This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the character The Star. |
"The Star" is the seventh episode of Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake.[1]
Synopsis[]
Cake is recruited by a band of skilled vampire hunters. Gary and Marshall Lee attend a black-tie party.[2]
Plot[]
In a flashback, a young Marceline is seen running from some Oozers. She finds the corpse of Simon Petrikov, quickly revealing this world to be an alternate reality. After Marceline compares her foot to Simon's, she takes his shoe and is approached by a mysterious figure.
Meanwhile, Fionna, Cake and the main-timeline Simon are beamed to the same universe. Cake spits out a pacifier and says that nothing will top the baby universe. Simon agrees that it was the best nap of his life. Fionna tells Simon that his pocket is smoking, causing Simon to pull out Prismo's remote and blow on it. As Fionna takes a walk, Cake comforts her by reminding her that The Winter King was stone cold nasty and he deserved exactly what he got. Fionna is still upset about the Candy People she hurt and asks if they deserved to be chopped up. Cake tries to reassure her that she was acting in self-defense but this does little to comfort Fionna, who explains that she wants to make things better, not worse. Cake insists that they will succeed in making everything better once they retrieve the crown and restore magic to Fionna-world. She also remarks that the universe they're in couldn't be any worse than it already is.
Simon finds Fionna and Cake to tell them he believes there's only enough magic remaining in the jewel for one more jump between dimensions. Fionna suggests that they jump again immediately, but their conversation is cut short when a group of vampire underlings emerge from atop a nearby building. Simon and Fionna take cover behind an overturned car nearby, but Cake stands her ground. Fionna calls out to her, but she ignores Fionna and begins fighting the vampires. While Cake pins the vampires down with a fly-swatter-shaped paw, Simon tells Fionna that they need to make some rudimentary stakes, so he breaks a chair and quickly makes one out of a chair leg. Fionna grabs a wooden plank and tries to break it over her knee, but she cries out in pain, distracting Cake and allowing one of the vampires to escape her clutches. Fionna attacks it with the plank and it breaks, creating a makeshift stake. As she prods the vampire in random places, Simon tells her to go for the heart, to which she responds "it's harder in real life!" Cake decides she's had enough and decapitates all three vampires with her enlarged jaws.
Cake is thrilled by the action, but Fionna is frightened after narrowly avoiding the vampire underlings. Simon mentions that this world reminds him of the world as it was right after the Mushroom War, when he first met Marceline. When more vampires appear, Cake springs in to action with stake-paws, but is doused in holy water, which reduces the encroaching vampires to a giant plume of dust. Fionna rushes into the cloud to check on Cake, where the encounter a red and white tank resembling Peppermint Butler. It demands to see the trio's teeth, and reports to its occupants that there are "no vamps, just dum-dums." A mysterious pink woman in a gas mask comes out of the tank and admonishes the group for being "death-wishers." When she removes her mask, they realize that she's an alternate version of Princess Bubblegum. In this universe, she resembles a solider; she wears a buzz-cut, pink camouflage pants, a purple tactical vest, a magenta tank top, and purple combat boots. She observed the group's battle with the vampires and is looking to recruit Cake for her magical abilities and "murder skills." Cake declines, and Fionna explains that the three of them are looking for a magic crown. Bonnie, realizing that they have a common goal, explains that the Vampire King uses the crown to create a permanent cloud-cover, shielding the vampires from the sunlight and allowing them to take over.
Meanwhile in Fionna-World, Marshall Lee and Gary arrive at Ms. Abadeer's Blood Drive and Charity Ball. Gary notices that Marshall is unusually quiet, and Marshall explains that he's apprehensive about seeing his mother. Gary reassures him, promising that he has Marshall's back.
