Suburban Knights



"Names will be remembered. Quests will become legends. And legends will become... legendary."

The third year anniversary special for That Guy With The Glasses, featuring 18 contributors, and separated into 7 videos that were posted in the week of June 26, 2011; the final installment appeared the following Saturday, July 2.

It is an adventure-comedy about The Nostalgia Critic, like last time, gathering a ton of reviewers and leading them into going on a quest. But this time, it is for a legendary gauntlet that is hidden somewhere in suburban Illinois, and according to the map, they must all dress up as famous fictional characters in order to find it. Real villains start showing up to stop their plans, and they discover that this isn't so much a "game" as they had first assumed!

The teaser is here, the full trailer here.


 * Part 1 can be found here.
 * Part 2 can be found here.
 * Part 3 can be found here.
 * Part 4 can be found here.
 * Part 5 can be found here.
 * Part 6 can be found here.
 * Part 7 can be found here.

Commentaries were also provided, by The Spoony One and friends,Linkara/Iron Liz as well and one by Phelan and Brad. (Doug and Rob's one is exclusive to the DVD release)

A-H
"Film Brain: I will eat your pea-ness!"
 * Abandoned Playground: "A worthy place to call our battlefield!" Though it turns out to be not quite abandoned, as a mother comes with her daughter.
 * Accidental Innuendo: In-universe, Played for Laughs, and then lampshaded afterwards.

"Jew Wario: Here, grab my ball. Luke: I'm going to turn around now. That better be what I think it is."


 * Acting for Two/Talking to Himself:
 * Doug plays both the Critic, the Watcher In the Woods, Ask That Guy With The Glasses, and the car drivers passing by the huge field.
 * Spoony returns as the Gate Cleaner. And adds a wife, the Housekeeper, also played by him.
 * Adorkable: Film Brain and Luke in their Harry Potter costumes definitely qualifies.
 * All Just a Dream: Cinema Snob tells a homeowner that Group 2 barging into her house was this. Angry Joe then helps to support his statement.
 * All Women Are Lustful:
 * Each of the female reviewers cling to Jew Wario when they see his costume.
 * Lupa also agrees with the guys when they say the internet is good for porn.
 * Though it's averted in this instance in Nostalgia Chick's case.
 * Alternate Endings: Two on the DVD, both of which follow rather than replace the original. The first continues the parody of the Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan ending, with Ma-Ti monologuing about reviewing, the second is post-credits and shows
 * Amazing Freaking Grace: Twice in Part 7. Once from Paw with a kazoo, and then again when Linkara sings a parody to the Critic.
 * Anachronism Stew:
 * Malachite's photo in part 5 was taken with a digital camera and printed..
 * , while it can't be confirmed how early it was developed before it was officially released in, most certainly did not exist prior to.
 * ...And Show It to You: "Dude, that's my heart."
 * And That's Terrible:
 * The disappearance of Jaffers is "Sad. Very, very sad."
 * "And on a lighter note, the President has been shot."
 * And the Adventure Continues...: After Linkara tells Critic about the Necronomicon, he says how no one from the site would be able to help him since they're all "adventured out". Gilligan Cut to...

"Critic: Nonsense there's no such thing as magic! Linkara: Really! Then how did she do it?! Critic: ...keep walkin'."
 * And Then What?:
 * And You Thought It Was a Game: The reviewers begin their quest under the assumption that it's all a game that Jaffers made up. By Part 5, even the Critic realizes that "This ain't no game anymore."
 * It's implied that this is the reason the Critic is the only one out of the entire review team that is making no effort to act in the character he's dressed as. He acts like a good, capable, intelligent leader towards the end, but it's made clear that it's all him, not "Link" doing anything.
 * Spoony assumes that the Cloaks are a group of LARPers and nothing more. He's wrong.
 * Linkara points out to the Critic that magic is the only explanation for a witch suddenly spouting blinding lights, then vanishing.
 * ominous Beat*

"Phelous: Big, strong hands...! Everyone else: SHUT UP!!!"
 * Anticlimax Boss:, but then again, everyone was happy to see  , and vice-versa, so   just basically let them win so they could
 * Apocalypse How:.
 * Arc Words:
 * "Pure of heart" and issues with technology too.
 * "What do you think of the 21st century?"
 * Asskicking Pose: Done on Part 6, as the title card partially shows.
 * A-Team Firing: Both the Cloaks and Angry Joe. Joe's shots seem ever so slightly more accurate, though.
 * Lupa joins Joe in this later on.
 * manages this at point-blank range.
 * Attack! Attack! Retreat! Retreat!:
 * "Wet yourselves and RUN!"
 * "Run like children!"
 * Part 3. Spoony attempts to perform a You Shall Not Pass. That is, until one of The Cloaks blasts off his hat with an energy ball.
 * Audible Sharpness: Heard after the Cat battle, causing Linkara to stop singing.
 * Aww, Look! They Really Don't Hate Each Other:
 * Also,.
 * Batman Gambit:
 * Beam-O-War:
 * Becoming the Mask: While everybody is trying to stay in-character for the quest, several of them do so with more... commitment than others. Lupa claims that she should be useless in battle because of her character choice, Paw tries to gather rage from everybody (including the trees), and Phelous seems to have gone off the deep end right from the start. Marz Gurl also seems to be joining the throng, what with speaking only in Japanese, scenting the air and biting the Critic on various portions of his anatomy. Lampshaded by Linkara, who notices that The Critic is averting this trope.
 * Critic plays it straight at the end of Part 5
 * And eventually revealed to be subverted with
 * And
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Critic/Lupa, or at least so far. He wanted to kiss her after she fainted but he's also pissed off with her princess role, while she yanks his tie around when she yells at him.
 * Berserk Button:
 * Don't tell Linkara that magic doesn't exist.
 * Or comment about Mickey never growing up.
 * Do not even consider lifting Todd's mask to see what he looks like.
 * The Snob can only take misquoting a line so many times...
 * Or imply to that you like technology.
 * Big-Budget Beef-Up: They apparently got enough to use a few real explosions on Bill's car and in the final episode. Most of the costumes seem like they'd also cost a pretty penny.
 * They did not, however, go through with boom mics or better filming equipment like they promised they would last year (they used the same equipment from Kickassia) because they found none of them had enough experience operating them, and they were on a tight schedule.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Big No: Angry Joe and Spoony both do this upon learning the "free car" was a ruse, Joe with a Cluster Big No and Spoony with a single extended one. It's implied that the rest of the reviewers each made one as well when they happened upon the truth about the "free car."
 * Big "Shut Up!":
 * Big No: Angry Joe and Spoony both do this upon learning the "free car" was a ruse, Joe with a Cluster Big No and Spoony with a single extended one. It's implied that the rest of the reviewers each made one as well when they happened upon the truth about the "free car."
 * Big "Shut Up!":

