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Tear Jerker / Nexo Knights

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"He...he was my hero..."
A Nexo Knights Tear Jerker page? Hah, you must be kidding. It's not like the series running on Rule of Funny can make you cry...or can it?

As a Moments subpage, all Nexo Knights spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.


General
  • In fact, pretty much Jestro's entire life. Started off as a Street Urchin and a food thief, accepted into the Knights' Academy only to drop out, tried himself as a wizard and failed, became a jester and spent the rest of his life being laughed at for a living, all while only three people bothered to at least show any care towards him. No wonder he turned evil. And just when you think that with his Heel–Face Turn he can finally start a new life, Monstrox has to swoop in and knock him back to stage one with one zap of lightning. The worst thing is that nobody was even aware that Jestro was brainwashed and thought he betrayed them willingly, so it's no big surprize that after everything he's done while serving Monstrox, he is put in chains as soon as his master is beaten and the brainwashing wears off. And then the comics show that even though Jestro was somehow able to earn at least partial forgiveness, merely being in presence of Monstrox's minions can send him into a panic attack now, screaming that he doesn't want to turn evil yet again. Chances are the guy will need some serious therapy after all of this.
Season 1
  • In the very first episode, Merlok sacrifices himself in an attempt to stop Jestro and the Book of Monsters from unleashing the monster hordes on the kingdom, and throws Clay out of the library to make sure he doesn't get caught in the blast. After the wizard is gone, Clay picks up his charred hat and laments that he couldn't protect his mentor.
    • Other knights and the king don't take the news much better.
    • It's made worse if you know that Merlok practically raised Clay. The poor guy just lost the only family he ever knew. This makes Merlok's return as "Merlok 2.0" all the more heartwarming.
  • In "The Knight's Code", Ava accidentally destroys Clay's copy of the Knight's Code, and is visibly sad to break the news to him. Knowing how much the guy valued the book (and that it was gifted to him by Sir Griffiths, who is implied to be his father by some sources), it had to hurt. He stands looking mournfully at the burned book, until it turns into a Hearwarming moment when Lance gifts him a new copy.
  • The ending of "The Book of Total Badness" is pretty much the definition of Darkest Hour: four out of five knights are captured, Lava Monsters march onto the capital, the king, the queen and Robin rush to be there to protect it in time, and all Ava and Merlok can do is wait until Aaron frees the other knights.
    Ava: We're sitting out here, the knights are captured, and Jestro is about to take the king's castle! I feel so...so...helpless...
    • Can't forget this conversation:
    Clay: I used to think you were my friend.
    Jestro: You thought we were friends? Well, you thought wrong!note 
    • Keep in mind, this happened not long after Clay jumped at Jestro with a bared sword in his hand. What if this killed off any empathy Jestro may've still had for his former friend, even before the Book of Vengeance was used on him?
Season 2
  • Jestro mistaking Jokes Knightly's story of how he lost his wealth along with his fame for a joke (and finding it funny) may be played for laughs, but given how said loss clearly affected Jokes in a bad way (to the point where he has to sleep in a box in-between Knight-a-Cons), and not even one of his greatest fans sympathizes with him, it's easy to feel bad for him.
  • In "Saturday Knight Fever", all five knights come down with a cold, each with their own symptom: Aaron is dizzy and can barely walk, Axl isn't hungry, Macy's feet hurt as if she was walking on pointed rocks, Clay grows weak to the point he can't even argue with Lance and hallucinates, and Lance's hair is no longer as shiny as it used to be. And of course, they are in no condition to fight. It just pains to see them so helpless.
  • Jestro sacrificing himself to rescue Clay in "The Fortrex and the Furious".
  • To defeat Monstrox once and for all, Merlok volunteers to be uploaded into the Techcalibur and have the villain's book body struck with him. Ava worries that he will end up dying in the process, but has no choice but to let him do so. And in the end, it appears that the wizard is actually dead...until Techcalibur starts flickering with the familiar shade of orange.
Season 3
  • Clay turning into stone may very well be the show's crowning Tear Jerker. Though it may be argued everyone saw it coming, given how it's been foreshadowed for the past few episodes, it's still the first time Monstrox managed to down one of the heroes, and he didn't even try, while Clay could only watch as he slowly but steadily succumbed to the curse. Even Lance looks like he's about to cry, while Robin can't even hold his tears. And neither the knights nor the audience know if they'll ever manage to bring Clay back at that point, even if Merlok promises that he'll find a way to do it.
    • Macy probably had it the worst: from the look of pure terror on her face when she sees Clay petrified to how she can only tell her father that the battle cost the team a lot, but has to keep Clay's fate a secret.
Season 4
  • "Heart of Stone". The name alone indicates that the episode isn't going to be the funniest in the series, and everything regarding Clay in it that isn't Nightmare Fuel is this:
    • The Gray Knight has let his wrath completely take over him, to the point where he isn't just ready to kill Jestro, you know, the guy he once believed could be redeemed, but sees this as his only purpose. Even his friends are shocked by this and can barely recognize Clay anymore.
    • Then Ruina reveals to Clay that she is his mother, leading to him to lash out at her in denial. Yes, as if Clay being an orphan wasn't enough, the first time he sees his mother in probably more than a decade is when they are on the opposite sides of the frontline.
      • While Ruina is the one to have inflicted Clay's uncontrollable wrath on him, she seems to look rather sorrowful when she says "I am your mother, Clay". What if the dark magic that turned her evil and willing to hurt her son wasn't enough to completely erase any sense of motherly compassion?
    • Clay is understandably angry at Merlok for not telling him the truth earlier, which the wizard himself regrets.
    • Believing himself to be a danger to everyone, Clay seals himself in suspended animation. Macy, however, thinks that she can still talk sense into her friend and frees him...and everything goes south from that point.
    Clay: I am a monster! I will not stop until I destroy you, destroy us all!
    • And this all culminates in Clay using his emerging magic powers to force Merlok to upload a Nexo Power into Macy's shield, and then making Macy strike him. When Macy sees the result, she cries uncontrollably and runs out of the room, and the rest of the knights, who just entered, see the once-again petrified Clay with a raging expression. Yes, Clay has just committed suicide out of desperation, probably not even expecting that this could be reversed. And the worst thing is, we, like before, may very well not expect this either.
  • And in the next episode, we know exactly why Merlok hid the truth from Clay: not only he saw Ruina get corrupted by dark magic, he was the one to turn her into stone. Oh, and he was Ruina's brother, and after learning that he had a nephew, he was afraid that when the magic in him emerged, it would turn him evil like it did to his mother. He tried to prevent Clay from learning about it, but ended up dooming him instead. By the time Merlok's finished his story to the knights, he's reduced to a blubbering mess, and still cries while shutting off.
    • There's also Robin's Innocently Insensitive moment, as that's the exact same time he chose to tell the team about what's he prepared for them, and they're not the least excited. The boy doesn't even realize what's he done wrong...

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