Season Four Episode Review: Twilight's Kingdom · 5:40pm May 11th, 2014
IAH here, writing to you all from my reinforced bunker. The turrets have been armed, the doors have been sealed, and I have enough canned spinach and oysters to survive the ensuing apocalypse. So bring it on, Hasbro! I ain't scare of you!
It's time...for “Twilight's Kingdom.”
TECHNCIAL SPECS:
Season: 4
Episode: 25+26
Written By: Meghan McCarthy
First Aired: May 10, 2014
SUMMARY:
Twilight has once again been summoned to the Crystal Empire, this time to assist in a meeting with those Mayan ponies from the last episode. Celestia, Luna and Cadance are at hoof to greet them formally, and Twilight...gets to unfurl the big banner and wave. And afterwords, the three princesses and the dignitaries go behind closed doors for an important meeting...and Twilight gets to stand guard outside. Needless to say, she's not feeling particularly princess-ey right now; as she points out, she doesn't even have a prescribed role like Celestia controlling the sun, Luna the moon, and Cadance love. The others reassure her that she'll find out what she's meant for, but it doesn't exactly perk her back up.
That night, a unicorn is wandering the streets of Canterlot when he bumps into a cloaked, scrawny creature. The being introduces himself as Tirek, and proceeds to suck out the unicorn's magic, taking away his Cutie Mark and the light in his eyes while making himself bigger. Celestia senses this in a dream, and calls the princesses together. Long ago, Tirek and his brother Scorpan came to conquer Equestria, but Scorpan befriended a young Starswirl the Bearded and turned on Tirek. Celestia and Luna sealed him in Tartarus, but when Cerberus ran away, he took the opportunity to escape. While his time in Tartarus left him weak and sickly, he becomes stronger the more magic he devours.
Twilight, being the main character, is ready to take him on...but Celestia decides to send Discord against him, figuring that he can track his whereabouts more easily. Twilight does not take this well, particularly when Discord shows up to rub it in her face while they're contemplating the events of the premiere. As Discord points out, they still haven't opened the chest, and he's taken the time to mark a couple of passages in the journal that he thought were interesting. While he goes off to track down our villain, Twilight and co. decide to search the castle library for something that'll help them open the chest.
It doesn't take long to find Tirek, still eating away one pony at a time. He's shocked that Discord is free, but even moreso that he's now friends with a pony and working to stop him for reasons other than ruling alone. Tirek warns him of the folly of his brother, and tells him how he'll be free to cause chaos now and forever once all the magic in Equestria has been drained. Discord looks at Fluttershy's picture...
Back at the library, Twilight finally just looks at the journal passages Discord marked, and has a revelation. They each relate to a time where one of the ponies had to do something difficult to live up to their Element. Applejack had to admit to lying to stop the Flim-Flam Brothers, Rarity had to not let Suri's scheming ruin her generous nature, Pinkie Pie realized that making others happy was far better than proving she was a better party planner, Rainbow Dash gave up a chance to fly with her heroes so she could represent her home town, and Fluttershy had to kick the Breezies out so they would get home. And each of them got an item when they did that deed...
As expected, the items transform into keys when brought to the chest itself, but there's still one missing: the Element of Magic. That's when Twilight is summoned back to Canterlot with even worse news. Discord has given in to Tirek's manipulations, and with his help, the centaur-minotaur is able to absorb magic from entire groups at a time. Even worse, he can now drain pegasi and Earth ponies, and will be going after the Alicorns next. There is only one way to stop him: they have to give up their magic. But since magic needs a vessel, the other three will pump all of their magic into Twilight. Tirek's ignorance of the era means he likely has no idea she exists, so that will buy her some time to find a way to stop him. However, she can't tell her friends what happened...for some damn reason, I've given up by this point.
Twilight agrees, and Celestia, Luna and Cadance pour all of their magic into a Spirit Bomb that Twilight absorbs. This also robs them of their Cutie Marks. Twilight heads back to Ponyville, and barely manages to switch things to daytime (in more ways than one) before Tirek attacks Canterlot Castle, taking out Shining Armor in the process. When he realizes the princesses are empty, however, he just hurls them through a portal to Tartarus. Discord takes the opportunity to redecorate the windows, and Tirek gives him his medallion, saying that it was given to him by someone special. But then Tirek notices one with a fourth Alicorn, one that Discord has not touched yet...
