Sky Witch | Written & Boarded by Ako Castuera & Jesse Moynihan | Aired: July 29, 2013 | Reviewed by Katie
Princess Bubblegum is one of the main characters of Adventure Time. She’s been here since the beginning. Since before the beginning, she was in the pilot! But as we’ve discussed before, it took a minute for the show to start treating her seriously as a character rather than as an archetype. I’ve argued before that PB’s first true appearance as a fully realized character is in Season 3’s “What Was Missing”. In that episode, we see her controlling tendencies really come into focus. And we also start to dig into her past with Marceline. PB and Marcy have a lot of tension; you see that in Season 2’s “Go With Me” as well, and Marcy’s song “I’m Just Your Problem” really lays it out. But also, we learn that PB keeps a t-shirt Marcy gave to her, and it means the world to her, even as their relationship exists mostly in the past tense.
“Sky Witch” is very much a follow-up to “What Was Missing”.1 In the intervening two seasons, we’ve explored PB’s controlling and authoritarian tendencies a lot. To the point where, at this point in the show, you may be forgiven for not liking her very much, for thinking of her as straight-up villainous. “Sky Witch” encourages you to think about Peebs from a different angle, however. We see throughout the episode how the Princess applies her need for control even to her own personhood. She strives to be in control of her emotions, to be able to rationally dictate her own emotional state. She’s able to overcome sleeping gas through sheer force of will (as is Cinnamon Bun, somehow – maybe we’ve been underestimating him? Or maybe it’s just meant as a joke). She’s able to become relaxed and blissed out on command, able to “take the path of least resistance”2 through Maja’s barrier. She straight-up does Mind Palace shenanigans (Sherlock being popular at the time, “at the time” meaning “before Sherlock Season 4 debuted”).
This is all in contrast to Marceline, hot-blooded in temperament if not literally. (idk if Adventure Time vampires have blood, or if said blood is warm or not) Marcy struggles to master her emotions, needing Prub’s offer of tea3 to calm down. She falls for obvious traps, easily baited by the appearance of her lost Hambo as her emotions override her reason. Maja is willing to deal with Bubblegum and not Marceline precisely because of this, in fact. And Bubblegum seems annoyed to have been dragged on a dangerous adventure over some sentimental stuffie. She struggles to understand why some centuries-old stuffed bear means so much.
And yet. Princess Bubblegum gets it back by giving up something very important to her. According to Maja herself the t-shirt Bonnie gives up is objectively more meaningful than Hambo. We see in this very episode how much comfort Bubblegum gets from this memento, one which somehow apparently still smells like Marceline. This is seemingly one of the only bits of sentimentality that PB engages in, and she gives it up in an instant. Perhaps this too is because of her emotional detachment. Those strong sentimental affections are happening to some emotion that the perfectly rational “true” Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum can turn off or on at will.
(oh crazy how’d that YuGiOh image get here?)
I don’t buy that. Bubblegum tries to detatch herself from emotion, but she’s only human. (Or, only a sentient piece of gum. You get it) She doesn’t understand why Hambo means so much, she doesn’t think it should, but she backs off. Not because she’s afraid of Marcy bopping her one, but because she doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. She sees how much it means to Marcy, and that can be enough. She finds comfort in that old shirt, and keeps a photo of the two of them in her dresser, because Marceline still means a lot to her. Even after their period of not talking, even after whatever happened in the past between them, even with relations only recently normalized, Marceline is still one of the most important people in the world to her. That shirt has sentimental value because it’s a totem of PB’s past with Marceline. Giving it up to save Hambo means that Bubblegum values the future with Marceline more than she values the past.
I’ve talked openly about Marceline and Bubblegum as ex-lovers before. I’m considerate of spoilers, but I have never thought this qualified as one. We are technically still one year away from Olivia Olson’s bombshell revelation at a book signing that yes, PB and Marcy are canonically exes even though the suits at Cartoon Network don’t want that directly in the show. But as Rebecca Sugar put it in an AMA shortly after said signing:
This has always been the obvious subtext of how these two characters interact with each other, from all the way back in “Go With Me”. And as of “Sky Witch” that’s a pretty quiet “sub”4. There is no heterosexual explanation for this, for any of it. You don’t feel grounded by the scent of a friend. You don’t give up what Prubs gave up just to make a friend happy. There’s an intentional contrast here, with Marcy’s shitty ex-boyfriend Ash being the one to sell Hambo to Maja in the first place. Even as her ex, even with a presumably fairly messy breakup if “I’m Just Your Problem” is any indication, Bubblegum cares a lot about Marceline. Emotional detachment aside, controlling nature aside, all of it aside. This vampire means a lot to this piece of gum. It’s at the very least a friendship she wants back in her life. It’s potentially more, though that one is less certain. For now, all that’s certain is Maja promising that, shirt in hand, she’s cooking up “something big”.
