"Tangled: The Series" Talkback (Spoilers)

[SweetShop209]

Has Rapunzel Gone Goth?

Your Resource For All Things Princess

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I found this article from back in March. This quote stands out in regardless to the cerebus syndrome in this series being divisive:

Yes, change is a necessary part of life, but one of the things that make princesses so timeless is that they never lose that innocence and optimism that so many of the rest of us do as we grow older. It seemed like far too drastic of a change to transform Rapunzel from a bright sun into a poisonous moon.

 

[Fone Bone]

Has Rapunzel Gone Goth?

Your Resource For All Things Princess

www.theprincessblog.org

I found this article from back in March. This quote stands out in regardless to the cerebus syndrome in this series being divisive:

In fairness to the show, that ultimately didn't turn out to be a big deal or temptation for Rapunzel, and she's still the sunny character she was at the beginning. At the same time I agree with the article that the tone of the show is off in many episodes, and was definitely off in both last season's finale, and the entire betrayal subplot. But I don't think the problem is that Rapunzel has gotten too dark herself. So far she hasn't. The problem is that everything else has.

 

[Light Lucario]

Not to get too off-topic in this thread, but DuckTales sucks because it's too violent and the selling point of the Disney Ducks in the first place is that they solve their problems using their wits instead of their fists. The show is far too action-oriented, and seems to be designed for people who think Disney Comics are boring. Those of us who actually LIKE Disney Comics are poop out of luck. It appalls me the producers of that show don't even understand why the Ducks are great to begin with.

Tangled is an entirely different debate for me. I see and appreciate why people find the darkness refreshing even if I disagree. But as far as the Disney Ducks go, DuckTales 2017 is inexcusable.

Ah, I thought that it was some specific event within season two and not the series itself. I'm not familiar with the comics, so I can't really judge the series for that, but I can understand why that would be upsetting for you.

As for that article, I think that they might have jumped the gun in assuming that Rapunzel was going to become dark and edgy herself. I'm pretty sure that she was under the spell of that incantation when she read it the first time. I don't think that the tone has been off in the series per say. We also don't know what that incantation will be used for. It did allow for Rapunzel to save Varian's father and it probably helped set Cassandra on her path to become a villain, but there's probably another reason as to why Rapunzel's hair now has the power to destroy as opposed to heal and restore youth.

The special/plot heavy episodes tend to have a darker tone by comparison. The climax for this season's premiere involved stopping the villains from committing mass murder in Corona. There are serious moments in other episodes too, but the longer episodes tend to stand out a bit more in that regard. The lighter tone in the other episodes helps to balance things out, allow the characters and the audience to have some breathing room and provide some more character development. Maybe it helps that there has been a slow buildup to the darker tone as the plot progresses, but it doesn't feel jarring to me. It feels completely natural to me.

 

[Red Arrow]

I know some people are patting themselves on the back for the Cass is Grundle's daughter, well hold off on that for now. I don't know myself, but it is possible those are fake memories. Cass did have some deep subconscious inferiority complex and the villain is trying to exploit and amplify that, so wouldn't put it past them at making the whole mother thing up just to manipulate her.

That would be such a terrible plot twist. Goodbye character development, let's throw it in da trash!

I'm not going to add to my review, but I see many people in the thread are fine with the motivations for the betrayal. I want to say that is wrong. Cass's motivations are actually unforgivable. Why? Because none of what Cass is angry about is Rapunzel's fault. She was a baby when it happened and didn't ask to be kidnapped and taken from her family. Cass is lashing out at the wrong person for no good reason.

In fact, I think Rapunzel has far better reason to resent Cass for this than she does Rapunzel. Cass's mother, her flesh and blood, kidnapped her and destroyed her life and family. Her being angry at Cass would actually make a lot more sense from a character stand-point, even if it would be equally logically unjustified. Cass feeling second-best to Rapunzel is not a good reason to betray her. It's a terrible one that says Cass was never really her friend to begin with.

