There was never a show like Adventure Time, and there never will be again. A surrealist masterpiece cunningly dressed up as a colorful children’s show, it followed the adventures of Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) and Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio) throughout the world of Ooo. Sometimes those adventures were silly, and sometimes they were very serious and adult.
Here’s a list of the top ten episodes of the main show. To keep it fair, I’m not including the also very good Distant Lands or Fionna and Cake, which came after, and it was still very difficult narrowing it down to just ten, believe me.
10. Escape from the Citadel (season 6, episode 2)
Adventure Time gave us one of the greatest animated villains ever in the form of the Lich, a terrifying monster voiced by Ron Perlman who, in contrast to the rest of the show, was never ever funny. “Escape from the Citadel” is a great showcase for him.
Finn tracks his biological father down to the Citadel, a great big multiversal prison, but in doing so he finds himself going up against the Lich. What follows is one of the best and most chilling sequences in the whole show.
9. Fionna and Cake (season 3, episode 9)
In this episode, Adventure Time took its first dip into the world of fanfiction! Fionna and Cake (Madeleine Martin and Roz Ryan) are gender-swapped versions of Finn and Jake, of course, and by the end of the episode we discover they’re creations of the Ice King (Tom Kenny.) It’s a lot of fun seeing the whole world of Ooo gender-swapped, and we even get Neil Patrick Harris as Princess Bubblegum’s counterpart Prince Gumball.
Later, Fionna and Cake would get their very own sequel series which delves into their origins. Their whole story is a must-watch for any Adventure Time fanfic authors. (Like me.)
8. Evicted! (season 1, episode 12)
The very first appearance of one of the most iconic and beloved Adventure Time characters, Marceline the Vampire Queen, played by Olivia Olsen! She’s not mean, she’s a thousand years old, and she just lost track of her moral code.
Like all of the best Adventure Time episodes, this episode has some great songs. It also highlights how deep the Finn-Jake friendship is while making way for Marceline to join their inner circle.
7. Thank You (season 3, episode 17)
“Thank You” is the sweet story of an adorable Snow Golem and a Fire Wolf pup. Something made of snow can’t look after something made of fire, right? The episode tackles that question and muses on the nature of friendship. Wait, are another set of opposites—Finn and the Ice King—actually friends as well?
The events of “Thank You” play out almost completely without dialogue, which makes the episode all the more special.
6. Memory of a Memory (season 3, episode 3)
Curiously, I tend not to see this episode on a lot of top-ten lists, but it’s definitely one of my personal favorites. Finn and Jake are sent into the mind of a sleeping Marceline to find a particular memory, but it turns out they’re being manipulated by her terrible ex-boyfriend Ash.
I always loved this episode because it communicated an important message: that even someone as strong as Marceline could find herself in an abusive relationship. And I cheer internally when Jake and Finn beat the hell out of Ash.
5. Come Along With Me (season 10, episode 13)
The very last episode of Adventure Time! Could it stick the landing? It could. “Come Along With Me”, named after the song that plays over the end credits of every episode, wraps up all the character arcs. Some are happy (Bubblegum and Marceline finally kiss!) and some most definitely aren’t. This perhaps wasn’t the “true” ending of Adventure Time, Distant Lands and Fionna and Cake followed on from it, but it still serves as an incredible finale.
4. Jake the Brick (season 6, episode 20)
A slow and relaxing Adventure Time episode. Jake decides to experiment with being a brick in a wall (he can do that, seeing as how he’s a shapeshifter and all), Finn gives him a walkie-talkie, and he begins to commentate on the world around him. Before long, our favorite stretchy dog is seeing wonders in the world that he didn’t even know were there. Maybe he’ll inspire you to do the same thing?
It’s Adventure Time meets a nature documentary and definitely one of the best episodes to show someone who’s just starting to get into the series since it’s not lore-heavy.
3. Simon and Marcy (season 5, episode 14)
If you love stories where a man protects a small girl in an apocalyptic world, you’ll love “Simon and Marcy.” The Marcy in question is of course Marceline, and Simon is Simon Petrikov, the human form of the Ice King. By the end of this episode, you’ll be absolutely in love with Simon and praying for him to get a happy ending.
The Simon-Marceline relationship is one of my favorites in the whole of Adventure Time and I’m crossing my fingers we might see more of them interacting as adults in the upcoming season two of Fionna and Cake.
2. What Was Missing (season 3, episode 10)
A music-heavy and very very good episode featuring Finn, Jake, Marceline, and Bubblegum. The four of them pursue some stolen items to the door of a “door lord” and they can only hope to open it if they can work together as a team and play a song that will open the door.
We get some intriguing details about the relationship between the two girls here—something that would more than pay off in later episodes—and a fantastic song, “I’m Just Your Problem” aka the Bubbline ship anthem.
1. I Remember You (season 4, episode 25)
The episode that got me into Adventure Time, and I might not be alone in that. “I Remember You” dives into the secret backstory of Marceline and the Ice King, two characters who hadn’t interacted before this point, and tells their sad story through music.
“I Remember You” is a very depressing episode in a way, since it makes clear that Marceline’s situation with Ice King is basically akin to having a parent with Alzheimer’s. “Won’t someone tell me what’s wrong with me?” Ice King sings sadly at one point. It can be a hard watch if you’ve been through anything like that situation yourself. But at the same time, it’s an immensely hard-hitting portrait of the power of love in all the most unexpected places.
(featured image: Cartoon Network)
