I feel...left behind. · 6:03am Feb 19th, 2013
Here's a more coherent reaction to the most recent episode. Once again, if you enjoyed it, good for you. But I really need to express my thoughts on this. If you disagree, please please PLEASE feel free to bring it up in the comments. I'm angry at the episode, not you.
After viewing this episode, I feel...left behind.
There's no other way to describe it.
I don't have a character I can empathize with anymore. I'll keep watching the show, but...this one really made me sick. This is the kind of episode that leads one to ask a series of dramatic rhetorical questions. First off,
WHY?
Why was this necessary? Was there seriously nothing else that could be explored with the current dynamic? What about the Griffon Kingdom? What about Starswirl the Bearded--who, I might add, is a much less compelling character now that he's been outdone. Hell, what about actually exploring the Crystal Kingdom? What about the sixty-godzillion other things you brought up but didn't feel like following up on?
DID THE EPISODE CONNECT?
I experienced absolutely no positive emotions during the episode. Literally. I tried to give it a chance--I kept calm, I tried to trust the writers--but all I got was this disgusting twist in my stomach that only got worse as I watched it. Even the fabled "most-feel-worthy" moment with Celestia singing to Twilight felt empty and forced.
AND WHAT OF TWILIGHT'S NEW DESIGN?
Hoo, boy. I get nauseous every time I see it. To me, what was appealing about Twilight's design was that she didn't look like a super-powerful character. But now it will be impossible to forget this abomination of an episode. There's something about her gaudy lengthened limbs and neck that make it even more cringe-inducing. I hate the constant wingboner, too.
AND WHAT OF THE SONGS?
This is the first time where I was so disgusted by an episode that I could not enjoy any of the music in the slightest.
AND WHAT OF THE STORYLINE?
The first half of the episode was written simply to come up with a reason for Twilight's change. Really bad idea. It was a disgustingly rushed, broken Disney teacup-ride of a story that left me staring blankly at a wall and wondering if I was having a nightmare.
Now to address what I've seen of the common counterarguments. If you don't think these are represented fairly, again--tell me!
It was her destiny; it was foreshadowed.
I'm getting extremely sick of "destiny" being used as a cheap excuse to force plot twists.
Up until this episode, we had no idea at all that "princess" was an earned title, nor that one could just suddenly turn into an alicorn. They literally had to make that bullshit up just for the sake of this episode.
There was definitely something special going on with Twilight's future, but I had really trusted that they would not take the third-grade fanfic route. I had hoped they would be subtle and clever. I had thought she would become the most magically adept unicorn in Equestria--an illogical prediction? Why, then, did she dress up as Starswirl the Bearded? Why, then, did Luna and Celestia take a look at a book with a star and a swirl on it at the end of the Crystal Empire episode? What the hell does any of that have anything to do with alicorns?
But Faust planned it.
She planned for Twilight to be "Celestia's successor." Like I said, I'm fine with some form of eventual ascension for Twilight. (Transforming into a member of the most powerful race in the story setting in the most abrupt and cliched way possible is another thing...) But to do it right now? They blew it. The episode made me think of a bad roleplaying game session where the gamemaster is so infatuated with the "heartwarming" scene he wrote for the end that he shoehorns it into the middle of the campaign.
Destiny can shove a grenade up her pimply, overrated ass. And don't get me started on the downright disturbing notion that Celestia "groomed" Twilight for this role and yet refused to tell her about it.
But Twilight will still have the same personality.
My concern isn't about Twilight's personality. What angers me is that Alicorn Twilight will be a lot harder to relate to. Twilight isn't an underdog anymore, and as fascinated as some people are with the new challenges her new position will give her, are these really problems that most of us can relate to?
But her change is relatable. It's like growing up, or suddenly having to deal with new responsibilities.
