Adventure Time

Adventure Time

Episode 11: Henchman/Dungeon

By: Carlos Uribe

Adventure Time is about the adventures of Finn and his dog Jake

Spoilers Ahoy!

Henchman

Marceline was introduced in the segment “Evicted” as a morally-challenged vampire who sucked the color red. She returns in this episode to have some fun. When she notices Finn, she decides to try and mess with him. She manages to get him to give his word that he'll be her loyal henchman for life. Once she has this oath, she keeps pretending that they're going to do something evil and then manage to turn it around. This works shockingly well. This is because the show kept feeling like it was going to go somewhere dark but then reveal the light in Marceline's actions. Whether it's pretending to suck a person's blood or forcing Finn to kill a terribly cute creature, Marceline's actions tend to be masked as evil but ultimately end up being good. This goes on until Finn reveals that he's figured out that Marceline is just messing with him and she decides to free him from his oath. She didn't really plan on making Finn an evil character but was merely abusing his hero complex for her own entertainment. It's not exactly moral behavior but I wouldn't go as far as to call it evil. If anything, Marceline's actions is a way to tell kids that not everything is as they seem. Something that appears to be bad might end up being good.

This episode does use a theme that was present in the “Evicted” segment. Jake remains terrified of Marceline and tries to save his friend from being Marceline's henchmen. He's constantly trying to face his fear but running away. His cowardice is used largely for comedic effect but he is eventually able to believe that he killed Marceline and freed Finn. This was basically part of the conflict of “Evicted”: Jake's fear of vampires. It's nice to have a recurring theme but this episode did nothing to expand or add to it. This meant that while the gags were pleasant, they really weren't adding much to the episode's narrative. It seems like they were just added because the show didn't want to have Jake do nothing for most of the segment. The segment itself was rather good and I liked the whole Marceline twist that the show went with but it would have been nice if there was some more meat to the whole Jake plot. It would have created a stronger episode and it would have added worth to the character development from the previous episode.

Dungeon

This segment decides to remove Jake from most of the episode. His presence is still felt throughout. When Finn discovers a dungeon that he hasn't explored, he wants to immediately jump in and get the treasure. Jake wants to eat lunch first and doesn't seem to interested in having an adventure. This is when Finn decides to go on his own and he makes a bet that he can get the treasure on his own. This instantly means that Finn is going to run into trouble and constantly need Jake's help. He's eventually captured and he realizes the importance of having Jake as his partner. Jake is soon revealed to have also jumped in but he also got captured because he couldn't solve the dungeon's puzzles. Jake realizes that he needs Finn just as much as Finn needs him. The two have some newfound respect for each other and they manage to escape. They don't get the treasure and even united they're almost defeated. This almost undermines the entire theme of the segment but it really doesn't because they were glad to at least go down together.

My major problem with the segment is how it portrayed Finn. Finn is presented as a capable warrior who is able to take on monsters. He might usually use a sword, but there's no doubt that Finn knows how to fight. This segment seems to forget this. The monsters are all able to easily defeat Finn and he gets beat up quite severely in this segment. This is a segment that largely was out-of-character for Finn. Would he jump into a dungeon without Jake? Yes. Would he come to trouble because of this decision? Yes. Would that trouble be defeating monsters? I don't think so, at least not what's been established in just about every other segment. It's nice to try and show that Jake and Finn need each other as partners but the segment would have worked a lot better if it had consistency with Finn's character. This inconsistency is what ruins what would have otherwise been a really strong segment of Adventure Time.