I feel like you are not thinking this through. As a child, Cassandra must have thought that Mother Gothel wanted another child. If I were Cassandra, I would have thought: my mother hates me, she wants another daughter, and now she has left me.

And heck, Cassandra is pretty much right. Mother Gothel treated Rapunzel much better than her own daughter.

Because none of what Cass is angry about is Rapunzel's fault.

I haven't seen episode 2 yet, but what makes you think Cassandra thinks this is Rapunzel's fault?! She never said that.

You make it look like Cassandra hurted Rapunzel (physically), but she didn't. She just took what she felt belonged to her and ran away.

It's a terrible one that says Cass was never really her friend to begin with.

As if real friendships (and relationships in general) don't have ups and downs.

But that's one redemption down, I still want to see Lady Caine's and of Course Cassandra's before the series ends.

Why would they redeem Lady Caine? She already gave her blessing to Eugene and Rapunzel being together in season 2. I do hope she reappears in season 3

Varian was angry and I think he was just not thinking straight when he was seeking revenge. Locked in a cell would allow him to cool down think about what he's done.

The King had promised Rapunzel that Varian would get help.

 

[zoombie]

I wanted Angry and Red to comeback, and ask and you shall receive. Though we learn their real names Kiera and Catalina. Sorry if I mis spelled it. It was obvious she was the wear wolf, and in between she learned to talk more.

So she kept the warewolf powers, I wonder if it something that can come in handy in the future. I am glad they be more close by, because I love these characters.

The wolf hunter very one note character, and I thought she would kill the bunny. She seemed like that type of person.

And how they mirrored Kiera and Catalina to Rapunzel and Cassandra was a nice touch, I am not sure if that will come to play later.

 

[RainbowCupcake]

Return of the King: So Edmund wasn't really gone for the season after all. I am glad that they brought him back, as he was a pretty important character in the finale. The chase scene with the horse and trailer at the beginning was exciting. The show does an excellent job with seamlessly blending computer graphics with the traditional 2D animation. The sash-stealing culprit was obvious from the beginning, as other shows have followed this formula, but it wasn't a bad kind of obvious. Edmund was cute when he was trying to interact with Eugene, and it's clear that he does care about his son despite not seeing him for over two decades. I especially loved the moment when Eugene discovered that his father really had been keeping tabs on him by collecting some of his old valuables. I also like how this show doesn't just kill off its bad guys. I guess that would be too dark anyway, but it teaches kids that people can change and it can be good to give someone a second chance in certain situations.

And there's Cassandra! Guess that Blue Girl will make another appearance soon.

Still haven't seen today's episode.

 

[ShadowBeast]

The girl is almost 100% Zhan Tiri in disguise. The season's press release already spoiled that

Spoiler

Zhan Tiri is actually female and with a British actress voicing her.

If the british Actress is Jennifer Veal, then that's the voice of the Blye-Haired Girl. But that wouldn't mean the Zhan Tiri is actually female since he could simply just be disguising himself as a girl to fool Cassandra.


Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?: Nice episode. Angry and Red are a lot more social since their first appearance. I knew that Red was gonna be the Werewolf. Though, I think the writers tried to throw everyone off the trail with Angry's nightmare. The Werewolf myth in this is similar to the myth of the Wendigo, except with anger and rage being what the spirit is after.

 

[Light Lucario]

I feel like you are not thinking this through. As a child, Cassandra must have thought that Mother Gothel wanted another child. If I were Cassandra, I would have thought: my mother hates me, she wants another daughter, and now she has left me.

And heck, Cassandra is pretty much right. Mother Gothel treated Rapunzel much better than her own daughter.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the thoughts running through Cassandra's mind during that moment. She spent her time doing whatever her mother wanted her to do in the hopes of gaining some love and affection. She never really received that and instead was replaced with a different child, so that would make her think that she wasn't good enough or didn't do enough to earn that affection from her mother. This is a big reason why I don't want that memory to be fake. It ties in nicely with Cassandra's desire for having her own moment to shine and provides a good emotional unconscious reason as to why just waiting for that moment has been hurting her for so long.