As I explained in my earlier post, growing up is a slow and often ugly process. It's not dramatic, it's not sudden, and in particular I see nothing appealing about the idea of Twilight suddenly "growing up" while her friends do not. And why the hell did Celestia just grant all these new responsibilities to a filly who just left a bunch of high-maintenance animals in the care of her inexperienced dragon servant?
But the target demographic loved the episode.
I think you'd have to try pretty damn hard to get little kids to hate an episode of this show. Besides, I've heard more than a few reports (including one from a close friend, whose sister called the episode "really dumb") of little sisters and daughters who didn't take the episode particularly well.
This is the first time I've genuinely hated an episode. I found the little clip they had with Miss America hugging the Mane Six to be legitimately more entertaining and heartfelt than this idiotic finale.
I want to work more on Friendship is Sanctioned. But thanks to this episode, I just feel...drained. But worst of all, I feel like I'm being left behind.
I'm sorta fine with our new princess, but I'll happily agree that the episode was a big letdown. They could have atleast explained a bit about how alicorns, magic and stuff works. I agree with most of your points, but on the matter of whether you can relate to it, I can actually imagine that Twilights life now will be more grounded and real with less dungeon-crawling and shit. I mean sure, none of us are princesses but neither do any of us keep dragons for pets or travel through time.
PS: write...
848318
Twilight finds herself in some fantastic situations, but -at least originally- her social status was something that we could at least vaguely relate to.
She's been given a miraculous boon that (conveniently) was not known to exist until just this particular episode. The only comparison I can think of would be if the head of my university suddenly walked up to me and said, "Hey! You've studied hard, so now you're on our Board of Directors! Also, now you're seven feet tall and you have permanently spiky hair 'cause it's COOL! Oh, and you can't turn this down because DESS-TINY!" Uggh.
But again, if you're alright with the change, I don't bear you any ill will.
As for writing, I'll see what I can do...but damn. Every time I try to come up with new ideas, this shit just keeps coming back to annoy me...
848520
The thing is, I just can't imagine them actually making her a ruler. I think(hope) it will mostly be used for comedy where she(or her friends) can't cope with her new princessing duties. She's been confirmed to remain in Ponyville which perhaps means the only difference is that she is now an even bigger deus ex than before. Also, mental high-five on the destiny thing. One of the worst things I know in RPGs is that part where I find out that my arrival was foretold in blah blah blah, and that I am the chosen one who will defeat evil because Main Source of Exposition has a book where it says so.
849135
They probably won't go that much into the ruler thing. But her status is going to make a lot of conflicts feel a LOT more unnatural. It was already a stretch when ponies doubted the filly who saved Equestria multiple times, but now...with it being painfully, painfully obvious that she has attained apparently the highest social title in Equestria, I really think things are gonna get more and more contrived.
The depressing truth is, getting a sudden dramatic boost in social status often doesn't leave you as the same person--not for long, anyway. And like I said, if it absolutely won't change Twilight's perspective or her relationship to her friends, why bother with this gimmick at all? Character development isn't about just becoming more powerful, it's about maturing. Maturity is a sweet and subtle thing, which is why I find this whole Super Saiyan idea to be incredibly cheap and crass.
849135
Also, thanks for lending me your ear. It helped my mood so much that last night I was -gasp- actually able to get some stuff done on Friendship is Sanctioned.
849541
That was an interesting read, to be sure. But why bother with this gimmick at all? Maybe they won't. Maybe they will do enough to make the new toy lines properly canon and then let her keep her wings folded, so to speak. Or maybe season 4 will feature one of those Fluttershy impersonators as her personal maid(we need a Consuela pony) and give Twi her own personal student. ugh. Who knows. But I think we all need to calm down and think about what the word princess means to a little girl, and not what it might mean to us. It's not about the power. The episode was nothing short of heresy though, but then again, you could just treat it as non-canon, like many do with the wedding. In fact, the more I think about it, the more parallels I see. I'm not sure how coherent I've been here, should've been asleep two hours ago. Vacation FTW
849582
"A mind without purpose will wander in dark places"
850744
I know they were trying to feed into the whole fantasy some little girls have when they say "I wanna be a princess!" but they really screwed this up by making this episode a giant asspull.
