Unraveling Martin Martens Heartbreaking Truth in Adventure Time
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- Dive into the perplexing story of Martin Mertens, Finn's dad from Adventure Time. How did he transform from a seemingly good dad to one of the most notorious animated characters? We'll explore his past as a con-artist, his complicated relationship with Minerva, and how his decisions led him down a dark path. Join us as we uncover Martin's mysterious journey and reveal the truth behind his actions.
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Chapters:
0:00 Martin's Backstory
2:31 What Really Happened?
3:40 Martin's Tragic Decision
4:57 The Sad Reality
5:34 Martin's Encounters with Finn
6:44 Tragic Conclusion
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#AdventureTime #MartinMertens #FinnTheHuman #Cartoon #CartoonNetwork #DistantLands #Finn #Jake #Marceline #PrincessBubblegum #Paxw - Фільми й анімація
I always felt that when martin says " I always planned to come back for you,... That's true" he sounded a bit sad or distraught about it as if realizing that may have been the better life in the end but as he says, when you burn enough bridges all you can do is move forward,
Agreed
Personally I thought he sounded sad or distraught, yes, but also genuinely surprised when he realized he told the truth. I think lies come so easily to him that when he went to say something genuine it genuinely surprised him when it came out of his mouth, hence the pause
@@grac7791 yeah he definitely is so used to lying that hearing honesty catches him off guard when it comes from his mouth
same
Plus, you don't attack a giant robot for someone you plan on ditching at the first chance you get.
I've always believed martin was supposed to be the representation of how there are always going to be some people who you just cant help because they don't even want to help themselves.
Agreed
I'd say that Martin deciding to go back to his life as a con-man is a consequence of him believing that Finn had died during the guardian attack. I don't think that the Martin from islands would have left his family unless he thought that there was no way left.
That's true, he might have thought Finn had died. But I don't think he thought Minerva died. And I really thought they had a good connection. I think Martin was going to spend the rest of his life with Minerva and Finn. But as soon as he saw an opportunity to go back to his old life, he took it.
@@paxw37
Martin tells Finn that he wanted to come back for him and it seemed very genuine to me. I think that indicates that he didn't return because he thought that the guardian had killed him.
I'd also say that his not returning to Minerva was a result of Finn being gone and him realizing that things could never be the same again. Minerva would be heartbroken and angry over losing her son and Martin didn't want to face that so he buried it deep in his vault and went on with his life. Because imagine the pain of going back to your wife and telling them that your toddler died because of the consequences of your actions.
@@anotherpawn That's true. You're right.
@@paxw37 I think that once he realised everything that happened he might have thought fin was dead and also that since nothing was able to get in from outside then what are his chances. Also how would he tell Minerva? I believe he regressed out of depression and that and when he found fin again he had already done bad enough to get sent to space jail so if he settled down then what would come after him and his family then. He is not a good person but I don't think he wants fin or anyone else dead. I mean I don't even think Martin knew his running from space jail took fins arm as he has it( grass sword) when he next meets and even when they part ways
@paxw sounds like what you described is addiction. You are is most cases aware of the consequences but yet you find yourself back at these bad habits. The sad truths of reliving trauma and going back to ourself destructive ways is that, it also has an illusion of comfort and safety. Just like Martin, it’a tragic
I think Martin runs not necessarily because he doesn't /want/ to live that family life, but more because when he allowed himself to live that life, and found peace as a family man, his past caught up with him and put the people he loved most in danger.
Maybe he believes that his past will always catch up with him and that the only way to keep Min and Finn safe was to get as far away from them as possible.
Maybe he is just a scummy parent Idk, but it feels like there's more to Martin than feeling great apathy or malice towards his family.
That's actually a pretty good thought. And he would have achieved his final goal of not causing his family anymore harm by disappearing with the comet. You might be onto something
@@paxw37 true that, kind of in a similar way as how Betty removed herself from existence by fusing with Golb and crushed Simon emotionally just when he'd finally been freed from the labyrinthine hold of the crown. She made a great sacrifice to save her loved one just like Martin did and then, in her new form, she fled. Betty was physically changed by her sacrifice, maybe Martin was mentally or emotionally changed from his.
Love the videos, I'm setting up an Ooo 1000+ tabletop game so I've been binging as many theories and as much lore about the adventure time universe as I can find
@@studiouspupil8189 Thank you! Well good luck! And I hope my videos were a little helpful!
Perhaps
If you impact the island you'll be right. His wife's dead because she was busy grieving or the fact that she lost her son thinking thay he was a hider which resulted in Dr gross creating a pleage
I always thought Martin suffered from TBI which caused him to make such poor choices. You can see that he did love his wife and that he planned to come back to his son. I believe that he had some brain fog that muddled his memories, but not loosing them completely. TBI can cause problems with judgement, decision making, reasoning, and self-awareness. Martin could've fully meant what he said to Finn that night, but when dealing with the aftermath and the recovery of his injury, all he could do is rely on what he knew best. Conning people to survive.
That could totally be the case. To be honest, I didn't even think of that. But you're totally right. That's probably why his story to Finn of where he came from and who his mom is, is 50% true and 50% false.
@@paxw37 Adventure Time uses many characters to explore and explain mental illness and trauma (Ice King, Magic Man, Marcy, Etc.), so I'm not so surprised that Martin could be another example. I hope my input was an interesting perspective. I'm excited to see what you put out next. Keep up the great work Paxw! :)
@@breezeontheforestpath1284 Yeah you're totally right, they do such a great job at it too! Yes it was, thank you for pointing that out. And thank you!! I really do appreciate it!!!