Back in Vampire-World, Bonnie gives Simon, Fionna, and Cake a tour of Peppermint Tank's interior and introduces them to Martin and Huntress. After that, she details her plan for taking down the Vampire King. She and her team plan to use garlic bombs (she calls them "garbos") to flush the low-level minions out of the palace. Bonnie's main concern is a vampire she calls "the Star," who Huntress explains is the vicious ward of the Vampire King. Martin arrives at the table with a pot of beans, but before anyone can eat, Baby-World Finn emerges from Fionna's backpack. Bonnie is enraged that Fionna brought a baby to Vampire-World and storms off, but Martin immediately takes to baby Finn, feeding him beans and complimenting his hat.
Scarab has returned to the Time Room and frantically clicks through scenes in Vampire-World, searching for Simon and the crossovers. As it turns out, Scarab has been ignoring assignment notifications: the very thing he first reprimanded Prismo for. The irony of this isn't lost on Prismo, who taunts Scarab from his cube-trap at the bottom of the hot tub. Prismo tries to bargain with him, explaining that he can just "zap everything back to normal," since Scarab hasn't been able to chase them down. This causes Scarab to have an epiphany; instead of chasing Fionna and Cake, he could simply find the crown they're after and wait for them to come to him. Just as Scarab locates the crown in Vampire World, however, he's engulfed in a blue ball of light. As he vanishes, Prismo points at him and yells, "Ya burnt!"
In Fionna-World, Ms. Abadeer observes the Blood Drive and Charity Ball from a balcony above the party. Marshall Lee approaches and tries to introduce her to Gary, but she interrupts, chiding him for his casual clothing. She tells him that there are suits pressed for the two of them upstairs, and when Gary offers to shake her hand, she says that Marshall told her about his "little baker entrepreneur friend." Marshall sighs and leads Gary to his room in the mansion, while Gary marvels at the idea of Marshall living in a such a "swanky place." Marshall corrects him, clarifying that he used to live there.
Meanwhile inside of the Peppermint Tank, Fionna asks Huntress a series of questions on what sorts of trivial things can kill a vampire, like an acorn or a splinter. Suddenly, the tank issues a proximity alert: a pair of what appear to be humans are outside, blocking the tank's path and begging for help. Bonnie refuses to stop for them, but Fionna insists on helping them and hops out of the tank, and Martin decides to join her. Huntress observes their interactions with the "humans" and realizes that it's a pair of vampire underlings puppeteering corpses as a trick. They quickly dispatch the two vampires, but the tank drives into a trap that causes it to roll over. Marceline flies in and confronts them, describing the trap as her "welcome." This is who Bonnie called "the Star," and she's shocked when she hears Simon use her real name. Bonnie and Huntress try to attack her, but Marceline easily evades everything they throw at her before swooping down and stealing Martin's soul. Without his soul, he stands there listlessly as she drains away all of his blood, killing him. Fionna is spared the same fate when Cake stretches out and pulls her away from Marceline. Bonnie angrily declares that she'll "have [Marceline's] heart," to which Marceline responds with an air kiss. She flies back to the palace, laughing and calling Bonnie a loser.
Bonnie asks Peppermint Tank how long repairs will take, and it replies with an estimate of sixteen hours and forty-three minutes. Simon offers to help with repairs, but Bonnie ignores his suggestion and threatens him with a knife. She demands to know how Simon knows Marceline's name, wondering aloud if he's a spy working for her. Simon timidly explains that he's from a different universe with its own Marceline who he helped raise. This version of Marceline, he explains, was a vampire hunter who eventually fell in love with their version of Bonnie. Bonnie is disgusted with the idea of this, but withdraws her knife. As she stomps away, Fionna apologizes, and Bonnie berates her for costing her Martin and the tank. Cake diffuses the conflict by shape-shifting and offering to take the place of the tank. Fionna objects to Cake putting herself in danger, reasoning that there are other crowns in the multiverse, but Cake assures her that she can do it. After hearing this, Fionna volunteers to take Martin's place, and Bonnie answers by tossing her Martin's jacket.
