Best Of Animation 2021 - Where I Really Come From (Invincible)

Best of Animation 2021 - Where I Really Come From (Invincible)

“Finish high school I guess”

When I read that line in the comics for the first time I thought it was meant to sound defeated or unsure. Mark had just been beaten within an inch of his life by his father, who he loved, and wasn’t sure what to do with his life. I thought Mark was feeling defeated. But when Steven Yeun spoke the line in the show there is a much more hopeful tone to his voice that I think brings so much to the character and this moment that my initial interpretation lacked.

Mark is unsure of his future and he is hurting from his fight with his father but his spirit isn’t broken. He still has hope for the future and he still wants to do good. Mark’s spirit and drive are unbreakable, or invincible if you will, just like the title of the show. It brings new meaning to the moment and his actions that will follow.

The voice acting, animation, music, etc all come together to create an unforgettable experience that improves upon the source material. That final line reading by Steven Yeun blew me away in hindsight because it’s something so little but it has such a massive impact on the story and Mark’s characterization that I personally didn’t get when I read the comics (The comics are phenomenal and I highly recommend reading them so saying the show improves certain aspects of the story is high praise).

One rather impressive feat is how well the show translates how the invincible comics portrayed violence.

The invincible comics were well known for their bloody and visceral fights and translating that to the screen could have been a tricky task. Violence is something that could easily become gratuitous and be purely used for shock value if used incorrectly. The show sidesteps this by having every use in this episode serve a purpose. At no point does it distract from the personal conflict that drives the episode- the clash of ideologies and upbringing between a father and his son. 

For example, seeing the destruction in the city after Mark is punched through a building. We see Mark pulling a severed arm from the building rubble after he fails to save the building and a daughter soaked in the blood of her crushed father. All this shocks and horrifies you in the same way it does Mark. That is the arm of a mother he failed to save and it happens right after he tells the mother’s child not to be afraid. We are being faced with the same hard truth that Nolan is trying to beat into Mark. That Mark can’t protect himself let alone anyone else. 

And the same can be said about the train scene. This scene is easily the goriest and most brutal sequence of the entire show (which is saying something) but it very effectively gets across how fragile humans are to Viltrumites. Mark comes out of the ordeal physically unscathed while hundreds of people die. They splatter against Mark almost like a bug does on the windshield of a car (though much more mentally scarring). Nolan even compares humans to pets and talks about humans being lesser than viltrumites further accentuating this point.

There are a lot more examples but anyone who’s seen the episode I think understands. These scenes are gory and intense but they are used very effectively within the context they are being used. If you were to remove any one of them (at least in this episode) something would be lost.

JK Simmons is excellent at getting across that Nolan is trying just as hard to convince himself of these lessons he’s trying to beat into Mark. Each step he takes is him trying to prove to himself that he sees these people as inconsequential collateral in the viltrumite’s conquest like his upbringing taught him to believe.

The photo above may have become a meme but it is an excellent scene that puts Nolan’s desperation on full display. It conveys the conflict between who he’s become from his time on earth and the loyal viltrumite he was so well. And it leads into the best moment in the entire episode.

“What will you have after five hundred years?”

“You dad. I’d still have you.”

This whole episode was amazing. It is easily one of my favorite episodes of television ever but it was this moment that hit the hardest.

Even after everything Nolan has done- all the people he’s killed and how brutally he’s beaten Mark- Mark still loves his father. 

This episode manages to expand on what was ultimately a single issue fight and really dig into the core tragedy of it. 

The one moment I think the comic does better is the moment when Nolan flies away, leaving Mark alive, and crying once he reaches space. I don’t think it was clear enough that he was crying. A lot of people I know didn’t catch on to that fact and a few reviewers didn’t either. In the comics it was very clear and purposefully put into stark contrast so that no one could miss it. This is a little moment but it is one thing I wanted to point out due to how significant that tiny moment is for Nolan’s character.

I’ve seen a lot of people trash Invincible’s animation online and while I do agree there are instances of noticeable CGI that can take you out of it there are also incredibly beautiful and breathtaking sequences of animation as well. A lot of this episode has amazing animation. They spared no expenses on the fight. Here are a few of my favorite moments.

This episode isn’t short on spectacle but it also hits all its smaller moments as well. I’ve mentioned a few above but I want to shine a light on a smaller one near the end of the episode.

The moment I’m talking about is in the hospital when Debbie tells Mark she’s proud of him. She goes to touch his face and he turns away. There’s so much pain in that small moment. Mark is hurting because of the betrayal, the trauma of the events, and because he failed and lost his father even though he tried his best. It’s these smaller moments in the aftermath of the fight that works really well.

When it is trying to set up future events it distracts a bit from what the episode is trying to do but I’m grateful it takes the time to have the quieter moments that get across the heartbreak of the characters, especially Debbie and Mark.

Despite everything going on Invincible never loses sight of the vulnerability and humanity of these characters.  

I can’t wait to see the rest of the Invincible comics animated and brought to life for a new audience. Trust me this is just the beginning. It gets even better from here.

Extra Thoughts

I love the way JK Simmons emphasizes “believe” when he’s telling Mark the truth about Viltrum. “But I believe in our cause” He’s talking about the past but he makes sure to emphasize that this is a present belief which I think plays into how a lot of JK Simmons’ performance hints that Nolan is also trying to convince himself of the rhetoric that he’s spouting at Mark.

I really like how the Viltrumite’s uniforms are white. White is usually associated with good and purity. It’s typically seen as heroic which can be seen in the rhetoric that Nolan is regurgitating to Mark. He’s speaking of the Viltrumite’s actions and conquest as a good thing. It’s all painted in a positive light. There’s a dissonance between how the history is relayed to Mark and how it is seen on screen. Everything Nolan says is sanitized and belays the bloody reality of everything that happened. I just really like this detail.

The score for this episode was fantastic and I really hope it gets released at some point.

I didn’t want to put this above due to the fact I want to stay positive but I wasn’t a fan of Mark and Amber getting back together. With how the show did their relationship I would have preferred them staying broken up. I don’t hate Amber’s character and would actually like to see her friendship with Eve explored and I would have been interested in seeing her be friends possibly with Mark instead of a relationship. I just don’t think they wrote the relationship well enough to get me invested and it’s pretty clear even without reading the comics that they aren’t meant to be endgame. (If you like their relationship then great. It just wasn’t for me)

I know I already said this but I can’t wait for season 2 and 3!

Amphibia Season 3B Thoughts (Part 2)

Since Amphibia is entering its endgame with this week’s episodes “The Three Armies/The Beginning of the End” I have decided to write out my thoughts on Amphibia season 3B so far. Because of Tumblr’s image limit I decided to split it into 2 parts. This part covers the episodes “The Core and The King” up to “Fight or Flight” (Here’s part 1 and my series thoughts so far) Without further ado lets jump right in.

The Core and The King

I enjoyed “the Root of Evil” and knew when they introduced the mind control collars in “Commander Anne” that they were going to reintroduce the spores from season 1 and Jeremy. But it should come as no surprise to anyone that the episode I came away loving more was “The Core and the King”. I think this was my favorite episode of season 3B so far. It finally let us see Darcy again and gave us insight into Andrias’ past, something that had been mentioned and hinted at with the torn painting but never seen, and it didn’t disappoint. I think it would have benefitted from being a 22 minute special episode, especially with selling us on Barrel and Leif’s characters, but not a second of the 11 minute runtime was wasted.

First thing’s first. We finally got to spend time with Darcy and get to know them. Getting confirmation that Marcy is still in there, just not the dominant personality, and seeing just how her quirks and passions have seeped through was fascinating but also deeply creepy. (It’s like a constant reminder that this isn’t really Marcy but a bunch of old, undying minds who have started the world's most morbid sock puppet routine.)

The core loving red velvet cupcakes with ube frosting and naming themselves Darcy because of Marcy’s favorite video game were nice touches that lay the groundwork for Sasha and Anne being able to get through to Marcy when they finally come face to face. Marcy may be locked in a room inside the core but she clearly isn’t entirely restrained.

“So is Marcy in there or…” this line said a lot. Andrias sounded hopeful, but trying to play it off as casual, that marcy would still be there. He really does care about her and reinforces the parallels that can be found in his relationship with Marcy with Grime and Sasha as well as Anne and Hop Pop. It also further sets up his possible betrayal of the core for Marcy’s sake. I think it is a possibility that he does one good thing with his life that turns the tides of the final battle. (or he could allow himself to be possessed once Marcy breaks free in one last desperate bid to gain his father’s approval. I’m leaning towards the former but this is a possibility)

Andrias’ backstory was finally revealed in this episode and we get to see how distorted his version in True Colors was. Barrel didn’t betray him. He sent Barrel away and started the caste system seen in Amphibia in the present day. It’s like I had already theorized. He was betrayed by Leif which caused him to double down and commit to toxic mindsets that his father enforced. He is in a way a dark parallel to Anne. 

