Hazbin Hotel - Vaggie Finale Thoughts

Hazbin Hotel - Vaggie Finale Thoughts

My thoughts on Vaggie are… complicated. I think the last two episodes of season 1 do a really good job with her and I love the beats her character hits, but the rest of the season didn’t build up to some of these beats the way they should have to make all of them hit as hard as they could.

I’m just going to jump right in to explain what I mean.

Vaggie’s role in episode 7 where she has to go convince Carmilla to help them face the angels is at its core fantastic and the song that they get together is a banger, but the basis for this song– that Vaggie is being driven by vengeance and has to fight for love instead– rings hollow. 

Everything Vaggie has done this season has been for love. She’s been nothing but supportive of Charlie, putting all her effort into the hotel and Charlie’s mission. Her song and arc in episode 3 surround Vaggie’s belief and love for Charlie. Vaggie fighting for love has never been the central issue of her character because she’s been doing it all along.

I like the idea of Vaggie being driven by vengeance, considering how brutally Lute mutilated her and how she was cast out of heaven for the “horrible” offense of hesitating to kill a child this would make sense for her character, but this wasn’t shown at any point prior to this song. 

Where was this thirst for vengeance when she came face to face with Adam and Lute in the hotel room? Where was Vaggie’s anger at heaven when Charlie was calling out their hypocrisy? At what point in this season did Vaggie choose vengeance over her love and support for Charlie?

If vengeance was what was really driving her character then Vaggie would be pushing Charlie to call out heaven. She would take some impulsive actions to strike back that put Charlie’s goals in danger. She wouldn’t be the one telling Charlie to keep a cool head or singing about supporting Charlie no matter what.

This is the issue that’s been plaguing Vaggie this entire season. So much of her character has been tell rather than show. We were told by Husk that Vaggie hates herself. We were told by Carmilla that Vaggie was driven by vengeance. When Vaggie is faced with the decision to support Charlie against heaven or side with heaven to keep her secret the narrative lets Vaggie just not make a choice.

She doesn’t get to show her character and flaws through her actions. At least not the ones the show says she has.

I think this problem is a bit more obvious because when the show does build up something with her character it is really good.

Vaggie being the one to reach out to and convince Carmilla to help their cause is a great beat. We see early on that Vaggie isn’t a people person. She has trouble trusting and/or inspiring others, but here we get to see her reach out to and connect with someone else, and it's through this understanding the two have that she is able to get Carmilla to help her (by training her to fight angels) and the hotel (by providing weapons).

This exact struggle is also reflected in the moments with the hotel residents. Throughout the season Vaggie has always come across as being on their level. Charlie is well-meaning, but because of her privileged upbringing she has a very black and white view of redemption and struggles to deal with the more serious mental health issues that the hotel residents face. Whereas Vaggie is more jaded and has made massive mistakes in the past.

The other hotel residents can understand her struggle to do the right thing and redeem herself, which is why it was impactful to have Vaggie be the one to let them know that they can leave and that she’s the first one to see that they stayed. It emphasized the connection between them.

Vaggie’s fight with Lute was also amazing. Lute was the angel that cast her out, ripping out her eye and cutting off her wings. There’s a personal connection there that makes this battle investing. The way their battle ends really emphasizes the conflict between Charlie and heaven in episode 6 by showing that Vaggie, someone cast out of heaven, is more worthy of heaven and angel wings than Lute, Adam’s right-hand woman, through her decision to choose love over hate and spare Lute’s life.

It’s these moments that show the full potential that Vaggie has as a character and put the moments that they fumbled in stark contrast.

I really like this show, but I do think it has flaws. Vaggie’s character is a prime example of how the pacing of this season made certain character arcs suffer. 

I'm hopeful that the show can improve on some of these issues now that it officially has a season 2 and that it was the biggest animated release on Amazon Prime (which is impressive because The Legend of Vox Machina had the massive already established fanbase of critical role watching it). I really enjoyed watching this season week to week and can’t wait for what they have in store for us next.

Side note: The moment where Vaggie spared Lute is where she should have gotten her angel wings and specifically she should have gotten Lute’s angel wings. This would just heighten the thematic importance of this moment and show through Vaggie’s mercy– the very thing that got her kicked out of the exorcists– she has shown that she is more worthy of being an angel than Lute. I can’t take credit for this. I heard it from Sarcastic Chorus.

Other random thoughts I wanted to add:

*I really think that whoever Alastor is working for had him take down those overlords he's infamous for toppling

*I think Eve might also be an option for being the one that owns Alastor's soul. I think the Lilith connection is a bit too obvious and Lilith hates being forced into subservience canonically within the show, so it would be weird if she chained another soul to do her bidding. Plus her disappearance coinciding with the Alastor's can be explained as Eve essentially throwing Alastor into a battle with Lilith where Alastor was injured and had to take time to recover. His reaction when Zestial implied people thought he had been struck down by holy arms was a bit telling to me. It read as Zestial hitting too close to the mark.

*Next episode seems to be an alastor and Charlie episode (at least partially) and I’m excited. I really hope we get to learn more about Alastor’s true motives. Is he trying to make a deal with Charlie? Will they actually bond? Will that be part of Alastor’s plan or unexpected? Will we get to see more depth be it genuine or more of a glimpse of the feared radio demon before he disappeared for 7 years? Will we get a more clear picture of Alastor's endgame? I’m mostly just excited to unravel the mystery of the radio demon

*I kind of like that at Charlie's lowest moment in the series it's going to be Alastor she's paired up with in the episode. I don't think this episode will be wholesome. In fact I think this will ride the line where Alastor acts aloof like always so you aren't sure exactly what his angle is here, but there will be hints of what he thinks/feels hidden beneath his facade. And I think having the character who feels the most deeply be paired with the character that makes it a point to appear unaffected (the only thing that cracks this mask is his pride taking a hit) is fun and can be character building for both of them. I won't be surprised if Alastor lets out the "Carmilla killed an angel" secret here either.

Hazbin Hotel Episodes 5 and 6 Thoughts

Wow. These two episodes of Hazbin Hotel were easily the best out of the series so far. They’re still working at a breakneck pace, but these episodes were so much more focused than the first 4 that it worked significantly better. The A and B plots of both these episodes were cleanly tied together so that no one part felt insignificant.

One of the biggest problems with the first four episodes was the fact that the split focus pulled the episode in different directions and made it so that reveals didn’t get the build up they needed to really feel impactful and pushed the Hazbin Hotel to the background so it felt insignificant in its own show. 

The second biggest problem in those episodes was that Charlie’s wish for her people, for redemption, and attempt to get into heaven to avoid extermination felt like it wasn’t the driving force it should have been. 

But these two episodes really fix that and expand on the characters really well. I’m just going to go through what I loved the most.

