When a dragon awakens and breaks free from its prison underneath the Glass Kingdom, Marceline is called upon to defeat it as she did centuries ago. But in the process of preventing the catastrophe the beast threatens to cause, she learns that fixing this dilemma means facing yet another part of her tumultuous past with Princess Bubblegum.
Tropes
- Accidental Hero: The glass kingdom sees Marceline as their divine protector, but her saving them was just an inconsequential result of her angry break up with Bubblegum. In truth she hardly cared about them at all.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Glassboy makes an unflattering yet accurate impression of Marceline when she sings an “angry song” to cheer her up, Marceline can’t help but laughing at how she used to be ridiculous.
- All There in the Manual: Marceline's mom's name is revealed in the credits to be Elise.
- Back to Front: How the flashbacks to Marcy and Bonnie's break up are done. We see the break up first, followed later by Marceline's "Reason You Suck" Speech Song that caused the official split, then the argument that led to said song, and finally at the very end we see how the two first met at one of Marceline's concerts.
- Big Damn Kiss: Bubblegum gives Marceline a big kiss after the latter sings Monster for the first time and reveals how happy she is being with Bubblegum.
- Break-Up Song: Woke Up. Marceline unloads on Bubblegum in the past with this song which ends their relationship.
- The Bus Came Back: Bronwyn makes a return after her small cameo in "Elements" as Finn's new adventure partner.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Simon, the banana guards, Bronwyn and Finn only show up to help PB and Marcy after the danger has long since past.
- Character Development: The episode shows off how much Marceline and Bubblegum have changed since they first came to the Glass Kingdom. In the past both were more self centered, Bonnie wanted to prove her scientific genius and of course solve all the problems herself while Marceline just wanted to play and really couldn't care less about the Glass People. PB ends up lashing out at Marcy when her plans started to fail, and Marcy retaliates by listing, in music form, every little petty grievance she has with PB. In the present time, Bonnie is more accepting she doesn't always know the answer and willing to take help from others, and Marceline is more invested in saving the Glass Kingdom and not letting her feelings of anger and sadness cloud her judgement.
- Downer Beginning: The opening has Glassboy, after being bullied by the other Glass People for his crack, accidentally reawaken Larvo, being imprisoned while the advisors brush off his claims that Marceline is still out there and can stop Larvo again.
- Dramatic Irony: The advisors state that Marceline is almost certainly dead by now, given how long ago she sealed away Larvo. This wouldn't stop her, though, since she's The Ageless.
- Fantastic Racism: Most of the Glass People are fairly xenophobic towards any non-glass beings. They also look down on anyone with a crack, despite everyone having a hidden one.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: During his song at the denouement Glass boy hits a note that shatters all the heads of See-Through Princess's advisors. They're quickly swept up for reconstruction.
- Hypocrite: The glass people (sans the princess) always bully Glassboy for having a crack on his head, despite the fact they all have at least one hidden in their string.
- I Am a Monster: After she used her demon powers to save her mother from a wolf Marceline is left believing that she scared her mother away after she told her to leave. Her imaginary friends even tell her that she scares everyone away. Her Silly Love Song to Bonnie at the end is even titled "Monster" where she admits her insecurities about this aspect of herself.Marceline: I've always felt like a monster, long before I was bit.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Marceline's mom is obviously sick with a bad cough and bags under her eyes. When she starts coughing up blood she sends young Marcy away with a lie.
- Interrupted Bath: It is clear that Simon got Finn to help Marcy and PB while he was bathing since he showed up with a towel over his head and waist.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Marceline got particularly nasty singing "Woke Up" in the flashback, she raised some fair points about Bubblegum. Early on in the series, while she meant well, Bubblegum's control freak and Big Brother tendencies did come of as a bit dictator-ish.
- Magma Man: Molto Larvo is made out of molten glass so burning hot that, when he slams a glass person with an arm, they instantly melt into a puddle instead of getting smashed.
