Final Four Episode Titles of Adventure Time revealed

From the Adventure Time subreddit, which got the info from CN Korea's Customer Service, the final four episodes of Adventure Time (compiled under the title "The Ultimate Adventure") has its four titles revealed:

• Back Then.
• Nowadays.
• Tomorrow.
• Come Along With Me.

No release date yet of the finale as of this writing.

The previous four episodes of the show's final season (Blenanas; Jake The Starchild; Temple of Mars; Gumbaldia) were aired on Cartoon Network USA on March 18th of this year, with the digital releases a week or two before. 

Adventure Time Season 8(?) Finale Review

It's becoming quite the norm from Cartoon Network in which they will be airing new episodes of their shows first on the Cartoon Network app before the broadcast release. And the next set of episodes from Adventure Time is one of them, which came out this weekend in the US.

There is some confusion as to whether or not these 5 episodes are to wrap up Season 8, or these are part of Season 9, the show's final. When you watch the episodes on the Cartoon Network website, it lists "Orb" as the Season 9 premiere.

However, according to showrunner Adam Muto, these five episodes indeed close out Season 8. It's just that for whatever the reason, the top brass of Cartoon Network decided to change the division and instead places Orb onwards as part of Season 9. We've seen this done before in the case of Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa. So again, it's all the weird shenanigans Cartoon Network is doing.

Another thing to note is from Jack Perndarvis, who works on the show as writer and storyline artist. He pretty much spelt it out in this tweet from 2016 that Adventure Time got the axe, and this was not mentioned in any of the news articles on the show. However, they are given time to wrap things up, with the final episode scheduled to air in 2018.

The only thing left I have to confirm is the number of episodes left after these 5. From what I am told, there are 18. Again, I cannot confirm if that's the case or there are more. But I will have to assume that 18 is how many episodes are left in the series. And that makes me very sad. But before the sadness takes over, here's my take on the 5 episodes.

"Abstract" is the first of the five and begins shortly after the events of Elements. Jake isn't doing very well adjusting to his life in his Shapeshifter form, so much so that everyone around him, including Finn, gets weirded out by his appearance.

One night, Jake had a series of abstract dreams, as the title of this episode suggests. Jake, being Jake, doesn't get any of it at all, but he does notice two key visuals - the Shapeshifter that birthed him, and Jermaine, who has switched from painting landscapes to doing abstract art.

Seeking answers, Jake journeyed to the wastelands and confronts his brother, suspecting Jermaine is under some mind-control because of the change in his style of painting. Jermaine assures his brother that even though he has indeed changed his style of painting, he is still the same Jermaine as before. As Jake looks over the rest of Jermaine's paintings, he begins to understand himself better, making him revert back to his old self, though he didn't notice this until Finn told him much later.

This episode of Adventure Time is co-storyboarded by Graham Falk, which made me lower my expectations. Ever since Falk did the episode "Sad Face", which is one of my least (if not THE least) likable episode of Adventure Time, I pretty much placed Falk at the bottom tier of storyboarders. Thankfully, this episode isn't as bad as "Sad Face", but it's not something to excite about either.

As the title suggests, Abstract is essential an episode about, well..., 'abstracts' and how Jake and Jermaine perceive it. The viewers are also taken to view the abstracts in the episode and interpret in in their own way. I appreciate the gesture from Falk, but the big letdown is Jake's own arc of his Shapshifter form being resolved in this episode, allowing the rest of the series to go as if nothing happened to him. I was hoping this would go on a few more episodes so we learn more of Jake and the Shapeshifter so Jake's story comes to a proper close. I don't know if there is room for that at this point, given that we are ever closer to the series finale.

"Ketchup" is about Marceline's interaction with BMO throughout this entire episode, which is something I do not recall that was done before, save snippets of scenes of Marceline and BMO together.

It begins with BMO visiting Marceline to help her ridding the vampires from the Stakes mini-series, except BMO completely forgot that happened 6 months ago and Marceline's back to being the only vampire left. She nevertheless needs BMO's help in reading an old USB drive and figuring out its contents. While BMO scans the Flash drive, the two decided to catch up, which is what this episode is about.

First is BMO's point of view on the events of Islands, which, given it's BMO is full of shenanigans that was fun to watch, and is given a special animation sequence for his story. What I didn't expect was JG Quintel, the creator of Regular Show, making a cameo appearance as a wailing Blue Jay, obviously a reference fo Mordecai.

Afterwards it was Marceline's turn, this time doing her own version of the Elements mini-series before she turned into candy. Like BMO, her tale is full of shenanigans that's chock full of great visuals. However, unlike BMO's, Marceline's story ended abruptly, though understandable. She admits she hasn't talked much about herself, which implies she's an introvert who really wants to open up more to others, but is very hesitant in doing so.

When BMO's scanning of the Flash drive was completed, it actually contains old photos of Marceline as a little girl and her mom. When BMO asked who were the two in the picture, Marceline chose not to say  and let BMO make up a story of the two instead.

