Adventure Time: Side Quests is taking fans back to Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) and Jake the Dog’s (John DiMaggio) earlier adventuring days. The new show is set during the timeline of Seasons 1 and 2, focusing on 12-year-old Finn and 26-year-old Jake as they take on episodic odd jobs, explore Ooo, and fight villains.
When the original series premiered in 2010, audiences could not have guessed the cultural phenomenon and impact that Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time would have. What initially seemed like an offbeat fantasy adventure about a young boy dreaming of becoming a hero and saving princesses with his magical dog evolved into one of the most influential cartoons of its time. The show refined what a “kids’ show” could do and accomplish.
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Over its 10-season run, the show kept its heart and humor while maturing as it grappled with a range of topics and milestones. Adventure Time thoughtfully explores love, grief, loneliness, trauma, forgiveness, mental health, relationships, learning to let go, and the reality of getting older. Not every episode ended with a neat or silly happy ending. Some episodes might leave fans stunned, confused, or just emotionally wrecked by the time the credits rolled to Come Along with Me.
Let’s take a look back at 10 Adventure Time episodes that wrecked our minds and emotions.
10. Thank You (Season 3, Episode 17)
“Thank You” is one of the simpler episodes of Adventure Time. The episode doesn’t center on Finn and Jake, and for nearly all of the episode, there is no dialogue as it explores the odd bond between a Fire Wolf and an Ice Golem.
Instead of relying on dialogue and exposition, the episode explores how compassion, friendship, and love can exist even between complete opposites. Additionally, the episode uses music, nonverbal cues, and animation to communicate universal emotions that resonate with fans. The episode is a quiet, powerful reminder that having empathy for others does not require shared language or race.
9. Ocarina (Season 6, Episode 7)
At the start, “Ocarina” seems like a goofy episode about Finn and Jake getting evicted from their home by Jake’s son, and Kim Kil Whan. In actuality, the episode explores themes of parenthood, getting older, and maturity. For most of Adventure Time, Jake has always lived his life pretty carefree, impulsive, and optimistic, qualities that make him a great friend, brother, and adventurer, but not the most dependable dad. Although Jake loves his kids, their rapid growth is due to their unique genetic makeup. So Jake did not have the most typical parenting experiences since his children did not require much attention from him.
In contrast, his son, Kim Kil Whan, is very mature and serious, and does not seem to have much in common with his father. Kim cruelly evicts his father and Finn from their house in hopes of helping Jake mature. Many of Kim’s actions are rooted in his disappointment and longing for the kind of father he unfortunately never had. Meanwhile, Jake, despite truly loving his children, never realized how much his absence from their lives, whether they needed him or not, affected them.
The episode does a great job of not painting either Jake or Kim as right or wrong, but rather of showing two different perspectives on the situation. The episode shows that family relationships are complicated and that we can unintentionally harm or disappoint our loved ones.
8. Puhoy (Season 5, Episode 16)
Following an awkward encounter with Flame Princess, Finn hides inside a pillow fort and spirals into an entire alternate lifetime. Inside Pillow World, Finn falls in love, raises a family, grows old, and experiences another life full of joy and heartache, until he dies. After dying, Finn wakes up back in the real world, where it’s only been gone for a few moments, and remembers his life in Pillow World as a fleeting dream.
“Puhoy” touches on one of Adventure Time’s recurring themes: that growing up means accepting life’s brevity. In the grand scheme of things, our lives are relatively short. So that things that feel important or stressful in the moment, eventually are just distant parts of our lives.
Finn stayed in Pillow World for what felt like decades to him, living an entire lifetime full of experiences, only to wake up to have none of it matter in the real world. This episode makes the audience ponder whether the choices they make matter, and whether the experiences they have and don’t have matter, and how they can shape.
7. What Was Missing (Season 3, Episode 10)
“What Was Missing” first starts as a classic adventure for Finn, Jake, BMO, Princess Bubblegum, and Marceline as they track down the Door Lord who stole their prized possessions. However, their quest quickly takes a more emotional turn when the only way to reach the thief is to confront the things they have been avoiding and sing a song from their hearts.
Each person is forced to admit their emotional blind spots, but Marceline is the one who presents the most impactful moments. Marcelin’s song, “I’m Just Your Problem,” expresses years of unresolved hurt between her and Bubblegum, which hints at their past relationship. The episode touches on how powerful being vulnerable can be; it is also its own kind of battle. Admitting hurt, difficult truths, and our own blind spots is hard, but it can bring people closer together.
6. Bonnie & Neddy (Season 7, Episode 1)
Princess Bubblegum, aka Bonnie, is often seen as an emotionally calculating scientist yet compassionate ruler of the Candy Kingdom. “Bonnie & Neddy” reframes Bonnie’s perception a bit more by revealing her past and the responsibility thrust upon her since she was born. Through a series of flashbacks, we see that Bonnie and her brother are the only survivors of the Mother Gum, a sentient, mutated bubble gum from a thousand years ago. While Bonnie matured and evolved, her brother, Neddy, remained emotionally fragile, requiring constant protection and care.
The episode poignantly explores caregiving, emotional exhaustion, acceptance, responsibility, and family. Since Bonnie was mature enough, she took on the responsibilities of building the Candy Kingdom and caring for Neddy. Instead of trying to change or fix Neddy, Bonnie accepts her brother as he is and respects that he is just “built differently”. This episode may resonate deeply with viewers who have experience caring for people with significant support needs, or with the emotional weight of being the person people rely on most.
