Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the finale of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake
The Big Picture
- Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake explores the journey of the titular characters, providing closure to the romance of Simon and Betty while expanding the world beyond Ooo.
- Fionna and Cake undergo a reawakening, learning the importance of thinking before acting and discovering their own identities and purpose in life.
- Simon realizes that his life matters and that he can help others and enjoy his own life without Betty, leading to GOLBetty canonizing Fionna and Cake’s world. Unanswered questions remain about the cosmic hierarchy and the future of Ooo.
Adam Muto and company explore the vast multiverses inside his — and his character’s — heads in Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. The characters that started as Tumblr art by Adventure Time alum and animator Natasha Allegri became the protagonists of some of the most entertaining episodes of the original series’ run. Now, the titular characters thrive in a series that not only provides them with a satisfying journey but also provides some closure to the ill-fated romance of Simon Petrikov (Tom Kenny) and Betty Grof (Felicia Day). Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake expands this world that should exist beyond the confines of Ooo, while showing that every being — from a boring reality or one filled with candy people — has reason to exist.
Fionna Finds Purpose in the Finale of ‘Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake’
Both Fionna (Madeleine Martin) and Cake (Roz Ryan) have gone through some form of a reawakening throughout their journey over the course of the series. Seeing themselves as adventurers has offered a sugar rush — and a sobering reality. Like Finn (Jeremy Shada) learned throughout the original series, Fionna sees that running into a situation headfirst without thinking can lead you in a harsh spot — she saw that when she got tricked by the Winter King (Brian David Gilbert). Fionna is suffering an identity crisis now that she has found out that her own universe should probably not exist as the Scarab (Kayleigh McKee) keeps saying they’re an “abomination.” Cake, meanwhile, is happy that she’s able to talk and have powers; she feels like she is now her true self and wants to keep said abilities. So, going back to normal would be trapping her in a cat-like prison.
The Scarab — who followed Fionna and Cake through Simon’s head — is now trying to fight them. He says it’d be better if they were erased given the damage they caused around the multiverse. Everyone freezes except Cake; she’s the most self-realized character and fittingly the first to fight back. That is why she fights the Scarab even when the odds are against them. Unfortunately, the Scarab rips the world page by page, literally — the world is ripped like a book because it is not canonized.
Through the fighting, Fionna finds purpose: helping others. Rather than going the hero route, Fionna realizes that her world matters, too. From Gary and Marshall’s love and talents to the hard work and lives of those around her, she sees that this boring old city is beautiful. She had let her self-hate reflect on the city and everyone else, and now Fionna sees that she’s important, and she can help, admitting, “This is the world we want to fight for.” And if they die, they can die “as ourselves.”
Then, GOLBetty grants them canonization, and Simon hands it to Fionna. She is nervous at first, but with encouragement from Simon, she accepts it, with the universe in the form of a dandelion, as the one Hunter (Vico Ortiz) gave her in the first episode. Fionna makes a wish, blows the leaves, and returns the color to the drained city folks, with the last speck reaching her.
Suddenly, the Scarab inadvertently puts the world back together, hearing a call from his boss that the universe is canonized. Angered, the Scarab then tries to destroy it on his own as revenge against Prismo (Sean Rohani). Luckily, Prismo has broken out of the cube the Scarab sealed him in and sent backup: baby Finn in the Butler Tank (Jeremy Shada) plus Jay (Tiffany Wu), Little Destiny (Mickey Zacchilli), and the Squirrel (Marc Maron): the people Fionna and Cake helped in their multiverse journey. The Squirrel gives Fionna magic strawberries, so she becomes giant and uses Cake — formed into a giant hammer — to smash the Scarab. Scrabby threatens the duo saying that being canonized means that they now are out of their bubble and have to deal with the consequences, and they now have their own world “to screw up,” to which Cake responds by saying that means they’re real.
Then the tank team shoots the Scarab, allowing Cake to grab his device and egg him. The time hoppers stay in their universe and Fionna puts her efforts into helping the city rebuild, while also protesting for fair housing and spending time with her friends. Cake, meanwhile, stays magic and can live as her best, magical, beautiful self. Gary forms his pastry business. Even the other multiverse hoppers are happy: Kheirosiphon (Andy Daly) can host his tea shop, Jay and Little Destiny can be together, the Squirrel has a new tree away from his old gang, and baby Finn has his tank.
