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The Second Temple
Following a run of slice-of-life adventures in Wartwood, focus is back on traveling to temples to recharge the music box’s stones. It’s here where a theme is established where both the temple and the procedure follows a virtue of one of the human girls. They also allow for a variety of settings with this second temple being located in the arctic plains. However, when following the illumination of the first stone, there doesn’t appear to be a temple. So Anne, Marcy, and the Plantars find that things aren’t coming as easily to them as they could be since have to follow a vague clue on how this temple represents heart.
Fortunately, they find help in the return of a familiar face from Season 1. It’s a mystical vendor of the Bizarre Bazar, Valeriana, and while she seemed like a mere one-off character before, she’s more interesting here. She represents an ancient order who once held that very music box. For the group to find the temple and recharge the box’s stone, they must prove that they’re worthy. Through the process, Anne is understandably protective over the music box and can’t help but be suspicious.
Finding the temple leads to some challenges that bring out good heart where Anne’s actions put care and loyalty for others first. They’re attacked by a giant cardinal attracted to the caterpillar fur coats they’re wearing, so Anne throws away hers so it will go after that instead. She notices an avalanche coming towards a nearby igloo and drops everything to rescue people who might be inside, though it’s empty. As considerate as these actions are, since they set back the mission, Valeriana berates her and the others. Anne doesn’t take this well, and after a tirade where she insults Valeriana’s order for not giving any credit, Valeriana transports her to a structure in a gorgeous astral plain.
Here, another confrontation serves as an insightful reflection as Valeriana takes the music box, and Anne has to fight her to get it back. While fighting, Valeriana points out more examples for why Anne is unworthy of the temple with accurate examples of wrongdoings throughout the series. Most of them are minor offenses, but not the fact that one of the reasons Anne and her friends ended up in Amphibia is that Anne stole the music box. Anne sees her point, but comes to her senses when Valeriana is about to fall off the structure, and Anne saves her. She also admits that even if she did make bad choices, she has recognized the right thing to do as a result, and always owns up to them. There’s something reassuring here, showing even if people do the wrong things, that isn’t the same as being a bad person. Valeriana then reveals that the entire arctic and its obstacles were the temple the whole time, and Anne getting through them means she is worthy after all. Backed by more beautiful visuals and staging, Valeriana proceeds to use the temple’s energy to recharge the stone. Even in this process though, Anne’s heart is strong as ever when she hears cries for help from her friends. She takes the stone that’s mostly but not fully charged and heads back to help them. The others turn out to not be in danger at all which leaves Anne relieved, but this course of events leave major implications. Unlike Marcy’s stone, Anne’s stone is not charged all the way, and that point is made clear in the last shots of the cartoon.
This in turn brings many mysteries as to what this means, mysteries that will be uncovered in time. It only helps to come from an insightful story with a dynamic cast, striking locations, and thought-provoking themes.
A+
Barrel’s Warhammer
Among the major plot points of the series, one that’s been left hanging for a particularly good while has been Sasha and Grime’s planned toad rebellion. At this point, it’s only been built up with one full cartoon and a brief mention alluding to it in another. It could be said that it’s been taking its time to reveal itself though, because when focus goes back to that plot point, it delivers with welcome details and exciting developments. Fortunately, that’s the case with this cartoon where more on the rebellion and the effects of making it happen are revealed.
It begins with a huge meeting of all the toads who run the many Toad Towers throughout Amphibia with Sasha, Grime, and their associates Percy and Braddock, presenting their plan. With flash and charisma they explain that they use brute force to keep lower subjects in line, they should go further by using that to overthrow the king and take over Amphibia. The toad officials are won over by the presentation, but feel they don’t have the means to properly execute it. This along with mention of how Anne and Marcy are working with King Andrias and thriving without her drives Sasha to aggression. She interrogates the other leading toads to tell them what it will take for them to follow her plan, and the oldest toad gives her an answer; Barrel’s Warhammer. It’s a destructive weapon that belonged to an old toad warrior now guarded by a mysterious beast whom no one was able to escape.
