Achilles, Achilles, Achilles come down
Won't you get up of, get up of the roof
The self is not so weightless, nor whole and unbroken
Remember the pact of our youth
Won't you get up of, get up of the roof
The self is not so weightless, nor whole and unbroken
Remember the pact of our youth
Sasha: Anne, what are you doing?!
Anne: Something I should've done a long time ago: standing up to you!
Anne: Something I should've done a long time ago: standing up to you!
During a banquet hosted by the toads, Anne is reunited with a "friend" from home who turns out to be not so friendly.
Full Recap
Three months ago, Anne and Sasha ditch school for Anne's thirteenth birthday during a frog dissection lesson, going around town riding shopping carts, doing graffiti and chilling in a cafe. Just as she is about to head home, Anne is convinced by Sasha to go see Marcy, their other friend, who had found a box designed with frogs in a thrift shop, as a joke present for Anne who hated frogs. Anne mentions that she would be late for her parent's party they had planned for her, but Sasha forces Anne to go along with it, stating "end of discussion". Not wanting to upset her friend, Anne willingly agrees against the risk of missing her own birthday. The girls are seen leaving the café to go visit Marcy just as the sun sets above them...
In the present, Grime and his army enter Wartwood, in order to invite the frightened frogs to a banquet celebrating Anne and Sasha's reunion, much to the frog's surprise, Anne also introduces the Plantars to Sasha, who claims she thought Hop Pop would be bigger for an unknown reason. After Anne gives the okay, the frogs head to Toad Tower in a large party wagon driven by a giant tarantula. While the frogs enjoy the banquet's buffet, Anne and Sasha hang out at Sasha's room. Sasha introduces Anne to her royal treatment here at the tower and even offers food such as burgers, fries, pizza and even ketchup much to Anne's surprise who had been eating bugs for the past few months, Sasha further claimed they had hot showers as well. Sprig, after talking to a nervous soldier, figures out the banquet is a trap and they're prisoners, which he announces to everyone loudly causing the frogs to panic and fight back against the toad soldiers, throwing plates and food at them.
Back in Sasha's room, Sasha explains to Anne that the banquet was to get Hop Pop to the tower, so he can be fed to a giant Venus flytrap, as he became the mascot of a rebellion across the valley ever since the Plantars fought against toad soldiers and he ran against Toadstool for mayor, causing many rebellions across the valley and many frogs began to stand up against the toads. Anne then leaves the room and tries to rescue the frogs, disguising herself as Sasha and entering the banquet, asking the soldiers to leave as she could handle them. The frogs are overjoyed at seeing Anne. Wally suggests to Anne that they plant some boomshrooms and blow the castle "sky high", to which Anne disagrees. Anne then proceeds to lead the frogs through the underground sewage to try and find the exit. As Anne and the frogs are making their way down the damp sewage pipes, Wally begins planting the boomshrooms along the way having misunderstood Anne's statement of not using them. As they find an exit to the sewers, they rejoice only to be confronted by Sasha and the toad soldiers.
As Hop Pop is taken to be executed, Anne tries to get Sasha to free them, but she tries to once again manipulate Anne again. Angry at seeing this, Sprig throws mud at Sasha, denounces her as a bully, and encourages Anne. Angered by this defiance, Sasha tries to kill Sprig, but Anne intervenes, standing up to her at long last. Grime then proposes a duel between the girls, if Anne wins the frogs can leave, but if Sasha wins Hop Pop is to be executed as planned and fed to the giant Venus Flytrap. Anne and Sasha circle each other, glaring and dragging their swords behind them as they prepare to brawl. When Grime gives the signal, Anne and Sasha charge at each other and begin the duel with a sword lock. Sasha asks why Anne's behaving like this as she had never done so back at home. Anne then manages to swing the sword out of Sasha's hand and it lands a few feet away stuck into the ground, but Anne is confronted with a dagger jab from Sasha who retrieves her sword. After another brief engagement with swords, Sasha throws her cape at Anne, blinding her and knocks her off her feet.