"Cloak: It's hypnotizing us with its cheap novelty..."
 * Bilingual Bonus:
 * Instead of actual Elvish, the Nostalgia Chick speaks a mixture of several foreign languages, such as Hindi and Irish. What she's actually saying doesn't match up to the subtitles. For instance, when she says "Póg mo thóin" (Irish) in response to Benzaie's Conan speech, it's subtitled as "It's cool," but she's actually saying "Kiss my ass."
 * Averted, one line she speaks is English and is a lyric from "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies.
 * She misquotes the BNL line (Chikiti China, not Chikiti Chinese), though. And at another point, she utters "who's your daddy" over and over real fast.
 * Also averted whenever she attacks with an Elvish Montage, at which point she starts spouting pure gibberish or quoting things. Though one of those included a a line from a song in Slumdog Millionaire.
 * Marz Gurl is speaking real and (sort of) accurate Japanese.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Black and Gray Morality: The reviewers are far from true heroes. The main villain, however, is truly evil.
 * Book Ends:
 * In Part 1, Ma-Ti surprises the Critic by appearing in his room from out of nowhere..
 * Bill's music at the very beginning is an instrumental version of Sad Panda's "Flight of Fantasy", which plays over the credits.
 * The quest both begins and ends with somebody fetching The Nostalgia Critic a coffee
 * Brand Name Takeover:
 * Breaking the Fellowship: At the very beginning, no less.
 * Brick Joke:
 * "Hypnotize them with its cheap novelty?", about the supposed uselessness of Jew Wario's juggling-trick with the Fushigi Ball in part 2. In part 3, it actually works like that in battle.
 * "Hypnotize them with its cheap novelty?", about the supposed uselessness of Jew Wario's juggling-trick with the Fushigi Ball in part 2. In part 3, it actually works like that in battle.

"The Nostalgia Chick: Well, already the credits are bad-- The Nostalgia Critic: Don't review it!"
 * In Part 1, The Nostalgia Critic tells Ma-Ti that he can't join the quest because Nostalgia Chick has lost her contact lens, and he needs to stay behind and find it for her. He returns in Part 3, contact lens in hand. Happens again with the excuse that Mickey needs goat porn..
 * There is one lovely brick joke in Part 5.
 * Buffy-Speak:
 * More of an Overly Narrow Superlative, is a real word after all.
 * Bullet Catch:
 * The Bus Came Back:
 * The Cake Is a Lie: Everyone was lured to Chicago under the promise of a free car.
 * Call Back:
 * The Critic gathering a skeptical TGWTG crew, Film Brain being a huge NC fanboy, and Handsome Tom being the quiet one are carried over from Kickassia. Angry Joe even declares that the Critic has done it again. (a removed line would have him saying "First a brawl, then invading Molossia...")
 * And no one besides Film Brain and Luke are happy when The Critic tricks them into going to Chicago.
 * The Angry Video Game Nerd has a cameo in both to provide exposition and does not take part in the actual filming, although.
 * The reaction of the female reviewers to Jew Wario's costume is a Shout-Out to Lindsay's and Jew Wario's reviews of Labyrinth. In the former, she warns that she'll be paying a lot off attention to "the Area" (Just look at her quote on the trope page); the latter had a scene where several female contributors swooned over Jareth.
 * The "EPICNESS!!!!!!!" tape features a nod to both Doug's GNN/Lori Prince Live sketch, and Spoony's Mazes and Monsters review; specifically the film's Broken Aesop that games like Dungeons & Dragons ruin lives and Spoony's reaction.
 * The Nostalgia Critic again brings up Chick-fil-A's policy of being closed on Sundays.
 * Spoony brings two characters of his Ultima reviews (Gandalf and the Gate Cleaner).
 * In Part 4, a girl enters the story talking on her phone ending a conversation with, "And then my dad shot her, it was weird." Which is a line of dialogue that The Nostalgia Critic focuses on in his review of Airborne.
 * In part 4, after the witch attacks, Linkara says "It's magic, you don't have to explain it," an infamous line uttered by Joe Quesada to defend One More Day, which Lewis turned into an often-used quote on his show.
 * In Part 5, The dialogue throughout the scene is a Call Back to the Nostalgia Critic's Old Vs New for Lord of the Rings when he discusses how the Nazgûl would have reacted to Frodo being changed into one of them.
 * Also in Part 5, Benzaie makes reference to his
 * During the Critic's first Rousing Speech (and right before he notices everyone has run out the door), he calls them his "proud, Warriors of Virtue, a film he once reviewed.
 * During, Linkara is seen wearing his starfleet uniform, which he also wears on his own show and in Kickassia.
 * The Cameo:
 * Doug and Rob's father, Barney Walker, is the newscaster.
 * Showrunner Mike Michaud as the passer-by that Joe yells at.
 * TGWTG webmistress and director of human resources Holly Brown as the witness in the GNN report.
 * Doug's ex-girlfriend (Dena in the "Go West" sketch) plays the woman who gets blown up.
 * as the Voice of the Ancients.
 * as Crom.
 * Elisa (Dr. Tease) as the house owner who Team 2 ties up.
 * Nella as the Chick's stunt-woman.
 * ..Somewhat  before running away.
 * Can You Hear Me Now?: When the Critic's group tries to call Spoony's group in episode 5, they find they can't get a connection. Obscurus Lupa and Linkara suggests that someone may be using magic to block the call.
 * Care Bear Stare /ThePowerOfFriendship:
 * Cast from Hit Points: Using magic in the Awesome-verse seems to be bad for your health.
 * The Cavalry: Team 2 arrives in the middle of Team 1's battle and they back them up.
 * Cerebus Callback: A miserable Critic wanders home and sees that Ma-Ti still got him his coffee.
 * Character Development: While Critic becoming less of a brat and more of a hero is more obvious, they all get a bit. They go from cowards who loathe each other to brave people who can kinda sorta be considered a Nakama.
 * Luke and Film Brain go from rivals to friends who fight alongside each other.
 * Chain Letter:
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Chekhov's Skill:
 * Collective Groan:
 * At the "EPICNESS!!!!!!!" tape:
 * Chekhov's Skill:
 * Collective Groan:
 * At the "EPICNESS!!!!!!!" tape:

