Goliad (episode)

"Goliad" is the tenth episode in season four of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Princess Bubblegum is concerned over her mortality and reveals her designated successor to Finn and Jake. However, things start go out of control when the heir turns against Princess Bubblegum.

Plot
While Finn and Jake are doing activities near the Candy Kingdom, Peppermint Butler informs them that Princess Bubblegum wants to see them. The princess explains that after her brush with death at the hands of the Lich, she realized she can't live forever, so she used science and some of her DNA to create a heir that could live forever. The heir is Goliad, a pink Sphinx with a welt on her forehead and the voice of a young child. Finn and Jake introduce themselves to Goliad, who takes a liking to them. After Princess Bubblegum plucks one of Finn's hairs, he notices that she's extremely exhausted. She explains that she's been awake for 83 hours straight, teaching Goliad about how to be a ruler. Finn and Jake volunteer to look after Goliad while the princess rests, and she agrees.

The two friends take Goliad to a preschool, where Finn builds an obstacle course. Jake introduces Goliad to the other children, but is dismayed to find that they are extremely unruly and poorly behaved. Jake is forced to yell at the children to make them stop assaulting him. Goliad imitates Jakes harsh discipline, yelling at the children in an attempt at being a leader. Finn rebukes Goliad, and suggests that she use her brain to lead instead of force. Goliad reveals her long, third eye and psychically controls Finn and the obstacles in the course for a perfect completion. She explains that with her in control, everything would be perfect. Worried about Goliad's behavior, Finn and Jake take her to the princess for help.

Princess Bubblegum tries to teach Goliad that compromise is the best way to rule, citing how a bee and a flower help each other. Goliad counters by explaining that the bee doesn't care if it hurts or kills the flower because the flower is weaker. Goliad states that she is the strongest so she is in control. Princess Bubblegum thinks to herself that Goliad has been corrupted and would need to be disassembled and started from scratch, but Goliad reveals she can read minds and begins to destroy the castle. Princess Bubblegum tells Finn and Jake that Goliad is too powerful to be defeated by them. She instructs them to distract Goliad long enough to create another Candy Sphinx to fight back, and that they need to not think about the plan or Goliad will find out.

Finn and Jake confront Goliad but are beaten by her psychic powers. Goliad tries to read Finn's mind, and Finn narrowly avoids revealing the plan by interrupting his memories with nonsense. The new creature; another sphinx with an eagle's head, white feathers, and golden hair; rescues Finn and battles Goliad. Goliad tries to convince her brother, named Stormo, that they should work together, but Stormo refuses by screeching. They engage in a psychic showdown, but with their powers matched the two creatures are eternally locked in a mental stalemate. Princess Bubblegum tells Finn that Stormo was created using DNA from the hair she took earlier, and thus inherited Finn's heroic qualities. That was why he saved Finn instead of controlling them, and why he sacrificed himself to keep Goliad in check for all eternity. Finn realizes that Stormo is like a son to him, and wishes him a Happy Birthday.

Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Goliad
 * Candy People
 * Candy Nanny
 * Candy Children
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Cinnamon Buns
 * Chet
 * Marshmallow Kids
 * Stormo
 * The Lich (mentioned)
 * Snail
 * Baby Finn

Trivia

 * On the title card it looks like Goliad being formed
 * PB has a scientific parasite in her coat pocket.
 * On Princess Bubblegum's chalkboard, she has drawn something similar to a Carbon trioxide.
 * When Goliad says "Hi Finn" she sounds exactly like Princess Bubblegum when she was 13 years old.
 * Cinnamon Bun was used to create Goliad and possibly her brother.
 * Goliad and her brother, Stormo, may possibly make cameos in the up-coming shows.
 * Goliad tried to establish a tolitarian (or dictatorship) over the Candy Kingdom.
 * Goliad was able to talk, but Stormo wasn't, probably because Goliad has a tooth.
 * Baby Finn makes a small cameo in this episode singing " Baby Finn" to distract Finn from revealing the plan to Goliad.
 * It maybe possible that when Goliad used her psychic power on Finn, she forced him to stop breathing, because Finn was heavily coughing afterwards.
 * Stormo is Finn's second "son", the first is NEPTR.
 * This would make Goliad his "half-daughter" and Princess Bubblegum his "wife", by reason.
 * A dolphin made its third apperance in the series and the dolphin head made its second apperance.
 * Princess Bubblegum hadn't slept for 83 hours, which is equivelent to about 3 days and 11 hours.
 * So far, this is the only episode to have a song that was previously played in a different episode (not counting title card songs).
 * "Goliad" is the name of a town in Texas where the second battle of the Texas Revolution took place. It can also be vaguely translated from Latin to mean "Meet Goliath."
 * Peppermint Butler traveling underground may be a reference to the way Bugs Bunny travels underground.
 * Both Goliad and Stormo are sphinxes, creatures that in legend possess attributes of three creatures: the human, the lion and a large bird. However both appear to possess attributes different from typical sphinxes: Goliad possesses no bird attributes except the feathers around her neck and has a head similar to a human child; while Stormo has the head of a bird, even though it was created from the DNA of a human. (Finn)
 * The contrasts of Goliad and Stormo further identify the different attributes of the Sphinx in myth: in Greek lore the Sphinx is female and considered an evil monster, while the Egyptians make the Sphinx male and see it as a noble guardian and protector. (such as the one that rests near the Great Pyramids of Giza)
 * Princess Bubblegum was not wearing her royal crown for the entire episode.

Episode connections

 * Princess Bubblegum refers to the events of "Mortal Folly" and "Mortal Recoil" in this episode.
 * When Finn tries to block Goliad out of reading his mind, he distracts himself by remembering Baby Finn singing the Baby Finn Song from "Memory of a Memory"

Errors

 * If you look closely, You can see Goliad's tounge is unknown.
 * When PB was recalling the event of taking Finn's strand of hair, she was dressed in her night gown instead of lab coat.

Videos
Adventure Time - Goliad (short preview)|The short preview. Adventure Time - Goliad (long preview)|The long preview.