Death in Bloom

"Death in Bloom" is the seventeenth episode of season two of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
After killing Princess Bubblegum's Princess Plant when left to take care of it, Finn and Jake make a trip to the Land of the Dead in order to get its soul back.

Plot
The episode begins with Princess Bubblegum asking if Finn and Jake will take care of her Princess Plant while she is away at a science conference. She tells them she will be back "on the Morrow", then screeches to summon a giant eagle like bird to carry her to the conference. Finn and Jake take horrible care of the plant, shoving cookies and pizza into its soil and flowers, not watering it, and accidentally setting it on fire while reading it a story beside a fireplace. As they say goodnight to the plant, they realize it's dead and Finn suggests they go to the land of the dead and reclaim its soul before Princess Bubblegum returns from the convention. Peppermint Butler overhears this and offers to open a portal to the Underworld for a small price "which they can discuss later", which they agree to. As Finn and Jake go through the portal, Peppermint Butler tells them to say hi to Death for him, and tries to warn them not to drink the water but can't finish before the portal closes. After riding an escalator down to the entrance, Finn and Jake run into a gatekeeper who admits people to the land of the dead. Not believing their cause of death "because we're awesome", he tells them to step out of line but Finn and Jake walk past him, which the gatekeeper is unable to stop. Next, Finn and Jake come across skeletons that try to kill them for their flesh. Finn and Jake try to fight them off in vain, as they are able to put themselves back together when knocked apart. They run away, hiding in a hole where Jake reveals that PB's statement that she will be back "on the Morrow" does not mean she will be back tomorrow, but that she will be riding her eagle which is named "The Morrow". Finn rushes out of the hole, sneaking past the skeletons that are still looking for them. Suddenly, Jake farts, alerting the skeletons to their position but also triggering an avalanche which double-kills them all. The last obstacle separating Finn and Jake from Death's castle is a river, which a talking skull urges Jake to drink from. Sensing the skull is up to something, Finn warns Jake not to drink the water, which makes the skull say "don't drink the water". Reasoning that by Finn's logic this means the water is good, Jake drinks from the river and immediately forgets who he is. Not knowing who Finn is, Jake becomes uncooperative, but since they're running out of time Finn drags him to Death's castle. As they enter the castle, Death is tending a zen garden and notices Jake hiding behind a tree. Telling him to leave, Finn jumps out and announces they aren't leaving until he gives back the plant's soul and Jake's memory. Death challenges Finn to a musical battle for the soul and memories, with Death picking a drumset as his instrument while Finn picks sleigh bells. Death's performance is a heavy metal show complete with pyrotechnics while Finn's is simply shaking and stomping on the sleigh bells, so when they go to Jake to judge the winner he chooses "skeleton guy by a landslide". Death traps Finn in a magical barrier and informs him that the penalty for losing a musical battle is losing your life. About to die, Finn tells Death that Peppermint Butler said hi, which makes Death release Finn and remark "What? You know Peppermint Butler?!" and lets them have whatever they want. He restores Jake's memory with the Kiss of Death and sends the flower's soul back to its body, then transports Finn and Jake back to Ooo just in time to meet PB. She eats a flower, her hairstyle changes, and she thanks Finn and Jake with a group hug. Peppermint Butler takes this opportunity to inform them that the payment for his services will be their flesh, which he tells them, as his eyes start to glow eerily, he will take from them as they sleep.

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Death

Minor Characters

 * The Morrow
 * Lester
 * Gate Guardian
 * Talking Skull
 * Stanley
 * Stanley's family
 * Halt
 * "Spear-in-the-neck" skeleton
 * Scorpions
 * Death Eels
 * Snail

Trivia

 * This episode was previously titled "Dead Flower".
 * The skeleton Jake in the title card resembles Billy's Dog.
 * This episode revealed that Peppermint Butler likes flesh.
 * This is the first episode to feature large portions of metal/rock music.
 * The River of Forgetfulness is a reference to the Lethe, a river in Greek mythology that erased a dead soul's memories when drank so the soul could be reincarnated.
 * When Princess Bubblegum is at the Science Convention, Stanley the Watermelon can be seen, and in fact, the Science Convention takes place at Stanley's House, which is referred to as being in Veggie Village.
 * In the title card, Jake's skeleton is reading a book named: Feelin' Fine.