Queen of the Castle

"Queen of the Castle" is the first segment of the 1st episode of the eighth season of Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, and the 90th overall episode in the series. It premiered on November 22, 2019.
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Poppy decides to build Peppy's dream sandcastle, but things take a turn for the worse when the Finders-Keepers Critters take over.
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Poppy wakes her father King Peppy who has fallen asleep while he, Poppy and Branch were going through his old scrapbooks. They are donating a number of them to the Troll Village library. He hands her several scrapbooks and then Branch finds a blueprint. Poppy says that she wonders what happened to those to Branch, as she explains that they are blueprints for a fantastic sandcastle her father had designed. Peppy states he designed the castle to be his legacy and a testament to the never-quitting Troll spirit, but he never got around to making the sandcastle as he quit. Peppy couldn't figure out how to make the sandcastle and so just gave up on the idea. He closes his eyes and tries to imagine what it would have been like, but soon ends up sleeping again. Poppy tells Branch a well done for finding the prints and they make a hasty exit.
At the beach, Poppy is excited over the idea of making her father's dream come true as she has dreamt of this day for years. Branch notes that the issue is mainly to do with the sand itself as it can't support a structure that big. Branch and Poppy have spent months experimenting with the and-water ratio to get the formula just right to make the sand hold so they can build it. Too little water means that it doesn't hold and too much results in a soggy mess, but just the right amount will get sand-steel, sand-glass or sand-gelatin; though the last one isn't of any use. Poppy hopes to have the castle finished by lunchtime.
Trolls pitch in to get the castle built. The main trouble the Trolls are having is keeping the sand tools from falling apart. Come break time, Poppy takes a look at what they have built and it amounts to one fraction of a wall. While Smidge mumbles about early high-fives, Poppy is dismayed at what little has been done as it is only a matter of time before her father sees what they're up to. Branch gets a shocked reaction from his friends when he suggests not making it a surprise, and Biggie strokes in wondering who hurt him. Poppy decides that they need to speed up construction with critters.
Her first critters are Kitty Critters, who are fast at digging, but Branch points out the reason they dig fast is that they relieve themselves in sand. The Flyer Bug speeds up gathering water, but it destroys what they have already built. Biggie comes to alert Poppy and Branch to some issues with some of the local critters known as "Finders-Keepers Critters"; the crabs are stealing stuff. Branch is having a grumble at the crabs when he says that when they work together there is no way to stop them. This gives Poppy an idea.
Poppy tries to offer the crabs a box of stuff if they help them build the castle, but the crabs don't understand what she's saying. She turns to Biggie, but he claims that he knows only "worm". Smidge says she doesn't know how to speak crab, but she knows how to use castanets to get the crabs to help. She does a snapping dance for the crabs and they snap back, and the deal has been made. They continue the construction of the castle with the crabs' help, even getting King Gristle Jr. to lend a hand with the detailing.
When the castle is complete, Poppy shows it to King Peppy after waking him up; he can't believe its been built. Poppy tells him how they did it, and he comments he also thought of using the Finders-Keepers Critters back in his day, but could never figure out how to stop them from betraying him. Just as he is explaining that with a castle like this there would be no stopping from wanting it, but as he explains this on cue the crabs take over the castle.
Poppy states they are going to get the castle back and they charge the wall. After several attempts to win back the castle, they successfully manage to do so. However, the crabs dig under the castle and are now trying to steal it into the lagoon; this will destroy the castle entirely.
As the Trolls try and save the castle, Poppy's resistance causes her to be put in danger as the part of the wall she's pushing against begins to collapse. Peppy tells her to let the crabs take the castle into the water, all the Trolls can do is watch as it falls apart.
Peppy is fine with the loss of the castle, as Poppy made his dream come true even if only for 15 minutes. He states that his greatest legacy is his daughter, and that is enough for him.
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;Trolls
*Amanda Leighton as Queen Poppy
*Skylar Astin as Branch
*David Kaye as King Peppy
*Kevin Michael Richardson as Smidge
*Ron Funches as Cooper
*David Fynn as Biggie
*Guy Diamond (non-speaking)
*Keith (non-speaking)
*DJ Suki (non-speaking)
;Bergens
*Sam Lerner as King Gristle Jr.
;Other 
*David Fynn as Mr. Dinkles
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*"We Can Do Anything"
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This episode is available on the "Trolls: The Beat Goes On! - Complete Seasons 5-8" DVD.
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*The episode title "Queen of the Castle" is a reference to the game "King of the Hill". The goal of the game is to occupy the top of a "hill" by only one player, who thus becomes "King of the Hill". Other players will attempt to take the position by knocking the player down from the hill.
**The title can also be a reference to a classic childish chant that was recited by children when winning ground in fort-based versions of the game, wherein players try to take over a castle. The chant goes with "I'm the King/Queen of the castle and you're the dirty rascal!", and dates back to the 1850s.
*"For Whom the Bell Trolls" is based on the book "For Whom the Bell Tolls". "The Complete Works of Leon Trollstoy" is a nod to the writer Leo Tolstoy.
*A Kitty Critter previously appeared in "Smidgician", but it was much larger, being several times bigger than a Cuddlepup or Growl Beast. The ones in this episode are smaller than the Trolls.
*This episode is the tenth one in the series to feature the running gag referencing the common classic cartoon logic rule of "gravity does not work until you look down".
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The Attack on Poppy's Sandcastle TROLLS THE BEAT GOES ON!
Category:Episodes
Category:Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episodes
Category:TBGO Season 8 episodes
Category:2D animation