Betty (episode)

Synopsis
When a ritual changes Ice King back into Simon Petrikov, he enlists the help of Marceline, Finn, and Jake to recontact Betty in the past to tell her he's sorry for everything he has done.

Plot
In a secret chamber in Wizard City, Forest Wizard, Laser Wizard and Bufo have met with Bellanoche, a misshapen head from another dimension, unaware that Ice King is watching them from the shadows. In exchange for the powerful magical items they have brought that will allow Bellanoche to enter their realm, he has promised them the lost system of Antediluvian magic, “the tightest of all wiz-bizz.”

Interested in this reward (and in joining the secret wizards’ club), Ice King reveals himself, much to the other wizards’ anger. Bellanoche uses their distraction to absorb the power of the magical items, just as Grand Master Wizard breaks in, declaring that Bellanoche must not enter their world, as he is “a being of pure anti-magic.” But he is too late as Bellanoche strikes, removing the magic from the four congregated wizards, which leaves Ice King’s crown powerless and turns him back into Simon Petrikov.

Grand Master Wizard sends the Wizard Police to attack Bellanoche, to little effect, while Simon escapes the chamber to the streets. He believes he is hallucinating until he removes the crown and finds he is still thinking rationally. He is then confronted by Ash, Marceline’s ex-boyfriend, who tells him to get lost. Simon punches him and knocks him out, apologizing as he takes Ash’s magic carpet, which he rides to the Ice Kingdom. He flies into “The Past Room”, finds an old pair of his glasses, and accesses a secret passage to a library, containing all his research and old clothes.

He finds a book on mystic rituals that he and his fiancée, Betty Grof, wrote together, and finds a picture of a young Marceline inside. He calls her up immediately while she is in a jamm session with Finn and Jake; he tells her what’s happened, that he needs her help and to bring Hambo with her. She faints from shock, but when she comes to, convinces Finn and Jake to go help Simon.

Marceline and Simon are overjoyed to see one another, but Marceline becomes concerned with Simon’s health, and he reveals that he’s slowly dying, as the crown was keeping him alive. Simon seems to have accepted this and wants to use his final hours to create a time portal to the past to contact Betty and apologize for driving her away. He gets Finn and Jake to pedal a bicycle-powered generator, and requests Marceline to sacrifice Hambo, as an object that has been loved and tended for centuries would be the spell’s ideal catalyst. She regretfully gives it to Simon, who thanks her for giving him this chance to say goodbye to Betty.

The spell is successful and a small portal opens above Betty before the events of the Great Mushroom War. She has just escaped from the past Simon, who is shooting ice into the streets, screaming for Betty, his “princess.” She sees the portal and the present-day Simon tells her he is sorry for what he did and that he loves her and forgives her for leaving him. But just as the portal closes Betty jumps through it to be with him, only to be told that Simon is dying. After she learns that Bellanoche took the magic from the crown, and Simon needs it to live, Betty decides to confront Bellanoche and repower the crown. She takes off on the magic carpet, with Simon barely hanging on.

Simon begs her to reconsider because he doesn’t want to be Ice King again, but she says that that will only be a temporary measure. Once Simon is safe as Ice King, she plans to find a way to keep him alive without the crown so they can be together. He is unsure, especially as Death arrives, flying alongside them, saying that this is Simon’s only chance to die, or else he will be the Ice King forever. Simon is reluctant to go with Betty’s plan, but admits that if he does not at least try, he is nothing. Death shrugs and disappears.

They arrive at Wizard City where Bellanoche is depowering all the wizards, who try to fight back but any attempts only seem to make the being stronger. Simon falls off the magic carpet and Betty begs him for more time as she goes after Bellanoche, but Death reappears to Simon, telling him time is almost up. Betty flies inside Bellanoche’s mass armor and finds him in his true form, knocking him out easily.

Magic is restored to the wizards, and Death disappears again, apologizing to Simon as he goes, as Simon has changed back into Ice King with no memory of what has happened. He then kidnaps Muscle Princess and takes her back to the Ice Kingdom. She overpowers him and beats him up, while Betty looks on sadly from the magic carpet before flying away.

Main Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Ice King
 * Betty
 * Marceline

Minor Characters

 * Bellanoche
 * Forest Wizard
 * Grand Master Wizard
 * Death
 * Muscle Princess
 * Ron James
 * Ash
 * Gunter
 * Laser Wizard
 * Wizard Police
 * Bufo
 * Huntress Wizard
 * Snail

Trivia

 * Jake has returned since the episode "Blade of Grass."
 * It is revealed that Ice King has kept a library hidden in the Ice castle with his suit and other items from when he was Simon. It is located behind The Past Room.
 * It is revealed that Simon chased Betty while first under the influence of the crown, which is what caused her to leave in the first place.
 * Marceline's outfit in this episode resembles a grown-up version of her childhood outfit.
 * Death appears since "Sons of Mars ".
 * Death told Simon that he is going to be Ice King until the sun blows up, this means that he will be Ice King forever until the sun turns into a red giant.
 * When the crown had no powers, Ice Kingdom automatically melts. In some episodes that Ice King wears off the crown, it is unknown if Ice Kingdom melts by itself.
 * Simon mention that as Ice king he retains no memories of what he does he just gets glimpse and flash of whats going on.
 * Betty's last name is revealed, her name is an homage to Stanislav Grof, a psychiatrist who's one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology.

Cultural references

 * The scene where Simon hijacks the magic carpet is a reference to Grand Theft Auto or Jak 2.
 * In the beginning of the episode, one of the wizards mentions magic dating back to the Antediluvian period, which is a period of time before the Biblical Flood.

Episode connections

 * The story of Betty and her connection to Simon Petrikov/Ice King was previously revealed in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II."
 * Marceline and Simon's past is once again mentioned.
 * Hambo is seen for the final time and is destroyed as of this episode; it was foreshadowed by Maja in "Sky Witch" that it possessed enough love to create extremely powerful magic. The saga of Hambo was previously revealed through "Memory of a Memory," "I Remember You," and "Sky Witch."
 * Ice King is seen again with Bufo, Laser Wizard and Forest Wizard because he still wants to join their group, which was first found out in "Wizards Only, Fools."

Errors

 * Simon claimed that he didn't remember anything while wearing the crown, but he seems to already know who Finn and Jake are.

Storyline analysis

 * Betty steps out of her time sequence and now lives in Ooo.
 * This event reveals how Betty left Simon.
 * Finn is as of now not the only known official human to currently live in Ooo.
 * Although Simon seemed prior to have not set anything up for himself within the Ice Kingdom, this episode reveals that there is an entire library and even a spare suit and glasses for him for when he returns back to that form after he loses his ice powers; this is hidden away within the castle beyond Ice King's "Past Room", which makes it well hidden due to Ice King's necessities being merely a pile of random clutter with occasional connections to his previous life.
 * Betty's journey to a thousand years in the future creates a bit of a paradox, preventing the Simon of the past from ever knowing what happened to her and why he never saw her again (and thus creating much of his grief as his mind further decays), while allowing Betty to never experience the Mushroom War firsthand and thus never died or mutate as what happens to the rest of humanity who were not protected by some means.