The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt
Production code:	1054-275
Airdate:	September 17, 2017
Credits
Director:	Cole Sanchez
Story:	Kent Osborne Jack Pendarvis Julia Pott Adam Muto
Written & storyboarded by:	Sam Alden Erik Fountain Polly Guo
Episodes
Previous "Three Buckets"
Next "Always BMO Closing"

"The Wild Hunt" is the first episode in the tenth season of Adventure Time. It's the two hundred and sixty-seventh episode overall.

Synopsis

A fierce creature is terrorizing the Candy Kingdom, but before Finn can slay the beast, he must first overcome a guilty conscience.

Plot

Princess Bubblegum and Finn head back from a candy kingdom baseball game. Princess Bubblegum thanks Finn for coaching the team, as she always appreciates help with boosting the Banana Guards' morale. Finn replies, distant, which prompts PB to ask him if he is okay. Finn replies that it's been a rough month after what happened with Fern, and he says he feels as if the experience has left something wrong in him as if he can't finish anything off. Princess Bubblegum tries to reassure him, to tell him that death is a serious matter, but before she can finish she slips on a dirty Banana Peel. Revealed to be Banana Guard #216's peel, she exclaims that he's dead, and looks onward to see dozens more destroyed peels. Several horrified guards rush out to the princess, describing the thing that attacked them resembled a Banana, shot hot fudge, and fed on other Banana creatures. Realizing the monster that attacked was CandyTech, Princess Bubblegum angrily tells Finn to hunt down and destroy whatever has caused all the damage. Finn reluctantly agrees.

At night time, two Banana Guards stand guard at the dormitory, both worried that the beast will come back. They tried to connect their left hands. Suddenly, the big wild monster took out the first Banana Guard. Without the second Banana Guard realizing that the monster appeared, he too was taken out. The monster entered the dormitory and wanted to grab a Banana Guard, but was ambushed by Finn and Jake in their Banana Guard outfit.

Finn proceeds to "dink it up" when he fails to land the killing blow on the creature when he views it as having Fern's face. His reluctance to kill the creature allows it to escape, He pursues the creature encountering it in a clearing, it fires some scalding hot fudge at him and he screams attempting to block the fudge with his sword. The flying fudge is knocked out of the air by another person who is revealed to be Huntress Wizard who is also hunting the creature, She points out to Finn that the creature is escaping. She names the creature a "Grumbo" which she totally just made up as you can't hunt something you cannot name and Finn reveals that he's having issues killing the Grumbo because he keeps seeing Fern.

They follow the trail until it ends because a squirrel ate all of the fudge. They hear the concerned hollers of the Banana guard who were kidnapped by the Grumbo, Huntress Wizard tells Finn that she will take out the beast's legs so he can kill it. Inside the lair the Grumbo is sleeping, Huntress Wizard throws a spear at it, just int time the Grumbo dodges the attack and proceeds to fight them, in the fight Finn again fails to kill the Grumbo when bound by Huntress Wizards vines. Huntress Wizard comes up with a plan to force Finn into action, throwing a spear at the Grumbo and leaving herself in the path of the charging beast. Finn realizes if he can't stop his mind thinking about Fern, he might as well help him and he begins to imagine Huntress Wizard as Fern. He rushes under the beast and pierces its underbelly with his sword, killing it, the Grumbo explodes and Finn's sword disintegrates. He and Huntress Wizard talk about how she "pretended to throw herself in harm's way" to which Finn denies and She says "Yeah right, We both know you're totally in love with me" and they nonchalantly share a kiss, in which she turns into Fern and Finn screams. The naked Banana guard emerge and are worried because Finn isn't alone, he calms them by saying she's totally into "Natie(Nay-chee) living"

Huntress Wizard reveals that the Grumbo was artificial candy made in a lab, not natural candy. There is a camera on the ceiling which reveals "Uncle G" watching and saying that Princess Bubblegum's boy hero will be destroyed and reveals what appears to be Fern in a stasis tank.

Characters

Major characters

• Finn
• Huntress Wizard
• Banana Guards
• Grumbo

Minor characters

• Jake
• Fern (hallucination)
• Princess Bubblegum (flashback)
• Gumbald (not named)
• Snail

Trivia

• This is Huntress Wizard's first major role in an episode since Season 7's "Flute Spell."
• Gumbald seemed to have originally named the beast Bananameister, based on the paper at the end of the episode. Apparently, he decided to follow Huntress Wizard's label of him and crossed out Bananameister, to write Grumbo.

Cultural references

• The Wild Hunt is a European folk myth that involves a supernatural being, such as Odin, King Arthur, or Gwyn ap Nudd (depending on the region), who leads an army of ghosts or fairies across the sky. It is usually considered a sign of misfortune to be in the path of the Wild Hunt.
• The artwork in the title card resembles the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth that tells about the exploits of William the Conqueror.
• The beginning of the episode resembles the plot of old English epic poem Beowulf, where a huge and savage monster called Grendel comes at night and attacks a palace (Heorot). Grendel kills hundreds of soldiers loyal to Hrothgar, the Danish king, until the foreign hero Beowulf stays one night with the rest of the guards and slays it.
• Finn commits the TV trope Instant Soprano saying "HW, let's come back and try tomorrow," after his crotch gets roasted by the Grumbo.
• The Grumbo resembles a sloth, which is further demonstrated by its manner of sleeping upside-down.
• Jake takes the appearance of Chinese handcuffs when he restrains the Grumbo for Finn to deal the finishing blow.
• The identification sticker on one of the peels from a banana guard is similar to stickers commonly found on supermarket bananas.

Episode connections

• At the start of the episode, statues of the early Banana Guards from "The Vault" can be seen.
• Finn and Jake use the same Banana Guard disguises from "The Thin Yellow Line."
• It's been one month since "Three Buckets." Finn is still traumatized from "killing" Fern.
  • The ruins where Fern imprisoned Finn are now occupied by Gumbald.
• When Finn wakes up, music can be heard from the scene, where Shoko appeared in "King Worm."

Storyline analysis

• It seems that Finn and Huntress Wizard have come to accept one another's mutual romance since "Flute Spell," as they nonchalantly exchange a kiss.

Production notes

• This is the first episode to air on a Sunday.
• The episode was intended to be the first episode of season 9. However due to Cartoon Networks restructuring of the final seasons. Season 9 became the episodes "Orb" through "Three Buckets" making the intended season 9 the official season 10, thus making "The Wild Hunt" the first episode of season 10.

Gallery

Official art

Storyboard panel

Storyboard panel

Background art

Screenshots