You Know Those Buttons Don't Do Anything, Right?

You Know Those Buttons Don't Do Anything, Right? is the first episode of Battle for Dream Island: The Power of Two and the 59th episode in the overall series. The episode was released on Sunday, January 10, 2021. It was announced to release on Saturday, January 9, 2021, in the stinger of "Uprooting Everything"; however, it was delayed a few hours due to glitches present in the intro.^{[citation needed]} It is a new show that Two, the host, created in "The Escape from Four". In this episode, two recommended characters, Winner and Price Tag, joined the game, the latter serving as a replacement for Nonexisty due to him not being able to compete, as he does not exist.

Plot

Cold open

The episode starts with TV playing a recording of Four suggesting to add back the original A BFDI as the winner's prize for Battle for BFB. Yellow Face suggests to switch back to Battle for BFB, but Fanny disapproves and says that Four had betrayed their trust. The others agree with Fanny. Fries then praises Fanny that she has the spirit of a leader, but asks if Two does any better than Four as a host, as the contestants have been waiting for ages to compete in TPOT. Two then interrupts their conversations by appearing in front of them and telling them they could've said they were ready, which frightens the contestants. Two starts floating around the building, and then flies to the top, reminding them that it was time for Cake at Stake. The contestants as well as the RCs stare at Two blankly from the bottom of the tower, as they can't hear what Two was saying. Two then uses their powers to make them float to the top of the Bathrooms.

Cake at Stake

Two plays the Cake at Stake intro, the same one played at the start of Battle for Dream Island. Nickel asks Two why everyone was brought to do Cake at Stake, and Two reminds everyone that 59,151 votes have been cast on the 26 RCs, and only 1 of them are going to join the 40 veterans to battle. The reward for getting the most votes at Cake at Stake is a Mangosteen, which Two calls a purple tomato. Two says that everyone got over 200 votes, and Clock says that's good to hear, but Two interrupts him and says that they were lying and says that Rubber Spatula only got 177 votes. Rubber Spatula is shocked and says nobody likes them, but Pen assures them by implying that over 100 people liked them more than anyone, and tells Rubber Spatula to tell the voters how thankful they are. Rubber Spatula starts naming every single voter's name while TV shows the voters' names, but Two interrupts and tells them to hurry up twice. Rubber Spatula quickly says the rest of all their voters' names, and Two asks if they're finished and claps their hand to make the tile underneath them fall.

The RCs gasp and Two tells Shampoo that they won't be joining too with only 240 votes. Shampoo tries to thank all their voters, but Two gets annoyed and makes the tile underneath Shampoo fall before they can go any further. Two tells Kitchen Sink, Scissors, and Snare Drum that they didn't make the cut, and the tiles drop underneath them. Scissors gets stuck in the hole and says that they always make the cut, but the surrounding tiles drop around them and they fall. Two tells Conch Shell, Boom Mic, and Clapboard they didn't make the curtains, but Clapboard makes the same pun, and Two gets upset. Clapboard gets Two's attention and drops the tiles underneath them. Camera tells them, "See you in post-production!".

Two informs the 18 remaining RCs that each of them got over 1,000 votes. Clocks thinks that Two is lying, but Two actually told the truth and tells Leek that they only got 1,014 votes. Leek asks Two if they had a nickname for them and the tile under them falls. Two next tells 9-Ball that they only got 1,033 votes, but 9-Ball says that number is hard to spell and doesn't really care, and the tile underneath them falls. Two reveals that Camera, Blender, and Onigiri didn't get enough votes, but stumbles when trying to give Onigiri a nickname. Camera gets embarrassed and tells Blender to hide their lens with the lens cap that Onigiri has in their mouth, then the tiles underneath them fall.

Two informs the final remaining RCs that there are only 13 of them left, and Discy replies, "Finally!". Two says, "Eager now, aren't we?", and Discy replies, "Um, yeah!", so Two makes everyone wait for the results, but then promptly says that Discy is out, and the tile falls underneath them when they say, "Wait!". Two next reveals that VHSy, Income Tax Return Document, Salt Lamp, and PDA all didn't get the most votes. The tiles underneath them simultaneously fall, and Income Tax Return Document replies, "You'll pay for this, Two!", and PDA replies, "Yeah, and we won't help you figure out how much!". Two responds by telling PDA that they know how to use a pencil. Ice Cube looks at Two angrily, with a growing frown. Cloudy asks Ice Cube what's wrong, then she replies, "Pencil!".

