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The Hardest Thing
When one becomes so attached to a show, it can be a vital part of their lives through always having something new to look forward to. Very often though, shows don’t last forever and when they end, anyone who was a fan has to deal with the fact that there won’t be anything from it to look forward to again. However, what truly matters isn’t that a show ends, but rather HOW the show ends, for that helps make it potentially stand out as something special. An ending can almost serve as reminder for why the show was so great to begin with, bringing plot points, character development, and themes full circle. This show in particular has been very engaging for sure, and now it's reached the very end, and the passion is present to strongly send everything off.
Coming right after the double-length middle of the finale with Anne and the others defeating The Core on Earth, another challenge is set up. The Core has followed them all back to Amphibia and taken control of the moon, aiming to crash it into the land and destroy everyone. The reason for this course of action is that it fears change that could threaten their old customs of conquest, which is very striking considering change is a main theme of this show. As a result, the efforts of the protagonists are a mixed bag so far, but this situation calls for payoff to one other lingering plot point to bring peace once and for all.
With the sudden presence of Mother Olm, attention is brought to the prophecy that leads to Anne, Sasha, and Marcy using the power of the Calamity Box stones to save the world. It’s staged as the biggest chance they have to settle things, but it not exactly a definite plan. Making it more realistic, Mother Olm explains that the prophecy is basically a best case scenario and not guaranteed to work. Nevertheless, the three human girls are willing to take the chance for the good of the world they’ve grown a fondness to.
The drawbacks to the prophecy don’t even stop there with Mother Olm also having a word of caution for Anne, the only one who’s experienced the box’s power firsthand. While the power can be a great asset to defeat The Core, one person using all the power will be too much for her and destroy her. Anne understands the morbid implications, but presses on to do what’s right anyway, showcasing noticeable maturity fitting for the final adventure of this show.
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Via a sudden appearance of one of the original keepers of the music box, Valeriana, the human girls absorb the power of the box’s stones needed to face The Core.
It’s an exciting occurrence for Sasha and Marcy for sure since they never experienced these powers at all before, but Anne can quickly pick up a difference. These powers are much stronger than usual, and even give her and her friends updated outfits, hair styles, and even weapons.
Their new forms established, they all take to the void of space to face The Core with the stage set for an exciting climax. Backed by a rocking guitar piece in the background and the pace being appropriately fast and lively, the three girls put up a strong fight in incredible style. Each of their powers adds a special individual flair by connecting to their special interests.
Anne fights The Core with giant glowing tennis equipment; Sasha uses her talents as a cheerleader which she’s claimed in the past to be where she gets her fight moves from; and Marcy, so happy to live her dream of experiencing fantasy powers and fighting alongside her friends, adds to the battle with huge glowing tools from her RPG games, in this case a multi-sided die. It’s a battle built on grand staging, pure imagination, and personal touches.
However, it’s not just these three girls who stand out in this climax. The now defeated and humbled King Andrias really surprises by sending his robots up to the fight.
Given his usual nature, it would be fitting to believe he’s trying to stop the girls at the pleas of The Core who he had been taking orders from for so long.
Instead, the robots are sent up to help the girls in the fight, and Andrias doesn’t let The Core control him for once; as he puts it, he’s finally standing up to them. Not only does it show that his prior growth as a character was indeed genuine, but it makes for an interesting parallel to Anne which becomes clearer shortly afterwards.
After Anne and her friends put up a strong fight, Sasha and Marcy notice their powers starting to fade, but Anne can figure out what needs to be done. She tells her friends that the way to defeat The Core now is for Sasha and Marcy to transfer their powers to her so she can face it with one huge blast. When they hear that she might not make it in the process, Sasha and Marcy are absolutely shocked and don’t want this happen. However, Anne points out that it’s her choice to do this and is following it on her own accord after only following their lead for so long. With this declaration and understanding of how much Anne has grown, Sasha and Marcy go along with Anne’s plan, albeit clearly devastated about the morbid possibility.
They’re not the only ones affected by what Anne sets out to do as word of this soon gets to Sprig, Anne’s strongest connection in Amphibia. Extremely dismayed by Anne’s choice, Sprig uses Frobo to fly up to her to get a word in about Anne’s decision.
He tearfully begs her not to risk her life like this, but unfortunately Anne’s mind is made up, though she still has the heart to let her friend know how much he means to her.
With that, she uses the huge display of power, and that ultimately does the trick in destroying The Core as well as the moon. Regretfully, just as warned, it proves to be too much for Anne, and it’s clear how painful its effects are for her body.
By the time the enemies are fully destroyed and the world is saved, Anne is left completely greyed, battered, and depleted of all energy. Then, as a heavy hitting end to such an awesome show of action, many of Anne’s loved ones tearfully watch over her state, knowing what this means.
