Weirdest funhouse ever.
Star tries to rescue Glossaryck and the Book of Spells from Ludo.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Star and Marco raid Ludo's cave to rescue Glossaryck and the Book of Spells...only for the former to stubbornly refuse to be rescued, which means their attempt was in vain.
- Almost Kiss: Marco's parents were about to kiss in their surprise cameo before the camera cuts back to Star showing her disgusted reaction.
- Ambiguously Evil: Glossaryck cements this position in this episode. Regardless of Star's efforts, Glossaryck is indifferent to her intent to rescue him, even questioning the concept of "friendship" between Star and himself and prefers stay with Ludo. He also tells her that she doesn't need him. Of course, all this could to be part of his Trickster Mentor scheme. Or, perhaps, the pudding is enough of a bribe to get him to stay. Several of his responses to Star also seem to have double meanings, furthering the ambiguity.
- Beyond the Impossible: After Dipping Down, Star is able to treat the All Seeing Eye's viewing portal like an actual portal, which Glossaryck thought was impossible. The previous 12 wand-bearers, including Eclipsa herself who invented the All Seeing Eye spell, could never do this.Glossaryck: Hmm. I have never seen that before.
- Bittersweet Ending: Star fails to rescue the Book of Spells and Glossaryck and she thinks that he betrayed her, but she finds a group of alternative monsters that worship her as "the rebel princess". Later, when she tells her parents about the whole situation, they are understanding and imply they have a plan of their own, and Star ends the episode by starting her own Book of Spells.
- Brutal Honesty: After Star reveals that Glossaryck is no longer on their team, Marco points out that he wasn't much of a team player.Marco: I never really saw Glossaryck as a "team player" anyway.
- Call-Back: Star uses the All Seeing Eye spell she learned in "Bon Bon The Birthday Clown" to locate Glossaryck.
- Chekhov's Gun: In the previous episode, Star subconsciously locked up the wheel on Jackie's skateboard through the All Seeing Eye Spell. In this one, when she really puts her mind to it, she's able to turn it into a physical portal she can reach through.
- Droste Image: While looking for Glossaryck with the All Seeing Eye Spell, Star sees herself looking into the Eye, as well as Marco spying on her.
- Exact Words: Some of Glossaryck's words seem to be carefully designed to make Star think he's betraying her without actually doing so.
- For example, when Star says she thought they were friends, Glossaryck doesn't actually deny it. He just makes an essentially meaningless statement that he knows Star will interpret as a denial.
Glossaryck: Friends? Well, that's such a simple concept.- And when Star begs him to take her hand, saying she can almost reach him, his response clearly refers to something other than physical proximity, but his plan requires Star to not realize that.
Glossaryck: Yes, you are surprisingly close. - Foot Popping: The Diazes. Not just Angie, but Rafael does this too in a surprise cameo as Star accidentally spies on them through the All-Seeing Eye as they are about to lean in for a kiss leaving Star in disgust.
- The Ghost: Ludo is mentioned several times, but he doesn't appear physically in this episode.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: It's not clear if Glossaryck is compelled to stay with Ludo, is plotting a scheme to teach Star something, has really switched sides, or (as the pudding cup suggests) has been bribed into Ludo's service. In any case, as Star puts it, he's no longer on the team.
- Heroic BSoD: Star collapses on the ground after Glossaryck refuses to be rescued. She only revives when the monsters reveal they worship her.
- Kinda Busy Here: Marco abruptly hangs up on Jackie when she calls his cell phone to help Star in her mission to rescue Glossaryck and the Book of Spells.
- Match Cut: Early on, there's a cut from Star striking a heroic pose to an illustration in a book of monster fairy-tales Buff Frog is reading to his kids.
- Mathematician's Answer: Glossaryck gives deliberately vague answers to Star's questions about where Ludo is keeping him, describing it as "in a cave on the ground."
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The "alternative" monsters Star meets are a bunch of teenage slackers who don't care much about the conflict between monsters and Mewmans. Guess Buff Frog isn't the only good monster out there.
- Oh, Crap!: Pretty much Star's reaction when Marco asks her when she learned the All-Seeing Eye spell.
- Poor Communication Kills: Buff Frog has been trying to warn Star about Ludo's big plan, but his letters were woefully illegible that Star didn't act as quickly as he had hoped. By the time Star came to Buff Frog, his intel was severely inaccurate as Ludo abandoned his hideout.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: River and Moon don't yell at Star when she confesses that Ludo stole the Book and Glossaryck. They tell her that the book is just a book, and that they will take care of the rescue. Star isn't happy about it, but she is calmer.
- Rebellious Princess: The monsters that worship Star call her this. This does cheer her up briefly.
- Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Star frantically packs numerous weapons and supplies into a backpack—to the point where it's too heavy for her to carry—for a rescue mission to save Glossaryck from Ludo and retrieve her book of spells. Of course, Buff Frog takes them away from her, telling her that all she needs is her wand.
- Shout-Out: The scene of Star and Marco charging toward Ludo's hideout is a clear shout-out to Sir Lancelot attacking the wedding party
in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Also, Star at the start of the episode responds to Marco's suggestion of breathing exercises with "I don't have time to breathe." The episode's title also harkens back to "Storm the Castle". - The Snack Is More Interesting: Glossaryck is busy eating pudding when Star finds him, and is seemly more interested in finishing it rather than being rescued.
- Squick: In-Universe. This is Star's reaction as she sees Mr. and Mrs. Diaz making out and Tom grooming his toenails with an electric saw with the All-Seeing Eye.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Marco suggests to Star that they tell her parents. She is against the idea, until the very end of the episode upon realizing she can't get Glossaryck back on her own.
- Unwanted Rescue: Glossaryck makes clear to Star that he doesn't want her to rescue him, nor would he leave the book behind even if he were willing.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Sort of. At least, from the perspective of the alternative monsters, the Mewmans and the Royal Family are still their enemies, but Star has become very popular between them for her reputation as "the rebel princess".
- We Wait: Star's parents tell her if they are to successfully recover the book, Star needs to do this while they, in the meantime, come up with their own plan.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Among the things that Glossaryck tells Star during his Unwanted Rescue moment, it's that she doesn't need him. (Given that she didn't use him until the start of season two, he may have a point there.)Star: But I need you!
Glossaryck: Maybe this is what you need. - You Are Not Alone: Right after Star collapses from Heroic BSoD and Glossaryck refusing to be rescued the monsters in the cave tell Star that they idolize her and think that she's cool. Marco is also with her when she calls her parents and explains about what happens.
- You Are Too Late: Ludo has abandoned his underground cave/corn farm, which is now inhabited by the teenage "alternative monsters".