And seriously, Hasbro? Were three princesses just not enough? What next, is Spike going to turn into a princess, too?
*thinks back on the Princess Promenade dvd*
Oh, GOD.
Ok, now that I find this, my thoughts on your thoughts:
Why: Simply put, most likely Hasbro marketing. Obviously no one likes that answer, but unfortunately it's a simple fact of reality. However, such a thing doesn't automatically mean that they are locked out of doing things like exploring other locations, or even stories. Simply that there's an additional layer to be worked through or with. Heck, according to some of the crew(As well as other sources), we will most likely be seeing much more of the Crystal Empire in season 4 due to Twilight seeking Cadance's help. (Why not Celestia? Twilight doesn't like the thought of letting Celestia down. It's not the most unreasonable thing to think that she would turn to others to help first. Maybe some day she will get over that.)
Did the episode connect: Interesting question, but I have to ask "How and in what way?". I personally liked a good deal of it, though for different reasons from some. I don't think I have seen a part from the show that has quite as much of an impact as the rest of the main 6 struggling to do what they believed to be their callings in life, and failing horribly. That spell was truly nasty; Everyone suddenly thought they had always been doing those new jobs, yet for no apparent reason thy were failing. Ever have a day where no matter what you do you just screw everything up? Or what about those people out there who put all of their effort into a goal, investing weeks, months, or even years of work into a career, only for it to just fall apart around them? That happens, and it's never a good thing. But a sad truth either way.
Twilight's new design: Considering that the season 1 sameness of mos of the ponies was due to a more strict budget, along with them finally being able to add more varied designs in seasons 2 and 3, it doesn't really bother me too much. Having some slight differences beyond hair color and mane styles for the main 6 is actually something I personally would like...to a point at least. The dress is so so, but I seriously doubt she will be wearing it again(none of the royalty wears constant clothes save the crown thingies/torc/shoes, but since Twilight's staying in Ponyville, she probably won't bother. Besides, less for the animators to mess with). As to the "Constant wingboner"? That is you letting a fanon term colour your perceptions. Take off the brony goggles, as it's called. Besides, none of the pegasi in the show walk around with their wings out all the time...except for Dash, but that's her style.
As to the songs: I personally only like about half the songs in the show(Mainly those of Best Pony
), so I can't exactly say much for these(some I liked, some were meh), but you did just say that you were letting your perception of the rest of the episode color your view of the songs. Is that because of, or in spite of?
What of the storyline: The storyline, like much of season 3, was overambitious. They didn't have enough time for many of the stories they tried to tell. I do remember a line from Meghan and someone else on the staff (I think) saying that they were using this season as an example to hasbro to get more freedom for the next season in terms of what they were allowed to do with the amount of content they could put in. Like a more sequential storyline, more multi parters and so on. Heck, S4E01-02 are apparently parts 2 and 3 for this episode, it's just that being made(written I think, so confirmation of more seasons during actual production) back in 2011-ish, they were originally planning this one as a possible series end(Syndication and all that. Later on they received news to continue on).
It was her destiny: Maybe. The funny thing about the episode(and series) is that while everyone surely always expected big things from Twilight(Protege of Celestia, most powerful(but not most skilled by her own words) unicorn ever seen, proxy to the crown), no one outside of Celestia(and maybe Luna) really saw the whole wings thing coming. Heck, Rarity said what everyone was thinking: "I didn't even know that was possible!"(Unless one has, unlike the writers, read the myriad of alicorn fanfics and stuff. But that's using a biased outlook to an extent). The other main thing about the whole "Destiny" bit is that Twilight and the others were at that point saying "screw destiny" throughout the entire episode. The problem is that people tend to confuse "Fate" with "Destiny". Fate gives you no choice. Destiny is your choice. When Twilight's spell warped reality so badly that everyone thought the other 5 EoH had always been in their new positions, the illusion still broke down because they hadn't chosen those destinies. They were forced into them. Take two people with wildly different jobs and force them to switch and they will crash and burn. Make them believe they always had those jobs? They crash and burn and never understand why. Against their will? That's taking away their choice, their chosen paths, their destinies. There was a good reason Twilight was so upset over what that spell did. It messed her friends up on a fundamental level, and was something she absolutely detested.
