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"Face the Music" is the fortieth episode of the second season of Star vs. the Forces of Evil.[1]

It premiered on February 27, 2017, alongside "Starcrushed".[2][3]

Synopsis[]

On Star's Song Day, Star and Marco work with principal songstrel Ruberiot to create a ballad for the event.[3]

Plot[]

The episode begins with a puppet show and song dedicated to Queen Butterfly from before she was crowned queen, with sappy and over-saccharine lyrics. Queen Moon applauds the songstrel for his performance and explains to Star over the interdimensional mirror that, according to Mewni tradition, she will have a similar song written about her on her upcoming "Song Day". However, Star thinks both the song and tradition are awful, arguing that it doesn't convey anything about the real Queen Moon. Nevertheless, preparations for Star's Song Day are already underway, and Moon has sent the new official songstrel of Mewni to Earth to write Star's Princess Song.

After hanging up on her mother, Star intends to avoid the songstrel until he leaves. Meanwhile, Moon prepares for a journey into the Forest of Certain Death and tells her husband River to hold down the fort until she returns.

The new official songstrel of Mewni, named Ruberiot, arrives at the Diaz Household on Earth and meets Star. Soon after Star invites him into the house, she excuses herself by pretending to get refreshments and sneaks out of the house to meet Janna at the mall. When she returns later that evening, Ruberiot is still present, and she makes it clear that she doesn't want to take part in Song Day. After Marco pulls Star aside and reminds her that she's anything but ordinary, Star decides to hear Ruberiot out.

In the Forest of Certain Death, Queen Moon and her warnicorn evade monsters and hazards to reach a small, boarded-up villa. There, she finds Ludo's parents – Lord Brudo and Lady Avarius – living in solitude. With a peace offering of corn, Moon informs Brudo and Avarius that Ludo stole the book of spells and asks if they know where he is. Unfortunately, they neither know nor care after Ludo usurped their ancestral castle and brought shame to their family. The conversation draws the attention of Ludo's younger brother Dennis. Shortly after Moon leaves, Dennis catches up with her, says he knows where Ludo is, and offers to fly her to him. Moon accepts the offer, and Dennis flies her toward the distant mountains. On a mountain peak adjacent to Ludo's monster temple, Moon observes Ludo from afar and notices his magic wand. Alarmed, she tells Dennis they have to leave immediately.

In Star's bedroom, Star tells Ruberiot that Princess Songs are trite puff pieces that convey unrealistic portrayals of perfect princesses and songstrels like him are partly responsible for it. Offended, Ruberiot says he also wants to defy tradition by writing a real song about a real princess, and he snaps at Star for not even giving him a chance before leaving. Later, Star visits Ruberiot in Mewni, where he struggles to write a Princess Song about her. Realizing he hates old-fashioned Princess Songs as much as she does, she offers to help him put together "something real".

The next day, Moon returns to the castle and suits up in armor to storm Ludo's temple. However, River enters and reminds her that Star's Song Day festival is that very evening. Later, Star and Marco sit with Moon, River, and the Magic High Commission in the royal seating box, and Moon tells Star how proud she is of her for going through with the festival, despite her hatred for Princess Songs. On stage, Ruberiot's performance starts out as a light, Medieval era-sounding tune but soon turns into an epic rock ballad. The performance is met by the Mewmans' loud cheering and Queen Butterfly's approval at first. However, the song takes a darker turn in the second verse, where Ruberiot reveals to everyone that Glossaryck and the book of spells were stolen by Ludo and that King and Queen Butterfly kept this secret from both the Mewman citizenry and the High Commission. Even worse, the final verse – which Star had no prior knowledge of – reveals that Star secretly has a crush on Marco, much to Marco's complete shock and befuddlement.