Back in town, Twilight's new power is getting very annoying. She's so powerful that trying to open a door causes it to explode, she takes off like a rocket and flies faster than the speed of sound, and she can't stop teleporting or keep her horn from sparking. Her friends are obviously freaked by this, but she just tells them to make sure everypony stays indoors while she goes to the Castle of the Two Sisters to figure this PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS thing out. This ends about as well as you can expect.
Discord shows up and imprisons everypony (inclduing Spike) in a cage for easy consumption. Fluttershy breaks down, realizing that Discord was never reformed and that she never expected this betrayal. Still, Discord doesn't let it get him down, as he got a better deal...until Tirek reveals that he has no more use for him and drains his magic, too. And for all his bravado and cunning, Discord never realized he was being used. Even the medallion was a ruse, as it was Scorpan's, and Tirek regards it as trash.
Tirek finds Twilight right after a failed attempt to master her teleporting. He attempts to drain her, but she escapes back to the library. Tirek's response? BLOW THE WHOLE THING UP. Twilight barely has time to grab Owlowiscious and escape before a fireball completely destroys the tree she had made her home for so long...and all of her books. And as we've established, when Twilight's books get destroyed, she gets very angry. And when she gets angry, Owlowiscious gets upset. And when Owlowiscious gets upset...
PONIES DIE!
Now more focused and in control than ever, Twilight unleashes her power on Tirek. The two have a massive brawl that just thrashes the countryside, but between Twilight's godlike power and the magic Tirek's drained, the two are at an impasse. That's when he reveals his trump card: he summons her friends (and Discord), and says that he will exchange their freedom for her magic. Twilight agrees...and also pushes for Discord to be included, despite him betraying them all. Tirek agrees, and soon Twilight is just as powerless as everypony else, and Tirek has gone full-blown kaiju. Discord finally realizes that he should have stood for his friends and gives them Tirek's medallion. This turns out to be the last key, and the six open the chest, causing them to transform into rainbow-ified versions of themselves. With this new power, they easily defeat Tirek, restore magic to the land, and free the other princesses. But that's not all; the box then flies off into Ponyville and plants itself in the ground, causing a crystal tree/castle to spring forth.
Twilight now has her own castle, and has found her role: to be the Princess of Friendship. Her friends and Spike also have chairs at the big round table. And Discord, while still having a long way to go, has at least made some progress towards true redemption.
REVIEW:
The minute “Twilight's Kingdom” was announced, I knew what was going to happen. I could see the endless rivers of hatred and bile polluting the land, burning and shredding everything they touched until nothing but ash and dust remained. Whether it be for good or bad, this episode is a much greater turning point for the show than MMC, even as it builds from that episode and “Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight is a princess, and now she has her own castle. Oh, and there's a painfully obvious toy plug with the Rainbow Power stuff at the end, and the episode is about Twilight and barely involves the others after the first half, a la “The Crystal Empire.” It seems that everything that could potentially set this fandom off made it into this episode – the only way it could have been worse is if they'd gone back in time and erased the Rarity episodes from existence.
And yet, despite all of the episode's problems...they actually managed to pull it off.
Let's get the worst stuff out of the way first. The Rainbow Power designs are downright hideous. I can understand that they need to tie into the toys and all that, but the actual dolls are just the ponies with some rainbow streaks in their manes and stickers. The show tries to make the design stand out more, but in the process just makes it even more off-putting than...okay, the Breezy transformation is still many magnitudes worse, but you get my point. And again, rainbows turn out to be the solution to the problem, which essentially means that they've turned in their previous rainbow generator, the Elements of Harmony, for another one that's seemingly even more powerful. Kind of negates the whole “giving up our superweapon to save the land” motif from the premiere, doesn't it?
Plot-wise, there was one kind-of, sort-of hole that everyone and their mother has pointed out. Tirek has no idea who Twilight is, which the episode sets up as a trump card since he'll be looking for three Alicorns instead of four. The whole point of the others funneling their magic into Twilight is so she can keep it safe. Only, there are two issues at play here:
A) How does Tirek know who Cadance is? The backstory explicitly states that Celestia and Luna banished him, but she's never even mentioned.
B) Just two minutes before enacting this plan, Celestia brings up that Discord has betrayed him. Discord knows who Twilight is and where she lives. Heck, right after Tirek disposes of the princesses, he sees the stained-glass window of Twilight's ascension and demands an explanation. So there was a hole in this plan from the beginning, and Discord and Tirek exploit it almost immediately.
