A Bit of Dribble About S2 of TYT...

So I'm not gonna lie, Season 2 of Tell Your Tale is solid thus far. For something running where Make Your Mark walked, it's going pretty well. (And yeah, I know, it's only been 2 episodes...but it's a pretty good improvement from Season 1. Only con I have is that if's still 5 minutes.)

There is something that bugs me though...outside of the whole 5-minute thing, anyway.

With the Mane Five/Mane Six's glowing cutie marks, I've long since thrown up my hands and said that they won't address it and that we just have to accept that they're magic because...well, look at G4. Glowing cutie marks were magical in nature, just mostly applied to the Cutie Map instead of adding flair to costumes or creating cool effects in the sky. The difference, of course, is that G4 directly addressed the marks and had the Mane Six pose questions about it, whereas G5 just...doesn't. In G5 it's as common as trotting. And unless you work in the veterinary field or something similar, you don't really question the logistics of trotting in a horse.

But there is one thing that's edging out the mark-glowing...and that's the naming of the Elements.

In G5, we don't really have Elements, per se. (People thought they had something going with the Secrets of Starlight special and the necklaces Sunny and co. wore, but alas.) Sunny has her locket, Izzy has the Nova Charm...that's it. It's like if Twilight was the only one who had an Element, and Pinkie Pie also had an Element because she's the first pony she met, but Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were left high and dry. I can certainly understand why, though -- Discovery Family probably still has a vicehold on the concept so it can't be used in G5.

Instead we have what I like to call "Elements in name only". You can have the new Mane Six say their supposed Element names, but may Celestia strike you down if you slap necklaces on them that fire pew-pew purification beams and do other magic stuffs.

...Actually, I take that back. Now that I think about it...maybe the marks are the Elements, or at least a suitable replacement for 'em that won't get people in trouble legally. Puts Opaline's schtick into a new perspective if you think about it, but it also explains why Sunny and co. are keen on saying the names of their supposed Elements in seemingly every episode. (You know what it also explains? The downfall of Allura, Twitch, the former's brother, and whatever other baddie Hasbro is keen on throwing at us for this leg of the generation. But that's just a theory. A Pone Theory.)

We'll have to see what happens as the plot progresses. I just don't want them to say the names every episode, though. For me, it's gonna wear on me fast, especially in such a short timeframe as 5 minutes. But hey, I didn't know Misty's "Element" was Heart until I watched Heavy is the Mane That Wears the Fruit Crown, and she wasn't part of the cast when the "Elements" were initially revealed, so it counts for something in my book.

Makes me wonder if I should incorporate the "Elements" in a Solar and Lunar story...food for thought.