The Last Mabelcorn

"The Last Mabelcorn" is the 15th episode in the second season of Gravity Falls, and the thirty-fifth overall. It premiered on September 7, 2015.

Official overview
A new threat leads Mabel to venture into the enchanted realm of the unicorns. Meanwhile, Dipper learns an unexpected twist about the enigmatic Bill Cipher.

Synopsis
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ford and the rest of the Pines are sleeping in the Mystery Shack, and he has a confrontation with Bill in his dream. Bill greets Ford, and Ford angrily says that Bill has no control in his world. Bill states while he does not have control now, "things change." Ford wakes up in panic from the dream, then he has a family meeting the following day announcing that Bill is planning to invade the real world. In order to protect the Pines family, they need to Bill-proof the shack. They have everything except one ingredient: Unicorn hair. And the most pure of heart has to go. Mabel offers to go with Wendy and her friends. When they arrive at the Unicorn's hollow, the Unicorn says she is not pure of heart. Mabel then spends the rest of the day doing good deeds to prove herself pure of heart.

Meanwhile, Stanford is showing Dipper a secret study he has. This study has a machine that can read thoughts to protect his mind. Dipper asks Ford about Bill, then Ford tells Dipper that Bill intends to retrieve the rift that was opened by the portal, which Bill will then use for his nefarious purposes. Ford also dodges the question about what happened between him and Bill 30 years ago. Ford hooks Dipper up to the machine and Dipper's thoughts are beginning to be scanned when he decides to try the machine out on Ford to see what happened with Bill in Ford's past. He sees Ford's thoughts, revealing a deal between Ford and Bill 30 years ago. Then suddenly Ford wakes up and traps him by the wall. Dipper thinks that Bill is possessing Ford, and he threatens to wipe out Ford's memory. In retaliation to these claims, Ford takes off his glasses and proves to Dipper he isn't Bill. Ford reminds Dipper that he has a metal plate inside his head to prevent Bill from possessing him.

On the other half of the story, Grenda, Candy, and Wendy are planning to sneak in while the unicorn is sleeping and cut off some hair. They are just about to cut off the hair when Mabel stops them, holding the scissors. The unicorn wakes up, sees Mabel holding the scissors and gets mad at her even more, saying she isn't pure of heart. Suddenly two more unicorns appear from the bushes and announce that this is all a big scam for the unicorns to make people leave them alone. Mabel gets mad at this and a fight breaks out.

Back to Dipper and Ford. Ford reveals his past with Bill. They both apparently used to be great friends. Ford learned about Bill in some weird incantations in a cave he discovered. He recited the incantations out loud, but nothing happened until later that day during his dreams when Bill met him. They played a game of interdimensional chess, and from then on Ford became good friends with Bill. He let Bill enter his mind whenever he wanted and worked with him to develop the idea of the portal, until Fiddleford had a glimpse inside the portal and saw Bill's true plans. From then on Ford knew that Bill had betrayed him, and went against Bill and shut down the portal.

In the end, Mabel did get the unicorn hair, and the shack was Bill-proofed. Bill watches over the Shack from his own dimension, stating that while he can't possess anyone inside the Mystery Shack, he has all the other people in Gravity Falls to do his bidding.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Alex Hirsch


 * Directed by:
 * Matt Braly


 * Storyboarded by:
 * Matt Braly
 * Sabrina Cotugno
 * Miguel Puga
 * Vaughn Tada
 * Dana Terrace


 * With the Voice Talents of
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper
 * Alex Hirsch as Grunkle Stan
 * Linda Cardellini as Wendy
 * Sam Marin as Celestabellebethabelle
 * J.K. Simmons as Ford Pines
 * Carl Faruolo as Grenda
 * Niki Yang as Candy Chiu
 * Gregg Turkington as Toby Determined (uncredited)
 * Additional voices
 * Matt Chapman
 * Alex Hirsch as Bill, Gnomes and Young Fiddleford
 * Sam Marin
 * Kari Wahlgren as Mabel's toy unicorn


 * Casting by:
 * Sara Jane Sherman

Character revelations

 * Ford's middle name is Filbrick, just like his father.
 * Shmebulock is no longer with us as evidenced by the graffiti, "RIP Shmebulock" written on a tree.
 * However, this could be instead a reference to Shmebulock Senior.
 * Bill and Ford used to have a friendship.
 * Ford has a metal plate inside his head.
 * Mabel's first word was "unicorn."
 * Stan can speak Spanish.

Series continuity

 * Ford's Electron Carpet first seen in "Carpet Diem" returns.
 * The interdimensional rift revealed to be created by the portal in "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons" appears.
 * Stan is seen pug trafficking, first mentioned in "The Stanchurian Candidate".
 * Dipper and Mabel recall their defeat of Bill in "Dreamscaperers" and "Sock Opera".
 * The door to Ford's private study briefly appears in "Not What He Seems".
 * Scenes from "Tourist Trapped", "Into the Bunker", and "Not What He Seems" appear in Dipper's thoughts.
 * Dipper still loves the song Disco Girl from "Dipper vs. Manliness".

Trivia

 * Soos does not appear in this episode, save for a stillframe of possible victims inside Bill's eye.

Cryptograms

 * The cryptogram in the episode's end page is 15-10 21-15-8-16-19-6'5 17-23-11-19 16-19 10-19-19-20-5 23 8-23-1-10, 22-19 5-3-6-19 4-9 13-10-9-1 1-16-15-21-16 5-15-20-19 25-9-3'6-19 9-10 which, when decoded using the Combined Cipher, reads: IN CIPHER'S GAME HE NEEDS A PAWN, BE SURE TO KNOW WHICH SIDE YOU'RE ON.
 * The cryptogram in the end credits is S UPYTYH DIP GAVO QETHI MCBK OHK XEXJB VRW YOUWCHIA VRSV OQ LRDIA, which, when decoded with the Vigenère key SCHMENDRICK, translates to A SIMPLE MAN WITH EAGER EARS MAY TRUST THE WHISPERS THAT HE HEARS. The key is found on a stump when Candy, Grenda, and Wendy enter the Gnome's tavern.