I hate to bring back Bee & Puppycat into this as I'd rather have that show dead and buried for being so awful and not worth the investment. That said, Bee & Puppycat had a similar episode in which it feature a short story done in a completely different style of animation. The difference is that Bee & Puppycat's short story has virtually no relevance whatsoever to the plot in general, while Ketchup does. Not only was Ketchup's sequences a twisted fun recap of Islands and Elements, but it also lets us explore a litlte bit deeper into Marceline's character.

As a vampire, Marceline feels quite lonely for living for centuries while everyone else has a set lifespan. Bubblegum shares the feeling as she is just a sentient piece of candy that's been around for just as long as Marceline. So the two are kindred spirits that eventually became best friends.

As Marceline tells it, her relationship with Bubblegum tends to get quite complicated due mainly to their differencing personalities. It's not hard to see why. A person who does loud music a lot pairing up with a science nerd isn't exactly a good combination. That resulted in the breakdown of their friendship prior to the 1st Season of Adventure Time, but the two have since patched up.

I forgot to mention by the way that the special sequences were animated by none other than Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera, the couple behind the Baman Piderman shorts. I believe they also did one for Clarence, though I do not know exactly which episode.

"Fionna and Cake and Fionna" is the latest of the Fionna and Cake episodes in Adventure Time. This time, the Ice King reads out the latest chapter of his fan fiction series towards an audience in Turtle Princess's library, who are either interested with the story, or are forced to by Ice King. (I say the latter)

Then suddenly, an old woman, claiming herself to be the REAL Fionna, pops up to criticize Ice King's work as being baloney and wants to show everyone what really happened via an old VHS tape. The tape shows Fionna and Cake getting a sarcophagus made out of Emerald. As Fionna and Cake leave their latest loot in their treasure room, a mummy slowly creeps out, but Fionna stops the tape before continuing.

Naturally, I had the same thinking as Finn as having a lot of questions. Does Fionna REALLY exist and not a mere fan fiction made from Ice King's head? Besides that, everyone wants to see the rest of the tape. Fionna refuses at first, but reluctantly decides to play a little more. At this point, I can see that 'Fionna' isn't who she claims to be, but I decided to play along.

Ice King invites Fionna to live at the Ice Kingdom, to which Fionna accepts and shows signs of taking over while poor Simon remains oblivious to what she's doing, still acting like a total fanboy over meeting his character.

As this is going on, we see the rest of the tape. The mummy is apparently none other than the Queen of Ooo wrapped in bandages to scam Fionna and Cake in order to steal their treasure. Ice King realizes the scam and confronts the imposter who confesses she's not the real Fionna, but just an old lady in costume.

In her backstory, the old lady loves tinkering with electronics until one day she got a satellite transmission of a Fionna and Cake episode, which she recorded on tape. She then traveled around Ooo to find more until she learned of Ice King's book reading, believing Simon has other episodes on tape, to which he insists there ain't any. The old lady then leaves the Ice King heartbroken because of her deception, but he quickly recovered in just a few seconds. Later, as Simon sleeps, a beam of red light, showing images of Fionna and Cake, came from the window and zapped into Ice King's forehead.

Now earlier in the episode, when asked about how Ice King was able to come up with these stories, he responded that the stories were beamed to his brain at night. So we know he is very much aware of the red light, which is likely the same transmission the Old Lady received in getting the Fionna and Cake episode.

This episode reveals two things: 1) Ice King is NOT the creator of Fionna and Cake, and 2) it's apparently a television series. So a lot of questions remain. However, I just don't know how will all of these get resolved in the final season. Personally, I think it would've been better if it remains just something out of the Ice King's head and not having to delve too deep and have a plot over it. I do want Fiionna to be actually real and meet Finn, but as the series is reaching its conclusion, I find that to be more of in the way and it's better to not let that idea happen at all.

"Whispers" is the first of a two-parter arc of sorts. Fern, aka Grass Finn, isn't doing so well as he feels that he's a total failure, unable to protect Ooo during the events of Elements, this is despite Finn's encouragement. Sweet Pea appears running and crying and as Finn and Fern try to stop him, they were dragged deep into the forest. After the duo calmed Sweet Pea down, he then tells of how he hears whispers of the Lich. Finn and Fern of course know Sweet Pea IS the Lich transformed into a baby. So the two decide to look after him for the night before returning him to Tree Trunks in the morning.

Turns out the one that's haunting Sweet Pea was the Lich's hand, which Finn cut off during the crossover episode with Farmworld Finn and the Lich's hand spread across the multiverse. The hand is obviously trying to awaken the Lich inside Sweet Pea. Fern is tasked to look after Sweet Pea while Finn hunts down the hand. However, the Lich has communicated with Sweet Pea and is controlling him, though Sweet Pea tries to resist the hand's influence.

Finn and the hand battle it out at the Lich's old lair. But the hand was prepared this time and tricks Finn to nearly falling down the same pit that melted Princess Bubblegum. Sweet Pea comes on time and destroyed the hand, fully rejecting the Lich's control.

With the Lich seemed gone for good, Finn and Fern take Sweet Pea back to his parents. Unfortunately Fern isn't having the same kind of enthusiasm as Finn does, despite having his memories. This is due mainly to his constant failures as hero, and his desire to solve virtually anything through violence. We then see a glimpse of the the creature within the Grass Sword grasping the Finn from the Finn Sword. Fern then decides that in order to be the hero that he wants to be, he needs to take out Finn.

