Amphibia Spoiler Review: The Hardest Thing

Finales are a difficult beast. To touch on Amphibia’s final title, they are “The Hardest Thing” to write in a lot of cases. It’s the final word of the creators. It’s the last thing the audience remembers. Who could forget the cultural phenomenon Game of Thrones was, capturing the world for the majority of its run only to fail in the end and destroy its own legacy in the final episodes?

Some finales are a relief after runs too long. I honestly never thought Supernatural would end. One of my favorite shows for years was Once Upon A Time. But it wore out its welcome with the introduction of the Frozen characters in season four. What started as a fascinating fantasy drama fell down the rabbit hole to become a soap opera that meets Kingdom Hearts. I never even finished the final season, because it simply wasn’t the same show.

Some endings are bittersweet. I have a feeling that watching The Owl House season three will sting, knowing that Disney cut short the show’s full potential. Dana Terrace, the cast, the crew, and the fans will be robbed of one of the best shows on television getting a proper ending. Other finales are hard-fought for. It’s been well documented how much Rebecca Sugar fought for Steven Universe to have a proper sendoff after the execs threatened to cancel the show over Ruby and Saphire’s wedding. For me personally, Star Wars Resistance ended too soon and deserves a third season instead of being cut off at the knees and hiding its queer and BIPOC rep in cable hell.

And then you have the greats. The series that go out on their own terms to deliver the fans the closure a great run deserves. That doesn’t mean there aren’t struggles along the way. ND Stevenson has never held back how they had to strategically weave Adora and Catra’s storylines in a way to force Netflix’s hand to get the best ending for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Sometimes we had to wait years like with Star Wars: The Clone Wars finally getting season seven to close Ahsoka and Rex’s tale. And while its only two seasons, stretched over an ungodly number of years, Gravity Falls ended the way Alex Hirsch intended. He always wanted to tell one story over one summer. He brought the story and characters to the conclusion he wanted.

Finales are difficult to say the least. So where does Amphibia’s “The Hardest Thing” rank?

“The Hardest Thing” is hands down one of the greats.

One of my favorite things about the Amphibia finale is it doesn’t take every story and put a neat little bow on top. There’s not a magical way for Anne and Sprig to continue seeing each other. “The Hardest Thing” has consequences. It’s choice after choice where our characters have to choose where they end up. They must say goodbye to people they love with no certain future of reuniting.

Not all of the emotional arcs have satisfying conclusions which is something I loved about the episode. Take Sasha for example. She will never see Percy and Braddock ever again. She tells Grime to find them for her, to tell them she’s sorry. But then Sasha has to live the rest of her life never knowing if they forgave her. That’s a consequence of her action she just has to cope with and find a way to be okay. I loved the choice not to bring Percy and Braddock back. It gives even more weight to “Barrel’s Warhammer” on a rewatch knowing that we the audience, like Sasha, won’t see our toad friends again.

The same with Marcy too. They stuck the landing on Marcy! I wrote last week her story would always be the hardest to nail because it was the one with the quickest turnaround.

It was her goodbye to Olivia and Yunan that did it for me. Aware of her actions, she recognized how she missed an opportunity to truly connect with the two newts. She was so caught up in the fantasy of Amphibia that she missed possible friendships. Yes, she befriended them. But Marcy didn’t have the deep relationships that Anne and Sasha built with the Plantars and Grime.

Along with Marcy, Andrias doesn’t get the satisfaction of true forgiveness. Marcy is aware of his sacrifice, but their friendship was built on lies and deceit. They never truly enjoyed their time with the Core always whispering in Andrias’ mind. He also has to live on without Barrel and Leif. Like Percy, Braddock, and Sasha, his friends never saw his growth into a better person. Though, I love that he still honors them. He wears Leif’s broach as he rebuilds the world she loved with Barrel’s Warhammer as his tool. It was a poetic moment that really got to me.

Probably the character with the most satisfying and relatively straightforward ending is Anne (I’ll talk about the Guardian in a moment). Yes, it hurts watching her say goodbye to Sprig and the Plantars. While Hop Pop says she’ll always have a room in their home, the audience knows that this will probably never come to fruition. Unless something crazy happens in a future spinoff, this is a true goodbye. And it’s the consequences that make it hit home most. If Anne stays, she loses her parents. So she must leave and walk away from her frog family.

Change has always been such a beautiful theme of Amphibia which is the biggest part of “The Hardest Thing.” Not only has Anne changed as a person, as beautifully demonstrated in “All In,” but the story is now changing too. The Plantars have to go on without Anne and vice versa. It doesn’t mean their adventures and the journey are forgotten. In fact, the journey is the most important part. Anne and the Plantars made each other better. They helped develop into the best versions of themselves. That will always be a fundamental part of who they are.