"The Nostalgia Chick: There are certain things... that should be covered... up. The Nostalgia Critic: I know. That's why I've got the hat. Nostalgia Chick: There are...There are certain things that need to remain closed. Nostalgia Critic: I know, and I for one respect Chick-fil-A for not serving people on Sunday. I wonder if we can get it so they don't serve Christians."
 * Also when they are told that they will be fired if they don't participate in the quest and when Linkara/King Arthur suggests a sing-along.
 * Combat Pragmatist: The Cloaks use a machine gun, leading Joe to reply with his own. Linkara eventually gets tired of swordfighting and uses his pistol. And when Joe uses his gun again, And as a reference, after The Good Witch Warrior Of The Woods starts shooting lightning during a climactic battle,
 * Combination Attack: Two in the climatic battle.
 * Batter Up/I Know Madden Kombat: Todd and Paw defeating the Voice of the Ancients (though the 'bat' is Paw's stick/tree branch) with a baseball play. Paw even shouts "Home run for Profion!" and does a chest bump with Todd.
 * "Hey You!" Haymaker: Film Brain and Luke on a Cloak ("Expecto my fist!").
 * Comically Missing the Point: The Critic just doesn't understand that the Chick and Lupa want him to.

"Newscaster: He was described as "emotionally troubled." Witness: He was emotionally troubled."
 * Cosplay: Goes hand-in-hand with LARP-esque adventure quests, though the term itself is never mentioned.
 * Cower Power: Critic clings hard to the Chick (even though she's about a foot smaller than him) when the Witch Warrior gets tired of his and the team's teasing.
 * Cringe Comedy: Not very much, but the Nostalgia Critic's  in the woods is pretty awkward as the   and   try to figure out a way to let him know without actually telling him that they can  . In the end.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: was handling NC's Fellowship without breaking a sweat...  Also
 * Darker and Edgier: As compared to Kickassia. While the screwball comedy, reference jokes, and character dynamics are still in fine form, in this one, cars explode, innocent bystanders are wantonly killed, the villain is genuinely terrifying,, and death is not nearly as cheap.
 * Dark Is Evil: Everything about outfit is black- his Nice Hat, his Badass Longcoat, even his Black Eyes of Evil.   are all wearing black as well, with the majority doning black masks.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Todd in the Shadows as The Man In Black. Played straight with  who just want to keep Malachite away from the gauntlet. Played with for the   who seems rather nice and   but who also was planning on killing Team A and drinking from their bleeding skulls.
 * Deadpan Snarker: It would be easier to list the characters that aren't.
 * Debut Queue: They even ask to be introduced one at the time "because it's more dramatic."
 * Designated Girl Fight: Played straight, then subverted. At first Chick and Lupa just fight the witch, but then Chick fights Jaffers and Lupa becomes an Action Girl.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: "Names will be remembered. Quests will become legends. And legends will become... legendary."

"Linkara: INTO THE WOOOOODS! INTO THE WOO-- Others: SHUT UP!"
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight:  dies in Critic's arms. Critic doesn't take this well.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: The Big Bad, who really hates technology and the twenty-first century, has killed people for basically using a GPS, using a mobile phone, and watching television.
 * Plus there's how Malachite is still angry over Aeon and technology winning the king's favor centuries ago. His solution? Destroy the modern world.
 * Dolled-Up Installment: Ma-Ti, but Doug couldn't find a place in the story to put it, so he had to wait until this film to use it instead.
 * Do Not Go Gentle: Not just referencing, there is a meta one as well for Matt "Apollo Z Hack" Burkett who left the site before the filming (citing creative differences) but still noticeably contributed to the overall quality of the movie's special effects alongside Phelous' always excellent efforts. Going out with a bang, literally?
 * Do Not Taunt the Good Witch of the Woods
 * Don't Go in The Woods: Who knew the woods and bike trails of Chicago suburbia were so dangerous?

