Yes, it happened. SpongeBob SquarePants performed at the largest, most important sporting event in America.

I don’t know why and how we got here, but Maroon 5, the halftime show's lead act, and Travis Scott paid tribute to the iconic Nickelodeon cartoon during probably the biggest, most high-profile performance of the year.

🚨 IT'S HAPPENING 🚨 SpongeBob's 'Sweet Victory' will be part of Maroon 5's Super Bowl halftime show, per report: https://t.co/DaR8FoICiV

So back to How did we get here? Honestly, an evergreen question to everything in life right now.

But, this convergence of quintessential early 2000s childhood and the biggest day in American sports came to fruition because, back in 2001, SpongeBob and his squad performed “Sweet Victory” at the halftime of the Bubble Bowl.

This created an iconic moment, that only recently rebubbled to the surface of our meme consciousness thanks to the powerful mix of famous people, boy bands, an online petition, and Twitter.

Some quick Sparknotes:

Last year, a mega-fan launched a Change.org petition requesting that the America's major sprotz event honor SpongeBob’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, who died last November. More than 1.2 million people signed it.

Last week, Maroon 5 seemed to announce the petition had worked. In a teaser for the band's performance, SpongeBob appeared, suggesting the cartoon would be featured.