Three Stars, burning bright
Come from beyond to expel the Night
Should they fight or embrace the Fall?
Their choice will determine the fate of all
Come from beyond to expel the Night
Should they fight or embrace the Fall?
Their choice will determine the fate of all
— Mother Olm, recounting the prophecy
Anne, Sasha, and the Plantars meet with Mother Olm, the keeper of ancient prophecies, but when Mother Olm cannot remember the prophecy connected to the Calamity Box, the crew must journey inside her head to refresh her memory.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Even after everything that they go through to get to Mother Olm's brain and jog her memory, it doesn't work, as the cream they used had expired decades ago. Thankfully, Hop Pop is able to help her remember that the prophecy was written down.
- Butt-Monkey: Surprisingly and amusingly, Sasha gets the most slapstick in this episode, as she constantly freaks out in disgust every time she's covered in ear wax or snot. And finally she gets a "tea spit" shower by Mother Olm (but hey, at least it's jasmine tea).
- Call-Back: The prophecy that was written in Andrias' book in "A Day at the Aquarium" is finally said by Mother Olm herself, but this time with the last part being "Their choice will determine the fate of all".
- Chekhov's Skill: Hop Pop, when talking to Mother Olm, mentions his decades of horticultural experience. This comes in handy when he needs to make Mother Olm sneeze the rest of the group out.
- The Chosen One: Anne discovers she, Sasha, and Marcy are the "three stars" as explained in the prophecy, and the only ones who are destined to truly use the power of the Calamity Gems to defeat King Andrias, expel "the night" and save Amphibia.
- Commonality Connection: Mother Olm and Hop Pop bond over how they're both Feeling Their Age.
- Compressed Vice: Hop Pop's age is suddenly relevant as he mentions his body isn't what it used to be, even though it's never been brought up in any previous episode. Presumably the adventuring Anne and the others have been taking in increasing-perilous situations is starting to take its toll on him.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Aside the fact that it is revealed the memory cream expired 70 years ago, if Mother Olm could just remember she wrote a prophecy note just in case of memory loss, none of them would have bothered to enter inside her head. Then again, if they hadn't, Mother Olm's head would've still be infested with bat-squitoes.
- Covered in Gunge: While journeying through the Mother Olm's body, Sasha walks right through a pile of earwax. Later, the humans and the Plantars end up covered in snot after the kids escape through Mother Olm's nose.
- Crazy-Prepared: Hop Pop always keeps things in his book written down in case he forgets something; turns out, this is what allows Mother Olm to realize she wrote down the prophecy which restores her memory.
- Cringe Comedy: Much of the episode's humor comes from the heroes, especially Sasha, getting into uncomfortable situations.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Hop Pop telling Mother Olm he often writes important stuff down in his book in case he forgets causes her to realize she wrote down the prophecy on the ceiling, which in turn refreshes her memory.
- Face Palm: Anne does this when Sprig discovers the brain balm had expired 70 years ago.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: On no less than three separate occasions, Mother Olm boldly declares that she is about to recite the prophecy, accompanied by a dramatic drum beat from the other olms in the room... then sheepishly admits that she can't remember it.
- "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: Anne, Sasha, Sprig and Polly have to go to Mother Olm's brain to give it a cream that will help her remember the prophecy—no shrinking necessary, as the subject is so enormous. Sasha is not happy about it, but Anne drags her along anyway.
- Feeling Their Age: Hop Pop keeps having trouble with his body because of his age, which he starts to feel sad about and even decides not to join the others because of it. Also applies to Mother Olm on a mental level; with her advanced age, she has naturally forgotten a great many things.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When the group make it to Mother Olm's brain, they see the dead body of Dr. Yohan, covered by numerous puncture marks and desiccated as if his bodily fluids were drained out of him and shortly after, Sprig hears the flapping that Mother Olm heard earlier, right before they see the bat-squitos.
- Foreshadowing:
- Mother Olm hearing a flapping sound that no one else does seems to be just a joke about how old she is, but it turns out that she's actually got a bat-squito infestation in her head.
Mother Olm: No? It's just me? Must be all in my head.- The presence of Dr. Yohan's dead skeleton and a tub of brain cream amongst such gives a hint that the cream won't actually work, given that Dr. Yohan tried to apply it years ago before passing.
- Mother Olm states that she hasn't seen a frog in her chamber for 1000 years, implied to be Andrias' female frog friend, and where she got the information about the truth behind the Core that caused the rift between her and Andrias.
- Funny X-Ray: When Hop Pop's knee gives out, there's a close-up of an X-ray of his leg bones giving way.
- Immediate Sequel: This episode picks up where "Olm Town Road" left off.
- The Infested: Mother Olm complains of a really bad headache that feels like "the flapping of thousands of tiny wings". When Anne, Sasha, Sprig, and Polly investigate the inside of her skull, they find it infested with a huge swarm of "batsquitos".
- Internal Reveal:
- Mother Olm tells Anne and Sasha about The Core when discussing the prophecy, if not the exact details.
- Anne also realizes that charging the gems at the three temples caused the girls to lose their powers and allow Andrias to become invulnerable in his conquest.