"Nostalgia Critic: "Hey, isn't that"
 * Dope Slap:
 * Part 3. When Angry Joe tells the little girl at the playground that Santa Claus doesn't exist, he receives one of these from one of The Cloaks.
 * The Critic dope slaps Spoony
 * Dramatic Wind: An unintended consequence of the Chicago weather.
 * Driven to Suicide: In a deleted scene,
 * Dull Surprise: "Dude, that's my heart."
 * Most of Jaffer's lines.
 * DVD Commentary: There's several:
 * A cast commentary by Spoony, Nostalgia Chick, Elisa, Bennett, Film Brain, Benzaie,, Cinema Snob, Linkara, Ed Glaser and JewWario
 * One from Linkara and Iron Liz
 * One from Phelous and Cinema Snob
 * And finally three on the actual DVD from Doug, Rob, and a joint commentary from Holly and Iron Liz
 * Establishing Character Moment: The main villain flags down a car to hitch-hike, goes on a long rant about technology, kills the driver and blows the car up. And then we know what he's like.
 * Eureka Moment: When the Critic realizes that He had another one when
 * Evil Is Cool: In-universe. In Part 7, Malachite manages to deflect every single bullet fired at him by Angry Joe and Obscurus Lupa with his staff. Joe's response to this? "Whoa. That was awesome!"
 * Evil Is Sexy: In-universe. A female passerby remarks that Malachite is "pretty hot" after he delivers a rant about the evils of technology to her.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Cloaks.
 * Expy: GNN newscaster Larry Prince in the "EPICNESS!!!!" video is one of Lori Prince, one of Doug Walker's past sketch characters, who himself is an Expy of Larry King.
 * Exposed to the Elements: It was cold and windy. Benzaie makes it clear in his vlog that it was hard to remain shirtless, and Lupa put on her leather jacket between takes to remain warm (said jacket was even incorporated in a battle). Also, nearly everyone got sunburn.
 * Eye Poke: During the first fight against the Cloaks, Brad pokes a Cloak in the eyes and runs away.
 * Fan Service:
 * The real Link and most male cosplayers have tights on and a skirt that goes down to their knees. Doug does not. Even a few of the women on the site have marveled/complained about the niceness of his legs.
 * Jew Wario as Jareth is Mr. Fanservice in-universe.
 * Some fans see Critic's upskirt shot as this. Lewis lampshades this by saying all the Critic fans hit their screencapture button at this exact moment, Doug brags on his commentary about even guys telling him they thought it was hot, and Film Brain had his turn when he went on a Fetish Fuel Wiki trawl, saying that it had to be listed as such.
 * Benzaie walking around in a leather outfit shirtless.
 * That's quite a neckline, Lindsay.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:  was not destroyed as was thought in the final battle. Instead, he has been banished to his ultimate hell...a cursed realm of evil and damnation AND low-low prices..."ALL-AROUND CAFE!" And don't even ask how the bathroom breaks work.
 * Fastball Special: Handsome Tom and 8-Bit Mickey attempt one. Doesn't go well.
 * Female Gaze: The person who has shown the most skin so far is, well... guess.
 * When Jew Wario reveals his costume, the girls, especially the The Nostalgia Chick, are obviously looking at him "below the belt."
 * Finger-Poke of Doom:  finger flicks Spoony, and sends him flying around the world. Twice!
 * Fire-Forged Friends:
 * Flynning: How most of the combat plays out.
 * Foreshadowing:
 * In Part 3, the visually impaired Todd attacks Film Brain, mistaking him for one of the Cloaks. At the end of Part 4,
 * Linkara reveals that in one of his reviews
 * Foe Yay: Film Brain and Luke Mochrie. Despite having spent the previous three parts fighting over the Critic's affections, they spend a significant portion of Part 4 holding hands. Doing so to speak to a mystical stone phantom, perhaps, but holding hands nonetheless. After Part 5, they start getting along.
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: The entire map is visible for just a split second in Part 4. Besides the stuff that gets mentioned in the dialogue and a few more The Lord of the Rings references, the map also appears to mark the location of Jimmy Hoffa's body.
 * The Fun in Funeral: Leave it to the good folks at Channel Awesome to inject a little bit of humor into something as depressing as 's death.
 * Funny Background Event: When Crom is talking to Benzaie in Part 6, both Critic and Jaffers chase each other with the latter's sword, while Phelous fights a Cloak's sword barehanded.
 * When Ma-ti first shows up, saying he's here for a free car and then begging to join the quest despite not being sent a note, he's holding a card that says "Car thing. YAY!"
 * Fun with Subtitles: As mentioned above in Bilingual Bonus, the subtitles done for the The Nostalgia Chick aren't entirely accurate...
 * Gag Penis: Jew Wario as Jareth. The ladies definitely notice.
 * A Glass in the Hand: Film Brain crushes a cardboard cup of coffee when he learns that Luke has already gotten the Nostalgia Critic a latte.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: Bill's murder in the opening scene.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: Character specific. Linkara remains, as always, very light on vulgarities, keeping away from anything heavier than a 'damn'.
 * also fall under this heading, though the latter only for a scene in episode 6 where the two exchange a brief dialog about 'loyalties'.
 * Noticably, all the reviewers tone down their profanity usage when is around.
 * Groin Attack:
 * All over the place. MarzGurl's initial bite was on the Nostalgia Critic's lower body, numerous lines of dialogue threaten this, Cat aims slightly lower against the towering Willow!Tom, and a Cloak's bolt does this to Jew Wario,
 * forces the Critic to groin attack himself. Fifteen times.
 * Hammerspace: Angry Joe whips out a machine gun from behind his back..
 * Hand Wave: In a commentary Linkara noted that people will likely question why he can use magic in his show safely when the special establishes that magic in the TGWTG universe drains your life force. Turns out protects him.
 * Here We Go Again: At the beginning where all the reviewers realize that The Nostalgia Critic has roped them into yet another Zany Scheme.
 * Linkara gets worried when.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Invoked when the third Cloak takes off his hood.
 * forces the Critic to groin attack himself. Fifteen times.
 * Hammerspace: Angry Joe whips out a machine gun from behind his back..
 * Hand Wave: In a commentary Linkara noted that people will likely question why he can use magic in his show safely when the special establishes that magic in the TGWTG universe drains your life force. Turns out protects him.
 * Here We Go Again: At the beginning where all the reviewers realize that The Nostalgia Critic has roped them into yet another Zany Scheme.
 * Linkara gets worried when.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Invoked when the third Cloak takes off his hood.
 * Linkara gets worried when.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Invoked when the third Cloak takes off his hood.


