Jim looks for a way to destroy Gunmar so Claire can bring her brother home; a power-hungry Strickler comes back to Arcadia.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Ambiguous Gender: As Jim points out, there's no real way to tell who's under the mascot costume, despite Toby's insistence it's a girl.
- Awesome by Analysis: Jim figures out the golem's weakness after slashing it in various places.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- The coach hints that he'd like the dance theme to be disco. Thus, you'd expect that Steve would do butt-kissing. Instead, Steve goes for a Luau theme, and Eli tries (and fails) to suggest the 1980s.
- When Strickler sees the golem attack Jim, at first he looks concerned. But then he tells off Angor Rot for not doing the job himself, as he was instructed.
- Beyond the Impossible: When Jim says the Trollhunters in the Void told him killing Gunmare is impossible, Draal said that he wants to prove his father wrong.
- Bothering by the Book: Angor Rot is compelled to kill Jim on Strickler's command. But he makes it clear that he's doing it on his terms.
- Catapult Nightmare: Jim has one after a Nightmare Sequence about Gunmar.
- Dirty Coward: Angor Rot believes Strickler is afraid of the Trollhunter, which is why he needed him. Given he managed to kill Bular, it safe to say Strickler is mildly wary of dealing with the boy.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Angor Rot is intrigued with the idea of hunting a human Trollhunter.
- Lying to Protect Your Feelings: After he talks with the previous Trollhunters, Jim tells Draal that Kanjigar wishes that Draal could enter the void. Draal invokes this trope and tells Jim he doesn't have to lie to spare his feelings.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Trollhunters react this way when Blinky burns a book that could be the key to killing Gunmar.
- Mauve Shirt: Strickler kills the principal offscreen on the pretense of a sickbed visit.
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Triumbric Stones, three shards of legend tied to Gunmar's lifeblood, but have been hidden for centuries. If the three shards are found, then Jim shall "Eclipse all who quarry with thy might" and permanently kill Gunmar.
- Morality Pet: NotEnrique feels bad when Claire cries about missing her brother, even as he bugs her for a hamburger.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Subverted. When the message to find the three stones shows up after Blinky burns the book, Claire tells everyone to take a picture of it. With the book itself, it's played straight since Blinky has the last copy, the Changelings having burned the rest.
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Jim tries to tell Toby about his dream about Gunmar, but Toby's more interested in the identity of the mole mascot. Subverted as Toby was actually listening. "I can multitask, Jimbo."
- Oh, Crap!: Jim has this reaction when he sees Strickler as the new principal.
- Pet the Dog:
- Someone voted Eli as a possible nominee for the king.
- NotEnrique lets Claire see her brother in the Darklands briefly. She's relieved to see that Enrique is well and happy.
- Time for Plan B: Since the bridge plan is out, Strickler's new objective is to protect his changeling brethren. That's because he knows that if Jim finds the nursery, he'll want to free all the babies. That will endanger the other changelings. So Jim must be killed.
- Villain Has a Point: Angor Rot points out that Strickler hired him to do the dirty work of murdering a human because he's too scared to do it alone. That's because Jim killed Bular.
- Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Toby mentions that Jim said Strickler would be a fool to return after the bridge.
