Come Along With Me: Adventure Time – “Blade of Grass” and “Rattleballs”

When I was a kid I would tell people that my favorite color was grass. I meant green, but I guess I meant that specific kind of green that was grass in my child mind. It’s funny how little things like that loom so large in my memory when I can’t remember what I ate for dinner yesterday. And whenever I watch “Blade of Grass” I think about this. It’s not really related to the episode at all, but maybe it is? I mean, maybe it’s like a broken sword that doesn’t really have a practical use anymore, but you still like to hold on to it for whatever reason. Which is what starts the adventure in this episode. Finn’s desire to keep using Joshua’s broken sword is a very human impulse that I understand well. It’s a physical representation of a connection with someone who is gone. But Finn has a very important lesson to start learning in this episode…which means it’s time to go shopping! 

Finn and Jake decide to shop at the shadiest shop they can find, naturally. It’s so funny to me when the show clearly telegraphs what’s about to happen, leaning into all the fantasy adventure tropes. We all know that sword is going to be bad news, but it’s still fun to watch what happens. 

Although Tree Trunks warns them that the sword is clearly cursed, they don’t take it seriously until Finn has a pretty scary dream about turning into a grass person. Poor Finn, his dreams get pretty intense, don’t they? 

After failing to get rid of the sword, Finn and Jake decide to hunt down Grassy Wizard and return it. But not before saving the Suzy and Sue’s candle shop from some ruffians. I love this shop so much. It’s so cute! I want to shop there. 

Sadly, this is no time for candles. Because the grass sword has attached itself to Finn’s arm! Scary. But kind of cool? I like how it wraps around Finn’s arm like one of those slap bracelets. You know what I’m talking about.

Yeah, like that. So fun! But yeah, scary. Better return it! Grassy Wizard has some pretty good defenses set up to keep away visitors. 1Where do you get grass guards like this? I’d really like them to keep away solicitors. But the grass sword does its job and gets them to their goal without much trouble. And that’s when something interesting happens. Instead of returning the cursed sword, Finn realizes that he might be able to work with this. Letting go of what he’s lost, accepting what he has, living with the reality and the consequences of past actions. That’s life. 

Finn will continue to learn lessons about loss and acceptance because that’s not the sort of thing you just learn and never struggle with again. But I’ve always liked this episode’s take on it, turning our expectations upside down as Finn decides to work with the cursed sword. He’s clearly supposed to act a certain way when Grassy Wizard explains the curse. But he doesn’t. Finn does his own thing.

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Since I got out of my last relationship, I’ve been slacking on the job. So I’m rededicating my life to protecting, serving, and meeting your every need. Jake said I was acting bananas about the whole thing and wanted no part of this.”

Aw nuts. So I’m getting a Jake-less episode? Damn. There will be no creative dog animations today. So what are we getting instead? A Finn being overly obsessive with PB episode? Yes. An introduction to another c-lister like Root Beer Guy? Yes. A follow-up to the previous sword episode with some shonen manga tropes thrown in? Yes. Another reveal of Candy Kingdom’s past that includes unsavoury and cruel actions from Princess Bubblegum? Also yes!

The episode begins with Finn impatiently waiting for some sweet royal commands from Princess Bubblegum. Finn claims he wants to throw himself into his work but Jake sees it as another cuckoo Finn moment. We’ve seen a somewhat familiar scenario when Finn assisted PB with Lemonhope earlier this season– but Finn does genuinely seem less interested in a romance with PB this time and really just wants to distract himself. PB sends Finn away to rest for his and her own sanity after he wasted three weeks on an off-screen milk adventure.

The scene changes to the Ooo Junkyard, which for a post-apocalyptic junkyard ain’t all that interesting. I think there’s a buried cop car somewhere and a surprised looking mannequin that is forced into masculine roleplay scenarios for Finn.

During one of said masculine bro outs, Rattleballs appears and saves Finn from being crushed by a car. The next three minutes gets pretty Shonen manga style– complete with detailed explanation of sword techniques and a training montage.

Rattleballs eventually tells his story and reveals the predecessors to the banana guards in the sword-wielding gumball warriors. Turns out they were all killed by Princess Bubblegum after she deemed them too dangerous. I dunno but this might be the darkest we’ve seen of Princess Bubblegum, at least that I can recall. PB doesn’t even indicate the least bit of remorse, it all seems so routine to her just to end all these lives and at this point it should not surprise the viewer.

Princess Bubblegum gets a chance to make things right with the surviving gumball warrior and… it’s not a great solution. Wouldn’t the easier and better solution be just to pardon the guy? What exactly is she preserving by letting everyone believe she finished off Rattleballs? If I were a banana guard I’d be pretty freakin’ terrified of Princess Bubblegum. This doesn’t exactly apply, but with the theme of parenting this season it’s especially complicated with PB. Not only is she a mother to her candy people, but she’s also their glob and royal princess.

I think the important thing though is she is trying to be better. It’s just kind of ironic because we want her to become better but in the same episode it’s also revealed she was more monstrous than we thought.

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