Although, I don't think Mother Gothel treated Rapunzel much better than her own daughter. She did lock Rapunzel away for eighteen years just to keep herself young. She effectively treated her more like an object than a person because that's basically what Rapunzel was to Gothel. She was the new sunflower that she could use to restore her youth and beauty. Plus, she was still pretty emotionally abusive not only with isolating Rapunzel, but also with tearing her self-esteem down enough to where she'd question if she could handle the real world. Even the whole "Great, now I'm the bad guy" line can be read as an emotional abuse tactic to make a person question if they're in the wrong for just being upset or sad. I think that Gothel used two different kind of emotional abuse methods with Cassandra and Rapunzel. She kept Cassandra at an emotional distance to where she'd want to do what she was told in the hopes of being loved. She was a bit closer with Rapunzel, yet still emotionally and physically distant, in order to make her stay in the tower.

Anyway, I thought that today's episode was pretty good. I wasn't expecting Red and Angry to get new designs. It did make me wonder how much time had passed since they ran into them during season two, but kids have growth spurts all the time. I'm also still really confused about where Rapunzel's parents are. I don't think that they've been seen or mentioned since the season premiere and I'm not sure if their memories were restored. The art style used to explain the curse of the werewolf was so cool and really helped to give off a Halloween kind of vibe to the episode. I also kind of liked how no one had the typical disbelief reaction to the werewolf myth. Granted, it would be kind of weird for the characters to question it after everything they've gone through, but I was almost expecting that to happen. The concept of werewolves existing in this world was also pretty easy for me to believe, especially when it is such a well established myth in general. That nightmare sequence was pretty creepy and I almost thought it was real until everyone turned into a werewolf.

Monty seemed like a weird red herring, especially when a paint leaving a paw mark liked right on his neck just seemed so improbable, but I kind of liked that Rapunzel wasn't upset over ruining her chances of a resolution between her and Monty. Red being the werewolf wasn't too much of a shock, but I kind of expected both of them to be the monster. I thought that Rapunzel chasing after the werewolf hinted that there were two of them, but Red being that fast made more sense.

The situation between Red and Angry was a strong parallel to Rapunzel and Cassandra's current relationship. I don't think that Rapunzel was bossy or dismissive of Cassandra's feelings, but she was still unaware of Cassandra's feelings. Red being upset at everyone assuming that she's okay just because she doesn't say anything was way too relatable. I don't think I was non-verbal before like she has been in the past, but I can understand the struggles of being too shy or uncomfortable to express myself. The werewolf hunter was pretty cold. She had no problem with killing a child. Sure, she justified it by saying that she was a monster now, but she was still effectively trying to murder a child. Maybe it wouldn't be as morally bad if Red actually did hurt someone, but the most she had done was just scare livestock around Corona.

I really liked how the resolution was handled. Instead of calling each other by their nicknames, Kiera and Catalina were more open and honest with each other. Kiera apologized for ignoring Catalina's feelings and promised to do better. Rapunzel pointing out that it's okay to be angry and upset, but that Catalina was just going about it in an unhealthy way was also really good. They had a good compromise with making a more fancy treehouse close by. Like Eugene pointed out, it wasn't exactly living in the wild or in civilization, but a good middle ground for them to compromise. That's a really good message in general as well since they were only able to find a solution by communicating with each other. Catalina still being a werewolf was an interesting twist. Since they live close by, I wonder if she and Kiera will show up later to help with Cassandra. Rapunzel seeing that picture of her with Cassandra after saying that burying one's anger doesn't help anyone was pretty sad timing.

