Credit: Storyboard artist Jessie Wong
: Written & storyboarded by Owen Dennis
Written by Owen Dennis & Justin Michael
Storyboarded by Owen Dennis, Sarah Soh, & Jessie Wong
It's now been a week since Tulip has found herself stuck on the Infinity Train, her number having gone down to 109 since the events of the previous episode. In an attempt to figure out how the numbers work, she has begun racing through each and every car, no longer bothering to interact with any inhabitants. This strategy is stopped when she enters the Corgi Car and is unable to see where the next door is, forcing her to talk to Atticus, King of Corginia, who takes Tulip and One-One on a brief tour of his kingdom.
After some time, Tulip insists that she must get back to her mission, and asks where the door may be located. Atticus replies that she will find it across the river and pass the mountain, but before she can grab One-One and hurry towards her destination, a large shadow makes its presence known from that very place and brings with it a deluge of water, something that the royal dog was about to warn her about. Tulip determines that the monster may have a connection to her number, believing that if she kills it, it might bring her number down and help her get off the train. Tulip and One-One decide to cross the river and do just that, with Atticus also following along to fulfill his duties as king to protect his fellow canines.
When the trio makes it to the top of the mountain, they quickly find both the door and the shadow monster. To their surprise, the monster is simply a spider building a web in front of a glowing orb. However, this realization neither affects Tulip's number nor fixes the flooding issue. Tulip emotionally breaks down at this, worried that she'll never return home. Atticus tries to cheer her up by noting that one can't rush progress, and sometimes time is what is needed to find a solution. Tulip rubs his belly in thanks, but whilst doing so, wonders how a spider could be responsible for the flooding of Corginia, prompting everyone to investigate the area more. The group soon finds the actual monster: a tentacled robot who has been removing orbs from all over the environment, causing strange effects like the flooding problem. The trio engages the Steward which, after taking down Atticus and Tulip, flees out of the train car upon seeing One-One. Atticus notes that the encounter has caused Tulip's number to decrease further down to 101, which she chooses to just accept rather than fuss over. As she and her robot companion are about to leave for the next car, Atticus asks to come along, feeling as though he needs to destroy the Steward in order to secure his kingdom's safety. Tulip obliges and the three continue on their journey.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: To a corgi, a doorknob is an impossible obstacle. Even when it seems like you can't progress, don't give up.
- The Artifact: The Steward's declaration of "Return to your seat" counts as one. While "seat" could still mean wherever Tulip started from (aka, the Snow Car), in early development, she was planned to begin her journey in what would appear to be a normal train passenger car, and thus actually had a designated seat she could have theoretically returned to.
- As You Know: The pilot version of this episode has Tulip outline her predicament to One-One, even though she's been on the train for a week by this point and would surely have discussed this before.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Tulip has a more angular face and larger glasses in the pilot version of the episode compared to the series version.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In regards to comparing the pilot version of this episode to the series version:
- Some train cars have windows, with the exteriors having completely different designs than those seen in the final series.
- In the pilot, the cars passed through before reaching Corginia are a bubble car, a chess car, a weighted puzzle car, and a "fart" car.
- The flooding problem was caused by an issue with a standard water pressure valve, rather than the glowing control orbs seen in the series.
- The Steward escapes through a hole in the wall, rather than out the train car door.
- Tulip starts the pilot with the number 53, which goes down to 49.
- Fireball Eyeballs: The Steward has blue flame coming out of its eye sockets. Behind the mask is a tube generating the flame.
- A Glitch in the Matrix: The Steward is pulling various orbs out of the walls which seem to generate the environment of the car. Doing so controls the flow of water, causes objects to disappear, and so forth.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: Atticus complains that everything in Corginia is going "paws up"note , then apologizes for his language.
- If Only You Knew: When the "monster" first appears, One-One believes it's a shadow puppet show. He wasn't far off.
- In Medias Res: Even in the pilot version of the episode, Tulip had already been on the train for a week by this point.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Atticus charges at the Steward after Glad-One calls out to it. He gets tossed against one of the broken orb sockets for his trouble, and lets out a doglike whimper.
- Logical Latecomer: Tulip is able to solve Atticus' problem with the shadow monster within minutes of arriving to Corginia. This is because she can cross the river, due to being taller than two feet, and has the stamina to keep up with a corgi. She also analyzes that a little spider can't cause flooding.
- Later Played for Laughs when Tulip asks Atticus how to get through the "Impossible Puzzle Door" and Atticus describes the normal process for opening a door.Tulip: That's how all doors work!
Atticus: My people have been working on this technology for decades!
- Later Played for Laughs when Tulip asks Atticus how to get through the "Impossible Puzzle Door" and Atticus describes the normal process for opening a door.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Steward tosses Atticus next to the broken orbs. While it goes after Tulip, he manages to replace one of the orbs to stop the flooding.
- Pilot: This episode is based on the show's pilot, and is nearly the same storywise, though it was completely reanimated to match the different art style.
- Pun-Based Title: Corgi is the name of a British toy company that specializes in toy cars.
- Red Herring: It seems like a shadow monster is raising the tides in Corginia, but the monster is actually just a spider's shadow and the tides are a result of the Steward messing with the simulation.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Corginia is a kingdom full of sentient corgis that like to lie in the sun and have their bellies rubbed.
- Shout-Out: One of the cars Tulip and One-One pass through before reaching Corginia is a temple styled after Raiders of the Lost Ark, complete with boulder chase. Another is a dance party full of cartoony versions of classic monsters who invite Tulip to "Mash" with them.
- During Tulip, One-One, and Atticus' search for the door, there is one scene where they trek up a hill and it suddenly starts snowing. The camera then pans out to reveal that they are walking under a cloud that is snowing on them. This is a reference to a scene from the first episode of Hilda, in which the titular character appears to be walking up a snowy mountain but it then shows that she is walking under a weather spirit.
- That Came Out Wrong: This line appears in the pilot version of the episode:Tulip: I'm not really a "saving" kind of person. I'm more of a... self-looking-ish person... Self... ish? Hmm... Ugh, that is not the word I want to use.
