Umbra Ravenway is the mother of Ebony and Enoby, as well as the fabled Black Crow of Magetown folklore. Despite what Mr. Minerva told Caine and his friends, the legend and rumors surrounding her are all wrong... Rather than a terrifying witch who preyed upon innocent people, the Black Crow helped those that the rest of society seemed inferior, and supported her daughters and their friends in putting an end to Miss Rowling's reign of terror over Magetown once and for all. Truly an unsung hero with a tarnished reputation as a result of history being written by the elite.
Enoby Brightness Remembrance Doveway, Misty Pendleton, & Arnold Anaconda
Voice Actors:
Enoby: Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson
Misty: Emma Watson
Arnold: Tom Felton
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Ebony, Misty, and Arnold are the secret espionage students of Magetown Prep hired by Mrs. Teacup in order to advance Miss Rowling's plans to mine the land of its magic. Misty is a fairy and Arnold is a goatman hybrid, both hailing from wealthy families, while Enoby is Ebony's twin sister acting as a double agent and secretly helping Team Circus win in the end by double-crossing Misty and Arnold. In other words, Enoby was playing the long con the whole episode. Haha!
Mrs. Prudence Teacup, the teacher of this school's detention center, is the textbook definition of abusive. She may be sickly sweet and condescending on the outside, but she's a sadistic monster who takes joy in disciplining the mages unfortunate enough to get detention at Magetown Prep. If it's not whacking students' hands with rulers, it's burning them with scalding hot tea or locking them in a sensory deprivation room if they get too annoying for her to deal with. Caine suffers from her a lot during his stay at Magetown Prep, every day after school, and his friends often wonder how he managed to stay okay with it all despite Mrs. Teacup's cruelty. To put it in layman's terms, he never was; but we're gonna save that for the future...
Stronghooves Qínmiǎn is an indigenous horse whose land and family was taken away from him by Khan-Lin. As a result, he spends his time wandering the Twin Territories for a place to live, just in case things go south. He's calm, gentle, and in tune with nature, as showcased with the Stallion's Flute of Tranquility, of which he uses calm his opponents down from the adrenaline. Jade Yōuyǎ is an affluent noblewoman who longs for a singing career, but sadly, the prophecy ended up cutting those dreams short as it was decided her grace and agility made her the perfect wielder of the Scaly Ribbon of Grace. Pearl Zhēnzhū, on the other hand, once dreamed of being the best pearl maker in the Twin Territories, but is largely okay with fate deciding to change her path regardless, which makes her semi-worthy of harnessing the Oceanic Pendant of Flexibility.
Help prepare Princess Minty of the Mantis Nations for her marriage to Prince Beatles of the Ladybug Nations and help the kingdom form an alliance to defend against the growing threat of the Parasite army.
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Chapter X: Squashed
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The tenth episode/chapter pays homage to the cultures of all eleven Southeast Asian countries and three South Asian countries in the world, along with the different corresponding insect species of those countries. It also pays homage to A Bug's Life in terms of entomology, Raya and the Last Dragon in terms of Southeast Asian representation, and Mulan II in terms of the arranged marriage plot.
The episode begins with a myth prologue told by Madame Hayati the Scholar, about the sword-shaped island of Xiphoidyx and the people living in it, as showcased by the tapestry images. Long ago, the living insectoid creatures lived in perfect harmony and prosperity on this beautiful jungle paradise known as The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx. Ants, butterflies, bees, snails, spiders, and even mantises alike all lived as one, working together as a singular unified community to give thanks to the life-bearing spirit that made their livelihoods possible: the Phi-Fa-Ja. The Phi-Fa-Ja brought food, light, and warmth to the island, and in gratitude, the people of Xiphoidyx held a festival in its honor, bringing offerings to the spirit every year to ensure this prosperity would remain for all time.
However, one such group of insects, the parasites, grew to envy the other insects for their ability to rely on other food sources that weren't other people. And so, a war broke out between the parasites and the other insects. The insects triumphed over the parasites, casting them away to another part of the island far away from the lush jungles. But for whatever reason or another, the other insects also began to distrust and envy each other as a result of their own capabilities as insects. After a second war broke out between them, a truce was made by the leader of the mantises. From there, everyone agreed to go their separate ways and the island of Xiphoidyx split into thirteen different sections, of which each insect species specialized in their own type of offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja, along with maintaining order and structure in their respective sectors…
The Ladybug Nations maintained law and order to prevent another war breaking out in Xiphoidyx, the Butterfly Nations built grand structures, homes, and even shrines dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja, the Bee Nations brewed the finest nectar mead, crafted the most beautiful jewelry for the elite, and kept the island's economy and finances stable with their many banks and stock markets, the Grasshopper Nations sang great songs and wrote the most amazing stories to be told around the world, the Dragonfly Nations specialized in knowledge and literature, educating the populace and giving wisdom and intelligence to the needy, the Moth Nations created all sorts of technological advances to further ensure prosperity to Xiphoidyx, the Firefly Nations built vehicles, railroads, and bridges to ensure accessibility to all parts of the island, the Inchworm Nations provided lumber for furniture and warmth to their people, the Spider Nations wove the finest silk and crafted the latest fashion trends with their webmaking skills, the Roach Nations tended to the agriculture and livestock of the island using their culinary prowess in order to keep everyone well-fed, the Snail Nations used their slime and herbs to cure the sick and heal the injured in times of crisis, the Ant Nations mined coal and iron in the caves they dug up, and lastly, the leading section of Xiphoidyx, the Mantis Nations, contributed to all the working power on the island by keeping the Phi-Fa-Ja satisfied with their offerings.
Lurking in the shadows of Xiphoidyx are the initially exiled Parasite Nations, who have specialized in military combat and weaponry, possibly in an attempt to claim back what's rightfully theirs. As such, the people of the island have already grown wary of a potential oncoming attack from the parasites, which could spell disaster and a loss of balance between the insectoids and the Phi-Fa-Ja. It would seem the annual offerings to the lifegiving spirit are no longer enough to keep the island safe from yet another uprising. Even the Mantis Queen’s bold suggestion of an arranged marriage between two insect nations seemed like a stretch with the stakes they're being forced to confront at this untimely hour. Their hands were tied. They had to ask for outside help.
And who better to ask for help than the band of misfit heroes who have traveled far and wide doing good deeds for the world, creatures that are unlike even them and hail from a foreign land far away from Xiphoidyx? After all, they have managed to conquer villainy in the past before. The question remains: will they be able to pull it off again…?
Once the narration from Hayati concludes, the tapestry zooms into the next scene: the Magical Digital Van on the road once more, as it's starting to become surrounded by a lush humid jungle. Jax complains about the van being too humid, and Pomni couldn't agree more. For whatever reason or another, Caine won't turn on the air conditioning, which causes everyone else to start complaining as well. It's only thanks to Bubble’s pleas, Valerie's insistence, and Caine's own eventual discomfort that he finally turns on the AC in the van, and everyone thanks him.
Winona, Garcia, Pamela, Gemma, and Valerie join in a group chat with Caine, the lattermost of whom he isn't keen on seeing right now since he's still trying to concentrate on the road. They talk about the events that occurred in the previous episodes, including the ones four of the girls helped out in back to back to back to back, which piques the interest of the rest of Team Circus in the van. They talk about the good parts they enjoyed, the bad parts they managed to tread through, and jewels they managed to collect along the way. Caine gets a sense of bittersweetness when recalling the two previous episodes, where he genuinely believed for a moment that he actually lost Pomni to alcoholism back in Symphonya, to which Pomni has to reassure the ringmaster that she's alright now; nothing bad is gonna happen to her for a while.
When asked by Valerie if Caine would like some more assistance from the other dimensional diplomats, he politely declines the offer. He's pretty confident about whatever challenges he and his friends will face next. Suddenly, Caine stops the van when he sees that the road has hit an apparent dead end, replaced by the shore of an apparent lake. While some more complaining and questioning happens from the other Team Circus members, Caine tries to ease the tension by instilling some optimism into the team with the hope that some miracle will turn up eventually.
It would seem that whatever prayers Team Circus initially had about the missing road are about to come true when we see a ferry pull up to fetch the van. The apparent owners of the ferry are a firefly, a moth, and a roach. When they take a look at the van and who's inside it, they appear eager to let them onto the ferry with the warmest welcomes they can muster, and with momentary hesitation, Caine drives the Magical Digital Van onto the ferry, and a few seconds later, the ferry’s doors close and it sails off…
While the ferry sails on the lake to an unknown location, Team Circus is treated to the beautiful sights of a jungle paradise amidst the persistent fog, with the motion of the boat relaxing them like an infant’s cradle. Caine can see the three insectoid people talking amongst themselves about something, but it's completely inaudible to him and the audience. They do appear to be excited for something, at least. Before Caine can start to feel queasy from the rocking of the boat, the ferry lands at a dock to an island and the three insects let them pass. As Caine drives off the ferry to the new location, Kinger gushes over the inclusion of insects, but not just any insects; walking talking insects that can speak a human language!! Caine wonders if this is what he should expect wherever it is he and his friends are off to.
After a while more of driving in the deep island jungles, complete with a few insectoid fishermen that Kinger squeals in joy over, Valerie happily declares that they've just arrived at their next road trip location: The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx. Kinger is beyond over the moon about this when everyone is informed by the dimensional diplomats that Xiphoidyx is filled to the brim with sentient and anthropomorphic insects with their very own cultures and customs, along with a magical spirit they worship as a god.
Right now, they're in one of Xiphoidyx’s fourteen different sections, the Mantis Nations. The Mantis Nations has a culture and lifestyle that's reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Laos, and all the mantises there speak Lao. It would appear that gold is also their main theme color. The landscape of Xiphoidyx itself also appears to resemble the feeling of being shrunken down to the size of an insect with the presence of giant plants and blades of grass the size of entire bamboo forests.
Moments later, Caine finds a random parking lot at a power plant in the Mantis Nations village, wondering where they should go from here. None of the six humans can read or speak Lao here, so Caine and Bubble, via their language translators in their systems, opt to guide them through. With that, the dimensional diplomats sit back and enjoy the show in their living room, watching Team Circus leave the van and start exploring the Mantis Nations of Xiphoidyx. A wave of culture shock hits the members of Team Circus almost immediately when they set foot into the village.
The mantises recognize Team Circus almost immediately and treat their presence like a prophecy come true, clamoring in Lao some warm welcomes to them, bombarding them with all sorts of gifts. While the other Team Circus members are overwhelmed by overly affectionate greetings, Kinger, the resident insect enjoyer, is living it up, even complimenting the mantis features they have. Caine just rolls his eyes at the extra flattery (or rizz, as Pomni calls it) the king chesspiece is giving the villagers. Some more exploring occurs, where they see shops and restaurants, power plants that are connected to a dam at a large river, and lastly, a towering gold palace in the middle of the Mantis Nations that looks just like the Pha That Luang. It looks very pretty up close.
The members of Team Circus contemplate going inside the palace, remembering the past events of the previous episode in regards to The Oratorio back in Symphonya. Some witty jokes and banter ensue as they recall what happened back in The Oratorio, which then starts to devolve into arguing that Caine is helpless to stop, until they are stopped by a well-dressed mantis lady, who appears to tell them… something. Unfortunately, she can only speak in Lao, so the humans cannot understand a word she's saying. Caine, with a sigh of exasperation, activates the language translator settings for all six of the humans, which makes it so that they can properly understand what the insect people are saying, regardless of potential language barriers. To the humans, and in turn the audience, the mantis lady can now speak English, an indicator that the translators are working.
When Caine asks the mantis lady to repeat what she just said, she tells them that the Queen has been anticipating — and even hoping — for their arrival to Xiphoidyx. That would explain the overly affectionate welcomes from the mantises. The mantis lady, who introduces herself as Vatsana, the queen’s lady-in-waiting, then leads Team Circus into the palace. The interior of the palace looks pretty lavish, with aspects of Laotian culture laced all over it. The palace staff are also mantises dressed up in Laotian clothes and jewelry, and are awestruck by the appearances of Team Circus. The moment they all enter the throne room is where the real action can truly begin…
At the throne room, we see Vatsana presenting the members of Team Circus to the queen of the Mantis Nations herself, an elegant looking mantis wearing Laotian garments and an equally gold Laotian tiara studded in olive green gems. Her name is Queen Phatthana. Phatthana proclaims to herself in disgruntlement: “ສະນັ້ນມັນເປັນຄວາມຈິງ... ຄືກັນກັບນາງເວົ້າ…” (Sanan manpen khuaamching… khukankab nang vao…), which roughly translates to: “So it is true... Just like she said…”
Queen Phatthana gets up from her throne and greets the members of Team Circus, declaring that their arrival was expected. Ragatha takes it as a sign that they're about to go on another mission, to which Kinger is very excited for. Phatthana orders Vatsana to lead Team Circus and follow the mantis queen as she starts giving out the details, including the state of Xiphoidyx and what the audience was told earlier in the episode: Phatthana was told by a prophet from the Dragonfly Nations about Team Circus’s arrival, something that Phatthana herself didn't believe in, having already come up with a solution herself to fix the disharmony on the insectoid island. You see, Phatthana believes that the exiled group of insects, the parasites, are out to steal the land from the other insects, and as the days pass, their forces have kept growing. Resources are being spread thin to not only keep the parasite army at bay with everything they have, but to also satisfy the Phi-Fa-Ja with their yearly offerings. When Pomni asks Queen Phatthana what exactly the Phi-Fa-Ja is, the mantis queen and Vatsana are more than happy to show them. Vatsana and Phatthana then lead Team Circus outside from behind the palace to a tall hilltop in the center of the Mantis Nations, and in turn all of Xiphoidyx.
At the hilltop, the members of Team Circus not only get a scenic view of the vast jungles of Xiphoidyx and the insects living there, but also what appears to be the Phi-Fa-Ja itself on the highest peak of the island… and it's revealed to have the appearance of a giant lawnmower. Except for Kinger and Ragatha, everyone is confused by the Phi-Fa-Ja’s design. Why a giant lawnmower of all things? Caine just assumes it's because of the fact that the people of Xiphoidyx are insects themselves, but he digresses. In order to clear up any confusion, Vatsana and Phatthana take turns explaining what the Phi-Fa-Ja exactly is to the Team Circus cast: the Phi-Fa-Ja is a magical spirit that gives life and abundance to The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx. It created the grass and the trees that bear fruit, making civilization on the island possible. To give thanks to the Phi-Fa-Ja’s endless generosity, the insects living on the island bring offerings from their own sections to the Phi-Fa-Ja, the giant lawnmower in question, holding an annual festival for the Phi-Fa-Ja in its honor and to celebrate another successful harvest season in Xiphoidyx.
The date of the festival is drawing near, and with forces from the Parasite Nations growing exponentially, along with no effective army from either of the other insect tribes to keep them at bay for much longer (a prospect that Caine finds incredibly dumb; more on that much later), options have already begun to run out and thus, desperate times call for desperate measures. Phatthana had already suggested to the dragonfly prophet of an arranged marriage between her daughter, the mantis princess, and the crown prince of the Ladybug Nations in order to forge an alliance to make Xiphoidyx stronger. When asked by Ragatha, Phatthana’s reasoning is that the alliance would ensure both armies from the mantises and the ladybugs would outnumber the parasite army and keep Xiphoidyx safe, harmonious, and prosperous.
They're faced with a bit of a dilemma. Arranged marriages nowadays haven't brought much happiness to either bride or groom, but at the same time, it's kinda necessary in order for the alliance to be possible. There's also the yearly festival for the Phi-Fa-Ja, where the insects bring offerings to the life-bearing spirit in order to keep it satisfied and bring life to the island. With these two factors in mind, Kinger gains an idea: he and the other members of Team Circus can go around Xiphoidyx with the mantis princess and the ladybug prince, collecting items all across the island for their own batch of offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja, using the time spent collecting those items to allow both royals to get to know each other better and to also perhaps fall in love with each other.
Vatsana declares this idea to be as bold as Phatthana's arranged marriage idea, and eagerly accepts. She even asks the queen herself why she didn't think of that sooner! Phatthana rolls her eyes and cuts to the chase, ordering her lady-in-waiting to lead Team Circus to her daughter's quarters in the palace. Vatsana does as she's told at once. Both Caine and Bubble are a little concerned by how unenthusiastic Phatthana acted over Kinger's idea; they actually thought it was a brilliant idea.
Soon, they all head back into the palace where they find the mantis princess just chilling at the balcony. Good for her, I guess. Vatsana calls the princess forth, and she scuttles her way to them. The princess formally greets her mother and her mother's lady-in-waiting… along with the members of Team Circus. The princess is a little confused by the presence of Team Circus themselves, until Vatsana explains to her about the prophecy foretelling of their presence. Phatthana then leads everyone to the dining hall for dinner and refreshments and to explain further of what's to come.
Queen Phatthana introduces Team Circus to her daughter, Princess Minty; named after the mint leaves that grow in the Mantis Nations of Xiphoidyx. Minty is Phatthana’s most prized daughter; the jewel of the island. Minty, at first glance, is quiet and demure, like one would expect from a young princess. She's also very obedient to her mother… not a very interesting characteristic to have for a potential bride-to-be, as Jax whispers to Ragatha. Somehow, Minty can hear what Jax said, prompting to stop her meal momentarily. She tries not to appear upset in order to appease both Vatsana and her mother Phatthana, but everyone can see right through it. Instinctively, the members of Team Circus, except for Bubble, turn their heads towards Jax, but before anyone can do or say anything to the rabbit, Phattana immediately informs Minty that she's already been betrothed to someone long before Team Circus arrived on the island. She repeats what Phattana told the members of Team Circus; in order to keep the parasite armed forces from getting too strong and outnumbering the mantis army, an alliance has been made between the Mantis Nations and one other insectoid tribe, of which an arranged marriage makes that possible. Princess Minty, in conclusion, has been betrothed to another insect tribe royal in order to secure that alliance.
The members of Team Circus have just met the Mantis Nations princess, and already, their first impressions of her are mixed. They barely had time to prepare themselves when Minty expresses her outcries and grievances to Phattana and Vatsana, saying that if she wanted to marry someone, she'd do it for love and with someone she'd met. Kinger doesn't even have time to explain the rest of the details further, including his bold and brave idea from earlier, as Jax makes the assumption that Minty might be afraid of having to eat her groom's head at the wedding, because that's what real life mantises do. This greatly offends Princess Minty, Queen Phattana, and Vatsana; the idea of a bride mantis eating the groom's head is nothing more than a harmful stereotype in Xiphoidyx. Furiously, Caine drags Jax out of the dining hall by the damaged ear, prompting Bubble to follow them both just in case. Vatsana attempts to calm the princess down, and Phattana reminds Minty of her duties to the Mantis Nations, but unfortunately, thanks to Jax’s harmful assumptions, Minty is no longer in the mood to hear anyone out and flees the dining hall to be by herself.
Kinger apologizes profusely for Jax's behavior, and both Vatsana and Phatthana accept his apologies; they couldn't have known about the harmful stereotype considering they're foreigners here. Ragatha assures both mantises that Caine is already sorting this out with Jax, and Pomni just bluntly tells everyone that they'll have to continue the conversation tomorrow, being heavily turned off by what just happened seconds ago. The other Team Circus members are then prompted to leave the dining hall as well, and Phattana, in a bit of a hurry, orders Vatsana to guide them to their sleeping quarters in the palace. Phattana is saddened to see the meals unfinished thanks to Jax’s transgression, so she packs them up herself for tomorrow’s leftovers; besides, they'll need the food for the journey outside the Mantis Nations.
Later that night, we see Princess Minty all worked up over the arranged marriage, with Jax’s commentary making it worse. She already had fears of getting married to someone because of what she believed happened to her dad. She doesn't want whatever future husband she'll have to get the same gruesome and cruel fate her dad had. She also remembers that she still has the duty of serving Xiphoidyx, and doesn't want to let her mother and Vatsana down. She's actually kind of torn up. Plus, she feels bad for making Team Circus look bad for such an overreaction. It's complicated, okay!?
Luckily, she doesn't have to ruminate for too much longer when she hears footsteps coming from Jax. He's here to apologize to Princess Minty for the insensitive remark he made earlier that afternoon. In his hands is a tray carrying two cups of mint leaf tea. Minty wasn't expecting such a thoughtful gesture from the rabbit, and gratefully lets him into her room… to find that Jax's arm is bruised and a red slap mark on his right cheek is present. Yep, he got disciplined alright! Jax also comments that a vase got broken in the process; Vatsana’s already cleaning that up.
Minty also apologizes for her own behavior; she rarely ever acts like that around other people. Jax was never a fan of having to repress emotions for other people; he understands. He even asks Minty more about the Phi-Fa-Ja and what makes it so special in Xiphoidyx. Minty isn't entirely sure either. Somehow, the Phi-Fa-Ja wound up being located in the same place the Mantis Nations is at and the mantises have declared leadership over the other insects because of it. In fact, most of Xiphoidyx’s power and modern comforts come from the Phi-Fa-Ja. No wonder everyone worships that giant lawnmower like a god. Speaking of the Phi-Fa-Ja, Jax brings up the upcoming festival held in its honor. Minty is well aware; she fails to understand why the grandiose lavishness of those festivals is even necessary for such a sacred occasion. If anything, she'd rather just worship the Phi-Fa-Ja from the comfort of her room. Weren't there already thousands upon thousands of shrines dedicated to the spirit in Xiphodyx?
All of this reminds Jax about Kinger's great idea from earlier today, in regards to the arranged marriage and alliance, something he can tell Minty is not at all looking forward to. He thinks she'll like it; while going around the island to collect items for the festival to give to the Phi-Fa-Ja, they can use that time spent traveling getting to know the groom better. Minty likes the sound of that. All the while, they enjoy the mint tea and continue their pleasant conversation, deciding to offer the mint tea to the Phi-Fa-Ja as their first batch of offerings to spirit for the upcoming festival. The two head outside at night and place the mint leaves and mint tea at the large altar where the Phi-Fa-Ja is at. Princess Minty chants to the giant lawnmower in Lao:
“ໂອ ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ ຜີ-ຟ້າ-ຫຍ້າ, ຮັບເອົາເຄື່ອງຖວາຍນີ້ ແລະເປັນພອນໃຫ້ແກ່ແຜ່ນດິນນີ້ ດ້ວຍຄວາມເອື້ອເຟື້ອແຜ່ອັນສູງສົ່ງຂອງເຈົ້າ.” (O nyinghainy Phi-Fa-Ja, haboao kheuong thuaaini lae pen phon haiaek aephndinni duanykhuaam euofeu aeph ansungsong khongchao.) Translation: “O great Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering and bless this land with your divine generosity.”
…Tonight ended off on a rather sweet note.
When the sun rises the next morning, we see Princess Minty in much better spirits than she was yesterday, and a little excited about leaving the palace to travel on the island. While walking through the halls, she finds Jax yet again in trouble for something, with Ragatha, Kinger, and Caine cornering him while Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble watch in disappointment. Minty is confused and frightened by the sight until Bubble jumps in to tell her that Ragatha thinks Jax is cheating on her with the princess. Minty zooms in to interfere, begging to the ragdoll, king chesspiece, and ringmaster to not hurt the rabbit; this is all a misunderstanding! This gives Jax the ability to explain that he went out of his way to apologize to Minty for what happened yesterday. They bonded, he learned a little more about the Phi-Fa-Ja, and she learned a little more about what's happening today in regards to the arranged marriage.
Queen Phatthana, sensing conflict in her palace, jumps into the conversation to confirm the truth; Princess Minty will indeed be traveling with Team Circus all across Xiphodyx gathering items for offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja, alongside her future husband, whom she will meet today. She hopes that Minty and her groom will bond with each other during that time. Jax even says that the first batch of offerings from the Mantis Nations was already made for the Phi-Fa-Ja last night in preparation. The rest of the Team Circus members fall silent as Phattana and Vatsana grab the leftovers from yesterday for breakfast and guide them to their designated vehicle. Whether or not they're butthurt about being humbled or are just simply nervous about today, or possibly even both is up to audience interpretation.
Vatsana, while helping Team Circus and Minty pack their supplies to the vehicle, which is a large hovering mint leaf powered by the Phi-Fa-Ja’s spiritual energy complete with golden doors and a bubble dome, takes the time to explain the different aspects of each insect tribe in Xiphodyx, including the mantises’ main power supply to the island, the ladybugs’ enforcement of law and order, the butterflies’ architects, the bees’ luxury goods and economy stabilizers, the grasshoppers’ music and films, the dragonflies’ wisdom and knowledge, the moths’ technology, the fireflies’ vehicles, bridges, and roadways, the inchworms’ wood supply, the spiders’ silk and cotton for clothing, the roaches’ agriculture and livestock, the snails’ medicine, and the ants’ coal and iron. This is a lot of information to take in for Team Circus, but fortunately for them, Kinger already made a list of the different insect tribes, and even a detailed map of the sword-shaped island so that everyone knows where to go.
Phattana, Vatsana, and Minty bid each other farewell and good luck on the journey. Vatsana has already set the location for where the hoverleaf will go; it's a surprise for both the princess and Team Circus. From there, she will meet her future husband in the surprise location they'll be heading off to. After one last farewell between Queen Phattana and her daughter Princess Minty, the hoverleaf self-drives away from the Mantis Nations and into the unknown. The journey has already begun.
It takes 2 hours for the hoverleaf to arrive at its destination. During that interval, Team Circus gets a look at the splendorous tropical jungles of the island from above and Jax and Minty share some mint tea with each other. Minty gets to learn more about the lives of Team Circus and what they've been up to during the road trip. Jax even learns a little bit about Minty's late father and her concerns surrounding the fate of her own future husband. She doesn't want him to go through what the late king of the Mantis Nations went through. Plus, Phattana never talks about him to anyone, and even Vatsana won't spill the beans to her. Jax finds that strange, but doesn't question it further.
Two hours later, the hoverleaf finally arrives at the new area of Xiphoidyx that the members of Team Circus have never been to before: the Ladybug Nations. The people of the Ladybug Nations have a vastly different culture and lifestyle than that of the Mantis Nations, with all of their clothes, food, architecture, and customs being reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia. The people living in the Ladybug Nations, which include different types of scarabs and beetles, all read and speak Khmer, and even the signs of different shops and restaurants all have the Khmer language on it. Their theme color appears to be red. In the distance is a crimson colored royal palace, very reminiscent of the real life Royal Palace of Cambodia. Minty is enamored by the different culture the Ladybug Nations brings, and eagerly guides the Team Circus members to the Ladybug Nations palace, hoping to meet her future groom there.
In the Ladybug Nations palace, we are introduced to a new character, who can be seen ordering the palace staff around and getting everything ready for a special day. He is none other than the royal advisor Saran. Saran expects everything to be in shipshape condition for the new arrivals, including King Borai and his son Prince Beatles. Upon arriving at Prince Beatles’s room to greet him, Saran and Beatles are immediately shown to have an uncle-nephew bond with each other. Prince Beatles is excited for the big day today and to meet his future bride while Saran helps him get ready for the day with his own sardonic commentary. As soon as Beatles gets done preparing to meet his future bride, all while talking about his hopes and dreams for a better Xiphoidyx and his predictions as to who his bride will be, Saran leads the young prince to the throne room, where they meet up with King Borai and wait for the new arrivals to show up soon.
In the meantime, Saran informs Borai that everything has been prepared in advance, including tonight's banquet and the festival’s offering. …Turns out Saran really is Beatles's uncle after all, as we can see Saran and Borai getting into a brotherly heated argument about the growing threat of the parasite army, the Mantis Nations setting up the festival for the Phi-Fa-Ja for all of Xiphodyx ever since they proclaimed themselves as the true leaders of the island thanks to having the Phi-Fa-Ja for themselves, and the prophesized presence of the international heroes. Before it can escalate further, Beatles has to tell his father and uncle that the prophesized heroes have already arrived. At once, King Borai and the royal advisor Saran immediately place their positions, including Prince Beatles.
The members of Team Circus and Princess Minty are enticed by the lavish Cambodian architecture of the royal ladybug palace and greet King Borai. As soon as Princess Minty shows herself, he sees the ladybug prince dressed in regal Cambodian attire and wearing a small silver Cambodian crown with red rubies encrusted on it. As soon as King Borai confirms that his son is indeed Minty’s groom, Saran remarks how everyone else is reacting to this news a lot better than he expected. Apparently, Saran and King Borai had refused to accept Queen Phattana’s proposal of an arranged marriage multiple times before, but had to begrudgingly accept on account of the parasite forcing becoming a more serious threat.
Pomni is taking a liking to Saran’s humor, while Minty and Beatles try to start a conversation with each other, despite how awkward they are around each other. Already bored and impatient, Caine begs for Kinger to make the king cut to the chase, and the latter does so, telling Borai and Saran that they didn't just come here to meet the mantis princess’s future husband. Borai mentally smacks himself in the face for completely forgetting about the festival dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja in Xiphoidyx, and promptly leads Team Circus, Minty, Beatles, and Saran down the ruby-gilded halls for a brief tour. Saran can only say this sentence anxiously to Team Circus: “ខ្ញុំសង្ឃឹមថាអ្នកដឹងពីអ្វីដែលអ្នកកំពុងធ្វើ។ កោះនេះត្រូវការអ្នកឥឡូវនេះច្រើនជាងពេលណាៗទាំងអស់។” (Khnhom sangukhumtha anak doengpi avei del anak kampoung thveu. Kaoh nih trauvkar anak ilauvnih chraenchang pel na teangoasa.), which roughly translates to: “I hope you know what you're doing. This island needs you now more than ever.” Caine and Bubble understand that message wholeheartedly and look at each other with the same nervousness Saran has right now.
As the tour commences, Beatles and Minty once again try to strike up a conversation with each other while the tour happens in the background. In turn, Minty learns a little bit about Beatles's life and some of the Ladybug Nations’ aspects. Beatles was named after the band of the same name; King Borai had always loved classic rock growing up, even when the other insects in Xiphoidyx thought it was odd and foreign. The Ladybug Nations were in charge of Xiphoidyx’s justice system; they were the lawmakers, the keepers of order. So essentially, whatever King Borai liked, the Mantis Nations had to accept. Somehow it made the Grasshopper Nations a lot more prosperous than the mantises, which annoyed Queen Phatthana for a little bit. Minty can relate to how overbearing Phatthana is as the mantis queen’s daughter; always demanding perfection as the supreme leader of Xiphoidyx. It would make the most sense that Minty and Beatles were betrothed together; without the Ladybug Nations keeping the island’s law and order in check, the mantises would be helpless to maintain prosperity to Xiphoidyx.
Suddenly, the tour comes to a screeching halt when a weevil merchant hurriedly runs to King Borai with what appears to be a fruitfly thief in his clutches. Saran goes to fetch the rhinoceros beetle scribe in the process. The members of Team Circus are wondering what's happening in the meantime. King Borai sees this as the perfect opportunity to show them what Borai does for a living aside from royal duties. Minty and Beatles follow suit.
Everyone heads into the royal trial room, where the fruitfly thief is the defendant, the weevil merchant is the witness, the rhinoceros beetle scribe is the lawyer opposing him, Prince Beatles is the lawyer defending him, and King Borai is the judge. Minty and Team Circus watch intently. Borai encourages his son to try his best and not fail. And so, the young ladybug prince does. Team Circus gets a bit of insight as to what the ladybugs do in Xiphoidyx. Saran tells them that all court cases go directly to the Ladybug Nations, both civil and criminal. Minty is equally intrigued by Beatles's eloquence, while Caine impatiently waits for the trial to conclude. In the meantime, Zooble and Pomni gossip to each other about Jax and Minty's sudden bond with each other behind the rabbit’s back. Eventually, the trial concludes and the verdict is not guilty. The fruitfly is free to go! Borai congratulates his son for winning a trial case for the first time and declares a celebratory banquet not just in his honor, but for his new bride-to-be as well! Minty feels grateful and welcomed by the denizens of the Ladybug Nations, and Team Circus shares the congratulatory praises to the young ladybug prince.
