain, cutting Rapunzel loose and leaving her in her dust. The whole sequence is strangely exhilarating to watch, thanks in no small part to the stellar animation and Eden Espinosa’s chills-inducing performance.Cassandra: I'm crossing the line! And I'm done holding back, so look out, clear the track, it's my turn! I'm taking what's mine! Every drop, every smidge, if I'm burning a bridge, let it burn! But I'm crossing the line! As for us, if we're over, that's fine! I'm crossing the line.
- When Varian first makes his entrance, taking out Eugene after he'd just made fun of the idea of Andrew and his group being able to take over Corona.
- How does Pascal make Varian drop his exploding balls of death and stuff? He sticks his tongue in Varian's ear and performs a wet-willy on him!
- Varian taking a stand against Andrew and the New Saporians when they threaten to kill everyone in Corona.Clementine: Are you betraying us, boy?Varian: I'm getting on the right side of history.
- Pascal takes out several Saporians while stuck inside a soap bubble.
- Varian and Rapunzel save Corona together.
- They figure out how to do it: if they heat up the Quirineon and take the flying ship high enough, it will explode without destroying the city. While she is not an alchemist herself, Rapunzel knows enough to come up with an idea, and from there, Varian quickly develops an efficient plan relying on his scientific knowledge. They work well together and they keep their wits about them even while clinging for their dear lives on the unstable flying ship loaded with explosives.
- Someone has to stay on the ship to heat up the corinian, and Varian opts to do it right away. You know, that means he would die in the explosion, and he is obviously terrified, but when he says he wants to clean up his mess, he means it.
- If Varian thinks Rapunzel will agree to leave him behind and let him die, he has another thing coming. She lands him on the nearest roof and uses her agility to get everything in place and her indestructible hair to protect her from the explosion.
Rapunzel: It's your mess, but it's my kingdom. - The Hurt Incantation being powerful enough to free Varian's father from the amber.
- Mixed with Heartwarming. Just the principle of the scene: after two seasons of living with that one promise she couldn't keep, Rapunzel could redeem her reputation of always keeping her promises.
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
- The werewolf. It's a big, fierce, amazing monster of a lycanthrope. What's more, it's supposed to embody rage, making it the Hulk of the series in its own way!
- Rapunzel's chase scene to catch the supposed werewolf.
- Eugene's sword vs Creighton's crossbow. And guess what? Eugene wins! Creighton still thinks he's a "milksop", but one can't refute his swordsmanship is handy.
- The werewolf sparing Creighton shows a lot of self-control on Red's part.
- Even before that, the fact that she had Creighton (who's killed three previous werewolves before) at her mercy credits she's very skilled at getting herself out of danger.
The lost treasure of Herz Der Sonne
- The Coronans working together to defeat the skeletons.
- While it's subtle and unfortunately quickly negated by their next actions, Eugene and Lance really are just as good at treasure-hunting as they claim to be. Keep in mind, they spend the whole time having a tea-party and oversleeping for at least an hour while everyone else was on it, and still arrive only a minute after everyone else does. Had they started hunting just when everyone else did (and had the treasure not been cursed), the treasure would have been long gone when everyone else got there.
- Might also count as heartwarming, if you think that they did so to give everyone else a fair chance.
- Varian being able to build a Saporian hot-air balloon, thus giving himself and Xavier an edge in the treasure hunt.
- Blink-and-you-miss-it Offscreen Moment of Awesome for Queen Arianna and her sister Willow. The Contest of the Crowns trophy has their names on it, meaning that back in the day, they participated in the competition together, kicked all of the ass, and owned it.
- King Trevor's Navy Seals hit Rapunzel's ship, causing it to go down, and when he mockingly says that he and Arianna need to return to Equis, what does she do? She punches the pompous king for making it happen and goes after Rapunzel with his ship. Oh, yeah, that's right—mess with her daughter, and she'll attack you like a bear!