Anne, however, is at full peace with herself and pleased with the sacrifice she made to save everyone, and then, she leaves the living by disintegrating into mystical leaves. This morbid event being built out of a big choice to lay down one’s life for an entirely different world she’s come to care for is a heroic moment in every sense of the world. It would also be a tragic one just for going this far, and while the emotions still hit hard, what happens after this is a far more fitting payoff to Anne’s character journey.
She suddenly wakes up in what can be best described as an imaginative take on purgatory with floating terrains in space and a little house.
Inside the house is a unique means of communicating with her in the form of an old school computer, using what it types to communicate with her.
However, at Anne’s request, the computer takes a new form of something more fitting to her interests, her cat Domino. This entity is the guardian of the Calamity Box’s stones, and for a deity, they seem very casual when interacting with Anne. They first explain that the reason she’s here is that they made an exact copy of her just before she expired from using the stones’ power. It’s noticeable that Anne’s body is a copy, mainly from the fact that her missing shoe is now on the other foot, but there’s a disturbing possibility that her soul was copied too. Since nothing is definitive about the latter, this reviewer prefers to believe that just the body was copied, at least for the sake of comfort. Either way, she’s still basically the same Anne with the same thoughts, feelings, and growth, and the audience is given the guardian’s word on that.
Anyway, the guardian further explains that they have been watching over the living to see how they’d handle the stones’ power. Apparently, no one has used the power for good until Anne showed up, and for that, she’s earned the right to take their place as guardian. Luckily, so not to put any stressful chosen one-like pressure on her, Anne is wisely given the choice for this position instead of being forced into it. In an interesting turn of events, Anne promptly turns the offer down, giving a very passionate speech about the truth of character growth. While she acknowledges that she did a brave selfless thing in defeating The Core, she’s also aware of her own flaws and how she’s still humanly capable of making mistakes. However, she also acknowledges that from her experiences, the friends and places that started out flawed whom she thought would stay the same changed for the better. The fact is that everyone is always changing and the more they do, the better they can become, and that’s a very impactful philosophy fitting for this show and real life. So while Anne may not be eligible to be the new guardian of the stones now, it’s possible she’ll change enough to take on the role at a later time.
For now, the guardian being enlightened by Anne’s words grants her the right to go back to the world of the living, eager to see how much she’ll change a long time from now.
This move is met with a grand reunion and happiness from Anne’s friends and found family seeing her alive, a fitting counteract to the sadness of her sacrifice.
Anne was also sent back with the remaining shards of the box’s stones said to mark a new beginning, which has a heavy-hitting meaning.
Upon investigation, it turns out that the shards only have enough power for a one-way trip back to Earth, meaning there’s no going back to this frog world. In spite of what this will mean for the ties to the amphibians Anne and her friends have grown to love, everyone agrees it’s best the girls use them. After all, they have lives to return to on Earth and problems to face head-on after they’ve grown so much. Plus, the music box they used to contact this other world has been said to be dangerous several times and that’s been further proven with what its powers did to Anne. Basically, having Anne, Sasha, and Marcy leave Amphibia is really a decision for the best, but that doesn’t make it any easier to do; clearly saying goodbye is the titular hardest thing.
This is made even clearer by the sheer emotions that come with each of the girls parting ways with their respective amphibian companions.
Marcy gets an endearing sendoff from her two most trustworthy comrades of Newtopia, Olivia and Yunan, and they all declare they can learn a lot from each other. It also brings solid closure to the noteworthy closeness of the two newt officials.
Sasha and Grime have a very interesting way of parting ways starting off on serious military mannerisms...
...and then breaking down into blubbering tears. It’s a very interesting way of showing how they both hold onto their tough authoritative ways, but are now open to their softer sides, demonstrating very welcome character growth.
Of course, the most focus is given to Anne parting ways with the Plantars which also has the strongest emotional beats of all the groups.
Polly and Hop Pop get very endearing last heart-to-heart moments with Anne where they both discuss how grateful they were to have her in their lives.
Sprig, however, goes above and beyond in showing how important Anne has been to him. Expressing his sadness of letting his friend go through tears and a big embrace, it’s easy to tell how he has it the hardest of them all. Still, it’s clear that the memories of how important he and Anne were to each other will always remain.
Then as one last big show of emotion, all of Amphibia sees Anne and her friends off with gratitude and good wishes all while a moving piece of orchestral music plays. That’s not even all as it’s followed by another embrace between Anne and Sprig more smoothly animated than before. Finally, the girls leave through the portal while the calamity box crumbles to pieces, officially ending its power and marking the end of an era. At the same time, a new beginning comes out of this grand scene of closure.