It really gives a lot more emotional weight to “Day at the Aquarium” in season two. Anne struggled after Marcy says it’s time for the Plantars to get back to their lives without her. Anne even says it’s not goodbye forever. Anne and the Plantars weren’t ready to let each other go then. So, she suggests going to the aquarium and states, “Anytime I was feeling gloomy back home, the aquarium would always make me feel better.”

The epilogue brings that back around. She chose to work in a field that would always keep her close to the memories of the Plantars. Anne honors Amphibia in the end by working at the aquarium as a herpetologist. She gets to honor those who gave her so much, modeling the exhibit after the world she loved. She even names a little pink frog Sprig after her best friend in all of the worlds. She went from a girl disgusted to even dissect a frog and hating Wartwood to someone who cherished it as an important part of herself.

A good finale should also save a few surprises in its back pocket too. A cosmic being taking the form of Domino was a surprise. Amphibia sure does love its foreshadowing! I never saw Anne’s drugged-up rambling in “Adventures in Catsitting” as a warning for something bigger to come.

And I’m not really sure how I feel about the reveal of the Guardian if I’m being honest, and that’s okay! I like that it’s kind of out there and unexpected. It gives me something to sit with for some time. For almost a week, I’ve been thinking about the Guardian and its place in the series. What it represents. How it functions in the story and Anne’s journey. It’s not a straightforward character, but it does allow Anne to drive home one of the many themes of the show. So, I’m okay not really knowing how I feel about it. That doesn’t make the character any less interesting. It allows “The Hardest Thing” to continue to live in my mind.

The entire thing lends itself to audience interpretation. It’s always a joy to have those fun debates in every fandom. Open things like this are gifts to fans that should always be cherished.

The final battle against the Core was another excellent sequence. We always knew that Sahsa and Marcy would get their Calamity Powers. We just didn’t know what they would look like, how they would function, and how the battle would play out. I most certainly didn’t expect my childhood favorite Magical Knights Rayearth to be front and center as inspiration. Though now that I think about it, Amphibia really is like Rayearth in a lot of ways. Matt and crew, you big nerds you! I adore you for it.

That battle was a celebration. It celebrated the love Anne, Sasha, and Marcy had for each other, finally together and fighting as a group. It brought the end of the Core. The music was such a great rendition of ‘No Big Deal’ which was cranked up to an upbeat major score. Which I didn’t think was possible, because ‘No Big Deal’ is a bop that lives for free on my playlist. The animation was gorgeous. For one last time, these animators got to go all out! It was creative, truly capturing the essence of each of the girls. It celebrated the joy of Amphibia’s run. Here was a beautiful, unique show going for one last spectacle. I loved it.

And I absolutely adore the ten-year jump. That is a lesson that will resonate with the youngest viewer more and more as they get older. A good finale should grow with you over time. The older those young fans get, they’ll understand more and more the beauty and realism in that final segment. Anne and Sasha fall into different friend groups while Marcy is away. They stay in touch and come back together. That is life.

It reminded me so much of my own friends over the years. I’m in my mid-30’s. Amphibia made me look back and appreciate the friend groups I’ve been in and out of over my time. I thought of my friend who I’ve known since I was a toddler. Her mom and my dad went to middle school together and we were natural friends through them. She was one of my main friends growing up. But then we went to different colleges and found different paths to walk. We still talk, but we’re not the people we were when we were kids. But it doesn’t make my time with her any less important. She was formative to my personal growth. We discovered fandoms together, many I still love today like Pokémon, Digimon, and I experienced my first Legend of Zelda game with her. She will always be a huge part of my life even if she’s not actively in my life anymore. Same with my high school friends, my college friends, and even my friends that have come and gone on since then.

“The Hardest Thing” will keep being relevant to longtime fans of the series. New fans will get to discover the beauty of this perfect piece of media. Amphibia will be forever timely because it essentially and perfectly captured the human experience of growing up.

Finally, I love seeing the world healing. The finale beautifully bookmarked the first episode, calling back to some jokes and character moments like with Wally. Polly is a young frog with a wrench in her pocket. She never got to say goodbye to Ally and Jess, but those two clearly left their mark on her. The world is healing thanks to the efforts of everyone from Grime, Yunan, Olivia, and of course Andrias. The heart of Amphibia was saved as frogs, newts, and toads work together for a better tomorrow. Hop Pop settled down with Sylvia and got his avocado farm. And Sprig is carrying on Leif’s legacy by charting and recording the creatures she loved so much. He has an open future with Ivy at his side. It gives the audience the peace of mind that Amphibia will be okay in the end.