- Max, Pascal, Ruddiger, and Hamuel all working together to get back the shell so they can free Rapunzel and her younger friends from it.
- Despite being inside the shell the humans do find ways to be helpful such as Varian using his alchemy to let the animals know where they are and Rapunzel using her hair to stop a fall.
- While it was pretty stupid on their part, Kiera and Catalina's werewolf act is admittedly an awesome sight to behold.
- The fact that Catalina can change into her werewolf form and not go on a rampage afterwards indicates a lot of willpower.
- Awesome Music: Lance's song of encouragement, "Bigger Than That". Seriously, James Monroe Iglehart surely had fun here.
- Rapunzel and Varian fighting the fear induced paralysis long enough for Varian to use his alchemical solution on a black rock, turning it and the red rocks into amber and causing them to lose their power over Corona.
- Cassandra achieves complete control of the Black Rocks, and right afterwards Rapunzel is able to unleash the full power of the Sundrop, resulting in the two facing off in a godly display of force. Rapunzel ultimately wins.
- Even with Cassandra throwing everything at her, Rapunzel refuses to fight back and justify Cass's hatred, and tells her so right to her face, simply because she won't stop believing in the friend she once knew. It's not until Cass puts Eugene's life in danger that Rapunzel takes the offensive.
- As she reads the forth incantation, Rapunzel's eyes and hair light up with power. She destroys the rocks pinning her to the wall, floats in midair, and says "Let hope ignite!" like she's declaring war. Unlike with the reverse incantation, she seems to be fully in control of what she's doing, and she gravely orders Cassandra to let Eugene go. Cassandra refuses and attacks her with black rocks but now, Rapunzel is able to stop them dead in their tracks and make them crumble before they can even touch her. Cassandra puts a lot of effort into fighting her and grows increasingly frantic, and Rapunzel proceeds to disintegrate everything Cassandra throws at her.
- After several murder attempts on not only Rapunzel's life but all of her friends' lives in this episode, there's something very satisfying about Rapunzel finally, for once, kicking Cassandra's ass.
- The construction of Cassandra's fortress. This is how far she's come in terms of power. This is what the third incantation can do! Combine it with the awesome music that plays during the whole thing, and you've got yourself a villainous moment of awesome for Cassandra!
- Despite everything she did to him, from kidnapping to imprisoning to drugging, Varian showed no fear of Cassandra when they were alone and tried everything to get through to her. Varian was truly brave to stand up to Cassandra and gently tell her off the way he did. She could have killed him at any point.
- Varian's attempts at resisting the truth potion. True he fails, but not from a lack of trying.
- Awesome Music: Their powerhouse song "Nothing Left to Lose," a rare duet between a reformed villain and a power-mad one in Disney canon. It's just as epic and emotionally-charged as it sounds, with both of their voice actors bringing their Broadway chops to the table on every note.
- The Enchanted Girl (who also happens to be Zhan Tiri in a different form) is a villainous example. Aside from very minor delays, her plan to cause a battle between Rapunzel and Cassandra that will release her from her prison (and in the process she plays both Cassandra and Varian like fiddles) works out perfectly in her favor.
- As it turns out, Rapunzel knew Calliope was being impersonated, due to the convenient timing and the fact that she didn't correct Rapunzel's own pronunciation of "spire".
- Zhan Tiri reveals that she was the blizzard from "Queen for a Day"!
- Rapunzel, who wears no shoes, kicks open a door. To reiterate - she is not wearing shoes, so kicked open the door, with her own bare feet!
- Rapunzel finally getting to say her piece when explaining to Cassandra what Gothel was really like. Cass seemingly doesn't take it to heart (and the episode ends that way), but judging by the way she side-glances towards the end of the conversation, it's implied she started to suspect Rapunzel was telling the truth.Rapunzel: (A magic mirror plays back how Gothel snapped at toddler Cass for sweeping too loud) Ugh! Well, that's typical Gothel right there.Cassandra: What do you mean?Rapunzel: She wasn't exactly the nurturing type. When she was around, that is.Rapunzel: It's not like I asked to be taken from my parents by a mad woman. And all Gothel ever wanted from me was my hair. She didn't love me! She didn't love either of us.