I originally thought he would be made a parallel to Sasha because I believed his friends would betray him because he would double down on his lust for power and colonization but that wasn’t the case which was an interesting twist on my expectations. 

This episode heavily implies that Leif is a Plantar when she does the Plantar family dance for Barrel and Andrias in the garden. This has basically been confirmed as of Newts in Tights with Sasha and Hop Pop finding Leif’s room in the Plantar family basement that contains a red paper note that her and Andrias would use to communicate. (This will definitely play an important role in Andrias’ final decision in the last few episodes.)

I like the decision to have Leif change her mind about using the box because she sees that Amphibia is in danger if they keep using it. Often in media there is a character that just knows what they have been raised to believe is wrong and that is why they do the right thing rather than having to learn through experience and grow out of their mindset. I like that they decided against that route and instead went in the direction of her seeing that this will lead to the destruction of Amphibia rather than the prosperity they hoped. It makes for a more natural clash between childhood friends in my opinion. 

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Andrias is a good person deep down but that he seems to want to do what is best for Amphibia. His father’s manipulations coupled with Leif stealing the box out of desperation make it so he has a warped perception of what the right thing to do is. 

He clearly has doubts about whether this really is for the best with everything in the last scene portraying this conflict. His memory of Leif’s words “We have your back. Together, we can use that power for good.”, the burning of the painting, and his line of “Ready? After a thousand years, I've thought of..nothing else.” all sound more like he is trying to convince himself of this fact than reassure Darcy. 

The show is clearly setting Andrias up for a big decision sometime in the finale where he will be forced to choose between Leif’s words (especially now that they have a letter from her that he is definitely going to see at some point) and making his father “proud”.

The voice cast was stellar this episode from William Houston as King Aldrich to Jason Ritter as Barrel to Cassandra Lee Morris as Leif but I want to shout out Zeno Robinson in particular. He’s really become a powerhouse in Disney Animation voice acting with his performances of Remy on Big City Greens, Hunter on The Owl House, and now Young King Andrias on Amphibia. 

I loved the way he would make his voice deeper whenever he would turn towards his father’s ideals and away from his friends. The start of this transition could be heard when he has the outburst at Leif when she says they can do good with the box and he does his best Keith David impression at the end when he banishes Barrel and commits to “redeeming” himself.

This Episode also surprisingly explained why there was a single free moss man way back in the season 1 episode “Wally and Anne”.

Newts in Tights/Fight or Flight

I like how these episodes once again brought back a season one plot point. Nothing is really redundant in this show. So much “filler” within amphibia contains important character moments, plot points, or little details that are important down the line to the story. Tritonio and Domino II are characters I initially thought would be one offs when I first watched season 1 and I’m glad I was wrong.

“Newts in Tights” was a funny episode that managed to keep sight of its heart. I thought the humor and allusions to Robin Hood were all fun and Anne’s reactions to it all were the best part. With these episodes being in Matt Braly’s own words the last fun episodes of Amphibia it was fitting.

The decision to return to Anne and Sprig adventures for these last two fun episodes was a smart one. It’s a good reminder of how important Anne and Sprig’s friendship is to the series. Their friendship was the catalyst for Anne’s change and represents the core messages of Amphibia: change, growth, and becoming your best self.

This episode really emphasizes that there is strength in connections and that you have control of how you respond to things. Tritonio’s continued insistence on the rules of the streets is a learned behavior that he must make the active decision to work against. This has been a recurring theme in the show but especially this season. Sasha and Grime are prime examples.

Grime and Sasha chose to change. Tritonio chose to change. Their connections were catalysts that pushed them in that direction but the choice was ultimately their own. Just like their past bad actions were their own.

The closing scene was probably the most important part of the episode by far. They find Leif’s room in the Plantar basement and Sprig opens her “blank” note. This message is definitely going to play a very important role in Andrias’ actions in the finale. That note is one of the ones that Andrias and Leif created that only he can read with his special glasses. I’m going to guess that these are Leif’s final words to Andrias before she left for earth.

This really gives an air of fate and inevitability to what the girls have gone through in the series even more than the prophecy. It’s a fascinating case of the cyclical nature of life but also of how you can break the pattern. Sasha, Anne, and Marcy aren’t going to fall into the same trappings of Andrias and his friends and I think that can make this ending even more powerful.

Domino II being the alpha was foreshadowed! I was not expecting this rant from Anne to have any significance at all, but it came around in a really big way. This is just further proof of how well planned out this series is. Everything is coming back around and I am onboard with it.

I mostly have scattered thoughts about this episode (This has become a lot longer than I initially intended). Domino II’s babies are all adorable. I 100% understand how everyone fell in love with them so quickly. I love Sprig having Anne’s back through everything. I called Sasha being a dog person and I think it’s so funny that her and Grime adopt the hairless cat. Wally Jr. and his tiny hat have my heart.

Anne has always been a character that follows her heart and seeing how that pays off in such a big way this episode is nice especially considering things are definitely going to go south next week. Anne’s big heart has always been her biggest strength and a large part of why I love her as a main character so much. She always tries to do the right thing even when things don’t work out and I’ve loved watching her journey the past 2 years.

Thoughts and predictions for the finale

I’m not the best with predictions so I don’t usually make them but I thought “why not?” this show is ending and I have some ideas for where it can go. None of these are concrete and I won’t be upset if they don’t end up happening.

Marcy will end up going home and moving. Marcy’s flaws lead to her running from this situation and to have it come full circle I think she would have to return and accept this.

If anyone stays in Amphibia it will be Sasha. I think all 3 will end up going home but if one of them has to stay Sasha is who I think it will be.

Someone will end up sacrificing themself. In particular I think it will be one (or all) of the Amphibians that have been most deeply affected by the girls and become mentor/parental figures to them (Grime, Hop Pop, and Andrias).

Earth will be part of the final fight. I hope that we finally get to see the Wus and Waybrights. I think we’ll get confirmation that Sasha is estranged from at least one of her parents (probably her father since Grime has filled a father role of sorts for her).

“The Hardest Thing” will deal with the aftermath of the fight against the core and Andrias with the hardest thing being saying goodbye to their found families and friendships.

Anne will have a big sacrifice play in the finale. She won’t die but there is a pattern. Reunion had Sasha almost sacrifice herself, True Colors had Marcy almost sacrifice herself, and it stands that this season will have Anne almost sacrifice herself.

The Owl House - Top 5 Episodes of Season 2A

With the owl house returning in a month I decided to re-watch all the episodes currently released and I want to rank what I think are the 5 best episodes of season 2A for fun. This is just my opinion and I’d like to hear everyone else’s. Also almost all the episodes in this season are incredibly strong so this was really hard to do and none of these episodes are anywhere close to bad.

1. Eda’s requiem

This episode is amazing and my favorite episode of the series. It has one of the most beautiful sequences in the whole show with Eda’s requiem which is just as emotionally resonant as it is stunning. Eda’s fear of abandonment and decision to almost commit suicide to stop the emperor was arguably the most emotionally heavy the show has ever gotten. And I know it hit me like a train the first time I watched it. Not to mention it managed to create a poignant, tragic romance between Raine and Eda in the span of 22 minutes.

I really love that the show has doubled down on the found family trope that Eda, King, and Luz have become. Eda’s fear that she’ll be left behind once King and Luz have their real families paired with when Raine asks Eda “You have kids?” and Eda responds “They’re not mine. Mine.” and tries to push on with her sacrifice makes it so you are hit full force with just how replaceable Eda believes she is. Which makes the ending reveal that King made himself legally Eda’s child all the more heartwarming.  It can be hard to acknowledge just how important you are in other people’s lives and seeing this struggle displayed so honestly was powerful.

2. Knock, knock, knockin on Hooty’s door

This episode was an amazing follow up to Eda’s requiem. It has the structure of an anthology except everything comes together in the end. While I love the Lumity of this episode and that they got together without a long “will they, won’t they” period I have to say my favorite part of the episode was Eda’s portion. I appreciate that they have decided to do a deep dive on the consequences of Eda’s curse and her isolation that stems from it. In the first season it was ever present but because they wanted to keep the focus on the mystery of who cursed Eda we didn’t get to deep dive into how the curse effects her outside of the physical transformation. Seeing all the people she’s lost due to it makes the effect Luz has had on Eda all the more powerful. Also Harpy Eda is awesome.

