#svtfoe surviving the spiderbites

[whenimgoodandready]

No thanks to “The Ponyhead Show!”, Eclipsa is more hated than ever! What’s Plan B? Make allies with other kingdoms to get on their good side! Starting with The Spiderbites! Eclipsa knows them since her ex-husband, Shastacan, was a Spiderbite. It shouldn’t be too hard, I mean, things can’t possibly get any worse, right?........riiiight!?

*Surviving the Spiderbites-Star gets all dressed up from her old princess dress in “Face the Music”/“Monster Bash” and desperately tries to make the Monster Temple presentable for the Spiderbites to get them to see Eclipsa as a good queen while Marco babysits Meteora. Oh yeah, that’s a safe idea! Watch over the creature that just turned into a baby who may or may not still have her old memories of her hatred for you and that also KILLED you and the rest of Mewni while rampaging mad! Things don’t go according to plan as Eclipsa is nowhere to be found and so Star tries to occupy the Spiderbites. We see Penelope Spiderbite once again and this time, with her parents! She’s busy on her phone while her parents impatiently wait on Eclipsa.

For those of you that don’t have The Magic Book of Spells, in Eclipsas chapter, it says that Solaria, Eclipsas mother, was close allies with the Spiderbites since they provided inventory for battle during the war between Mewmans and Monsters and it was Solarias idea to marry Shastacan with Eclipsa, but after the scandal, that changed everything. Star tries to give a tour of the Monster Temple to Lord and Lady Spiderbite showing off all the fancy monster decorative tableware, art and even a traditional dance by small monsters. They aren’t impressed and just give cold stares and express their disgust with everything.

Star calls them out for their racism against monsters saying they have a bad attitude like the rest of Mewni and even to Penny when she says nothing and just continues texting.....her boyfriend!? Who!? OMG! It’s Slime! ✨Spiderslime is canon!✨ Yea! A happy couple! And guess what!? Her parents approve! I think we know why ;). Thing is, they don’t hate monsters in general, just Globgor, the worst of the worst! All the things Star showed them about monsters, were actually tributes to his brutal monstrosity! Especially when one of ‘em was about him destroying the Spiderbite village! (hisses through grind teeth) Ouch! What happened to your keen eye there Star!? And to make matters worse, that “dance” they just saw, was all about Globgor eating Lady Spiderbites ancestor Shastacan! Don! Don! Don! I remember in Eclipsas chapter how she said Globgor joked about eating Shastacan............he wasn’t joking. They only came, not just to see Slime, but cuz Penelope convinced them to give Eclipsa a chance, but they call Eclipsa out for being selfish. (ashamedly groans) True.

Star uses the All-Seeing Eye spell to find Eclipsa and turns out, she’s been on the roof this whole time! Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! “Playing with rocks” with Glossaryck! Star scolds her for ditching out on the Spiderbites, but Eclipsa just forgot. She rushes over and to apologize for being tardy, she shows them Globgor in his crystallized imprisonment and how there’s no chance in Toms world that he’ll get out. This eases their worries and they agree to an alliance. In the end, Eclipsa explains how she was looking for fragments of the spellbook cuz she wants to learn how to do traditional magic. Sure she’s all about the dark arts, but it’s for the good of Mewni. Star uses her imagination for her spells, but she did learn traditional magic when she went through her character development. Star says Ludo/Toffee destroyed it (“Battle for Mewni:”Book be Gone”). However, Eclipsa says that there’s a way to reassemble the spellbook if pieces are left behind and those “rocks” she was “playing with” were her searches for said pieces. Course we all know though that that book is long since gone since Star made sure it was gone from “Rest in Pudding” isn’t that right Star...............Star...............Staaaar!?

Spiderslime happened!

