Holly Jolly Secrets Part II

"Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" is the twentieth episode and the second part of the holiday special in season three of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
In the conclusion, the Ice King pulls out all stops to prevent Finn and Jake from discovering his most shocking secret....

Plot
The scene opens up with Jake screaming (from the finale of the previous episode) but he was actually singing "Alouette". Jake is wearing a yarmulke and scarf. Then they decide to watch the Ice King's secret video, thinking that it might show his evil plans. The first video reveals that his life is stagnating, so he weeps, and Beemo discovers a "code" in the pattern of his tears. Through a strange, random process, the code forms a picture of Gunter. The second video is of him recording the Wildberry Princess while in a cage in his palace. He was asking Wildberry how she felt about an event, and it turns out that Ice King was talking about why Gunter was standing in the corner (Gunter tried to eat the Ice King's socks).

In the Ice King's attempt to stop Finn and Jake from watching his secret tapes, he makes an army of snowmen. The Ice King breaks into the Tree Fort through the chimney. In the process, his blue robes become covered in soot, so he takes them off and covers himself with Finn and Jake's red tablecloth. Once inside, the Ice King lets the snowmen in through the front door, as Finn and Jake rush to finish watching the videos and determine the Ice King's evil secrets. The snowmen attack, but they are easily defeated, and Beemo begins to play the final tape.

The third tape reveals that a long time ago (possibly prior to the Mushroom War), the Ice King was a human named Simon Petrikov, who had a fiancée named Betty. He was an antiquarian, and purchased a strange crown from a dock worker in Scandinavia. He took it home to show Betty, and when he put the crown on his head for a laugh, he started to see visions and hallucinations. He fought with them, shouted at them before realizing it was the crown sending the visions into his head. He quickly took it off after his realization, he had no recollection of his actions, but what transpired during that time eventually caused Betty to leave him (Simon noted, after taking off the crown, she was "Looking at me with such contempt.") As the video progresses, Simon begins to look more and more like the Ice King as we know him. His skin takes on a blue tint, his hair begins turning white, and a beard slowly appears on his face. He is increasingly distraught about the loss of Betty, his "princess", and his actions while under the influence of the crown. In the background of the video, we see an airplane flying over modern buildings, evidence of his life before the Mushroom War. Simon is aware that he is losing his mind, yet is unable to control it. In the end, he is accepting of his fate, and he begs for forgiveness for his actions to anyone who might come across his tapes.

When the video ends, it is revealed that the Ice King wasn't afraid of them finding out that he was once a human, rather, he was merely ashamed of having once worn glasses. This shows us he has completely lost and forgotten any trace of his human, past-self, yet his desire to have his beloved Betty back lives on in his obsession with capturing Princesses.

Finn and Jake feel "a fleeting moment of empathy for the biggest weirdo in Ooo ", and from this time on, they gather together once every year and wear Christmas sweaters and watch videos.

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Beemo
 * Ice King

Minor Characters

 * Snow Men
 * Betty (Mentioned and shown in picture.)
 * Wildberry Princess
 * Skunk
 * Gunter

Christmas Party Participants

 * Shelby
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Lady Rainicorn
 * Marceline
 * Small Snow Golem
 * Mini Snow Golem
 * Candy Cane Guy
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Booger
 * Gumdrop Lass
 * Cinnamon Bun
 * Royal Tart Toter
 * Punchy
 * Phil (Also known as Pajama Ninja)
 * Tree Trunks
 * Pig
 * Two-Headed Duck

