Sage, Thyme and Amaryllis, as well as Rosemary, Parsley and Snapdragon, have to work on a group assignment together despite the animosity.
Tropes:
- Appeal to Tradition: Sage gets into an argument with teacher Redbud that it's morally correct to give something in return and thank the nature, to which Redbud responds that she won't be a good Guardian if she relies on less efficient methods out of inflexibility.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Rosemary's group want to help Thyme find Sage, but keep getting sidetracked by bickering with each other or Rosemary finding cool things at the Academy she wants to check.
- Black Comedy: When Sage suggests sending Amaryllis to the Moon with her newfound magic, Thyme says she'll find her an alibi in that case.
- Brutal Honesty: Thyme agrees with Amaryllis about Old Magic and has to learn that Sage as her friend needs support more than what Thyme thinks is correct.
- Fatal Flaw:
- Sage hides her inexperience with New Magic by arguing it has to be unethical, resulting in her being the only one to fail the class assignment.
- Thyme's No Social Skills comes to the front when she doesn't try to encourage Sage or help her, nearly resulting in everyone thinking she's Amaryllis's friend instead.
- Flying Broomstick: Sage briefly takes both the broom and her new Magic Staff before leaving the former behind, growing out of her discomfort with New Magic from last episode. She loses control of it and spends the episode afraid to use New Magic at all.
- Innocently Insensitive: Thyme agrees with Amaryllis that Sage's Old Magic is just ineffective, which causes her to run away in tears. Amaryllis correctly tells Thyme that not supporting Sage was the breaking point she didn't think of, so Thyme goes to look after her to apologize.
- Man-Eating Plant: Redbud's class has to take care of carnivorous plants. A mouse used in demonstration gets dissolved to the bones immediately.
- Meaningful Background Event: Thyme is seen making notes about the The Corruption of the trees, which is a part of the overarching plot.
- Perspective Reversal: In reverse of the situation in episode 2, Sage ends up doing absolutely nothing in class due to personal faults and Amaryllis has to help her.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Thyme needs to tell Sage that she's not on Amaryllis's side but doesn't know how. Meanwhile, Rosemary argues with Snapdragon that the fairytale weapon is a better fit for the situation in the query. Eventually Rosemary's inflexibility gets brushed aside and the three finish the task while tagging along with the other group.
- Running Away to Cry: One empty class in the Academy is known for being a good place to cry, which Sage, Parnelle and Slime Boy come to use it for that purpose.
- Sadist Teacher: Redbud's class involves taking care of flowers that can bite one's face. The teacher waits until one student gets her head bitten and nearly suffocates, before rescuing her and explaining what the actual task is.
- Solo Mission Becomes Group Mission: Thyme goes to find Sage and apologize to her. For separate reasons, Amaryllis, Rosemary, Parsley and Snapdragon decide to tag along.
