Why I Love Ice King - Love is Sacrifice (Adventure Time) 

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If I remember correctly, this entire backstory was written because the crew made a joke where there was a video of Ice King singing the fries song, and then they realized they needed to explain how he knew the song And I love that all this came from that joke

It's actually sadder when you realize that whenever Ice king saw Betty he would always call her beautiful lady

Simon had been on a downward spiral losing any sanity he had left and he still devoted himself to watch over and ensure Marceline’s safety. How he went from a seemingly senile old goofball to one of the most tragic and heartbreaking lives of anyone in the world really highlights Adventure Time’s brilliant world building.

Ice King's story reminds me of losing someone to dementia. The gradual, inevitable stripping away of who they were and the horror of knowing that there's nothing you can do to stop it. His story makes me cry every time.

I like the idea of Marceline accepting Simon and Betty not being able to. The main difference is that Betty had no time to grieve and accept that Simon is gone but Marci had that time and at some point, she starts accepting him for what he is. While the Ice King and Simon do share personalities I don't think they are the same person though. It seems that the Ice King has his own personality with his own desires but is often corrupted by the magic of the crown.

Remember when we hated Ice King in the beginning of the series and we later grew to love him later on? Especially when he rescued Marceline.

I'm just sitting back in my chair with my arms crossed, slowly realizing that perhaps Ice King is one of the most well-developed characters in cartoon history.

Adventure Time is full of tragedies: 1. Ice King, a respected scientist cursed by a magical crown turned crazy forever longing for his "princess"(Betty). 2. Marceline. Left alone as a child all alone while losing Simon, her only friend at the time. 3. Finn, the last surviving human(or so we thought) who despite his happy personality is actually deep down disturbed and lonely about being the only human left. 4. The Land of Ooo. Bears the scars of a massive war that resulted in the deaths of millions. The bones of the dead, broken buildings, and many wreckage are still visible to this day. All of these tragedies are masked by fun, happy adventures but look closely and in each episode you can always see the scars of a dark, sad past.

One of the most painful moments during Come Along with Me was seeing Simon attempting to wish for Betty back from Prismo during the ending montage, only for him to end up with nothing but the same failed wish Magic Man got when attempting to wish for his wife back from Golb. It makes me wonder how much of his life did he dedicate to trying and failing to bring Betty back once again even after the finale.

Almost feels like Ice King and Marcelines relationship is an allegory for people both suffering and coming into acceptance of the effects of Alzheimers :(

I could have sworn the reason Marcelines mother left was to save her the pain of watching her slowly fade from illness. It wasn't the _best_ reason but i was sure that was what happened

"Does Marceline not deserve to have her real father back?" I am crying.

Even in the final episode of adventure time when he regained his sanity he still lost everything.

2:55 Even Finn lost his mind instantly, while it took Simon years to lose his Edit: Although, it might be because farmworld Finn didn’t have the same experiences as the main Finn. Finn at the end of the series, or even after the Hall of Egress, would probably have taken a longer time.

I remember as a kid I hated the Ice King and his princess schemes but as I got older I grew to adore him so much for his will to sacrifice himself for those he cares about

I'm glad that Simon monitored and recorded himself as he slowly lost sanity.

Ice King is one of the most complicated and tragic characters of any cartoon, i think. He’s harmless (for the most part) and doesn’t have a full grasp on what’s morally correct; he doesn’t understand why some things are wrong. And, the funny thing is, he’s never really seen Finn or Jake as enemies, probably not even frenemies. In most of his actions, he means well, and oftentimes feels like a failure when things go wrong An episode that’s been playing on in my mind writing this is when he dropped snow over the Candy Kingdom. In that act, his intentions were pure, but had unexpected, abhorrent consequences. Honestly, i think no other VA than Tom Kenny could have ever nailed this role so perfectly

Simón’s fate was definitely worse than death and I am glad he got a somewhat happy ending

Marceline's relationship with Ice King is like a child to a parent with Alzeimer's disease where they have to step up to take care of their parent - they don't even remember their child but the child takes care of them regardless out of love of how they took care of them when they were younger.

