The Eyes

"The Eyes" is the second episode of season two of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Finn and Jake can't go to bed because a creepy horse outside of their house won't stop staring at them. They try their best to remove the horse without resorting to violent measures.

Plot
Finn and Jake return home after seven days of sleepless adventure. They recap their adventures and then go to their beds. Finn is quickly woken up when he sees a Horse outside the window, staring at them. Jake shuts the blinds and they go back to sleep. Shortly after, however, the moon appears in the sky and creates a silhouette of the horse in the room. Finn and Jake go outside to try to figure out how to get rid of that horse. Finn tries asking him to leave, but the horse couldn't understand and sticks his tongue out at them while enlarging his pupils. Then Jake diagnoses the horse with "whacked-out poo-brain". They try to push and pull him off the hill, but the horse is in ridiculous weight. Jake extends his size and grabs the horse and puts him down on a far hill. Suddenly, he rushes back. Jake puts a blindfold on the horse so he won't stare at them, but the horse slouches his eyes down to see. Jake then tries to lure the horse away from the hill by playing "Moonlight Sanata" by Beethoven on his viola. Instead, it attracts snakes.

After lots of failed plans, Jake suggests they kill the horse. Finn gets angry at Jake and strongly disagrees. They agree upon dressing the horse as a bunny and letting hawks drag him away. The hawks come and take him. They ran back to their tree fort to sleep. But sadly, the hawks drop the horse inside the house. Finn and Jake begin arguing. Then they realize the horse is tearing them apart and they resolve. Finn gets angry at the horse and kicks the horse in the bottom.

It is revealed that the horse was really Ice King in an inflatable costume. Finn and Jake question Ice King and ask why he was spying on them. Jake thinks that Ice King was trying to learn his bedtime secrets and asks Ice King if he found out that he sleeps in the nude. Ice King does not reply and instead he takes the horse costume and walks away. However, as Ice King is walking out the door, Finn kicks him and then Jake gives Finn his sword. Ice King and Finn start fighting and Ice King knocks Finn's sword out of his hand. Jake jumps in and tries to hurt Ice King, but he throws Finn and Jake into a group of snakes. During this fight, Finn and Jake keep asking why Ice King was spying, but Ice King refuses to tell. Ice King tries using one of his ice powers, but all this does is make a couple of ice cubes hit Finn and Jake.

Finn kicks off Ice King's crown and then chucks him at the wall. Ice King is then sitting on the ground, Finn holding a sword to his throat. They threaten that if Ice King doesn't tell them why he's been stalking them, they'll cut off his stupid head. Ice King admits that he wanted to know how to be happy. He says that he is always so glum, but when he sees Finn and Jake, they always look like they're having fun. Ice King explains that he dressed as a horse to spy on them and learn to be happy but before Ice King can finish, Finn and Jake fall asleep by his sides. Ice King questions if all he needs to be happy is a good night's sleep. He closes his eyes next to them and, after a short pause, says he is still not happy.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Ice King
 * Horse

Minor characters

 * Hawks
 * Snake

Flashback characters

 * Slime Princess
 * Wildberry Princess
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Dragon
 * Townspeople
 * Sheriff
 * Bandito
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Lumpy Space Mom
 * Lumpy Space Dad
 * Duck
 * Ducklings
 * Dead Goblin
 * Penguins
 * Snail

Music

 * Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
 * Moonlight Sonata
 * Ride of the Valkyrie
 * Symphony No. 5 In C Minor

Trivia

 * Some of the pieces Jake plays on his viola to try to lure the horse away are Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven and Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. ﻿He also plays the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th (after realizing Beethoven wasn't working) and several notes of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyrie.
 * The appearance of the creepy horse was inspired by the "Shetland Pony" in Kate Beaton's webcomic, Hark! A Vagrant.
 * When Jake goes to get his viola, his arms spell out a cursive "Yo."
 * The blind fails because the moon creates a silhouette of the horse, leading Finn and Jake to take different approaches. Almost as soon as they pull the blind back up, the moon has risen and the shadow is no longer in their room.
 * Jake incorrectly pronounces the names of the composers who wrote the songs he played on his viola. Example: Mozart: correct pronunciation Moats-art. Jake's pronunciation: Mah-zert. Beethoven: correct pronunciation Bay-toe-ven. Jake's pronunciation: Beet-hoe-ven. This is likely due to possible miscommunications throughout the passage of time, as the story takes place over 1000 years in the future.
 * When Ice King flies out of the horse balloon, he pulls out a cork, releasing the air from it. However, when he is explaining why he was spying on Finn and Jake, it shows penguins putting a costume on him, not a balloon.
 * This episode is shown in an abridged version during commercial breaks on Cartoon Network ("Hey! Finn and Jake have the feeling that they're being watched!") that goes on until Finn kicks the horse in its butt and coughs up the Ice King. This is one of three episodes shown in commercial breaks (the others are "City of Thieves" and "Dungeon").
 * An edited version of this episode was shown as part of AMC Theaters' "First Look" pre-show programming in late 2010 and early 2011.
 * When Finn says that a snake is in his underpants, it is shown that the underpants look too small. This possibly means that Finn wore it as an infant, and kept it ever since.
 * The concept of Finn and Jake dealing with a threat after an exhausting period of adventuring echos the unproduced episode Brothers in Insomnia.
 * The dead goblin might be a reference to the dead alcoholic goblin Easter egg from the video game "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion."
 * Jake remarks, "I didn't want to have to use my powers on you, horse - 'cause I'm so sleepy." He then proceeds to grow large in strain and place the horse far away, but he rushes back. However, when reaching for his viola, instead of simply reaching in and grabbing it and saving energy, he spells a cursive "Yo" which would take MORE energy, and completely forgot about his previous statement.
 * It is revealed that Jake sleeps nude.
 * Even though the hawks are going away from the Tree Fort the horse dropped from the roof of their home. Probably the hawks realize that it is not a rabbit and returned the horse.
 * Ice King's eyes look a little bigger in this episode. This could be a reference to the episode's title "The Eyes."

Censorship

 * This episode was censored on Cartoon Network Australia. See Censorship of Adventure Time in Australia for more information