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"Henchman" is the twenty-second episode in the first season of Adventure Time. It's the twenty-second episode overall.

Synopsis[]

Finn takes the place of Marceline's henchman, and he finds out how hard it is to obey her strange ways.

Plot[]

Finn and Jake are playing on a monster's skeleton when Marceline appears behind some nearby bushes, spying on them. Finn hears someone crying in the distance and goes to investigate, discovering Marceline and the Old Man Henchman. Marceline is arguing with the Old Man Henchman, who wants to be released from his servitude because he is old and feeble, although given his nimbleness as he flees this was clearly just a trap for Finn. When Finn and Jake rush to his aid, she begins ordering the Old Man Henchman to do unusual tasks for her to torment them. Finn pities the Old Man Henchman so he offers to take his place as Marceline's henchman. Jake tries to talk Finn out of it, but Marceline scares him away and then flies off with Finn.

They land at a nearby house, and Marceline orders Finn to open the door. Finn refuses to do so, stating that he would not if innocent people would be hurt. Marceline reminds him that he is her henchman and has no choice in the matter, and so he opens the door for her. Marceline tells Finn to hold down the victim, Eberhardt, and Finn says that he was sorry before doing as he was ordered. Finn thinks Marceline is going to suck Eberhardt's blood and attempts to stop her, but Marceline disables Finn's arms temporarily. Finn is horrified when Marceline sinks her teeth into Eberhardt, but she was actually sucking the red out of his bowtie. Eberhardt is incredibly happy with his new white bowtie and Marceline reminds Finn that she eats the color red, not just blood. During this, Jake is watching through a window, claiming that he has a plan to relieve Finn of his henchman duties. Marceline notices this, and turns into a strange snake-like figure, to scare Jake. He runs into the nearby bushes, screaming "I'm not running away, Finn! This is just part of my plan!"

The two leave Eberhardt's house, and Finn is trying to figure out what is wrong with Marceline. Marceline asks Finn, "Thinking about how that dude's bowtie sort of looked like a bra?" to which he says, "No!" They then stop by a graveyard. Marceline revives all the skeletons to form an army using a resurrection chant. Marceline exclaims, "Are you ready to lead an evil army of the undead?!" Finn shouts, "Never!" but a skeleton "persuades" him into doing it. While they march toward the Duke and Duchess of Nuts' castle, Finn then runs ahead and tries to warn them, but when Marceline finally arrives, it turns out that she was performing for them because it is the Duke of Nuts' second son's first birthday. Finn begins to notice the pattern in Marceline's orders and thinks a little about the situation before being interrupted by Lisby the Cashew Butler. He convinces him to stop thinking and just party.

Marceline then presents Finn with a cute dimple plant and offers him some of the fruit before ordering him to slay it with her ax-bass. Finn attempts to work out the trick to his latest order, unsure as to why she would ask him to kill something so cute. Finn hesitates and the plant grows huge and malicious. He tries to slay the plant but ends up being swallowed by it. Marceline kills the plant and Finn cuts his way out of its stomach. Finn then realizes that all her "evil" commands are really tricks that just seem evil and are only to mess with his head. The next day, the two go out for a walk in strawberry fields out in the sun.

Marceline brings along an umbrella and Finn asks if the sun can destroy her. She answers, "Yeah, it hurts, but I kinda like it. Reminds me of when I'd scrape up my knee as a kid and my mom patching me up afterwards." Finn responds by saying that Jake told him that he came out of a cabbage. Marceline then asks Finn if he wants to go strangle some pixies with her and Finn agrees. She is surprised by his casual attitude about it, saying pixie strangling is "hard core evil" and Finn tells her he knew that her evil deeds were not so evil after all. Marceline jokingly berates him for taking so long to figure out that she was not so bad. Suddenly, Jake (cleverly disguised as a giant strawberry) leaps at Marceline and throws garlic at her, causing her to drop her umbrella and become exposed to the sun. Marceline falls to the ground, weakened, blistered, and in agony. Finn tells Jake that Marceline is not as evil as she seems, but Jake believes he is under a vampire spell of some sort. Marceline hides herself under her umbrella and Finn rushes over to it, lifting up one side telling her a plan he just thought of.

