I feel like there's more to the Vampire King's "comedy". When you REALLY look at it, the Vampire King prostrates himself in every conceivable way because he does not want the cycle to continue. He knows if he fights Marceline, he'll bite her, she'll become a vampire, and he'll still be dead. Also stripping clothing is seen in media as a sign of being truthful, exposing yourself and your sins. So yeah, they couldn't have the vamp king go full naked, but he literally goes as far as he can to show Marceline he's dead serious about stopping the cycle from continuing.
My personal favorite moment of Stakes was Marceline outright confirming the fact that things repeated over and over again in a cycle, something that was becoming more and more apparent the more lore we were getting.
One thing I really like about the finale is that it almost foreshadows the series finale. The word "Stakes" definitely refers to vampires, but it also indicates a shift for the series going forward, battles and adventures get bigger, the stakes get higher. Plus Crunchy is really just Bubblegum's Cousin Chicle as we come to find out, which is interesting and probably not coincidental.
I feel like you missed the symbolism of him stripping down to his underpants and splashing in water. He's a lion, deep down. Him playing with his food, conducting himself in regalia and regally, then debasing himself in that way is from a point of view of someone who has watched a lot of cats. It was foreshadowing for him being turned into a lion, because he never saw Marcie as food. He saw her as fellow predator/lions or lioness, and ceded his place as pride leader, when he lead them to destruction. It was inferring they were predators with a different hierarchy, more similar to apex predator hierarchy. That's why The King, when brought back, did not care to lead the pride. The Hierophant is the old man who plots to Usurp the leader, the Fool is the young fella that doesn't have any kind of personal agendas, the moon is the singular hunter with apex sense to feed themselves and pride. So on, so forth. That's just how I viewed it. It's deeper than a gag.
Underrated comment! Also the way they have this incredible unopposed power, the tantrum demonstrates him and Marceline are different in the way they hold the power. That he truly, to his core, will not change
@Cookie48625 Him biting Marcie the first time was his last act to "save" the pride from absolute destruction. Marcie took over, and learned the price of being The Empress. When he came back, in the same way a lion or lioness will defend itself from the alpha but show deterrence. They watched some Nat Geo before writing this lol
I love how goofy they made the vampire king. Really enunciates the fact that not only does the immortal king see life as some sort of game, but is so powerful he couldn’t genuinely care less.
very underrated video, this was fun to watch and a gorgeous throwback on perhaps my favourite mini series in adventure time! keep up the good work champ!
I actually didn’t mind the stuff with the Vampire King, and not just cuz he’s lowkey hot. In many ways, he’s a great foil to Marcy. For starters, there’s the physical parallels. Marcy is a slim teenage girl while the VK is a big, muscular man. Then there’s their behaviour. Marcy, even though she doesn’t like to talk about it, spends a lot of time thinking about her past and being introspective on what’s happened to her, trying to find reasons for why she is the way she is and logic in the trauma she faced all in an attempt to ground herself. The VK is completely unhinged. He sucks out the fool’s tooth, puts makeup on a talking cow that he then dances with and keeps around as his companion, and his outfit is subtly chaotic too. Very little about him, from his design and outfit, to his behaviour and choices, make sense and the series doesn’t try to make sense of them. He is the chaos to the order Marcy tries to make of her life. In that note, him stripping his clothes off and just singing opera or splashing around in a cloud, while it’s silly, is also kind of unsettling, as is almost everything about the VK, because there’s no real reason for him to do it and he provides no explanation. Kind of like Ice King’s more humorous antics or Lemongrab’s high strung behaviour, the VK is just like this and he’s far too old to try reason why. Even the other vampires don’t particularly know quite how to deal with him. Then there’s the fact that Marcy is a half human who definitely sees herself as more human than demon, and that vampirism made her something other than human. The VK is a foil to this because vampirism literally gave him humanity. When the essence is removed, he’s just a regular lion, not even mutated by the mushroom war or anything. He was never human to begin with. It’s fascination to speculate on what on earth could have happened and how long ago to take literally just A Lion and turn that lion into a vampiric chimera, and because of that, I think the VK is a very intriguing, fun character. Just my two cents.