Alastor

I absolutely loved what we got from Alastor in episode 5. He really is the highlight of the show for me. There’s just so many layers to his character that the show isn’t rushing to peel back like it is with everyone else and it makes his character so intriguing.

I liked the fact that this episode hints that he truly does care about the hotel and wants it to succeed. It’s not only entertainment like he initially claimed. That moment where he sends Mimzy away was really telling. There isn’t even a hint of sinister subtext, sarcasm, or a joke in his voice or face when he tells her she can’t stay if she isn’t going to take redemption seriously.

The way his eyes twitch when she says he can’t seriously care about the hotel is such a great little detail.

I really like this point. The main theme of the show is redemption and showing that even someone like Alastor can care about the hotel is a direction I wanted the show to go in from the pilot, but something I wasn’t sure we would actually get. But I liked that it’s getting hinted at this early, especially since we now know there’s a season 2 and it can get fleshed out much more and can probably get to the point where he might grow into an actual mentor for Charlie instead of it being performative to spite Lucifer like it was in this episode.

(side note: I like that Charlie defends his actions against her father. She sees it as protecting the hotel, which we learn is the truth. He did do it for pride, but he also cares about the hotel and does want to protect it. I like to see that Charlie’s ability to see the best in people does pay off at least somewhat.)

That little hint of care to his actions with the hotel isn’t all we get to see of Alastor's layers. He is still the infamous Radio Demon after all, so we also get to see his pride at play.

It’s his pride being hurt by Lucifer that causes him to play up his role in Charlie’s life. It’s his pride being hurt that leads him to taking on the loan sharks alone both to remind everyone of his power and to show what else he brings to the hotel.

It’s also what causes him to go off on Husk. Husk is the only character willing to call Alastor out. He knows Alastor better than anyone else at the hotel because of their past and his ability to see through his facade. And he hurts Alastor's pride when he calls him out with the truth: That he's on a leash just like him.

The reveal that Alastor is also on someone’s leash was expected, but well executed.

This episode let Alastor’s mask slip a bit and we got to see more of his real emotions/feelings about things.

Alastor was the character I thought would have the most layers to them. Characters like Charlie, Angel Dust, and Vaggie wear what they feel a bit more openly than a character like Alastor (or at the very least their true feelings come out more frequently). There are motives and mysteries behind Alastor’s actions that aren’t clear with him like they are with everyone else and his demeanor, words, and actions can conflict with his true feelings and that’s what draws me to him so much. His usual (kinda) goofy and cavalier attitude, cold and ruthless demeanor that can come out at the flick of a switch, and infamous past make it so learning about Alastor's true intentions and introducing the idea of him changing and coming to care is very intriguing to me.

I just think that Alastor is the character that is working the best in the show right now because his plotline and development is not going at a breakneck pace. We’ve only gotten hints about why he was gone for seven years, who he sold his soul to, why he appeared to help with the hotel, etc. His character progression is also taking its time. This is the first real hint we get that he does genuinely care about the hotel in his own way and it’s 5 episodes in. This is the kind of pacing and development that the whole show would benefit from. 

This isn’t meant to be a shot at the show. I think it was put into a complicated situation because it was picked up initially for only 8 episodes (this is the type of show and large cast that needs at least twice as many) and was only renewed about halfway through the production of the first season, which I think explains why these episodes felt more coherent and fleshed out than the first four.

I really can’t wait to see where his character heads. He's still a walking question mark as of right now and every time we get a glimpse at his true intentions it's always fascinating because it's never clear cut where he stands.

Side note: I find it hilarious that Alastor created a rivalry between himself and Lucifer. The literal king of hell. Lucifer hurt Alastor’s pride and he immediately decided he would be as petty as possible towards him.

Charlie

I was always in the boat that Charlie was an interesting protagonist. The pilot set up a character that was very intriguing for the setting she was placed into. I didn’t think the three episodes necessarily handled her the best, but I think that was more a result of the rushed pacing and bloated plot. She’s handled significantly better from episode 4 on.

Episode 6 is where I think Charlie really came into her own as the protagonist of this series. The song where she stood up to heaven really sold me on her character. 

“If hell is forever then heaven must be a lie. If angels can do whatever and remain in the sky. The rules are shades gray when you don’t do as you say. And you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again.”

Up until this point Charlie felt a bit limited in her actions. It really amounted to trust exercises and the hotel residents acting out made up situations. She seemed naive and well meaning, but ill equipped to actually address the mental health issues her people had due to the fact her upbringing was so sheltered. There was the potential for more, but it wasn’t given the time I felt it deserved.

But this is where she really got to step up and call out the inequality and hypocrisy of heaven. This is where we got to see her backbone and the true extent of her care for her people. She won’t back down or accept the flimsy excuses they use to persecute the denizens of hell.

I also really liked her belief in Angel Dust. Yeah, he made some mistakes (at least from heaven’s point of view), but Charlie had complete faith in the fact that he would meet their requirements. It’s this characteristic of her’s that is intrinsic to bringing out the best in the residents of the hotel and before this point it was on the periphery (like with Angel Dust in episode 4) or implied. 

Episode 6 showed how important that characteristic is, especially to people who feel like they’re damned. (I like that Charlie is a good judge of character. It’s easy to take someone that’s privileged and naive and make them too trusting, but these two episodes show her belief in the best in the people at the hotel is founded.)

Another point I liked is that she was getting through to some of the angels. It’s a recurring gag that her presentations aren’t great. They’re written in crayon, flowery, and a little basic, but it’s the passion and critical thinking that she expresses in her presentations that shows that she can be a capable leader. 

She effectively poked holes in their argument that the sinners in hell deserve to be there and had their chance.

Her duet with Emily was really good. The way she brought back “Hell is Forever” to call the angels and exorcists out was the best (as you could probably tell from the fact that I quoted it). It also introduces a theme that the next generation will work to change things. Both Emily and Charlie want things to be different and clash with their parents who are both afraid that their child might end up like Lucifer. It’s a very clear parallel that sets up a lot of plot potential.

Charlie really was great in these episodes.

Angel Dust

I will admit I think aspects of Angel’s arc are rushed. Him standing up to Val is a big moment and I like the fact that it happened while Charlie is trying to show heaven that they are wrong about sinners, but I wish that we had gotten more time to build to Angel Dust being able to “stick it to the man” because of how powerful I think his arc is and the themes it deals with.

Episode 4 was the first time we really got to see beneath Angel’s mask and truly see the potential for change that Charlie does. We only really got hints that Angel wanted to change, but was scared to try in the first 3 episodes. We also know that he doesn’t feel safe even when he’s not around Valentino. 

