Cassandra (Tangled)

Cassandra is a major character in the Tangled franchise. She is the biological daughter of Mother Gothel who was abandoned as a child when Gothel kidnapped Princess Rapunzel and hid away from the world. She was taken in by the Captain of the Guards thereafter, and raised in Corona as a handmaiden. Upon Rapunzel's return to the kingdom, Cassandra was enlisted as the princess's lady-in-waiting. Despite being polar opposites and occasional rivals, Cassandra and Rapunzel developed a close friendship—one that would inspire Cassandra to pursue a bright future despite her troubled background.
==Background==
As revealed in "Rapunzel's Return", Cassandra is the biological daughter of Mother Gothel, though she was severely neglected and was often left to fend for herself and doing chores by herself in their cottage while Gothel went about her daily business. On the night of Rapunzel's kidnapping, Gothel's initial plan was to seek refuge at her cottage, but upon arriving, she found that it was overrun by guardsmen on the hunt for the lost princess. To evade arrest, Gothel cut the bridge connecting her cottage to the mainland and fled the scene, abandoning Cassandra, who witnessed this and was heartbroken. With her mother gone, the Captain of the Guards decided to adopt Cassandra and raise her as his own daughter in the palace of Corona. In the years that followed, Cassandra repressed her memories of Gothel and grew to be intelligent, mature, and an extremely skilled fighter. Taking after her father, she developed a dream to join the royal guard, though she instead served as a lady-in-waiting.
===Development===
Cassandra was initially written and created by Chris Sonnenburg who also finalized her design along with Shane Prigmore. During the early development of Tangled: The Series, the concept of Cassandra came early as Chris needed to answer the question "What is it that Rapunzel NEEDS in her life?" He looked no further than his household and his two daughters. Not only their tight relationship but their many close female friendships as well. During research for the show, Chris stumbled upon an early sketch of Rapunzel's mother who at that point in the initial development of the movie was a warrior "Joan of Arc" type. Drawn to this image, Chris knew then she would play an important part in Rapunzel's story in some way. Early concept art suggested that Cassandra would have been more of a Robin Hood-esque figure; complete with bow and arrow.
Story revisionist Amber Vanich revealed that Cassandra was written to be "gay-coded", and that she was intended to give "sapphic looks" towards Rapunzel in the episode "Rapunzel: Day One". She further revealed that the majority of women who boarded the scenes that featured Cassandra were mostly those who identified as queer, adding their own personal experience to the character.
===Personality===
Cassandra is described as being "tough-as-nails", a fitting description for someone who wishes to join the royal guard. She is snarky, sarcastic and has a somewhat dry sense of humor. She is also very intelligent, often subtly insulting Eugene in clever ways that go over his head. Despite this, she is extremely supportive and protective toward Rapunzel, her polar opposite—so much so, that she openly holds animosity for Eugene, believing him to be a selfish freeloader and undeserving of Rapunzel's love and friendship. In the series, however, their relationship gradually becomes less hostile, and slightly more playful as the two spend more time together. In "Fitzherbert P.I.", Cassandra genuinely admired Eugene's determination to become a royal guard, and actively assisted him in proving his worth to her father. It was later shown that Eugene's quirkiness had started to warm up to Cassandra, who found amusement in his excitement to school the guards as head of a training class.
Aside from her no-nonsense persona, Cassandra is also a free-spirit, not unlike Rapunzel. Though she has a more cynical way of going about life, Cassandra also finds joy in adventure, living life to the fullest, and experiencing new things. This is most notably seen during "Wind in My Hair", where Cassandra is seen enjoying herself almost as much as Rapunzel.
Although loyal to King Frederic and Queen Arianna, Cassandra is willing to break their rules (and risk her job) for the sake of Rapunzel's happiness and to accomplish her dreams; this is seen when Cassandra offered to take Rapunzel beyond the kingdom's wall to explore some of the outside worlds and escape the pressures of royalty. Doing so required much stealth and cunning, traits Cassandra revealed herself to have abundantly that night.
In "Challenge of the Brave", it is revealed that Cassandra has some insecurities about how she is seen just like a girl/handmaiden instead of a strong, skilled, and capable warrior who deserves as much respect as anyone in the royal guard. These insecurities, and the desire to prove herself can sometimes drive Cassandra to act selfishly, even to those she cares about. Once she realizes her mistakes, however, Cassandra is mature enough to own up to her faults and make amends as best she can. Cassandra's cynical nature gives her trust issues. Examples are that she doesn't forgive people easily, she doesn't like sharing her feelings, keeps secrets to herself, or she won't accept help. This is one of the reasons she has a rivalry with Eugene because he was a thief in the past and she thinks he's ignorant enough to not address other people's feelings.
