The Way of the Willow

***The Way of the Willow*** is the fifteenth episode in the first season of the Disney Channel animated series, *Tangled: The Series*.

## Contents

* 1 Synopsis
* 2 Plot
* 3 Cast
* 4 Trivia
* 5 Gallery
* 6 Transcript
* 7 References

## Synopsis

When Rapunzel discovers that Queen Arianna has an estranged sister, she invites her newly discovered Aunt Willow to Corona.

## Plot

It is Queen Arianna's birthday, and she plans to spend it with Rapunzel on a mother and daughter trip to watch the upcoming Empyrean Meteor Shower on the peak of Mount Saison. She is looking forward to their first trip together after eighteen years of being apart. Just when she thinks all is perfect, she receives an unexpected surprise visit from her younger sister, Willow. During her visit, Willow gives Arianna a strange furry little creature with a rattle for her birthday, known as an Uumlaut, and meets her long lost niece, who both discover they have a lot in common. Arianna becomes quietly irritated by her sister's presence, especially when she has plans to spend some Mother and Daughter time with Rapunzel. Just when she thinks nothing else could ruin her special day, Willow volunteers to come along on their trip to see the shower.

Soon, Rapunzel, Arianna, and Willow were out in the forest, and in sight of Mount Saison where they hope to see the Shower. Along the way, they visit The Snuggly Duckling where Willow tells the Pub Thugs stories about the misadventures she and her sister had when they were kids. She also tells them about the time they tried to build a cape kite, and how Arianna ended up crashing it into their father's carriage. All the while, Arianna is left feeling embarrassed, especially when Willow brings up the nicknames she used to give her like Darianna, because she did anything Willow dared. Meanwhile back at the castle, Eugene, Pascal, and Lance are preparing for a camping trip to see the Imperian Meteor shower as well. They are visited by King Frederic, who feels left out of all the fun. To make him feel better, Lance invites Fredric to come along, despite Eugene's objections. He considers Lance to be a slob and ill-mannered around noble people like the King. However, Frederic accepts the invite. As he leaves to get his things, Eugene severely expects Lance to be on his best behavior around the King, but has his doubts.

By evening, Rapunzel, Arianna, and Willow had left the Snuggly Duckling, and were almost at the southern ridge on Mount Saison. Arianna becomes more and more irritated by Willow, that she finally bursts out her frustrations in front of her face and storms off for a minute to cool off. Meanwhile, Lance is not even trying to be well-mannered in front of the King, and starts to get on Eugene's nerves. Back on Mount Saison, Rapunzel and Willow are waiting for the Empyrean Shower to arrive. When the shower does come, Arianna misses seeing it with Rapunzel after a while sulking. In her frustration, she throws away the Uumlaut's rattle, which has been ringing it all day. Arianna meets up with Rapunzel and Willow after seeing the shower, and has a private argument with her sister. All the while, Rapunzel discovers that the Uumlaut is multiplying, and the only way to stop it is to give back the original Uumlaut its rattle. They soon find it in a tree on the edge of the ridge, but fail to give it back to the original Uumlaut in time. The Uumlauts charge through the forest towards where Eugene, Pascal, Lance and Frederic are camping. They escape the Uumlaut stampede, and reunite with Rapunzel, Arianna and Willow. They notice that the Uumlauts are heading straight for the Kingdom. Working together, they build a cape kite big enough to carry Willow and Arianna. Arianna flies them over the Uumlaut stampede, and Arianna attracts the attention of the original Uumlaut by shaking its rattle. Once the Uumlaut gets its rattle back, the other Uumlauts disappear. The next day, Willow sets out to continue her travels, but not before saying goodbye to Rapunzel and Arianna, who both reconcile. Despite her Birthday not turning out the way she hoped, Arianna admits that she enjoyed it in the end, as did Rapunzel. However, they are both shocked to discover that Willow left the Uumlaut with them instead of taking it with her.

## Cast

* Mandy Moore as Rapunzel
* Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider
* Clancy Brown as King Frederic
* Julie Bowen as Queen Arianna
* James Monroe Iglehart as Lance Strongbow
* Jane Krakowski as Willow
* Jeffrey Tambor as Big Nose
* Steve Blum as Attila
* Charles Halford as Vladimir
* Paul F. Tompkins as Shorty
* Jeff Ross as Hook Foot

## Trivia

* This is the second episode in which Cassandra does not appear.
* An "*umlaut*" [*sic*] is a diacritical mark, usually consisting of two dots in a horizontal line, that appears over certain vowels in German and other languages to mark a change in the value of the vowel being pronounced; for example, ü is u-umlaut, pronounced medially between English "oo" and "ee."