Adventure Time - Stakes
Nov 17, 2015 10:57:40 GMT -5
MrsLangdonAlger, repulsionist, and 1 more like this
Post by cappadocius on Nov 17, 2015 10:57:40 GMT -5
Since we're not getting daily reviews over at the AV Club, because they new management hates joy, I thought I'd make a space to discuss things here after each pair of episodes.
Since her first appearance, Marceline has been a force of chaos in the lives of Finn, Jake, and Bonnibel. She's a trickster and an enigma. But the terrible secret of all beings of chaos is that, at their heart, they're ultimately static beings. When you can do anything, ultimately, you can only do one thing. And it seems like Marcie has realized it. She knows she's messed up, and she knows that as long as she stays the way she is, she'll only ever be what she is now.
Since HER first appearance, Bonnibel has been the ultimate expression of law. It's been a subject of fun, having her speak German and turning her kingdom into a panopticon. It's been a subject of tragedy, as she does whatever it takes to preserve her kingdom as it is. But there is one overarching law of the universe - everything changes eventually. Bonnie has been forced to realize this when she was technically legally usurped as Princess of the Candy Kingdom, and although she struggled at first, and still struggles a little now, she does seem to have really jumped feet first into the freedom that this first law gives her.
The USA changed when it became Ooo. Marceline changed, Simon changed, Bonnie's changed since the time when she was a little, adorable, chirping, pink hot dog. Stakes, at least from the first two episodes, seems to be about change. How it's scary; how it's hard; how without support from your friends, it can go so very, very wrong. Turning Marceline back into 'merely' a happa demon raises the stakes for her immensely - she's not invulnerable, she can't turn into demon badgers or little bat cuties, and it would be right in Adventure Time's wheelhouse to have some fun with her trying to get used to bodily functions again.
Because this is Ooo, *of course* there are problems with Bonnie's vampire cure. *Of course* the vampires from a thousand years ago were dwelling in Marcie's effluvium this whole time, waiting for their chance to get free again. In Ooo, as in real life, evil never REALLY dies. It just hides for a while before coming back for the next generation to struggle against.
Naming the vampiric coterie after the Major Arcana has to be JMoyns contribution to this miniseries, and I like it. Five vampires suggests the traditional five card spread, so let's think of what we've seen in terms of that.
The first card, the center card, in a reading represents both the present, and the general theme of the reading. The first vampire we see Marcy stake is The Fool, which as the number 0 of the Major Arcana represents the beginning of the hero's journey, a harbinger of changes (!) to come. However, when the Fool is inverted - and wouldn't vampires, with their own associations with bats, hang upside down in this particular reading? - it represents naivety, reckless behavior, and, yes, foolishness. I wonder who that could possibly represent?
The next vampire Marceline kills is the Hierophant. The inverted Hierophant represents a challenge to the status quo. Shape-shifting is a fabulous example of that, but I think our vampire Hierophant is foreshadowing. The second card represents the past - and a regular Hierophant represents conformity, tradition, and group identity. The human survivors, insisting on animal hats and singing old TV theme songs (Mr. Belvedere!), are our upright Hierophant. They're Marcy's past, and she'd love to be a part of their community - but instead she ends up consuming the inverted hierophant and EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.
We still need to see the Empress and the Moon. An inverted Empress represents a creative block, or a dependence on others, while an upright Empress is femininity and abundance. Keep an eye out for those thematic connections in episode 4! The Moon, inverted, represents a release of fear, confusion, and unhappiness. Interestingly positive for a vampire, no? An upright Moon is illusion, anxiety, and insecurity. Now which vampire will be the third point in the cross - the future - and which will represent the fourth point - the reason why the questioner seeks an answer?
The big mystery is the Vampire King. There is no "king" Arcana, although there is an Emperor, which when inverted represents domination and excessive control. The fifth card in a five card spread represents the potential within a situation. Becoming the Vampire Queen might seem like big potential to young Marceline, but it also represents the trap posed by the Inverted Emperor. But until we see some more information about the Vampire King, we can only speculate as to his symbolism.