"Three Buckets" continues where Whispers left off, starting with Fern pulling a prank on Jake and BMO by transforming into a total lookalike of Finn. He then invites Finn to explore a dungeon, obviously as part of his plan to get rid of him. As the two travel, he becomes frustrated when he constantly loses to Finn in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

In the secret dungeon, which the outside is surrounded by apparent nuclear bombs that didn't go off, Fern places Finn into a stone prison while the former heads out. As Finn is infuriated over Fern's betrayal, he discovers that his robot arm apparently can transform into a variety of tools he can use, which includes a brief message to him from Princess Bubblegum.

Finn gets out of the dungeon and he and Fern battle it out. Finn tries to reason with Fern, but kills him by accident when his robot arm misheard his command to land a fatal blow. As Finn returns home grieving over killing Fern, the latter's remains were picked up by a mysterious stranger, which ends the episode.

With the Lich now likely gone for good as Sweet Pea rejects him, it seems that Grass Finn and the mysterious stranger will likely be the antagonists of the final season. Some say the stranger is likely Finn's father, Martin Mertens. That's not true. He's apparently Gumbald, Bubblegum's father whom she imprisoned as told by one of the Banana Guards in the episode "The Thin Yellow Line".

Of these five episodes, I would say Ketchup as my most favorite. Besides the great animation by the Buteras, it's also a fun take on the two of the Adventure Time mini-series events, and we see another layer of Marceline's character, which does give a lot of feels. And obviously because I'm not fond of Graham Falk's storyboarding very much, I'm very disappointed with Jake's arc. Therefore, I'm putting Abstract on the bottom list.

With 18 episodes to go (unless someone corrects me on this), I honestly don't know how the show will wrap everything up. There's Fern and Gumbald, who created Fionna and Cake, the Shapeshifter, Betty, etc. I'm also very saddened that yes, Adventure Time is ending, and probably sooner than I thought. Is Cartoon Network going to do another bomb and end it this year, or hold it off for several months and air the final episodes in January, which is also what they did with Regular Show? Personally, I prefer the Regular Show method. Have Adventure Time air the finale in 2018, thus signifying the end of an era of Cartoon Network originals and the start of a new one.

In any case, these 5 episodes are great, save one. And I will patiently wait for the final episodes to come. I don't know how to title this exactly, so on a scale of 1 to 5, I give these 5 episodes of Adventure Time, an average score of 4 out of 5.

Adventure Time: Elements Review (SPOILER WARNING)

While Adventure Time fans are eager for the broadcast release of the mini-series "Elements" on Cartoon Network, those who want to get it early can purchase all 8 episodes directly from iTunes, as it was released earlier this week. I was one of the few who managed to get the iTunes release. So this video will summarize and analyze the events that transpired on this mini-series.

As I said in the beginning of this video, it will contain spoilers for the entire plot of Elements. So this is your last chance of backing out if you don't want to be spoiled at all.

After the events of the episode "Orb", which you can check my short review on it in the video description, Finn, Jake, and BMO discover that the Treehouse, the surrounding areas, and even its inhabitants have all been turned into candy. Not only that, the candified people are all given completely different personalities. As the trio investigates further as to what is going on, they would encounter Sweet P, who is unaffected by the candy transformation, but is fearful of his now candified parents. Obviously, because Sweet P is the reincarnation of the Lich that grants him his immunity.

Later, the trio would find Princess Bubblegum transformed into a giant Candy Tower, and although she retains her sweet persona, it's a twisted one, as she wants everyone and everything around her turned into Candy. Now we all know Bonnie can be a bit of tyrant at times towards her people. But what she does in this mini-series is far more disturbing while under the cloud of, excuse the pun, "sweetness". BMO turned into candy while Finn and Jake were rescued by the Ice King, who apparently now lives in the Cloud Kingdom, or what's left of it.

Ice King's explanation of what is going on ties to a number of episodes that happened previously. The Ice Elemental Patience St. Pim is making another attempt of uniting the four Elementals of Earth - Ice, Fire, Candy, and Slime. Obviously, the other elementals refer to Phoebe the Flame Princess, Bonnie aka Princess Bubblegum, and Slime Princess.

While Patience is away foregoing her master plan, Betty, the new Magic Woman, appears and tries to make Ice King remember his past as Simon Petrikov. I guess it was obvious in past episodes, but I didn't notice until now that in spite of having Magic Man's powers and insanity, there's still a piece of humanity left in Betty that she remains determined to restore Simon's memories.

Sadly, Ice King's memories as Simon is long gone thanks to wearing Evergreen's Crown for more than a thousand years and this frustrates Betty. I honestly feel bad for her as she really loves Simon and desperately wants him back by any means necessary.

As I was doing this review, I was listening to an NPR archive from 2013 about Adventure Time regarding the Ice King and how his mental state is a reflection of the struggle of living with Alzheimer's Disease. So Betty's, and by extension Marceline's, frustrations with Simon's memory loss, is a representation of how loved ones deal with someone who has Alzheimer's.

