Alright folks, this is the final episode of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil this week, and it’s a doozy. “Monster Bash” is a double length episode that serves as the mid-season finale of season three, brining all the overarching stories together.
Okay, so, do you remember Mina Loveberry? She’s that crazy Mewni warrior woman who previously served under Queen Moon and was last seen trying to take over Earth. Viewers might be quick to write off this Sailor-Moon-looking nutcase as a minor side-character, but she helps brings together every major plot of this season.
But, let’s start at the beginning.
Star is setting up for a huge party, a get together of all the young monsters and Mewni heirs to usher in a new era of piece between the two. This party is being held in an old, abandoned castle. Star is a little stressed out, hoping that everything will go well, which it surprisingly does. The monsters and mewmans mingle and party and have a good time, the barriers of the old generations simple fading away.
Unfortunately, the good vibes of the party do not last forever, and some of the monsters have gone missing in the old castle. The mewmans and monsters start pointing the blame at each other, falling back on old hatreds and stereotypes. Star manages to save the situation by going in search of the missing monsters. She and Marco descend the castle’s stairs, and what they find changes everything.
In the old castle, Star and Marco find, you guessed it, Mina Loveberry. She’s the one who’s been capturing the monsters at the party, doing it for the protection of others. Star demands Mina let the monsters go, but out of nowhere, Miss Heinous, Gemini, and Rasticore crash through the ceiling. Miss Heinous is here for revenge on “Princess Marco,” bringing her machine to steal his energy. But, before she can do anything, the markings on her cheeks glow, opening up a hidden room in the castle.
In this mysterious room, Miss Heinous finds her old dolls, books, and crib. This was her nursery, and Mina reveals her to be the daughter of Eclipsa and a monster! Her original name was Meteora Butterfly, and Mina wants to destroy her. A fight breaks out as Mina transforms into her magic-augmented form. Star, Marco, and even Tom are no match for the warrior, but they able to help Miss Heinous get away. Before Mina can go after them, Rhombulus and knights of Butterfly castle barge in and break up the party.
Rhombulus lectures Star for holding the party at the abandoned castle, though he cannot exactly say why it was forbidden. Star starts to break down from all the stress of the party, and she feels like she can’t to anything; she can’t fix anything and she doesn’t even know who her family is anymore. To make matters worse, peace between monsters and mewmans seems even farther away. The knights are arresting the monster party guests, but not the mewmans, and Star is outraged. She forces them to let the monsters go. They are grateful, but now seem even more wary of mewmans than they once were. Everything she has worked for is breaking apart.
Elsewhere, Miss Heinous is hiding out. She has started to turn into some kind of monster and the epsidoe ends as she chooses to go by her original name, Meteora.
Jeeze, where to begin with this one? The way this episode connected everything was beautiful. Star already seemed stressed with her princess duties in nearly episode leading up to “Monster Bash,” and things have suddenly become much worse. Star cannot trust her family, the changes she’s tried to make were all for naught, and now she has to worry about Mina and Meteora.
Star is devastated by all that has gone down, both because her hard work was seemingly for nothing, but also because she has no idea to move forward. Season three is an excellent exploration of duty, leadership, stress, and how we can make these things our own. Star tried to do just that, and it blew up in her face. Now, we wait to see how she moves on from this setback. “Monster Bash” was an excellent mid-season finale, it brought together all of the overarching stories, showed real emotional turmoil, and set up an interesting premise for the season’s return.
Star Vs. The Forces of Evil will be on hiatus till December, so stay tuned for more reviews!