The most beautiful moment in the show for me is in "Don't Look". When Finn looks at Ice King with the jewel eyes, he doesn't see Ice King, he sees Simon

Ice King was such an unexpectedly deep character, I loved it

“Oh please forgive me for whatever I do, when I don’t remember you…”

I’m so glad we learned her mom didn’t just up and ditch her out of fear it was because she was dying (most likely of radiation poisoning) and didn’t want Marceline to see her die

Going off of what you said about Simon calling Marcy “darling” and other kind names, it parallels how Hunson Abadeer calls her his “little monster”. It’s a small but interesting detail since it shows how differently both men see Marcy. Simon sees her as an innocent child and recognizes her human-side, while Hunson sees her as a product of his own that he values for her demon-side.

I always loved the idea that ice kings character was always supposed to represent people with Alzheimer’s or dementia. I think your video compliments that perfectly

"I Remember You" helped me cope with my father's death by Alzeheimers when it first aired

its so sad that he keeps looking for marceline but doesnt understand why. its also sad time with simon being completly confused and lost and doesnt really understand why betty wants to have him. and at the same time betty is going mad from th emagic and begins to obsess over getting simon back

I never thought the show about a kid and his magical dog would have one of the saddest characters in cartoons

0:30 she didn’t leave her daughter behind. She was on the edge of death and didn’t want her daughter to see it. So she sent Marcy to what was a safe-room (that was abandoned) where she believed somebody was still alive to look after her daughter. And that’s far more tragic.

Considering he looks the same in Obsidian despite Finn having grown into an adult, I think it's safe to say that Simon kept the eternal life despite being freed from the crown.

I remember someone making a theory about Ice King having dementia which is a little bit funny, sad and unsettling at the same time... Yikes... 💀 And realizing that Princess Bubblegum reminds him of Betty probably explains why he kidnap Bubblegum more often.

My assumption was it took centuries for Marceline to grow even to a teenager. Therefore the Ice King took centuries to take over Simon. I assume this from the growth of princess bubblegum as random litter into a sentient being. The growth around the devastated cities and the fact that she still isn’t quite a fully grown adult even at the end of the series. Bubblegum even started over in some sense as a child even though it didn’t last long she is essentially rejuvenated. All of Finns past lives seem to have occurred from the moment of the war to now. Which has always lead me to believe Simons descent into madness was over the course of possibly a millennia.

It almost feels like this story of Marceline and Betty attempting to help the Ice King is a parallel to dementia.

I knew Adventure Time was something special when they started showing us Simon’s backstory. That episode with the VHS tapes changed the way I watched AT forever

This character, This character is why I love adventure time. When I think of adventure time I think of Simon or ice King, his story truly makes you sympathize with him and the people around him. I loved that episode with Marcaline and him, it makes you feel the pain and anger of Marcaline and makes you feel absolutely horrible for Simon. I know Simon's story is good because every time think of it I still feel the same emotions of sadness that I felt the first time I watched it.

I think what really strikes me when it comes to Simon is how he much he never really gives up. Despite being trapped within his own mind and unable to be his true self he still tried to find a princess, HIS princess. And now he will continue to search for her even if it seems pretty much impossible.

in horror movies there's this term called "body horror", that exemplifies our concept about what is "looking human" and the distorcion of our bodies in an almost philosofical way but lately there's this term called "soul horror" that is very common in animation medias, exploring the what is "feeling human" and this feeling (not gut punching but heart punching) about the distorcion of our minds, like madness, etc simon and the ice king always makes me feel that way

one thing that I occasionally think about is how determined Simon must have been to be able to track down Marceline's dad and somehow convinced him to come back. I mean, her dad's a demon for crying out loud. it can't be as easy as picking up the phone.

I feel like this could be a metaphor for losing people to addiction. Throughout the video i couldn’t help but think this is what people who love addicts feel.