Sasha points her sword towards her, signaling defeat, and argues that they are just a bunch of frogs that don't matter. Livid, Anne claims they're not just frogs, they were like her family before managing to stand up and thrusts her sword into Sasha's, knocking her down and causing her to drop her sword and dagger, resulting in a cut on Sasha's face. The frogs cheer and Anne tells Sasha it's over and she's not going to push her around anymore. She then asks Grime if they can leave now as she had won, to which Grime states "I don't think so" before reaching out and grabbing Hop Pop with his tongue. Just as Hop Pop is about do be dropped off of Toad Tower, Wally's boomshrooms begin to explode in the sewers. Anne demands why Wally planted them, to which Wally claims he winked his eye to tell her he thought she was being sarcastic, but he did so with his damaged eye so Anne couldn't tell. The explosions cause the tower to begin collapsing, leading to Grime falling off the tower and dropping Hop Pop, who promptly jumps back onto the roof and escorts the frenzied frogs and toads towards the escape stone staircase.
Pieces of the tower begin to rain down onto the ground, crushing the Venus Flytrap and causing severe damage to the courtyard. Meanwhile, as Sasha is about to get up, she falls off the side of the crumbling tower screaming, and is quickly caught by Anne who grabs her hand at the last second. Anne too is about to fall before having her leg grabbed by Sprig, Hop Pop and Polly who hold onto her. Anne tries to calm Sasha, claiming everything would be okay, but Sasha realizes that she would be the cause of Anne and the Plantars dying so knows what must be done, telling Anne "Maybe you'd be better off without me" before letting go of her hand and plummeting to the ground. Just as she was about to land, Grime appears and grabs her in mid-air, using his dagger to slide down the side of the Tower. The tower stops crumbling and remains motionless as Grime glares at Anne before disappearing into the woods carrying Sasha, followed by the rest of the Toad Army as they slowly retreat. Sprig walks over to Anne and asks if she's is okay, to which Anne replies she is before beginning to sob and is promptly hugged by the Plantars.
After getting back to Wartwood, the Plantars apologize that Anne lost Sasha as a friend, but Anne tells them it's okay because she considers them her family and no matter she goes through, she'll have them by her side all the way until she returns home.
END OF PART 1
In the present, Grime and his army enter Wartwood, in order to invite the frightened frogs to a banquet celebrating Anne and Sasha's reunion, much to the frog's surprise, Anne also introduces the Plantars to Sasha, who claims she thought Hop Pop would be bigger for an unknown reason. After Anne gives the okay, the frogs head to Toad Tower in a large party wagon driven by a giant tarantula. While the frogs enjoy the banquet's buffet, Anne and Sasha hang out at Sasha's room. Sasha introduces Anne to her royal treatment here at the tower and even offers food such as burgers, fries, pizza and even ketchup much to Anne's surprise who had been eating bugs for the past few months, Sasha further claimed they had hot showers as well. Sprig, after talking to a nervous soldier, figures out the banquet is a trap and they're prisoners, which he announces to everyone loudly causing the frogs to panic and fight back against the toad soldiers, throwing plates and food at them.
Back in Sasha's room, Sasha explains to Anne that the banquet was to get Hop Pop to the tower, so he can be fed to a giant Venus flytrap, as he became the mascot of a rebellion across the valley ever since the Plantars fought against toad soldiers and he ran against Toadstool for mayor, causing many rebellions across the valley and many frogs began to stand up against the toads. Anne then leaves the room and tries to rescue the frogs, disguising herself as Sasha and entering the banquet, asking the soldiers to leave as she could handle them. The frogs are overjoyed at seeing Anne. Wally suggests to Anne that they plant some boomshrooms and blow the castle "sky high", to which Anne disagrees. Anne then proceeds to lead the frogs through the underground sewage to try and find the exit. As Anne and the frogs are making their way down the damp sewage pipes, Wally begins planting the boomshrooms along the way having misunderstood Anne's statement of not using them. As they find an exit to the sewers, they rejoice only to be confronted by Sasha and the toad soldiers.