A Brief, Very Spoiler-Heavy Note On Maja’s Future Plans
So Maja is an interesting character once you’ve seen the entire show. This episode spends its final minute teasing future plans, ending on a cliffhanger of sorts in a show that mostly doesn’t do that. Next season, we get the cheekily-titled “Something Big” where Maja does in fact attack the Candy Kingdom. I saw that episode when it originally aired, one of the few episodes I can say that for (I mostly didn’t follow the show until years after it wrapped up), and it felt big and important. This was clearly something with a lot of setup, and something that would lead to a lot down the line.
Which makes it very funny that Maja is basically out of the show after that. She gets a glorified cameo as a magic battery for someone else’s ritual. Maja the Sky Witch is a complete nothing character. I spent the entire body talking about PB and how she feels about Marceline partially because I’m fucking gay but also because that really is the important thread here. I’m not upset that Maja gets dropped, by any means, I just find it amusing in retrospect.
(also while we’re here, you don’t have to mention in the comments that “Cinnamon Bun resisting the gas isn’t a joke, it’s definitely intentional foreshadowing of his future in the Flame Kingdom” yeah I know, it’s called maintaining plausible deniability for the unspoiled)
Stray Observations:
- Okay I promise I’ll talk about other parts of the episode, but one more gay note. I love the casual rapport that PB and Marcy slide into in this episode. The way PB just immediately notes that Marcy is “up late” even though to PB it’s morning, the entire “I’m gonna bop you one, it’s coming in for a landing” bit (and the way PB knows what’s coming, like they’ve had this exact interaction countless times before), it’s just. It’s lived in, it’s good, I love it, I hope those kids can work things out.
- This episode’s entire premise is very Moynihan. Ash selling Hambo to someone called “Maja the Sky Witch” was a throwaway line in “Memory of a Memory”. The important part was that he sold Hambo, not who Hambo went to. And yet from this an entire recurring antagonist is born.
- “My googoomamameter is going babies” AT has such a way with words.
- Princess Bubblegum seems to be super familiar with witchery here, identifying all of Maja’s spells and barriers, fully comfortable with the reality of magic. It sure would be strange if an episode tried to pretend she was an anti-magic zealot to fit her into a storyline’s square hole. *Kermit sipping tea dot “Girl that meme was 10 years ago”*
- I really love this shot of Bubblegum running through the woods
Frost & Fire | Written by: Somvilay Xayaphone & Luke Pearson | Aired: August 5, 2013 | Reviewed by Mrs Queequeg
My memories of Adventure Time have muddled in my re-watches. I remember some initial impressions and/or reactions, but this is one of the few episodes that I can remember watching. This is an episode and arc that I have alluded to repeatedly. Let’s start with the outline from Wikipedia:
Finn has an interesting dream5 which involves Flame Princess and Ice King fighting each other, but he wakes up before he can finish it. He then decides to stage a fight between the two in real life to see if he can finish the dream.
Finn and Flame Princess’ relationship has been progressing happily all season. They’ve figured out how to communicate their interest, how to spend time together safely, how to share their interests; all the things you need to have a healthy relationship. We start with a slice of life from them, hanging out together, and exploring their attraction. Finn burns things on Flame Princess, asking about how she consumes things. She can’t compare it to eating, but she admits that it feels nice. Ice King, who is no longer creepy but still a jerk, mocks Flame Princess for hugging a log. Flame Princess chooses to fight Ice King, which is sexy enough to Finn, but also makes a heart in the air as she returns to him.
Finn’s smitten and he knows it, but he does not have a strong grasp on the entirety of his attraction for Flame Princess. That night, Finn dreams about his passion as fire, causing himself to be on fire. Specifically, he dreams that Flame Princess is shooting him with her fire, as the wiki says, “below his stomach.” In one of the greatest moments of age layered references in children’s tv, it’s immediately obvious to older viewers that Finn’s having a sex dream. All the centuries of reference to love and lust as fire aren’t for nothing. I had the pleasure of covering Flame Princess’ two part introduction and somewhere in the discussion I talked about how great the casting of a flame elemental is for first love. I doubt they had this scenario in mind, but it’s stunning how explicit they can be while telling a story completely in bounds of the world they’ve created.
Finn is super excited to tell Jake about the dream he had. FP was there, he was on fire! He thinks it’s a result of the fight from the day before. Jake explains his tedious dream while Finn thinks about getting Flame Princess and Ice King to fight again. He chooses a picnic in the Ice Kingdom for their next date. Flame Princess is understandably confused, but eventually Ice King flies by and is pleasant. Having failed at manipulation by proximity, Finn decides to tell FP that IK’s tone is demeaning. I’m sure everyone can relate to the moment of confusion of trying to parse a comment for veiled barbs, or just being extremely aware of a potential slight, especially hearing it from someone you trust.
Finn’s able to set off a fight, which has Ice King complete at a loss initially, but he is able to gain the upper hand and Flame Princess is lukewarm. He ends the fight by showing off his new fire-proof undies. Finn rushes to Flame Princess’ side, worried about her, but he doesn’t seem to recognize that he put her in danger. While comforting her, she references sleep, and Finn loses sight of what’s right in his determination to have the dream again. Unsurprisingly, given the way the fight played out, it’s now Ice King shooting Finn’s crotch, this time with ice cubes. The Cosmic Owl is there, laughing at Finn’s misfortune. Jolting himself awake, he goes to talk to Jake.