Later that night, when the sky is clear enough to show the stars, the banquet is held outside at the royal gardens, including party guests and dancers, along with a pinpeat band consisting of a harmonia axyridis ladybug playing the sralai, a Cambodian oboe, a yellow psyllobora playing the tro ou, a Cambodian fiddle, two vibidia duodecimguttata ladybirds, one playing the khim, a Cambodian hammered dulcimer, and one playing the kong ring, a Cambodian tube zither, a trio of three-striped lady-beetles, one playing the sampho barrel drum, one playing the kong von thom, a circle of Cambodian gong chimes, and one playing the roneat thung, a Cambodian xylophone, a halyzia sedecimguttata playing the chapei dang veng, a two-stringed Cambodian guitar, and a rhyzobius chrysomeloides playing the pin, a Cambodian arched harp, all while singing hymns in Khmer.
The Ladybug Nations is here to celebrate not just Prince Beatles’ first victorious trial case and the betrothal of the ladybug prince and the mantis princess, but also the prophesized heroes of Team Circus and their journey all over The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx in search for items to offer the Phi-Fa-Ja for the festival. After a little bit of Minty and Beatles bonding with each other, and Team Circus vibing to the outdoor banquet, King Borai steps up to announce that with the growing forces of the parasites becoming more noticeable by the day, Queen Phatthana of the Mantis Nations has agreed to bring over her daughter to him, to be married to his son Prince Beatles for an alliance. Princess Minty explains that her first batch of offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja has been made yesterday; the Mantis Nations offerings, much to the ladybug king’s happiness. Saran gifts the betrothed royals two crimson red vases adorned with the most beautiful flowers from the island. This is their offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja from the Ladybug Nations. Then, King Borai anoints the betrothed insects individually and says a chant to the Phi-Fa-Ja in Khmer:
“ឱព្រះជាម្ចាស់ ភី-ហ្វា-ចា សូមទទួលយកការថ្វាយនេះពីប្រជាជនរបស់ខ្ញុំ ហើយប្រទានពរដល់អាពាហ៍ពិពាហ៍នេះដោយសប្បុរសដ៏ទេវភាពរបស់អ្នក។” (Ao preahcheamcheasa Phi-Fa-Ja saum ttuol yk kar thvay nih pi brachachn robsakhnhom haey bratan pr dl apa pipea nih daoy sabborsa da te v pheap robsa anak.) Rough translation: “O divine Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your divine generosity.”
After the blessings are given, the offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja are obtained and put into a large satchel for collecting items, and the crowd cheers, including the dimensional diplomats from the other side of the screen, all eight members of Team Circus receive a notification for their tenth objective on their communicator bracelets, thus marking the beginning of the journey across Xiphodyx, in search of offerings to the life-bearing spirit, for potential future allies on the island… and potentially love from the bride and groom.
The next morning arrives. Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles have already eaten breakfast and said their farewells to King Borai and Saran, who have both bid them good luck to them all. Prince Beatles gets a good look at the hoverleaf and begins bonding some more with Princess Minty as the hoverleaf begins to set a course to the next insect tribe of Xiphoidyx. Jax even serves mint tea to the royal duo as a nice gesture… and to get away from his troupe making infidelity jokes at his expense behind his back. The two vases of flowers sit nice and easy in the hoverleaf, at a makeshift altar made to cater to the Phi-Fa-Ja. This is where the other offerings will be placed at.
It takes another two hours to get to the next insect tribe, and everyone can immediately tell what it is: the Butterfly Nations! The Butterfly Nations is filled to the brim with flying colorful butterflies, and architecture, clothes, customs, culture, and lifestyle all reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar/Burma. The butterflies there also speak Burmese and the writing on the signs have Burmese writing on them. Their theme color also appears to be pink. In the distance is a pink-colored palace on the very top of the tallest tree in Xiphoidyx, higher than the highest peak in the island, where the Phi-Fa-Ja, the giant lawnmower spirit from the Mantis Nations, is currently sitting on. The palace bears a striking resemblance to the Kanbawzathadi Palace in real life and appears to be touching the line between outer space and the sky. Oh boy.
The hoverleaf lands in the paradisical swamp village surrounded by copious amounts of trees, including the extremely tall one where the Butterfly Nations palace is. The butterflies in that swampy jungle village are variegated fritillary butterflies dressed in attire and have customs akin to the Kachin ethnic group of Myanmar/Burma, and they all greet the insect royals and Team Circus with warm welcomes and a shower of different gifts, including different flowers. Some of the butterfly villagers even bow down to the royals for formality’s sake. Princess Minty, sensing that Team Circus is too overwhelmed by the villagers (except for Pomni, who's living it up with her social media influence), asks one of the butterfly villagers if there's a way they can access the royal palace of the Butterfly Nations, since they can't reach it through normal means.
The butterfly villager understands wholeheartedly what Minty means, so they offer ten masks made from the most gorgeous flowers to each individual of all eight members of Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles, while nine other butterflies snag them individually and the tenth butterfly, their leader, grabs ahold of Princess Minty. The tenth butterfly then leads the others upwards in an orderly fashion and they take off into the sky in a migration formation, all while carrying the Team Circus members, Prince Beatles, and Princess Minty with them. Once again, Caine's fear of flying is made evident as he squirms around in perpetual terror, prompting the butterfly carrying him (and not having a good time doing so) to whisper to their neighboring pal: “...အမြဲတမ်း ဒီလို ရိုင်းစိုင်းနေကြတာလား?” (...Aamyaelltam delo rinehcine naykyatar larr?), which roughly translates to: “...Are they always this rowdy?” Their neighboring pal, who is carrying a slightly amused Bubble, just shrugs.
As everyone else is enjoying the view from above and Kinger feels on top of the world being carried by a butterfly (which he considers a dream come true), they get a good look at the mountainscapes of the Butterfly Nations amongst the horde of giant trees taller than the tallest skyscraper in the human world. In the mountains, they can see anise swallowtail butterflies living in vastly spread villages, akin to the lifestyle of the Chin ethnic group of Myanmar/Burma. The anise swallowtail butterflies of one particular village wave hello excitedly to the ten butterflies soaring in the sky. Princess Minty, who was sadly never taught how to fly, enjoys feeling the wind in her hair and on her antennae as the butterflies zoom into the sky like jet planes. Prince Beatles, who actually was taught how to fly at some point in his life, is simply happy for his new fiancée.
Soon though, the butterflies begin travelling upwards towards the tallest tree in the island of Xiphoidyx, where the royal palace is located. For the members of Team Circus, the mantis princess, and the ladybug prince, the air is beginning to get harder to breathe, with both the mantis princess and the ladybug prince, and even Pomni gasping for air frantically. The leader of the butterfly migration orders them all to put on their flower masks now, and they all obey. The flower masks turn out to provide oxygen to the insect royals and Team Circus, since the atmosphere is getting thinner the higher they go up. Only the butterflies can breathe through the thin atmosphere, so they must keep wearing the masks the whole way through.
Eventually, they finally make it to the Butterfly Nations royal palace, a grand pink-colored structure with intricate designs and lavish floral decorations. Everyone is enamored by the stunning beauty of the palace, as are the butterflies carrying them. The butterfly migration drops the insect royals and Team Circus off at the palace, with the butterfly carrying Caine with them to snarl at the ringmaster with this sentence: “...ငါ့ကို ဒီလိုဘယ်တော့မှ ထပ်မလုပ်နဲ့။” (...Ngarko delobhaaltotmha htaut malotenae.), which translates to: “Don't ever do this to me again.”, before the ten butterflies fly off back to their village. All ten of the journeying individuals enter the palace halls, looking for something to do there. They do a little bit of exploring, the royal insects express how they've never been to the Butterfly Nations palace before, and they all see some butterfly palace staff members preparing for something in advance in the flower gardens outside, most likely the festival dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja of Xiphoidyx. They all split into pairs, and the five pairs go around the palace.
Gangle and Zooble head towards the art room, Kinger and Pomni traverse down the hallways, Ragatha and Jax travel to the kitchen and dining areas, Caine and Bubble go further into the flower gardens to investigate, and lastly, Minty and Beatles look for the Butterfly Nations ruler. Gangle and Zooble see some butterflies in the art room designing an intricate temple design for the Phi-Fa-Ja, with the room being decorated with an array of different tapestries… including events that happened in the previous nine episodes. There's even a series of tapestries on another wall detailing the prophecy foretold to the other insects about Team Circus saving the day from an unprecedented evil. Gangle assumes it's the parasite army, but Zooble investigates them further and sees that the parasite army isn't found anywhere in the tapestries. Before they could question the tapestries further, they hear someone singing a Burmese folk song while a butterfly plays on the saung-gauk, a Burmese arched harp. Three other butterflies design and plan their magnum opus on a nearby table, the magnum opus being a Burmese Tower Of Babel-like temple in honor of the Phi-Fa-Ja. Eventually, both the masked ribbon lady and the triangular amalgam find the source of the singing: a tapestry weaver hard at work on yet another one of his masterpieces.
The two humans approach the tapestry maker to say hello, and he briefly stops whatever he's doing to bask in their presence. The tapestry maker is a monarch butterfly with clothes that are reminiscent of the Mon ethnic group of Myanmar/Burma. He introduces himself as Theingi; he's the royal tapestry weaver for the Butterfly Nations queen who weaves out different stories to be told all over the island, and to transcribe the past, present, and future for the Dragonfly Nations’ scholar, the prophet Madame Hayati. Theingi is honored to be in the presence of two of the greatest miracles to exist in the island, and pleads for the two to help them plan out their most prized construction project: The Grand Butterfly Nations Temple Of The Phi-Fa-Ja. The temple in question is almost done being built, but needs a few more renovations and final touches to make it extra special for the lifegiving spirit. Wishing to build trust with the butterflies, Gangle and Zooble accept this challenging feat and get to work as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Minty and Beatles talk about how they both have never been outside of their respective palace walls until this very moment. While Beatles was too afraid to venture outside the palace, Minty was simply not allowed to growing up. Something about the world being unsafe for someone as fragile as her, Minty assumes. The only reason she kept making those same excuses for so long was because of her assumptions about her dad being gone. Beatles feels a little guilty for having more freedoms as a young child, but can also relate to having a dead dad himself. Minty is at first confused since King Borai, who is very much still alive, is Beatles's father, until the prince himself explains that he had a second father… of whom he never got the chance to meet. King Borai had wed another male ladybug long ago, but he passed away when Beatles was still an unhatched egg.
Before they could continue their conversation further, they stumble upon the sight of what appears to be another insect royal from Xiphoidyx in the Butterfly Nations palace, apparently having finished music lessons for the day. The butterfly is a beautiful specimen wearing an elegant Burmese royal dress slathered in different shades of pink. Her silver tiara has pink gems in the shape of flowers studded onto it, and her silky hair is decorated with all sorts of different white and pink flowers. Her butterfly wings are large and also pink. The butterfly princess sees Princess Minty and Prince Beatles in the halls and greets them formally. She introduces herself as Princess Chrysalisa, the heir to the throne of the Butterfly Nations. Minty and Beatles introduce themselves as well and explain that they're here with eight special heroes from a different world travelling across the island in search of items to offer the Phi-Fa-Ja for the festival. They also explained that the two have been betrothed to each other in an arranged marriage, in order to seal an alliance to both insect tribes that'll thwart the growing parasite army in Xiphoidyx.
Chrysalisa has heard about the parasite forces growing exponentially, and her people have been patrolling the skies ever since they heard about the news. As the three of them walk down the halls back to the throne room, Minty explains that they've been looking for the Butterfly Nations ruler in order to ask them for their blessing to this arranged marriage. At the throne room, we see six of the Team Circus members arrive back to the throne room with Minty and Beatles in the presence of Princess Chrysalisa. Kinger and Pomni had been going up and down the halls while enjoying the scenery and learning about butterfly facts along the way, Caine and Bubble were investigating the royal gardens and the two have confirmation that they're indeed preparing for the festival dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja, Ragatha and Jax accidentally pissed off some chefs and appear to have gotten into a food fight as showcased with how they're soaked in food residue, and there is no sign of Gangle and Zooble anywhere. Chrysalisa frantically cleans off the food residue from the rabbit and the ragdoll, while Minty and Beatles laugh it up in wholesome fashion. Whatever went on in the kitchen must've been a doozy.
Shortly thereafter, Gangle and Zooble arrive back with Theingi the tapestry maker and a group of other butterflies who all appear to be renovators and construction workers. Theingi, upon seeing the three insect royals including Chrysalisa, bows before them and declares that the The Grand Butterfly Nations Temple Of The Phi-Fa-Ja is ready to be finished. Chrysalisa is delighted to hear this news and fetches her mother, the queen, to deliver the news. Gangle provided the artistic designs and Zooble provided which materials to use to keep the structure stable for many decades to come. This is great news since Minty and Beatles were already looking for the Butterfly Nations ruler to give their blessings to the arranged marriage, as well as an offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja spirit. Moments later, we are treated to Princess Chrysalisa excitedly dragging the Butterfly Nations ruler into the throne room, Queen Nandar. Nandar wears elegant pink Burmese robes while adorned with a golden tiara with pink gems and flowers. Her wings are large and have a more vivid pink shade than Chrysalisa’s wings.
Queen Nandar basks in the presence of not just Team Circus but also Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, who curiously hovers around them. Beatles explains to Nandar about the alliance from the arranged marriage, the Phi-Fa-Ja festival, and Kinger's idea of travelling all over the island in search for items to offer to the spirit. Minty expresses hope that through this, they can gain potential allies to take down the parasite armed forces. Chrysalisa gains an interest in this prospect, and suggests to her mother that the royal insect fiancées, along with the prophesized heroes from Team Circus, should go to each royal family from the different insect tribes with a noble task assigned to them to not only gain an ally from an insect tribe, but to also get the rulers’ blessings to the arranged marriage to seal the allyhood once and for all. Through this, Team Circus, who are a group of foreigners, can learn about what each insect tribe contributes to in order to maintain prosperity in Xiphoidyx. For example, they already know that the Mantis Nations provide power and electricity to the island, providing them with warmth, light, and modern comforts, as well as being the supreme leaders of Xiphoidyx due to having the Phi-Fa-Ja itself on their land, while the Ladybug Nations are responsible for the island's justice system, maintaining law and order through their lawyers and judges as a means to keep things fair and organized.
Ragatha then asks what the Butterfly Nations do in Xiphoidyx since each insect tribe has an important contribution to both the Phi-Fa-Ja and the island itself. Theingi the tapestry maker, Princess Chrysalisa, and Queen Nandar all explain that the Butterfly Nations are responsible for the island's architecture and masonry. They construct beautiful and grand structures, forge sturdy homes, and create the most intricate interior design for not just themselves, but the other insects too. They are architects, builders, forgers, blacksmiths, and renovators. They crafted the strongest shelters, the most lavish skyscrapers, homes for countless villages, and the most sacred temples dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja, and take pride in their profession as they see their efforts and way of life as a selfless offering of gratitude to the island, to thank the Phi-Fa-Ja for providing them with a place to live, as do all the other insects with their different cultures and the different ways they show their gratitude. That's actually really sweet, don't you think?
Unfortunately, the sentimentality doesn't last long when Pomni begins complaining about feeling dizzy with the air getting harder to breathe. Uh oh. Looks like the flower masks’ oxygen is beginning to run out. Queen Nandar notices and swiftly takes action, ordering Theingi, Chrysalisa, and the group of butterflies Gangle and Zooble have with them to take Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles back down to the ground. In a hurry, they all do as the queen told and take the ten individuals out of the palace as soon as possible. Queen Nandar urgently follows them.
The butterflies take the insect fiancées and Team Circus to a beachside village, where a group of goliath birdwing butterfly villagers wearing clothes and having a culture and lifestyle akin to the Pa’O ethnic group of Myanmar/Burma live. A goliath birdwing Pa’O healer takes Pomni to her clinic to restore her oxygen. Princess Chrysalisa apologizes to Team Circus and the insect royals for the inconvenience; they would have provided them with masks made from flowers that had more oxygen than the ones they were given, but they weren't in season right now. Jax is, to their shock and surprise, chill about it, since they're used to things like hypoxia and suffocation. Theingi is a little horrified, as are Chrysalisa and Nandar, but are thankful that everyone else is okay. Once the healer does her thing and Pomni regains her lost oxygen, the jester expresses her gratitude to everyone for saving her, and she's placed on a beach chair made out of reed and bamboo to rest on. Even though nobody can die in the digital world through real world means, the pain and terror that comes with the prospect of almost dying is still very much real to them.
Theingi then shows everyone the finished design of the new temple with the intent on finishing building it tonight. It's a gorgeous looking structure that is a mix between the Tower Of Babel and the Shwedagon Pagoda, all decorated with flowers and reaching the sky. Seeing that the sun is beginning to set, Queen Nandar orders the butterfly architects, renovators, and construction workers to get moving and complete the temple by moonrise, and they all obey. In the meantime, everyone else relaxes by the beach, where Theingi weaves another tapestry, Minty and Beatles play in the sand while they wait, Nandar plays the saung-gauk and Chrysalisa sings. In a funny filler scene during that time, we see Pomni relaying an exaggerated story to her online social media audience of how she almost succumbed to hypoxia in the Butterfly Nations palace on the giant tree in Xiphoidyx, making it sound like a daring feat instead of a slightly scary occurrence, only for Caine to shut down those exaggerations as he forces Pomni to turn off the camera. It's just some silly fun.
Nightfall occurs later on, and The Grand Butterfly Nations Temple Of The Phi-Fa-Ja is ready to be available for public usage in a grand opening ceremony underneath the starlit sky. Princess Chrysalisa does the honors of giving out a speech to all the butterflies present at the ceremony about the importance her people have in Xiphoidyx in regards to their skills in architecture, and that with the luck on their side from the Phi-Fa-Ja, she is proud to announce the declaration of allyhood of the alliance to combat the parasite army from the Butterfly Nations. As everyone applauds and cheers, Princess Minty and Beatles step forward and Queen Nandar anoints them both while saying this chant in Burmese:
“အို အနန္တတန်ခိုးရှင် ဖိ-ဖာ-ဂျာ၊ ငါ၏လူတို့ထံမှ ဤပူဇော်သက္ကာကို လက်ခံ၍ သင်တို့၏ မြင့်မြတ်သော ရက်ရောမှုဖြင့် ဤအိမ်ထောင်ရေးကို ကောင်းချီးပေးပါစေ။” (Ao aanant taanhkoeshin Phi-Fa-Ja, ngareat luu thoethtanmha i puujaw sakkarko laathkan sainthoeteat myangmyatsaw raat raw mhuhpyang i aainhtaungrayyko kaungg hkyaee payypar hcay.) Translation: “O almighty Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your divine generosity.”
Theingi cuts the pink nylon ribbon to signify the temple is now open, and the crowd goes wild in jubilance. As for the offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja, Theingi gives Team Circus a gilded blacksmith’s hammer with the handle painted in pink. The hammer gets placed onto the altar at the hoverleaf with the flower vases. Overall, a beautiful night. Kinger makes a vow to the Phi-Fa-Ja that they will bring unity back to Xiphoidyx, slowly but surely. In the depths of the Butterfly Nations jungles, we see a group of mantis troopers spying on Team Circus. Hmmm… Now what could they be up to…?
The fourth day in Xiphoidyx draws near. Team Circus and the royal insects have officially gained their first ally in Xiphoidyx. The offerings are at the altar in the hoverleaf and for some reason, Kinger appears to have already connected the dots before anyone else could, but no one actually knows what it is yet. After they all hop aboard the hoverleaf and say their goodbyes to the Butterfly Nations, they head off to the next insect tribe on the island. All the while, Caine and Pomni have a conversation about the movie Raya and the Last Dragon, and how they butchered the trust message. Kinger also joins in on the conversation, detailing how the movie should have been about unity instead. Caine and Pomni are all of a sudden very interested to hear what the purple-robed royal king chesspiece has to say; Kinger believes that trust is very essential for building a unified community, but it shouldn't really be the main focus nor should it really be hailed as this sacred thing everyone must abide by.
Trust is a key component, a piece of the puzzle so to speak, but trust can only go so far when there are despicable people in the world misusing that trust for power and selfishness. Chief Benja of Heart, Raya’s father, emphasized his desires for a unified Kumandra, and Kinger believes that unity should have been the main focus of the movie instead of trust, like the movie is forcing you to believe. Although the movie shows time and time again what happens when you trust people without caution, it refuses to display any nuances, instead treating the concept of trust by itself as the morally right thing to do rather than a mere puzzle piece for what the movie should have been about all along: unity. Even Princess Minty and Prince Beatles are engaged with the conversation in the background despite the both of them never having even seen the movie.
Eventually, those two hours of the hoverleaf self-driving pass and outside the windows, there is a thriving city that is covered from head to toe in hexagonal patterns and beehive designs. Some of those beehive designs are mixed together with architecture reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia. Even the bees, wasps, and hornets of this thriving city all wear clothes, practice customs, and have the culture and lifestyle of Malaysia. They even speak Malay and there is Malay writing all over the written signs. They all appear to be adorned with different shades of yellow as well. In the distance is a gigantic structure that looks just like the real life Istana Negara royal palace, located at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim in Malaysia, but with a mild beehive theme added onto it. Looks like they have officially made it to the Bee Nations.
For lack of a better term, Caine seems to be… distracted by the intricate details of the city. It was already an established fact that Caine felt uneasy around bees after Zooble's allergic reaction occurred back in The Farmlands Of Granny Smith's Orchard. Before all this, Caine used to have a bee hyperfixation; you could find drawings of bees in his sketchbooks! It would appear that the hyperfixation didn't die out completely like everyone assumed it did. In fact, judging by the tapping of his fingers on his cane, he looks a lot more anxious than he was in the other insect tribe lands of Xiphoidyx. And he's trying to suppress it all down for the sake of professionalism!! Awww, poor guy.
However, when the hoverleaf finally lands and everyone hops off, we immediately see the ringmaster return to his jovial self, one that had been hidden away for years, long before the road trip began. The Bee Nations cityscape captivates Minty and Beatles as well, and Caine, for once, excitedly tells them as many bee facts as he can vividly remember. As everyone ventures to the Bee Nations royal palace for their next quest, Caine's enthusiasm over bees just skyrockets as he pretty much briefly loses any self-control. While Minty, Beatles, and Kinger find it endearing, Zooble and Pomni… do not. In fact, Zooble immediately stops Caine's autistic infodumping session, by pulling his leg from the air and dragging him back down. Caine apologizes for the potential insensitivity, but Zooble wants to hear none of it, reminding him of their bee allergies. Prince Beatles reassures Zooble that the bees of Xiphoidyx don't actually sting unless it's for self defense or combat, but unfortunately, Zooble, not wanting to hear anymore of it, tells the ringmaster to shut up and focus on the quest, thus putting Caine's spark of joy to a bitter screeching halt. Oh well… It was good while it lasted, at least.
They finally reach the Bee Nations royal palace, and the place is, pun very much fucking intended, as busy as a bee, with palace staff members running amok as though the place was a bustling business or a president’s office. One bee talks about how the other eight royal families are coming over to this castle for a diplomatic business proposition. The ten guests turn their heads towards each other. Minty and Beatles have never heard of the Bee Nations being ruled by nine different royal families before, and the members of Team Circus are just as confused. They then keep traversing the halls to the bee palace throne room, hoping to find the Bee Nations ruler and ask for a noble task from them.
After a minute of quips to each other from Team Circus, we see the Bee Nations ruler enter from another hallway, talking on the phone about the island's stocks and the Phi-Fa-Ja festival. She wears a daffodil yellow Malaysian royal dress with hexagonal patterns and is adorned with a silver tiara that looks just like the Gendik Diraja but with yellow and black gems studded on it. In her hands is a royal scepter that's a mix between a honey dipper and the Cogan Agama. She is by far the most beautiful looking of the Xiphoidyx rulers. Upon seeing her, everyone immediately bows to her. Zooble appears to be the most frightened of them all, as seen when they visibly shake.
The Bee Nations queen shows a little concern upon looking at the new guests in front of her, almost like an aunt so to speak. …Caine reluctantly opens up about Zooble's bee allergies, having been stung by one in the past. You'd think that'd cause some existential problems, but no, it doesn't. Instead, the queen assures Zooble with her royal scepter that the singers in this palace are merely for decoration, bringing some relief to the group. As for Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, she's heard all about the arranged marriage and alliance that came with it, along with the prophecy from the Dragonfly Nations, of whom the Bee Nations are extremely close to, as though they’re family members from a different tribe, so she more or less expected their presence.
The Bee Nations ruler, who immediately introduces herself as Queen Cempaka, cuts to the chase. She explains that the Bee Nations are in charge of Xiphoidyx's economy and the financial prosperity they bring, providing money and stocks to the island, supplying the island with banks to hold in all the gold and honey that's used as currency in Xiphoidyx. Gangle asks Queen Cempaka what she means by that, and Cempaka happily answers that the Bee Nations produce honey from their specialized honey-making rooms in the palace, of which she guides them to. In the honey-making rooms, we see honeybee staff members hard at work converting the island flowers’ pollen and nectar into honey, all contained in these tiny hexagonal containers that act like coins. In short, honey is money, honey!!
We see Caine getting intrigued and even a bit stoked about how money works in Xiphoidyx thanks to the bees' honey-making abilities, which Kinger is happy to see. Even Princess Minty herself is happy to learn all about the Bee Nations and how Xiphoidyx’s economy functions. So much so that when Minty asks what happens to the leftover pollen, nectar, and honey after the coins are made, Cempaka answers that it gets brewed into the island's finest mead. The pollen sometimes turns the mead into honey beer. The Bee Nations are also in charge of the creation of luxury items, using resources from the other insect tribes, such as the gold, silver, and gems mined from the Ant Nations, to create the most lavish jewelry for the wealthy and the elite. It's wonderful.
They head into the bar where Cempaka explains to the others that they came at a pretty convenient time considering the diplomatic business proposition happening tonight… which means that the other eight royal families will be coming over to the palace tonight, including their children. These eight royal families are Honeycomb, Wax, Stinger, Hornet, Wasp, Drone, Carpenter, and Hexagon. Apparently, the Bee Nations runs a little differently. There are nine royal families in charge of the bees of Xiphoidyx, including the ninth royal family of Bee, of which Queen Cempaka and her daughter Hexa are a part of. They rotate every five years, and Cempaka is taking her turn on the main Bee Nations throne in the palace they live in, while the other eight live in their chosen nobility homes in the wealthier outskirts of the Bee Nations. Until Queen Cempaka’s fifth year is over, this palace is where she and her family will stay. Right now, she's in her third year.
As Cempaka explains more about her predicament with the other royal families, the upcoming Phi-Fa-Ja festival, and the diplomatic business proposition, Caine sneaks away to try some of the Bee Nations mead at the bar and finds it rather tasty. So much so that it only takes less than a minute for him to start getting tipsy on the honey-based liquid courage. Queen Cempaka is horrified to see that Caine wasted no time at all in drinking the golden liquor. She sighs and facepalms, muttering to herself: “Saya sepatutnya menyimpan mead dari jangkauan…”, which translates to: “I should have kept the mead out of reach…”
Cempaka returns Caine to his designated group, looking apologetic as ever to Minty and Beatles, who find the ringmaster's antics pretty amusing. Pomni sees this as karma for her brief alcoholism stint that lasted almost two weeks straight back in The Grand Duchy Of Symphonya, which she explains to Minty, Beatles, and Cempaka that after her wife died, she went into a period of excessive drinking to cope with her grief. Caine drunkenly rebukes that it was bad, like so bad that he was stuck babysitting her and no one sympathized with her pleas to get her shit together. The insect royals are horrified by the revelation while Team Circus is just embarrassed. And while Pomni tries to mitigate the situation by saying that she takes accountability for her mistakes and learned from it, along with adding that it's been done and over with already for some time, Caine doubles down by blabbing about how everyone else was more concerned with comforting the widow instead of helping her with her red wine addiction, and when he tried to help the jester, everyone berated him, thinking that he was selfish, telling him that he's not the center of the universe, and not allowing him to properly grieve himself. Before Caine can even get to the part where Kinger actually hit him in an argument about Pomni, Queen Cempaka immediately changes the subject after being informed about the arrival of the eight royal families.
This also allows Kinger the perfect opportunity to drag Caine out of the scene, telling everyone that he and Caine are going to have a little talk. Following this, Queen Cempaka panics. She was preparing for the kids' royal sleepover that she forgot to prepare in advance for the diplomatic business proposition! Pomni volunteers to help, much to the Bee Nations queen’s relief. Minty and Beatles opt to join as well, following the two of them out of the bar. Everyone else follows suit. Pomni wonders if it'll involve math by any chance, since they're in charge of the island's economy. However, by the time they get to the meeting room in the palace, we see the head honchos of the other nine royal families, and they do not look happy. Cempaka had hoped that the meeting would involve the Phi-Fa-Ja offerings and the alliance from the arranged marriage, as she showcases to the other eight Bee Nations rulers, but instead, they're demanding more luxury goods and money to keep them wealthy and comfortable, something that Cempaka can't really do in such a short time. Quality-made honey takes time to make, after all. Cempaka offers to change the subject by introducing the six Team Circus members to the eight rulers. She explains that Caine and Kinger are currently absent due to a private discussion they're having regarding a minor incident at the bar, causing Zooble to blab about how he got drunk on mead and tried to humiliate his friends with false accusations, shocking everyone in the room. Jax tries to come into Caine's defense, saying he was there when it happened, only for Ragatha to pull him aside and take him out of the meeting room with her. A heavy argument ensues from everyone else shortly after.
Jax, after being dragged by the ear AGAIN, asks Ragatha what the big deal is, and the ragdoll angrily explains that he's no better than Caine for making a fool of not just himself, but everyone else in this troupe in front of royalty. The rabbit just wanted to defend Caine after Zooble had the bright idea to yap about the mead incident from just moments ago, not to mention the fact that he witnessed what happened in the resistance headquarters back in Symphonya from within. Ragatha and Jax verbally fight about priorities and the road trip as a whole until Ragatha tries to end the argument by saying that if he wants to be a good boyfriend and not some cheating scumbag who'd rather flirt with a giant bug in a pretty dress than her, he better do something right during their stay in Xiphoidyx, like helping the bee children at the royal sleepover. Jax, on the verge of tears, tries to fight back, telling her again that he had no intentions of sleeping with Princess Minty, only for Ragatha to slap him in the face really hard in order to shut him up. Afterwards, Ragatha tries to regain her cool as soon as possible before making her way down the palace hallways to find the royal bee kids. Jax follows behind her.
In one of the bedrooms of the palace, we see an unenthusiastic bee princess wearing a regal Malaysian dress and a silver tiara, getting ready for her big day with her cousins, putting on her makeup, and taking a sip of mead in a shot glass. All the while, she hears commotion outside her door, and assuming it's her mom arguing with her aunts and uncles again, she continues to ignore the ruckus, thinking nothing of it. Upon hearing a knock on the door, she grants permission to enter, and meet Princess Minty and Prince Beatles.
They're both awestruck by the lavish decorations of the room and intrigued by the inner workings of the Bee Nations. After introducing herself as Princess Hexa of the Bee royal family, she tells them that she's looking forward to the Phi-Fa-Ja festival. Minty and Beatles agree with Hexa, asking if she knows about why they're engaged. Hexa doesn't. Minty explains that the marriage is arranged in order to seal an alliance to strengthen the armies of Xiphoidyx to combat the parasite army. Hexa is a tad bit worried. She and her cousins have never heard of such threats before. She hopes that everyone can pull through if the alliance is sealed. Their thoughts are interrupted by Queen Cempaka entering the bedroom to tell Princess Hexa (and subsequently Minty and Beatles too) that it's time for the sleepover ball. They follow her immediately.