I've also watched an episode of the Youtube Red series "Mind Field", starring Michael Steven from VSauce, where your memories determine you as a person. Should those memories be altered or stripped away, so is the person's character. I find it quite scary to know that you are defined by your own memories, and altering or removing those memories change you profoundly. This is what we are seeing with Simon as his memory loss changes him to a completely different character than what he once was.

All this made me symphatize more with what Ice King is going through. On a different note, Ice King is shown to be pretty buff in this one. I think it's from one episode where he really did some exercise to look buff, but I can't put my finger on what episode is that.

Back to the story. Taking the advice of the Tiny Manticore, Betty hangs out with Simon again, this time to instill new memories. Immediately, the two hit it off and is like a One True Pairing scene that made me wish the two do get a happy ending. Then Patience comes back with the other princesses under her mind control. She kidnaps Betty and extracts her magic powers to fuel her spell that would unite the four elements together, which backfired very badly and all of Ooo and its inhabitants were divided into the four elements.

I am quite disappointed with Patience, to be honest. Her first appearance suggests she would a possible antagonist for Finn & Jake. And although she is the one who started all this, she remains a minor character in Elements. I was hoping Finn and Patience would battle it out, but after their encounter, that's pretty much it.

After Betty is rescued, she then devises a plan to gather the jewels of the princesses and, using the Enchiridion Finn obtained back in Farmworld, would create a spell that would restore Ooo back to its original state. I totally forgot about the Enchiridion and now that the book is in play, I would think the Enchiridion will once again play a major role in a future story, perhaps to bring back the Lich.

Finn & Jake begin their adventure to retrieve the three jewels from the princesses. Along the way, several characters from seasons past would make appearances as guest characters or cameos. While attempting to take the jewel from the Slime Princess, tragedy struck as Jake is fully absorbed into Slime Princess's pure elemental form. Lumpy Space Princess, another person unaffected by Patience's botched spell, becomes Finn's companion after the latter loses Jake.

Later, while attempting to get the jewel from Flame Princess, Finn and Gunther are consumed by the Fire Elemental's rage, leaving LSP the only one left. She then made things worse by berating the Fire Elementals and having them attack the Candy Kingdom. Unintimidated by the invasion, Bonnie declares that all of Ooo should be turned candy and starts singing a song, which also acts as a spell. It is here that we now see who the real protagonist and antagonist are - LSP and Bonnie. Bonnie's song is, excuse the term again, "sweet" and not creepy at all. But the implication that it turns you into candy is what makes it disturbing and you could feel the sense of dread in the presentation.

I would compare this to the Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Joy", which is a satirical take on the zombie genre when happiness becomes a disease and everyone gets infected by it. While "The Joy"'s use of happiness to give the sense of dread is presented as satire, Bonnie's song in Elements is taken a little more seriously in the narrative. I think being turned into a living candy while singing songs of joy would probably be a far worse fate than being zombie food.

On a side note, I believe this is the first time Marceline and Flame Princess interacted with one another, though under bizarre circumstances. It would be nice to see an episode of the two interacting while being their normal selves and see how that turned out.

Another thing I was disappointed in Elements are Finn and Gunther as they are both consumed by the Fire Elemental. Given how mentally tough Finn is, he would've easily resisted being turned into the said Elemental. Gunther too, given that he is Orgalorg. That being said, I do understand the reasoning - Finn lost Jake to Slime Princess and is still unable to break free from losing him, which played a part of him being turned into the Fire Elemental. It's also a way to show LSP as the mini-series's true protagonist.

I confess I never really liked LSP as a protagonist in previous episodes. I always find her better off as a supporting character rather than take center stage. Also in part because her persona makes her such a "lump", if you get what I mean. Nevertheless, she played her part and brought Finn back by having him remember his time with Bonnie using the latter's piece of gum.

Earlier, Finn made the comment that he gets weird feelings when he sees Simon and Betty together acting like a happy couple. This, along with his memories of being with Bonnie is an indication that he is still longing for a significant other and he still has feelings for Bonnie deep down. I'm assuming their relationship will be explored yet again sometime in the future, if not Finn finally finding his true love.

Finn, now back in the game, has gathered all the jewels from the princessesand gave them to Betty, except Betty had other plans. Instead of restoring Ooo, she will use the spell to travel through time and prevent Simon from ever wearing Evergreen's Crown, thereby altering all of Adventure Time's history. Guess the insanity part of her was her obsession in restoring Simon's memories and she also admits she couldn't stand the Ice King's character. Ironically, it was the aloof Simon who botched the spell and sent her to Mars instead, where the former Magic Man is now its king.

That just leaves the problem of Ooo being turned into Candy by Princess Bubblegum. Finn figures out that LSP is the so-called "Fifth Element" and Lumps is an anti-elemental property. Using the Enchiridion, the Princess jewels, Evergreen's Crown, and LSP's "lumpiness", LSP restored Ooo back to normal. Everyone then gathered around her as she regains concsciousness and is being hailed as a hero.

