"The Chamber of Frozen Blades" is the eleventh episode in the second season of Adventure Time. It's the thirty-seventh episode overall.
Summary[]
When the Ice King goes away to treat a sick Gunter, Finn and Jake perform a ninja stakeout of his lair to try and find proof he's captured another princess.
Plot[]
The episode starts with Finn surveying the Ice Kingdom through binoculars and Jake reading a ninja manual titled "Be a Ninja" that he fished out of a ditch. After stating there has been no change in 6 hours, Finn asks Flambo if "this tip is good." Flambo tells Finn he swears the Ice King is planning to nab a princess that day. When Finn starts to get restless, Jake tells him to calm down and that a true ninja can sense the intentions of his enemies. Flambo laughs and tells Finn and Jake ninjas are not real. Finn responds by saying he and Jake are real ninjas. While demonstrating a ninja skill, Finn hears a noise coming from the Ice King's Castle. He looks up to see the Ice King pack an overnight bag and leave his castle with Gunter. Finn tells Jake the Ice King looks pleased with himself and Jake responds by saying he must have stolen a princess.
Finn and Jake sneak into the Ice King's Castle and look for the princess. When they do not find one anywhere, Finn thinks that they have stepped into a trap, but Jake states that the reason they cannot find a princess is because the Ice King is doing it right now. When they go to look for proof, Jake finds the Ice King's diary and reads, "Dear Diary, and you better write me back this time! Today I'm bringing home a special new cutie." This is enough proof for them and Finn decides to hide until the Ice King comes back so they can catch him in the act. Finn and Jake jump into the Ice King's hamper, but after a short time, Jake complains that it reeks inside, citing his powerful sense of smell being in no comparison to Finn's, and leaves. This angers Finn to throw a meatball from the hamper at Jake, but is missed and hits the Ice King's holo-computer instead. When Finn and Jake look at it, they find pictures the Ice King drew. Fascinated, Jake decides he wants to draw something, but Finn tells him Ninjas leave no evidence of their missions. Finn's struggle to keep Jake off the keyboard sends it sliding across the icy floor until it crashes into a thin sheet of ice, in the wall. Finn is horrified that they have compromised the secrecy of their mission until he sees that the secret doorway leads into a secret ninja sanctum.
Meanwhile, the Ice King arrives in the Rock Kingdom's hospital. He freezes several Rock People in order to get up to the front of the line and asks for a doctor to treat his sick penguin.
Back in the Ice Kingdom, Finn and Jake look around in the cave. Jake starts to play with things and says it is too late to leave no trace. Finn finds a First Edition Ice Ninja Manual and starts to read it, until Jake steals it away. Finn notes that the Ice King is a bigger diehard fan of ninja than Finn and Jake are, prompting Finn to suggest that ninja must be lame if someone like Ice King is into them. Jake says that they are still cool while Ice King remains the real lamo because he hides his ninja love. He starts to destroy things with ice nunchaku he summoned and Finn foregoes his earlier statement on leaving no trace in favor of asking Jake to show him how to do that.
Back at the hospital, Ice King and Gunter are waiting on a doctor. He suggests that Gunter make more noise, and The Ice King tells her not to oversell it. Soon, Doctor Princess walks in and starts to diagnose Gunter. He says that without Gunter, he will be all alone and explains that he is a widower without actually knowing what it means which leads him to a conversation with Doctor Princess. While he is talking, Gunter starts to expand and the Ice King yells that he is embarrassing him.
In the Ice King's cave, having mastered the techniques inscribed within the Ice Ninja manual, Finn and Jake challenge each other to a destructive ninja duel, performing all kinds of ninja attacks and casting all kinds cryokinetic spells that provide them with a ninja-oriented tactical advantage. Finn and Jake further destroy Ice King's lair with their ninja techniques and icy weapons. While Finn and Jake are fighting, Jake makes clones of himself, following Finn saying that is one too many Jakes. Then, Jake shoots an Arrow of Ice at Finn, but Finn catches it and shatters it, causing Jake to stare in awe. However, they are quickly interrupted by the Ice King returning home. Finn and Jake jump out at him to catch him with the princess, but are surprised to find him without one. Ice King tells Finn and Jake that Gunter was actually pregnant and he was talking to the egg, since it is such a "cutie." It does not take the Ice King long to realize the destruction to his home, and is furious with Finn and Jake. He calls them jerks for wrecking his house and perverting his collectable ninja swag and Finn wants to make it right. Ice King then tells Finn to take his overnight bag to the cage. While Finn is doing so, he hears a noise and the Ice King tells them to put it down. Finn unzips the bag to reveal that Ice King had kidnapped Doctor Princess. Ice King explains that Gunter's egg was the perfect distraction to abduct a princess. Finn, Jake, and the Ice King then engage in ninja combat, with the Ice King producing a sansetsukon and Finn and Jake producing a shuriken and nunchaku respectively. In the middle of the fight, Doctor Princess asks Gunter how the egg is doing, and it starts to hatch. When the egg hatches, a pink cat with a heart on its forehead comes out. The Ice King is pleased with it, and is then kicked by Finn and Jake at the same time to end the episode.
