Chapter 52: Olivia, Yunan, and Lilly

Lilly works to bust Raine and the Farmers out, while Oivia and Yunan attempt to rescue Marcy and Amity.

Tropes That Appear In This Chapter:

Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Amity suffers even more of this than back in "Two Worlds, Two Families" since she winds up being one of the Core's hosts.
Adaptational Early Appearance: Willow Park, mutual friend of Luz and Amity in canon-TOH, is shown as a projection made by the Core to mess with Amity so she doesn't escape.
Adaptational Explanation: Andrias mentions that the laser cannon takes up too much of the Calamity Gems' power, explaining while he didn't bother using it on Wartwood.
An Arm and a Leg: Odalys has both her arms cut off when Alyssa uses a barrier spell that summons two which take up the same space as Olivia's arms.
Bittersweet Ending: Lilly manages to get Raine and the Farmers out of the palace, but without Olivia, Yunan, Marcy, and Amity. Meanwhile, the Core takes possession of both Marcy AND Amity.
Call-Back: Bog becoming the ruler of the South Tower is mentioned, and Andrias decides to get some use out of him by having him deal with the frog rebellion in Wartwood.
Crush Blush: Marcy's whole face heats up after she impulsively calls Amity cute, and both girls' cheeks flush after they destroy the laser eye projectors.
Deal with the Devil:
- Yunan apparently asked Odalys to help her secure a dowry^notemarriage settlement with Olivia. When Yunan attempts to speak up for the frog rebellion, Odalys warns her to remember her allegiance to Andrias or she won't follow through on the deal.
- As it turns out, Odalys is perfecting the bile for newts on the condition that she gets to join the Core.
Demonic Possession: Marcy still gets possessed by the Core for her intellect, but not so it can have a host body. It possesses Amity at the exact same time so it can have two host bodies, one with access to magic.
Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Marcy's reaction upon realizing she called Amity cute out loud: she quickly says she's still delirious.
Distant Prologue: This chapter begins with a flashback of the night before the Toad Rebellion, where Luz and Marcy watch a movie.
Fantastic Racism
Foreshadowing: Alister mentions that Bartley, Branson, and Blair are building the mind control collars and the drone soldier (the latter remaining a secret).
For Want Of A Nail: Olivia and Yunan don't overhear Andrias seemingly talking to himself, Yunan forgets to bring Marcy's crossbow forcing Amity to take out the final laser eye projector, and their canonical Ship Tease moments go to Marcy and Amity. In addition, an illusion of Luz torments Marcy instead of Anne and Sasha.
Freudian Slip: As Olivia and Yunan prepare to lead Amity and Marcy out of the castle, Marcy says that Amity's cuter in person. Amity reacts in surprise and Marcy (realizing what she just said) blames her delirious state of mind.
The Ghost: The projection of Willow used to mess with Amity mentions the rest of the Blights as well as Boscha and Skara. Odalia is singularly brought up by Alyssa who sees the similarities between her and Odalys.
Hoist by Her Own Petard: Odalys though she had all the cards with the shock collar remote and could just use that to subdue Raine, Vincent, and Odalys, only for Lilly to destroy the remote. Then when she threatens to kill Alyssa to force the others to surrender under the assumption she ran out of bile, Alyssa activates a spell circle that results in two barriers cutting off Odalys' arms.
Innocently Insensitive
Insult Backfire: Alyssa calls Odalys the same kind of despicable monster as Odalia for they both don't care how their actions affect other people. Odalys simply says that's one witch who knows true power when she sees it.
In Spite of a Nail: Olivia and Yunan still turn on Andrias and attempt to save Marcy, only to fail and witness her possession by the Core.
Laser-Guided Karma: Odalys pays for torturing the witches and her overall bigotry when she underestimates Alyssa, who cuts off her arms after threatening her at knifepoint.
Like Brother and Sister: Gender-Inverted. The night before the girls left for Newtopia to go home, Marcy confesses to a sleeping Luz that she sees her as the sister Marcy never had and is devastated she's moving, so she might never see Luz again.
"Not So Different" Remark: Yunan fails to see how she insulted Lilly by saying she's a good fighter for a frog and boasting about her accomplishments. As a result an angered Olivia says she sounds just like Odalys, a comment Yunan is greatly offended by.
Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Luz unknowingly guilt trips Marcy while talking about her mother.
The Reveal:
- Olivia learned about Lilly staying in the castle after finding her in a secret service tunnel a week ago. Since then, she's been staying in Marcy's old room.
- Odalys and Alister know about and are serving the Core, with Odalys hoping to be assimilated into it for her bile research.
Sanity Slippage: Odalys starts losing her mind after being one-upped by Alyssa, ordering the Frobots to gun down the adult witches and Lilly.
Saying Too Much: Odalys begins to mention that Andrias and his army could have a better chance of taking down Emperor Belos if they could get some information out of Amity, forcing Andrias to change the subject so Olivia and Yunan don't learn about her.
Ship Tease:
- More occurs between Amity and Marcy: Marcy blurts out that she thinks Amity's cute and retracts it while heavily blushing. Later, the girls work together to destroy the Core's final laser eye projector: in celebration, Marcy jumps into Amity's arms which makes both girls blush and compliment each other's skills.
- Yunan is revealed to be hoping to settle down with Olivia as she went as far as to ask Odalys to help her claim a dowry with her. When Yunan lets it slip to Olivia but doesn't mention it's her she wants to spend the rest of her life with, Olivia becomes disappointed.
Smug Snake: Just like Odalia, Odalys will do anything if it means she'll reign supreme. She works with Andrias so her mind can be uploaded into the Core, repeatedly says all species are inferior to newts, and takes any advantage over those who disagree with her claims to come out of a fight triumphant.
Wham Episode: Lilly successfully escapes the castle and brings Raine and the Farmers to safety, but is forced to break her promise to save Amity and leaves her, Marcy, Olivia and Yunan behind. As a result, Marcy and Amity are both possessed by the Core.
What Is This Feeling?: Marcy doesn't understand why she blushed from the compliment Amity gives her for helping her take out the last laser eye, but enjoys how it feels.