Episode 4 is the turning point for him. When Val was abusing him he asked him not to hurt Charlie. His concern was solely for her in that moment despite the fact he was in the more tenuous position. He even forgives Charlie at the end because he knows her intentions are good. Plus his connection with Husk helped him find understanding so that he could come to feel like he could change. 

It was the real start of his growth and it was well done in my opinion. 

I just wish it had gotten a little more breathing room because while I do really like the plot points that occur in this episode I feel like they happened a bit too soon. (I know that it's been a few months in canon, but we didn't get to see that, so that slow progression doesn't have the impact it should)

I also liked that it called back to the pilot where she told the news that he was their patron and he ended up making them look bad because he was indulging in all his bad habits from before, but now it’s almost the opposite. Yeah, he drinks and does some drugs, but he shows his growth and proves Charlie’s point about sinners and it makes the angels argue among themselves.

Vaggie

The reveal that Vaggie was an ex-exorcist was something a lot of people made theories about. It was one that I wanted to be true because of what it would mean for Charlie and the dynamic of the hotel. I liked how it was revealed to Charlie.

This is another plot point that I think is rushed, but I think the execution is better than a lot of the other reveals that happened earlier in the series.

I feel like this reveal was a bit necessary for Vaggie’s character and the episode’s focus wasn’t split and I think that’s why I’m not as hard on it being rushed as I am on earlier plot points. Vaggie was the member of the hotel I thought suffered the most from the limited time/episode count.

The only focus she got was episode 3 and her arc in that episode was a bit clunky, which wasn’t helped by the fact that the other half of the episode with the overlords of hell was more interesting because it set up what looks like it will be a long term conflict and revealed a major plot point. 

The rest of the hotel residents got slower paced, less cluttered focus. Alastor has been subject to quite a few plot lines and is a slow burn mystery with a lot of potential for growth. Angel Dust is the hotel’s first patron and the character positioned to be the poster boy for redemption, so of course his development is given the spotlight. Husk has a unique dynamic with everyone (Alastor and Angel in particular) and is a foil to Angel Dust which makes him a central figure/mentor in Angel getting himself together. Etc.

I think this creates a lot of potential for her character leading into the last two episodes and gives her depth that I really want to see explored. I don’t really know what to say about the reveal beyond the fact that I’m really excited to see how this shakes Charlie and the hotel. How will this effect the other residents? Will Vaggie take a stand against the angels when they come for the hotel? Will we see her grief/conflict over her past actions now that they’ve been revealed?

There’s so many directions they can take this that I can’t wait for episode 7.

One smaller note is that I wish that the threat of Adam telling Charlie about Vaggie's secret had played more of a part in the episode and Vaggie actually had to choose between standing beside her girlfriend or stopping her. She just excuses herself to the restroom instead of making that choice and it felt like a missed opportunity.

Lucifer

Lucifer is a very interesting character in the limited screen time he’s had so far. The direction they took him is different from most of the other dads in Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. The fact that he does care and was the person that was the original motivation for Charlie to open the Hazbin Hotel is a refreshing direction to take after all the bad dads this series has. 

He’s so afraid that Charlie will end up like him. That she’s putting her faith in the wrong people. That hell’s denizens aren’t capable of redemption. All these fears stem from his own crushed dreams from his fall at the hands of heaven. 

It’s a nice change of pace.

I also love how he’s just as petty as Alastor, taking any shot he can at the Radio Demon to one up him when it comes to their respective relationships to Charlie.

Extra Thoughts

Sir Pentious having a crush on Cherry Bomb, but being absolutely horrible at acting on it was really funny. Sir Pentious is such a fun character.

I love that the theory that Alastor made a deal with Lilith seems more and more plausible with every episode. It certainly would explain the fact that they were both gone for seven years and how Alastor was such a dominant force in hell from the start. I want Alastor’s backstory asap.

I like that Alastor’s overwhelming power among sinners is re-established here. He’s someone that you don’t mess with. And I like that the way that people don’t react to him as much as before is because of his 7 year absence. I did think it was strange that he’s so infamous for brutally toppling powerful overlords, but people don’t go running like you’d expect in the first few episodes.

Alastor and Husk have such a complicated dynamic. I really want to learn more about their history. Alastor has no problems tearing overlords that come across him apart, but Husk ended up with a deal to keep his power. Why is that? And while Alastor does own his soul Husk will call him out on things and can read him so much better than anyone else. Alastor lets these slide until he points out that Alastor is also on a leash like him. And Alastor had to have told Husk that he sold his soul because how else would Husk know that. All these things make for one of the most interesting and complicated dynamics of the show.

I do want to make clear that I think Alastor is a character of duality and contradiction. There's a hint that he does care about the hotel and the possibility of him growing to care for the residents, but he's still the sadistic and cruel Radio Demon. There's just a glimpse of change there now.

I really like the parallels between Emily and Charlie. I really like the idea that this seems to set up that the next generation is going to step up and take a stand against the mistakes of the previous generation. This one episode set the groundwork for a really interesting arc for Emily and her potential dynamic with Charlie.

I love Angel Dust. That's it. I just wanted to say that.

Alastor Episodes 7 and 8 Thoughts

These two episodes really gave us a lot in regards to Alastor and I cannot wait to see where they go with him in season 2. What I find most fascinating about what they established with him in these episodes is how I think this perfectly sets up Alastor to directly challenge the show’s main themes of redemption.

Alastor is the only character in the main cast that I think could effectively challenge Charlie’s idea of redemption by making her face the question of “where the line for who can be redeemed and who is too far gone is?” 

Even Vaggie and her past as an exorcist couldn’t challenge Charlie’s ideals in the same way because Vaggie so clearly wants to be better and is trying to be better. She could only challenge Charlie’s idea of who could be redeemed. She couldn’t truly challenge the line of when someone is too far gone unlike Alastor. 

And to explain this I'll just jump right in.

It’s clear these two episodes were meant to show a shift in Alastor and Charlie’s relationship in some capacity. It’s a bit more of a subtle shift than with the other characters, but I think it’s setting up this future conflict well for the limited time the show has. 

At the start Charlie doesn’t think Alastor cares and calls him out on this. She directly states that she believes he enjoys the suffering. He refutes her idea of him by stating she doesn’t know what he feels. He purposefully hides his feelings behind a smile as a sign of control. (The first shift. It tells her there’s more beneath the surface)

Then Alastor helps Charlie enlist cannibal town and says he wants to mentor her in the song. This is more than the initial indifference and humor he got out of Charlie at the beginning. There’s an interest in seeing Charlie grow and being a part of it that wasn't there before. And, with Alastor helping Charlie here, trust is being built (at least on Charlie's end).

Then Alastor talks to Niffty (who he is clearly fond of) and admits he finds the group enjoyable to be around. He says he could grow accustomed to them after Niffty says she really likes them almost in agreement with her. He's very candid with Niffty and doesn't seem to feel the need to hide his emotions around her. They appear to be on the same wavelength.

