 Why can't I just like a girl? Finn the human at first is the prototypical lead. He very much lives the life of a hero. The 13 year old only sees the world as good and evil. He ventures throughout the land of U, meeting wizards and witches, kings and princesses. So surely by the end of his story, someone will reward him with a princess, acknowledging his noble efforts and granting him a love of his own, right? So when adventure time begins, Finn sets his sights on princess bubblegum, the princess whom he holds on a pedestal, the princess who he can't bear to disappoint, and the princess whom he will do anything for without question. Finn often overlooks some of PB's morally questionable actions because of this crush that blinds him. In what have you done, Finn imprisons the Ice King simply because she asks him to. In the Duke of Nuts, he never questions bubblegum's claim that the Duke is a bad person, insisting that because it is the princess, she must be correct. Finn finds it so difficult to say no to the princess because he is so afraid of letting her down. It might be because of the way he views the world as a knight on an adventure, having the princess hate Finn, goes against everything that being a hero is. He's supposed to be a champion, beloved by all, fighting for what's right, so having the princess against him, chatters this ideal. Moving aside that hero, that knight persona, in the land of oo, bubblegum is the one person who consistently relies on him. She only trusts him. She needs him. Add on the fact that she's generally nice to him, and it becomes easy for Finn to misconstrue genuine friendship for love, because he doesn't have many of these relationships anyway. At this stage of this series, P.B. is the only constant woman in his life, and that consistent contact that he has with her causes him to develop this crutch. But Finn also denies this part of himself, and he is often embarrassed to admit that he likes P.B. A part of it is that he is a 13 year old kid, probably afraid of the rejection that might come with liking someone who doesn't like him back, and who doesn't give him over its signals about whether or not she likes him back. At the same time, P.B. is one of Finn's closest friends, and again someone he places on a pedestal. It's someone he respects and admires deeply, and the friendship that they have does mean an awful lot to him. I think he doesn't want to jeopardize that either. Finn's feelings become quite muddled, as they would be for a boy his age who has this motherlike figure at times, an older sister, a friend, a romantic partner, all in one. He's 13 years old, his confusion is understandable, and he vocalizes it in what was missing, when he sings and asks what he is to her, a joke, her night, or her brother. But things take a turn for the worst for Finn, and too young. After the events of mortal folly, the princess is transformed into her younger self. A younger 13 year old P.B. is very similar to Finn. With the younger P.B. the two have a great time together, playing around, doing pranks, and they share plenty of wholesome moments. They would so obviously be together if the princess was this age. And you can see here how they are a perfect match, a princess and her night. But P.B. has a duty to her people. And so she returns to her 18 year old self, without a tussle from Finn. He even tells her that he understands. Finn shows a level of maturity here that's impressive, given that for three seasons he's been chasing after this crush, and once he finally has it, he's able to let it go for the greater good. Finn will forever be her hero and her champion, and one of her best friends. But anything more just does not exist. Although not the conclusion to their story, Finn's pursuit of Princess Bubblegum comes to a halt here. I think there were a lot of people who identified with Finn, especially when it came to his failed attempts with Princess Bubblegum. His first love, his first crush, and from his perspective, he feels like he's being sent so many mixed signals. Like Princess Bubblegum is playing with his emotions. There are a lot of people who've been in a similar situation, and some who even feel entitled to a relationship because of those feelings. But Finn demonstrates a real level of understanding and maturity later on. Unrequited love hurts, but love is not something that we are owed. Finn understands this, and instead of distancing himself from the princess for good, he moves on, and goes on to have an amazing friendship with PeeBee. Finn's initial interaction with Flame Princess is chaotic, and it sets the tone for their entire relationship. Finn and PeeBee have a love primarily fueled by passion. As Finn is getting older, this is the perfect relationship for him to have in the next stage of his development. It's not the innocent, childish crush that he had on Bubblegum, but instead one that illustrates that he is a growing hormonal teenager. A part of Finn's relationship with Flame Princess is about their desires for physical intimacy, but their incompatibility on that front. During their time spent together, Finn notes more than once that he feels confused around her, he says. Like something's filling up his chest, like he can't breathe. It's a very different feeling than with Princess Bubblegum. Finn doesn't waste any time telling PeeBee his genuine desires that he likes her and that he wants to spend time with her. Unlike Bubblegum, where it took him a while to even be honest with himself and then to her. It's like with PeeBee, he wasn't allowed to feel his greatest emotions, his greatest desires. He's been deprived of these feelings that he had with Princess Bubblegum. So with Flame Princess, he's honest about his desperation for love and affection and romance. There's a level of desperation that is reckless and childish here. But when he's with someone his own age and of similar interest, he's finally allowed to explore this. Finn and PeeBee both desire physical intimacy, they desire to hug and to kiss. But because of Flame Princess' physiology, the two are not compatible with any sort of prolonged touch. As their relationship unfolded, Vault of Bones added