Star VS The Forces of Shipping: An Extended Analysis of Rela

Star VS The Forces of Shipping: An Extended Analysis of Relationship Development
(VOLUME II NOW AVAILABLE HERE: https://pastebin.com/wBLgC2Ru)

**Introduction**

There's already a wealth of analysis on character relationships in Star VS The Forces of Evil, much of it far wiser and more detailed than what I've produced here. I've never done anything quite like this before. I'm not a writer, an artist, a psychologist, or a philosopher. I would never have noticed things like the show's mythological symbolism about Mars and Venus, or how nachos are used as a metaphor for Star and Marco's relationship. I doubt there's any new information here. Even the stuff I didn't steal outright was probably long since figured out by much smarter people.

However, I like looking at the big picture. Hence this little shitpost, which I originally started as a way to organize my personal thoughts, and then decided to maliciously unleash upon an unsuspecting internet. What I've seen done in this area has largely been fragmentary. What I haven't seen done to my satisfaction is a summary that pulls it all together. (Of course as soon as I post this I'm sure somebody will link to a way better one, but I'll take my chances.) Well, I say "summary". When I began this exercise, I didn't intend to produce an 11,000 word Fortress of Textitude.

And yet here we are. I’m not even sure who the proper audience is for this, but here seemed as good a place as any. Unfortunately after mercilessly slaughtering Reddit's 40,000 character post limit, I'm going to have to chuck it on Pastebin instead of posting it here directly. If there's a better way to do this please let me know. I don't blame you if you're intimidated by the size (phrasing), but I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, hey, I'm a grown-ass man. Fire away.

Now strap yourself to something. This is gonna be a long one.

**Part I: Setting Sail**

One of the strongest aspects of Star VS is the development of the relationships. I can honestly say I've never been as personally invested in the lives and emotions of fictional characters as I am with this show. Of course not all of the relationships are romantic in nature, and even some of the more mundane ones are a joy to watch, but romance is the order of the day.

At the center of this bloody naval warfare is earth's safest and most powerful chick magnet, Marco Diaz. Untold millions of lives have been lost in the Waifu Wars over the question of who Marco should be smooch buddies with. Should he continue his budding relationship with his long time crush, skater babe Jackie Lynn Thomas? Or should he ditch her start and dating his bestie, magical princess from another dimension Star Butterfly, who recently confessed that she's taken a shine to him? Maybe he should even take a chance on one of the other fine ladies who have been seduced by his suave Latin charms? I'm going to take a stab at answering that today and make a few predictions for the future. There are options besides the two main potential couples that are at least worth mentioning, so let's begin by taking a look at Star and Marco's major romantic prospects.

*Tomstar*

Poor Tom. It's not entirely his fault. He is the literal spawn of Satan after all. Tom really does seem to be trying to change, but currently, he's still a rageaholic wad. I think we'll see more Tom development in season 3 when he hears what's happened to Star, but I highly doubt it will involve him getting back together with her. She learned her lesson at the Blood Moon Ball. As much as Tom is trying to be better, he isn't ready for a relationship yet. He's still in denial about it, but Star knows it and will give him a wide berth, even in the unlikely event that she's still interested.

*Ostar*

This ship is taking on water as of Starcrushed and isn't likely to recover. As it turns out, Oskar is kind of a doofus. Rather the opposite of Marco and Jackie, Star didn't really like Oskar once she got to know him. Further, any attraction she had to Oskar is being squeezed out by her growing affection for Marco. Considering that, plus Star's general lack of enthusiasm at spending the summer with Oskar... she's either over him or pretty close to it, despite trying to tell herself otherwise.

*Janco*

Does Janna have a crush on Marco? Yes. Is she aching to have a little Mexican in her? Yes. Does she act out with weird flirting and stalking as an outlet for feelings she doesn't know how to handle? Yes.

Is the whole thing completely one sided? Yes. Is it bad enough for her to hurl herself into the brewing cat fight between Jackie and Star in a futile, pathetic attempt to win Marco's ~~di~~heart? No.

*Markapoo*

Marco spent 16 years chasing H-Poo during Running with Scissors. We hardly know anything about what happened during that time, except for the very beginning and very end. In the beginning he was doing it all for Star, but it appears that his motives changed over time, going along with a major theme in the second season. I don't think their relationship went very far though.

Like the lovely Hekapoo herself, the sexual tension underlying their final conversation was pretty thicc. That doesn't necessarily mean Hekapoo or any of her clones petted Marco's chupacabra. My guess is that there's just a little bit of mutual attraction there, but it's not that serious. Both of them know they're from very different places, that it just isn't going anywhere, and they can live with that.

*Tomco*

I... I got nothin'.

Moving on.

*Jarco*

You know something? I like Jackie. Jackie did nothing wrong. I sympathize with Jackie over the shit sandwich she's about to be handed, because she doesn't remotely deserve it.

Some have complained that Jackie is a severely underdeveloped character. Dem hips beg to differ. No but seriously, the fact that she started out with a seemingly flat personality is part of the point. Marco has carried a torch for Jackie for close to a decade, admiring her from a distance. He didn't really know Jackie, and neither did the audience. But, as Marco and the audience get more familiar with her... it turns out she's actually a pretty cool chick. Marco may have originally built up an idealized version of her in his mind, but in a sense it doesn't matter at this point. The genuine article ended up being just as good, if not better.

Jackie is good for Marco. She's a girl who accepts Marco with all his weirdnesses and insecurities, picks him up when he's down, and promises him that everything will be alright. When she says that he's having a Marco Moment, it's not an insult. It's because she genuinely likes Marco, gets Marco, and wants to help him relax and loosen up. While Marco still has some pretty serious self-esteem problems even now that they're together, I believe Jackie could heal those wounds given enough time. Jackie is patient and understanding, and she's willing to work with Marco at their relationship. I mean, even though Marco made the first move (sort of), SHE ultimately asked HIM on an official date. Awesome. This is not a bad thing for a guy like Marco to have in his life.

Even so... maybe the most significant thing about Marco and Jackie is that they only got together in the first place because of Star. Don't get me wrong, Marco deserves a LOT of credit for finally growing a pair and learning to be (relatively) more bold with Jackie, especially during the events of Naysaya. Regardless, it never would have happened without Star. Marco would have continued to give Jackie The Daily Nod until she got another boyfriend or went off to college. Marco did something he wasn't able to do before... because of Star. However strong Marco and Jackie's relationship becomes, whatever Jackie helps Marco achieve, it's all ultimately because of Star.

