"The Beginning of the End" is the second segment of the sixteenth episode of the third season of Amphibia, and the one hundred and fourth episode overall. It is the second part to the four-part series finale.
It premiered on April 30, 2022, alongside "The Three Armies".[1][2]
Synopsis
The final battle begins.[2]
Plot
In a flashback, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy are having a sleepover while watching War of the Warlocks. While Marcy is invested, Anne and Sasha are only mildly paying attention until they both fall asleep, leaving Marcy to quietly enjoy the finale of the movie by herself, which has happened before.
In the present, at the rebel base, Anne and Sasha give their troops a rousing speech to prepare them for the upcoming battle. Just as they are leaving, Sasha sheds tears of pride for Grime having learned how to set up a playlist to make himself look cooler.
As the resistance heads towards the flying castle, Sasha decides it's time to talk about Marcy and how she had gotten the girls stranded in Amphibia. While she understands the reason was because she was freaked out about moving away and being separated, it still doesn’t change the fact that what she did was messed up. However, Anne is driven to rescue Marcy and make things right with her after reflecting on how she and Sasha weren't exactly good friends to her given how they dismissed her interests and personal issues.
After they reach Newtopia, the rebel army wastes no time attacking the Frobot Army. Mrs. Croaker, Tritonio, and Beatrix lead the charge against the enemy forces, which included a group of new models of Frobot, the Royal Guard Frobot, and new versions of the Giant Frobot. Apothecary Gary uses his mind control spores to override the spores used on the imprisoned beasts so they can turn on Andrias' forces, The Moss Man returns to save Wally from a Frobot, the olms attack from underground, Loggle uses submission moves on the Frobots and with the robotic army distracted Anne, Sasha, the Plantars, Grime, and Frobo fly up to the castle on Domino 2 and Joe Sparrow and sneak in. King Andrias personally enters the battlefield and pulls off an epic fight against the resistance forces.
While the gang is in the hallway avoiding Frobot guards, Sasha once again questions if she and Anne can fix their friendship with Marcy; Anne looks at Hop Pop, remembering her previous falling out with him, then looks back at Sasha telling her that forgiveness is not easy but worth the effort, and points out their own renewed and strengthened friendship. Sasha realizes Anne is right and they press onward.
As they are about enter the throne room Lady Olivia and General Yunan appear and are revealed to have been brainwashed with mind control collars; they attack the gang. Anne and Sasha manage to fight and free Yunan and Olivia with a perfectly synchronized dance. Once free, the two female newts try to warn them about what happened to Marcy, but the human girls rush off.
Just as victory seems to be in their grasp, the Calamity Box that our heroes find turns out to be a hologram. At the same time, Anne and Sasha are bound by robot tentacles and see their friend in the Core-possessed form known as Darcy. Darcy already knew that Anne and Sasha would use the same strategy from War of the Warlocks, so she set up a trap to capture them upon reaching the throne room. The girls demand the artificial intelligence to free their friend, but Darcy just mocks them saying that, after peering through Marcy’s memories, she doubts the three were ever friends to begin with.
Darcy goes out to the balcony and the resistance armies are whittled down due to the capture of their leaders. Darcy then declares her intent to kill Anne, as she believes it's risky using the Calamity Box so long as she retains her gem's energy within her. Anne realizes that Darcy and Andrias are just as clueless about the true nature of the Calamity Box as the heroes are, so Anne brings up the possibility that killing her could extinguish the power of the box altogether. This causes Darcy to decide to spare her only so she can dissect her properly in order to extract the power from her. Sasha, the Plantars, Grime, Olivia, and Yunan are hauled off to be fitted for mind control collars, and Andrias opens the portal right in the midair of Los Angeles, California, USA, Earth where his Frobot invasion fleet to cross through, ready to conquer the unsuspecting planet. We see visual of the city looking confused at the foreign Amphibian structures appearing in the sky.
The episode ends with the onscreen caption, "To be continued".
Cast
- Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
- Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
- Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
- Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
- Matt Chapman as Tritonio Espada
- Anna Akana as Sasha Waybright
- Haley Tju as Marcy Wu & Darcy
- Troy Baker as Captain Grime
- James Patrick Stuart as Wally Ribbiton
- Laila Berzins as Sadie Croaker
- Aisling Bea as Captain Beatrix
- Brian Maillard as Leopold Loggle
- Katie Crown as Ivy Sundew
- Tony Hale as Apothecary Gary
- Keith David as King Andrias
- Michelle Dockery as Lady Olivia
- Zehra Fazal as General Yunan
Additional voices
- Matt Chapman as Butler Frobot, Movie Hero, Bike Guy
- Kaitlyn Robrock as Distressed Townspeople
- Katie Crown as Purple Hair Woman
- Kari Wahlgren as Distressed Townspeople
- Matt Braly as Lich King, Royal Guard Frobot
- Kristen Schaal as Bella (expressions; uncredited)
Non-speaking cameo
Other characters
- Frobo
- Domino 2
- Joe Sparrow
- Grubhog
- Mind-controlled Snakes
- Mind-controlled Centipede
- Moss Man
- Frobots
- Domino 2's pack
- Los Angeles citizens
Songs
- The Beginning of the End - Score
Title in other languages
Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Latin American Spanish | El principio del fin | The beginning of the end | |
Bulgarian | Началото на Края | The Beginning of the End | |
German | Der Anfang vom Ende | The Beginning of the End | |
Japanese | 終わりの始まり | Beginning of the End | |
Dutch | Het Begin Van Het Einde | The Beginnign of the End | |
European Portuguese | O Início do Fim | The Beginning of the End | |
Polish | Początek końca | The Begining of the End | |
Thai | จุดเริ่มต้นของจุดจบ |
Transcript
For a full transcript of "The Beginning of the End", click here. |
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 0.25 viewers on its premiere.[5]
- This, along with "The Three Armies", is the last episode divided into 11-minute segments of the series.
