I love this picture.
Anne is just so happy having managed to tame her new pet, Domino is a cat, Mrs Boonchuy is so proud of Anne for actually having had the discipline to stick by something for once.
And then there is Mr. Boonchuy who's putting on a smile while inside thinking, oh god, she actually did it, and now this filthy, horrid, mangy thing is going to live with us!
XD
Man, i wish they'd kept this scene in. And shrunk down Anne's eyes a bit. That would probably have made it a bit easier to take seriously.
So the big, official poster for the finale is out. Has quite a lot of interesting tidbits.
Starting with Anne, she doesn't have her sword, and instead the focus is all given to her hand. Don't know if that's the final bit of foreshadowing about a lost limb, or final bit of trolling from the creators. One of those it is.
Sasha is easily the most boring of these. There doesn't seem to be anything new here. The only thing of interest is that we only see one of her eyes, so maybe she does lose one in this finale.
So we finally know how Darcy is gonna take on Anne and the USA military. A giant mecha robot, that may, or may not be using technology from the Owl House planet. So basically a repeat of Kuvira invasion of the republic from Avatar's finale.
Frobo is apparently going to get an upgrade/repairs, which seems to be inspired by an transformers of some kind(Not a transformer fan, so i have no idea which one).
I personally used to have no belief in the theory that Andrias sent the Herons to kill Sprig's parents, but the fact that they choose to put two mind controlled Herons opposite to Andrias in this final art, heavily suggests these two are very, very important for Andrias storyline, which if he really did send them to kill Leif, would probably explain his look of seeming regret here.
So Sprig is given the most important spot on this poster, but he's also very, very small, but holding the letter from leif. I'm guessing it's gonna be very, very important for this finale. My guess is that it probably warns about the falling moon, and if Andrias does ultimately betray the core, the letter will be the reason.
So it seems the boonchuy's were recruited/conscripted by the government by Mr.X after telling them about the invasion. That... is actually something i really, really like, and makes the ending of Escape to Amphibia much more tolerable for me.
So Grime still does have Barrel's warhammer. I'm sure that WON'T be important at all. Definitely not.
So another huge parallel between Anne and Andrias, is that both of them had parents who expected the world out of their children. Putting huge expectations on their shoulders.
However, While Anne for Better or worse seems to have been a rebellious child pre Amphibia, Andrias always immediatly folded the moment his dad turned his gaze towards him.
Andrias was originally NOT on board with the Core, and probably would have done something to get ridd of it after having become king, or at least not been as subservient to it as his dad was... But becuase his dad became a part of it, he always folded to it’s demands like cheap tissue paper.
Andrias fall as a person can all be traced back to the fact that he never managed to grow a backbone to stand up to his dad, and as such he never was able to grow beyond the teenager he was in his youth, because his dad was always there, always watching over his shoulder, and Andrias simply does not have the moral backbone to ignore him, even when he knows in his heart that what he’s doing is wrong.
Andrias was fine with conquest, but drew the line at genocide... Until his dad told to shut up and do the job. He begged his dad not to take Marcy as his host, because he genuinely liked the girl, but when push came to shove, he folded like he always did.
This isn’t to say that all the blame for Andrias sins can be laid at his Dad’s feet, but it’s important to recognize that it’s here where it all started, and after Leif betrayed him, it just snowballed over the centuries.
Andrias is stuck in limbo.
By contrast, Anne was the opposite.
Anne also was a teenager with a good heart, and with parental expectations, and bad influences, but unlike Andrias, she was put into a position where she became separated from ALL of it, for good or bad. during season 1, Anne lost her parents, and with them both their love, but also their expectations that clashed with who she was. She lost both Sasha and Marcy, and with them their love and support, but also Sasha’s domineering attitude, and having to constantly make sacrifices for Marcy’s sake.
All of that was stripped away from her.
And so, she was able to grow. Able to mature, able to become the best version she could become. Even if she made big and small mistakes along the way.
She refused to shirk her share of blame, because addmitting to your own shortcomings is the only way to truly grow as a person. To take the next step, and become better. And that is the only way to truly take responsibility.
And when she came home, she had grown. Not only in the sense that she had become a much, much more responsible person, but also in the sense that she was ultimately able to be honest with her parents.
And so, she was able to ultimately reach a compromise with them. Not just fold when her parents accused her of being the same irresponsible girl she had always been. She accepted that she made mistakes, and addmited to it, but also was able to just talk to them about the reality of the situation, while in turn showing them that yes, she had grown.
Wheter Andrias might have done something similar with Aldrich is doubtfull, but the important part, is that he did not even try. Andrias knew that genocide was wrong, but he refused to actually stand up for that belief when push came to shove, even if he had all the power to do so as Aldrich’s one and only heir.
