Prisoners of Love

"Prisoners of Love" is the third episode in the first season of Adventure Time. It is the third episode overall.

Synopsis
Finn and Jake must free themselves and seven princesses from the Ice King.

Plot
This episode starts off with Finn and Jake sledding in the Ice Kingdom on a rolling chair. Their sled decapitates a Snow Monsters, so the snow monster makes a cat head. After the sled ends up getting broken, Finn resorts to riding on Jake's belly. They sled into a group of penguins and fall down an ice chute and land in front of the Ice King as he is preparing to bury something in a shoebox. The Ice King is angered by their trespassing on his domain. He summons a band of Snow Monsters to beat up Finn and Jake, but the monsters are quickly subdued. As the duo celebrate their victory, the Ice King freezes them into a block of ice and then wheels them away to Ice King's Castle, all the while talking to himself about the difficulty of moving blocks of ice. Once he is at the door he stops to eat a piece of yogurt from his trail mix. The Ice King then hurls them into a cell along with Lumpy Space Princess, Slime Princess, Wildberry Princess, Hot Dog Princess, Ghost Princess (character), Emerald Princess and Raggedy Princess.

The princesses say that Ice King has kept them for weeks and questioned them about their quirks and favorite sports. He says he plans to marry one, but captures seven to make sure he marries the right one. Finn and Jake try to figure out ways to get out of the cell, but Finn's flute breaks when he tries to spear the Ice King and he freezes Jake when he tries to use his stretchy powers to make a Key Hand, causing Finn to flip out. The princesses also say that they are not having fun in the cell, since Ice King does not know how to entertain them. He thought that reading them "Baby Whatsit and the Bottle Prince" would be fun, but none of the princesses thought the book was fun (it was lame).

Ice King then forces Wildberry Princess and the other princesses to play musical instruments. Finn soon devises a plan while Ice King drums and makes him leave the room so he can tell Jake and the princesses his plan. They pretend to have fun and trick Ice King into coming into the cell where Finn will beat him up and Jake and the princesses can escape. When Finn fights Ice King, Ice King gets knocked out and dreams about why people do not like him. In the dream, Cosmic Owl tells Ice King that he is a sociopath. Ice King wakes up after being tickled by penguins and sees that Finn, Jake, and the princesses have already escaped. Meanwhile, they celebrate their victory and Slime Princess tells Finn that she would want to marry him. Finn asks Jake to help him out, only for Jake to lie that Finn pees his pants constantly, making Finn mad.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Ice King
 * Princesses
 * Emerald Princess
 * Ghost Princess (character)
 * Hot Dog Princess
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Raggedy Princess
 * Slime Princess
 * Wildberry Princess

Minor characters

 * Iceclops
 * Snow Golem
 * Penguins
 * Cosmic Owl
 * Snow Monsters
 * Snail

Mentioned

 * Original Lava Man

Trivia

 * Hot Dog Princess was shown to bark in this episode. In other episodes, she talks or mumbles.
 * This is the first episode to include the Ice King in the series.
 * Ice King is seen with a tattoo of a penguin on his right buttock during his dialogue with the cosmic owl.
 * Ice King's drums are green and say "#1 Babe."
 * There is a miniature replica of the Ice King on the "fun tray".

Episode connections

 * When Finn and Jake are sledding, they hit a patch of penguins. Finn screams "Penguins!" poking at the "Animated Short" when Finn and Jake jump down a cliff and exclaim the same thing when they hit a patch of penguins.
 * The Snow Golem and Iceclops from the "Animated Short" also make an appearance in this episode.

Errors

 * Ice King drops the Fun Tray on the floor, but in wider shots it is nowhere to be seen.
 * A gem on the Ice King's crown disappears for a couple frames while he is playing the drums.
 * Jake says "Well, why'd you capture six of them if you just want to marry one?" even though there are 7 princesses. Ice King also said that his chances were ruined with "5 or 6 potential wives." However, this could be acknowledging that Lumpy Space Princess is only 14 or 15 at the time, learned from a flashback in "The Eyes," and Ice King said in "Mortal Recoil" that he isn't interested in under-aged princesses.
 * For a few frames while Finn is on the Ice King, after kicking him to the ground, Finn has a unibrow.

Production notes

 * This episode was originally titled "Meet the Ice King."
 * This episode was the second episode produced and the episode that got the show greenlighted by Cartoon Network.
 * There was originally a scene at the beginning that was cut that involved Finn and Jake suffering in the heat at the Tree Fort due to the Original Lava Man.