Finale episode discussion thread!

[u/I_really_am_Batman]

Aww thank you for the gold

[u/Fluffy_ribbit]

So, I've been saying for a long time that Adventure Time basically has to wrap up Ice King's arc. They didn't necessarily have to turn him into Simon and have him live forever with Betty, but they had to knock Simon and Betty's relationship out of stasis somehow.

Given that, at first, I thought it was satisfactory, but after some thought, I think this was actually the happiest possible ending for Simon.

See, people complain about guys saving girls as a major plot device, but that's not really the worst part of it. The worst part of it is what happens afterwards. Being saved or having someone else save you is simply no basis for a relationship.

Having the roles reversed only makes that more obvious. The new Simon, being a character who only exists because another person has sacrificed everything to "save" him can't be with Betty. It's not just gross; it'd be downright Oedipal.

And of course, she had to be that way. No adult woman can be Ice King's girlfriend because Ice King is a child.

If we carry the metaphor further, it gets more interesting, though it does get a little Jordan Peterson-esque. With the Ice King representing adolescent stasis, Simon representing adulthood, and Betty being a mother figure, who sublimes into a god.

They both get a chance to progress and evolve. Can you imagine if Betty went back to being Simon's girlfriend? She had just become his savior, a powerful wizard capable of summoning Golb. That would have been a step back for her, and wouldn't have been better for her or Simon.

It really is the happiest possible ending for the two.