Gary helps Marshall straighten his suit at the charity ball back in Fionna-World. The Lemoncarbs argue about the hors d'oeuvres while Gary marvels at all of the important people he sees at the party. Marshall remarks that the party sucks, but encourages Gary to enjoy himself and network with the investors. While Gary chats with one of the caterers, Marshall goes to talk with his mother. One of the investors shows interest in Gary's pitch, but as he explains his creations, he overhears some of the demeaning things Ms. Abadeer says to Marshall about his music career. Miss Rabow walks up to Gary and introduces him to Marjoe, who likes to invest in "visionaries."
As they ride tank-Cake to the vampires' hive in Vampire-World, Fionna asks Simon if leaving baby Finn with Peppermint Tank was a good idea. Bonnie announces to the group that they have the advantage of surprise; the vampires think that they're still stuck in the broken-down tank miles away. She explains the rest of her plan; the goal to to plant garbos throughout the hive and detonate them the moment the crown is knocked from the Vampire King's head, flushing all the vampires out into the clear sky where they'll burn up in the sunlight. The group splits up into three teams to distribute the garbos: Bonnie and Cake, Simon and Fionna, and Huntress by herself. While Simon and Fionna are planting bombs, they hear Marceline's voice in a nearby room. The pair look on as Marceline kills one of the vampire minions for asking her why she hasn't killed Bonnie yet, and another minion kills itself after she threatens it. Simon wonders aloud how Marceline could end up that way, and Fionna speculates that it was because she didn't have Simon's positive influence.
Marjoe listens to Gary in Fionna-World as he explains his pastry-menschen concept. They're interrupted when Ms. Abadeer proposes a toast. She tosses a fork into a butler's head and begins a speech about the "blood relationship between mother and son." She uses this as a pretext to denigrate Marshall in front of all of the guests. He quietly begs her not to continue, but she goes on, explaining to the audience that rejoining the family business was a condition of the favor Marshall asked of her in "The Winter King." Gary is upset by the revelation that Marshall put himself through all of this for his sake.
Fionna and Simon reconvene with the other teams in Vampire-World. Bonnie activates the detonation countdown on the bombs, and gives Huntress a piece of gum to retrieve the crown with. The bombs detonate and the low-level vampires flee the hive, but something is wrong; the clouds haven't cleared. Suddenly, the Vampire King emerges from the hive with Huntress' arrow-filled corpse in his arms. Marceline emerges from behind him to taunt Bonnie.
Ms. Abadeer continues her speech, whispering to a listless Marshall that he "owes" it to her to rejoin the family business. Gary ignores Marjoe and glowers at Ms. Abadeer.
Fionna, Cake, and Simon dodge attacks from the Vampire King as Marceline attacks Bonnie. The two of them wrestle on the ground, and the Vampire orders Marceline to either finish her off or make the fight more "interesting." Suddenly, Simon emerges from cover to tell the Vampire King that he's a "bad dad." The king responds by throwing Simon off of the top of the hive, but Fionna catches his hand at the last minute.
At the exact same time, Ms. Abadeer closes her speech by saying that "years and years of embarrassing mistakes" can be forgiven, then orders Marshall to tell the crowd how grateful he is for her forgiveness. Before he can, Gary points to her and tells her that she's a "bad mom." She scowls and asks Marshall to do something about Gary. Marshall warns him that opposing his mother could cost Gary his career, to which Gary replies, "You deserve better than anything that creep could do for me."
Marceline and Bonnie continue to fight. Each has several opportunities to kill the other, but neither take them. Simon suggests that they "bail," but Cake notices that the Vampire King is distracted by the fighting, creating an opportunity for her to take the crown. Fionna stops her, fearing for Cake's life, but she persists. Fionna takes the remote from Simon and Cake tries to take it away from her. Their wrestling over the remote eventually breaks it. Simon screams, and the Vampire King sees Cake trying to steal the crown. Fionna hits the button on the remote right before the Vampire King tries to eat Cake. Marceline suggests that Bonnie joins her, and she considers for a moment, but declines; the vampires are running out of food. As they fight, they tumble off of the hive and plummet to the ground far below. Bonnie tries to stab her, but Marceline warns her that she'll fall to her death if she "poofs" her. "Together, then," Bonnie replies.