I'm sure most people know which way the wind is blowing. Sooner or later, Marco will start to return Star's affection. I don't know how they're going to pry Marco and Jackie apart without it coming off as railroading. That's almost the saddest part of the whole thing. Jackie is going to lose Marco, and it probably won't be her fault. I can only hope Daron "Absolute Madwoman" Nefcy has a better idea for how to do this right than I do, because once again, I got nothin'.

*Starco*

Starco is cute and perfect.

CUTE AND PERFECT

Everything I just said about liking Jackie is true. Despite that, I am filthy, unrepentant Starco trash. Pimpmaster General Marco Diaz has a surfeit of fly honeys in his ever expanding harem, but there's only one magical princess who can ever truly be the cheese to his nachos.

The only problem is, he doesn't know it yet.

Marco hasn't fully figured it out, but Star Butterfly is the most important person in his life, even after he and Jackie officially became an item. Even once he finally gets it, he's going to have to come to terms with exactly why.

And on Star's side? Marco is the friend she never had but always needed.

Aye, there's the rub. Jackie and Marco want each other, but Star and Marco need each other.

The bulk of this weighty tome is dedicated to Star, Marco, and the development of their relationship. There will also be some side trails about how it relates to Jackie, as well as the larger story and setting.

**Part II: The Safe Kid**

One of the most interesting aspects of the development of Marco's relationships is that Jackie was the safe choice. Sound backwards? Consider the following.

At the beginning of the show, and for quite a while after, Jackie and Marco hardly knew each other. If Marco had asked out Jackie then and she'd said no, nothing much would have changed. Understandably, Marco might not see it that way, but the reality is he wouldn't be losing a friend he already had. He just would have failed with Jackie, a girl he had no real relationship with in the first place, friendship or otherwise.

On the other hand, if Marco tries to go beyond friendship with Star now, he's risking it all. First and foremost, he'd lose his delightfully hippy girlfriend. On top of that, if it doesn't work out with Star, he loses the best friend he ever had. Just because he now knows Star wants a first class one way ticket to ride the M train doesn't mean he knows a romantic relationship will last. But if he's willing to roll those dice, he stands to gain everything.

Between Star and Jackie, it really comes down to what kind of life Marco wants to live. This very fine comic by moringmark sums it up beautifully.

http://moringmark.tumblr.com/post/154632139483/page-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-about-ship-war

"Just ask yourself a question: Who would you rather be for the rest of your life? Someone who wants you to be happy with who you are, or someone who encourages you to keep moving forward? In other words, do you want to be a safe kid, or not?"

Sure, Jackie is chill and cool and understanding. It's easy to look at Jackie~~'s hips~~ and say she's the better girl, but she's not the better girl FOR MARCO. Jackie is a good influence. Jackie is healthy for Marco. She'll be there to help Marco up when he falls, and she'll make him a better person.

But Star will make him more.

We've already seen the lengths that Star inspires Marco to go to. The ultimate example is when he spent 16 years replacing her lost scissors, and that was without her even asking. Jackie will help Marco with his self-esteem problems by teaching him to be content with himself, but Star will help him by constantly pulling him toward his full potential. Jackie might turn Marco into a competent skateboarder and a snazzy dresser, but Star will turn him into a warrior king worthy of legend. Jackie will have a fine romance with Marco, get married, settle down, have a couple kids, and live a nice quiet life with him. Star will be eternally restless, always pushing him to new heights, always forcing him to stand taller, never letting Marco settle for being less than his absolute best or living life to anything short of the fullest.

Life's as extreme as you wanna make it, Safe Kid.

**Part III: Under the Spell of the Moon**

Ah, the Blood Moon Ball. The single most important event in the development of Starco. Daron "Dancing Mad" Nefcy's favorite episode. I'm afraid I'm not entirely happy with this one. There was something that wasn't made clear about the nature of the Blood Moon that REALLY bugs me. When it binds two people together, is this process permissive, declarative, or effectual?

Is it permissive, saying that Star and Marco COULD be happy together, but it's more of a suggestion? Could Marco still be happy with Jackie? Is it declarative, announcing something that was already true, that Star and Marco are right for each other, and the Blood Moon is giving a sort of blessing to the union? So they have the option to choose other people, but maybe they'd never be completely fulfilled or something like that? Or is it effectual, meaning that the Blood Moon itself is giving them no choice in the matter? I would be happy with the first or second, but the third rubs me the wrong way. It seems completely contrary to the way that the show has carefully and gradually developed Star and Marco's relationship. I'm not sure which of these is the case. I hope it gets made more explicit at some point, but I don't think we'll be revisiting it in that much detail.

Philosophical issues aside, let's talk about the actual events. Why did Marco go after Star? I'm not saying that Marco wasn't legitimately concerned about Star being around Tom, but there are other motivations involved. In the previous episode, Marco is worried that Star saves him a lot more often than he saves her. He wants to bail her out of a jam to prove to both her and himself that he might actually be good enough for her, at least as a friend, and maybe more.

Oh, but that's not all. The moment Marco finally gets off his sorry ass and goes after Star is when a mysterious, unexplained voice from the sky tells him that the Blood Moon is the "Moon of Lovers". That's the thing that gives him the enough of a push to go find her. This is not an arbitrary decision. When you watch the episode, and see how he's acting in Star's absence... is this a guy who's worried about his BFF getting slipped a mickey? Or is he a spurned teen sitting at home pouting because the girl he's kinda sorta starting to like went to the big dance with somebody else?

Wait a minute, who WAS that voice anyway? Well, hold that thought, we'll come back to it shortly.

But first, one more thing about the Blood Moon Ball. Something that we see in Marco as time goes on is his tendency to take what people say to him at face value. A good example of this is in Just Friends, where Jackie tells him he needs to apologize to a family of ducks for disturbing them. So... he does. Jackie says she was just kidding, and he looks sort of embarrassed that he didn't get it.

This is significant because of what Star said to Marco after the Blood Moon Ball. She told him that she didn't need a hero, she needed a friend. That's an understandable sentiment, because Marco underestimated her just like Moon always had, and she didn't want to be a damsel in distress. While Marco turned out to be more or less right about Tom, Star was also right that she could take care of herself. What Star meant was that she's a strong independent warrior princess, and she wants Marco to be someone who can stand beside her as an equal rather than trying to rescue her to prove his worth. The problem is that this isn't how Marco understood her. What Marco HEARD was "Why did you come to a romantic dance to find me? I only want you as a friend". Star wasn't completely wrong in expressing her frustration with Marco... she just happened to say it in a way that Marco misinterpreted.

Marco's reaction to this isn't that of someone who simply got told off for doing something stupid. For a couple seconds there, he honestly looks a little heartbroken. Now he wasn't crushing THAT hard on Star at this point, and he was still more interested in Jackie, so it wasn't completely devastating. Star continued to treat him as just a friend, and she kept on trying to fix him up with Jackie. Marco's early interest in Star gradually faded away, right at the very moment when Star's attraction to him was starting to grow...