The final scenes explore where the characters end up some time after all these events, and they’re all as satisfying as one may hope. There are two flash forwards to showcase these changes, both involving different sets of characters. For the residents of Amphibia, there’s a look at what their lives are like after several months. Frogs, newts, and toads are now working together in harmony with the land ruled by a council made up of delegates from each of the three classes.
Andrias now spends the rest of his days fixing the damage his reign caused, and nothing more. He also seems to let his aging catch up with him, no longer using cyborg equipment to prolong his life, proving him humbled and willingly changed and redeemed.
It’s also pleasing to see Wartwood in a more pleasing state, especially with how much the Plantars’ reputation and lives have improved.
Polly has finally grown up into a full-fledged frog and has built a strong social rapport with the town; Hop Pop has found much more success as a farmer, putting his newfound love for avocados to good use, though there’s a big question as to how this is so since he threw the one avocado he had to a preying mantis;
...and Sprig keeps up his memories of Anne by adopting her adventurous spirit by exploring uncharted areas of Amphibia. It certainly helps that Anne left him her prized phone to help record his findings.
Speaking of Anne, while she’s no longer part of the community, her legacy certainly lives on for everyone as the flashback ends with everyone gathered to honor a statue of her.
There’s also a flash forward of Anne herself as well as Sasha and Marcy, covering a bigger distance of 10 years into the future. It showcases interesting outcomes of how much they’ve grown as a result of their adventure in Amphibia.
First of all, Marcy ultimately did move out of state as planned, but her meeting up with Sasha is indicative enough that the friends still kept up their ties despite distance and time. Speaking of distance, what ultimately became of Anne and Sasha as friends has a surprisingly realistic quality. A conversation reveals that they were both very close for a while, but once they started high school, they ended up bonding with different friend groups who fit them better. Even though they were no longer as close as they were before, they did still talk and see each other as friends. The three girls have also found solid paths that apply to what they’re passionate about, bringing the promise of healthy lives for them all. Marcy has put her interests in fantasy adventures to good use by creating her own web comic that’s gotten a lot of hits, including from her friends; Sasha has managed her stress well and got to the point where she’s started a good career as a child psychologist; and Anne is shown to have the most rewarding career of them all.
Working as a herpetologist at a favorite place of hers, the local aquarium, she’s created a frog-based exhibit inspired by her time in Amphibia. This is a very fitting outcome that has her stick with her own virtues and passions instead of following the lead of others. Her maturity has also reached its peak here as she’s shown to have adopted a whole new philosophy on change. Changing can involve doing things that can be really hard and not very pleasing, but it’s still a natural part of growing up for the better. Anne has certainly come to take that to heart in having to let her frog family she’s grown so attached to go.
Still, in the emotional break from them, she and her friends have successfully changed for the better. Not only that, but the last scene of Sasha and Marcy meeting up with Anne for a get-together after work shows that even when you let things go, they can always come back. This way, while there are a lot of somber emotions that come from making difficult changes, happiness can still be maintained and loved ones can be reunited. It’s great to know everyone’s in a good place despite separated, but with all of this said, maybe there is hope that they can see each other again someday.
It takes a lot of love and care to end a great series and pay everything it’s built for itself off in a satisfying way, and this finale certainly shows that love and care. The main theme of the show comes full circle to very grand effect with an exciting climax, all sorts of emotions on display, and a satisfying closure for the characters wraps everything up nicely. There are some sad sacrifices to dynamics out of this, but the maturity, hope, and clear honesty to the reasons behind the direction even make all story decisions and directions work. Thanks to the clear efforts of the crew, not only is this finale a grand sendoff, but it also helps this entire series leave its mark.
A++
Series Ranking
1.
True
Colors
2. The Hardest Thing
3.
All
In
4.
Hopping
Mall
5.
Reunion
6.
Marcy at the Gates
7.
The
Core and the King
8.
The
Beginning of the End
9.
Anne-sterminator
10.
Olivia
and Yunan
11.
Toad Tax
12.
The First Temple
13. Froggy Little Christmas
14.
Turning Point
15.
Battle of the Bands
16.
Barrel’s
Warhammer
17.
Escape
to Amphibia
18.
Anne vs Wild
19.
The Domino Effect
20.
The Third Temple
21.
Toadcatcher
22.
Prison Break
23.
The Second Temple
24.
Temple Frogs
25.
A Day at the Aquarium
26.
Mr. X
27.
Anne of the Year
28.
Contagi-Anne
29.
The
Shut-In
30.
Best Fronds
31.
After
the Rain
32.
Family Shrub
33.
Fixing
Frobo
34. If You Give a Frog a Cookie
35. Commander Anne
36.
