Butterfly Family History - A Tradition of Pies! | Wraith's Journal #49 pt. 2 [S4E2 Escape from the Pie Folk]
Journal #48 - Book of Spells pt. 3
Journal #49 pt. 1 - S4E1 Butterfly Follies
Continuing where we left off...
~
Star, River and Marco arrive at Pie Island by boat.. which River promptly sinks to avoid being swindled by one of the Pie Folk. The island is pretty small, but it has a volcano in the middle. Star has a cute new outfit, River is dressed up like a pirate, and Marco is wearing a pie costume.
~Everyone got a new outfit.. mostly! So like, where is this place exactly? It wasn't on the map of Mewni. Evidently it merited arriving via ship. Do all the Pie Folk live here, or do they have other permanent dwellings?
Marco went off to find a bloodhound to track Moon with the pie he bought.. but turned up with a monkey instead. The monkey steals Marco's wallet and runs away. That's the Pie Folk for you.
Star finds a young boy to ask if he knows who made the pie, but it turns out the boy and an older man were grifters trying to steal a cart from another man.
Said other man - a very short man - turns up and River preemptively attacks him. The man explains that he's not a swindler or a robber, and after River emotionally apologizes to him, the man agrees to take them to where the pie was made.
The group ride in the man's cart. On the way, the man has Star pull a lever, which turns the cart into a pillory, trapping the three of them. The short man, uh, transforms into a much taller man, and begins an auction in the village square so that Star, Marco and River can make pies for someone.
The bidding goes up, before a shadowy figure offers a ludicrously large amount of money - 45,710,412,242 pennies - which the man accepts.
~Does that number mean anything? Also these people are weird.
The shadowy figure throws Marco, Star and River into a building. Star prepares to fend them off with magic, but the figure reveals themselves to be.. Foolduke! Also the monkey belongs to her. She has him return Marco's wallet.
The once royal jester explains that Pie Folk have been making pies like the one Star has for "hundreds of years".
~How many hundreds of years, exactly? Spoiler, we know Festivia and her descendants are Pie Folk. Comet even remarked that making pies is "in our [the Butterfly family's] blood". How much does it matter? I dunno, pies are tasty. Good to have a nice recipe in the family.
Foolduke remarks that she and Ruberiot got here via hot air balloon.
Dejected once again that they haven't found Moon, Star, Marco and River leave. They fly away on Cloudy. River becomes depressed and Star begins to cry. Marco tries to comfort her, but Star and River both notice a smell, emanating from the volcano...
Star: You smell that?
River: I'd recognize that particular blend of cinnamon and cardamom anywhere!
Star: Foolduke's pies didn't smell like that. Mom's here! Cloudy, take us into that volcano.
~Did they finally find her? Like, for real this time? Can they get to Moon before the Pie Folk swindle them out of something again?
~Also, what's with this volcano? I have a theory that involves a volcano, since a volcano was mentioned as the Butterfly family retirement home by Lyric and Skywynne...
~
Moving on, Star, Marco and River infiltrate the volcano, which turns out to be a huge pie making operation... and the pies are made out of dirt? No matter though, since someone is turning the dirt into delicious pies using magic... it's Moon! And she's humming a particular tune...
~It's her, actually her! I think. All this searching and she's right here.. why here?
River, uh, steals some disguises for Star and Marco. Star goes up to Moon to confirm it's actually her - it definitely seems like the real Moon.
Star has a plan to exfiltrate Moon.. which involves Star magicking double rainbow fist and going full Leeroy Jenkins mode. She surprise attacks everyone and grabs Moon. Marco and Star with Moon get back to River and Cloudy and almost make their escape, but the monkey has been feeding Cloudy too many pies.
Surrounded by Pie Folk, Star tries to fight them off, but the auctioneer from before intervenes. He reveals himself to be the Pie King! He refers to Moon as the 'sky baker' - that she literally 'fell from the sky' and has been making pies for them ever since.
~How did this happen? Moon fell from the sky? But Star ended up at the castle in her room? The magic did this.. but why make Star go on a wild goose chase like this?
Moon is overwhelmed by all this, and Star trying to jog her memory about being Queen.
The Pie King has something to show everyone - the Pie of Truth - which the Pie Folk in attendance seem to revere. The full story:
The Pie of Truth reveals everything. Long ago, a Pie Folk girl traveled to the mainland with a Pie Carnival and was accidentally left behind. She was taken by the king of Mewni [Shastacan] and raised by the Magical High Commission. No one knew that she was not of royal blood. Her name was Festivia. And she became the Queen of Mewni. So, that means your great, great, greaty-great, etcetera granny was Pie Folk. And if Sky Baker is your mama.. then you're Pie Folk, too!