And finally, Charlie is upset when she thinks that Alastor died against Adam and hugs him happily when he returns. In Charlie’s eyes Alastor has been helpful and risked himself and his power to protect the hotel. This is a true shift in their relationship on Charlie's end.

This bond is necessary because if (at the very least) Charlie doesn't care about Alastor then he won't be able to truly challenge her idea of redemption and the show implies it doesn't just go one way. It's just obscured.

To explain what I mean I want to look at Alastor's role in the final battle and that moment when he is alone after he escapes.

At the beginning of the battle he felt like the trump card he should have been. He makes the exorcists, before Adam destroys his shield, look like a joke. And he gives Adam a run for his money before he becomes overconfident and lets his guard down. He didn’t expect Adam to bounce back and have that much power left to show. He was caught completely off guard and paid the price. 

And instead of staying to face the end with the rest of the people in the hotel Alastor opts to save himself. He places himself first. When he leaves he seems almost smug, spouting off a one liner and smiling as he sinks into the shadows. It seems calculated and calm, but alone is a completely different story. This moment shakes Alastor and that moment alone puts his fight against Adam and decision to flee in a different light.

In this moment when he's alone he starts to lose it, saying there has to be a way out. This isn’t where things end. He will come out on top. 

He can feel his control over the situation slipping. His power and notoriety has been challenged left and right this season. First Vox, then Lucifer, then the loan sharks, now Adam. It’s one right after the other. And Adam almost killed him.

He’s struggling to grasp onto what little control he has left by forcing himself to keep on his smile and it calls back to the beginning of episode 7 when he says to Charlie that just because she sees a smile doesn't mean she knows how he really feels. His smile is a sign of control. And even in this moment you can see that last bit of control slipping. And it’s left him even more desperate for his freedom than before.

The Radio Demon was introduced almost as if he was an all powerful entity and now he is being brought back down to earth and he’s raging against it, barely keeping it just below the surface. 

But there’s even more to his breakdown than just his pride. The lines “Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends. Sorry to disappoint that is not where this ends. I’m hungry for freedom like never before. The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor.” strongly imply that he really does care for the residents of the hotel more than he wants to admit even to himself.

He is freaking out because he got too close to dying trying to protect and help people that he never thought he would care at all about and he’s doubling down on his plans from before. 

His immediate desperation to be free implies he is at the hotel because he is forced to be there, but he’s desperate to get out of the contract because he doesn’t like how it’s changing him. Alastor has always put himself first and here he is almost dying trying to protect this hotel and it's rattled him even more deeply than the blow to his pride.

I feel like they know exactly what Alastor can mean thematically and they want you to know he’s a villain while seeding hints there could be change under the surface (ones that Alastor himself is afraid of and wants to double down against). There’s a balancing act going on with him and it seems they really do want to challenge the idea of redemption with him. Not just Charlie’s, but his own as well.

Alastor is still in my opinion the best written character in the series. There’s just so much to unravel with him and he’s the most fun to try and dissect to me. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for him in season 2.

Amphibia Season 1 Re-watch Thoughts/Review

Amphibia season one was really fun and had an amazing finale. The choice to be an episodic comedy series works wonders for this season and I believe makes Reunion and season two hit all the harder. 

This season falls into a few of the usual trappings that almost all first seasons do but its biggest strength is that it knows what the series is about at its core and it focuses on that.

This show knows what themes are at its heart. Amphibia is about friendship, change, growth, and becoming your best self and that’s what the first season is just on a smaller scale than the second and third.

It allows for a gradual build up to the huge scale of the third season. The first season keeps the focus on Anne’s growth and how she learns self-love through her relationship with the Plantars. And it slowly opens the world to us by introducing one of the toad towers in Prison break, halfway through the season, then Reunion opens up how much the events of the season have effected the rest of the valley. 

All these actions that felt like they were occurring in a vacuum have wide reaching consequences. This is bigger than we initially thought. And that final shot in season one before the “End Part I” showed up on the screen where we see Anne and the Plantars overlooking the valley while hugging perfectly encapsulates how the world has now opened up to them. That the scope we saw in the first season will be widened exponentially.

The show needed this gradual build up. Suddenly making the show about all of Amphibia during this season wouldn’t have worked and expanding the view beyond Anne’s growth would have made it so that moments later in the series wouldn’t have felt as earned. 

I believe this was a good choice for the show but also a big reason why Amphibia was so underrated for so long. A lot of people looked at the more episodic problem of the week formula that the first season followed and didn’t think twice about it until the finale came along and shattered the status quo. It wasn’t noticeably serialized right out of the gate.

This is an unfortunate issue because it is based on first impressions. Something like the Owl House is an obviously serialized show from episode 1. Everything flows into one another and that draws in an older crowd easier than the seemingly episodic formula that Amphibia had out of the gate. 

There were hints of serialization in “Anne of Beast?” and “Best Fronds” but as early as “Cane Crazy” the show started with the problem of the week formula, which I want to emphasize once again was a good choice for the show because it really emphasized its themes of change and growth, but that also caused some people to not give the show a fair shot.

The choice to have the season air over the course of a single month also stunted Amphibia’s ability to garner a following. There wasn’t time for people to talk or speculate about the show episode to episode because a new one was coming out every day. 

Episodes that likely would have gotten fans talking and speculating about the finale like Prison Break, Bizarre Bazaar, and Anne of the Year weren’t given any time to breathe so this could happen.

It was just an unfortunate choice that caused Amphibia to be underrated going into its second season (which is phenomenal).

There are some genuine drawbacks from the episodic formula that Amphibia used in its first season though. Some episodes become formulaic because they use a similar structure with a basic life lesson being learned in almost every one. The interesting and unique world and how it was used could save some of these episodes from falling into tedium but not all of them.

It also takes a while for anything about the lore, Sasha and Marcy, or plot to really come into play which can become frustrating, especially for people that have never seen it before but were drawn in by what they’ve heard about it online. 

It can be a bit slow with divulging information with Sasha not being formally introduced until the episode Prison Break which was 10 episodes in and nothing about the Calamity Box explored until Bizarre Bazaar which was episode 15. 

There are long stretches that don’t expand on these very important and interesting plot points. This can exacerbate the flaws in certain episodes and make the pacing feel off or slow at times which is something the show greatly improves upon when season 2 comes around. This structure and slow build up isn’t for everyone.

This was what initially kept me from watching it when this season first aired (I regret this choice). Interestingly the thing that sold me on watching the show the first time around was the opening. Specifically this shot: 

This moment in the opening never failed to intrigue me. It was a hint of the themes this show would grapple with and how all the events seen are because of this broken friendship. There is genuine care between the people in the photo which can be seen by their closeness and the writing around the edges but it is literally out on a limb in the middle of a storm. It’s struggling to hold on and brings an air of tragedy to their current situation.