Cassandra having to embrace her rage and hatred was a dark mirror to what happen with Catalina. Instead of dealing with those feelings so that she could happier, Cassandra is being encouraged to be overwhelmed by her own feelings in order to master the Moon Stone. It also explains why she was able to use the Moon Stone right away, but struggled afterwards. Facing Rapunzel and explaining her past would make all of her hatred, rage and pain feel so fresh and make it easier for Cassandra to use the Moon Stone for herself. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

 

[TsWade2]

I'm surprise that these fan theories about Cassandra being Mother Gothel's real daughter is correct. And I'm so glad that Varian is redeeming himself. I'm betting Cassandra will either get killed for her betrayal or redeem herself.

 

[Fone Bone]

I feel like you are not thinking this through. As a child, Cassandra must have thought that Mother Gothel wanted another child. If I were Cassandra, I would have thought: my mother hates me, she wants another daughter, and now she has left me.

Believe me, I'm adopted. I get these feelings. I also know the proper way to process them and not to take it out on other people.

And heck, Cassandra is pretty much right. Mother Gothel treated Rapunzel much better than her own daughter.

So what? Lots of parents prefer one kid over the other. It doesn't mean the less loved kid is going to turn out evil.

I haven't seen episode 2 yet, but what makes you think Cassandra thinks this is Rapunzel's fault?! She never said that.

Why else would she betray her?

You make it look like Cassandra hurted Rapunzel (physically), but she didn't. She just took what she felt belonged to her and ran away.

She betrayed her. She hurt her emotionally. She rejected her friendship on the basis of third-party information. She risked the safety of the entire world on a personal vendetta. I can't believe you don't understand how wrong this is and how much it hurts Cassandra's character.

As if real friendships (and relationships in general) don't have ups and downs.

I'm sorry, no. Just... no. Real friendships do NOT have these specific kinds of ups and downs. Do not pull the "But realistic!" card for this scenario. This is not a real-world problem friendships the audience have been in have actually endured.

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?"

Dear Lord, the "Blank Hours Earlier" trope is one of my most hated TV tropes ever. Curse The X-Files for coming up with it, and curse every single following show that thought it was a good idea. In reality, it makes us feel like we're wasting time playing catch-up. It's super annoying.

Speaking of which, the animation in the last scene was fantastic. But it sure didn't make me sympathize more with Cass any. The only reason I think a redemption might be possible for Cass is that her feelings are clearly being manipulated. However, I predict any redemption on her end with be of the self-sacrificing deathbed repentance sort. Remember, Cass was NOT present at Eugene and Rapunzel's wedding in "Before Ever After". I feel like the entire show is leading up to that short, and I don't think they would ever alter the canon that much or ignore it. Which tells me Cass is dead, and the reason she is has to do with how Rapunzel lost her hair for the second and final time.

For the record, in hindsight it also disturbs me that Lance and Varian weren't at the wedding either. Lance especially concerns me.

Give me a flashback to a few hours earlier and I'll give you an episode that feels like a waste of time. What's weird is that the episode is technically GOOD, and NOT a waste of time. But it now totally feels like way anyways. That trope is narrative poison. ***.

 

[glennbyrnes]

If Cass hates Rapunzel because her own mother preferred her, think of how she'll feel if she realizes that she and Eugene caused her death. Well, she would probably blame them for it.

 

[zoombie]

So Kiera and Catalina are going to stick around as main characters, as main as the average citizen of Carona is at least. Though after we learn their real names, we back to their nicknames, at least with Kiera.

So all the duos gets mixed up expect for Eugene and Lance who are just acting like the hare to everyone's else's tortes.

I was wondering that what would happen when saw Varian again, would he be this show's Starlight Glimmer, and so far he is not, and I am glad, I don't want to keep harping on the past to the point it becomes a joke like it did with Starlight.

So no Cass tag this episode, I was wondering if they would keep doing that, only so much you can do with just showing her training that becomes pointless. Might as well just wait till we are ready to get back to that.

 

[Fone Bone]

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure "The Lost Treasure Of Herz Der Sonne"

Feltzbar was delightful. The only thing that would have made the joke funnier after getting his head stuck in three wagon wheels would have been for him to sing "Halfway Down The Stairs" by Robin the Frog. I also loved him sniping that perhaps stopping to eat a porkchop was NOT the worst thing someone has done today.