Characters[]
Major characters[]
- Finn
- Jake
- Ice King
- Gunter
- Doctor Princess (debut)
Minor characters[]
Locations[]
- Ice Kingdom
- Rock Hospital
Music[]
Fridjitzu[]
- For a full list of Fridjitzu powers, see Ninjas of the Ice: The Art of Fridjitzu
- When asked whether Finn and Jake will use ice ninja powers in future episodes, writer Adam Muto responded "Not likely. They didn't have enough time to commit the incantations and hand positions to memory."[1]
Trivia[]
- Jake's "ice clones" were lighter in color and none of them had the black headband that Jake was wearing.
- When Jake says "Gunter's a woman?" the Ice King immediately denies it, but then looks between Gunter's legs to determine the sex, but is still unable to determine it.
- On the desktop of Ice King's holographic computer the eight folders shown are labelled: Secrets, Roms, Misc, Drawings, Untitled Folder, Princesses, Muscles, and Gunter's Stuff.
- In this episode, Finn is shown to have cleithrophobia (fear of being trapped).
- One of the Ice King's ninja posters is titled "Deadly Pressure Points" and shows a labeled diagram of a penguin's anatomy.
- This is clearly a reference to the ninja strategy of striking pressure points (any physical weakness an opponent may have), but it's unclear if the poster details how to defeat a penguin or if these are attacks a penguin is capable of making.
- However, on the other hand, it may also be referencing two other things: Acupuncture and Chi-Blocking.
- Acupuncture is the delicate art of applying needles in precise places on a person's body to restore the flow of their chi, which simultaneously heals their mind and body.
- Chi-Blocking is, in a way, the opposite of acupuncture. While there's nothing lethal about it, it's about striking critical weak points on an opponent's body to disrupt their own spiritual flow, which in turn defeats them by impeding their fighting techniques.
- However, on the other hand, it may also be referencing two other things: Acupuncture and Chi-Blocking.
- This is clearly a reference to the ninja strategy of striking pressure points (any physical weakness an opponent may have), but it's unclear if the poster details how to defeat a penguin or if these are attacks a penguin is capable of making.
Episode connections[]
- Finn wears his sweater and Jake wears the same booties in the Ice Kingdom as they did in the animated short.
- When Finn discovers the ice ninja manual, Jake is seen playing with an unusual sai that contains a blue eye in the moto. Finn steals an identical pair of sai in "City of Thieves" when he is preparing to get revenge on Penny.
Cultural references[]
- When Finn sees the three copies Jake made of himself, Finn says, "That's one too many." This is likely a reference to The Two Jakes (1990), the Jack Nicholson-directed sequel to Chinatown (1974).
- However, Finn saying "That's three too many", would've made much more sense.
- This episode's title card is done in the style of martial arts movies from the 70's and appears at both the beginning and end of the episode. To go along with this theme, this is the only title card to feature the previous Cartoon Network Studios logo and the statement "produced in Burbank, California."
- The scene in which Ice King freezes the Rock People to get to the front of the line is similar to the café scene in the movie Despicable Me; however, according to storyboard artist Adam Muto, this was unintentional.[2]
- Fridjitsu is a portmanteu of the words "frigid", describing something very cold, and "ninjutsu", a traditional Japanese martial art.
- There are strong references to the popular anime/manga Naruto: Shippūden
- The promotional art where Rebecca Sugar wears a forehead guard from Naruto. The symbol on it is the symbol of Naruto Uzumaki's home-village, Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village in English).
- The hand signals that both Finn and Jake use are a reference to Hand Seals from Naruto, used to channel chakra and create different jutsu, or elemental attacks.
- The fake Jakes are a reference to Kagebushin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu in English), they also leave smoke clouds when destroyed.
- The entire concept of "fridjitsu" could be based on Haku's Ice Style Ninjutsu from Naruto.
- When Finn refers to Jake as his "shinobro" this is a reference to the Japanese word for ninja, which is "shinobi."
- The Ice Ninja manual that Finn and Jake find has the Japanese kanji 氷忍者 on the cover, which translates to "ice ninja."
Storyline analysis[]
- When first talking to Doctor Princess, the Ice King incorrectly calls himself a "widower". Although Simon was never married, he and his fiancée Betty Grof were living together and prior to the episode "Betty" was assumed by Simon to be deceased. It is possible that Simon was subconsciously remembering Betty, possibly due to Doctor Princess's similarities to her.
Production notes[]
- In one version of the episode's storyboard, Gunter's offspring was going to be a hybrid Ice King/penguin creature;[3] however Adam Muto explained that he originally drew a glowing kitten, but Thurop Van Orman wanted it to be an Ice King/Penguin offspring, which they thought would be a "cool gross-out moment." Cartoon Network vetoed the idea and it went back to being a kitten.[4]
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 |