"This is not a happy ending. Hes not happy" This quote is really interesting to hear now that we have Fiona and Cake

And now it gets more complicated because of the recent release episode of Fionna and Cake not only that Simon lost his one true princess he also feels like he doesn't fit in with his friends anymore

"Have you heard of the Tragedy of the Ice King?" -Sage's Rain

This episode never fails to make me sob. He truly loves her like his own. And then lost every part of him that made him Simon. Ripped away from the last person who loved him to protect her. If you don't truly understand loss you just won't get it.

I absolutely adore Ice King. He became my single favorite character over the series because of the amount of growth he went through without ever fundamentally changing as a person, and showing that even though people might act differently and in ways that we consider weird, it doesn't mean they're bad people. And they can be a part of our world without being ostracize if you're willing to meet them halfway and ease them into understanding how to behave, even if they don't fully understand it. I feel like the unrequited loyalty he felt towards Finn for most of the series shows this best, even though it always caused trouble, it was rarely done out of malice towards them after the early seasons

I always felt that Simon's story was an allegory for the progression of Alzheimer's disease

I think one of the interesting things about the tear scene is we see throughout the show that Marceline won't let people get too close. But especially that she gets angry and won't admit to being hurt. Putting on a hard scary shell instead. This is likely because when she showed the smallest amount of pain the closest thing she had to a dad ran away in fear of hurting her. So she pretty much turned her while personality into "Look at me no one can hurt me"

I'm really happy that they made Simon a fully fleshed out character opposed to a minor inconvenience of an antagonist as Ice King.

BETTY IS NOT SELFISH. She knows what Simon wants which is why she did it, she sacrificed herself. This is still makes me cry.

Honestly; seeing that this video was about Ice King made me click the video. The tears I'm crying are because of how I can relate to his plight highly. You always do amazing videos that are thought provoking as well as tearjerking. Thank you for being the badass author you've been being

Ice king is one of the best depictions of dementia ever made, and it's a kids show. It must have helped quite a few kids understanding and coming to terms with losing grandma or grandpa to dementia.

Simon's story I think is the ultimate act of karma for his hubris, when he was still young and naiive. Simon lost everything for the crown. He lost betty. He lost his world. He lost his friends. But despite it all, he still clung to his sanity. He fought the crown tooth and nail for love to the very last moment. He never found Betty, his princess who mattered most to him, but he found something perhaps better. Fatherhood, in marcy. Two freaks who felt they were rejected by their loves. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Simon loved... Loves Marceline more than anything else in the world. More than himself. More than Betty. He gave into the crown for her. As much as she didn't want him to do it, they simply did not have the choice, it was do or die. And in the end, he did the best thing he could possibly do. Leave before he became a monster he fought so hard to protect Marceline from, and send her father to be a real dad for once in his deadbeat life. Perhaps if he stuck with Marceline, she could have helped shape who the ice king would have been in the end, to be someone a lot less manically obsessed with princesses. But can you blame Simon? As far as he knew, he was going to turn into a destructive monster, not an insane manchild. Regardless, he fought tooth and nail as long and as hard as he could for Marceline before finally becoming the Ice King. And, once he had become the Ice King, Finn, Jake, and Bonnie helped him change. To ultimately resist the childish urges forced upon him by the crown. And to be a better person. The Ice King still remembers Marceline, subconsciously. And still loves her, even. But his addled mind forgot the difference between familial love, and the love between lovers. Perhaps that's why he tried so hard. He genuinely loved her. That's why he tried to kiss her, because deep down, Marceline is still the one he loves most. Just... Not in that way. And it's because of the influence Finn, Jake, and Bonnie had on him that he's able to accept this alternate form of love, and continue to be friends with Marcy. His ultimate reward at the end of this long journey is his life and sanity back. His daughter back. New friends to stick with him. But that's because of Betty's concurrent story, and her consequent eternal punishment, for her inability to accept change. Her inability to recognize the Ice King as his own individual. She got her wish, and the punishment is an eternity... Of loneliness. Karmic punishment is a bitch. You can't have your cake and eat it too. But I think, ultimately, Simon's ending is as happy as it could have been. And it's perfect. What a great show.

