Long post under the cut, moments in chronological order, not a ranking

Blood Moon Ball - as usual, I don’t list this episode as a fundamental Starco moment for the dance (even though it’s super nice and fancy and the music is perfect), but the talk on the balcony. In this moment Marco truly shows that he understand Star, who she is as a person, and that he’s ready to swallow his pride for the sake of their friendship. Star bares her vulnerabilities, for the first time she (even if not directly) admits that not being trusted by the people she cares about hurts her greatly, that she doesn’t want to feel like a little kid who has to be protected and told what to do, and Marco understands that he overstepped his boundaries as a friend and tried to act more like a “parent”. This became EVEN more important in recent times, since The Knight Shift indirectly put importance on both parts of a relationship being equals (both get their capes, both are “knights” in their friendship).

This sets the mood for their relationship as a whole, Marco is going to always be at her side, and especially during the rest of S1 and S2 he’s often going to advise her, teach her things, but he’s never going to put himself over her level, he’s always going to be a friend talking to a friend, helping her figure things out on her own (the best example is Mewnipendence Day, where he spends the whole episode gently nudging her toward realizing how unfair her people have been to monsters for centuries, without straight out telling her “Your people racist!”).

Storm the Castle - the episode that suddenly turned up the stakes of the series, and the one that forced Star and Marco to face an “adult” for the first time (no Ludo doesn’t count), a new world for them. The episodes opens up with the duo arguing for the first time in the series over Star being too immature and reckless in her pursue of fun at all costs. Star values her and Marco’s lives less than a sandwich.

By the end of the episode she doesn’t hesitate in valuing Marco’s life more than the wand, one of the most powerful and precious items in the universe.

Their hug is still one of the warmest and most intimate in the series, with their eyes and body language screaming “We need this”. Star lost a lot (or so she thought, obviously the wand was back soon after), but she didn’t lose Marco, and their bond got strengthened even more. Cleaved apart, cleaved together.

Mr. Candle Cares - this is the first episode that makes it clear just how special Marco is to Star compared to everyone else in her life. After a whole episode spent having a panic attack over her future, feeling like she was trapped in something she didn’t choose and didn’t want, Marco’s words are enough to snap her out of it, and help her find her identity back.



Obviously this is outdated compared to the current arc about choices and free will, but at this point of the season this was what Star absolutely needed to hear, to know that just because being Queen was set in stone in her future, it didn’t mean she had to follow the example of previous rulers, or her mother’s. She could be her own person, Star Butterfly. Without having to change her look and style. Nor maiming a mermaid.

Bonus point for the dork stopping in the middle of a ping pong game for his life to smile over the thought of how much he admires and likes Star’s unique personality (admittedly Tom then chimes in saying her likes it too, even if it infuriates him at time, but this is a post about Starco moments so shush).





Star Vs Echo Creek - an underwhelming episode that apparently doesn’t change anything in Star, but it shows a huge contrast with her early self which. S1 Star would have done literally anything to keep her freedom intact, to the point of getting paralyzed by fear at the mere mention of St. Olga. In this episode, after some moments of self realization, she saw going to jail as a preferable alternative to never being able to see Marco again.



Obviously this moment is larger than Starco - it’s a sign of maturity for Star overall, a first step toward being able to take hard decisions that might damage herself for the good of others (from Toffee to trying to change Mewni to helping Eclipsa), but as many moments of growth, especially in the first two seasons, it begins with Marco.

Starcrushed - the whole episode. It uses Starco as a way to give Star the ultimate push she needed to go from the princess who used to run away from all responsibilities and unpleasant duties, to the princess who blew herself up to stop Toffee and who dedicated almost a year of her life to changing Mewni. And her love for Marco (in a broad sense, at this point of the series she wasn’t IN LOVE with Marco yet) ultimately leads her to confess her crush. She could have left without saying anything, it would have been easier both on her and Marco, but she couldn’t leave with what could have been the last thing she ever told Marco being a lie.

Honesty and communication are fundamental to their relationship, even if sadly it has always been hard for both of them to always fully be honest about their feelings. But they always try, even if it usually takes half a season, and in this case Star tried.



Also it has Marco being super depressed over things being weird with Star while trying to convince himself that he has suuuuch a deep bond with Jackie, which is frustrating and explains why it took him until Lava Lake Beach to begin understanding things, but it’s also sweet and meaningful.

Night Life - it literally has Marco telling Star that the things he likes the most is keeping her safe, even if at the time just being at her side brought unpleasant feelings.

Also, while it’s not framed as something sweet in the context of the episode since it’s in situations of frustration, it’s just one of the many instances of S3 showing just how necessary Marco is to Star - not just as a practical help, but as a moral one, as the one person who can help her navigate through her life.



And the first person who comments something like “Star is a nagging wife who bosses Marco around!” gets a slap in the face and a link to this.

Booth Buddies - I really don’t think I have to say anything about this episode. Sure, it didn’t lead to changes nearly as much as I hoped, it took until Curse of the Blood Moon for Star’s feelings to be relevant, but it’s still an outstanding episode that has all the emotional intimacy that makes Star special to me. It’s the talk on the balcony in Blood Moon Ball, squared.



It’s the payoff to a season worth of tension, and it tells us that NO, THEIR RELATIONSHIP CAN’T GO BACK TO SIMPLE FRIENDSHIP (not even with the curse bullshit). Things are different, their feelings and their friendship are one and the same.

Divide - ‘Nuff said. Obviously the hug in Conquer is even more powerful in a way, it truly shows how important Star is to Marco, and how lost she’d be without him, but the one in Divide, in this calmer context, is a better example of the core of Star and Marco’s relationship, a friendship based on mutual trust and help.

Curse of the Blood Moon - I made a whole post about the dance scene in this episode so I’m just going to link it. But for brevity: Star and Marco enter the severing stone with the intention to break the curse and rid themselves of unwanted feelings, but as soon as they start dancing they forget every other problem and distraction, losing themselves in their happiness, and they understand that they cherish those feelings, that they are painful but worth being felt, as Eclipsa told Marco, and that they’d love to act on them but it’s too late now.

One minute of being alone and they fell in love.

The Knight Shift - I don’t like making rankings, but this would easily be the number 1 Starco episode in the show. It’s perfect, it has everything, from Star being distraught at the idea of Marco leaving Mewni (even if this wouldn’t have meant not seeing him again, obviously), to Star and Marco knowing that they had to talk with the other even if the subject was unpleasant, to Star recognizing Marco’s individuality and giving him his spaces. But obviously THE Starco moment is the one at the end, the one that shows the utter commitment they have for each other more than any other.

In this episode Marco thinks about his life and what he wants to do in the future, and he realizes that he doesn’t want to forever commit himself to a single knight task, not yet at least, he wants to do other things, explore, find his own goal in life. But he doesn’t hesitate a moment in making Star his lifelong post.

The episode was only platonic in universe, obviously, but this is the essence of Star and Marco’s relationship: commitment. Something that lacked from any other romantic relationship in the show. This is the closest we can probably get to a wedding, Marco and Star essentially promise that they’ll spend their lives at the other’s side in this moment. Also, as a minor note, this moment made Star and Marco truly equal: not princess and boy, not queen and squire, but two friends with a badass cape reminding them that their friendship is the most important things they have.

The heart on the capes, their love, is quite literally made up by their special moments as friends. Friendship as the only solid basis for long lasting, deep, committed love.





BONUS MOMENT

Beach Day - pure happiness. Nothing more. Just having all the fun they can, together.