It's worth noting that the scene where everyone gathered around Lumpy Space Princess features several characters from past seasons, and seeing this gives me the feeling this is like a hidden message from the Adventure Time staff to its fans, thanking them for watching the show for 8 years as Adventure Time will end its run in 2018. I would think the scene is also a thank you to creator Pendleton Ward, who plays LSP.

When Ice King took his crown back, one of the gems fell off before he put it back on. Now if you recall in the episode "Graybles 1000+", set 1000 years into the future, it featured a creature known as the "Ice Thing", a winged-creature with the face resembling the Ice King and the jewels from Evergreen's Crown as its eyes, though one is missing. So this scene is a foreshadowing of the eventual outcome from Graybles 1000+. I hope Simon doesn't end up as the Ice Thing, but seeing this made me believe in the theory that the Ice Thing is Evergreen's Crown somehow evolved and became sentient. That said, with Betty revealed to have given up on trying to be with Ice King, his tragedy is more than likely there to stay.

The last scene features Finn reuniting with Jake, now revealing his true form as a shapeshifter. You may recall in the episode "Joshua and Margaret Investigations" where the Shapeshifter bit onto Joshua's head that spawned Jake. Finn is nevetheless glad to have his brother back and will help him restore to his normal self whenever that opportunity comes.

And this is by far the mini-series's strongest trait. We often take Finn & Jake's relationship as brothers for granted, but Elements show just how strong, and vital, their bond as brothers are. And when Finn temporarily lost his brother, he was out of it, almost to a point of being devastated. I can relate to that as I do have strong bonds with my sibling and we treat each other as though we're buddies,  looking at each other's back, and having a sort of a symbiotic relationship. I would be consumed by so much grief if my sibling passes away.

So what's going to happen now that Jake is shown his true form? Given there are only a few episodes left in the current season, I would think that those episodes, or sometime in the next season will dive us more into the Shapeshifter's origins.

It's hard for me to believe that the current season is almost over at such a short amount of time. Granted, this season produced two mini-series events - "Islands" and now "Elements", both covers more than half of the episodes of the current season. This pretty much means the show will take an awfullly long break before they come back with the rest of the episodes. I honestly don't mind at all, as the current season has been great so far.

And Elements is a great mini-series with a strong emphasis on the plot, and many connectiions to past seasons that enthusiasts will further enjoy the show's long and expanded history. I really love where the show is going, especially since we are anticipating its run to end in 2018 and would like to see loose ends tied up. It's definitely worth the purchase in iTunes if you want to watch it early, or see the mini-series when it airs on Cartoon Network. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the mini-series "Adventure Time: Elements", a 4 out of 5.

Adventure Time - Orb Review

It hasn't been out on TV yet, but the Adventure Time episode "Orb" has made it to the Cartoon Network App and you can watch it right now. What I find surprising is how Orb is both a follow-up to the Islands mini-series, and a lead-up to the next one, "Elements".

The story in Orb is quite simple. As Finn, Jake, and BMO return to Ooo after the events from Islands, a mysterious entity appears and entraps them into a dream world. Unfortunately, the trio are just too enamored with their dreams before realizing what is really going on.

Much of the episode, for the lack of a better way I can describe it, is like you're having one huge acid trip and everything is just senseless. The audience pretty much knows this, but not the characters. It also has callbacks to previous episodes and characters, such as the vampire from Stakes, and Amo. Steven Universe's Tom Scharpling returns as Jermaine. Though it's very hard for me to get used to him as Jake's brother, as every time he talks, rather than Jake talking to Jermaine, it's like Jake's talking to Greg Universe.

I hate to compare this to Steven Universe, but that show's staff should take note on what Adventure Time is doing so far, and by extension from Regular Show. Both have their seasons filled with story-driven episodes, but do feature stand-alone episodes that tie to the overarching plot. Orb serves both as a bridge between the two miniseries from AT, and also an episode that can stand on its own.

Looking back, I realized that in this season, there's rarely an episode that can be portrayed as a true stand-alone , with no overarching plot, whatsoever. I'm guessing it's because the staff already know the next season is the last one, so my impression would be that they, the Adventure Time staff, decided to get the story going of Finn and Jake's journey through this season, leading up to the final one in 2018. If that is the case, it's a smart move, as that means two seasons to wrap everything up. That would make me really looking forward to the remaining episodes.

The Adventure Time miniseries "Elements" is scheduled to air on Cartoon Network in the US April 24th, while the episode "Orb" is now available for viewing on the official Cartoon Network App.

Adventure Time: Islands Spoiler-Free Review

Adventure Time: Islands is an 8-part mini-series event, and the second such event after Stakes. Islands covers episodes 7-14 of the 8th season and is scheduled to air on Cartoon Network in the US January 30th to February 2nd (similar to the latest Stevenbomb event). However, those who want to watch it early can purchase the complete set now available for digital download on Amazon and iTunes. I, of course, watched this in advance, so here's a short, spoiler-free review.

Islands follows up the revelations shown in last season's two-part finale "Preboot" and "Reboot", in which other humans happen to exist outside of Ooo, and that Susan Strong is part cyborg.  Finn, Jake, Susan, and BMO went on a journey to find the islands where Susan Strong originated from, as well as to learn more about the rest of the human race.