I love Xavier boring the mummy to death. Xavier was a dull character before, and I like them embracing that and making it an actual characteristic for him. The character would be legitimately boring otherwise if he didn't annoy the other characters.

It's incredible that none of the other Corona citizens blame Varian for his part in the invasion. Did I say incredible? I meant NOT credible.

Good to leave Cassandra out of the episode entirely. A dark tag would have conflicted with the lighthearted tone of the rest of the episode.

What happened to the King and Queen? We haven't seen them since they were brainwashed in the premiere. Are they all right? What about the Captain? Why haven't we seen his reaction to Cass turning evil?

These are the kinds of episodes the show should be doing more of. I didn't like the standalones last year because those all involved settings and characters we just met. OUR cast getting into an old-fashioned romp is just what this series needs to lighten the tone. ****.

 

[zoombie]

Have we ever been to Sarporia? Have we ever meet a Sarporian that is not evil? I find a hard to believe an entire country is just full of evil people.

 

[ShadowBeast]

I'm betting Cassandra will either get killed for her betrayal or redeem herself.

Or she gets redeemed after sacrificing herself.

Have we ever been to Sarporia? Have we ever meet a Sarporian that is not evil? I find a hard to believe an entire country is just full of evil people.

Technically, most of the Saporians ended up becoming part of Corona after the war with the leaders falling in love and the kingdoms united. It's only a small amount of them that seek vengeance.

 

[Disneynerd]

What happened to the King and Queen? We haven't seen them since they were brainwashed in the premiere. Are they all right? What about the Captain? Why haven't we seen his reaction to Cass turning evil?

Xavier stated in Rapunzel's Return that the Captain went out with a search party that's still trying to find for Rapunzel for help from back when Corona was being invaded.

As for Arianna and Frederic, they're still recovering from their minds being wiped which is why Rapunzel is Corona's Acting Queen again for them. They'll return in the upcoming episode The King and Queen of Hearts.

 

[Light Lucario]

?She betrayed her. She hurt her emotionally. She rejected her friendship on the basis of third-party information. She risked the safety of the entire world on a personal vendetta. I can't believe you don't understand how wrong this is and how much it hurts Cassandra's character.

It may not be third party information considering that Cassandra most likely relived some repressed childhood memories. Now risking the entire world due to her own personal problems is rather selfish and wrong, but like I mentioned earlier, I think that's the point. Cassandra is acting entirely on her pain and emotions. She isn't thinking clearly and believes that this is the best, if not only, way for her to finally get what she wants. I don't think that this hurts Cassandra's character, at least not yet. I think that this does make her more interesting, especially with seeing the root of her desire for glory through her backstory. Not to mention we still don't know the full extent of her plans for the Moonstone yet. It also gives Rapunzel a much more personal conflict since she will eventually have to confront and possibly fight Cassandra.

I'm sorry, no. Just... no. Real friendships do NOT have these specific kinds of ups and downs. Do not pull the "But realistic!" card for this scenario. This is not a real-world problem friendships the audience have been in have actually endured.

I don't think that the point was that this scenario is realistic per say. I thought that it was about how friendships can and do fall apart. People can grow apart or similar to this situation, they can bury their true feelings so deep inside that the friendship isn't as honest or sincere as they thought it was.

Speaking of which, the animation in the last scene was fantastic. But it sure didn't make me sympathize more with Cass any. The only reason I think a redemption might be possible for Cass is that her feelings are clearly being manipulated. However, I predict any redemption on her end with be of the self-sacrificing deathbed repentance sort. Remember, Cass was NOT present at Eugene and Rapunzel's wedding in "Before Ever After". I feel like the entire show is leading up to that short, and I don't think they would ever alter the canon that much or ignore it. Which tells me Cass is dead, and the reason she is has to do with how Rapunzel lost her hair for the second and final time.