There were other paths Andrias could have suggested. He could have argued for a much less brutal conquest and subjugation(which while still evil, would have been INFINTLY less evil than genocide on the entire human race) of Earth, to fold the entire planet into their Empire, Roman style. He could have suggested they instead refocus their expansion into dead planets with plenty of iron, which would be far, far less expensive, if less glorious. Or he could have pointed out that maybe an empire that was built on constant expansion was built on sand, and they needed internal reforms at the core to make their nation last, rather than just endless, mindless expansion.
He suggested none of these. Instead, he folded. Like he always did. Because he never had the opportunity or the social enviornment he needed to grow beyond the boy that was ever fearfull of displeasing his father. His father was king, and his word was law. End of Discussion.
You can pinpoint the moment where Anne surpassed Andrias as a person. And it was right here, at the top of this tower, where she refused to accept those words just because they were spoken by someone she both deeply loved, feared, and respected.
So, there was originally gonna be a flashback scene in Anne Vs Wild, that would have been our first introduction to younger Anne, and to her dad's design.
So we all know mister Boonchuy right? Nerdy tall guy, generic but comely, and the genetic source of Anne's freakish early height.
Well, if the storyboards had actually gotten animated, THIS is the design he would have been stuck with for the rest of the series XD
He really dodged a bullet with that one.
Also, while younger Anne has never been featured with this specific hairstyle, the crew repurposed it for Hop Pop and Lock.
i’ve promised i’d make a full, detailed breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of season 3A, when Escape to Amphibia had aired, and so, it is time.
3A has been very frustrating to many people, and I fully understand why. Subsequently, I also understand why so many were hopeful that it would all be great at the end, and why others loved it.
For me though, the ending has only solidified my opinions on this season. Namely that as a piece of Comedy it is great, arguably the most consistently funny the show has ever been with hilarious jokes all the time. As a self contained story the season is a mess, with rushed plots, badly handled climaxes, and way too much filler. And finally as a continuation of season 1 and 2, and a followup to the supposed game changer that is True Colors, Amphibia season 3A is abysmally bad.
If you come to the frog show to laugh, you’ll love it. if you just want to see Anne be happy with her well written families, you’ll adore it. if you come here for the overarching myth arc, you’ll probably not be too fond of this part of the story. And if you come here for the relationships between Anne, Marcy and Sasha, then chances are that you absolutely hate this part of Amphibia, and with good reason.
Whichever you fall into, I will try and cover everything good, and everything bad about season 3A below. Also, LONG post below the cut, and full spoilers for everything that happened in this season.
I love how we speculate a lot about how things are going to go after the hiatus is gonna end and the story resumes, only for Disney, in their boundless incompetence managing to release huge spoilers by releasing episode summaries.
Anyway, I wanted to cover the 3 episodes summaries we have for "Escape to Amphibia", "Commander Anne", and "Sprivy".
Anyone who does not want to be spoiled about the episodes, I'll cut it off here.
Escape to Amphibia is a kinda unique episode, in that it will determine whether the entire season that came before it was a mistake, or a success.
While Amphibia season 3 has been mostly positively received, it's also been critiqued for one very, simple reason.
And thats the fact that to explore the concept of the human world and this new cast, Amphibia has for all intents and purposes put the ENTIRE amphibia storyline outside Andrias attempts to kill Anne, on the Backburner.
What are Anne's full current thoughts on Marcy and Sasha, and how far does her denial about the blatantly obvious(To her at least) reality that Marcy died back in true colors go?
How is Sasha's rebellion going? What is Marcy's personality after she was fused with the Core?
What does the Boonchuys think about all of this stuff regarding Sasha, Marcy and Andrias? Exactly how devastated is Amphibia the continent as a whole?
These are all very, very important questions that have essentially been sacrificed in order to achieve the goal the Creators had when they planned out this season.
To make the audience truly care about Anne's life on Earth, in order for the gut punch from when she loses it, to hit as hard as humanly possible before they go back to Amphibia.
And as such, if Escape To Amphibia cannot achieve that goal, then the entire decision to put Amphibia on the backburner was a horrible mistake on the writers part.
So, let's speculate on how exactly the show might achieve that goal.
So, i just wanted to do a quick deep dive into Mrs Boonchuy's stress room, find some smaller details, and figure out which of these are actually important, and which are just Anne's Mom's desperate dreams for how she wanted Anne to turn out.
1. So, first thing first there is the numbers on the door. Anne away 89 days. Anne was gone from Earth for 150 days or so, so judging by that number, and the way the 88 just lies forgotten and uncollected from the floor, Mrs Boonchuy gave her daughter up for dead two months before she came home, and hasn't set foot in this room since.
