Back in the UnderRealm, Brandon and Stella fall at the end of a waterfall, and try swimming against a very powerful current, though not very well.
Brandon: If only there was a shoreline.
Stella: I've got a shoreline for you! We're sure going to drown if we don't get out of here.
Yep... I can't believe such an awful pun found its way into the show, either. Shame on you, Stella! From far up above, Bloom, Sky, and Layla can all hear Stella's screams as Bloom and Sky remove the solidified spit off of Layla, still pinned to the wall from last episode. As neither Bloom nor Layla can fly, Sky says they should climb down the cliff to get to Brandon and Stella, but Layla instead has enough magic to create a crane out of water molecules to bring them all down. At the bottom, the trio finds an underwater river, which they correctly guess Stella and Brandon have landed in, and have been carried off.
Back in the river, Stella and Brandon are being pulled into a whirlpool, as Brandon tries hooking his grappling hook onto a nearby rock to keep them from being pulled in, but as the rock breaks, they wind up going under anyway.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Back at the start of the river, Sky asks what they should do. Bloom thinks they should jump in the river after them, but Layla and Sky disagree, saying that they should ignore them and continue on with their pixie-saving mission. So if he already had his mind made up, why did he ask Bloom, anyway, if her opinion wasn't going to matter, anyway?
Sky: Back at Red Fountain, we have a saying: the quest is more important than the heroes.
Bloom: I'm sorry, what?! What kind of logic is that?! What about our friends?
First of all, after Sky's ultra-dorky line, Stella's bad pun from earlier is forgiven. Second, you have to appreciate Bloom at least a little after that exchange. Even if I do understand what Sky was badly trying to get at. Layla uses a bit more logic in her explanation, saying that they can take care of themselves a lot better than the pixies can, who likely don't have much longer before they die.
Back with Stella and Brandon, they've finally arrived, fainted, onto an underground beach. An ugly little man finds them, holding hands while faint. He sounds almost exactly like Futurama's Kif. And has about as much backbone, too. A bigger, though equally hideous guard, pokes them with a big stick to see if they're alive, and when they get up, he knocks them out so the two can be tied up and brought elsewhere. The little guy carries Stella and Brandon back, as the little guy starts explaining about the cave spirits, the keepers of Downland, and that when the cave spirits are disturbed, they send out monsters to Downland, so they must be quiet. The bigger guy doesn't believe those stories, though, saying that the queen just made that up. The smaller guy says the bigger one, named Abrupto, is just mad because Queen Amentia had decided that he and his girl were not a perfect couple, and as such had to be separated. Not really very smart of the smaller guy, now, is it? The smaller guy glows on about Queen Amentia, about how beautiful she is on both the outside and the inside. Neither is true, really.
Finally in the actual city of Downland, Brandon wakes Stella up in a room they're in together, along with the smaller guy. Stella looks pretty bad and green.
Stella: Brandon, I had the strangest dream that we were captured by the ugliest people ever.
Hilarious, true, and absolutely tactless! That's the Stella we all know and love! The small guy asks Brandon to fetch the water vase across the room as the guy tends to Stella, using magic to give her some energy, and realizing that Stella needs sunlight. As Brandon brings over the water vase, the guy sponges some out, and then tells Brandon to put it back exactly where it was before. As the guy explains how he was rapidly losing energy when he went above ground to pick some flowers for the queen, he quickly gets up to scold Brandon for not placing the vase back exactly where it was. Brandon insists he did put it in the exact spot, but the guy pulls it over a couple of inches, insisting that the queen likes it where he'd just moved it. Queen Amentia sounds high-strung to Brandon, but the little guy insists that she's actually wonderful, and wants to show them how wonderful she is. And how delusional the little guy is.
The little guy brings Brandon and Stella, who still looks sick, and looks very pissed off, to the palace entrance, right as Queen Amentia is about to step outside. He's holding flowers for the queen himself. Several other girls dance out the door first. The little guy insists that Brandon and Stella bow down before the queen steps outside, and they do, right before Queen Amentia finally steps outside herself. Queen Amentia herself... ugly. The dancing girls that came out before here were all prettier, but the queen is oblivious to that fact, the little guy is oblivious, and there's a good chance everyone else in Downland is too. We do finally learn the little guy's name, though: Sponsus. And Amentia... she's an interesting character. And by that, I mean a hilarious ultra-spoiled brat.
Amentia: Flowers rule!
Sponsus: Flowers rule indeed, my queen, and so do you.
Amentia: It's true, I do! Thank you, Sponsus. You may... live another day--wait! Grrr! Look at this petal! It's wilted!
Sponsus: But when I picked them, they were perfect. They wither in the darkness.
Amentia: THEY'RE OF NO USE TO ME!
Oh, Queen Amentia's apparently the queen of mood swings. Acting little a happy little kid, giddy about receiving a lovely bouquet, and then going completely psycho after finding a flaw, throwing the bouquet pretty hard at one of her dancers. Then again, Sponsus is probably even more nuts, being the one who's in love with her.
Sponsus: The girl's name is Stella.
