The latest episode of “Adventure Time” on Cartoon Network, “The Cooler” premiered Dec. 4 and asks a lot of questions relevant to modern political realities. How far can a government go in protecting its own citizens? Is it acceptable to cripple a kingdom of living fire goons if it might make your own Candy Kingdom safer in the future? These are the questions “Adventure Time” asks of Princess Bubblegum, who has gone from adorable mad scientist in “Adventure Time” Season 1 to a polymath autocrat with a utilitarian outlook on good governance in Season 6 episodes of “Adventure Time.” “The Cooler” has the answers, demonstrating in the process that Princess Bubblegum and “Adventure Time” are more responsible with power than Christopher Nolan and his torture-lovin’, NSA phone-tappin’ Batman.

'Adventure Time' Season 6 Episode Review - 'The Cooler'

At the opening of “The Cooler,” Episode 22 of “Adventure Time” Season 6, Flame Princess is seeking a solution to a flame emergency as all the energy powering the Flame Kingdom and its residents drains away. Flame Princess is more diplomatic than her temper in previous “Adventure Time” episodes would suggest, brushing off her brother’s call for invasion of the Candy Kingdom. For villainous empires, even ones with well-intentioned rulers, militancy abroad becomes the solution for every domestic problem. Commentary. Soon enough she settles on the only option: ask Princess Bubblegum for scientific advisement.

Turns out it’s all part of an Adventure Scheme. Princess Bubblegum enlisted the Ice King (how’s that for “Adventure Time” playing with Bubblegum’s increasing moral relativism?) to orchestrate the emergency, knowing that she’d be granted access to the Flame Kingdom’s most secret chambers. As revealed in previous “Adventure Time” episodes, Princess Bubblegum is always spying on Flame Princess, convinced of her danger to the Land of Ooo. She’s taken the snooping to new heights, implanting a gigantic CCTV camera right in Cinnamon Bun’s face (he’s overjoyed to finally have a nose).

But midway through disarming the Fire Kingdom--disabling their ancient, mechanical Fire Gods--Princess Bubblegum gets a dose of Adventure Truth. Flame Princess straight up calls her a bad person who has allowed her paranoia to mess her up in the head. It’s not a heavy moment, this is “Adventure Time” after all, but you can see the wheels turning in PB’s brain. Maybe “I’m PB. I spy on everybody. No big D,” isn’t the right attitude after all.

By the end of “The Cooler,” Princess Bubblegum has shut down her massive spying room (it looks exactly like Batman’s in “The Dark Knight”) and left Flame Kingdom with a weapon of mass destruction that could pose a direct threat to her people in a future episode of “Adventure Time.” The Adventure Lesson of the episode is clear: if you can only secure safety by oppressing others your priorities are whack.

Princess Bubblegum faces a tough choice in this Season 6 episode of “Adventure Time.” Flame Kingdom is a legitimate danger, a powerful nation that doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with the Candy Kingdom. But unlike Batman, who only shut down his surveillance state after the threat was completely destroyed, Princess Bubblegum recognizes that there are some measures that are anti-free, no matter how much it may feel like a defense of liberty.

The next Season 6 episode of “Adventure Time,” entitled “Evergeen,” will air on Cartoon Network and is the first episode set before the Mushroom War.