TBI?
@@Clown_the_Clown Traumatic Brain Injury
I really want to blame his awfulness on some kind of head trauma/mental trauma, but if I’m being honest with myself, I think you’re right. At least in the last moments we see him before he blips out of existence with the comet. My theory on it is that he did suffer an initial trauma that was significant enough to lose his memory (or parts of it), but as time went on, his memory might have come back in bits and pieces, fragments coming back to him out of order. And I think he has some kind of ptsd or is willingly blocking out the painful emotions and experiences, because he can’t deal with how he left his family like that. He probably saw himself as a coward, running away the first time he left Finn and Minerva, and couldn’t cope with those difficult feelings (plus having a fractured memory) so he chose to just keep running. He even said it himself “if you burn enough bridges, there’s no going back”. He didn’t want to face what he did to them when the memories came back to him.
Yeah, I think you're pretty spot on. Either he chose to not go back because he didn't want to, or initially forgot, but couldn't deal with the pain of returning to them
I think Martin left Finn and didn’t come back because he thought Finn died on the raft, and couldn’t go back to Minerva after that. And when Finn found him he couldn’t face the guilt of what he’d done. He’s still a scummy dad and super selfish but I think his treatment of Finn is at least partially due to shame
I would agree
I kinda hope that there'll be a closure episode between Minerva and Marvin
True, he prolly thought if I go back and say I lost finn st sea how will minerva react and then books it from there
martin not marvin@@areszeudion5153
How I always saw it was that Martin assumed Fin was dead after their fight and being stranded so far at sea. Due to that guilt he never came looking for fear of what he'd find and couldn't face Minerva after what his past had caused them to lose. So instead he went back to his conman lifestyle, basically a fallback if you will.
I feel like he remembered Minerva and Finn, but the night they got chased off the island is fuzzy. So all he knows is that he left and Finn is either alone or dead. And it's like he said "you burn enough bridges, the only way to go is forward" so he thinks he burned his bridge with Minerva, and he knows he burned his bridge with Finn, so instead of rebuilding those bridges, he just keeps going because it's all he knows how to do
I think Martin genuinely liked his family life though, he was just afraid to come back and face the consequences of what he did, and the longer you wait the harder it is. So he kept moving forward.
Martin represents Finn's "put it in the vault" philosophy taken to the extreme, his memories of that fateful day are fuzzy because he actively repressed them.
Well you could say Finn got the taste of adventure from his dad and he got the heart from his mom. Martin really is a terrible dad,. he genuinely reminds me of my own father on such a spiritual level. He's enthusiastic, always smiling yet cunning, shady and downright selfish. You'll never hate his presence but downplay every truth that you say. Grew up fatherless throughout my childhood and met him again 15 years later. Talks likes nothing ever happened in the past and took credit of my achievements just to show off to his friends.
People often focus on whether Martin chose to abandon Finn and his old life or not, but I think it is worth considering if he thinks (immediately after being rescued by the pirates) there was any real chance Finn was alive. Even if he intended to return for Finn, Finn was a baby floating on his own out at sea for who knows how long. The odds of finding him before Finn would die is extremely low. In context of that, it makes much more sense to me the Martin may have just given up, and been too afraid/ ashamed to try to return to the island without Finn (especially if the thought the Guardian might still be there). Thinking like that, it still explains how he feels that he burnt the bridges of his past even though he did in fact intend to return to Finn, why he was surprised on retrospect to remember that he did want to return, and why he is so quick to abandon Finn again upon meeting him. Not only does he immediately realize he made a mistake and could have returned, but he probably spent the entire time telling himself and reinforcing the fact that he can't return to his old life because he chose to abandon them.
Martin- "When you burn every bridge the only direction to move is forward."
That was his own words of choosing the life he lived
I think it's pretty clear Martin suffering a traumatic brain injury that permanently altered his decision making and ability to process and articulate. The kind that turns someone into an absolute monster of their former selves beyond their control. I've seen that kind of injury ruin someone's life, make them unrecognizable, and push everyone around them away because there's only so much patience you can have for the injury aspect before you just have to protect yourself from the person they've become. In that sense Martin's story is nothing but tragic. His injuries permanently turned on the asshole in him, removed his ability to deal with his family and his past. He didn't WANT to be a conman. He didn't want to be anything. He just wanted to run. Run from Finn, run from himself, run from dwelling on his past and the choices he made whether his brain gave him any options or not. And in the end he chose to run from life rather than stay and keep up this charade. The comet offered him the perfect out, to just stop existing and never address anything that ever bothered him. Martin Mertens died saving his son from the Guardian. The man that lived all those years after and put Finn through the ringer was a husk, and echo that Finn had face head on and move on from in his own story.
Wait, I thought the comet erased him from tye current life/dimension and transformed him into a higher being on a new plane of existence with a possible memory wipe or something
@@jennifervan75 Probably but the effect is the same cause we never see him or anything from his perspective again.
I really feel a lot more sympathetic to Martin than most. It really seems he is riddled with guilt over losing Finn and I thinks he's honest when he says Finn would be better off without him.
I think he is pretty honest to Finn when it really counts. Marten tries to explain to Finn that he cant make up for his mistakes and that there really isnt anything he can offer Finn. The last time they talk, Finn finally accepts his father as the person he is.
