Scott's announcement that he is retiring is met with utter despair from the elves, in stark contrast to the complete nonchalance they showed when the previous Santa died in the original film. The fifth episode reveals that Scott's predecessor had chosen Scott to be his successor when the latter was only a boy, and his "accident" was orchestrated specifically to prompt Scott to take his place. The elves very well could have been upset when the previous Santa announced his departure, but because he'd likely let them know well in advance, they had plenty of time to come to terms with it before Scott's arrival.
In the original Santa Clause trilogy, the late Peter Boyle portrayed Scott's boss in the first film and then portrayed Father Time in the two sequels, and many fans have wondered if these two characters were meant to be one and the same. The revelation that the previous Santa had planned for Scott to take his place adds some credence to this theory, as that Santa likely told the other Legendary Figures in advance that he was planning to retire, just as he did with his elves. When learning who this Santa had chosen to be his successor, Father Time may have decided to watch over Scott in the human world, and help guide him however he could on his path to becoming the new Santa.
In season 2 we learn that Magnus Antas has been trapped in a nutcracker at the pole. What if the Toy Santa had found it? The one thing Toy Santa seemed to lack (apart from humanity) was actual magic, and yet he nearly de-railed Christmas. How much more dangerous could he have been with Magnus Antas' magic on his side?
In the Season 2 finale, Scott is horrified to discover that Magnas Antas’s powerful magic amulet is the metal mug he’s been drinking from since his first night at the Pole. It gets worse when you realise the toy Santa used it too! He has a whole, very memorable scene drinking cocoa out of it. He was holding in his plastic hands a highly potent magical item, owned by a Santa of a similarly dangerous mindset to him, without even realising it. After this season it’s very clear that while the Toy Santa going crazy was pretty bad and nearly derailed Christmas as it was, it would have taken just one elf letting something slip to make things way worse.
Season 2, Episode 4 opens with Noel's doctor describing a condition that causes elves to quite literally explode if they get too stressed. The condition is named Curtis-itis. Seems like an innocent enough nod back to the movies, but combine that with the fact that Curtis hasn't been seen at all since the third movie, plus how highly-strung he was, particularly when filling in for Bernard in The Escape Claus, and you end up with some pretty dire implications for poor Curtis.
The implications are somewhat softened with the Season 2 finale, as Scott reveals that Curtis resigned from his position of Head Elf after he took his leave for Kribble Krabble. Curtis probably found the human world less restrictive and stressful than his work at the North Pole was, and decided to give up his immortality for the sake of his mental health. Assuming he's still alive, Curtis is likely doing a lot better for himself without as much responsibility on his shoulders.
In Season 2, Episode 5, we learn that Bernard assumed the Head Elf position at the height of Mad Santa's reign of terror. With this in mind, Bernard's reluctance to trust the Toy Santa in the second movie is cast into a new light. He wasn't just being paranoid. He was afraid of causing another Mad Santa.
Said movie's climax also takes on new light when you realize how much Toy Santa's actions mirror Magnus Antas before him. Magnas had an army of Gnomes, Toy Santa built an army of Toy Soldiers. Toy Santa decided to give everyone coal, Magnas invented the coal-in-the-stocking punishment. Now consider the traumatic memories Bernard must have been reliving through all of this, all the while knowing he could have prevented this had he stopped Curtis from going through with his crazy experiment.