another perspective for the young lovers. Finn being in his first relationship had a tendency to sometimes be a bit controlling. While it came from a good place, Finn in this episode wanted Flame Princess to experience things in the way that he thought was fun. But it would ultimately learn to let her do things in the ways that she wanted to. In this episode, it also demonstrated what Flame Princess sees in Finn. Finn is her first example of goodness, of heroism. As someone who grew up around evil and had an extremely sheltered upbringing. And so she holds Finn extremely high in that regard and ultimately trusts him profoundly. So when we get to Frost and Fire, Finn's desires get the better of him when he tries to recreate what appears to be a wet dream after Flame Princess protected him against Ice King. So he manipulates the two into fighting a second time. When the dream is not replicated, Finn feels guilty and confesses to Flame Princess. PeeBee felt immensely betrayed and saddened by the whole ordeal. Again, Flame Princess grew up in an extremely sheltered upbringing. This was her very first relationship. Finn was the very first person she was able to trust fully. She too had placed him on a pedestal. He was the paragon of goodness in her mind. And here he was manipulating her and her trust. Finn's wet dream seemed to manifest because of the lack of physical intimacy with Flame Princess and with the bonus that he was a growing hormonal teenager. His selfishness on the other hand was a lack of maturity. It's a mistake that is part of growing up. And sadly, it was at the expense of another person. But Finn doesn't understand this right away. Right after he breaks Flame Princess' heart, he apologizes and expects Flame Princess to come running back. I said I was sorry. Finn doesn't understand that sorry isn't just a magic word that solves everything. Finn made her feel like she could overcome her nature. He then manipulated her naivety and her trust and said really hurtful things about her already existing insecurities. All to make himself feel good. And it breaks the girl's heart, honestly. Now this could have happened because of his unresolved feelings towards Bubblegum. Maybe Finn felt as though Bubblegum manipulated him and his emotions. Using him time and again, and as the adage goes, hurt people hurt people. And Finn might have replicated that same behavior that was used against him. Finn then tries to get over the breakup with F.P. by trying his hand at Princess Bubblegum again, into old. As frustrating as this episode was to watch, I think it was a smart decision for Finn's character to not immediately undergo a massive mental transformation after Frost and Fire. Finn is still a child. And so it's so realistic for him to seek instant gratification right after he hurts Flame Princess to take his mind off of what he'd done. After another rejection by Princess Bubblegum, here Finn decides not that he should perhaps leave relationships alone for a bit, or accept and reflect on what he did. But after that, he selfishly wants to go back to Flame Princess. Because he is chasing what makes him feel good. People, and especially not kids, don't automatically learn from their mistakes. It sometimes takes a few setbacks, a few mistakes, for lessons to be finally learned. And for Finn this was accurate. Because he goes back to Flame Princess in Earth and Water, expecting that his second apology would solve everything. And instead he gets rejected by Phoebe for the final time. Here Finn finally learns that his actions have consequences. And reflection for the human ensues. He learns how delicate and how fragile love truly is. And these interactions would shape the person that he would become. After this, Finn battles the Lich. He meets his father and is then thoroughly disappointed by the man. And he loses his arm, all in a rather brief time span. This whole ordeal created unique emotions for Finn. In the tower, Finn grows a telekinetic arm because of all that emotional turmoil. And he is hell bent on getting revenge on his father. So when Breezy rolls around, Finn becomes emotionally withdrawn on all fronts. On the topic of love, he has become apprehensive. He's experienced romantic love with Flame Princess, but he also hurts someone he loved. And he doesn't want to hurt anyone again. He's been through a slew of rejections in his love life. Add on everything else that has happened. And Finn just feels nothing. And so the doctor and Breezy orders him to have fun. Finn believes that smooching with princesses will make him feel something again. He is searching for things to fill the emotional and the physical void. And Finn separates the two. Finn doesn't take any time to connect emotionally to any of these princesses. He believes that these superficial physical relationships will heal him. At one point early on, he was desperate for this intimacy with Flame Princess notably. But a deeper emotional attachment prefaced it. By foregoing that part of it, Finn doesn't find what he's truly looking for. Despite being with all of these princesses, it's only when Breezy, whom Finn hallucinates as being Princess Bubblegum, needs her dutiful hero, is when he's finally taken out of his depressive state and his arm grows back. In the song Lost in the Darkness, Princess Bubblegum sings, imploring her hero to let love be his guide. In that hallucination, Finn remembers the love he has for Princess Bubblegum. I think it's the same love that he has for Jake, for Marceline, for all of his friends. It's that love that has made Finn into the hero that he is. It's that love that has brought him happiness. Love, not lust for these princesses and not revenge against his father or whoever. Love and compassion have always been Finn's greatest compass. Until flute spell, romantic love had taken a backseat in Finn's life, and he'd kind of attempted to push it out of his life, given his history. Though he has feelings for Huntress Wizard in this episode, he proceeds with caution this time. Hoping for Huntress Wizard to take the lead on things, as he has been burned more than once, no pun intended, whenever he tried to rush into things. Fearing