Tropes:
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Santa Claus apparently wore the crown at some point, implying that was the source of his Christmas magic.
- Berserk Button: Being mistaken for Betty's assistant causes Bubblegum to rant about her accomplishments as a scientist.
- The Bus Came Back: The original Gunther, Simon, and Betty all exist inside the crown.
- Call-Back:
- Ice King refers to the time his crown was stolen by Betty as his last date.
- The original Gunther from the episode "Evergreen" is among the inhabitants of the crown. He mentions Simon as being the smartest person he knows besides his master Evergreen.
- Another inhabitant is speaking Icelandic, in reference to Simon's journal in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" which stated he found the crown in Scandinavia.
- The virtual reality of the crown's programming is depicted as a maze, a description Simon used to describe his mind in his final recorded moments of lucidity wearing it.
- Marceline mentions that she punched her ex-boyfriend in the face, and Simon wishes he were also there to punch him in the face (the joke being that he did in fact do that, but he didn't know that Ash was her ex-boyfriend).
- Character Development: At the beginning of the episode, Bubblegum is visibly upset at going to dinner at the Ice Kingdom, since she only sees Ice King as a villainous kidnapper with zero redeeming qualities. By the end of the episode, her viewpoint on him has changed.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The start of the episode is set up in a similar fashion of a someone trying to get their partner to get along with their parents.
- Double Entendre: Lampshaded. When Marceline asks if Bubblegum pressed the wrong button:PB: "I never press the wrong button."
Marceline: "Yeah, you always know which button to press."
Marceline: "I'm referring to the fact that you know how to annoy me." - Expecting Someone Taller: Parodied; Gunther had been told about Betty, but was expecting her to be more than a Flying Face when confronted with an AI modeled after her.
- Future Imperfect: Marceline is apparently one of the few people in modern Ooo who's heard of Santa Claus.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: The AI is modeled after Betty and her memories, meaning it's susceptible to being talked down by Simon.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind: In a variation, Bonnie and Marceline use virtual reality devices to enter the inside of the Ice King's crown, which houses the memories of all its past wearers.
- Magitek: The crown is once again shown having circuitry and programming. Betty's AI is described as malware and Bonnie and Marcie can only enter it because its actions have weakened the crown's firewall.
- Mental World: The inside of the crown is depicted as a maze made of golden walls covered in circuits with random plants and red crystal outgrowths. Its inhabitants are the egos of whoever wore it, even if only once.
- Noodle Incident: Among the people who wore the crown is a man implied to be Santa Claus.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Betty's meddling with Simon's crown was meant to bring the original Simon back, but instead it just made him even more crazy.
- Odd Friendship: A surprising and heartwarming one between Marcie and the original Gunther.
- Percussive Prevention: Bubblegum knocks out Ice King before getting him to her lab, saying that it makes things easier.
- Rule of Drama: Betty gets cut off before she can explain to Simon something she wants to tell him, as that is the moment Marcie and Bonnie are expelled from the crown. Turns out the program survived as a slightly glitched version of Betty, and was only stuttering for dramatic effect to annoy Simon.
- Ship Tease: A lot between Bonnie and Marcy.
- Bubblegum calls Marceline girlfriend, in a way that it's ambiguously worded to be heard as both 'girl friend' or 'girlfriend'
- Virtual Ghost: The crown stores everyone that wore it within itself in this manner. Betty made a copy of herself as one, since she programmed the AI with all her memories, making it vulnerable to being reached out to by Simon.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Marceline asks Princess Bubblegum to call Ice King Simon, but she's reluctant to do so. Yet when Ice King starts acting crazy and Bubblegum starts to check the crown, she calls him "Simon's crown", which convinces Marceline that she's telling the truth.
