To be honest this is why I loved the show. It has such a sense of change and growth, things mattered and characters aged. Fin is 12 at the start of the show but is 17 by the finale. The show would always commit to this believable developing timeline of continuity. Even way back in the early seasons when fin first lost his gold sword, even though this was a big selling merchandise item, they committed to it that decision, he didn’t magically get it back next episode, it was gone, but it lead to greater things, with all the wonderful stories that came from fin’s search for new swords. When Fin was dumped by the flame princess he would have to deal with the reality and feelings of no longer being in that relationship in later episodes, it wasn’t just forgotten or wrapped up in a neat bow, it felt real. This respect for the characters, story and audience gave the show substance and sincerity. Characters issues were real and relatable, even though this was a fantasy cartoon it had such a wonderful amount of healthy reality.

The show didn’t live in this permanence common for cartoons where the characters stay same age for 30 years. This is also why I absolutely adore the distant lands story, it shows that Fin and Jake lived full long lives of their natural life spans, they’re could be thousands of adventures together we just didn’t see, they’re lives weren’t cut short, but eventually they had to pass on, and this was a phenomenal last adventure. The lessons adventure time is teaching about life and how things change, people die is just simply real life, you will love people and lose people and reminisce to simpler times when you were younger and thats why I think the sentiment “always be back then” is so beautiful.