The New Normal
37.
The Dinner
38.
Hop-Popular
39.
Anne Hunter
40. Fight or Flight
41.
Wally and Anne
42.
Children of the Spore
43.
Fight at the Museum
44.
Friend
or Frobo
45. The Root of Evil
46. Grime’s Pupil
47.
Sprig’s
Birthday
48.
A Night at the Inn
49.
Bessie
and MicroAngelo
50.
Handy Anne
51.
Scavenger Hunt
52.
Lily Pad Thai
53.
Dating Season
54.
Anne or Beast?
55.
Combat Camp
56.
Little Frogtown
57.
Cursed!
58.
Thai
Feud
59.
Newts
in Tights
60.
The
Three Armies
61.
Snow Day
62.
Civil Wart
63.
Maddie and Marcy
64.
Stakeout
65.
Croak and Punishment
66.
Taking Charge
67.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
68.
Bizarre Bazaar
69.
The Plantars Check In
70.
The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
71.
Wax Museum
72.
Return
to Wartwood
73.
Sprig Gets Schooled
74.
Swamp and Sensibility
75.
Trip to the Archives
76.
Sasha’s Angels
77.
Toad
to Redemption
78.
Anne Theft Auto
79.
Adventures in Catsitting
80.
Hop Luck
81.
New
Wartwood
82.
Ivy on the Run
83.
Night
Drivers
84.
Quarreler’s
Pass
85.
Hop Pop and Lock
86.
Plantar’s Last Stand
87.
Fort in the Road
88.
A Caravan Named Desire
89.
The Big Bugball Game
90.
Fiddle Me This
91.
Hollywood Hop Pop
92.
Truck Stop Polly
93.
Family Fishing Trip
94.
Mother of Olms
95.
Olm Town Road
96.
Hop ‘Til You Drop
97.
Spider-Sprig
98.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
99.
Girl Time
100. Breakout Star
101. Grubhog Day
102.
Cane Crazy
103. Sprivy
104. Lost in Newtopia
105. Sprig vs Hop Pop
106. Cracking Mrs. Croaker
Final Thoughts
When reaching the end of an animated series, there’s always an inevitable sense of bittersweet knowing that your time with it is over. Still, if all ends well, there’s happiness in knowing that it will stand as something truly great and memorable and always worth revisiting. With Amphibia, this show has proven to be very well-crafted on all its levels, and its strengths are clear to see in this final season. Much of it offers some of the grandest and most engaging moments of the series, showcasing the passion put into it, although there is a bit of a catch to all the grandeur.
Structurally, different parts of this season cover different main topics that have a solid flow when put together. The subjects vary throughout, but they keep a good focus on what they set out to accomplish, and do well at transitioning into each other. The first part of the season directly follows the end of Season 2 which featured Anne finally fulfilling her main goal of getting back to her home on Earth. With this finally accomplished, the topic of the early part of this season is getting to know Anne’s home while trying to get back to Amphibia to stop the big threat in the process.
One of the strongest elements of this part of the season are the many new characters introduced throughout, each one very memorable in their own right. Some of them have a direct connection to helping the protagonists achieve their goal. Dr. Jan is an excitable museum curator passionate about knowledge while also sympathetic and helpful towards Anne who is understandably hesitant to trust others. Another helpful figure in returning to Amphibia is a scientist named Terri, who starts off working for a vain and demented scientist but grows to do what’s right.
However, a truly memorable personality comes from an antagonistic force, Mr. X, an FBI agent bent on tracking down any suspicious extraterrestrial activity. His flamboyant ways and mannerisms and abilities to do everything really make him stand out as a character and pose as a legit challenge to Anne and the others. In his pursuit, his role makes Anne’s development truly shine bright as she embraces her abilities after he makes her question her worth, leading to a notable turning point. If that’s not enough, Mr. X himself even gets development of his own when he ultimately becomes an ally to Anne near the season’s end, putting his talents and charisma to good use.
These are well defined personalities that serve the plot, but even those with a notably weaker tie to the main plot have great memorability to them. What they lack in plot relevance make up for in special connections they have to each of the Plantars and their own arcs while they’re living on Earth with Anne. Sprig gets a likable dose of hero worship as well as constructive criticism from a girl named Molly Jo, though admittedly, she still doesn’t stand out much in the grand scheme. Hop Pop’s development is a bit more substantial where his long established desire to be an actor makes some progress through an old human who looks like him named Humphrey. It’s honestly remarkable how he has big actor dreams, but is also capable of being a good sport when Hop Pop gets the goal he’s after. This attitude even pays off well when not only does Humphrey get the part he was after, but is also truly integral to a more plot-relevant stunt. However, the Plantar with the most relevant Earth connection is Polly, who bonds with two figures that connect well with something close to her. When trying to fix her robot friend Frobo, she discovers the IT Gals, Ally and Jess, a charming couple with shared special in robotics. Like most of the other new characters, they’re both fun personalities that liven up all their scenes, and have great chemistry with themselves and others too. It’s also nice to see how much they value safety as much as their special interests as evident when Polly rushes the advice they give her in fixing Frobo. Still, their advice leads to productive development as Polly later gives Frobo smaller but still noticeable repairs, and by the season’s end, rebuilds him to former glory with a new design. He even has relevance in the finale arc, and it’s good to know that a notable benefit to the protagonists’ cause come from a pair of likable characters.