I always felt bad for ice king even in the first seasons when he was a maniacal princess kidnapper. It make me understand that all he wanted was love and before the crown thing, he just was a normal man, who was loved. As the series have continued, I don't know why but, I've hated Finn and Jake a bit for not understanding Simon's tragedy earlier and they watched his past tapes, continuing to beat the crap out of him. Such a poor poor man.

One time, my sisters and I used almost $20 on a crane game just to win a tiny plush Ice King because he's the only character our dad liked. Now, he takes Ice King with him for every trip. He always sends a picture of Ice King.

Also the fact of Simon had always called Betty his beautiful princess might be the reason why as he went crazy he had a princess obsession

Finding out why Ice King is crazy was already heart wrenching, finding out why he's got an obsession with princesses was just another wrench thrown at me.

God didn't realize what Marceline's mother actually did. I haven't watched Adventure Time or those longer episodes on HBO in a long while so I always thought Marceline's mom scared her so she would go somewhere safe. Jesus the show is good.

I’ve never seen this show, but I like how you talk about pop culture art

Simon and Betty's relationship is the most tragic thing I've ever seen. It breaks my heart

4 years into my marriage my husband began suffering from increasingly intense mental illness. It should be noted how little help exists for situations like ours. Going missing, in and out of jail (he had never been in trouble before this), before long I no longer recognized him. I would try to make him remember, try to 'bring him back' and ended up frustrated and angry. It's really funny when i tell people the thing that changed my approach to dealing with this was a childrens cartoon.We are still together now for 8 years. He has been the ice king now for as long as he was Simon to me.I have grieved one man and learned to love the other. In a time where i felt, so SO alone (family and friends just get tired. Its understandable) Adventure Time was a beacon of light in a very, very dark time for me. I felt seen and gently guided. Love is sacrifice. It's incredible that you chose to include that Wanda Vision quote, just one more synchronicity.

The fact that you made an Adventure Time video in 2022 is worthy of my subscription on its own

Ice King is my favorite fictional character of all time. This video perfectly captures his story, tragedy, and the why factor. A lot of ice king videos really miss the why factor when it comes to his character. I like that you didn't just go over him and his tragedy, but the ones closest to him and how they're impacted by it as well. The contrast explanation of the difference between Marceline & Betty's love for Simon made me happy and invested. Amazing video.

The way Ice King is almost always fixated to Princess Bubblegum actually makes sense. PB is very smart, which Ice King/Simon instinctively reminds him of Betty.

Hearing people speak of adventure time with the same level of care that I gave it growing up is quite a profound feeling, as I didn't have anyone to share this with in the moment, I'm glad someone else has experienced this great show

Simon and the Ice King resemble nothing to me so much as my great grandmother slowly losing her mind to dementia. Someone who knows they're losing their mind and knows they're powerless to stop it, and knows they're alone but doesn't understand why. All wizards eventually go insane in Ooo- this is the price of the power magic brings you, and even relatively lucid ones like Abracadaniel and Huntress Wizard clearly aren't mentally well- but Simon was probably hit the hardest. He's a sad, lonely, confused, mentally ill old man in desperate need of love and companionship that took him a thousand years to fill.

Marcy's mom didn't abandon her, she was sick and dying, and didn't want Marcy to see her die, so she sent her away to the bunker so she knew she was safe

i love how even after 5 years of its offical ending we are still talking about Adventure time. 13 years since it premiered and we still have so much to think about and theorize about.

I always loved how Marcy respected Ice King and treated him like a person despite everyone else dismissing him as a crazy old man.

Love how Adventure time took such a simple trope as princess kidnapping and turns it into a beautiful deep story

ice king story really hits different today

OH MY GOD???? I’ve never really watched adventure time. When it first premiered I remember watching a few episodes and then moving onto something else. I didn’t know that the show went this deep! I’m over crying before work watching this

Billie Eilish: You should see me in a crown. 👑 Simon:

Marceline's mother was scared of her daughter, but that wasn't why she left her. She was sick, as you can see in Obsidian. She didn't want Marceline to see her dead.

I just finished rewatching Adventure Time, so the timing on this is impeccable.

He's a well written character that i appreciate that i didn't expect.

I see the relationship between Simon/Ice king and Marceline being and allegory for people dealing with their loved ones going through dementia or alzheimers.