 * "Hey You!" Haymaker: In addition to the Combination Attack of Luke/FB, on the Witch.
 * Ho Yay: In-Universe.
 * "Mr. Critic is mine, understand?" Looks like Film Brain still has his crush.
 * Although it wasn't intended this way, the other members of the team took his exclamation of "I will eat your pea-ness" as this.
 * Hypocritical Humor:
 * Malachite has a smartphone. He's promptly called out on this and he flat out denies that it's technology.
 * The Critic complaining that the map has too many spelling errors.

I-P
"Sage: Critic... the path to enlightenment is the enlightenment of the path. Critic: Yes, and the way to pain is to nail you in the nads."
 * Ice Cream Koan:

"Spoony: So, it's like LARP'ing? Critic: No! That's just a bunch of dorks dressing up and fighting for a fake reward. Spoony: While we're a bunch of dorks dressing up and fighting for a real reward. Critic: Exactly!"
 * I Need a Freaking Drink: Todd when he finds out that
 * The Internet Is for Porn: Team 1 tells about how much the Internet has changed since the 80's, and all unanimously, vocally agree when this trope is reached. This makes  hopeless about this team being pure of heart, but surfs the Internet himself later and discovers the TGWTG site.
 * Jump Scare: The Gatecleaner is contractually obligated to provide one whenever he is summoned. This is eventually used against him when Film Brain and Luke keep throwing the summoning rock around.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: Used by the Cloaks.
 * Kent Brockman News: The video the Critic shows the others.
 * Klaatu Barada Necktie
 * Large Ham:
 * The entire series is set to become sheer Ham-to-Ham Combat.
 * As for Ham-to-Ham Combat itself, as Spoondalf and King Linkara start arguing, The Critic says "Save it for Broadway!" (Especially because Linkara's costume is based on a musical.)
 * Laser-Guided Karma:
 * Leitmotif:
 * has a drum-based one that plays whenever he appears.
 * Angry Joe has a spanish guitar that plays whenever he attempts his My Name Is Inigo Montoya line.
 * There's a rather epic score that plays whenever the Cloaks arrive.
 * The Cinema Snob's introduction and Theme Music Power-Up moments have an 8-bit version of the Indiana Jones theme.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: Justified; the map has two distinct paths, and they're still left with nine people in each group.
 * Long Speech Tea Time: The Critic delivers his rousing speech, only to discover that everyone has left.
 * Lowered Monster Difficulty: Malachite casually disintegrates most of the people he comes across, but whenever he faces off against series regulars, he hands them swift and humiliating, but nonfatal defeats. We assume that his gigantic ego just wanted them to be witnesses to the destruction of their world.
 * Ludicrous Gibs: Poor, poor Bill... The woman in Part 3 who is blown up too, though not as gruesome.
 * MacGuffin: Malachite's Hand, aka the magic gauntlet.
 * Mineral MacGuffin: The magical gem on the gauntlet gives it its power.
 * The Magic Goes Away:
 * Magic Versus Science:
 * Magikarp Power:
 * Mama Bear:
 * Man Children: Of course. This comes back to bite the Critic's team when they mock the the Good Witch of the Woods too much.
 * Massive Multiplayer Crossover
 * Metaphorgotten: Film Brain's "pea" analogy in Part 2.
 * Mood Swinger:
 * Upon learning the truth about the "free car" both Joe and Spoony instantly go from good cheer to screaming a Big No in anguish.
 * Part 5 has Team 1 realizing that immediately followed with
 * Mood Whiplash:
 * The beginning of the film sees an innocent driver being killed and his car blown up. Then after the title we get the usual wackiness of the TGWTG crew.
 * The end of Part 6. They're victorious and have found the gauntlet, but then everything goes silent and they all get an Oh Crap look on their faces:.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Critic and Benzaie due to the Stripperific nature of their costumes and Jew Wario for playing a Memetic Sex God. With the weather being the way it was, the former two regretted wearing so little.
 * Music Video: For Sad Panda's song "Flights of Fantasy", which plays over the closing credits. WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS SPOILERS!
 * Musicalis Interruptus: Linkara keeps trying to sing in Part 2, but everybody tells him to knock it off. His efforts in Part 3 go just as well. He's interrupted yet again in Part 7,.
 * Nakama: Out of verse, as always. But even in verse, they become this. They're still assy and snarky, but they stand together and comfort each other when one gets upset or hurt.
 * Name's the Same: Thanks to this, some who aren't aware of the film Willow thought Handsome Tom was playing a certain other red-haired character named Willow.
 * Never Found the Body:
 * Nice Job Breaking It Reviewers:
 * Ninja Prop: In a production like this, it's understandable that villains and minor characters would be played by the site's supporting cast and less visible reviewers. So it's a surprise when Cloak #1, portrayed by The Last Angry Geek,.
 * No Except Yes:
 * Ninja Prop: In a production like this, it's understandable that villains and minor characters would be played by the site's supporting cast and less visible reviewers. So it's a surprise when Cloak #1, portrayed by The Last Angry Geek,.
 * No Except Yes:

"We thank you for flying Painful Airlines..."
 * No Fourth Wall:
 * The reviewers know The Oner is for the trailer and can read the on-screen subtitles to understand Arwen!Nostalgia Chick. But then this is pretty much status quo for them. Oddly enough they can't seem to read San!MarzGurl's subtitles, but then again, they did have to be told to read the subtitles by the Nostalgia Chick.
 * Arwen!Chick distracts Cat with a... montage? How does that work?
 * This is the same woman who weaponized a Non Sequitur Scene. Then, again, the second and third time she tries using a montage, it doesn't work.
 * And in Part 7, it's pretty much lampshaded by the reviewers that it really does nothing but confuse people.
 * At the end of Part 7, Linkara complains that he didn't get a song or a character arc.
 * Non Sequitur Thud: 8-Bit Mickey, after being thrown by Handsome Tom.
 * Non Sequitur Thud: 8-Bit Mickey, after being thrown by Handsome Tom.
 * Non Sequitur Thud: 8-Bit Mickey, after being thrown by Handsome Tom.