I think it's pretty obvious that Martin has some kind of psychological trauma. He has a lot of coping mechanisms that keep him from confronting difficult ideas around Finn and from his dialogue it's obvious his memories are messed up. I dont think that makes him a worse character. That trauma is something Martin has carried for a long time and it has defined him. It's something he's learnt to live with.
I think martin would have gone back if he could. But getting thru the guardian again would be near impossible, how would he find finn? Was finn even alive? How does he explain any of this to minerva? I think he ran because he didnt see any way to fix things, no way to make it right. He delved back into his old ways to try and forget the life and family he lost. And when he did see finn again, it just brought back the pain of those memories so he tried even harder to run and forget. He thinks he long burned that bridge, and now he cant bear to look at the ashes.
*bear
“i always planned to come back for you but i didn’t… that’s.. true”
go ahead and say i’m over analyzing, but it seems like there are times where Martin doesn’t even believe himself, his true intentions, and his memories
i feel like the reason why he keeps running away is both because he cant push himself to face fin as it reminds him of a past life he left behind and ontop of that he can see fin has his own life and doesnt want to interfere with it its still messed up but in a way kinda makes sense he might wanna try and protect fin from his own reckless lifestyle
Yeah I can agree to this. Going by this you can also say that him disappearing with the comet might have been his final wish, to leave Finn and Minerva's life forever
Half agree and disagree. Of the two roads, Martin chose his new life with Minerva and Finn. But when he lost his son at sea, his new life was already over and he couldn't return to the Minerva without finn. Him admitting to "always planning to come back, but didn't" is a confirmation that he wanted the life with minerva and finn.
Also Martin running away from finn is him running away from his past. Personally I find it amazing how he managed to get off world and travelled the stars just to escape his past. When his past caught up to him even in space, he ran away to the future. Martin escaped from his past through space and time, literally.
I don't think the memory loss was the only factor, but i think it was essentially the catalyst to Martin becoming horrible. Losing your kid at sea is bad enough, but losing them and then getting memory loss or a concussions during a storm is a nightmare. You have maybe minutes to retrieve them before it's to late and if he lost consciousness until a banana boat found him, even without memory loss, his son couldn't been completely gone without a trace. And whether he lost his memory, never did, or regained it later, his past and choices being the reason he put them in that situation probably ate him alive for years. And even if he knew how to get back to the islands, what's he gonna do? Go back without his kid? After evading the police, killing a guardian, and essentially abandoning his wife (cause he never got out that text message)? I think he looked for Finn, i think he wanted to return and explain himself, i think he truly intented to go back, but after looking and looking for Finn with no luck, he assumed his son was dead and that it was his fault. And as that guilt and the knowledge he couldn't go back and face his wife without their kid ate him alive, i think what was at first just shitty circumstances became a conscious, cognitive choice. I think after a while, he made the choice to start lying, stealing, and cheating again, at every possible turn. It helped to distract him from his guilt, and as he lied to himself that this was his choice, that this is what he wanted, he started to believe it. And thats how he became the Scoundrel again. I think when he sees Finn again, i think he just assumed for so long that he was dead that he didnt think it was possible that Finn was alive, and that when he realized it was Finn, he realized he'd been lying to himself about choosing to stay away and abandon everything he loved, and that he just couldnt face that. He couldnt face the lies he'd been telling. And most of all, i think the guilt came back, i think he blamed himself, saying that if he'd just kept looking, that if he just hadnt given up hope of his son's survival he would've eventually found him and he wouldnt have fallen as far as he had. That he couldve gone back at some point, and found a way to... maybe not fix things but get to a place where they were at least mendable, where he couldve still had a life and family on the human islands. But by that point, he'd fallen to far, and he realized it. He realized that he couldnt go back and face his wife and actions. That the Scoundrel was his life now and again, and that he could never return as a family man. I think thats what happened
I feel like he kind of like Walter White an that he did care about his family but that love didn’t outweigh his love for the life he had as a criminal where he chose it because he was good at it and it made him feel alive
Atleast in my eyes
I see a man who knows he has far too much pain to deal with if he confronts anything.
He wanted to come back for Finn
But he knows if he returns to that, so will the reality and pain of his loss...
I.. I kinda get it, turning back is just too painful.
So he wings it and covers it up with his base personality.
Laugh it off and take care of yourself.
I don't really think this fits either. Martin never had to KEEP seeing Minerva. Con man or not, he went far out of his way to be with Minerva to begin with and if the whole thing was a con I doubt Finn would have been born. No, I think the head trauma caused by the guardian paired with clearly nearly drowning caused significant brain damage. A knock to the head can and has changed a person's whole personality. Martin probably did have temporary amnesia after the fact, but the brain damage suffered in the event are essentially what made him devolve further than just his con-man roots.
worst dad in animation history is a pretty bold claim, there are some strong contenders out there
My dudes been on yt for just over a month and is absolutely killing it! Top tier content man🙌🏽
Thank you so much!!! I really do appreciate it!!
I love Martin. He's such an interesting character and there's .... a certain melancholy to knowing he was so close to having a reformed good life with Minerva. He's a jerk but he's meant to be a jerk and they write him so well IMO
Agreed
This might be due to taking fanon as canon, but I always believed Martin's memories were warped one way or the other, whether it was from the head injury (one concussion may not have caused memory loss, but repeat concussions could have) or something that happened to him in space. The line you brought up, the "...that's...true." one I think we kind of took in opposite ways. I saw that as him being caught off guard by a moment of sincerity, that he did plan to do the right thing but it got lost along the way somewhere in his subconscious.