On the way to the ballroom, Cempaka declares that she found a solution to the dilemma she's facing with her siblings. On top of informing them of the parasite army threat, which got them to shut up about their petty demands, she explained to them about the the arranged marriage between Princess Minty of the Mantis Nations and Prince Beatles of the Ladybug Nations to make an alliance pact to combat the parasites, alongside Team Circus’s allyhood from the Dragonfly Nations' prophecy and the journey to receive the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings from all over island. Pomni's quick thinking actually saved Cempaka's skin, or rather, fuzz, and as a thanks, invited her and the other Team Circus members to the sleepover ball. Upon arrival, Queen Cempaka lets the royal fiancées free to roam the ballroom and takes a shot of mead and anxiously whispers to herself: “Semoga peluang berpihak kepada saya hari ini…” which roughly translates to: “May the odds be in my favor today…”
In the ballroom, we see Princess Hexa attempting to find something to do when she catches a glimpse of Jax and Ragatha taking care of the younger bee children. Hexa is not a fan of the growing bruise on Jax's left cheek, but says nothing and keeps moving forward. Minty and Beatles are also having a great time listening to the royal bee band playing music in the background. The other Team Circus members are a bit tense, trying to enjoy themselves to the best of their abilities, but otherwise whispering to each other about something. Hexa then accidentally bumps into another bee royal, who she recognizes as her favorite cousin Lady Melati Honeycomb. Melati and Hexa are glad to see each other and talk about their respective days, including recent events going on in Xiphoidyx and subsequently Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles. Melati is getting sick and tired of having to deal with her family fighting over nothing, especially the younger bees being entitled spoiled brats all the time and wants to book it with Hexa. Hexa does not hesitate to say yes, and the two escape the ballroom for some real fun.
And so Princess Hexa and Lady Melati have a fun time exploring the palace some more, as showcased in a montage of them flying through the halls, hopping on bookshelves in a library, and even dancing on the ceiling in the music room. It's a pretty touching moment of the two cousins hanging out… until they get to the pool and flower gardens, where they see Kinger looking like he had a bad day today. Melati asks if everything is alright, and Kinger puts on a mask, telling both bee women that everything's fine; just a squabble with Caine after the mead incident this morning. He scurries off to the ballroom to meet up with the other Team Circus members, and when the chesspiece is finally out of sight, Caine emerges from behind a yellow rose bush, looking like he had been through hell.
Melati and Hexa notice immediately. Caine appears to have bruises on his body and head, and is soaked in mead, with a few glass shards sticking out on the side of his head. His green eye is black and swollen and he looks like he's still tipsy. The two bees take him back inside the palace, asking him if he's okay. He tells them that he accidentally fell down the stairs while arguing with Kinger, and it lasted into the night. Somehow, he's sober enough to lie about what really happened back there…
Back in the bedroom, we see Melati cleaning Caine up with a first aid kit and a small bottle of the Snail Nations’ specialized snail slime used in medicine for the scars after removing the glass shards, as well as giving him a bottle of water to sober him up. Hexa doesn't even get a chance to ask for more details before Jax and Ragatha hurry into the bedroom with the bee kids in their clutches… Hexa and Melati's other cousins. Both the ragdoll and the rabbit see Caine being patched up by Melati, and decide to join them, leaving Hexa and Jax at the mercy of the Bee Nations’ princess’s younger cousins. After Caine regains his sobriety, he asks what happened while he was out, and Ragatha tells him that he got drunk, said some things he didn't mean to say, and got dragged out by Kinger for a talk. Caine profusely apologizes for getting drunk and saying those hurtful things, and Ragatha forgives him. After all, everyone makes mistakes. Melati just straight up feels bad for Caine, considering all the bruises. She asks Ragatha why Caine's all bruised up, but the ragdoll doesn't answer. Instead, she changes topics, talking about the Phi-Fa-Ja festival and its importance in Xiphoidyx. Caine is secretly thankful for the change in topics.
Meanwhile, we see Jax and Princess Hexa with the younger royal bees, some of whom are playing with toys and others straight up doing weird little kid things to each other. Jax expresses a bit of fondness for the little bees, while Hexa is just straight up weirded out by it. Hexa learns that Jax is pretty good with kids, having taken care of them in the past thanks to having an abnormally large family. He's able to understand their needs and wants, like a parent is supposed to. He even shares pictures of his favorite part of the road trip, The Farmlands, to the bee princess, expressing his desire to visit again soon. Hexa finds the place rustic, unlike the wealthy areas of the Bee Nations. Jax is sure Hexa will love it regardless.
Soon afterwards, we see Melati and three other cousins putting makeup on Caine to cheer him up after this morning. He's practically the belle of the ball already! Admittedly, he does feel a tad bit better after that incident, even trying on some of the Bee Nations' cultural outfits for good measure. Hexagonal patterns look good on the ringmaster. Go figure. Caine can see Ragatha gossiping with the other bees, and he can sort of make out what they're talking about… by looking at Jax trying to distract himself by telling stories to the kids with Hexa. The humans still think that Jax is a cheater. Go figure. Eventually, when Bubble joins, he sees Caine looking like a fine gentleman in his new costume, and on the outside, he's happy for him. Key words being: on the outside. Fortunately, Bubble is able to distract himself from whatever's on his mind when he finds Jax and Hexa entertaining the kids.
As for Minty and Beatles, they're having the time of their lives in the ballroom! They've been captivated by the different environment since their homes were more rustic and less shiny than this place. The other bees attending are also making them feel welcome by showering them with gifts and money. Soon though, we see everyone else entering the ballroom, including Hexa and Melati with Ragatha, Jax, and Bubble, along with the younger bees surrounding Caine like he's some kind of idol. And look at that! They all arrived just in time for the ballroom dance! It's a special dance created in honor of the betrothed insects, wishing them luck and fortune on their marriage. For a while, everyone is able to enjoy themselves, and even Minty and Beatles are able to get the hang of the moves of the dance, which the ladybug prince can deduce that the bees are speaking in some secret code. …Or at least Hexa and Melati are speaking in bee dance code. Everyone else is just vibing. Prince Beatles does not like what Melati and Hexa have to say. When Princess Minty asks what's wrong, all Beatles says is that it'd be a good idea to check up on Caine soon.
Once the dance concludes, Queen Cempaka steps forward with a speech thanking Team Circus for helping Xiphoidyx with the parasite army threat through their diplomatic endeavors and thanking Princess Minty and Prince Beatles for the alliance in Xiphoidyx to quell the growing threat of the parasites. She even includes her gratitude to them for gathering items to offer to the Phi-Fa-Ja itself back in the Mantis Nations for the festival. The speech ends with Minty and Beatles being called forward to the center of the ballroom by Queen Cempaka and the other eight rulers. Each of them individually brings items for luck, fortune, and good health to the insect royal couple: a honey dipper, a honey jar, a necklace, a ring, a bracelet, a container of honeycombs, a flower crown, and a specialized gold coin. From Queen Cempaka, she brings the mantis princess and the ladybug prince two bags of honey coins, the currency of Xiphoidyx, for the Phi-Fa-Ja offering, while two bumblebees pour ceremonial pollen on both of them. She recites this chant in Malay:
“Wahai Phi-Fa-Ja yang agung, terimalah persembahan ini dari umatku dan bawalah keberuntungan untuk perkahwinan ini dengan kemurahan ilahimu.” Translation: “O great Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bring good fortune to this marriage with your divine generosity.”
Later that night, we see Minty and Beatles putting the two bags of honey coins at the altar in the hoverleaf, while they discuss some things about the prophesized heroes and how they can be a bit brutish to each other. They don't really enjoy the fact that some of them can be jerks to each other, but at least they're not too terrible. They plan on asking Caine for more information about his friends tomorrow morning, unanimously agreeing with Hexa and Melati's concerns with how emotionally unpredictable he can be. Minty feels especially bad for him, apparently having some… feelings that hit a little too close to home for her.
The members of Team Circus approach day five in Xiphoidyx, and they have officially left the pristine Bee Nations for another two-hour journey to another insect tribe. During the journey, Princess Minty goes over to greet the ringmaster under the guise of getting to know him better, which makes him shy since he's not used to social interaction with other people. She asks him about his hobbies, his interests, and above all, how he's currently doing in life, especially with his friends. Minty ends up learning that Caine is an artist, who especially loves to draw. He even shows her some of his drawings on his drawing pad, which she finds very lovely despite looking like childish drawings at best and polygonal sketches at worst. He also still remains old remnants of his bee hyperfixation because of their sense of community and duty to help others. Despite being an omnivert, he can be social when he wants to be and shows that he can be very helpful when needed. As for his friends? Well…
He still tries to get along with them despite their rocky relationship, but he promises it's not all that bad, especially once you get used to it. He just needs to be careful with his social cues, as while he may have good intentions, they don't always pan out in his favor… and there are consequences when you mess up. Minty asks for clarification, and Caine brings up the mead incident from yesterday, about how he revealed some secrets that he shouldn't. Minty feels they aren't really secrets anymore if he said them out loud, not to mention that what happened before coming here to Xiphoidyx sounded pretty serious. Caine clarifies that he shouldn't have to worry about that since it was already fixed beforehand. He doesn't need to worry about how alone he felt because his best friend refused to get better during a time of grieving, and how everyone saw him as selfish for being in just as much pain as everyone else. Seeing Minty's look of horror on her face, Caine backtracks and apologizes, claiming that he didn't mean to go too far. Before anything else can happen afterwards, the hoverleaf arrives at the next destination of Xiphoidyx, that being the Grasshopper Nations.
The Grasshopper Nations is populated by the eponymous grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, stick bugs, locusts, and katydids and is very reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Thailand. Their culture, clothes, buildings, and way of life all bear a striking resemblance to Thailand and the people there also speak Thai. Along with Thai writing all over the signs, the grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, locusts, and katydids all wear different shades of green. In the distance is the Grasshopper Nations royal palace that looks just like the real life Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall in the Grand Palace at Thailand. They appear to be a lively and merry populace too, as the air is filled to the brim with music and joy. It's a beautiful display, too.
After they hop off the hoverleaf again, everyone explores around the place in search of what to do or what noble task to complete this time. As they head into the marketplace, where music instruments, art supplies, and pottery are being sold, they stumble into a concert area where we see a beautiful-looking grasshopper woman singing a Thai folk song up onstage. Surrounding her is a piphat band consisting of one katydid playing the phin, a Thai lute, another katydid playing the saw sam dai, a Thai fiddle, a cricket playing the taphon drum, a grasshopper playing the ranat ek, a Thai xylophone, another cricket playing the khong wong lek, a Thai gong chime circle, two locusts playing the khlui flute, and another grasshopper playing the ching, a pair of small Thai cymbals. The locals appear to be having a fun time at the concert all things considered.
Within the large tropical trees, is a locust who is watching everything from afar, almost as though he's searching for something. Prince Beatles is able to spot him, so he flies towards the hiding locust out of sheer curiosity. A chase scene ensues, and it appears that the locust is a very good fighter, as seen when he attempts to use his pair of sickles against Prince Beatles. Beatles attempts to fight back with what little combat expertise he has, and the fight only stops when Prince Beatles reveals that he's royalty from the Ladybug Nations. This causes the locust to stop fighting him, and he bows down to him shortly afterwards. Beatles demands the locust to state his business to him in order to confirm that he's of no threat to his betrothed Princess Minty and the members of Team Circus, and the locust is given no other choice but to confess.The locust’s name is Kamon. He's a proud warrior who has fought off against enemy parasites in the Grasshopper Nations in his spare time and actively seeks a challenge against them. Beatles, while interested in what Kamon does, doesn't believe that he's telling the whole story. He wants to know why he was stalking everyone else at the concert. Kamon tries to change the topic, but Beatles isn't having it. Soon, Princess Minty and the Team Circus members catch wind of the ladybug prince and the locust warrior arguing, and Minty is the one to calm them both down with her gentleness. Minty then learns about Kamon, and that he had been stalking them from within a tree. The Team Circus members feel a little uncomfortable, but Kinger and Ragatha are pretty sure he has his reasons… which we can see for ourselves when we see an emerald green shadow zoom past them, alerting Kamon in the process.
Kamon chases after the shadow, forcing everyone else to chase after him in response. They run all over the Grasshopper Nations city, where they encounter merchants, restaurant owners, yoga instructors, and pedestrians who inadvertently got caught in the crossfire. The shadowy figure is revealed to be a mischievous figure, as showcased with giggling turned playful laughter during the chase scene. Eventually, Kamon manages to corner the shadowy figure, along with Minty, Beatles, and Team Circus, and they can see they're draped in an emerald green cloak… of which she unveils to reveal a grasshopper princess wearing a green Thai royal dress, garnished in gold jewelry studded with emeralds, and flowers in her hair. She wears a golden tiara that's also bejeweled with emeralds. Having been caught, she giggles playfully and says: “สนุกมากเลย! เราทำแบบนั้นอีกได้ไหม?” (S̄nuk māk ley! Reā thả bæb nận xīk dị̂ h̄ịm?), which translates to: “That was so much fun! Can we do that again?”
Kamon, albeit wearing an unamused look, is relieved to see the grasshopper princess safe and sound. Although Team Circus is confused, especially Caine, Kinger, and Ragatha, Minty and Beatles are just worried. The grasshopper princess seems to be much younger than the others, apparently being 14 years old in terms of appearance. Kamon is now forced to spill the rest of the beans by virtue of the young royal grasshopper girl being very affectionate with the locust warrior. This here is Princess Emerald, daughter of King Nephrite of the Grasshopper Nations. Kamon had been looking for her all over the city after she escaped yet again from the royal palace. Emerald tells everyone that Kamon is her bodyguard!! Beatles is not really a fan of Kamon’s fragile ego, but Princess Emerald says that what Kamon is saying is true. He really is a warrior who fought off the parasites in the past… and is the last surviving one of the defeated Grasshopper Nations army years ago. It's actually really sad, but at least Kamon found solace in the grasshopper princess. The meeting gets interrupted when a jade green palanquin carried by other locusts arrives to fetch Princess Emerald and Kamon… along with Princess Minty, Prince Beatles, and the eight members of Team Circus.
They're all whisked away to the Grasshopper Nations royal palace by force, and are taken to the throne room. The interior of the royal palace has an intricate design that resembles the architecture of Thailand, with many different shades of green. The members of Team Circus are huddled around each other in fear, thinking that they're in trouble, making Princess Minty and Prince Beatles come to their defense. Kamon and Princess Emerald exit the palanquin with King Nephrite following behind them. King Nephrite wears green Thai royal robes and is adorned with a golden makuṭa studded with emeralds and small white flowers on his head. Nephrite appears to be a stern fellow as seen when he asks everyone to follow him. Kamon carries Emerald while he follows the grasshopper king, while Minty and Beatles follow behind Kamon, and Team Circus trail behind them apprehensively.
King Nephrite takes the group to the palace’s backyard patio, and seats them down on reed mats. Kamon gives the princess to her father, and Nephrite takes Emerald for a little talk. They're far away from the group and although they're currently talking to each other in Thai, Caine and Bubble, thanks to their translators in their system, can understand a little bit about what they're talking about: Nephrite scolds Emerald for running away from Kamon again, she apologizes, Nephrite has something important he wants to share to the prophesized heroes and the betrothed insect royals for the Xiphoidyx alliance now that they're here, and that Emerald should go play now.
As such, King Nephrite formally introduces himself as the ruler of the Grasshopper Nations to the others in front of him, priding himself as the “maestro” of Xiphoidyx in a lighthearted attempt to ease the tension. Only Kinger finds the half-assed attempt of a remark to be quite charming. But regardless, Nephrite is glad that Team Circus arrived to the Grasshopper Nations with Princess Minty and Prince Beatles. His people have sung many songs and told great stories about their endeavors all over the world. Playwrights, singers, songwriters, authors, dancers, and filmmakers alike have all retold the heroic efforts of Team Circus and the lives they changed for the better, and he's honestly a big fan of what they do. Team Circus has no idea what to do with this kind of flattery, but Kinger and Ragatha seem to be eating it up just fine, much to Jax’s half amusement and half chagrin, and Caine's flustered shyness.
Minty and Beatles express their congratulations to the members of Team Circus for achieving fame on the road trip, ensuring the trust they have in them in regards to Madame Hayati’s prophecy from the Dragonfly Nations. Pomni then asks what the Grasshopper Nations do in Xiphoidyx (such as the Mantis Nations being in charge of the island's power supply, the Ladybug Nations watching over the island's law and order through their justice system, the Butterfly Nations being architects and builders, and the Bee Nations ruling over the island's economy and monetary stocks), all while looking at a list Kinger made of the individual insect tribes of Xiphoidyx and what they contribute to for not just the island but also the Phi-Fa-Ja, the life-bearing spirit that brings prosperity to their home.
King Nephrite happily explains that the Grasshopper Nations are a happy bunch of insects who play the most beautiful music on their musical instruments and write down the most captivating stories for all of Xiphoidyx to enjoy. They're essentially in charge of the island's entertainment industry with their many writers, actors, musicians, singers, dancers, playwrights, and filmmakers. Their way of life has been centered around merrymaking and joy, with each successful endeavor in the Grasshopper Nations being celebrated through song and dance, along with even comforting others during hardship using melancholic lyrics and profound and evocative stories. Long story short, it's pretty easy to see why Princess Emerald has such a wonderful childhood right now. Speaking of which, she can be seen going nuts on the taphon drum, amusing Minty, Beatles, Kamon, Kinger, and even King Nephrite himself! Awwww, isn't that cute?
Ragatha, being the polite little lady she is, asks the grasshopper king what noble task from them he would like from them. Kamon and Nephrite laugh. They find it admirable that the Team Circus members want to help however they can, but this time, they would like to give them the honors of giving them VIP front row seats to their play, detailing their endeavors on the road trip, performed by the most talented theatrical artists of the Grasshopper Nations. Minty and Beatles find this to be a sweet gesture and agree to sponsor the play themselves to make the alliance known to the Grasshopper Nations as a gesture of thanks for their support.
Although Team Circus is nervous, they don't actually object to the idea of having to watch themselves onstage, considering they have been subjected to the torturous world of content farms. Plus, it'd be fun for them to riff on it a little bit, not to mention that the play was made in good faith; practically a love letter to Team Circus themselves! And so, they all agree to attend the play. Princess Emerald is very excited to see the play as well, since she's one of the actresses in it! Kamon will happily support Emerald and keep an eye out on any suspicious activity all throughout. Looks like the dimensional diplomats will be in for one delightful treat from the other side of the screen!
Evening rolls around. The members of Team Circus are dressed in their most honorable Grasshopper Nations attire for the momentous occasion, while Princess Minty and Prince Beatles lead them to their seats in the amphitheatre. A katydid playwright is proud to announce the play to everyone in the amphitheatre, of which he calls: “จดหมายรักอันแสนหวานถึงกลุ่มฮีโร่ผู้ไม่เข้าพวก” (Cdh̄māy rạk xạn s̄æn h̄wān t̄hụng klùm ḥīrò p̄hū̂ mị̀ k̄hêā phwk), translating to: “An Endearing Love Letter To The Band Of Misfit Heroes”. Meanwhile, we see King Nephrite seated next to the eight members of Team Circus as well as Kamon guarding them at their seats. After a brief conversation happens between the Team Circus members with hints of playful banter and side jokes, the play begins.
Onstage are eight grasshopper actors, one of them being Princes Emerald, who is dressed up as Ragatha. Ragatha already loves the play because of how cute Emerald looks in her costume. And already, the play is just ripping into Team Circus like a wood chipper, with exaggerations of their characters, slightly inaccurate portrayals of events on the road trip, some other supporting actors onstage who are a riot, and even Princess Minty and Prince Beatles enjoying the show! Caine isn't a fan of the exaggeration of his anxiety and persnicketiness, Bubble enjoys that the actor playing him is a girl, Kinger is a little flustered over the slight mischaracterization, Ragatha is enjoying the fact that she's being depicted as a main character for some reason, even if it's bothering everyone else, Jax laughs at his character being used as a punching bag, fully aware of the irony and taking stride in it, Gangle points out crucial plot details that she finds inconsistent, Zooble laughs at the comedic bits, and Pomni is making fun of the Caine and Jax characters onstage. Out of all the members of Team Circus watching the play, only Ragatha genuinely enjoys it without all the heckling and riffing.
Kamon, on the other hand, is simultaneously watching the play, while also keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. It seems that the locust warrior and bodyguard doesn't have to wait for much longer when he sees a group of mantis troopers lurking in the amphitheatre. They appear to be after Team Circus!! Kamon wastes no time in ambushing the mantis troopers before they have the chance to ambush Team Circus first. While the play continues to happen, Kamon fights off the mantis troopers himself using his daab song mue double swords to fend them off. It's a scene that switches between the mantis troopers' fight and the play itself, all choreographed in a perfectly timed manner. Princess Minty is able to notice from a good distance, raising her concerns just a tad.
Soon, the play reaches the present day in terms of chronological events, but the play is not over yet. Caine gets a little suspicious, as does Kinger, Jax, and Pomni. Ragatha brushes it off with the claim that the Grasshopper Nations are taking creative liberties due to getting the details from outside sources. Everyone else is either bored to tears or not paying attention until now. Kamon, having beaten the mantis troopers and won the fight, threatens to decapitate them if they don't back away this instant. In fear, the mantis troopers run away in cowardly defeat. Kamon arrives just in time to see the climax of the play, and it's… not at all what anyone expected.
The play characters confront the Mantis Queen, who leads them all the way to the cardboard cutout of the Phi-Fa-Ja. For some reason, the Ragatha character, played very enthusiastically by Princess Emerald, expresses her desire to fight in the war against the parasites for a good cause and to sacrifice her life in the name of the Phi-Fa-Ja. …I'm sorry, WHAT!? War!? Sacrifice!?!? They never agreed to this!! Caine and Pomni are the most shocked, while Minty and Beatles are confused and concerned. When Minty asks Kamon if King Nephrite approved of this play, Kamon clarifies that it was Queen Phatthana of the Mantis Nations herself who approved of the play after making some quick edits and changes. Caine can't help but feel a familiar pang from that statement. Meanwhile, Ragatha is still thinking nothing of it all throughout. After a while more of the play characters confronting the parasite army, being rendered helpless by them (although you could argue that it wouldn't be entirely out of character for them considering what happened to them back in The Fair Land Of Medievia), and the Queen Phatthana character saving them at the last minute with magical powers for some reason. …Team Circus doesn't remember the mantis queen having supernatural powers, and surprisingly enough, neither does Princess Minty herself. Her poor sheltered insectoid self is getting her first taste of what's really going on… without actually knowing what's going on yet.
After the parasites are defeated, the play characters of Team Circus thank the Phattana character and wrap around her in a hug, calling her their savior… yeah, that's definitely not raising red flags at all. Then they get to the final scene of the play and the Team Circus play characters all gather around the Phattana character as she guides them to the Phi-Fa-Ja cardboard cutout, where they get sacrificed, accepting their gruesome fates with blissful elation, knowing their deaths were for a good cause… and that's how the fucking play ends!!! The audience cheers, as does Kamon and King Nephrite. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles play along and pretend to cheer alongside them, sensing the discomfort and fear from the other Team Circus members. The only Team Circus member who actually enjoyed the play was, of course, Ragatha. Beatles remembers the fruitfly he freed in the trial only three days ago, and feels like something isn't quite adding up…
Back in the Grasshopper Nations royal palace, during another starry night, King Nephrite thanks Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles for joining in the participation of the play, stating that it was an honor to present their latest creation to them, both in honor of Team Circus and the Phi-Fa-Ja. Kamon considers the play to be their best gift to the Phi-Fa-Ja for the festival coming at the end of the month. Ragatha congratulates Princess Emerald for being such a great actress, going out of her way to brag about being an actress before coming to Xiphoidyx with her friends. Minty and Beatles, as well as Team Circus, thank King Nephrite for the honors, although you can tell they're just playing along for everyone else's sake. Kinger soon steps forward to inform King Nephrite that he, his friends, and the insect royals with them have been gathering items from all across the island for the Phi-Fa-Ja offerings and have come here to the Grasshopper Nations specifically to obtain just that as a reward for whatever noble task is assigned to them.
Kamon finds the gesture sweet, and Princess Emerald, with her sweet as khanom candy smile, simply says that they would have been more than happy to bring them something to offer to the Phi-Fa-Ja if they had just asked. That's when King Nephrite offers them his grandfather's old phin lute as a gift to the Phi-Fa-Ja. Kinger actually beams. This will go great with the other offerings! Now the last thing they need to do is bless this arranged marriage for the alliance. Minty and Beatles step forward to get anointed by Princess Emerald, while Kamon plays the taphon drum in tune to King Nephrite saying this chant in Thai:
“โอ้ พระฟี-ฟา-จาผู้ยิ่งใหญ่ โปรดรับเครื่องบูชานี้จากประชาชนของฉัน และโปรดอวยพรการแต่งงานครั้งนี้ด้วยพลังแห่งความรักของคุณ.” (Xô phra Phi-Fa-Ja p̄hū̂ yìng h̄ıỵ̀ pord rạb kherụ̄̀xng būchā nī̂ cāk prachāchn k̄hxng c̄hạn læa pord xwyphr kār tæ̀ngngān khrậng nī̂ d̂wy phlạng h̄æ̀ng khwām rạk k̄hxng khuṇ.) Rough translation: “O mighty Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your loving power.”
Later on, we see Prince Beatles and Kinger expressing their skepticism and worry over what happened at the end of the play, while Princess Minty… remains silent about her own findings. Apparently, Minty is the only one who knows that she and her new allies are being spied on by her mother's entourage of mantis troopers for reasons that are not yet known. As to whether or not those troopers have anything to do with the play, which ended up turning out to be a Xiphoidyx propaganda piece approved by the Mantis Nations, remains up for speculation during this time. After putting the phin lute at the altar with the other offerings in the hoverleaf, everyone heads off to sleep for the night, with a tinge of apprehension in the atmosphere for what's to come.
The sixth day in Xiphoidyx officially draws near. Ragatha is so far enjoying Xiphoidyx and how exotic their culture is, and Kinger admits that it's nice to actually be in his element again. Zooble and Pomni once again make jabs at Jax's expense, comparing Ragatha and Jax’s relationship to Minty and Beatles's relationship despite having no proof yet that Ragatha and Jax are dating. Jax is serving brunch to everyone on the hoverleaf while trying to ignore the jabs Pomni and Zooble are making at him, opting to spend time with Minty and Beatles during the two-hour journey. …Caine really does not look forward to being forced to pay the jester $15 from the bet she made when they all left The Film Studio City Of L’amour de ma Vie on the road trip. Bubble and Gangle lay low for a little while, basking in the scenery of the island and their next region the hoverleaf is self-driving them too. Gangle has found herself actually enjoying other books outside of manga thanks to her experiences at Craniumville U, taking a look at a fun book about legends from all over the world, including magic relics, ghosts, lost cities, and even the Phi-Fa-Ja itself, which serves as subtle foreshadowing for what's to come on the rest of the road trip. Bubble, on the other hand, remains tense, secretly dreading the future events of Xiphoidyx thanks to the events from the play that happened last night.
As soon as those two hours conclude, everyone takes a look outside the windows and sees that they have made it to the next region of Xiphoidyx, a moist, cool, tropical oasis known as the Dragonfly Nations, the place where the prophecy was first heard from. The architecture, clothes, culture, customs, and lifestyle are all akin to the Southeast Asian country of Brunei, with the dragonflies, damselflies, hawkers, and darners all being clad in different beautiful shades of blue, with the females wearing tudong hijabs that are also adorned in different beautiful shades of blue. Just like with the neighboring insect tribe of the Bee Nations, the Dragonfly Nations speak Malay, but they write the language using the Jawi script, as seen with their signage placed all over the Dragonfly Nations city that they have arrived at. In the distance is a royal blue-colored palace that looks just like the real life Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Brunei.
When the hoverleaf stops and everyone gets off, the members of Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles find that the Dragonfly Nations is a relatively peaceful and prosperous region of the island, with mosques, shrines, and temples dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja being laced all over the city. Princess Minty immediately recognizes the Dragonfly Nations royal palace; her mother Queen Phatthana told her all about what she and everyone else should know about this place moments before she and everyone else departed to the Ladybug Nations just a few days ago. Subsequently, the prophecy about Team Circus was foretold in this very palace. Everyone is compelled to enter inside.
The interior of the palace is stunning and exquisite, like an Arabian royal palace interior with hints of Malaysian influences here and there. It seems that the palace is built out of sapphires, silver, and lapis lazulis. The palace is also apparently dimly lit thanks to the shade of blue used here. Perfect for concentrating on studying or drawing, according to Gangle. Everyone then stops in their tracks when they suddenly hear the sound of a dragonfly's wings being used. They all turn around to find a female elderly dragonfly clad in Prussian blue Bruneian robes and an azure turban held together by a blue diamond. They are in the presence of the Dragonfly Nations' scholar, prophet, and the dragonfly sultan’s wazir, Madame Hayati. Hayati, in her stoic and astute stature calls out to Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles, and they all tense up. She then says in a calm, but still stoic voice: “كامي تله مڠهارڤكن اندا.” (Kami telah mengharapkan anda.), which roughly translates to, “We've been expecting you.” Haha. How reassuring…
Madame Hayati leads the ten individuals herself throughout the palace, recalling past events from outside sources and praising them for the good work they've done all throughout. She even recalls how the de facto leader of Team Circus, Caine, remained persistent throughout hardship and challenges despite his decreasing optimism. When Ragatha asks the dragonfly scholar how she knows all of that, Hayati clarifies that she's the sultan's most trusted prophet, with the ability to see both the past and the future. She sends those visions and prophecies to Theingi, the tapestry maker from the Butterfly Nations. Hayati has also heard all about the arranged marriage between Minty and Beatles, as well as the alliance being made from all across the island, including gathering items for the Phi-Fa-Ja offerings at the upcoming festival to celebrate the island's successful harvest season for this year. Hayati makes it clear to not just the characters, but also the audience that she knows something that no one else does yet… perhaps even a dark secret about Xiphoidyx itself.
They arrive at the palace's royal archives, where the dragonflies, damselflies, hawkers, and darners are all working tirelessly to keep records in check. Team Circus is stunned by the vast collection of history the Dragonfly Nations has, especially Gangle, who beams at the splendor of the area. Minty and Beatles are also fascinated by the huge space in the palace. Madame Hayati leads everyone to the study room in the archives where they meet the heir to the Dragonfly Nations throne, Prince Azurite, who is clad in his most regal royal robes of Brunei, wearing a pristine white turban held together by a blue sapphire and a cornflower blue feather. Azurite is eager to bask in the presence of not just the mantis princess and the ladybug prince, but also the prophesized heroes from a far away land. The dragonfly prince is a charming fellow, whose prim and proper physique and high intelligence is able to woo Gangle and Zooble. Ragatha and Minty both express how they find the Dragonfly Nations' affinity for intellect and knowledge to be very interesting, given that each of the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx have their own thing; the mighty mantises have the island's power supply, the fair ladybugs have the island's justice system, the helpful butterflies are architects, the charismatic bees are in charge of the island's economy, and the happy grasshoppers make music and write plays.
As a gesture of goodwill and kindness on her part, Madame Hayati then takes Prince Azurite with her and leads everyone else to the boat village of the Dragonfly Nations for a debrief of their contributions to the Phi-Fa-Ja. Once they reach the boat village and hop aboard a ferry for a nice trip on the island's oasis rivers, they are treated to the breathtaking beauty of palm tree forests under the hot shimmering sun. Madame Hayati and Prince Azurite explain to everyone that the Dragonfly Nations are in charge of Xiphoidyx's education system, where they also specialize in the island's literature, historical records, and schools. Their land consists of authors, scholars, teachers, tutors, archivists, historians, and journalists, helping to teach the other insects of Xiphoidyx things like math, science, history, and language arts, with the most prestigious university in the Dragonfly Nations being Pendidikan Titisan Embun University, or Pendidikan U for short. Gangle makes a light joke about how she hopes Pendidikan U is better than Craniumville U, which makes Minty, Beatles, Hayati, and Azurite laugh, but only brings discomfort and horrible flashbacks of their experiences at Craniumville U for the members of Team Circus.