~Is this the truth? The MHC's story in Butterfly Trap differed slightly from what we saw from Shastacan in the 'master file' in Skooled. I mean, 300 years of keeping up a lie, I wouldn't be surprised if some details got lost along the way.
~Either way, Festivia, the "peasant girl" is actually Pie Folk, taken by Shastacan and raised by the MHC, and her line up to Star is therefore Pie Folk ('making pies is in our blood' ~Comet). Star's "we're no more royal than anybody else" line rings strong here. Not only is she a "nobody", her bloodline is one of scoundrels. Not trying to be superior, here, but it says a lot about the situation that the MHC/Shastacan stole a child, gave the rightful heir to a robot to be raised in a terrible environment, raised the "peasant girl" to be Queen, gave her magic, all so that a Monster wouldn't be Queen and have a family. It's more complicated than that, but still.
~And what of Star? This plot line doesn't really go anywhere, but how does she feel about all this? Does she just want her mom back? Does it matter to her that this is who she is? Are we who we're born to be, or are we what we make ourselves to be? Choice... destiny...
Moon, still without her memory, elects to stay and make pies. Star stands down, and the Pie Folk disperse.
Star has one card left to play:
Star: Maybe.. this is where she belongs.
Moon resumes humming a particular tune while she bakes
Star: ♪ Over, under, around, and through // ♪ Grab the little Mewni rabbit, pull him through
Moon stops what she's doing when she hears this
Moon: ♪ Pinch it and fold it and tie it in a bow
Star & Moon: ♪ Like two little bunny ears made out of dough
Star runs over to her mom
Star & Moon: ♪ Over and under, wherever you roam // ♪ Sweet little Mewni rabbit, hop back home
Star and Moon hold a completed pie together, and Moon puts the Butterfly signature on top.
Moon: I.. I remember this song! I don't remember anything, but I remember this song!
♪ Over, under, around, and through
~Beautiful. 'Home' - that's kind of a recurring theme throughout this season, and throughout the series as a whole if you think about it ("I'm really thinking I can call this pla-ace home!". Moon's here, but this isn't home. Home is family, friends, comfort. Moon may be in a tough spot right now without her memory, but she needs her family to help her get through this, just like Star needs her mom - despite their differences - to help her grow up and live her best life. I love this moment. Star and Moon don't get many of these, but it shows that they really do love each other and have a connection. This is the real magic.
Moon changes her mind and wants to go with Star and "sing songs". This annoys the Pie King, who orders the Pie Folk to capture them. It's time to Escape from the Pie Folk! Star, Moon, Marco and River finally start to make their escape, and almost get attacked by 'strawberry death pie' (a giant pie - presumably strawberry - on a catapult), but Foolduke and Ruberiot show up in their hot air balloon to rescue them.
As they're flying away into the sunset, Star and Moon have another moment:
Star: So, Mom, are you okay? I mean, you've been through kind of a lot.
Moon: I'm fine. You know, it's funny. I have no idea what will happen, but I have this feeling that no matter what, it's going to be okay because I'm meant to be here with you.
Finally reunited, Star, Moon and River all hug
~'Meant to be here' indeed.
~
It's a lovely episode, and a solid conclusion to the arc that started back in Tough Love. I still wonder about all the weird magic stuff going on with Glossaryck and Moon being sent to Pie Island, even if it did confirm that Moon and Star are Pie Folk.
Honestly, I like Season 4 as a whole, although the opening episodes are a bit slow and story-heavy. We did get a few decent action scenes and Star showing off her proficiency with Wand-less magic, but it's a lot of establishing stuff that doesn't necessarily pay off until later.
That being said though, I do appreciate the depth of the story. Between all the storylines surrounding the Butterfly family and its members, the drama in the kingdoms, Eclipsa finding her way, Globgor, Glossaryck.. there's a lot going on, so it is kind of necessary to show us all this.
So, overall, I'd say it's a good start. I think it does the show justice to slow down and look at everything that's going on, not just the big stuff.
And there we go, the opener to Season 4 in the books! I wanted to combine them into 1* journal since they were paired, even though they are 22-minute episodes. It all works out in the end.
So, Moon is back where she belongs, and Star can get back to fixing the kingdom. Are things really in a better state, or did she just make things worse? We'll find out soon!
Posted Oct 3, 2025, 10:30 PM UTC