Honestly, of all the potential characters to get a 'Distant Lands' special we're never going to see, I think Martin's life post-Islands is one of the most interesting. Where he goes from the pirate ship to the Citadel can't be anything but a ridiculously fascinating and intriguing space odyssey. I've believed that ever since before Distant Lands came out, but honestly the "Mr. M" stuff only widens the intrigue. Because now we need to know how he goes from Ooo to space, and now we need to know how he goes from being a petty gangster to supposedly committing a cosmic crime.
Right? I would have loved to see some more episodes of Martin's life. I didn't cover it in this video, but I think in the storyboard for the "Billy's Bucket List" episode, it talks about how Martin ended up in the Citadel, but I can't remember off the top of my head. However, it didn't end up in the actual episode so who knows what could have happened. Or even his life after disappearing with the comet. I would love to get a whole spin-off series of just Martin.
Hes honestly the best character in adventure time, he should have had an entire series following his schemes.
I certainly think the brain injury had its effect; when you see his interactions w Finn as a baby and how happy he was w his reformed life w Minerva, you can tell thats a man that loved his child and wife. I concur w earlier commenter Breeze on the Forest Path, in regards to TBI and as well as the final statement. He went back to what he knew, Breezey said it best. Its hard for me to see the character as completely irredeemable bc we never truly got to see what that was like. But, we saw him protect his son and take on an impossible odd to do that. Is that not love? Im the same guy that believes that Shermy is reincarnated Marten in the 1K future.
Got it, well welcome back! I think that Martin definitely loved Minerva and Finn. And at first, I thought that he just took the chance to become a conman again at the first chance he saw. But I do agree now that he was too afraid to go back to Minerva and face those consequences of loosing Finn. However, though we don't get much of Martin's character, every episode we do get, is him being a jerk. So I wouldn't put it past him to totally leave Minerva and Finn like that, consciously
@@paxw37 yea the way he did Finn was dirty- I cant justify that beyond the trauma of w/e happened to him during/ beyond the Islands. I feel he knew he burned those bridges w Minerva- how do you go back and tell the woman you love you lost your child? He couldn't cause he was dealing w his own complex grief and injury. Plus w/e punishment the Seekers had for him, he couldn't go back- it just wasnt that easy.
More interestingly, outside of the ep BMO, I'd love to know what kind of life he lived, esp enough that he was incarcerated in the Cosmic prison. I think a hint of it is in the dialogue Marten has w Finn in the little village. The call he refers to could be alluding to all kinds of things, possibly at the same time. Again, we rly didnt get to see his life play out as a loving father, to determine whether or not he was done as a scoundrel. I agree w you tho- he had to make the decision consciously to leave them. In one hand, its scummy- in the other, I get it. He had to learn a hard lesson of acceptance- his past caught up to him, he lost everything and there was no going back.
I appreciate the replies! AT is so deep- it's nice to be able to talk about it, ty!
@@MythX_StoryTeller Yeah I would have loved to see more Martin episodes before the island guardian incident. And no problem! I love talking about Adventure Time too and I'm glad I have people to talk about it with. So thank you!
@@paxw37 The first ep you meet Marten in came on this morning. Just wanted to talk about this a little more. I think another thing we dont consider in that early interaction is that Marten could've just been dazed or disoriented from awakening. I mean, when Jake tells Marten Finn is his son, 2x, he still looks for a way out. I think that has less to do w the fact Jake presented and more to do w him being an opportunist. Sure, he didnt care that Finn was his kid but at that point, why would he? Marten already accepted Finn was gone, so for some kid to come up, to an impossible place to be, mind (no normal person would be at the Citadel), why would he believe him? He went along w it bc of the opportunity to escape but I think he doubted Finn to be his son. We dont know the nature of creatures trapped in the Citadel- anyone of them could've been known for imitation or disguises, so maybe Marten had other reasons for disbelief. That's where I'm at w it, I think- Marten just didnt believe it to be true. However, as long as Finn and Jake were seemingly benign and helping, he would take the opportunity. Finn trying to get him to recall mayve been enough for him to consider, later, like "hey, maybe there was something to that" but at the time, too much was going on around them. He abandoned Finn at the Citadel but it's not like that was the best place for a reunion lol so he did do Finn dirty.
Here's another thing that makes Marten Mertens one of the most intriguing AT characters- how tf did he get to space? Lol and why is he so well versed, not only about Orgalorg but Primordials, in general; assuming those WERE Primordials being kept at the Citadel, he correctly knew about the Void Caster. The fact he was collected w them gives him an almost immediate association w the Primordials. I appreciated the 4-Part HBO episodes bc I'm convinced Mr. M is Marten, for sure lol and we get a look at that but theres a dimension of the character that begs to be explored. Who was M. Mertens after Finn and before his reunion w Finn?
i dont believe martin didnt want to come back more so that he didnt wanana face what happened. no one who didnt want his family would fight that hard to protect their child he tried so hard to keep finn safe. we saw when he was pretending to be a tree spirit he didnt seem to wanna leave finn until finn brought up his mom i think martin was just ashamed and felt he failed and thats why he resorted to what worked in the past conning and running away.