While the boat ride happens, Prince Beatles catches a glimpse of what appears to be a trio of bandits; an earthworm, a horsefly, and a louse. Beatles immediately alerts everyone that they're not alone, prompting Madame Hayati to speed up the boat with her wings alongside Prince Azurite. What ensues is a chase scene between the boat riders and the bandit trio… who all appear to be from the exiled Parasite Nations!! Unlike the other insects present with Team Circus, these insect bandits know how to fight!! Thankfully… so do the members of Team Circus! Caine manages to knock out the horsefly with his cane after dodging his moves and taking some damage, Jax yeets the louse out of the boat with as much strength as he can muster, and Kinger apprehends the earthworm after failing to talk down to him and tosses him out of the boat along with the horsefly Caine took care of already.
Minty, Beatles, Azurite, and Hayati praise and thank them for saving them from the parasite threat. Kinger wonders what the big deal is for them anyway, and Minty just assumes they were probably gonna try and eat them… after all, it's what happened to her dad. Prince Azurite sends his condolences to the mantis princess shortly after. Kinger doesn't want to assume anything since he's marginally unbiased towards all insects, but by the sounds of things, they looked like they were only here for Team Circus, not the other insects. They didn't appear inclined to attack the insect royalty or Madame Hayati. Plus, there was last night's play from the Grasshopper Nations, and how it depicted Queen Phattana as this ultimate savior and Team Circus as sacrifices to the Phi-Fa-Ja, all concerning information that raises some red flags.
Without any warning, Madame Hayati suddenly gets a vision, as seen when her eyes and blue diamond on her turban glow for ten seconds. Based on Hayati's horrified and alarmed expression on her face, the vision was not good at all. Azurite, sensing Hayati's distress, offers to turn the boat back around so everyone can head back to the royal palace. Hayati agrees, and the ferry is turned around back to the boat village in the Dragonfly Nations. Meanwhile, we see the parasite bandits washing up ashore somewhere far away from everyone else, and, while speaking in Dhivehi, declare the retrieval mission a failure and opt to try again tomorrow… before they are found by the mantis troopers from behind them and the screen cuts to black, moments before we hear a slicing sound from a sword-like weapon, indicating that the mantis troopers have already killed the bandits themselves without anyone even knowing.
Back in the royal palace, we see Team Circus, Madame Hayati, Prince Azurite, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles waiting for the arrival of the dragonfly sultan in the lounging area. The lounging area is surprisingly very comfy, with blue velvet bean bags with silver tassels on them for fanciness, and bookshelves containing different fairytales and folklore. Kinger can be seen taking a look at “The Kinger & His Knight” from the third episode, getting a sense of déjà vu from the book as well as some unpleasant flashbacks. Prince Azurite and Gangle end up bonding over the different stories that could be found in the lounging area bookshelves, including stuff about mermaids, pirates, dragons, and wizards. While Gangle is more into the character romance side of the stories, while Azurite is more into the action and adventure side of the stories. From a foot away from them, Zooble can be seen getting jealous at Gangle and Azurite’s interactions, as seen with their violently vibrating antennae, which Jax points out from next to them… only to receive a bruise on his cheek when Zooble throws a hardcover book at the rabbit as violently as possible.
Soon though, we finally see the presence of the Dragonfly Nations sultan, who is clad in a royal blue Bruneian sultan's suit, wearing a glimmering white turban with a see-through light blue veil behind his head. The turban is held together by a beautiful blue diamond and an ultramarine feather. Madame Hayati introduces Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles to the ruler of the Dragonfly Nations himself, Sultan Zaffir. Zaffir is a formal individual who speaks eloquently, almost like Prince Beatles, but somehow better, and he's already been informed by Hayati about the encounter in the riverboat with the parasite bandits. Also from Hayati is the vision she received that gave her quite the fright, of which only she and Zaffir know, so as not to frighten anyone else present. The sultan decides to take his son with him to the banquet hall, politely instructing everyone to follow him. They proceed to do just that.
At the banquet hall, Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles dine with Sultan Zaffir, Prince Azurite, and Madame Hayati on some of the Dragonfly Nations' finest cuisine, all of which are foods that can be enjoyed in Brunei. We learn a little more about the sultan and his son, including information that Hayati is Azurite's tutor and instructor, so not only can he be a good sultan one day, but also a teacher just like Zaffir and Hayati are. When Minty, Beatles, and Kinger recap what they've learned and done in Xiphoidyx, Sultan Zaffir simply says that he already knows; Hayati has been keeping His Majesty informed via her visions. Zaffir is actually excited for the prospect of an alliance in the island to fend off any enemies that may come their way, since they lack a sufficient military of their own. Caine is still pissed about the fact that Xiphoidyx doesn't have their own military to protect themselves; it's just dumb.
Madame Hayati and Sultan Zaffir actually agree with Caine, much to his bewilderment; the fact that Xiphoidyx has no military of their own is nothing short of alarming. Prince Azurite brings up the threat of the parasite army that Princess Minty brought up at the river, including mentioning how the late mantis king perished at the hands of the parasites, something that both Prince Beatles and Jax are aware of. Judging by that alone, the audience can deduce that Minty's father had been beheaded before the events of this episode. Minty even expresses her fears that if she got married, she'd lose him as fast as she fell in love with him. It's revealed that her mother lost her husband on the night of the wedding in a parasite ambush. By that point, the widowed Queen Phatthana was already 7 months pregnant with the egg she would be forced to lay without her husband. Damn.
Beatles reassures the mantis princess that as long he's still here, she has nothing to fear. Azurite can see Minty's distress and offers a proposal to his father and tutor a deal to ease her fears: Team Circus can act as bodyguards to both Princess Minty and Prince Beatles themselves, protecting them from potential danger on the island, just like what they did on the boat. Hayati can see that Azurite makes an excellent point, seeing that a few of the Team Circus members are very proficient fighters, plus Caine already carries what could technically be considered a weapon with him at all times. Plus, they still need an offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja for the festival from the Dragonfly Nations to seal the deal, along with the sultan's blessings for the arranged marriage that'll make the alliance possible; a heads-up from Kinger. Hayati and Zaffir look at each other, as if they know something nobody else knows yet, as seen with their brief expressions of genuine concern that quickly change to ones of approval and cautious determination, as if to say “let's get this over with”.
In the sultan's throne room, we see Princess Minty and Prince Beatles getting situated by Prince Azurite, having found the perfect offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja for the upcoming festival. He gives them a stack of blue-colored encyclopedia books tied in a pale blue bow, which are heavy in weight but also with knowledge… including a book detailing the full unabridged history of Xiphoidyx and telling nothing but the entire truth at the very top. This book will contain some very important information about Xiphoidyx much later on. Madame Hayati has the members of Team Circus swear a solemn oath to protect Princess Minty and Prince Beatles from whatever threat lies in front of them, on behalf of the Phi-Fa-Ja and His Majesty the sultan of the Dragonfly Nations. Then, Sultan Zaffir adorns Minty and Beatles with blue lotus incense and a blue lily on their heads, while reciting this chant in Jawi Malay:
(Wahai Phi-Fa-Ja yang agung, terimalah persembahan dari umatku ini dan berkatilah perkahwinan ini dengan kebijaksanaan dan bimbinganmu.) Translation: “O great Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your wisdom and guidance.”
Everyone takes a look at the altar in the hoverleaf and sees the offering items to the Phi-Fa-Ja, including the mint tea and mint leaves are back in the Mantis Nations, where the Phi-Fa-Ja itself rests at currently, while we see the flower vases from the Ladybug Nations, the blacksmith's hammer from the Butterfly Nations, the bags of honey coins from the Bee Nations, the phin lute from the Grasshopper Nations, and most recently, the stack of books from the Dragonfly Nations. They all look like decent gifts to the life-giving spirit, and we can especially see Kinger be proud of the glorious display. We can even see Minty and Beatles grow closer to each other, meaning that the plan is working like a charm! Hooray!! The other Team Circus members discuss to themselves about what Madame Hayati saw when she received the vision. So far, they all have come to the same conclusion that it has something to do with Queen Phatthana and the parasites in Xiphoidyx… they're not even surprised anymore by the prospect of Phattana turning out to be a piece of shit, but they're now left wondering why. Looks like they'll have to wonder some more in the morning.
Day seven approaches; a full week in Xiphoidyx, to be precise. To celebrate the occasion of staying for an entire week in Xiphoidyx, something they couldn't do during the previous episode for obvious reasons, the members of Team Circus, except for Caine, Bubble, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles, make a toast to the Phi-Fa-Ja during the breakfast hour, pouring a glass of dewdrop water for themselves and their new allies to celebrate still being alive and ready to take on the challenges in front of them. Bubble asks Caine if he's alright, but Caine dismisses him, saying that they need to focus on the road trip objective. Afterwards, the hoverleaf takes them for another two-hour drive to their next region of the island.
Jax is once again feeling like absolute shit thanks to learning more about what happened to Princess Minty’s father. Kinger had once taught him that female mantises in the real world ate the males’ heads after mating with them so he assumed that it was true here in Xiphoidyx. Apparently not. Unsurprisingly, Zooble and Kinger continue to hammer down that fact, even after Prince Beatles catches them and tells them to knock it off. Caine is overall just trying to formulate a backup plan for when the worst arrives. After all, the running theme of twist villains has started to become the norm. The problem right now is the motive… Is it just a petty desire for power? Or is there an actual justification for what they're doing? Who knows? Guess they'll have to find out later…
Eventually, when those two hours finally pass, they see a pristine silvery chrome city with giant lights laced around the tall buildings, populated by different moths. They have officially arrived at the Moth Nations. The culture, clothes, architecture, and lifestyle are very reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Singapore, with the main languages spoken there being English (a huge relief for Team Circus), Malay (just like the Bee Nations and the Dragonfly Nations), Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil. Most of the signs within the city, however, are written in Mandarin Chinese. They also see a large skyscraper supported by three tall mushroom stalks with a giant leaf on top, floating on a humongous lily pad in the lake, reminiscent of the real life Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, with a sign that reads “Nongli Incorporated” on the middle mushroom stalk. In between the skyscraper is a pair of silver lotuses. It would appear that the theme color for this region is gray, as seen with chrome buildings, and gray-colored Singaporean fashion, which is a beautiful blend of Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian influences. We can also see in the distance that there is a silver-colored royal palace that looks just like The Istana in Singapore.
The hoverleaf stops in the middle of the Moth Nations city, and the members of Team Circus and the royal insects are left to explore the area. It appears that the Moth Nations are more technologically advanced than the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx, as seen with holographic screens on the chrome skyscrapers advertising all sorts of different technological devices and video games. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles feel completely out of their element; while the other insect tribes had all sorts of rustic scenery and a high emphasis on beauty of nature, the Moth Nations doesn't really have that, instead having all the trees, flowers, and plants all contained in either greenhouses or having everything being completely artificial, just like the silver lotuses in between the Nongli Incorporated skyscraper.
As a matter of fact, a lot of the chrome city’s buildings actually advertise Nongli Incorporated products, including the nPod, the nPad, the nPhone, and the nMac… all allusions to Apple Inc. Caine then orders everyone to stay on task once he sees everyone else getting distracted by how different the Moth Nations are, and leads them to a subway station in an attempt to navigate through the city and maybe find the royal palace since it appears to be unreachable for some reason. Boarding the subway is an enlightening experience to say the least. We see different moths on board speaking in different languages, including Tamil, Malay, English, and Mandarin Chinese. Minty and Beatles feel like fish out of water, something that Caine can empathize with, especially when Beatles tries talking to a Tamil-speaking moth, only for him to be distracted by whatever mobile phone game he's playing, much to Beatles's annoyance. This scene could not get anymore awkward even if it tried to, and not even Kinger and Ragatha's spiels of optimism make it any better. But at least they get a great view of the humongous Ferris wheel contraption in the Moth Nations city, reminiscent of the real life Singapore Flyer outside of one of the windows of the subway for a brief while.
Eventually, they get out of the subway station to a different location in the Moth Nations, where we see artificial trees, flowers, and mushrooms that look just like the Supertree Grove at the real life Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, flashing different beautiful colors in contrast to the glaring grays and silvers of the region, along with the royal palace being much closer to them than previously. There's a large horde of moths who are very distracted by the pretty colors, like they're watching a TV show of some sorts. Prince Beatles and Caine opt to investigate for themselves and fly over to one of the artificial trees where we see some elderly moths watching the news, the adult males watching sports, the adult females watching either Singaporean soap operas or some HGTV shows, the teenagers either watching sitcoms or movies, and the younger moths either watching educational programs or straight up content farm brainrot… Caine is outwardly horrified and disgusted by a child moth watching content farm videos about himself and his troupe, and Beatles takes him back with the others, being equally horrified by what he's looking at.
Caine is not at all a fan of the high consumerism of media and tech products from the Moth Nations, and finds the city life to be, quite frankly, overwhelming. Minty is actually beginning to miss having real trees and plants on the island with how little of them there are in the region, and how much Nongli Incorporated seems to have completely devoured the Moth Nations as a whole. Even the Bee Nations, one of the richest regions of Xiphoidyx, isn't this tech-influenced!! Kinger reminds everyone to keep their heads held high; there's still a chance to meet the ruler of the Moth Nations and request a noble task from him in the palace, to which the chesspiece points at. They're all shocked to find that the palace is comparatively more humble than even the chrome skyscrapers or the other royal palaces of the island. Perhaps this can also serve as an escape from the city back to the quiet peaceful atmosphere they were so used to during that week.
Suddenly, a giant silver beacon of light shines near Nongli Incorporated skyscraper, from one of the silver lotuses at the lake, prompting all the moths — YES, EVERY LAST FUCKING ONE OF THEM — to turn their heads towards the light beacon, instilling fear and confusion to Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles. All of them swarm towards the beacon, with the sound of the flapping of the moth wings being too much to bear. Before they even realize it, ten of those moths scoop up the Team Circus members and the insect royals towards the beacon. Reactions vary; Caine, Pomni, Princess Minty, and Gangle are startled and confused, Prince Beatles, Jax, and Zooble are outraged and frustrated, and Bubble, Kinger, and Ragatha accept their fates without any fuss. Where exactly is the beacon of light taking them to, you may ask? Well… it looks like they're about to find out for themselves.
Everyone has found themselves inside one of the silver lotuses after all the moths have landed inside the facility… which appears to be a convention panel of some sorts, decorated lavishly with influences of Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian cultures, just like that of Singapore. Moments later, after some murmurs of excitement from the other moths and even more confusion from Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées, the beacon turns off, and so do the rest of the lights, save for some single stage light. From behind the stone gray velvet curtains emerges a well-dressed moth lady in glasses and a neatly-tied hair bun, of whom an announcer from the speakers introduces to the panel’s audience as Dr. Hua. Dr. Hua makes a speech to her fellow moths about the importance of advancement in a world that moves fast, as well as the upcoming Phi-Fa-Ja festival set to happen at the end of this month. Cue the overwhelmingly uproarious cheers and applause.
With that in mind, she introduces the latest creations to the other moths in the panel straight from Nongli Incorporated, the newest VR headset called the nGoggles, powered by Create & Adapt Industries— WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE. Caine has to keep himself composed, while Bubble and the six humans get mildly uncomfortable with the déjà vu being presented in front of them. Minty and Beatles are completely uninterested with the headset entirely, hilariously enough. Back on the other side of the screen, Valerie gets embarrassed by the product placement within the digital world, and makes a silent apology to them for that. Dr. Hua explains that the nGoggles will ensure optimal enjoyment and entertainment, and will make it easier for the other moths to better maintain the TV trees in the city and not use up their power, which all comes from the Phi-Fa-Ja.
Along with that riveting announcement, we see the announcement of the Phi-Fa-Ja festival light show in the Moth Nations chrome city, where light drones and musicians will perform in honor of the life-giving spirit that made their way of life possible, much to the awe of the moths present in the audience. And saving the best for the last, there is a celebration of the Xiphoidyx alliance to combat the parasite threat, with the heir to the Mantis Nations throne and the royal prince of the Ladybug Nations having agreed to an arranged marriage to make that possible, including the group of heroes from a distant land strengthening the Xiphoidyx alliance by getting the other insect tribes to agree to the marriage and strengthen their connections to each other and this island as a whole. That's when the silver stage lights point towards Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées, causing their presence to be known and for everyone to cheer. However, there is a message on one of the jumbotron screens that reads in Mandarin Chinese: “如果你想离开这里，就跟我们一起走吧。” (Rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng líkāi zhèlǐ, jiù gēn wǒmen yīqǐ zǒu ba.), which roughly translates to: “Come with us if you want out of here.”
A cloaked moth gestures for them to come to the stage, and they all comply. The cloaked moth then takes them to Dr. Hua, who declares the Moth Nations’ gratitude towards the heroes prophesized by the Dragonfly Nations, with all eyes turned towards the ten individuals thanks to the stage light still pointing at them. The moths all shout “thank you's” and “I love you’s” to them before the computer scientist moth makes one final statement to the moths at the panel: start preparing for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival soon and never stop looking towards the future. They are all then pulled backstage by Dr. Hua and the cloaked moth, without any rhyme, reason, or even an explanation.
Caine demands to know the meaning of this, pulling out his cane like a spear in defense of Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, but the only explanation we get from the two moths is that they should follow them to the royal palace. They take them to one of the dewdrop cars outside of the silver lotus, and they all hop aboard. The dewdrop car ends up taking them over the chrome city away from the Nongli Incorporated skyscraper, flying all the way to the outskirts of the Moth Nations, just like the hoverleaf with the Phi-Fa-Ja altar. While in the dewdrop car, the cloaked moth removes his cloak to reveal a handsome gentleman dressed in a gray Singaporean royal suit, which has a beautiful blend of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian influences, all while wearing a mianguan with gray and silver beads and a gray spinel smacked dab in the middle. Dr. Hua introduces everyone to the heir to the Moth Nations throne, Prince Moon.
Prince Moon is delighted to be seeing Team Circus in the (digital) flesh, as well as the royal insect fiancées, due to his fascination with what lies beyond the palace walls. He's especially excited to see real life nature from other parts of the island for the first time in his life. Dr. Hua drops the professional persona and properly introduces herself as the royal advisor to the Moth Nations empress and the program manager of Nongli Incorporated. Kinger is just glad to be able to reach the Moth Nations empress, quickly asking what noble task will be assigned to them for the Phi-Fa-Ja offering and the Xiphoidyx alliance. Both Dr. Hua and Prince Moon declare that they're all in luck; they're heading for the royal palace right now!
Sure enough, the dewdrop car takes them to the royal palace, which so happens to be floating above the chrome city and has real plants, flowers and trees instead of the artificial bullcrap down below, instilling relief to everyone else since they're all overstimulated by the advanced technology from the city. Dr. Hua and Prince Moon take everyone inside the palace as soon as possible, following the light paths set up for them. Kinger then remembers a cool insect fact about moths being seemingly attracted to the light, when in actuality, those lights actually distract them since they've developed a navigational instinct using the moon’s light to guide them. The artificial lights present disorient them and can make them off-balance. He wonders if they're using this to their advantage since the moths are all so easily distractible by all the media they see on the screens.
Everyone eventually winds up in the throne room, where the light paths have taken them. The interior is marble gray and stylized by the cultural mixed bag of Singapore, including the throne itself. Caine and Bubble immediately get uncanny valley vibes when they take a look at the robot servants tending to the palace, all of whom seem to be communicating together in Mandarin Chinese. Suddenly, a silver light beacon appears on the throne, alerting Moon and Hua immediately. From above, the Moth Nations empress flutters down to her throne as gracefully as she can, being seen wearing a silver fengguan crown studded with diamonds and gray spinels and tipped with silver beads on her head. Her royal attire consists of the usual Singaporean blend of Malaysia, China, and India. One of the robot servants introduces her as Empress Li.
Moon and Li have a formal but heartwarming reunion with each other, along with Hua introducing Li to Team Circus, Minty, and Beatles. Wanting to get this done and over with, Caine comes forward to the Moth Nations empress and requests for an assignment to them in order to finalize the marriage blessings for the Xiphoidyx alliance and an additional offering to the Phi-Fa-Ja. As if to answer his question, Empress Li soon uses another light path set up by yet another robot servant and guides everyone to a special room in the palace.
As they traverse down the light path, Kinger debriefs Hua, Moon, and Li and what has happened this past week all over the island, including the prophecy from the Dragonfly Nations, an ambush from a band of parasite bandits, the play dedicated to Team Circus in the Grasshopper Nations, the growing threat of the parasite army, the arranged marriage between Princess Minty of the Mantis Nations and Prince Beatles of the Ladybug Nations, the upcoming Phi-Fa-Ja festival at the end of the month, the offerings being collected from each insect tribe, and his plan to make Minty and Beatles grow closer to each other in the process. Li is very intrigued by all this, and is very curious as to what the other insect tribes are like. Princess Minty happily tells her all about the vibrant flora, fauna, and sense of community and support the other insects have, including the fair and just ladybugs, the strong and architectural butterflies, the charismatic and wealthy bees, the happy and carefree grasshoppers, the wise and astute dragonflies, and of course, the great and mighty mantises that rule over the island and have the real Phi-Fa-Ja with them in their domain.
In regards to the other insects’ special ways to thank the Phi-Fa-Ja for giving prosperity and life to Xiphoidyx, both Kinger can already get a good idea as to what the Moth Nations specialize in. Prince Moon, Dr. Hua, and Empress Li eagerly explain that the Moth Nations are in charge of manufacturing and creating all of Xiphoidyx’s technological devices, including phones, tablets, computers, television screens, and even VR headsets. They've also made technologically advanced vehicles that can fly to make travel to different regions of the island possible. Without the Moth Nations' technology, things like the dewdrop car from earlier or even the hoverleaf from the Mantis Nations wouldn't be possible. Kinger updates his list as a result, while Caine wonders where exactly they're heading off to.
They finally make it to what appears to be a computer lab of some sorts, with rows of nMac computers in a row of desks and a table that has ten different nGoggles VR headsets. The humans of Team Circus get a little uneasy, while the insect fiancées stare at the headsets in curiosity. Bubble and Caine are both curious and uneasy, with the latter asking what exactly is going on. Dr. Hua wants them to test out the newest nGoggles for themselves as a bit of a thank you for all their heroic deeds as well as give them a sneak peek to their light show in the Moth Nations dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja festival. Minty and Beatles are willing to give it a go almost immediately, but Team Circus is a lot more hesitant to try them on until Moon convinces them to try them on.
As soon as they all put on their respective headsets, Hua, Moon, and Li guide them around the new VR space, which appears to be a silver simulation room of some sorts, and the scene entirely is entirely presented via a VRChat space with different alternating POVs of the different characters. Li exposes the VR headset wearers to all the different joys of virtual reality, including the creation of virtual spaces to hang out in, video games, and a scenic tour of the Moth Nations' more appealing aspects outside of the chrome city where Nongli Incorporated is located at. Reactions vary: Princess Minty is awestruck, Prince Beatles is intrigued, Kinger is indifferent, Ragatha is filled with curiosity and wonder, Jax is playful, Gangle shows a huge interest, Zooble is more or less confused, Pomni tries not to freak out, Bubble feels out of place but eventually gets the hang of it, and poor ol' Caine is trying not to get sick from the motion of the VR headset.
Lastly, once all is said and done, everyone is treated to the sneak peak of the Phi-Fa-Ja festival light show in virtual reality, with pretty colorful lights and a little bit of a retelling of Xiphoidyx’s ancient history, complete with Singaporean traditional music playing. Minty and Beatles once again have another heart-to-heart with each other, sharing each other's favorite things and learning about their favorite hobbies as they watch the light show preview. They've both taken a liking to each other and have learned about sides to them they've never really seen before, including Minty's curiosity and desire to explore the world around her, and Beatles's fun-loving nature and willingness to try new things. Minty wouldn't mind visiting the insect tribes for diplomatic outings once she becomes queen, seeing that the other insects aren't all that bad. As a matter of fact, she's beginning to wonder if the Parasite Nations are all that bad either…
Before the conversation can continue, Dr. Hua states that it's time for them to take the headsets off. They all lounge in the computer lab in order to readjust themselves, with Minty thanking Empress Li for the opportunity to share their ambitious creation to Xiphoidyx. Prince Moon sets up a light path for them to follow, where everyone heads to the palace garden to watch the moonlit sky. As they relax in the garden for a while, both Minty and Beatles bring up the idea of reunifying Xiphoidyx as one using the growing alliance from the arranged marriage to Moon, an idea that he himself doesn't think is all that bad. It's been decades since Xiphoidyx was truly united after the second war resulted in the mantises taking over leadership duties and all the insects living there broke into different regions. They all end up hanging onto that hope for the foreseeable future, with Minty deciding to keep her changing personal opinions about the parasites to herself for the time being.
As for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offering, Dr. Hua presents them with the prototype of the very first nPad tablet from Nongli Incorporated that was created over two decades ago. It no longer works as intended, but it is an important historical artifact of theirs that they have treasured for a really long time. Team Circus also watches Empress Li affirm the alliance by giving them her blessings to this marriage, anointing them and giving them gray beaded necklaces as gifts for the blessings. She then goes on to recite this chant in Mandarin Chinese:
“噢，伟大的 菲-法-贾，请接受我的人民的供奉，并用您神圣的慷慨祝福这桩婚姻。” (Ō, wěidà de Phi-Fa-Ja, qǐng jiēshòu wǒ de rénmín de gòngfèng, bìngyòng nín shénshèng de kāngkǎi zhùfú zhè zhuāng hūnyīn.) Rough translation: “Oh great Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your divine generosity.”
Because of how late it is, the members of Team Circus fall asleep where they're sitting at shortly afterwards. Finding the spectacle cute and adorable, Dr. Hua, Empress Li, Prince Moon, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles take them back to the dewdrop car, leave the palace,and back to the hoverleaf in the chrome city to sleep. Since Minty and Beatles aren't sleepy yet, Prince Moon offers them a midnight meal of chilli crab, and they all dine, having a fun little conversation about life events with each other while Team Circus sleeps peacefully. The tablet is then placed onto the altar with all the other offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja.
The next morning arrives; day eight has officially arrived for Team Circus. They wake up to find that Dr. Hua, Prince Moon, and Empress Li have already left… but the good news is that Princess Minty saved some chilli crab for them to savor on for breakfast! Yummy! Prince Beatles activates the hoverleaf soon after, and they leave the Moth Nations to another area of Xiphoidyx. Once again, it takes two hours to get there, and in the meantime, Kinger and Caine come up with more theories about Queen Phatthana, the parasite army, and subsequently, the division of the other insect tribes on the island. Jax hangs out with Minty and Beatles once again, having mint tea and chilli crab with them as well as talking about what they currently know about Xiphoidyx. Meanwhile, we have Ragatha gushing about how fun and educational this experience has been so far, not yet aware of the increasing stakes presented to them as a result of new information presented to them as the island journey continues.
Once the two hours conclude, everyone is presented to a whole new different area with high mountainscapes and scenic beaches, even more beautiful than that of the Butterfly Nations. Many different kinds of fireflies are scattered across the land, with some living in uma lulik-esque houses, farming crops for harvest, weaving their own cloth, and in the more urban areas of the landscape, constructing and fixing up different vehicles, forging railways for trains, and building bridges and roads for other insects. They've officially made it to the Firefly Nations. Their culture, lifestyle, clothes, architecture, and way of life are all reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste, and the fireflies there speak Tetum and Portuguese, along with some signage displaying both of those languages, with most of them being Tetum. Their theme color appears to be violet, as many of those fireflies are wearing tais mane and tais feto in many different beautiful shades of purple. In the distance appears to be the royal palace of the Firefly Nations ruler, which looks just like the real life Palácio de Lahane in Timor-Leste. Oddly enough, it's even smaller and more humble than any of the other royal palaces they've seen thus far.
The hoverleaf lands in the more urbanized part of the village, which appears to be inspired by the Timor-Leste city of Dili, and once again, our esteemed protagonists and their new allies head off to search for the Firefly Nations ruler. Whilst doing so, they find that the villagers are a lot more social and affable, giving them greetings from all across the land, including a woven basket and some tais shawls and two handmade woven dolls. The younger girl fireflies are taking a liking to Jax for some reason, instilling some simultaneous flattery and discomfort from Team Circus. Minty and Beatles are just glad to be back in nature after yesterday's events. One such firefly lady, who is adorned with a beautifully-woven tais feto sarong and wearing a small belak pendant, recognizes Jax as the farm boy who saved The Farmlands from a gruesome death by a poisonous plant. Looks like Hayati's prophecy and Theingi’s tapestries have already spread far and wide all over Xiphoidyx. The firefly lady, with her excitedly glowing posterior, approaches Jax and eagerly takes him to her workshop, being extremely glad to see him. Minty and Beatles wish Jax good luck, and everyone else in Team Circus keeps going with them. Neither of them notice the subtle hostility towards the purple jackrabbit coming from Ragatha and Kinger…
Jax is taken to her workshop, which is a combination of a regular mechanic’s repair garage and the humble abode of the uma lulik house, and she introduces herself as Fransisca, who works with her family-owned mechanic business, fixing up any broken vehicles in the island. She's glad to have stumbled across the prophesized heroes so she can have them help with the Phi-Fa-Ja festival kart race this evening, and right now, she's building a specially made kart for the prince of the Firefly Nations, which is considered a huge honor in her tribe! Jax’s running gag of this episode is being constantly mistaken for a cheater with how many insect women he managed to befriend, so he resigns to his fate and agrees to help Fransisca.
Fransisca is relieved to hear that someone else is agreeing to help the other fireflies for a change. Everyone else that has ever come to the Firefly Nations has either ignored them or outright refused their kindness and generosity. The fireflies do not have much to get by at all, so they've been relying on outside sources to stay afloat, especially the mantises. Nevertheless, the fireflies still reach out and try to be kind to others when no one else would. Otherwise, they spend the majority of their lives doing what is essentially a bunch of blue-collar jobs for the wealthier insect tribes. Jax asks Fransisca about the parasites; would they go out of their way to treat them with kindness too? The answer is an enthusiastic yes; as a matter of fact, the fireflies and the parasites used to be extremely close before the island split into different regions! Jax finds this information to be useful for alliance and the arranged marriage, which he plans to divulge to the others later tonight. For now, they spend the time they have building and refining the kart to perfection, learning about each other's lives in the process.
Meanwhile, we see the rest of the Team Circus members and the royal insect fiancées looking for the Firefly Nations ruler in the mountainous regions of the area, and all the other fireflies seem to be getting the same idea of preparing for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival kart race, with some of them building their own karts. They at last arrive near the royal palace, where it looks like a ceremonial dance is taking place, with a firefly man playing the lakadou and a firefly woman playing a babadok drum. The fireflies are all dancing in a lively formation, wings spread out and posteriors glowing. They all appear to be encircling around an empty oil barrel that looks like it got crushed and washed up on shore decades ago. It's a rather beautiful display that catches Minty and Beatles's attention. Kinger and Ragatha decide to join Minty and Beatles in watching the ceremonial dance, while everyone else heads for the palace.
They don't even get the chance to come inside when they see a glowing sparkle zip past them, followed by mischievous giggles. Caine, just about fed up with setback after setback, is determined to catch that glow for himself, causing Bubble, Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble to follow him all across the Firefly Nations village. Pomni takes the time to vlog the chase via her communicator bracelet for comedic effect. Caine angrily laments how he's sick and tired of having to chase people or be chased on this island, with Pomni just enjoying the thrill of it all. The glowing sparkle manages to take them into the urbanized area of the village where vehicles are being built and fixed, and eventually, Caine is able to snag the sparkle for himself after an arduous trek down the mountains and into the lush jungles, where it's revealed to be none other than the Firefly Nations prince himself! He's essentially a little shit just like Princess Emerald of the Grasshopper Nations, but with much more rambunctiousness and spontaneity.
Gangle and Zooble are pretty much on the fence about the whole scenario, while Pomni is eagerly downloading the footage to her social media platforms, and Bubble is trying his best to soothe the livid Caine. The Firefly Nations prince, who is dressed in a royal purple tais mane skirt, wearing a feathered headdress on his head with a purple crystal stuck on it and adorned with a silver belak disc necklace over his neck, introduces himself as Prince Luxor; he laughs how he hasn't ragebaited anyone in the village since Old Man Feroz. Caine regains his composure for the umpteenth time and asks Luxor what the meaning of this is. Luxor had been going around the village pulling pranks in excitement over the festival kart race taking place tonight. As for the ceremonial dance? That was to give the Firefly Nations good luck on the kart race. Wishing to waste no more time, Caine leads everyone out of the jungle back to the village where we see everyone getting their karts ready, including Fransisca, her large family, and subsequently, Jax.
