Finn struggles with his morality after Princess Bubblegum tells him to kidnap the Ice King for no apparent reason.
Tropes
- As You Know:
- Bad "Bad Acting": Finn pretending to die so the Ice King will wail in anguish.
- Big "WHY?!": The episode ends with Finn "dying", causing Ice King to scream "WHY?!" at the top of his lungs, and his anguished howls reach all the way to the Candy Kingdom, curing the Candy People of their Freezer Burn Flu. After Finn feels hurt by how Ice King just dropped him after crying out in pain, Jake says he'd hold onto Finn for an eternity if he ever died, and carries Finn back home in his arms while yelling "WHY?!" and laughing.
- Both Sides Have a Point:
- Even though she poorly communicated, Princess Bubblegum needed Ice King’s howls to cure her people.
- Finn also said how he can’t beat up the Ice King for nothing because that’s against his heroes' code.
- Comically Missing the Point:
Princess Bubblegum: Please... I beseech your aid, in the name of common decency!
Ice King: Sooo, lemme get this straight... You're hitting on me.
Princess Bubblegum: (angrily) NO! - Distinction Without a Difference: Although later retconned, Ice King has this to say about how his crown came to be.
Jake: One magical crooown... (whispering to Finn) Probably stolen.
Ice King: I didn't steal it! I made that item! Made it with the magic that I STOLE!
- Exact Words: According to Princess Bubblegum, Ice King's crime is that "he did nothing". Finn and Jake take this as him being innocent for once, but it turns out she meant that "he did nothing to cure the Candy People of their Freezer Burn Flu".
- Faking the Dead: Finn does this to Ice King to make him feel remorse. It works.
- Flipping the Table: Done by Princess Bubblegum, both in the title card and the cartoon proper.
- Foreshadowing: The Ice Crown crying is played for laughs, but it's the first sign that the crown is sentient.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The page in Bubblegum's book that depicts Ice King's screams as the cure has 5318008 on the other page ("boobies" spelled with numbers backwards).
- Gratuitous German: Bubblegum's first line in the episode is "ich bin hier", German for "I'm here", and she shouts in German at the end while trying to flip the cot before fainting on top of it when her people are saved.
Princess Bubblegum: Ich bin so glücklich, ich könnte, ich könnte... (faints)note I'm so happy I could, I could...
- Heel Realization: Princess Bubblegum has this when Finn pointed out to her that he can't just beat up people if they didn't mean to cause harm.
- Herr Doktor: Princess Bubblegum plays the role of one, as she's looking for a cure for her people's Freezer Burn Flu, repeatedly speaks in Gratuitous German, and even wears a Plague Doctor mask.
- Not Me This Time: The Ice King insists he's "committed no recent crime". Turns out he is the cause of the plague affecting the Candy People, only accidentally.
- The Plague: The entire Candy Kingdom is sick with Freezer Burn Flu as a result of coming in contact with Ice King's dandruff particles.
- Plague Doctor: Subverted. Initially, it looks like the Candy Kingdom is overrun with some sort of green gas, and Princess Bubblegum arrives wearing a plague doctor mask. However, she was actually spraying the gas with a hose, and the actual disease plaguing the Candy Kingdom is Freezer Burn Flu.
- Poor Communication Kills: If only the princess had explained sooner why she wanted the Ice King, it could have avoided a lot of trouble.
- Running Gag: Princess Bubblegum flipping tables out of anger. Subverted at the end, where it looks like she's about to flip a cot, but instead she collapses on it.
- Title Drop: Bubblegum shouts "What have you done?!" when she learns Finn and Jake decided to free the Ice King.