In "Not in the Mood", her personality develops a bit. She likes to show no mercy toward not just Eugene, but other suspicious-looking people. She later realizes she should be more compassionate. For starters, she made friends with a man who was large and scary, but friendly.
She still has a firm belief that strangers can't be trusted, especially when they lurk in the shadows. She jumps to conclusions about people's actions rather quickly. If she doesn't like someone, she'll fight them. She even fights just for the fun of it, not in the mood for being nice.
Throughout Season 2, Cassandra's seriousness about the journey ahead grows to a point where she becomes resentful at the group's dismissals of her concerns. Her hand is injured due to Rapunzel's use of the Decay Incantation in "Rapunzel and the Great Tree" which she and Rapunzel struggle to communicate about; a growing crack in their relationship that only got worse when she discovered her backstory in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow and that her mother chose Rapunzel over her, which soon motivates her to betray Rapunzel and take the Moonstone for herself. She then ran away with the opal, opting to use its powers to make her destiny apart from Rapunzel and her former friends.
Cassandra's anger towards Rapunzel is stoked by Zhan Tiri throughout Season 3, who encourages her to blame Rapunzel for Gothel abandoning her. Although Cassandra has moments of weakness, under Zhan Tiri's encouragement she attacks Rapunzel in order to obtain the Demanitus Scroll. It is also revealed that due to Gothel’s abuse, neglect, and eventual abandonment of her had caused Cassandra to feel insecure and unloved which is exploited by Zhan Tiri to manipulate Cassandra into ignoring the real reason why Gothel abandoned her and lash out at the people who truly cared about her. As depicted in the episode "Cassandra's Revenge", she has become increasingly ruthless under Zhan Tiri's influence. However, there are some lines she is still not willing to cross, such as sparing Pascal and Varian's life, who has been in the same position as her. However, she tells him they are not as similar as he says, and rejects his pleas for her to stop.
However, in "A Tale of Two Sisters", Cassandra being stuck with Rapunzel under Gothel's old cottage gradually causes her to become protective and warm-hearted towards her once more. They even reminisce and bond over the old times, only for a misunderstanding caused by Zhan Tiri to misguide Cassandra into believing that Rapunzel intentionally withheld a seemingly happy memory between Gothel and Cassandra from her.
In "Once a Handmaiden...", after realizing that Zhan Tiri tricked her and that her mother never really loved her, Cassandra becomes remorseful over her actions and seeks to make amends with Rapunzel. However, she expresses fear that Rapunzel won't forgive her, and comes back to Corona disguised as Faith and manages to bond with Rapunzel again. Unfortunately, after Zhan Tiri manipulates her yet again, Cassandra comes to believe Rapunzel intends to destroy her after being struck by amber from Varian's Project Obsidian, causing her to turn her back on her once more.
In "Plus Est En Vous", Cassandra's anger has made her completely mistrustful, and any remembrance of Rapunzel's "betrayal" causes her to destroy things in a rage. She also no longer trusts Zhan Tiri, possibly blaming her for most of the events that transpired. As she and Rapunzel fight, Cassandra sadistically mocks her and reminds her of how she's always felt second best. Cassandra seems to hold some fondness left for Rapunzel by sparing the frame picture she made her that was kept in her old room as she only put it down and a jar made by her Aunt Willow, which she holds dear. However, this fondness wasn't enough for Cassandra to spare her entirely and just as she was about to eliminate Rapunzel, Zhan Tiri took both the Moonstone and SunDrop from them, reducing Rapunzel's hair back to its natural color and Cassandra back to her old self, Cassandra gets told by Zhan Tiri that is indeed like her villainous mother; having an ego. While imprisoned, Cassandra breaks down in tears for all of her heinous actions and finally apologizes to Rapunzel, revealing that she all she wanted was to find her own destiny and set out a path for herself, but let her insecurities blind her from those needs. Rapunzel forgives Cassandra and says that there is more in her, more than she has ever known, which instills a new confidence in her. Once they break out of the prison and defeat Zhan Tiri, Cass was gravely injured in the scuffle and apparently died, but was revived by Rapunzel by using the Moonstone and SunDrop. She later leaves Corona after tearfully bidding farewell to Rapunzel, acknowledging themselves as best friends, and sets out to travel the world and find her destiny.