I enjoyed all the other parts of the episode as well. The fact that Lilith and Hooty are actually pen pals was oddly heartwarming. Their friendship was something I didn’t know I needed. Hooty wanting to help everyone and doing it in a unique and kind of creepy way is really in character. I’d have to say King’s part of the episode was probably weakest which is mainly because it’s the payoff that had the least amount of build up towards it. Lumity becoming canon and Eda reconciling with the owl beast are both things that we began the journey towards in season 1.

3. Hunting palismen 

This episode was a fantastic introduction to who Hunter really is. We got glimpses of the golden guard before this point but we finally got to know the boy behind the mask. This episode makes a compelling character out of Hunter, establishing his goals and motivations as well as his grievances and shortcomings. He has an easy chemistry with Luz that makes you wish they were on the same side which worked really well if all the older brother Hunter fanart is to go by. He’s the character I’m most excited to see the trajectory for the rest of the season. He has so much potential to effect the story moving forward.

4. Eclipse lake

The character moments in this episode really made this one for me. I had been wanting to see how Amity and Hunter would interact since Hunting Palismen and this episode delivered. The similarities between the two were right in front of us and I’m happy the show decided to head right for the heart of it instead of beat around the bush and have the characters recognize it as well. 

Hunter himself seems to be an amalgamation of what I thought Lilith and Amity would be. Just like Lilith he’s dedicated his life to the emperor and the coven and fears being replaced and failing. He’s willing to do whatever necessary to make sure he isn’t useless until he finds worth outside of this. And just like Amity he has the conflict of what is planned for his future and the pressures to be perfect clash with the fact that he has found some camaraderie with people who oppose this planned future. I will admit that in season 1 I was disappointed they didn’t take Amity or Lilith in these directions but with how the show has handled them and Hunter in season 2 I am completely on board.

5. Through the looking glass ruins

I just had a lot of fun with the A and B stories of this episode. There wasn’t a ton of plot progression but that doesn’t matter because I loved the character and relationship development. On one end we finally got some more Gus development which was sorely needed and on the other we got some pretty massive Lumity development and some plot progression with finding Philip Wittebane’s journal (an echo mouse ate it but still). I almost put Yesterday’s Lie in this spot but this one beat it out just based on pure enjoyment on my end. The plot progression and drama of yesterday’s lie are phenomenal but I sometimes need an episode I can sit back and watch without having my heart torn out.

Feel free to disagree. This list is just my list and I’m sure everyone has vastly different opinions. If anyone would like to share I’d love to hear in the comments, tags, or an addition to my post. All of that is welcome.

Hollow Mind Thoughts

This has been my favorite episode of season 2B so far, hands down. It was so masterfully done from Hunter and Luz’s journey through Belos’ mind to Hunter’s breakdown at all that happened to Luz’s reaction to discovering Belos is Philip to the background details that tell a sweeping story of two brothers that ended in tragedy to the confirmation of more than one theory. This episode was amazing.

First off everything about Belos’ backstory was amazing. Seeing how he manipulated the witches in the boiling isles and planted a deep rooted fear of wild magic within them was chilling. He started out with physical threats with dangerous “wild mage attacks” and eventually grew more and more personal until he was spreading fear about how wild magic destroys the soul of the user. The escalation and manipulation was done much better than I could have hoped. 

It has very obvious parallels to organized religion and it’s interesting how many cartoons have decided to deconstruct it so thoroughly in recent years. It takes the tactics such as playing to people’s fears and other things that occur in organized religion that have negatively impacted people and shines a light on them, showing how these are actively harmful and can prevent people from accepting who they are. It also shows the isolation that rejecting these types of things can bring with characters like Eda. It shows how indoctrination and forcing a life path on someone like this can effect them with Amity and Hunter. It does a good job of exploring these themes and using the characters and arcs to enhance them. 

This episode does the best job of any in the entire series at selling Belos’ hold over the Boiling Isles. I could feel and fully believe that he had so much control over them whereas at many points earlier in the series I was bothered at how inconsistent his control seemed. It varied based solely on what was most convenient for the story in season 1 which was one of my biggest complaints of the first season but season 2 has really doubled down on showing Belos’ influence and I couldn’t be happier. It really feels like there are stakes. You really feel like Belos is a threat and you can see just how dangerous he is. 

Another one of my complaints with the first season was how easily Luz seemed to chip Belos’ mask in the finale, which shattered his illusion of strength, but this season has once again fixed that problem because it has shown how dangerous Belos is with his words and how callus he is. Not just with the people of the boiling isles who he holds contempt for because they are witches but also towards Hunter. It’s chilling how easily Belos dismisses Hunter. He claims to care about him and states that he was the clone that looked the most like the original but the second he saw cracks he made to get rid of him like all the rest. I’m impressed with how much this season has done to improve on the first and capitalize on the potential I felt it missed.

The atmosphere of Belos’ mind was fantastic. The layers of it where there’s the surface level which is shiny and polished, too squeaky clean, and what’s underneath, the real Belos, is creepy and distorted with crossed out faces, gnarled trees, and devoid of living plants. It’s a perfect visualization of the duality of Belos. 

The owl house is a study in how twists being expected isn’t a bad thing. A twist that is built into the story in the background and little dropped hints is a well thought out twist. Too often shows get wrapped up in subverting expectations and throwing their audience for a loop and manage to disappoint because they aren’t built towards. The owl house is the perfect example of a show where the twists are expected because they are built into the plot but they are still incredibly impactful when they are revealed. I wasn’t shocked when Hunter was revealed to be a grimwalker in this episode and I wasn’t shocked when Belos was revealed to be Philip in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” but I still loved when and how they were confirmed in the show.

The Hunter grimwalker theory confirmation wasn’t surprising but the way it was used in this episode was one of the best parts. The reality that Hunter is just the latest in a long line of clones that are regularly disposed of by Belos because they all betray him at some point says so much about all the characters involved. It explains why Darius has such a soft spot for Hunter, he can see the very blatant similarities between the two and doesn’t want Hunter to fall down the same tragic path of his predecessor. It sheds light on Hunter because it shows that all the golden guards were manipulated but ultimately goodhearted kids that were all victims of Belos. It makes him even more tragic than he was before this point and adds another layer to the manipulation that Belos spins for his followers. 

It also shows how certain Belos is of his mission that he was willing to kill his brother initially (shown through the background memories) and that he continually makes more and more clones of him hoping that this will be the time that his brother follows the same path as him and doesn’t fall in love with magic and the boiling isles but each and every time it fails. There are so many layers that this creates and I can’t wait to see what happens moving forward.

I like that instead of instantly turning to Luz and Eda’s side at the end of the episode Hunter has a breakdown over all that he’s discovered and runs away. Finally fully understanding the abuse and manipulation that he’s endured. The breathing, the panic, his desperate action of tearing his cloak off. All of it was so well done and captured the suffocating feeling of that kind of breakdown so well. Owl House excels at portraying these types of difficult emotions. This isn’t the type of thing you just move forward from and I like that it is taking the time to address that. Hunter has been one of the most consistently fantastic parts of the season and he’s given an interesting dynamic with everyone he’s paired with. 

The true introduction of the collector was very interesting and leaves more questions than it does answers but that was clearly the point. There's an air of mystery surrounding this being and what their goals are. There’s so much that this being has a hand in and there’s a lot of implications about how intertwined Eda and the Clawthorne family is in this whole thing. We know that the collector was the one who captured the owl beast and turned it into a curse in the first place and there are a lot of hints that the Clawthorne family has more connections to Belos and his family than we currently know of. This episode knows what questions to answer and what to leave hanging. 

My only real question was why Belos lead Hunter and Luz through his memories in the first place. How much of that was he aware of? How much of his reveals were on purpose? We know that he wanted Luz to know he is really Philip Wittebane but what about the rest? These feel a bit nitpicky and could be answered in the future so I’m not hung up on any of it.

This episode left me with so many thoughts and questions but also left me very satisfied. With just 5 episodes left I’m going to release my thoughts on the first half of season 2A but I decided to put my thoughts on Hollow mind out first because there were just so many that it needed its own separate post. I hope others are getting just as much enjoyment out of this season as I am.

Amphibia Series Thoughts (So Far)

The fact that it has taken me this long to write about Amphibia is a crime. This is a criminally underrated show that deserves more than being in the Owl House’s shadow (no shade to the Owl House. It’s an amazing show. I just think Amphibia deserves just as much praise). 

Amphibia has just about everything I could ask for in a fantasy epic cartoon. It has amazing and memorable characters, a fun world with fascinating lore, huge twists, and a lot more. With season 3B underway I thought it was about time I talked about the episodes currently released for Amphibia. Buckle up, I have a lot of thoughts. 

I genuinely love Amphibia so I would like to get my more mixed thoughts out of the way first and then get onto what I love about it so it can end on a high note. Amphibia can be very episodic at points which can be great for a first season that is setting the tone, establishing the themes, and introducing characters before everything becomes serious in a serialized show like this. But the problems arise when it gets later on in the show and the more pressing matters get put onto the backburner for problem of the week type episodes. 