Islands answers one of the biggest questions regarding the lore of Adventure Time - what became of the human race after the Mushroom War. The event also reveals in full detail Susan Strong's origins, as well as provide closure for her character. Finn for his part gets a revelation and a reunion of someone from his past (those who bought the official Adventure Time Cookbook will know who). All this while the tone of Islands is dialed back to the show's roots, with each episode being a really fun adventure for Finn and the gang. I actually watched Islands with my niece and nephew and they both enjoy the adventure and comedy Islands brings, even in scenes where they make references to The Matrix and Alien franchises.

It's nice to see Finn & Jake go back on adventuring, to which a lot of fans have missed seeing in this series as of late. At the same time, those who have heavily invested themselves in Adventure Time will have some emotional feels with regards to Finn and Susan, thanks to their major character development, and Susan's closure. However, the proggression leading to their resolve is fitting and is transitioned smoothly. I do commend the writers for a good job at that. Those who bought the Digital Download version or the upcoming DVD release will also get a treat that each episode has a different ending animation and tone, something you will never see in the broadcast version.

Kids will definitely enjoy the advetnures of Finn and the gang in Islands. But for adults, they cannot help but notice a relation between what is shown in Islands, and what we see now in today's world. In a way, Adventure Time: Islands is a subtle, metaphoric, cautionary tale of what our world would be if Finn, meaning us, do nothing about it.

In the end, Adventure Time: Islands has plenty to offer - science fiction, comedy, a bit of drama, and of course, plenty of adventure. It's quite a roller coaster ride that is so enjoyable, it's worth keeping the Digital Download, the DVD, or on your DVR when it airs on Cartoon Network. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Adventure Time: Islands a 5 out of 5.

CN Schedule January 2017

January will be filled with tons of premieres on the network. Rightfully so, as one of them will air its final episodes. Pokemon XYZ will also air its final episodes on the network as the next installment, Sun & Moon, will officially air on Disney XD. Gumball, meanwhile will finally air the rumored crossover with Miracle Star (aka Chinese Gumball) as well as the first episode featuring the new VAs. Surprisingly, despite its debut in December, there is no airdate for any episodes of Justice League Action.

Regular Show
· Saturday, Jan. 14 @12:00 EST: "Kill 'Em with Kindness" - Pops wants to be friends with someone.
· Saturday, Jan. 14 @12:30 EST: "Meet the Seer" - The guys need to talk to someone smart.
· Monday, Jan. 16 @6:00 EST: "Cheer Up Pops" - The guys want to cheer up Pops.
· Monday, Jan. 16 @6:30 EST: "A REGULAR SHOW Epic Final Battle, Part 1" - An epic final battle begins.
· Monday, Jan. 16 @7:00 EST: "A REGULAR SHOW Epic Final Battle, Part 2" - An epic final battle comes to its dramatic conclusion, and the fate of the universe is decided.


Adventure Time (Episodes @7:30 EST)
· Monday, Jan. 23: "Two Swords" - Finn and Jake contend with a mysterious, but familiar, new being.
· Monday, Jan. 23: "Do No Harm" - Finn makes amends at the Candy Hospital while Jake tries to connect with their unexpected houseguest.
· Tuesday, Jan. 24: "Wheels" - Kim Kil Whan is worried about his daughter's future and asks Jake for some parental advice.
· Wednesday, Jan. 25: "High Strangeness" - An otherworldly encounter puts Tree Trunks on the trail of a conspiracy in the Candy Kingdom.
· Thursday, Jan. 26: "Horse and Ball" - When disaster befalls James Baxter, it's up to Finn and Jake to help him pick up the pieces.
· Friday, Jan. 27: "Jelly Beans Have Power" - Princess Bubblegum's scientific mind must wrestle with her Elemental magic potential when she's faced with a Crystal Entity.
· Monday, Jan. 30: "Islands, Part 1: The Invitation" - A mysterious craft invades Ooo and Finn believes it may hold the secrets to his past.
· Monday, Jan. 30: "Islands, Part 2: Whipple the Happy Dragon" - Finn, Jake, and Susan set sail on a ocean voyage full of wonders and danger.
· Tuesday, Jan. 31: "Islands, Part 3: Mysterious Island" - After waking up alone and shipwrecked, Finn investigates a bizarre island in search of his friends.
· Tuesday, Jan. 31: "Islands, Part 4: Imaginary Resources" - Finn and Jake travel to a land where reality has been redesigned and improved.
· Wednesday, Feb. 1: "Islands, Part 5: Hide and Seek" - While exploring some futuristic ruins, Susan sees glimpses of a familiar girl.
· Wednesday, Feb. 1: "Islands, Part 6: Min & Marty" - An unexpected revelation from Susan leads Finn closer to answers about his past.
· Thursday, Feb. 2: "Islands, Part 7: Helpers" - Finn and his friends journey to a last refuge called Founders Island.
· Thursday, Feb. 2: "Islands, Part 8: The Light Cloud" - Finn confronts the power behind Founders Island, but will he ever return home to Ooo?