All that being said, let's get to the best thing about this episode: Tirek. While we've had plenty of manipulative or powerful villains on the show, he's the first one who actually combines both facets into one character, and by Celestia is he glorious. The guy is powerful enough by the end to take on four Alicorns' worth of magic in a straight-up fight, but when the episode begins, he's just a shriveled husk who needs to feed on others in order to get that far. When he sees that Discord's working with ponies, he knows exactly what buttons to push to make him switch sides. Even when he captures the rest of the Mane 6 and drains them, he keeps them locked up just in case he needs to use them as hostages against Twilight. The only reason the heroes won is because of deus ex machina, courtesy of the power of friendship.
Discord turning traitor makes perfect sense considering how rushed and uneven his redemption episode was. The only reason he didn't start trashing the land when the Elements were given up was because he didn't want to lose his friendship with Fluttershy, and even then, he still managed to find ways to be a derailing jerk when he shows up a bit later. The other ponies don't like him, Twilight especially seems to despise him, and he's kept on a tight leash by his old adversary. So when Tirek offers him a position as his partner, with none of those restrictions or strings attached, he decides to take his eggs Benedict and accepts. But then he experiences betrayal (possibly for the first time, considering he's stated that he's never had friends before Fluttershy) and some measure of forgiveness when Twilight demands that he be freed, and at the end finally seems to be going along the path to redemption more naturally. I'm still not totally on board with him being anything but a villain, but it really does feel like it picks up the slack from KCaFo, and they do it right this time.
What is kind of odd is how he helps the others track down the secret of the keys just before changing sides. Perhaps this was a backup plan in case something went wrong (and it did), but it does feel like he's handing the ponies a cheat sheet. In any case, we once again get some flashbacks to pad out the episode, only not everypony gets one because friendship. And yes, the rainbow objects do turn out to be the keys; that shouldn't be surprising at this point. What is surprising is where the last key comes from: Discord giving Twilight Tirek's medallion. What got Twilight her key was giving of herself to someone who was in trouble, even if they had betrayed them moments before.
The central conflict for the episode is Twilight trying to find what her role as a princess is, especially considering that there are three already and she doesn't manage anything metaphysical like Love or control the celestial bodies. The second half of the season has been really amping up the number of ponies who acknowledge Twilight's princesshood, from the CMC using her for popularity to having to sit in the box seats away from her friends during the Equestria Games. This might seem at odds with how she didn't want anypony to treat her differently in the premiere, but it actually fits perfectly fine for me. Back then, she had just recently been given a pair of wings and a title, and was worried about what would happen afterwards. She's now had an entire season to get more used to the role, which has started to make her think about what she's actually doing versus what the others do. Twilight would have loved to get into those negotiations, but ended up playing only a ceremonial role that, as she points out, could have been done by one of the guards. And when Tirek escapes, she's ready to go be a hero again, only to get shot down once more. By the end, she realizes her role as the Princess of Friendship...which is a thing, I guess. So does that mean she has to go Care Bears and fix friendships wherever she goes? Is she actually in charge of Ponyville? Can she tax her subjects, raise an army, and trade wood for sheep? Will she go insane the moment one of her friends dies and create a dystopian world while dressing it up like a paradise and saying that it's all Celestia's fault the minute you point out the many horrible flaws in its structure?
And speaking of her friends, they really don't have much to do for the second half. It's the same issue “The Crystal Empire” had, only at least there they had a role in stalling for time and trying to keep ponies from discovering the fake Crystal Heart. Here, Twilight tells them to...make sure everypony stays indoors and away from the giant centaur-minotaur thing that's sucking out their souls. And once again, Celestia tells her to not tell her friends anything. Why? Because the plot said so. That's it. The only plausible explanation is that if the knew how dangerous the situation was, they would probably try to rush Tirek themselves, get drained, and then be used as leverage to make Twilight surrender. And guess what? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.
Princess Celestia, you are on notice. One more slip-up, and you shall forever lose your title as Best Princess.
