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Description
Writers: Michelle Cavin & Jenava Mie

Directors: Kyler Spears & Jenn Strickland

Date: May 22, 2021

Synopsis: "War rages on in Newtopia."

So here we have the season 2 finale to Amphibia. Let's not beat around the bush and dive into this. We have everyone arriving in Newtopia. Sasha and Grime then betray them to take over the kingdom. War breaks out. To say this episode is intense would be an understatement. There is quite a bit to unpack, all of which helps support the moral on how you shouldn't let your emotions and desires cloud your judgement. Let's talk about this in two halves.

First Half:

We start out with a flashback in a library on the day of Anne's birthday. Marcy is shown coming across a book on the Calamity Box, which she initially thinks is just made up. She then gets a text message from her parents (voiced by Eric Bauza and Sumalee Montano) , and while we don't hear the full conversation, it's enough to send her in tears and run away. Well, that's a sad way to start things off. She then sees the gift shop with the Calamity Box and tells Anne and Sasha to get it under the guise of getting a birthday present. So Marcy is shown to be quite selfish here given how she's acting more on her own interests than others. At the same time, she just has this feeling of being defeated, as if things around her are falling apart. You can't help but feel bad for her. We'll talk about this later.

Back in the present, we see everyone arriving in Newtopia, with the plan being about Marcy explaining Sasha and Grime's innocence. Of course, when we get inside, Sasha and Grime show their true intentions and say how they didn't change and were still planning on taking over Newtopia. They bring in the Toad Council and have the Newtopian soldiers work for them in taking over the kingdom, and have King Andrias thrown into the dungeon. Wow we're not wasting anytime with this. It's pretty sad to see that Sasha didn't change, though there is something interesting. She offers to either have Anne and Marcy rule Newtopia with her, or she'll send both of them home with the box. It's pretty clear that her lying, cruel, and manipulative nature is really showing, but the fact that she actually wants them to be by her side shows that she still sees them as friends. She's just too morally skewed and selfish to see that they don't just follow her. Of course, Anne calls her out for this, saying how she's crazy and selfish, and her trust in her is broken. You can definitely feel for Anne here since she's had to put up with too much heartbreak and betrayal from a supposed friend who just sees others as a means to an end, people to exploit. It's clear that this gets to Sasha, and when she tries sending Anne and Marcy home with the box, it doesn't work. She then has them thrown into the dungeon while figuring out how it works. This is definitely a smart narrative choice. For as selfish and cruel that Sasha can be, she doesn't resort to killing others when she doesn't get what she wants. However, being called out for her flaws is a shock to her since she's so used to having things going her way without people calling her a terrible person.

As everyone goes to the dungeon, Anne vents out her frustration at being deceived, and even attacks the guards. I mean, considering how she can get pretty emotional when someone close to her isn't honest, it's no surprise. Just as they attack, General Yunan comes in to knock them out. Yeah that's pretty awesome. I mean, she's mainly there to protect Lady Olivia, but at least she cares about Newtopia to try and work with them. It's also here where Anne comes up with a plan to stop the toad army from invading and free King Andrias. Hop Pop, Marcy and Olivia would break King Andrias out of the dungeon while Polly, Yunan and Frobo engage in a frontal assault on the toads in the city. While that goes on, Anne and Sprig would close the gate. She's certainly become more adept to thinking things through and seeing the bigger picture.

While this goes on, Sasha is shown to be quite conflicted thanks to what Anne said earlier. She doesn't even know if she wants this. I'm not surprised with this given how, for all her talk about gaining power and control, she also does want genuine friends, and is too conflicted over her feelings to see this in front of her. As Grime tries to reassure her of their goal, they then see a hidden mural of King Andrias as a conqueror over everyone. That's certainly Interesting. His true nature is shown to be that of a ruthless tyrant, which makes them uncomfortable. This makes sense with how they just want control and respect from others yet still have enough standards to at least think they're doing something good. Unfortunately, Anne doesn't believe her. As Sasha tries to tell her to not close the gate, Anne flat out refuses due to how she sees Sasha as irredeemable, and then they sword fight. This moment is really intense and you can't help but feel bad for both of them. Sasha wasted her chances, so it makes sense for Anne to fight back. At the same time, Sasha is also at least trying to be reasonable and very rarely strikes first against her. It's too late anyway and the gate is closed.