This is especially prevalent in season 3A which, while very entertaining and I love Anne’s parents, suffers from massive mood whiplash with the show going from everything that happens in True Colors to frogs in LA shenanigans and the fact that a lot of plot and character development in Amphibia has to happen off-screen. (If you want to skip the mixed thoughts go down to season 1)

I think the show does a better job of explaining why Anne doesn’t mention Marcy and Sasha or Andrias than a lot of others online seem to because it actually spends quite a bit showing Anne’s avoidance and trust issues. 

Episodes like The New Normal, Fight at the Museum, and Anne-sterminator spend a large chunk of their runtime showing these effects on Anne and how she isn’t coping as well as she would like to portray. That being said I wish there could have been one or two more episodes that take place in Amphibia rather than the human realm.

Episodes like Spider-Sprig and Hollywood Hop Pop are episodes that easily could have been removed and replaced with Amphibia content to keep the plot moving forward. These two episodes specifically retread character growth that has already happened making their place in the story less important and are the only two episodes of 3A that don’t contain plot progression/lore expansion. 

We have so many interesting things happening in Amphibia with the frog/toad rebellion and Marcy’s new role as the Core’s host that practically beg for expansion that I wish there was a bit more time spent with it. (As a huge spider-man nerd I loved all the homages in the spider-sprig episode but I still think this could have been replaced)

Another option could have been to have Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia in the 3A finale so that 3B could focus entirely on Anne and Sasha discovering the mother of Olms, hearing about the prophecy, saving Marcy, and stopping Andrias and the core. This would have given the show 2 more episodes (11-minute runtime) to cover all this plot in the latter half of the final season. 

As it is everything has to move at a breakneck speed. This is especially prevalent with the girls’ friendship. They have to mend their friendship in the wake of massive betrayals in the span of half a season which can get tricky. (I like what they are doing with Anne and Sasha so far so this may be unfounded but my main concern is Marcy because it’s looking more and more like she won’t be saved from the core’s control until the finale.)

Another issue I have with the series as a whole is the fact that it doesn’t want to deviate from Anne as often as I think it could and probably should. This show is the story of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy and while Anne is the main character her friends have massive arcs to undergo that I think could have benefitted from more solo episodes for them. 

Sasha is arguably the character who is forced to change the most. All the episodes she’s in are great and they don’t waste a moment they are given but it’s a bit disappointing how much of her development is forced to take place off screen. She is a very complex character with so much going on that some huge points in her arc such as her decision in Reunion could have benefitted from more screen time or expansion on her home life/past. (I’ll come back to Sasha later because there is a lot to be said about her.)

Marcy is also worthy of more screen time. But doesn’t suffer as much as Sasha does because she was part of the main cast from episode 6 of season 2 until the finale (mostly. She did miss a few episodes). While it would have been interesting to see Marcy in Newtopia before Anne and the Plantars get there, we get enough insight into her place there and the character dynamics that it wouldn’t be as necessary. I would have appreciated it though. The main concern is 3B because there are a lot of things left hanging with Marcy’s arc that she can’t actively work towards now that she is under the control of the core. Only time will tell when it comes to this and I will hold out hope that her arc gets wrapped up in a satisfying way. 

As it stands the core reason that Marcy’s arc and characterization suffers is how little she is mentioned by characters when she isn’t around and the fact that outside of Olivia & Yunan she doesn’t have a perspective episode. 

Marcy is a character that looms over the story in season 1. Just like Sasha even when she isn’t there you can feel the effect her friendship has had on Anne. This isn’t the case with season 3A. The effect she has had on Anne from her betrayal and near death aren’t felt nearly as much which you would think would be the opposite. 

This can be compared to Sasha after the season 1 finale. Sasha was mentioned on multiple occasions by Anne, Marcy, and Sprig and her presence could be felt even when she wasn’t on screen which hasn’t been the case with Marcy. I also wish she would have had more one on one interaction with Sasha because we really don’t know what their dynamic is. I think it could be really interesting.

So with that out of the way let’s get into the things I love and my more expanded thoughts on the seasons, characters, and twists.

First season

Amphibia’s first season was what I think would qualify as a slow burn with most of the episodes being slice of life getting the audience acquainted with Anne, the Plantars, and Wartwood. But even with the majority of the season focusing on more problem of the week type stories it manages to sprinkle in enough hints to the overarching mystery that the show never felt aimless. 

Anne also goes through amazing development in this season and watching her grow into the responsible and caring character she is in season 2 and 3 is amazing. She is allowed to be flawed, selfish, and entitled at the start of the series and the first season’s decision to focus on her growth is part of why I like the more episodic formula they used for it. 

It has some great episodes with my favorites obviously being Toad Tax, Prison Break, and Reunion (no shockers there). The obvious connection these episodes have is that all of them were built up to and have lasting consequences as the show moves forward. 

In Toad Tax Anne finally gains the town’s respect when she decides she would rather do the right thing regardless of how the town has treated her than revel in the power granted to her by the toads. This moment felt earned because every episode leading up to it had dealt with how Anne has been treated by the town and how she struggles with her self perception in regard to this. It feels like a huge payoff for all the growth and self reflection Anne had been forced to go through in the series so far. It also ripples throughout the season because due to the events of this episode word of Anne gets back to toad tower.

In Prison Break we finally get to see what Sasha is really like and how things have been different for her. Anne’s friends Sasha and Marcy had only been teased up until this moment with the ominous lightning flash over the photo stuck in a branch in the rain during the opening being the biggest hint that things with Anne’s friends back home were not as sunshine and rainbows as it could initially seem. 

There are also hints that Anne’s twisted views of friendship, which are gradually unlearned because of her friendship with Sprig, came from her friends back home and this episode makes it clear that Sasha was a big part of that warped perception. 

It also sets up an interesting inversion between Sasha and Anne. Where Anne is forced to confront her flaws and mistakes during her time spent with the Plantars, Sasha’s worst traits are encouraged by the toads. Anne becomes better while Sasha becomes worse. This plays into the show’s main theme of change. Anne is willing to adapt to the change and grow while Sasha (and later Marcy) pushes back against change which leads to disaster.

I love this episode because it introduces the character I find the most interesting of the cast of characters, Sasha. There’s just so much to go into with her character such as her need for control clashing with her genuine care for her friends that makes her fascinating. But that’s a topic for later when I get to her character as a whole.

Reunion is easily the best episode of this season though and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who disagreed. There’s the long awaited reunion between Sasha and Anne which ends just as poorly as you’d expect based on everything leading up to it. The moment I want to talk about though is when Sasha looks at Anne and says “Maybe you’re better off without me” and lets go, falling to what would have been her death if Grime hadn’t saved her. 

This is one of the darkest moments of the show and is heavily analyzed, for good reason. It’s so well done too. Sasha sees Anne and the Plantars, people she had just tried to kill, working to save her while her weight literally pulls them down. She has a moment of reflection where she is forced to realize what a bad friend she’s been to Anne and chooses to fall to her death instead of continue to drag Anne and the Plantars down. 

This is such a dark moment that I wasn’t expecting on my first watchthrough. This is where I realized that Amphibia was something special.

Now I think is the best time to talk about Anne. I absolutely love Anne. She is such a great protagonist. I mentioned above about how much she’s grown from her first introduction and that is part of why I love her so much. She’s allowed to be flawed and learn from her mistakes. 

One of my favorite things is how well the pilot sets up Anne’s character and arc. In the pilot episode Sprig gets stuck in Anne’s trap when a Mantis attacks and Anne initially runs away to save herself before she runs back and saves Sprig. This shows that while Anne can be selfish she will always try to make the right choice. 

Anne is such a great protagonist and I love how the show works in her Thai culture and heritage. It makes sure you understand how important it is to her and who she is. From her parent’s restaurant Thai Go to Anne teaching Polly (or trying to teach Polly) Muay Thai and all the smaller things in between. 

The show makes sure that you know this is a part of Anne’s life that is irreplaceable. I hope more cartoons will be willing to do this because I really appreciate it within Amphibia. You could just see how much this meant to Matt Braly.

The Plantars are almost all fantastic as well. The standout of the three, to my initial surprise, was Hop Pop. I’m a sucker for the older mentor with secrets and a soft spot for their kids archetype that Disney has made a mainstay of their cartoons since Gravity Falls. 

Hop Pop is funny, heartfelt, and has very real fears of loneliness and loss that can only be explored in the way they are through his older, more jaded perspective. The generational divide that is experienced by him and everyone else in the family is a source of conflict but it is done in a way that doesn’t totally discount one way over the other and works perfectly with the show’s themes.