Out of all the new characters introduced in this section of Season 3, the most notable and relevant ones are easily Anne’s parents, the Boonchuys. One thing that’s just as great for a story to have as an endearing and likable lead is a strong support group. A particularly strong point in such a group’s favor would be including said character’s parents who are typically absent in the main action. The drive behind Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy is how they go about getting Anne back after she had disappeared to another world for several months which allows their support to grow. At first, they’re very protective and vigilant of everything Anne and the Plantars do, and it’s incredibly understandable to see why. Such behavior is perfectly in line after their child was away for so long. No matter how strict and overbearing the Boonchuys appear to be, it’s near impossible to blame them. The extent of how worried they were for Anne is even shown as details in various parts of the season like the community of the local Thai temple providing for them; and Mrs. Boonchuy having a work out room to relieve stress over the worry of her daughter going missing.
The best part of all this is that Anne herself at this point has clearly matured enough to see her parents’ point of view instead of giving into her own frustrations. It’s this understanding that really allows the Boonchuys as a family unit to really grow closer and in many ways stronger as time goes on. By understanding where her parents are coming from, Anne manages to show them how much she’s changed from how reckless and irresponsible she used to be before disappearing. This earns her the right for her and the Plantars to get some liberties after quite some time of lockdown, and ultimately, she proves to be responsible and has things under control.
The only problems are the remnants of the dark events going on in Amphibia have followed Anne back to Earth, and these are things Anne opts to keep secret from her parents. While things like robots coming after her, becoming an enemy of the king of Amphibia, and her glowing blue powers are kept secret at first, complexities soon arise. While it would be easier to just be upfront and honest, Anne’s actions are easy to understand since all of this seems too big and strange for her parents to handle. Basically, she has her reasons for this drawback that have plenty of legitimacy to them. Since they are still drawbacks, it isn’t long before the secret becomes near impossible to hide, and it happens just as Anne herself begins feeling guilty about doing so. An exciting car chase where a large number of truths are revealed ultimately open Anne’s parents up to everything she’s been hiding. The confrontations are tense, but in the end, as Anne further explains her reasons for the secrets, they ultimately understand. In fact, these circumstances actually bring the entire Boonchuy family closer. They all play a role in taking down the robot chasing them, and that’s not all. Anne’s parents prove to be highly capable and creatively cunning in keeping Mr. X from capturing the Plantars, and are principle players in building the portal back to Amphibia.
With this in mind, there’s also something to be said of how supportive they are to Anne’s ties to the alternate world she was sent to. Anne may have always been keen to get back to her old life, but her time in Amphibia has given many attachments to those who live there, especially the Plantars. So, when they’re sent back to Earth with her without their own way home, they need all the help they can get in operating in this world that’s so strange to them. Fortunately for them, while their presence is a very strange occurrence for them, the Boonchuys are still open to let them into their home and provide for them. In addition to their support, guidance, and protection in this new world, there’s also good heart found in Anne’s two families coming together. It especially gives weight to more antic-driven adventures through Sprig trying to be accepted as family by Mrs. Boonchuy; and all the Plantars seeing that they’re honored by Anne’s parents by letting her in and taking care of her for so many months, quelling any fear of them being freeloaders. Also, considering all the Boonchuys do to protect the Plantars, the heartfelt aspect of the two families together actually pays off in the end. At one point during the final battle, the Plantars end up returning the favor to Anne’s parents by protecting them from harm, all while standing up to creatures they fear the most.
There certainly are a lot of things to admire about Anne’ parents, and it’s also rewarding how they help Anne get closer to them. By the time this season is halfway through, it really feels like the Boonchuys have grown a lot as a family unit. In addition to plot-related moments, just simple down-to-Earth moments between Anne and her family are endearing enough to show how close they’ve become. From Anne getting meaningful life advice; to her setting out to give her parents the perfect Christmas gift after all they’ve done to her; to them playing around in a store; the heart speaks for itself.