Jake leaps forwards and puts a stake through it, lifting up the umbrella to reveal a cloud of smoke in Marceline's shape. Finn tells Jake he faced his vampire fear and saved him. Jake leaves, happy to have saved his friend. Finn remains for a moment, picking up the umbrella. Marceline emerges from Finn's backpack in her small bat form (this was a part of Finn's plan; he told her this quickly when he lifted up the side of her umbrella) and tells Finn that she totally owes him and that he was fired as her henchman because it would not be fun if she could not trick him. They still promise to go pixie strangling the next day. Marceline then picks up her umbrella and flies away.

Characters[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Mentioned[]

Locations[]

Music[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the debut of Marceline's ax bass, which seems to be the favorite of her bass guitars.
  • The old man henchman was actually just Marceline's old diving buddy.
  • This is the first time Finn puts his hands inside his hat, although he took off his hat in "To Cut a Woman's Hair".
  • In this episode, the red bowtie with the color drained is white, but in "Evicted!" and "Heat Signature" red items with the color drained are grey.
  • When Finn and Jake run over to find Marceline talking to her "henchman," there is a carving of "A.T." inside a heart on a tree stump. A.T. presumably stands for "Adventure Time".

Episode Connections[]

  • This is the second appearance of the Duke of Nuts, since his debut in "The Duke".
  • The carving of "A.T." will also appear on a pillar of the treehouse in "Rainy Day Daydream".
  • According to a post on the Frederator Blog, Marceline's dress in This episode" is made from Why-wolf skin, the creatures from the last epsiode. Ironically, Marceline turned into a wolf to scare Jake.
    • This is also a clever nod to the concept of vampires and werewolves being common enemies in most media, as Marceline is a vampire and why-wolves share many familiarities with lycanthropes.

Cultural references[]

  • Marceline calls Finn a "Castle Crasher" during the party at the Duke of Nuts' castle, which is a possible reference to the video game Castle Crashers.
  • This episode may refer to 'Dracula' and the character Renfield being Dracula's henchman. 
  • The strawberry fields could be a culture reference to John Lennon's "strawberry fields" he mentions after LSD trips with Yoko Ono.
  • All of Jake's attempts to kill Marceline is a reference to traditional vampire-killing methods (wooden dagger and garlic).
  • Old Man Henchman could be a reference to the film Let the Right One In, which involves a perpetually young female vampire who recruits lifelong servants through seduction at a young age to help her collect blood, but with little regard for their ultimate well-being.
  • When Marceline is about to reveal her new song to the Duke's son, she states, "I wrote this next song about a fisherman." This is most likely a reference to the band Primus' famous debut single, "John The Fisherman": a band whose songs are famous for their bass-heavy and extremely technical bass lines.

Production notes[]

  • This episode was originally titled "Marceline's Slave Story," then "Marceline's Henchman."[1][2]
  • During the Duke and Duchess of Nuts' party, the music from the title card was played.
  • The Fisherman Song played during this episode was originally a song about deciding whether to get a jelly doughnut or to take a shower, as seen on the episode's animatic.
  • The original beginning of this episode was supposed to have Marceline rescuing Finn and Jake from a sudden fall off a cliff and then Finn repaying her by being her henchman.[3]

Errors[]

  • Different shots of Marceline's skeleton army show different numbers in the group. The aerial shot shows twelve, but a closer shot shows at least fourteen.
  • Marceline's bass' edges are silver, instead of red, in this episode.
  • Before Marceline goes inside the house to feed, while she is saying "Sounds like dinner," her fangs are blunt.
    • This also happened after Marceline winks to Finn.

Video[]

Censorship[]

This episode was censored in some countries. See Censorship of Adventure Time for more information.


Gallery[]

Official art[]

Background art[]

Screenshots[]

Storyboard panels[]

See Full Storyboard


References[]

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