All that praise being said the first season does run into the problem of losing its sense of urgency when it comes to Anne finding her way home on a few occasions but this is easily rectified in season 2. 

Season 2

I’d say season 2 took every question and the few issues I had with season 1, which there weren’t a ton mind you, and managed to address each one. Lacking a sense of urgency around Anne, Sasha, and Marcy getting home? Lets heavily expand on the lore of the calamity box and directly address Anne’s homesickness in a way that will emotionally devastate everyone watching. Not enough focus on the girls outside of Anne and no word on Marcy? Marcy joins the main cast for a good chunk of season 2 and Sasha gets more than one solo episode so we better understand what’s going on with her. What happened to Sprig and Polly’s parents? Let's emotionally gut punch you with Hop Pop revealing how he feels responsible and have Sprig address missing his mom despite not knowing her.

Season 2 also isn’t afraid to deal with the lasting consequences of character’s actions and trauma. Anne has a hard time discussing Sasha at the beginning of the season and tries to make up for all the danger she feels she has put the Plantars in since she got to Wartwood. This is where we first see her avoidant approach to her trauma which causes things to boil over on more than one occasion throughout the season. 

This season so far is the one that best deals with the lasting effects of what has happened to the characters throughout the show the most and shows Anne’s developing trust issues in an organic way. 

Anne isn’t the only one where we get this from either. Sasha is another good example. This seems like as good of a segue as any to talk about Sasha’s character as a whole. Even with the limited screen time Sasha has huge development throughout the series. 

Sasha is fascinating in part because of her complex relationship to control and power and how it directly conflicts with her care for others. It’s made very clear at multiple points in the series that Sasha does genuinely care for other people. 

She cares for Grime and won’t abandon him in Toadcatcher even when facing down Yunan, she cares for Anne and her decision to let go to prevent dragging Anne and the Plantars down with her in Reunion shows that, she cares about Percy and Braddock and shows conflict over losing them in Barrel’s Warhammer, she cares for Anne and Marcy in True Colors when she tries to hold off Andrias so that they could make it home.  

The episodes focusing on Sasha are usually really good because of this complexity. She is always torn between doing to right thing/her genuine care for others and what will give her more control. Sasha was the character that was obviously being set up for a redemption arc (every animated show needs at least one) but she had to get worse before she could start to get better. And this is what her arc in season 2 is.

When we first see Sasha again in Toadcatcher she is grappling with the fallout of Reunion and Grime points out that she is training to avoid the reality that her friendship with Anne has irrevocably changed, things can never go back to the way they were. She’s not upset that she lost the fight but that she lost a friend.

Sasha is struggling with this and can’t accept the change or Anne’s independence from her. She wants to regain control over her friendships and force things back to the way they were. She hasn’t learned that those lines of thinking are faulty, instead she doubles down on them.

She next appears in Barrel’s Warhammer where she and Grime go to get the rest of the toads onboard with their coup on Newtopia but to be the leaders of this coup they need to go on a suicide quest for Barrel’s Warhammer (it is literally stated in the show to be a suicide mission). Sasha is more determined than ever to get the warhammer and gain power once she hears that Anne and Marcy are working together to get home without her. 

She puts her life and the lives of her comrades at risk to prove that she doesn’t need Anne and Marcy and continue her quest for power. In her own words “I am not gonna fail. Not while Anne and Marcy are getting by without me.” She is upset because she believes that Anne and Marcy are doing fine without her, that they don’t need her like she wanted to believe. 

I think that this outlook on need is important. She wants them to need her. If they need her they can’t leave her. And if they don’t need her then she can’t need them. Sasha can’t show this need. It’s vulnerable. It’s weakness in her mind. She has to be fine on her own.

She pushes her team too far in her mission to reassert control and loses Percy and Braddock because of this. She seems genuinely effected by it. She’s starting to realize her actions have consequences. That she can’t force her wants and desires onto other people and expect them not to push back or leave when it hurts them. Grime’s speech about some people not being willing to pay the necessary price for success rationalizes her actions and prevents her from fully coming to this realization.

The true cracks in her resolve to follow through with her plans don’t start showing until the Third Temple. She has a moment of doubt about betraying Anne and Marcy after all the faith they showed in her. She starts to question if power is what she really wants if it comes at the cost of her friendship with the two like it did with Percy and Braddock. 

There’s the implication that Sasha isn’t faking as much as she would like to believe she is during this reunion and it continues on for the next handful of episodes leading up to True Colors. 

Sasha can be a tricky character to pin down because it can be hard to tell when she is being genuine or not and even trickier to tell when she is lying to herself or truly believes what she is saying. Sasha is just as good, maybe even better, at lying to herself as she is at lying to others. 

Interestingly enough Battle of the Bands is the episode that sums up her arc as a whole in season 2. She wants Marcy and Anne to succeed and with her in control she thinks she could ensure that would happen. She thinks she knows what’s best for them and tries to force it onto them but Anne has learned to stand her ground and push back when needed.

When Anne won’t let her be in control she decides to take her own path where she has all the power over what happens. She gets into a situation where she has all the control only to learn how empty that is without those she cares about and that having someone who will do everything you say without question isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

She later comes to learn through Toadie that sometimes supporting her friends in their own endeavors can be just as meaningful even if they don’t come out on top. We see her give up that control she so desperately clings to and support her friends and comes to realize that it is more fulfilling than going it alone to try and win on her terms.

This is the lesson that Sasha needs to learn. In a way this was showing her what she could have if she could let go of having total control, compromise, and accept change. It makes what happens in True Colors and the consequences of her actions hit her all the harder.

In her mission to force things back to the way they were and resist change she loses everything she could have gained when True Colors comes around. She gets what she thinks she wants at the cost of everything that actually matters and she is hit with the realization of how empty it is. 

She is finally forced to confront her own terrible choices and their consequences when Anne finally severs their friendship. To make matters worse she comes to the realization that her coup was unintentionally a good thing when it’s revealed what Andrias plans to do with the music box. 

When she tries to warn Anne she is understandably ignored. Everything bad that happens in True Colors is in part her own fault. She is forced to confront the lies she keeps telling herself and finally realize the lasting consequences of her actions and the folly of her insistence on resisting change.

I really liked how the culmination of her arc this season is her promising to have Anne’s back in the fight against Andrias and hold him off so Anne and Marcy can get back home. She finally gives up control to someone else by deciding to have their back and tries to take responsibility for her actions and set things right. (it only took until it was almost too late)

This arc is complex and layered. I stand by my opinion that Sasha should have had more episodes dedicated to her but the writers don’t waste a second of her screen time and manage to get all the conflict of her character across in the limited episodes they have been given. There’s still a lot of development that happens off screen (mostly in season 1 and 3a) but once again season 2 finds a pretty good medium that hits all the points it needs to in her journey.

I love how this leads into season 3 with her Turning Point and becoming the leader of the rebellion against Andrias. She is finally using her strengths in a positive way for the benefit of others. One of my favorite things about Amphibia (and good writing in general) is that every character’s biggest weakness/flaw is born of their greatest strength. 

Everything that makes her a great leader, when taken to the extreme, makes her toxic to those around her and the antagonist. Sasha doesn’t give up which is what inspires Anne and Marcy and what made them friends in the first place but it also causes her to continue on with a path even when it puts herself and others in danger. 

Her control freak tendencies when in moderation make her a “tactical wizard” because she is able to take into consideration all the strength and weaknesses with her allies and enemies as well as all the minute details and break them down to formulate a great strategy for victory. But it also caused her to force things onto those around her to fit what she thought was best rather than what was actually best for everyone. 

Her charisma makes it so that she can get people to follow her and lift them up but it also makes way for her effective manipulation. 

Side note: I love Sasha’s new character design.

This is also the case with Marcy. Marcy’s greatest strengths feed into her greatest flaws. Anne says it herself, that Marcy would always get so enraptured in her own little world that she would neglect to see the bigger picture around her. 

That hyperfocus and lust for knowledge make her excel in Newtopia but they also blind her to the consequences to her actions on others, in this case Sasha and Anne. Unlike Sasha though, a lot of Marcy’s betrayal and self destruction comes from a place of naïveté rather than conscious choice which makes them interesting foils (and is another reason why I wish they interacted one on one more).

Marcy has great chemistry with just about every character she interacts with. She is one of the most fun characters to watch while on screen and it is easy to see why she became so popular. My favorite pairing with her is surprisingly Hop Pop. I never would have guessed that I needed them to be friends so much. I love how she is just as excited by things that most people would consider mundane as Hop Pop is like seeds, farming, and taxes (or in her case probably just the math of it).

