The Vault

Synopsis
When Finn starts sleepwalking and dreaming about the Green Lady he filed away in his memory vault, Jake and BMO help him tap into his repressed memories to uncover a secret past.

Plot
This episode begins with Finn in the kitchen in the middle of the night making a midnight snack. Suddenly, the Ghost Lady emerges from the floor and begins hugging or attacking Finn. Finn screams and Jake and BMO wake up to find out what the matter is.

Jake tells Finn that in order to solve this problem, he must visit his "vault" and find out who the scary lady is. Finn promptly declines. Later, Jake comes to Finn claiming BMO has a new game. But when he turns it on, it's actually a hypnosis that makes Finn visit his Vault.

As Finn goes into his hypnotic state he explains to Jake his past lives which included a comet, a Butterfly, a "thing," and the scary lady from his dream. He soon goes through the scary lady's life, where her name is revealed to be Shoko, who is a common thief who steals items for clients in exchange for money. The scene continues with Shoko and her pet tiger accepting a job from Bath Boy Gang leader to steal Princess Bubblegum's amulet.

Shoko prepares to leave but the Bath Boy Gang leader stops her to tell her that if she fails to retrieve the amulet she'd be killed. Shoko sneaks into Princess Bubblegum's castle by pretending to be knocked unconscious by the Bath Boy Gang. Princess Bubblegum "rescues" Shoko and treats her wounds. Soon Shoko explains to Princess Bubblegum her past life where she explains her parents sold her left arm for a computer. Princess Bubblegum is outraged by this news and explains that parents are supposed to protect their children. Shoko takes Princess Bubblegum's words to heart and the two form a friendship. Shoko considers staying with Princess Bubblegum but a spy from the Bath Boy Gang threatens to tell the Bath Boy Gang leader that she quit the life for a "cruddy day job." Fearing for her life Shoko "pretends" to beat up the spy which results in high praise from Princess Bubblegum. Princess Bubblegum then requests Shoko's help on creating the Gumball Guardians. Once the Gumball Guardians are created Princess Bubblegum tells Shoko she has a surprise for her where she gets the young Peppermint Butler to bring out a wooden box. Shoko opens up the wooden box to find Princess Bubblegum had created Shoko a mechanical arm to replace the one her parent's sold. Shoko starts to tear up and makes up the excuse that she has to go back to her room.

Shoko places the mechanical arm on her left stub and cries as she remembers the threat that the Bath Boy Gang leader told her before she left. Shoko silently apologizes to Princess Bubblegum while crying. The scene cuts to Princess Bubblegum sleeping and the Gumball Guardian asking rather loudly if Princess Bubblegum is okay. Princess Bubblegum tells the Gumball Guardian that she's fine and to go watch over the other candy citizens. Once the Gumball Guardian is gone Shoko sneaks into Princess Bubblegum's room and reaches for her amulet. However, the Gumball Guardian catches her in the act and wakes up Princess Bubblegum. Shoko panics and swipes the amulet off of Princess Bubblegum's neck and prepares to jump onto the platform below. However, she is blasted by the Gumball Guardians laser eyes causing the wall to cave in and Shoko to fall into the river of chemical waste below her. Princess Bubblegum orders the Gumball Guardians to rescue her but the moment one of the Gumball Guardians places his hand into the toxic waste his hand melts. Princess Bubblegum tells the Gumball Guardians to take a break for the night and looks on in sorrow as Shoko's pet tiger settles down by the toxic waste. She watches on for a few more moments before turning her back on the river of chemicals. BMO flashes "end of session" before turning off with a loud beep which wakes up Finn from his hypnotic state.

Jake asks Finn how he's doing which Finn says that the "past must be reckoned with." He then proceeds to call Princess Bubblegum requesting her to come over right away which Princess Bubblegum agrees to. The scene cuts back to where Shoko fell into the chemical waste. The waste ripples and soon a transformed Shoko, who looks just like the scary lady from Finn's dream, crawls out of the waste. Shoko crawls to a tiny tree, soon to be Finn's tree house, and talks about how cool it is that she has a two arms now. She then states that it'd be cooler if she "wasn't about to hit her reset button" before dying by the tree.

The scene cuts back to Finn's tree house and Princess Bubblegum has arrived. Finn leads Princess Bubblegum to the kitchen where he proceeds to knock over his oven and tear up a bunch of planks. Once Finn is finished tearing up the planks it reveals a hollowed out hole where Shoko in Ghost form is hiding behind. Shoko hands Finn the long lost amulet before disappearing. This reveals that the scary lady was indeed Shoko who only "haunted" Finn in hopes of returning Princess Bubblegum's amulet. Finn hands Princess Bubblegum the amulet where Princess Bubblegum exclaims "Oh wow my amulet!" in shock. She looks past Finn and sees Shoko's skeleton and realizes who the skeleton belongs too. Finn cuts her off from saying anything by stating that he's Shoko and states that Princess Bubblegum isn't 19 but rather a "bazillion years old." Princess Bubblegum laughs nervously and Finn looks back at the hollowed out hole where a normal Shoko gives him the thumbs up. Finn comments that his Vault feels lighter.

Characters

 * Finn
 * Shoko
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Bath Boy Gang
 * Bath Boy Gang leader

Minor Characters

 * Jake
 * Gumball Guardians
 * Banana Guards
 * Shoko's Tiger
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Mr. Cream Puff
 * BMO
 * Lady Rainicorn (mentioned)
 * Snail

Trivia

 * Finn's sleeping suit looks different in this episode. It's goes all the way up to his head and has the two bumps on it like his hat.
 * This episode proves that Princess Bubblegum is at least 300 years old.
 * In this episode is seen the Candy Kingdom in construction as well as the early Candy People
 * The radioactive waste in the Candy Kingdom most likely originated from the Mushroom War.
 * The tree Shoko dies under later grows into the tree that the treehouse is built upon, her body perhaps acting as a fertilizer to make it grow as big as it is in the present.
 * The promo art depicts Shoko's mother trading Shoko's arm for the laptop, as stated in the episode.

Cultural references

 * The game (entitled "regression simulator") that Jake loads on BMO to trigger the Vault opening looks very similar to the indie game Super Hexagon.
 * The "regression simulator" is similar to "," in which the main character experiences many of his ancestor's lives.
 * In the scene where Princess Bubblegum spoke to Shoko, Princess Bubblegum said amen which is Hebrew for so be it. Amen is a phrase used to end many Christian prayers as a sign of agreement. The expression "amen" is also used colloquially in quips resembling "amen to that brother," which depending on its context may have little religious significance.
 * The outfit Princess Bubblegum wore is similar to outfits the Japanese wore in their farming era. "Shoko" is a Japanese name.
 * Shoko riding a white tiger may be a reference to "Princess Mononoke" in which the main character, San, rode a white wolf to battle.
 * The game Finn comments on that Lady likes to play, where you collect resources, is a possible reference to Minecraft.

Episode connections

 * The episode title refers to "The Creeps," when Finn first experiences the "Ghost Lady" and places his memory of the incident in "The Vault" of his mind.
 * During the past sequence, Mr. Cream Puff is confirmed to have been Bubblegum's boyfriend, as she reveals in "Slumber Party Panic" when trying to revive him.
 * The robotic arm that Princess Bubblegum gives to Shoko is similar to Finn's in the episodes "Finn the Human," "Jake the Dog," "King Worm," and "Puhoy."
 * This episode continues the motif of each of Finn's alternate selves, with the exception of the fictional Fionna, having a robotic arm. ("Finn the Human" and "Puhoy.")
 * In one of the flashbacks of Finn's past lives, it is shown that he was once a butterfly. This could reference the episode "Still," as his Astral Beast is a bunch of butterflies.
 * The Bath Boy Gang base is the haunted house as seen in "The Creeps." This explains why Finn had a vision of her haunting it in the episode.
 * The hideout/base of the Bath Boy Gang is also similar to the hideout/base of the Destiny Gang.

Errors
Shoko's skeletal remains has black hair, despite her having green hair upon death.