Rapunzel's Return

"Rapunzel's Return" is a one-hour special episode of Tangled: The Series. It premiered on October 7, 2019 and is the first and second episode in the third season.

Plot
Continuing from where "Destinies Collide" ended, Cassandra reveals what she saw while inside The House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. She learned that she was the biological daughter of Mother Gothel, who abandoned her on the night she kidnapped Rapunzel. Convinced that Rapunzel had been overshadowing her for the entirety of her life, and that she would always be living in her shadow, Cassandra stole the Moonstone and declared Rapunzel's destiny as her own. Even though she was confronted by Adira, who ordered her to give up the Moonstone, Cassandra easily repels the warrior away and steals her Shadow Blade. With the Black Rocks covering her, Cassandra escapes from the group, despite Rapunzel's pleas not to cross the line, and cuts all ties with them, with Rapunzel unable to wrap her head around the entire situation.

With Cassandra gone, Rapunzel tries to focus on a method of returning home to Corona, while Eugene suspects that she is in extreme denial over Cassandra's betrayal. Just then, the group spots a balloon flying their way, and it is revealed to be piloted by Ulf. With Shorty translating, Ulf informs them that Corona is in danger, and Rapunzel realizes they need to return immediately. With King Edmund and Adira deciding not to accompany them, Rapunzel and the others board the balloon and fly back to Corona.

Upon arriving in Corona, the gang discovers that the kingdom is nearly deserted, save for Monty, who is ranting about a new order from King Frederic to mine unusual crystals. On this, Rapunzel and the group head for the castle. But to her shock, King Frederic and Queen Arianna have no memory of who Rapunzel is. A moment later, Andrew arrives with the Separatists of Saporia, declaring that Corona will soon be under their control. He also reveals that he has forged an alliance with Varian, who reveals that the Separatists have used a Saporian Wand of Oblivium to erase the memories of the King and Queen. He next reveals his plan to harness the power of the wand and create a synthetic gas that will erase the memories of everyone in Corona, and he has dubbed it "Quirinium" in honor of his father. Still reeling from Cassandra's betrayal, Rapunzel leads the charge against the Separatists, but thanks to Varian's chemicals, our heroes are easily outmatched. At Eugene's suggestion, they retreat with the Separatists in hot pursuit.

With our heroes having suffered defeat at the hands of the Separatists, they try to find a safe place to hide until they can formulate a plan. Just then, Xavier reveals himself along with other citizens that had not left the city. Xavier reveals that the King had ordered all the subjects to the mine to excavate crystals for Varian and the Separatists. They wanted to rebel against this order, but doing so would be an act of treason. However, Xavier states that now that Rapunzel has returned, they have a chance to save all of Corona. Unfortunately, Rapunzel does not feel confident enough that she can lead them to victory. Xavier promises to give her time to think about it.

While Rapunzel works on a new frying pan to replace the one destroyed in the previous battle, Eugene tries one more time to talk to his beloved, saying that she's not alone in this battle. Rapunzel declares she knows about that, just as Xavier asks her to come join the others in formulating a plan. Rapunzel promises to be there, but then ventures out on her own, returning to the castle and being secretly followed by Pascal.

Meanwhile, Varian is working hard to perfect his Quirinium formula, but the ensuing result is a powerful explosive. The Separatists decide to use the formula in its current state, as Andrew feels it can be more useful as is.

Using stealth, Rapunzel and Pascal make their way through the castle and manage to avoid several of the Separatists until they reach Cassandra's room, where she is reminded that her best friend is no longer her best friend and finally breaks down over the recent betrayal. But then, she is captured by one of the Separatists and thrown in the dungeon.

Rapunzel tries to persuade Varian not to implement his plan and asks him to be her friend again, but he insists that once the memories of everyone in Corona are erased, they will be friends again. However, Andrew reveals that there has been a change in plans: They plan to use the Quirinium to destroy Corona instead. Upon discovering the double-cross, Varian tries to take back control of the situation, but throws the wrong chemical and soaks the Separatists in soap. He is subsequently thrown in the cell along with Rapunzel and Pascal.

With no one but Varian for company, Rapunzel tries to sort things out with him, and he reveals that he only wanted to create this gas so that all of Corona would forget his past misdeeds. She tells him that she knows how it feels to be betrayed and is about to explain about Cassandra when Eugene and Lance Strongbow suddenly arrive, with the former having discovered that Rapunzel had gone off on her own. After being freed, she convinces her rescuers to let Varian join them in saving Corona, just as Andrew is sending the King and Queen away from the kingdom, locked in the royal coach, before the Separatists implement their plan.