- This episode and "The Three Armies" premiered on Disney XD the same day they were added to Disney+.
- This is the only episode where Anne interacts with Darcy.
- This is the last episode with a regular title card.
- This is the last of four episodes in the entire series to not use the "Anne's Theme" leitmotif in its credits sequence. The others are "Spider-Sprig"/"Olivia & Yunan", "Froggy Little Christmas", and "The Root of Evil"/"The Core & The King". For this episode, it shows the scene of the beginning of the episode where Marcy is watching the movie while Sasha and Anne sleep, with a rendition of "Marcy's Theme" playing in the background.
- According to TJ Hill, the inclusion of the "Marcy's Theme" leitmotif was Matt Braly's suggestion.[6]
- This is the only credits sequence in Season 3 to physically depict characters.
- This, along with "The Three Armies", is the last of eight episodes to use the short opening sequence after "Toad Tax"/"Prison Break", "Reunion", "The First Temple", "True Colors", "The New Normal", "Escape to Amphibia", and "The Root of Evil"/"The Core & The King".
- Given that the previous two season finales both used the short opening sequence, this could imply that the series finale is split into four parts, this being the second. Matt Braly hinted at this on Twitter.[7]
- This is the last episode to show any opening at all.
- This, along with "The Three Armies", is the fourth episode following "Froggy Little Christmas", "All In", and "The Hardest Thing" to have its score released and the first to neither be a full-length episode nor be released on Soundcloud.[8]
- Despite the resistance retreating, Anne and Sasha show no reaction to them leaving once they got captured.
- Albeit only in a flashback, this is the second episode to show Anne and Marcy having a sleepover after "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers" and the only one to show Sasha at one of the sleepovers.
- This is the only time where Sasha is shown wearing her pajamas and seen barefoot in an episode; she was previously only shown barefoot in her theme song takeover.
Revelations and significant events
- The Resistance begins its rebellion against King Andrias' military.
- Sasha is still angry with Marcy for misleading them and hiding the truth about their arrival at Amphibia.
- Anne and Sasha neglected Marcy's interests and needs.
- This was possibly foreshadowed twice in Marcy's debut episode "Marcy at the Gates".[9][10]
- This might have been foreshadowed by Sasha's behavior towards Percy and Braddock in "Barrel's Warhammer", as in that episode, Sasha ignored the two toads' needs despite promising she would listen. However, unlike Percy and Braddock who leave Sasha for good, Marcy remained friends with Sasha due to her difficulty with befriending other people.[11]
- This was also foreshadowed towards the end of the previous episode, as Anne revealed that Marcy forced her and Sasha to watch War of the Warlocks at every one of their sleepovers.
- This also means that, each time Sasha and Anne fell asleep during the movie, they failed to stay awake the whole night. According to Sasha, this constitutes "total failure."[12]
- Lady Olivia and General Yunan were captured and outfitted mind-controlling collars, following the end of their self-titled episode.
- Anne and Sasha free them from said collars.
- Anne and Sasha meet the Core for the first time and learn what it did to Marcy during their absence.
- Anne, Sasha, the Plantars, Grime, Olivia, and Yunan are captured by the Core, declaring the loss of the resistance.
- The Core plans to dissect Anne while she is alive to try and claim her Calamity Gem power.
- Sasha, the Plantars, Frobo, Captain Grime, Lady Olivia, and General Yunan are taken away ready to be fitted for mind-controlling collars.
- At the end of the episode, Andrias' military begins the invasion of Earth, starting in Los Angeles.
- Darcy tricking Anne and Sasha during the episode is similar to the way Mr. X tricked Anne during the episode "Escape to Amphibia".
Continuity
- This episode takes place immediately after the previous episode.
- The film that Marcy always made Anne and Sasha watch at their sleepovers and that they were watching in the flashback, War of the Warlocks, is the same one that Anne and Sasha mentioned in that same episode.
- The Moss Man Wally meets in "Wally and Anne" appears and now everyone believes Wally much to their concern. The events of said episode are also mentioned.
- The events of "True Colors" are mentioned.
- When talking about forgiving Marcy, Anne looks at Hop Pop, hinting at the events of "After the Rain".
- This also reveals that Anne has fully forgiven him.