I think what makes me love both Simon and ice king as characters and what makes them both so tragic is that Simon loses everything in the process of caring for Marceline, but none of it is dignified and that's entirely on purpose. In other media, the tragedy might be that Simon would've gone insane with power and been an intimidating villian who poses a true threat, or that Simon would die protecting Marceline, or he would die trying to find Betty. But none of that happens. Instead, Simon isn't granted death, or ascending to the status of a driven mad, threatening antagonist, on the same level of evil as someone like The Lich. The sadness lies in how deeply humiliating his punishment is. He loses all of his memories, he loses autonomy over his body, he loses basically 3/4 of his personality. He had to leave Marceline because he knew how bad he was going to become, and while I don't really think ice king would've intentionally hurt her, Simon knew he would end up doing it by accident eventually. He's reduced to a pathetic, lonely, highly emotionally unstable old man who no one in Ooo likes (at least by season one). It's horribly cruel because of how demeaning it is. One of the worst parts, at least to me, is that Marceline could do nothing but watch him get worse and worse as the centuries ticked by. In I Remember You, Marceline mentions to ice king "get out of here, I told you not to come around me!" Which makes me think that, even in his most insane moments, ice king vaguely remembers that he knows Marceline, and he keeps trying to find her, over and over again to the point where Marceline couldn't stand to look at him anymore, so she told him not to be around her. I don't know this comment is ridiculously long but that moment always gets me to think about, because it implies that even while driven insane by the crown Simon still wants to make sure Marceline is doing okay.

When at first we thought Ice King was a funny idiotic character but that plot twist of his past and his challenge in life was spechless.

Ice King is a good way to subtly introduce children watching the show to something they may experience in their lives, a parent or grandparent or other loved relative being afflicted with dementia.

I think this continues to be echoed in Fionna and Cake, I'm really excited to see how it's finale will play out. After giving everything he had, and so much taken from him, he was on the verge of giving up. But after a little rest, he was able to muster up the will to give even more to another girl in need, to give comfort, patience, and love. Honestly, he's such an incredible man. I hope that his tragedy can finally become a happy ending with the ending of Fionna and Cake.

Also interesting how in Ice King’s search for a genius princess similar to Betty, when making that amalgamation of the princesses he uses the brains of Turtle Princess (a librarian) and Princess Bubblegum. In the finale, Ice Thing (Gunter) proposes to Turtle Princess. So that’s sorta interesting.

This become even more sad after the Fionna and Cake show 😭

Marcelines mom didn’t leave because she was afraid of her demon daughter, she had an unknown illness and didn’t want Marcy to see her die so she left before that could happen :(

This is why I love adventure time

Finally a reviewer who talks the ice king in a sad picture even stallin would be brought to tears

back when i was 8 and watching remember me and i was confused why i had lump in my throat and now i can’t even watch it without tearing up

Its awesome you came to the conclusion that simon deaerves to be happy but he himself doesnt realize it because at the end of fiona and cake thats the message he finally gets

As someone whose father has dementia that grows worse and worse with time i am very much Marceline in this situation, i see the man i looked up to and respected ramble on repeatedly, sometimes incoherently and sometimes not even recognaizing me i still love him, i still try to look after him in my own way even if he needed to be put somewhere else for proper care. Simon/Ice King whether they intended to or not became someone very relatable for those dealing with a loved one who is losing their fight with dementia and or alzheimers. Once again eloquently put video, you truly are of deep intellect and empathy.

9:10 gotta love the subtle start of "everything stays"

Imagine comparing Ice King's crown to the Lich King's crown.

Simons love for marceline and their unique bond is one of the best and one mu favorites

Hm, interesting, the supposed upcoming Fionna and Cake Spin-off Show seems to be including Simon as well, so his Story might still have a chance yet, to be more satisfactory, to him at least, provided that the Spin-off Show is still going to be a thing that is, I think it’s still up in the air at this point.