The lightning strike provides an even more ominous tone to the moment. The rain alone could have just made it seem tragic, friends torn apart by circumstance, but the lightning strike is what tells you there was something off/toxic about the friendship even before Amphibia. 

It never failed to make me wonder what exactly that was and it kept me watching to see what the reality behind it would be. This comes around in a big way with Sasha.

In Sasha’s introduction she is shown to be cunning and manipulative. There is genuine care for her friends but it is overshadowed at this point by her flaws.

It starts to paint a picture about what Anne’s friendships were like at home. This portrayal of toxic friendship and outgrowing connections is one of the things I think the first season does best in retrospect.

The first season makes it so that Sasha's (and Marcy’s) influence can be felt on Anne long before she even speaks through things Anne says and does. 

This makes it so that even though Sasha’s screen time is limited and she and Anne don’t interact until the very end of Anne of the Year the audience can understand why their clash in Reunion is so important for Anne’s character.

This is a great but subtle build-up to the finale.

Reunion is a fantastic and very interesting episode. It is in many ways the most formative episode of the series. It creates the mold that Amphibia’s finales follow moving forward.

For example, it makes the decision to bring the audience back to the day Anne, Sasha, and Marcy get whisked away to Amphibia and provide context for what led Anne and Sasha to that point. This is an important part of True Colors, All In, and The Beginning of the End as well.

It also starts the trend of what I’m going to call Amphibia’s “wham” moments with Sasha letting go of Anne’s hand. This is continued in the other season finales with Marcy getting stabbed and Anne’s death.

Lastly is how the episode addresses change and the ways people fight against it. The series as a whole tackles change but the finales are where the trio and their issues with accepting change come to a head.

Leading up to Reunion Sasha has had her negative traits encouraged by amphibia- they allowed her to flourish at toad tower- and as a result she hasn’t grown and changed in the same way Anne has. Anne landed in Wartwood with the Plantars and has had her old mindset challenged constantly which led to her growth. This growth allows her to stand up to and best Sasha.

This is repeated in True Colors, where Sasha and Marcy’s bids to fight against change cause things to come crumbling down for them, and in The Hardest Thing where the core (a being that can’t let go of the past) is taken down by Anne because of the calamity trio’s growth and acceptance of change.

These similarities make it so that all the finales feel like they build on one another. This creates a cohesive through line in the series.

Overall I think this season built a solid foundation. There are instances of the show struggling to find its footing and it does become repetitive in some areas, but it’s really fun and has a strong heart.

Extra Thoughts

This is more of a deleted scenes/excerpts of analysis that didn’t fit in my review.

Reunion also plays into Amphibia’s overarching themes of change. The way it interweaves present day with flashbacks to what led Anne and Sasha to opening the music box really showcases this. Sasha is practically unchanged. She landed in toad tower where her negative traits are encouraged and cause her to flourish. Whereas Anne has grown so much because she landed with the Plantars in Wartwood and has had her mindset challenged constantly by those around her. The clash between Sasha and Anne can be seen as a clash between accepting change and staying stagnant with accepting change (Anne) coming out on top.

There’s an interesting parallel between Toad Tax/Prison Break and Reunion. Toad Tax has Anne stand up for what’s right instead of taking the easy path and submitting to “bullies” to gain the Wartwood citizens’ respect. Prison Break introduces Sasha’s toxic traits and shows how they help her get free and flourish at toad tower. This is exactly what their conflict is about in Reunion.

I love how Anne’s heritage is explored this season in Lily Pad Thai. The exploration of Anne’s culture is one of my favorite things about the series.

The use of someone to lean on in the finale is really interesting because on the one hand it stands out in a jarring way because the show doesn’t use non-diegetic licensed music at any other point in the series but on the other hand it fits really well thematically and provides insight into Sasha and Anne’s mindsets during this moment. 

The music in this season is the weakest of the 3 but that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any stretch. It is more washed out because of the sound mixing and not given the chance to shine until the finale. Reunion has a very good score with my favorite part being after toad tower falls and Anne makes eye contact with Grime. It’s tragic and foreboding and it’s the first time this season that the score is allowed to be the loudest part of a scene. This decision makes it so that this scene is given a different feel to all the ones that came before. It’s a transition in the music just as much as it is in the series. The music paired with the look clearly indicate that the conflict is far from over. This is just the beginning.

The only other episode where the music is allowed to shine is Prison Break. TJ Hill goes all out giving toad tower a completely different feel from Wartwood and I believe the music/title card (”far, far away from Wartwood”) is in part a Star Wars reference/homage (I could be wrong).

The dark humor of this show is amazing. Hop Pop is the one primarily used for this type of humor this season and gets the best jokes because of it.

Sasha doesn’t embrace or even really have to accept the changes that living in Amphibia naturally brings unlike Anne. After she is released from prison she gets herself plumbing and makes the toads make human cuisine. She forces things to be like they are back on earth (the parts she likes anyways). 

I know Reunion isn’t the first episode to use flashbacks in the series, Best Fronds is actually the episode that has that honor, but the way Reunion uses the flashbacks is what is brought back in True Colors, The Beginning of the End, and All In. 

I really like going back to the beginning of a series like this to see how all the characters changed as the show went on. Watching Anne in this season right after watching season 3 kind of smacks you in the face with just how much she changed (in the best way. It reminds you of just how far she’s come). It’s a lot easier to remember in a fair amount of detail just how much someone like Sasha or Grime has changed because of their limited screen time and massive character growth in that limited time. But Anne is the main character so her change is more gradual and can blend together because of this. I just like this aspect of re-watching a series.

Amphibia Season 3 Thoughts/Review

Season 3 of Amphibia is easily the most divisive season among the fanbase. There are a lot of different reasons for this but I think it primarily comes down to tone and pacing.

The reason why the issues with tone and pacing are so prominent is because of how it followed up True Colors. True Colors came in and seemed to promise that things would never be the same. It created a scenario for Anne and the Plantars that was very desperate. Sasha was left in Amphibia, Marcy had been stabbed (and for all they knew was dead), Amphibia was in imminent danger, and earth was going to be invaded next.

All of this should have created a massive sense of urgency and worry, but this doesn’t carry over very well into many of the episodes. The tonal whiplash that occurs when you watch True Colors and The New Normal back to back is massive. It goes from that gut punch of an ending to Anne being excited that she has wifi for the first time in months so quickly that it’s almost as if the characters forgot what happened.

When the show does address the sense of urgency the characters should have it is always on Anne’s end. Anne is the one staying up researching how to get back, Anne is the one trying to drop everything for new leads, Anne is the one losing sleep over the situation. The most the Plantars show on their end is homesickness. 