- Ironic Echo Cut: At one point when Sasha calls this mission the worst one ever, the camera cuts to Hop Pop sitting in a gigantic cup of tea, calling this the best mission ever.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: A non-fatal example, but Hop Pop's joints are acting up, so he volunteers to sit out the mission to go inside Mother Olm. While Anne tries to assure him that he won't slow them down, he has a point: tripping while inside Mother Olm could seriously hurt her as well as himself. It ultimately proves to be a good decision when he uses the plants growing inside Mother Olm's lair to induce a sneeze and save the others from a very messy end.
- Large and in Charge: Mother Olm is huge compared to the other olms, whom are already quite big.
- Literal Metaphor: After Anne gets zapped by Mother Olm’s nervous system, Sprig can’t help but telling her: “looks like you’ve touched a nerve, Anne”, before getting zapped himself as well.
- Mana Drain: Mother Olm reveals when Andrias had the girls charge the gems at the temples, this also caused their powers to drain out of them and get transferred to Andrias' possession; because Anne only charged her gem partially, she still retains a fraction of her power.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Mother Olm's brain is revealed to be infested with bat-squitoes, creatures that are a cross between bats and mosquitoes.
- Nose Nuggets: The gang falls inside of Mother Olm's nose and are slowly sinking in snot. With Hop Pop's help, she sneezes them out, leaving them covered in snot.
- Outside-Genre Foe: The Core is this to Mother Olm and the rest of Amphibia, especially by the present age. The closest she can get to describing it is that it's an 'unnatural thing that does not sleep and will not die', which also keeps the girls from realizing the threat it poses to Marcy.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Sprig finds Dr. Yohan's body this way. He and the others are more than a little bit disturbed.
- Proportionately Ponderous Parasites: A flock of Bat-squitoes somehow ended up inside Mother Olm's brain cavity and had been sucking her blood.
- Prophecies Rhyme All the Time: As Mother Olm relays the Prophecy to our heroes.The Prophecy:
Three stars burning Bright,
Come from Beyond to Expel the Night;
Should they fight or embrace the Fall,
Their choice will determine the fate of All! - Quicksand Sucks: Sasha, Anne, Sprig and Polly get trapped in Olm snot and they are sinking down slowly.Sasha: Urg! What is this stuff? it's like quicksand!
Sprig: I think we're in Mother Olm's nose, which means this must be—
Anne, Sasha & Polly: Don't say it!! - The Reveal: All three girls should have powers from their Calamity Gems, and were apparently meant to have them all along in order to defeat the Core, but Andrias stole them when he had them charge the Gems. Anne must reawaken Sasha and Marcy's powers in order to stop him and save Amphibia.
- Rimshot: Sprig performs one on Mother Olm's eardrum before the kids pass it.
- Rule of Symbolism: The mural shown on the show's title screen is revealed to be a case of this, as confirmed in a tweet by Matt Braly. Rather than a specific Toad or even the large monster that the Core is, the being that the three of them are standing against is actually the symbolic representation of Amphibia's greed and corruption by its ruling class, now shown in a clearer mural in Mother Olm's cave.Mother Olm: The prophecy is our one shot at salvation, we believe you three were summoned to save us from what we've become: The worst version of ourselves.
- Running Gag: Sasha being grossed out by having to go inside Mother Olm through her ear, and calling it the "Worst. Mission. Ever!"
- Scream Discretion Shot: The ending of the episode, where Sasha screams as Mother Olm gives her a tea spit shower.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: In the end, it turns out that the brain cream is long expired and didn't help Mother Olm's memory, and she also simply wrote down the prophecy, rendering the mission to go inside her pointless. At least her head is free of bugs now.
- The Sleepless: Mother Olm calls the Core "an unnatural thing that does not sleep and will not die".
- Terrified of Germs: Implied with Sasha as she hates going inside Mother Olm's head.
- Toilet Humor: While making echoes in Mother Olm's head, Polly shouts "Big wad of poo!" Mother Olm says "language" and Sasha calls out Polly's immaturity while smirking.
- Too Dumb to Live: Despite seeing that Mother Olm's nerves are frequently sparking with bio-electricity, Polly still ends up pausing on one out of laughing at the other's misfortune of getting shocked to get zapped herself.
- Unseen No More: After being mentioned throughout the season, Mother Olm finally makes her debut.
- Way Past the Expiration Date: It turns out that the cream that the group were trying to get into Mother Olm expired 70 YEARS ago.
- Wingding Eyes: The Olm guards have spinning spiral eyes after falling down the tunnel to Mother Olm's lair.
- Wham Episode: Mother Olm says that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy should all have powers from the Calamity Box gems, but only Anne still has hers, suggesting that Sasha and Marcy will need to get their powers back if they want to save Amphibia. She believes that as long Anne retains a piece of that power, she can awaken the power in her friends.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sasha is squeamish about ears and is not pleased about having to venture through one in order to reach Mother Olm's brain.[while being dragged inside by Anne] "But it's gross and I don't wanna!" [audibly sobbing]
- Womb Level: Mother Olm is already large, but she's so much Bigger on the Inside that a journey from her ear to her brain goes through several cavernous corridors. Oddly, her eardrum even looks like a door. Presumably, Dr. Yohan might have made some modifications to her interior if he needed to make regular trips inside her to apply the cream.
- Worst. Whatever. Ever!: Sasha's response to various gross things happening is to declare this the "Worst. Mission. Ever!" throughout the episode.
