"The Search for Piece" is the second segment of the 7th and last episode of the fifth season of Trolls: TrollsTopia, and the 77th overall episode in the series. It premiered in December 9, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Branch is hosting a game night and tonight the Trolls will be building a puzzle. But when the final piece of the puzzle goes missing, Branch makes a passionate decree: No one leaves the bunker until the piece is found. Will the piece turn up? Or are the Trolls in for a game night that will never see the dawn?
Plot[]
Poppy, Holly, Rhythm, and Synth are riding the elevator into Branch's bunker excited. When they reach the bottom, Branch and Shelliot are there and Branch asks "who's ready for game night?". As the game host, Branch has decided that they will partake in the sport of Kings. Holly thinks their playing Yoyos, Poppy thinks he means Karaoke, Holly then guesses Show and Tell, as they continue, Branch interrupts and says that he means "puzzle", tonight they shall play puzzles.
Branch then shows them a long corridor of various puzzles, he explains they belong to his grandmother. He stares at her photograph and explains it was their special thing they liked to do together. Every afternoon they would pour out a box and wouldn't leave until the last piece was placed. When the last piece was placed, she would say that the great thing about puzzles is all the pieces always fit together just like they are supposed to. Branch explains that all the years he spent alone in the bunker, whenever he was sad or scared, he would play a puzzle and it would be just like his grandmother was there with him. So he does one every day even though she is gone.
The other Trolls find this notion sad and adorable and excuse themselves to hide and cry in their hair, then a moment later are good. Branch pulls out the puzzle "Two Trolls holding hands on a mushroom". He pulls out a workspace and before they begin he puts the photo of his grandmother on a chair to sit beside him. This causes the other 4 Trolls to have to excuse themselves for a moment and once again hide in their hair.
The Trolls have found and complete the puzzle with one piece missing. Branch tells whomever has it to place the last piece. Poppy then asks just who has the last piece. It turns out no one does but Branch says sometimes a piece falls off a table and they'll find it.
Branch later is frustrated as they don't see it anywhere. The Four Trolls agree that even without the missing piece, this was the most fun game night they've ever have and Poppy proposing a group hug for hosting it, but Branch doesn't want to stop looking for the piece. The puzzle tradition must be upheld; they don't leave until the last piece is placed.
Branch has the group empty their hair in case they picked it up by mistake. Holly is reluctant to remove it. She refuses saying she just got it styled, but it turns out that she never ate the friendship cookie Rhythm made her as she doesn't like Snickerdoodles. As Branch asks them to refocus on the puzzle, a friendship brownie that Poppy baked falls from Holly's hair, Holly cries she doesn't like Walnuts either. Branch sighs.
Branch squares off his floor and searches through the dust for the piece, but finds nothing, when he asks the others their playing tic-tac-toe as they got distracted. Branch tries to lecture them on it not being that hard to use a 10x10 search grid, and trips over the ropes, destroying the grid. He gives up and wants to try an entirely new search strategy. Holly speaks up and tells him they've been at the search for hours and there's been no result and her southern charm is now dangling by a hair. As the four Trolls goes to leave, he barricades the lift; no one is leaving until the piece is found.
As he lectures them, Poppy says she found the piece and Branch is relieved. He places the piece and pauses, there is something wrong with the piece. There is something wrong with the piece, it doesn't generate the right friction amount for a piece that belongs with this puzzle. He sniffs it; it smells wrong as it smells too new compared to the other puzzle pieces which are decades old and have been sitting in a musky box. Poppy confuses that she made the piece to finish the puzzle; she is really amazing with paper and scissors. She was just trying to help, and he has to accept the piece is gone. Branch cannot accept the puzzle is missing a piece.
Branch is getting desperate to find the last piece and cannot accept its missing, he asks if anyone checked the ration jars, but Poppy cannot fathom how a piece got in there. Desperate to find the piece, Branch irrationally begins to destroy things, even shocking Shelliot in the process as the other Trolls cannot stop him. Trying to get into the ventilation system, he pulls so hard he ends up rolling across the floor and slams into the table. The puzzle falls off the table and the box lands in his lap.
Inside is a note from his grandmother. She expands on her words of wisdom about pieces fitting together. She notes by the time he opens this box, he likely has discovered that this is not the case; some pieces are hard to fit together or get lost, sometimes they fall apart completely. So she removed a piece of the puzzle to remind himself that if that ever happens it's okay and that he is never alone. He is surrounded by friends that will help him put things back together.
Branch cries as he finishes reading the note. Poppy asks him if he is okay and he apologizes for his behavior, and asks if they can help him put things back together. Poppy holds his hand and says "always".
A montage plays as a beautiful sad song sung by his Grandmother is heard. Branch is happy as he sees his friends picking up the pieces and putting stuff back together. The episode ends with the puzzle, complete with the missing piece, hanging next to a picture of his grandmother.
Cast[]
- Kat Graham as Rhythm
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- This is the last episode to premiere in 2021.
- The title is a play on "The search for peace", a book by Douglas Hurd, and "piece", which is a part of a jigsaw puzzle.
- The title itself also correlates to how Branch has felt that sometimes has been missing, which is about Grandma Rosiepuff.
- The missing piece is a metaphor for what happened after Grandma Rosiepuff's fate in Trolls, wherein her death had a great impact on Branch. He spent years in sorrow and eventually isolated himself until Poppy and the other Trolls helped him fill what was missing in his life. The metaphor is also extended by the fact the missing piece itself is of the Trolls in the image holding hands with the "hands" themselves being the exact missing piece.
- Hence, this is one of the very few TV animation episodes to have a slightly stronger connection to the movie canons.
- The missing piece is a metaphor for what happened after Grandma Rosiepuff's fate in Trolls, wherein her death had a great impact on Branch. He spent years in sorrow and eventually isolated himself until Poppy and the other Trolls helped him fill what was missing in his life. The metaphor is also extended by the fact the missing piece itself is of the Trolls in the image holding hands with the "hands" themselves being the exact missing piece.
- The title itself also correlates to how Branch has felt that sometimes has been missing, which is about Grandma Rosiepuff.
- The episode marks the first time where Rosiepuff has made a 2D animated appearence, in the past 2D animations she has only ever been mentioned in passing comments by Branch such as "Fluffleberry Quest" and "Cakes on a Train". She also has only been referred to as "Grandma" by Branch or "Branch's grandmother", the credits give her full name for the first time.
- Even with her finally appearing, the franchise itself has never said her name of "Rosiepuff" by any character on screen, this name has only ever been written down in text. This tradition continues even in this episode and her name remains unspoken.
- The first time where Branch was shown to enjoy puzzles is in "Neighbor War", which was seen at the beginning of the episode. In "Haircuffed", he wanted to do a puzzle with Creek and stated he would not leave until the last piece is place. Creek in a mixture of anger and unwillingness to do anything Branch liked decided to toss the entire pile of pieces into the fire and place the last piece while calling it done.
- Given that the significance placed on puzzles by Branch, the scene of Creek throwing the puzzle in the flames would have a lot more negative meaning in context to this episode.
- This episode reveals Holly don't like Snickerdoodles and Walnuts.