AMX's Thoughts-Running With Scissors by AMX-269

AMX's Thoughts-Running With Scissors by AMX-269

The best example of an episode with a "Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe"-esque timeskip scenario is probably "Puhoy" from Adventure Time. Yeah, having it all basically be a dream and Finn pretty much forgetting it happened in the end may seem like a cop-out, but I saw it as a way to showcase a what-if scenario to the viewers. It was a way to show that Finn was capable of becoming a loving husband and father, adapting to another world and lifestyle, and leading a fulfilling life even though he decides he doesn't want to return home.

We don't really get that here. One minute, we have regular Marco trying to get the dimensional scissors back for Star; the next minute, he's suddenly sixteen years older, a ton more confident, and developed a "frenemy" relationship with Heckapoo, all off-screen. This right here results in a major disconnect with the audience; this character whom we've watched all this time, getting used to his characteristics and relationships with others, is now completely different. And it's made clear at the end that even if Marco is physically 14 once more, he's still mentally a 30-year-old and may or may not have developed a form of PTSD. And what caused all of this in the first place? Marco developing a bout of laziness and using the dimensional scissors one too many times.

So, again...what was the point of any of this? To give Marco some character development? Because I'm not quite sure that's what happened here. Yes, Marco became more confident in himself and a more capable warrior, but at what cost? And not once during those sixteen years did he ever think about going home to Star, or his family and friends? What is his relationship with his parents supposed to be like now? Heck, what about his relationship with Jackie, or his friends, or even Star? Because any way you look at it, someone who's mentally 30 having a girlfriend who's only 14 (even if that person is physically 14 himself) is...weird, to say the least.

Besides, there are a lot more important questions this show needs to answer. Such as: is it necessary for Star to get Glossaryck and the spellbook back? Did Glossaryck refuse to return to Star on purpose? What does Ludo plan to do with the spellbook? What's exactly is Toffee's history with Star's family? What's the history of Queen Eclipsa? Is Miss Heinous going to return? Is Toffee really dead, or is he somehow possessing Ludo through the other half of Star's wand? Is Star using dark magic mean that she's slowly becoming corrupted, and if so, how is this going to affect her relationship with Marco and her family?

If this episode had taken the time to actually show Marco developing during those sixteen years, or even if it hadn't played itself completely straight with the timeskip thing and ended on a downer, it probably would have been a lot better. But, because of the way it was executed, and the fact that there are a lot more important unknowns that should be answered at the moment, it just doesn't work. Or, at least, it didn't for me.

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thearist2013 Featured By Owner Jul 9, 2017 Student General Artist

thinking about the logic about this is just.., and play the Monty Python clip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrCPIr…

DarthYan Featured By Owner May 30, 2017

technically his memories are like a fading dream. He has flashes but that's it.

DestroX71689 Featured By Owner Feb 11, 2017 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

The point of this episode was for Marco to get his own pair of scissors. I assume it's because he'll need to have his own scissors later in the series because the plot calls for it. As for the whole Marco being an adult on the inside thing, I think that will just fall into discontinuity. He'll still act the same and being an adult on the inside won't actually have any impact on future episodes.

AMX-269 Featured By Owner Feb 11, 2017 Writer

Okay, fair enough. I guess I just found it weird how in the midst of all these unanswered questions the fans are dying to know more about, we instead got this. Like I said, if the episode had shown more of Marco during those sixteen years, or the ending didn't focus so much on the fact that he's now a different person than he was before, maybe I wouldn't have as much of an issue.

But apparently, new episodes are premiering all throughout February, so maybe that will shed some more light on some things.

Archie-Ratsworth Featured By Owner Mar 26, 2017 Hobbyist General Artist

I've heard that Marco's years of adventure faded away since he returned to Earth, becoming more like a weird dream he had, rather then a real sixteen years of experience.

DestroX71689 Featured By Owner Feb 11, 2017 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Well, that's season 2 for ya, where for every incredible, lore-exploring episode like Into the Wand, we get a pointless filler episode like Pizza Thing. Go figure. I'm probably gonna be alone on this but I thought season one was infinitely better. More consistent tone, plot, and action. This season is like a beautifully animated mess that doesn't make any sense and where they're trying to establish way too many new characters that may or may not appear again.