Shopping Cart tells the remaining RCs that they're the final 8, and the remaining RCs all get cheerful. Two reveals that Anchor only got 2,265 votes, and was about to drop the tile, but Anchor insisted on eliminating themself by slamming into the ground, and Two thanks them. Two also reveals that Tape got out, but Two pronounced it as "Tapy" because of how they give nicknames. Due to this, Foldy mistakes "Tapy" as "Stapy" and gasps, but Basketball tells her that Two said "Tapy" and not "Stapy". Two claps their hands to remove the tile under Tape, but they taped themself to a surrounding tile to prevent them from falling. Tape tells Two that they are stuck with them, but Two peels the tape and shook it off their hand, and Tape falls. Two says, "Shopping Cart?", which implies that they are going to get eliminated, but Shopping Cart says, "Aw! Looks like I didn't get in!". Two comforts Shopping Cart by telling them that they didn't say that they didn't debut, so Shopping Cart thought they won the debut, but Two denied that and awkwardly drops the tile underneath them. After, Two says, "Battery and Avocado! You—", but Avocado interrupts Two by saying they should learn a thing or two about suspense, and they both jump down where Shopping Cart fell.

Two informs the veterans that there are three remaining RCs: Winner, Nonexisty, and Price Tag, but Nickel says Two that they can only see two. Then, Two says that they are flattered that Nickel finds them so attention-grabbing, but Two says the final 3 is over there, then tells Winner and Price Tag to make room for Nonexisty. Two reveals the next one out is Price Tag, and drops the tile underneath them. Two reveals the final two, and Winner ends up winning the debut, almost 3 times the amount of votes that Nonexisty got. Two gives Winner the mangosteen, and they digest it.

Just as Two is about to have Winner join, they realize that with Winner joining, they added 40 and 1 (40 + 1) to realize that there are now 41 contestants. Winner questions what is wrong with 41, and Two says that 41 is a prime number. Winner then asks if prime numbers are illegal where Two is from. Two is confused and tells that even 2 is a prime number, and is told that he is an "even prime" by Tennis Ball. However, Tennis Ball's quote embarrasses both Two and Winner. Marker then asks what is wrong with primes. Fanny answers him by saying that they are impossible to divide up equally (because a prime number's factors are only 1 and itself). Two then points out that there can't be a prime number of contestants because then the teams won't have equal amounts of people. Golf Ball points out the nearest composite numbers are 40 and 42, and since no one wanted to quit, they would add in the second most voted debuter to make the contestant count 42. Unfortunately, the second most voted RC was Nonexisty, which didn't affect the count as Nonexisty equaled 0 due to being a non-visual character, so the RC who received the third most votes, Price Tag, was added to the competition, equaling 1 and bringing the total number of contestants up to 42.

Creating the teams

Two orders the contestants (except Black Hole) to board the elevator inside one of the Bathrooms. Nickel asks what teams they will form, and Two suggests forming 6 teams of 7. Donut says he's sticking with Barf Bag, and Naily says she's sticking with Bomby, but not on the same team as Donut as he expected. Coiny, Pin, and Needle join with Donut, with the intent of getting W.O.A.H. Bunch back together again.

The camera cuts to Clock and Cake, Clock looks at Winner and exclaims "It's Winner! You guys remember Winner right?" Cake and Eggy say no, and Clock explains that Loser and Winner were a duo during the start of Loser's career. However, Loser eventually went solo, and Winner was forgotten. Naily invites Cake to their team (because Cake was sad), and Cake accepts. Tennis Ball and Golf Ball stick together and Basketball joins too, Puffball complains that they forgot that she was a ball when they created A Better Name Than That, a team that supposedly had "all of the balls", and forcefully joins Golf Ball's team, even if they didn't accept her. Fries joins too, Eraser along with him. Pen looks at Eraser's team.

Tree suggests that Death P.A.C.T. should just stay the same since they coincidentally have 7 people. Everyone is on board, but Pen, wanting to be with Eraser knowing he has a chance to do so, is hesitant, and even though Pie tries convincing him to stay, he splits off to join Eraser. Fanny replaces him (due to Pen calling Death P.A.C.T. haters), and Tree notices that Pillow is gone. Pen joins Eraser and asks about Blocky, Fries tells him that Blocky stayed in BFB and that their team has 7 people already, Golf Ball complains about all the "useless people" the team has. So Basketball splits off, leaving a spot open, and joins Robot Flower and Grassy. TV takes the open spot in Golf Ball's team.

