Airdate: March 22, 2002
Ed has a nightmare where his mom grounds him for “not being a responsible brother.” But here’s a twist in the dream: his mom had Jonny 2x4’s face. The traumatizing nightmare leads to Ed uncharacteristically freaking out whenever he encounters the big-headed 2x4 kid, so Edd and Eddy must find a way to help their friend conquer his fear.
“Rock-a-Bye Ed” contains these tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Ed’s nightmare features his mother (with Jonny’s face) taking Sarah’s side and grounding him without letting him explain.
- All Just a Dream: Turns out the entire episode was just a nightmare of Jonny’s.
- An Aesop: To conquer your fears, you need to face them head on and not spend your whole life hiding from them.
- Bait-and-Switch: The dream sequence seemingly builds up to the first physical appearance of Ed and Sarah's mother. Then she turns around to reveal that she has Jonny's face.
- Catapult Nightmare:
- After his nightmare, Ed jolts out of bed screaming and sweating. He calms down after Eddy splashes him with a bucket of water.
- Jonny wakes up the same way when it's revealed that all of this was his nightmare.
- Dream Within a Dream: Absurdly, Jonny has a nightmare about Ed having a nightmare that the former was the latter's mother punishing him for refusing to let Sarah watch TV.
- Freak Out: Every time Ed encounters Jonny.
- Hold Up Your Score: Kevin is the judge at Nazz's gymnastics competition and scores the acts according to how much they amuse him. When Ed freaks out over Jonny and gets tangled up in the balance beam, Kevin takes out the 10 card and writes "Dorks" over it.
- Impact Silhouette: Ed leaves one through the kitchen wall when he first sees Jonny as his mom in his dream.
- Mad at a Dream: Ed develops an extreme fear of Jonny 2x4 after a nightmare with Jonny’s face imposed on Ed’s mom’s body.
- Noodle Incident: At least once before, Jonny has eaten free-range soy beans before bed, which gives him nightmares.
- P.O.V. Cam: We briefly see things from Ed's perspective as he playfully runs through the park. He stops dead in his tracks once he encounters Jonny.
- Shark Pool: Mother Jonny sentences her son to be dropped into "The Kanker Pit", where three shark-like Kankers are ready to smooch him. He thankfully wakes up mid-drop.
- Underwater Kiss: This is most likely what the Kanker sirens would have done to Ed if he didn't wake up in time.
- Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: In Ed's dream, Jonny as Ed's mom tells him to wipe his smile off his face. And just like that, Ed's mouth disappears. It reappears when Ed screams at the pit of Kankers.
- You Know What You Did: Edd and Eddy both never bother to explain to Jonny why they invited him over to Ed's. They leave the two in a room to resolve the situation, but Ed and Jonny just end up sitting in awkward silence.