**Part IV: Cleaved Together**

I used to think Glossaryck was just an annoying little twelve fingered blue man who enjoyed being as unhelpful as possible. Now though, after his expert handling of Star's new wand and his SAVAGE dressing down of Moon and the Magical High Commission, I think he's the only one playing chess in more dimensions than Daron "Prince of the Shivering Isles" Nefcy herself. I have to wonder if Star really knows what she's got on her hands with Glossaryck...

Let's start by looking at his role in Mewberty. If we go by our first impression of him as a minor magical being who serves as a guide to the book, nothing he does makes much sense. Doesn't he have an obligation to save Star, his employer? Why is he being so unhelpful to Marco? But if you watch it in hindsight, with a view of Glossaryck as an immortal entity like unto a god who's been doing this since the before dawn of time, now it makes perfect sense. He does show concern for Star... until he learns what the problem is. Why? He's trained countless generations of Mewman queens and he's seen this before. He knows there's nothing anyone can do to help, but he also knows the problem will solve itself in time. So what does Glossaryck do? He gives Marco just enough information to spur him into action, while also giving him hope that it will work out in the end. He uses it as an opportunity to test Marco and see how he would handle himself. I believe Marco passed.

What does this have to do with Starco? Getting to that. Let's fast forward a few episodes and look at the Blood Moon Ball from one more angle.

What was the deal with the mysterious voice? When Marco was moping around in Star's room, he heard a voice from nowhere that told him the Blood Moon is the Moon of Lovers. That voice is never explained or referenced again. Where did it come from?

When asked about who this mysterious voice was, Daron "Dance, Puppets, Dance!" Nefcy responded with the following.

https://twitter.com/DaronNefcy/status/692898526787862529

"It was the Sea Captain! He's very wise."

Meta-trolling your adoring fans, eh? If that's how you wanna play it...

The way I see it, there are two possibilities. First, the Blood Moon itself might possess some level of sentience and it’s trying to help Star and Marco find their way to each other. Given some of the other behavior we've seen from it, especially when it comes around to get Marco's attention in Bon Bon the Birthday Clown, this isn't outside the realm of plausibility.

However, the better and more likely alternative is... Sir Glossaryck. Of Terms. He's the only one who we know had the means, motive, and opportunity. I lifted that idea (and a couple related ones) from here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarVStheForcesofEvil/comments/5o50mq/i_think_i_know_who_the_sea_captain_in_blood_moon/

It's a cracking good analysis and contains lots of stuff that would never have even occurred to me. In fact, just go read that for the Glossaryck stuff, it's a lot better than mine. That said, I want to take a slightly different approach and add something of my own.

First and foremost, I've been trying to figure out who voiced the lines of the Sea Captain. Specifically, was it Glossaryck's VA, Jeffrey Tambor? The results have been... inconclusive.

Tambor is NOT listed in the voice credits for this and the companion episode (Fortune Cookies), but I wouldn't consider that a silver bullet under the circumstances. Interesting fact... Tambor has also voiced an old sea captain named Flarty on a completely unrelated TV show, Bob's Burgers. Coincidence? Normally I'd say yes, but in the hands of Daron "667 Dimensional Chess" Nefcy? I remain unconvinced.

Here, have a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQS5z2Rtv4Q

Now go compare that to the Sea Captain, which I couldn't find a good clip for on Youtube. I'm not positive it's the same guy, but it very definitely could be, and if pressed I'd say it is. The gravel in the voices sounds VERY similar.

If they were voiced by the same person, would it mean Glossaryck was the Sea Captain? Again, not absolute proof, as many VAs do multiple characters in an episode. But it would be strong circumstantial evidence, and if they were trying to preserve that mystery it might explain why Daron "Deepest Lore" Nefcy left him off the credits.

So, as far back as that (probably), Glossaryck has been trying to guide Star and Marco together. But is there more? Oh yes there is.

My New Wand is an absolutely fascinating episode, and possibly my favorite episode overall, because it shows what a devious bastard Glossaryck really is. He suspects something is wrong with the wand after it, you know, exploded. He creates a distraction to separate Star from it and give him long enough to check it out. Immediately realizing something is wrong with it, he decides he needs to teach Star to rely on it less, offering to show her The Hard Way. So how does he motivate Star to do something that took Moon years to learn? He just pushes the right button.

The Marco button.

Glossaryck knows Star is sweet on Marco even before she does. Maybe he read something in her diary, or maybe he could tell from experience and just inferred there would be something about it in her diary. Either way, he knew exactly which one of Star's secrets would give her enough of a shove to dip down, and he knew it from the very beginning of the episode. Before he even says anything to Star about dipping down, he's already set Marco on the path to finding Star's inspiration. It was, as Marco suspected, some kind of training thing. When Glossaryck asked Marco whether he (Marco) was some kind of training thing, I no longer believe that was rhetorical. As to the nature of Star's terrible secret... we'll come back to that in a bit.

But obviously it was something regarding Star's Thoughts on Marco. Did Glossaryck intend for Marco to read the whole thing? I don't think so. His head lamp went out at an awfully convenient time, which would make sense if he doused it deliberately. I think he would have won whether Marco read it all or not though. Star leans how to dip down, or Star and Marco would have no choice but to have it out in the open about their relationship. Then they either work it out one way or the other, or he wouldn't have been what Glossaryck was looking for anyway.

Ah, but what WAS Glossaryck looking for? While Marco was scouring the closet, Glossaryck told Marco he was doing this because he loved him. When I first saw the episode I thought Glossaryck was just being a dick, but I now believe he meant it in his own weird little way. Along with Star, I think Glossaryck is also training Marco as only he can. Training Marco for what, you ask? For what, indeed...

So what's the point of all this? Why should Glossaryck care? Well. Just because Glossaryck has no side doesn't mean he has no agenda. For example, look at the way he handles Ludo. His tone is entirely different than he takes with anyone else. I can only guess at what he was trying to accomplish long term, but there's no way that Daron "Exactly According to Keikaku" Nefcy has Glossaryck shifting his methods so much by accident. Glossaryck says as much to the Commission when commenting on the differences in training various Mewman queens.

When he describes his job to Ludo, he claims it's to help him reach his full magical potential. When he describes his job to Moon, he says it's to prepare Star to be a queen. Interesting difference. Given what we know about Glossaryck and his origin as the living encyclopedia of magic, what he told Ludo seems more natural. On the other hand it's more likely that he was being honest with Moon, so let's take his word for it there. Besides all this royal training, what else does a queen need? For one thing, a queen needs a king. What's Glossaryck been trying to do with Marco?

