History Recap / TintinTheSevenCrystalBalls

* DangerousWindows: Two of the members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition fall victim to crystal balls hurled through their windows. Professor Cantonneau is attacked this way just as Tintin tries to warn him not to go near the window. Dr. Midge is then placed under police guard, but the police in question are Thompson and Thomson, and they try to guard everything but the window. With predictable results. [[CatchPhrase To be precise]], the two of them freak out over a brown paper package, fearing it contains a bomb or pathogen, and ''both'' go into another room to examine it, leaving the professor completely unguarded. [[RedHerring The package has a butterfly specimen in it.]]

* CatapultNightmare: A creepy version. As part of the curse, the seven explorers are forced to wake up everyday and trash around as if under attack from something. This is especially the case with Professor Tarragon, who knees a doctor in the head during one of these episodes.

* CrushingHandshake: Tintin and Captain Haddock get their hands crushed upon meeting a Professor Tarragon. It's noted that he's not being competitive or mean spirited, he just has a very strong grip.

** At Professor Tarragon's house, Tintin and the others think someone is shooting at the house when two banging noises are heard. It turns to be nothing more than the Captain's car's tyres bursting.

* YouCantThrawStageOne: In the context of the story arc this story shares with ''Recap/TintinPrisonersOfTheSun'', the last of the explorers becoming afflicted is this.

* AnachronismStew: When Bianca Castafiore performs at the music-hall, Tintin's comment refers to ''future'' encounters with her:

* ContinuityLockout: An extremely minor example, but when our heroes are contacting the explorers to warn them of the curse, Professor Cantonneau greets Tintin on the telephone as an old acquaintance ("My dear Tintin"). This is because Cantonneau was also one of the scientists aboard the Aurora in ''[[Recap/TintinTheShootingStar The Shooting Star]]''. It's a nice little grace note, but perhaps too subtle, as there isn't a word of explanation as to how the professor already knows Tintin. However, when the story first appeared it was only about three years since ''The Shooting Star'' was serialized and less than two since it was republished as a colour album, and besides the sequence in ''Crystal Balls'' is so short (six panels) that it does not merit the extra space needed to explain that Cantonneau has met Tintin and Haddock before.

* MeaningfulName: Tarragon's first name is Hercules, which might not mean much, but he's shown to be unusually strong compared to the other characters.