The Red Throne
| "The Red Throne" | |
|---|---|
| Adventure Time episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 47 |
| Written by |
|
| Original air date | February 10, 2014 |
"The Red Throne" is the forty-seventh episode from the fifth season of Adventure Time, an animated television series. It was written by Seo Kim and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a story devised by several other writers. In the episode, Flame Princess (Jessica DiCicco), with the help of Cinnamon Bun (Dee Bradley Baker) and Finn (Jeremy Shada) tries to escape from an arranged marriage between her and Don John the Flame Lord (Roddy Piper), as set up by her father the Flame King (Keith David).
Piper and David, stars of They Live (1987), a John Carpenter film, lent their voices for two of the aforementioned characters. The episode contains a parody from a popular combat sequence in the film, in which the actors box for close to six minutes. Originally aired on February 10, 2014, writers of entertainment- and education-related websites praised the episode for its writing and themes, as well as the performances by Piper and David, though the crew perceived online response as negative.
Plot
In the Fire Kingdom, Don John the Flame Lord shows up to tell Flame Princess she is not brutish enough to rule over the Flame subjects. Her father, the Flame King, appears as his daughter is compromised of her body temperature and crown. He tells Flame Princess he has arranged her marriage with Don John. When she tries to escape their palace, its inhabitants—put under a mind-control spell by Don John—try to seize her. Cinnamon Bun riding his wolf punctures the palace walls. He rescues Flame Princess, and the two escape. They enlist the aid of Finn, the ex of Flame Princess.
Still uneasy over their split, Finn tries to show off to Flame Princess, though she informs him that their relationship should stay platonic. They return to the kingdom, its entrance now guarded by the inhabitants. Finn goes directly for the guards, but he and Flame Princess get captured after she advises him too late that the people are impenetrable through their spell. Don John visits the imprisoned duo, where Flame Princess vows never to marry him. Don John complains to the Flame King that he is failing to deliver on his promise. The lord and king box, with the latter authority knocking out Don John, which frees the Flame people from his spell. Cinnamon Bun delivers a speech to the palace convincing the people to detain the Flame King and Don John while earning the affections of Flame Princess.
Production
"The Red Throne" is the forty-seventh episode from the fifth season of Adventure Time.[1] It was written by Seo Kim and Somvilay Xayaphone. A separate group of writers—Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto—came up with the idea for the episode, which Kim and Xayaphone adapted to a storyboard.[2] The creator of Adventure Time, Ward resigned from his occupation as its runner during production of the season.[3]: 45
The voice of Don John the Flame Lord was supplied by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, in unison with Keith David, who provided the voice of the Flame King. A distinguished wrestler and actor, Piper had appeared in numerous films. One of his most famous roles is that of the unnamed man (dubbed Nada) in They Live, directed by John Carpenter and released in 1988. The main subject of the film, Nada finds a pair sunglasses revealing a breed of aliens disguised as humans in control of society. A well-known scene in the film has the man fight with his friend (David), whom Nada wants to share his glasses with. In similar fashion, the Adventure Time episode includes a parody of that scene, in which Don John and the Flame King engage in combat.[4] The scene in They Live was previously the subject of homages in South Park and Saints Row IV,[5] though this parody was called exemplar for reuniting both Piper and David.[4]
Release and reception
Cartoon Network originally aired "The Red Throne" on February 10, 2014.[1] Over two million people saw the episode live on broadcast; according to TV by the Numbers, 0.4 percent of all 18- to 49-year-old residents of households with television sets watched the episode, as indicated by its Nielsen rating.[6]
The Adventure Time crew was satisfied with the episode on its completion. In spite of that, Muto described the reaction from the Internet as largely negative, much to their surprise.[7] It earned an A− grade from Oliver Sava (The A.V. Club), who compared the evolution of Cinnamon Bun from a simple-minded character to one of complexity with the show itself. The theme of life following a broken romance benefits from this complexity, Sava wrote. He called the physical cooling of Flame Princess a crafty metaphor for the personal changes an individual from a past relationship experiences, as well as the nostalgia felt over such a relationship.[8]
Cat Blake (The Huffington Post) cited Cinnamon Bun gaining the affection of Flame Princess as a reason for secondary schoolers not to underestimate people.[9] Separate from romance, Sava interpreted the battle between the Flame Lord and the Flame King as to demonstrate Flame Princess is a more sensible ruler.[8] Adam Tyner (DVD Talk) described the episode as showing Finn at his most embarrassing.[10] Piper died the year following the original broadcast of this episode, in July. In memoriam, Brandon Stroud (Uproxx) called Don Jon one of his best roles in pop culture.[5] The network released it on DVD, first in the year of that broadcast, as part of the Finn the Human box set,[11] and later in 2015, as part of a box set for the complete fifth season.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Adventure Time Season Five, Episode Forty-seven: 'The Red Throne'". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ For information on how Adventure Time is produced, see: Goldstein, Rich (December 19, 2013). "This Is How an Episode of Cartoon Network's Adventure Time Is Made". The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
- ^ Strauss, Neil (October 2, 2014). "The Trippiest Show on Television". Rolling Stone (1219): 44–46. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014.
- ^ a b Franich, Darren (July 31, 2015). "Remembering Roddy Piper's Rowdy Film Career". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ a b Stroud, Brandon (July 31, 2015). "Celebrating Rowdy Roddy Piper's Greatest Non-Wrestling Pop Culture Moments". Uproxx. Woven Digital. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (February 11, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: Love & Hip Hop Leads Night—Plus Monday Night RAW, Single Ladies, Swamp People, and More". TV by the Numbers. Gracenote. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=requires|archive-url=(help) - ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (April 18, 2014). "Why Adventure Time Is Finally Breaking Its Status Quo Once and for All". io9. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ a b Sava, Oliver (February 11, 2014). "Adventure Time: 'The Red Throne'". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Blake, Cat (March 1, 2014). "6 Reasons You Should Apply Advice from Adventure Time to Your School Life". The Huffington Post. AOL Inc. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ a b Tyner, Adam (July 30, 2015). "Adventure Time: The Complete Fifth Season (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ Scheetz, Cameron (November 25, 2014). "Oh My Glob! Win an Adventure Time: Finn The Human DVD & Prize Pack". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
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