Scene Analysis #10: Marcy’s Betrayal “Amphibia” season 2 episode 20

Scene Rating Scale:

9/9: Flawless! Outstanding scene!
8/9: Great scene! Totally Rewatchable!
7/9: Pretty good. Not as perfect as I expected though.
6/9: Decent. Doesn’t ruin the movie/episode.
5/9: Mid.
4/9: Pretty bad. One of the weakest scenes of the movie/episode.
3/9: You hear that? It’s the wind of lameness.
2/9: One of the worst scenes of the film/episode.
1/9: Horrible, unwatchable, and unacceptable.

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Hello, hello, hello, my wonderful friends! Mr. J is in the house with another scene analysis for you all tonight! This evening, I will be reviewing the most heartbreaking scene of the whole season 2 finale of “Amphibia”. It is one of my favorite scenes of the episode and also one of my favorite moments in the whole series. It showcases heart wrenching emotion and betrayal from one of Anne’s closest friends in the most unexpected and shocking way possible.

Prior to this scene, it is revealed that King Andrias had a devious master plan that involved the activation of the music box with all three stones in use in order to create a portal to take them to Earth so he could conquer it. Then in this scene, Marcy interjects and reminds him of their deal to not let anyone get hurt. At that moment, Andrias sadistically unfolded Marcy’s secret: she deliberately stranded her friends in Amphibia so that she wouldn’t move away with her parents, separating her from Anne and Sasha.

I found this scene to be so profound and well-written. It shows us a side of Marcy we have not seen before: vulnerability, abandonment issues, and running away from life’s problems. We finally see how much she hated loneliness and couldn’t bear the thought of being cut off from the life of her best friends. And honestly, this type of issue is something even people deal with in reality. Plus, I had that type of feeling back when I was finishing middle school. The friends I made back then…moved on with their lives…and that’s something young people have to face as they get older. But hey, the memories I have of spending time with my old pals is something I’ll keep as long as I live. And who knows? I may see them again in the near future! Only time will tell.

Anyway, Haley Tju did a phenomenal job in this scene. Every line of dialogue she spoke was convincing, and you can hear the sincere guilt and fear in her voice. The voice cracks indicate she’s trying to convince herself she did the right thing even though deep down, she knew she did the wrong thing but didn’t want to admit it. The biggest line that hit the hardest was, “I gave you this! I gave you EVERYTHING!”

Thus, it is shown that everything Anne and Sasha went through in Amphibia up until this point—all the allies the latter made with Grime and the lessons the former learned from her new friends…were all because of Marcy. In my opinion, it was a blessing in disguise because obviously she shouldn’t have purposefully stranded themselves in a world they knew nothing about—a place where they could barely survive alongside the fact that Marcy went out on a limb and hoped to figure out a way to reuse the music box; secondly, if it weren’t for what Marcy did, Anne wouldn’t have become a much more mature and brave young girl, and the same can be said for Sasha.

Marcy, as selfish as her action was, meant well. You can tell when she fell on her knees in tears. But let’s look at Andrias’ role here.

This smug newt was practically hurting Marcy here by revealing the truth before her friends and reveals how much he took advantage of her emotional weakness. It’s like he was twisting the knife in the most painful fashion by doing this. He even mocked her vulnerability by saying it’s what she gets for pouring out her heart to him over Flipwart, adding salt to the wound. Therefore, this scene depicts Andrias as a manipulative, gaslighting, conniving backstabber who waited for the right moment to strike where it will hurt the most. Keith David likewise did a fabulous performance with the dialogue provided.

With that said, I will rate this a solid 9/9! It captivates emotional character chemistry perfectly, does an excellent job in making a dark twist within the story, and added extra layers of personality for both Marcy and Andrias alike. Great animation of the characters’ facial expressions to harmonize with the spoken lines of dialogue too! Everything was just…perfect…down to the last minute details.

Peace!