They are frequently the ones telling Anne to be careful or calm down which seems odd because they should have very pressing and important reasons for wanting to get back beyond missing their home.

In season 2 the heroes’ lack of urgency made sense. They didn’t know about Andrias’ plans, the core, or Sasha’s toad rebellion. The episodes where they explored Newtopia or visited towns on their travels fit much better because of their gap in knowledge and like I said previously those episodes usually found a way to keep the story moving forward or have important character moments so that they rarely distracted from the plot.

In season 3 there’s too much hanging over the characters’ heads that they know about for it to feel organic watching the episodes back to back. 

This isn’t to say that what happens on the earth half of the season is bad. The content is actually very enjoyable. Watching the role reversal between Anne and the Plantars is fun and we get to see even more of Anne’s culture and home life which is always a welcome addition.

The exploration of Anne’s family and culture is one of the best things about the first half of the season. The Thai Temple episode (Temple Frogs) in particular is one of my favorites. 

It has Anne displaying the urgency that some episodes were missing while also addressing how Anne’s parents struggled during her time away and how their community kept them afloat. This strikes a balance that makes almost everything that happens feel important on an emotional level without losing sight of what this half of the season is building towards.

This is also the case with the Christmas episode.

This half of the season doesn’t all take place on earth either. The perspective shifts back to Amphibia for a few episodes as well and they are two of the best episodes to come out of this half of the season. 

Turning Point and Olivia & Yunan serve as much needed glimpses into what is happening in Amphibia and handle the fallout of True Colors more directly.

In Turning Point Sasha takes responsibility for her actions throughout the series and decides to work towards being a better person with every action moving forward. She uses her strengths for good to fight against Andrias and protect the people and starts her redemption.

In Olivia & Yunan we see the crushing guilt Marcy is dealing with in the wake of True Colors and how she’s not doing so hot after being STABBED THROUGH THE CHEST. She is then possessed by the core in an honestly horrifying scene and loses all autonomy. 

In both of these episodes the course of the show is irrevocably changed and so are Sasha and Marcy. These episodes set up their arcs and roles heading into the endgame of Amphibia. 

This makes these episodes stand in stark contrast to many of the episodes surrounding them. They are darker in tone and have a sharp focus on what they are trying to do. These episodes are more in line with what I believe people thought this season would be heading into it. This helps make these what I believe to be the best episodes of this half of the season.

These episodes also break up the earth portions of the season and help the pacing immensely on re-watch. 

The first half of the season ends on the Christmas episode Froggy Little Christmas which, while a fun episodes that refocuses on the conflict with Andrias, shouldn’t have been the midseason finale. Escape to Amphibia should have been. It is the actual end of the earth portion of the series and feels like the beginning of the end in a way that the Christmas episode couldn’t capture (understandably).

So much about the episode is a bookend to this chapter of Amphibia and it has a lot of parallels that harken back to formative aspects of Anne’s character and the show as a whole. My favorite ones are this one 

and this one 

The first parallel is very reminiscent of Sasha during the third temple and I think that is intentional. Sasha’s redesign has her incorporate blue into her armor along with the red which symbolizes how Anne has changed Sasha and how she is incorporating the lessons she has learned throughout Amphibia and Anne into herself. This shows that the effect on each other is mutual. Sasha was not a good friend to Anne before this point but her good traits (when not taken to the extreme) have rubbed off on Anne and in some ways inspired her like she said in “The Third Temple”.

And the second parallel is very effective because it is put into stark contrast with the first time Anne and the Plantars come over the hill and see the rest of the valley for the first time. It takes the wonder and awe that was present the first time and twists it into shock and horror. It really hits home just how long Anne has been away and just how much True Colors effected Amphibia.

I want to take a second to mention how great Anne’s parents are. They really were the MVPs of the earth portion of the season and this episode.

It’s refreshing to see Anne and the Plantars back in Amphibia and this marks the start of the second half of the season which is the hardest to talk about in regards to the series as a whole in my opinion.

The second half of the season is complicated because it’s probably the most inconsistent part of the series. It contains some of the best content of the entire show and of any animated series airing at the time but it also has lows that mess up the pacing and ultimately end up feeling directionless at times.

The second half of the season starts out strong with Escape to Amphibia and Commander Anne but doesn’t maintain that momentum. The episodes primarily focus on the rebellion gaining forces to take on King Andrias but this doesn’t culminate in a satisfying way. 

The only episode we get to see the army fight is The Beginning of the End, but then they quickly become irrelevant after Sasha and Anne’s plan fails and the invasion of earth begins. This makes the majority of episodes in season 3B ultimately feel like they weren’t building towards anything. 

At least in 3A a lot of the people Anne and the Plantars impacted on their earth adventures come together to help them take on the government and get back to Amphibia. It makes it feel like there is some semblance of an end goal.

But with 3B the important players aren’t any of the amphibians they get to join their cause and it is entirely focused on the calamity trio, Andrias, the Plantars, and Grime. The army doesn’t play a part in stopping Andrias’ invasion when they get to earth or taking down the core.

It’s odd because these episodes bring back so many characters and plot points from the first season and makes it seem like it’s all coming full circle. That everything that happened in the beginning is going to come around in a big way and be the reason they will win in the end.

It built a certain expectation that it didn’t fulfill which hurts the episodes a lot on re-watch. 

These episodes do manage to flow better than the episodes in the first half of the season (at least to me) though because the setting and characters are ones I’m familiar with and invested in which always makes them at the very least enjoyable to watch. 

Episodes like Grime’s Pupil and Sasha’s Angels have all the issues I mentioned above but because they feature new relationships between characters I know and love and are centered around the conflict I am more emotionally invested in they always manage to hold my attention more than certain episodes in the first half and remain fun. 

There are episodes that didn’t do this nearly as well like Mother of Olms, which promised so much more than it actually ended up delivering on that it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth when I first watched it. It’s better on re-watch, but it’s episodes like this coupled with the overarching narrative problems that leads to an uneven stretch of episodes.

There are some very good episodes sprinkled into this run with the clear standout being The Core and The King. 

The Core and The King is a fascinating look into Andrias’ past and why he is the way he is. It adds so much nuance to his character and actions in True Colors. It is held back a bit by the fact it isn’t a half hour special episode and thus can’t spend the time necessary to attach the audience to the characters of Leif and Barrel, but it still believably portrays the actions and relationships that it focuses on. The best relationship exploration of the episode is easily that of Andrias and his father, which recontextualizes his allegiance to the core and dedication to his mission.