As Hop Pop is taken to be executed, Anne tries to get Sasha to free them, but she tries to once again manipulate Anne again. Angry at seeing this, Sprig throws mud at Sasha, denounces her as a bully, and encourages Anne. Angered by this defiance, Sasha tries to kill Sprig, but Anne intervenes, standing up to her at long last. Grime then proposes a duel between the girls, if Anne wins the frogs can leave, but if Sasha wins Hop Pop is to be executed as planned and fed to the giant Venus Flytrap. Anne and Sasha circle each other, glaring and dragging their swords behind them as they prepare to brawl. When Grime gives the signal, Anne and Sasha charge at each other and begin the duel with a sword lock. Sasha asks why Anne's behaving like this as she had never done so back at home. Anne then manages to swing the sword out of Sasha's hand and it lands a few feet away stuck into the ground, but Anne is confronted with a dagger jab from Sasha who retrieves her sword. After another brief engagement with swords, Sasha throws her cape at Anne, blinding her and knocks her off her feet.
Sasha points her sword towards her, signaling defeat, and argues that they are just a bunch of frogs that don't matter. Livid, Anne claims they're not just frogs, they were like her family before managing to stand up and thrusts her sword into Sasha's, knocking her down and causing her to drop her sword and dagger, resulting in a cut on Sasha's face. The frogs cheer and Anne tells Sasha it's over and she's not going to push her around anymore. She then asks Grime if they can leave now as she had won, to which Grime states "I don't think so" before reaching out and grabbing Hop Pop with his tongue. Just as Hop Pop is about do be dropped off of Toad Tower, Wally's boomshrooms begin to explode in the sewers. Anne demands why Wally planted them, to which Wally claims he winked his eye to tell her he thought she was being sarcastic, but he did so with his damaged eye so Anne couldn't tell. The explosions cause the tower to begin collapsing, leading to Grime falling off the tower and dropping Hop Pop, who promptly jumps back onto the roof and escorts the frenzied frogs and toads towards the escape stone staircase.
Pieces of the tower begin to rain down onto the ground, crushing the Venus Flytrap and causing severe damage to the courtyard. Meanwhile, as Sasha is about to get up, she falls off the side of the crumbling tower screaming, and is quickly caught by Anne who grabs her hand at the last second. Anne too is about to fall before having her leg grabbed by Sprig, Hop Pop and Polly who hold onto her. Anne tries to calm Sasha, claiming everything would be okay, but Sasha realizes that she would be the cause of Anne and the Plantars dying so knows what must be done, telling Anne "Maybe you'd be better off without me" before letting go of her hand and plummeting to the ground. Just as she was about to land, Grime appears and grabs her in mid-air, using his dagger to slide down the side of the Tower. The tower stops crumbling and remains motionless as Grime glares at Anne before disappearing into the woods carrying Sasha, followed by the rest of the Toad Army as they slowly retreat. Sprig walks over to Anne and asks if she's is okay, to which Anne replies she is before beginning to sob and is promptly hugged by the Plantars.
After getting back to Wartwood, the Plantars apologize that Anne lost Sasha as a friend, but Anne tells them it's okay because she considers them her family and no matter she goes through, she'll have them by her side all the way until she returns home.
END OF PART 1
This episode has examples of:
- Accidental Hero: It turns out that when Hop Pop ran for mayor against Toadstool, he unknowingly inspired other frogs across the valley to stand up and rebel against the toads that had been suppressing them, who all used his image as a figurehead for their rebellions.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Anne and Hop Pop may butt heads, but he's been a loving parental figure to her, and she will fight for him as many times as he has fought for her. Hop Pop, as always, has her back and helps save her in the climax.
- Back for the Finale:
- Bathos:
- The Toad Army invades Wartwood by hopping over and landing on surprise locations, intimidating the villagers. Then one lands on Stumpy's stand, which has a round support, and trips over.
- Mayor Toadstool jumps in action to save the villagers from the falling tower. Then he claims it's just because otherwise he'd have no one from whom to embezzle.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Wally ends up striking the decisive blow against the toads by making the tower explode with boom shrooms.
- Big Damn Reunion: After spending most of the season with almost no idea of what happened to her, Anne finally reunites with Sasha.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: The opening flashback reveals that the events that brought Anne to Amphibia happened on her thirteenth birthday.