Second Half:

And so King Andrias is freed and he sends them all home after a tearful farewell. Talk about a happy ending...... I'm kidding. That's not what happens. Instead, King Andrias shows off who he truly is. He's no benevolent king. He instead takes after his ancestors, who were not explorers and scientists, and are instead conquerors. He wanted to use the Calamity Box to conquer all worlds. He claims that he was also betrayed by frog and toad friends when in possession of the box, but we can tell that he's just trying to save his own skin with such a transparent lie. Wow! That is really bad. What doesn't help is how quick he is to show off casual callousness. He immediately gets a robot army and has them take control of the kingdom while having them attack the main characters, sends the castle into the sky, blows up Toad Tower, and threatens to kill them with a sword despite Marcy's protests. He also says, with no hesitation, that Marcy purposefully sent all three of them to Amphibia since she didn't bring the box fully charged to him. Wait wait?!

Okay, let's explain. Let's go back to the backstory from the beginning. The reason Marcy ran away crying was that her dad got a new job out of state and that they would have to move away. She didn't want to be separated from her friends, and led them to the Calamity Box (even though she didn't think it would work at first). Wow! Talk about selfish Marcy. She took her friends away from her lives, worrying all of their families, just so that they wouldn't be separated. That is just really bad. At the same time, you do feel sorry for her. There's a tone of desperation in her voice that makes it clear that she's being sincere in how she didn't want to be lonely. She's not a cruel or manipulative person, but she does tend to make decisions without the consideration of others. It's also here where Anne realizes that, for all their flaws and mistakes, Sasha and Marcy do have a form of genuine care for each other (even if she doesn't exactly forgive Sasha) , and she calls Andrias the real villain.

Things are really starting to heat up now. As Andrias sends out his robots, Frobo gets in on the action and fights him. He then gets crushed by him and all that's left is his head. Talk about a monster! At least here the girls are able to act more in sync and fight Andrias with their weapons. It's just really great to see them work together even if it's clear that there are still issues that need to be sorted out. Polly also sprouts legs when she's almost crushed and is able to make off with the Calamity Box. That's pretty cool. Unfortunately, King Andrias acts even more like a cruel dictator as he threatens to throw Sprig out the window if Anne doesn't give him the box. And then we get the most awesome scene in the episode. He throws Sprig out the window even when getting the box, which makes Anne remember all the good times they had together. Since her gem isn't fully charged, she's able to tap into her gem power and fight him in a magical duel to the death. It's like something straight out of an anime. It's just so intense and action packed, but it also shows how much Anne cares for Sprig like a little brother. While this goes on, Marcy secretly sneaks off to rescue Sprig as he keeps falling. That's really nice. The box also becomes fully charged.

And now we have the big one. Brace yourself. Sprig comes in and tells Anne how Marcy saves him. She then creates a portal for everyone to escape, but only Anne and the Plantars make it through. As Marcy tries to fix things up, she gets stabbed in the chest by King Andrias. No I'm serious. She, a teenage girl, gets stabbed in the chest and dies on screen, apologizing for everything she's done before fainting. Yeah at this point things are pretty much intense. Marcy may have made big mistakes, but she had a good heart and tried to do the right thing, making her death all the more tragic. As if that wasn't enough, while Anne ends up back on Earth, the Plantars are there with her. Now they're far away from home, effectively flipping the tables on the show's premise. Oh my gosh!

We then get an after credits scene showing the season 3 intro with one interesting scene. We get a shot of Marcy in a tank and seemingly breathing, so it could mean she's revived. Talk about hype. This episode is a great way to end season 2.

