In the end, it was all about the Adventure.
In the several years time that we’ve watched Finn & Jake quest out into the unknown, it was, as it always had been about, fun with favorite compatriots doing whatever felt right and interesting. As time went on and seasons went by, we even got to see this enormous cast of characters, no matter how minor, develop into being more well-rounded rather than 1-note run-off’s.
We got to explore Magic Man’s home on Mars, rather than him being just the weird antagonist. The Ice King & Marceline were reintroduced as Simon & Marcy, with a full-on backstory that would then on be a redemption for Ice King. Tree Trunks, the tiny green elephant, even had her own set of centered episodes, eventually ending up with a small family of her own.
And even still, there was no real heaviness to bog down the mood of the show, aside from Bubblegum Princess & Marcy’s on-again/off-again relations & Finn’s struggles with girls in particular. Still, thus the show went on amidst it all, into one quest after another, every time something new to touch in the world of Ooo.
I think what I loved most in this show was the wild imagination it held, and if readers want to believe in it, still might hold past this portion of Pendelton Ward’s creation. For those that jumped into their world, the energy sprawled out. Thinking back to when the series first premiered in 2010, the first thing to come to mind was the promo; a kid with an ear cap and a shapely green backpack running around asking people “What Time Is It?” The bizarre vibe immediately had me excited for what I’d see that April. That spark, along with the fuzzy Dungeons-&-Dragons take really was all that was needed.
Adventure Time came in an era of Cartoon Network shows needed something better. I feel that its legacy is that of Regular Show getting a chance, as well as Steven Universe. Both shows, like Adventure Time, did a great job of just having fun at their starts, and as time rode on could explore deeper themes than the surface explosion of insanity each pursued. Even now, a new show, “Craig of the Creek”, engages in almost the exact spirit that I favored in Adventure Time, and I think that’s a big deal.
“No one gets to choose how it ends.”, Simon replied to Finn as he dismayed that he wasn’t going out in a climactic fight. This set of episodes truly held its own way to conclude; by not concluding at all. Beemo put it best at the end by stating to its intent audience of Beth & Shermy that, “Eh, You know… they kinda just kept living their lives.”
As they lived; just as far as our imaginations take us with them, and for a possible next generation after that.
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Thank you for tuning into your world, for this… is 20XX.
Reporting From 20XX 