Back in the mountains, Minty and Beatles are basking in the scenery, while Ragatha learns some cool firefly facts from Kinger, when Caine, Bubble, Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble arrive at the group with Prince Luxor himself. Bubble wonders where Jax is, and another jab at the rabbit is made from Pomni, Zooble, and Caine, showcasing their disdain for the firefly ladies catcalling Jax earlier today. Minty and Beatles lead everyone into the palace as intended, while Bubble goes to search for Jax. Jax is seen having a relatively better time with Fransisca’s family, having grilled fish for lunch, and the other fireflies are fascinated once again by the rabbit's storytelling prowess. Bubble, although endeared by the wholesomeness and relieved that nothing bad happened to Jax, barges in to fetch him. Jax bids Fransisca and the others farewell and he and Bubble head forth to the palace where everyone else is currently at.
The interior of the palace is comparatively small with elements of Timor-Leste culture laced around it. When asked what Jax was up to, he says that he met this mechanic lady named Fransisca; she had a huge family just like him, and was the first to accept the offer to help with making Prince Luxor’s kart for the kart race— oh, whoops! Looks like Prince Luxor wasn't supposed to know about that yet! Minty and Beatles chuckle, Prince Luxor shows excitement, and all the other members of Team Circus except for Bubble glare at him. Before anything else happens, two fireflies present in the throne room announce the arrival of the ruler of the Firefly Nations, Chief João. João is dressed in a vibrant violet Timor-Leste tais mane skirt with gold armbands, bracelets, and anklets. He's adorned with a golden belak disc necklace and on his head is a elaborately decorated gold kaibauk headdress with purple crystal beads dangling from the tips. João is very ecstatic to finally see other insects outside of the Firefly Nations after so long.
Turns out that despite being available to travel to, the Firefly Nations had been isolated for so long with no one wanting to go there, not with how little to offer they have and how seemingly vacant it all looks. The fireflies have always been about making travel easier for the other insects and any of the friendly outsiders that wish to see Xiphoidyx for themselves. It had been their specialty; their way of showing gratitude to the Phi-Fa-Ja. You see, the Firefly Nations are responsible for making transportation and vehicular travel easier for everyone. They built cars, trucks, boats, trains, and even planes, sometimes giving those vehicles to the Moth Nations for further enhancement. They even made bridges, roads, and railroad tracks for the island! They've pretty much used those resources from other insect tribes to construct those travel paths, hoping that they'd be used one day. Those boats and cars, and even the hoverleaf were all crafted from the Firefly Nations’ loving insectoid hands, but their efforts went unnoticed. As Chief João rambles on, he guides his son Prince Luxor and everyone else around his palace, taking them to a rope bridge that connects between the palace and the Phi-Fa-Ja shrine outside.
Princess Minty can only speculate as to why the Firefly Nations haven't had any outside connections before, which makes Jax bring up how the fireflies and the parasites used to be close before the insect tribes separated. Luxor had João back this claim up by relaying their own side of the story, of how Xiphoidyx became the way it is. After the parasites were exiled to another part of Xiphoidyx, the fireflies began to miss their neighboring pals, and suggested the idea to the mantis warlord, their leader at the time, a proposition to visit the parasites to check up on them, an offer that was vehemently refused by him. Some insects wanted laws to keep the parasites out of the island. Others advised to teach the younger generation their way of life. Some just wanted to stay out of the conflict and live life to the fullest, giving thanks to the life-bearing spirit of the island for keeping them alive for this long. Ultimately, no one could decide on what to do next, and fighting broke out. Only the fireflies managed to escape the conflict before the island split into different tribes.
All things considered, that is some pretty insightful information for Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles. Plus, with what they know from Madame Hayati and the Grasshopper Nations play, they may be able to eventually get the full extent of the story so that they can make the alliance easier. The goals have already shifted; instead of using the arranged marriage to form an alliance against the parasite army, they'll use the alliance as a means to bring the island back together. Kinger looks smug about it for some reason. Ragatha asks if that was his true plan the whole time, but the king chesspiece neither confirms nor denies it. Chief João and Prince Luxor make a prayer at the Phi-Fa-Ja shrine, wishing the kart racers good luck and for Team Circus to remain strong. The sun soon begins to set; it's almost time for the festival kart race.
As soon as Prince Luxor guides everyone back inside the palace, Caine suggests the idea that Jax participate in the race in Luxor’s place using the kart he and Fransisca made earlier today. You can tell in his tone of voice that it's supposed to be malicious, but it doesn't register to anyone else other than the other Team Circus members. In fact, Luxor and João think this is a great idea. It would show the rest of the Firefly Nations that Team Circus is on their side, plus with seven other insect tribes already on the alliance, it'll make chances for reunification much stronger than before. Jax proudly accepts this offer in return; hopefully, he can use this chance to say thank you to Fransisca for her kindness towards him. Ragatha hides her jealousy as much as possible through her smile.
Eventually, the royal insect fiancées and Team Circus head off from the royal palace back to the village for the kart race, bidding farewell to Prince Luxor and Chief João. Both father and son look at each other with anticipatory worry before looking back on the approaching twilight of dusk from outside. Prince Luxor mutters out this sentence in Tetum: “Se ita bele moris iha mundu ida ho dame no unidade, ida-ne'e sei di'ak.”, which roughly translates to: “If we could live in a world with peace and unity, that'd be nice.” To reassure his son, Chief João says this sentence in Tetum in response: “Sira sei hatene lia-loos iha tempu badak; keta preokupa, ha'u nia oan.”, which roughly translates to: “They'll know the truth soon; don't worry, my child.”
The scene cuts to the kart race, where Fransisca is announcing all the racers to start their engines. In total there are eight racers, including Jax. The race begins shortly after the countdown from Fransisca, and it's a fun little chase down the mountain. Plus, it's also some excellent foreshadowing for a future episode on Jax's part. The night sky is lit up by the glowing posteriors of the fireflies, many of whom are cheering the racers on from various areas of the village. Ultimately, Jax doesn't win the race, but at least he's being an incredibly good sport about it. Minty, Beatles, and Luxor congratulate the winning racer, while Bubble remains the only Team Circus member still supportive of Jax.
Later on, an outdoor feast is held at the beach, with firefly dancers and musicians present. Chief João gives thanks to the Phi-Fa-Ja for granting him the patience and compassion his people needed while waiting for the perfect miracle in Xiphoidyx, the miracle being Team Circus in question. He hopes that with their help, along with the contributions to the arranged marriage between Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, the island can become whole again and true harmony and prosperity will be restored once and for all. Luxor presents Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées with a toy car model to add to the festival offerings they have back at the hoverleaf altar. Chief João then calls Princess Minty and Prince Beatles forward to the center of the bonfire, gifts them golden belak medallions, and sprinkles them with sand and herbs while reciting this chant in Tetum:
“Ó Phi-Fa-Ja divinu, favór ida simu oferta ida-ne'e hosi ha'u nia povu no simu kazamentu ida-ne'e ho Ita-boot nia vontade di'ak.” Rough translation: “O divine Phi-Fa-Ja, please accept this offering from my people and accept this marriage with your gracious goodwill.”
Later into the night, after the feast concludes and they place the toy car model at the altar with all the other Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings, Ragatha goes on a nightly stroll on the beach, trying to clear her head of her jealousy towards Jax… something that was even encouraged by the others due to everyone else holding a grudge against the purple jackrabbit. During her nightly stroll on the beach, she ends up confronting the same mantis troopers seen from the Butterfly Nations (although they were unseen during then), the Grasshopper Nations (of which Kamon already took care of), and most recently the Dragonfly Nations (where they killed the parasite bandits).
Ragatha attempts to defend herself from them with a shell she finds in the sand, but the troopers appear to be of no harm right now, which is eerily odd. Ragatha relents and hears the troopers out. They were here to look for any intel they can find about the other insect tribes, including the Parasite Nations. In exchange, Queen Phattana promises to spare the lives of Team Circus for the low, low price of a live sacrifice to the Phi-Fa-Ja, with the intent to make it look like it came from the Parasite Nations themselves. Ragatha is clever enough to not divulge the correct information to the mantis troopers, having grown skeptical to Queen Phattana’s intentions after learning some information about her, the island's history, and how the parasites may not be as bad as they initially realize. However, she does vent to them about how she's grown jealous of Jax hanging out with the other women insects in Xiphoidyx, thinking that she's not good enough for him. The mantis troopers, although initially weirded out, sympathize and comfort her as a result. Ragatha immediately grants the mantis troopers the perfect person to sacrifice to the Phi-Fa-Ja on the day of the festival: Jax. This will be extremely important much, much later on; just you wait.
Day nine approaches on The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx, and after a hearty breakfast of fish on the hoverleaf, we see Ragatha in much better spirits for some seemingly inexplicable reason. Being slightly concerned and creeped out, Jax asks his girlfriend if she's doing okay, and Ragatha cheerfully replies that she's thrilled; just waiting for a certain someone to finally get what they deserve. Pfffft, yeah; that's not fucking ominous and terrifying at all!! The hoverleaf eventually takes off for another two-hour drive on the island. Caine is stressing out about what Madame Hayati saw in her vision, Kinger is taking delight in the fact that his strategic thinking got everyone what they truly needed, since he never once believed the parasites were a threat, Princess Minty is reevaluating her life choices, along with what she was taught all her life, and Prince Beatles tries to keep everyone calm after seeing some of the Team Circus members fret and panic over the future. Pomni, on the other hand, is just listlessly watching what's going on outside the window.
We can see the jester girl feel a little pensive about something, like she misses someone. Prince Beatles comes over to check up on her, asking if everything's alright. Pomni just remembers her childhood days where she'd visit her grandparents and other extended family members overseas with her parents, and she especially remembers her Lola, who was just the kindest person she ever met. Pomni very much misses her Lola… along with all her other family members. She loves all the traveling the road trip brought her, and the adventures that followed suit were terrific as well, but they're not really the same as back home. Princess Minty asks what Pomni means by this, Jax clarifies to both royal insects that they're from another universe different from theirs; it's essentially the same explanation he gave to Sam Starr back in The Farmlands. Pomni dreams of a day where she can actually go home and see her loved ones again, but until then, she's happy with her new found family and the meaning she found in her stagnant life.
Those two hours pass, and all is relatively calm and peaceful until Pomni catches a glimpse of what appears to be a very familiar environment, with lush jungles, flowing rivers, and a bustling logging industry in the outskirts for some reason. They've officially made it to the Inchworm Nations, populated by the eponymous inchworms, millipedes, centipedes, caterpillars, and roly-polies. They all have the diverse architecture, culture, lifestyle, and clothes that are very reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of the Philippines. Their signage and way of speaking is in the Filipino language, and their theme color is predominantly white, with splashes of chartreuse here and there. On one of the riverbanks is the royal palace that looks just like the real life Malacañang Palace in the Philippines.
Pomni very much recognizes the cultural aspects of the Inchworm Nations, and eagerly expresses that notion to everyone else. As was revealed earlier, Pomni is of Filipino descent, fondly remembering going to the Philippines with her parents as a child to go see her grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, especially staying in the country during the summer or for Christmas. Ragatha is very happy for the jester woman, as are Princess Minty and Prince Beatles. The hoverleaf soon lands in the Inchworm Nations village, and we can already see that Pomni is extremely enthusiastic to go sightseeing in the Inchworm Nations. After she begs Caine to let her explore the area and he says yes, unable to resist her puppy dog eyes, she, along with everyone else, hops off the hoverleaf and starts sightseeing.
It's a heartwarming montage of Pomni acting excited and happy all throughout the sightseeing montage, complete with a lively and upbeat melody that mixes and combines both the kulintang and rondalla music of the Philippines. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles enjoy the beauty of the riverbanks and their lush rainforests, Kinger relays some interesting facts about inchworms, caterpillars, centipedes, millipedes, and roly-polies, Ragatha tries not to freak out and faint at the sight of anthropomorphic centipedes in the village, Caine also tries not to freak out and faint at the sight of anthropomorphic millipedes going about their day, and everyone else is enjoying the good vibes in the meantime. The fun montage concludes when they all decide to get some lunch at the Inchworm Nations village bakery called “Mama Bernila’s”.
The bakery makes Pomni feel like she's back at her Lola’s house; she says that her Lola owned a bakery that was really popular in the town she grew up in back in the Philippines. Princess Minty and Pomni decide to bond some more as they explore the village bakery a bit. Minty learns all about the crazy antics Pomni used to get into with her cousins when she was little, and Pomni learns a little more about how Minty remained sheltered her whole life, trapped within the palace walls and essentially treated like her mother's trophy. Minty claims that her mother wanted to keep her safe after what happened to her dad on the night of her mom's wedding to him, but with the information gathered from the island journey over the past nine days, she's beginning to have second thoughts.
They both soon inadvertently stumble into the bakery's kitchen whilst walking and talking, and find that the kitchen is brimming with all sorts of pillbugs and centipedes working tirelessly to bake some goodies in the wood-burning oven. In the center of it all is Mama Bernila herself, playing her bandurria and singing a Filipino folk song to motivate the other bakers. Pomni recognizes the bandurria in Mama Bernila’s hands, as her Lolo, her grandpa, loved playing that instrument by the bench swing during the sunset hours. Mama Bernila is an elderly anthropomorphic centipede woman, probably the chillest person you'll ever meet. Bernila takes a glimpse of Pomni and Minty, greeting them with a great big hug, having the same warmth as freshly baked bread. Bernila is also excited to see another Mantis Nations native in her shop; apparently, mantises have been worshipped by the other insects in Xiphoidyx as upperclassmen, nobility, or even gods.
Minty was just here exploring the bakery with Pomni while they talked about each other's lives. They must've stumbled into the kitchen by accident somehow. Fortunately, Bernila doesn't mind; for starters, Princess Minty’s presence is very special to the other Inchworm Nations denizens due to how highly they're respected. And second, Pomni's peculiar appearance is very intriguing and adorable. Squishable cheeks, as Mama Bernila calls her, or “Napipisil na pisngi”. Bernila nicknames Pomni as “Pisngi” for short. From the kitchen, Pomni and Minty can hear Caine and Kinger calling out for them, causing the two girls to lead Bernila to them. Good news for Caine and Kinger: they found Pomni and Princess Minty! As an additional bonus, Mama Bernila also gets to meet the king chesspiece and the ringmaster herself! Caine had been worried sick about Pomni when he suddenly left her sight, only to be reassured by Kinger that she's fine. Just then, a roly-poly orders an ube cake roll on the counter, prompting Mama Bernila to go back to business in the kitchen. Pomni and Minty urge the two to join her, and after some persuasion from a very enthusiastic Kinger, Caine accepts.
They head into the kitchen to start making the ube cake roll in another wholesome montage, and we get a pretty rare instance of Kinger and Caine actually getting along for once, as well as Minty, Pomni, and Bernila bonding with each other. Accompanied by another beautiful blend of kulintang and rondalla music, they manage to bake the ube cake roll in the montage, using the last of the wood for the wood-burning oven in the process. The roly-poly gets his ube cake roll, but now there's no more wood to keep the oven going… meaning that the bakery will have to close until they get more wood. …Kinger's first instinct is to blame Caine or Jax, thus dampening the atmosphere a bit, until Princess Minty clarifies that no one could have foreseen this happening, much to Caine's relief. But on the plus side, the rest of the Team Circus members and Prince Beatles get to meet Mama Bernila for themselves as she offers to take them with her to go grab some more wood for her bakery. Pomni gladly accepts the offer, along with everyone else, and with that, they all take off and follow Bernila out the door and on their way.
Due to the nature of Mama Bernila being an anthropomorphic centipede, they all ride upon her back as she traverses through the village and into the jungle, carrying an axe with her for cutting down wood. Ragatha tries to make peace with this, telling herself to look on the bright side, since she managed to fix her jealousy conundrum last night from a special encounter. Only she knows what it is. It's worth noting that the Inchworm Nations are known for their abundant and almost infinite forests that the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx also use in order to build and craft their own architecture and furniture, as well as keep the fireplaces going during the winter season. As Mama Bernila explains to everyone else, this is because the Inchworm Nations is responsible for the island's lumber supply, consisting of loggers and lumberjacks who cut down the trees to create logs for fireplaces and ovens, making couches and tables out of wood, and even building entire homes and villages from those trees. As such, the denizens of the Inchworm Nations like to grab their own wood from those forests, and have even taught the younger generations how to swing an axe properly.
As they head into the forest, Bernila does the honors of teaching the others how the people of the Inchworm Nations cut down a tree. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles show fascination as Bernila cuts down the tree she chose and starts chopping up the wood in front of her to take with her. Individually, everyone carries eleven logs to take back with them to the bakery when they spot a beaver beetle in the forest… he appears to be after the members of Team Circus, just like the bandits from the Dragonfly Nations. Minty immediately spots him, and tells everyone else to hide behind the trees. It's a good thing Mama Bernila is armed with an axe to defend them from the beaver beetle, and she knows how to use it for self-defense as well. It takes a while, complete with the ten individuals scattering all over the forest, and Bernila keeping him distracted, but she's able to fend the beaver beetle off from going towards Team Circus. However, whilst getting away from the threat, Pomni winds up lost in the forest, away from the rest of the group and with a log in her possession.
Pomni winds up in the jungles of the Inchworm Nations, complete with all sorts of exotic wildlife that aren't really found in the human world, and stumbles upon a river, along with some loggers in a nearby almost empty patch of forest land. She has managed to stumble so far away from Team Circus, Mama Bernila, and even the royal insect fiancées that she's now in the outskirts of the Inchworm Nations! After several more minutes of trying to find her way back, she eventually rests on a tree stump, almost giving up on finding her way out, crying to herself, and calling out to everyone to no avail.
We're then treated to a flashback of Pomni as a child, being lulled to sleep by her Lola on a hammock, while her Lolo plays his bandurria. It's a stormy evening, and her parents are absent, most likely getting some dinner from the bakery Pomni's Lola owned in the Philippines. The little girl that is Pomni is scared of the thunder and lightning outside, so the grandmother sings her a traditional lullaby from the Philippines called “Ili-Ili, Tulog Anay”, which puts the little girl at ease and gets her to sleep. The scene fades to present day as we see Pomni hugging herself, singing that same lullaby her Lola sang to her. After a while, Pomni takes her log and traverses back into the forest, wondering if anyone is even looking for her at all.
Pomni wounds up even more lost in the Inchworm Nations, to the point where she ends up at the royal palace near the largest riverbank in the region. She stumbles inside the palace, hoping that everyone will eventually find her here. The palace is very fine looking, with elements of the culture of the Philippines laced on there. In the music room, we see a young inchworm gentleman wearing regal Philippines clothing and a tiara with white gems and peridots in it playing his bandurria. Pomni goes to greet him, complimenting his bandurria playing skills. He introduces himself as Prince Centurio, and wonders what she's carrying the log for. Pomni explains the whole story to him, from before she came to the Inchworm Nations to getting lost in the forest. Sympathizing with Pomni, he treats her to some tea with his mother, Queen Maria, an offer Pomni gladly accepts, saying to Centurio on the way to the tea room: “Salamat sa pagpapanatiling ligtas sa akin.”, which translates to: “Thank you for keeping me safe.”
Prince Centurio takes Pomni to the tea room, where they both meet the Inchworm Nations queen, who is dressed in a fluffy white royal dress with the culture of the Philippines and a gold Philippines crown with a cream-colored rose in it. Her name is Queen Maria. Maria is a very nice and motherly individual who showcases concern for Pomni after she learns from her son what she went through before stumbling upon the palace. After offering some tea to her, she expresses how she has come to the right place for sanctuary, considering her hero status from other lands away from Xiphoidyx. Pomni just hopes that her friends will be able to find her here considering they were initially aiming to go here for a noble task from Queen Maria herself in order to strengthen the alliance for the arranged marriage between Princess Minty and Prince Beatles. That's when she remembers she can just text her friends via her communicator bracelet instead of just waiting, so she does just that, letting them know that she's fine and having tea with Prince Centurio and Queen Maria at the Inchworm Nations royal palace. Nice save, Pomni.
A few minutes later pass, and the royal Inchworm Nations palace guard escort the other members of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées into the palace throne room. A millipede guard informs Queen Maria, Prince Centurio, and Pomni that the other prophesized heroes are now in the throne room with the two royal insects with them, along with Mama Bernila. Overjoyed, Pomni leads the Inchworm Nations royals to the throne room to meet up with the others. A happy, heartwarming, and bittersweet reunion occurs; Ragatha, Gangle, and Zooble are relieved and elated to see Pomni safe and sound, Kinger and Caine express how worried sick they were, and Minty, Beatles, and Jax check for any signs of injuries on her before confirming that she's perfectly fine to the others. Bernila wraps Pomni around for a warm hug, happy to see the jester girl after being worried for her safety the whole way through. Instinctively, Pomni hugs the elderly anthropomorphic centipede woman, being taken back to her childhood days once again, and mumbling: “Mahal kita, Lola.”, which just translates to: “I love you, Grandma.” D’awwwwwwww!! In return, Mama Bernila replies back with: “Mahal din kita, sinta.”, which roughly translates to: “I love you too, sweetheart.”
In the midst of the hug, Pomni notices that Caine got another black eye and bruised jaw, along with him holding his arm like it also got bruised or something. Jax is faring no better either, being treated by Princess Minty with Snail Nations healing slime for an apparent head injury. Caine and Kinger also appear to be tense around each other, suggesting something happened between them while Pomni got lost in the woods. As for the logs of wood they brought with them, Queen Maria offers to carry them with her back to the bakery Mama Bernila owns, with Prince Centurio offering to lend her some of his own as an act of generosity, which Bernila is more than happy to accept. And so, they all head back to the bakery in the Inchworm Nations village with the heaping pile of wood logs, enough to keep the bakery thriving for an entire week, much to Mama Bernila’s joy. As thanks for keeping Pomni safe, Bernila bakes Prince Centurio and Queen Maria ube cakes for each of them, both of whom find delicious. Another ally is gained for the alliance, and as a present, Prince Centurio offers them the fanciest lumberjack’s axe in their collection to give to the Phi-Fa-Ja for the festival, along with Queen Maria anointing them and blessing this marriage by reciting this chant in Filipino:
“O makapangyarihang Phi-Fa-Ja, mangyaring tanggapin ang handog na ito mula sa aking mga tao at bigyan ng init at ginhawa ang kasal na ito.” Rough translation: “O mighty Phi-Fa-Ja, please accept this offering from my people and give warmth and comfort to this marriage.”
The axe gets taken to the Phi-Fa-Ja altar in the hoverleaf, along with the other items presented just days earlier. Jax gets healed up some more by Princess Minty, which just fuels Ragatha's jealousy and rage even more, something that Bubble himself has to stop from worsening by getting the ragdoll to calm down. Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble have a conversation with each other about what happened earlier, Prince Beatles tends to Caine's injuries and comforts him, and Mama Bernila and Pomni have a bittersweet goodbye. Pomni promises to visit Mama Bernila whenever she can once the road trip is over, hugging the anthropomorphic centipede one last time before joining the others in the hoverleaf for the night. As she departs back to her bakery, Mama Bernila whispers one last sentence: “Manatiling ligtas, sinta. At nawa'y protektahan ka ng Phi-Fa-Ja at ang iyong mga kaibigan palagi.” which roughly translates to: “Stay safe, darling. And may the Phi-Fa-Ja protect you and your friends always.”
The sun rises for the tenth day on Xiphoidyx, and after some breakfast, our beloved members of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées set off for another two-hour drive in the hoverleaf to the next region of the island. All is relatively calm for the time being, with Prince Beatles and Princess Minty having yet another talk to each other while Team Circus waits out the long journey. Minty feels visibly uncomfortable with how Caine and Jax were treated yesterday after they lost Pomni by accident. Beatles reassures his beloved princess that everything will turn out alright in the end, praying to the Phi-Fa-Ja that Kinger won't pull that stunt off again a third time. Likewise, Minty also makes a prayer to the Phi-Fa-Ja that Team Circus doesn't get hurt during the remaining journey to the rest of the island. In the meantime, Caine is fortunately fast asleep in his seat, having been worn out by yesterday's events.
Once those two hours are over, the members of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées find themselves in another new region of Xiphoidyx, where the jungles are thick and dense, the rivers flow peacefully, and the population consists of many arachnid insects, from spiders to scorpions, and even harvestmen and pseudoscorpions. At last, they have made it to the Spider Nations. The transportation, culture, architecture, clothing, and way of life are all very reminiscent of the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam, and the arachnids there speak Vietnamese, with the spiders weaving the island's most prized silk from the island with their naturally-made spiderwebs, and turning that silk into all sorts of beautiful creations. Their theme color is black and the royal palace in the distance looks just like the real life Imperial City of Huế. …Kinger, for some reason, looks a little tense upon seeing the Spider Nations village in front of everyone, which also bears a striking resemblance to Vietnam.
After they get off the hoverleaf and into the Spider Nations village, they begin heading towards the royal palace with full intent on asking their ruler for a favor in order to have the Spider Nations’ blessings for the arranged marriage to make the Xiphoidyx alliance possible, as well obtain the perfect item to offer to the Phi-Fa-Ja in the festival. On the way there we learn some pretty interesting information about Kinger that ends up startling everyone else in Team Circus; that being the fact that Kinger had fought in the Vietnam War back when he was still a young college student. This place reminds him of just that, so it brings back a lot of… haunting memories. Memories that were previously clouded due to his dementia, but thanks to the pills he takes three times a day to keep him lucid throughout the day, those memories are now even more clear than Kinger would like to imagine. To lighten up this surprisingly grim revelation, Kinger decides to crack a few jokes about his own trauma serving in the Vietnam War as a young soldier, which only worsens the discomfort from Team Circus, and confuses Princess Minty and Prince Beatles even more.
On the way to the royal palace, we see the spiders, scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen acting a lot more gracefully and respectfully when in the presence of the prophesized heroes and the royal insect fiancées, with a couple of spiders and even a group of scorpions bowing down before Princess Minty and Prince Beatles when they recognize their royal garments, jewelry, and crowns. Caine can also very much tell that Kinger’s attempts at dark humor are merely just a way to keep himself from freaking out in front of everyone because of the horrible barrage of flashbacks he's currently getting from the déjà vu alone. He actually feels even worse about himself than he did yesterday when they lost Pomni in the woods. Hopefully, things won't deescalate from here on out.
At least… that's what Caine thought. The moment they entered the Spider Nations royal palace, they were immediately thrust into another unfavorable situation. The royal palace interior is black-colored and very much resembles the architecture of Vietnam. All of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées are greeted to the sight of the Spider Nations princess, who is seen being adorned with a jet black royal việt phục dress and wearing a golden khăn vấn dây headpiece with onyxes and jets decorating it. She's very excited to see new people she can ramble on and on about her daily life in the palace to, and ropes all ten of the individuals through the palace, leading them down the halls to absolutely nowhere as she's just wandering about. After several minutes of aimlessly wandering by following the spider princess, whose name we learn is Princess Arachnea, Caine curtly cuts to the chase, asking Arachnea, and even outright begging and demanding to the spider princess, what their noble task from the Spider Nations should they be assigned to.
However, those pleas fall on deaf ears, and Princess Arachnea keeps yapping about trivial matters, like make-up and perfumes, leaving everyone to groan and complain how pointless this is becoming. Even when they stumble upon the palace's royal advisor and alchemist, a scorpion named Jett-Huynh, things don't look up, as they're now left wandering through the palace gardens while still trying to get Arachnea to listen. On the plus side, it looks like Jett-Huynh is also getting sick and tired of the princess's bullshit, and he ends up talking to Minty, Beatles, and Caine about how thankless his job has become thanks to Princess Arachnea’s flippant self-indulgence, something that the three of them can wholeheartedly agree on. Along the way, we see Princess Arachnea order the palace staff around during the tour, demanding sweets, the finest silk and cotton, all while putting on makeup and jewelry as she walks down the halls, and even firing a few staff members for petty inconveniences, which infuriates Minty on the inside.
They all eventually reach the throne room, where Princess Arachnea starts going on a ramble session about the Spider Nations’ silk collection, which makes Jett-Huynh quietly beg for the Spider Nations king to arrive soon, Kinger to keep having war flashbacks in Vietnam in eerie silence, Minty holding Beatles close to him, and Caine to finally snap at the Spider Nations princess, demanding her to focus on other people for once instead of just herself, which brings the entire room to a complete silent standstill. Realizing his potential error, he regains his composure and apologizes to the outburst, while still making it clear to Princess Arachnea that she needs to focus, asking her again for the noble task from the Spider Nations assigned to them.
Luckily, nobody has to wait for much longer when the Spider Nations king arrives at the scene. He wears a jet black royal áo gấm with a golden khăn đóng headpiece laced with jets, onyxes, and black diamonds, and introduces himself as King Trường Sơn. We can already see from there that Arachnea is a daddy's girl, as Trường Sơn sometimes spoils that girl rotten with all sorts of lavish gifts. Cool. That explains a bunch. Too bad it doesn't help at all. Princess Minty, seeing that Caine is about to burst into anger again, intervenes for his sake, and formally greets King Trường Sơn. She politely asks for a noble task from Trường Sơn, informing about the Xiphoidyx alliance, the arranged marriage, and the Phi-Fa-Ja festival that's coming soon. Speaking of which, Princess Arachnea jumps up and down in excitement when King Trường Sơn simply tells them about the Spider Nations’ upcoming fashion show for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival, a glamorous event dedicated to showing off their finest fashion to the island; a feature they are most proud of due to the spiders’ ability to weave webs from their natural silk.
Kinger does his best to remain composed for as long as possible, with Caine holding Kinger's left hand and Pomni holding his right hand. Princess Arachnea then brags about how the spiders are superior in terms of weaving in every way possible, from making the best clothes to designing the best carpets and curtains, before Jett-Huynh shuts her up with an apple, which she ecstatically eats. Jett-Huynh then tells everyone that the Spider Nations are indeed responsible for the island's textiles, creating all sorts of woven goods from the spiders' natural silk and homegrown cotton. They sew, stitch, and knit the best clothes, weave tapestries, rugs, carpets, and curtains, and create all sorts of different blankets, pillows, cushions, and hammocks from the different fabrics, nylons, satins, and polyesters of this tribe. Of course, the spiderweb silk is the most prized kind of silk of them all since it comes from the spiders themselves, including the highly prized and exceedingly rare royal spiderweb silk, created only by the royal family of the Spider Nations.
With this information presented to the Team Circus members and the royal insect fiancées, King Trường Sơn gives them this simple task for them to accomplish in order to strengthen the alliance and bless this arranged marriage: to gather the finest silk and cotton in the Spider Nations in time for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival fashion show. Sounds easy enough. Ha! If only they knew what's in store. Minty and Caine gladly accept this task, opting to head towards the Spider Nations marketplace to find the land’s finest silk and cotton for the fashion show. Before they take off though, King Trường Sơn informs them that Jett-Huynh and Arachnea will be coming with them for the journey. …Great. At least Princess Minty is trying to keep things lighthearted for everyone's sake. With no further comment, everyone heads out of the royal palace straight for the marketplace. King Trường Sơn comments to himself shortly afterwards: “Có điều gì đó mách bảo tôi rằng bạn cần nhiều hơn là may mắn để sống sót…”, which roughly translates to: “Something tells me you'll need more than just luck to survive this…”
Sure enough, things at the marketplace are already getting out of hand. Almost immediately afterwards, when they reach the marketplace, asking all the different spiders, scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen where they can find the finest silk and cotton in the land, Princess Arachnea begins bossing them around, overbuying a lot of their products behind everyone's backs in the process and even bossing around Caine and Bubble like they're servants!! Plus, with the additional bonus of Arachnea not listening to anyone during the trip, combined with her terrible sense of direction and Jett-Huynh’s inability to reason with the spider princess, they all wind up lost in the marketplace… and eventually the thick jungles of the Spider Nations.
