Come Along with Me (Adventure Time)

Plot

One thousand years after the events of Adventure Time, the cat-like Shermy and his friend Beth, a distant descendant of Jake and Lady Rainicorn, find a rusty mechanical arm and seek out the King of Ooo, an older BMO, to learn its origins. BMO recounts the Gum War. Princess Bubblegum and her allies prepare for battle with her creation Gumbald. To prevent war, Jake throws a potion that knocks Finn, Bubblegum, Gumbald, Fern, and himself unconscious.

In their dreams, Bubblegum and Gumbald duel while Finn reconciles with Fern. Upon waking, they agree to end the conflict, but Aunt Lolly trips Gumbald, causing him to douse himself in Dum-Dum Solution and revert into Punchy, revealing his betrayal. Aunt Lolly then agrees to have the two Candy Kingdoms live in harmony. The deity GOLB arrives, summoned by Betty Grof and King Man to revive King Man's late wife Margles and turn Ice King back into Simon Petrikov.

Marceline warns that GOLB could destroy Ooo. Ice King tries to snap Betty out of her trance, and he, Betty, and Finn are swallowed by GOLB. Inside, they revert to essential forms: Betty loses her powers and Ice King becomes Simon again. Marceline rescues Bubblegum from mutated monsters, and they share a kiss.

BMO, Bubblegum, Marceline, and Jake discover GOLB is vulnerable to music and convince Ooo's residents to sing in harmony, weakening it. Finn, Simon, and Betty escape, but Betty realizes the Ice King's crown has reverted to its essential form and will grant the truest wish of the first wearer. She stays inside GOLB, puts on the crown, and wishes to protect Simon at all costs, fusing with GOLB and exiting through a portal. Marceline comforts Simon.

Gunther puts on the crown, and Jake warns he will become Orgalorg, but the crown merges with Gunther, turning him into Ice Thing.

Production

As talks about ending Adventure Time dragged on, Marceline voice actor Olivia Olson felt the finale was being "stretched." Cartoon Network's Rob Sorcher told the Los Angeles Times that the show's declining airtime, combined with a large episode backlog, made him realize the network needed to wrap things up properly for its audience rather than make a sudden decision. On September 29, 2016, the network confirmed the tenth season would be the last.

The special's writing and storyboarding team included Tom Herpich, Steve Wolfhard, Seo Kim, Somvilay Xayaphone, Hanna K. Nyström, Aleks Sennwald, Sam Alden, and Graham Falk, with the story developed by Herpich, Wolfhard, Ashly Burch, Adam Muto, Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis, Julia Pott, and Pendleton Ward. Ghostshrimp, who had left as head background designer in season four, returned. Osborne noted the network gave the writers ample time to plan the finale.

Muto explained that earlier episodes resolved minor character arcs, allowing the finale to focus on major moments and brief glimpses of each character's future.

Reception

"Come Along with Me" was viewed by 0.92 million viewers in its initial airing and scored a 0.25 Nielsen rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, making it the twenty-fifth most-watched cable program that day. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the special an "A" rating, calling it a celebration of the series. Eric Thurm of Polygon noted that the finale focused on the payoff of the show's emphasis on relationships and feelings. Daniel Schindel of IGN gave it a 10 out of 10, describing it as a perfect capper that acts as a thrilling exclamation point, an intriguing question mark, and a poignant period.

Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an A and the series an A+, calling it a soulful, mind-expanding conclusion. Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave it a B+, praising the relationship between Bubblegum and Marceline while noting the show had to play catch-up with those characters. Dylan Hysen of Overly Animated called it one of the best series finales in television history, praising its poetic and thematically resonant ending.