Beatrice tries to save Greg from the Beast as Wirt and the Woodsman separately converge upon that same location.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Wirt's panicking over Sara listening to his mix-tape that caused him and Greg to drown in the first place? It was for nothing because Sara doesn't even have a cassette player to listen to it.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The Beast offers one to the Woodsman after he learns where the Edelwood trees really come from.Woodsman: I didn't know! I didn't know this was where the Edelwood trees came from!
The Beast: And would it have mattered? Would you have just let your daughter's spirit burn out forever? - Armor-Piercing Response: Wirt delivers an awesome comeback to the Beast's threat.The Beast: Are you ready to see true darkness!?
Wirt: Ar-(voice cracks, Wirt clears his throat, opens the lantern door) Are you? - Chekhov's Gun: Wirt all along has had the scissors that can free Beatrice from her curse! Apparently he used it to free Greg and himself from Adelaide's bonds.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had Wirt not been such a coward and ran away in panic over the idea that Sara would laugh at his mix-tape, none of this story would've have happened (as she revealed that she doesn't have a cassette player to even listen to it!)
- Dark Reprise: An extremely somber version of "Potatoes and Molasses" plays when Wirt and Beatrice discover Gregory nearly consumed by an Edelwood tree.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Wirt scares the Beast by threatening to blow out the light of his lantern, after realizing it's his soul. This inspires the Woodsman to do so once Wirt grabs Greg and leaves.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Wirt comes to terms with himself and that he has to take responsibility for his actions. He gives Beatrice the scissors, allowing her and her family to become human again, the Woodsman blows out the lantern and kills the Beast, and later reunites with his daughter, and Wirt and Greg finally go home where Wirt starts working up the nerve to talk to his crush.
- Easily Forgiven: Beatrice's family once they become human tease her about turning them into bluebirds, but they seem to be a cheerful bunch.
- Epiphany Comeback: Wirt seems ready to become the Beast's new attendant, but realizes he doesn't have to and that the lantern in his hand is actually the Beast's Soul Jar.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Wirt manages to figure out that it's the Beast's soul within the lantern after noticing how insistent The Beast was that he'd try to take up the task of being the new lantern bearer.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The Beast doesn't seem to understand why the Woodsman won't let Greg be consumed by Edelwood to keep what he thinks is his daughter's soul alive in the lantern.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- The light shines on The Beast briefly and we see glimpse of his true form. It's not pretty.
- Following the hospital scene, we see Wirt and Greg's home town is Aberdale
from Clarence.
- Freudian Slip: When Wirt finds Greg with the lantern, the Beast arrives shortly, and tells Wirt to give him back his lantern.
- Impossible Task: After taking Greg, the Beast challenges him to accomplish three tasks, the last one being one of these: lowering the sun from the sky into a china cup. Greg realizes that he can do it by using forced perspective, and only needs to wait until nightfall, but he doesn't realize that the challenges are merely a distraction to keep him busy while the snowstorm weakens him enough for the Beast to turn him into an Edelwood tree.
- It's implied that the Beast was trying to get Greg to lose hope and cross the Despair Event Horizon, but failed to realize both how cheerful Greg was and how Greg would interpret the tasks, and decided to just wait for him to tire out.
- Karmic Death: The Beast meets his end at the hands of the Woodsman, who he'd been manipulating in an attempt to keep himself alive after his scheme to get Wirt to take up the burden fails due to Wirt figuring out the truth.
- Mythology Gag: The epilogue shows Lorna reading a book labelled Tome of the Unknown, which was the name of the series' pilot.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: "Potatus et Molassu", the Dark Reprise of "Potatoes and Molasses", that plays in the background of the scenes with the Edelwood-covered Greg.
- Or Was It a Dream?: Wirt and Greg are revealed to still be in the river where they landed after jumping down a hill to avoid an incoming train in the modern world. Implying that the whole adventure could just be a near-drowning dream between the two brothers. However, we see Greg playing with frog and his belly glowing with the bell from the sixth episode, the fact that Greg remembers that the frog's name is Jason Funderberker, and of course the epilogue showing what the previous characters of the Unknown are doing as well. It's ultimately left up to the viewer to decide.
- Perspective Magic: When the Beast tells Greg to put the sun in a teacup, Greg gets the idea to place the cup on a tree stump, so the sun will look like it's setting into the cup.
- Sadistic Choice:
- In the climax, the Beast forces one on the Woodsman: let Greg be consumed by the Edelwood tree so that he would have more oil, or lose his daughter's spirit forever. The Woodsman chooses to save Greg instead. Fortunately, it turns out that his daughter's spirit was never actually in danger to begin with.
- The Beast later forces one on Wirt: take the Woodsman's place as bearer of the lantern with Greg's soul trapped in the lantern, or watch his brother die. Wirt completely rejects this by pointing out that both choices are stupid and quickly pieces together that the lantern really contains the Beast's soul. The Beast is not pleased at this.
- Soul Jar: The lantern is revealed to contain the Beast's soul.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: All the main characters get this.
- Wirt thinks that he and Greg are dead, due to Wirt's nervousness and impulsive actions in the living world, but he makes it his priority to save Greg and not fail him again. Then he wakes up in the real world in the pond, and manages to pull himself, Greg and the frog to safety.
- After helping Wirt stopping the Beast, Beatrice decides to face her family and admit that she got them turned into bluebirds. Wirt then reveals that he has the scissors that can turn her and her family back to humans, and gives them to her.
- The Woodsman on realizing that he's been harvesting souls (trapped in Edelwood trees) to keep the lantern lit decides to not cut down Greg, and resign himself to never seeing his daughter again. In the epilogue, however, his daughter finds him (implying he's been lost in the woods the whole time) and they reunite.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Beast freaks out when Wirt threatens to blow out the lantern and even more so when Wirt gives the lantern to the Woodsman to finish off himself.
- Wham Line: "You [The Beast] have some weird obsession with this lantern. It's almost like your soul is inside it."
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: We see how previous characters are doing at the end of the episode.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: The Woodsman wouldn't hurt Greg to keep the lantern lit, even to protect his daughter's soul.