- Additionally, Rapunzel asking Cassandra the Armor-Piercing Question of the century, all the while a mirror-recording of Gothel snapping at little Cass to make dinner internally answers her question for her:
Tangled: Cassandra, do you really think that woman cared about anyone but herself?
- Cassandra happening upon the missing shard of the mirror that finally reveals to her that her mother never loved her, even before baby!Rapunzel came into the picture. When she learns the truth, what does she do? Scowl in Zhan Tiri's direction.
- Cassandra's Owl scowling at Cassandra when they reunite. He's letting her know that he doesn't condone what his former owner has been up to in the past.
- During the play, when both Rapunzel and Cass are improvising each other's parts, Monty asks who the bad guy is. Rapunzel responds "It's complicated". In a way, this is a nice Take That! to those who label Cassandra as a simple monster, or Rapunzel at fault for Cass's Start of Darkness for "not being a better friend", and instead admits neither is "the bad guy".
- Varian, who is completely willing to imprison Cassandra (who abducted him and held him hostage in her tower) in the amber his father was in if she attacks Corona, even equating it to destroying her. What's more, his firearm (which he made himself) is capable of destroying the black rocks (sure, it gets destroyed, but major props to him). Not bad for a teenager with no magical powers!
- Props to Cassandra as well. Poor Quirin spent two seasons trapped in the unbreakable amber... Cassandra freed herself from it in seconds.
- You can hate Zhan Tiri all you want, but you have to give her a lot of points for remaining completely calm when Cassandra confronts her over said missing shard and twisting their conversation to her advantage. Even with Cassandra realizing the depth of her manipulations, as well as who she is, she still manages to find a way to keep Cassandra under her control and have her unwittingly help further her own plans for an eclipse, courtesy of lying to her and shooting her with Varian's firearm while remaining out of sight.
- What's more, when Cassandra confronts Zhan Tiri with making her betray Rapunzel, Zhan Tiri makes the point that while she did lie and manipulate Cassandra to her whims, all of Cassandra's villainous deeds during the season were her own choice.
Cassandra: No, I'm nothing like you. Just because I'm pursuing my destiny doesn't make me a bad person!Zhan Tiri: Doesn't it? - The ending is a simply, wonderfully villainous example: Cassandra, pushed to the brink by Zhan Tiri's machinations, decides to embrace being the villain Corona sees her as and takes the entire palace square on... and she wins. Besides a little help from a sleep potion from Zhan Tiri, and the mind controlled Dark Brotherhood, Cassandra is essentially unstoppable, taking down guards left and right and shrugging off everything thrown at her until the Corona forces are forced to retreat.
- Keep in mind that the Separatists of Saporia have been attempting to conquer Corona for centuries. Cassandra takes it almost singlehandedly, in one afternoon.
- Cassandra not trusting Zhan Tiri and imprisoning her in a cage of black rocks before confronting Rapunzel. Although, it would have been more awesome if she had thought to cover the floor of said cage with black rocks.
- Our favorite alchemist is at it again. When Eugene tells Varian about his concerns regarding Quirin, Varian initially looks angry. Then, he gives his father a helmet, and when mind-control kicks in, Quirin is suddenly electrocuted and knocked out. Turns out, Varian rigged his helmet with a temporary stun mechanism, taking Eugene's concerns seriously.
- Back in "Queen for a Day," Varian's recklessness led to his father being incased in amber, Rapunzel rejected his plea for help for The Needs of the Many, and Varian blamed everything on her. This time, he takes responsibility: he has to take precautions and eventually hurt his father for The Needs of the Many. Though he's not happy about it, Varian does what he has to do. This is yet another mark of his Character Development throughout the series.