Gary grabs Marshall's hand and leads him up the stairs, past Ms. Abadeer, who angrily calls after him. Marceline and Bonnie continue to fall, but before their fate is revealed, it cuts back to Marshall Lee and Gary in the elevator. They kiss before the doors close, and the episode ends.
Appearances[]
Major Characters[]
- Fionna
- Cake
- Simon Petrikov
- Gary Prince
- Marshall Lee (human)
- Marceline (The Star) (debut)
- Bonnibel Bubblegum (Vampireworld) (debut)
- Vampire King (Vampireworld) (debut)
- Hana Abadeer (debut)
Minor Characters[]
- Prismo
- Scarab
- Baby Finn
- Martin Mertens (Vampireworld) (debut/death)
- Peppermint Tank A.I. (debut)
- Huntress (debut/death)
- Oozers (flashback)
- Vampire Minions (Vampireworld) (debut, some die)
- Vampireworld humans (debut, most die)
- Simon Petrikov (Vampireworld) (debut; corpse)
- Billy (Vampireworld) (debut; corpse)
- Marceline (flashbacks)
- Lemoncarbs
- Miss Rabow (debut)
- Marjoe Hellstorm (debut)
- Cosmic Owl (pictured)
Mentioned[]
Places[]
Center of the multiverse[]
- Time Room
- Vampire World (debut)
- Vampire King's castle (debut)
- Fionna-world
Music[]
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the first time that Billy appears without the Lich, despite being his counterpart from an alternate universe.
- Hana Abadeer's penthouse and the rich people in the Blood Drive & Charity Ball makes visual parallels to the Nightosphere, a dimension ruled by Hunson Abadeer, the main universe genderbent counterpart of herself.
- Additionally, many gender-swapped and/or human version of the original series' characters made a cameo in this episode: Marjoe (Maja), Crabbit, Magic Man, Xergiok, Bandit Princess, Doctor Princess, Ricardio, Eberhardt, Kee-Oth, Tiny Manticore, Carroll, Ron James, Samantha, Demon Guard, Bella Noche, GridFace, and Soul Sucked Fuzzy Friend (the butler).[3]
- The alert Scarab receives reveals that the Cosmic Owl is now wanted for profiteering.
- Marshall Lee's van has a car pendant that references Hambo, his opposite-gender counterpart's childhood plush.
- The end credits dream shows the house of the main universe's Marceline, but hanging upside-down on the cave's roof, with bat wings.
- Marshall Lee and Gary Prince's suits resemble the ones the non-human versions of themselves used in the comics Adventure Time: 2017 Spooktacular.[4]
Episode connections[]
- This episode was foreshadowed twice in "Simon Petrikov". The first time was during the flashback of Simon and Marceline when he is talking about how she would be fine without him (which this episode ironically proves he was wrong). The second time was Marceline's failed tattoo briefly showing a wooden stake in a heart.
- Bonnie's mug has the symbol of Timmy, her cat in the main universe, seen on her shirt in "The Pajama War" and "Mama Said".
- Bonnie's garlic bombs have the exact same design as those Peppermint Butler introduced back in "Vamps About".
- Bonnie's high-technology in her tank, its artificial intelligence and her holographic wristband contrasting with the rest of the world, implies she is also a scientist and inventor just like her main universe counterpart, albeit for military purposes.
- This episode has the name of a tarot card just like the Stakes miniseries. It is also used as a nickname to the Marceline of this universe, the same way it was used to name the vampires from these aforementioned episodes.
- The Star card can represent new hopes and revelations, but inverted can mean loss and despair, much like the situation of both Ooo and Marceline changing drastically due to the absence of Simon.
- Martin Mertens' jacket is very similar to that of his main universe counterpart seen in "The Visitor". However, the most notable difference is that the pointy lines on the sleeves are white instead of yellow.
Storyline Analysis[]
- The Vampire King is not subject to the typical mental and physical changes of the Ice Crown. It is unknown if there is a living host of the crown elsewhere in the Vampieworld or if he's immune to its affects due to being a vampire.