Tangled: The Series S1 E20

## Plot

Not long after the previous episode, Rapunzel returns to the castle and confronts her father. He claims that he just wanted to protect her, and didn't want to cause a panic. Rapunzel says that he's not the first person to lie to her and tell her that she's not ready for the real world. Ouch. Compared to Gothel. She's right of course, and he needs to hear it, but ouch. Rapunzel knows that Corona is in danger, but she feels like she's the only one who wants to do anything about it. The guards start acting strange, so Eugene and Cass investigate. Rapunzel has another nightmare. This time it's about the rocks reaching the castle and encasing everyone she loves. And it's also about Varian, telling her to stop running and face her destiny, or everyone she loves will die. This time, her hair stays in the air for a bit after she wakes up and picks up various things. While on that boat that always seems to be there, she's approached by Varian and Rudiger, his raccoon. He says that he understands why she couldn't help him before. Whew! Seems like that apparent start of darkness was just us fans overreacting! I'm so relieved. She gives him the scroll. The rocks can only be stopped by their counterpart, the sun drop, which was the flower. However, the king said that it was all used to save the queen. He's no longer a reliable source of information though. Varian says that they just need one petal. Frederic won't just hand it over, so they have to steal it. It would have to be kept in the royal vault. They can take the secret underground tunnels to get there. Rapunzel is worried, since they're committing treason by doing this. Varian tells her that they're doing this for Corona. They go through the tunnels, but run into traps. One almost crushes them. Luckily, Pascal is able to stop it. Varian lets it slip that the guards have their hands full, and that he cares more about using the flower to save his dad. They're directly under the vault. One of the guards is questioned by Cass and Eugene. He reveals that someone roughly matching Varian's description gave him a cookie that morning, and that everyone's been eating them. It's laced with a truth serum. Combined with Rapunzel's odd behavior… they head to the vault since she's in trouble. Rapunzel fights and defeats an ancient robot called an automaton. One shot gives a part some extra screen time. Cass and Eugene convince the guards to hand over the key. Rapunzel and Varian reach the flower. However, Varian takes the whole thing. Rapunzel reminds him that he said he was just going to take a petal. He yells that one petal might not be enough to harvest what he needs, and that it doesn't make a difference, because it's just sitting there rotting anyways. A flask falls out of his bag. Rapunzel recognizes it as the one that had Xavier's mood potion. Varian reveals that he replicated and modified it. He made a truth serum, baked it into cookies, and gave them to just about everyone. He did it to make sure that the flower was there before he tricked Rapunzel into helping him steal it. He reveals that he doesn't care about Corona and thinks that everyone turned their back on him. It *has* to be this way. However, he seems to soften when Rapunzel says that she defied a direct order from her father, and they broke the law. After all, defying an order from his own father is what put Varian in his own situation to begin with. Rapunzel promises that they can find another way to fix the rocks and his dad, and asks for the flower back. After a tense moment, with Eugene, Cass, and the guards banging on the door in the background, Varian refuses, harshly saying that he knows how well she keeps her promises. Ouch. And it's not even true! Yes, Varian is an angry, sad, and hurt irrational teenager who is just lashing out at everyone and everything while trying to save his father by himself, but how many times has Rapunzel saved his life in just this episode alone? Eugene, Cass, and the guards enter. Varian escapes with the flower. And Rudiger, the world's cutest raccoon. Rapunzel's faith and trust has been completely shattered, first by her own father, and then by someone who she thought was still a friend. She knows that they haven't seen the last of Varian. He crushes up a petal and pours it on a drill, but it doesn't break the amber. He realizes that the sun drop isn't the flower anymore… It's Rapunzel. ***Oh.*** Yeah, no, that's really bad.