===Physical appearance===
Cassandra strongly resembles her biological mother, Gothel, in many ways: she is a tall, slender, pale-skinned young woman with dark pink lips, grey-green eyes and short, and grey-streaked black hair with frizzes. Her graying hair could allude to her mother's longevity, implying that Cassandra is also older than she looks.
In her childhood, she had longer wavy hair which went past her shoulders and wore a green dress with a dark green apron and dark green shoes.
Her signature outfit is a long-sleeved grayish-brown tunic with dark red collared dress underneath, black leather gloves, a dark brown belt with a purse and a dagger on it, dark brown-and-red striped leggings and brown boots.
When performing her duties as Rapunzel's handmaiden, Cassandra dresses in a blue and white dress, with a white headdress, a white choker, and light blue slippers.
Since attempting to touch Rapunzel while she was reciting the Moonstone incantation, Cassandra's right hand and wrist were turned pitch black. To cover for her injuries, Cassandra donned a knight's armor and a purple cape.
When she is corrupted by the Moonstone Opal, her hair and eyes turn turquoise and her clothes turn into an indestructible black and dark blue armor with spikes similar to the Black Rocks. The Moonstone opal itself becomes embedded in her chest, where the dark blue accented in a spiral from the left side around her torso down to her left leg. Over time, Cassandra's skin tone becomes paler, and in Race to the Spire she steals a black shapeshifting hooded cloak similar to her mother's, which she wears until Once a Handmaiden....
After the Moonstone was stolen from her body, her original tones returned and her armor became plain and dark brown. She later sported a green tunic similar looking to her season 1 outfit, with her torn handmaiden headdress wrapped around her right arm and a dark green cape, along with her Cassandrium Necklace.
===Abilities===
Cassandra possesses skills in horseback riding, fencing, archery, athletics, and other skills in combat; which she had learned for being the daughter of the Captain of the Guards. She is also shown to be very clever when she understood Rapunzel's clues, had helped Varian with his project and spotted the mistakes in letters from a suspicious character. As well as possessing skills in acting, as she had tricked a Separatist of Saporia member into thinking that she has feelings for him, so he would come to Corona and she could uncover his true intentions. Cassandra also has skills in sewing, cleaning and other skills that are needed for her handmaiden duties.
After bonding with the Moonstone's power, she, most likely, receives the life-draining power that it possesses, as evidenced by its energy coursing through her hair, although she never attempted to use it though the Decay incantation, possibly because she knew how dangerous it was. She also has control over the Black Rocks which was first seen when she creates some to escape the Dark Kingdom, and when she learned the third incantation, she masters her powers to the point she was able to build her own tower out of the Black Rocks.
Due to her connection to the Black Rocks, they respond to her emotions, as seen when she was afraid of the idea of destroying Rapunzel, the rocks turned red and gained the ability to show people their worst fears until becoming paralyzed with fright if they stare to them too long.
After being reduced back to her normal state, Cassandra has lost all of her newfound powers, rendering her as once again a normal woman.
==Appearances==
===Tangled: Before Ever After===
Cassandra is first seen waiting for Rapunzel's return from a ride with Eugene at Corona's village gates. From there, Cassandra takes Rapunzel to attend to the various duties of a princess, specifically in preparation for her upcoming coronation ceremony to officially crown her as heir to the throne. Rapunzel laments her feelings about the stress of the pressures of royalty overwhelming her. Cassandra believes the princess should take a break regardless of what her father wishes, but Rapunzel refuses to do so. Later at a dinner event, Cassandra sits with Pascal, while Rapunzel sits with her parents, and Eugene sits at the children's table (an arrangement made by Cassandra, who was in charge of seating). Eugene takes the time to propose to Rapunzel, but due to her fears of being bound to live in the castle, Rapunzel rejects the proposal and leaves. Seeing the princess upset angers Cassandra, who glares at Eugene.
That night, Rapunzel agrees to relieve her built-up tension by following Cassandra beyond Corona's border wall to explore the outside world for the night. Cassandra gears up for the adventure, providing Rapunzel with a hooded cloak and the two sneak their way out through a hidden passageway. They journey through the night forest until Cassandra takes Rapunzel to a specific spot where the golden flower that saved Queen Arianna and the yet-to-be-born Rapunzel was grown, which was now occupied by mysterious spiked black rocks. Suddenly, when Rapunzel touches the rocks, a blast of magic hits the two that cause Rapunzel's magic, golden hair to return.
