Recap / Adventure Time S 4 E 15 Sons Of Mars

Following

After Magic Man switches bodies with Jake in an attempt to evade Martian authorities, Finn travels to Mars to save his friend.

"Sons of Mars" contains examples of:

• Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: "Magic Man" is given two choices: Being killed with the Wand of Dispersment, or having his body converted to living stardust and his mind jettisoned into the cosmos on an infinite journey of wonder and discovery. Jake almost chooses the latter until he starts to think about Finn.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Magic Man appears to think as much at the end, going as far as saying it: "I win again, just like always!" Though he still get gets socked by Finn as he comes down from outer space.
• Balancing Death's Books: Abraham Lincoln gives his life to resurrect Jake.
• Call-Back: "Sons of Mars" is cobbled together from plot threads brought up in previous episodes, the most notable of which is Abraham Lincoln being the King of Mars, and recognizing Finn.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Abe Lincoln starred in the original short.
  • The food items in space are a reference to "The Other Tarts".
• The Exile: This episode reveals that Magic Man was exiled from Mars and was not allowed to return until he reformed.
• Grand Theft Me: Magic Man creates an illusion of swapping bodies with Jake, to evade punishment for his crimes on Mars.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Abe gives his life to save Jake.
• Hidden Depths: This episode gave vague hints to Magic Man's backstory, with Abe Lincoln telling Jake that MM used to be cool until something happened between him and Margles, the woman in Magic Man's photo. At the end of the episode, he's seen sadly looking at the photo and saying her name, a rare moment of vulnerability given to the Card-Carrying Jerkass.
• Never My Fault: Finn places the blame for Jake getting blopped out of existence on Lincoln, despite the fact Lincoln had been starting to believe Jake wasn't Magic Man, and Jake only got blopped because Finn knocked the staff out of Grob Gob Glob Grod's hand and onto Jake.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Lincoln was starting to believe that the Magic Man they had wasn't the real one. But then Finn over-zealously attacks him which accidentally causes Grob Gob Glob Grod to hit Jake with the staff and blop him out of existence. The only way to get Jake back is for Lincoln to sacrifice his immortality to Death. Leaving the Mars people without a leader.
• Only the Worthy May Pass: Magic Man was given a portal to return to Mars when he was rehabilitated, but it doesn't work for him. Finn, however, is able to go through it by thinking of the person he cares for most (Jake). The portal appears to be linked to the user's sense of empathy, which the sociopathic Magic Man doesn't have.
• Revenge Before Reason: Despite Grob Gob Glob Grod saying not to after Lincoln's death, not wanting to lose his brother after just having lost his friend, Finn proceeds to ignore them and rushes back to Ooo so he can deck Magic Man in the face.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Lincoln tells Jake about the possibility of being turned into stardust, the visuals refer to the "Stargate" sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • When Lincoln dies, he turns into a statue that looks like the real-world Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
• Tyop on the Cover: The episode's opening credits erroneously spell Doug TenNapel's name as Doud TenNapel.