Steven Universe (Episodes @7:00 EST)

· Monday, Jan. 30: "Steven's Dream" - A strange dream prompts Steven to search for answers.
· Monday, Jan. 30: "Adventures in Light Distortion" - Steven and the Gems take off on a search and recovery mission.
· Tuesday, Jan. 31: "Gem Heist" - The Gems try to pull off a heist.
· Wednesday, Feb. 1: "The Zoo" - Steven visits a special zoo.
· Thursday, Feb. 2: "That Will Be All" - Steven and the Gems make a daring escape! 


Teen Titans Go (Episodes @6:00 EST)
· Friday, Jan. 27: "The Streak: Part 1" - It's Crime Season and Robin is determined to continue his streak of stopping 52 crimes every year.
· Friday, Jan. 27: "The Streak: Part 2" - Robin's streak of stopping 52 crimes every year is in jeopardy when members of his team are poached by Kid Flash.
  

Mighty Magiswords
· Friday, Jan. 27 @6:30 EST: "The Tome of Morrow" - Noville's Magisword training with Vambre pays off and the Warriors invite him on a mission to an ancient cave in the Barren Faceland to find the rare and sacred book, the Tome of Morrow.


My Knight & Me  (a new CGI series from France and Belgium) 
-Mon January 2nd - 4:00 PM (EST) - 103 - Witch Hunters 


Sonic Boom
Sat January 7th - 6:00 AM (EST) - 207 - I Can Sea Sonic's Fear from Here
Sat January 14th - 6:00 AM (EST) - 208 - In the Midnight Hour 


The Amazing World of Gumball
January 2017 - ??? PM (EST) - 511 - The Copycats
January 2017 - ??? PM (EST) - 512 - The Ollie


Pokémon the Series: XYZ
Sat January 7th - 7:00 AM (EST) - 1946 - Facing The Needs of Many!
Sat January 14th - 7:00 AM (EST) - 1947 - Till We Complete Again!

Adventure Time Islands Spoilers

Some of you may know this already, but the following are possible spoilers for the upcoming "Islands" mini-series that kicks off the 8th season of Adventure Time.

First off, here is the DVD cover for Islands scheduled to come out in January.

The rest are various scans from the Adventure Time Cookbook, which is canonically tied to the Islands mini-series and reveals a lot of what to expect.

 

 

So not only is the Islands mini-series feature Finn's mom, but we also get to learn her name - Minerva Campbell Mertens. All that's left now are the circumstances that led to Finn being abandoned, and if Agents of SHIELD's Ming Na Wen will continue to voice Finn's mom as she did in the Farmworld episodes.

Adventure Time Season 7 Finale Review

Adventure Time Preboot and Reboot Title Cards

About a week ago, Cartoon Network USA aired the Season 7 finale of Adventure Time after several months in hiatus. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, depending on how you view Cartoon Network, they did not bother promoting the Season 7 finale. According to Showbuzzdaily, Adventure Time did made it to the Top 50, landing at No. 44 with a key demo rating of 0.21 and viewed by 767,000 people. So it meets the expected average. Still, those numbers could've gone higher if Cartoon Network actually promoted the episode on their channel.

But I'm not hear to rant about Cartoon Network's recent management activities. Rather this is my general thoughts of the Season 7 finale. At first, I really didn't think of it that much as it is the start of a brand new arc that leads to another mini-series like event, similar to the 8-part Stakes mini-series featuring Marceline. In fact the upcoming comic book special serves as a prequel to the said new event. After getting a request via private message, I decided to give the two-part Season 7 finale of Adventure Time - "Preboot" and "Reboot", a second look.

Susan Strong's mechanical implant

Before we go further, let's go back to the episode "Dark Purple", which aired in February of last year. While rescuing a baby from robots that run a soda factory, a mechanical implant was revealed on Susan's scalp. It's quite a big deal since we first thought that Susan might be another human like Finn, and now it may be otherwise. This revelation is explored even further, with "Preboot" and "Reboot".

He thinks the Merry-Go-Round is a sting-like trap or something

"Preboot" begins with Finn, Jake, and Susan exploring an abandoned arcade at the mall in Beautopia, hoping to find some cursed artifacts. While it is funny to see them think that a horse from the Merry-Go-Round contains some magical properties, given the atmosphere of Adventure Time, this shouldn't be surprising. Even today, when archeologists discover some ancient artifact, unless there are other clues to help them out, they can best guess what that artifact is for, which could be wrong.

Imagine tens of thousands of years from now, someone discovered a figurine of Goku from Dragon Ball and think he's an idol people used to worship, and the people of that future decided to take the woshipping part, seriously. It's quite funny to think about it, but it is one possible scenario in an era where much of us don't exist anymore. Thus, the opening scene of Preboot features as such.

Anyhow, during the trio's exploration, Tiffany pops up from inside a giant mechanical fortress and invite Finn, Jake, and Susan inside. They meet Dr. Gross, who operates the fortress and is the one that rescued Tiffany after the latter was swallowed up by the giant Worm Queen, and giving him a bionic arm. Gross reveals that she is taking in several creatures from Earth and giving them cyborg enhancements as a way to speed up the evolutionary process, with Finn, Jake, and Susan being her latest subjects. Gross herself is also revealed to be a full cyborg.

