Memory of a Memory

"Memory of a Memory" is the third episode in the third season of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Finn and Jake enter Marceline's mind to awaken her from a sleep spell she had cast on herself, without knowing that they are being tricked by a person from her past.

Plot
Finn and Jake are running through a lake with an armless, rag-clothed wizard on Jake's shoulder. Jake asks Finn why he's running so hard, when the Rag Wizard claims that Marceline is in trouble, and they quicken their pace. Finn asks the wizard how he knows Marceline as they enter the cave where her house is situated, and he claims to be her "spirit animal".

When they eventually get to Marceline's house, they find Marceline unconscious on the ground. The Rag Wizard tells Finn and Jake that Marceline accidentally placed a sleep spell on herself and they must find her Memory Core or else she will sleep forever. The wizard claims that he can't help Marceline himself because he has no arms, and going inside someone's memory can be dangerous. Then, he uses his foot to touch Finn's forehead (which he calls his "thing"), and tells him that his forehead will glow as he gets closer to the memory core. The Rag Wizard then gives them a satchel full of Sleep Powder and tells them to use it on themselves, which they do, and fall asleep almost at once, but not before being warned about the consequences of their failure.

When Finn and Jake supposedly wake up right back where they started, they find themselves in a memory of Marceline as a child in a ruinous city, repairing her Teddy Bear, Hambo. Marceline points them to the cellar door on a house, claiming that it might lead to the memory core, as the two phrases sound similar. The duo go through the cellar door which leads to a brief memory of Marceline at her house, picking her nose and wiping it on the couch. Traveling further, Finn and Jake then find themselves in another memory where Marceline's father is eating her fries and Finn whispers to him warningly, "Yo, man... Don't eat those.".

Finn and Jake soon find a memory where Marceline and her boyfriend, Ash, are moving into their treehouse, and Ash conjures a rose with a happy face that says sweetly, "Marcewine... I wuv... I wuv!". Marceline greatly appreciates this gesture and kisses Ash on the cheek, and he blushes deeply. Confused, Finn and Jake wander into a memory where Ash reveals he sold Marceline's beloved teddy bear Hambo to a witch for a new cherry blossom wand, then insults Marceline by conjuring a ghost from the wand that sings, "You're not a genius, you're not a genius..."

Marceline is furious at Ash for selling her most cherished possession. "You're a psycho jerk and you ruin my life!" Ash pleads with Marceline, but Marceline screams, "IT'S OVER, YOU PSYCHO!!" After this, Finn and Jake slip through a glowing crack in the floor, and after playing "hot-cold" with Finn's glowing forehead, find the of the spell.

The two wake up to find that Rag Wizard actually does have arms, and takes the physical manifestation of Marceline's memory encased in a bubble from them before they awaken fully. His job done, the Rag Wizard wakes Marceline up with an awaken spell. Marceline appears fine, and when Finn and Jake tell them about what happened to her, indicating that their wizard friend helped out, Marceline states that the wizard is not her friend, but her boyfriend Ash, having no memory of their breakup whatsoever. Ash then reveals his plan: He used Finn and Jake to find the memory core, so he could destroy the memory of his and Marceline's break up, not the memory of a sleep spell. Upon destroying the memory, Ash then takes Marceline back to his house.

Finn and Jake follow him to his house where Jake provides a distraction by banging a shovel against a shed, but the shed is actually a Tiny Goblin's house. The Tiny Goblin immediately panics, mistaking Jake for a monster. Jake realizes his mistake and tries to calm the Tiny Goblin, but the Tiny Goblin keeps screaming for help, attracting the attention of Ash, who thinks sees Jake near the Tiny Goblin and chases Jake, being on the warpath against Jake while trying to protect the little neighbor. Having effectively drawn Ash away from the house, Finn breaks in via the chimney and finds Marceline inside, who warns Finn to leave, as Ash doesn't like her hanging out with "mere mortals". Finn agrees to leave, but first shows Marceline some of the sleep powder still in his possession, and blows it into her face, sending her into Finn's memory. Looking through a crack in an open door, Marceline witnesses a chubby baby Finn singing a song to himself in Joshua and Margaret's house. Current Finn finds her and reveals his own memory of viewing Marceline's break up memory to her. Disheartened at her remembrance, Marceline and Finn wake up and go outside, just as Ash emerges from the nearby woods. Ash tells Marceline not to be with Finn. He then orders Marceline into the kitchen to make him a turkey sandwich with tomatoes and pickles, only to be kicked in the privates by Marceline, and jumped on by Finn. Jake then grows (without us seeing it) and stomps on Ash, presumably killing him.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Marceline
 * Ash (Rag Wizard)

Minor characters

 * Marceline's father
 * Tiny Goblin
 * Cherry Blossom Ghost
 * Mrs. Cow (title card only)
 * Joshua (picture)
 * Margaret (picture)
 * Jermaine (picture)
 * Snail

Music
Baby Finn Song

Not A Genius

Trivia

 * This episode was previously titled "Marceline's Mind" as revealed by the storyboard.
 * Mrs. Cow and her PHIL FACE udder appear in the title card, though not in the episode itself.
 * It appears that Ash uses the same spell "Awaken" from the episode Wizard. He might have also used the spell "Sleep" to make Marceline fall asleep.
 * According to the storyboard when the "spirit animal" had originally explained what they had to do to save Marceline, he said they had to look inside her mind and Finn was going to cut open her head to look at her brains.
 * Finn usually wears his backpack, but in the title card he doesn't wear it.
 * After Marceline and Ash drop the red couch when Marceline was moving into the treehouse, she is sitting on the same couch at Ash's house.

Episode connections

 * Marceline's Dad appears briefly eating Marceline's fries, which its true from the song Marceline sung in "It Came from the Nightosphere."

Storyline analysis

 * For more information on how the scenes in this episode relate to Marceline's history, see Marceline/Analysis of Marceline's origin


 * When Finn and Jake enter the first memory, the burning ruins of a city in the background and the derelict tank around Marceline's property are probably evidence that the Mushroom War occurred relatively recently or was going on at that time.
 * There are two memories in this episode that Marceline had talked to Finn and Jake about in previous episodes: when her father ate her fries and when she lived in Finn and Jake's tree fort.

Cultural references

 * The massive Jake foot crushing Ash (and ending the episode) is a reference to British TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, where sketches would abruptly end with a massive weight or object falling from the sky flattening someone or something. The "giant foot" is notable for being the object that ends the opening sequence of every Monty Python introduction as animated by Terry Gilliam.
 * Much of this episode, particularly the way that Finn and Jake travel through Marceline's memories, is a reference to the work of Charlie Kaufman, specifically Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Adam Muto has confirmed that this movie "slightly" influenced the this episode's storyboarders. This episode also seems to have borrowed some thematic and visual queues from the more recent film, Inception, as referenced in the Frederator recap.
 * Ash's haircut is a Devilock, a haircut made popular by the band The Misfits.

Continuity errors

 * When Ash gives Finn and Jake the magic potion in the pouch, he still has it in the next scene.
 * When Marceline entered Finn's memory, her fangs were not pointed.
 * When Ash and Marceline fly out of the cave, it is day outside. But when Finn says he took her, it is nighttime.

Censorship

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

Videos
Video:"Memory of a Memory" Animatic|Animatic