Prepare to be scared out of your minds
Finn has a vivid dream that may be more than it seems.Tropes
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Finn summons his greatest fears to defeat the King Worm, including the ocean, the Lich, Princess Bubblegum telling him he's "too young", the ghost-girl from "The Creeps", and... a Non-Ironic Clown.
- Call-Back: The end of the episode is a reference to the end of "Evicted", King Worm's first appearance.
- Chekhov's Gun: Jake mentions early on that Finn could destroy the dreamscape if he summons too many of his subconscious fears. Near the end, this is exactly how Finn beats the King Worm and escapes the dream (a picture of Jake even starts talking to Finn to remind him of this).
- Continuity Cavalcade: When Finn starts thinking about his greatest fears, he summons the ocean from "Ocean of Fear", the Lich, Princess Bubblegum telling Finn he's "Too Young", the real ghost from "The Creeps" and finally, a clown, which is a reference to "Another Way". We also see Fear Feaster and Baby Finn briefly when Finn goes into his subconscious.
- Deranged Animation: Since it's a dream episode, it's to be expected.
- The Dreaded: The Lich appears to be this for Finn as he is one of his greatest fears. Which makes sense...
- Dream Episode: The entire episode is about trying to escape a surreal dream that is being influenced by king Worm.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Possibly; as this episode appears to take place after the season one episode Evicted yet Finn dreams about Flame Princess, who he wouldn't start dating seasons later. Considering prophetic dreams are a thing it may be possible, although the Cosmic Owl's absence also muddies things up.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Farmworld Finn appears in the mirror Finn looks in.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Finn's first 'wake-up', you can see that Finn's hat ears are still stretched: a hint he's still dreaming.
- Foreshadowing: When Finn looks into the mirror he sees a version of himself with a mechanical arm. We'd see this version of Finn again in "The Lich".
- A Glitch in the Matrix: King Worm's dreams tend to be too off to be really effective. For some odd reason, Peppermint Butler managed to invade it to warn Finn of the danger he's in.
- The Last Straw: Finn summons his deepest darkest fears to defeat the Worm King, and yet it doesn't seem to be enough. Then, an innocent clown pops out of nowhere and startles Finn, finally ending the Worm's reign of night terror once and for all.
- Logical Weakness: King Worm's powers involve good dreams, but nightmares destabilize his power.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: King Worm's powers involve placing you into your ideal fantasy, therefore imagining your worst fears is the way to defeat it.
- Mind Screwdriver: This episode suggests an explanation for the non sequitur ending of "Evicted", although it creates more confusion by hinting that everything since "Evicted" may have been a dream.
- Primal Fear: The secret to defeat the King Worm is to imagine one's worst fears; Finn's is the ocean, clowns and The Lich.
- Real Dreams are Weirder: It is this trope.
- Shout-Out: Flame Princess appears to have mouths instead of eyes, similar to the Corinthian in The Sandman.
- Villain Over for Dinner: Invoked when Finn begins unleashing his greatest fears in an attempt to escape the dream world in "King Worm": one of his fears is being too young to hang out with Princess Bubblegum, so it manifests with her having coffee with the Lich (also one of his greatest fears).
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Finn and Jake manage to catch King Worm and destroy him but it turns out to be a trick and Finn is still trapped in King Worm's power.
