The end of perhaps the most influential all ages cartoon of the 2010s, Adventure Time, airs Labor Day weekend. Time for One Last Adventure is our sendoff.
Adventure Time has given us a lot over the past eight years. It’s given us character arcs that transform from piquant to devastating, and characters that grow enough to accept what they cannot change. It’s given one of the most comprehensive narrative arcs in Cartoon Network’s history. It’s also given us the fantastic pairing of Rebecca Sugar’s lyrics and Olivia Olson’s voice more commonly known as a Marceline song.
Initially, Marceline impressed us because she was so damn cool—but she was also one of the first Adventure Time characters to show her vulnerability. Her musical stylings gripped our hearts starting with “Fry Song” and helped guide us through some of Adventure Time’s most poignant arcs. Here, we break down Marceline’s best work—including a cover that’s too good to ignore.
Honorable Mention: “Francis Forever”
Marceline’s cover of Mitski’s “Francis Forever” in “The Music Hole” is dang good, y’all. If there’s any singer meant to sing a Mitski song (beside’s Mitski, of course), it’s Olivia Olson, and Marceline killed it in Ooo’s battle of the bands. even if she did lose her pick halfway through. (Also, nothing against the Hole, but was anyone else bummed that Marceline didn’t win?)
5. “Slow Dance With You”
In “Marcy & Hunson,” Hunson Abadeer wrestles his way into Ooo to catch up with Marceline and prove he’s an okay guy now, and follows Finn and Jake to her performance at Hamburger Hills cemetery. If Hunson really wanted to connect with his daughter, though, all he needed to do is listen to her lyrics. Marceline’s got the love blues, and she wants to show her affection in the sweetest way.
4. “Fry Song”
“Fry Song” from “It Came from the Nightosphere” isn’t Marceline’s musical debut, but it’s the first time her music shows her emotional side. It seems silly on the surface, but even a song about something as mundane as fries shows how deep Marceline’s pain runs. Finn realizes that hearing that song is the only way to stop Marceline’s father and the ruler of the Nightosphere, Hunson Abadeer, from continuing a soul-sucking rampage across Ooo. Marceline’s lyrics are deep enough to strike Abadeer, who generally doesn’t empathize with anyone, igniting a conversation they’ve avoided for centuries.
3. “I’m Just Your Problem”
“What Was Missing” may have focused on stolen objects, but the episode ended up giving us Adventure Time’s best ‘ship: Bubbline. “I’m Just Your Problem” starts off playfully, but takes a painful turn after Princess Bubblegum calls the lyrics distasteful. “Oh, you don’t like that? Or do you just not like me?” Marceline is broken, but she’s also bitter — she believes she’s not good enough for Princess Bubblegum, but at the same time, she shies away from any attention, still embarrassed and hurt by whatever drove them apart in the first place.
2. “Nuts/Remember You”
Perhaps Adventure Time’s most complicated and devastating plot is the transformation of one Simon Petrikov into the Ice King following the Great Mushroom War. Marceline’s friendship with Simon provides a sound perspective on a fanatical situation. “Nuts” and “Remember You” use identical motifs and are played back-to-back, with Marceline’s musings on the Ice King transforming into her voice taking on letters written by Simon as his memory and identity began to falter. Simon’s mind may be gone, but his lyrics show just how much he cared about Marceline.
1. “Everything Stays”
It’s fitting that “Everything Stays,” Marceline’s mom’s lullaby, remains significant a thousand years later. Near the end of “Stakes,” Marceline and the Vampire King agree that people make the same mistakes over and over again: in a way, the plot reflects the song, elevating the lyrics to a place more abstract and direct simultaneously. But most importantly, the lullaby keeps Marceline tied to her origin, before everything went crazy. “Everything Stays” weaves “Stakes” together and keeps Marceline grounded as she navigates an unfamiliar and terrifying new world.
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