Of course, all of this is just skirting around the thing everyone is talking about: the fight. The show hasn't avoided fight scenes in the past; the pilot had the gang attempt to beat up a manticore, ACW had the brawl with the changelings, and there was plenty of action in PTS. The difference here is the sheer magnitude and destruction the battle causes. The easiest comparison is to Dragonball Z, or at least DBZ if anyone who worked on it understood what pacing is. It's only two minutes or so in length, and yet it's almost perfect in its execution, making both participants out to be capable combatants and showing off their power. The only two kinda-sorta issues are:
A) Twilight goes from failing to have any control over her power (just before Tirek arrived, she had managed to teleport herself from one side of Equestria to another, ending up wedged in a rock) to having the ability to fire giant death lasers and teleport with perfect precision. This might seem rushed and cheap, but remember when she started to show that much control. It wasn't until after the library was destroyed. It's less Twilight suddenly becoming competent, and more the loss of the library being her “Let's get dangerous” moment. She doesn't care about controlling or hiding the magic anymore, and is throwing everything she has at Tirek at once.
B) Tirek has Twilight captured at one point, but instead of draining her, he hurls her into a mountain. This might seem tactically stupid, but makes sense considering how we've seen Tirek drain other ponies. It takes time to suck out someone's magic, and the only way he was able to do so with ease was because Discord was essentially holding the ponies in place while he drained them. Twilight, though, is now his equal power-wise; if he tried to hold her in place and drain her, it still gave her time to counter his attack or escape. It's far smarter to just wear her down and then use your incredible sucking powers.
And that brings us to the episode's biggest impact on the series as a whole: the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library. There's already plenty of debate over whether the library was restored during the Rainbow Wave at the end or not, but considering the last time we see it is right after the explosion, which the episode takes its sweet time to establish, then we can assume that it is gone. This is a bit of a big deal for a couple reasons. First, the library was simply a damn cool building. It's a hollowed-out three with a balcony. If you don't mind the termites, then it would be a nice place to live. Second, this was Twilight's home, and a centerpiece for much of the series. It's where Pinkie threw her welcome party, where the ponies gathered to discuss their problems and figure out how they'll save Ponyville, and where Twilight was teaching the CMC how to use their talents. It was more than just a library; it was a part of Twilight as a character. Now it's gone, and she's got a rather gaudy crystal palace in its place.
Most importantly, the library's destruction represents a major change in the series. Last season, we had Twilight grow wings and become a princess, and while there were plenty of fears about where the show would go from there, the one thing that seemed to calm most everyone was the news that Twilight would still live in her dusty old library and would still be hanging out with her friends. The latter part is obviously still true, but now the library is gone, and with it that sense of security. If Twilight really does have to live in her palace now, what will that mean for the future? When the library fell, a part of the show did as well.
Also, where was the payoff for the Castle of the Two Sisters? We had the ponies rebuilding it and everything, and the look of the tree that supports Twilight's castle looks similar to the Tree of Harmony that rests underneath the old ruin. Is it just going to be our library set from now on? I mean, losing the Everfree Forest and all that would have been sad, but at least it would have tied into the overall season.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, I would place these two episodes at around the same level as the premiere. The first half is definitely the stronger of the two, outside of the big battle in the second, but the episodes do work to bring some finality to the chest arc and introduce the next major change in the show. Tirek was well-realized, and the episode...kind of made me like Discord again, even with some lingering reluctance. Was it perfect? No. The plot had some definite weaknesses and the conclusion skirts the line of how toyetic a show can get and still be acceptable. But on the whole, I still enjoyed these two.
See you for next season!
…
In 2015.
OH GOD! OH MAN! OH GOD!! OH MAN!!!
Actually, it's part of the 2015 season, but it may well premier in 2014. Season 4, after all, was said to be part of the 2014 season, but it started in 2013.
Other than that, I will have more commentary later; right now I have to attack France.
I just couldn't stop rewatching the fight scene again, and again, and again, etc...
2101054 Holiday? Or at war with Napoleon?
I really wish Discord's temptation had been a musical number. Can you imagine how AMAZING it would be to have Tirek do a villain song to convince Discord to turn against the ponies??
2101075 Maybe GrassAndClouds could write one.
A very fair review.
I just want to remark that I have first hand experience with the situation Discord was in and why Twilight forgave him so easily.
A long time friend of mine "betrayed" me during the higher grades because he was told that I was mentaly unstable or something and so he wanted to keep distance, it was quiet painful when he said that to me.
Yet, about two years later he invited me over and apologiesed, saying that he was foolish and all, guess what, I forgave him, just like that. Five years after that and we are still friend, heck he even invited me to his marriage as a groomsman!
