The Greatest
The Greatest provides examples of...
- Accidental Misnaming: Lord Hater initially refers to his new planet as "Banglebrop".King Bingleborp: ...It's Bingleborp.
Lord Hater: I'LL CALL MY NEW PLANET WHATEVER I WANT! - Added Alliterative Appeal:Lord Hater: I have mangled the minds of millions! I have tempted forth torrential tides of tears! I have reduced the richest republics to rubble and ruin! Because I am the greatest in all the galaxy!!
- Ambiguously Gay: While the Watchdogs are enjoying the festival to Wander's content, they are briefly seen kissing each other, when all of the Watchdogs are male, suggesting homosexual implications.
- Answer Cut: After Hater takes over Bingleborp, two of the Binglebops wonder "Whoever will save us now?" Pan up to Wander and Sylvia watching from a nearby mountaintop... when Wander starts gushing over the rides and games at the (ruined) Bingleberry Festival, while Sylvia expresses her frustration with Lord Hater's campaign of interplanetary conquest and her desire to punch his lights out.
- Assumed Win: When the "judge" of the impromptu contest between Hater and Wander for "Greatest in the Galaxy" indicates the winner as "you", Lord Hater assumes he's talking about himself. The judge has to clarify "No, the other guy, the one in the hat."
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: After Wander convinces the Watchdogs to enjoy the fair, they start singing a wordless version of the theme tune.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Wander is shown eating hot dogs in this episode, but later episodes reveal he's a vegetarian.
- Lord Hater is also less goofy and comedic than he is in later episodes, and is actually portrayed as a threat. Later episodes see him reduced to a more comedic role.
- Eating Contest: A hot dog eating contest is the first challenge for the "Greatest in the Galaxy" competition. Hater struggles to eat his load, while Wander scarfs his down in seconds.
- Egopolis: Lord Hater tried to do this to the Planet Bingleborp. Hater's a bit of an egomaniac, as evidenced by all the designs (and theme song) on his ship.
- Establishing Character Moment: When Wander and Sylvia are first introduced, the former is more interested in the theme park and fun activities, completely forgetting that it's under attack; the latter immediately sees the danger and calls him out on it.
- Everything Makes a Mushroom: Lord Hater's ship explodes in a giant mushroom cloud after it crashes into a moon.
- Hammerspace: Wander's magic hat, that holds his trophy.
- Literal Metaphor: Although Wander doesn’t realize it, after he gets his trophy, he starts literally rubbing it in Lord Hater’s face.
- Long List:
- Apparently, the list of "Hater's Laws" is pretty long, with over 9,800 rules.
- Wander's list of things he's done:
Wander: Have you ever done this? ... Have you ever rolled your tongue? Have you ever done a ditty? ... Have you ever stood on one foot? Outrun a kitten? Went to a roller rink? Found a penny? Moved a couch? Ate a hundred hot dogs? - Mood Whiplash:
- Wander and Sylvia are introduced on a mountain looking serious as western music plays in the background, then Wander ruins the moment when he begins ogling over the Bingleberry Festival forgetting that it’s in disrepair.
- There's a scene where an enraged Lord Hater looms over a frightened Wander and Sylvia, proclaiming he's the greatest in the galaxy. Immediately after this tense moment...Wander gives Hater a great big hug with a heart appearing in the background.
Wander: Well, congratulations! That's amazing! - Not This One, That One: When Wander is awarded the trophy."Judge": You!
Lord Hater: YEAAAH!!!
"Judge": No, the other guy, the one in the hat.
Wander: Hey! I have a hat! - Pardon My Klingon: Sylvia calls Lord Hater a "flarg-nargling, no-fun-having jerk".
- Schmuck Bait: Wander and Sylvia use Hater's competitive streak against him.Wander: Hey, Hater! Final challenge for the win!
Sylvia: Last one into the town is a rotten egg! - Sugar Apocalypse: Bingleborp undergoes this once Lord Hater invades at the beginning of the episode.
- Villain Opening Scene: The series proper begins with Hater and Peepers taking over Bingleborp; Peepers is coincidentally the first main character introduced.