Jake does the best he can with partial information: finish the dream. The appearance of the Cosmic Owl means that the dream is significant. Finn hastily writes mean letters to both, from the other. Again betraying Flame Princess’ confidence, he writes that she “can’t kiss Finn without freaking out.” This should be a tip off to FP that the note’s from an inside source, but it’s hard to be practical about how people are perceiving you, especially when you’re young. She and Ice King take to the sky, enraged, in a more intense version of their initial face off.
Once they transition into a Kaiju fight and Finn notices the melted snow at his feet, he considers that he was in the wrong. He passes out from the heat and dreams about Flame Princess burning his undercarriage. He’s delighted until drops of water fall on his face, and he realizes she has a blank look on her face. He explodes into fire, reforming as an old man baby, speaking like All of The Little People. The Cosmic Owl appears and reveals that Finn “blew it.”
He awakens to mass destruction, with the resolve to make things right. He attempts to resuscitate Gunther and then fireman carries Ice King out. Flame Princess makes a strike towards Ice King, catching herself when she sees Finn and apologizing to him. He apologizes to her, finally telling her what he was thinking, but she can’t listen to him. He wah wahs against a background of flame, while she realizes how badly she’s been betrayed. She calls him on everything and breaks up with him. Finn watches her walk away, and quietly says, “but I said I was sorry.” Ice King lets out a sigh and repeats the Cosmic Owl’s words.
This is a very heavy, intense episode. I remember clearly watching the dream sequence with saucer eyes, shocked that the Adventure Time crew was able to clearly convey parts of puberty that people don’t want to talk about because it’s awkward, intensely physical, and worst of all, sexual. I love watching the modeling in Adventure Time and Cedric’s pointed out the theme of parenting this season, so I’m going to posit that this episode is the confluence of both. Finn’s going through big changes physically and emotionally. He has no parents to explain things to him. He has Jake, who mostly gives good advice, but Jake is clearly out of his depth here. We don’t know what Jake’s puberty was like, but we know he aged rapidly given that he and Finn were babies together. Also because he’s a dog. When parents avoid conversations with their children, the kids are left confused and often scared. Finn doesn’t have anyone to explain that pleasurable dreams are a thing he will now have to contend with.
Finn acts unforgivably here, repeatedly manipulating Flame Princess so that he can have physical pleasure. I don’t want to say this is or isn’t common to teen relationships, but I do really appreciate Adventure Time for giving the perspective that someone that you trust can be giving you bad advice, or advice in bad faith. So much of this is a gray area, and I expect debates and lines in the comments. I don’t think Finn realizes that he’s being horrible, but I do think that he’s ignoring all instincts that he has by favoring his own curiosity and interest over Flame Princess. However, intent and outcome are two different things and Finn commits a massive breach of trust here. I noted in her debut, Finn is the only person who hasn’t lied to her. He wasn’t able to directly communicate initially, but he didn’t lock her up, try to convince her that she’s evil, or playact as her companion. Flame Princess probably trusts him more than anyone else, and not just because he’s her first love.
The proper course of action would have been to talk to Flame Princess. Communication is always the answer! I think that she would have agreed to role play a little and pick a fight with the Ice King. I suppose that’s not fair to him, though he has it coming, but this could have been a moment that bonded them and furthered their exploration around boundaries and pleasure. A huge missed opportunity for Finn.
I cloned this page from an old review, Hug Wolf. At the bottom, I wrote:
This serves as part of the lesson too; if you violate the laws of consent, you and the wronged party with both feel bad, and you won’t be able to fix things.6
Finn feels bad; he’s going to try to make amends. But Flame Princess is under no obligation to forgive him or let him off the hook. The best thing Finn can do going forward is be a good friend to her, with no strings attached – this is important!, and try to rebuild her trust in him. It’s a lesson that will sit with him for a long time, and hopefully for the viewer too.
Censorship
The line “You two should get a room! You and that log! Not you and Finn, ’cause […]” was cut in Latin America.
Every time Ice King’s tunic gets lifted, it’s been slightly or entirely cut out in Australia.
Every time we see Ice King’s underwear was cut in Latin America.
In Finn’s dreams, some of the scenes that show his groin getting burned or frozen were shortened.
In Australia, Finn’s last dream where Flame Princess sets Finn ablaze, the whole scene is cut until where the cosmic owl says “You blew it.”
In the UK, Italy and Spain the only cut in the whole episode is the first dream being shortened by a few seconds.
YouTube TV doesn’t list this title with Sky Witch on the DVR. I have a series recording and had to double check that yes, it was a 30 minute recording.
Snail
I don’t think I would have found this one on my own: in the doorway while Finn and Jake clean up the candy litter
Next week, we continue aspects of this plot with Too Old and Earth & Water
You must be logged in to post a comment.