Simon & Marcy

Synopsis
Ice King and Marceline 996 years ago.

Plot
The episode opens with Marceline, Finn, Jake, and the Ice King playing basketball at Marceline's house. Finn and Jake question Marceline on why she invited him, and she explains to them about her long history with the Ice King. The two request her to tell them about their past, as the Ice King comes back from getting water, agreeing. She begins telling a story of them 996 years ago on the same day. It starts with Simon and Marcy finding a dead rat in a mail box and a VHS tape on the ground. Simon jokes around saying that the rat will be a cute new traveling partner and the VHS was a "boring movie, anyway". They then hear a rustle from the woods, and Simon puts his crown on to protect them, even though Marcy is clearly afraid of what the crown does to him. Simon reassures her and says he has to to keep her safe. Once Simon put the crown on his head, its magic makes Simon forget himself. Marcy begs Simon to take off the crown. Simon unmistakingly calls Marcy "Gunter" and tells her to play in the snow as he generates snowflakes to cover her. Simon has no control of himself as he blasts the deer with ice anyway. After seeing it's a deer herself, Marcy throws a snowball to knock Simon's crown off. It takes a little while for the effects from the crown to wear off, and this worries Marcy.

At the end of the day, Simon sets up camp for the two of them. He tries to make her laugh by acting out an episode of "Cheers" for her through a broken television. Marceline has a good laugh, but then begins to cough, making Simon realize she has a low fever. He tells her to sleep. The next day they search for chicken soup, and discover an abandoned soup shop in a nearby town. They find inside the shop only a novelty card, and a weird dangerous slime creature. Simon knocks the creature out by smashing it's face in with his crown. They later find a food truck on top of a broken bridge. They climb up, only to see it's a clam truck called, "The Clambulance". A frustrated Simon asks Marcy to cover her ears as he "curses" and kicks the truck. Suddenly, slime creatures emerge from inside. Simon then pushes the truck off of the bridge causing it to set it's alarm off. This attracts an army of the slime creatures, who chase Simon and Marcy to a dead end. Simon is forced to put his crown on, and tries to stay normal by singing Gary Portnoy's "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (the theme from "Cheers") repeatedly, and after knocking all of the creatures out, takes his crown off. However, this time, the effects of the crown don't go away. Chicken soup and a can opener then fall from a large wad of bubblegum clinging to the side of a building (which may have been related to the creation of Princess Bubblegum or the candy people.) Upon closer inspection, it appears to have a face, which smiles at Simon. He then uses the soup to cure Marcy. Marcy tells Simon she loves him and hugs him. Simon then says "I love you too...Gunter." It then goes back to the present. Marceline finishes the story, by saying that she gets better, and she and Simon live happily ever after (Which makes the Ice King feel happy) He then tells her to keep telling "chump" stories while he scores more baskets, proving he has no recolection of the events himself. The episode ends with Marceline, Finn, and Jake smiling at the Ice King being happy.

Major

 * Ice King
 * Marceline

Minor

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Deer
 * Gunter (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Young Marceline tells Simon that his songs are good, which may be the foundation for her interest in music.
 * Marceline is seven years old and Simon is forty-seven in the flashback in this episode meaning that thier current ages would be 1003 and 1043 respectively.
 * Marceline does not appear to be a complete vampire yet, as she has no bite mark, she cannot fly, and she can withstand exposure to the sun.
 * Simon calls Marceline "Gunther" with the crown on. Later, toward the end of the flashback, he does this again without the crown on. This shows that Simon has fallen deeper into his transformation into the Ice King.
 * The mutagenic effects of the Mushroom Bomb/Mushroom War are seen as creatures oozing goo from open pores through out their bodies appear.
 * A pink gum substance is also seen attached to buildings and trees, in the episode’s end a chicken soup can and Swiss army knife with a spoon is brought down by a Pink gum like substance attached to a building. It is revealed that the Gum like substance has a face startling Simon. This very well maybe the first of the Candy People species.
 * This episode was leaked online before the release on TV.
 * Snail is found on the back bumper of the car Marcy is hiding in when Simon attacks the deer.
 * A Japanese character is shown on a bottle inside the first car Marcy hides in hinting that the duo is possibly in Japan.

Cultural references

 * Ice King sang the song "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," the theme song for the television show "Cheers." He likewise calls out for Norm, a character on the show.

Episode connections

 * Ice King and Marceline were revealed to have known each other from hundreds of years ago in "I Remember You."
 * This episode will be aired as a two-part special with the previous episode, "I Remember You," similar to "Bad Little Boy's" original airing with "Fionna and Cake."
 * The smiling pink goo (sticky and stretched like bubblegum) that gives Simon chicken soup is reminiscent of Princess Bubblegum's melted/incomplete forms in "Mortal Recoil".

Errors

 * During the first airing of this episode, the title card was never shown.

Production notes

 * This is the final episode that Rebecca Sugar worked on before she left to create .
 * This is the seventh episode to be leaked online before its intended air date, after "Fionna and Cake," "Hot to the Touch," "Finn the Human," "Jake the Dog," "Up a Tree," and "Bad Little Boy."