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May 20, 2021 77 tweets 39 min read Read on X
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS #ATDL #TogetherAgain

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything!

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1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands". Image
2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence. Image
3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode. Image
4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate. ImageImageImageImage
5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate. Image
6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right. ImageImage
7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life. Image
8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine. ImageImage
9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place. Image
10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line. ImageImage
11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons. ImageImage
12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later. ImageImage
13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements". ImageImage
14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination. ImageImage
15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair. ImageImage
16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina". ImageImage
17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny". ImageImage
18. I feel like this goblin guy is a character we already know. It might be Gummy from the season two episode "The Silent King", but I'm not sure. ImageImage
19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn. ImageImage
20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode. ImageImage
21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds. ImageImage
22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". ImageImageImageImage
23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination. ImageImage
24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale. ImageImage
25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo. ImageImage
26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife. ImageImageImageImage
27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul. ImageImageImageImage
28. Boobafina reincarnated into a tugboat apparently. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly". ImageImage
29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean. ImageImage
30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him. ImageImage
31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three. Image
32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly". Image
33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began. Image
34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom". ImageImage
35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman. Image
36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon". ImageImage
37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations". ImageImageImage
38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now. ImageImage
39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode. Image
40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time". Image
41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm. Image
42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death. ImageImage
43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess". ImageImage
44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name. Image
45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty. Image
46. Lots more cameos: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more. ImageImageImageImage
47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series. Image
48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations, although PB must still be around because Finn was expecting to find her there. ImageImage
48. continued: It's especially strange because that tower that has been built up through the canopy of Neddy's tree is not present in the flash-forward in "Lemonhope Part 2". I wonder if we'll find out anything else about this in "Wizard City". Image
49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian". ImageImage
50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds. ImageImage
51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation. Image
52. A rough translation of Life's angry French dialogue, by @ShadoMaso_: "After all I did for that boy? After all I have done for him? That's not possible!" Image
53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now. Image
54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. ImageImage
55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image. Image
56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power". ImageImage
57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes. Image
58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode of the same name. Image
59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned. ImageImageImage
60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about. Image
61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn". Image
62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season. ImageImage
63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn. ImageImage
64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space". ImageImage
65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference. ImageImage
66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace. Image
67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit". ImageImage
68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from Dad's Dungeon for banishing demons. Image
69. Spotted by @PoshRexDoodles: I think that's President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks' other lovers! ImageImage
70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief. ImageImage
71. Pointed out by @17oddity: Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom". ImageImage
72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary. ImageImage
A follow up on #18: That goblin dude was a background character from "The Silent King", seen on the far right of this screenshot. Spotted by @XavierDBT. ImageImage
73. The Grass Demon, Ricardio, and possibly a Why-Wolf can all be seen very briefly in the walls of the First Dead World. Spotted by @noampearlman. ImageImage
73. continued: Also a couple of hair apes, only visible if you increase the brightness. There are probably a lot more familiar faces in this mess but they're hard to identify. Spotted by @DrRadaz. ImageImage

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