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GC13 and David discuss True Colors from Amphibia.
Now that’s a season finale right there. Action, action, more action, and what’s this? Action! (And don’t forget a stellar acting job by Hopediah!)
Well, Anne definitely is bad at choosing which king to trust. You’d think she’d have learned not to trust the one who’s already betrayed her, but it’s a good thing she’s a slow learned, or we wouldn’t have got to see that epic whoopin’. Now it’s on to Earth.
2 comments
Hi there! I’m a big fan of your podcast. Since you got to this point in this show, I have a few questions to ask.
1. In S1 + S2 as a whole, do you think Sasha is a moreso an anti-hero or anti-villain than straight up evil? I ask because I’ve been a fan of Sasha since the beginning of the show, and I don’t really see her as “evil“ because even though she is manipulative and controlling, she cares for her friends enough to do good acts in the first two seasons, and I feel like she kind of grown a little bit since season two.
2. In True Colors, do you think Sasha was willing to never go back to earth like Marcy was initially planning? I also ask this because even though all we know is how she wants to help Grime with the toad rebellion and would rather rule with him than rule a school, I also feel like had Anne didn’t yell at Sasha and decided to take her offer of going back home, I think like she wouldn’t cut ties to go to Earth especially to visit her friends if that’s where they are. Granted I don’t think she wanted to live a normal life like with what Anne wanted but at the same time I don’t think Sasha didn’t want to ever go back to earth not even for a visit like Marcy. What do you think?
Hey! Thanks for listening- I love Amphibia and I’m glad we’ve gotten to talk about it even though it’s taken us years to get through it!
1. In the first two seasons, I feel like Sasha isn’t internally coherent and lies to herself about what will make her happy. Her goal to work with Grime and take over the valley and eventually the kingdom is selfish and I think qualifies for “near pure evil.” Her determination to get Barrel’s Warhammer and lie to Percy and Braddock about being willing to turn back fall under conventionally “evil” character behavior. She even seems willing to accept death or brutality to enemies of toads.
Yet, she diametrically has moments where she wants something good for someone besides herself or Grime. She can’t help but feel like she does need to help Anne, or Marcy, or even protect the kingdom from a worse evil. And in those moments, she’s willing to participate in a traditionally heroic way, not in a warped antihero fashion.
I hadn’t actually heard the term antivillain before, but I like the term, having now read up about it. Since I’m not sympathetic to Sasha’s goal to have fun ruling (and I don’t think it’s a cover for some other feeling; I think that she’s enjoyed being a leader and a commander for a lot of her life), I’d lean toward her being more straightforwardly villainous.
I like to compare her to Zuko of ATLA. The story of ATLA quickly shows us that Zuko has good motivations and genuinely thinks he is doing the right thing for himself and for his nation, making him an antivillain for the first two seasons, until he goes down the path of becoming a traditional hero (and one who mostly wants to do the right things for the right reasons). Sasha lacks context to inform the audience why her desire for power and control is understandable. It’s basically an inherent character trait. And I like that difference! It means instead of working with values she has, and adapting them to a different understanding of the world, she’s working against her own behavioral problems in light of seeing how it impacts others and herself.
2. I think Sasha was willing to stay. At least, I think she wasn’t particularly anxious either way about staying or leaving. Marcy directly wants to avoid her reality, and Anne is invested in both of her realities and feels desire to return to her first one. But Sasha is content with going down the path that’s most exciting at the time. She also planned to stay in control of the music box so it was in her control whenever she could return.
Thanks again for the questions, and I hope we do justice to the final season in our upcoming discussions. Looking forward to any more ideas or questions you have!