Was it planned: It was kind of blatant from SE01EP01 all things considered. Twilight Sparkle, Student of Celestia who raises the sun with her sister Luna who raises the moon, purple coat(A royal color), sent as a proxy to a town to oversee important events, etc. etc. That the episode was two or three episodes worth crammed into one was more obnoxious, but that's a completely different problem. Celestia keeping Twilight in the dark? Eh, any number of arguments for and against. What's more interesting is that from the few hints we saw elsewhere, Luna was more against the secrecy.
Twilight's personality: Going in reverse here, but Twilight has never really been an underdog. A buttmonkey at times with her comical and epic failures for sure, but she generally plows through them in the end. Or gets someone else to fix it for her. Delegation! After all, she asked for that book, "Alicorns for dummies"(If only that was the namedrop). Towards the end, it was more of her sorta going with the flow in a stupor than anything.
There's more to be discussed on this topic than I have time for at the moment however, just noticed the time
This is of course an opinion piece, though I feel there are some elements of truth to it. Sometimes it swings both ways.
873474
Thanks for the response.
First off, I don't hugely care if Hasbro wants to introduce more toys through their show. All I want is for it to be done competently, and I didn't see anything competent about the way this episode was handled.
I don't see the twilicorn thing as destroying the possibility of new adventures. But I had hoped for adventure episodes with a relatable protagonist--and now that's looking less and less likely.
Don't take my comment on the wingboner too seriously: I was mostly just being venomous. To elaborate further on why I hate the redesign, it's clearly meant to try and hammer home the point that Twilight has grown up and ascended. Since no comparable change came upon her friends, this really rubs me the wrong way.
Destiny is really just a fancy way of saying, "you don't -have- to follow it, but if you do, it will lead you to this one particular state of being! Oh, and your life will suck if you don't follow it." If the characters truly have total freedom of choice, why even use destiny as a plot point? Destiny is the mealy-mouthed, condescending cousin of Lady Fate. And she deserves no less contempt.
I understand if the cutie mark switch thing resonates with you, but I tend to take the position that if the writers want to tackle darker themes, they should do them right, or not do them at all. And now they've wasted that premise on a weak and rushed episode.
And as I said earlier, a lot of the foreshadowing of the princess thing was pretty vague. Twilight's name could just as easily have implied that she was meant to heal the gulf between Luna and Celestia--not become an alicorn princess. And Twilight having a purple coat is no more a sign of future royalty than Rarity's puffy white hooves are a signal of her future ascension to The Marshmallow Princess.
And to clarify what I meant by underdog: I'm starting to think they're gonna really need to torture the plot to keep Twilight from using her authority and powers to quickly resolve conflicts. Notice how whenever there was some big crisis, the princesses were either not present or they were largely useless? Barring a miracle, the novelty of this change will wear thin pretty fast.
Sorry for being so disorganized, but lastly, in regards to the music: I can't enjoy a musical number if the underlying themes seem forced. That's why none of the music resonated with me.
875551
First, it would be sooo much easier to respond to comments if they were right above the text box instead of pags away.
Now, in no particular order: Relatability in the characters... Personally, I might have a different standard of what is "relatable" compared to others, but at the same time, I have to ask at what point that line breaks down. Captain Picard for instance is a relatable character, yet he is the captain of the super flagship of an interstellar empire. Darth Vader is the right hand of a brutal dictator and an imposing military leader, yet(prequels or not) we understand where he is coming from. Then there's others like Frodo and Aragorn, Ripley from Alien(s). Even the cast from Master and Commander.