As a result of this, Kinger starts freaking out from the now intensified flashbacks of the Vietnam War, and has begun to think that he's back in the freaking war. Which means that Caine has to make sure Kinger doesn't shoot any trees down with a shotgun he got out of nowhere, and constantly remind him that the trees don't have eyes nor are they speaking Vietnamese. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles are extremely frightened by it all, with Jett-Huynh trying to calm the king chesspiece down, alongside the ringmaster. Princess Arachnea does not care in the slightest about Kinger's situation as she ends up stumbling into a rice farm far away from the marketplace without anyone looking, much to everyone's distress. More hijinks ensue from there, and eventually, after Kinger is calmed down by Jett-Huynh, Caine can't take it anymore and yells at Arachnea, begging for her to take this mission seriously, and angrily explaining to her about what they're here to do: they're foreigners from another land helping the island of Xiphoidyx avoid the growing threat of the parasite army by forging an alliance between all the insect tribes of the island via the arranged marriage of Princess Minty of the Mantis Nations and Prince Beatles of the Ladybug Nations, as well as collecting items for the Phi-Fa-Ja in the upcoming festival to celebrate the island's successful harvest this year; as such, they need to collect the finest silk and cotton for the Spider Nations' fashion show in order to confirm that the Spider Nations is a part of that alliance. That, and apparently it was all Kinger's idea to not only get Minty and Beatles fall in love in spite of being betrothed, but to also unify the island as one once more.
This is what gets Princess Arachnea to finally shut up; thank the Phi-Fa-Ja! However, they've been out and about for a really long time with no way to return to the main village in time. Plus, they haven't been able to find that perfect silk and cotton all day, with it either being not available, not good enough, or Arachnea driving almost everyone away in the process! After an intense verbal altercation from all ten of the individuals, Jett-Huynh can be seen snickering as he watches it all go down… resulting in everyone stopping in their tracks and turning their heads towards the alchemist scorpion. Jett-Huynh, in between laughs, just merely says: “Rõ ràng là các bạn vẫn chưa hiểu ra, phải không?”, which roughly translates to: “Clearly, you guys haven't figured it out yet, have you?”
At first, it takes some random guessing and theorizing until they suddenly remember how spiderweb silk is the most prized silk in all of Xiphoidyx, especially if it's from a royal spider… suddenly, everything makes sense. Princess Arachnea had been the source of the Spider Nations’ finest silk and cotton all along and they just went all across the land for nothing. While Kinger takes this into stride, being thankful that this nightmare is over, everyone else just groans in frustration, while Caine freaks the fuck out over this, angrily demanding the now terrified Princess Arachnea to produce the spiderweb silk herself for the fashion show… at branchpoint!! Harming a member of royalty is seen as a grave crime in Xiphoidyx, so everyone does their part to not only calm the ringmaster down and prevent him from doing anything he'll regret later, but also persuading Arachnea to just make the silk. At first, Arachnea refuses to budge, not only due to her stubborn pride, but also because she's scared of Caine, despite him having just a random branch from the ground for a weapon. Eventually, Jett-Huynh is able to convince the Spider Nations princess by allowing her to be the bridesmaid for Princess Minty and Prince Beatles’s wedding, which the two of them agree to, thus allowing her to produce the spiderweb silk herself with a lot more confidence. Soon afterwards, they head back into the village to make the clothes, somehow missing the inadvertent audience they gained from the rice farmers. The rice farmers do NOT like Princess Arachnea at all, thinking that Caine was somewhat justified in his crashout, even if he went too far with the branch.
Later on in the village, we see the fashion show being prepared as the sun starts to set, and Minty and Beatles are watching the other arachnids weaving the clothes from the royal spiderweb silk, along with the Team Circus members trying those finished outfits on for good measure. Despite a few bumps in the road, including Kinger severely disciplining Caine over trying to hurt the Spider Nations princess and Jett-Huynh's inability to satisfy Arachnea's petty brattiness, all seems relatively well. There's thirteen insect tribes in Xiphoidyx, excluding the exiled Parasite Nations, and they've been to ten of them. Which means that after they leave the Spider Nations, they'll only have three insect tribes left to visit until the alliance is complete. They're left wondering what'll happen next, especially since the Phi-Fa-Ja festival is at the end of the month, which is just next week. Both insect royals are scared and excited; how will they go about this alliance once they get married?
Minty and Beatles are thrust out of their thoughts when they see a few arachnid women running out of the backstage of the fashion show, crying their hearts out, along with Princess Arachnea being upset that they couldn't handle a little constructive criticism. Jett-Huynh is pretty sure that calling the models fat and ugly doesn't really count as constructive criticism, but he digresses. This is terrible. How is the fashion show supposed to go on now!? Kinger suggests that Team Circus take over as the fashion show’s model, but there's too much clothes and not enough models, not to mention the fact that Caine's black eye doesn't make him look fashionable right now. So the Mantis Nations princess forcefully drags Princess Arachnea with her so that the latter can apologize and Minty can give them some words of encouragement to keep the show going.
Princess Minty finally tears Princess Arachnea a new one, saying that she's been nothing but a spoiled bitch who only thinks about herself instead of anyone; there's absolutely no way in hell anyone in the Spider Nations would want to have her as their queen, not with the way she's been acting. What's worse is that she drove a member of the prophesized heroes to the brink of insanity after that mindless little goose chase they went on to find the silk needed to weave those outfits for the fashion show, just for it to be revealed that she was the source all along. All of this just makes poor Arachnea burst into tears, finally making her realize that she's been acting so horribly all along. Minty refuses to comfort Arachnea, letting her face the consequences all by herself as she goes to comfort the arachnid models instead, encouraging them to not listen to the harsh words of the Spider Nations princess and inspiring them to go back to the fashion show by complimenting their best features about themselves. In a bold move, Princess Arachnea, having heard it all, goes to apologize to the models for her misbehavior. Minty, because of her kind heart (bless her soul), acknowledges this step in the right direction and somewhat praises Arachnea for doing the right thing unprompted. She then leads everyone else back to the fashion show, her mission having been successful.
The fashion show goes off without a hitch. The arachnids, and even the members of Team Circus, are shown wearing the most beautiful attire of Vietnam to the entire audience. Even Jett-Huynh, King Trường Sơn, Princess Arachnea, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles, are proud of them! Afterwards, when all is said and done, Princess Arachnea goes over to apologize to the members of Team Circus for how she acted, even handing them well-crafted velvet black apology cards with golden handwriting it, which simply says “Tôi xin lỗi” or “I'm sorry” in cursive. Seven out of the eight Team Circus members are willing to accept the apology, given how genuine and legit it is coming from the spider princess. Caine, on the other hand, just glares at her and, and in resentful defiance, rips up the card, hissing at her this sentence: “Tôi không muốn rác của anh.”, which roughly translates to: “I don't want your garbage.” Ouch. But fair enough.
She takes this in stride, whipping up another gift of her own, one specifically for the Phi-Fa-Ja, that being a spool of thread made with the spiderweb’s silk Princess Arachnea made herself. It's a sweet gesture, even if Caine does the honors of snatching the item by force. At least she tried! But hey, looks like they finally got the next Phi-Fa-Ja item!! Yippee!!! Now all that's left is for Jett-Huynh and King Trường Sơn to do the honors of giving Princess Minty and Prince Beatles their blessings for the marriage, sealing their alliance with the Spider Nations once and for all. With pride, Jett-Huynh anoints the royal insect fiancées as well as draping them with capes made out of spiderweb silk, along with King Trường Sơn reciting this chant in Vietnamese:
“Hỡi Phi-Fa-Ja vĩ đại, xin hãy chấp nhận lễ vật này từ người dân của tôi và ban phước lành cho cuộc hôn nhân này bằng lòng rộng lượng và tình yêu của người.” Translation: “O great Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and bless this marriage with your generosity and love.”
Meanwhile in the distance, we see the mantis troopers eavesdropping on the royal insects and Team Circus, and they're all speaking in Lao, and they appear to be discussing what appears to be future plans they have in mind for the Mantis Nations… and even the possibility of this year's sacrifice. The date of the Phi-Fa-Ja is growing near, and for Team Circus, time is beginning to run out. With them only having one week left to complete their objective, Valerie and the other dimensional diplomats worry about the safety of Team Circus and their new allies from the other side of the screen, and even hope and pray for the best possible outcome from here on out.
Day eleven approaches. So far, the Phi-Fa-Ja altar in the hoverleaf looks plentiful. Princess Minty declares that the Phi-Fa-Ja will be most pleased with the batch of offerings for the festival, which is only just a week away. The hoverleaf then takes off for another two-hour journey to the next region of Xiphoidyx. As usual, the scenery outside is breathtaking. Minty and Beatles have been enlightened by the many different cultures and ways of life the different insect tribes have and all of their best attributes that make this island thrive and stand out from the rest of the world. They've also noticed some things about their own lands as well as the others, including the fact that the Mantis Nations are somehow even more prosperous than even the Bee Nations or the Moth Nations, both in technology and riches, especially since the mantises galore are always draped in gold or golden colors. Others are barely getting by, including the Firefly Nations and the Inchworm Nations, while the rest are middle class at best. They've come to recognize the disparity amongst their fellow insects of Xiphoidyx, and hope that the alliance and reunification of the island can somewhat fix that.
As soon as those two hours pass, everyone comes across a beautiful-looking city filled to the brim with different roaches of all kinds, including what appears to be a giant stewpot in the middle of a lake. They have reached their next destination, the Roach Nations. The roaches living there all have a culture and lifestyle of the South Asian country of Sri Lanka, with the architecture, many restaurants, villages, clothes, and even temples and stupas dedicated to the Phi-Fa-Ja all bearing a striking resemblance to Sri Lanka. The signage even presents both the Sinhala and Tamil languages, though most of the roaches there speak Sinhala. In the outskirts, there is a large domed royal palace that looks just like the real life Ruwanwelisaya Maha Seya Stupa in Sri Lanka, and their theme color is a rich earthy brown. To their immediate flabbergasted alarm, the air smells of spicy curry and Sri Lankan beef congee.
The hoverleaf lands in the village, and everyone heads out for their next noble task. The roaches are very welcoming, holding them all to such, and even recognizing them as highly revered people; some of them even call the members of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées a blessing from the Phi-Fa-Ja. A few children and teenagers whisper to each other in Sinhala and Tamil over Caine's black eye that had not properly healed up ever since they all departed the Bee Nations over a week ago, and was subsequently worsened yesterday in the Spider Nations and the day before that in the Inchworm Nations. As they're making their way to the Roach Nations royal palace, they're immediately stopped by an anthropomorphic oriental cockroach wearing the traditional Tamil attire for men and a stethoscope around his neck, having been alerted by a couple of kiddos about Caine's black eye. The nice oriental cockroach greets them all and leads them to his village clinic for check-ups.
The young gentleman’s name is revealed to be Dishan; he's the village’s healer, doctor, and nurse in the Roach Nations, having learned the art of medicine from the Snail Nations’ doctors and practitioners. He goes on to examine each of the Team Circus members individually, including the royal insect couple, asking them questions about their overall health and how they've been doing. Upon getting to Caine, Dishan observes his black eye and discovers the bruising has worsened… to the point of infection! Yikes. Fortunately, Dishan was able to catch the infection early, so he gives him some healing snail slime from the Snail Nations, along with an eyepatch to cover the eye up so the slime can do its magic and begin the healing process. Despite the mood being killed by Pomni's pirate jokes shortly afterwards, Caine is grateful for the help, as are Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, who, believe it or not, were actually concerned for Caine ever since their time in the Bee Nations just over a week earlier.
Caine, who doesn't feel like wasting anyone's time boring them to tears with the details, explains that he and his group of friends are on a mission to find the Roach Nations ruler in search of a noble task, revealing important details such as the Phi-Fa-Ja festival, the parasite army threat, the arranged marriage between Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, the growing alliance, and Kinger's bright idea to bring the two royal insect fiancées together via collecting offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja from all over Xiphoidyx, along with the potential reunification of the island. After exiting the clinic, everyone walks around the village with Dishan leading them. It seems he's got the perfect task in mind for them.
The Roach Nations are revealed to be preparing their own celebration for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival, specifically a mass potluck, with the princess and the queen attending and bringing their own signature dishes with them. Dishan plans on bringing his great-grandmother’s idiyappam string hopper recipe to the potluck, along with some garden-grown chili peppers to add to the Phi-Fa-Ja festival stew inside the giant stewpot in the middle of the lake. That giant stewpot is also known as “දීමේ පාත්රය” (Dīmē Pātraya), or “The Giving Bowl” in Sinhala. That stewpot has not only been used to make the Phi-Fa-Ja’s favorite foods in one sitting, but it has also been used to stockpile all sorts of culinary goods in case of an emergency.
Eagerly, Ragatha asks if they can volunteer to prepare the potluck and make the Phi-Fa-Ja stew for everyone in attendance, to which Dishan happily accepts the offer. When asked by Princess Minty about the Roach Nations and their lifestyle, Dishan happily tells that just like how the butterflies build, the dragonflies teach, the spiders weave, and the grasshoppers sing and dance, the Roach Nations provides the island's agriculture and livestock, consisting of hardworking farmers, butchers, chefs to keep Xiphoidyx well-fed, especially during the colder seasons. They've even mastered all the different insect tribe cuisines in order to not just please the life-bearing spirit but also the Mantis Nations supreme ruler. Princess Minty feels a little uneasy with her own mother being referred to as Xiphoidyx's supreme ruler in light of recent events.
Dishan tasks each of the ten individuals with finding the perfect ingredients for the Phi-Fa-Ja stew: Caine is tasked with finding the perfect chicken, Bubble with the potatoes, Kinger will take the beans, Ragatha will go get some garlic, Jax can get the curry leaves, Gangle will find some salt, pepper, and tumeric, Zooble will grab the mustard paste and tomato puree, Princess Minty can retrieve the Worcestershire sauce, Pomni will get the butter and oil, and Prince Beatles can go snag some carrots. As soon as they're all informed of where to find those ingredients, everyone scatters to take on the task.
Princess Minty goes into the village marketplace to find the Worcestershire sauce where she's bombarded by so many roaches bowing down before her and worshipping her as a goddess, handing her all sorts of different foods for her to try, with some of them not even knowing that she's actually a princess. Poor Minty just wants to find the Worcestershire sauce and go back to Dishan. It's made worse when Minty gently lets a vegetable farmer down by saying that she's busy and just needs to finish a task of hers, leading the farmer to believe that he's gonna be executed for inconveniencing her… much to her surprised outrage. Having had enough of the high amount of fear and idolization from the roaches, she refocuses on finding the Worcestershire sauce, in spite of the fact that the Roach Nations villagers won't leave her alone.
It's only thanks to the sheer miracle of a new face in Xiphoidyx that the roaches back off and retreat to where they came from. This new individual is wearing a chocolate-colored royal gown, reminiscent of the osariya from Sri Lanka, and her dark hair, held back by a large bun, is adorned with an elaborately beautiful Sri Lankan tiara studded in chocolate diamonds. Her name is Princess Eartha, named after the fertile soil of her home tribe. She appears to a sweet fellow, asking Princess Minty if she's alright. Unlike everyone else in the Roach Nations, save for her best friend Dishan, the village's healer, Princess Eartha treats Minty like an equal, giving her the Worcestershire sauce she's been desperately searching for a while. As for the potluck, she's bringing with her some chocolate watalappam for dessert, to reflect her equally sweet personality.
Minty vents a little about her concerns with the island as a whole to Eartha while they walk back to Dishan, including how she never knew until just ten days ago that there was indeed another world outside of her own, and all of them appear to be working class individuals, while the Mantis Nations had it all figured out, with the only thing going for them is having the Phi-Fa-Ja as their power supply to all of Xiphoidyx. Something just isn't adding up; the ladybugs write the laws, the butterflies build entire cities, the bees keep the island's economy stable, the grasshoppers sing and dance, the dragonflies teach, the moths forge the shiniest technological devices, the fireflies pave roads and build cars, the inchworms chop down trees for wood, the spiders weave and sew, the snails… heal people, she guesses, since their slime is used in everyday medicine, and the roaches cook food, ranch the cattle and farm crops!! All of the insect tribes appear to be serving a purpose, and they all say it's to give thanks to the Phi-Fa-Ja, but Minty can't shake off the feeling there's more to it than just that. Eartha can only offer comfort to the mantis princess, not having the heart to tell her the truth about the island as a whole.
As soon as the princess pair make their way back to Dishan, they see that everyone has already gathered the ingredients for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival stew, with varying degrees of difficulty for each of them. Minty and Beatles are happily reunited, the two of them having already grown a healthy bond with each other over the past ten days. The members of Team Circus and Dishan bow down on their knees before Princess Eartha as a sign of greetings, and almost immediately, the Roach Nations princess notices Caine's eyepatch, shocking her in the process, and prompting her to cry out in Sinhala: “අනේ අසරණයා! මොකද වුණේ!?” (Anē asaraṇayā! Mokada vuṇē!?), which roughly translates to: “Oh, you poor thing! What happened!?”
Caine brushes off the apparent eye infection caused by an unhealed black eye as a typical Tuesday, claiming that a fight broke out and he got caught in the crossfire. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles remember Caine telling them a different story just several days prior, but don't push it, not wanting Dishan and Eartha to worry more. Without further ado, they all add the ingredients to the Phi-Fa-Ja festival stew and get to cooking, all while prepping the festival potluck themselves. In the meantime we see Kinger taking a good look at the list of the different insect tribes, along the detailed map of the sword-shaped island of Xiphoidyx and their regions, checking off the most current one along with ten other checkmarks in place, on both the list and the map. He sees that only three are left unvisited, including a smaller blood droplet-shaped islet at the sword’s tip. Hmmm...
As the sun begins to set on the golden hour, the potluck is about to begin, with all the different roaches gathered around bringing their own meals and recipes to the tables. Princess Eartha is excited to have the prophesized heroes and the royal insect fiancées for the alliance in the presence of her people; it's considered a great honor in her eyes. After a while of families and loved ones just enjoying each other's company, the kids playing, Minty and Beatles reevaluating everything they've known about the island in a heart-to-heart, and some shenanigans from Team Circus in the meantime, the cacophony starts to die down when a roach noble announces the arrival of the ruler of the Roach Nations, Queen Pavithra.
Queen Pavithra is adorned in an elaborately elegant design of the Sri Lankan osariya, donning different shades of brown, along with wearing a golden Kandyan crown studded in chocolate diamonds, and wearing vanilla blossoms in her hair, which is tied back in a bun. She also wears a bindi on her forehead. In her hands is a heaping-sized cauldron of spicy chicken and beef curry to share with her subjects and a golden soup ladle encrusted with brown gemstones. She makes a resounding speech highlighting the importance of community and unity in the Roach Nations, and how the island has never once gone hungry thanks to the efforts of her people, resulting in cheers. Though upon taking a look at the clearly non-insectoid members of Team Circus in the presence of Minty and Beatles, alongside Dishan, Pavithra whispers in Sinhala to her daughter Princess Eartha: “මමද, නැත්නම් ඒගොල්ලෝ කතා කරන "අනාවැකි කියපු වීරයන්" ඔයාට ටිකක්... අමුතුයි වගේ පේනවද?” (Mamada, nætnam ēgollō katā karana "anāvæki kiyapu vīrayan" oyāṭa ṭikak... amutuyi vagē pēnavada?), which roughly translates to: “Is it me, or do those "prophesized heroes" they speak of look a bit... strange... to you?”, only to be reminded by Dishan that the heroes are not from Xiphoidyx.
Queen Pavithra continues her speech, thanking Team Circus for their previous efforts before arriving at the island, ranging from defeating powerful tyrants to restoring hope to entire lands, although judging by their nervous faces that this was more inadvertent than intentional. As thanks for the participation of the heroes from another land and the growing alliance that'll strengthen and unite the island together against evil, Queen Pavithra and Princess Eartha serves everyone the Phi-Fa-Ja festival stew and the curry, and the potluck begins, with everyone digging in to all sorts of different culinary dishes.
Nightfall arrives, and the potluck is brimming with life and music, Caine is slightly fretting over his apparent eye infection, Dishan and Beatles talk about how the different insect tribes have their own industry so to speak, Minty and Eartha are talking about each other's home lives, and Pavithra approaches the ten individuals with a fitting gift from the Roach Nations to give to the Phi-Fa-Ja on the date of the festival: that same golden soup ladle encrusted with brown gemstones she held in her hands earlier. Pavithra has heard about the alliance from far away sources all over the island and is thrilled to have Xiphoidyx not be split apart anymore after… certain events in the island's history. Princess Minty asks if it had anything to do with the civil war and the parasites, but Pavithra just shakes her head, saying that's not exactly what happened. She doesn't specify however, feeling too uncomfortable to reveal the details at such a happy event. As for the marriage blessing, Princess Eartha gifts them two individual bowls of spicy beef congee and douses them with vanilla flowers while Queen Pavithra recites this chant to them in Sinhala:
“අහෝ ත්යාගශීලී ෆි-ෆා-ජා, කරුණාකර මාගේ ජනතාවගෙන් මෙම පූජාව පිළිගෙන ඔබේ පෝෂණය කරන ප්රේමයෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ හදවත් පෝෂණය කරන්න.” (Ahō tyāgaśīlī Phi-Fa-Ja, karuṇākara māgē janatāvagen mema pūjāva piḷigena obē pōṣaṇaya karana prēmayen ovungē hadavat pōṣaṇaya karanna.) Rough translation: “O generous Phi-Fa-Ja, please accept this offering from my people and feed their hearts with your nurturing love.”
Once the potluck ends at late at night, the soup ladle is added to the hoverleaf’s altar, along with the other festival offerings to the Phi-Fa-Ja, and while everyone else has their own feast inside the hoverleaf, Kinger checks the map and the list, checking off the Roach Nations and seeing that only two insect tribes on the main island of Xiphoidyx are left unvisited are the Snail Nations and the Ant Nations. The other islet at the sword's tip is the Parasite Nations, where allegedly, they are the sworn enemies of the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx… but like Princess Minty and Prince Beatles, he can't help but shake off that something isn't quite adding up. Quietly, he tampers with the hoverleaf's GPS settings to set a course to the Parasite Nations in three days, and sets a 72-hour timer on his communicator bracelet in preparation for the important event. He can inform them about the slight detour in plans later. For now, he joins them in the late night feast with no one suspecting a damn thing.
The next morning, on the twelfth day on the island, the hoverleaf takes off to one of the two remaining insect tribes in Xiphoidyx, that being either the Snail Nations or the Ant Nations. It's a two-hour journey filled with more tension and excitement than the previous eleven days. They only have just two more regions to visit so they can get the marriage blessings and strengthen the alliance; they'll be days ahead of me Phi-Fa-Ja festival at the end of the month!! There's even an additional bonus of Minty and Beatles being flirty around each other after being comfortable enough around each other long enough, so there's that. Kinger glances at both the map and the list pensively, thinking about past events while in Xiphoidyx, along the apparent knowledge they gained there, and even the parasite bandits and the mantis troopers from way before. By the looks of things, all the insect tribes served a purpose in the island, and he's worried it might not be for the Phi-Fa-Ja’s cause, but rather something or someone else.
Kinger is immediately taken out of his thoughts with the announcement that they have officially arrived at the Snail Nations, a beautiful tropical landscape filled to the brim with so many different multicolored slugs and snails and their beautifully decorated shells. They all have the clothes, architecture, culture, and lifestyle of the Southeast Asian country of Indonesia, with many of them wearing different shades of cyan and other aqua-colored garments. The signage is written using the Indonesian language, and from the looks of things, this place is very idyllic and slow-paced, a lot more gentle and calmer than the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx. In the distance is a turquoise-colored royal palace that looks a lot like the real life Pagaruyung Palace in Indonesia.
Soon, the hoverleaf lands in the Snail Nations village, where in comparison to the other insect tribes, the snails and slugs are moving at a relatively slower and arguably more graceful manner. Most of them appear to be practitioners of the medicinal arts, with an array of different nurses, doctors, healers, pharmacists, and psychologists going about their lives in a relatively quiet and peaceful fashion. There appears to be nothing going on here, which is a partial relief for Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées. As they head for the palace on a quest for a noble task from the Snail Nations ruler, they begin to notice just how much slower the snails and slugs were than they thought. Kinger remembers the important detail of how Xiphoidyx snail slime can heal just about anything, including Caine's black eye… which he apologizes for, thus confirming Minty and Beatles worst fears about what transpired almost two weeks ago. Whoopsie daisy.
Caine takes no offense to any of it, being more focused on how slow-paced the Snail Nations are in comparison to the other insect tribes. How exactly do these people live!? It's honestly amazing how there isn't even a single traffic jam on the roads paved in the village. Even when Minty and Beatles ask why Kinger would go out of his way to hit Caine, the other Team Circus members except for Jax try to justify it by saying that Caine got in trouble first. Zooble’s general dislike for Caine makes them believe that he got what was coming to him. After a while of arguing, their distressed clamoring ceases when a random snail civilian wearing an aquamarine Indonesian kebaya dress and a teal kain batik skirt catches them. Her shell has a turquoise-colored flower on it. They all turn around to glance at her, clearly embarrassed by how out of hand this argument has gotten. The snail, who's named Lestari, asks them to follow her, and they all proceed to do just that, the tension remaining higher than Mount Everest.
As she's guiding them through the village, she asks for the full story and nothing but the full story, and hesitantly, Caine, Kinger, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles tell her what happened in the Bee Nations… and before that, Pomni reveals how back in Symphonya, after her wife Denise Davison died, she developed an alcohol addiction that put a huge strain on Caine, and nobody was truly there for him. Zooble just casually mentions how no one wanted to help Caine because for one reason or another, they just didn't like him as much as they liked each other… which was unfortunately something that was present long before the road trip. To make this long story short, it wasn't just grief over a new friend they lost; it was because of the simple fact that they didn't like Caine enough to allow him the break he needed. So much for friendship, I suppose.
Lestari takes them to a schoolhouse in the Snail Nations rainforest, sharing the same feelings of disappointment as Minty and Beatles over this display of pettiness from the Team Circus members. Lestari, who is not just a schoolteacher in the village but also a guidance counselor and therapist, relays some very profound wisdom all about how grief can manifest in different ways, but that doesn't make it okay for anyone to take it out on other people, especially their own loved ones. And resorting to alcohol isn't going to make things better; it'll just make things worse. So much worse. By the looks of things, Kinger has some major issues he needs to work out and everyone else could learn to actually have some sympathy and empathy towards not just Caine, but each other as well. Jax looks just as guilty despite barely being complicit in the conflict from the previous episode, which Ragatha takes notice of. Lestari sighs and declares: “Ini hanyalah kisah menyedihkan. Tak seorang pun pantas menjalani hidup seperti ini.”, which roughly translates to: “It's just a sad story all around. No one deserves to live this life.”
Lestari then checks Caine's eyepatch, making sure it's healing up all nicely. Sure enough, it is, but it won't be coming off for another day or two. Kinger bashfully says that he doesn't know his own strength sometimes, which does not help his case at all. With an unamused grumble, Lestari says: “Mengatakan bahwa saya mengharapkan yang lebih baik dari Anda adalah pernyataan yang terlalu meremehkan. Saya harap Anda semua mendapatkan pelajaran yang sangat berharga.”, which roughly translates to: “To say that I expected better from you would be a grave understatement. I hope you all learned a very valuable lesson.” Whether or not they're actually remorseful for what happened or if they're just sorry they got caught remains to be seen until later episodes can prove otherwise.
Their next noble task is not so noble at all, but rather a collective punishment for what happened out there in Symphonya. They'll have to help teach some school children in the Snail Nations some basics in education, like math and reading. It's actually not too bad at all given how Jax and Ragatha are very good with children. The other Team Circus members also have a relatively fun time sharing their favorite memories with each other, entertaining the other kids, and Minty and Beatles learning more about the culture of the Snail Nations. It's revealed that the snail slime from the Snail Nations is Xiphoidyx's panacea, used to heal and cure any illness and injuries the insects might have. Because of this, the Snail Nations were put in charge of the island's healthcare system, having created hospitals and clinics for patients in need of care from the most talented doctors, nurses, paramedics, and even surgeons. They created all sorts of different medicine for the insects, using their pharmacies to distribute that medicine to the rest of the island. The snails have gone on to bless the Phi-Fa-Ja for granting them the ability to heal their people and the other insects of Xiphoidyx, a trait that Minty can't help but feel both gratitude and pity for, believing that they, and the rest of the insect tribes, are being taken advantage of by the supreme leader of the Mantis Nations… her own mother.
A little while later, after the school day ends, we see Team Circus, Princess Minty, Prince Beatles, and Lestari walking down a beach, with Lestari telling a popular tall tale in the Snail Nations to them that's equal parts entertaining and horrifying to the others. By the looks of things, Caine seems relatively out of it while Ragatha keeps looking at Jax like she knows something he doesn't, which doesn't sit right with the rabbit. Soon after, we see a handsome snail lad clad in turquoise and teal resting by a seacliff. He's wearing an elegant Balinese Indonesian robe and a golden Balinese prince’s crown studded in aquamarines and turquoises. His shell is painted cyan and is decorated with the most beautiful tropical blossoms. Judging by his appearance, he appears to be a member of the Snail Nations royal family. Princess Minty leads everyone to the young snail prince to say hello, and the young lad returns the favor. His name is Prince Salt, named after the saltwater of the island's vast oceans.
Although the other Team Circus members are less enthusiastic now, Lestari’s compassionate voice tells them that what's done is done and that they can put all of that in the past. Ha! If only they knew what happened on the night of the feast in the Firefly Nations… Salt and Lestari enjoy the ocean view with everyone else, with Minty and Beatles explaining why they're here, including the presence of the prophesized heroes, who as it turns out, aren't really as heroic as Minty and Beatles thought they were; they were just regular people who went through hell and back and only saved the day by sheer accident. Salt isn't surprised by this; Queen Phatthana of the Mantis Nations had been looking for some fresh cannon fodder for quite a while, and it was because of the stories told in Xiphoidyx about Team Circus that they were only considered a prophecy to the common folk and peasants of the island. However, judging by Madame Hayati's subsequent faith in them and the vision she saw days earlier, the members of Team Circus are inclined to believe that they weren't really here to stop a threat in Xiphoidyx, but rather something else… Now if only they knew what that could possibly mean.
Prince Salt invites them over to a banquet that's being held tonight in honor of the Phi-Fa-Ja, an offer everyone says yes to. Salt is sure that his father, the king of the Snail Nations, would be delighted to have them over. This gives them the perfect opportunity to inform them about the alliance in Xiphoidyx and the arranged marriage and how it's almost complete, with every other insect tribe being on their side. Princess Minty starts to feel anxious; what's going to happen after the alliance is complete? What about Team Circus? Are they going to be sacrificed like the play in Grasshopper Nations said they were? Are the Parasite Nations really a threat like her mother said they were? Why was her father murdered on her mother's wedding night? What did Madame Hayati see back in the Dragonfly Nations? Why doesn't Xiphoidyx have an army of their own!? Why do the other insect tribes appear to be serving a purpose on the island?? Is it really to give thanks to the Phi-Fa-Ja or are they doing it for some other nefarious purpose??? How long has this been going on!? What if this alliance is what it’s cracked up to be!? What other secrets are out there on the island!?!? It's only thanks to her beloved fiancée Prince Beatles that Minty doesn't spiral into a panic attack. As they wait for the banquet at the palace to commence, they enjoy more of what the Snail Nations have to offer in the meantime.
