Editor’s Note: This article was republished on Feb. 19, 2026 following a website transfer that removed it. The article was originally published on Dec. 22, 2025.
Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for “Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake” season two.
From “The Flash” to “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the increasing presence of the multiverse in modern film and television has made it a largely inescapable concept. More often than not, though, the multiverse is used as a lousy storytelling device, causing plenty of good portrayals to slip through the cracks. Among the hidden gems of multiverse media is Adam Muto and Pendleton Ward’s “Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake,” which started its second season on Oct. 23. Episodes air Thursdays on HBO Max, until the season finale on Dec. 25.
Season one of the “Adventure Time” spinoff follows Fionna Campbell (Madeleine Martin), her best friend Cake the Cat (Roz Ryan) and the former Ice King Simon Petrikov (Tom Kenny), as they scour the multiverse in search of a way to restore magic to Campbell and Cake’s world.
In contrast, season two follows two coinciding narratives: one set in Campbell’s mundane world and another set in the magical world of Ooo — the world of “Adventure Time.” While Campbell and Cake attempt to save their home — an empty parking lot — in their world, Huntress Wizard (Ashly Burch) seeks to cure a poisoned Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) in Ooo.
Despite only appearing in a handful of “Adventure Time” episodes, Huntress Wizard is a fan-favorite character. Although she was loosely defined by her suppressed emotions and desire to reconnect with nature, she lacked the crucial nuance and development that was justified by this fan-favorite status.
Her inclusion in “Fionna & Cake” season two remedies this, providing her with a backstory that not only suggests the source of these character traits but argues that they’re entangled. The backstory demonstrates how Huntress Wizard seeks nature as a means of avoiding the human connection embedded in society — subsequently suppressing her emotions to escape the vulnerability that comes with love. This makes her journey to cure Finn one of the most compelling arcs this season; viewers watch as Huntress Wizard slowly grapples with how attempting to save him by any means necessary could only come out of love.
Love was a passing motif in the first season, but season two builds upon it by portraying how the relationships in Ooo still exist in Campbell’s world. While viewers watch Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch) and Marceline’s (Olivia Olson) relationship play out in Ooo, they also see the coinciding romance between their counterparts in Campbell’s world — Gary (Harvey Guillén) and Marshall Lee (Kris Kollins). This extends to failed romance as well, with the series highlighting how Flame Princess (Jessica DiCicco) and DJ Flame (Manny Jacinto) deeply loved Finn and Campbell, respectively, but their relationships proved unhealthy and simply couldn’t last.
These parallel relationships argue that love is a constant — an unwavering, undeniable attribute of these characters that remains the same in every iteration of them across the multiverse. It shows that the nature and power of love is so strong that it knows no bounds, transcending every universe, even if such love is temporary.
While it’s gratifying to see Campbell’s love life handled with care, never befallen of the common objectification of women in pop culture, it’s disappointing that Finn doesn’t seem to get the same respect. In episode three — “The Lion of Embers” — the princesses of Ooo objectify and commodify an unconscious Finn under the guise of true love’s kiss. This scene is largely played for laughs, suggesting that it’s funny simply because Finn is a man experiencing an issue commonly attributed to women. It’s especially frustrating when this is an issue explicitly avoided with Campbell’s character, highlighting its inherently problematic nature yet still allowing it to happen to Finn.
Given that several characters acknowledge this scene’s uncomfortable and strange atmosphere, it’s more than likely that these problematic undertones were accidental. However — unintentional or not — the scene’s comedic nature still perpetuates the harmful stigma that men can’t experience sexual violence.
Thankfully for her, Campbell’s character is handled thoughtfully outside of her love life as well. Throughout season two, Campbell reflects on the many deaths she witnessed in season one, burdening her with immense survivor’s guilt. This reaction exemplifies why Campbell is unfit to live the same heroic life as Finn: her coming of age in a mundane world didn’t desensitize her to death the way the magical world did for Finn.
Nevertheless, the heroic urges inside her still persist — she just has to learn how to satisfy them in a way that’s grounded in the mundane ordinariness of her own, comfortable life. In the same way that love is a constant throughout the multiverse, Campbell’s arc reveals how other attributes like heroism can be similarly constant. Although Campbell and Finn are explicit multiversal counterparts, they aren’t the same exact person; they may have the same base attributes, but their environments still shaped their own unique qualities and expressions.
For all its imperfections, “Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake” season two is a strong follow-up to a fantastic first season. More importantly, though, it reinforces the notion that not all stories about the multiverse are bad — it’s just a matter of finding ones that are good.
Travis Foley is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the fall 2025 quarter. He can be reached at tdfoley@uci.edu.
Edited by June Min and Mia Noergaard