Yeah I can see where you're coming from and that could totally be the case. But Martin was using the villagers to repair the escape pod way before Finn showed up. I think he was always planning to leave whether Finn showed up or not.
I want to say thank and your work is appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed by myself and others.
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!
I LOVE your theories!
Thank you!!!
This was a great video I always wondered about Finn's father thanks for explaining the story
No problem! And thank you!!
This sucks cuz I hate that finn has someone like that in is life I do believe that Martin wanted to save finn back then but after he got rescued by the pirates he needed to be a con man even if he didn't want to, to survive and he eventually became the Martin we know where he's genuinely selfish
Yeah that's true, that could be. He could have lost sight of that main goal after he got rescued by the pirates.
@Paxw yes but I don't doubt that that side of him that cates about fin is gone now also I wonder what he's doing after the comet also I think this video is really great I love all of your content
@@lambda1863 Same, I wonder if we will ever see him again. Or if that's it. And thank you! You've been commenting since day one, so thank you for sticking with me!! I really appreciate it!
You just keep making great videos, man!I love how you made an entire UA-cam channel entirely about adventure time 🤣 💯
Haha thank you bro!!! I can't say it enough, but I really do appreciate your support! Yeah, I'm super lucky. I love talking about Adventure Time and I'm glad I can make UA-cam videos about it!
I believe Martin is definitely suffering from his multiple TBI’s, even as far as not being able to have a normal conversation or remember anything clearly. I could believe it was a partly conscious decision to give up looking for Finn but I still believe he is severely brain damaged.
Love your videos bro!
Thank you so much!!!
I always thought it was that he did indeed have minor brain damage, and that the recovery time contorted and amplified his thoughts/emotions to grieve and have immense guilt for not being able to get back to finn. That guilt ate away at him until he became what his inner voice told him he was, a deadbeat conman who couldn't/didn't go back for his son. I think it is not necessarily what he would have wanted, but his inability to process and forgive himself, him seeing himself as a coward and conman, twisted his self image to become that ugliness he saw in his past and his mistakes that he could not right.
Yeah, you make a good point. I just didn't understand why Martin never went back or wanted to get close to Finn again after seeing he was alive. Maybe it was that guilt in the first place, that he just couldn't see his son after having all that built up guilt of leaving him in the first place
"You burn enough bridges, the only direction to move is forward."
I think that explosion from the guardian gave him partial amnesia and ptsd. During his time with Minerva he steadily reformed and became a good man. He may have forgotten everything up to the point of the guardian and everytime he tried to remember the trauma from that night forced him to stop. His time alone trying to survive is probably why he ended up falling back into his old ways. When Finn asked why they were separated, Martin tries his best to recollect that night but quits because the trauma is just too much and you can hear it in his voice. Finn is sadly a constant reminder of that night.
Thanks, I didn’t know what to make of the guy, but you were decisive.
This channel seems is probably my favorite when it comes to Adventure Time tbh
Thank you!!!
Great video man!! I like the take you had on Martin. Right to the point.
Are you by any chance thinking of making a video about Papermeant Buttler?
Thank you! And 100% will make a video about him in the future. Might start to make polls about what videos I should do next
As someone who's suffered from multiple concussions, it's quite possible he does have memory loss. The way he talks, his memories are scattered, and on top of that, the more concussions you get, the more brain damage you have. Nothing ever breaks 100%, and just because the first one didn't cause memory loss (at least that we know of) that doesn't mean the second one wouldn't. You can also have much worse concussions, like falling over and hitting your head is probably better that getting slightly blown up, flung a distance, only to crash into the ocean where he nearly drowned and gained more brain damage from oxygen deprivation. It also might just be that he couldn't have gone back. He fleed the island no one is supposed to leave, while being chased by what were basically cops, and then lost his son at sea. If he didn't know where Finn was, he can't go back without him, and that doesn't even touch on the repercussions of his crime. And finally, if he did lose his memory, he could've just regained it over time as his brain healed. Maybe he just felt guilty, idk. But concussions can very easily cause brain damage and memory loss
The episode with Martin Jr he says something along the lines of "I gotta go to save you son" so he always relives and regrets what he has done, but is in huge denial about it. I think he had a mental disorder that got worse after leaving Finn
I am now going to call everyone I know that runs from their problems a "Martin Martens"
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Yeah, this seems pretty spot on. Never understood why Martin was such a dead beat dad until now. I’m kinda curious about how he’d react to seeing Minerva again now. He’d likely bounce like he did with Finn but idk maybe Minerva could knock a bit of sense into him for a bit so she can get some closure over his actions. She never knew what exactly happened to Martin and Finn that night and seemed really confused and heartbroken during the aftermath of it all. I think getting Martin’s side of the story would help her find peace and really wish they put that in the show. Then again, Martin likely wouldn’t have told her the truth so maybe it’s best they never saw each other again. Martin is a messed up and complex character. I hate him lol but I also like to see videos like this that speculate his motives and his character in general.
I agree though. I wish we would have seen some sort of interaction between Minerva and Martin the future. We don't even really see a lot of Minerva. I wish we got more stuff about what happened after the humans and Minerva arrived to Ooo
I think for the most of it you're spot on with it. But I think maybe at some point. He did try to find Finn after he left the pirates and saw that finn was living a happy life with jakes family. That kind of gave him a free pass to just leave and go back to how he used to be. Because like you said he wasn't a family man he was always a con artist at heart. But I also think in depth to it after his experience with the tiger and getting chased he realized his past is always gonna catch up to him because he does bad things and it's always gonna hurt Finn if he stays. So it's probably better just leave and be on his own and do whatever he wants that way only he's accountable for himself.