For the record, in hindsight it also disturbs me that Lance and Varian weren't at the wedding either. Lance especially concerns me.

They start off the series with making it clear that Rapunzel and Eugene do end up getting married and kind of describing the series as the journey to their wedding day, or something along those lines. However, I don't think that we should take the non-movie characters not appearing in the short as a sign that they're going to die. Non movie characters make up the vast majority of the supporting cast and I can't see them killing off that many characters, especially Varian considering how popular he is. The only character that I could see dying is Cassandra. Having her sacrifice herself as a way to save the day does sound plausible, especially when we don't know how Rapunzel will lose her hair again.

I'm sure that Varian and Lance are going to show up and be fine. I don't think it would be a huge contradiction to canon to just include them in the show's version of the wedding. They've already expanded a lot from the movie, so including all of the new characters wouldn't be that different. I've seen other people point out that Eugene's new sash is also the one he wears in Tangled Ever After, so it's definitely possible for them to add in these new characters without contradicting anything from the short. The series can be surprisingly dark at times, but I don't think that they'd go that far with killing off that many characters just because we didn't see them in the short.

Anyway, I thought that today's episode was pretty good. It was a nice more light hearted episode compared to everything else thus far in this season, but that's what made it refreshing. The general setup was kind of confusing for me though. Why wouldn't everyone be allowed a map of the treasure? It was a race, but everyone was already finding different ways to get to the treasure anyway. A map would just make sure that they didn't get lost. More importantly, why wouldn't Rapunzel get someone to read the map before sending everyone off on a treasure hunt? I know that Xavier was about to explain it before Eugene told him to give them the short version, but it also feels like Rapunzel or someone else should have checked if there was any more warnings or markers from the map. It just seemed like a weird way to set things up, as well as a way to make people upset at Rapunzel for being a cheater. Fortunately, the later wasn't a huge deal or created more unnecessary tension.

But that wasn't a huge problem considering the main point was just to get teams of mostly different characters to interact with each other to mix things up. I especially loved the Looney Tunes bits involving Ruddger. Those were pretty funny. Feltzbar getting stuck in the wheel multiple times was really great too. Even though it was probably due in part of Varian being so bored with Xavier and it was still a trick, I liked that he seemed genuinely concerned that someone was in danger. Eugene and Lance being so overconfident about stealing the treasure was also funny. I thought that they'd sleep through the rest of the episode, but despite having such a late start they still managed to get to the treasure, which was kind of impressive in a way.

Seeing everyone work together to fight off the skeletons was pretty cool. Xavier boring a skeleton to death was hilarious. I didn't think that Feltzbar's large bag of shoes would come in handy, but it did allow for Rapunzel to put the treasure back and save the day. Even though it didn't work out exactly like Rapunzel wanted, the people of Corona still were able to work together and have some fun, which made them happier. Overall, it was a pretty good fun episode.

 

[RainbowCupcake]

They start off the series with making it clear that Rapunzel and Eugene do end up getting married and kind of describing the series as the journey to their wedding day, or something along those lines. However, I don't think that we should take the non-movie characters not appearing in the short as a sign that they're going to die. Non movie characters make up the vast majority of the supporting cast and I can't see them killing off that many characters, especially Varian considering how popular he is. The only character that I could see dying is Cassandra. Having her sacrifice herself as a way to save the day does sound plausible, especially when we don't know how Rapunzel will lose her hair again.

I'm sure that Varian and Lance are going to show up and be fine. I don't think it would be a huge contradiction to canon to just include them in the show's version of the wedding. They've already expanded a lot from the movie, so including all of the new characters wouldn't be that different. I've seen other people point out that Eugene's new sash is also the one he wears in Tangled Ever After, so it's definitely possible for them to add in these new characters without contradicting anything from the short. The series can be surprisingly dark at times, but I don't think that they'd go that far with killing off that many characters just because we didn't see them in the short.