Desperate to thrive and achieve control after hearing of what’s become of her other friends, Sasha pulls out all the stops find the hammer. At the same time, she shows genuine effort to be a good friend, particularly when Percy and Braddock show great fear in taking on this dangerous task. Sasha promises them that if it’s too intense for them, they’ll bail.
At first, the quest seems easy enough after all as they find the Warhammer. Then they discover that they can’t just pull it out, for it’s stuck on the outer shell of a giant narwhal, the beast said to be guarding it. As it awakens, Percy and Braddock signal to bail, but Sasha flat out refuses their feelings since they're so close to victory. There would be some reason to this, but it once again turns out to not be easy. Sasha’s attempts to retrieve the Warhammer incites the narwhal to rampage at extremely intense speeds as the beast proceeds to careen towards one of the Toad Towers. In spite of Percy and Braddock’s pleas to stop and even Grime trying to talk her out of it, she ignores them all, only focusing on brute strength and frustrations of her friends’ success. In doing so, Sasha not only pulls the hammer out, but she and Grime are able to use it to beat the narwhal and get it to stop just as it reaches the toad officials.
Having completed her end of the deal, Sasha successfully recruits all the leading toads, ensuring the rebellion after all. However, there’s a cost to all this with Percy and Braddock feeling betrayed by Sasha. They can’t just ignore that they were put through something dangerous and Sasha just didn’t care. They leave her behind, wanting out of her plans if this is how they’re going to be treated if Sasha fights just to get what she wants. This in turn leaves Sasha with an intense mix of emotions. She’s getting close to control, but just lost more friends, something she said she didn’t want to do. It’s a complex place to leave her character, but that’s what makes her so fascinating.
Along with welcome plot development and great action pieces, this show of character leaves a strong impact.
A+
Fan Art
Series Ranking
1.
Hopping
Mall
2.
Reunion
3.
Marcy at the Gates
4.
Toad Tax
5.
The First Temple
6.
Barrel’s Warhammer
7.
Anne vs Wild
8.
The Domino Effect
9.
Toadcatcher
10.
Prison Break
11. The Second Temple
12.
A Day at the Aquarium
13.
Anne of the Year
14.
Contagi-Anne
15.
The
Shut-In
16.
Best Fronds
17.
After
the Rain
18.
Family Shrub
19.
Hop-Popular
20.
Anne Hunter
21.
Wally and Anne
22.
Children of the Spore
23.
Friend
or Frobo
24.
A Night at the Inn
25.
Handy Anne
26.
Scavenger Hunt
27.
Lily Pad Thai
28.
Dating Season
29.
Anne or Beast?
30.
Combat Camp
31.
Little Frogtown
32.
Cursed!
33.
Snow Day
34.
Civil Wart
35.
Maddie and Marcy
36.
Stakeout
37.
Croak and Punishment
38.
Taking Charge
39.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
40.
Bizarre Bazaar
41.
The Plantars Check In
42.
The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
43.
Wax Museum
44.
Return
to Wartwood
45.
Sprig Gets Schooled
46.
Swamp and Sensibility
47.
Trip to the Archives
48.
Toad
to Redemption
49.
Anne Theft Auto
50.
Hop Luck
51.
New
Wartwood
52.
Ivy on the Run
53.
Night
Drivers
54.
Quarreler’s
Pass
55.
Hop Pop and Lock
56.
Plantar’s Last Stand
57.
Fort in the Road
58.
A Caravan Named Desire
59.
The Big Bugball Game
60.
Fiddle Me This
61.
Truck Stop Polly
62.
Family Fishing Trip
63.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
64.
Girl Time
65.
Breakout Star
66.
Grubhog Day
67.
Cane Crazy
68.
Lost in Newtopia
69.
Sprig vs Hop Pop
70.
Cracking Mrs. Croaker
The next Amphibia review features a cute story of the Plantar's snails as well as Anne starting to become more comfortable with herself, and all the human girls finally reunite to face the third and last temple.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Labyrinth Runners" from The Owl House.
If you would like to check out other Amphibia reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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