Yeah I never thought of that. That could be what happened, that Martin saw Finn alive and living a much happier life, and maybe he felt like a burden to him if he showed up in his life again. Very interesting
when a person falls deep into their own lies and delusion, the justifications pile up and that person in their choice gives away the life that was given and instead choose a narrow straw to drink from.
seems you have a decent heart, [+1 sub]
Agreed. And thank you!!
Converged. His old and new life CONVERGED that night. They didn't diverge. The divergence Martin was referring to was a different metaphor. Likely, he was just saying his life and Minervas life diverged from each other that night. Again, his old and new life didn't diverge that night. They converged, meaning, they met up with each other. On the other hand, his path and Minerva's path separated from each other, that is, they diverged.
Great video!
I interpreted his story as him receiving Brain Damage and being so loopy to not make good decisions
i would go as far as saying that his life with minerva and finn was in and of itself a con. i’m sure he did love and care for her and his son but i’m sure even asking her out was done out of an odd con reflex. almost bidding his time until he could find the next job
Yeah I don't really know for that one. I think you're right, that he did love and care for both of them at some point. But even going on their first data was sort of a con. When he cried in order for Minerva to save him from re-education
@@paxw37 yeah yeah i didn’t really recall the episode but that’s what i mean wow he is a scumbag
Banana hammocks am I right?
alternatively, martin refuses to forgive himself, he was sepparated from Finn and Minerva for so long that the only way he can cope with it is by being the deadbeat, even if, in his heart, he isn't
TBI can cause personality changes without memory loss. Really, they cause anything. Not to excuse Martin, but change can come through so many ways.
I think it’s moreso he wants to be “free” where can do literally anything without having to worry about others. It’s a kind of agency I can somewhat understand given how this world is.
I can’t remember when, but there is an episode where he says something like “once you’ve made your choices, looking back on them only hurts you” basically implying he made his bed and now he has to lie in it
Everytime Martin showed up in an episode it was like “ahhh shit, here to Trevor from GTA”
😂
"When you've burned as many bridges as I have, the only way to go is forward"
even tho adventure time ended a long time ago its still fun to watch theories about it
I was thinking the same thing while re-watching distant lands
It's hard to say, but for me, Martin would always return to his old life. Maybe he was happy with Finn's mother, but his old life would eventually call him back. It could be fate of what happened that night but he had ample opportunity to search for his son, even get closure if he did die. But he chose to believe he was dead and chose to go back to being a con man. Even after learning of Finn's survival he choose his old life and literally rans away from Finn. That's who he is, you can't change him. No matter how much Finn tried and Minerva believed he did. Ironic that Finn inherits that trait of always being himself but positively, always being a happy adventure-seeking hero until the day he died.
Yeah it’s pretty sad also a verified comment
He definitely did forget at least some of it.
I always think Martin gets a bit too much hate, mainly cus of how he acts in the current world. But he genuinely tried to be a good dad, he fought off the robot to save his son but he got hit and drifted away from and after he woke up he might have just thought he died no matter how much he could probably have been thinking. "No way, he's my son he's still alive he's like me, he'll find a way." But we don't know how long he might have looked for him after being found by the pirates.
Its entirely possible the thought of losing his son made him revert to the way he was before and get even worse.
I always wondered what did Martin do to end up in the citadel. What cosmic crime could he possibly commit?
My man took dad getting the milk to a whole other level💀
I feel like Martin wanted to return to Finn initially, but between the events of the island guardian attacking and him meeting Finn in the space prison, I think too much had happened. I remember a while back, someone mentioned that before the island guardian attack he would wink when it was the truth, but after the attack he would wink when he was actually lying. He wanted to return to Finn, but didn't know where on Ooo he was, and he couldn't really return to to Minerva without him. We don't know of his adventures between being saved in the ocean and ending up on another planet in the BMO special, but the comment about kids blaming their deadbeat dads could hint that he may have come close to finding Finn, or he could have been feeling that he was a deadbeat dad for not being able to find Finn, and assumes that should Finn be alive that he would hate him.
When Finn finally finds him, I feel like the panic sets in and he cant face his son. He goes along with this as, as he himself said, he is a deadbeat dad. He cant give Finn the life he deserves and just runs. He was forced into this life and has to stick with it. Later with the weird bear creature, he forms a genuine bond with it and it reminds him of Finn. You can see his fatherly side kick in quite a bit in this, but unfortunately a small spark isn't enough to undo years of pain. Lastly, when he gets to talk to Finn properly about their past, he is truthful in what happened, but its hard for him to admit what happened. He saved Finn's life twice that night, but he cant be a hero in Finn's eyes, so he instead tells only a part of it, and in a way that comes across like a lie. This culminates when he says "I planned to come back for you... that part is true," and seems to be genuinely upset that he couldn't fulfill that wish.
Martin is unfortunately someone who was forced into a life he didn't want, but found a freedom inside of it. If he was to be a deadbeat dad, he would find ways to leave Finn be to enjoy his life without him.
That was make sense. You know rather than stay in the island with his mother Finn more decide go back to Ooo. He doesn't want to live on a boring human civilization, he want to adventure travelling through the outside world.
