Time Sandwich

Synopsis
Finn and Jake must decipher Magic Man's riddle in order to regain the most delicious sandwich Jake has ever made.

Plot
The episode starts out with Jake telling Finn and BMO to stay quiet while he gets into the "zone." He creates a sandwich that consists of cream cheese, dill, pickles, boiled eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, specially prepared meat, bacon, a bird from the window, tears (for salt), and lobster soul. Announcing it as the best sandwich made, Jake asks Finn and BMO if they want some, but Finn declines, saying he is cool with Jake eating the whole thing.

Just before Jake eats his sandwich, Magic Man appears and steals it away. Jake demands his sandwich back, and Magic Man says that he can only get it back by solving his riddle:

When your face shows 7:20,

When green leaves turn brown,

The only way forward is down.

Then, you'll see, the wetter, the better.

Jake complains that the "riddle" was more like word play at best, but Magic Man tells him that trying to "come up with something on the spot" is hard before "savoring the moment" and crashing backwards before creating a large bubble-shaped time field around him. Jake initially thinks that the time bubble froze Magic Man and the sandwich, but Finn tells him he is just moving in "super-slow motion." Finn points at Magic Man in the bubble, and they see a small drop of saliva dripping off his lip. They decide to try and get Jake's sandwich back before Magic Man hits the ground (which is assumed when he'll take his first bite). The two of them look inside the bubble, and in super slow-motion they say hi to each other and leave. They then ask BMO how long they were in there. When BMO says 5 hours, Finn and Jake are in shock, and they look at the bubble again. Magic Man is about halfway from the ground. BMO comes up with a plan to retrieve Jake's sandwich (which in reality is a plan to make a skateboard video) and ends up getting trapped in the time bubble as well. Finn decides to call Princess Bubblegum while Jake tries to make another sandwich, sadly.

Princess Bubblegum says that the time bubble is made up of molasses-based bond that will slow down anything inside as long as the molasses is at room-temperature, and tries to use her "molasses warmer" to "get things moving." The "molasses warmer" enters the time bubble, but the explosion is also moving in slow motion, thereby making it useless. Dumbstruck, Princess Bubblegum calls Marceline over to try and help. Jake sadly returns, unable to make another sandwich, and meets up with the rest of the group as Marceline reveals that her plan is to turn into her demonic form and elbow drop into the bubble (leaving her trapped inside as well). Jake decided to speed up the grieving process by lighting up candles made with the bacon fat from his sandwich earlier. Finn tries to comfort him by calling someone else, but Jake stops him, telling him that it is over and that he never felt as sad as he does now, and walks into the time bubble while moving normally.

Finn points out that Jake is not slowing down in the bubble, and that being sad was the answer to the riddle (saying that 7:20 is sometimes called "A sad face"). Jake starts to get frustrated (saying that nobody says that 7:20  is a sad face), but is reminded by Finn and Bubblegum that he needs to stay sad in order to get his sandwich back. Jake runs towards Magic Man to retrieve his sandwich, but starts to get happier as he gets closer, slowing him down. Jake tries to be sad again by imagining his funeral, but ends up getting angry because he imagines Lady Rainicorn falling for Mr. Cupcake. Snapping out of his fantasy, he re-imagines the scene with Mr. Cupcake talking to "Jake" at his gravestone. He "talks" with Mr. Cupcake, saying that he respects him and how he wants him to take care of Lady Rainicorn and his children if were dead, and ends up sobbing over their relationship which helps him reach his sandwich and end up punching Magic Man, destroying the time bubble. With the bubble gone, Magic Man hits the ground, gets elbowed by Marceline, and has his face run over by BMO. Jake continues crying while celebrating his victory, and the episode ends with Jake finally taking a bite of his sandwich, saying how it is "so, so, so good."

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Magic Man

Minor Characters

 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Marceline
 * BMO
 * Banana Guards
 * Snail

Jake's Imagination

 * Lady Rainicorn
 * Mr. Cupcake
 * Jake Jr.
 * T.V.
 * Kim Kil Whan
 * Charlie
 * Viola

Mentioned

 * Ice King
 * Tree Trunks
 * Shelby
 * Prismo

Trivia

 * Jake using rosemary and thyme on his meat may be a reference to the song Scarborough Fair.
 * Princess Bubblegum's holo-phone displays the following contacts: LABD, Lala Man, Lemonlad, Lollipop Bad, Lorraine, Lulu, Lumpy Space Princess, Mannish, Marceline, and Mini-Bagel.
 * In the Promotional Artwork, it is implied that Magic Man stole Jake's sandwich because he was hungry and had nothing to eat.
 * Magic Man's magic being determined as molasses-based bonds may be a reference to the Slow spell in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, wherein the material component for the slow-spell is a drop of molasses.

Cultural references

 * The radio Jake owns is a 1935-1936 Cathedral Radio. A Cathedral Radio is a type of early radio that is shaped like a cathedral's spire and windows, and it is most popular in the 1920-1930's, as well in World War II.
 * In Jake's mind, the car that Mr. Cupcake drove with Lady Rainicorn is a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB.

Episode connections

 * The pickles on Jake's sandwich are from Prismo, which were seen in "Jake the Dog."
 * Magic Man defends his riddle by challenging Jake to come up with a good one "on the spot." Jake was unable to quickly create a good riddle in "Rainy Day Daydream," when he and Finn confronted the imaginary Riddle Master.
 * Jake comes to grips with his feelings about Mr. Cupcake after the incidents in "Video Makers" and "All the Little People" where he nearly wins over Lady Rainicorn.
 * Princess Bubblegum mentioning that she came over right away when she heard about Jake's sandwich may refer to "Five Short Graybles" when she makes the perfect sandwich and Cinnamon Bun didn't even taste it.
 * Princess Bubblegum and Marceline seem to be friends now, after their recent amends in "Sky Witch."
 * Princess Bubblegum wears the same lab coat she wears in "Wizards Only, Fools."
 * In addition, her disbelief in magic is also presented again, in which she calls Magic Man's magic "molasses."
 * When BMO begins to calculate an answer, Jake states that it must be its new software. This is a reference to the new core system drivers installed in "Be More" by Moe.

Errors

 * On MSN and Time Warner Cable descriptions for "Too Old," the info says, "When Magic Man steals Jake's delicious sandwich, Finn must defy laws of space and time to get it back," which is the synopsis for "Time Sandwich."
 * The river near Lady's house in Jake's imagination was flowing in a different direction, though this is maybe just his imagination.
 * When Magic Man tells his riddle, he says "When your face shows 7:20," but the clock clearly shows 7:25.

Production notes

 * In an odd episode mix up, it was unknown if the episode had been cancelled or moved to a different date. According to Cartoon Network, after "Frost & Fire" had aired, the schedule had been updated to show that "Too Old" was to be aired on August 12th, 2013. However, before the CN schedule was updated to include August 12th, MSN TV said that "Time Sandwich" would be aired on August 12th, 2013. On August 12th, 2013, "Too Old" was aired, and "Time Sandwich" was not.
 * Regarding this issue, Adam Muto confirmed that the episode would air some time after "Too Old."
 * Both MSN TV and the CN schedule have confirmed that "Time Sandwich" will be aired on September 9th, 2013, nearly a month after it was originally thought to air.
 * "Time Sandwich" was shown for the first time at Fan Expo on August 24. 2013, along with 5 other episodes chosen by the creators.