The Root of Evil

"The Root of Evil" is the first segment of the fifty-forth episode of the Disney Channel animated series, Amphibia.
==Synopsis==
Anne and the Plantars get stuck in a strange village of plant lovers.
==Plot==
After saving a village from drones, Hop Pop attempts to recruit people into the resistance using horticulture as a gimmick. No one is interested until Anne shows off Loggle; getting the attention they need. As the group leave, a dragonfly drone attaches itself to the back of their caravan. Hop Pop voices his concern over the fact that he is the only person that cares about gardening and wishes to meet more people that share his interests. They suddenly find themselves in a fog and fly off a cliff and crash. The group suddenly awaken in tunics in a strange village called Gardenton, populated with frogs who love to garden. They are greeted by Horace who tells them that he will take them to see the leader.
Everyone except Hop Pop is put off by Gardenton and their overly friendly demeanor. When Loggle accidentally steps on a flower, everyone begins to bawl over it, though unbeknownst to the group, the villagers have the ability to bring it back to life. Horace leads the group to the Greenhouse to meet their leader. To their shock, it turns out to be Apothecary Gary attached to the body of Jeremy the Beetle. He reveals that following their last encounter, he managed to attach himself to Jeremy and traveled until he was rescued by the villagers who were willing to submit to him so that their crops can grow. He proceeds to attack the group who run and find Bessie and their caravan.
The drone, believing that it is at the resistance camp, activates and sends fire drones to attack the village. The group flee, but Hop Pop convinces them to turn around and rescue everyone. While Gary still wants to kill them, Hop Pop and Horace convince him otherwise as Andrias will keep attacking their village regardless. Anne asks Gary about the collars Andrias is using that are based on his spores. Gary believes that they are coming from another fungal creature similar to him; exciting him further. He agrees to come if called and the heroes leave Gardenton while also commenting on the very comfortable tunics they are wearing.
==Cast==
*Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
*Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
*Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
*Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
*Brian Maillard as Leopold Loggle
*Fred Tatasciore as Horace
*Tony Hale as Apothecary Gary
=== Additional Voices ===
* Jason Marsden
* Bob Bergen
==Gallery==
===Promotional===
The Root of Evil Artwork Promo by Cassie Zwart.png
The Root of Evil promo art by Sun Jae Lee.png
The Root of Evil still 1.jpg
===Screenshots===
Fire Frobots.PNG
HP and AG burry the hatchat.PNG
The Root of Evil - Mind Control Collar.jpg
The Root of Evil - Anne.jpg
==Trivia==
*The image of the muscular Loggle posing in front of roses is most likely a reference to the character Col. Armstrong from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist.
*The village shares some similarities to the movie Midsommer.
*Gary and the Gardenton villagers join the Wartwood Resistance at the end of the episode.
*The title is a reference to the Biblical passage "The love of money is the root of all evil".
*When Anne suggests that the other fungus is female, Gary tells her that that is "not a thing". All fungi are hermaphroditic and fill out both male and female roles. However, there are rare cases where they are. These are referred to as dioecious.
*Anne mentions to Gary the mind control collars King Andrias is using to control the creatures, which Sasha revealed to her in "Commander Anne".
*This episode and "The Core & The King" marks the seventh time in the series to not feature the opening theme.
==International premieres==
*April 17, 2022 (Canada)
*May 27, 2022 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand)
*June 30, 2022 (Poland)
*November 14, 2022 (Portugal, Spain)
== External Links ==
*The Root of Evil at the Amphibia Wiki
Category:Amphibia episodes