It Came from the Nightosphere

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Lore & Background

The episode was written and storyboarded by Adam Muto and Rebecca Sugar, from a story by Merriwether Williams, Steve Little, Patrick McHale, Pendleton Ward, and Thurop Van Orman. This was the first episode that Sugar worked on as a storyboard artist. She later joked that "anything that is actually witty was done by Adam. I’m usually responsible for sex jokes and violence." The episode features a song Sugar wrote entitled "The Fry Song", which would later go on to be very popular with the show's fanbase. The episode also guest stars Martin Olson as Marceline the Vampire Queen's father Hunson Abadeer. Olson would reprise his role in the series' third, fourth, and tenth seasons. The design for Abadeer's monster form caused issues with the series' standards and practices department; initial designs were deemed "too vagina-like", and a later submission looked "too much like a penis".

In Their Own Story

After Finn agrees to help Marceline record one of her musical compositions, she begins to sing "The Fry Song"—a tune about the rift between herself and her father, Hunson Abadeer. Finn, feeling sorry for her, decides to summon her father from the hellish Nightosphere, failing to realize that her father is the domain's dark leader and that he consumes souls. He materializes before Marceline and Finn, attempts to kill Finn by devouring his soul, and successfully steals Marceline's axe bass. Finn and Marceline give chase. Marceline's father moves throughout Ooo, consuming the souls of all living creatures that he can find. Finn and Marceline first try to crush him with a rock, but the resulting skirmish between father and daughter merely infuriates Hunson Abadeer. He assumes that Marceline is trying to kill him to take over the Nightosphere, but she merely wants her bass guitar back. Finn and Marceline attempt one last time to stop Hunson Abadeer, who has now grown huge. Due to his size, Finn is easily defeated. Marceline, infuriated by her father's lack of understanding, storms off. Finn, in a last-ditch effort to save the day, plays back the recording of "The Fry Song". Suddenly, Marceline's father understands why she is upset, and the two reconnect. Finn uses this beat as an opportunity to cut all of the souls free from Hunson Abadeer's "soul sack" before banishing him back to the Nightosphere.

Reader's Guide

The episode originally aired on Cartoon Network on October 11, 2010. It was watched by 2.001 million people on its debut. At the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards, the episode was nominated for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program, although the episode did not win. The episode was later released on the eponymous compilation DVD on March 6, 2012, before it was re-released as part of the complete second season DVD/Blu-ray set on June 4, 2013. The episode was the third episode of the season produced, but was chosen to be the first aired. When the network announced the start of season two, the episode was not finished. During the storyboarding process, Sugar and Muto were running low on time, and so the latter asked fellow series artist Jesse Moynihan if he could help storyboard the initial fight between Marceline and her father. The final scene with Abadeer, which featured Finn cutting open his "soul sack" was added by Sugar based on a drawing by Ward that featured Finn flying through the air with two swords. Due to the darker and somewhat scary tone of the episode, the Frederator creative developer Eric Homan warned potential watchers through a blog post that the episode might not be suitable for younger children.

Did You Know?

• This was the first episode storyboarded by Rebecca Sugar, who would later go on to create Steven Universe.
• Martin Olson, who voices Hunson Abadeer, is the real-life father of Olivia Olson, who voices Marceline.
• The episode was nominated for a 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program.
• The design for Abadeer's monster form was initially rejected by standards and practices for looking 'too vagina-like', then again for looking 'too much like a penis'.
• The episode was the third produced for season two but was chosen to air first, despite not being finished when the network announced the season.