I feel like the ending of this arc reminded me that the writers of this show were probably being held back a bit by it being a cartoon network show. I would have 100% loved a slightly more serious encounter to finish the mini arc.
I just discovered your channel and immediately had to binge every video, love the content man your voice and the way you talk and express your opinions really make these worth watching
I think their decision to make vampire king goofy is a sarcastic way to play with the audience. like we're all expecting the vampire king to be super cool and having the EPIC fight with Marcy, but SIKE! They're not going to give us what we obviously expected. From the point of view of the show's creator it's kinda hilarious to see what the audience have felt during that awkward scene (especially those simping for the vampire king LMAO) on the other hand it actually shows how wise vk is, like he's willing to drop his dignity to THIS level to achieve his target
3:18 I'm with the editor here. As far as I know the only time Rebecca had actually voiced someone in a show at this point was "Love Like You" in the Steven Universe credits, and even then Cartoon Network usually mutated and small-screened the credits to make way for ads. You'd only recognize her if you were going into behind the scenes stuff, and even then it was mostly behind the scenes for SU and not AT.
The vampire king splashing around in his underwear thematically fit or me. Cuz they already had there big fight in the past. And now he’s a diffrent guy. He goes about getting his way completely diffrent as well.
Excellent Video : D This Channel is Seriously Underrated. Some of the best animation review content I've seen in a while- You Deserve more Subscribers : D
3:24 I would like to see you do a video essay on this alleged "pseudo-intellectualism," since that concept is a bit too loaded to afford mentioning off-hand without elaborating.
When you praise something it still sounds like complaining tho or you always say "yes, this is great, BUT" From a video essay standpoint just dont put empy praise. Get to the point
I really really like steaks but I think it's really funny and stupid how the sun is rising but has not touch the top of any of the buildings... You know how the sun rises from the ground up... And not touching the tallest things first and then going through the shortest things.
I think what he means by that is that they're only friends at this current point in time (though I def think there's still some obvious romantic feelings from the two; and I personally believe they get back together shortly after stakes and sometime before "broke his crown")
I feel like there's more to the Vampire King's "comedy". When you REALLY look at it, the Vampire King prostrates himself in every conceivable way because he does not want the cycle to continue. He knows if he fights Marceline, he'll bite her, she'll become a vampire, and he'll still be dead. Also stripping clothing is seen in media as a sign of being truthful, exposing yourself and your sins. So yeah, they couldn't have the vamp king go full naked, but he literally goes as far as he can to show Marceline he's dead serious about stopping the cycle from continuing.
funny bc in the promo art drawn for that episode the vampire king was fully naked lol so I think u were right he was trying to show his honest self
read vampire king, prostrate, and stripping and i agree 😍
My personal favorite moment of Stakes was Marceline outright confirming the fact that things repeated over and over again in a cycle, something that was becoming more and more apparent the more lore we were getting.
One thing I really like about the finale is that it almost foreshadows the series finale. The word "Stakes" definitely refers to vampires, but it also indicates a shift for the series going forward, battles and adventures get bigger, the stakes get higher. Plus Crunchy is really just Bubblegum's Cousin Chicle as we come to find out, which is interesting and probably not coincidental.
I feel like you missed the symbolism of him stripping down to his underpants and splashing in water. He's a lion, deep down. Him playing with his food, conducting himself in regalia and regally, then debasing himself in that way is from a point of view of someone who has watched a lot of cats. It was foreshadowing for him being turned into a lion, because he never saw Marcie as food. He saw her as fellow predator/lions or lioness, and ceded his place as pride leader, when he lead them to destruction. It was inferring they were predators with a different hierarchy, more similar to apex predator hierarchy. That's why The King, when brought back, did not care to lead the pride. The Hierophant is the old man who plots to Usurp the leader, the Fool is the young fella that doesn't have any kind of personal agendas, the moon is the singular hunter with apex sense to feed themselves and pride. So on, so forth. That's just how I viewed it. It's deeper than a gag.