The Egg
The Egg provides examples of...
- An Aesop: Always listen to your friends’ input about something as your mission might not have good results.
- Having parental instincts isn't weakness, but an indication of a good person, and can even bring out the best in someone.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Eventually it turns out that the baby and it's parent is this. However, they can be friendly to those who pose no threat to them.
- Both Sides Have a Point: On one hand, Wander finds himself desperately calling to Sylvia, admitting that since the monster is not the egg's mother, it's simply an evil monster. On the other hand, Sylvia admits to Wander that although she was reluctant, being a mother-figure to the egg changed her for the better.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Dragon soon proves to be stronger than Sylvia and seriously roughs her up by tossing Sylvia around and dropping rocks on her. Gets even worse when Wander and Sylvia tries to get the egg back to the nest since the dragon now attacks them with fire and ice breath.
- Disney Death: When Sylvia roughly and deliberately dumps the egg back in its nest after all her troubles, the egg cracks and instantly loses its glow. For a moment, Sylvia seems shocked that she's supposedly killed the life within the egg. ...But after tentatively knocking on its shell to make sure it's all right, the baby inside knocks back to signal it's okay.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The egg losing its bright glow after Sylvia roughly thrusts it into its nest bears a passing resemblance to a miscarriage. (Thankfully, the egg was okay and close to hatching anyway.)
- Early-Installment Weirdness: So far after this episode Wander hasn't realized Sylvia was right all along.
- Exact Words: Sylvia constantly tells Wander that the beast wants to eat them and returning an egg won't help. She's right.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: The second time the "Mother and Child" song plays as the egg hatches, the words "Look out, that's the wrong baby" can be heard, which signals that this isn't the beast's baby.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: The black dragon is a bestial sort. Seemingly, Wander figures it's only attacking them because it's the mother of the egg they're returning to the nest and will mellow out as soon as its young hatches. Nope! The baby inside the egg doesn't belong to it at all, and it even decides to make the baby its next meal.
- Lyrical Dissonance: The song "The Bronco's Buck" is upbeat and funny, but Sylvia is going through various obstacles that hinder and maim her to the boiling point.
- Mama Bear: Subverted with the black dragon. She seems to show her motherly side when the egg starts to hatch, but becomes vicious once it turns out the baby is not hers. Played straight with the giant bumblebee mother who shows up and roars the dragon into submission when the dragon tries to eat the bumblebee's baby and Sylvia.
- Minimalist Cast: Only Wander and Sylvia appear.
- Monster Is a Mommy: Subverted. Wander thinks the big, mean monster on a rampage is upset because its egg has fallen out of its nest. The egg belongs to an entirely different species, and it is just a big, mean monster. The egg's actual mother, however, is bigger, meaner, and very grateful to Wander and Sylvia for helping its baby.
- Mood Whiplash: Right after Sylvia gets burnt by the beast's fire Wander is shown to be saddened, but then he slowly smiles and gets his banjo out in turn, cuing the eventual song.
- When the egg hatches atop the mountain, everything seems exciting and heartwarming... until it's revealed the baby is not the beast's and she begins charging for it. It comes out in Wander's mood as well.
- Musical Spoiler: "Wow! Look out, it's the wrong baby!"
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Sylvia gets the egg to its nest and it hatches, it is revealed not to be the baby of the beast resulting in Wander's plan to be unsuccessful.
- Oh, Crap!: Wander's reaction to the beast furiously charging for the hatched baby instead of uniting with it.
- The Oner: Sylvia climbing up the mountain with all her might throughout the whole second half of Wander's song.
- Say My Name: "SYLVIAAAAA!!!"
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sylvia leaves the egg alone in the nest just after getting it there, knowing that she and Wander are in danger and won't be tricked. Of course, she was right.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: When Wander is yelling for Sylvia, he is missing during the scene where she protects the baby from the real monster, and only reappears during the real reunion minutes later.
- Staggered Zoom: Sylvia gets one when refusing to hug the egg.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: The actions mentioned in Wander's egg song match what happens to Sylvia when going up the mountain.
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