The Third Temple

"The Third Temple" is the second segment of the eighteenth episode of the second season of Amphibia, and the seventy-second overall.

It premiered on April 17, 2021, alongside "Bessie & MicroAngelo".

Synopsis
Anne and Marcy need the help of an old friend to survive a volcanic temple that holds the final key to returning home.

Plot
This episode opens with a flashback at Anne and Marcy as kids on a playground pretending to fly when they are bullied by some older girls when a new friend shows up out of nowhere to help the bullies go away. After she defends them, Anne asks her to swing with them and she introduces herself as Sasha Waybright.

Back in the present Anne, Marcy, and the Plantars show up at the third temple, which has a message above the entryway sealed off by a heavy rock door: Lift to enter, bruh.

They realize that this temple is all about strength. The temple is also full of bubbling lava and as such is very hot, dehydrating the amphibian Plantar family. The next challenge the temple poses is getting a cross a narrow walkway while giant worm creatures come out of the lava. Equipped with heavy hammers, they must defend themselves while they go across. As a worm is about to attack, a worm splits open and Sasha is revealed to be behind it. Marcy is very excited to see her old friend, but Anne is concerned.

Sasha says the only reason they stalked them into the temple was to tell Anne that she was sorry for everything that went down at Toad Tower and that it was all her fault and wrong of her to put her frog friends in danger and for pushing her around and bullying her.

Hop Pop is skeptical, and Sasha explains that she and Grime had to go into hiding and lost everything after the toad tower incident and she had a lot of time to think; she then asks what they were even doing in here, so Marcy explains their quest to recharge the 3 gem stones of the calamity box and that this is the third and finale temple. Sasha is surprised at the aspect of a real way home and when Marcy explains that each temple has a theme for their trials and this one is strength, Sasha is confident that she is the right person for the job and they press onwards.

Anne and the Plantars are still skeptical as they journey through the temple to the next challenge, which is literally just an ancient weight bench with the challenge “Sup Brosef, Do you even lift?” To which Sasha performs the exercise, and a door opens.

The group enters the next chamber which has a giant stone toad warrior that can increase the gravity in the room, and all the amphibians are too weak to try and get closer, and Marcy’s outfit is too heavy. Sasha and Anne get closer and closer to the creature, talking through their problems along the way, when Anne gives the motivational speech Sasha needs, and says she still trusts her despite all that has happened. Sasha manages to remove her cloak, pauldron and boots; decreasing her weight enough to fight in the intense gravity and destroys the creature, and Anne lets her charge the third and final stone so they can all make it back home. Marcy stops them from opening the box and suggests they take it back to King Andrias so they can use it correctly.

As they leave, Sasha tells Anne thank you for believing in her, and Grime makes sure that Sasha hasn’t forgotten the plan to use her friends as a way to get back into Newtopia. Sasha says they bought her act hook line and sinker, but also shows hesitation on her face knowing what will happen in the future.

Cast

 * Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
 * Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
 * Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
 * Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
 * Haley Tju as Marcy Wu
 * Anna Akana as Sasha Waybright
 * Troy Baker as Captain Grime
 * Eden Riegel as Mean Girls (credited as additional voices)
 * Fred Tatasciore as Stone Monster

Trivia

 * A flashback is shown in which Sasha meets Anne and Marcy for the first time when they were children.
 * It shows that both Anne and Marcy have known each other before they met Sasha.
 * Matt Braly described Anne and Sasha's next encounter as "volcanic", referring to this episode.
 * This is the tenth time Anne has a flashback to a moment on Earth.
 * Sasha solves the challenges of the third and final temple and recharges the third and final gemstone.

Continuity

 * When Sasha faces the evildoers, a jingle of the song "Heartstomper" can be heard playing in the background. More parts of the song can also be heard when Sasha faces the Stone Monster.
 * When Sasha recharges the third gemstone, the pink color from her eyes drains, just like Marcy's in "The First Temple", and Anne's in "The Second Temple".
 * Sasha mentions the events at the Toad Tower in "Reunion".
 * Anne's speech for Sasha ("You're fierce, you're brave and most of all: You never give up!") is a reference to Sprig's speech for Anne in "Reunion" ("She's brave, she's smart and most of all: She's not gonna be pushed around by a bully like you!").

Production Notes

 * Brenda Song voices the young Anne, unlike "Lost in Newtopia", who is voiced by Kai Zen.

Allusions

 * - In the gravity chamber when Sasha took off her cloak and boots and they smashed stuff; it is a nod to Goku and Piccolo wearing super heavy clothing.