Simon Finally Realizes It’s Time To Move On
Of course, Simon has to find the same message, albeit with a more detailed path. GOLBetty forces Simon into Shermy’s (Sean Giambrone) head and body into his world with Beth (Imani Hakim). They read through the choose-your-own-adventure story of Casper (Iggy Craig) and Nova (Rosie Brand) trying to chase, of course, their own magic Crown. Simon only chooses Casper’s decisions every time and leads to a lose-lose situation: either get the crown as himself or lose Nova, or get powers to save Nova and get the crown but forget Nova exists. It’s after Beth points out Simon’s mistake that Simon realizes the connection: that Casper/Simon never saw Nova/Betty sacrificing herself every step of the way. His relationship with Betty was loving, but also Betty gave too much into it and should not have had to neglect herself, and Simon could have helped her. It’s something he could’ve realized sooner — Fionna even thought Simon went to Australia after hearing their story, but he did not.
Simon confronts GOLBetty and relives the moment he stops Betty at the bus, this time deciding to go to Australia. Now, they both acknowledge this did not happen, and they made their choices, but Betty says she has no regrets and that Simon was a “wonderful experience,” to which Simon responds and calls Betty his “everything.” Betty goes back on the bus, the destination changes into some other language, and Betty is now GOLBetty. Simon, now in his own body, explains: “I only offered to become Ice King because I felt my life didn’t matter. But I’m really no less worthy of life than Fionna or Cake.”
Simon thought that, after more than a decade of isolation in Ooo without Betty, his life was meaningless and he wasted his second chance. He could have felt that way after that reevaluation of his relationship. But instead, Simon sees that his relationship with Betty was uneven but still fantastic, and it enriched his life, but now it is over. His obsession with trying to bring Betty back only hurts him — like when Betty tried to fix Simon and change him from being the Ice King in the original series. Not to mention that he can exist without Betty and not only help others but enjoy his own life. He helped Marceline (Olivia Olson) survive as a child — and he saw what life might’ve been like without her. He helped Fionna gain more confidence in herself and believe she deserves to exist. Simon’s life matters, and his realizing that — and finally tossing the crown — is what convinced GOLBetty to canonize Fionna and Cake’s world and throw him back through the multiverse into Ooo. There, Simon lives for himself and can help more people rather than staying stuck in the past.
‘Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake’s Finale Leaves Unanswered Questions
The Scarab’s punishment for trying to destroy an authorized universe? Serving as Prismo’s janitor. But Prismo is a cool host and even teaches the Scarab how to design his own universe. All the Scarab wanted was to be the wishmaster and have the same acceptance Prismo received; he was just a by-the-book follower of the rules who had beef with Prismo. Now he can learn, and Prismo is giving him the kindness he lacked. Both Prismo and the Scarab are stuck in different ways; Prismo was bored with granting wishes and not letting his creative juices flow, and the Scarab longed for something more. Now, they can do that forever.
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake ages up its characters with its audience and addresses self-acceptance, something we’re all dealing with in different ways — along with paying tribute to the creative process that forged this timeline. Fionna, Cake, Simon, and more learn more about themselves and are ready to deal with the consequences of being themselves and living.
Of course, Adventure Time always has more reasons to “Come Along” for more journeys as the finale still leaves unanswered questions. For instance, why did Prismo glitch briefly with the Scarab? It may just be from the damage it took to break out of the Scarab’s cube — his arm did fracture. But does that perhaps come as a price for creating universes? Also, GOLBetty formed into a new, blue light after throwing Simon away. Does that mean that GOLBetty has more chaos to bring? Also, Prismo and the Scarab mention a boss we never see. Who is their boss? And how does GOLBetty fit into the cosmic hierarchy? What about the original characters from Ooo? And the other timelines? The questions are bountiful.
It’s a testament to this universe that even after 10 plus years of exploring worlds that there are still more paths to cross, more scenes to take in, more emotions to feel in this timeline. Fingers crossed that this is not the last journey in Ooo or the rest of the timeline because, like Fionna and Cake, the artists who made this world matter, and it’s clear they have more stories to tell.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