Yeah. That's right kids. The closest thing we've seen to a god in the series is playing matchmaker for Star and Marco, even while carrying out his duties as a full time ~~shitposter~~magic teacher. Chess just got more dimensions.

**Part V: The Wheel of Progress**

The question that started this little pamphlet for me was, when exactly did all this happen? What are the significant moments of development in Starco? I say moments, plural, because I don't think there was a single instant in time where either Star or Marco cleanly crossed a threshold from close friendship to romantic affection. It was more like the rainbow of emotional colors Star describes in Sleepover. There was a slow, gradual, organic movement from one color to another. It's impossible to find the precise moment when blue is no longer blue and is now purple. That's one of the things I like most about their relationship, both the romantic and platonic aspects. None of the development is forced or sudden. It all feels very real and natural.

It's funny. At the end of season one, I didn't even think Starco would be a thing. The Blood Moon had slipped my mind and I sorta thought, hey, that's a refreshing change. The male and female leads don't HAVE to get together. They can be best friends, adopted family even, and that's enough. It wasn't until Sleepover that it hit me like a brick to the face. Just like Star, I walked right into Daron "The Mind Taker" Nefcy's trap.

That said, I am not disappointed by the development of Starco, precisely because of HOW it's been developed. Let's see if we can trace that process, fill in the remaining milestones, and discuss some other details that we haven't already covered.

I think Marco fell in puppy love with Star pretty early on. And why not? Back then, Jackie hardly knew he existed. Star is a cute, awesome princess from another dimension. She's full of the action and excitement Marco always wanted. Even back then, Marco calls Star the coolest girl he knows. Marco is at least open to the idea of being more than friends at that point. Marco’s interest built slowly until the Blood Moon Ball, where Marco felt that he had been shot down by Star's ferocious rebuke at the end. His early infatuation gradually faded, and he decided to focus on Jackie, a girl who at least hadn't (in his mind) already rejected him.

Star's perspective is rather more complicated. Somewhere along the line, Star's romantic attitude toward Marco shifted from uninterested, to unaware, to uncertain, to severe denial. The dam finally broke in Starcrushed, where she laid bare her soul before Marco just before she was forced to run for her life from Toffee.

The seeds were first planted during Mewberty when Star finally figures out that Marco is, in fact, a boy. Took her long enough. But that was just the beginning.

The first big change from uninterested to unaware most likely happened around the time of the Blood Moon Ball. She was very clearly attracted to the mysterious masked stranger she was dancing with before she realized it was Marco. If Mewberty was the ship being fueled, the Blood Moon Ball was when it left port. We've already discussed that at length, so moving right along...

The second shift in Star's emotions is much harder to pin down. Knowing what was written in her diary would help, but we'll probably never find out in detail.

Let's take an educated guess. Was Star just trying to keep Marco out of her diary because it was private, even if completely platonic? Maybe, and I would sympathize with that position. Still, she didn't manage to dip down until Marco got to the Marco section. This happened before Sleepover, so Star hadn't even begun to come to terms with her more tender feelings yet. That being the case, what would she have written that's so embarrassing? The first page that we could see was pretty innocuous.

I have a few theories. One is that it's something like the excuse she made to her friends in Starcrushed. Star thinks Marco is looking super cute lately... but Star thinks lots of things are cute! Laser puppies and stuff! So... that means it's no big deal, right? She totally doesn't have a crush on him! Right?

Right. Another possibility is that she wasn't completely unaware of her real Thoughts on Marco by that point, but rather, was confused by them. She may have written down something involving her trying to work through her new and ambiguous emotions, trying to decide if she really wants Marco as more than a friend. Again, it's not likely we'll ever get the details, but there definitely are new Marco related passions stirring inside her by then. For what it's worth, I think something like the "Marco is cute" scenario is most likely, but either one fits the course of events.

The next big event is in Sleepover. If Star wasn't emotionally conflicted before, she damn sure is now. During Sleepover, two major developments happen at once. First, Marco confesses his crush on Jackie, and while they don't hit it off immediately, she at least seems receptive. Second, the Box O' Truth absolutely confirms for Star that Marco has no amorous intentions toward her at that point in time. Ouch. Even after the encounter with the Transdimensional Hypercube, I think Star is still pretty confused at this point, Jackie or no Jackie. She knows that her feelings for Marco are changing and have changed, but into what? I mean, she looks ecstatic when Marco asks Jackie if she wants to hang out during Naysaya. Star knows she wants Marco to be happy, but doesn't yet fully appreciate that she wants him to be happy... with her.

This state of affairs continues until Bon Bon the Birthday Clown, where the feels train completely jumps the track and hurtles violently over a cliff. Star doesn't really mind that Marco is going to the school dance with Jackie when they first talk about it. Why should she, right? Then, that night, Star sees Jackie all dolled up and Marco so nervous that he instinctively hoverhands her, covered in sweat. That poor, lucky bastard. In that singular instant, Star realizes the gravity of her situation. She should be happy to see Marco on his dream date, but she isn't, because he isn't with HER. Since before Star had an interest in Marco, and on through the time that she started to develop feelings for him, she's been trying to push him together with Jackie... and it worked. Now they're going to a romantic school dance, and potentially getting their smooch on. Maybe worse. It has to be somewhere in the back of Star's mind that Jackie might show Marco a backside grind to pop shove-it... without her skateboard. It hurts that much more because Star and Jackie became friends too. It would be easier if Jackie was a bitch, but she isn't, and Star doesn't want to hurt her either. What the hell does she do now?

Star, somewhat understandably, has a bit of a freak out. While joining Janna for a dead clown seance, she obsesses over what kind of fierce mischief Marco and Jackie might be up to together. She then tries to call him 57 freaking times in what couldn't have been more than a couple hours. When that fails, she uses Eclipsa's forbidden magic to spy on them, and sees Marco having a grand old time skateboarding and getting chummy with Jackie. You can actually pinpoint the SECOND when her heart rips in half. (By the way, it's 16:09 in the iTunes version, just when she lets out that sad little gasp.) She then remotely magic blasts the skateboard and knocks them off without even meaning to. Pretty interesting... she may not be doing it consciously, but her emotional conflict is causing so much havoc in her magic that she ends up hurting Marco just to get one over on Jackie. Dark. Keep in mind, this is AFTER she read and resisted the lure of Eclipsa's chapter, seemingly demonstrating her purity of spirit. To add injury to insult, seeing Marco and Jackie together leads to the loss of Glossaryck and the book when her magic goes haywire during the fight against Ludo. Again, OUCH. In that moment, Star makes a desperate decision to not also lose the one thing that she values most, namely her friendship with Marco. She plunged head first into a deep, DEEP denial of her real feelings that would continue until Starcrushed.