Rocky teams with Yellow Face and Cloudy. Saw tells Gaty that she misses Lollipop and Taco, and they team up. Book is rejected by them, as she is told that she needs to meet new friends so she can "be better" despite already trying to redeem her actions since BFB 14. Book invites Ice Cube, which she also rejects, even while Book saved her back in the same episode. Pillow suddenly picks her up and starts reading her. Ice Cube joins Winner's team, and Saw and Gaty join Barf Bag's because they have zigzags, Lightning says he's a zigzag too. Snowball asks to team up, but Lightning rejects and leaves him.

Naily lets Price Tag join her team (saying that they look "epic") and they both show their cat faces (to confirm if Price Tag is epic). Snowball tries to join but gets kicked by Naily in offense about her being armless. Bell and Foldy team-up. Marker tries to join but gets kicked out by Bell, and instead joins Lightning, which he reluctantly agrees to do so since he declined of being friends with him back in BFB 1. Basketball invites Eggy, Bell, and Foldy to their team. Cloudy and Winner connect teams and Bottle splits off from Death P.A.C.T. and joins them (to have fun), making a full team. Pillow puts Book down and Book tells her not to read her, but Pillow states she was just looking at the pictures. Pillow and Book then join Naily and Taggy's team and Book begins talking to Bomby, reminding him they were both cranking the HPHPRCC back in BFDIA 5d, as well as inviting Nickel, reminding him if the same thing, making another full team. Lightning and Marker join Death P.A.C.T as they accept students in preventing death. Eggy tells Basketball that there is only one contestant that hasn't been picked yet: Snowball, who joins Eggy's team, much to Basketball's disgust.

Naming the teams

After joining, Snowball, out of pride from himself, says the team must be The Strongest Team on Earth. Lightning then realizes that they’re already picking team names, and after thinking what they should name themselves, Black Hole says "Isn't it obvious? Let's just be Death P.A.C.T. again," naming the team on purpose but lodging the word "Again" in accidentally. Pen wants his team to be Death P.A.C.T. Again as well, despite having split from them to join with Eraser, but Golf Ball stops him, and almost chooses a name accidentally as she did in BFDI 9 and BFB 1. She stops herself prompting not to say another word, but Tennis Ball asks her "Are You Okay?" and chooses the name by accident, much to her disappointment. Coiny, Pin, Needle, and Donut think their team's name should be W.O.A.H. Bunch but Gaty and Barf Bag disagree and suggest that they should be The Zig-zags. The two sides erupt into an argument, and Saw tries to intervene, but accidentally slipped and shouted "we're team-EIGHT-s!", from having sniffed on 8-Ball's fumes in BFB 8 and named themselves the Team8s. Clock suggested their team name be "The Winners!", but Winner says that they don't want their name to be in the team name, which Clock understood and omits "Winner" from the team name, leading it to become The S!. Price Tag says the other team names are stupid and Book tells them that as long as they are careful they can avoid choosing it by accident. Cake and Nickel agree, and so does Naily, replying "we're Just Not", ironically naming her team by accident as well.

Challenge

Eggy informs Two that the teams are named, and Two reveals he was going to give them names. Eraser goes up to Two and asks what the first challenge is. Two says they were about to announce it but got distracted thinking about how ugly the area looked. They ask where the plants are, and Eggy explains that everything got burnt up by the overflowing lava from BFB 14. Two asks what color the trees and the grass were, and Remote says "green and yellow", causing Two to misinterpret her words, making the grass yellow and the trees green. Remote was about to tell Two to switch the colors but Naily says they look nicer like this, and Two begins the new intro. After the intro, Two says that the contest is to get to the top of the tower. Two flies to the top of the tower, and once they are at the top, he tells the contestants that once they get up to the top, they aren't allowed to go back down. No one hears them, though, so no one is aware of this rule.