The two return to the castle where Cassandra tries desperately to cut the hair. However, like the rocks, it's unbreakable. When Eugene arrives, an anxious Cassandra urges Rapunzel not to tell him about the hair, fearing he'll tell the king and queen, which would cost Cassandra her job. He discovers the hair regardless, but the three agree to keep it a secret from everyone else, including Rapunzel's parents. What Eugene still doesn't know, however, is how the hair came to grow again. Cassandra refuses to tell him, and when confronted about her behavior towards him, Eugene discovers that his unintentional selfishness in regards to Rapunzel is partially to blame.
At Rapunzel's coronation, the hair is kept hidden beneath a wig, only to be revealed when she needs to utilize it as a weapon to fight off a band of thieves. While Rapunzel and Eugene fight off the goons, Cassandra takes on their leader Lady Caine. Caine is defeated and arrested for her crimes, though Rapunzel is reprimanded by King Frederic for the hair, Cassandra's part in restoring it was left out by Rapunzel.
===Tangled: The Series===
====Season One====
In the premiere episode, "What the Hair?!", a week has passed since the return of Rapunzel's hair, and Cassandra is dead set on ensuring her involvement remains a secret. Rapunzel feels increasingly guilty over keeping Eugene in the dark, but Cassandra reminds her that if the secret is revealed, she would lose her job and be sent to a convent as punishment. After Cassandra subsequently proves Eugene's inability to keep a secret, Rapunzel agrees, though not without apprehension. By the end of the day, Rapunzel finally reveals the truth to Eugene, though he promises to keep it between them for Cassandra's sake.
Meanwhile, Cassandra deals with issues of her own, particularly about her goal of becoming a guard, which proves to be difficult due to both her father's overprotective nature and the reception she receives from the public (who viewed Cassandra as a mere servant girl, incapable of anything more). In "Challenge of the Brave", Cassandra enters a challenge that tests the strength of its competitors to determine who is the mightiest warrior in all the seven kingdoms. She is shown as increasingly strong and capable, even sacrificing her win in the end to save Rapunzel and single-handedly take down the last competitor. Though technically she loses in the end to Rapunzel, she nevertheless earns praise for her strength and exceptional fighting skills. Later in "Great Expotations", the guard is low on staff due to the kingdom's science fair, forcing the Captain to entrust Cassandra with filling in for the day, on the condition that she finishes her chores first. Varian asks Cassandra to act as his assistant during his presentation, and she agrees in exchange for having Varian handle her chores. This allows her to take on guard duty, but after being assigned to guard the esteemed Dr. St. Croix, Cassandra abandons Varian during his presentation. As a result of not having a reliable assistant, Varian is disqualified. Cassandra apologizes for her behavior and offers her help when the experiments of the fair nearly destroy the castle. Proud of her actions, the Captain offers Cassandra another assignment as part of the guard, though she denies in favor of helping Varian clean up the mess.
Despite things ending on good terms, the Captain was not satisfied with her performance at the science fair. In "Under Raps", Cassandra discovered — what she believed to be — a potential villain with interest in an ancient journal that originally belonged to one of Corona's previous kings. Cassandra sees this as an opportunity to prove her competence to her father and invites the mysterious foreigner (named Andrew), to see the journal while it is open to the public. By manipulating him into believing she was in love with him, Cassandra discovers that Andrew is part of a separatist organization bent on destroying Corona. With some help from Rapunzel and Eugene, Cassandra manages to defeat Andrew and save the book. She is hailed as a hero for her efforts, receives a Medal of Honor, and becomes the talk of the kingdom, as a result.
By the time of "Secret of the Sun Drop", King Frederic has discovered that Cassandra was the one that leads Rapunzel over Corona's border wall and orders for her to be sent to a convent as punishment. Regretfully and with a heavy heart, the Captain abides by the king's decision, disappointing his daughter immensely. Before she can leave, however, the castle is attacked by a feral monstrosity sent by a now-villainous Varian. The Captain is injured during the attack, prompting Cassandra to take command of the guards in his place. Cassandra's bravery and competence earn her stay in the castle. Unfortunately, Queen Arianna had been kidnapped during the siege, prompting the King to issue an assault upon Varian. With the Captain wounded, Cassandra is chosen to assume his position and lead the assault, which she does confidently, with Eugene, Maximus, and Lance by her side.
Toward the end of the episode, Rapunzel defeats Varian and reconciles with her father. The rocks, meanwhile, form a path leading somewhere beyond Corona's walls, prompting Rapunzel to follow its trail.
