The Lich (episode)

Synopsis
Finn is led by "Billy" on a quest to save the world and beyond from The Lich.

Plot
The episode begins with Finn having a dream about the Cosmic Owl screeching, Billy kissing his lady, and the bear and the snail reading the Enchiridion. At one point, while he is laughing, Billy's image flickers to The Lich and back again. Suddenly, the snail kills Billy and Finn wakes up. He tells Jake about his dream and Jake says it is a premonition dream. He then says they should go tell Billy because he was in the dream and then drives Finn to Billy's Crack.

Once there, Billy yells at them saying that its 3 in the morning and asks why they are there. Finn says that they wanted to make sure he wasn't dead, to which Billy asks why they would think that, and Finn proceeds by explaining about the dream. Billy asks them if they want to save all life from the Lich and they agree. After they head out. Billy tells them that they need to collect all the magical gems from all the princesses and Ice King's power crystals that protect them from the Lich.

After some time spent collecting crystals, the group stops to rest for a bit and Jake asks Billy how many more crystals they need. Billy indicates that there is 1 left. Finn gets hungry and rummages through Billy's knapsack looking for candy, finding the Enchiridion after being smacked out by Billy and asking why he had it. Billy says that he found it in the mouth of a bear and Finn blushes with embarrassment as he remembers giving the book away to the bear. Billy says it has magical powers and tells him to turn the sword on the cover of the book which Finn does. The circle on the front opens up showing 9 slots where all the gems go in mystically (except Lumpy Space Princess's whom just falls over the book) and shows a brief diagram about what would happen if all the slots where filled. At first, Jake and Finn wonder what all the holograms are, but Billy uses the blue crystal on his face to activate another hologram. A man named Book-o (who bears a resemblance to a Key-per) appears and explains what the first set of holograms represent, which is all the known universes and dimensions, and how they are connected. Jake tries to play around with it, but it frightens him and he calls it off. Book-o goes on to mention that in the center of the universe is the Time Room where Prismo dwells. Billy states that he's going to push the Lich into there, seemingly to place the Lich in non-existence.

They then go to the Candy Kingdom to get Princess Bubblegum's crystal (she is experimenting with little creatures, cutting off their legs and reattaching them) and Finn breaks through the roof, failing at trying to do so quietly, and after regaining himself, asks for the crystal on her crown. Princess Bubblegum is shocked and refuses, forcing Finn to grab it without explaining why, during which, Princess Bubblegum accidentally slices Finn's cheek with the scissors she is still holding from her experiments. They stare at each other for a brief moment, both stunned, and Princess Bubblegum says "That was an accident." Finn hisses, removes the gem aggressively from her crown, drops the crown and is grasped by Jake who stretches out of the room from the hole Finn made when he fell in. Finn and Jake run off with the gem with Princess Bubblegum not far behind who has taken the stairs. Once outside, he then puts it in the final slot and the book's pieces start to fall off as the Enchiridion turns black (or to some rock-looking substance) after the pieces of the cover slide off and/or illuminate. Princess Bubblegum runs out telling him that Billy is really the Lich and not to give him the book.

Just as she says this, one of the Gumball Guardians gets up and blasts Billy, detecting the Lich's presence, thus revealing half of the Lich's true face. The Lich then asks for the book. Finn realizes that the Lich "messed Billy up" and after dodging a grasp from him, smashes the book with his knee, but that action accidentally opens up a wormhole, to which the Lich is pleased and thanks Finn, tauntingly. As the Lich tries to pass through, Jake grabs him, reacting to Princess Bubblegum's request, and stretches as to not go through. Jake, though, is slowly being dragged into the portal as the ground under him gives way. Finn tries to stop Jake from getting pulled in but instead is pulled in with him. The scene changes to a boy (who is called Finn) who looks and sounds similar to the Finn (but looks like the version of him from the floor mirror in "King Worm", with a robotic arm, a nose and white eyes with black pupils), from the Land of Ooo, playing his flute with a regular dog who looks just like Jake, then his mother (Who is temporarily named: Finn's Mother, until further notice) calls him in for what she says is "something important" and the episode ends mysteriously as he heads inside with his dog towards a small house with a barn next to it.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * The Lich
 * Billy (in appearance, but really the Lich in disguise)
 * Princess Bubblegum

Minor characters

 * Finn's Mother
 * Alternate Universe Finn
 * Booko (The Enchiridion)
 * Prismo (Mentioned)
 * Ice King
 * Engagement Ring Princess
 * Emerald Princess
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Embryo Princess
 * Hot Dog Princess
 * Gumball Guardian

Dream characters

 * Bear
 * Snail
 * Old Lady
 * Cosmic Owl
 * Billy
 * The Lich (character)