Her twist in the True Colors finale was built into her character from the beginning. In her introduction she refers to everything happening as tropes and describes how she played what is essentially a dnd character to work her way to the top of Newtopia. It explains her entire view of life and how she managed to take escapism to the extreme by trapping herself, Anne, and Sasha in Amphibia and lied about trying to get back home to get Andrias the music box and continue their adventures. 

Her struggles making friends, which is touched upon in the episode Scavenger Hunt and is implied with her lack of close connections in Newtopia, unlike Anne with the Plantars and Sasha with Grime, comes around in a big way because it is the driving factor in her running away at the news of her moving for her father’s job and taking a chance on the music box in the first place.

Every piece is there for the audience to put together and understand this twist.

It’s interesting because looking back at the season 2 opening the twist was right there in the moment replacing the photo in the rain. Sasha and Anne are fighting while Marcy looms over them facing away and holding the music box. The ominous lightning strikes once again which very clearly hints at Marcy’s truth that Sasha and Anne are unaware of and that all three of them have conflicting end goals for their journey in Amphibia. 

So much of this show's future plot points are hidden right in front of you, be it the opening or episodes that are seemingly filler (like Wally and Anne and how the moss men came back in Newtopia).

To put my thoughts on Marcy into perspective I caught up with Amphibia the spring before season 2 started airing and I remember the immense amount of discourse and theories surrounding Marcy. 

Matt Braly stated that Sprig was the first non-toxic friend that Anne had ever had in a Q and A on Reddit and it led to so many people trying to guess what it was about Marcy that made this the case. 

It’s actually really funny looking back on it because so many people were completely shocked by Marcy’s introduction and she so easily lulled them (and me) into a sense of security that, although we were warned by Matt Braly, caused massive shockwaves in the fan community after the reveal that Marcy wanted to get the three stuck in Amphibia and never wanted to leave. 

I think that being in the fandom around this time and seeing the speculation and adoration for Marcy in real time really heightened my experience with her character and arc throughout season 2.

Another thing I adore with Marcy is her heavy neurodivergent coding. As someone who is neurodivergent myself I see a lot of myself in Marcy’s mannerisms and characteristics. She has the same hyper focus that I can find myself experiencing, deep knowledge of tropes, media, and games, certain mannerisms in her movements and habits that I have, and trouble with eye contact and making connections. It’s always nice to see this in a character and I appreciate that Matt Braly is so supportive of this reading although it wasn’t the initial intention of the writers. 

I relate to all of the girls in different ways but Marcy is the girl I am probably most like (as I mentioned above). And I really love that there is something to connect to with each of the girls and that each of them is a complex individual. It's one of my favorite things about Amphibia.

Now to talk about True Colors. Wow. Where to start. This is easily the most ambitious episode the Amphibia crew have put out to date. One thing I love about the two season finales that Amphibia currently has is that they aren’t afraid to irrevocably change the characters, relationships, and status quo. This episode came and promised that nothing will ever be the same again, shaking the very foundations of the show. 

Marcy had been stabbed, Anne’s powers manifested, Sasha was trapped in Amphibia, Anne and the Plantars were sent back to LA in Marcy’s final act, Andrias’ plan and his sheer amount of power and resources were revealed, and the endgame was finally upon us. It was insane. Watching this episode and knowing that we would have to wait months for season 3 made me feel like I was going to explode from anticipation. This was the perfect finale to this season.

True colors does a fantastic job of giving you a grasp of the scope of this show and the ramifications of what happened. Every character has a moment to shine and no one seems inconsequential. That being said it obviously heavily focused on the relationship between the 3 girls and for very good reason. Season 1 returned to the day that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy were sent to Amphibia and gave us a new perspective on everything through Sasha and so True Colors did the same thing with Marcy. 

Everything about Marcy and what Matt Braly said snaps into place in the most heartbreaking way. 

She didn't know where the box would send them or if it would even work but she didn't give any of her friends a heads up or anything. She went behind their backs to do this and intentionally didn't reveal this to them at any point during their travels. Andrias was the one who let it slip. She was even planning on bringing them on more adventures rather than returning them home. What Marcy did was wrong. I don't want to downplay that but I also think the why behind her actions is just as important to reading her character. 

This episode really puts the mirror up to Sasha and Marcy and shows the flaws in their desire to reject change. Everything comes crashing down for the both of them and they are forced to realize the selfishness in their actions.

Marcy is forced to realize that her decision was self-centered rather than selfless as she tried to make it out initially. Her line "But look at how much fun we've had. Look at how much you've both grown. Look at Sprig. I gave you this, I gave you everything! I just didn't want to be alone." Marcy is still lying to herself that she did this for all of them until she can't anymore and she breaks down and admits that she did it so that she wouldn't have to be alone. She did it for herself.

Just like Sasha she also starts to work to be better in this episode. She saves Sprig, goes against Andrias, sends Anne home, and tries to do something else with the music box before she is stabbed.

Yep now to talk about that moment.

To make matters worse, in one of the darkest moments in the show, she gets stabbed and spends her last moments of consciousness apologizing for her mistakes. She almost dies thinking that she has irreparably destroyed her friendships and the person she trusted most in Newtopia literally stabs her in the back, causing her (almost) death. 

Amphibia likes it’s parallels and Andrias is likely meant to be a father/mentor figure to her (it’s paralleled with Sasha and Grime and Anne and Hop Pop). This makes the betrayal all the more painful. Her naivete and belief in this grand new world that helped her escape from her problems is what ultimately lead to this moment. She wasn’t malicious or evil just scared and lonely. 

I’m interested in the parallels this episode draws between Andrias and Sasha though because it is heavily implied that his friends left him because of his pursuit of power and control but instead of realizing his mistakes he doubles down on them and continues on his path for power and domination which is what Sasha herself has been doing this season. 

It could be gearing up to have Andrias and his past friends be a dark parallel of what Sasha, Marcy, and Anne could become if they don’t reflect and work to better themselves (now I’m even more interested in seeing the episode “The King and the Core”). 

You can’t really talk about True Colors without talking about how Disney pulled it from its originally scheduled release date less than 24 hours before it was supposed to air, forgot to tell iTunes so the whole episode ended up getting leaked, and ended up airing it 3 weeks later. 

Matt and the whole Amphibia team were done a disservice and it’s really unfortunate that this happened. The whole crew took to twitter urging people to wait and watch it when it aired and to keep from leaking what happens in it. It’s clear that this came completely out of nowhere for them. 

It’s disappointing to see how poorly Disney has treated two of its best shows (cutting the Owl House short without telling Dana Terrace and what it did to True Colors). They’ve done such a great job on these phenomenal shows and deserve better treatment from Disney.

Season 3

Now onto season 3A. I’ve already mentioned my few issues with 3A so far which can mostly be rectified with the latter half of season so I don’t want to dwell on them and would much rather talk about what I loved. Starting with Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy. They are the best. Anne’s parents are so wholesome and I love being reminded of just how far Anne has come as a character by seeing the change through their eyes. 

They mention in her first appearance back home that she was the poster child for hating responsibility, punctuated through Anne’s drawing that literally says “I hate responsibility”. They have to acclimate to Anne’s newfound maturity and the reality that she can’t stay with them no matter how much they would love her to and supporting her decision in every way they can. They are just so supportive and loving that it’s a breath of fresh air. Way too often main characters are given terrible home lives or basically non-existent parents so having the Boonchuys be the opposite of that was satisfying.

I also really love all the developments on the Amphibia side of things. Sasha becoming the leader of the rebellion and Marcy being possessed by the core really heighten the stakes and play into their development over the seasons. It also draws yet another inversion between the two as well as their respective relationships with Grime and Andrias. 

Sasha came to Amphibia and lied and manipulated her way to the top of the toads heirarchy but developed a genuine bond with Grime that eventually leads to the two of them bettering themselves whereas Marcy is lied and manipulated by Andrias which brings her to the top of his regime. 

They both had to face the aftermath of their own betrayals which led to them rising to the ranks they find themselves in going into the endgame. I like the parallels that can be drawn between the two especially since they couldn’t be more different personality wise. They are two polar opposite sides when it comes to how much control they have in their respective stories. 

Season 3B hasn’t aired a ton of episodes as of yet with only the episodes up to “Mother of Olms/Grime’s Pupil” having aired at the time of me writing this but I am really enjoying them so far. I hope it kicks the plot into high gear soon considering this is the last batch of episodes we will ever get and it looks like that will be the case seeing as  “The Root of Evil/The Core and the King” are the next slated episodes which I’m really excited for. 

The character moments are good and I’m enjoying Anne and Sasha getting the chance to reconcile and be shown as actual friends now that Sasha has changed for the better. I also really liked the unconventional pairing of Sprig and Grime in the most recent episode. I’m having a lot of fun.