Lightning says he won't forget to fly, flying to the top of the tower to then celebrate the victory. Tree says "What about us?", but he can't hear them. Remote gives Tree a megaphone, and Tree yells up to Lightning again, asking "What about us, how are we going to get up?" Lightning attempts to fly back down to carry them, but he is unable to go back down due to Two's powers. Two then tells her that going back down is not allowed. Meanwhile, Are You Okay tries to climb onto Puffball, but they can't fit, leaving Golf Ball to say that there really wasn't enough room up there, referencing Gelatin's quote, used multiple time in BFDIA. TV suggests using the trebuchet Tennis Ball used in BFB 1 but because it had been damaged by the lava, Tennis Ball had to go create a new one. Cloudy is carrying Rocky, but he can't go very fast because Rocky will fall through him and puke on him. Grassy and Robot Flower hop onto Bell, floating up to the top. Grassy and Robot Flower hop off, but Bell is also unable to go back down due to Two. Eggy directs Basketball's attention to The S!, who has Winner throwing Yellow Face to the top. Eggy suggests throwing people, and Snowball volunteers to throw, because he has arms. Eggy suggests Foldy. Foldy says she's one of the lightest contestants but is worried because of how windy it is. Snowball ignores her, picking her up and throwing her, causing her to fly around in the wind.

Basketball sees Just Not entering the building, telling them they'll lose if they take the stairs. Naily calls her stupid, telling her they're using the elevator, leaving Basketball shocked she didn't think of that. Eggy stays to watch Foldy while Basketball and Snowball chase after Just Not. Just Not manage to get in the elevator before it closes, but Basketball and Snowball aren't able to. Snowball pries the door open, causing the doors to stop. Basketball heads inside the elevator shaft to try and fix the elevator.

Marker tells his team about the broken elevator. He suggests using Fanny to blow them up, but Pie explains that Fanny's propeller isn't strong enough. Remote then exclaims she has a plan, grabbing Marker and uncapping him. She draws on the wall, explaining that they can run up the stairs, jump out, and be flung off of Black Hole's gravity. Death P.A.C.T. Again runs up the stairs, excluding Black Hole. Book hears their footsteps, and Cake asks them to get them out. Pie asks if they're dying. Cake says no, and Pie leaves them behind. Meanwhile, with Are You Okay, Tennis Ball has fixed the trebuchet, now making it more like a catapult. Puffball shoots them off, but it overshoots, causing them to land on a tree, which launches them back. They begin to go back and forth. Fries' fries fall out, so Puffball grabs Fries and uses him to catch the team and drop them on the roof, making Are You Okay the first team safe.

Winner continues to throw their teammates up. Bottle shatters when she hits the ground. Clock kicks Yellow Face over, using him as a cushion to prevent Ice Cube from dying as well. Clock asks Two if Bottle counts even though she's dead due to her corpse landing on the roof. Two asks if it should, and Clock says it should, so Two says it counts. Winner overshoots with Rocky, but Rocky propels himself onto the roof by barfing on Foldy. This causes Foldy to fall to the ground. Winner uses their arm to jump up the Bathrooms, making The S! the second team safe. Coiny claims he has a plan, grabbing Pin and using her sharp side to scale the Bathrooms. Barf Bag does the same with Needle, and Donut does the same with Saw. They ask how they'll get Gaty up, Saw asks Donut to hold her over the edge. Donut does so,allowing Gaty to use her magnetic hinges to float up to the top. This makes Team 8s the next team safe.

Death P.A.C.T. Again is tired from climbing the stairs, so Tree asks if it's high enough. Remote throws a plant out the window, which goes into Black Hole, prompting her to say "Maybe we didn't think this through". Fanny puts one of her batteries into Remote, causing Remote to become super energized. At the bottom of the tower, Snowball pulls a random pulley, causing the elevator to drop. Basketball pushes Snowball out of the way, and the elevator bounces off of Basketball and to the top, making Just Not safe. The elevator comes to the bottom, now fixed. Eggy and Foldy run in, and the four head into the elevator. At the top floor, Marker presses the up button on the elevator as they pass by. They reach the top, rushing to the edge to get Black Hole. Tree shouts down, but Black Hole can't hear them because Black Holes aren't known for their sense of hearing. Lightning tells his team they can't go back down. Tree pulls out the megaphone Remote gave him but drops it into Black Hole. Remote takes out the battery Fanny gave her, and Tree throws it down and gets Black Hole's attention. Black Hole begins to fly up, but The Strongest Team On Earth gets to the top before him, making Death P.A.C.T. Again up for elimination. Everyone gets angry at Two for not projecting their voice enough, teaming up, and beating them up together.

