Bean feeling worthless in Dreamland, so Zøg agrees to have her be Dreamland's ambassador on a trip to Dankmire. Some old-fashioned music kicks off a festival starting in Dreamland, where the poor are presenting aspects of their harvest for Zøg to take. We get a rather longwinded joke where Odval tells Zøg there is wheat and he asks "what," and Zøg thanks the two who bought it, with a gross-out joke about his feet. As the peasants give their supplies, Zøg notices Bean isn't there. He flies into a rage and flings his scepter, which slams into the "Flying Scepter" bar, obviously named for this reason and covered in scepters. Bean is there playing a game of "guess who" when she notices the "hay man" being built outside for the festival. She explains that Zøg has never allowed her to attend the hay man burning, so she always sneaks out. She grabs a keg as one last drink for the road, then slips into her room drunk, only to land right at Zøg's feet. While Luci and Elfo bicker outside, Zøg chastises Bean for being a drunken disgrace, and she reveals she's felt alone since he got remarried and had a new son. She says she wants a place in the kingdom so she won't feel useless, and he sighs sadly, saying he just doesn't know what to do. He brings up the problem with Oona, who simply says Bean's purpose is to be married for an alliance, like she was. Wanting to help her anyway, Zøg takes Odval's advice and makes her the ambassador for a coming meeting with Dankmire, Oona's home. They all head for Dankmire the next day, with Elfo reading about it. He finds that Dankmire and Dreamland had a 100-year war when the latter forced the former to build the canal they're sailing in, and the war ended after Zøg and Oona married. Bean asks Oona about Dankmire, and the latter simply replies that visitors get a warm welcome, though they learn this is about the temperature, as the people are grim. Oona turns out to be quite a jokester for her people, and they also learn the Dankmirians are very official and always bow when bowed to. Bean makes a good impression on the people and kicks Luci when he begins repeatedly bowing. Zøg notes he is impressed, and Bean keeps a happy face when the Dankmirian chancellor reveals they'll be watching a 16-act play with children. They go to the theater house, with Bean constantly on-guard to cover for any of Zøg's rudeness, and they head inside with a joke about styles of plays. The play clearly shows Dreamland as in the wrong for the canal and war, and Zøg fails to understand the "fat kid" dressed as king is him. He starts insulting the play until Bean steps in, and ends up having to say something nice when he won't, earning another bow and more praise from Zøg, who notes that covering for a higher-up's mistakes is part of being an ambassador. He also reveals she'll be giving a speech that night, adding on the pressure that the alliance is depending on her. At a restaurant, Bean is frustrated to learn Zøg's "helpful notes" simply say to "wing it," and we get the return of Chazz, Zøg's torturer and current waiter. Bean opts to only drink soda and begins writing, with references to famous works like the Declaration of Independence, and though becoming frustrated, stands firm against drinking. After Chazz returns with their drinks, however, Luci spikes Bean's soda with two shots of some strong alcohol, and she chugs the drink. Zøg is horrified at the dinner when a drunken Bean stumbles in wearing her ceremonial robes backward, and suggests that Prince Derek give the speech instead, since the Dankmirians took a liking to him as he ate their lamprey dinner that Bean was disgusted by. This fails, however, as Derek misunderstands what a "toast" is, so Bean clambers onto the table and gives a terrible speech about how Dreamland kicked Dankmire's butt in the war, and runs around like she's flying. Zøg tries to fix the issue, only for Bean to hang from the chandelier, where her robes fall, revealing she is naked underneath. She vomits on the Chancellor, and despite Zøg's efforts, the alliance is ended, and the Dreamland crew is forced to run out. They run to the boats, where Luci and Elfo keep the Dankmirians at by with bowing, and though Bean frees the barge, the city's gates close on it as they make their escape, splitting it in two with only Oona and the servants making it out. The Dankmirians pull back the other half of the barge, so the group escapes using the poles as stilts. As they head deeper into the swamp, the Chancellor allows them to go, saying the swamp monster will take care of them. Now on the run, the gang faces more than just the monster in the swamp as they try to get back to Dreamland. This episode gives us a more emotionally vulnerable Bean, who for seemingly the first time is willing to open up more about what her problem is and why.
It's likely because she's drunk, but willingly telling Zøg about feeling worthless and like he has cared about her less since remarrying is a good way of the two trying to understand each other better and grow. Zøg himself shows some surprising maturity in this episode, as although he later shows a lack of tact in Dankmire, he obviously understands a bit how kingdom relationships work, and understanding that Bean is hurting. Even if his typical shouting is still there, it's nice to get some lighter moments from him, with John Dimaggio doing a great job at showing exasperation and being tired of having to deal with both the kingdom and Bean's rowdiness. Seeing Oona's home gives us some insight into her character, and why that the marriage was to end a war. It seems odd, of course, but she is apparently considered a comedian in Dankmire, as she is occasionally cracks what she considers to be good jokes while they are always prim and proper. Elfo got a bit of character growth this episode, as Luci's negative influence on Bean finally gets him annoyed enough to speak out and try convincing her to not listen to the little demon. The two bicker throughout the episode, and Elfo even fights Luci in an attempt to get him to stop telling Bean to do bad things. Obviously he's still the most naive character in the group and doesn't understand common things, like when they're playing "guess who" and plays himself. He is obviously growing to understand how the world works, however, and is combining his knowledge with the desire to do good that he was raised to have. Luci, as always, does a good job causing trouble only to be important in escaping it, as early in the episode he was mostly just messing with people, then later he spikes Bean's drink but saves the group by keeping the Dankmirians occupied. With the alliance between Dankmire and Dreamland over, we now have another potential story down the line, as the Dankmirians were filled with murderous rage after the dinner. Combined with Merkimer killing a ship full of Dreamland's closest allies, things aren't looking good for Dreamland. I was glad this episode to see come connecting between Bean and Zøg, and the princess found moments where she was doing something she was obviously good at. If not for Luci, her attempt at being an ambassador might have went well, and although it didn't, this episode provides her a confidence boost I hope to see later.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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