Extra thoughts

I have so many thoughts on Amphibia and a lot are scattered right now so I’m just going to list them off in bullet point format.

I love Sasha and Grime’s relationship. They’ve changed each other so much and I love all of their solo episodes.

The music in this show is amazing. The amphibia soundtrack is very underrated. My favorite musical moments are when Anne’s powers activate in True Colors and Marcy’s truth from the same episode and the Calamity trio's themes.

The animation in True Colors when Anne’s powers activate and she fights off Andrias is amazing. It’s so fluid and the change in fluidity and style really sells just how powerful this new form is.

"Wait, so Marcy and I get cool anime powers too?" - I just love this line and how self aware it is.

The color palate used in this show is really visually appealing. The colors are softer and tend to avoid jarring contrast which I really love.

I really like how the girls earth passions and extracurriculars play into how they excel at combat. Sasha and Anne’s athleticism that comes from tennis and cheerleading and Marcy’s smarts and D&D knowledge. It’s fun.

Amphibia - All In Thoughts

I love Amphibia. The amount of hype I had coming into this episode was unreal and I have to say it didn’t disappoint. You could see the love and care that the crew put into every second of this episode and I was left breathless. I started watching Amphibia at the start of the pandemic and it’s been a very important show for me over the past few years. I’m really glad that I’ve had the chance to watch this show since before season 2 started airing and that I’m going to be able to watch it come to completion. I’d like to dive right into my thoughts because there are a lot.

I want to start with Sasha because I really thought her part of the episode was masterfully handled and the perfect completion to her arc.

Sasha has been consistently well written since the very beginning and they have yet to disappoint. And in my opinion Sasha is the best written character. Her arc really came full circle in this episode in so many ways.

The decision to have Sasha be the one to fight Marcy was brilliant and it draws interesting parallels between the two. The core is a collection of minds that couldn’t let go. They couldn’t abandon their control over Amphibia or those closest to them (namely Andrias) and they are confronted by Sasha who has learned to grow past that need for control and power.

The battle between Sasha and Darcy was incredible. The animation, music, lighting, and dialogue all hit home how important this fight is for Sasha’s character. Sasha teeters between crippling guilt and unbridled rage throughout the fight which clashes with Darcy’s overconfidence. Their respective weapons of choice and fighting styles, Darcy’s fluidity vs Sasha’s brutality, convey this contrast well. All the people who worked on this fight scene were clearly having the time of their lives.

Sasha’s unyielding determination has always been her strongest asset and that moment where she got back up despite her very serious injuries so that she could save Marcy, defeat the core, and protect those she cares about was such a powerful moment. It harkened back to the Third Temple and the little girl who stood up for two kids she didn’t know that ultimately set her on this path and brought her to this moment. Her determination that had lost its innocence and would hurt those around her earlier in the series has regained its selflessness and is bolstered by the experience, maturity, and love that she has now. It is ultimately what saves the people she cares about most as well as the world.

I really loved the culmination of Sasha’s arc in this episode where she rejects Darcy’s comparison between them and frees Marcy while saying the incredibly powerful line “I’m not that person anymore.” Sasha has been struggling with accepting that she’s really changed and that she’s deserving of this third chance she’s been given throughout the entire season up to this point. She’s been struggling under her own guilt and self loathing but at this moment she’s accepting that she’s changed and is a better person. That she won’t backslide and will fight to be better every day. It’s just like Anne said “It’s not who we were that matters Sash. It’s who we are now that counts.”

I don’t know if I managed to put into words how powerful this scene is and how well it encapsulates Sasha’s growth as a person so I’m going to put the clip here so you can see for yourself. This scene is a distillation of what makes Sasha such a great character.

I also love how she’s the one who takes Marcy’s hand and lets her know they forgave her. A lot of people who were getting mad at Sasha for being upset with Marcy last episode were sort of missing the point. Sasha in the first two seasons isn’t known for her forgiveness and her being upset with Marcy was setting up the completion of her arc over the series. It was the last step Sasha needed to make to become who she was always meant to be. 

Sasha is the one who reaches out her hand, even before Marcy is awake to ask for forgiveness, and gives it to her. This is a completely different Sasha from the one we first saw in Prison Break. The one who was obsessed with control, power, and manipulation and it really is a testament to how much she’s grown that this was the end of her arc. Not the big flashy fight with Andrias but a personal fight between her and the core away from prying eyes that ended with her saving and holding Marcy and ultimately forgiving her.

It also makes it clear that Sasha wasn’t sure that she had changed herself and part of her hesitance to forgive was projection onto Marcy. It's important that her verbally confirming to herself and Darcy that she’s not that person anymore is closely followed by her forgiving Marcy. These acts were intertwined for Sasha. One couldn’t happen without the other.

I’m a sucker for Grime and Sasha’s relationship and Grime sacrificing his arm to save her life was emotional. Their dynamic has been a rollercoaster where they both initially brought out the worst in each other but through their genuine care for one another they ultimately brought out the best in each other as well. Seeing how they filled in the holes in each other’s life has been moving. 

Sasha clearly hasn’t had a stable home life and Grime provided that consistent parental presence and support that she lacked. Meanwhile Sasha managed to worm her way under Grime’s tough exterior and open him up to connection and life outside of power and battle. 

This sacrifice and her pointed remark that she’s “not that person anymore” is even more meaningful in the context of Sasha’s entire arc. She spent so long not really knowing who she wants to be but desperately trying to cling onto how things were. In season 2 so much of her arc is punctuated with loss because of this. When Percy and Braddock leave her because she pushed them too far in Barrel’s Warhammer it starts a chain event where all she does is lose things one after another. She loses Percy and Braddock, she loses Anne, and she loses Marcy all because of the path she had chosen.

But Grime stays by her side through everything. He almost leaves in Turning Point but he comes back when she needs him most and voices that she’s the most important person in his life right now. That while his sister may have power and an army she doesn’t have his Lieutenant. She doesn’t have Sasha. He’s a constant pillar of support for her and was integral to her finding her way.

And because of her newfound conviction and the confirmation of Grime’s unconditional support she was able to gain so much on her journey of self betterment. She’s rebuilt a genuine and deep relationship with Anne, she’s gained real trust and companionship, she’s learning to forgive herself and others, she’s learning self-love, and she’s finally able to use her strengths for the good of everyone around her, not just herself.

This section of the episode had no shortage of powerful moments but the rest of the episode hit just as hard. Anne’s arc and battle this episode was also incredibly executed. It was just as emotional as it was visually stunning. I think I want to start with the flashback and the “who am I?” essay she was given.

Amphibia always excels at using its flashbacks to amplify the storytelling to the fullest and this one was no exception. This flashback really explored something that had been hinted at since the beginning, that Anne had always been the one in Marcy and Sasha’s shadow. The one others thought didn’t have greatness in her future. Sasha and Marcy were at the top of Amphibia within months of getting there but Anne slowly built her way up in this world. She put in the work and grew as a person and because of that she made allies all over. Her strengths weren’t as flashy or eye turning as Sasha and Marcy’s but that didn’t mean they were any less important.

Anne didn’t immediately burn brightly like Sasha and Marcy but she grew to be a light for so many people. And it’s because she didn’t burn brightly and intensely right away that she didn’t sputter out as violently. Sasha and Marcy’s respective power and influence came crashing down so quickly. They didn’t have the solid, steady group of allies that Anne had built for herself. They didn’t know who they wanted to be and kept doubling down on their flaws that held them back from growing into who they were meant to become. 

In their world Anne didn’t have the self respect to capitalize on her own strengths and her self doubt clouded and hid aspects of herself that ended up inspiring others. It’s through meeting the Plantars and living in Wartwood that she has been able to grow into the true warrior and leader that she is today. She confronted her flaws and learned from them. Her growth was gradual and because of this it was easy for others on the outside looking in to overlook entirely which was their mistake.

Anne was underestimated by Andrias, the core, and many other foes that she came across but she always stepped up to the plate and grew as a result. Andrias says as much when he finally comes face to face with Anne once again. “Y’know I think I finally figured out why the stones picked you as their champion Boonchuy. From the moment you walked into my throne room I underestimated you. A scruffy little girl with one shoe and leaves in her hair, yet underneath it all a true warrior. Such a brilliant deception.” And it was this moment of respect that made me sit back and think back on how far Anne has come. 

Her rematch with Andrias was also breathtaking. The scale, power, and stakes were all captured masterfully. Just like the fight between Darcy and Sasha this one portrays how Anne and Andrias are narrative foils. Andrias is a dark mirror of Anne. He shut himself off from connection and love after betrayals from his closest friends whereas Anne never stopped caring for others in spite of those same betrayals. Andrias is the embodiment of all the regrets Anne could have had whereas Anne is the embodiment of what Andrias could have been.