Description
Writers: Michelle Cavin & Jenava Mie

Directors: Kyler Spears & Jenn Strickland

Date: May 22, 2021

Synopsis: "War rages on in Newtopia."

So here we have the season 2 finale to Amphibia. Let's not beat around the bush and dive into this. We have everyone arriving in Newtopia. Sasha and Grime then betray them to take over the kingdom. War breaks out. To say this episode is intense would be an understatement. There is quite a bit to unpack, all of which helps support the moral on how you shouldn't let your emotions and desires cloud your judgement. Let's talk about this in two halves.

First Half:

We start out with a flashback in a library on the day of Anne's birthday. Marcy is shown coming across a book on the Calamity Box, which she initially thinks is just made up. She then gets a text message from her parents (voiced by Eric Bauza and Sumalee Montano) , and while we don't hear the full conversation, it's enough to send her in tears and run away. Well, that's a sad way to start things off. She then sees the gift shop with the Calamity Box and tells Anne and Sasha to get it under the guise of getting a birthday present. So Marcy is shown to be quite selfish here given how she's acting more on her own interests than others. At the same time, she just has this feeling of being defeated, as if things around her are falling apart. You can't help but feel bad for her. We'll talk about this later.

Back in the present, we see everyone arriving in Newtopia, with the plan being about Marcy explaining Sasha and Grime's innocence. Of course, when we get inside, Sasha and Grime show their true intentions and say how they didn't change and were still planning on taking over Newtopia. They bring in the Toad Council and have the Newtopian soldiers work for them in taking over the kingdom, and have King Andrias thrown into the dungeon. Wow we're not wasting anytime with this. It's pretty sad to see that Sasha didn't change, though there is something interesting. She offers to either have Anne and Marcy rule Newtopia with her, or she'll send both of them home with the box. It's pretty clear that her lying, cruel, and manipulative nature is really showing, but the fact that she actually wants them to be by her side shows that she still sees them as friends. She's just too morally skewed and selfish to see that they don't just follow her. Of course, Anne calls her out for this, saying how she's crazy and selfish, and her trust in her is broken. You can definitely feel for Anne here since she's had to put up with too much heartbreak and betrayal from a supposed friend who just sees others as a means to an end, people to exploit. It's clear that this gets to Sasha, and when she tries sending Anne and Marcy home with the box, it doesn't work. She then has them thrown into the dungeon while figuring out how it works. This is definitely a smart narrative choice. For as selfish and cruel that Sasha can be, she doesn't resort to killing others when she doesn't get what she wants. However, being called out for her flaws is a shock to her since she's so used to having things going her way without people calling her a terrible person.

As everyone goes to the dungeon, Anne vents out her frustration at being deceived, and even attacks the guards. I mean, considering how she can get pretty emotional when someone close to her isn't honest, it's no surprise. Just as they attack, General Yunan comes in to knock them out. Yeah that's pretty awesome. I mean, she's mainly there to protect Lady Olivia, but at least she cares about Newtopia to try and work with them. It's also here where Anne comes up with a plan to stop the toad army from invading and free King Andrias. Hop Pop, Marcy and Olivia would break King Andrias out of the dungeon while Polly, Yunan and Frobo engage in a frontal assault on the toads in the city. While that goes on, Anne and Sprig would close the gate. She's certainly become more adept to thinking things through and seeing the bigger picture.

While this goes on, Sasha is shown to be quite conflicted thanks to what Anne said earlier. She doesn't even know if she wants this. I'm not surprised with this given how, for all her talk about gaining power and control, she also does want genuine friends, and is too conflicted over her feelings to see this in front of her. As Grime tries to reassure her of their goal, they then see a hidden mural of King Andrias as a conqueror over everyone. That's certainly Interesting. His true nature is shown to be that of a ruthless tyrant, which makes them uncomfortable. This makes sense with how they just want control and respect from others yet still have enough standards to at least think they're doing something good. Unfortunately, Anne doesn't believe her. As Sasha tries to tell her to not close the gate, Anne flat out refuses due to how she sees Sasha as irredeemable, and then they sword fight. This moment is really intense and you can't help but feel bad for both of them. Sasha wasted her chances, so it makes sense for Anne to fight back. At the same time, Sasha is also at least trying to be reasonable and very rarely strikes first against her. It's too late anyway and the gate is closed.