Ruberiot's performance is met not by expected applause but by confusion and anger over the queen's deception. Under a hail of boos and thrown refreshments, Star, Marco, Moon, River, and the High Commission retreat to the castle throne room. Star gets confused over why the citizens are angry, believing they wanted the "real" Star Butterfly. Moon explains that they don't; they just expect her to be the perfect princess, and sometimes the truth can be dangerous. The High Commission admonishes Moon for withholding information about Glossaryck and the book of spells. Off to the side, Marco tries to talk to Star about what Ruberiot's song revealed about their relationship, but Star flies away on Cloudy before he gets the chance.

Characters[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Production notes[]

Songs[]

Storyboards[]

Title in other languages[]

Language Title Translation
Dutch Liedjesdag Song Day
French Une Tradition Musicale A Musical Tradition
German Stelle dich der Musik! Face the Music!
Hebrew תתמודדי עם המוזיקה Face the Music
Hungarian A Tényekkel Való Szembesülés Facing the Facts
Italian La Canzone Ufficiale della Principessa Star The Official Song of Princess Star
Japanese 歌と真実 The Song and the Truth
Korean 공주송 Princess Song
Polish Oblicze Muzyki Face the Music
Portuguese (Brazil) Encare a Música Face the Music
Portuguese (Portugal) Enfrenta a Canção Face the Song
Russian Лицо музыки Face the Music
Spanish (Latin America) La Canción de Star Star's Song
Spanish (Spain) Canta las Cuarenta Sing the Forty

Transcript

View the episode transcript here.

Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for Face the Music.
Click here to view the gallery.

Trivia[]

  • The episode name is a pun on the idiom "face the music" (be confronted with the unpleasant consequences of one's actions).
  • Patrick Stump, lead vocalist for the rock band Fall Out Boy, guest stars as Ruberiot.
  • Atticus Shaffer, best known for playing Brick Heck in the ABC sitcom The Middle, guest stars as Ludo's brother Dennis. Shaffer is the second regular cast member in The Middle to be cast as a character in Star vs. the Forces of Evil, the first being Eden Sher, who plays Star Butterfly.
  • This is the last episode in the series to feature the End Credit Theme Song for seasons 1 and 2.
  • According to Amelia Lorenz, she storyboarded the Perfect Princess Moon song sequence and the scenes with Star, Marco, and Ruberiot until Star says "talk time". Sarah Oleksyk storyboarded Moon's subplot, Aaron Hammersley boarded Moon putting on her battle armor, Sage Cotugno boarded The Ballad of Star Butterfly, and Cassie Zwart did the rest of the Star and Ruberiot scenes and the final scene of the episode after the song.[4]
  • After "Just Friends", this is the second episode in the series to feature a same-sex couple. According to character designer Becky Dreistadt, three Mewman characters in the background are "two dads and their kid".[5]

Revelations and continuity[]

  • This episode marks the first appearance of Ludo's family.
  • Star's crush on Marco is revealed to Marco and everyone on Mewni.
  • Moon Butterfly knows Ludo's parents by name and knows where they live.
  • The large flytrap-like plant Moon encounters in the Forest of Certain Death has strands of bubblegum inside of it, marking it as the same plant Marco encountered in "Diaz Family Vacation".
  • Queen Butterfly wears her hair down for the first time in the series.

Errors[]

  • The twig in Queen Butterfly's hair is behind her pearl crown when she arrives. When she begins talking to Star, it moves to the front.
  • Patrick Stump is not credited in the episode's closing credits.

References[]

  1. Bryan (2017-01-09). “Star vs. The Forces of Evil” Gets Weekday Premieres in February. Nick and More. Retrieved on 2017 March 5.
  2. Star vs. the Forces of Evil : Face the Music. Screener. Retrieved on 2017 March 5.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Face the Music. Disney XD Press. Retrieved on 2017 March 5.
  4. Amelia Lorenz (2017-05-13). While it's safe to assume that each of the.... Tumblr. Retrieved on 2017 July 30.
  5. Becky Dreistadt (2017-08-30). New characters that I drew for “Star vs the Forces.... Tumblr. Retrieved on 2017 August 30.
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