Abstract

Synopsis
As Jake goes through some personal changes, he's haunted by a sinister dream encounter with his brother Jermaine.

Plot
The episode begins with Finn, Jake, and BMO eating breakfast. Finn cannot look directly at Jake and BMO appears uneasy due to the new form Jake took on after the events in the Elements  mini-series. After small-talk with Finn, Jake reveals new abilities he has such as being able to sense the emotions of non-sentient objects, which provokes Finn to point out that Jake seems different. Jake denies Finn's accusation, and Finn proceeds to point out distinct differences that Jake now has. Jake gets defensive, causing bat-like wings to emerge from his dorsal side, which scares BMO and causes Jake to involuntarily undergo morphological changes on his body. Finn concedes with Jake being unchanged, to which Jake reverts and grunts.

The following scene transitions to Jake at the Candy Tavern with Lady Rainicorn and Dirt Beer Guy. Jake admits he has went through minor changes, but counters with the fact that many others going through changes as well. Following a conversation with Dirt Beer Guy, it is revealed that he had not recognized Jake, and he promptly walks off. Jake comes to a conclusion that people are used to his yellow color, so Lady Rainicorn uses her color altering ability to make Jake yellow again. After multiple failed attempts due to Jake's blue skin repeatedly returning, Jake tells Lady that he appreciates the effort.

Back at the Tree Fort, Jake is seen laying down sleeping, and the scene enters Jake's dream. Jake is standing in a desert-like world, and begins hastily making his way through a maze after spotting something with a telescope. Jake eventually enters a temple with several women dressed in white surrounding a statue. The statue transforms into the Shape-shifter, touches Jake, and causes him to enter another dream.

Jake is tied onto a stone cube in an entirely white room. The Shape-shifter transforms into a bat-like creature, and following Jake's screaming disoriented face, he awakens into a different dream, laying next to Jermaine.

Jermaine is seen working on a painting inside of a small gallery. He tells Jake he's working on painting a mountain, however the painting shown to the audience appears abstract. Jermaine points to "Jake's friend," who is really the shape-shifter. Jake yelps and covers his face, when he opens his eyes again the Shape-shifter is replaced with Joshua playing with a yo-yo. Jermaine appears behind Jake and gets his attention sharing that he resembles one of his own paintings. Jake replies that it is his body in real life, and Jermaine dismisses himself. Jake looks back at Joshua and and Joshua's mutated appearance causes Jake to panic and wake up.

Back at the Tree Fort, Finn is getting dressed in the morning. Jake shares the bad dream he had with Finn, to which Finn recommends something that helps with his own bad dreams. As Jake illustrates his dream, he analyzes details in his dream with Finn. The following scene shows Finn playing a video game on BMO. While Finn is distracted, Jake leaves for the mountain he saw in his dream.

Jake makes his way to the mountain and as he approaches the Jameses appear blocking his path, but stand down and bring Jake to their place to eat beans. While inside of the Jameses' tent, Jake finds the mountain painting that Jermaine was working on in his dream. He questions them on where they got it, and answer that Jermaine painted it and let them keep it. Jake proceeds to question them, and is given the location of Jermaine's studio.

Jake arrives to Jermaine's studio and encounters a wall of water. The wall of water tells Jake that he isn't allowed to enter, to which Jake asks him of his brother's whereabouts. After a brief conversation with Wall of Water, he allows Jake to enter the studio. Once inside of the studio, Bryce appears and asks Jake if he wants any help. Jake halfheartedly greets Bryce, and tells him that he's searching for Jermaine. Bryce denies Jake permission to speak with Jermaine, explaining that Jermaine explicitly desired privacy. After Bryce mentions Jermaine's talent for painting, Jake appears displeased with the fact that Jermaine spends time on painting abstract art. Jake further questions Bryce, and brings up Joshua telling him about Bryce's "demon tricks." Jake then restrains Bryce after he was about to speak negatively about Joshua.

