SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Princess Twilight, Parts 1 and 2" · 2:06am Nov 24th, 2013
Okay I see now from some of the authors I follow that all it takes to write a review containing spoilers on the same day as the episode is merely to put "SPOILERS!" in the title and to warn people that there will in fact be SPOILERS!
WARNING! The following contains SPOILERS for the MLP fourth season premiere "Princess Twilight". If you do not want to be spoiled, please leave now.
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I sound like River Song. Now, without further ado. 
Now Princess Twilight Sparkle is preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot when the sun and the moon stop, Celestia and Luna go missing, and the Everfree Forrest begins to invade.
Now, everyone probably knows by now how standoffish I've been about Twilicorn. Over the spring, summer and early fall, I've grown more accepting of it. I remain unconvinced though. When the time comes when I say to myself "It's awesome Twilight is an alicorn princess!", that will be the moment I will be convinced. Here though, we see Twilight adjusting to her new role as princess. She's still learning how to fly. She doesn't really wear her crown. She doesn't like it when her friends address her as princess. She's still the same Twilight. She still triple-checks her checklist to make sure she didn't miss anything when she double checked the checklist. However, once the other princesses have disappeared and the guards ask her what to do, she totally handles it. Celestia was right; she was ready for this. There is a bit of a drawback though after they're attacked by some kind of rock crocodile in the Everfree Forrest while seeking out the Tree of Harmony. Her friends insist that with the other princesses gone, it's too risky for Twilight to join them on this quest and suggest that she return to Ponyville.
I had speculated that we would see the return of Nightmare Moon or the reveal of the power behind it or something. Well, Nightmare Moon did return. This episode did contain the animatic from the San Diego Comic Con of Nightmare Moon. Turns out it was part of a flashback due to a potion Twilight drinks provided by Zecora to look into the past to find the answers they need. Seeing the battle between Celestia and Nightmare Moon was pretty cool. (It turns out the image of Twilight crying over Celestia's prone body was from this as well, not the climax as I had originally speculated.) It did though ruin the fanon that Celestia's mane was originally pink at the time though. There was also a flashback to the final battle with Discord that explained why he was laughing when he was turned to stone. He apparently found the serious looks on Celestia and Luna's faces quite amusing.
Speaking of Discord, you all know how I feel about his reformation in "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Here though, Discord was probably the best thing about this episode! He first appears after being summoned by Twilight with the Elements of Harmony bathing in a bathtub while singing "Winter Wrap-Up"! (Of course, Discord has to sing "Winter Wrap-Up" during the Summer Sun Celebration.) Discord is the initial suspect for the Everfree Forest's invasion, but he insists it isn't him, and Fluttershy is the only one to believe him. He is the one that points them to Zecora for help. Despite being reformed, Discord pretty much seems the same. He goes on making jokes at others expense and wearing funny costumes and compliments them for what they've done with Ponyville now covered with weeds from the Everfree Forest. Delightfully, his motivations seem rather unclear. After Twilight is made to leave the Everfree by her friends, Discord starts taunting her about thinking she's better than her friends in his usual manner which forces her to return to the Everfree. To me, it felt like he was looking forward to Twilight endangering herself so he wouldn't be under the threat of the Elements of Harmony. Spike even points out that while Discord is reformed, he's not completely reformed. In fact, when he discovers at the end that they no longer have the Elements of Harmony, Discord seems rather happy as though he's planning a renewed spree of chaos. However, Fluttershy reminds him of their friendship, which reigns him in. Just as I suspected, Discord does value his friendship with Fluttershy, though at one point he forgets her name and mistakes Rainbow Dash for her. In the end, it turns out Discord was responsible for the Everfree Forest's invasion through seeds he planted during his initial reign of chaos a thousand years prior. Discord claims that if he had told Twilight all that in the beginning, she would have missed out on a valuable lesson on friendship. Interesting. Discord claiming that an evil action was for the greater good, something I blogged about wanting to see. I like that Discord has now become a much more complicated character. It strikes me that not being sure if Discord is good or evil makes him more chaotic than if he were just straight-up evil. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Discord like this.
As I had suspected, there a quite a few callbacks to the pilot. There was Applejack reminding Twilight about how the Elements of Harmony are what brought them together. Right before entering the Everfree Forest, Twilight recalls how in the pilot she initially wanted to enter the forest alone and now would never think of going in without her friends. Then there was Twilight trying to cross a river by stepping on some rocks that turn out to be a crocodile made of rocks rather than a possibly gay river serpent. Interestingly enough though, the Mane 6 sans Twilight come across a rather lengthy set of stairs that leads to the bottom of the gorge before the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters underneath which the cave containing the Tree of Harmony is found. I couldn't help but think of King Sombra from the last season premiere and his fetish for stairs.
Speaking of the Tree of Harmony, another think I liked about this premiere was the look back at Equestria's history and the origins of the Elements of Harmony. I originally thought it was silly the idea that the Elements grew on a tree, but really there isn't anything wrong with that. I found it somewhat satisfying that the look back at Discord's defeat obliterates the headcanon of Tommy Oliver, the analyst formerly known as Bronycurious, that Celestia and Luna ascended to alicorn-hood by defeating Discord. (More on that in a subsequent blog.) The climax I found quite unexpected. The key to saving Equestria ended up being sacrificing the Elements to the Tree so it could return the balance of Harmony to Equestria. That was quite a gamechanger. How are they going to defend Equestria now? (But if Equestria Girls and the "Nightmare Rarity" arc of the MLP comic are any indication, they might not even need the Elements themselves to use the magic of friendship against stuff.) Even more surprising, the Tree gave them a chest with six locks that require six keys, the locations of which are unknown. Fillies and Gentlecolts, we now have the beginnings of a mysterious story arc on MLP! I blogged before about wanting to see this very thing! Maybe there will be a villain who will come after the box too. I now wonder along with Brad Pitt "What's in the box?!" I hope it's not a severed head. (I've never even seen the movie Se7en.) I suspect it is just replacements for the Elements of Harmony but that kind of seems like it would be lame and anticlimactic. Perhaps the key of getting the Elements back is proving they don't need the Elements themselves, just what they represent. Perhaps it's a spark from the original Fire of Friendship. I just hope to Celestia that it isn't six crowns so all the Mane 6 can ascend into alicorns!
The only thing I can say I didn't like is that we were teased with a mysterious new villain and in the end there was no villain! They go from having a lackluster villain in the third season premiere to no villain in the fourth season premiere. I guess you could say the Everfree Forest or by default Discord was the villain of the episode but still, it's not what we were promised.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Season 4 opener! I like where this season is going. I like story arc they're setting up. I like what they're doing with Discord. I look forward to seeing where these things go the rest of the season.
What do you all think about "Princess Twilight"?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
I certainly enjoyed this premiere and I'm definitely looking forward to what the rest of season 4 has in store! You can read my more detailed thoughts on this on my own blog here.
1534715 Way ahead of you.
I actually really liked the season premiere! I felt that the "Princess Twilight" thing was handled well. When the other Elements told Twilight to leave, I felt that was a bit OOC, but other than that, I enjoyed it. Seeing Discord being himself was great, as well as finally giving us an explanation for the Elements.
Was worth the watch and will be re-watched.
God bless you too!
I liked it, too. I'd link to my own blog but you already found it.
1537716 You should follow me 'cause I blog like this all the time.