Stinger

The stinger takes back 8 months ago, when Stapy and Liy are on the ground outside the EXIT, at the time when their escape plan from The Escape From Four fails.

Liy then gets up and announces that "It's time for Plan B", while Stapy knocks the tower down, revealing Firey Jr. was climbing it (Plus Roboty though he was among the stacked objects), knocking Four backward. Stapy and Liy enter the EXIT, Liy removes the boards from the door, and Pencil asks what they are doing. Liy opens the door with a white light ending with a cliffhanger, where BFDI:TPOT 2's stinger will most likely take place.

Debut votes

59,151 votes were cast for the debuts. The contestant with the most votes was Winner. However, since 40 + 1 equaled 41 which was a prime number, the contestants wouldn't be able to split up into equal teams. They needed another contestant to join in order to make it 42, which can be split equally. So, Nonexisty was initially chosen to join since they were the second most voted contestant. However, because Nonexisty was nowhere to be seen due to being a nonvisual character, Price Tag was chosen as Nonexisty's replacement instead. Therefore, Winner and Price Tag both joined TPOT, along with the 40 contestants that switched from Battle for BFB to Two's show.

Contestant	Votes	Percentage of votes
Rubber Spatula	177	0.30%
Shampoo	240	0.41%
Kitchen Sink	349	0.59%
Scissors	714	1.21%
Snare Drum	725	1.23%
Conch Shell	815	1.38%
Boom Mic	943	1.59%
Clapboard	980	1.66%
Leek	1,014	1.71%
9-Ball	1,033	1.75%
Camera	1,124	1.90%
Blender	1,215	2.05%
Onigiri	1,436	2.43%
Discy	1,574	2.66%
VHSy	1,908	3.23%
Income Tax Return Document	1,984	3.35%
Salt Lamp	2,039	3.45%
PDA	2,097	3.55%
Anchor	2,265	3.83%
Tape	2,271	3.84%
Shopping Cart	2,501	4.23%
Battery	2,507	4.24%
Avocado	2,874	4.86%
Price Tag	4,907	8.30%
Nonexisty	~~5,697~~	~~9.78%~~
Winner	15,762	26.65%

Production

In The Secret Behind BFB's Split on March 28, 2020, Cary Huang states around 3:36 that the community may have to wait "four or five months" for every new episode of The Power of Two.

jacknjellify made a public post on Patreon on April 4, 2020, that the episode would feature the prominent recommended characters from January to March 2020, along with the regular recommended characters and name tags for February and March 2020.

Cary Huang released a vlog on Humany on July 23, 2020, about the episode's release date, saying there is no release date and that the TPOT crew is allowed to take more time with production if they wish.^[1]

Pokey tweeted about the episode's slower production on August 19, 2020, and states that it's not due to laziness. Instead, it's because quite a few TPOT crew members also have to work on BFB, which has greater priority for them due to the frequent episode output and also the fact that the current TPOT crew is relatively smaller compared to BFB's crew.^[2]

Buildup

Over time, there were various attempts made to excite people for the episode. Michael Huang announced on Jacknjellify's TikTok that the episode was indeed still coming and believes that the episode will be "really good".^[3] Similarly, Pokey tweeted on June 29, 2020 that she thinks everyone will like the episode.^[4] Pokey also tweeted something later down the line on November 11th, 2020. In this tweet, she once again showed her excitement, saying that she can't wait for the episode to release because she wants people to see how good it is.^[5] She also mentions that the crew was doing such a good job and that seeing the animation come together is satisfying in another tweet attached to it.^[6]

Tpot trending — *The Power of Two* trending on Twitter.

Before the release of The Power of Two, the hashtag #tpot went trending on Twitter on January 9, 2021.

