The students are forced to go home for the weekend while the school is being cleared of trabers. Sage is given with her own terrasphere, but she’s conflicted about her gift due to her mother’s views on New Magic. Meanwhile, Thyme stays with Parsley’s family and Parsley learns that her parents want her to move back home.
Tropes
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Thyme hates her mom's presence as much as being mentioned at Parsley's family dinner.
- Call-Back: The school becomes infested with trabers, which probably came in through the secret path Parsley used in the last episode.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Anise’s talk with Sage on the magic debate sounds vaguely like a discussion on someone developing different political views than their parents. What contributes to the obvious parallel is Anise saying that Sage’s mom wasn’t always so “conservative”.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Parsley accidentally reveals to Flora that Thyme is staying with her, she slowly realizes that she’s talking to Thyme’s mother who is supposedly out of town.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Parsley’s parents reveal that they allowed her to go to school in the hopes that she would be satisfied with the brief bit of learning and come back home to take care of her family. After rescuing her brother, they both agree to let her resume her education, and she agrees to visit and give her parents a break from her numerous siblings.
- Foreshadowing: When Parsley is sitting on the roof, her one brother comes outside and sees her. Who later gets there by himself and needs to be rescued.
- Former Teen Rebel: Sage is bothered that her mother wouldn't approve her using New Magic. Anise and Aloe say they'll protect Sage's choice, especially since her mom used to practice New Magic as a teen before sticking with Old Magic.
- How About a Smile?: Sage initially has difficulty loading hers and Rosemary’s luggage into Chompy at the start of the episode. It isn’t until they say “please” where it cooperates with them.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Thyme senses that Parsley's father is about to bring up a sensitive topic and excuses herself to help chop firewood. Later when her mother stays for dinner, Thyme leaves "to search for her appetite".
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Deconstructed. In Episode 1 Parsley was shown to keep her siblings away from sharp tools in a comedic way. This time, her parents argue they can't keep the kids away from harm by themselves, and are proven correct when one of the kids almost falls from the crane. Eventually the parents realize that they've been relying too much on their daughter, while the Academy is a good experience for Parsley.
- Mundane Solution: Chompy refuses to carry Sage's luggage, and she tries everything on it to no avail. Thyme suggests just apologizing, which is exactly what was needed.
- Not So Stoic: The normally quiet Thyme panics when she hears her mother enter the forge. She also yells at Flora when she tries to empathetically explain that she understands her daughter’s feelings.
- Parents as People: Each of the main cast is troubled by their parents. Parsley's parents expect her to quit studying to take care of her siblings. Thyme tries and fails to avoid her mother who she thinks is overprotective. Sage is reluctant to accept the terrasphere as a gift from her cousins because her mom is strict on new forms of magic. Rosemary checks her family photo with a hint of loneliness. Parsley's and Sage's issues get resolved in the episode.
- Straying Baby: One of Parsley’s brothers gets on the roof, forcing Parsley, Thyme, and Flora to rescue him.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The episode has Sage and Rosemary going back to Aloe and Anise’s apartment where Sage struggles with her Old Magic vs New Magic debate. Thyme goes with Parsley to her place where both argue with their moms to let them do whatever they want.