The heart is at its strongest when it comes time for Anne to leave her parents behind again to save her Amphibia. However, by that point, they too have grown a lot to trust that Anne can pull off what she’s set out to do and help her overcome any self-confidence issues she has. Even then, while they don’t join her in returning to this other world, they still find ways to help Anne out as shown in the finale when they get Mr. X on their side. In all, through entertainment, heart, and notable parental support, the Boonchuys make for some of the most compelling animated parents one can find.
While it’s clear that there’s a lot to admire about the use of characters in this part of Season 3, the storytelling, to say the least, is a different story. In general, it’s very good with how main events build off each other and lead into a notable shift in focus by the season’s midpoint. As well-constructed as the events are though, there are some notable drawbacks when looking at the story’s execution. When first going into this new season, audiences are likely to be very shaken by the major striking events of the end of the previous one. To recap, Season 2 left audiences with the rise of a huge antagonist, the titular world in jeopardy, tensions between friends, and a possible death of one of those friends. These are all things that can easily leave a major emotional toll on those who bore witness; in this case it’s Anne.
However, once Anne is back in her world of origin, she appears mostly unfazed by the recent drama. That’s not to say she doesn’t care about it; it’s her entire drive to fix everything for the season. The problem is that she seems to operate completely normally and too in control of herself; it’s just not too believable after what unfolded at the end of Season 2. This in turn makes for inconsistencies with tone throughout this part of Season 3. The audience goes in expecting a lot of emotional drama to follow where they left off, but a lot of the time, things seem a little too light-hearted. In addition to Anne seeming a little too calm and collected following what she saw, there are also a share of cartoons that follow the usual antic-driven formula. Normally that would be fine, but given the circumstances, escapades like havoc at the mall; the Plantars flimsily hiding their identities while taking Anne’s cat to the vet; Sprig being a superhero; and Hop Pop’s attempts at being an actor don’t feel like very welcome additions.
That’s not to say that there is no focus on the drama. As previously mentioned, the events at the end of last season are Anne’s entire drive. There are notable effects of that with her spending sleepless nights researching for solutions, and her keeping secrets from her parents about her experiences. Whenever things like this as well as other drama of how Anne’s absence affected her parents come up, that’s when this season becomes especially engaging. In fact, some of the light-hearted adventures have something bigger to them to make them a bit more engaging than usual such as the mall antics relating to how Anne and the Plantars are always looking out for each other; and the catsitting escapade culminating with how grateful Anne’s parents are for the Plantars looking after her.
These emotional elements may get good focus, but there is one past experience whose neglect make the season’s tonal inconsistencies particularly notable. It all relates to Anne’s ties with her friends Sasha and Marcy. At the end of the previous season, Anne was left with a lot of anguish and unease from them. Both of them majorly betrayed her, and just as she was understanding their actions, not only were separated again, but she witnessed a very violent blow towards one of them. Considering that Anne’s relationship with her human friends is a big narrative drive, one would think that they would be a big factor on her mind. However, aside from a few little moments, Anne hardly mentions her friends throughout her time on Earth. They just feel like a minor footnote in her plans and frame of mind in the grand scheme. Even more disappointingly is that there’s never a display of any plausible trauma from what she experienced from them, especially Marcy. Last time Anne saw her, she was literally backstabbed as far as she can tell; how is that not something to freak out over? A few hints show Anne insisting that Marcy is alive, like she’s refusing to believe the worst, but there’s no exploration of the full extent of her feelings on the matter. Surely, she seems like she’s keeping it together regarding her friends on the surface but is actually very terrified on the inside, but it’s never made clear like it should be.
If that’s not enough, the world around Anne never seems to make a big deal of what’s become of Sasha and Marcy. A couple times, people see Anne and make a big deal about how she went missing for months, but don’t they know that Sasha and Marcy also went missing at the time? If Anne came back, why wouldn’t anyone be questioning that Sasha and Marcy aren’t with her? At the time, some might think that since Sasha and Marcy took charge of everything the group did and are more reckless, they’re more of social pariahs than Anne. That’s the best reason why no one questions about them, but even that has marks against it. For one thing, Marcy is a student prodigy, and despite finding the music box that started everything, she never really did anything bad; and being in the zone isn’t that harmful to others. Sasha was the more disobedient and somewhat destructive type, but a few points show she was no pariah either. One notable example is her being happily greeted by Mrs. Boonchuy when the group of protagonists meet up with Anne’s parents and Mr. X in the final battle on Earth. Even a flashback to the day before Anne’s birthday shows that for all the pranks the trio pulled, Sasha and Marcy had a lot of admirable talents in the eyes of the school principal. In this regard, there are lots of reasons why people would be as concerned about Sasha and Marcy as they were about Anne, but they never are, and it feels wrong.
