Is Distant Lands Wizard City good?

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The fourth and last installment of Adventure Time: Distant Lands premiered last week on HBO Max. While enjoyable, it was the weakest thus far and left me wondering why they decided to close the run with this episode. The story was very stock-type; however, the setting, the secondary characters, and the world-building are what made it work on some levels for me. It started off a bit slow and but picking up toward the second half. That said, it was the one storyline where there are some grim-ass consequences and I have to say I was surprised at the body count.

The story follows Peppermint Butler who goes into Wizard City hoping to become a great wizard at Wizard School. Well, things do not quite go as planned as he tries to both fulfill and escape his dark past. At first, the pace moves a bit slow while we are introduced to the characters and the story set up. I enjoyed the school moments a lot, the selection and classes reminded me so much of Harry Potter with a twisted turn. I loved that one of the students spent the whole time as a rock! The classes and the instructors really made me wish we would have gotten more of that. The instructors turned out to be as shady as I imagined and I honestly wanted to see more of the toad dude.

That said, I also wish we would have gotten more of Cadebra– her story and development as a character was even more interesting to me than Pep's was. Do not get me wrong, I liked Pep and I think it was kind of a fucked up story and situation to be in. It just seemed at times like his character lacked umph. I am not even sure how to explain it. Unfortunately, I feel it got swallowed by a pretty interesting extended cast.

While it weakest of the four episodes, it was still an enjoyable ride. I wish they would have ended with the JAke and Finn episode though- I think it would have been a bigger impact and it had more of a sense of finality to it. I am so happy Adventure Time: Distant Lands gave chance to explore more the Adventure Time universe we love so much along with the bright and beautiful animation as it has always been. Though, I must add: I know there will be more Adventure Time following Cake and Fionna this time and I am ecstatic.

Adventure Time: Distant Lands Episode 4 "Wizard City"

Review by Alejandra Bodden

7/10

The fourth and last installment of Adventure Time: Distant Lands premiered last week on HBO Max. While enjoyable, it was the weakest thus far and left me wondering why they decided to close the run with this episode. The story was very stock-type; however, the setting, the secondary characters, and the world-building are what made it work on some levels for me. It started off a bit slow and but picking up toward the second half. That said, it was the one storyline where there are some grim-ass consequences and I have to say I was surprised at the body count.

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To expand upon my quick thoughts in the video, Adventure Time: Distant Lands “ Wizard City” is an amazing final episode for the Adventure Time follow-up. This episode follows the young Peppermint Butler, now going by Pepper Mint, as he starts as an inexperienced student at Wizard School to attempt to relearn magic after he was transformed into a baby by Gumbald’s “dum dum” Juice.

To efficiently talk about this episode there will be spoilers so do not continue reading if you don’t want the twist ruined.

So, the episode starts out years before the events of “Together Again.” The young Pepper Mint is traveling to Wizard City, a place we learned he was previously banned from, to attend Wizard School. We get to meet fun background characters from the previous show such as Choose Goose and Abracadaniel as well as new characters such as Abracadebera. When people in the school start to disappear, Pepper Mint tries his best to make sure the blame doesn’t fall on him and ends up saving the day and learning a valuable lesson about expectations. The episode is a homage to the Harry Potter franchise and it works very well. The premise could have easily been stretched into a full-length spinoff series as wizards were recurring characters throughout the original series.

The episode gets pretty dark as many characters are shown dying. Even the school bully meets a gruesome end, which probably wouldn’t have made the cut on Cartoon Network. The story also somewhat copies “Gold Stars” as Pepper Mint is possessed by Peppermint Butler just as Sweet P. was possessed by the Lich. Peppermint Butler is trying his best to make sure his young self becomes just like him. This might bother some fans of the show as it feels like lazy writing, but I feel it worked under the circumstances of the story.

The best part about the episode is the relationship between Pepper Mint and Abracadebera. It’s a story done numerous times when a friendship buds because one wore the other down with their upbeat personality. Pepper Mint thinks he’s better than Abracadebera and the other students because of his true origins, but quickly finds out he is indeed the weakest student. This contrasts brilliantly with the masterful skills his original persona had in the dark arts. We even learn that Peppermint Butler was more powerful than Adventure Time ever revealed. Abracadebera is easily the highlight of the show. Even though she is a powerful wizard, she prefers to do stage magic and sleight of hand tricks, seeing them as more fun than real magic.

Some interesting details about the show include the waiving snail being possessed by the Lich and the post-credits scene with Choose Goose as both characters are dead in “Together Again.” It would have also been nice if we found out more about the “bone spell” the adult Pepper Mint was using Finn and Jake’s bones for. Maybe answers to those details are being saved for a future season or the recently announced Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.

I give “Wizard City” a Superb 5/5. It’s a fun ending to this limited series that arguably should have come before the previous episode. It would be nice if Adventure Time: Distant Lands receives another season as their are tons of characters and stories that are still left to explore.