�� Yea! Our first new happy couple of the season! Congrats you two! You know, I always thought that there’d be an episode where Penelope’s parents disapproved Slime and so she’d ask Star and Marco to change their minds and in the end, Slime would win them over like how he did with Penelope with his slime, but through this ep, they welcome him with open arms. It was still mean that they kept badmouthing Globgor in front of Eclipsa who was hiding her sorrow deep inside. Poor thing is desperately trying to get her husband out, but it’s all in vain! Pick axes and chisels (“Butterfly Follies”/“Moon Remembers”) no good, going all “Freaky Friday” with Rhombulus (“Swim Suit”) no luck, let’s face it, he’s gone! :’( (Passt! (whispers) I think he will eventually come back, there’s an episode coming up later called, “The Monster and the Queen”, so here’s hoping). Eclipsa thinks it’s just hopeless at this point. The Magic Book of Spells was said by Daron herself that if you find bits and pieces of the book and use one of Glossys silkworms (and they all have names) to stitch it up, it’ll be good as new again! There’s a spell in there that can break Rhombuluses crystal imprisonment powers! Whoa! The end surprised me! Star is having second thoughts on Eclipsa! Of all people! Star was the first to side with Eclipsa once the truth was out, and yet, she’s holding back on her trust for her!? Was Moon right!? Were the Mewmans right!? Were the Spiderbites right!? Was putting Eclipsa back on the throne the best idea!? We saw she can be freaky deaky, but she’s sweet overall, but then there’s Globgor. Prince of Darkness! Plucker of Limbs! The Monster King! CRUSHER OF SKULLS! He doesn’t sound like a nice guy from those titles. Were they just for show or was it serious? Did he really change his ways for Eclipsa or did he only do that to his enemies? From what the Spiderbites said, Star is questioning all this herself.

[subtlyfailing]

Season 4: we are moving towards war

I am apparently the only one who like the direction this show is going? There is such a political drama underneath the shipping that overshadows everything in this fandom. Let me explain; 

Season 3 leaned heavily into the idea that "history is written by the victor". It was about propaganda, fear-mongering, and above all, conspiracy. With the high commission  literally writing the history books and branding Eclipsa as evil for hundreds of years. They erased the true rulers of Mewni from history because it did not fit with their narrative - the expansion of butterfly kingdom and the war against monsters. When Eclipsa was recaptured, they had no interest in a just trial, rather wanting to act themselves as judge, jury and executioner against their enemies.

Moon's government was a strong state. It was authoritarian state (as in non-democratic), where the government had control of everything. A classical autocracy like those of the old European kings before democracy took hold. Taken further here, the people of Mewni seems to have little agency of their own - judging by their uselessness when being left to their own devices. 

Season 4 examines what happens when a strong state collapses. What happens when a government with roots and support in the populace (Moon was loved by mewmans) is removed and replaced with a ruler with no support within the populace? Eclipsa does not lead the country, she only holds the crown. She looks inward, focusing on Globgor, on Meteora, or on needing to become stronger magically. 

Meanwhile, settlements are leveled to the earth because of anarchy and looters and people are displaced from their homes by royal decree with no follow-up - no creation of new settlements for those displaced. 

Eclipsa is repeating the mistakes of past queens who chased monsters off their lands. And she is busy combing sandbanks for scraps of magical books. Magic isn’t what helps those people, governing is. 

This new season seems to borrow heavily from racial and cultural conflicts in war-and civil war stricken areas across the world. A weak government that does not hold sufficient control the periphery of the kingdom (anything apart from the closest town), and displaced people looking to other Strongmen (Moon) to keep them safe. 

Refugee camps (the growing camp around Moon and River), anarchy, looters, continuous conflict between races, expropriating homes from people who have lived there for generations, failure of diplomacy that has been strong for generations, a militia loyal to the past ruler attempting to assassinate the new queen. This season has to be moving towards a civil war.  

It shows that having the rightful claim to the throne does not make a good ruler. But neither does having the absolute control that the high commission enjoyed for some time. Politics isn't about who holds the rightful claim to some magic wand or a crown. It's about good governance. Sharing resources between everyone, keeping all people safe, helping those in need of it without forgetting the rest. 

The question is what side the characters will land on. Will Star stay by Eclipsa's side? With the way she is currently ruling, i would doubt it. Will Moon be able to stay out of the conflict?  I don't think it is a coincidence that we see her armour in this episode.

 What about Marco? His relationship with Eclipsa seems to be good, will his monster arm come back into play? 

How will it all end? Democracy? Constitutional monarchy? The country splitting into two? Could Glossaryck be priming Meteora to rule both races as a half-monster/half-mewman queen? Time will tell. 

[toonsforkicks22]

YES! YES! YES! FINALLY! A SHIP WE WANTED IS REALLY CANON! I DON’T GIVE A SH*T ABOUT STARCO, TOMSTAR, OR EVEN TOMCO AT THIS POINT! NOW THE SERIES CAN END WONDERFULLY! 

[itsd-man]

Ooh, they’re an Item now.