- Bittersweet Ending: Anne and the people of Wartwood survive the collapse of the Toad Tower and the dissent against the Toads across the Valley will continue. However, Sasha is still with the Toads and her friendship with Anne is probably ruined for good, and she still has no idea how to return home.
- Blade Brake: Grime grabs Sasha in midair and slides down a tower wall, using his knife to slow their descent.
- Blade Lock: Sasha and Anne briefly lock blades and banter at the start of their Sword Fight.
- Blatant Lies:
- Grime tells the citizens of Wartwood that he's an "old softie".
- When Sprig tries to leave the party, the guard nervously tells him he can't. Sprig seems to accept this, only to tell everyone that it's a trap.
- Bond One-Liner:Anne: It's over, Sash. You're not gonna push me around anymore.
- Book Ends: Sasha and Grime high five when she says "Up top," just like how Anne and Sprig did in the first episode.
- Broken Pedestal: Anne's faith in Sasha is shattered when she learns how controlling she truly was.
- The Bully:
- The Flashback at the beginning of the episode introduces Maggie, a schoolmate who picked on Anne.
- Sprig denounces Sasha as this while standing up for Anne.
- Call-Back:
- When Hop Pop ran for mayor in "Hop Popular", Mayor Toadstool mentioned it was strange a frog would run. It turns out this inspired other frogs to rebel, which makes Grime want to kill Hop Pop.
- Wally blows up the tower with the boom shrooms seen in "Combat Camp".
- Call-Forward: A flashback shows Anne having to dissect a frog that looks like Hop Pop.
- Chain of People: Anne catches Sasha as she falls off the tower, but starts slipping. Sprig then tries to pull the two of them back, followed by Hop Pop and Polly.
- Character Catchphrase: Sasha has a cold, forceful "End of discussion", coupled with a Death Glare, which she uses whenever Anne questions her too much.
- Chekhov's Gun: The "Boom Shrooms" Wally plants under Toad Tower (against Anne's wishes) go off just as Grime is about to throw Hop-Pop to the giant flytrap, saving Hop-Pop.
- Chekhov's Skill: Remember when Anne learned to sword fight 2 episodes ago? Yeah, really important for this episode.
- Comically Missing the Point: Subverted. Hop Pop on learning he's inspired a rebellion admires his poster, only to scream, "I'm gonna die!"
- Continuity Nod: Sasha's sword has a heron-shaped hilt, referencing the animals she fought which got her to become Grime's second-in-command for fighting in "Prison Break".
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Implied to be the reason Marcy took interest in the music box, as she felt there was something interesting about it. Sasha was initially skeptical because of the frog design on it, but felt it was worth checking out, which led her to convince Anne to take it so they can see it for themselves. They got more than what they bargained for with their curiosity.
- Darker and Edgier: Perhaps the darkest episode of the series yet. The season finale shows the frogs and toads' conflict escalate into open warfare, culminating in the toads being forced to retreat from their destroyed fortress, Sasha and Anne's friendship seemingly in tatters, and Anne no closer to finding her way home.
- Defiant Stone Throw: Sasha intimidates Anne into submission, breaking the Frogs' spirits. Sprig slingshots a sludgeball at Sasha, making it clear neither he nor Anne will kneel to a tyrant like her, giving everyone a second wind.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Wally proposes they use boom shrooms to blow up the tower, Anne points out that they are still in the tower and would blow up with it. Not to mention she doesn't want Sasha to get killed. Wally winks at her, or so he thinks, and plants them when he thinks they are making an escape. It doesn't occur to him that they might get caught or brought back inside the tower, where they blow up and almost kill everyone inside like Anne feared.
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted. When Toad Tower starts to collapse, Grime falls off, and later Sasha lets go of Anne so she and the Plantars won't die with her. Luckily, Grime survives his fall and saves Sasha.
- Do Wrong, Right: Hop Pop doesn't allow Polly to throw a crab leg at a guard—it's too valuable, so he has her throw a potato instead.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Briefly, Anne disguises herself as Sasha to send away the toad guards and rescue the Wartwood frogs.
