Tangled: The Series S2 E14

## Plot

Okay, so a lot of stuff has happened since I last wrote about this show. The group fixed Vardaros and went on a bunch of adventures, Adira showed up two more times, the third scroll piece is of a guy in a hood and the opal, the group was stranded on an island for six weeks and had to rebuild their caravan while they waited for the ferry, Varian had a cameo as an illusion, it was revealed that Cass is four years older than Rapunzel, making her 23, and we the fans had to wait over six months for a new episode. Oh, and it looks like that evil spirit or warlock Zhan Tiri is more important to the show's lore and mythology than I first thought. We flashback to 25 years ago again. King Edmund is dying, and his last wish is that his brotherhood hides the opal's destructive power from the rest of the world. However, Adira wants to go out and find the sun drop, in the hopes that it can neutralize the moonstone. Another member of the brotherhood, Hector, doesn't believe that it exists. He warns her that whether or not it's real and she gets it, she'll still be a traitor to the brotherhood, and if she ever comes back, he'll end her. In the present, Cass and Rapunzel are having a horse race, and Rapunzel notes that she's gotten a lot better at it since she left Corona. Cass stops when she and Fidella come across a gorge filled with black rocks, and despite her telling Rapunzel that it's too wide, she and Max make it and win. They find the titular Great Tree. Rapunzel says that Adira told her that the inside is hollow, and it's the fastest way through the mountains. Cass still doesn't like her or trust her. Later, she tells Rapunzel that jump she made was kind of reckless. However, Rapunzel says that she can handle herself pretty well out in the wild, and she doesn't need someone to keep her safe. This seems to hurt Cass's feelings. Remember, her first few lines in the season premiere were all about how she promised King Frederic that she'd keep Rapunzel safe and warning her to exercise some caution out in the wilderness. And then they see Hector with his giant red-eyed binturongs… riding a rhino. They try to run away from him in the caravan, which is revealed to have gotten an upgrade. Now it can be split in half and driven separately. Adira arrives, and Hector reveals to the others that he knows her. They launch the caravan off the cliff, and Rapunzel catches everyone in her long hair. At the Great Tree, Adira tells them that Hector is a member of the brotherhood, a group sworn to make sure no one reaches the Dark Kingdom. Cass asks how many people are in it. Adira says there's not many, but they've already met one: Quirin, Varian's father. Hector is the most dangerous and sadistic of them all, and the Great Tree is his domain. Adira wants to go through it, but Cass doesn't trust her. Rapunzel agrees with Adira… who reveals that it was once known as the tree of Zhan Tiri. She says it's perfectly harmless now, even if the others are freaked out, given their past experiences with his machinations. Adira explains that millennia ago, the tree was a sentient being, and a force for good, but Zhan Tiri corrupted it and made it destroy any who approached it. It was Zhan Tiri's stronghold. Inside it, he was invincible. Lord Demanitus put a stop to the tree's magic with an enchanted spear. Cass tells Adira that she's watching her, and Adira calls her a servant to the princess and a lady in waiting. Hector and the binturongs search the caravan, and after finding no bodies, Hector deduces that they're still alive and in the tree, and sends the caravan further downstream. Eugene and Lance fall behind the others and get lost when Eugene tries to talk to Lance about the hopelessness of his thing for Adira and points out that he can be really dishonest sometimes. Max and Pascal notice that they're missing and go back to look for them. When the rest of the group notices that they're gone, they want to look for them, but stop when they notice the same symbols from the scroll on the wall. They also have another scroll with some of the translation. Part of it is the healing incantation for the sun drop, revealing that the scroll came from here. There's another incantation for the moonstone, and they wonder what its power is. Rapunzel recites it, but nothing seems to happen at first. However, the plants start wilting, and Rapunzel's eyes and hair turn black. It's like she's under a spell. *Wither and decay End this destiny Break these earthly chains And set the spirit free The spirit free* Well, that's gonna haunt my nightmares for awhile. This power drains life. Rapunzel starts crying, but she doesn't stop singing. Adira uses what's left of her strength to hockey check Rapunzel into the pond, where her hair turns back to normal and she falls unconscious for a few seconds. Cass is glad that she's okay, but upset when she thanks Adira. Eugene, Max, Pascal, and Lance meet