Too Young

"Too Young" is the fifth episode of season three of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
The Earl of Lemongrab takes over the Candy Kingdom due to Princess Bubblegum's age regression, forcing her and Finn to try and get rid of him even if it means a life-altering decision.

Plot
In the beginning of the episode, Finn is in the Candy Kingdom on a "date" with 13-year-old Princess Bubblegum. Finn calls Jake, who is at the Tree Fort playing a game on Beemo. Jake gives Finn some advice for his date and then hangs up to continue his video game. Princess Bubblegum asks Finn to test an Instant Bath Serum that makes the user sweat cleaning agents. However, it ends up being unbearably spicy. Afterwards, Manfried the Talking Pinata announces the arrival of the Earl of Lemongrab, who arrives on his Lemon Horse, believes that the Candy Kingdom is in "unacceptable condition", and asserts that he will take control of the Candy Kingdom until the princess turns 18 again because she is "too young" to rule the kingdom. Though Finn protests, Lemongrab

apparently has this right. Being the creation of Princess Bubblegum from a failed experiment, he assumes the right as the next heir to the throne, having been created for the sole purpose of fulfulling royal duties if Princess Bubblegum herself became unable to do so. A highstrung, strict, overzealous, and true to his name and shape, sour individual, he sentences members of the castle staff to the dungeon with little to no provocation. Finn and PB realize that because Lemongrab is rightful ruler, they must get him to leave the Candy Kingdom of his own accord, and attempt a series of pranks to make him leave.

The first involves making an intricate machine that lowers an insulting sign for the Earl to read upon waking from his nap, which reads, "You really smell like dog buns". The Earl overreacts to this prank immensely, gathering together all of the castle staff and screaming at them to reveal the culprit of the "thing" (the prank). When Peppermint Butler informs Lemongrab that the "thing" was just a prank for laughs, Lemongrab attempts to laugh at it, but fails and sends Peppermint Butler to the dungeon for 12 years, and everyone else for 7 years with no trials. After seeing that the first prank didn't work, PB becomes disheartened, but Finn reassures her that they just need to keep at it, and devises a new prank. They disguise themselves as ghosts, approach Lemongrab in a hallway, punch him in the gut, and knock him to the ground. Even though Lemongrab cries after this prank, he tries to laugh it off and vows to not leave the Candy Kingdom. With Lemongrab not showing any signs of wanting to leave, they run to one of the castle's roofs where Finn devises another prank: dripping the spicy serum from earlier onto his meal and into whatever he tries to soothe the burning with. The Princess accepts the idea, not without flirting with him by sighing and relaxing on his body, which makes him blush and sigh, too. Having released Peppermint Butler from the dungeon early because of his lack of knowledge of where food comes from, Finn and PB hide in the ceiling of Lemongrab's room and prepare to drip the potion onto Lemongrab's meal, but PB's aim is off and accidentally drips the potion into Peppermint Butler eye, causing him to scream in pain. PB tries again, this time hitting the food (a plate of mashed carrots), and upon eating it, Lemongrab turns red, vomits, screams in agony, and falls out the window.

Upon crashing into the ground, he tries to soothe his mouth by eating the chocolate dirt, but PB drips another drop of potion straight into his mouth, resuming the spiciness. Lemongrab hurries out into the forest and tries to grab an apple to placate his searing mouth, but grabs an apple from the branch that Finn, PB, and Peppermint Butler are sitting on, causing Peppermint Butler to fall straight into Lemongrab's mouth, effectively cooling it. Upon seeing who is responsible for the spice-bombing prank, he sentences Finn and Princess Bubblegum to "ONE MILLION YEARS, DUNGEON!!!!". Inside the dungeon, along with the rest of the castle staff, Finn tries to devise a new prank (Hm.. Maybe if we.. set his butt on fire?), but PB realizes the only way to get Lemongrab out of the kingdom is to become 18 again and take back the throne, despite enjoying being a kid again. Finn appears to be saddened by her decision, but understands that there is no other way to save the Candy Kingdom. PB then conveys that she needs candy flesh to increase her biomass back to that of an 18-year old. The Candy People gratiously pitch in and offer parts of themselves for her use. Finn provides the "binding agent" with his saliva.

Finishing the process, Finn catalyzes the pieces with the heat of a "whopping love-hug". Just before PB transforms, she tells Finn she really enjoyed hanging out with him, and regrets having to leave by saying: ''"And I... I wish I could stay, like this, with you, but...". ''As they hug, they share their first kiss. At 18 again, PB kicks Lemongrab out of the kingdom and reclaims her throne with the words "Yo, Earl! Hey, you're fired, ya' butt!". In the end, Finn and Princess Bubblegum watch Lemongrab leave the Candy Kingdom on his Lemon Horse, mumbling angrily to himself. Finn nervously asks PB for another hug, but she jokingly reminds him that that was "five years ago." Finn is greatly disappointed, and calls Jake, who comforts him with advice conceived from his exploits from the videogame he was playing, saying:
 * "It's not easy, but you have to be persistent. You might have to defeat a demon lord, or warp through several worlds. But once you do, you walk up the wizard stairs, and produce your magic key you got in the water world and unlock the chamber door. Then, you walk right up to the princess, and give her a smooch. ...Does that make sense?"

The episode ends with Finn looking up to see a distant Princess Bubblegum in a high tower in the castle as he thinks of walking up to her, repeating the part of Jake's words about the wizard stairs.

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Earl of Lemongrab
 * Peppermint Butler

Minor Charaters

 * Candy People
 * Cinnamon Bun
 * Starchy
 * Chet
 * Chocoberry
 * Manfried
 * Lemon Horse
 * Science (possibly)
 * Jake
 * Gnomes
 * Snail
 * Rainbow Bird

Trivia

 * This episode marks Princess Bubblegum's first appearance in Season 3, making this the first (and only) full episode in her 13-year old form since the events of "Mortal Recoil".
 * Princess Bubblegum reverts back to her old 18 year old self at the end of this episode -- it is revealed when she says "That was like, 5 years ago!" (13+5=18).
 * This is the third time that Jake is not a main character.
 * Princess Bubblegum apparently does not require a specific type of candy flesh to re-agefy herself, a fact that was not mentioned in "Mortal Recoil."
 * Lemongrab technically isn't related in any bloodline to the Princess. Also, technical age seems to not play a part, as the Princess appeared to be 18 when she created Lemongrab. This would make his actual age much younger than the Princess's. However, storyboard artist Jesse Moynihan explained that PB specifically created Lemongrab to take over the kingdom if she became incapacitated. He apparently still had that authority, even though something went wrong during his creation.
 * Snail appears to be no longer possessed by The Lich in this episode, but it is possible that this might be an error, as stated by Adam Muto.
 * An alternate version of the title card shows young PB and Finn about to kiss.
 * Princess Bubblegum may have feelings for Finn (shown when they kissed), but after turning 18, she doesn't seem to remember the kiss, or she doesn't feel the same way about Finn as she did when she was 13.
 * In the title card, it shows that Finn and PB are in a lemon grove, resembling Earl Lemon Grab