The only figures who would definitely be worried about them are their parents, and Anne is seen writing to them at one point, but even that’s never followed up on. It’s a missed opportunity to not even show them given the magnitude of the underlying situation. Now, it should be noted that the reason Sasha and Marcy’s parents were never shown is because the season was overstuffed and there wasn’t enough room for these details. Plus, it was believed that Sasha and Marcy’s parents were not as integral to their arcs as Anne’s parents. Even so, it feels like one of the light-hearted escapades could have been swapped out in favor of getting to know their parents. Maybe things like Sprig being a superhero or Hop Pop’s acting career could have been left on the sidelines in favor of the potential character development.
Now, a lot of the heavy elements like Anne’s inner turmoil about the situation and Sasha and Marcy’s parents have been documented in a tie-in book called “Marcy’s Journal.” While the book itself is very good for fans, it doesn’t feel right that they have to purchase it in order to get these extra details; what if they can’t afford it; what if they’re not interested in reading books? If the matter was brought up onscreen, it should be shown onscreen. It’s even more baffling when Sasha and Marcy themselves get single starring roles back in Amphibia that also show hints of what’s to come; and they’re both season high points. Sasha comes to realize the fault in her old ways, and officially sides with the town of Wartwood to really start changing for the better by defending them from Andrias’ army; and Marcy is rescued by two of Andrias’ advisors ready to take him down, only for her to end up possessed to be a vessel for a being called The Core. One would think that if they get such standout performances in Amphibia, they would definitely be a priority on Earth, but obviously, that’s not the case. All of this shows that the storytelling for the first half of Season 3 is not perfect, but in spite of these gripes, it’s still good overall. Things like the heart, basic structure of the sequence of events, and of course the work with the characters are enough to keep it engaging.
While the tone of this season isn’t that great in following up on the end of the previous one, it is used well in transitioning from the first half to the second half. The middle of the season serves as an effective bookend to the time on Earth as Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia. All the characters they met during this time all come together to see them off in their own portal to that other world in endearing and exciting style. The action to save the Plantars from Mr. X; Anne overcoming her anxieties over pulling everything off; and the trust and reassurance from her parents make this moment feel very noteworthy as the end of one part of the season and the start of another.
Once Anne and the Plantars reach their destination, a new setup to follow for a long stretch of time unfolds. They discover that Sasha has set up a resistance against King Andrias in a secret area of the Plantar home. From there, the focus is on this interesting concept with its interesting post-apocalyptic setup; the huge cast of characters together; engaging growth for the main characters; and giving attention to former one-off characters, revealing the importance of what didn’t seem relevant in the past. While the resistance direction is fitting for this part of the season and does a lot of interesting things, it does have a few issues with its execution. The most notable one being how much of it feels like padding in the grand scheme. There’s some sort of formula to the different parts of the resistance arc of characters going around getting the one-off characters on their side. It’s great to see the likes of Barry the candy man, Apothecary Gary, and Tritonio again and know there was a point to them, but it’s not enough to feel the drabness of their recruitments. With a big looming threat, the audience would want to get going with the action as soon as possible. By focusing on these adventures that are mundane by comparison, the wait for the big things to happen can get a tad frustrating.
Some of them even make big plots out of incredibly minor things; Sprig and Ivy’s relationship proves to be poorly executed mostly through how it’s rarely acknowledged throughout the main show and then suddenly it’s the center of a cartoon; or how many side characters get a time to shine in taking on barbarians, but what they do doesn’t have a huge impact on the story at all. Even major plot-related adventures feel like a drag like the small arc of seeking out wisdom from the mother of olms. It takes two whole cartoons to get to her important message and it feels like it didn’t have to go on for so long. It starts with an escapade with a pair of olm siblings who first appeared in Season 2 and having to deal with a very stubborn community who punished them for one mistake. By the time it’s resolved and the group can see Mother Olm, this cartoon is over and they have to move onto another one. The past adventure feels mostly pointless overall, but even the following one keeps dragging along. Mother Olm has trouble remembering an important message, so there’s a major gross-out adventure into her head to help her remember it. Not only that, but there’s a lot of talk about Hop Pop feeling self-conscious about his old age, something that was never a big deal to him in the past, further bring a dragging feel. Fortunately, a point to all this is made when they finally do get the message exploring the nature of the Calamity Box stones, so it wasn’t all for nothing.