- In the flashback, Anne and Marcy are seen wearing the same pajamas they wore during "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers", with the only difference being the color of the stripe on Anne's shorts.
- Anne also wore them in "Flood, Sweat & Tears" and Marcy wore them in "New Wartwood".
- As foreshadowed at the end of "Grubhog Day", the grubhog and buzzard from that episode join the rebellion against Andrias' military. It is unknown if it was the same war they were talking about since it was long before Andrias even knew about the Calamity Box again.
- The signs "Now leaving the Valley" and "May frog help you" from "Fort in the Road" are seen as the rebellion's army is going to Newtopia, but the "May frog help you" sign appears a little damaged.
- The rhythm game Super Dance Fun Time Fusion from "Reunion" is mentioned by Anne and referenced in style during the fight with Olivia and Yunan.
Production notes
- Although Kristen Schaal returned to provide Bella's screaming noises, she was not credited.
- Several storyboards depict Anne with both of her shoes.
- Originally, Andrias was scripted to underestimate the Amphibian army, setting in montage a gag in which he needed find the right code to update their threat level as the battle continued on.[13] In the final episode, however, Andrias never once does, instead from the start recognizing it as a large force he will need to personally deal with.
Allusions
- The Lord of the Rings - 'War of the Warlocks' was mentioned in the previous episode and is revealed to be a pastiche of this franchise.
- Wilhelm Scream - When Andrias is watching the first battle, this sound effect is used.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion - The final attack Anne and Sasha pull off against Olivia and Yunan is similar to the final attack Shinji and Asuka pull off in episode 9.
Errors
- During the scene showing the hideout of the resistance at the beginning of the episode, multiple errors can be spotted.
- In the flashback to the girls' sleepover and the credits for this episode, Marcy is seen with her long hair she has in Amphibia.
- The resistance army is on its way from Wartwood to Newtopia to stop the invasion of Earth the same evening. However, as seen in season 2, the trip to Newtopia takes over two weeks. Since Anne and the Plantars are traveling with Joe Sparrow and Domino 2, they may be able to reach Newtopia the same evening, but the other troops cannot. It's possible they had some other unseen quick way to get to the castle.
- Despite General Yunan labeling all humans as "scheming backstabbers" in "Olivia & Yunan", she does not seem to be mad at Sasha. It's possible she moved on from those events.
- The promo depicts Sasha and Anne with their swords despite them never being used in the episode.
- When Anne and Sasha get knocked back by Yunan and Olivia, Sasha's leggings disappear for a brief moment.
Memorable quotes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Disney Animation Promos on Twitter" (Tweet) (March 10, 2022).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "April 2022 Programming Highlights". Disney General Entertainment Content (March 21, 2022).
- ↑ Disney Schedule Archive [@DisneySchedules] (Jun 16, 2022). "Here are the rest of the episode titles for "new" #Amphbia in June on Disney XD. The Series Finale airs Monday, June 27 at 11 am ET/PT.
The final four episodes will stream on June 22 on Disney+." (Tweet). Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved on 2022-06-17. - ↑ Garner-Flexner, Andy. "Color design's file names". Andy Garner-Flexner's website.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Metcalf, Mitch (May 3, 2022). "Saturday 4.30.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". Showbuzz Daily.
- ↑ Hill, TJ [@tjhill] (May 3, 2022). "Another tip of the hat to @Radrappy for coming up with the idea to have the source TV music morph into Marcy’s theme!" (Tweet). Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved on 2022-05-23.
- ↑ Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (Apr 12, 2022). "as stated in the interview, All In is about 48min and The Hardest Thing is about 29min. The episode leading up to them, The Beginning of the End is a bit longer than usual too. These three stories flow right into each other so you could say the series finale starts with TbotE" (Tweet). Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved on 2022-06-20.
- ↑ Hill, TJ [@tjhill] (Jun 9, 2022). "Here are some score excerpts from #amphibia S3, E16 The Three Armies / The Beginning of the End. Enjoy!" (Tweet). Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-06-09.
- ↑ Matt Braly, Adam Colás (writers) and Joe Johnston, Jenn Strickland (directors) (August 15, 2020). "Marcy at the Gates". Amphibia. Season 2. Episode 6. Disney Channel. - Marcy: "Remember that game I tried to get you [Anne] and Sasha to play, Creatures and Caverns?" / Anne: "No."
- ↑ Matt Braly, Adam Colás (writers) and Joe Johnston, Jenn Strickland (directors) (August 15, 2020). "Marcy at the Gates". Amphibia. Season 2. Episode 6. Disney Channel. - Anne: "Marcy hasn't just changed, she's flourished. I've never seen her so happy."
- ↑ Marcy's Journal: A Guide to Amphibia by Matt Braly and Adam Colás. December 6, 2022. Published by Disney Press. Entry(s) 69. ISBN: 978-1484711392.
- ↑ Michele Cavin (writer) and Kyler Spears (director) (September 19, 2020). "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers". Amphibia. Season 2. Episode 10A. Disney Channel.
- ↑ "Cancelled Andrias jokes" (Tweet). Twitter (May 4, 2022).