Recap / Adventure Time S 5 E 37 Box Prince

Finn meets the Box Prince (a cat with a box on its back) and discovers the Box Kingdom has been taken over by an imposter. Now, Finn must help the real Box Prince reclaim his rightful throne.

---

Tropes

• Ambiguous Situation: Played with—it ends up being pretty obvious that the Box Kingdom isn't a real kingdom and instead just a big plaything for a bunch of cats. However, it's hard to tell if the cats themselves made it or if someone else did it for them, and it's just as unclear as to whether they're normal cats or cats with humanlike (though also childish) intelligence.
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: While the kingdom turns out to be a massive kitty play pen or something like that, they are seen manipulating tools, organizing tournaments, using palanquins, and blowing paper horns. The cats appear to be sapient, albeit possessing little-kid levels of intellect.
• Animal Jingoism: Jake hates cats like most dogs, though the reasons are unspecified.
  Jake: The cats know what they did!
• Breather Episode: Compared to the many very emotional and/or arc-significant episodes in this period, this episode has two plots in which very little happens.
• Cats Are Mean: Averted with the real Box Prince, played straight with the fake one
• Cats Hate Water: An emergency water spray is on a side of a building in case the Box People go nuts.
• Cuddle Bug: The cats in the Box Kingdom are this, just as many cats are. The episode ends with them dogpiling^note heh Finn and cuddling/kissing him (and he, of course, doesn't mind at all).
• Cute Kitten: Admit it, those cats of the Box Kingdom are soooooo cute!
• Expressive Mask: The faces drawn on the boxes change emotions rather inexplicably.
• Fake King: The fake "Box Prince" who usurped the throne from the real one.
• Lazy Bum: Jake would rather play with BMO than help the Box Prince, though it's because of unknown reasons.
• Noodle Incident: Whatever cats did to Jake, which was enough to traumatize him.
  • Maybe it was the incident with Me-Maw?
  • Who or Whatever made the box equipment and buildings for the rather normal cats.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The plot with the Fake King is never resolved...because the cats are just normal cats. Jake's problem with the tortilla chip also ends unsolved, as Jake decides to keep the tortilla chip in his teeth as a reminder of what life's all about.
  BMO: This is unsatisfying!
• Talking Animal: Zig Zagged. It appears that the cats are capable of making a civilization out of boxes and understand Finn, but lack the ability to speak; but it turns out that they're normal cats and someone or something built a cardboard kingdom for them. And yet they're perfectly capable of assembling in an audience to watch a combat match, so who the hell knows.