up with them. They want to rest at the halfway point at the top of the tree, but Cass wants to keep moving. She tells the others that she thinks Adira is playing them, and for whatever reason, wanted Rapunzel to find and read that moonstone incantation. She says that they need to leave the tree and lose Adira before she gets them all killed, but Rapunzel says she can't do that. She finally yells at her when Cass calls her oblivious and naive. She walks off by herself to keep first watch. We flashback to when Rapunzel was still getting used to life in the castle and as a princess. Cass got her a purse to put stuff in, which she still has, although it's a lot more beat up and personalized now. Rapunzel says that ever since they left Corona, Cass has been different. Eugene tells her that they're not the same people they were six months ago. She talks to Cass, who thinks she doesn't trust her judgment anymore. Rapunzel tells her that she's not that naive girl anymore. Cass is the closest thing she has to a big sister. Ugh, season 3 foreshadowing. She's going to make decisions that Cass disagrees with sometimes, and she has to be okay with that. Rapunzel tells her that she'll take the next shift. Cass sings her first solo, likely stemming from the fact that she barely sang in the first season, despite being voiced by Broadway actress Eden Espinosa, who once played Elphaba in *Wicked*. It's revealed that Cass wants to be a hero, but she doesn't think she'll get a chance to do so if Rapunzel doesn't need someone to protect her. *Guess we all are born with parts to play Some of us are stars, and some are just in the way I know I was meant for glory But that's never what my story brings And yet I keep on waiting When you have the passion and the drive You expect your moment center stage to arrive I show up with heart ablazing Ready to achieve amazing things But I'm left waiting in the wings I hear my cue And yet I'm kept there waiting Know what to do And still I stand there waiting It's always someone else who sings While I'm left waiting in the wings And so I keep on keeping on My chances come and then I blink and they're gone Always overlooked unfairly While pretending that it barely stings But it stings, yes, it stings and I'll shed no tears I'll only keep on waiting If no one cheers Well, I can keep on waiting Who cares how loud! The silence… rings You'll find me waiting in the wings* However, after the song, Hector and his binturongs find Cass. He knocks her out so he can fight Adira. Rapunzel wakes up and sees them, and Hector cuts a section of the tree near them so no one can interrupt their fight. He says she wasted her life looking for the sun drop, but Adira says he and the brotherhood spent years hiding something that no one was even looking for. He points out that keeping the moonstone's existence a secret was the king's wish, and to do anything otherwise is treason. He knocks her out, but he is sorry that it came to this. Before he can kill the others, Cass tries to fight him. She gets beaten up for her troubles. She throws dirt in his eyes and throws him off the platform, along with his binturongs. They survive the fall, and find Lord Demanitus's spear inside the heart of the tree. Hector takes out the spear, but this allows the tree to come back to life and possess him. He sends vines after the group. Adira gets him to drop the spear, and Cass sees that it kills the vines. Rapunzel sees that everyone else has been caught by the vines, and wraps her hair around them to use the moonstone incantation to kill it. Cass tells her not to, and says the spear can kill the vines, but Rapunzel says that she doesn't have a choice. Everyone else is freed and runs away while the tree starts collapsing. Cass grabs the spear, and tells Adira that she's not leaving Rapunzel. She tells her to let go, but she says she can't control it. Cass touches her bare arm… and it burns through her clothes and *turns her right arm black*. She screams, which snaps Rapunzel out of it. Oh my god, it's still twitching… She tells Rapunzel that she could've stopped it, and she should've let her try. Now that the vines are dead, Hector is back to normal. He tells Rapunzel that Cass is right, Adira is lying to her. If she goes to the Dark Kingdom, she's doomed. The vines collapse, and he falls again. Adira tells Rapunzel to stay on the path and that all their destinies lie within her. She grabs the spear and jumps off after Hector. Rapunzel escapes with Cass, sees that Adira, Hector, and the binturongs are all still alive, and watches them leave. Cass tells Rapunzel that she's fine, and it won't happen again. She says that it's Rapunzel's call, returns her purse to her, and like her and Eugene, finally gets an outfit change with a suit of armor she saw on the ground, so she won't get hurt again. Rapunzel says this path has been laid out for her. There is no turning back. She's going to the Dark Kingdom.