This episode adds a level of tragedy to Andrias and his relationship to Marcy that retroactively elevates their relationship in season 2 and the betrayal in True Colors. There’s a level of regret and genuine care that feels like it’s simmering just below the surface that plants the seeds for the flashbacks in All In and makes their entire journey together really bittersweet.

This leads us to the finale three episodes (essentially one big finale), but before I talk about those I want to address how this season handles the calamity trio.

I’d say this is a mixed bag and it’s understandable why people have such conflicting opinions on this particular part of the season. This is where the trio are at their most important. The emotional climaxes of almost all 3 parts of the finale depend on them.

They are the ones the final battles come down to. There is so much riding on their growth and the audience’s emotional connection to them that they needed focus this season.

Sasha and Marcy have had limited screen time coming into this season but it was handled well in regards to the story and themes the show was trying to cover. In the third season they both still have limited screen time but the way that screen time is handled is vastly different between the two.

Sasha is the one that comes out far better in regards to this. She completes her arc and gets her redemption. Her perspective and change is put on full display.

There’s even a subplot that has Anne and Sasha go through an awkward transitionary period in their friendship that has Anne’s doubts and frustrations with the past surface. These moments are used to show Sasha’s change and work in regards to their overarching relationship. It feels earned that their friendship comes back together stronger because of who they are now as people and all the trials they’ve gone through. 

Sasha’s arc is one of the best handled in the series. A few things could have been tightened up, such as her gaining the trust of the Wartwood citizens, but overall it had a strong core that it never lost sight of.

It also culminates in a powerful way within All In.

But that isn’t the case with Marcy. Marcy is benched for a lot of this final season due to her possession. The idea behind Darcy is very intriguing and they could have been one of the best Disney villains to come out of a cartoon in recent years, but they were underutilized so the emotional impact of them was limited to mainly The Beginning of the End (which was fantastic).

This choice made it so Marcy was put into stasis and couldn’t realize her own development that started in True Colors. It makes for an emotional reunion in The Beginning of the End and All In but it makes it so Marcy’s arc feels shortchanged in comparison to her friends.

There’s also the fact that due to the crews strained relationship with Disney and S&P after the True Colors fiasco they weren’t allowed to address Marcy getting stabbed. This was a major moment that should have had massive repercussions moving forward but due to this handicap it fizzled out into an afterthought that hurt Marcy’s character arc and diminished how well her importance to Sasha and Anne could be displayed.

Even with the show struggling to juggle the calamity trio and their baggage (particularly Marcy) with the lighter tone they were encouraged to have and some of the directions they chose to go in the final three episodes hit almost all of the beats they needed to for the conclusion to their arcs and the journey of the show to be satisfying.

The final three episodes of the show are great and have some of the most emotional moments of the series. They were allowed to be darker and address the more difficult topics and themes the show had set up. It’s a shame that many of these very fascinating issues and conflicts were pushed back to the final few episodes, but the way they are dealt with here are for the most part fantastic.

I’ve talked in depth about each part of the finale on here already but to sum it up they manage to make the themes and character arcs set up in the story and pay them all off. There are a few issues I have with each of them here and there but for the most part they are a fitting send off and provide one of the best conclusions to a series I’ve seen in quite some time. 

The Beginning of the End expands on the pre-amphibia trio dynamic in regards to Marcy in a poignant portrayal of her isolation that elevates the tragic reunion between the friends at the end and is easily the episode that best utilizes Darcy.

All In puts the changes each of the trio have gone through during their journey in Amphibia on full display, allowing them to have a quiet reconciliation that touches on the care and impact each have had on one another.

The Hardest Thing manages to be a heartfelt goodbye to the series and world of Amphibia as a whole and keeps a sharp focus on the main themes of the story. This is the episode I have the most issues with of the three but it still manages to close out the series on a bittersweet note that makes sure the impact of these adventures can be felt on the characters even ten years later.

These episodes aren’t perfect (I go into greater depth on the episodes in the linked posts) but they are still some of my favorite of the series and remind me why I love this show so much in the first place. 

I feel like this came off rather harsh. I wanted to take a more objective look at the series season by season and address some of the legitimate issues while explaining its strengths and expressing what I personally loved about it. I don’t know if I got the balance right but I want to express that I really do love this show.

Amphibia is such a great and fun series. It wasn’t perfect but nothing is. It’s been almost a year since the show ended but I still miss it. I really came to love the characters and world this series created. I hope others got the enjoyment that I did out of it.

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Extra Thoughts

I really love where the trio end the series. In a way it hits harder considering where I am in my life. It’s pretty obvious that none of the trio really loved themselves prior to their journey in Amphibia but you see how each have grown into their own and are happy with where they are. They’ve found callings that help them express themselves and what they learned and it hits you that they’re okay. That things changed and they lost things and people but they kept those memories and eventually reconnected. I really like that. 

The jobs each of the girls end up with after the time skip are so perfect for each of them. 

I realized I never said this in any of my previous re-watch thoughts/reviews but Anne is a great protagonist that goes through so much development and growth. Her arc of learning self love and worth is amazing. I just felt that needed to be said.

I’m mixed on the decision to keep the reveal of the new Sasha a secret until Commander Anne. One the one hand it does succeed in what it was attempting to do. It does shock the audience with how much Sasha has changed just like it does Anne. But on the other hand I wish we had gotten to see that change in greater depth. It felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. It wouldn’t have needed a ton of screen time, in fact I think having at least a single episode showing Sasha growing into the role of commander of Wartwood while working on being a better person could have helped the awkward pacing of the first part of the season and establish the dynamics of the resistance.

One issue I didn’t touch upon above is how the show struggles to keep the Plantars relevant in the second half of the season. Many episodes just have the Plantars be present but don’t give them much to do, if they give them anything at all. In fact, Polly gets no focus or development in the second half of the season. 

There is one part in Escape to Amphibia that doesn’t really sit right with me and that’s the scene where Sprig tells Anne it couldn’t hurt for them to wait a bit longer before returning to Amphibia if she isn’t ready. I understand what the writer was going for with Anne not being ready to say goodbye to her parents again and face a war that may have already claimed her friends, but it once again undercuts the desperation of the situation. Almost as if the characters and show believe the conflict in Amphibia is put into stasis because Anne and the Plantars aren’t there which hurts the storytelling and tension of the season. Once again not taking the consequences of True Colors as seriously as they should.

Marcy and Sasha’s parents should have been seen at least once in the series. I could go into a hundred reasons why this would have been the better move but plenty of people have talked about it before and in greater depth than I could. It was definitely wasted potential and felt weird to tease them twice (Froggy Little Christmas and All In) only to never see them in the show.