Some random thoughts to round out The Hardest Thing:

-Marcy freaking out about meeting Mother Olm was wonderful. Too bad they didn’t have more time to get to know each other, because Marcy would have loved her.

-It was really great to see Valeriana again. I really enjoyed her as a long-term slow-burn character with growing importance over three seasons.

-I love that what returns the girls’ powers to them are their memories of Amphibia. It’s a nice nod to why this world is important to them.

-I again can’t stress enough how good the final battle with the Core is. It’s an amazing feat of animation, sound design, music, the cast, and everyone who worked on it.

-I like the one last bait and switch with Andrias. Grime confronts the king and it’s set up to look like Andrias would betray them. Instead, Andrias finally cracks that crown and frees himself. He even says the same line Anne speaks to Sasha in “Reunion,” solidifying his journey as being one of Anne’s narrative foils.

-Sprig talking with cosmic Anne in the stars begging her not to leave was the first time I started crying. That moment, I feel, was for the fandom. We love this show. We don’t want it to end. But it’s okay to recognize how it changed us and continue forward. Also, I love Anne’s design at that moment.

-I was probably the only person who got hit with this emotion for this particular reason but seeing Anne turned to stone messed me up because of one of my favorite Star Wars characters. In the new multimedia project The High Republic, my favorite character Loden Greatstorm was killed and turned into a stone husk that withered away to dust (Click on this link. I dare you. I will NEVER be over this!). Multiple Jedi in this project have been killed in this way, many of them fan favorites. I am so emotionally attached to Loden and his padawan, Bell Zettifar (you don’t write this much about a character and not get invested. If you ever read my stuff, anytime I write “Loden and Bell against the world” is just my tiny nod to Amphibia). Seeing the exact same thing happen to Anne MESSED ME UP. I WAS NOT OKAY, Y’ALL. My Loden PTSD came back SO HARD.

-I was SCREAMING when Anne died! I never thought they would go that route and it was the most jarring cliffhanger into a commercial break EVER!

-I adore the Super Mario Galaxy feel to the Guardian’s world

-THE OLD APPLE COMPUTER! That threw me back to middle school.

-The Guardian being “a watcher and a viewer not in the demographic” is a super clever joke.

-OLIVIA AND YUNAN! MY GIRLFRIENDS ARE CANON! THEY GET MARRIED! YUNAN LOOKS SO HOT IN HER NEW OUTFIT! OH MY GOSH! I LOVE THEM!

-When everyone said their goodbyes, that was the second time I started crying and then I sobbed through the final act all the way to the credits.

-Sprig and Anne’s goodbye is so gorgeously animated and the music is SO GOOD!

-I love that Anne gives Sprig her phone. It has pictures of all of their memories, the media they shared together, and was a big part of Anne when the show first started. I like to think that Sprig shared photos with Loggle to make sure they got Anne’s statue right.

-The time skip is my favorite moment of the episode. I already talked about it, but it just feels me with so much joy.

-I CALLED TOADIE BECOMING MAYOR! GOOD FOR HIM!

-I love that Wally lets his hair down. A little nod that he and his father are probably doing great.

-GRIME KEPT SASHA’S SWORD! I’m going to miss my favorite character and his beautiful relationship with his human daughter!

-BESSIE AND JOE SPARROW HAD BABIES!

-I love that Ivy has the confidence now to wear her hair down.

-Just the little things they do to honor each other and their relationships. Sasha wears her swords as a patch and has a charm in her car.

-Sasha becoming a child psychologist is such a perfect job for her.

-SASHA IS BISEXUAL! This gave me so much joy!

-There is so much at the aquarium to detail. But again, it’s wonderful how Anne honored her frog family and it’s in a place that gave her so much joy.

-The end credits. I’m so sad they didn’t air on Disney Channel, but I’m glad they were posted. The new BFF photo of the girls is the perfect final shot for the series.

And that’s it. Amphibia is over. What started off as a funny little frog show truly grew into one of the most satisfying series I’ve seen in a long time. Historical in many ways, it became something great in its own right. It will absolutely go down as one of the Disney greats if not one of the best-animated series ever created. Tell everyone you know about it. Amphibia truly is something special.

Thank you to Matt Braly, the cast, the crew, and the fans for this wonderful experience.

So for the final time:

Spranne against the world.