Amentia: Your hair, what a horrid color.
Stella: This diva'd better be glad I don't have my powers--
Classic Stella, with Queen Amentia easily able to strike a nerve in her. Probably wise of Brandon to shut Stella up there. Queen Amentia reminds me of what Stella could've been like if she didn't have any good qualities. Almost like a Stella prototype, or something.
Amentia: Tell me, Brandon: where did you get such a glorious face?
Brandon: I take after my Dad.
Amentia: You know, it's perfectly symmetrical.
Brandon: You're right! A lot of people don't appreciate that about me.
Brandon is a big ol' dork. It's even more official now, speaking of his good looks as if they were some talent that deserves more recognition. On the other hand, though, it's no wonder Stella fell in love with him! Due to nothing more than his outward appearance, Queen Amentia has decided that she will marry Brandon, which devastates Sponsus, as he faints.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Musa's standing alone outside, obviously very upset. Riven walks up to her, though not really good at the whole comforting thing, tells Musa that Brandon and Sky probably screwed up everything after Musa wonders if she should be worried. Again, the whole tact issue: Riven has none. Flora looks from a distance, thinking it must be nice to have a shoulder to cry on, as she runs into Kiko, trying to cheer Flora up, even if it isn't much.
Back in the caves, Sky, Layla, and Bloom are looking for the way to the pixies. Layla thinks she knows the way, but Lord Darkar is still spying on them, and sends some monsters their way. But back in Downland, still outside Queen Amentia's palace, everyone except Stella, who's feeling weak on the doorstep, is going inside, though Amentia wants Stella gone.
Amentia: You're still hanging around? You're cluttering up my doorstep, now get out of here! Shoo!
Stella insists she's not leaving without Brandon, but Brandon tells her that she needs to get out in the sun, for her own health. Queen Amentia translates that into "Brandon doesn't like Stella anymore, and wants to away from him." She also reminds Stella that he wouldn't want her, since he's with royalty now, as she goes back inside her palace, as Stella shouts back that she is royalty, but Stella leaves anyway, trying to search for a way to get above ground.
Brandon and Queen Amentia are alone together in the throne room, with Amentia very excited, and Brandon very... not.
Brandon: Look, why would you want to marry me? I mean, you don't know anything about me!
Amentia: Hmm... your head would look so perfect on this bust.
Brandon: You're... gonna' chop my head off?
Amentia: Hehe... a likeness, silly boy, this is the row of royal couples, and I've been looking for the perfect face to go next to mine.
Brandon: I never thought I'd wish I was ugly.
Amentia goes on to say that they'll be officially engaged once they kiss. Brandon keeps trying to tell her that he's in love with Stella, and doesn't want to marry her. It's then a chase around the throne room, with Queen Amentia, as any good old-fashioned Bugs Bunny tradition, seems to have that unique ability to transport herself right ahead of Brandon whenever she's off-camera. Eventually, Amentia threatens to have Stella forced to work in the mines until she dies unless Brandon marries her, so he reluctantly agrees. This whole ordeal really makes you appreciate how selfless a person Stella is. At least in comparison. Also makes one wonder if Sponsus is equally superficial, in love with Amentia for her beauty alone, or if he sees some inner beauty that she hasn't shown yet.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Stella, still in Downland, still very weak, tries to look for some way above ground. Meanwhile, Sky, Bloom, and Layla, still in all the caves, note how peaceful it is, with the water dripping from the ceiling, as the three comment on how Musa would love the drip-drip beat. But the peaceful moment is interrupted by several monsters that come out from the cave, leaving them running away, while Stella, somewhere else entirely, has found some sunlight, and powers up again, feeling better in seconds, and thinking she'd be able to take on Queen Amentia now. All the while the other three are trying to battle the monsters and losing, as Stella flies in and helps to defeat the monsters. Bloom and Stella are so happy to see each other again, and run up and hug in a cute little sweet moment. Lord Darkar, still spying, gets angry that his monsters were defeated, and causes an earthquake. Sky refers to it as a quake. Kudos to the writers for remembering that Sky would never call such a phenomenon an earthquake! As they run away, Layla tries to lead.
Back at Queen Amentia's throne room, Queen Amentia is still trying to steal a kiss from Brandon, and Brandon is still trying to avoid it the best he can.
Queen Amentia, despite what she thinks, is hardly that beautiful. And she thinks Stella, obviously more beautiful, is ugly. Guess it goes to show that beauty is just in the eye of the beholder. And that Sponsus is completely delusional.
As well, she's essentially a complete spoiled brat, with seemingly no good qualities. Like how I originally viewed Stella, before I learned to appreciate her. Except she seems a lot worse than Stella ever was, so what good qualities she may have, I'm not sure how they could ever shine.
It's nice to see Riven has not completely softened up since last season. His big head thinking that he'd be able to do the mission much faster and more easily than Brandon or Sky... ego much? And he's still not good talking to girls, and not good talking to Musa, though he still seems to remember that she has a crush on him. And that even if he can't say anything worth saying, it's still good to have him around for Musa to cry into.
6 out of 10 on the old scale.