Plus, there are still notable things to be gained throughout this resistance arc. There’s meaning to the many different classes of amphibians of frogs, toads, and newts, coming together for a common cause and symbolizing an era of peace. Every part of this arc focusing on that feels like a major culmination throughout the show and brings a satisfying feel when it reaches a true turning point by season’s end. Sasha continues to prove to be a character changed for the better by putting in the effort to be a humbled and more considerate leader, trying not to give into a lust for control. Thanks to Anne’s guidance, she’s able to stay strong as leader but also hold onto the best parts of her old self. The most engaging part of the arc though is actually a break in the resistance with a flashback to the younger days of King Andrias. It’s an effective emotional tale of how he had great friends, but drifted apart from them when he became king because of the influence of his father. This would in turn bring about the divide between amphibians and be the center of Andrias’ dark actions in present day. Unlike most of the resistance arc, this is the kind of engaging story to serve as build up to the real grand events to make the end of the season and series especially satisfying. Speaking of which, the actual finale arc is a topic all to itself.
Most of Season 3 feels like it was trying hard to find ways to bridge the gap between the next big events, explaining the less engaging stories. However, it’s the big events that really show off the crew’s storytelling talents, like they’re the parts of the season they really wanted to get to. This especially shows in everything that makes up the finale, a fitting culmination for every long part of the preparation process of the resistance in the making. With all classes of amphibians together, they all finally set out to take on the common enemy. Through the sheer size of the force, there’s a huge telling sign of how exciting things will be from here.
In addition to the solid action from the resistance itself, there’s also something to be said about many heartfelt elements at the center. Anne and Sasha contemplate how their and Marcy’s friend dynamic can still be saved after everything considering how Marcy put them in their situation to begin with. Agreeing to be understanding of Marcy makes for a compelling motivation to get to her and save her from her dark state of affairs that sideline her for most of the season. The finale only intensifies when the dark forces capture the main heroes and most of the resistance is left behind, which by the way also makes the drag of the resistance arc sting more.
What doesn’t sting is how the finale goes from here as it makes its way to Earth for the final battle. Among even more characters joining the fight and bigger action pieces is a common theme of learning to make hard decisions to do what’s right. Sprig needs to contemplate letting Anne go; the entire Plantar family faces their biggest fear of giant herons to save Anne’s parents; Sasha faces memories of her old self to realize she’s changed; Marcy learns she can’t force her friends to do what she wants and has to accept moving away from them; and Anne begins following her own choices and seeing her own virtues which is in turn passed onto Andrias who’s eventually moved to just let himself be defeated. All of this thematic character culmination feels very in line with the direction of the series, and is executed in an engaging way.
It even holds true into the real end of the series when there’s one more threat to face with The Core taking control of the moon and sending it towards Amphibia. In the midst of a big action highlight where Anne, Sasha, and Marcy come together as friends and absorb all the power of the calamity stones to stop it, there’s a huge culmination for Anne. Continuing to value herself and follow her own decisions, she takes on all of the power to stop The Core and save everyone, the big point being that she willingly sacrifices herself. It’s a hard choice, but indeed the right one for the greater good, and all from Anne’s care for those around her. In addition, this care ultimately rewards her with the chance to live again (unless more than her body was copied) and even passes on sage advice to an actual god. These moments really allow the arc of the main protagonist to come full circle in a meaningful way.
Then, for one last show of emotion, circumstances lead everyone to realize that the stones have enough power for one last trip. This means that the human girls’ time with the citizens of Amphibia is officially over, and they all have to let go. Along with Anne’s role in the final battle, this is another huge showing of the theme of doing the hardest thing for the right reasons. While there is a lot of emotion from the separation of worlds, it’s a decision that fits what the show set out to do perfectly, right down to showing how better everyone is after the fact. Parts of Season 3 are far more interesting than others, but with all the passion, emotion, and creativity put into the finale arc, it’s clear that the big finish is the most interesting.
For all its tonal imbalances and padding, the final season of Amphibia is still very strong overall. Even at its less interesting parts, there’s something meaningful to take from it. Not to mention, when it does hit a high point, not only is the season at its most engaging, but those works stand as some of the best of the series. With an exceptionally-crafted finale arc to go with it, everything is brought to not only bring everything in this season together, but serve as a strong sendoff to the whole show. In all, it leaves the audience impressed with just how engaging a talking frog show (or really any show that sounds weird on paper) can really be.
Highly Recommended
And that brings us to the end of another series. It really goes to show that even ideas that don’t seem like they’d have much to offer can leave a big impact. A show about the funny escapades of a girl in a frog world has truly evolved into something exciting and thought-provoking. This is where the blog parts ways with it, but for those who have read the “Marcy’s Journal” tie-in book, maybe someday there will be more to explore with this show. For now, it’s good to know that Amphibia exists for what it is; a timeless work of animation showing true appeal in the most unlikely of places.
Keep checking out this blog for more reviews of DuckTales and Ed Edd n Eddy (whenever I can get to them these days), and as always:
Stay Animated Folks!
