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Recap / Star vs. the Forces of Evil S3 E36 "Tough Love"

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Queen Moon and Eclipsa search for Meteora.


Tropes:

  • Anguished Declaration of Love: Eclipsa gives one to Meteora when she's about to kill Moon in order to stop her. Along with wishing her daughter come back to her.
    Eclipsa: I love you! I know you haven't heard these words in a very long time, but I'm saying them again to you now. Please, Meteora, come back to me.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: According to the angry villagers, Meteora destroyed one man's cottage, another man's teddy bear and... gave a child a hat.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Since Moon bailed Eclipsa out during her trial, it's implied Eclipsa repaid Moon by letting her keep the throne in spite of proof of her illegitimacy. She had to deny Meteora that request in deference to Moon and Star.
  • Call-Back: Meteora's soul-sucking beams are the same as the ones Toffee (possessing Ludo) used against the Magic High Commission in "Starcrushed", down to the black-eyed, floating victims.
  • Downer Ending: Moon and Eclipsa's attempt to pacify Meteora ends in failure. Moon, her soul half-gone, retreats to the Realm of Magic, and Meteora continues her rampage, and her quest to reclaim the throne of Mewni for herself.
  • Emotional Regression: Eclipsa attempts to stop Meteora's rampage by approaching her with her old teddy bear Bobo and speaking to her like a small child. It actually works, but when Eclipsa refuses to take the throne of Mewni alongside her, Meteora stomps off like a child and Eclipsa shouts after her like a scolding parent.
    Eclipsa: Young lady, you turn right back around!
  • Everyone Has Standards: Though Eclipsa is quite the Cloudcuckoolander, even she finds Eddie Johansen too weird.
  • Eye Beams: Meteora is able to fire soul-stealing magic beams from her eyes.
  • Failed Attempt at Drama: Rich Pigeon tries to sound intimidating to Moon and Eclipsa but has trouble operating his battlesuit.
  • Get Out!: Rich Pigeon shouts at Moon and Eclipsa to get out of his house after he gets frustrated with his battlesuit not working and slamming him into a wall.
  • Hybrid Power: What Meteora got from her monster father was shown in her last appearance, what she got from Eclipsa is revealed this episode: magic. And unlike Toffee and Ludo, she doesn't need the Wand to do it, being able to "dip down" like a Mewman. The combination of sheer brute force and magic makes her so powerful Moon can't defeat her without a distraction by Eclipsa that leaves her vulnerable.
  • Impact Silhouette: Meteora left a vaguely her-shaped hole in the wall of the Pigeon castle.
  • Insistent Terminology: Meteora doesn't seem to like to use the word "mother", probably because that's how she addressed St. Olga for most of her life.
  • Interrupted Cooldown Hug: Eclipsa nearly manages to talk down Meteora but Moon's attempt to kill her results in her rampage continuing.
  • Magic Pants: Despite her huge increase in size, Meteora still has some of her old outfit intact.
  • Make My Monster Grow: Meteora keeps getting bigger the more souls she eats. By the time Moon and Meteora encounter her, she's about twenty feet tall.
  • Mama Bear: Eclipsa tries to restrain Moon from destroying her daughter, nearly destroying both of them in the process. Meteora uses the opportunity to blast Moon.
  • Misplaced Retribution: Rich Pigeon yells at Moon and Eclipsa to leave after his battlesuit slams him into a wall, even though they have nothing to do with that.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: Eddie Johansen states that he misses his family, who had their souls stolen by Meteora... except for his family member Tim.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Eclipsa's reaction after seeing that because of her actions, Moon has lost half of her soul while Meteora is still free and continues her rampage.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The official synopsis for this episode stated "Eclipsa and Moon bring Princess Meteora home peacefully after the massive destruction she's caused." This episode is actually about them searching for Meteora, and attempting to stop her rampage.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
    • When Eclipsa's attempts to pacify Meteora are almost working, Moon attacks her, making the half-monster hostile again.
    • Eclipsa's attempt to stop Moon from killing her daughter resulting in Moon losing half her soul and being forced to retreat, while Meteora is free to continue her quest to reclaim the throne of Mewni.
  • Not Quite Dead: Moon has half her soul taken by Meteora, but her body instinctively retreats to the magic realm.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Rich Pigeon when he sees his battlesuit about to punch his own face.
    • Moon when she realizes that Meteora can use magic without the wand.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While the Pigeons had been established as capable of being ruthless, Rich Pigeon himself had been so far portrayed as mostly reasonable and not holding a grudge at Marco for breaking his legs by accident. Him being absolutely livid after Meteora's attack shows how much he was affected.
  • Pet the Dog: Apparently Meteora gave a mewman child a fancy hat during the middle of her rampage.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: Meteora's increasingly deteriorating sanity has pretty much regressed her mind to that of a (very violent) child.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Meteora's soul-sucking has turned her huge and purple.
  • The Reveal: The reason Meteora has lived so long was that she was consuming the youth of her students at St. Olga's, explaining the machine seen in "Princess Turdina".
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Eddie Johansen, who provides the most comedic quirks in the episode, gets his soul sucked out by Meteora.
  • Shout-Out: Eddie's talk of "teasing the beast" while approaching Meteora, combined with his accent, makes him sound like Steve Irwin from Crocodile Hunter.
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: Eclipsa tries talking to the pigeon-folk in their own language.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Eddie Johansen. Teasing a sleeping, soul-eating, half-monster giantess is not exactly a great idea if you don't want your soul stolen.
  • Torches and Pitchforks: Moon and Eclipsa meet an angry mob out to get Meteora after she destroyed their village.
  • Victimized Bystander: An attack from Meteora that missed Moon and struck a bush sucked out the souls of two bunnies and a snake.
  • Villain Has a Point: Meteora is completely correct that she and Eclipsa had the throne stolen from them. But, Eclipsa willingly gave up the throne out of respect for the good Moon has done for her.
  • Wham Episode: Mostly because of what happens to Queen Moon at the end of the episode. Also, Eclipsa is shown to be capable of "dipping down", despite previously claiming that she had never learned how.
  • Wham Shot:
    • Meteora's soulless victims, which look and behave like Toffee's. And unlike Toffee, she can do it without the Wand.
    • Moon having been hit by Meteora's eye blast and having seemingly half her soul devoured because of it.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: In "Skooled", Meteora blew up Rasticore, leaving just an arm left, and took the arm with her. Here, the arm is nowhere to be found.
  • Your Soul Is Mine!: Meteora is growing stronger by feeding on the souls of other beings.

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