====Season Two====
Cassandra joins Rapunzel on her journey—as does Eugene, Lance, Hook Foot, and Shorty, much to Cassandra's chagrin. According to "Beyond the Corona Walls", Cassandra made a promise to King Frederic that she'll keep Rapunzel safe on their journey, and keeps to her promise with her usual protective and callous nature. She also eventually meets her match with Adira, an eccentric, yet skilled warrior that introduces herself as a guide for Rapunzel and her allies, whom Cassandra quickly starts to dislike.
In "Rapunzel and the Great Tree", Cassandra, Rapunzel, and their friends stumble across the Great Tree. Upon getting inside of it, Adira reveals to the company that the tree once was a stronghold of the powerful dark sorcerer Zhan Tiri, thus making Cassandra even more suspicious about her. When she tries to tell Rapunzel to leave Adira, the princess refuses and tells Cassandra that she'll sometimes make decisions they won't always agree on, which makes the latter feel like she's waiting in the wings for Rapunzel and her friends.
thumb|left|250px|Cassandra's hand gets burned by the power of reverse incantation.
When the sinister warrior Hector attacks the company, Cassandra fights back and ultimately pushes him off the ledge. However, Hector comes back, possessed by the Heart of Zhan Tiri's tree. Despite Cassandra's protests, Rapunzel decides to use the reverse incantation, that she found before the attack, to destroy the vines holding Hector. At that moment Cassandra notices a magic spear and tries to convince Rapunzel to let her use it against the tree, but the incantation's power proves itself to be way too uncontrollable for the princess to stop using it. In an attempt to stop her, Cassandra touches Rapunzel's arm, but the incantation's destructive power severely burns her right arm, turning it pitch black. When everyone escaped from the falling tree, Cassandra finds a suit of armor and puts it on to protect her body from further pain. In the time following these events, Cassandra remains bitter, blaming Rapunzel for the events that transpired. Rapunzel tries to communicate with Cassandra about the tension between them, but the reserved Cassandra is hesitant to do so.
In "Mirror, Mirror", a powerful storm forces the group to take shelter in a peculiar inn hosted by a man named Matthews. During their time there, Cassandra hears a mysterious voice calling her to a room that sucks her inside. When she escapes, the house has been destroyed, though Rapunzel and her friends are all safe. Rapunzel questions Cassandra on her absence, but she, upset by some reason, is quick to brush off any suspicion. Later, Rapunzel and Eugene can uncover the final piece of a scroll detailing Rapunzel's connection to the rocks with the help of Lord Demanitus. Before his departure, Demanitus warns Eugene that someone will betray Rapunzel before their journey comes to an end and Eugene notices Cassandra smiling sinisterly. Though Eugene has come to love Cassandra like an "annoying sister", he believes her to be the most likely candidate and warns Rapunzel about the matter in "Destinies Collide". Rapunzel believes Demanitus was wrong and continues forth to the Dark Kingdom, where she is destined to connect with the source of the black rocks (a life-killing opal) and restore balance to the world. Inside the Dark Kingdom's castle, Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra approach the opal together. Before Rapunzel can touch it and fulfill her destiny, Cassandra grabs it, instead, declares that she's fulfilling her destiny and merges the opal with her body—magically altering her body, eyes and, hair. Once the alteration is over, Cassandra sinisterly tells Rapunzel that she should have been careful who she trusted.
====Season Three====
In the prologue of "Rapunzel's Return", it reveals what Cassandra had seen in the mysterious room she walked into at The House of Yesterday's Tomorrow during "Rapunzeltopia". There she met an enchanted girl who shows her younger self with her biological mother, who turns out to be Gothel, on the night that Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel, however, she and her child self watch in dismay as Gothel takes down the bridge to their house before she leaves Cassandra all on her own with the Royal guards while taking Rapunzel with her. Being reminded of her past had caused Cassandra to cry to herself as the spirit convinced her that she would always be overshadowed by Rapunzel, which would ultimately lead her to double-cross her in the Dark Kingdom.
She angrily declares that Rapunzel's destiny belongs to her as Rapunzel asks her to let her help before she is ultimately confronted by Adira, easily repelling her, stealing her Shadow Blade, and fleeing the Moonstone Opal's chamber, with the Black Rocks covering her escape. Rapunzel chases after her in an attempt to convince her to come back, but Cassandra refuses to listen to reason and uses her stolen Shadow Blade to slice away the bridge of Black Rocks she created to make her getaway, leaving Rapunzel heartbroken over the thought that her best friend is now her newest enemy and later Cassandra, alongside Owl watch their former friends going back to Corona in hot air balloon.
