Tropes:
- Appropriated Appelation: Before founding the kingdom, Princess Bubblegum was just "Bonnibel Bubblegum". "Princess" was Gumbald's somewhat condescending nickname for her, which she asked her family to call her after they were turned into the first candy people.
- Artificial Family Member: Princess Bubblegum's first creations were explicitly considered her family, in this case her uncle, aunt, and cousin, and were modeled after a family she found a photograph of.
- Big Sister Instinct: Bubblegum's fear of her uncle approaching instantly evaporates when he threatens to hurt Neddy.Bonnie: Don't touch my brother!
- Call-Forward: Gumbald planned to build apartments, and started by making the log cabin Bubblegum would later stay at while she was dethroned.
- Chekhov's Gun: PB finds a Static Stun Gun, which she uses on a goblin that underestimates it because he assumes it's a toy. When Gumbald tries to use his dumb juice on PB, she uses it on him and he makes the same mistake before it causes him to drop the vial on himself.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Gumbald decides to use his dumb juice on not just PB, who objected to his plans, but also Lolly and Chicle, who were entirely going along with him.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: After it turns out Gumbald was evil, we further discover he was Punchy the Punch Bowl, one of the candy people extras that's been around since the first season.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: PB created her aunt, uncle, and cousin to be her loving family. It backfired because they resented being bossed around by a little girl.
- Hypocrite: Gumbald accuses PB of doing stuff while he is doing or plans to do the same if not worse.
- Gumbald angrily declares that PB didn't want equals when she made her family, she just wanted stooges who did what she told them to. So he plans to make her too stupid to get in his way.
- Without asking, Gumbald cuts down the trees the family was growing to advance his plans to make apartments. When PB making the Butterscotch Lake gets in his way, Gumbald is so furious he comes up with the aforementioned "dumb juice" plan.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: Gumbald's complaint that Bonnibel wanted her family obedient instead of intelligent seems to be true, given how she would later make the candy people as such. Then we find out that isn't why PB made the candy people unintelligent—she actually did it so they would be happy.
- Internal Reveal: Princess Bubblegum learns that her Uncle Gumbald has returned.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Gumbald, Lolly, and Chicle are right that they don't have to do what Bubblegum says just because she made them. They'd be mostly in the right if didn't try to same thing to a much worse degree, planning to turn Bonnibel into an imbecile who'd follow their orders.
- Origins Episode: We're shown the foundation of the Candy Kingdom.
- Phlebotinum-Induced Stupidity: Gumbald created "dumb juice" that turns intelligent bubblegum people in dumb candy people.
- Questionable Consent: Little PB has the same traumatized expression after her date that Finn did after not especially consensual sex with LSP.
- The Reveal:
- Uncle Gumbald isn't really PB's uncle. She made him herself because she wanted a real family.
- Crunchy used to be PB's "cousin" and Manfried was her "aunt" who were transformed by some dumb juice.
- Butterscotch Lake was created by PB to stop her Uncle from building apartment cities —- she wanted him to have fun.
- Mr. Creampuff was created by Gumbald to get Bonnie out of the way.
- Banana Guard 16's story in "The Thin Yellow Line", about Princess Bubblegum quelling the first candy people's uprising by turning them into monsters, turns out to be partially true. The uprising happened, but what they were turned into wasn't monsters (just stupid candy people) and it wasn't PB's fault (one of their own caused it for the others, then accidentally did the same to himself when he tried to use it on her).
- Sequel Episode: We see PB's life between splitting from the Mother Gum in "Bonnie and Neddy" and forming the Candy Kingdom.
- Sequel Hook: The episode ends with PB learning her "uncle" is back.
- Significant Double Casting: Chicle and Lolly have the same voice actors as the candy people they're revealed to have turned into. Gumbald does not, though.
- Supernaturally Young Parent: Those older-looking family members in Bubblegum's family album, including her "Uncle" Gumbald, aren't older than her. They were created as adults by her while she was still physically a child, and were modeled after the humans in a picture she found.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Gumbald planned to lace the dumb juice into Bonnibel's food. He then very suspiciously offers Chicle and Lolly cupcakes. Chicle immediately bites in and transforms into Crunchy. Lolly sees this and bites into her own, then realizes the obvious before turning into Manfried.
- This Is My Name on Foreign: PB names her cousin Chicle, the Spanish word for chewing gum.
- Unexplained Recovery: Uncle Gumbald was turned into Punchy the Punch Bowl but somehow got transformed back. The most likely scenario is that he reverted back to his original form when Lumpy Space Princess unleashed the World-Healing Wave in "Skyhooks II".
- Waiting Skeleton: Implied: The old gas station Bonnibel finds the picture and the mug in includes a skull and the words "Back Soon! XOXO" written on the wall with "please come back" written underneath.
- Wham Episode: This episode confirms that Princess Bubblegum has been totally capable of creating rational and mature creatures since the Candy Kingdom's foundation. It is strongly implied that she deliberately keeps candy people Too Dumb to Live because they're all happier that way, and also because a rational creation would quickly become The Starscream. Also, you will never see Crunchy and Manfried the Pinata the same way again.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: PB runs into a goblin pretending to be captured, but also suspiciously surrounded by valuable treasure. She gives him some water, then electroshocks him when he threatens her with a harpoon gun.