Dr. Gross, who considers herself a "Human+"

Finn & Jake refused Gross's offer, but were paralyzed thanks to the poison from the candy Gross gave them earlier. Gross also has a more sinister plan - her cyborg creatures serves as her own personal army to draw out the humans from a place called "The Island" and turn them all into cyborgs. Once again, this is a lead-up to the mini-series where Finn & Jake entered The Island to meet other humans. Susan fortunately didn't eat the candy and rescues Finn & Jake, while Tiffany makes the ultimate sacrifice to help them escape. In the process however, the other cyborg creatures got out as well, with the giant eel heading straight to the Candy Kingdom.

In one scene, Gross finds the implant on Susan's scalp with the serial "XJ-77", and appears to be very familiar with her. So this is a strong implication that Susan originally came from The Island. The serial "XJ-77" may have also been a reference to the character "XJ-9", aka Jenny Wakeman from the Nickelodeon series "My Life As A Teenage Robot".

We continue the season finale with "Reboot". Finn, Jake, and Susan were able to subdue the giant eel, but the eel's electricity knocks Susan unconscious. When Finn tries to help her out, he unintentionally activates the implant that reveals Susan's programming, which is to kidnap Finn and bring him to The Island.

A transformed Susan Strong

Jake and Princess Bubblegum rescue Finn and take him to the Candy Kingdom, but Susan pursues and attacks. Rattleballs, the former guardian of the Candy Kingdom, and Finn's mentor in using the Grass Sword, appears to fight Susan, who tranformed into a power-up form. (I'm guessing the storyboarders must've watched Dragon Ball and used Frieza's transformations as reference) Sadly, Susan Strong was just, no pun intended, too strong and destroys Rattleballs completely. Finn is once again kidnapped and taken to a beach where Susan contacts The Island for extraction.

Yabba-Dabba-Dabba-Dabba

Jake arrives and the adventuring duo form the Jake Suit, and battles Susan pro-wrestling style. But Susan ends up the victor after pinning Jake down with an anchor. Finn reluctantly defends himself and was able to destroy the implant, bringing Susan back to her senses. However, in an attempt to survive, the Grass Sword acts on its own to attack Susan to squeeze her to death. Finn attacks the Grass Sword to free Susan, causing it to detach itself from Finn's arm and fuses with the broken Finn Sword, forming a new creature with the Grass Sword in hand, as though about to attack Finn.

TO BE CONTINUED

And that my friends, is the end of Season 7 of Adventure Time, and Finn is left with no way of defending himself. He has no weapons, Jake and Susan are down, and the Grass Creature appears intent on taking him out. I could easily predict that by the time Season 8 begins, whenever that may be, whoever Susan contacted on The Island will arrive to help Finn out. And we will get to learn more of not just The Island, but Susan's origins as well. So we will get to see more of her in the episodes to come. I'm happy that Susan gets more appearances this time around, as she is one of the favorite characters among Adventure Time fans.

We have one musical number played in the season finale, and looking back, I have to give Showrunner Adam Muto and the staff due credit, being able to pull off some good songs even without Rebecca Sugar composing them as she is now running Steven Universe.

Sad that Tiffany may be gone for good, but it's probably for the best, given that his voice actor, Collin Dean, is showing signs of puberty in his voice. Collin Dean, for those who don't know, played Greg in "OVer The Garden Wall", and is also voicing as Lincoln in Nickelodeon's "The Loud House".

Another person that's sad to go is the Finn Sword, as technically speaking, there is a living Finn inside there as a result of the various time loops and paradoxes to bring Prismo back. Now he is consumed by the Grass Sword creating a new enemy Finn must defeat.

Given that Adventure Time is planned to end its run by 2018, I would think that the final 2 seasons would be more story-driven to wrap things up, or follow the similar format of Regular Show's final season, in which the episodes are mostly stand-alone, but are tied to the overarching plot of saving the universe. I think it's proper that the final two seasons tie-up some loose ends, one of which is Finn's origins. We know that Finn was abandoned as a baby, and Martin Merten's accounts on why he abandoned his own son is fishy at best. It's been rumored that someone from Finn's past, most probably Mrs. Mertens, Finn's mother, lives on The Island. So goes the theory that Mrs. Mertens may have programmed Susan to find Finn.

So this brings the question - is it possible Susan Strong is Finn's sister? In the alternate timeline, Farmworld Finn did have a baby sibling, though the name and gender is not mentioned. So it's possible the sibling also exists in the prime timeline. Though there isn't any hard evidence to suggest Susan Strong is that very sibling, the same is true of the opposite, especially given that she was tasked to find Finn.

As I said earlier, the Season 7 finale is but a lead-in to the mini-series in Season 8, but it is a great build-up nonetheless. We see some helloes, maybe some goodbyes, well executed pace in storytelling and some yabba-dabba-dabba. Overall, a very good season finale, and I am looking forward to the next season. I just hope Cartoon Network isn't screwing with their flagship series anymore and give it its proper run for everyone to see as it slowly reaches the curtain call.

Adventure Time Reboot Ending 'Alternate' Long Version

Here's a longer version of the 'alternate' ending to the Adventure Time episode "Reboot"

And if you want to download it, click this link.