Star and Marco have to make some decisions about the future.
Tropes:
- Badass Boast: Marco gives one to the knights when they threaten to destroy his cape:Marco: If you so much as singe a single thread on that patchwork, I swear your face will hit every surface in this room, and when you wake up, you’ll be in the belly of that dragon.
- The Bus Came Back: Marco's rival Higgs, who was last seen in "Trial by Squire", makes her second appearance in this episode, along with her friends Baby-Man and Old Guy.
- But Now I Must Go: Though Marco doesn't leave now, he makes it clear he doesn't want to live in Mewni for the rest of his life.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Marco beats every knight at the party without breaking a sweat.
- Exact Words: In an unusually non-violent variation, a knight threatens to throw Marco's cape into a dragon's fiery mouth, which Marco responds to by promising a beating where he'll wake up "in the belly of that dragon". When Marco does beat him, the knight simply ends up unconscious on top of the dragon's belly.
- Hypocrite: Higgs accuses Marco of being a "cheater" for his work with Star and training in the Neverzone, and says he considers himself too good to be a knight. When offered the chance to train in the Neverzone, she takes it instantly. Worse still, when she comes back to Mewni and finds her muscles built up from training in the Neverzone gone, she decides her old life as a knight isn't worth it and returns to the Neverzone.
- I Choose to Stay: Higgs jumps into the Neverzone to train, but is disappointed to find returning makes her body revert to how it was when she left. She then morosely decides "There's nothing left for me here." and goes back to the Neverzone, seemingly for good.
- Identical Stranger: Sir Crandle just happens to look and sound exactly like Mr. Candle, so much that Marco thinks it's actually him. Though he claims otherwise, Crandle does know Marco is from Echo Creek even though he never told him that. Sir Crandle's office is also suspiciously similar in appearance to Mr. Candle's, down to the cat-themed bowl of candy on his desk.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Subverted with Higgs, who turns out to be a Hypocrite. She calls Marco a "cheater" for his work with Star and his training in the Neverzone, and says he thinks himself too good to be a knight. Marco, however, points out that the single-minded attitude of the knights only hurts themselves, and even offers the knights a chance to train in the Neverzone. Higgs takes it instantly. To make matters worse, when Higgs returns to find her muscles gained from years of training vanish outside the Neverzone, she decides there's nothing left for her in her old knight life on Mewni, and despondently returns to the Neverzone.
- Poke the Poodle: Marco is punished for resigning his knighthood... by having his feet tickled. When that fails, they try "nails on a chalkboard"... which just hurts the guy doing it more than him.Marco: Can I go now?
- Rank Up: Marco graduates from squire to knight, before abandoning the position so he won't be tied to it for the rest of his life.
- Resignations Not Accepted: Marco isn't prepared for the commitment of a knight and tries to back out. The other knights don't take his resignation well and try to torture him into accepting a lifelong post. Marco is unharmed by their "torture" methods and finally breaks free and fights back when a knight tries to burn a cape that Star made for Marco. Marco is able to leave the knights on a technicality: he's already had enough experiences as a knight in the Neverzone.
- Shaped Like Itself: Star explains that the "goblin dog-looking thing" on Marco's cape is a goblin dog.
- Slipped the Ropes: After beating up the knights, Marco casually shrugs off the ropes they tied him up in.
- Surrogate Soliloquy: Marco and Star both use the statue-fied Manfred as a sounding board for their issues. They both eventually realize they need to talk to the other.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Sir Crandle denies being Mr. Candle, he says he's never been to Echo Creek. Marco retorts that he never mentioned being from Echo Creek, meaning that particular denial only makes sense if Crandle actually is Candle. Especially since Crandle doesn't even try to come up with an alternate reason that he would've connected Mr. Candle with Echo Creek, instead trying to brush past it like he knows he slipped up.
- Tickle Torture: Marco's punishment for not choosing a lifelong post is... having his feet being tickled. By Sir Crandle's ponytail. Deconstructed when he realizes that the worst that the knights are going to do is tickle him, and he immediately stops taking their threats seriously and basically just leaves. Turns out that zany but ultimately harmless threats don't actually inspire much fear in people.
- With My Hands Tied: After being tied to a chair, Marco breaks the chair and beats up a whole room full of knights before bothering to untie himself.