- End of an Age: The episode has undertones of the collapse of the Toad Tower being the beginning of the end of the Toads' rule over the valley with many towns rebelling against the Toads across the valley thanks to Hopadiah's earnest attempt to become the mayor of Wartwood that is ruled by a corrupt toad. The episode even says "End of Part 1".
- Et Tu, Brute?: Anne gets shaken when Sasha reveals she came up with the idea to throw a banquet to capture Hop Pop for execution, so that the Toads can offer their services to help Anne and Sasha get home. Anne is forced to fight her, and resigns to the fact that Sasha made her choice.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Sasha doesn't understand that Anne will not let anyone hurt Hop Pop, because the frog took her in after she was foraging in the wilderness for days and treats her like one of his grandkids. She just says that Hop Pop is a "slimy frog," to Anne's dismay.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Sasha says this about Hop Pop when first meeting him. This is Foreshadowing that she is surprised that this is the supposed revolutionary who inspired rebellions across the valley.
- Extra-Long Episode: A 22 minute episode, instead of an 11 minute segment.
- Failed a Spot Check: When a shrouded figure pretending to be Sasha comes into the banquet hall, the toads and frogs don't realize it's Anne at first, even though she has her (one) shoe and skirt exposed, has dark skin, and her voice sounds very different.
- Fed to the Beast: Grime plans to feed Hop Pop to a giant Venus flytrap.
- Finale Credits: Instead of the usual credits featuring Anne and Sprig relaxing under the moonlight, the credits for this episode consist of map illustrations of various moments over the course of the season.
- Flashback: The episode opens with a flashback of events three months earlier, when Anne was still on Earth.
- Foreshadowing: When Anne introduces the Plantars, Sasha comments that she was Expecting Someone Taller from Hop Pop, despite presumably having never heard of him before. It's later revealed that Hop Pop is a symbol for anti-Toad rebellions.
- Forgot the Disability: Wally briefly forgets his own disability, in that he tries to wink to Anne using the one eye he almost never opens. This causes big problems when he tries to give a Secret Message Wink to her to go through with his boomshrooms plan, but uses the wrong eye.Wally: Wait, could you not tell I was winking? CURSE YOU ONE EYE!
- Free the Frogs: Variant; Sasha and Anne skip biology when they have to dissect frogs.
- Gilded Cage:
- The Toad Banquet may look nicer than what Wartwood had, but it was ultimately a trap to get Hopediah.
- Sasha's chambers become this for Anne as well. Anne treats herself to a hot shower and hair curlers, only to spit out her drink when Sasha reveals she plans to execute Hop Pop. If Sasha hadn't realized why Anne left, it's implied she would have kept her there.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Sasha gets a scar on her cheek as a result of Anne winning their duel.
- Grew a Spine: Though it takes Sprig's encouragement, Anne has learned to stick up for herself instead of folding to Sasha's pressure.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Mayor Toadstool may have realized that allying with toads that are trying to kill his constituents are not a good idea. He helps rescue some of them while still saying it's so he can embezzle from them. Time will tell if he keeps up this streak.
- Heel Realization: Upon realizing that Anne is risking her own life in order to save her from falling off the tower, and seeing that the frog family she dismissed are doing the same, Sasha admits that Anne would be better off without her and lets go of Anne's hand, willing to fall to her death rather than endanger Anne.
- Heroic Bystander: On realizing that Grime means to execute Hop Pop, one of their residents, all the frogs in Wartwood prepare to fight for him. Wally ends up saving Hop Pop by blowing up the castle, misinterpreting Anne's protests.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Anne and the Plantars are holding on to Sasha as the ledge is giving way. Realizing the ledge would not hold all five of them, Sasha lets go to save Anne and would have fallen to her death had she not been caught by Grime.
- Heroic Second Wind: Anne gains this when Sprig calls Sasha out for her controlling behavior, giving her the confidence to stand up to her and fight.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: Parodied when Captain Grime compliments Sasha by saying "You are always playing Flipwart while everyone else is playing Bog Jump." Since Sasha isn't from Amphibia and has never heard of either of those games, Grime tries to explain himself before getting frustrated and boiling it down to "I'm trying to say you're smart!"