- Mondegreen Gag: After a couple hundred years the Glass people have completely forgotten the lyrics to Marceline's original song. In their version it's about hating a coconut, but the original is a nasty and angry Break-Up Song.Glass Choir: So Mad at the Coconut
Marceline: So Glad I Woke Up - Never Be Hurt Again:
- After her mother seemingly abandoned Marceline at a young age after she used her demon powers to save her from a mutated wolf (when in truth she just didn't want her daughter to see her die), Marceline convinced herself that she did it on purpose and that whenever people run away from her, it's because she wants them to. This unfortunately had long reaching consequences as instead of dealing with her problems in a constructive way, she just lashed out at people; which is what led to her making her Break-Up Song against Bubblegum after they had a fight.
- As it turns out, Molto Larvo also has similar issues to Marcy. After its siblings were eaten by a sea monster when it was young and it only just escaped with a scar, Molto Larvo buried itself into a volcanic crevice rather than be hurt again where it turned into the dragon it became by the present day. After hearing Marcy's Silly Love Song to Bubblegum it takes off the mask it used to hide its scar and transforms into a soft butterfly-cat creature.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Glassboy goes into the mountain Molto Larvo is trapped in so he can fix the crack in his head. This inadvertently wakes up the dragon and he in turn loses the key keeping the magic door sealed thus giving the dragon the opportunity to escape.
- Marcy's mom meant well but her sending Marcy away at a young age without telling her why ended up giving her daughter long term psychological damage and made it hard for her to be honest with her feelings. It doesn't help that she send her away after Marcy used her demon powers to save her making Marcy believe she scared her off.
- Parents as People: Marcy's mom tried her best but hid a lot from her daughter, including the fact that she was dying. This ended up causing Marcy herself to have abandonment issues and trouble expressing her emotions.
- Poor Communication Kills: There's an entire sequence wherein Elise fights a wolf to protect Marceline, while the wolf is attacking Elise in the first place because its cub startled her badly enough for her to attack it. The intention is clear: Regardless of the differences, at it's core, this is a fight between two mothers merely wanting to protect their children.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: "What Was Missing" gave a glimpse into Marceline and Bubblegum's past relationship and hints that something caused it to sour prior to the audience meeting them. Marceline outright sings that she "forgets what landed her on [Bubblegum's] blacklist". Here, we finally witness the inciting incident that caused their break-up.
- Rule of Symbolism: The episode is about a race of glass people, who are naturally very fragile, that relentlessly mock anyone who has a crack even though they all secretly have one. There is no one that goes through life without accruing some kind of damage, and rather than tearing each other down for it we should be open, honest and supportive of each other because we've all been there.
- Not only that: Molto Larvo is essentially a symbol of Marcy's inner demons. The first time she merely buried it/them by deluding herself into thinking that she was simply too cool for Bonnie (the Break-Up Song); years later, after having restarted their relationship, she has to face it/them again. And she makes a mistake or two in the process, but at the end she defeats it/them for real when she realizes that she has to open herself up (the Silly Love Song), which makes the healing (Molto Larvo' metamorphosis) possible.
- Scars Are Forever: The theme of the episode is about scars, emotional and physical, and how there is no magical fix for them. That the only way to address them is to look at them honestly and openly and work out healthier attitudes towards them.
- Silly Love Song: After the two get trapped in the dragons lair Marceline sings a new song she composed for Bonnie titled "Monster" where she lays down how being with Bubblegum scares her because it makes her vulnerable but it also makes her feel happy and she wants to be "soft" for her.
- Time Skip: The episode takes place several years after the original series ended, judging by Finn's appearance.
- Tragic Villain: Molto Larvo's family was eaten by a monster, leaving it the only survivor. It buried itself in a volcano out of trauma for the event.
- Wham Shot: To help out Marceline and Bubblegum, Simon recruits PB's Banana Guards, Bronwyn, and a grown-up Finn with a beard and tattoo of Jake on his chest.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite some characters making a comeback, Jake is nowhere to be seen. It's unclear what happened to him between "Come Along With Me" and the miniseries, now that Bronwyn is Finn's adventure partner. Either he retired from adventures or died.
- Writer's Block: At the start of the special Marceline is trying to compose a new song but admits to Bonnie that she is having trouble getting the words down. Later on she tries to come up with an angry song on the fly to subdue the dragon but finds she can't draw up the same negative energy she used to. At the end she realizes it's because she is so happy with Bonnie now that she doesn't have the same anger she used to derive her songs from and thus resolves that issue by singing a Silly Love Song instead.