- Once he gets the blueprints, Varian quickly and efficiently builds Demanitus's machine, and his plan to trap Zhan Tiri back in the Lost Realm would've worked perfectly under different circumstances. Is it any wonder he became the royal alchemist?
- Eugene not only shows himself as a capable leader, but he is able to reach a mind-controlled Edmund through a heartfelt speech about how he forgives him for abandoning him as a baby and knows how much he loves him. This causes Edmund to break the mind-control rune, which frees Quirin from its control and allows him to free everyone from the Lost Realm, and this means they can band together and keep Zhan Tiri occupied long enough for Rapunzel and Cassandra to break free during the climax. Once just a thief, Eugene ended up playing a pivotal role in saving Corona.
- Zhan Tiri gets a villainous moment. She easily escapes the cage made of black rocks Cassandra trapped her in, finds the perfect opportunity to grab the Sundrop and Moonstone, disposing of Cassandra afterwards. Considering this and her sheer joy, it wouldn't have been hard to be downright happy for her if she wasn't a genocidal sociopath and hadn't been a big Hate Sink throughout the season.
- What's more, it counts as Cassandra getting her just desserts for being a Horrible Judge of Character and betraying Rapunzel when you consider this is her biggest defeat: she just had the Moonstone stolen and her butt handed to her by a little girl.
- Rapunzel having the capacity to forgive a powerless Cassandra when the she expresses genuine remorse for what she's done. Anyone else could've disowned Cassandra or considered her a lost cause after the events of "Once a Handmaiden". Even Cassandra questions why Rapunzel wouldn't give up on her. But Rapunzel proves to be the bigger woman and open her heart to her former friend and ally. That is strength.
- Later, it's brought home when Rapunzel, out of sheer love and willpower, takes hold of the Moon/Sun stone and uses it to revive her friend with the healing incantation.
- Rapunzel's journal acting as a Chekhov's Gun that inspires her to tell Cassandra "Plus est en vous".
- Cassandra and Rapunzel teaming up one last time to defeat Zhan Tiri, once and for all. Zhan Tiri is killed by the two powers she obsessively sought to control, thanks to the two girls she pitted against each other.
- Cassandra using a frying pan, of all things, to knock Zhan Tiri out for several seconds. Not only does this lend credit to how strong she is without the Moonstone, but we can safely say she got to properly retaliate Zhan Tiri for driving a wedge between her and Rapunzel.
- Shortly after, Rapunzel has the bright idea (which Cass quickly picks up on as well) to use Zhan Tiri's own strength against her, using her hair to pull Zhan Tiri's wrists apart, then cutting her hair with a shard of rock so that Zhan Tiri slams her own wrists together, causing the Moonstone and Sundrop to collide!
- Rapunzel using the combined Moonstone and Sundrop to heal everyone and give the Healing Incantation a fitting swan song, as it's used to heal all of Corona.
- Initially when she attempts to take the stone, it's power casts Rapunzel back. Her second attempt is more successful but it's clear from the way her voice strains that the combined power of the Sundrop and Moonstone is almost too much for her. But she does it. Finally, in an awe-inspiring move, Rapunzel sends the stone back to the cosmos.
- It also acts as an epic foil between Mother Gothel and Rapunzel. Mother Gothel had the magical golden flower to herself for the better part of its time on Earth, using it solely to keep her eternally young. Rapunzel only had a few moments to use it, but her selfless act of healing all of Corona leaves a bigger impact than Gothel ever did when she had the flower for centuries!
- The ending (or beginning) of Cassandra's character arc, where she'll be going on a journey to discover her own destiny. This shows that after struggling to find her destiny, she's found the maturity to take the high road and discover herself. Wherever she ends up, she can finally be the main character. No more waiting in the wings.
- Rapunzel being coronated Princess of Corona at last. As opposed to her fake coronation in "Rapunzeltopia", she's truly earned the right to be a princess, after going through obstacles of tough choices, peril and betrayal. She can look back on her adventure and say she's ready to be a princess and live happily ever after, after all.