potential heartbreak, Finn kept his emotions hidden until Jake could get the hero to be honest with himself and with Huntress Wizard. Closer to the end of the episode, Huntress Wizard admits her feelings for Finn, but is unwilling to act on them. She says, quote, Huntress Wizard believes that she and Finn are something greater than ordinary, and that love is just not in their future. It's interesting that Finn agrees, but it's not surprising. Romantic love has failed the hero time and again, and through those times, he's often put love over his greater duty. Finn, after everything that has happened to him, wants to fully dedicate himself to heroics and to his role, and he might believe that his feelings have impeded that, leaving him depressed or confused, but his sword would never. Finn might genuinely believe that fate will not allow him to love, because he is exceptional, a human in a land without any left. It's a way for him to cope with the fact that he has been unsuccessful with love, and to cope with the fact that he ultimately fears hurting another and being hurt. Jake is quick to call that whole idea dumb. Uh, that's real dumb. The dog at the end of the day is listening to two kids talk about how they will never know love, because love will impede them from achieving their goals, or it'll harm their true purpose. They will never know love because they fear becoming soft. But Jake is married, Jake has children. He is aware of the wonderful privilege it is to be soft with someone, the privilege to know somebody at their core, at their most honest, and even more to be known and to be seen in his most vulnerable state. That's why he is so adamant on finding somebody cool for Finn. The Wild Hunt takes place a season after Flute Spell, and it seems like in this episode there's some unset agreement that maybe they should hold space for each other, but that maybe it's a necessity to be vulnerable or to be with others, even if it's in a different capacity. Whatever it is, the two of them have come to an agreement that their feelings are not simply to be cast aside and forgotten out of fear of becoming soft. Though it's never explored, the two leave the door open for possibilities. It may be the lack of exploration for Finn and Huntress Wizard is proof that Finn can have a normal relationship without it being the crux of who he is and without it taking over his entire life, thus turning him from an exceptional beast to a normal person. Whatever the case may be, we never see Finn actually succeed in this department. Together again doesn't exactly tell us what happened in the romantic department of Finn's life, but Finn himself does say that he was really only at his happiest, at his most fulfilled, when he was alongside Jake. Deep down, I just kept waiting for the day I'd finally see you again. That, more than any other relationship, brought him all the companionship and all the love that he ever really needed. And the message here is that that is perfectly okay too. Adventure Time's ambiguity is one of its strongest elements. So again, maybe Finn does end up meeting someone and has a future with them, but from what we know, this show has always emphasized a few things. Friends, family and community. And it emphasizes that these things deserve to be valued just as much as any other form of love. And I think all of these experiences helped him realize that. In a world where no one could truly understand him, there was one person who could in the end. Jake was always someone he could rely on and come back to, even in his darkest hour. Their love would lead to their reincarnation as brothers and best friends in the next life and all the ones after that too. And even in this life, Finn and Jake as we know them might even be just another reincarnation of another pair of best friends and brothers. At the end of this series, he's still happy and fulfilled and content. Being a hero is what truly drives him. And he's found a community that has kept him going. His friends. Jake has watched Finn grow up, literally. He's watched him mature. He's seen Finn cry and cry over Princess Bubblegum. He's seen Finn agonize over the death of Fern. He's seen him seek revenge over his father. And he's also seen Finn break Flame Princess's heart. Jake has been there every step of the way and most of all, Jake has always been willing to give Finn space to make his mistakes. And he would defend his brother and stand up for him when he needed it the most. Through ten seasons, Jake was always there to uplift him in his worst moments and applaud him when he grew into the person and into the hero that he was meant to be by the end of the series. You're a beautiful flower and I love to watch you grow. The two always made sure to appreciate each other in the moments that they were having so much fun. Of course, I was a little bummed out to find out that Finn doesn't end up with anybody. But together again cemented the core, the foundation of what made for me an adventure time such a memorable show. And it never really was romantic love. Of course, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline and Simon and Betty were all amazing parts of this show. But the core of adventure time is friendship. Most of the time we see Princess Bubblegum and Marceline, the two are friends. The love that they give him, the love that Jake gives him, that matters too. It's Princess Bubblegum's love as a friend that saves him. To me, the whole series is the extent to which friends are willing to go to help each other. Friendship is the driving force of this story. Friendships that can last lifetimes and can even transcend them. We always hear of this idea of platonic soul mates. But in adventure time, you can feel it. It permeates throughout every single episode. When you hear Finn and together again talk about how he was content with his life but deep down he was just waiting for the day to finally see Jake again. And when you see him scour nearly 50 dead worlds to find his best friend, then you kind of understand what a platonic soul mate looks like. You understand that romantic love was important for Finn, but friendship, that is the crux of his character.