Not much significant happens between them for a few episodes after this. Running with Scissors is probably worth a mention just for the sheer hilarity of Star's barely contained wild animal lust for Marco's ripped physique. I don't know that it really changed anything long term, but hey. It gave her something to look forward to when she ~~spends some alone time with her other magic wa~~wins the Marcobowl with her plucky can-do spirit.

And then came Just Friends. Hoo boy. Where do we even start with this one? Star gets Love Sentence tickets for herself, Marco, and Jackie, and tells Jackie that they're from Marco. Man, what was Star thinking here? Well. I DON'T think she was trying to show up Jackie. Her actions during the episode don't point in that direction. I don't see any signs that she was trying to blue ball Marco, either. Rather, I think Star was trying to spend time with both of them so she could come to terms with them being together. She thought once she saw how happy they were together, she'd be able to let it go. Did that occur? No. No, that did not occur.

The concert is off to a pretty good start with a lipsyncing duet between Star and Marco, the three of them dancing, and a good time had by all. The songs themselves, of course, being parallels to the development of Star and Marco's relationship.

In the middle of this Jackie and Marco end up lip wrestling while Star is still holding Marco's hand. God DAMN, Daron "Lemon Juice in a Paper Cut" Nefcy. I know some of us watch the show for the suffering, but the Spanish Inquisition wants you to stop upstaging them. Seeking to escape the intense gravitational field generated by Marco's enormous balls, Star goes down to the front row so the band's flying body sweat will cover up her sudden outbreak of eyeball sweat. Struggling to heft his titanic sack through the packed stands, Marco follows Star down to the front row to see if she's alright. You know, after he made out with his thicc 420 skater babe GF while she was forced to gaze on in horror. Star lies all the way out her ass and says that she is, and she encourages him to go back to Jackie and put his main squeeze in a figure four lip lock. Marco pulls Star into a tight hug and tells her she's the best friend a guy could have, while Star looks around the stadium for a fall high enough to kill her. JESUS, Marco. It might actually be less painful for Star if you just drop the metaphor and physically rend her still beating heart from her rib cage. Star leaves the concert holding back an ocean of tears and nukes the Love Sentence billboard with green magic, while Too Little Too Late plays in the background. I spent the next few hours organizing my guns by barrel flavor.

Thanks to the twisted machinations of Daron “Empty the Clip" Nefcy, this is immediately followed by the cringe packed hour long season finale. If Just Friends was a full force running punt to the testicles, this is merely a solid slug in the gut... at least until the end of Starcrushed.

In the first part, Face the Music, the royal songstrel Ruberiot is writing Star's theme song. Star wants it to be more honest than Moon's "puff piece" and to tell the Mewmans about the real her. Not much Starco stuff happens until the end of the episode, but when it does, they do not half ass it. Ruberiot reveals without consent, without confirmation, to Star, Marco, and the entire population of Mewni, that Star Butterfly is in love with her best friend. AndhisnameisMarcoDiaz. Feeling understandably awkward, Marco tries to confront Star in private, but she takes off on Cloudy before he can say anything. Pretty sure the first thing she did when she left was relocate Ruberiot's music studio to a shallow grave.

And now for the final chapter of this volume... Star~~ Gets an Emotional Root Canal~~crushed. Marco's parents are hosting an end of year party for the school, which is awfully nice of them. Marco runs into Jackie, who apparently (like everyone else) doesn't know what happened between Star and Marco. She asks Marco to tell her about it, but given later events, I doubt they ever got that far. (By the way, between the apparent munchies, her bizarre facial expressions, and being even more weirdly chill than usual, does anybody else think Jackie was trippin' balls during this episode?) Star tries to force herself to pretend everything is normal and goes to talk to Marco and Jackie. Jackie is kind enough to give them some space to talk privately without really knowing what it's about. Star and Marco can't even look each other in the eyes, and spaghetti falls out of their pockets as they attempt to escape as fast as Mewmanly possible. Star calls an Emergency Friend Meeting with Janna, Kelly, Pony Head, and ~~her cruel and capricious God~~Starfan13. She explains the situation with Marco and Ruberiot, claiming that she may have had a crush on Marco at one point, but doesn't anymore. Nobody believes her. They say they do, but come on Star. You obviously don’t even believe yourself.

They all decide to go to the bad kids' party to get Star's mind off things, which Star finds about as much fun as a glass chewing contest until she runs into Oskar. As they talk, while it seems like he's a bit interested in her, she sort of loses her previously raging ladyboner for Oskar as she gets to know him better. She seems to be trying to convince herself that she still likes him, but again she clearly doesn't really believe it, and it's just a way to avoid having to work through her real problems with Marco. To that end, she returns home, pulling Marco aside and falsely telling him that she only wants to be friends with him. She says she doesn't want to lose his friendship and she wants to go back to the way things used to be, and that much is no doubt true. Marco seems skeptical at first, but ultimately goes along with it. They agree to spend a super awesome summer together as friends. Problem solved?

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Moon shows up in Star's room to tell her that Toffee is back and he's coming to murder them all directly in the face. Star has to go back to Mewni, most likely permanently, but she asks for two minutes to say her goodbyes. Star goes to find Marco, and in front of the entire party she drops the tactical nuke that she does, in fact, have a crush on him. Besides the obvious reactions, this is also notable for being the first and only time we've seen Jackie look like she's about to completely lose her shit. Can't say I blame her, and I'm curious what she'll do next. Maybe we'll see if Jackie has a secret dark side too.

Star doesn't explain why she has to leave, just that she does, probably for good. She says goodbye to Marco and the crowd. As she leaves her room starts to disappear, with Marco looking on in horror. No ending music plays, because Star is no longer on earth to think it's a pretty great place. Thus ends season 2, as well as my will to live.

**Part VI: Starfall**

Whew. So... that's the timeline. Now what does it all mean?

Marco values Star and likes spending time with her. She brings all the fun and adventure that he felt was lacking, the daynejah he always welcomed, and she's constantly pushing him to be more than he is. He felt drawn to her initially, but lost his early attraction when he felt that she pushed him away. Sometimes it was unintentional, and sometimes it was because she hadn't realized her own feelings yet.

In the beginning Star doesn't consider Marco as a dating prospect because she's focused her lust onto Oskar. She likes Marco as a friend, but he isn't her type. She soon becomes happy and comfortable with their platonic relationship and doesn't want to ruin it. Understandable, but it doesn't last. By the time she realizes what's happened, it's already too late.