Deep down on Martin heart he would like to adventure(with his own style ofcourse), but he know it was impossible to past the guardian robo, so he admit the fact and just do his action only in the island. After got saved by pirates and lost his son(that 99% chance was death), He decide to left Minerva and Island. Maybe he realize that nothing can change it and everthing was already ruined.
One thing I notice was that Martin was a "Go With The Flow Person". He was a con man but once he meet Minerva, he can started a new life and being seems pretty good dad and work as barber. But when everything lose, its so easy to him leave everything and start a new life style, like when he accept the offer from that comet boy so easily.
Its was interesting tho when Martin go to the queen tower and see a lot of gold, he still talking about Martin Jr. Martin was not an arrogant person who want the gold for himself, he still want to share the gold with M Jr. The problem is Martin was really easy to leave someone and move on especially when theres nothing he cant do about.
Finn got his adventure dna from his father Martin, and his heroes dna from his mother Minerva.
Finn not a jerk like his father but also he was definitely not suit for being married I think.
Sorry for long sheesh comment. I just really like Martin as character😂
That's a pretty good analysis of Martin, and I agree. I think he saw this as another opportunity to live his old conman life. And I totally agree that Finn got his adventure genes from his dad and hero genes from his mom. And you bring up a good point, that's probably why Finn didn't last with any of his relationships, because of his dad
@@paxw37 Thx for reply. I really like your contens, I will wait for another videos from you.
"Martin in the beginning best dad"
"Martin in the end worst dad"
I do think there's a level of trauma experienced by Martin because of the guardian, that he got Finn into that situation and thinks that he is bad for him. I think Martin wants Finn to hate him because he deserves it.
Yeah, I would agree
“The worst dad in animation history”
Goku: 😡
😂😂
Just because someone doesn't lose some of their memories from taking a beating to the head once doesn't mean they are now immune to losing some of their memories from all future head trauma, that is stupid as hell lmao. Like someone else said, it's probably TBI or another type of brain damage. Adventure Time likes to explore those themes.
Yeah I understand that. But that’s why I said that it differs case to case, and a second concussion would be worse than just having one. I don’t disregard that at all
I bet there was some plan to have a backstory where Martin looked high and low for fin and then ended up finding him with his dog parents. Only for him to remember what happened and thinking that finn was better of without him in his life.
Some people just can't be happy. Not all of us have it in us to make the decisions that are best for us, or cant keep ourselves on the track to improvement. We just can't be haply
In my opinion
Martin after Guardian Fight was living by his quote "You burn enough bridges the only direction to move is forward" just to not suffering from that loss of happy family life. Chance of finding your - left on the ocean - son alive are not that big to believe in that.
Also that would be sad to come back home without Finn.. It's easier to not have to tell your wife that your son is lost in the ocean...
I love hearing what people think about adventure time lore, but there's always a point where it's fact fact fact then it just takes a left turn to speculating.
it makes me sad that Martin is very similar to my mother- she was one of those "wild and free" type women, and I don't think she wanted to settle down but it just happened. I know she wanted me and my siblings, but she just kept running. she ran from her first husband and my older brother, she ran from my dad and my siblings, heck when she was a teen she ran away from her mom and younger siblings. my mom, like Martin, never wanted to address her problems or stick with the life the world gave her, she wanted to run and she didn't care if it hurt others or even herself. some people just run like scared animals and that's all they do, they never stop to think why and you can't ever make them stop. it's really sad...
Also he was running from the people that came after him that night
Also in the episode where Fin asks about his mom you can see he named his ship "The Minnie"
I had a feeling that after the raft incidents that, Martin believed that his family was better off without him due to his shady life and never being able to keep them safe from all the people he screwed over especially Minerva after losing their child . Making his decent back to his old shady self easier for him.
Mr. M seems like a huge hint. The fact they're both voiced by Stephen Root.
I kinda feel like martin left bc he felt like he’d keep bringing and or causing trouble around his family and being a conman is all he knows
he believed it was too late to change anything
Worst dad in animation history is an interesting take, since I think that this show has even worse fathers
That's true. Warren Ampersand is definitely up there
Better Call Martin
Probably Does Not Want His Past To But His Loved Ones In Danger But After Burning So Many Bridges Their Was No Way Of Going Back!
I wonder if Martin got into space by hitching a ride from Tree Trunks' alien lover.
Maybe his concussion changed his personality back to not caring for anyone but himself
hey you got a music list for this? It's really nice choices
Thank you!! Unfortunately I don't. I use Epidemic Sounds and just pick out songs I think will go well, and I can't remember them off the top of my head
I think he probably had some partial memory loss.
Even though Martin is portrayed as bad father figure, I really miss this character, because he's complex. I wish we knew more about what he did when he got separated from Finn,(also when he disappeared with the comet,its kinda sad) I wouldnt really mind a spin off about him. Even though i dont think it's going to happen
I choose to believe that Martin willingly forgot a lot about his past and had remnants of memories. He could've suffered memory loss but he also could have just done so much in his lifetime that caused all of that to be pushed to the back of his mind. I mean, he ended up in the citadel.
He definitely was a runner, especially when he was supposed to take responsibility for something. He was also a conman. In the end he just reverted back to something he was so used to doing, especially since he had been conning longer than he had been responsible. But i feel like he was truly settling into his new life and when something causing him to be responsible took place he ran.
