Ludo burns the Book of Spells! Marco and River rally the kingdom! - Wraith's Journal #34 pt. 2 [S3E2 - Book Be Gone + Marco & The King]
Wraith's Journal #34 pt. 1 - S3E1 Battle for Mewni
Continuing where we left off...
~
Ludo awakens in the partially-ruined Monster Temple (to find Glossaryck missing and the green Wand core now embedded in his hand. Ludo is more bemused than anything. Glossaryck reveals himself to simply be outside, trying to cook pudding, though his attempts are unsuccessful.
~Also, there's a Mina cameo! Can you find her in the opening scene?
Glossaryck wonders who he's talking to with Ludo, but Ludo can only reply that it's himself (totally not possessed or anything).
Ludo, after being informed by Glossaryck that 'he' defeated the MHC, decides to write his own chapter in the Book of Spells to tell his story. Glossy informs Ludo, however, that he is not the owner of the Book and cannot do that.
Ludo spends the next while trying anyway, but the Book of Spells eludes Ludo's attempts, finally blasting him quite a long distance away when Ludo tries to cast 'levitato' on the Book.
Ludo ends up at the Waterfolk Kingdom, apparently (how far away is this?), and treks all the way back to Monster Temple. Glossy once again explains that Ludo doesn't own the Book, but Ludo tries an emotional appeal to the Book of Spells itself.
Glossaryck laughs at Ludo's attempt, and Ludo begins a rant, alluding to his power complex issues among other things, before finally losing it and throwing the Book of Spells into the fire, causing it to turn green.
Toffee has taken control of Ludo now. Glossaryck emerges from the Book of Spell's pages (complete with 'exit portal' sound effect).
G: Well, Toffee, looks like you finally got him to do what you wanted.
T: I didn't want this. This was all Ludo. But now that you're gone, I can finally get him to do what I wanted. I'd love to chat more, but it looks like you're out of time.
Glossy continues roasting pudding; the Book of Spells starts to turn to ash
G: Hmm. You know, even though I knew this was coming, it's, uh.. it's still kind of a surprise.
Glossy successfully roasts a ball of pudding, which has a suspicious golden glow to it...
G: Hey! Hey, look! It worked!
Glossaryck 'burns up' in green flames, and the Book of Spells releases a large amount of energy as it finishes burning up.
\"...it looks like you're out of time\"
Toffee returns control to Ludo, who sees the destruction. Ludo laments the loss of Glossaryck before curling into a ball and crying.
~I almost feel bad for Ludo here. I get it, he wants to be powerful - almost too powerful - but I think really, he just wants to be loved and respected. As angry as he was, I don't think he really wanted to do what he did. Toffee has been enabling him. Ludo may have burned the Book of Spells, but Toffee is just using Ludo - he's evil.
The Wand communes with Ludo, apparently reminding him of the bigger picture: "Butterfly Castle.. I'm coming for you."
~Another fantastic episode. It says a lot about Ludo's character how he tried so hard to make his story a part of the Book of Spells. He really just wants to be something, something more than the runt of a family that doesn't want him.
~More importantly, Glossaryck is now, apparently, gone. Yet, he didn't seem to mind, not at all. The Book of Spells - all its knowledge good and bad - is gone, too. Glossaryck did leave something though... a perfect ball of pudding with a golden glow... What does that mean? How did Glossaryck do that? Why did he do that? Now that I think about it, if Glossaryck has been aware of Toffee (and vice versa), why did Glossaryck let Toffee get as far as almost destroying the Realm of Magic as he will get, only for that to not happen with Star fixing everything anyway? What's Glossaryck's deal?
~Anyway, that's it for Ludo, Glossaryck and Toffee right now. Over to Marco and the King!
~
Marco portals into Butterfly Castle (this seems like a security flaw...) after River has been partying "for days" while Moon and Star have been gone. Marco has a box of Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds (how to lure a Star: Marco's hoodies and sugary cereal).
~How long was Marco looking for Star exactly? At least he picked himself up well. Where else did he look for her?
Marco notices the kingdom is in a state of disarray with Moon gone: garbage piling up, houses on fire, a Monster lurking around the corn field...
River tries to shoo the Monster away from seemingly several kilometers away. The Monster notices this and starts walking toward the castle, and over the failing magical barriers. The people berate River for failing to protect them. River himself says he's "not fit to rule" - he gives his crown to Marco.
River is distraught, but Marco gives him a rousing speech:
M: [Star and Moon] can't ever come home if they don't have a home to come home to.
R: Oh, right, yes. I see what you're saying. This is the end of everything.
M: No! It means you have to go lead your people.
R: But they hate me! They've never hated me before.
M: It doesn't matter. returns River's crown You're the only king they have.
~Marco will make a good king of Mewni one day. Marco has that leadership gene in him. He's able to make people see reason and bring people together. If Marco were a D&D character he'd have over 18 charisma.
River goes back to the people and gives his own rousing speech. He reminds them that even without magic, they still have each other, and are capable of doing "extraordinary things". River then leads everyone in a hunting party to confront the Monster.
River stands on a hill to talk with the giant dinosaur Monster. Turns out it was a misunderstanding - the Monster thought River was motioning to 'come here' when he was trying to motion 'go away'. The Monster is slightly annoyed, but leaves. That went well.
~I think Mewmans and Monsters might just be misunderstood to each other.
Everyone celebrates King River, but Ludo(!) crashes the celebration by launching an invasion with his rats and magic.
~A good moment for Marco and River. They're both good leaders in their own way.
~This is kind of a bridge episode between the first few episodes and the final arc of this TV movie, but it's still a solid episode. I think a lot of people are hard on Mewmans, and even though they didn't really do much here, I think it says a lot that they still came together and showed up when it mattered.
~And Ludo's here! He, too, picked himself up well and is now looking to reach the pinnacle of his power. He has magic, all he needs is a kingdom. But, why the kingdom? What does Ludo have to gain by taking over Butterfly kingdom? Also, how could none of the other kingdoms have tried to stop this? Seems Butterfly kingdom getting taken over would be a problem for them. Plenty of stuff to wonder about.
~
So this is it! The first part of Battle for Mewni. I've always had a soft spot for Moon the Undaunted. It's probably one of my favorite episodes. The atmosphere and tension is amazing. The other episodes I've been a little more lukewarm on, but the drama of Return to Mewni, the shock of losing Glossy and the Book of Spells in Book be Gone, and now Ludo attacking Butterfly kingdom right when the people came together is all really compelling. All the little tidbits of the characters and the lore are really fun to experience through this lens, and I can't wait to get through the rest of the story.
Stay tuned for more. Who will win the Battle for Mewni?
Posted Jun 17, 2025, 10:05 PM UTC