"Luke: [on the phone to his mother] Yeah, I'm on a quest for buried treasure, isn't that cool? No, this one is for real this time. No, I won't bring home another dead animal."
 * Spoony.
 * Noodle Incident:
 * Luke's previous quest for treasure.

"The Spoony One: Suddenly, I'v decided I'm terribly afraid of you. [runs]"
 * Todd Both acknowledged as such by the Critic and Todd remarking that the others would probably be better off not knowing the details.
 * Not So Different:
 * Offhand Backhand: MarzGurl does this to Todd accidentally.
 * Malachite does this to a car.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: Pretty much every character in the series does this at one point or another.
 * Oh Crap:
 * Spoony's fellowship has an epic one when they realize the Cloaks really are supernatural beings.
 * Spoony's fellowship has an epic one when they realize the Cloaks really are supernatural beings.

"Doug in the DVD Commentary: To answer the two most frequent questions I get, yes, I am aware she looks like Kirsten Dunst, and no, she is not available. She's married now. So... ya' missed it. Sorry."
 * The Critic realizing he's spilled the beans on
 * After realizing
 * After getting the magic gem back, shows up in homage to the Battle of Pellenor Fields.
 * The reaction of many who saw the DVD Stinger:
 * The Oner: The reviewers cross a field, all in one shot. Lampshaded by the Nostalgia Critic as being solely done for the trailer.
 * Note that Linkara walks a bit out of frame, forcing the camera to jerk to the left. This is because he got confused about when they were splitting up.
 * One-Scene Wonder: The girl using a cellphone (played by one of Doug's ex-girlfriends) got quite some attention from the fandom, ever since her one second appearance in the trailer.


 * Only the Worthy May Pass: And none of the gauntlet's guardians think any of the reviewers are worthy.
 * Opt Out: Whomever it was that took a desk job and was replaced by.
 * Overly Long Gag: In Part 4, Film Brain and Luke keep on dropping their stone just to watch the Gate Cleaner snarl at the camera, which he is contractually obligated to do every time someone calls him by stone. He eventually gets tired of it and tells them never to call him again.
 * forcing the Critic to repeatedly punch himself in the groin 13 times in a row. The oddly realistic crunch sounds don't help.
 * Panty Shot: Critic has quite a banana hammock going on there.
 * Pity the Kidnapper:
 * Power Crystal: The gauntlet itself doesn't have any power, just the jewel stuck on it.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "What do you think of the 21st century?"
 * "I find that quite vexing"
 * "EXPECTO MY FIST!"
 * Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Go back to the litterbox, pussy of puppety doom!"
 * Precision F-Strike: Angry Joe's "My Name Is Inigo Montoya, motherfucker!," accompanied by a machine gun.
 * Upon learning the location of the gauntlet, by a variety of the cast: "Oh, you've got to be FUCKING KIDDING ME! "
 * Prop Recycling: Benzaie's wig is the same wig that Doug uses whenever he plays Douchey McNitpick.
 * Pseudo Crisis:
 * Part 3 ends with Spoony losing the map. But in Part 4, it's shown that he still remembers the next part, so there aren't any problems before they get it back.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Jaffers' friends which act as obstacles. (though the Witch is certainly enjoying it too much...)
 * Pun-Based Title
 * Punch Clock Villain: Jaffers' friends which act as obstacles. (though the Witch is certainly enjoying it too much...)
 * Pun-Based Title

Q-Z
"Nostalgia Critic: It's the Internet, Ma-Ti. They have porn for everything."
 * The Quest
 * Real After All: Turns out there really are supernatural guardians of Malachite's Hand. The reviewers do not take this well.
 * Really Dead Montage:.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: delivers these to his victims. They always miss the point.
 * Recognition Failure: King Arthur, Willow, the Rockbiter... and Todd in the Shadows, who at first thinks they weren't recognizing the Dread Pirate Roberts. Film Brain suffers from this before he even puts a costume on.
 * Red Herring: Spoony's ring is an unintentional example - he decided to wear it as a jokey, cheap version of Gandalf's elven ring and didn't realise until it was too late that it looked just like  This confused a lot of viewers; and Spoony stated in his commentary that he regretted wearing the ring because of this, however several other participants in the commentary pointed out that he shouldn't as it helped obscure the real twist.
 * Reference Overdosed
 * Rousing Speech: Parodied, as the reviewers point out every inconsistency on the Critic's words.
 * Played straight with the second rousing speech given by the Critic before the final showdown with Jaffers' group.
 * Rule 34: Referenced by the Nostalgia Critic.

"Angry Joe: Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my hamster. Todd: FATHER! Cinema Snob: "That's not even a PERSON!""
 * Running Gag: Several
 * Angry Joe constantly screwing up the "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya." line by forgetting that the line was referring to Montoya's father, and not his brother/mother/lawyer/hamster; only to be corrected by someone else..
 * This winds up generating a fan (And cast) favorite line out of The Cinema Snob in episode 6