- Hope Spot:
- Anne dresses as Sasha and sneaks the frogs out through the sewers after sending away the frightened Toad Guards. They almost make it out, only for Sasha to catch them.
- Then Anne wins her duel against Sasha to save Hop Pop. Grime still tries to execute the older frog. Then Wally's boom shrooms go off...
- Identical Stranger: The frog Anne is dissecting in class looks a lot like Hop Pop.
- Immediate Sequel: This episode picks up right where "Anne of the Year" left off.
- Inelegant Blubbering: After realizing just how far Sasha has fallen, being forced to fight her in a duel to the death, and failing to save her due to the latter performing a Heroic Sacrifice, it's no wonder that Anne breaks down into tears when it is over.
- Irony: As seen in the Flashback, Anne once found frogs utterly disgusting. Then again, dissection isn't fun the first time a person does it.
- Ironic Echo:
- Wally says "two parties in one night" near the start and end of the episode. The first time, he's elated; the second, he's exhausted.
- "Up top." In the first episode, it's done by Anne and Sprig; here, it's done by Sasha and Grime.
- Kick the Dog: Anne defends Hop Pop, pointing out he never meant to defy Toad Tower. Sasha counters that if Grime wants him dead, she doesn't care if Hop Pop is completely innocent.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Sasha gives Sprig a glare after he makes a pun.
- Make an Example of Them: Grime intends to have Hop-Pop killed to quash the rebellions all across the valley.
- Malicious Misnaming: In Anne's flashback, Maggie calls her "Boobchuy".
- Mama Bear: Inverted; Anne fights for Hop Pop when his life is threatened and does the same for Sprig. Both have been like family for her.
- Match Cut: As a flock of birds at the end of the flashback soar overhead, a fade to the present day replaces them with large fireflies zooming in the same direction.
- Mundane Luxury: Anne is astonished at the luxuries Toad Tower has gotten Sasha: human(-like) food, including ketchup, and hot showers.
- Near-Villain Victory: Anne has discovered how controlling Sasha is toward her, and is tempted into dropping her sword and giving up to the toads should she wish to go home with her. If Sprig hadn't interfered and called Sasha out when he did, Grime would've won.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Wally planting the boom shrooms to destroy Toad Tower zig-zags this. As Anne points out it was a seemingly poorly throughout plan since they were all still in the tower, and she doesn't want Sasha killed. Wally plants them anyway, thinking Anne was being sarcastic and agreeing to his plan. Though the result is ultimately helpful, with the boom shrooms going off just in time to save Hop Pop's life and destroying the tower, it still causes problems for the townsfolk since they need to escape from the collapsing tower, and almost gets Anne and the Planters killed when they try to save Sasha from falling to her potential death.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sasha might have broken Anne back into submission completely if she hadn't masterminded a plan to execute Hop Pop, the same frog that took Anne in from the wilderness and has been like a grandfather to her. And even when it seems Anne will break, Sasha's Jerkass behavior motivates Sprig to stand up for Anne.
- Not the Fall That Kills You…: Grime saves Sasha from a long fall by intercepting her in midair a short distance down and using his knife to slide down a tower. Sasha is knocked unconsciousness, but apparently not seriously injured.
- Oh, Crap!: Anne's reaction when she discovers Sasha's plan to have Hop Pop executed.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Sprig notices one guard sweating while looking skittish. He asks him to let him leave, but the guard says they're not allowed to leave the banquet hall. Sprig tells him it's not a problem and the guard calms down, but when Sprig then informs the other frogs that they're being held prisoner, the guard is sweating up a storm.
- Pet the Dog:
- Keeping his dog-petting streak from "Anne of the Year" going, Mayor Toadstool saves several Wartwood citizens from the collapsing Toad Tower, which comes as quite a surprise to them. He claims it's just because he can't embezzle money from them if they're dead, but this is pretty clearly a lie.
- Grime not only rescues Sasha despite her losing her duel, but he also seems earnestly upset that she was injured.