And as soon as evening rolls around and the palace banquet begins, Team Circus, the royal insects and Lestari are welcomed by the good-natured king of the Snail Nations, King Agung. He's wearing the traditional Javanese royal robes of Indonesia, all colored in different shades of cyan and turquoise, along with a Javanese royal crown studded in turquoises, aquamarines, and dioptases. Agung’s shell is golden and is studded in paraiba tourmalines and beautiful white orchids. Agung and Salt bond at the banquet, while Ragatha, Jax, and Pomni are entertained by a Sundanese gamelan degung band, some Balinese snail dancers, and some Javanese wayang kulit shadow puppet storytellers. Everyone else is just chilling. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles inform King Agung of the almost complete alliance created by the arranged marriage between the two of them, including the oft questioned threat of the parasite army, the Phi-Fa-Ja offering for the festival and the marriage blessings, and other things she has on her mind the past eleven days.
Agung reassures the mantis princess that her heart is in the right place, telling her to follow her instincts and do what she thinks is right for not just her people, but for the island as a whole. As future queen, it's her duty to ensure harmony and prosperity for Xiphoidyx. With the alliance, perhaps the island can grow closer once more after the civil war tore them apart. Minty, feeling better about Agung's words of wisdom, eagerly tells him that after he gives them the blessings, they'll just have the Ant Nations left to visit and the alliance will finally be complete, just in time for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival at the end of the month!! …She and everyone else remains unaware that Kinger had already made a slight change to the hoverleaf's GPS settings, much to the king chesspiece’s growing anxiety. Caine asks Kinger if he's alright, but Kinger sweeps it under the rig with a reassuring gesture, telling him that he doesn't need to worry right now. King Agung asks about the eyepatch on Caine, and Lestari just says that it's already been taken care of; he has nothing to worry about.
At the end of the banquet, King Agung and Prince Salt lead Lestari, the royal insect fiancées, and Team Circus to the palace patio and get a good look at the sea cliffs of the Snail Nations. The ocean waves crashing against the shore are calming and the salty sea air is fresh, cold, and crisp. Prince Salt offers Princess Minty and Prince Beatles the most luxurious bottle of medicine in the palace's collection, which contains royal snail slime that's said to be more powerful than the other snail slimes in all of Xiphoidyx, for the Phi-Fa-Ja offerings at the festival. As for King Agung, he places white orchids on them and anoints them with his own snail slime for good health, all while reciting this chant in Indonesian:
“Wahai Phi-Fa-Ja yang maha kuasa, terimalah persembahan dari umatku ini dan sembuhkan hati mereka dengan kemurahan hati ilahi-Mu.” Rough translation: “O almighty Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people and heal their hearts with your divine generosity.”
The bottle of medicine is placed on the altar with all the other offerings from the other insect tribes, and while everyone else camps out and sleeps in the hoverleaf, Kinger checks off his list and map again, seeing that only the Ant Nations is left on the itinerary of Xiphoidyx regions. He checks his communicator bracelet again; only 48 hours remain, or specifically, 49 hours, 3 minutes, and 57 seconds… and counting. He then makes a third list of the important jobs the insects of Xiphoidyx have to ensure the island's prosperity and abundance: the mantises use the Phi-Fa-Ja as the island's power supply, the ladybug's write laws and are in charge of the justice system of Xiphoidyx, the butterflies build temples, skyscrapers, and homes for the other insects, the bees maintain the island's economy with their finances and stock markets along with creating luxury items and brewing alcohol for the elite, the grasshoppers write plays, sing songs, and make music, the dragonflies write different books, keep historical records, and educate the other insects, the moths forge technological devices that would improve the lives of others, the fireflies build vehicles, forge roads and bridges, and create railroads and boats for safe traveling, the inchworms chop down trees for wood that'll be made into furniture or powering ovens and hearths, the spiders weave and sew clothes, rugs, and tapestries from their spiderweb silk, the roaches cook and farm their agriculture and livestock that ensure full bellies for the island, and the snails heal the injured and cure the sick with their healing slime. Judging by some information about them he learned from Queen Cempaka back in the Bee Nations, Kinger has a pretty good idea as to what the Ant Nations are responsible for in Xiphoidyx.
It is now their thirteenth day on Xiphoidyx. The sun is up, the hoverleaf is on its way to the Ant Nations, yet another two-hour journey. Ragatha seems very heavily impatient about something, Jax has a sense of impending doom that he can't fully make out quite yet, Caine and Bubble are cuddling at the window seats, and the royal insect couple hold each other's hands in anxious anticipation… just what exactly is in store for them both? What's going to happen once the alliance is complete? Only time will tell, as first, they have an insect region to visit. From there, everything will sort itself out. And so, after those two more hours finally conclude, the GPS announces their arrival to the Ant Nations.
The Ant Nations reside on a frigid landscape with snowcapped hills and mountains, with mines galore and hardworking ants with a powerful sense of community amongst themselves. Their clothes, architecture, lifestyle, and culture are all reminiscent of the South Asian country of Bhutan, and the ants living here speak Dzongkha. The signage on the buildings also have Dzongkha writing. On the largest snowcapped hill of the village, is the royal palace of the Ant Nations, which bears a striking resemblance to the real life Dechencholing Palace in Bhutan, and their theme color is apparently a fiery and vibrant orange. They also appear to worship a giant orange lizard in Xiphoidyx, as showcased with some of the village’s iconography, almost like a guardian spirit of some sorts.
The hoverleaf lands on one of the vacant hills, and unlike the warm and tropical climate of the other insect tribes of Xiphoidyx, this one is wintery cold in spite of the sun shining throughout the morning, and everyone immediately notices. Fortunately, Ragatha managed to knit them all warm clothes to keep them from freezing in the Ant Nations, which Minty is quick to thank her for. They then begin exploring the village soon afterwards, seeing just how jovial the ants look going about their day, either mining, meditating, singing and dancing, playing, or working. In one of said mines is a red fire ant miner singing this rigsar tune while he carries a minecart containing some fire opals: “ས་གཏེར་གྱི་མི་ཚེ་འདི་ ལཱ་ཁག་ཅིག་ཨིན་རུང་ དུས་མཉམ་ལུ་ ཕན་ཐོགས་ཅན་ཅིག་ཨིན།” (Sa gter gyi mi tshe 'di lཱ khag cig in rung dus mnyam lu phan thogs can cig in/), which roughly translates to: “Life in the mines is such hard work, but all so rewarding at the same time!~”
The red fire ant greets the ten individuals, believing them to be workers from the mines. He tells them that he hopes they had a good lunch break in the village, but before anyone can ask what that even means, he immediately straps them into some adequate mining gear, and buckles them into the transportation minecart, where they're all immediately whisked into the fire opal mines for quite the ride. Inside the mines is apparently an underground mining village where diggers, miners, jewelers, demolitionists, and even crafters and their families live. The minecart ride is smooth, giving them a view of the other mines in the Ant Nations, including the favored gold and silver mines in the metals sector and the diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds of the gems sector. The fire opal mines are one of the lesser gems sector mines this region has. Eventually, their train of thought (quite literally) gets interrupted by the sudden and harsh halt of the minecart, which causes them all to topple out of the cart and into an actual fire opal mineshaft itself, where see different ants toiling away with their pickaxes and shovels and collecting the fire opals from their efforts, all while having idle conversations with each other in Dzongkha.
Using the little Minecraft knowledge she has with her, Pomni keeps everyone's head held high with some words of optimism, no different than Ragatha's cheesy spiels, and perhaps Princess Minty and Prince Beatles could gain some knowledge from the Ant Nations and their way of life in order to complete the alliance once and for all. With little to no hesitation, everyone begins mining away the fire opals in the mineshaft. Whilst doing so, they hear the other ants gossiping to each other about all sorts of things, including Queen Phatthana of the Mantis Nations, with a couple of them straight up mocking her, calling her a tyrant of some sorts for overworking all the other insects to damn near death in preparation for this year's Phi-Fa-Ja festival. One such carpenter ant misses the warm sun and the fresh crisp snow and wants to go back to the surface village for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival; he hopes the prospector will let him and the others go to the surface to attend the festival this year. They even express their jealousy over how good the mantises have it, even outright envying the other well-off insect tribes of Xiphoidyx. A red harvester ant, one of the sparse female miners, tells the boys to knock it off and remember their gratitude; it's what the Phi-Fa-Ja would have wanted for the island. Pomni is eating the gossip up like it's a reality TV show, while everyone else just half-heartedly pays attention. Minty and Beatles on the other hand are a lot more keen on the gossiping ants than everyone else here.
Dinnertime in the underground fire opal mining village rolls around and everyone heads off to the local cafeteria for some Bhutanese cuisine and some rest and relaxation. Caine and Bubble are doing mostly fine for themselves on account of being AI and all, but the humans are downright exhausted. Ragatha’s back is hurting from all the mining, and Jax had forgotten to eat breakfast today. Minty and Beatles, despite the exhaustion, are still in optimistic spirits, thanking Pomni for the motivation, despite the jester herself being equally as tired as everyone else. While some Bhutanese show tunes play onstage, we see a big-headed ant, apparently drunk on Bee Nations mead, about to flirt with and hit on the female members of Team Circus, only for a couple of odorous house ants, of whom they had recognized those ten individuals and had been keeping a close eye on the them ever since, to try and get the drunk ant to back off. The big-headed ant, along with a trio of field ants who are also equally under the influence, begin making derogatory sweet talk to the girls, including Princess Minty, who takes great offense to this, and a verbal altercation ensues, starting off as a roasting match that can be heard from the entire cafeteria, and eventually just devolves into a physical fight after the classic “your mom” insult was delivered by one of the two odorous house ants.
The members of Team Circus are frightened and even terrified by the brutish display, and even the royal insect fiancées appear disturbed by what's happening, with them having to dodge flying objects being thrown all over the cafeteria to and fro. It would have been bad enough to get to the point of other innocent ants getting caught in the crossfire, but fortunately, the fight ceases when a bold and thundering voice of a female elite can be heard, crying out to her people in a stern and powerful tone: “དེ་ཚུ་ཚར་གཅིག་ལགཔ་བཏོན་གཏང་། རྒྱལ་སྲས་ཀྱི་ཨམ་སྲུའི་བཀའ་རྒྱ་དང་འཁྲིལ་ཏེ་!” (De tshu tshar gcig lgp bton gtang/ Rgyal sras kyi am sru'i bka' rgya dang 'khril te!), which roughly translates to: “Unhand them at once. By order of the prince's wife!” All the other ants bow down to her at once, as do the Team Circus members, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles.
This young woman is a red fire ant who is dressed in the traditional royal robes of Bhutan that display the most beautiful orange colors imaginable, along with a royal Bhutanese bandeau tiara studded in citrines, fire opals, and an amber in the middle. As soon as she demands an explanation of the situation, both sides relay each other's side of the story, and she's easily able to come to the conclusion that the big-headed ant and the trio of field ants are the actual aggressors here, while the odorous house ants were just trying to protect what she believes are the prophesized heroes in question and the royal insect couple with them. The four aggressors are too late to realize that they had messed with the wrong people and the noble lady orders her guards with her to take them away at once. Those four ants are never seen again afterwards.
Caine thanks her graciously for saving the day, hastily explaining everything that has happened in the island so far in as much detail as he can muster, and while she listens, she notices the eyepatch on his eye, and upon taking a closer look at it, she immediately rips it out of him in front of everyone, much to his bewilderment and outraged confusion. She simply declares: “ཡ། དྲག་སོང་ནུག།” (Ya/ Drag song nug/), which roughly translates to: “Oh. It healed.” Caine checks his eye to find that it has indeed healed fully. The slime has worked. Hah. Who knew? The red fire ant lady, who introduces herself as Princess Wangchuk, wife of the young Prince Pyro and daughter-in-law of Queen Karma, guides them out of the cafeteria back to the surface village of the Ant Nations.
As soon as they exit out of the fire opal mines, they're suddenly placed back into the cold temperatures of the region, and the brightness of the afternoon sun. Wangchuk expresses her gratitude and honor to be in the presence of the prophesized heroes foretold from all over Xiphoidyx, as well as the previously unknown princess and heir to the throne of the Mantis Nations and her beloved betrothed from the Ladybug Nations. It turns out that the Ant Nations had heard all about their journey across the island from neighboring tribes, as well as the alliance to combat the increasing parasite army via the arranged marriage. She says that her husband and prince, as well as the queen, would love to meet them so that the alliance can be completed once and for all and Xiphoidyx can be safe at last.
Sensing there's no turning back now, not that there ever was in the first place, Team Circus, Princess Minty, and Prince Beatles solemnly agree to follow Princess Wangchuk to the royal palace. As they travel through the snowcapped hills to get there, Wangchuk gives out some information about the Ant Nations’ infatuation with the guardian spirit known as the Great Orange Lizard, a rare creature that no other insect tribe has ever heard of except for the Any Nations themselves. The Great Orange Lizard has helped the ants through their darkest days during the civil war that split Xiphoidyx apart, giving them the strength and willpower to persevere in the harsh environments they live in. When the Great Orange Lizard is absent during the spring and summer seasons, the ants spend all their time working tirelessly to give thanks to the Phi-Fa-Ja for bringing them the Great Orange Lizard that saved their lives.
And like with the previous twelve insect tribes, the Ant Nations has their own purpose to serve on the island; they dig up the most precious gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other minerals and metals from the mines, even crafting their own stuff from the metals the collect. The most dangerous mines are the coal mines, where the poorest of the poor in the Ant Nations are faced with all sorts of hardship that only a few live to tell the tale. The way Wangchuk casually delivers that last statement is unnerving to say the least; sounds like they managed to get extremely lucky when it came to the fire opals. Speaking of which, Wangchuk managed to deliver some freshly mined fire opals earlier today from the underground mining village marketplace to make a bracelet for Prince Pyro himself! Today is their fifth wedding anniversary!!
As soon as they reach the Ant Nations royal palace and the doors open, we see some of the most beautifully decorated Bhutanese interior design, along with more imagery of the Great Orange Lizard. We also see Princess Wangchuk’s husband, Prince Pyro, playing a tune on the dranyen lute and his mother, Queen Karma, sitting on her throne made of gold and citrines. Prince Pyro is a black garden ant who wears a tangerine-colored royal Bhutanese robe with a Bhutanese prince's crown made of fire opals and cinnabar. Queen Karma is also a black garden ant who is wearing a Bhutanese royal dress colored in orange and persimmon, along with a brown bead necklace to symbolize her ultimate authority over the Ant Nations, and a Bhutanese phoenix crown made out of gold, citrines, fire opals, and amber.
Wangchuk and Pyro happily reunite, and the princess introduces all ten individuals to him, debriefing him about the happenings going on in Xiphoidyx, much to his intrigue. Pyro is very happy, eager, and pleased to meet the prophesized heroes and the royal insect fiancées for the alliance’s arranged marriage, expressing his gratitude for the heroic deeds Team Circus did from the previous episodes. Queen Karma wastes no time in presenting them all with the last (or penultimate if you're not clueless) Phi-Fa-Ja festival offering, a sturdy steel miner's pickaxe with an orange handle, decorated with iconography of the Great Orange Lizard. Kinger is astonished by how easy that was considering the other trials and tribulations from the previous twelve days, but also does his best to hide how nervous he is about what's about to happen afterwards. Nevertheless, Princess Minty and Prince Beatles are called forth by the Ant Nations queen so that they could get their arranged marriage blessed by her. Princess Wangchuk and Prince Pyro watch with pride and joy as Queen Karma anoints them, gives them bead necklaces made out of jaspers, and recites this chant in Dzongkha:
“ཀྱེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་ཕྱིའི་ཕ་ཇ་ང་ཡི་འབངས་ལས་འབུལ་བ་འདི་བཞེས་ཤིག །ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་སྟོབས་དང་སྦྱིན་པས་གཉེན་འདི་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས།” (Kye dbang phyug Phi-Fa-Ja nga yi 'bangs las 'bul ba 'di bzhes shig /khyod kyi stobs dang sbyin pas gnyen 'di byin gyis brlabs/) Rough translation: “O powerful Phi-Fa-Ja, accept this offering from my people, and bless this marriage with your strength and generosity.”
The members of Team Circus can't believe it's finally happening. They have the marriage blessings of all thirteen insect tribes in Xiphoidyx. That should mean that the alliance is complete and that they can seal the arranged marriage to stop the Parasite Nations for good. Xiphoidyx can become safe again, and the best part is that Minty and Beatles are clearly in love with each other as well. Still though, something isn't adding up. This was especially the case when the twelve other items at the hoverleaf altar are missing… Uh oh.
Team Circus briefly panics, but Prince Beatles and Kinger assure everyone that there's a reasonable explanation for this… at least they hope so. The only offering item in their possession appears to be the Ant Nations pickaxe, which is apparently their finest pickaxe too. Remembering the events of the previous two episodes and the lesson about waiting for the right time to tell people things, Kinger makes an earnest attempt to confess his deeds of tampering with the GPS in the hopes of actually uniting the island once and for all… including the Parasite Nations. There's a mix of understanding, outrage, and disappointment from the other nine individuals, but nevertheless, Kinger tries to assure them that he had good intentions. However, this doesn't last long when the group of mantis troopers come out of hiding from the very back of the hoverleaf in an apparent ambush.
There are six of them in total, with the seventh mantis being the leader. Princess Minty recognizes the mantis trooper leader’s voice, but before she can even say anything, the leader of the troopers captures her and holds her hostage, with one of the six successfully hijacking the hoverleaf to set a course back to the Mantis Nations. Two of them are carrying individual bags of loot, all of them containing the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings that went missing just moments ago. Three more of them attempt to take the Team Circus members hostage, but Caine stops them with his limited fighting skills that he has. Fortunately for everyone else, Prince Beatles is able to stop the hijacker, and Caine thwarts the rest of the troopers and sets Minty free. Unfortunately, this was all done in the middle of the ocean, so the hoverleaf ends up crashlanding into the waters. The last thing Caine does before he and everyone else lose consciousness from the crash is shield the rest of the Team Circus members and the royal insect fiancées from the impact. As a result, Valerie and the other dimensional diplomats lose contact with Team Circus and are forced to wait until tomorrow to reach them again.
The next morning arrives. It has officially been two weeks in Xiphoidyx; fourteen days. The damaged hoverleaf gets washed up on the shore, and the altar offerings are all gone, including the pickaxe. The mantis troopers are also nowhere to be found for some reason. The members of Team Circus and the royal insect fiancées are washed up on the shore as well, with the first one to wake up being Caine. The first thing he sees is a quartet of silverfish wearing Maldivian traditional clothes, with one of them asking if he's alright. The tumble of the crash from yesterday made Caine a tad bit loopy, so he doesn't fully answer. Together, the four silverfish take him, the rest of Team Circus, and the royal insect fiancées back to their village, with one of them gently declaring, “ހާސްނުވޭ ލޮބުވެތި. އަހަރެމެން ބަލަހައްޓާނަން. އަޅުގަނޑުމެން .ވަޢުދުވަން” (Haasnuvey lobuvethi. Aharemen balahattaanan. Alhugan'dumen va'udhuvan.), which roughly translates to: “Don't worry, dear. We'll take care of you. We promise.”
They are all taken into the village and Caine barely makes out from the many earwigs, termites, fruitflies, botflies, gnats, worms, leeches, ticks, silverfish, lice, mosquitos, and aphids of that village that they are now officially in the Parasite Nations. Unlike what Queen Phatthana told them, they are all relatively peaceful and lively as opposed to his prior assumptions about their barbaric nature. They all have the clothes, architecture, culture, and lifestyle of the South Asian country of the Maldives, and they all speak and write in the Dhivehi language. Their theme color is indigo, and they appear to be taken into the Parasite Nations royal palace, which bears a striking resemblance to the real life Muliaage in the Maldives. By this time, Caine regains the rest of his awareness as he sees the rest of his troupe and the royal insect couple also begin to wake up.
Caine is relieved to see his troupe and the royal insects alive, and attempts to rush over to them, but slightly collapses due to his injuries, so he can only apologize to Princess Minty and Prince Beatles for the incident from yesterday. Minty is noticeably shaken up by the sound of the trooper leader's voice… she could have sworn she had recognized her!! Beside them are two aphid soldiers providing first aid to the rest of the injured folks from the hoverleaf. One of the silverfish explains that they're here in one of the Parasite Nations’ military bases, specifically where the royal palace is, where the prince and the king live. They're all preparing for the Phi-Fa-Ja festival happening next week.
Caine immediately connects the dots soon afterwards. Aphid soldiers in the palace. A military base. Xiphoidyx’s apparent lack of a sufficient army. He can deduce that the Parasite Nations are in charge of Xiphoidyx's military army, hosting the strongest soldiers to fight off any invaders and to prepare the island for potential war. The silverfish confirms this with a nod. Oh dear. Our characters have no idea yet, but their world is about to be rocked tonight. An aphid soldier suggests exploring the village to find themselves some food to eat for dinner, to which Caine agrees. Kinger, Prince Beatles, and Princess Minty opt to come with him. With an aphid soldier by their side, they head out to the village to go grocery shopping, while everyone else that stayed behind in the palace gets some complimentary fruit juice in a coconut cup.
The quartet and their aphid soldier/bodyguard make way for the military base’s commissary, which is called the Coconut Pearl, or “ކާށި މުއްސަނދިކަން” (Kaashi Mussan'dhikan). It's essentially the typical grocery store, and Princess Minty and Prince Beatles see the parasites just living their lives as normally as the other insect tribes. Nothing like what Queen Phatthana told them. And the parasites are even overjoyed seeing other insects in their island after so long, and give Caine and Kinger heartwarming welcomes to the Parasite Nations in Dhivehi. There are even a few who bow down before the royal insect fiancées upon recognizing their royal status! Minty is very glad that the parasites are nothing like the stories she was told by her mother and Vatsana, but now she's curious… just what exactly is the full story here?
Eventually, Kinger stumbles upon a fruit stand in the commissary, and urges everyone to come over. The fruit vendor is a beautiful-looking botfly wearing an indigo-colored Maldivian traditional dress and wearing tropical blossoms in her hair. Her name is Zuhura. She's heard all about the happenings going on in Xiphoidyx and everything before it, and at first she enjoyed it, but the more people kept talking about it, the more she began to get annoyed by it. Now that she knows that it's not just some rumor being spread around like a wildfire, she's actually intrigued… and much like Princess Minty, she wants some answers. As an offer, she agrees to give them some ingredients for free in order to make kandu kukulhu for dinner tonight, a tuna curry native to the Maldives in real life. Afterwards, they all follow the aphid soldier back to the palace, where everyone else is resting nice and easy under the care of the other aphid soldiers.
Caine and Kinger reunite with the rest of the Team Circus members, along with Minty, Beatles, and the newcomer Zuhura, who also appears to seek answers about the state of Xiphoidyx. While Team Circus chat amongst themselves, Minty, Beatles explain to Zuhara EVERYTHING that happened the past thirteen days, including the arranged marriage, the alliance, and Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings. Minty and Beatles even admit that along the way, they managed to fall in love with each other, even if their union is required to make the alliance work. Zuhara is invested, but is a bit bewildered by the assumptions about the Parasite Nations made by the other insects, and viscerally outraged at the prospect that their armies are out to get Xiphoidyx’s land. They wouldn't even dream of such an atrocity!!
By sheer coincidence, we meet what appears to be the Parasite Nations prince, who is a young fruitfly dressed in the royal Maldivian robes and wearing a royal Maldivian crown. His name is Prince Onyx. Upon seeing Team Circus and Prince Beatles in his presence, Prince Onyx thanks the Ladybug Nations crown prince for sparing his father's life, the king, from a certain deadly fate back in the Ladybug Nations over two weeks ago. Everyone is surprised. That fruitfly thief was the Parasite Nations king? Without any further hesitation, all ten individuals, plus Zuhura, follow Onyx and rush over to the throne room to meet the king.
Onyx shows everyone the gracious presence of the Parasite Nations king, a fruitfly wearing some indigo-colored Maldivian traditional clothes and adorned with a royal Maldivian king's crown that's studded in lapis lazulis and tanzanites. His name is King Ibrahim. Ibrahim personally thanks Prince Beatles for saving him that day in the trial all those days ago, something that no one had realized until just now. Upon sensing that she's about to be a part of a historical revelation in Xiphoidyx, both Princess Minty and Zuhura ask King Ibrahim what he means by this. In order to get them more comfortable with what he's about to tell them, he guides them all to the palace's backyard with sandy beaches and turquoise waters, and asks his son Onyx to make them all kandu kukulhu for dinner, using the supplies and ingredients Kinger, Caine, Minty, Beatles, and Zuhura grabbed from the commissary.
Once everyone sits down and gets comfortable, King Ibrahim proceeds to tell them the real story of how Xiphoidyx became the way it was today:
Long ago, before the island was forcibly split into fourteen different sections, the insects of Xiphoidyx all lived as one nation: the Insect Nations. They settled on this patch of land in the middle of the ocean, where a giant lawnmower rested on one of the highest peaks of the island. They used the lawnmower’s fuel, supplies, and parts to create homes, feed themselves, and survive the harsh winters that followed. Years went by, and the island grew and grew, allowing more insects of all kinds to flourish and thrive. The newer generations went on to thank the giant lawnmower for giving them their prosperity, worshipping it as their supreme god, and they called it the Phi-Fa-Ja, the grasscutting spirit that gave life to Xiphoidyx!
However, such peaceful times would not last for long. Since the Phi-Fa-Ja was the island's source of power, there were certain groups of insects that wanted that power all to themselves, seeing the life-bearing spirit as a status symbol rather than the god everyone else has grown to worship. Bickering and fighting broke out in the island, and things would have gotten particularly bad had it not been for a newer, much more unprecedented threat that their precious island would face: foreign invaders. Those foreign invaders were the flying birds of prey from another island far away from them, ironically named Harmonia, led by the ruthless ruler of those birds, Chief Talonmarks.
Those birds of prey forcibly invaded the island and attempted to colonize it, pillaging countless homes and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, most of them women and children. Many resistance factions have attempted to fight off those birds of prey, but almost none were successful… Many of those birds even went on to EAT THE OTHER INSECTS ALIVE! It was a brutal war of insects vs. birds, one that the insects would have easily lost to had it not been for a specialty of some of them… a few insects that were eaten by the birds whole had begun to eat the insides of those same birds, and even gnawed holes on their stomachs, freeing them from their fleshy feathered prison… and killing those birds. Those groups of insects from then on began to be referred to as parasites by the other bird colonizers, a title that the Parasite Nations wore proudly like a medal, and still do to this very day.
The other insects saw them as heroes from then on, and trusted them to lead the island's army that would drive the birds away with their incredible parasitic abilities. It took a ton of hard work but in the end, The Insectoid Island Of Xiphoidyx emerged victorious, and with many casualties and fatalities on both sides of the war, they were able to drive the birds away from the island, reclaiming Xiphoidyx as their own!!
Zuhura is heavily invested by the story, while the members of Team Circus listen in awe and intrigue. Minty and Beatles are in a state of shock. They were told there had been a war before, but had assumed it was a war between the other insects vs. the parasites, which they now know is not true. Caine does go on to clarify that he and his troupe did visit Harmonia at one point and they helped defeat the evil Chief Sora of the Flying Sector of Harmonia, who Onyx clarifies was the adoptive granddaughter of Chief Talonmarks. Chief Talonmarks fathered Chief Cumulus, the adoptive father of Chief Sora. That would explain a whole bunch about Harmonia. It's a good thing that Harmonia isn't so evil anymore, and Ibrahim, Onyx, and Zuhara thank Team Circus for setting things straight with Harmonia once and for all. Minty even expresses her desire to explore what's outside of the island now that she's not so cramped in the golden Mantis Nations royal palace anymore.
But that begs the question: what happened that caused the island nation to split and become separated? King Ibrahim’s expression fades into a grim one as he explains what happened afterwards:
The mantises, despite having been lazy and unproductive during the bird invasion and subsequent war, grew jealous of the parasites leading the other insects and hogging all the glory from them, so they stole the credit all for themselves despite the parasites being the first group of insects to stand up for their island and save the day. Like pathetic fools, the other insects fell for the lies the mantises spread and hailed them as the real heroes instead. Sensing their gullibility, the mantises forced the other insects into hard labor under the guise of worshipping the Phi-Fa-Ja, compensating them with an annual harvest festival as a gesture of gratitude for their hard labor on the island. The parasites, and especially the fireflies, became furious that the other insects were forced to work under the thumb of the mantises, who didn't even lift a finger to make the island thrive and instead indulged in luxury and privilege. Unable to handle the circumstances of their newfound situation, the parasites all formed an exodus to a smaller island closest to Xiphoidyx and left, hoping that the mantises would learn the error of their ways and stop this madness for good. They never did. In fact, they instead erased the parasites and the bird war from their history books, vilifying the parasites instead in order to make themselves out to be the heroes instead. This solidified the parasites’ decision to never come back, and they instead formed their own region of Xiphoidyx: the Parasite Nations.
Princess Minty recaps: the parasites were never exiled by the other insects. They chose to leave because her own people were being selfish and lazy. She's horrified, ashamed, and even embarrassed of herself and her home. Prince Beatles can sense that this isn't the end of the story, and that it only gets worse from here. Ibrahim continues:
The fireflies were heartbroken to see their parasite neighbors leave voluntarily, but understood their decision, hoping and praying to the Phi-Fa-Ja that they would come back someday. They became fed up with the mantises’ treatment towards the other insects of Xiphoidyx, and sought to revolt against them. Eventually, the other insects realized just how fucked over they had been by the mantises, and also began to rise up against them. A civil war broke out, one that sought to overthrow the mantises and their way of life could return back to normal before the bird invasion happened. One such mantis, their leader, had the bright idea of sacrificing an innocent dragonfly to the Phi-Fa-Ja, his fanaticism towards the life-giving spirit having influenced his people and subsequently his own family. This not only outraged the other dragonflies as well, but also the Phi-Fa-Ja itself.
No one knows to this day how or why it all happened, but one day, moments after that poor dragonfly was slaughtered in the name of the life-bearing spirit, the Phi-Fa-Ja’s headlights suddenly turned on… it was a lawnmower after all, so it was bound to do lawnmower things at some point eventually. Everyone became fearful the moment the Phi-Fa-Ja began moving, plowing the entire island down and slaughtering millions in its wake. The mantises took it as a sign that they pissed off the Phi-Fa-Ja, and as soon as the island was completely mowed, they all made an agreement to go their separate ways, splitting into thirteen different regions of Xiphoidyx, each with their own culture, lifestyle, and traditions to distinguish them all from each other. All the while, the mantises continued to take advantage of the other insects from afar, claiming the Phi-Fa-Ja and the land it rested upon as their own, and having their own society built on luxury, comfort, and privilege. But the dragonflies and fireflies haven't forgotten what happened that fateful day.
Years down the line, one such dragonfly told the old mantis king of a prophecy that would bring doom to not just his people but the entire island as a whole if he didn't change his ways and make amends with the other insects. That dragonfly would be none other than Madame Hayati, the wazir of the Dragonfly Nations sultan. She foretold that another tragedy in his life would bring an end to the Mantis Nations’ reign of terror. Of course, the stubborn mantis king didn't listen.
And years later, when he passed away and the throne was given to his eldest daughter and heiress Phatthana, that prophecy came true when on the wedding night of her beloved king, a band of rebel insects led by the Ladybug Nations king’s husband, Prince Beatles’s second father, had attempted an uprising against Queen Phatthana and that ladybug leader beheaded the newlywed king in front of her. Phatthana, in her grief-stricken rage, immediately quelled that uprising herself and had them all meet the same fate as her husband. The parasites were of course blamed and scapegoated once again for the tragedy.
As the story pauses for a little while, Prince Beatles goes into a state of shock. His second father, the one he never got to meet, had been killed by his fiancée’s mother. The members of Team Circus are also horrified, especially Caine and Jax. Jax looks at the ladybug prince and comforts him, who's shaken up by learning about his second father's fate, while Princess Minty is distraught and repulsed by what her mother did. Even the dimensional diplomats from the other side of the screen have gotten invested enough in the story to be disgusted by Queen Phatthana’s actions. Growing anxious from all this, Caine asks the Parasite Nations king what happened next. King Ibrahim then solemnly resumes the story…
Mere months after the birth of her daughter, Princess Minty, she was foretold again by Hayati that a small band of foreigners would be the one to overthrow her and restore unity to Xiphoidyx once and for all since no one else was strong enough to defeat her themselves. And so, she carefully planned as the years went by. Most of the island's civilians were none the wiser, but there were a handful that could sense something was off, including a few royal family members from different tribes. This is where we cut to the present. By then, everyone has already paid attention to the high stakes story, including the dimensional diplomats.