First, Star recognizes in Mewberty that Marco is, you know, a boy. That one moment opens the door to Star's heart just a microscopic sliver, but it's enough. Marco jams an industrial strength crowbar into the doorway during the Blood Moon Ball, where he and Star share a tender moment before he reveals who he is. You can almost taste the tension rising and the electricity building as they dance together under the Moon of Lovers. Later, in a moment that's almost identical down to the dialogue, Star nearly floods an entire plane of existence with drool after seeing Buff Marco's rock hard abs in Hekapoo's dimension. Those are just some big and obvious examples. I think Star mainly developed feelings for Marco through a long series of similar, smaller events. Whenever she's forced to see Marco as Marco rather than just as a friend, each time another tiny crack forms in her emotional wall, Star falls for Marco just a little bit more. It's so slow and subtle that she doesn't even know anything is happening until she's already head over heels for him. What eventually forces her to confront it is the development of Marco and Jackie's relationship, when she finally realizes how jealous she is.

So just how bad is Star jonesing for a daily dose of vitamin D(iaz)? How desperate is she to lick the frosting off Marco's cake stick? Is it just a crush like she told him, or is she actually in love like Ruberiot said? It's probably somewhere in between. She’s clearly gone well beyond a crush, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to get married and have 2.5 kids and a suburban castle with a white picket fence. They're a little young for that anyway, but even if they weren't, I don't think Star is in QUITE that deep.

Star only claimed to have a crush, and I don't think she was being intentionally dishonest. I think she just didn't have the time or the emotional preparation to say anything more than that, but it's way more serious than she let on. Every time Star saw Jackie and Marco getting busy she looked like she was about to take a .45 caliber aspirin. Anybody who honestly believes Star when she says it's "just" a crush didn't watch the same show. As for Ruberiot, he was either exaggerating for dramatic effect, or he misjudged the situation. Keep in mind, he didn't have a very accurate portrayal of how Moon and River reacted when Star told them she lost Glossaryck. Between that, and the fact that he honestly thought it was a good idea to declare this in front of a national audience without permission, it's possible that he's just an idiot.

Considering all that, it’s fair to say that Star has fallen for Marco like a skydiver with a parachute pack full of lead. She doesn’t want them to stop being best friends though… she just wants be sweethearts too. She doesn't want to change the colors of her feelings rainbow, she wants to add new ones. Star may not be truly in love with Marco (yet), but she is deeply, hopelessly in like with him.

What would it be like if Star and Marco turned the corner together and finally become lovers? I think it would be pretty close to the way things used to be, only with more tongue. They were practically married already. They're already the most important people in each other's lives. It would just be a much, much more intimate form of what they already have. And of course, Star needs to slake her unquenchable thirst for Marco's beef burrito before she spontaneously combusts.

Sadly, they'd never be allowed to even allude to it on a Disney owned show. Then again, ever since all the censors mysteriously vanished after an unscheduled meeting with Daron "Industrial Woodchipper" Nefcy, you never know. They might slide something under the radar to let us know that something significant happened between friends.

**Part VII: The Heart Has Reasons**

All this leaves us with a very interesting and important question. Why Marco?

Well, I mentioned it earlier. It's the central thesis of the whole enchilada. Marco and Jackie want each other, but Marco and Star NEED each other.

Star has a type, and it's misunderstood bad boys. (Not to get all Freudian, but that one might have something to do with her overbearing mother.) Despite his protests and some very ominous foreshadowing by Daron "First Noble Truth" Nefcy, Marco isn't one of these, at least not yet. He's not a rebel, and he's not a tortured soul. What he is, though, is Star's rock. He has become her one absolutely unshakable constant in life. He accepts her, and never tries to get her to be something she's not, yet he also forces her to reflect when she does something wrong. Marco makes mistakes, sure. Sometimes he underestimates her, just like Moon does. He doesn't always understand what's important to her. But he is always, ALWAYS there for her. Not because he has to be her knight, not because she's going to be queen of Mewni, not out of any sense of obligation, but because he's her friend. No wonder Star Butterfly is in love with her best friend. A best friend is what she never knew she needed.

Star is a wild child, and it doesn't look like she had too many friends before coming to earth. She had Pony Head and the rest of the Bounce Crew, but they're just as bad as her in that regard. Marco had, well... Alfonso and Ferguson. The less said about that the better. Then Star and Marco found each other, and ever so slowly, they’ve started to find that they complete each other. Star needs someone to keep her anchored, and Marco needs someone to drive him forward. They have a slow burning but powerfully reactive chemistry that's been drawing them closer and closer since the day they met. Even after living together for most of a year, their relationship is still growing, but in the broader sense... Star and Marco really do love each other.

**Part VIII: Secrets and Lies**

One of the most hotly contested questions I've seen is whether or not this whole mess is Star's fault. Did she bring all this on herself? Would things have been better if she'd just been honest with Marco? Well... yes and no, but mostly no. Some of it is her fault, but keep in mind that she's just a teenager, and has a lot of other pressure to be something she doesn't necessarily want to be. For the most part, Star acted as reasonably as she could considering her unreasonable emotions. It's mostly a result of the fact that, the closer Marco got to Jackie, the more Star had to face her own growing feelings for him head on.

The theologian Blaise Pascal said the heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of. He said this about God and truth, not romantic love, but it applies to human relationships just as much. Despite her best efforts, Star can't change the way she feels about Marco, even if it would have made life easier for everyone involved. God knows she tried. The only option she had left is how she would handle it.

Should Star have just come out and told Marco what she was feeling so they could work through it? I'm not so sure. In Face the Music, Star says that she thought the people of Mewni would want to know what she's really like. Moon responds that they don't, that they'd rather live a comfortable lie, and that the truth can be dangerous. I rather resented this "moral" at the time, and I know I wasn't alone... but upon further reflection, I think I get what they were trying to say. I can respect the philosophical position that the truth is absolute and sacred, but when it collides with the messy, chaotic, irrational world of human (and Mewman) emotions, it's not always so simple.

Here's the problem. There is no point at which Star is both aware of her feelings for Marco and also has any reason to believe that he might return them. Again, Sleepover hits pretty hard on this point. Star likes Marco, Marco likes Jackie. So what should she have done? Should she have told him anyway? What might have happened if she did? Well, there are a few potential outcomes. The first, the most likely, and the one she was afraid of, is very probably ruining her relationships with both Jackie and Marco, and making it ultrawkward to live with him. Star genuinely treasures her friendship with Marco, and while she wants more than that, it's completely understandable that she doesn't want to just throw away her most valued relationship on a bet with such slim odds. The second possibility is that she and Marco (and maybe Jackie) MIGHT have been able to work through it and remain friends. That doesn't really leave her in a better position than before though, so what's the point? Why take the chance?