"8-Bit Mickey: I've never seen someone over-romanticise a bunch of nothing so well."
 * Spoony losing and promptly running back to retrieve his hat. Seemingly ended as of Part 3, abandoning it after being blasted off during his You Shall Not Pass attempt.
 * The running gag wasn't even intentional. Spoony just, genuinely, and unscriptedly, kept losing his hat, realising it was gone and going back to get it. They just decided to keep it in the final product. That doesn't stop it from being hilarious, though.
 * The Critic stopping Ma-Ti from joining the adventure with increasingly ridiculous Snipe Hunts.
 * Linkara trying to get everyone else to sing with him.
 * The Critic saying how there's no such thing as magic and Linkara getting pissed off.
 * "I'm Willow."
 * In the commentaries, referring to how baity they're being: "And a million fanfics were written."
 * In regards to the previous anniversary specials, the back-and-forth "Fuck you!" returns once again, this time between Angry Joe and the Voice of the Ancient World.
 * Science Destroys Magic: Part of the premise.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Both Cloak 1 and The Cinema Snob ("You betrayed Shiva! ...Well, I think Shiva will get over this.")
 * In Spoony's commentary, it was stated that Linkara was meant to do the same as the Snob, but this was cut as it was just the exact same joke.
 * Sequel: Judging from the personalities and the Here We Go Again scene at the beginning, this clearly follows the same exact characters from Kickassia, and takes place after it.
 * Word of God states that one line in the script that was ultimately cut had Angry Joe outright referring to both Kickassia and the TGWTG Year One Brawl during the Here We Go Again scene.
 * Sequel Escalation: It's longer than Kickassia, there are more characters including several surprise cameos, there are more fight scenes, more (and better) special effect scenes, and an epic fantasy quest complete with a Big Bad that wants to destroy the world along with a magical MacGuffin to track down.
 * Sequel Hook: Lampooned.
 * Serendipity Writes the Plot: Paw was supposed to play an actual kazoo, but they lost it, so a part of the broken Ask That Guy pipe is used instead.
 * Elisa's part was meant to be played by one of Rob's friends. Also, after Elisa nearly passed out from being duct taped to a wall, the shot was discarded and redone with her taped to the couch instead.
 * Ed Glaser was supposed to be a Cloak, but due to weather conditions he chose to remain backstage and Iron Liz took over the role.
 * Shaped Like Itself: The magical cat puppet's name is... Cat.
 * Share the Male Pain: A subtle example, but when Malachite forces the Critic to Groin Attack himself, the guys in the background can be seen wincing and cringing.
 * Ship Tease:
 * Cinema Snob and MarzGurl in Part 3.
 * Lupa sure likes pulling Critic's tie and he wanted to kiss her awake in Part 2.
 * Chick is the only one who can talk to Critic about him showing way too much without being squicked and he clings to her hard when he gets scared.
 * Both of these get lampshaded in the cast commentary. For Chick/Critic, Lindsay says the characters have a "history" and for Critic/Lupa, Sage mentions that a million forced feminization fics are going to be written.
 * Joe finds Lupa in leather with a machine gun surprisingly hot.
 * During Part 7, Jew Wario and Nostalgia Chick can be see holding each other while the whole group, and later the latter rests her head on former's shoulder during.
 * Shout-Out: Now has its own page.
 * Shown Their Work: Thirty years ago, the President was shot. On March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. Possibly doubles as a Genius Bonus as well.
 * There used to be two more added lines after this which made it clearer that it was Reagen they were referring to (Jewario worrying about the President and Critic telling him he'll be fine), but it was cut for whatever reason. This led to a few viewers wondering if they were talking about Obama or someone else, forgetting that the tape was made in the 80's.
 * Another comes when  refers to the Internet as "that Defense Department bullshit". This is a reference to ARPANET, the former Department of Defense network system that formed the core of the modern Internet.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: After getting banished to the All-Around Cafe,  tries to give his usual Hannibal Lecture to one of the customers, only for the barista to smack him upside the head.
 * Snipe Hunt: How the Critic keeps stopping Ma-Ti from joining them, ranging from protecting non-existent children and elderly to finding goat porn.
 * Lampshaded in Part 5, along with What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?.
 * Solemn Ending Theme: Sad Panda's song "Flight of Fantasy".
 * Special Effects Failure: "Cat" is obviously a puppet.
 * Jaffers and the Cloaks had some awfully wobbly swords for their supposed lethality. Just sayin'.
 * Related to the swords, Linkara said he wanted to bring his real sword, but Doug was worried someone would get hurt and just gave him one of the Cloaks' plastic swords.
 * Proven to be a valid fear, when Rob got hit in the face with  katana during one battle scene.
 * Spin to Deflect Stuff: Malachite does it with his staff.
 * Stealth Hi Bye:
 * Everyone pulls this on the Critic during the first episode. He actually has to tell everyone to knock it off when, one by one, they each do a Stealth Hi to introduce their costumes. As for the bye part, everyone pulls it simultaneously as the Critic delivers his rousing speech while looking out a window. That's right, fifteen people left his house without him hearing.
 * Done to the Cloaks by Team 2 during the "battle relocation."
 * does it to Jew Wario after returning the map.
 * Ma-Ti show up in the Critic's bedroom from out of nowhere.
 * Stealth Pun:
 * The title. Also, The Cinema Snob and his costume choice.
 * Which also resulted in a lovely awkward moment when
 * Film Brain gets.
 * What's The Cinema Snob holding in the intro video?.
 * The line "" is said by a wizard.
 * Jew Wario's introduction while a picture of a tower is behind him.
 * The Stinger: The Gatecleaner's wife saying "Shut up, mommy's in the rock!"
 * Except on the DVD, where it's
 * Stock Footage: During the flashback scene explaining, there's a shot of an erupting volcano. That you probably can't film in Chicago.
 * Stylistic Suck: Not only invoked but also completely justified, since in-universe all the characters (except ) are normal people putting on an act of being a fantasy character for the purposes of the quest. Even the magic-using Cloaks and Good Witch are everyday people recruited to protect the gauntlet.
 * In the commentary, the reviewers point out the battle scenes don't have any continuity (Lupa bites Cat in the foreground, in the following shot he's fighting Tom in the background.)
 * Stunned Silence: The reviewers when they see
 * Done again a moment later when
 * Suspiciously Similar Song:
 * An 8-bit version of the Indiana Jones theme plays when the Cinema Snob shows off his costume. Obviously, the original is copyrighted and a production team of this budget would never be able to acquire the rights to use it.
 * An orchestrated version pops up during his parts in the big fight scene.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: The box containing the Voice of the Ancient World is very clearly labeled: "DOES NOT CONTAIN VOICE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD." Naturally, AskThatGuy put it there.
 * Take My Hand: When MarzGurl is about to fall off of a slide, The Cinema Snob takes her hand and shouts at her to give him her other as she attempts to reach for her spear. She ends up falling... but it turns out to be a really short slide. To make it even better, they recite dialogue from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. With Marz's lines in Japanese.
 * Take That:
 * In regards to Liv Tyler's portrayal of Arwen via Nostalgia Chick.
 * In regards to Liv Tyler's portrayal of Arwen via Nostalgia Chick.