You also have to remember that the short was released in 2012, three years before this series was even announced. It's very much possible that the people who worked on that short had no clue that a Tangled continuation series would exist in the future. While I think it's cool that the writers on this show want to lead up to that short, I don't think every single bit of continuity needs to line up. How would the animators on "Tangled Ever After" be able to animate Cass and Lance and Varian into the scene if they didn't exist yet in our world?

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?: Another solid episode, albeit a little confusing. I was surprised to see how much older Red and Angry were, and it was even weirder to hear Red having so much dialogue. I feel like the show somewhat expected you to know about all these changes in advance, but I don't remember them being mentioned or hinted at before. I kind of forgot about new-old Corona and that wall being there. I saw Red being the monster coming, especially since the hunter put so much emphasis on referring to the werewolf as a "he." I agree that Monty was a weird red herring. I'm surprised they got Richard Kind back, as Monty didn't speak at all during his last appearance. I figured they'd just give him silent cameos from here on out. Red's confession scene was so honest and raw and it really made me feel for her, as I can relate to her in certain ways. It was sweet of all the characters to calm her down at the end and reassure her that they care about her and that her emotions are valid. It's going to take me a while to get used to calling the girls Kira and Catalina, though. Also that treehouse looks awesome.

So the Blue Girl is back and is DEFINITELY evil, not shockingly. I wonder if only Cassandra can see her or if she will manipulate the other characters at some point later on.

Hoping to catch up on episodes this weekend so that I can be at the same point in the discussion as everyone else.

 

[zoombie]

Never a big fan of time travel, it just complicates, what did Rapunzel do to change the time line? It seems she speed up Eugene's character development. Was Eugene a whole different person in this time line now? You see what complication time travel can cause.

Oh well still a good episode, I was surprised we didn't see at least a cameo of young Cassandra.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. Even with all of the magic introduced in this series, I really wasn't expecting them to throw time travel into the mix. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed that teenage Eugene didn't meet Rapunzel. I just liked the idea of Eugene falling in love with her before they actually met since it sounded so cute and romantic, but I can see why that didn't happen. It would have really messed up the continuity if he did meet Rapunzel as a teenager. Not to mention it might have made the situation more difficult given that she was technically the lost princess from the future.

There were some good funny moments, especially with Lance and his voice. There were some funny banter between Eugene and Lance. Young Max was also just way too adorable. The little Varian cameo was unexpected, but I'm sure his fans were happy about that too. I like that Rapunzel was still able to help Eugene through their time in the past. I don't think that she sped up his character development per say. She just taught Eugene that it was important to not leave friends behind. He was still a largely selfish person, but he was more willing to at least help people he cares about like Lance. It was a nice message that tied into her own determination to hope for Cassandra's return.

That being said, I'm not sure if they really needed to use time travel to effectively change Eugene's perspective. His point wasn't really about how Rapunzel shouldn't have faith in Cassandra. He was more worried about how Rapunzel wouldn't be able to move forward if she kept holding onto the past, which is a reasonable concern. Rapunzel is still clearly keeping herself busy to distract herself from Cassandra's betrayal. She doesn't have to remove all of Cassandra's stuff to move on, but I thought that Eugene's point were valid too. I can see why it would upset Rapunzel and it is still a sensitive topic for her in general, but it seems like something that they could have talked through with each other instead of using time travel, especially when healthy communication is one of the reasons why their relationship is so endearing to me .

Plus, it does make things a bit more complicated. It makes me wonder how different Eugene is now if he was the one who warned Rapunzel about Cassandra's stuff being thrown out. He obviously still didn't like Cassandra, so it's doubtful that too much of his history and personality have been changed as a result of this adventure. I'm pretty sure that they weren't going for a butterfly effect kind of time travel here. Time travel episodes usually don't change anything major outside of whatever the plot of that episode involves, which in this case would be the whole never leave a friend behind notion. It was still sweet that Rapunzel had an impact on Eugene even before they met and I loved their hug at the end of the episode too. It just seems like a bit of a strange and complicated way to deal with their conflict earlier in the episode. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.