The final possibility is that finding out Star liked him just might start to change Marco feelings for her, like it did for Jackie and Marco during Sleepover. While I do believe that this is the track we're on now, it might have been entirely different if Star hadn't left earth right after her confession. Now Marco will be forced to think about what Star really means to him. Also, it's well established by the time of Sleepover what kind of relationship Star and Marco have, while Jackie and Marco had some room for exploration. I don't blame Star for thinking that it would have been a losing battle. I'm not sure if her choice to hold it all in and hope she gets over it was the right decision, but it's an understandable one.

Why doesn't Star understand her feelings sooner? Well, let's look at her previous love interests. She dated Tom, and she goes weak in the knees over Oskar. We don't exactly know what her relationship with Tom was like, so let's try Oskar. With Oskar (and maybe Tom), it's straight up lust, not love. With Marco, it's different. It's a much subtler sort of emotion, different from the intense and immediate desire she knew she was feeling for Oskar, and it welled up so slowly that she wasn't even aware that anything was happening. She didn't recognize her affection toward Marco for what it was, because she'd never experienced anything like it before.

Why didn't Star explain why she was leaving for Mewni at the end of Starcrushed? I think it's because she knew Marco would come after her and put himself in danger if he found out what was really going on. He's going to anyway, but it's easy to see why she would want Marco to stay on earth and be safe rather than coming to fight a possibly hopeless battle with her against Toffee. If she kept it vague, Star thought there was at least a chance that Marco might be able to go back to his normal life and be happy again. Again I'm not sure that this was the right call, but there really was no good option available on this one.

Was Star right in how she finally confessed to Marco, in public, in front of Jackie and everyone else? Perhaps not quite. It wasn't fair to either Marco or Jackie and it's going to cause some serious tension down the line. She deserves a little sympathy on this one though. She just found out that Toffee was coming after her, and she was told that she had to leave her new life on earth without warning or preparation. She might never see her best friend and object of her affections again. She wanted Marco to know the truth, and she felt like it would be her last chance to say something.

Star had two minutes to vent a violently bubbling cocktail of emotions that had been building up inside her for the better part of a year, right at a time when everything happening between Jackie and Marco meant that she was already about to boil over. As unfair as it might have been, she was taking her one chance to release the pressure before she exploded.

While Star definitely isn't blameless in all this, she's only Mewman. I can't judge her too harshly under the circumstances.

**Part IX: Cleaved Apart**

One thing frequently hinted in the show is that both Star and Marco have hidden dark sides. By that I don't just mean they have character flaws. I mean that they have some serious inner demons that will become a major driver of the plot and their relationship.

A lot has been said about Star's potential for darkness. We've seen some of it in her unintentional use of green magic, but I don't think we'll get beyond the tip of the iceberg until Eclipsa shows up. That's who Star's power gets compared to, but Eclipsa herself is something of a mystery. Was she really evil, or just someone who history views badly because she was a monster sympathizer? Star read Eclipsa's chapter and nothing happened, at least at first. She's not vulnerable to that particular kind of temptation. But considering what happened to Marco and Ludo after reading it, and what Star did with it in Bon Bon the Birthday Clown, there does seem to be something genuinely evil in it. I'm hesitant to make too many long term predictions on this one.

It's been shown that Star draws a lot of inspiration from Marco. After her magic being stuck on green all day, she was able to cast her normal magic again to save him in Wand to Wand. But it goes the other way too, and seeing him with Jackie turned her magic green during the battle with Ludo in Bon Bon the Birthday Clown. Star's demons are of a different sort than Marco's. They come from her impulsive nature and lack of self control, her swirling torrent of emotions (now fueled in large part by her rising romantic and sexual frustration over Marco), and all that turmoil channeled into a magic fueled by raw passion and imagination.

So Star's wicked side is obvious enough. Marco's... is subtler. Marco has his various insecurities, sure, but that's not what I'm worried about. It's buried deep, but there's something downright malevolent lurking inside our favorite Safe Kid that I believe will turn out to be far, FAR more terrifying than even Star's darkest excesses.

One controversial question is whether Marco is still infected by Monster Arm. I'm not too sure about this one, and there's evidence in both directions. It could make a pretty good story, especially if season 3 goes deeper into the relationship between monsters and Mewmans. Still, I'm skeptical whether we'll see Monster Arm again. I think they'll be taking a different road.

What I'm more interested in is the numerous comparisons with Toffee. During his nightmare in Red Belt, he sees himself in a school locker, dead, and horrified that he's wearing a suit. While he doesn't mention it at the time, it's a suit similar to the one Toffee wore, the very suit Marco insulted when Toffee captured him. After Star detonates her wand in Storm the Castle, Marco cleans off and looks into the face mirror that Toffee hung his suit on a few minutes before. Mysterious.

Then there's the fact that Toffee called Marco a "disappointment". Even in a show full of vague and strange foreshadowing, this line stands out. How was Marco a disappointment? What was Toffee expecting? Why was he expecting anything? Did he have plans for Marco beyond a mere hostage? Did Marco maybe remind Toffee of himself as a young lizard man? Did he perhaps think that Marco had the potential to be like him? Was it just hinting that Toffee has a special interest in Marco for some reason, or do they have more in common than Marco knows?

It could be some or all of those things. We have far more questions than answers, but let's speculate. Maybe there's something about Marco that makes him a more appropriate host than Ludo. It could just be as insurance against Star, who wouldn't be able to bring herself to hurt Marco. It might be something about Marco himself, some hidden potential or capacity for evil that we haven't seen yet. Remember that Toffee couldn't possess Ludo until he read Eclipsa's chapter. Star resisted its lure (at first), but we saw what happened to Marco when he read it. In any other show, I'd take that as a throwaway gag. Here? Not so much. Daron "Batman With Planning" Nefcy did not do this by accident. There is a method to her absolute madness.

What does this have to do with Star and Marco's relationship? Everything. Normally they have each other to rely on, but now.. they don't. Star's emotions and magic are increasingly unstable, and she doesn't have Marco to even her out. She doesn't have Glossaryck to guide her, and Moon is her only teacher. I can only hope River helps take some of the pain away, but he's just too manic to ground Star the same way Marco does.

As for Marco? He has no defense if Toffee comes after him. I don't just mean physical defense. If Toffee tries to tempt Marco over to the dark side, he no longer has his best friend to lean on. I wonder if Toffee's finger vanished from Marco's house along with Star's room or not. Star might be about to get the bad boy she always wanted, or least, that she thinks she always wanted. If he starts a slide into darkness, she might like a strong, dominating Marco at first. Eventually though, there would come a point where he'd go too far and Star would want want Her Marco back. It would be a strange thing to see Star acting as Marco's moral compass, since usually it's the other way around, but I actually think something like this has a pretty good chance of happening sooner or later. Of course, all that only applies if they find each other again before he's too far gone. If not... we might just see Star VS The Forces of Marco.