Underrated comment! Also the way they have this incredible unopposed power, the tantrum demonstrates him and Marceline are different in the way they hold the power. That he truly, to his core, will not change
@Cookie48625 Him biting Marcie the first time was his last act to "save" the pride from absolute destruction. Marcie took over, and learned the price of being The Empress. When he came back, in the same way a lion or lioness will defend itself from the alpha but show deterrence. They watched some Nat Geo before writing this lol
Such an underrated and dope interpretation. I love it.
i would not have guessed this was a serious reply by the first line lmao
Marceline's "I got arthritis" DANCE 💀💀💀
I loved what they did with the moon, they made her terrifyingly calm 😂
My favourite part of this mini series is how hot Vampire King is. Oh and the Marceline stuff is good too I guess
He’s such a daddy tbh
Ayo?
Ayoooo
the part where he's in his underwear🥵
The daddy issues run deep here
I love how goofy they made the vampire king.
Really enunciates the fact that not only does the immortal king see life as some sort of game, but is so powerful he couldn’t genuinely care less.
couldn't*
@@fl3m1n9o4 happy?
Fully thought this had at least 50k views, it's wonderfully composed and your opinions are well founded :)
Thank you!
@@AmpleSamuel 40k now so it's close :)
It does now
i just love checkmate, its so fun how the vampire king gets kicked in the crotch like 19 times
Yet still plays it off like a champ😅
very underrated video, this was fun to watch and a gorgeous throwback on perhaps my favourite mini series in adventure time! keep up the good work champ!
I actually didn’t mind the stuff with the Vampire King, and not just cuz he’s lowkey hot. In many ways, he’s a great foil to Marcy.
For starters, there’s the physical parallels. Marcy is a slim teenage girl while the VK is a big, muscular man. Then there’s their behaviour. Marcy, even though she doesn’t like to talk about it, spends a lot of time thinking about her past and being introspective on what’s happened to her, trying to find reasons for why she is the way she is and logic in the trauma she faced all in an attempt to ground herself.
The VK is completely unhinged. He sucks out the fool’s tooth, puts makeup on a talking cow that he then dances with and keeps around as his companion, and his outfit is subtly chaotic too. Very little about him, from his design and outfit, to his behaviour and choices, make sense and the series doesn’t try to make sense of them. He is the chaos to the order Marcy tries to make of her life.
In that note, him stripping his clothes off and just singing opera or splashing around in a cloud, while it’s silly, is also kind of unsettling, as is almost everything about the VK, because there’s no real reason for him to do it and he provides no explanation. Kind of like Ice King’s more humorous antics or Lemongrab’s high strung behaviour, the VK is just like this and he’s far too old to try reason why. Even the other vampires don’t particularly know quite how to deal with him.
Then there’s the fact that Marcy is a half human who definitely sees herself as more human than demon, and that vampirism made her something other than human. The VK is a foil to this because vampirism literally gave him humanity. When the essence is removed, he’s just a regular lion, not even mutated by the mushroom war or anything. He was never human to begin with.
It’s fascination to speculate on what on earth could have happened and how long ago to take literally just A Lion and turn that lion into a vampiric chimera, and because of that, I think the VK is a very intriguing, fun character. Just my two cents.
I remember rewinding Everything Stays for hours as a kid to memorize the song ahh good ol’ days :]
I watched your teen titans videos like a year ago, came back to watch them again now, and ended up staying for your new content. Very good stuff! :]
Thank you! Writing another Titans video right now actually
I feel like there was a style change for Marceline and PB and I was all for it
I feel like the ending of this arc reminded me that the writers of this show were probably being held back a bit by it being a cartoon network show. I would have 100% loved a slightly more serious encounter to finish the mini arc.
