REVIEW: Amphibia Season 3, Episode 16, “The Three Armies; The Beginning of the End”

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

The end is nigh! In “The Three Armies,” the Newt and Toad armies come to Wartwood to unite with the frogs. However, the larger rebellion’s formation doesn’t go well, as the three factions have been warring for centuries. Anne sets out to mediate the groups’ concerns and bring them together, pointing out that she has done so before. Team-building exercises, trust falls, and all the encouragement in the world can’t solve the tension and mistrust that has been brewing for a millennium. Anne lashes out as her powers activate, frustrated at her own helplessness. She tells the armies to come back to her when they’re ready to work together. Beatrix, Tritonio, and Hop Pop work things out and approach Anne as a united front. “The Beginning of the End” follows up on Mother Olm’s reveal in “The Three Armies” that Andrias plans to strike tonight. The rebels use a three-pronged approach inspired by Marcy’s favorite movie, War of the Warlocks. Anne, Sasha, Grime, and the Plantars sneak inside the castle while the armies create diversions and fight Andrias. Sasha and Anne use a dance routine to knock the mind control collars off of Lady Olivia and General Yunan, who warn them that Marcy isn’t the girl they remember. The girls misunderstand the nature of this claim, themselves having both changed tremendously in the past few months. Rather than their friend, they’re confronted by the Core. It captures them all and demoralizes the rebellion forces by announcing as much. 

I like how the conflict in “The Three Armies” is handled very much. Anne has done a lot for the frogs of Wartwood and vice versa, but I like that as an outsider, she can’t understand the underlying issues at play with the toads, newts, and frogs. Being good at conflict resolution doesn’t always mean you can overcome every problem, especially other people’s problems. This is amplified by the intergenerational nature of the conflict and Anne’s short time in Amphibia. It seems a little ridiculous for all of these groups to join Anne and Sasha only to start fighting when they all get together. However, let’s be real; that’s exactly what would happen in real life. People always find things to fight over, no matter how much common ground they share or what’s at stake. I have to applaud Matt Braly and the writers of Amphibia for understanding humanity so well, even if they illustrate these truths through cartoon frogs – heck, especially if they do it with cartoon frogs! I love this show. 

Anne and Sasha’s friendship with Marcy is a running thread connecting these two episodes more so than the paired stories usually are. This works exceptionally well. They base their attack plan in “The Three Armies” on her favorite movie, which is a crucial element of “The Beginning of the End” and leads to their downfall. “The Beginning of the End” opens with a flashback showing the trio watching War of the Warlocks at a sleepover. I love everything about this scene. The movie looks to be Amphibia’s analog to Lord of the Rings, just as earlier episodes alluded to Star Wars. While Amphibia has hinted in past episodes that Anne and Sasha didn’t understand Marcy’s fixation on fantasy and roleplaying, this pair of episodes drives that point home. Not only did they not understand, they made fun of her favorite movie, something important to her, and fell asleep rather than watch it. The credits showing her silently watching as her friends sleep said it all. It hurts to have those closest to you question, mock, or ignore your interests. Anne comes to this conclusion on her own, positing that their inattentiveness led Marcy to do the unthinkable and trap them all in Amphibia. It’s interesting that Sasha bucks against this notion while Anne brings empathy to a difficult situation. Sasha doesn’t want to forgive Marcy when what she did was arguably worse. Marcy trapped her friends in Amphibia, but Sasha was willing to kill the Plantars, everyone in Wartwoof, and, at one point, Anne. Rather than throwing this back in Sasha’s face to shut her up (which is what I would do), Anne uses their own mended friendship to illustrate that forgiveness is worth it, even when it’s not easy. I can’t wait for the real Marcy to be reunited with her friends, and if Anne can forgive Sasha, I don’t see why they can’t accept her back too.

The formation of the rebellion over this season has reminded me of Star Wars, and the show Rebels in particular. The idea of people coming together to fight a common enemy is by no means unique to Star Wars, but the execution and tone are what brings it to mind. Given all the references and inside jokes, I wouldn’t be surprised if Matt Braly was inspired by the mega-franchise on some level. The Core also gives major Emperor Palpatine vibes, especially with how the big, scary Andrias is really just its puppet. The Core is more outwardly condescending to King Andrias than Palpatine was to Vader, but the manipulation and false sense of a familial bond are there for sure. Then you have Andrias coming out to fight with his light sword. One might even call it… a lightsaber. This was really cool, both the design and his intimidating presence against the rebel forces. It was nice to see Andrias in action after spending much of the season plotting from the shadows. I’m not saying they should redeem this character because I’m not sure they really could at this point. But there is some good, or at least a guilty conscience, in him. He didn’t want to fuse Marzy with the Core and seems genuinely remorseful if unwilling to reverse it. It would be interesting if the King himself ultimately turned on the Core to help Anne and her friends; the Core even remarks in this episode that Andrias couldn’t kill Anne himself. Keith David is one of my favorite voice actors and he absolutely nails it as Andrias every time we see him. His performance was particularly strong this week, though. 

“The Three Armies; The Beginning of the End” a great combo. These stories are intertwined more than usual, focusing on the armies working together and Marcy’s less-than-ideal treatment by her friends. The visuals are fantastic as well this week; Anne’s power-up and the flying city are particular highlights. I was reminded of Castle in the Sky or Atlantis: The Lost Empire by the look of the city in the sky.