Trivia

 * During Finn's dream, when Billy is laughing he switches to the Lich in one frame then back.
 * On the back of the Enchiridion, three numbers from the Fibonacci sequence can be seen.
 * Lumpy Space Princess' royal star does not possess magic similar to the gems of Ooo royalty. Instead it makes her fly, and is seen falling to the side instead of taking a place in the circle of magic gem holes in the book. It is unknown if it protects Lumpy Space Princess from the Lich's mental control like the other gems. The gems that the book contained fell to the ground after the portal closed, but what happened to Lumpy Space Princess' gem is unknown.
 * However when the gems were drawn to the book, Lumpy Space Princess' gem was pulled by the magical force, though it is possible it was carried along somewhat by the other gems and their attraction to the Enchiridion
 * The computer monitor that Finn is looking at in his dream has a similar appearance to an iMac G3.
 * Billy never physically touched the gems, which was foreshadowing that it was not Billy, but the Lich. When Finn tried to let Billy carry a gem, he refused.
 * Another hint could be that Billy had said he found the Enchiridion in the mouth of a bear, yet it was directly delivered to the Lich, even though Finn and Jake had no idea that the Bear ever delivered the book to the snail possessed by the Lich.
 * Also worth noting is "Billy" was unable to speak to Jake while he was using his head as a gem holder. As seen in the Lich's orignal appearance, the Lich cannot communicate with anyone wearing a magical gem on their head.
 * In Finn's dream, when the Lich goes in Billy's body, he goes through his heart located beneath Billy's beard.
 * On the Enchiridion's lock appears Tolkien's elven alphabet.
 * In the portal, a shred of land appears to be in the shape of Texas.
 * When Jake enhances the hologram on the map of the multiverse on their dimension, Earth is shown as the second planet from the sun and not the third. Also, Earth can be seen to have a large portion of mass missing from it.
 * "Ex Hibio Conatum" which Billy chants to reveal the holographic map means "Prohibits from Attempt" in Latin.
 * The gems used for the Enchiridion match with many of the characters that Finn and Jake take them from; however there are several gems that don't match any known characters, including a deep blue, yellow and violet gem. A light green gem is also seen, however three potential princesses possess the gem whom they could have taken it from: Slime Princess, Jungle Princess or Turtle Princess.
 * Further, both Hot Dog Princess and Embryo Princess have the gem that could have been used for the red round gem in the southern part, with Finn and Jake taking gems from both.

Cultural references

 * The tapestry with the unicorn in Finn's dream is based on "The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead" which is part of "The Hunt of the Unicorn," a series of famous tapestries. The four dogs in the cave could be same as the one on "The Hunters Enter the Woods" tapestry.
 * Princess Bubblegum playing around with the little clay/candy people and cutting them up could be a reference to the Adventures of Mark Twain.
 * When Booko talks about "items of great power," a hologram of someone using a paddle ball is shown.

Episode connections

 * When the Lich (as a snail) is reading an enchantment in Finn's dream, a page flies in front of Billy's face. This page is the first page of Chapter 5 ("How to Kiss a Princess"), which was first seen in "The Enchiridion!"
 * When Finn mentions the Cosmic Owl was in his dream, Jake claims it was a premonition dream, similar to his own in "The New Frontier."
 * This is Billy's first reappearance since "His Hero." Although it was the Lich who had taken the appearence of Billy to trick Finn and Jake into helping him.
 * The strange-looking Finn appears when Finn looks in the mirror in "King Worm" indicating that the mirror might have looked into alternate universes.
 * The concept of Finn having a prosthetic arm has also previously arisen in "King Worm," "Mortal Folly," and the Adventure Time comic.
 * The strap on Finn's chest is brown instead of green like it was in "King Worm."
 * The bear returns for the first time since "In Your Footsteps."
 * Book-o resembles the Key-per from "The Enchiridion!" and the Door Lord from "What was Missing."
 * The flute that Finn is playing in the alternate universe at the end of the episode is also seen in "Prisoners of Love," although the flute looked more damaged before Finn threw it, which caused it to break.

Errors

 * Finn claims that in his dream, the Cosmic Owl was on television; however, he was actually viewing it on a computer monitor. However, this may be attributed to Finn's laid-back vernacular or it could actually be a television.
 * Though Billy is normally seen to have 6 fingers (5 and a thumb) on a single hand, when he picks Finn up to ask if he's ready for the next adventure, Finn appears to be standing in a hand with 7 fingers (6 and a thumb). This could just as easily be a bit of additional foreshadowing that it wasn't actually Billy, but for the rest of the episode, "Billy" has 6 fingers (easily seen while eating a sandwich or while preparing to jump in the snow).
 * When Finn realizes that Billy is the Lich, Jake's nose is the color of his skin; not black
 * When Finn goes inside Billy's saddle bag and gets slapped out it disappears for a second.
 * When Princess Bubblegum reattaches the little creature's limbs for the first time and sets him down, his right arm is missing; it reappears when he falls over.

Videos
Adventure Time - The Lich (short preview)|Short preview. Adventure Time - The Lich (long preview)|Long preview. "The Lich" Animatic|The animatic.