Rapunzel sends Eugene and Lance to follow the coach while she and Varian concentrate on thwarting Andrew and the Separatists before they can use the Quirinium to destroy Corona. The twosome discover a giant airship, and deduce that the Separatists plan on dropping Quirinium on the city from the air, like bombs. Rapunzel and Varian stow away just as the airship takes off, and Andrew drops the first of the bombs from the deck. However, thanks to Rapunzel's hair, she is able to catch the barrel before it can fall out of reach and explode. Then Rapunzel and Varian get on deck, and she battles the Separatists while he disables the ship and jettisons their enemies. However, they are losing altitude quickly, and if they crash, the Quirinium will explode and destroy the city anyway. Varian has an idea on using the Quirinium to give the disabled airship more altitude so that it will explode out of reach of Corona. He volunteers to do the deed himself, as atonement for his misdeeds, but Rapunzel suddenly jettisons him off the airship and turns the propane on the Quirinium, causing the ship to rise.

Meanwhile, as Kai is driving the royal coach further away from Corona, Lance and Eugene are having trouble unlocking the doors, as Eugene has lost his lock pick in the commotion. Eugene realizes they need the original key to unlock the door, and distracts Kai onto the roof of the coach, while Lance tries to rein in the horse pulling, only to snap the reins loose. Eugene orders Kai to hand over the keys, but Kai refuses. On this, Lance ties Kai up in the severed reins and sends the freed horse running off and dragging Kai behind him, but forgets to grab the key. The runaway coach eventually is sent toward a cliff, but is saved from going over by Maximus and Fidella. However, Kai is not so lucky, as he is pushed off the cliff and never seen again.

Back at the airship, Rapunzel feels she has gotten it high enough to be out of harm's way, and uses the remaining propane to detonate the Quirinium, while using her hair to shield herself and Pascal from the blast. As she falls back to the ground, she uses her hair to swing off a ledge and land safely. Rapunzel and Eugene share a hug in the wake of their toughest victory yet, and she tells him there's still a promise she has to keep.

Inside Varian's home in Old Corona, Rapunzel prepares to make one last attempt to free Quirin from the amber where he is imprisoned. She has Varian prepared with a bucket of water and asks him to snap her out of it, in the case what she is about to do does more harm than good. She begins to chant the Reverse Incantation, which slowly melts away the amber, but cannot stop chanting it, and the water Varian splashes her with has no effect. Varian tries to shake Rapunzel awake, only to have his gloves dissolved on contact. He declares his refusal to give up on her, and this stirs her awake, causing her to collapse onto her knees. The two hug before Varian cries and embraces his father, overjoyed to know that he is finally free and still alive, and Rapunzel had made it possible, as she promised. Just then, Varian notices the note his father wrote has dissolved along with the melted amber, and he asks his father what was in it. Quirin simply states that the note said that he was proud of his son, and always has been.

With Corona safe for now, but King Frederic and Queen Arianna missing and still without their memories, Rapunzel becomes acting Queen in their place, and the entire kingdom celebrates a new beginning for itself. In the end, Rapunzel decides to finally open up to Eugene about Cassandra.

Cast

 * Mandy Moore as Rapunzel
 * Zachary Levi as Eugene
 * James Monroe Iglehart as Lance Strongbow
 * Eden Espinosa as Cassandra
 * Hudson D'Andrea as Little Cassandra
 * Jeremy Jordan as Varian
 * Clancy Brown as King Frederic
 * Julie Bowen as Queen Arianna
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Xavier
 * M. C. Gainey as Captain of the Guard
 * Jonathan Banks as Quirin
 * Bruce Campbell as King Edmund
 * Kelly Hu as Adira
 * Steve Blum as Attila
 * Paul F. Tompkins as Shorty
 * Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel
 * Dean Winters as Andrew
 * Jennifer Veal as Enchanted Girl
 * Betsy Sodaro as Clementine
 * Khary Payton as Kai
 * Richard Kind as Monty

Songs

 * Waiting in the Wings (Reprise)
 * Crossing the Line
 * Reverse Incantation
 * Stronger Than Ever Before

Trivia

 * In this episode, it's revealed that during the events of "Rapunzeltopia", Cassandra discovered inside the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow that she is the daughter of Mother Gothel and was adopted by the Captain of the Guards on the night she kidnapped Rapunzel.
 * Shorty is revealed to be fluent in miming, able to translate Ulf.
 * Rapunzel and the group return to Corona in this episode.
 * Varian redeems himself and becomes friends again with Rapunzel.
 * Quirin is freed from the amber.
 * Due to King Frederic and Queen Arianna's memory loss, Rapunzel becomes acting queen of Corona.
 * Maximus and Pascal losing and chasing after Rapunzel's Crown is a reference to the future events of Tangled Ever After when they lost and retrieved Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding rings.
 * Starting at the end of the episode, Rapunzel and Eugene wear new outfits for the whole third season.

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