2. Mr Boonchuy is looking at the plant head with a smile, so presumably he's been keeping it trimmed and watered since his wife abandoned the room.
3. There is a picture on the bottom left where Mrs Boonchuy has drawn Anne holding a baby, so presumably she wants her daughter to have children of her own. Assuming that Anne does stay in Amphibia permanently at the end of the series, I think that outcome is highly unlikely for a variety of reasons.
4. Anne plant head, which is incidentally not only is there to highlight the natural aspects of her powers, and the iconic branches stuck in her hair, but is also by far the best likeness of these, to illustrate that it's the most important of these "Statues".
5. While the walls are covered with completely unrealistic score results that Anne has no realistic chance to pull off, there is another one, where Anne is a queen, with a crown, a scepter, a fur cloak, and a modern business suit. Foreshadowing for her becoming the next Monarch of Amphibia after Andrias?
6. The one with the diplomas is nonsense thats never gonna happen, but the other one that is made up of Anne's iconic tennis racket is all about Anne being a champion of the environment, and surrounded by happy animals, including a frog and a bird, both native to Amphibia.
The symbolic meaning is clear. Anne is the one that has the job of fixing and cleaning up the mess that Andrias has made of Amphibia, and becoming beloved across the continent for defeating the tyrant.
Also, one hand seems to be nearly falling off, and the soda that was once inside has stained the black(The Core's color) bag. Foreshadowing for a severed limb, or just a bit of mundane realism? You make the call.
7. Upper corner is a picture referencing E.T, which was Anne's situation with he Plantars after getting stranded on an alien world.
8. One interesting fact I realised about the room, is that despite being all about Mrs Boonchuys dreams of Anne succeeding, there is one thing that is completely missing here, and that is sports trophies.
There are only 2 that "might" be related to sports(The yellow medal with blue sash in the corner in picture one, and the picture with a trophy in the upper left corner of picture 2), and neither is clearly that. They might be meant to be some other school reward.
Clearly, Mrs Boonchuy has a dream in her head of her daughter making it big through being a good academic student, seemingly intentionally ignoring that Anne by all accounts was destined for a sports career, given it was there where she seems to have been one of the best in school.
That has some interesting implications, especially given it was her who introduced her to martial arts. Did she come to regret it later, as Anne grew up to become a picture book idiot Jock?
Or did she simply think her pride and joy should make something better of herself than a sports jock? Or is she just refusing to give up on her old dreams for Anne, or even wants to live vicariously through her?
All open to personal interpretation.
So, before we get into speculating what this episode is going to be about, let's cover what we know about it.
Firstly, there is the fact that this episode was going to be the final one before the hiatus. It was specifically made with that in mind in fact.
Acording to Matt Braly:
"The upcoming #amphibia holiday special, Froggy Little X-mas was not written as the midseason finale. That's actually the following episode, which is also 22 min. However, FLX actually does work very well as a midseason finale and the ep after does work well as a premiere."
However, Disney, as Disney is want to do, decided that proper storytelling and planning is for idiots, and decided Froggy Little Christmas would do the job instead.
But as for what this episode was going to be about, we don't know much, other than the fact hat while it was specifically designed as the mid-season finale, according to Matt, it also worked as a premiere episode for Amphibia's final stretch. It is also a big episode like Froggy Little Christmas.
Originally, that was where I was going to let it go, and simply await the trailer(if we got one) for Amphibia's final part before I began speculating about what this episode was about.
But then something happened. Disney made another inane blunder and actually spoiled the name of the episodes set AFTER the next episode on Youtube.
So, the episodes set after episode 10, will be "Sasha's Angels", and far, far more importantly "Olm Town Road", which spoils that this will be the episode that will be all about finding "The Mother of Olms" and through her Anne will discover her destiny.
Now, i think that the mother of Olms will be found in Amphibia itself, but even assuming that is not the case, it seems likely that at the absolute latest, the return to Amphibia will happen during this episode. So either in episode 10, or in 11 B.
Asuming either of these are correct, that means that there is A LOT of plotlines that need to be followed up on, and hopefully completed in episode 10.
No one really comments on it, but seeing sprig as a human being about as tall as 13 year olds usually are, really highlights how not just Anne, but pretty much every kid in her school are hilariously tall early bloomers.
Hell, Anne isn't even the biggest, as Sasha is even taller than Anne.
At least in Anne's case she seems to have gotten her freakishly early height from her dad(Almost being as tall as her 35+ mom at 13), but are we meant to assume everyone in that school also has enormous parents too?