Trivia

#tpot got trending on Twitter, but the actual episode failed to get on the YouTube trending lists.
This is the first object show video to ever gain half a million views in its first 24 hours.
- It is also the fastest object show video to reach 1 million views, doing it in 2 days and 10 hours, and also the first to do so in its first week.
TPOT 1 (also presumably all future TPOT episodes) will have closed captions, making it the first episode since "The Escape from Four" to have them available, as "X Marks the Spot" and the following post-split episodes oddly didn't have them until March 24th, 2021.^[7]
Every contestant received some amount of screentime in the episode as it was the first episode of a season.^[8]
This is the first and only episode of TPOT to release while BFB was still making episodes.
This episode also marks the return of the original Cake at Stake intro from Season 1.
With Winner and Price Tag both joining the game, this episode marks the fourth and fifth recommended character debuts in the series, with the first being back in 2011 in the episode "Reveal Novum", the second being "Yeah, Who? I Wanna Know", and the third being in "The Hidden Contestant."
- This also marks the first time in the BFDI series in which there is double debut. In contrast to that, "The Hidden Contestant" was the first episode to have a double elimination.
- Nonexisty was supposed to debut, but since he equals zero and wouldn't solve the problem of having a prime number of contestants, Price Tag debuted instead, so technically, it's a triple debut.
There were over 59,000 votes in this episode. Coincidentally, this is the 59th episode overall.
The EXITors returned in this episode.
This is the first episode of BFDI overall to be released in 2021.
Like some teams in past seasons, 3-4 team names were named as such accidentally, prompted by contestants saying "We're ..." or "We have to be ...", etc., with whatever is said afterward becoming the official team name.
- The only team that was not completely or partially named on accident was The Strongest Team on Earth.
Numerous teams from BFDIA are slightly referenced in the groupings.
- After Donut and Barf Bag decide to be a team, Coiny, Pin, and Needle suggested to join along with them to form the "Bunch" again. This is a reference to the W.O.A.H. Bunch team where Coiny, Pin, Donut, and Needle were, at one point, members.
- Golf Ball, Tennis Ball, Fries, and Puffball are, once again, on the same team (Are You Okay), a reference to Team No Name, since Pen, Eraser, and TV weren't members, Rocky is in "The S!," and Gelatin and Firey are on BFB.
This is the first time since the Squashy Grapes in which Golf Ball's team doesn't have the word "Name."
TV is no longer included under Kenzie Bryant in the credits even though she still edits the clips for his lines.
This episode has the longest title (48 characters), beating Why Would You Do This on a Swingset (35 characters).
- It is spoken in the episode when The Strongest Team on Earth has almost gotten to the roof by elevator, and Basketball rapidly pushes buttons, then Eggy comments "You know those buttons don't do anything, right?".
Every member of the The Strongest Team on Earth. injured Two at least once at the ending.
- In the same scene, Marker, Lightning, Fanny, Tree, Nickel, Fries, Pillow, Gaty, and Rocky (albeit only because of Tree) all join in on yelling and/or injuring Two despite the fact that their teams (excluding Death P.A.C.T Again and it's members) never being effected by the "can't go back down" rule, it is most likely that they were upset that Two didn't project their voice enough to say the "can't go back down" rule.
This is the second non-BFDIA episode to have a title that is a quote from the episode, the first is "X Marks the Spot".