At the end of "Return of the King", Cassandra is trying to harness the power of the Moonstone, but cannot make it work on the Black Rocks as she did earlier. Then she hears the familiar voice of the Enchanted Girl, who explains in "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" that the Moonstone's powers tap into the anger and hatred of the user, and tells her to delve into the depths of her rage, reminding her of Rapunzel. Upon hearing this advice, Cassandra begins to learn to harness her new powers. In "Beginnings", when Cassandra finds an old painting of her and Rapunzel and begins to feel guilty about her betrayal to Rapunzel, the Enchanted Girl reveals when Rapunzel first touched the Black Rocks, the Moonstone granted a part of its power to her, causing her hair to become indestructible and protective to ensure she would be safe on her journey to the Dark Kingdom and reunite with the opal. With this revelation, Cassandra tears up the picture of her and Rapunzel, cementing her role as the Princess's newest enemy.
In "Be Very Afraid", Cassandra's fear towards the idea of destroying Rapunzel causes the Black rocks to turn into red rocks. Causing them to grow in Corona and reveal the citizens' worst fears, when Rapunzel touches one of the rocks at the same time as Cassandra they can sense each other. Rapunzel can tell that Cassandra is still good inside. Later Rapunzel reveals to a reformed Varian her biggest fear is losing Cassandra as a friend forever (along with the kingdom in ruins). At the end of the episode, she tells Eugene that there is still a chance to save her.
 
In "Islands Apart", it's revealed that she had fought with her adoptive father, the Captain of the Guards, and called him out for keeping her mother's identity a secret from her. She left him feeling guilty for his actions and he went to live on Terapi Island with a fake four-year-old Cassandra, which he wished for out of guilt. But the wish came at the price of having its magic turn against him by creating an army of Cassandras who attack Rapunzel and Eugene, who found him at the island. But, fortunately, Rapunzel convinced him to take back the wish and to not give up on the real Cassandra. Meanwhile, the real Cassandra, who has become paler and the Enchanted Girl went to the Great Tree to look for the incantation scrolls to help her learn how to harness the powers of both the Sun Drop and the Moonstone, only to find them destroyed. But when the Enchanted Girl mentions Demanitus' scroll as the other way to do it, Cassandra realizes that they have to return to Corona.
In "Cassandra's Revenge", Cassandra comes back to Corona and crashes Eugene's birthday party. Cassandra demands Rapunzel to give up the scroll and goes to find it in Varian's new lab. She even kidnaps Varian because he remembers the scroll and takes him to the site of Rapunzel's Tower, where she doses him with his own truth serum to force him to reveal her the third incantation, which she uses to build her own tower out of the black rocks and takes Varian as her prisoner and tells him that she doesn't want to hurt him and to not try anything foolish. Knowing that the path of destruction and rage won't get her anywhere, Varian tries to urge Cassandra to stop what she is doing, but she refuses to listen to him and ultimately traps Varian in a cage, pushing it away at the edge of her tower.
Cassandra soon finds Pascal as he tries to sneak into her tower without being seen, but Rapunzel finds her with the question of whether Pascal is alright, and Cassandra gives him back to her. Rapunzel says she doesn't want to fight Cassandra since they're supposed to be friends, but Cassandra forces her to fight by threatening Eugene. During the battle, Rapunzel unleashes the incantation of the Sundrop's full power, which destroys Cassandra's tower and pushes her off, making her fall from her tower and forcing her to save herself with her powers. In the wake of the battle, Cassandra realizes that the Moonstone has been chipped, and then sees the Enchanted Girl has regained her normal form.
In "Race to the Spire", after rebuilding her fortress, Cassandra and Zhan Tiri headed over to the spire to get an item from Calliope. Although they got the item but failed to get the key due to Calliope sending it to Rapunzel, Cassandra and Zhan Tiri formed a plan to get the key from her. However, when Rapunzel realizes the ruse, Cassandra revealed herself. When the item was revealed to be the Mind-Trap stone, Cassandra and Zhan Tiri were able to get it when Rapunzel chose Calliope's safety as they took advantage of her compassion. After returning to her fortress, Cassandra used the Mind-Trap stone to control the Brotherhood of the Dark Kingdom.