- Say what you will about her, and there is plenty to say, Sasha does legitimately care about her friends and want to save them and despite only being thirteen was willing to make the decision to sacrifice her own life to ensure Anne survived despite them having had a fierce fight that Anne won mere moments before.
- Playing Sick: Sasha pretended to be sick during biology class so she and Anne could skip school.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: This time it's the humans who don't get the reference. When Grimes complements Sasha by saying she's playing Flipwart while everyone else is playing Bog Jump, nether Anne nor Sasha know what he's talking about.
- Properly Paranoid:
- While all the other frogs were having fun and enjoying the feast, Sprig was the only one to notice that the toads weren't having any fun themselves and actually looked on edge. Hop Pop dismisses this since the toads are more of a militarized culture and don't know how to have fun, but shortly afterwards Sprig's worries are confirmed when a nervous toad lets slip that the frogs aren't allowed to leave. So Sprig raises the alarm by shouting to all of the other frogs that they aren't guests, they're prisoners.
- While it nearly got the frogs killed, Wally's decision to plant boom shrooms was actually the right call. If not for them going off, Hop Pop would have died.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "End...of...discussion."
- Racial Face Blindness: When Anne disguises herself as Sasha, the toad guards buy it, in spite of the fact that Anne and Sasha look nothing alike. Apparently, to the toads, any human looks like any other human.
- Rage Breaking Point: Anne is horrified, betrayed, and hurt when Sasha explains the plan to execute Hop Pop was her idea as opposed to invading the valley and doing the same thing. Even so, she tries to use her wits to avoid a direct confrontation with her friend. She eventually fights back, however, when Sasha tries to kill Sprig for calling Sasha a bully and saying Anne deserves better. Anne could take any abuse towards herself, but Sprig is another story.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: Anne has lost Sasha as a friend, and has doubts over if she is ever going to get back home, but the Plantars promise to help her find a way and no matter what happens, they'll be right with her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sprig gives one to Sasha about how Anne doesn't have to be pushed around by her after he fires a sludgeball at her face.Sprig: For someone who's Anne's best friend, you sure don't know her well. She's brave, she's smart, and most of all, she's not gonna be pushed around by a bully like you!
- Redemption Equals Death: Sasha, seeing Anne and the Plantars try to save her even after everything she did to them, realises what a terrible friend she's been and allows herself to fall... only to be saved by Captain Grime, subverting the "death" part and potentially the "redemption" part as well.
- Season Finale: The final episode of season one.
- Secret Message Wink: When Anne vetoes Wally’s idea of planting exploding boom shrooms around the tower to free them, he thinks that she is playing coy with him, so he gives her this trope. Unfortunately for him, he winked at her with his eye that was swollen shut, causing Anne to miss the point. And when they explode, Anne yells at him, and Wally realizes the mistake he made that made her fail to get the message.Anne: Wally, what did you do?!
Wally: What? I thought we agreed! Wait, could you not tell I was winking? CURSE YOU ONE EYE! - Shout-Out:
- In the background of Anne's school, there's a group of kids that look like the main characters from EarthBound (1994).
- Among the objects in Sasha's room is the sorcerer hat Mickey Mouse wore in the Fantasia segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".
- Hop Pop's "Freedom Frog" posters are a parody of Barack Obama's "Hope" posters, down to the blue-red contrast.
- Skipping School: Sasha forces Anne to do this in the prologue.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The tower collapses to the tune of Bill Withers' "Lean on Me".
- Spark of the Rebellion: Turns out news of Hop Pop running against Toadstool inspired other frog towns to rise up against the toads.
- Special Edition Title: The end credit visuals changes to a storybook-like montage of several events throughout the season.
- Spit Take: Anne spits out her drink when she learns from Sasha that Hop Pop has inspired a series of rebellions.
- Spotting the Thread: Sprig notices the toad guards sweating anxiously during the banquet they allegedly threw in the frogs' honor and grows suspicious. Hop Pop figures they're just too militarized to know how to relax, but Sprig decides to test this suspicions by asking if he can leave the banquet hall to take a walk. The guard at the door awkwardly denies the request by saying that the frogs can't leave but refuses to elaborate further when prompted on account of Saying Too Much already. This confirms to Sprig that the frogs are being held prisoner.