King Ibrahim explains his love for exploration to his son, the Team Circus members, the royal insect couple, and Zuhura, and often has to put on a disguise in order to blend in with the rest of the insects on the island. One particular night, during one of his exploration days, he stumbled upon the sight of the royal palace of the Mantis Nations, and decided to eavesdrop… this time around, Phatthana and her lady-in-waiting Vatsana are discussing the prophecy about the small band of foreigners overthrowing her. And they've come up with the perfect plan: they'll just fabricate an entire story that puts the parasites in a bad light and use the foreigners as cannon fodder for their schemes to get everyone on the side of the Mantis Nations. Then, when the time is right, they'll invade the Parasite Nations themselves and kill every last one of them. They'll blame the foreigners for the genocide of the parasites and sacrifice them to the Phi-Fa-Ja. With no prophesized heroes in the way, their supreme rule over Xiphoidyx shall continue. And they somehow got the Ladybug Nations king to agree to this plan in the form of an arranged marriage between their eldest children. Ibrahim, horrified by what he's learned, headed for the Ladybug Nations to warn them.
However, he was unsuccessful. Bless his hungry heart and penniless pockets; he ended up getting caught for stealing an apple, and it's only thanks to Prince Beatles that he lived to see another day. But alas, he was already too late, and the alliance was already in the process of being forged. Ibrahim does commend Kinger’s bold thinking of unifying the island back into one harmonious nation via a collection of Phi-Fa-Ja offerings from different regions, however, even if he and the others were unaware of the alliance's true intentions. After returning to the Parasite Nations, King Ibrahim sent out a ragtag team of bandits to follow the members of Team Circus and the royal insect couple, and attempt to rescue them and bring them on over to the Parasite Nations to tell them everything. They sadly never came back, and were declared missing in action by Prince Onyx.
This is all harrowing to hear from King Ibrahim. However, the only one who seems to be the least reactive is Ragatha, who just looks at Jax for some odd reason. Princess Minty begins to question everything she knew about her entire life, including her relationship with Prince Beatles, much to the latter’s panic. The two get into an argument over everything they knew about Xiphoidyx and the people they trusted in the end, ending with Beatles declaring his love for Minty, telling her that even from the moment he first laid eyes on her and was skeptical at first, he will never stop loving her. Minty, unsure of anything anymore, just runs away, with Beatles, Jax, and Ragatha chasing after her. Kinger attempts to go after Minty as well, but can't catch up to them in time. He's now terrified of what's going to happen next now that the truth has been revealed. He even thinks that he and everyone else failed Xiphoidyx!!
Before Kinger can go and take his frustrations and anguish out on Caine, Zuhura stops him, reassuring him that everyone tried their best with the prior knowledge they had. She can sense their good intentions. Now the best course of action is to stop Queen Phatthana for good. Besides, she's pretty sure that Minty and Beatles will wind up back together eventually once the storm clears, a sentiment Onyx and Ibrahim agree to. We can see that Bubble feels a little uneasy with whatever's going on with Jax and Ragatha, but he doesn't dare say anything, hoping things turn around for the better. As a gesture of goodwill and thanks, Prince Onyx offers the remaining members of Team Circus their final Phi-Fa-Ja festival offering, a bowl of scrumptious fruits, and a flower necklace for each and every one of them. Unlike the previous thirteen occasions, this one is not as happy. King Ibrahim anoints them with coconut oil as he recites this chant in Dhivehi:
(Ey sharafuveri Phi-Fa-Ja, thibaage ilaahee dheelathikamun mi jazeeraaah barakaaiy lavvai, alhugan'dumenge rayyithunnah effaharaa ebbaivanthakan an'buraa genesdhevvaasheve.) Rough translation: “O glorious Phi-Fa-Ja, bless this island with your divine generosity and bring harmony back to our people once and for all.”
Nightfall arrives. Princess Minty is in a deep state of turmoil as her entire world is turned upside down. She sobs by the beach shorelines, looking to the Phi-Fa-Ja for guidance and help. Prince Beatles isn't faring any better since his heart has been broken just hours earlier. Jax is trying to comfort the poor ladybug prince, but Ragatha isn't having any of it, instead choosing to argue with him and accuse him of infidelity. Jax retorts back that literally nobody else knows about their relationship yet, to which Ragatha snaps at him with this: if no one knows they're in a relationship yet, then why is everyone making jokes about it at their expense!? He goes on to make the same defense that he made over and over: he was making things right with the mantis princess; it never went further than that. The verbal exchange ends with Ragatha going over to Prince Beatles to comfort him instead, coldly remarking to him: “Why don't you go back to the princess and comfort her yourself!? After all, you're already getting exactly what you deserve.” As he's about to do so, Jax just rolls his eyes at her, having already been annoyed to death by the cryptic comments about getting what he deserves.
Jax finds Princess Minty despondently looking at the night sky at the shore, and goes over to check up on her. …Minty feels like a failure of a princess for almost following in her mother's footsteps. Her compassionate heart couldn't imagine committing such horrible atrocities for the sake of having power, but Jax can, having encountered enough of those people on the road trip to know what it's like. Minty genuinely believed that her people were a just and righteous race, but after thinking things over and what her past was like, she began to realize that this was not the case. The more she thought about it, the more she began to come to terms with the fact that her own mother and her mother's lady-in-waiting had abused her and isolated her from the rest of the world, keeping her existence unknown to everyone else in Xiphoidyx. Jax comforts Minty, telling her that they'll find a way to set things right eventually. It's not much but it helps a ton.
The oddly tranquil moment doesn't last long when Jax and Minty hear commotion coming from the other side, and they rush over to check it out. And wouldn't you know it, the rest of the Team Circus members, except for Ibrahim, Onyx, Zuhara, and Ragatha are held hostage by the seven mantis troopers, including the leader, who causally reveals herself to be Vatsana, Queen Phatthana’s lady-in-waiting. Minty is furious, but is unable to stop her when Vatsana declares that thanks to Ragatha, plans needed to be changed and a compromise was made. The Parasite Nations will be spared of the wrath of the Phi-Fa-Ja in exchange for just ONE member of Team Circus… that member is none other than Jax. Minty can't tell what's worse: Ragatha's betrayal, or the fact that no one else in Team Circus except for Bubble seems to care at all.
Jax protests this to no avail, and eventually, he's forcibly dragged away back to the newly fixed hoverleaf, where all the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings are at, including the bowl of fruit from the Parasite Nations. The rest of the mantis troopers let them go, and Minty attempts to rescue Jax herself, but is stopped by Vatsana, who harshly tells her to know her place in Xiphoidyx. They take the hoverleaf and the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings back with them to the Mantis Nations, along with a tied up Jax, leaving Minty in a state of shock and Bubble in a state of inconsolable mourning. Onyx asks his father what they're going to do now, and Ibrahim immediately orders a rescue operation from the allies of the other insect tribes at once, appointing Zuhura as the leader of the operation. However, Bubble stops them dead in their tracks, his face conveying bitterness and a desire for vengeance. He declares that he will rescue Jax himself since no one else in Team Circus seems to want to. The rest of the Team Circus members just simply depart with Prince Beatles, Zuhura and Prince Onyx to a separate sailboat to inform all of their allies of what's been happening lately and to prepare for potential war. King Ibrahim then takes Bubble and Princess Minty to his own sailboat to set a course for the island of Xiphoidyx to rescue Jax themselves and stop the sacrifice.
The next morning approaches in the Mantis Nations, and the mantises are gathered around the royal palace for a special announcement from Queen Phatthana: Jax, one of the prophesized heroes has agreed to the Phi-Fa-Ja’s sacrifice for this year's festival in order to keep the parasite threat from invading their beautiful home. She invites all of her subjects to watch the sacrifice happening this noon. The crowd cheers and behind their beloved queen is Jax, being held captive by the cruel and sadistic Vatsana. Jax has been dressed in the Mantis Nations’ traditional sacrificial ceremony garments and jewelry, looking absolutely forlorn and heartbroken. The six other mantis troopers then force Jax out of the palace to the path that leads to the Phi-Fa-Ja. Thousands of mantises are in attendance of this event and fully believe that his sacrifice will stop the parasites for good. Jax sheds a tear, ready to accept his fate.
Meanwhile, we get a montage of switching scenes of Bubble, holding a Laotian daab sword, leading Ibrahim and Minty towards the royal palace with only one goal in mind: to rescue Jax and make the mantis troopers pay for their crimes. To Bubble, this is personal. On the other side, we get to see the rest of Team Circus, along with Beatles, Zuhura, and Onyx going all over the island to grab their allies and royal family members to tell them everything that happened, including the truth about the island, and to prepare for an uprising. Their individual reactions vary from shock, to fear, and hopeful determination. Madame Hayati on the other hand just looks like she had been preparing for this day all along. In between Team Circus, Beatles, Zuhura, and Onyx going to each individual insect tribe region in reverse order are scenes of Bubble, Minty, and Ibrahim attacking any mantis guards and troopers that are trying to stop them from retrieving Jax from the sacrifice ritual, with Bubble being the most ruthless one of the trio. The additional allies are also storming the castle to stop Queen Phatthana and Vatsana from their tyranny, led by Madame Hayati. This happens all while a Lao rendition of “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin plays.
Back at the Phi-Fa-Ja's location, where all the mantises in participation of Jax's sacrifice are cheering and chanting, we see Vatsana placing the festival offerings from the stolen hoverleaf at the Phi-Fa-Ja, along with the mint tea and mint leaves from two weeks ago, before Queen Phatthana makes a speech in Lao, raving about the life-bearing spirit’s divine glory and the importance of Xiphoidyx's way of life. As the crowd cheers and chants “ເສຍສະລະ!!” (Sia sala!!), which just means “Sacrifice!!” in Lao over and over again, Vatsana raises her gilded daab sword with full intent on beheading the purple rabbit. Jax takes a long look at the Phi-Fa-Ja festival offerings at the Phi-Fa-Ja itself, especially the mint tea and leaves. Genuinely believing he's going to actually die, Jax smiles and closes his eyes, shedding a tear as he braces himself for impact…
Only for the sacrificial ritual ceremony to be halted when an entire entourage consisting of Team Circus, all the royal insects, and the rest of the Xiphoidyx insect allies from all over the island barges in, shocking the crowd. Leading that entourage is none other than Madame Hayati. Bubble immediately zooms over to Jax, overjoyed that he's still physically okay, much to Jax's tired relief. Princess Minty and Prince Beatles also reunite under awkward terms, them having barely enough time to process the information from yesterday. Rightfully so, Bubble is pissed at Team Circus and especially Ragatha for allowing their own teammate to take the fall and not give a crap about his well-being, but Hayati declares that this is not the right time to be emotional.
Hayati confronts Queen Phatthana, boldly crying out that the prophesized heroes were never there to help her but to stop her. Phatthana roars out that she will do anything to carry on the legacy her father and her other mantis ancestors before him have carried out for so long in Xiphoidyx no matter the cost. She even goes on to blatantly insult the other insect tribes for their stupidity and incapability to see past the lies she created just so she could trick them into creating a paradise for no one else but the mantises. She even insults Team Circus for being gullible fools that agreed to a stupid arranged marriage that was never going to ensure strength and unity. She doesn't even care about the Parasite Nations in the slightest; they were just a ploy to ensure the mantises stayed in power and no one else got to have the Phi-Fa-Ja’s divine glory.
Above all else, Phatthana outright calls her own daughter nothing more than a tool, a weapon she can use to destroy any uprising that may get in the way of her supreme reign. Minty is repulsed and heartbroken by this awful statement, which is worsened when the Phi-Fa-Ja’s headlights are turned on once again and the engine begins to sound. Upon seeing this, Hayati sternly warns Phatthana that she is walking on thin ice, but the latter doesn't care in the slightest. To prove so, she takes a random mantis from the crowd and beheads them herself with Vatsana’s daab sword, shocking everyone in the process. Just to rub salt in the wounds, she declares that every last one of the insects, including the mantises, are all expendable tools the Mantis Nations royal family can use to maintain a life of luxury, comfort, and privilege, angering EVERYONE involved, including the now grieving mantis crowd.
An ear-piercing engine roar sounds from the Phi-Fa-Ja as it begins to roll forward, causing the mantis crowd to begin screaming in terror and run away in fear. An echoing voice from the Phi-Fa-Ja declares: “ເຈົ້າໄດ້ເຮັດໃຫ້ຟີ-ຟາ-ຈາໃຈຮ້າຍອີກເທື່ອໜຶ່ງ. ບັດນີ້ຈົ່ງປະເຊີນກັບພຣະພິໂລດຂອງຂ້ານ້ອຍ ແລະຈ່າຍຄ່າບາບຂອງທ່ານ!!” (Chao dai hed hai Phi-Fa-Ja chai hai ik theu nung. Bad ni chong pa soen kab phra phi old khong khanony lae chai kha bab khong than!!), which roughly translates to: “You have once more angered the Phi-Fa-Ja. Now face my wrath and pay for your sins!!” Soon afterwards, the Phi-Fa-Ja lawnmower begins to slowly move forward from its resting area and destroy everything in its path, starting with the Phi-Fa-Ja offerings.
Everyone scatters all over the Mantis Nations and the royal insects do their best to save the innocent civilians that were about to get mowed by the Phi-Fa-Ja, as well as all the members of Team Circus. Entire buildings and homes are destroyed by the giant lawnmower, and the insects that failed to escape in time are shredded to death, spraying blood and remains everywhere, even onto survivors and soon-to-be victims. Screams of terror and wails of grief are heard all over the island as the slate is wiped clean for Xiphoidyx. Nowhere is safe. The mantises, the ladybugs, the butterflies, the bees, the grasshoppers, the dragonflies, the moths, the fireflies, the inchworms, the spiders, the roaches, the snails, the ants, and unfortunately yes, even the parasites aren't safe from the wrath of the Phi-Fa-Ja. Entire cities are decimated into rubble, the royal palaces are being reduced to nothing, and entire groups of loved ones ranging from families to friends are either separated from each other or are killed off entirely. This is definitely one hell of a cataclysm.
Even the Team Circus members aren't safe from this either, as showcased when Pomni saves a small mantis girl from the rubble of a collapsed temple and she ends up bumping into a fleeing civilian and tripping in front of the Phi-Fa-Ja. She keeps getting trampled by fleeing civilians, so she has almost no time to escape its wrath. Caine, upon seeing the jester about to get shredded to death by the Phi-Fa-Ja lawnmower, rushes over to her and attempts to grab her before also being trampled by fleeing individuals. The only thing he can do is shield her from their impending fate, equally terrified for his life and trembling. Luckily for them, Princess Wangchuk and Prince Pyro grab them both and take them to a sanctuary high up in the mountains and away from the destruction, where everyone else is, including many of the royal insect families and their allies.
Meanwhile, we Prince Beatles searching for his beloved Princess Minty in the carnage, calling out her name and proclaiming his love for her yet again. He eventually finds her up in a tree somewhere and flies over to her, embracing her tightly and relieved to see her alive and physically well. Minty is in a state of deep anguish blaming herself for the cataclysm of her home island and the prophesized heroes being put in perpetual danger over her mother's actions. Beatles can't help but also feel responsible for also being an unwitting pawn in Phatthana’s plans, so he can very much relate to her. Minty really can't help but question if even her love for Beatles was also a lie given the true extent of Xiphoidyx's real history, until Beatles asks her if she loved him then, to which she says yes. The way he sees it, arranged marriage or not, their love for each other was real after all; they just needed time to see that. Comforted by her fiancée's words, Minty makes a vow to uphold Kinger's promise to reunite the island as one the moment she stands up to her mother and her lady-in-waiting and overthrows them both, no longer afraid of those nasty tyrants. But before she does so, Beatles gets down on one knee and takes her hand, declaring his undying love for her one last time and asking for her hand in marriage in spite of having nothing to give her. Minty tearfully says yes and for the first time ever, they kiss each other on the lips. Afterwards, they start looking for Queen Phatthana, with the mantis princess having to teach herself how to fly in the process. …She's actually doing a good job for a beginner if I do say so myself.
As the Phi-Fa-Ja’s divine rage continues, Madame Hayati angrily confronts Queen Phatthana herself while seeing the prophecy made earlier in the Dragonfly Nations come true before her eyes. Phatthana sees the destruction of Xiphoidyx as a mere setback, vowing to build a stronger, more rigid empire in the name of the Phi-Fa-Ja once this all blows over. Hayati, sick and tired of it all and done with her bullshit, lashes out by saying that neither the Phi-Fa-Ja or her people want an empire; they only want her to gain some humility for once and actually become a better person. Phatthana still refuses to see the bigger picture and the poor resilient Hayati begs her to see reason; she still has hope that it's not too late for her to change her ways. Unfortunately, Phatthana continues to double down on her pride and fanaticism, as does Vatsana.
Without warning, Princess Minty and Prince Beatles finally confront Phatthana and Vatsana themselves and order her to stop. Phatthana and Vatsana take this as a challenge and bring out their weapons, a chakram and a daab sword respectively. They even mock their happy union in the meantime, just to spite them further! A melee fight breaks out with Hayati joining them as well. As the Phi-Fa-Ja continues its destruction of the island, so does the battle. It gets to a point where Vatsana forcibly removes one of Beatles's antennae, leaving him incapacitated. Furious, Minty battles Vatsana personally, and after a powerful struggle that lasts for a couple of minutes, Minty emerges victorious, chucking her into the path of the Phi-Fa-Ja, where she meets her gruesome fate of being shredded alive. As a result, Queen Phatthana now wears her lady-in-waiting’s blood to symbolize her evil nature.
While Minty carries the injured Beatles back to the sanctuary in the mountains where all her friends are at, Hayati and Phatthana continue their battle, with Phatthana briefly gaining the upper hand until the dragonfly prophet rips off her wings, rendering her unable to fly away and dodge the attacks. This leaves her defenseless, even with her chakram. Madame Hayati, still having her own wings, hovers over the soon-to-be deposed mantis queen, who is in the path of the raging Phi-Fa-Ja lawnmower. Phatthana terrifiedly crawls away from the Phi-Fa-Ja, screaming how she doesn't want to die, but her pathetic efforts are proven to be in vain, as with one final scream of pure terror and fear, she is shredded alive, spraying her blood and remains every which way, leaving behind just her torn off wings.
Just then, the Phi-Fa-Ja stops in its tracks. The deafening engine cries die down and the headlights slowly turn off. Hayati deduces that the life-giving spirit was after Phatthana all along and would not stop until she was killed. However, it also left behind untold amounts of wanton destruction and ruin, with smoke, ash, and burning flames all over their once pristine and beautiful island. The members of Team Circus, along with the rest of their insectoid allies, can also see these flames and smoke from afar. Prince Beatles is being healed up nicely by Dishan using King Agung's snail slime, while Princess Minty prays for Hayati's safety. To everyone's relief, they see Madame Hayati flying over to the mountain sanctuary, and after she tells them about Phatthana's demise and the end of her reign, they all give her a warm and loving welcome and even a huge applause for emerging triumphant in the fight. Even Team Circus, the proclaimed prophesized heroes themselves, hail Madame Hayati as a hero!! How cool is that?
But the question still remains: what do they do now…? And truth be told, Hayati has no actual answer. Their home is completely gone, being reduced to nothing more than burning ruins. For a while, everyone just simply watches the destruction from afar in morbid solemnity, the fire continuing to destroy everything else that the Phi-Fa-Ja hasn't destroyed. Several minutes later, Gangle can feel a raindrop falling onto her tragedy mask. And then another on Zooble's head. Then two more on Pomni's cheeks. Three more on Kinger's robe. Slowly but surely, rainfall ensues, growing stronger and stronger until it becomes a fully fledged rainstorm that puts out the fire, revealing the night sky to everyone.
On top of all that, the land begins to restore itself to its former glory, covering the land in a rapidly growing lush jungle rainforest, along with some animals coming out of hiding after so long. It's a bittersweet reminder that the Phi-Fa-Ja is still very much capable of giving life to Xiphoidyx as much as it is also capable of taking away life. However, this still very much begs another question: with the Phi-Fa-Ja festival approaching in just six days, how are the insects of the island supposed to celebrate? As if to answer the question, Queen Nandar and Princess Chrysalisa offer to lead the reconstruction efforts of Xiphoidyx, and this time, everyone will do it together. Never again will this island be divided into regions. All of the insects will be united as one again. Queen Nandar gathers the survivors of the cataclysm over to the sanctuary in the now deserted Mantis Nations and declares to them all that their land shall no longer be separated, and that each and every one of them will work together to create a new Xiphoidyx, one that strives for harmony and prosperity. As the rain continues to pour down on them all, the insects and Team Circus join Nandar and Chrysalisa in the rebuilding project of Xiphoidyx, ushering in a brand new era of unity and community.
It takes five whole days for the first new villages to be built in Xiphoidyx. Five days of hard work and labor. Five days of rekindling lost bonds. And five days for Minty and Beatles to make preparations for their wedding, which is going to take place tomorrow, at the actual Phi-Fa-Ja festival. Jax and Ragatha have since rekindled their bond after Bubble demanded to the ragdoll that she make amends with him for the stupid sacrifice stunt she pulled off, and Caine is supervising the construction of the new Xiphoidyx royal palace where all the former royal insects can live in. New restaurants and soup kitchens are built to feed the hungry, and the Phi-Fa-Ja now rests peacefully on another mountaintop, seemingly watching the insects rebuild their society from afar. Minty is in awe of the display of diversified cultures and unified communities, and Beatles is overjoyed to be in the arms of his beloved princess. After making an agreement to themselves, Princess Minty gathers the insects of Xiphoidyx around, along with Team Circus, for a special announcement.
With the annual Phi-Fa-Ja harvest festival arriving only tomorrow, she declares that in honor of this momentous occasion, she and her fiancée Beatles will get married, having found true love in each other for both each other and the home they and their ancestors have lived in so long ago. The crowd cheers, and the allies from over three weeks ago, including the other royal insects, begin helping the fiancées with wedding plans. Kinger can't help but shed a tear of joy for himself, and for once, Caine seems to be very proud of Kinger for actually pulling off his grand master plan of reunifying the island into one whole community again. All of the Team Circus members are proud of Kinger, in fact; even Jax! The purple rabbit proudly proclaims that this was the best idea he had in a really long time, much to Kinger's elation. They go on to happily view the newly built village from afar, taking pride and joy in seeing all the other insects getting along and no longer being separated. Minty and Beatles on the other hand decide to pull each other in for another huge kiss on the lips…
…Where it smash cuts to the night of their wedding day, during the actual Phi-Fa-Ja festival. Dressed in the wedding attire of their respective cultures, Minty and Beatles pull away from the kiss, and the crowd cheers. Madame Hayati, who officiated the marriage, even sheds a tear of joy in congratulatory pride. A huge wedding feast is held in the middle of the new Xiphoidyx village. Traditions and cultures are all combined in not just celebrating the union between the newlyweds, but also the worship of the divine Phi-Fa-Ja that they still love and adore with all their hearts. Instead of lavish gifts, each insect of their former tribes places a differently colored lotus at the giant lawnmower itself, ranging from the different hues of indigo, orange, cyan, brown, black, white, violet, gray, blue, green, yellow, pink, red, and lastly, gold.
Team Circus also receives those same multicolored lotuses from the former insect tribes as a gesture of undying gratitude for making them see the light and reuniting Xiphoidyx into one nation. Pomni especially loves the white lotus and puts it in her hair for safekeeping. Caine puts a yellow lotus on his hat to match Pomni, and the two of them exchange smiles over this glorious event. Kinger takes a good look at both the lively scenery of the wedding feast and the gold lotus in his possession. …He feels pretty shitty about being exceptionally harsh to Caine three weeks ago, so he decides to give him an apology gift. He finds a bunch of dok champa flowers growing in the village garden and creates a bouquet from them. Kinger hurries over to give Caine the dok champa flower bouquet, apologizing for his behavior earlier. Caine, not wanting to ruin anyone’s mood, simply accepts the bouquet and the heartfelt apology and minds his own business once more. Kinger gracefully accepts this answer.
As he goes back to admire the simultaneous Phi-Fa-Ja festival and wedding feast, he can sense a faint grayish-green glow coming from behind the Phi-Fa-Ja lawnmower, instilling some anticipatory anxiety and bittersweetness in the king chesspiece, having a pretty good feeling as to what this is. Slowly but surely, he checks out the source of the gray-green light and just as he expected, he ends up finding the next jewel of their road trip. With a bittersweet sigh, Kinger picks up the jewel, and everyone's communicator bracelets sound off with this pop-up notification:
~JEWEL OBTAINED!~
9 out of 26
Only 17 remain
The jewel is a lush, vibrant, and wild xanadu-colored Jade, as greenish gray as the thick rainforests of Xiphoidyx itself. Before Kinger can figure out what exactly the Jade does, he sees a bunch of non-sapient animals gossipping to each other about the events of the episode, recapping the funny moments, the sad moments, the shocking and horrifying moments, and the awesome moments. Kinger is slightly weirded out by all this, making the animals realize that he can very much hear them. He then comes to the conclusion that the Jade can give any holder the ability to talk to animals. One hilariously awkward exchange of smalltalk later, Kinger departs back to his designated group to let them know he has the next jewel, signaling to them that it's time for Team Circus to depart yet again for the next part of their road trip.
Soon afterwards, when they find the Magical Digital Van miraculously (and surprisingly) still intact from the Phi-Fa-Ja cataclysm in the Mantis Nations village ruins, Caine drives it back to the path of the road with his troupe, where the newly built boating docks are at. Minty and Beatles are also departing on a personalized wedding sailboat to travel around the world for their honeymoon. The insect newlyweds thank Team Circus for all their hard work and declare that they'll miss them very much.
All ten individuals embrace each other for one final grand big hug before they all depart to their respective travel vehicles. As Caine drives the van back to the ferry from the beginning of the episode in order to leave the island, and Minty and Beatles hop onto their sailboat to start traveling to their honeymoon destination, everyone waves at each other, shouting goodbye and good luck to each other until they all have completely gone their separate ways and can no longer see each other.
A little while later, underneath the starry night sky, Minty expresses her excitement over being able to go see the world and actually meet new people, having been inspired by Team Circus to go out more and bask in the beauty the world has to offer. Beatles just says that whatever happens going forward, he can't wait to spend it with his beloved wife. D’awwww. They end up finding another island moments later and drive the sailboat to the docks. This island seems to be populated by birds of all kinds. They've made it to the newly reformed Harmonia!! And this is where they meet the previous characters from the fifth episode: Cherri, Max, Bo, and Chief Laylow, all of whom are carrying gift baskets for the newlywed insects. Chief Laylow proudly exclaims to them in glee: “Welcome to Harmonia!!”
As Minty and Beatles step out of the sailboat and onto the bird island of Harmonia, the bird throuple start giving them a tour of the island, although the dialogue is starting to become inaudible as the music swells, and the camera slowly pulls back and away from the view of the newlywed insects, Max, Cherri, Bo, and even Chief Laylow himself to reveal the rest of the island doing just fine for themselves, and stops when we get a full view of the island. The camera then pans up to the starry night sky, with all the stars dancing and twinkling in the air, with fourteen of them glowing brightest of them all. A xanadu-colored comet whooshes through the night sky, where the aforementioned fourteen brightest stars are glowing, and the episode ends there.
~~~~
Current Status:
9 Jewels have been collected
17 remain
🎍🎋👘🥻🪲🦋🐜🐌🪱
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• OG Cast
Lizzie Freeman as Pomni
Amanda Hufford as Ragatha
Michael Kovach as Jax
Sean Chiplock as Kinger
Marissa Lenti as Gangle
Ashley Nichols as Zooble
Gooseworx as Bubble
Alex Rochon as Caine
~~~~
• Audience Surrogate Cast/Diplomats
Hynden Walch as Valerie
Susan Egan as Pamela
Amy Winfrey as Garcia
Mandy Moore as Lulu
Nevaeh Hamilton (me) as Bethany
~~~~
• Background Diplomats
Andrea Libman as Winona
Cristina Vee as Patricia
E.G. Daily as Rionna
Stephanie Sheh as Olivia
Debi Derryberry as Yolanda
Cree Summer as Gemma
Ashleigh Ball as Cécilia
Erica Luttrell as Belle
Ashly Burch as Imera
Kimberly Brooks as Bailey
~~~~
• Episode's Antagonists
Lupita Nyong'o as Queen Phatthana Mantis
Sung Kang as King Borai Ladybug
Freda Foh Shen as Queen Nandar Butterfly
Patti LuPone as Queen Cempaka Bee
George Takei as King Nephrite Grasshopper
Daniel Dae Kim as Sultan Zaffir Dragonfly
Yunjin Kim as Empress Li Moth
Gedde Watanabe as Chief João Firefly
Lauren Tom as Queen Maria Inchworm
Benedict Wong as King Trường Sơn Spider
Reshma Shetty as Queen Pavithra Roach
Ross Butler as King Agung Snail
Lauren Ash as Queen Karma Ant
François Chau as King Ibrahim Parasite
~~~~
• Secondary Characters Introduced
Kelly Marie Tran as Princess Minty Mantis
Jona Xiao as Vatsana the Lady-In-Waiting
Ahn Hyo-seop as Prince Beatles Ladybug
Denis Leary as Saran the Royal Advisor
Lisa Hannigan as Princess Chrysalisa Butterfly
Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park as Theingi the Tapestry Maker
Ughh. I'm running out of ideas, the new ones I have aren't even that good, and rather than trying to focus on the present, I'm worried about the future instead. Goddamnit. :(
I need to find my creative flow again and not let my anxiety get the better of me. With the TADC fandom dying, I don't know how I can get back on my feet again.
General Xi-Li, Sergeant Sun-Yang, and King Khan-Lin Yin the Warmonger
Voice Actors:
Xi-Li: Awkwafina
Sun-Yang: Dennis Haysbert
King Khan-Lin: Mark Hamill
~~~~
General Xi-Li is King Khan-Lin's most trusted black cat warrior and his favorite concubine in his harem, of whom she develops a mutual infatuation with Buddy Zhōngchéng. She is stoic, strong, and swift, all attributes that make Xi-Li a great fighter, and a potential next ruler of the Yin Kingdom, should anything happen to Khan-Lin. Sergeant Sun-Yang, on the other hand, relies only on brute strength, making his Achilles's heel his lack of wits, something that he makes up for by being another one of Khan-Lin's most trusted lovers in his harem. And lastly, King Khan-Lin Yin himself is the ruler of one of the halves of the Twin Territories, specifically the Yin Kingdom, where everything is still and dark, his subjects are levelheaded, and the sun does not shine as brightly in the sky like its counterpart, the Yang Kingdom, does. Khan-Lin doesn't just want to conquer all of the Twin Territories and keep it for himself, he also wants to rule over all as a god of the very world he lives in, and he disguises it all under seemingly good intentions, not caring about how his destructive ways disrupt the balance and harmony the Great Panda worked hard to provide for the Twin Territories. Fortunately for the Twin Territories itself, the esteemed members of Team Zodiac are here to stop his reign of terror for good, no matter the cost.
Lou Xiǎode is a small rat that wanted to be a gourmet chef someday before the prophecy decided that fate had other plans for him instead. While he is a fantastic cook, he is also vast in his imagination and quick-witted thinking, making him perfect for being the holder of the Spindle Sword of Creativity. Jack Níngjìng is quite possibly the most selfless member of Team Zodiac of them all, being a pig that was raised as a monk since childhood, and this having already achieved enlightenment at such a young age. Because of this, he is more than a worthy candidate to hold the Giving Blossom of Kindness in his hands. And finally, we have Buddy Zhōngchéng, who at first was affiliated with Team Zodiac before betraying them in the name of love. Although Buddy lost everyone's trust in the process, his hopeful ability to see the good in others makes him somewhat decent at welding the Lucky Hammer of Joy.
