I Don’t Think Sasha Will Pass Her Temple Test

Amphibia Season 2, Episode 17A/B Review

I hope that everyone got their fill of wholesome in the last two weeks of Amphibia, because that ends this week as the show hops back into the overarching story. As Anne, Marcy, and the Plantar’s journey to the second temple, Anne comes to terms with her past mistakes and showcases some serious growth as a person. Meanwhile, Sasha has the chance to see how she needs to change, only to cast it aside and isolate herself even further.

Yeah, Sasha is clearly going to have her work cut out for her in the near future.

The Second Temple

After weeks of locating the second temple, Marcy, Anne, and the Plantars finally travel to its location, deep within the Amphibian Artic. It’s there that they encounter a familiar face. It’s Valeriana, the one-armed Newt from the Bizarre Bazaar. She offers to guide them to the temple, but on the way, she makes it clear that she doesn’t think they’re worthy, especially Anne. Even when Anne risks her own comfort and safety for the sake of others, she still tears into her. All of this comes to a head when Anne and Valeriana arrive at the top of the mysterious tower from the trailer, where the Newt tries to seize the box. In addition, she calls Anne out for her numerous selfish acts in the past. Most of all, for stealing the music box in the first place.

In response, Anne admits that she’s owning up to all of her past mistakes and that by learning from them, she’s become a better person. And I couldn’t be more proud of her. Neither can Valeriana, as it turns out she’s been testing Anne this whole time. The whole purpose of the temple was to test a person’s heart and responsibility. It’s a pivotal moment for Anne that showcases how much she’s grown since the start of the show.

Ironically, her empathy ends up backfiring on her here. When she thinks the others are in danger, she leaves before the gem’s fully charged. As a result, she still has some of that blue-eyed power in her.

Barrel’s Warhammer

Meanwhile, Sasha, Grime, Braddock and Percy make good on their promise to unite the Toads to rebel against King Andrias. However, none of the Toad Lords refuse to follow them unless they can pull off an impossible quest. They must find the warhammer of the legendary Toad hero, Barrel the Brave, and bring it to them. Easier said than done, as it’s revealed that the hammer’s guarded by a massive narwhal worm. Think a worm but with a massive horn on top of it.

As always, I enjoyed seeing Sasha making her way through Amphibia, and the more we spend time with her, the more we learn about her as a character. We know going in that the Human Trio each represent something. Marcy’s the mind, Anne’s the heart, and Sasha’s the strength or body. In other words, Sasha’s got the strength and fortitude to see her goals through to the end, as it its what lets her get the hammer and the support of the Toads. However, we once again see how this has led Sasha to lose her best friends.

Sasha reminds me of Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. They’re both determined to get what they want, and more than capable of doing so. However, they’re so determined that they ignore the needs of those around them. In this case, Sasha ignores the fact that Percy and Braddock want to back out on this quest and almost gets them killed. As a result, the two rightfully call Sasha out on this and leave her and Grime behind and Sasha upset.

The problem Sasha has is that she has toxic mentality about how she treats her friends. She cares about them, but she ends up putting her needs before theirs, which is what inevitably led Anne to turn on her. And rather than own up to this like Anne does, she decides to double-down on the behavior that put her in this position in the first place.

Some Big Game-Changers this Week

After weeks of light-hearted episodes, it’s great to see Amphibia get back into the big plot of the series. And in both of these episodes, we end up seeing some very important development go on.

Firstly, there’s the fact that Anne left the temple before it could unknowingly drain her of her blue-eyed powers. As a result, her gem’s not fully charged, which will inevitably lead to any attempts to return to Earth failing. However, I think his may work out for the best. We still don’t know what Andrias is planning, but I don’t think it’s anything good. If if involves the music box, though, Anne still having some of her unexplained powers may help in the long run.

In addition, this episode marked the first time that we saw Sasha showcase glowing eyes as she lifts Barrel’s warhammer. This basically confirms what we already knew: the girls each have the powers of the gems. Maybe there was a reason that they were the ones to find the music box, after all. I only hope that I’m right about this, because things are starting to get good.

I Give “The Second Temple” and “Barrel’s Warhammer” a 4/5 and 4.5/5 each.

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