Clash of the Battle Piñatas

"Clash of the Battle Piñatas" is the first segment of the 2nd episode of the third season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 40th overall episode in the series. It premiered in June 10, 2021.
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Every few years, teams of Trolls design and decorate beautiful giant piñatas a la parade floats... then they smash them into each other to see whose battle piñata reigns supreme. Branch is the reigning champion, but when Synth is elected as captain of this year's team, Branch struggles to balance the need to win with being a good teammate.
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The episode begins with Poppy explaining that once a year, Trolls get together to make beautiful Piñatas that smash each other. The crowd cheer in excitement while Dante comments "Dante Likey" at the thought of the destruction. Poppy notes that they have one day to design and build their Piñatas, so they have to find teammates and get thwacking.
After finishing the announcement, Branch is excited as he is the reigning champion; this was the only time in his Bunker days he came out to partake in any Troll event. Poppy doesn't react to Branch's enthusiasm. This is Branch's first year working with a team of other Trolls, though he claims Gary was his teammate. Branch is looking forward to working with other Trolls, stating Gary never gives 110%, to which the screen pans out to show Gary on a break.
Branch has teamed up with Holly, Synth, and DJ Suki. Branch asks them where to start, to which Synth suggests they take in ideas, weigh in their merits and begin immediate action; however, Synth wants to do the mind-blowing action of having a rave. Branch is confused by this approach, and Synth explains raves are about unity, and all moving to the same beat is the perfect way to do some team building. Branch takes a quick exit to speak to Poppy. Poppy tells Branch to take it easy and stay open, so eventually the team will find the best idea. Branch questions if it is a good idea to spend the limited time at a rave, but the team is later seen at their building raving anyway.
Branch tries to focus the team on building the Piñata, but Holly interrupts to brainstorm word association. This leads them back to the rave. Branch presents his ideas, and DJ Suki is impressed but she builds a bear-looking one, which only dances. Synth reassures Branch that it can do a lot more dances than that. The team thinks that Branch, who loves Battle Piñatas so much, should drive it tomorrow. At first, Branch isn't sure, but then he realizes that this is a chance.
At the event, Poppy introduces the combatants, starting with Biggie, who has a Piñata based on Mr. Dinkles named "Mecha Dinkles", which immediately falls over. Lownote enters "Whacky Thunder", a roller-skate Piñata with a hammer. Dante is introduced, and enters the ring in Rocker-style fashion; he notes "Let's destroy something beautiful!". R&B appear with their UFO-themed Piñata. Poppy finally introduces Branch's team and their "Cuddle Bear". Branch confesses he may have stayed up late to make some adjustments to their Piñata. He has given it a new mode, "Victory mode". Synth and the others are disappointed it doesn't dance anymore, but Branch ensures it still incorporates all their ideas.
The clash begins and the Piñatas face off against each other, one by one being destroyed until Poppy announces that only Cuddle Bear and the Funk Sister's Piñata remain. This lands Cuddle Bear in trouble as R&B have built a better Piñata and Branch is panicking. Holly calls for it to dance, but the Piñata is eventually knocked down. The team all call for it to dance, as now they may not get another chance to see it dance. Branch doesn't want to take the risk as that would cost him victory. Synth, Holly and DJ Suki realize Branch just wanted to do his own thing and not their thing, and they comment about it. Branch feels guilty as the point of this year was that he wanted to be a part of a team of Trolls; he notices the other teams of Trolls are celebrating their defeats with their teammates.
As a change of heart, he reverts the Piñata back to its original mode and Synth tells it to get it to dance. As Synth talks, Branch sees the intention of it dancing to begin with: it was supposed to use dance to fight with. Poppy compliments that this is what Clash of the Battle Piñatas is all about. Team Cuddle Bear wins using its dancing maneuvers. The episode ends with Branch leading his team into a victory rave with the Cuddle Bear.
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;Pop Trolls
*Amanda Leighton as Queen Poppy
*Skylar Astin as Branch
*Fryda Wolff as DJ Suki
*David Fynn as Biggie (non-speaking)
;Country Trolls
*Megan Hilty as Holly Darlin'
;Classical Trolls
*JP Karliak as Dante Crescendo
;Funk Trolls
*Michael-Leon Wooley as Lownote Jones
*Kat Graham as Rhythm & Blues
;Techno Trolls
*Vladimir Caamaño as Synth
;Other
*Gary
*Mr. Dinkles
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*"Let The Games Begin"
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*The episode is a reference to Robot Wars.
*This episode is the 4th time that the Trolls franchise has referenced Rock and Classical style overlap. This is owed to both falling into a organized role system with strings, percussion and vocalists, as well as both genres following music theory equally with almost the same value, whereas most other genres can deviate from it.
*The episode references a common problem with team building exercises, wherein one person's opinions take over the project and all others' ideas, even when beneficial, are rejected in favor of that personal bias. This leaves the other members feeling they are not getting anything from the project.
**The episode also references how on-edge champions can feel about maintain their champion status, causing problems for others.
*Poppy's male announcer voice is a reference to a general male announcer voice used in many different sporting events and commercial ads. The deep voice effect used during Poppy's announcement makes anything sound epic and exciting.
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Piñata Bot Battles - TROLLSTOPIA
Category:Episodes
Category:Trolls: TrollsTopia episodes
Category:Pop Trolls Story Arc Episodes
Category:TT Season 3 episodes
Category:2D animation