Second Half:

And so King Andrias is freed and he sends them all home after a tearful farewell. Talk about a happy ending...... I'm kidding. That's not what happens. Instead, King Andrias shows off who he truly is. He's no benevolent king. He instead takes after his ancestors, who were not explorers and scientists, and are instead conquerors. He wanted to use the Calamity Box to conquer all worlds. He claims that he was also betrayed by frog and toad friends when in possession of the box, but we can tell that he's just trying to save his own skin with such a transparent lie. Wow! That is really bad. What doesn't help is how quick he is to show off casual callousness. He immediately gets a robot army and has them take control of the kingdom while having them attack the main characters, sends the castle into the sky, blows up Toad Tower, and threatens to kill them with a sword despite Marcy's protests. He also says, with no hesitation, that Marcy purposefully sent all three of them to Amphibia since she didn't bring the box fully charged to him. Wait wait?!

Okay, let's explain. Let's go back to the backstory from the beginning. The reason Marcy ran away crying was that her dad got a new job out of state and that they would have to move away. She didn't want to be separated from her friends, and led them to the Calamity Box (even though she didn't think it would work at first). Wow! Talk about selfish Marcy. She took her friends away from her lives, worrying all of their families, just so that they wouldn't be separated. That is just really bad. At the same time, you do feel sorry for her. There's a tone of desperation in her voice that makes it clear that she's being sincere in how she didn't want to be lonely. She's not a cruel or manipulative person, but she does tend to make decisions without the consideration of others. It's also here where Anne realizes that, for all their flaws and mistakes, Sasha and Marcy do have a form of genuine care for each other (even if she doesn't exactly forgive Sasha) , and she calls Andrias the real villain.

Things are really starting to heat up now. As Andrias sends out his robots, Frobo gets in on the action and fights him. He then gets crushed by him and all that's left is his head. Talk about a monster! At least here the girls are able to act more in sync and fight Andrias with their weapons. It's just really great to see them work together even if it's clear that there are still issues that need to be sorted out. Polly also sprouts legs when she's almost crushed and is able to make off with the Calamity Box. That's pretty cool. Unfortunately, King Andrias acts even more like a cruel dictator as he threatens to throw Sprig out the window if Anne doesn't give him the box. And then we get the most awesome scene in the episode. He throws Sprig out the window even when getting the box, which makes Anne remember all the good times they had together. Since her gem isn't fully charged, she's able to tap into her gem power and fight him in a magical duel to the death. It's like something straight out of an anime. It's just so intense and action packed, but it also shows how much Anne cares for Sprig like a little brother. While this goes on, Marcy secretly sneaks off to rescue Sprig as he keeps falling. That's really nice. The box also becomes fully charged.

And now we have the big one. Brace yourself. Sprig comes in and tells Anne how Marcy saves him. She then creates a portal for everyone to escape, but only Anne and the Plantars make it through. As Marcy tries to fix things up, she gets stabbed in the chest by King Andrias. No I'm serious. She, a teenage girl, gets stabbed in the chest and dies on screen, apologizing for everything she's done before fainting. Yeah at this point things are pretty much intense. Marcy may have made big mistakes, but she had a good heart and tried to do the right thing, making her death all the more tragic. As if that wasn't enough, while Anne ends up back on Earth, the Plantars are there with her. Now they're far away from home, effectively flipping the tables on the show's premise. Oh my gosh!

We then get an after credits scene showing the season 3 intro with one interesting scene. We get a shot of Marcy in a tank and seemingly breathing, so it could mean she's revived. Talk about hype. This episode is a great way to end season 2.