These first two episodes did a very nice job setting the table, and they were PACKED with stuff - I didn't have any chance to talk about Jake's newly restored fear of vampires, or any of the fantastic backgrounds, or even the new theme song! But that's why we have a forum! What did you guys think?
Since her first appearance, Marceline has been a force of chaos in the lives of Finn, Jake, and Bonnibel. She's a trickster and an enigma. But the terrible secret of all beings of chaos is that, at their heart, they're ultimately static beings. When you can do anything, ultimately, you can only do one thing. And it seems like Marcie has realized it. She knows she's messed up, and she knows that as long as she stays the way she is, she'll only ever be what she is now.
Since HER first appearance, Bonnibel has been the ultimate expression of law. It's been a subject of fun, having her speak German and turning her kingdom into a panopticon. It's been a subject of tragedy, as she does whatever it takes to preserve her kingdom as it is. But there is one overarching law of the universe - everything changes eventually. Bonnie has been forced to realize this when she was technically legally usurped as Princess of the Candy Kingdom, and although she struggled at first, and still struggles a little now, she does seem to have really jumped feet first into the freedom that this first law gives her.
The USA changed when it became Ooo. Marceline changed, Simon changed, Bonnie's changed since the time when she was a little, adorable, chirping, pink hot dog. Stakes, at least from the first two episodes, seems to be about change. How it's scary; how it's hard; how without support from your friends, it can go so very, very wrong. Turning Marceline back into 'merely' a happa demon raises the stakes for her immensely - she's not invulnerable, she can't turn into demon badgers or little bat cuties, and it would be right in Adventure Time's wheelhouse to have some fun with her trying to get used to bodily functions again.
Because this is Ooo, *of course* there are problems with Bonnie's vampire cure. *Of course* the vampires from a thousand years ago were dwelling in Marcie's effluvium this whole time, waiting for their chance to get free again. In Ooo, as in real life, evil never REALLY dies. It just hides for a while before coming back for the next generation to struggle against.
Naming the vampiric coterie after the Major Arcana has to be JMoyns contribution to this miniseries, and I like it. Five vampires suggests the traditional five card spread, so let's think of what we've seen in terms of that.
The first card, the center card, in a reading represents both the present, and the general theme of the reading. The first vampire we see Marcy stake is The Fool, which as the number 0 of the Major Arcana represents the beginning of the hero's journey, a harbinger of changes (!) to come. However, when the Fool is inverted - and wouldn't vampires, with their own associations with bats, hang upside down in this particular reading? - it represents naivety, reckless behavior, and, yes, foolishness. I wonder who that could possibly represent?
The next vampire Marceline kills is the Hierophant. The inverted Hierophant represents a challenge to the status quo. Shape-shifting is a fabulous example of that, but I think our vampire Hierophant is foreshadowing. The second card represents the past - and a regular Hierophant represents conformity, tradition, and group identity. The human survivors, insisting on animal hats and singing old TV theme songs (Mr. Belvedere!), are our upright Hierophant. They're Marcy's past, and she'd love to be a part of their community - but instead she ends up consuming the inverted hierophant and EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.
We still need to see the Empress and the Moon. An inverted Empress represents a creative block, or a dependence on others, while an upright Empress is femininity and abundance. Keep an eye out for those thematic connections in episode 4! The Moon, inverted, represents a release of fear, confusion, and unhappiness. Interestingly positive for a vampire, no? An upright Moon is illusion, anxiety, and insecurity. Now which vampire will be the third point in the cross - the future - and which will represent the fourth point - the reason why the questioner seeks an answer?
The big mystery is the Vampire King. There is no "king" Arcana, although there is an Emperor, which when inverted represents domination and excessive control. The fifth card in a five card spread represents the potential within a situation. Becoming the Vampire Queen might seem like big potential to young Marceline, but it also represents the trap posed by the Inverted Emperor. But until we see some more information about the Vampire King, we can only speculate as to his symbolism.
These first two episodes did a very nice job setting the table, and they were PACKED with stuff - I didn't have any chance to talk about Jake's newly restored fear of vampires, or any of the fantastic backgrounds, or even the new theme song! But that's why we have a forum! What did you guys think?
