Frank has agreed to lend the place of this week's storyteller to Eric, whose grandfather has recently died. To Eric, he left his hat, said to be blessed with the power of the pixies, who are purportedly compelled to accept, however reluctantly, any offer of trade. A story of such a trade was one of his favourites, which Eric will now tell. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story "The Tale of Jake and the Leprechaun."
Aspiring young actor Jake lands a lead role in stage play Will O' the Wisp, in which a young boy, in evasion of a sinister goblin, seeks the counsel of a benevolent leprechaun.
Jake wonders about the special tea drank constantly by leading man Erin. Director Lucy says it's his own recipe, apparently to aid his creativity. On request, she gives Jake the recipe.
He pursues it to the greenhouse of Sean O'Shaney. On inspection of the recipe, the gardener's geniality turns to dismissive indignation.
Meanwhile, Erin, alone with a headshot of Jake, recites a sinister incantation, pertaining to the boy's soul...
In rehearsal, Erin and Jake enact a scene where Jake's character pursues transformation into a leprechaun. As Jake recites the transformative dialogue, he suddenly finds his voice to have deepened. At his unnerved request, Erin halts the rehearsal. He urges Jake to pursue the sudden inspiration, as the glamour is upon him.
Inspired, Jake returns to consult Sean O'Shaney. The gardener angrily dismisses him, but on mention of Jake’s transformative feelings, is suddenly willing to listen. No longer suspicious of Jake's pursuit of sinister herbs, Sean is intrigued by the play, which opens tomorrow night.
Shocked by the significance of the play's transformation ritual, Sean sets about sabotaging the set, bringing an end to the rehearsal. He beckons Jake to a mirror, to see the effects of the not-so-fictional incantation: Jake's ears are now pointy.
They sneak into Erin's dressing room, where Sean sets off the smoke alarm, sending Erin out. They find Sean's hat and headshot, as well as what appears to be a caged toad. From an array of bottled ingredients, Sean takes the rowan root. As Erin returns, they hide under the bed, and see Erin remove his ears, revealed to be rubber, to free his real ears, which are pointy. Removal of his slippers and dressing gown reveal unusual excesses of hair. Jake and Sean hurriedly sneak out.
Erin, explains Sean, is a banshee, a race of pixies who apparently, every seven years, feed on human souls. Since Jake's transformation has already started, the only way to reverse it is a counter-ritual.
That night, after the opening act, Sean arrives backstage with the ingredients. For fearlessness, Jake must swallow two jarred spiders. To the prop bottle from which Jake and Erin are to drink onstage, Sean adds further root, and recites an incantation. He urges Jake to keep eye contact with Erin.
In the final act, Erin and Jake enact the not-so-fictional ritual. Erin becomes suspicious of the bottle's ingredients, and throws it into the audience. Distracted, Jake loses eye contact, and finds Erin to have vanished. The banshee appears behind him, now wild-haired and cackling sinisterly.
As Jake calls for help, Sean appears behind them, seated on a prop tree. Erin hints his old adversary to be a leprechaun, and triggers a stage explosion, driving Sean to vanish. The banshee advances on Jake, who, with a flash, becomes a toad.
Sean returns, and from a bag, takes the banshee's tail, kept by Sean for years. He offers a trade for the boy. Irresistible compulsion to accept reverses the banshee's spell, turning him into a toad. With some magical dust and an incantation, Sean restores Jake to humanity. The audience gives a standing ovation. Jake quietly asks if Sean, as Erin implied, is really a leprechaun. Sean replies ambiguously. They take a bow.
The play was never again staged, ends Eric, and Erin had disappeared forever. He removes the hat, and dedicates the tale to his grandfather. The others stand, applaud, and hug their friend.
This episode provides examples of:
- All Part of the Show: The staged transformation ritual entails a real, rather more sinister transformation.
- Arch-Enemy: Erin seems to have a history with Sean.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In light of Eric's bereavement, Frank submits his turn for Eric's commemorative story.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Erin acts with the appearance of a kindly mentor to Jake. He really wants to devour the boy’s soul. Once he realize Jake knows, Erin sheds any pleasant pretense towards Jake.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Eric, of his Irish grandfather.
- Changeling Tale: In this interpretation, replacement of a human with an animal is a metamorphic result of a banshee’s soul-eating.
- Due to the Dead: Eric pays homage to his late grandfather, a storyteller not unlike those in the Midnight Society, by telling one of his Irish folk tales.
- The Fair Folk: Cast as a benevolent leprechaun in a stage play, Erin’s fey affinity turns out to be something rather more sinister.
- Forced Transformation: Soul drainage transforms Erin's victims into small animals.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Oh, the magic's real alright. What's unclear is whether Sean is or isn't a leprechaun.
- Oireland: Featuring leprechauns, banshees and changelings - complete with the stereotypical accents to go with it.
- Our Banshees Are Louder: Averted. While described by Sean as a banshee, Erin acts as spiritual predator rather than a spectral portent.
- Poor Communication Kills: When Jake visits Sean for herbs to make the "better-acting-skills" tea, Sean is friendly at first. But when he sees the herbs he requests, he instantly acts hostile and treats the boy like a criminal without letting Jake tell his side of the story. As it's later explained, the reason Sean acted this way is because the herbs are normally used in a tea drunken by banshees, which put him on high alert. Had he known sooner it was "Erin" who was the banshee, Sean might've sooner spared Jake the trouble of being turned into a changeling.
- Sadly Mythtaken: This could normally be hand waved by this being a child's story, but Eric specifically says his grandfather told it to him.
- Pixies are from British folklore. Contrary to what Eric claims, the Irish would call them fairies (although the proper Irish name is Aos Sí).
- Changelings are traditionally fairy children that have been swapped with humans rather than Involuntary Shapeshifting.
- And the biggest of all - Erin being a male banshee would be impossible. Banshees are Always Female; the word is anglicized from the Irish beann sí (pronounced the same way) that literally translates as 'fairy woman'.
- The actual Irish myth surrounding the banshee is encountering one who foretells the death of a family member.
- Leprechauns are traditionally tricksters rather than helpful figures. What's more is that Sean wears green, when that's reserved for leprechauns in a group; a solitary leprechaun traditionally wears red.
- Scotireland: Eric alludes to his Irish grandfather happily telling stories about the kelpie, which is a Scottish creature.
- Soul Eater: Erin attempts to bodily transform Jake in order to feed on his soul.
- The Storyteller: Eric’s grandfather used to give spritely narrations of Irish folklore.