- Supreme Chef: The Toad Tower chef, Brunton. He provides Anne and Sasha with pizza, tacos, pancakes, ketchup and many other human delicacies (or at least, managed to closely replicate them).
- The End: Episode ends with an "End of Part 1" title.
- Title-Only Opening: Like "Toad Tax", the theme was shortened to only include the show title.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Anne was already a Badass Normal when she appeared in Amphibia, considering how she kept herself alive for days in the wilderness. In this episode, however, she actually manages to fight and defeat her best friend, standing up to her.
- Sasha has spent the last two months (since the events of "Prison Break" which took place a month after she arrived in Amphibia) traversing the valley with the toad army putting down rebellions against their rule. She now has a full set of armor, a powerful sword and dagger that she knows how to use expertly, and has garnered a fierce reputation among the toad army of being a ruthless commander. To say that her experiences have hardened her while also turning her into a badass is putting it lightly.
- Toxic Friend Influence: We get to see just how much Sasha influenced Anne, and how the latter seemed to question her actions.
- Tranquil Fury: Sasha's response to Sprig's "Reason You Suck" Speech is to calmly draw her sword and try to cut him down.Sasha: I've had enough of you, squeaky toy.
- Trapped in Villainy: Any redemption Sasha might have earned by sacrificing herself to save Anne and the Plantars goes out the window when Captain Grime saves her and retreats while shooting a Death Glare and growling at Anne. It's all but guaranteed that Sasha owes him for saving her life, and Grime won't be merciful next time.
- Trash the Set: Once again, Toad Tower gets destroyed. Only this time, the toads may not repair it.
- [Trope Name]: One of Polly's line parodies the kind of comments she tends to chime in with.Hop Pop: It's gonna be dangerous. Perilous, even!
Polly: Understatement! - Trial by Combat: Grime decides Anne will have to beat Sasha in a duel to save Hop Pop (and possibly others) from execution. It has an element of Combat by Champion as well, as it was an alternative to an outright brawl between Toad Tower and the Wartwood townsfolk. Anne wins, but Grime tries to kill Hop Pop anyway.
- Triumphant Reprise: A celebratory instrumental version of "Anne's Theme" is heard during some scenes of Anne's battle with Sasha, particularly her more heroic moments, when Sprig calls her out, when Anne finally stands up to her, and when she defeats her and won't let her boss her around anymore.
- The Unreveal: We still have yet to learn where Marcy ended up.
- The Unsmile: Sasha encourages Grime to smile, and he reluctantly does so, exposing rows of sharp fangs.
- Villainous Rescue: Grime saves Sasha after she sacrifices herself to save Anne and the Plantars.
- We Used to Be Friends: As of this episode, Anne and Sasha are no longer friends, based on how the former discovered how controlling the latter was toward her.
- Wham Line: From Sasha: "And once this is over, we can finally find a way out of this crummy, gross world."
- "Maybe you're better off without me"
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Why Sasha is so nonchalant about having Hopadiah executed, or killing Sprig herself, and why she can't understand why Anne holds them in high esteem.Sasha: They're just slimy little frogs, Anne. They don't matter!
Anne: They're not just frogs...THEY'RE MY FRIENDS!!! - Would Hurt a Child: After Sprig hits her in the face with a mudball, Sasha draws her sword and attempts to cut him down.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sprig, on seeing how Sasha is bullying Anne, outright tells Sasha that Anne deserves better than a "best friend" who's a bully. Anne takes it to heart.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Anne’s response to Sasha having a dagger just in case during their duel.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: Grime promises to let the frogs go free if Anne can defeat Sasha in a duel. Anne wins, but Grime immediately changes his mind and decides to execute Hop Pop anyway.
- You Will Be Spared: Sasha took Anne to her private chambers to keep her away from the banquet and the execution, so that Anne wouldn't get hurt in any fracas or protest Hop Pop being killed. Anne refuses to play along when she finds out, though, so Sasha ends up fighting her.
