"You're knot going to win this challenge. It's a thinker."
Rapunzel: Wait, stop, we're supposed to be friends.
Cassandra: A friend wouldn't be so oblivious, Rapunzel.
Cassandra trains for the Challenge of the Brave competition being held in the kingdom where the fiercest of warriors compete for glory and respect. She is taken off-guard when Rapunzel decides to compete as well despite being the princess, so Cassandra lies to her about needing an invite to compete. When Eugene reveals that anyone can sign up, Rapunzel seizes the opportunity, much to Cassandra's shock. Cassandra's jealousy rises when Rapunzel manages to actually take the lead in the contest.
Tropes in this episode:
- Armor-Piercing Response: How Rapunzel explains Cassandra her attitude through the contest:Respect? Cassandra, I respect you more than you can possibly imagine, I look up to you. Why do you think I wanted to enter this thing in the first place? You are my friend, and, [sighs] as your friend I should have realized how important this was to you. I'm so, so sorry.
- Blatant Lies: Eugene and Pascal were originally seated right in front of the arena area, but their constant disruptions caused the usher to move them to the "VIP" area, which was WAY in the back. The usher does this again when Eugene and Pascal were still loud. Finally, the usher escorts them to the "special VIP" seating area, which was a pig's mud hole some distance outside the arena. Turns out that particular VIP mean Very Important Pig.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wreck Marauder wears one.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Cassandra needs to choose between her friendship with Rapunzel or the respect as a warrior she had always craved in the competition. She ultimately chooses the former.
- Genre Blind: Cassandra ignores that her universe is based in a Fairy Tale adaptation that is placed in the idealist side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism and doesn't realize that she suffers Poor Communication Kills and she only needs to ask Rapunzel to quit the competition to win her I Just Want to Be Special dream.
- Genre Savvy: Cassandra knows that Rapunzel is a Pretty Princess Powerhouse Showy Invincible Hero and Universally Beloved Leader. She lies to Rapunzel about the Challenge of the Brave sign-up, knowing that when she enters the contest, she will win it with (almost) universal acclaim, denying Cassandra her I Just Want to Be Special dream. Then Cassandra tries to invoke a Loophole Abuse only to be dismissed as an In-Universe "Stop Having Fun" Guys and cheats in a desperate attempt to beat Rapunzel to no avail. Hard Work Hardly Works and Failure Is the Only Option.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Cassandra wants to win the Challenge of the Brave so she can finally prove to everyone that she's more than just a pretty face, but Rapunzel keeps unintentionally stealing the spotlight from her.
- Improbable Weapon User: Rapunzel didn't know how to notch an arrow onto a bow, so she uses a guitar for a bow instead, and actually gets a bullseye.
- Literal-Minded: When Cassandra states she is going to psyche out the other competitors with trash talk, Rapunzel thinks she means talking about garbage.
- Loophole Abuse: Cassandra invokes this rope when she tries to disqualify Rapunzel from one competition for not wearing shoes, to everyone else indifference.Do you even know the rules? Aren't shoes required for the log roll?
- Motive Rant: Cassandra's answer to Rapunzel:A friend wouldn't be so oblivious, Rapunzel. You have no idea what this contests means to me. I mean you're a princess; you've got nothing to prove! To you this was just a fun way to blow off a Saturday, but to me it was a chance to show everyone that I am more than just your Lady-In-Waiting! And just when I thought I might get the slightest bit of respect... [Sighs] Never mind.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Most of the contestants in the Challenge of the Brave have very intimidating names, especially favored contestant Wreck Marauder (Danny Trejo).
- Nonchalant Dodge: How Rapunzel gets past the swinging hammer gauntlet round by dancing past them. Extra points as she did it with her eyes closed.
- Poor Communication Kills: As this review
points out, Cassandra could have spared both Rapunzel and herself a lot of trouble if she had revealed her feelings earlier in the story. - Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Rapunzel proves this trope beautifully by not only holding her own in a contest meant for hardened warriors, but actually winning.
- The Resenter: Cassandra becomes this to Rapunzel, getting increasingly angry about how the latter was actually advancing through the rounds rather easily.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: One of the contestants is a woman who wears a beard of bees.
- Stock Scream: One of the competitors lets out a Goofy Holler when thrown in the air.
- "Stop Having Fun" Guys: Invoked. A major part of Cassandra's resentment of Rapunzel comes from the fact that she's treating the Challenge of the Brave as a fun outing instead of a serious competition and still managing to beat people who have been training for ages to win this.
- Too Dumb to Live: Eugene considers the contestants of the Challenge of the Brave to be this when he tells Rapunzel that an invite wasn't required to compete, just "be dumb enough to sign up". He did not expect Rapunzel to jump at the opportunity.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Cassandra when she gets angry about Rapunzel actually being ahead of her in the contest. She even tries to sabotage her in the last round by hiding her chosen weapon (a frying pan) for the Circle of Death match. Her anger only grows when despite leaving Rapunzel weaponless, the princess still managed to eliminate most of the other competitors by tricking them into taking each other out.
- Trash Talk: Discussed by Cassandra and Rapunzel. The former explains that intimidation is a strategy to win a game and proceeds to intimidate her competitors. This explains why the warriors were demeaning Cassandra as "only Rapunzel's Lady-In-Waiting", they are intimidating her because she is obviously so good there are no better strategies against her.
- Unreliable Expositor: Cassandra sincerely thinks that everyone despises her because she is only Rapunzel's Lady-In-Waiting. The only people who mentioned that were the other warriors, and they were using Trash Talk on her. "Rapunzel's Return" at the third season will reveal that Cassandra has this as a Freudian Excuse for her poor childhood.