Jake lets himself into Jermaine's room, and a extensive galley is revealed. Jake approaches Jermaine and claims that he has arrived to rescue him. Jermaine ignores what Jake said and begins discussing abstract art. Jake refuses to believe that Jermaine's change in interest was a decision made by himself, and Jermaine responds with stating that he has went through minor changes, similar to Jake going through his own minor changes. Jake denies this and counters with the notion that he merely appears different. Jermaine continues to push that Jake has changed which causes him to become frustrated, convincing himself that he is "normal." As Jake does this he transforms further, becoming elongated and growing spikes on his back. Jake assures Jermaine that despite the morphological changes, personality wise he remains the same. Jake then asks Jermaine if he is still the same inside, and that he will return to landscape art. Jermaine explains that his interest in abstract art was the result of the mental break-up in the land in the paintings he used to make. The new interest Jermaine has does not mean that his other interests have vanished. Jermaine tells Jake that he likes his new form, and the conversation leads to Jermaine revealing that Joshua knew that Jake would undergo changes, however what type of changes went unmentioned. Jake then asks Jermaine to view other abstract paintings he has. The following scene shows Jake surrounded in Jermaine's paintings. The paintings begin to levitate, and the background around Jake vanishes into white. Jake comes to the conclusion that everything changes, but despite his own changes, it's still who he is. Jake returns to his original dog form, and Jermaine admits that Jake thoroughly understands his art. Jake confesses that he doesn't really understand anything.

Jake returns to the Tree Fort whistling a tune while holding a painting from Jermaine's studio. Jake enters the Tree Fort and hangs the painting on the wall. Finn greets Jake from his trip, but then reveals he meant that Jake has returned to his dog form. Jake walks to their bathroom mirror, and says that he's "different yet the same."

Major characters

 * Jake
 * Jermaine

Minor characters

 * Finn
 * BMO
 * Lady Rainicorn
 * Dirt Beer Guy
 * Jameses
 * Bryce
 * Wall of Water
 * Shape-shifter (dream)
 * Joshua (dream)
 * Snail

Pictured

 * Princess Bubblegum

Trivia

 * One of Jake's abilities from his shape-shifter form is being able to sense the emotions from non-sentient objects such as toast, or rather the grain plant. However it is biologically impossible for plants to experience emotions such as stress and fear because plant lack the hormones that are necessary for these emotions.
 * Finn is shown to be uncomfortable with Jake's new appearance, which is inconsistent because in the previous episode Finn was shown to be accepting and indifferent on his shape-shifter form.
 * Dirt Beer Guy seems to be managing the Candy Tavern, as it now has a "DBG" sign.

Cultural references

 * The statues in the chamber resemble the nine muses from Greek mythology.

Episode connections

 * This episode centers around Jake's true (Shape-shifter) form which is a direct continuation of the end of "Skyhooks II."
 * The truth of Jake's origins, which was revealed to the viewers in "Joshua and Margaret Investigations, " is also a part of this episode.
 * The theme in this episode, "everything changes, however despite the changes it is still the same," parallels the overarching theme in the Stakes mini-series: everything stays, but despite the changes it remains.
 * Inside the Jameses' tent, there are a lot of medals hanged like ornaments. This shows Princess Bubblegum kept her promise from "James II" and kept sending medals every day.
 * The tune that Jake whistles when he walks up to the Tree Fort sounds slightly similar to the "Bacon Pancakes" song from "Burning Low."

Storyline analysis

 * Throughout the episode, Jake turns more monstrous the more that he denies that he's gone through changes.

Production notes

 * This episode is the 262nd episode of the series which marks the most-number of episodes aired in a series so far in Cartoon Network history. The record was previously held by the concluded  (now surpassed by Adventure Time) with 261 episodes.
 * This episode was released early on the Cartoon Network app on July 14, 2017.

Errors

 * The jar of jam on the table disappears for a moment during the conversation at the breakfast table.