Sometimes I feel bad for Martin until I remember how much pain he caused Minerva and Finn. He probably did want to come back for Finn, but when he figured he had way to do that he just reverted back to doing what he does best.
I love the Islands episodes but I wish Minerva could've gotten more closure about what happened. And the VR scene between Minerva and Finn omg😭
Yeah I think you're right. Maybe he wasn't as much as a conman in the future, but definitely a runner. But right? Like I thought the flashback scene of Minerva and Martin getting to know and love each other, with the music in the background, was one of the best scenes in all of Adventure Time. Anytime I re-watch that part, I tear up. I couldn't agree more, I wish Minerva got more screen time.
Maybe Martin was so certain that the people who were chasing him would eventually be led to his son?
Have you seen Martin in the new Fiona and cake series? It’s honestly heart wrenching.
I honestly always felt that he assumed finn died and just kept running away and burning bridges to the point where when he found out finn was alive he refused to go back and decided to double down.
Like he is thinking finn is better off without me. I am a no good deadbeat that couldn't even protect his son.
The way I see it, the incident told him he couldn't change and made him unwilling to acknowledge the progress he made when with min.
Told him, "I am me, and there is no changing that. So I might as well run away and never look back"
I guess you could say Martin's biggest con was making himself almost believe he could live the good life, if not for a brief moment.
As much as I don't like Martin for his conscious decision to abandon his family and just keep on going, after burning some bridges.
I do appreciate that, at the very beginning of things, Martin got to be Finn's first true hero. After all he did saved Finn's life from the seekers, and from the Guardian Robot.
As frustrating as he is, Martin gave Finn a chance to live on.
I agree w/ the ppl saying martin didn't suffer any memory loss, and also agree w/ those saying he likely assumed finn was dead, and that was a main influence over him running away returning to his conman life. of course it wasn't a planned thing from the writers but when he's told finn is his son, he responds w/ a genuine-sounding "good for you, kid". at face value this can be taken as a narcissistic "good for you, being related to me", but knowing what happened it can also be taken as "good for you, you survived". and living w/ that guilt of feeling like it was his fault his wife lost her son messed him up even more (he had psychological problems from the start, an incident like that would do him no favors). on some level he might've wanted to go back, but he couldn't bear to face the possible consequences of his actions
honestly i think he does genuinely love his wife and finn at the begining..he went to great lengths to protect fin by fighting that guardian. he tried to call minnie to let her know and explain but the phone couldn't do it. when he says he always planned to come back for him but he didn't... i think he meant it. considering how he explained it...maybe it was his way of waffling...but i also think he did forget for a bit...but by the time he remembered he couldn't find finn and he probably felt so much guilt because he hadn't been able to get finn back that he decided to let it go...especially since i think by the time he did find finn he probably had to do WAY worst stuff than just conning a few people out of funky gadgets and getting them caught by the guardian. after all he ends up such a bad criminal he was frozen in a prison when jake and finn found him. the dad thinking fin would be better off without him makes sense in a weird way....mind you i do think your right he was selfish...but i think his choosing to run away wasn't about simply perfering being a conman and refusing to return to his old life....i think he did such terrible stuff that how is he suppoused to face finn and minerva now? he lost finn? it wasis past that caught up with him and put finn in danger. once he remembered finn enough he probably would have felt terrible for forgetting and not being able to go back immediately. and more b that time he probably had done even worse things to survive using his being a conman as something to rely on. not to mention how he probably knows minerva(someone who is genuinely good) was probably hurt by his past catching up to him.
facing finn head on and being a good dad while he can is probably the better choice.......
...but if he does so he'd have to face all the horrible things he has done and look about how he feels about the past. and he says it hurts to do that. i think your right he is running away...but it think he is running away from the fact he DOES want that life with finn and Minerva and he can't get it back. He DID want it. but so much time has past and he has done so many terrible things...how would he be able to face minerva? let alone finn?...so its easier to keep running...he's still terrible....just kindof feels a bit too simple to make it 'he is bad and wants to just be bad'... when I think he is relying on what he knows(being a conman and trying not to care) because part of him does care and if he faces that part its gonna hurt. if he does the right thing and be more around finn and be good he's gonna be reminded about all of that stuff he knowswill hurt if he thinks about it...and in a way he could also be afraid of dragging finn and minnie down since it was his past that caused all of this in the first place.
i mean we now he still loves minerva since he named his ship after her(minnie).
dude was just too cowardly to face it and chose to run away even further since he felt he couldnt go back.
which i mean is probably the right call since i can't imagine how he'd feel finding out about the plague and comming to terms that minerva either died or killed her body and uploaded a copy o herself into a computer....
though its a bit sad that minerva never found out that the dad did save finn and hadn't just stolen finn away to escape to island.
he does still suck though
You make a great point about Martin Mertins. It seems like his guilt and past mistakes could have pushed him to keep up the conman life, thinking he didn't deserve better. I also agree with you, the ship's name shows he never really forgot Minerva, hinting he still cared. And technically you could say, him disappearing with the comet in the end could have been his ultimate end goal, to make Finn and Minerva never have to worry about him again, or let any of his actions hurt them again.
@@paxw37 i think whats really stopping me from believig he is all bad is seeing that alternate reality of history if the bomb had been stopped by simon. the dad seemed like a genuinely good dad in that timeline
Damn poor Fin 😢