The Core & The King

Amphibia
"The Core & The King"

Season 3

Number 14B

Episode information

Production code

440A-326

Written by

Todd McClintock

Storyboards by

Eleisiya Arocha
Danny Ducker

Directed by

Roxann Cole

Original airdate

April 16, 2022

*Amphibia* Episodes
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"The Core & The King" is the second segment of the fifty-fourth episode of the Disney Channel animated series, Amphibia.

Synopsis[]

King Andrias confronts the demons of his past.

Plot[]

The Core continues to upgrade itself while absorbing much of Marcy's personality. It chooses to call itself Darcy, short for "Dark Marcy", much to Andrias' confusion. As they prepare for the invasion, Andrias looks over an old portrait of himself and his friends. In flashback, a young and eagerly happy Andrias plays with his childhood friends Barrel, a toad, and Leif, a frog. While they live a care free life, Andrias is constantly watched over by his father, King Aldrich, who has plans for him. He tells him that should not rely on his friends as they will ask for "favors" and shows him the Core, which houses the memories of their ancestors, and explains the importance of the music box.

Andrias shows Barrel and Leif the music box, but after touching it, Leif suddenly has a horrible vision of the future. Leif sees Amphibia in ruins, the Olm's prophecy, and a giant flaming planet heading straight to Amphibia. Scared about her vision and coming to the conclusion that this is what will become of Amphibia should they invade Earth, she explains her findings to Aldrich. He thanks her, but ignores the warning. He then tells Andrias that she is a traitor that that they will do something about her. Leif tries to talk to Andrias, but marred by his father, he snaps at her. They make up, but she steals the key to the music box from Andrias pocket. He discovers this too late and chases after her, with Barrel also being ordered to capture her. Barrel lets her go after a lapse in judgment and Leif escapes Newtopia using one of the moss men, much to Andrias' anger. After her escape, Leif decides to visit the Olms and tell them of her vision.

Days later, Aldrich states that the music box is no longer in Amphibia, but is told by the Core that it will eventually return in accordance with the Olm prophecy, though they do not know when or how, but when that day comes will be the day Andrias makes up his mistake. Hardened from the experience, Andrias is put in charge and orders Barrel to watch the outskirts of Amphibia and keep the frogs in check. He slashes his portrait. In the present, Andrias has his childhood portrait burning in the fireplace, yet can't help but remember Leif's words of having his back and using his powers for good. After he awakens Darcy after it has rebooted and upgraded itself, it tells him that they are now close to starting their invasion of earth so that they can claim its resources. As Andrias agrees with it, it is revealed that the dominant personality in Darcy is that of King Aldrich.

Cast[]

Haley Tju as Darcy
Keith David as King Andrias
- Zeno Robinson as Young Andrias
Cassandra Lee Morris as Leif
Jason Ritter as Barrel
William Houston as King Aldrich
Zeno Robinson as Past Newt Servant
Haley Tju as Past Newt Woman

Additional Voices[]

Kyle McCarley
Ashleigh Ball

Trivia[]

This is the 100th episode segment in the series.
This is the fourth episode where Anne is absent.
Darcy's name is officially used and revealed in this episode.
Leif is shown performing the dance that Sprig uses in "Anne Hunter". This combined with the fact that she looks like a female Sprig, could imply that she is somehow related to Sprig and Polly.
- This is later confirmed to be true in "All In", where Leif had founded Wartwood after hiding the Calamity Box on Earth.
Leif's vision includes a giant red moon crashing down on Amphibia. This moment was oddly foreshadowed by, of all things, an episode of Chibi Tiny Tales, where Sprig accidentally pulls a red moon down to Earth while trying to catch a fly. It should be noted that episodes of Chibi Tiny Tales are non-canon.
The events of "True Colors", "Olivia & Yunan", and "Mother of Olms" are shown during Leif's vision of Amphibia's future.
Instead of the usual season three credits music, it is a quiet shot of the portrait of Andrias, Barrel and Leif burning in a fire.
- This is the second episode in Amphibia after "Olivia & Yunan" and the seventh Disney Television Animated series overall to do this:
  1. Gravity Falls: "Dreamscaperers/Gideon Rises", "Not What He Seems", "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", and "Weirdmageddon"
  2. Star vs. the Forces of Evil: "Starcrushed", "Cleaved"
  3. Tangled: The Series: "Queen for a Day", "Destinies Collide", "Cassandra's Revenge", and "Once a Handmaiden..."
  4. DuckTales (2017): "Last Christmas!", "The Last Adventure!"
  5. Big City Greens: "Chipwrecked"
  6. The Owl House: "Agony of a Witch", "Clouds on the Horizon" "King's Tide"
Barrel's voice actor, Jason Ritter previously worked on the Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls as Dipper Pines.
- Jason Ritter is the third cast member of Gravity Falls to guest star in Amphibia, the first being Alex Hirsch (Stan Pines, Soos Ramirez, Old Man McGucket and Bill Cipher) as Mr. Ponds the Curator and Frog Soos in "Wax Museum". and Kristen Schaal (Mabel Pines) as Bella in "The Plantars Check In".
The Moss Man from the previous episodes was revealed to be female and a member of 4 individuals of the same species taken from another dimension that were held in the garden until Lief escaped with said individual and the Calamity Box.
Translating from the Amphibian alphabet what it says on the screen when the Core is rebooting reads "Memory Wipe in Progress", implying that Andrias and the Core are wiping Marcy's memory. However, series editor Andrew Sorcini clarified on Twitter that the intentional message was supposed to be "Optimization in Process" as shown in the English text on the screen but the Amphibian script wasn't changed to adjust to it.
Several Frobots sharing the same model as Frobo appear in the flashback.