WrensthavAviovus Featured By Owner Feb 12, 2017 Student General Artist

Heckapoo was in the council of magic earlier and now we know why she has a place in the council.

DestroX71689 Featured By Owner Edited Feb 13, 2017 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

But it's like who cares? How many episodes are we gonna get that establish new characters we're never gonna see again? Season one we had The Other Exchange Student episode, and that was okay cause it was only one episode, and while it's easily the worst episode of season one, at least it was still fun to watch and had some funny jokes to make up for how pointless it was. Now, like every other episode they establish some new character. Fetch!, Starstruck, Hungry Larry, Spider with a Top Hat, and Trickstar all exist to establish characters that either serve no purpose or that we won't see again. Ironically, one of the biggest problems is that we have TOO MANY characters. Why is Pony Head still in the show? She's annoying and her character arch has been fulfilled already. She's not even relevant to the plot anymore. Also, why the hell is Janna so prominent now? She had like 2 seconds of screen time in season one and now she's in like every episode for no reason. It's not even like she's interesting, Janna sucks. What happened to the fat kid and the nerd from season one? Oh wait, never-mind those characters suck, forget them. Then there are just totally pointless episodes like Star on Wheels, Star vs Echo Creek, Camping Trip, Goblin Dogs, Girl's Day out and Pizza Thing that have no purpose and don't have anything to do with the plot. If the writers aren't gonna make heroes do anything important, can they at the very least use the budget towards animating more episodes that establish the plot a little better? Sometimes I think the writers forget the show even has one. I'd say the LORE of the show is infinitely more interesting than anything actually happening in modern day. All the stuff in Mewndependence Day was interesting, all the shit with how they slaughtered the monsters and how there's all this tension between them really shows a juxtaposition to how we see the monsters. It goes to show how totally savage the Mewnans are and how the monsters have legitimate reason for hating them, almost like the monsters aren't even bad guys, like history fucked them over and painted THEM as the bad guys, and how Star was raised to hate and kill them from the beginning. Now there's also the stuff with Queen Eclipsa and how she married a monster, and how the current Queen, Star's mom, fought Toffee when she was a kid. That stuff is infinitely more interesting than watching Marco and Pony-Head make a dumbass pizza, or watching Star stand in line for a hot-dog, or watching her fawn over some Sailor Moon knockoff she used to idolize before she revealed herself to be a total nutcase. The best characters this season by far are Tom and Ludo. Both get a surprising amount of character development, both are kinda rushed, but I'm glad they got any treatment at all. Tom's relationship with Marco is surprising and kinda unpredictable. I wish it was a little smoother, but for what it is, I think it's enjoyable. I like that Ludo has grown some independence. I wish the show would focus on him more often because it seems like what he's doing is a hundred times more interesting than what's going on with Star and Marco, who don't even seem to just go on weird inter-dimensional quests anymore, they just stay on earth and do boring earth children things. It's really frustrating because every time we go back to Ludo, something major has changed with his lair. For instance, in Is Mystery, Ludo just has a place now and he has a bunch of monsters working there. Where did he get these guys? When did he find them? What happened to his old henchmen at the end of season one? I guess he just threatened these guys to work there I guess. Nothing with him is established anymore it's just "oh he's doing this now". I'm sorry this comment is ridiculously long and I should probably just make this into a review and make my criticisms of the show available on my page. I just wrote all this now as the opinions just spilled out into the text box. I don't hate this show, but I do feel frustrated and I wish I could say season two is good, but I can't. It's beautifully animated, the characters are fun and interesting, and the action and comedy are still intact. The show still feels like a good show. I just wish the writers didn't have ADD and ADHD and would just focus on writing a good, consistent show.

Valiant-Horizon Featured By Owner Feb 27, 2017 Student General Artist

You're long winded rant feels pointless.

DestroX71689 Featured By Owner Edited Feb 27, 2017 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Because you didn't read it. It clearly has a point. Season 2 has terrible pacing. I don't think it's the writers' fault though. Disney clearly ordered way more episodes than the writers had to tell the story they wanted. The problem is that instead of trying to stretch the show and fill in weak spots with more development, they just wrote a bunch of nonsense filler episodes. Alot of them were still fun to watch, but some were very obviously written at the last second to fill space.