All I know is, one way or the other, it's about to get loud.

**Part X: The Far Horizon**

So. Marco and Jackie are a thing, Star has left earth without explanation, Marco has a pair of dimensional scissors and is currently in a glass case of emotion. What happens next?

First and foremost, I predict that season 3 will be the summer of our discontent. There will be far, FAR more suffering than we've seen up to this point, and it'll be enough to go around. This is all going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better. Honestly? I'm pretty okay with that. At some point it became one of the reasons I watch the show. (I have a few questions about that for any internet psychologists in the audience... but that's a different discussion.) I can't wait to see what Daron "Iron Maiden" Nefcy has in store for us.

And then there's the elephant in the room. The love triangle. The inevitable death match between Star and Jackie. Marco being pulled between his totally platonic wife and the girl he's pined for since he was five.

The obvious solution to this is, of course, a threesome.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut since this is a Disney owned show, and that's probably genohomosuicide anyway, let's see what else we can come up with.

Alright. Here's what I really DON'T want to happen.

Jackie: "Oh Marco, I see now that you and Star are deeply, deeply in love, and who am I to stand in the way? I just want you to be happy! I will love again. Go to Star, look deep into her heart, and start smoochin' all over that fresh little chuckwagon!"

If this is the route Daron "U Mad?" Nefcy decides to take it, I will flip approximately all the way out. Luckily I don't think it's actually going to happen that way, but I've seen some comments and even a whole comic where people seem to want exactly that outcome. Everything critics said about Jackie being a living plot device would be proven true, and Jackie is a rad babe who doesn't deserve that kind of abuse.

I do think, perhaps sooner rather than later, we'll see an echo of Sleepover. Jackie will ask Marco who he wants to be with, and Marco will say he just doesn't know anymore. This will force Jackie to confront Marco's absolute devotion to Star. Jackie has been patient, maybe more patient than Marco deserves. Now, with Star having vanished without trace and without explanation, it's about to get real.

I don't know what's going to happen with Jackie. I don't know how she's going to react if (when) Marco decides to go after Star, especially after Star dropped her little drama bomb. It's one thing for Marco to go after his best friend who's obviously in some kind of trouble, it's another when she just publicly told him that she wants him for herself. It's not fair to ask him not to pursue a friend in need, but it will just further cement that Star is even more important to Marco than Jackie. What the hell does she do now?

At the end of the day, I favor Starco, but I genuinely like Jackie. She's a cool girl and deserves her own happiness. What she doesn't deserve is to be tossed aside as a no longer convenient plot device. I don't think that's quite going to happen, but it's going to be VERY hard to pull her and Marco apart without it feeling cheap. I don't see how this can be handled without some major heartbreak, and maybe that's as it should be. No, I don't think it's gonna be pretty.

Not if Daron "Subtle Foreshadowing" Nefcy has anything to say about it.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/star-and-the-forces-of-evil/images/1/11/S1E7_Jackie_holding_broken_halves_of_her_skateboard.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1280?cb=20150414215457

God help me, I'm starting to think there may be something to the whole "Jackie is a secret mermaid" theory, which would throw a MASSIVE wrench into things. At first I thought it was a joke, but by the end of season 2, there's a surprisingly strong overall case. Besides the obvious aesthetic theme, there's the fact that her hair color is apparently natural, her strange comment that she used to live down by (in?) the river, and number of smaller hints.

Oh, and there's this. In the episode By the Book, Star and Marco are watching a movie. A squid lady is in love with a human man, but the man says it won't work because they're "from two different worlds". Also, apparently the squid creature dies at the end. There is no way Daron "Stark Raving Gazonkers" Nefcy isn't trying to say something here. What's really interesting is that I don't know whether it's about Star or Jackie. Star is royalty from, literally, another world. On the other hand, the aquatic theme is an obvious match for Jackie. Or maybe it’s about Jackie’s parents? What does it mean? I don't know, but I'm positive it means something.

So what? Well... if Jackie has some relation to the mermaid kingdom in Mewni, her role in the show could change completely. She might yet play a major part in season 3 even after Marco leaves earth. Hard to speculate on details, but there are a LOT of places they could go with that.

I think Marco will go after Star more or less immediately. It's consistent with what we've seen him do up to this point. He will abandon EVERYTHING for Star without a second thought. Just like he did when he lost her scissors and spent 16 years tracking down a replacement pair. Just like he did when the Blood Moon interrupted him macking on his chica and he immediately went to find Star. Just like he did when Star "needed to talk" while he was in the middle of feeding his QT3.14 delicious pizza nuggets, which he abandoned without warning or comment. Marco hasn't realized it yet, but romance or not, Star is the most important person in his life.

But I don't think it will be as easy as showing up on Star's doorstep with his scissors. She'll either be hiding from Toffee, or behind one of the anti-rift devices like we saw in Saint Olga's. If I had to guess, I'd say Marco will spend the first half of the season finding Star physically, and the second half finding her emotionally. This will of course weave together with the Toffee and Mewni related plot threads, and maybe Eclipsa depending on how soon we start that saga.

I believe that at some point in season 3, Marco will receive a major power boost. Maybe he'll retain some of the sword fighting skills he learned in Running with Scissors. Just because he forgot the events doesn't necessarily mean he lost the skills. Maybe Monster Arm will return, or maybe he'll start falling to his dark side and gain some kind of other power from it. Or maybe I'm wrong, he'll stay relatively weak compared to the big fish of the universe and decide to fight anyway. The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is that Marco would follow Star into the depths of hell, and that's exactly what he's about to do.

The most soul crushing part of all of this is that I genuinely don't think Marco has any feelings beyond friendship for Star at this point. It's hard to say what’s going through his head after Starcrushed. I'm sure he's a complete mess, as he said in the live chats. Those are of questionable canonicity, and obviously they were trying to avoid spoilers, but Marco probably really doesn't know how to feel right now.

That doesn't mean the USS Starco is sunk, though. One of the main themes in season 2 is that feelings can grow and change. I believe that Marco will slowly come to realize that Star has been his most important person all along, and sooner or later he'll finally figure out why. When he does, their relationship will once again be the way things used to be, but with a lot more kissing, a more colorful feelings rainbow, and even bigger smiles.

One more quote from Pascal as we finally draw to a close. I have only made this writing so long because I have not had the time to make it shorter. I'll leave you with one final observation. At the end of Just Fiends, Love Sentence sings the song Too Little Too Late as Star is leaving the stadium in absolute despair. But, as several astute viewers have pointed out, they didn't actually sing the final line of the song. The one about it being too little, too late.

Because it isn't.