In "A Tale of Two Sisters", hearing rumors through Zhan Tiri about Gothel's ghost haunting her old cottage, Cassandra investigates her childhood home and saw Rapunzel there as well, and an angry Cassandra attacked her. While fighting, Cassandra and Rapunzel ended up in a mine when the cottage accidentally fell over. After making a temporary truce to work together to deal with the cave animals, Cassandra and Rapunzel notice Mother Gothel's old magic mirrors that she used to record herself flaunting about her beauty and forcing four-year-old Cassandra to do chores. Seeing this, Cassandra begins to question her mother's love for her. However, after escaping from being burned to death and when she and Rapunzel reconnect again, Cassandra notices one of her mother's mirrors in Rapunzel's bag, which was put there by Zhan Tiri in her attempts to keep their friendship broken. Believing her former friend lied to her when she sees the memory of being given the music box from her mother as a show of her love, Cassandra left Rapunzel to die in the mines. Just as she leaves, Cassandra ended up feeling guilty when Rapunzel pleaded for help but shook it off and continued to walk away. Cassandra returned to her fortress, under the belief that her mother loved her, unaware that Zhan Tiri stole a piece of her mother's mirror that shows that she saw her as a pest and only gave her the music box to keep her daughter away from her and threw it out to prevent her from making amends with Rapunzel.
In "Once a Handmaiden...", Cassandra was outside her fortress where she notices something shining. Realizing it's the missing piece from her mother's mirror, Cassandra puts the piece in the mirror and sees the full memory, discovering that Rapunzel was telling the truth about Mother Gothel not loving either of them when she sees that her mother only saw her as a pest. Cassandra confronts Zhan Tiri, after realizing that she tricked her into turning against the first friend she ever had. During the confrontation, Cassandra finds out who her mentor really is and leaves her fortress ashamed for her actions, especially when she sees a wanted poster of herself. After reuniting with Owl, Cassandra decides to sneak into Corona by using the magic cloak she stole from the Spire to impersonate Rapunzel's new handmaiden Faith to make things right with the Princess. At first it worked well, with Cassandra in disguise convincing the people of Corona to celebrate the goodwill festival, helping Rapunzel and Eugene to catch a gopher (which almost revealed her true identity to them with the gophers removing the cloak and Cassandra calling Rapunzel for her nickname) and finally with Cassandra portraying Rapunzel in a play which depicts her battle with the Princess, with her portraying Cassandra. During the good will festival at Corona, Cassandra was confronted by Zhan Tiri, who becomes more determined to make sure she doesn't reconcile with the Princess and to put her plan into action, as she tells her about Rapunzel authorizing a weapon that could be used against her, unaware that she did it out of protecting the kingdom and would only use it as a last resort. Despite being scared that Rapunzel wouldn't forgive her and not entirely convinced of Zhan Tiri's claim of the weapon she was talking about, Cassandra meets up with the Princess in her cloak disguise. However, Cassandra was revealed when Zhan Tiri, who made sure she wasn't seen by the two girls, removes the cloak in front of Rapunzel. Due to everyone seeing her as a threat, Cassandra couldn't explain to Rapunzel her reasons for coming into Corona. Cassandra fought off the guards but calmed down when Rapunzel pleads with her that it isn't too late to make things right. However, Cassandra believes that Rapunzel now sees her as a threat like everyone else when Zhan Tiri fires the weapon Varian was holding in order to trick her into taking over Corona for her. After knocking Rapunzel out and driving everyone out of the kingdom with the mind-controlled Brotherhood, Cassandra sits alone in the throne room, unaware that she helped Zhan Tiri put her plans into motion.
 
In the series finale "Plus Est En Vous", following her hostile takeover of Corona, Cassandra pays her former room in the castle a visit. Filled with rage, she proceeds to destroy everything that reminds her of Rapunzel and her old life as a handmaiden, although she left the picture and necklace in the room untouched. As the solar eclipse draws near, which goes as far as to weaken Rapunzel's power, Zhan Tiri tries to convince Cassandra to defeat Rapunzel and claim the Sundrop. Though Cassandra agrees to do so, she reveals that she no longer trusts Zhan Tiri, due to all of the times the demon has manipulated her, and imprisons her in a cage made of black rocks.
Once the people of Corona have infiltrated the castle, Cassandra personally confronts Rapunzel and Pascal in the castle halls. When Rapunzel refused to give up on her, Cassandra rebuffs it and attempts to kill her. The two engage in mortal combat, with Cassandra weaponizing vases and the black rocks against the princess. Just when it seems like Rapunzel has the upper hand, Cassandra turns her power into a weakness, and transports her to her room.