[mysteriesofmarcy]

Season 4 Recap

Honorable mention: Out of Business

Honorable mention: Meteora’s Lesson

10. Cornball!

9. Gone Baby Gone

8. Surviving the Spiderbites

7. Britta’s Tacos

6. Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell

5. The Butterfly Follies

4. Beach Day

3. The Knight Shift

2. Escape From the Pie Folk

And number 1 will be revealed tomorrow.

[geekgirles]

Surviving the Spiderbites

This episode has left me with more questions than answers.

True, now we know Shastacan WAS indeed eaten by a monster, Globgor to be precise, like Festivia explained in her chapter, but that only messes up the whole time-line!

In both Skooled! and Butterfly trap, we learned it was him who got rid of Meteora, handing her to Saint Olga.

But the thing is, Total Eclipsa of the Moon and Butterfly trap showed that Eclipsa had no idea about her whereabouts or what had happened to her after being chrystalised. One would think she was chrystalised before Shastacan gave her daughter away. Yet, when Lady Spiderbite revealed her great-uncle's fate, Eclipsa confirmed it, although she did mention it was more complex than that.

Now, when exactly were Eclipsa and Globgor imprisonned? When did Shastacan die? How come they didn't know what had happened to their daughter?!?!

If we add Globgor's current state and Eclipsa's previous one, you would have thought (I know I did) the MHC had attacked/ambushed them when they were at the temple, defeated the Prince of Darkness and took Eclipsa and Meteora with them so they could decide what they were going to do with the baby and to properly imprison Eclipsa. Then again, this episode implies they took Meteora first, then Globgor ate Shastacan (probably out of revenge) with Eclipsa as a witness and then they were punished. However, considering what took place in the aforementioned episodes, it just doesn't add up.

Just, what really happened?

[lifelikesleep]

SVTFOE Recap (4x05 - 4x06)

Apparently these are things I'm doing now. Keep in mind I only do these when specifically asked, so if you don't see one after an episode drop, that's why. Anyway, let's jump in. (MAJOR SPOILERS btw)

Yada Yada Berries

We start with a communal breakfast at the monster temple, delayed by Manfred who seats the monsters on the ground with dog bowls. Eclipsa sends him back to the kitchens to fix it, where he eats from her bowl (unknowingly full of the poison berries) and he turns to stone.

Star and Marco set off to solve the mystery of who put them there and attempted to "yada yada" Eclipsa.

Rasticore is regenerating from the single hand that was left!

Star and Marco find Apothecary Sherry who sold the berries, but we find she's sold them to MANY people, Mewmans and even a monster, who all hate Eclipsa. Sherry "self-yada yada-ed" herself to keep from giving more information.

Star arrests everyone on the list. No one fesses up and Eclipsa frees them all in a bid to begin to earn their trust. She also says that Manfred, and presumably Sherry who'd also been turned to stone would be "fine, eventually." So they're not dead, I guess.

Down By the River

A Mewman family (the Maizleys) lose their home when the descendants of the monster who first owned it takes it back through Eclipsa's royal decree.

Moon and River are living in their yurt by the river and are come across by the Maizleys who cause chaos despite their good intentions.

Moon loses her patience and tells them to leave.

She has a change of heart after learning that they don't know how to take care of themselves out in the wild. As they put it, they never had to because when Moon was queen, they had everything they needed.

Moon and River invite them to stay and work to teach them what they know (how to cook, grow food, etc.). Another family in a similar situation comes along and ask to stay the night. It seems Moon and River are building their own little settlement.

(Moon and River are absolutely adorable in this episode too).

The Ponyhead Show!

Ponyhead has her own show and Star plans to have Eclipsa play a song on it to win her some favor with the kingdom.

Marco's cooking segment with Kelly is cut and they have a...moment? A flirty moment? Oh, boy.

After some very Ponyhead shenanigans, Eclipsa finally plays her song, one about the pain of being frozen and reawoken and her desire to build a better future for Mewni, but the Mewmans aren't swayed. Well, almost. There's some hope.

Surviving the Spiderbites

The Spiderbites come to the monster temple to discuss a possible alliance with Eclipsa who is nowhere to be found. Star fills in and unknowingly shows them art, iconography, and entertainment about Globgor and his past exploits of terrorizing Mewni, including the Spiderbite ancestors. Yikes.

Princess Spiderbite and Slime are still going strong after season 3's "Monster Bash", proving that the Spiderbites have no problem with monsters, but rather Globgor himself.

Star finds Eclipsa who apologizes profusely for her absence. Queen Spiderbite claims Globgor ate King Shastacan (aka Eclipsa's first husband), and Eclipsa doesn't quite confirm or deny this.

