In the same vein as your idea of sopor slime as a control mechanism of Lord English, do you think Caliborn being a candy corn vampire might imply that the trolls' candy corn horns are also a means of influence, as though they were all pre-bitten and injected with English's poison? Or as though their horns were really something more like insect radio antennae, receiving psychic signals? It'd be funny if the very thing preventing Tavros from getting in the brainwashing tub was the size of his receptor...

I’ve always been interested by the fact that trolls’ candy corn horns kind of prefigure the tricksters all having their associated candies stuck on their heads, so the idea that they might be the signature of another kind of sugar monster does have an appeal…

certainly horns representing corruption is consistent with the fall from grace iconography that accompanies Lord English’s takeover of Alternia; the fact that Beforans are also hornéd could be considered a solid counterargument to this, but that’s not really stopped me before… what would have been fun for the “Alternians are vampiric Beforans” angle would be Beforans being diurnal, though ostensibly the two races should be biologically identical so using their physiology as evidence of corruption is always a little problematic. bears some thinking about