There, once the eclipse has finally come, Cassandra depowers Rapunzel and nearly obtains the Sundrop, only for Zhan Tiri, who escaped the cage using one of Varian's vials, to jump in and grab both the Sundrop and Moonstone. This causes Cassandra to lose her power as well, and she and Rapunzel watch Zhan Tiri transform into a huge demonic creature. Cassandra was mocked by Zhan Tiri for failing by her ego, like her mother was, and traps her and Rapunzel in a cage made of Sun rocks.
Imprisoned together, Cassandra finally regrets her actions in front of Rapunzel and apologizes to her. Hearing Rapunzel say the phrase "Plus est en vous", Cassandra regains her confidence and gives Rapunzel the chipped sliver of the Moonstone which enables her to free them from their prison. Afterwards, the two of them team up once more and are able to make the Sundrop and Moonstone collide, destroying Zhan Tiri. However, Cassandra dies in the resulting shockwave, that is until Rapunzel uses the Healing Incantation to revive her and everyone else, before sending the Sundrop and the Moonstone back to space. With peace restored, Cassandra embraces Rapunzel and Eugene.
After reconciling with her adoptive father and gaining a new green outfit, Cassandra bids farewell to Rapunzel and leaves Corona with Owl and Fidella, free to find her true destiny and to no longer be waiting in the wings, thus explaining her absence at the wedding in Tangled Ever After.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*In "Rapunzel's Enemy" and "Fitzherbert P.I.", it is shown that Cassandra respects Corona's history a great deal, and considers it an esteemed honour to uphold the kingdom's traditions.
*According to "Great Expotations", Cassandra has been training to join the guard since she was six.
*In "Keeper of the Spire", she is revealed to be four years older than Rapunzel.
*Cassandra is the second of Rapunzel's allies to turn against her, the first being Varian (they both managed to redeem themselves).
*In "Cassandra's Revenge", despite claiming she and Varian aren't the same, she shares similarities with Varian as both turned against Rapunzel due to their anger towards her that stemmed from misguided, impulsive, yet self-important, feelings of bitterness (Cassandra being upset with Rapunzel for being 'chosen' by Gothel over her and not seeing the vain and selfish person Gothel is, and Varian feeling betrayed due to Rapunzel's inability to help him during the blizzard threatening Corona and the lives of people, and still believed that Rapunzel should have gone with him over saving the kingdom). Fortunately, they managed to realize the error of their ways and redeemed themselves. Additionally, a few of Cassandra's actions towards Rapunzel, Corona, and the people that the princess cares about were somewhat similar to the ones that Varian had done in "Secret of the Sun Drop".
**They both had villain arcs involving them turning against Rapunzel due to feeling unappreciated by her. Though they start small in their misdeeds (Varian only stealing the Sundrop Flower to save his father but endangered the kingdom, and Cassandra only leaving after taking the Moonstone but endangered the world), certain further events push them further into villainy, culminating in them posing a threat to the Kingdom of Corona as a whole and attempting to kill Rapunzel.
*Cassandra hates talking about feelings, which she reveals in "Rapunzel: Day One". She even states the thought of it makes her feel queasy.
*Although the Sundrop revived Cassandra in the series finale, it's unknown if it also healed her injured hand. However, given that she is seen wearing a metal armor gauntlet on her right hand rather than a normal glove like on her left hand, it is likely that it is still injured.
==References==
<tabber>
|-|Tangled=
|-|Disney Tsum Tsum=
|-|Chibi Tiny Tales=
</tabber>
de:Cassandra (Rapunzel)
nl:Cassandra (Rapunzel)
pt-br:Cassandra (Enrolados)
ru:Кассандра (Рапунцель)
Category:Females
Category:Disney characters
Category:Tangled characters
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:Servants
Category:Animated characters
Category:Swordsmen
Category:Heroines
Category:Archers
Category:Orphans
Category:Transformed characters
Category:Birds
Category:Adults
Category:Horsemen
Category:Siblings
Category:Comic characters
Category:Characters Under Spells
Category:German characters
Category:Magic Users
Category:Villains
Category:Main antagonists
Category:Anti-heroes
Category:Those brought back to life
Category:Deuteragonists
Category:Tritagonists
Category:Disney Channel characters
Category:Adopted characters
Category:LGBTQ+ characters
Category:Chibi Tiny Tales