Continuity references

Characters retain their temporary appearance changes:
- Needle is still CGI from "Get to the Top in 500 Steps".
- Ice Cube is still small from "Return of the Rocket Ship".
- David is still orange from "Four Goes Too Far".
Characters retain their permanent appearance changes:
- Saw still has her pink handle from "Return of the Rocket Ship".
- Dora still has her ponytail from "Return of the Rocket Ship".
Yoyle Mountain is still wide open from "The Escape from Four".
Saw still has the "EIGHT!" catchphrase from 8-Ball's Fumes from "Questions Answered".
When Snowball and Basketball didn't manage to get inside the elevator in time, Snowball shouted his infamous "Noooo!"
- Snowball also gets into the same pose as before, and even his mouth resembles that of the original assets.
Most of the original Death P.A.C.T. members decided to continue their legacy by naming their team "Death P.A.C.T. Again" and their jingle is a remade version of the previous one they used when forming their team in "Getting Teardrop to Talk".
The purple tomato prize is likely a reference to the yellow tomato in "Reveal Novum" also given to the winning recommended character.
The storyboard revealed that the silly sounds made when the contestants land on the roof are a reference to "Fortunate Ben".
Remote states Black Holes aren't known for their sense of hearing as said in "Today's Very Special Episode".
Rubber Spatula thanking all their voters may be a call-back to Pen telling all his voters he owes them five hundred million vigintillion dollars in "The Glistening" while stating every username and speeding up in order to finish.
When Two announces, "it's time for Cake at Stake" twice and then tells Nickel to get the contestants, it serves as a callback to Puffball Speaker Box announcing the same thing in "Zeeky Boogy Doog".
When Ice Cube lands on top of Yellow Face, it is a callback to the Halloween 2012 video, as Yellow Face becomes squishy just like in that video. This animation would later be seen in eight years later in PUMPKIN 2.0 - BFDI Halloween Shorts.
When Golf Ball told Pen that their team name must have another name than Death P.A.C.T. Again (which Golf Ball stopped herself from making that same mistake) is a callback to "Insectophobe's Nightmare" and "Getting Teardrop to Talk". Tennis Ball ended up saying the team name accidentally, forming Are You Okay.
- Pen wanting to be named Death P.A.C.T. Again only for Golf Ball to tell him that they already have that name might be a reference "Insectophobe's Nightmare", when Firey wanted to be called the Squashy Grapes only for Golf Ball to tell him the other team already has the name.
Basketball starts to mention the first time Robot Flower "betrayed" her team in "Getting Teardrop to Talk".
Before Bottle joined The S!, the echoed "fun" is a reference about the same thing that happened to Blocky in "Getting Teardrop to Talk".
Clock mentions his truce with Ice Cube, which was made in "Getting Teardrop to Talk".
When Golf Ball said, "Get onto Puffball ASAP!," it's a reference to "Get in the Van" when she demanded Team No-Name to get onto her so they can get to the summit of Yoyle Mountain.
- While saying "ASAP", Golf Ball also imitates the exact same movements she did when saying "ASAP" back in "Get in the Van".
Remote killing herself by taking out her batteries may be a reference to her audition in "The Reveal".
When Clock said “that’s good to know”, it is a reference to "Reveal Novum," when he says the same line.
When joining Just Not, Book talks about how she, Bomby, and Nickel had cranked the HPHPRCC for many days, back in "It's a Monster".
When Just Not got into the hotel, Book was making the same walk animation as she does in BFDIA 5b.
When Lightning says "Oh, now you're interested?" after Marker asks if they want to be friends, it references "Getting Teardrop to Talk" when Lightning asked Marker and Stapy if they wanted to be friends, and Marker denied to.
- The same theme can also be heard in the background when Lightning first asked if Marker (and Stapy) wanted to be friends.
Lightning promises that he won't forget to fly, referencing how he forgot to fly in "Getting Teardrop to Talk", causing iance to lose. His flight ironically causes his new team to lose.
When Bell reaches the top, her ringing noise is the same from "The Reveal".
The stinger calls back to BFB 17, when X had the paint.
- It was also 8 months ago.
The final seconds in the intro reference the intros from Battle for Dream Island to IDFB where the contestants are featured in an empty ground.
- If you listen closely, the bassline during that scene sounds reminiscent of the music theme for the first three seasons' intros.
Pin, Rocky, and Fries appear to be standing around a grotato plant in the intro.
The grass by Cloudy's Collection is still green, as the collection and grass surrounding it was not submerged in lava.
- The top of the tree is also still yellow, since it also was not submerged in lava.
- The blueberry tree is also still growing more blueberries.
The pose Eraser is in when levitated onto the roof for Cake at Stake is a reference to his BFB intro pose.
When Are You Okay is being flung above the building for the first time, Eraser is in the same pose he was in when Flower pushed him off the balance beam in "Take the Plunge".
- Eraser even has the older assets that were used at the time, as his mouth is colored, his eyes are more rounded, and his limbs are drawn more crudely, much like the earlier episodes of BFDI. When he is flung by the tree only his mouth remains the same as before.
When the trebuchet gets ready to fling Are You Okay a second time, Eraser reuses a pose from "Today's Very Special Episode", when he stepped in Four's excrement.
When Just Not reaches the roof, Book has an old arm asset when she opens the elevator door.
When Gaty gets stuck on Saw, she does the same animation from BFB 2 when she got stuck on Pin.
Blender taking the lens cap out of Onigiri's mouth is a reference to "Welcome Back", when Bubble takes out the lens cap Ice Cube had in her mouth.
Coiny and Barf Bag used Pin and Needle to climb up the washrooms in the episode. This was a reference to Income Tax Return Document dodging the two spikes that jut through the wall of his room in the stinger of "Uprooting Everything".
Gaty's sitting pose when the rest of her team got to the top, is a reference to "Welcome Back", when everyone was trying to bust the TLC’s lid, Gaty was sitting in the corner of the screen.
The group watching A BFDI being added back as a prize for BFB on TV at the beginning consists of Fanny, Cake, Puffball, Cloudy, Pie, Black Hole, Yellow Face, Clock, Donut, and Fries, which is the very same group of people that only switched to TPOT in the first place due to A BFDI being replaced.
The pencil that Two held is similar to the one that Four used in "X Finds Out His Value".
When Rubber Spatula realizes that they got the least amount of votes they say "I can't believe it, nobody likes me", it may be a callback to when Roboty states "Nobody likes me" in "Reveal Novum" when he figures out he got the least votes.
- Also, Roboty only got 2 votes when everyone else got at least 3, and Rubber Spatula got only 177 votes, while everyone else got at least 200.
  - Also when it was revealed that everyone (except for Rubber Spatula) got at least 200 votes, Clock says "That's good to know!", the same thing he said in "Reveal Novum" when everyone (except Roboty) got at least 3 votes.
In the intro, Eraser cutting a pentagon into a quadrilateral and a triangle with Saw is a reference to "Getting Teardrop to Talk", when Blocky used Saw to cut a pentagon in half.
When Just Not are stuck in the elevator before the elevator falls, Cake says "You know I could really go for some—". This is a callback to when Loser was stuck in his jawbreaker and stated that he could really go for some chicken nuggets right now in "Return of the Rocket Ship".