I do think that candy killing king of O instead of PB is better, this shows that candy people come to therms that they love PB
3:18 "Rebecca Sugar's voice is perhaps a bit too recognizable..."
Me, an avid Rebecca Sugar music enjoyer: "Wait... That was REBECCA SUGAR???"
bruh
:Despair:
I just discovered your channel and immediately had to binge every video, love the content man your voice and the way you talk and express your opinions really make these worth watching
Thank you so much !
HYPE VID i love stakes. youve convinced me to rewatch it for the 6th time
Never too many times!
I think their decision to make vampire king goofy is a sarcastic way to play with the audience. like we're all expecting the vampire king to be super cool and having the EPIC fight with Marcy, but SIKE! They're not going to give us what we obviously expected. From the point of view of the show's creator it's kinda hilarious to see what the audience have felt during that awkward scene (especially those simping for the vampire king LMAO)
on the other hand it actually shows how wise vk is, like he's willing to drop his dignity to THIS level to achieve his target
7 YEARS!! I feel old
3:18 I'm with the editor here. As far as I know the only time Rebecca had actually voiced someone in a show at this point was "Love Like You" in the Steven Universe credits, and even then Cartoon Network usually mutated and small-screened the credits to make way for ads. You'd only recognize her if you were going into behind the scenes stuff, and even then it was mostly behind the scenes for SU and not AT.
The vampire king splashing around in his underwear thematically fit or me. Cuz they already had there big fight in the past. And now he’s a diffrent guy. He goes about getting his way completely diffrent as well.
Excellent Video : D
This Channel is Seriously Underrated. Some of the best animation review content I've seen in a while-
You Deserve more Subscribers : D
Loved listening to this breakdown and analysis of the stakes series!! Can’t wait to see more of your content!
lovin this series makes me wanna look back on old episodes as well
20:35 It was implied that marceline didn’t fight was because she was scared of loosing
Stakes was really good, the period between when Martin shows up and Stakes is least good period of Adventure Time.
14:47 My mom when I finally get bottom surgery
UNDERRATED COMMENT
3:24
I would like to see you do a video essay on this alleged "pseudo-intellectualism," since that concept is a bit too loaded to afford mentioning off-hand without elaborating.
When you praise something it still sounds like complaining tho or you always say "yes, this is great, BUT" From a video essay standpoint just dont put empy praise. Get to the point
Agree this dude probably shouldn’t quit his day job to do reviews. Got annoying fast
Ice King is the first Elsa, Marcy is the first Anna
I never thought of it that way
I think you should look into the tarot cards side of things since a lot of it is in some way tied to it (even marcy at some points)
The way the vampire king just absolutely ate those crotch shots 💪
I really really like steaks but I think it's really funny and stupid how the sun is rising but has not touch the top of any of the buildings... You know how the sun rises from the ground up... And not touching the tallest things first and then going through the shortest things.
Well the sun didn't want to ruin the suspense.
Lmaooooo I always thought there was something funky about that sequence
PB and Marcy r obviously not just friends.
I think what he means by that is that they're only friends at this current point in time (though I def think there's still some obvious romantic feelings from the two; and I personally believe they get back together shortly after stakes and sometime before "broke his crown")
What do you mean this aired “7 years ago” what do you mean by that?
15:39 well, It is a show originally made for kids
Being a fan of jojo makes the vampire names better for me.
Lore of Stakes: Vampiric Vignettes (Adventure Time) momentum 100
you deserve more subs high quality vids man.
Thank you so much!
i lovr your content..
earned a sub from me buddy, anybody still doin adventure time lore and analyses in tyool 2023 gets subbed to, thems the rules
15:35 man have u seen the discourse? people bring this up despite the show literally saying it like its shocking news on a daily