5. Everything Stays (Season 7, Episode 7)
As part of the special, built-in miniseries Stakes, the episode “Everything Stays” provides an intimate look into Marceline’s family. Through a series of flashbacks, audiences witness her final days with her mother, Elise, as the two struggle to survive in the aftermath of the Mushroom War. In another critical flashback, Simon, whose transformation into the Ice King has rapidly increased, now leaves her in an effort to protect her. The flashback of Simon and her mother gives a more intimate look into Marceline’s past.
This episode is especially emotionally devastating in how it portrays major parental figures in Marceline’s life and how they both tried to help prepare Marceline for the future ahead. Simon’s actions could first be portrayed as rejection, but in actuality, it is a final act of love. The episode also reflects how our memories, the people we care for, and the love we share continue to shape us long after they are gone. The episode is a beautiful reminder of how, even though life is always changing, the people we have loved most never truly leave us for good.
4. Obsidian (Adventure Time: Distant Lands Special)
“Obsidian” explores the depth of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline’s romantic relationship and past. In this special episode, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline return to the Glass Kingdom to help resolve a crisis from their shared past.
Many years ago, the two worked together to defeat a raging dragon by singing a scathing breakup song, “Woke Up,” which helped subdue the dragon but also ended Marcleine’s relationship with Bubblegum. Now back at the place where they broke up, the pair must face the reawakened threat and the emotional scars that still linger between them. The episode also explores the last moments Marcleine shared with her mom before she passed away.
“Obsidian” is emotionally powerful in its exploration of how history, mistakes, regret, and growth can shape love and relationships. And even when you love someone deeply, reconciliation with them does not mean the hurt is gone completely. The episode also highlights how Bubblgum and Marceline have changed over the years, but their breakup and Marceline’s song dredge up old scars and even affect their interactions.
“Obsidian” is not emotionally devastating because of its conflict, but rather because of its resolution. It reminds viewers that healing does not mean forgetting and that love can coexist with our emotional scars. With Bubblegum and Marceline, by choosing honesty and understanding, they don’t have to erase or forget their past regrets. Instead, they can learn from their past and choose to move forward together.
3. The Tower (Season 6, Episode 4)
Following his interaction with his estranged father, Martin, in which Finn lost his arm, he becomes frustrated, consumed by grief and anger. Initially, Finn tries to avoid processing feelings and just wants to fight his father and take his arm. Suddenly, Finn develops a telekinetic arm that begins building a giant tower stretching into space. Little does Finn know his new mysterious arm is very powerful and fueled by his grief. After obsessively building the tower for days, Finn comes to realize that taking revenge on his father won’t heal him from the things he has lost.
“The Tower” is one of the most honest takes in Adventure Time on how people can get consumed by overwhelming emotions. Instead of processing his pain properly, Finn decides to put his energy into an unhealthy, impossible task. Which ultimately just leaves him with a monument of his resentment. The episode also shows how unresolved pain and trauma can consume and prevent us from getting the help we need. By the end of the episode, Finn no longer wants to get revenge on his father and chooses to start moving forward.
2. Simon and Marcy (Season 5, Episode 14)
The Adventure Time episode “Simon & Marcy” takes viewers back 996 years to the early days of Simon and Marceline surviving the world together after the fallout from the Mushroom War. As Simon and Marceline search for food and resources to survive, Simon repeatedly has to use the power of his crown to protect Marceline, despite knowing that the crown’s adverse effects cause him to lose more of his mind and identity.
When Marceline’s health takes a turn for the worse, Simon does everything he can to take care of her. They eventually find themselves surrounded by mutated figures, and Simon has no choice but to use the crown, which leads him to further succumb to its madness.
“Simon & Marcy” is the most emotionally devastating episode for its portrayal of unconditional sacrifice and selfless love. Despite understanding what the crown is doing to him, Simon continues to use the crown because he prioritizes Marceline’s survival over his own. This episode evolves Ice King from a wacky villain to a tragic hero, while also showing that one of Marceline’s greatest losses wasn’t simply losing Simon. It was watching her father figure, who loved and protected her, slowly disappear before her eyes.
1. Together Again (Adventure Time: Distant Lands Special)
“Together Again” takes place many years after Finn’s death. Finn arrives in the Dead World excited to be reunited with Jake again, but quickly discovers that his brother has already moved on to a higher level of existence. Finn refuses to accept the distance between him and Jake, so he sets out to journey through the afterlife in hopes of getting with Jake again. Along his afterlife adventure, Finn has to grapple with what it really means to let someone you love go.
What makes this episode so emotionally powerful is that it takes the greatest friendship in Adventure Time and explores it through the lenses of grief, loss, love, and acceptance. Jake and Finn’s bond has always been the emotional core of Adventure Time, to the point that it felt impossible for anything to separate the pair. Finn’s resistance to accepting his loss of Jake represents a form of grieving that many people can resonate with. The episode also challenges audiences not to view death as the end or something to fear, but as the next natural part of life’s adventure, and that the love we share for our loved ones does not disappear after they have died.
The special’s ending further elevates its message by allowing Finn and Jake to reincarnate together. Even after Jake has already reached his own paradise, he chooses to want to live his life again with his best friend, no matter where reincarnation takes the pair. By the end of the episode, audiences are given a bit more optimistic ending that inspires people to consider that some bonds can transcend lifetimes.
Adventure Time: Side Quest provides a chance for audiences to watch Finn and Jake’s early adventuring days. It is also worth remembering how the series has always been about more than just wacky, crazed villains, candy people, magical creatures, and wild adventures. Below the show’s whimsical nature is one of animation’s most thoughtful explorations of human experiences and emotions. These episodes don’t just wreck our minds and emotions; they challenge us to think a little differently about life, love, and relationships.
All episodes of Adventure Time are available on Hulu and HBO Max.