Shedding light on the fact that Simon's golden heart shone through even the cold magic of the crown, enough so that even his misguided and delusional expressions of love for Gunter resulted in them feeling cared enough for to wish to be like Ice King at the end of the series adds a whole new dimension to the Ice King side of the character. It really shows what Marcy sees as worth holding onto even as Ice King is lost in madness, and what Betty was unable to see or accept as her former beloved. I like to think Ice King still lives on in the back of Simon's mind in much the same way Simon once did for those hundreds of years, as we see him visiting a freezer playing with some ice exclaiming "What? This is how I cope!" I love this character, and this show so dearly.

I love adventures time writing. It is so unique and complex but a child could still understand it

And we don't know what happened to Marceline's mom to this day.

I like how Marceline runs and gives Simon a huge hug every time they meet😊

No matter what year, Adventure Time is always relevant.

It’s so sad that Marcelina accepted him but Betty couldn’t…Ice King deserve love

im not the type of person to comment underneath but I thought this video was perfect for me to share a story about my brother. When I first saw that episode of marceline and ice king it drew my attention a lot when I saw how desperate marceline was to bringing simon back and how frustrating his responses to them was. I've known this story for a long time and understood its tragedy and how I compared it to my brother but something about this video definitely gave me a new perspective to this issue which is what drove me to want to share a personal story on the internet. My brother started using drugs in his very early teens, starting with cigarettes and weed to getting much stronger addictions and harder drugs. he was a normal sane person with a personality and humor and had friends and girlfriends and hobbies and aspirations, living a young teenage life making some wrong decisions every now and then but then getting worse as his addictions took hold of his morality, at some point he had a girlfriend who did crystal meth this is when his addiction took a turn for the worse. He drove all his friendships away and all his desires to just pure anger and silence with the (leave me alone face) disconnecting from everything and everyone he has been sober for 8 years now but his mind is completely lost. He isn't the same person he was before, and after many years I've understood that he will never go back the same anymore.After a long period of not seeing him for years and now finally living under the same roof again. Really living with him for the first time I have started grieving him. The person he once was, when we used to play video games as kids or when he'd bring me candy for no reason or when he'd steal literal game chips from game stop for me to play on my 3ds. his anger and afflictions drove our connection away for such a long time but now he's just a child. My brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia bipolar disorder and PTSD at 21 and diagnosed with an intellectual disability at 26 years old he has the intelligence of a 4 year old but the anger of a grown man. but now he is alone, all the friends he once had, the highschool popularity, his ex girlfriends, all long gone. He is a gravely difficult person to deal with and I've had a lot of hate towards him for so long but I've learned to live with his disability and help him the best I can. i no longer hold resentment or take his insults personally because he is a lost and hurt person who is stuck inside his mind. but since I've finally cried for the old him I've been trying to find him again I've tried bargaining with him, showing him cartoons he used to like or music, he hasn't abandoned his desires completely but finds it very difficult to go deep into something like he used to, rejecting my attempt at bringing him back. as did marceline with ice king showing him all the moments they shared together and the letters he wrote to her "begging him to remember searching for the man that saved her she sings the lyrics to his song eyes closed in tears singing a song that means so much for her. It almost looked like this was the moment she accepted that simon wasn't coming back but she also accepted that though he wasn't coming back she was grateful for it all and by simon and marcy she was going to protect and take care of ice king for the man that he once was and for this new version of him" I loved this dialogue from this video because its true that as much as you try to bring back a person that has been gone for years it can never work but you can learn to love that person again. not only is this video amazing for its analysis but the way that this story is perceived and how "simon coming back" isn't a happy ending. Ice king is his own entity and it shows by his subconscious attraction to marceline finding her wherever she goes and hanging around. I think its a beautiful story off loss, hurt and reconnection even if it isn't the way it used to be.

i love the story of the crown as well. the original wish was forged in a deeply lonely and abused child wishing to be something his mentor and father figure could be proud of. i believe it’s because of that child that those who wear the crown often find themselves in a role of a caretaker, but aggressively so; leading the bearers to often kidnap or stalk people they feel affection towards. also the echoes of the gunthers. the first who wished to emulate his mentor because he wanted to be loved, and the final who wished to emulate the ice king because he was already loved