"The Cinema Snob: Hi there, we represent the Broadway Better Business Players For A Brighter Tomorrow. We're trying to start a petition to get second rate shows taken off the marquee, and with your help, we can stop Mamma Mia! from ever playing again."
 * As silly as Cat is, you have to give him one thing. He's funnier than Jeff Dunham.
 * When Team 2 trying to get inside the last location on their map:

"Luke: That's a lot of peas. And I'm just full of them. I'm totally full of pea-ness. So, what are you going to do? Film Brain: I will eat your pea-ness! [Everyone else looks over at them] Film Brain: Oh, no no no no no I didn't mean that, it's just... Angry Joe: Yeah, whatever. You go to the back."
 * When Malachite rants about TV shows in part five, his tone gets even more hateful when he gets to Glee.
 * The theme song to Suburban Knights was reedited for people who found it offensive.
 * Tap on the Head: Done to Linkara to make him stop singing.
 * Also done to Elisa to convince her that the home-invasion by Team 2 was All Just a Dream.
 * Tempting Fate: Luke reacts to Paw with "I don't wanna go with him!" They end up in the same group (but without much interaction).
 * That Came Out Wrong: Luke tricks Film Brain into delivering an unfortunate follow-up to his insult.

"Jew Wario: Oh I've always wondered what you looked like [click] aaaaaaaand then he backed away..."
 * That Makes Me Feel Angry: Quoth "I find that quite vexing."
 * There Was a Door: Narrowly averted; one team realizes the Voice of the Ancients is under the floor. They nearly start ripping it up when the woman they tied up points out there's a basement.
 * These Questions Three: Team 1 comes across a disembodied voice that pulls this on them.
 * This Is Gonna Suck: Invoked by Phelous just before the final confrontation with Malachite,
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman:
 * To Be Continued: One of the unused endings make it clearer that the 4th year special will indeed be a continuation of the storyline started in this special.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Bill, the mobile phone lady, and the guy watching TV. Paw and Joe get points for being willing to fight The Cloaks even after they've dimmed the light of the sun and their leader summons a ball of lightning in his hands. They soon change their mind.
 * Totally Radical: Bill, the poor guy who picks up the Big Bad, suffers from this.
 * Trailers Always Lie: Obscurus Lupa asking, "Is there some sort of medicine you should be on?" was directed at Film Brain, not the The Nostalgia Critic.
 * Troperiffic: And proud of it.
 * A Twinkle in the Sky:.
 * Two Lines, No Waiting: The heroes split into two teams to follow different paths on the map.
 * Unflinching Walk: is a master of this.
 * The Unexpected: One of the guardians is.
 * The Unfavorite: Not that Film Brain was the Critic's favorite from the Kickassia special. But Luke starting to muscle in for Critic's favor is obviously apparent.
 * The Un-Reveal: Jew Wario tries to take Todd's mask off, only to get a gun pointed at him.

"The Nostalgia Critic: ... Yeah, that did sound a bit douche-y. Promise you'll never let me say that again-- Everyone Else: Promise."
 * Vehicle Vanish: Inverted; shows up from a passing car.
 * Villain Opening Scene: gets one where he enters Bill's car and then after getting frustrated by Bill's reliance on technology kills him and blows up the car.
 * We Have Forgotten the Phlebotinum: Spoony loses his map to the gauntlet at the end of Part 3..
 * We Used to Be Friends:.
 * Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Critic as Link. Lupa as a princess. It had to happen.

"Lary Prince: Sad. [takes off glasses] Very very sad. And now, [puts glasses back on] on a lighter note, the president has been shot..."
 * Wham! Episode:
 * The end of Part 5. Obviously, it has more of an impact if you've been a fan of TGWTG from the beginning.
 * The episode has plenty of Wham to go around:
 * The climax of Part 7.
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?:
 * Ma-Ti keeps desperately trying to join their quest, but Nostalgia Critic won't let him join. It's not that his power is completely pathetic, not at all...it's just that Nostalgia Chick has lost her contact lens, and he needs to find it.
 * Also, Mickey has erectile dysfunction. Ma-Ti must go find goat porn to cure him!
 * Where It All Began:.
 * Wimp Fight: Everyone
 * World of Ham: Of course. Particular note to Phelous and Paw (who is inspired by a Ham and Cheese performance itself).
 * Worst News Judgment Ever: On the GNN broadcast, the disappearance of a game store clerk receives higher billing than an assassination attempt against the president.
 * Worst News Judgment Ever: On the GNN broadcast, the disappearance of a game store clerk receives higher billing than an assassination attempt against the president.


 * You Can't Thwart Stage One:.
 * You Don't Want to Know:
 * You Keep Using That Word: After  and the Critic calls him an idiot, he replies, "At least I'm not a hypocrite." Critic is so dumbfounded by this response that he has to have Jew Wario take over for him.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle:
 * You Keep Using That Word: After  and the Critic calls him an idiot, he replies, "At least I'm not a hypocrite." Critic is so dumbfounded by this response that he has to have Jew Wario take over for him.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle:

MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA, MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS