Wizard Battle

"Wizard Battle" is the eighth episode in season three of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Finn and Jake enter a competition for wizards in disguise so they can prevent Ice King from winning the grand prize: a kiss from Princess Bubblegum.

Plot
The episode begins with Finn singing the Wizard Battle song in a large arena, where he joins Jake. The wizard contestants arrive in the arena and the Grand Master Wizard announces the rules of the battle. He says that weapons and science are not allowed and they must fight with spells from "the eight schools of magic." Finn and Jake meet the Ice King, who reveals that he is going to cheat to win. The GMW then announces that the grand prize is a kiss from Princess Bubblegum, although some of the wizards refuse to fight for one kiss from her and are transformed into cats by the GMW.

After the grand prize is revealed, Finn decides to enter the battle to prevent the Ice King from kissing PB, while Jake believes the real reason is he just wants to kiss her. They enter the arena and hit the pile of weapons left behind by participants and disguise themselves in some discarded clothing. They plan to hide behind a rock and wait for all the other wizards to defeat each other, and meets a wizard called Abracadaniel who explains to them that everyone is waiting for the sorcerers of opposite elements to face each other first. He then tells them that he entered the competition only because he believed that the prize would be money, and that if he wins he would refuse to kiss PB. Finn then decides to help him win to "save the lips of PB."

The three eventually face the Ice King, who has been using a weapon to help him win. Finn whispers to Abracadaniel his plan of how defeat Ice King: When Ice King draws his nunchucks he will transform it into a butterfly and re-transform it into its original form to fall on Ice King's head, knocking him out. After defeating the Ice King, Abracadaniel feels more confident of himself as a real wizard and Finn forfeits, since he just wanted to defeat Ice King. Abracadaniel then says that he has become a man "who deserves a kiss from a princess," cauing Finn to scream at him, knocking him out. With no wizards left, Finn is declared the winner and is sent to the locker room to prepare himself to kiss PB.

In the locker room, Jake is able to get Finn to confess his real motive for saving PB, which is that he actually wanted to be the one to kiss her, and that hiding his feelings is exhausting. When Finn finally appears to kiss Princess Bubblegum, he explains to her that he just entered the Wizard Battle because Ice King was going to cheat and he didn't want him to kiss her. PB, pleased for all the trouble Finn went to help her, kisses him for being sweet and also gives him a slap on the face for cheating, since he entered in an only-wizards battle. Then she tells to everyone to go home and prepare for the next year's Wizard Battle.

Characters
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Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Ice King
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Grand Master Wizard
 * Abracadaniel

Minor characters

 * Peppermint Butler

Minor wizards

 * Naked Wizard
 * BUFO
 * Forest Wizard
 * 2 Old Wizards (neither are Jeremy)
 * 4 Wizard Students
 * Rock Wizard
 * Science Wizard
 * Weaponhead
 * Laser Wizard
 * Huntress Wizard
 * Brain Wizard
 * Lady Wizards
 * Fire Goat Wizard
 * Four-Arm Wizard
 * Cyclops Wizard

Other audience members (cameos)

 * Candy People
 * Starchy
 * Mr. Candy Cane
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Pajama Ninja
 * Bears
 * Emerald Princess
 * Crocodile with Party Hat

Music

 * Wizard Battle (song)
 * Ultimate Prize (song)

Trivia

 * This episode marks the return of several characters from the first season, including BUFO and the Naked Wizard.
 * This is the second episode where Princess Bubblegum kisses Finn on the lips, the first being "Too Young." However this is the first time kissing Finn on the lips when she is 18.
 * The Snail appears in Grand Master Wizard's sleeve while he was playing with his cat.
 * Finn may not be the only known character who put on a disguise to attempt to enter Wizard Battle: there is speculation that the Science Wizard is in actuality Dr. Princess, but she was caught before she could take part in combat.
 * When Brain Wizard asks if it is an open mouth kiss, the door behind him is closed. But after The Grand Master Wizard says it is not an open mouth kiss, it goes back to Brain Wizard, and the door is open.
 * This is the episode where Finn finally admits to Jake he likes Princess Bubblegum.