She shows them Globgor in his crystal encasing and proves that he can't get out. The Spiderbites are pleased and offer themselves up for an alliance.

Once they've left, Eclipsa reveals to Star that she's been trying to find a piece of the Book of Spells so that she can restore it with Glossaryck's silk worms. She wants to learn to do magic that can help the kingdom instead of just herself.

When Eclipsa asks Star if she's seen any remnants of the Book, Star lies. She secretly has a piece of it hidden in her closet. It seems Star doesn't fully trust Eclipsa yet, and worries that she'll set Globgor free if given the chance.

Please add anything I've missed!

[tacosandtomcos]

Something really interesting about “Surviving the Spiderbites” is it tells us the Spiderbites were the ONLY royal family who wasn’t scared enough to go and speak to Eclipsa.

So even the lucitor’s were just like “Nope”.

[beepboopandbob]

Spiderslime is CANON!!! 😭👏👏😙😙

[yukinokuro17]

°•°The day i died...of HAPPINESS•°• (Digital Sketch) by @yukinokuro17

Howdy :D YEY IM SO HAPPY WITH THIS NEW EPISODE :)// THE SPIDERSLIME IS CANON!!! ;_; And about that I have a news for u all uvu

Im passing my Spiderlime comic to digital and soon I'll publish it here 💕💕

Just hold a little longer~

OPEN COMMISSIONS 𝄀 PATREON (NSFW)

[imperfectxiii]

Highlights from the new Star episodes

[captainicequeen555]

Eclipsa’s Art taste

Given recent events, i’m seriously being creeped out about her statues. I’ve been giving them a proper look. Found this. It may be a common in the sculpture collection, a set with weird simbolism, but....

Those statues, all of them, have glowing eyes. Some of them have chains or shackles.

All of them have glowing eyes. I am starting to think she may have turned them to stone. In Svtfoe universe is possible, with yada yada berries.

But he has no glowing eyes....

If Eclipsa (or any other thing) did it, maybe the resulting statue would have those creepy eyes...i still point Moon’s reaction to them

She is so uncomfortable.... why is it? She didn’t seem anxious around monsters so simple monster statues just can’t be the cause

[mandareeboo]

What, exactly, does Eclipsa consider selfless magic?

I am really curious to know what Eclipsa thinks is so vital in Glossaryk’s book to grab.

It’s like Star said- Eclipsa is extremely powerful at magic. Sure, she can’t do wandless spells, but she made an entire goddamn chapter in that book. She has the creativity to make her own spells and utilize them to her advantage.

My guess is that because Eclipsa feels she’s too selfish, she’s hoping to rely on other Butterflys teachings. But the major question is if she wants an answer key to magic, or if she has something in particular in mind. 

Either way, Star is clearly uncomfortable revealing that kind of thing to Eclipsa.

[toonsforkicks22]

Penelope Spiderbite is the descendant of Eclipsa’s ex-husband...

...which means Shastacan is rolling in his grave over the fact his great-great-something granddaughter/niece is in love with a monster.

Wow, it’s like getting dumped by Eclipsa all over again. Except this time it’s like if Eclipsa and Globgor were making out on his grave.

[araminakilla]

What I think is going to happen with Toffee

After seeing the atrocities of Globgor in "Surviving the Spiderbites", I think something similar is going to happen with our favourite lizard lawyer, but in the other way. Like:

Pictures of him being a good leader.

Songs dedicated to him for all his good deeds.

Statues of him in Septarsis

Septarians who are glad that someone like him is their prince and some of them are still weeping that he's gone.

The others who don't know he's death are little children who hope they can see their hero again.

And Star would be like...

...

...

Actually, I don't know how is going to be her reaction, I gonna leave this to you...

[mysteriesofmarcy]

#8: Surviving the Spiderbites

This was a pretty good episode. It’s one of those episodes that makes a lot more sense on rewatch. I love how details are purposely hidden from the audience while Star is showing the Spiderbites around, but then when they point out what it was that they were offended by, that’s when the audience (along with Star) finds out what went so wrong. I still find it a bit hard to believe that every single thing Star showed the Spiderbites was from Globgor’s dark Mewman-hating past, especially considering that Eclipsa couldn’t have possibly loved that part of him because she is, you know, a Mewman. And it’s totally understandable that Eclipsa completely forgot that she had an engagement that night. (Something I do way more often than I’d like to admit)