I will never get over the fact that Anne gets her second wind in the fight by her parents and the Plantars blaring her favorite song while chanting her name. I love that scene and it’s funny how accurate that actually is. Anne is relatable even in the middle of a fight for the fate of earth.

The animation, music, and transitions between the two fights were all amazing. The transition has got to be the best in the entire show. (You know the transition I’m talking about)

The visual parallels between their first fight in True Colors and their fight in this episode are great and the two images above are of my favorite one.

Marcy’s arc also comes to a powerful conclusion within her mindscape. She is given the perfect world where nothing will go wrong and Sasha and Anne want exactly what she wants. But this isn’t reality and those aren’t her Anne and Sasha. The fact that it's them saying “whatever you want Mar Mar. We only want what you want” is what makes Marcy realize all of this is fake is a testament to her growth. 

In season two Marcy was dead set on convincing herself that she made the right choice. That what she did was for all of them, not just herself, before she is forced to confront the reality that her choice was selfish. She did it to run away from her problems. She forced this choice onto Sasha and Anne and while they did grow and make irreplaceable connections that doesn’t make what she did right. (once again her choice was understandable but it wasn’t right)

“The real Anne and Sasha don’t want what I want and it hurts but forcing them to follow my dreams is wrong. I’ve learned that the hard way.”

The tragedy of Marcy is her loneliness and how it drew her to this fantasy in the first place but also how that fantasy came crashing down in the most horrible way possible. Andrias stabs her in the back (literally), she and Sasha and Anne all end up separated, and she ends up being possessed by the core. It was one horrible trauma after the next and she is forced to realize the perfect fantasy doesn’t exist and it never did. That running from her problems doesn’t solve anything and actually makes the inevitable moment where she must confront her actions all the more painful for both herself and those around her. 

I adore the moment that Marcy slaps Aldrich’s hand away (this moment was very dramatic but also kind of funny. He’s being all intense and trying to make her become one with their hive mind and she just straight up slaps away his giant hand) and rejects being assimilated into the core with another powerful line “No. Only a coward would hide away in this place. Well, I reject this sick fantasy and I reject you!”

He tries once more to keep her there by reminding her of what awaits her once she leaves. All that is there for her is rejection. She’ll still have to move and she’ll still have to face her friends, but she’s done running. She believes in her friends and the memories they have together. They become her tether as her world is enveloped into darkness as Aldrich tries to break her and assimilate her into the core. It’s her memories that help her hold on even away from Sasha and Anne in this moment just like they would be there for her if she moved away.

The reconciliation between the three may be my favorite scene in the show. I know I’ve said that about more than one scene already but that’s just a testament to how amazing this episode is. Sasha forgives Marcy, Marcy apologizes for what she did, and Anne reaffirms that things have irrevocably changed between the three of them but no matter what they will always mean so much to each other. They have changed because of each other and even if they grow apart nothing can take that from them. That message is so touching. Nothing is permanent but that doesn’t mean that it was pointless.

I love how the photo of the three girls is important even now and how it means something completely different to each of them. It’s outgrown the meaning it once had. The first time the audience sees that photo is in the opening where it’s stuck in a branch in the rain while lightning strikes. It’s the first hint that we get that Anne’s friendships back home weren’t as sunshine and rainbows as it initially seemed. The dynamic of the people in that photo wasn’t the healthiest despite the genuine care they clearly had for each other. That first sighting and these last ones show their respective growth.

When Sasha sees the photo in this episode she deflates. Looking at it reminds her of the old her and she’s not proud of who she was. It also reminds her of the doubt she has that she’s actually changed. It’s no longer the tether for her that it was at the beginning. She doesn’t carry it around like she used to because she is no longer dead set on returning to the way things were. She knows that can’t happen and doesn’t want it to. She wants to be better, different.

For Anne this photo is a reminder of how far they have all come. That who they were isn’t what matters but who they are now and that is punctuated by her leaving the photo inside her locker. It is always where she can find it just like the memories that they have made but they have all outgrown that old dynamic and left it behind. 

For Marcy that photo is a tether. A light in the dark. She now knows that she can’t keep holding onto the past and Sasha and Anne but that doesn’t mean that what they had can’t help her through the dark times. She may leave them behind to move when she goes back to reality but those memories will always be with her. That love and care will never leave.

I also want to talk about Andrias, Leif’s letter, and his final choice. Leif’s letter was all about trying to ensure that Andrias knows that she loved him and that she wants him to keep his heart open to other people so he doesn’t miss out on the connections and love he could have. And it’s so tragic because like Andrias said “It’s too late”. He’s done too many horrible, irreversible things and shut himself off for too long for any of that to be a reality. All he can do at this point is accept his defeat and take himself off the board. 

The flashbacks we got of him and Marcy also show that he really did care for her but once again that betrayal made it so that he tried to fight against it. Marcy wormed her way into his heart (like she did his pocket) but he wouldn’t let himself fully accept that he cared about her. He finds work arounds to keep her alive while also doing his duty. He was torn between the two sides of himself but when push comes to shove he sacrifices her to keep the core happy and stay on his mission. He recognizes this. He knows that he’s betrayed the only person who found a way into his heart after all these years and that he can’t undo any of it. He’s a cautionary tale to every one of the calamity trio, not just Anne. 

His breakdown and final moments in the fight were so amazingly voice acted and directed. He goes from sobbing uncontrollably at finally getting the closure he needed after so long to calm resignation when he opens his suit to allow Anne to perform the final blow. He’s revealed to be a cyborg when he’s torn apart by Anne’s final attack. He’s literally lost parts of himself to make sure he lived long enough to see this day until very little of the original Andrias remained. What little was left of the real him comes out when he asks Anne to save Marcy as he lies in pieces.

He seems to still be alive since he was in the castle at the end of the episode so he could play a part in the trio saving Amphibia and it would be fitting that he lives to see Leif’s terrible vision for the future come true.

I can’t believe that the episode once again ended on a massive cliffhanger. The Amphibia crew really wants to kill me with anticipation with how they’re going. They also want to see how emotional they can make their fans because they came out of the gate swinging with The Beginning of the End and have not let up for a second since. I don’t know if I’m going to make it through The Hardest Thing. The title alone is making me emotional. I can’t wait to see the end of this amazing series and I have full faith in the Amphibia crew to tug at my heartstrings and leave me with a goodbye I will never forget.

The only thing I am on the fence about is how quickly everyone bounces back after the battle, especially Marcy bouncing back so quickly after she reconciles with Sasha and Anne (I loved everything about her part of the episode up until this point) because she brushed everything that happened off very quickly.

Marcy’s arc is so deeply intertwined with trauma and breaking the fantasy that it felt a bit odd to have her go back to acting just fine, even changing into her old season 2 outfit, so quickly. I’m on the fence because while this turn was jarring within this episode there is still one more episode that could cover this issue. I have faith this will be touched upon in the next episode because of how amazing this finale has been so far so I will just wait and see.

That and Sasha and Grime definitely needed a hospital but instead just got a group hug. Not complaining because they deserved that group hug. I mostly just found it funny by that point and there has been no shortage of amazing fanart that has pointed this out as well. (These artists draw so quickly it’s insane) Sasha and Grime were practically dying before this group hug so seeing them up and about so soon and acting fine was a bit strange to say the least.

Extra thoughts

I loved that the thing that spurs the Plantars into taking on the Herons is their desire to protect the Boonchuys. They really became family during their time on earth. The Plantars gaining that closure by defeating the birds that took Polly and Sprig’s parents from them to save their surrogate family was such a nice moment.

Keith David’s voice acting was amazing. Actually all the voice acting in this episode was amazing.

The music was so good! TJ Hill keeps outdoing himself every episode and I really hope they release the score at some point.

The fights were incredible. The animation was so smooth and you could see how much fun the team was having with certain parts. The scythe animation and Darcy’s fighting style were particularly phenomenal.

I would talk about Sprig’s arc, which I really enjoyed in this episode especially with how it mirrored the calamity trios, but it felt more like set up for The Hardest Thing than a culmination of a character arc like we had with Sasha, Anne, Marcy, and Andrias so I’m going to wait for next week to go more in depth.

Whoever was animating Darcy’s hands was having the time of their life this episode.

Mrs. Boonchuy giving Sasha a hug was my favorite small detail of the episode. 

Sasha looked so tired and done this episode and she needs to go to the hospital and have a long overdue nap.

I feel really bad for Matt Braly and the Amphibia crew for the All In leak from Xfinity. They really didn’t deserve this to happen twice and to their biggest episodes too. 

This is the first time in years that I watched cable and other than the ads recycling during every ad break it wasn’t that bad (that Owl House ad was not good) and I’m glad I did it to support the show.