This season is what I believe to be the musical peak of the series with fantastic and emotionally charged tracks that I listen to. I love the entirety of the score for All In but my personal favorite one of this season has to be the sad rendition of Marcy’s theme that plays over the credits of The Beginning of the End. That track is a gut punch. (TJ Hill has released most of the tracks on his youtube channel)

I do really enjoy the development that Polly gets in the first half of the season. She was the only Plantar that felt like they had tangible development which is once again disappointing because I do genuinely like the Plantars.

Best of Animation 2021 - The Last Lullaby (Centaurworld)

Centaurworld is a deceptively deep show*. From the marketing it received the show felt jarring and disjointed almost as if two incompatible worlds had been thrown together haphazardly but the moment you boot it up and start watching it is obvious this is far from the case. 

Centaurworld is about grief, loss, depression, and learning to heal. It uses its vastly different tones and visual styles to elevate these aspects of the story. 

It’s a fantastic and fun ride and I believe its finale “The Last Lullaby” is the best example of how it uses all these seemingly contradictory parts to get all these themes across, especially with the music.

Centaurworld is a musical that has a lot of songs that I have fun with but I would say it is usually “all bops and no bangers” (credit where credit is due. I heard this from Sarcastic Chorus). 

The one place I really love their music and think it makes itself stand out is in its reprises. The way it brings songs from earlier on back and completely changes the meaning through the context of the scene. 

This episode does the same thing with Rider’s Lullaby and The Nowhere King’s lullaby. These songs are closely associated with the protagonist and antagonist of the show respectively and the way they are brought back in this finale really brings their arcs full circle. 

I especially love how the Nowhere King’s lullaby is brought back because it really accentuates the tragedy of his character and his relationship with the purple haired woman. I wish this relationship was explored in greater depth throughout this season but what we did see of these two characters was hauntingly beautiful in a way that you wouldn’t expect from what is essentially a single episode exploring their relationship. 

The Nowhere King’s death didn’t feel triumphant or glorious like you would have expected after his introduction in the two part finale of season 1. It’s quiet and personal. He returns to his original form one final time before the woman he loves ends his life once and for all.

The purple haired woman hesitated to go through with this before this point but she’s resigned herself to the fact that she must be the one to bring this nightmare to an end. Despite the love between the two their story doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s very tragic and the last lullaby the purple haired woman sings gets across the emotions of the scene between the two characters accentuates this.

The backstory of the elktaur chronicles the slow self-destruction and mutilation of someone who feels trapped on the outside looking in due to his internalized self-hatred. It becomes a tragedy about someone who felt undeserving of love to the point where their internal war with themselves became external. 

“They’re the same being locked in this everlasting fight with himself.”

This is an interesting exploration of morality that accepts that people are steeped in shades of gray. It’s like what the Nowhere King says to horse “we all have good and bad”. 

This episode shines brightest when it takes a microscope to all these characters and forces us to look at them for all they are. 

The Nowhere King is a horrible monster that has caused so much suffering but he is also a victim. 

The general is a monster wearing the mask of a hero that perpetuates a conflict he will never end because he ultimately holds his own self interest and preservation of utmost importance. 

The purple haired woman was blinded by her love and awe of the elktaur and centaurworld and it is ultimately her love that prevented her from ending this conflict when she had the chance. (She isn’t evil. I’m not blaming her. She understandably struggled to end the life of someone she loved.)

That being said I do have a few issues.

My issues with this episode don’t stem from the content within the episode itself but rather the lack of screen time and build up to certain important aspects of this finale. 

I think there should have been more of the general before this moment because the twist that he’s part of the nowhere king is meant to completely flip the kindly, righteous leader visage on his head but since we didn’t spend enough time with him it doesn’t hit as hard as it could have. The general’s betrayal of Rider would have been even more of an emotional gut punch if we trusted him like Rider did, which could only be built up if there was more time allotted to him. 

I think the purple haired woman should have had more screen time because it’s the tragedy of her life and love of the nowhere king that is a driving factor in the entire story. In fact it’s her ending with the nowhere king that is what I would argue to be the emotional climax of the episode and by extension the series so I wish more time was given to them.

Everything that happened in the episode was great and it hit all the beats it was aiming for but like I said above I feel like some of them could have been strengthened if the series had given the characters involved more focus.

For example Rider being stabbed by the general is comparable to Marcy being stabbed by Andrias and yet I would argue that Marcy being stabbed is much more of a gut punch due to the amount of time their relationship was afforded within the show. We see how much Marcy trusts Andrias and we know why. Even if we knew he was up to no good we got to see how well Marcy and Andrias clicked and how much they had in common. 

Marcy is also given more screen time herself which allows us to grow attached to her in a way we couldn’t with Rider. So when the moment of truth happens and Andrias makes the decision to stab Marcy in the back it is a complete gut punch. We care about Marcy, we know how this relationship made her feel seen, we understand the full depth of the betrayal. 

I’m not saying this to hold one show up on a pedestal above the other, I’m using it as an example to explain why I think this certain plot point would have benefitted from extra attention earlier in the series.

That being said, I believe the way the general’s betrayal played out was very effective coming from Rider’s perspective (just not as much when it comes to the general and their relationship). The show has done a good job up to this point portraying Rider’s unwavering belief in the general. She is a child soldier that has dedicated her life to this cause that the general leads and yet he never meant to actually end the war or his people’s suffering. 

It also leads into a very touching reprise of Rider’s Lullaby. 

This was the first song we heard in the series and it was the defining song of Rider and Horse’s relationship. Having the song come back around with Horse being the one to sing it to comfort Rider in an inverse from the pilot would have been a fantastic bookend to their relationship.

This is why I’m mixed on how they chose to have this scene play out.

I’ve never been a big fan of fake out deaths and this one still has me conflicted. This is purely a personal preference thing. I’ve just never been big on these types of scenes. 

This leads me to the episode’s ending.

Centaurworld is a story of two wildly different worlds and tones that come together to elevate each other rather than detract. On the one hand the show can cover the bleak reality or war, loneliness, and loss and on the other it triumphs family, love, and connections. This episode is a nice blend of the two with the finale showing the clash of the tragedy of the past (the elktaur and the purple haired woman’s story) and the hope of the future (the ending with horse and her herd).

This decision holds true to the series to this point.

This episode was a fantastic ride from start to finish. There were some aspects of the episode I was mixed on but I ultimately love the end result and find myself revisiting the tale in my thoughts and on rewatch. 

I am interested to see what Megan Nicole Dong does next!

*The marketing for this show wasn’t great. I know many people that were turned off from the show because of the trailers they had seen which is disappointing. But I’ve seen a lot of fairly big youtubers cover the show and help give it the attention it deserves.

Extra Thoughts

I thought almost all of the comedy hit, especially all the gags with Stabby. “I have unquantifiable corpses on my conscience.” is one of the funniest lines in the entire show. I really wasn’t a fan of the fart joke with horse in the elktaur’s mind and thought it really fell flat.