Songs

 * Alouette
 * Fry Song

Trivia
When we first see Simon, he has no nose, short brown hair, and no beard. But, as the video continues, we see that his nose slowly begins to appear, his hair turns gray/white, and his beard starts to grow in.
 * This is the only episode with a title card remotely similar to its predecessor. Part I's title card had Finn, Jake, and Beemo setting up various traps by a fireplace. Part II had Ice King and several of his penguins successfully sneaking in through the fireplace, although Ice King is covered with traps.
 * At the end of the episode, various characters are seen speechless, including Tree Trunks, Marceline, etc.
 * In the scene where Beemo tries to break the code, there is a pop-up card indicating what viewers are currently watching. It's not from Cartoon Network's control room but is a part of the episode.
 * This episode aired as part of a two-part Holiday Season Special.
 * The Ice King's crown, while also the source of his power, is also revealed to be the source of his insanity.
 * The tale of Ice King is similar to that of Gollum of J.R.R. Tolkien's works: a humanoid being who gains power by way of a precious artifact but becomes twisted in mind and body into an immortal yet strange state. There is also some similarity to the depiction of Batman villain Mr. Freeze, particularly as depicted by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice".
 * In the background of the Ice King's secret-bearing video, the style of the skyline's architecture is a possible indication that Petrikov was a Londoner.
 * Before the snow starts falling, a plane flies by the Ice King's window.
 * This is the first episode where a song was sung, for the second time, in another episode, in this case was the "Fry Song", sung previously in the episode "It Came from the Nightosphere" by Marceline.
 * Ice King resembles Santa Claus a couple of times, first by having a big white beard, then coming down/through the chimney to get in the house, wearing a red tablecloth as clothes, and later having a big red nose from an apple. Also, the Ice King comments one of the Snow Men with the apple on its face similar to the Christmas tale, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
 * The snowmen explore the house silently and become fascinated by the icebox and using fruit as noses - this is likely in reference to classic Christmas short "The Snowman" in which the titular character behaves similarly.
 * There exists the remote possibility that the Ice King's crown itself is sentient, as the Ice King claims it speaks to him. This is also hinted at in What Have You Done?, when the crown is shown crying and apologizing. All these situations likely are just manifestations of the Ice King's delusions.
 * The hallucinations and visions caused by the crown may be the "Stanky Old Wizard Eyes" the Ice King spoke about in "Mortal Recoil".
 * When Jake says "Drama bomb!" it is a reference to when LSP says it in It Came from the Nightosphere
 * In the tapes, a Scientific Parasite can be seen in Ice King's chest pocket on his suit jacket. This implies that he was an intellectual being, which makes sense, since he was a antiquarian. This is also an indication that either: Scientific Parasites existed before the Mushroom War, or that Simon Petrikov did in fact live in the Land of Ooo.
 * When the old Tart Toter turns his head around and he is clung to the ceiling is a reference to a scene in the movie Trainspotting.
 * Though the title card depicts penguins in the house, only Snow Men are inside in the episode.
 * This episode reveals the likely reason why the Ice King became so upset in "Prisoners of Love", because Jake called the Ice King a "big nerd with glasses".
 * Natasha Allegri stated that the reason Marceline was outside the window was that it was supposed to be a reference to her very first on-screen appearance in Evicted!.
 * There appears to be a lot of ice in a freezer when the snowmen were searching for Finn and Jake, but there is barely any ice in Finn and Jake's house in "The Eyes".
 * The Ice King's Crown was revealed to give ice powers in exchange for your sanity in this episode, though Jake has been seen wearing it in Thank You, and Cake has been seen wearing the Ice Queen's Tiara (and using it) in Fionna and Cake. But, Jake and Cake are magic therefore they are not affected by the crown's powers.
 * It is also stated by Fionna when Cake wears the Ice Queen's crown that Cake may "Catch her crazy" by wearing the crown. The fact that the Ice King wrote this story means that he may be aware of the crown's mind changing powers.
 * It is shown that the Ice King has a locket with the pictures of Finn and Jake.
 * The picture of Simon and Betty has an unknown figure in the background.
 * Beemo tries to drink hot cocoa when the ice king looks to see what they're watching, which means it can eat and drink food. But when it drinks it, it just gets on its sweater.
 * When Simon said his body temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, in Fahrenheit his body only dropped 8.6 degrees.
 * If you look in the background when the Ice King breaks into the tree fort, you can see a picture that has a human in a Star Trek outfit on Star Trek planet.
 * When the Ice King first sees Finn and Jake from the side and in Christmas sweaters, Finn is left of Jake. But when the camera views Finn and Jake from the front after Ice King shapes his first Snow Man, the two have swapped places.
 * When Beemo tells Finn that it can crack the code, the music from the title card is heard.