Having Twilight suddenly get put into a new role doesn't in particularly bother me that much when all the information we have indicates that the staff aren't going to change how they write her(Just some of the situations she will likely end up in). And having her being a new princess(Technically, she sorta already was since he brother was married to Cadance) doesn't bother me that much either in terms of unrelatability since by that line of reasoning, I shouldn't be able to find much interest with characters like Kirk or Legolas. But that's my views on the thing.(subject to insanity)
As to the destiny thing, it needed its own episode, no doubt about it.
As for Twilight and dealing with problems that pop up? I don't see a whole lot changing. She still has a long way to go for knowledge, experience and skill(Twilight is very much a high INT low WIS character type, to use D&D terms). Heck, half the problems in the show are character conflicts, and Twilight has already shown herself to(when in her right mind) be against forcing people to act against their will.
876015
It is correct that leader characters like Picard can be relatable...but they typically aren't as relatable as lower-ranking characters. They're taking a student and suddenly turning her into a princess. There's different levels of relatability (I don't care if that's not an official word) and I just don't see Twilight as working well as a Picard kind of character.
As I said in another post, it's like having Frodo turn into a powerful wizard midway through The Two Towers. I identify with her as a commoner (in a relative sense of the term) rather than a powerful leader, and that's why I'm so extremely skeptical of this whole thing.
And my concern isn't so much that Twilight would force others around--it's just that it's going to start getting pretty contrived when they (in particular the townsfolk and such) directly defy her. If a princess has no authority over her subjects, why call her a princess?
OH
MY
GOD
...i think i love you. (lol jk)
...you and me have the EXACT SAME VIEWS on the episode. OH god... this... is epic... I love this, this is all my "YES" in one. Twilight was my favorite character because i could RELATE to her... now what? She's a Princess. Yay. Just what we needed. MORE royalty.
888532
Thanks! May the Anti-Twilicorn Alliance grow stronger every day.
When you think about it, this episode was essentially just a reworded version of the idiotic "she was a princess all along but she didn't know it" trope.
890234
Oh definately, its almost got a Cinderella (Disney) flare to it. (i hated that movie)
I, er... Made my own ending. Feel free to check it out, but it's a bit... Extreme (in mine she reveals shes been hiding a foal she's had almost since after defeating NMM (dont ask, its all based off a RP.. I Rp as Twi)) but she does relinquish the title (and the fugly wings) ans stuff... But anyways...
When i heard she was to become a Princess Alicorn... I nearly freaked. Then i calmed myself down to watch the episode, and only actually watched it because of everyone spotting Derpy everywhere, and i hated the episode as a whole. It was rushed, it was cluttered, 3 plots in 22 minutes, the songs annoyed me, the dialogue was few and far between, and at the end all i was left going "Dafuq did i just watch."
890900
As outlandish as your story was, it managed to do something that the episode never managed to do:
It made me smile. Not mockingly or anything like that. The scene with Twilight looking down at her foal was actually--dare I say it? Heartwarming.
900198
Yes, i know it's a bit outlandish but im still proud of it... So far its the best story ive ever written (im not usually very confident in myself) but thank you, that makes me feel good... I was going for the "heartwarming" aspect there... I've just always viewed Twi aas a good mother figure for some odd reason... Glad you liked!
I have a group on deviantART called TheAnticorn65Group and we would be in your gratitude if you can give us permission to post this on our blog in it's entirety.
937094
Sorry it took me so long to respond. You have my full, unmitigated, unapologetic, and emphatic permission to repost this journal entry.
943865 Thank you very much. Can I also put this on our Facebook group? You will get credit.
944117
Of course.
944456 Thanks again.
WHY HAVE I NOT READ THIS BEFORE?!
I love you so much right now.