Clover is sure Sage is going to ask her to marry him, only to find out he's marrying Crimson instead.
Realizing that Clover becoming queen of the mountain lemurs would mean her leaving the kingdom for good, King Julien raises an army to show the kingdom can defend themselves without Clover.
Tropes:
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Upon hearing Clover and Sage are likely getting married, Maurice remarks it makes sense after five seasons of romantic tension between the two.
- The Bus Came Back: This is the first appearance of the Bone Fossa (and the first episode to give him a name) since "Eat Pray Shove", having been deposed as apparent ruler of the Fossa since Mary-Ann took over.
- Continuity Nod: Horst and Mary-Ann seemed to have reconciled at the end of Exiled and here it is shown that they are indeed dating again.
- Doomed by Canon:
- The absence of Clover in the Madagascar films is directly addressed here.
- The relative peace between the lemurs and the fossa begin crumbling at the idea of Clover leaving the kingdom, which has to happen as they are considered a major threat by the events of Madagascar. Mary-Ann is addressed as the only thing keeping the fossa away from the lemurs, but she simply loses her position as fossa queen and her ultimate fate is left unknown.
- End-of-Series Awareness: The episode is literally titled "The End is Near"!
- Gasshole: Clover thinks she can handle sleeping with the whole mountain lemur pack in one tent, despite Sage's warning. Then they all start farting en masse.
- Literal Metaphor: Clover leaving fills Sage with an uneasy feeling he can only describe as being similar to the time he had literal butterflies in his stomach.
- The Masochism Tango: We actually get to see Horst and Mary-Ann on a date here. The whole ordeal seems to be wrought with peril as Mary-Ann has a hard time distinguishing between love for Horst and desire to eat Horst.Mary-Ann: Just a nibble! I'll try not to leave a scar!
Horst: But if you eat me now, there'll be nothing left to love! - Mistaken for an Imposter: When the fossa are seen approaching the kingdom, Julien assumes they're the surprise Ted promised for the war game, thinking they're the rats dressed as fossa. It's only when the fossa are defeated that Ted arrives with his surprise - snickerdoodles for all the soldiers - and everyone realized the fossa attack was real.
- Relationship Upgrade: The episode ends with Sage and Clover engaged.
- Wham Line: Clover announcing she's going to be marrying Sage, and it officially setting in that the end is near.Julien: If you marry Sage, your commute is going to be redonkulous. The Mountain Lemur Kingdom is way on the other side of the island, dude!
Clover: King Julien, if I marry Sage, that means I'm his queen, which means I can't live here anymore.