Cultural references

The way Pin, Needle, and Saw are used to get up onto the top of the building may be a reference to Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.
After Tennis Ball fixed the trebuchet, TV's screen shows Are You Okay's icon in the fashion of the famous bouncing DVD logo.
Leek holding the recommended character flip phone could potentially be a reference to the famous Vocaloid original, Triple Baka, as Hatsune Miku (the main singer)'s main item is a leek, and the song uses Akita Neru's flip phone for various musical elements.
Blender is nicknamed "Blendy" by Two, which may be a possible reference to AGF's stick-type coffee with that name.

Deaths

Bottle is accidentally killed when Winner throws her to the roof and shatters into pieces because she had nothing to land on.
Remote has her batteries removed twice.

Goofs

Rocky's body is light grey when Two tries to announce that it's time for Cake at Stake.
The back of Robot Flower's head appears to be the same as the front in several scenes (when she enters the elevator after Cake at Stake, when she runs towards the Hotel at the start of the challenge, and when she attacks Two), even though the lens should be covered in the back as shown in the intro.
In the intro, Remote's facial details are black instead of white.
When Two asks where all the plant life is, Marker does not have legs.

References

2021 episodes
"You Know Those Buttons Don't Do Anything, Right?" • "B.F.B. = Back From Beginning" • "SOS (Save Our Show)" • "Chapter Complete"

Battle for Dream Island episodes and other videos

TFI: "Crying Contest" • "Balance Beam" • "Mile Run" • "Elimination Volleyball!" • "Rope Climb" • "Dodgeball" • "Spelling Bee" • "Breath Holding Contest" • "Dice!" • "Spinner" • "Bowling 1" • "Bowling 2" • "Stack 1" • "Stack 2" • "Hurdles 1" • "Hurdles 2" • "Hurdles 3 and 'WETHFPC'" • "Jumbo"

TFS: "Mountain Climb" (unreleased)

TFP: "Balance Beam" • "Dodge Ball" • "Mountain Climb" • "Balloon Toss" • "Teams" • "Boats" • "Bridge Crossing" • "Eating" • "Pyramid" • "Pole Vaulting" • "Test Taking" • "Obstacle Course" (all unreleased)

BFDI: "Take the Plunge (Take the Plunge: Part 1" • "Take the Plunge: Part 2)" • "Barriers and Pitfalls" • "Are You Smarter Than a Snowball?" • "Sweet Tooth" • "Bridge Crossing" • "Power of Three" • "Puzzling Mysteries" • "Cycle of Life" • "Insectophobe's Nightmare" • "Crybaby!" • "Lofty" • "A Leg Up in the Race" • "Don't Lose Your Marbles" • "Half a Loaf Is Better Than None" • "Vomitaco" • "Bowling, Now with Explosions!" • "The Reveal" • "Reveal Novum" • "Rescission" • "Gardening Hero" • "The Glistening" • "Don't Pierce My Flesh" • "Hurtful!" • "Insectophobe's Nightmare 2" • "Return of the Hang Glider"