"Come along with me."
If you grew up with Finn and Jake, those four words probably hit like a freight train. It’s been years since Come Along With Me aired on Cartoon Network, but Adventure Time the last episode remains one of the most polarizing, beautiful, and chaotic finales in animation history. It wasn’t just an ending. It was a massive, hour-long gamble that tried to wrap up nearly a decade of lore while simultaneously telling us that nothing ever truly ends.
Honestly? It mostly worked. But man, it was a lot to take in at once.
The Great Gum War That Wasn't
Everyone expected a bloodbath. The marketing leading up to the finale focused heavily on the conflict between Princess Bubblegum and Uncle Gumbald. We saw the armies. We saw the banana guards lining up against the cake-monsters. It felt like The Lord of the Rings was coming to Ooo. But the showrunners, led by Adam Muto, pulled a classic Adventure Time move. They subverted the whole thing.
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Instead of a generic war, the main characters were knocked out by "nightmare juice." They spent a huge chunk of the finale in a dream world, trying to settle their differences through psychotherapy rather than swords. It was weird. It was very "Adventure Time." It forced Bonnie and Gumbald to confront their own egos, which is way more interesting than just watching them hit each other with sticks.
Some fans hated this. They wanted the war. They wanted to see Marceline go full vampire-god on an army. While we did eventually get some action once GOLB showed up, the pivot from "war" to "empathy" is what makes the show’s DNA so distinct.
GOLB and the Literal Meaning of Chaos
When GOLB arrived, everything changed. For those who weren't deep into the lore, GOLB was always this looming, red, blocky entity representing pure chaos and non-existence. He doesn't have a motivation. He doesn't want to rule Ooo. He just is.
The stakes shifted from a family squabble between Bubblegum and her uncle to an existential threat that literally started erasing reality. This is where the finale gets dark. We saw the candy citizens get fused into horrific monsters. We saw Betty Grof—Simon’s long-lost love—make the ultimate sacrifice.
Watching Betty use the Crown to wish for the power to keep Simon safe was heartbreaking. It was a "Monkey's Paw" wish. To keep him safe, she had to become one with GOLB, disappearing into a different dimension or state of being entirely. It left Simon Petrikov back in his human form, but at the cost of the woman he spent a thousand years trying to save. Life is messy like that.
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Why the Bubbline Kiss Was a Massive Deal
We have to talk about the kiss. For years, the relationship between Marceline the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum was a "will-they-won't-they" that existed mostly in subtext, storyboard art, and fan theories. In Adventure Time the last episode, it became canon.
When Marceline thought Bonnie had been crushed by a monster, she absolutely lost it. She went into a rage, and when they finally reunited, they kissed. It wasn't a huge, dramatic Hollywood moment with a swelling orchestra. It was quiet. It was relief. In 2018, this was a landmark moment for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream children's animation, paving the way for shows like She-Ra and The Owl House. It felt earned because we’d watched these two clash and reconcile for ten seasons.
The Song That Saved the World
Music has always been the heartbeat of this show. Rebecca Sugar, who had already moved on to create Steven Universe, returned to write the final song, "Time Adventure."
In the middle of the chaos, BMO starts singing to a dying Jake. It sounds silly. A small robot singing to a dog while a chaos god eats the world. But the lyrics—"Will happen, happening, happened"—explain the entire philosophy of the show. The idea is that even if something ends, it still exists in the past, and that makes it permanent.
The voice actors actually cried during the table read of this scene. You can hear it in the performance. It turned a battle into a funeral and a celebration all at once. It’s arguably the most "meta" moment in the series, speaking directly to the fans who were sad to see the show go.
Shermy and Beth: The Future of Ooo
The finale uses a framing device set 1,000 years in the future. We meet Shermy and Beth, who are basically the new Finn and Jake. They live in a hollowed-out Marceline’s house (or what’s left of it) and find Finn's old mechanical arm.
They go to find the "King of Ooo," who turns out to be a very old, very chill BMO. This choice was brilliant. It shows us that while our favorite characters are gone (except for the immortal ones), the spirit of adventure continues. Ooo has changed. The Treehouse is a giant, overgrown ruin. The Candy Kingdom is in stasis. But the cycle repeats.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
A common complaint is that the ending felt rushed. That's actually a fair point. Cartoon Network didn't give the crew a full season to wrap things up; they were told the show was ending and had to pack a lot of lore into those final 44 minutes.
However, the idea that "nothing was resolved" is a misunderstanding. The show wasn't about a final boss. It was about Finn growing up. By the end, Finn isn't a hyper-aggressive kid looking for a fight. He’s a young man who tries to find a peaceful solution first. He accepts loss. That’s the real character arc.
The Legacy of Ooo
After the finale, we got Adventure Time: Distant Lands and the Fionna and Cake spin-off. These specials filled in some of the gaps, especially regarding what happened to Finn and Jake as they aged. But the finale remains the definitive "goodbye" to the era we all fell in love with.
It taught us that:
- Friendships evolve, and that’s okay.
- Bad people (like Ice King) can become good people (Simon) through support.
- The world is big, scary, and often doesn't make sense.
- Singing helps. A lot.
How to Revisit the Finale Today
If you’re planning a rewatch, don't just skip to the end. The weight of the finale depends on the journey.
- Watch "The Enchiridion!" (Season 1) to see how simple things started.
- Watch "I Remember You" (Season 4) to understand the depth of Simon and Marcy.
- Watch "Islands" and "Elements" (the miniseries) to get the context for the Great Gum War.
- Pay attention to the background. In the finale, the backgrounds are filled with cameos from almost every character ever introduced.
The end of Finn and Jake’s story wasn't a "happily ever after." It was a "life goes on." And in a world of high-stakes fantasy, that's the most honest ending we could have asked for. Ooo is still out there, somewhere in the multiverse, and the adventure never truly stops as long as someone is there to tell the story.
Go back and watch the final montage one more time. Look at the small details—where the characters end up, who they're with. It’s all there. The story is complete, but the world is still turning. That's the real magic of Adventure Time.