Barrel's Warhammer

**"Barrel's Warhammer"** is the second segment of the seventeenth episode of the second season of *Amphibia*, and the seventy episode overall.

It premiered on April 10, 2021, alongside "The Second Temple".

## Synopsis

*Sasha and Grime go on a quest to retrieve a legendary Warhammer.*

## Plot

Grime, Sasha, Percy and Braddock arrive at the North Tower to get support for their rebellion. While the toad lords love the idea, Captain Bufo tells them that they're not on board with following a fugitive and a human. When Sasha learns from Grime's sister Captain Beatrix that Anne and Marcy are working with King Andrias, she becomes enraged and overpowers all the toads that try to arrest her group. She demands to know what it would take for the toads to follow them. It's then that Captain Aldo gives the group the task of retrieving Barrel the Brave's legendary warhammer.

Sasha accepts the challenge and her group sets off. Percy and Braddock are scared because of the beast that guards the weapon, so Sasha tells them to give a signal if things got too intense for them. They find the weapon stuck on the beast's head. Percy and Braddock strike a pose immediately, signaling to Sasha that they want to call off the mission, but Sasha declines. She tells them they've come too far to turn around, much to their dismay.

Despite their best efforts, the warhammer isn't budging. Sasha tries to wrangle the beast and steer it towards the North Tower to get the warhammer there. Grime loves the idea, and goes along with the plan. Percy and Braddock are holding on for dear life, begging Sasha to stop, to which she says, "We're almost there."

Trying to avoid a disastrous impact with the tower, Sasha realizes she can't control the beast anymore, and that they must use the warhammer to slow it down. She goes back to the weapon and uses her strength to lift the warhammer, fueled by the thought of Anne and Marcy managing without her. Her eyes flash pink during this sequence ans she succeeds in lifting it.

The weapon is too heavy for Sasha to carry alone, and Grime helps Sasha lift it when it becomes charged with energy. They slam it down, denting the beast's shell. The narwhal worm shatters a window of the North Tower, and Sasha stands in the broken window frame before dropping the warhammer onto the floor of the tower.

The toad council grants the support of all three towers for their rebellion, but Percy and Braddock, clearly hurt by the whole thing, decide they can't help Sasha anymore. They trusted her, but she clearly didn't care one bit about them during the expedition. Despite her pleas, Percy and Braddock leave. Grime explains that everyone has limits, and that Percy and Braddock finally hit theirs. Even though she was victorious that day, Sasha is saddened by the fact she lost her two toad friends.

## Cast

* Anna Akana as Sasha Waybright
* Troy Baker as Captain Grime, Toad Scientist (credited as additional voices) and Greg (credited as additional voices)
* Matt Jones as Percy
* April Winchell as Braddock and Female Toad (uncredited)
* Ron Cephas Jones as Captain Aldo
* Aisling Bea as Captain Beatrix
* Daisuke Tsuji as Captain Bufo

### Mentioned

* Anne Boonchuy
* Marcy Wu
* King Andrias
* Barrel

## Trivia

* **Viewership:** This episode was watched by 0.37 million viewers on its premiere.
* This is the third episode in the whole series where the main characters don't appear, following "Prison Break" and "Toadcatcher".
	+ This is also the first full episode where Anne doesn't appear or isn't pictured at all. Although, she is mentioned.
	+ As of this episode, every single character in the show has been absent for at least one episode.
* This is the first appearance of the Toad Lords. However, it marks Aldo and Bufo's only speaking appearances in the series.
* Captains Bufo and Beatrix initially question whether Captain Aldo is dead. Coincidentally, Aldo's voice actor Ron Cephas Jones would be the first of *Amphibia*'s voice cast to die.
* This episode marks the last physical appearances of Percy and Braddock. They do not return for Season 3, although they were pictured during Anne's final strike against the Core and mentioned near the end of the series finale, "The Hardest Thing".
* The events of this episode mirror the events of the previous episode, "The Second Temple".
	+ They both deal with two characters testing to prove themselves worthy but with opposite results.
		- Sasha is tested to prove herself worthy of leading the other Toad Armies while Anne is tested to prove herself worthy of going into the second temple.
		- Sasha disregards responsibility while Anne learns responsibility.
		- Sasha sacrifices the safety of others for power while Anne sacrifices power for the safety of others.

### Revelations and significant events

* Sasha learns that Anne and Marcy are working for King Andrias.
* This episode reveals a couple things about Grime:
	+ He has a sister named Beatrix, who commands the West Toad Tower.
	+ His real name is Grimothy.
* When Sasha tries to lift the hammer her eyes glowed pink, just like how Anne and Marcy's eyes glowed blue and green in "Anne or Beast?", "Handy Anne", and "Marcy at the Gates".

* Percy and Braddock abandon Sasha and Grime, becoming the last two soldiers of the South Tower's garrison of the Toad Army to leave them.
	+ This could have been foreshadowed by their absence on the Season 2 promotional poster, as opposed to Grime's appearance.
* The whole Toad Army (except Percy and Braddock) joins Grime and Sasha's rebellion to overthrow King Andrias.
* It's revealed that the Toads are split into four different towers (cardinal directions of north, south, east and west), with the Toad Tower weakened in "Reunion" being the South Tower.
* Barrel the Brave is first mentioned in this episode, where it's revealed that he died protecting a helpless village from a terrifying beast. He makes his proper debut (albeit in a flashback) in "The Core & The King", which reveals why he was protecting that village in the first place.

### Continuity

* Despite promising she would listen, Sasha ignores Percy and Braddock's pleas of distress, causing the latter two to leave her for good. It would later be revealed that Sasha exhibited similar behaviors towards Marcy.

## Allusions

* *Dune* - Sasha using the rope to control and drive the narwhal worm references the Fremen of Arrakis who similarly capture and drive the Shai-Hulud as their means of transport about the planet.
* *Excalibur* - Barrel's Warhammer, like King Arthur's legendary blade, confers the right of rulership on whoever wields it. Also like Excalibur it had to be freed by whoever claimed the right to wield it.

## Video

Barrel's Warhammer - Amphibia - Disney Channel Animation
## References

1. ↑ Sparrow, Joe [@torpordust] (April 18, 2021). "Episode sheet" (Tweet). *Twitter*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Metcalf, Mitch (April 13, 2021). Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.10.2021. *Showbuzz Daily*. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13.
3. ↑ Braly, Matt (December 24, 2020). ✨🎄Happy holidays #amphibia fans. You've helped me so much to get through this year and I hope you enjoy your gift. See you in 2021 and thank you so much for the constant support. Music by @tjhill and ending illustration by @wolfhard 🎄✨ (Tweet). *Twitter*. Archived from the original on 2020-12-24.
4. ↑ Adam Colás (writer) and Jenn Strickland (director) (April 30, 2022). "The Beginning of the End". *Amphibia*. Season 3. Episode 16B. Disney Channel.