All in the cicle of destrucion and reincarnation.
Some thoughts:
I think that in the end, most of the stuff in the Castle of the Two Sisters was actually transported to the new castle, giving Twilight A library, even though it is not THE library. I got a bit emotional when I remembered that just two episodes ago she decided to keep the books that had taught her so much about friendship and now... it's all dust.
Meghan writes the best Discord. Period. I loved him in bot the premiere and finale, but I hated him in the redemption ep and espeeeecialy in Three's a Crowd. Here he was shown to be a trickster mentor to the ponies, even figuring out the keys, but making Twilight realize it herself after exhausting the library's resources. Just like he did in the premiere, he was helping, but in his own way. And him having a relapse, but ALSO being immediately be blasted with instant karma really hurt him. The look he had when Fluttershy was drained was... perfect.
Another perfect moment was Spike. He's used so much for bad slapstick, that when it DIDN'T happen, it made it so much more impactful. I mean the moment when D blew a bubble at Spike and made him float up. When the bubble burst, he would have normally fallen onto her face to the glee of every three-year-old. Now? Rainbow Dash catches him immediately and makes sure he's safe. Such a tiny detail, but it meant a lot.
Knowing what they had to put in this episode, namely the Rainbow Vomits models and the Toyetic Castle, I found the episode amazing beyond belief, and it's firmly in my top five of the whole series. Like I always say: FIM is not about inventing new stories, but telling the ones we want to see in a way that's both fun... and emotional. It was clear what was going to happen from the start, but the fact that they brought back MOTHERFUCKING T-REK upped the ante to ludicrous levels. He's now tied for best villain along with Chrysalis... mostly because Chryssie had a better character design.
Unlike with MMC, I lay my head to rest easy, waiting for the good things to come in season five, as I know we'll be in good hands from Meghan.
I have a theory. It ain't really solid, but it's still one that is logical. Remember how Luna said that she suspected that Tirek had escaped Tartarus ever since Season 2, when Cerberus left his post and went to Ponyville? He was biding his time to grow stronger, and during that time, he probably looked into the newspapers and stuff. That's probably how he discovered Cadance. Of course, he couldn't get all of his information as he needed to keep on the lowdown and probably had to scour around the trashbins for news and bits, which could mean that he had missed some information about Twilight Sparkle becoming an alicorn. After all, compared to Cadance, Twilight wasn't an alicorn for a lot of time and I'm pretty sure she has only a few headlines, considering how she was treated normally by the citizens of Equestria (exp: Manehatten episode)
Oh boy...
Alright, to summarize my thoughts on the finale, it was okay.
I think my issue with these episodes is that... and I'm gonna get crucified for this... Tirek is a weak villain.
Let me explain for a second!
Alright, so he somehow manages to manipulate Discord into being on his side, even though he lacks the charisma of someone like Light Yagami, and is about as creepy as the Emperor from Star Wars.
Really this is more Discord's stupidity, but whatever.
Not to mention there are many moments where Tirek could've easily won, most of which involving the princesses and the mane 6, but of course he doesn't take many of these opportunities.
Proving once again that Sombra seems to be the only intelligent Big Bad villain in the series.
As for the mane 6... they're pretty useless here.
Despite the first half of the finale focusing on Twilight's existential crisis, she seems to be by far the most useful one here.
The huge turning point (the library getting demolished) didn't feel all that important to me, especially given that Twilight gets a new and much better one anyways.
Kind reminded me of Iron Man 3, to be honest, although that movie had the balls to be unpredictable at points.
Where as the season 3 finale felt like a finale for the series as a whole, the season 4 finale feels like a bridge for the next season.
Whether you think this is a good thing or not I'll let you be the judge.
No episode is going to be perfect. Even Maud Pie, as near-flawless as I see it, probably has one or two issues, minor as they are. But I feel that if the episode as a whole is pretty solid, those issues can be looked over. Sure, Celestia telling Twilight to not tell her friends had me raising my brow, but that can just be seen as her trying to do what she thought was the best course of action, even if it didn't work in the end.
Overall, I was pretty blown away by this finale. The library's destruction really hit me hard, but the fact that you can get the same sentiment from a building the same way a character's death can impact you shows just how good the writers are. I'm hoping to see how this affects Twilight in season 5, in a possible episode about the loss of something dear to you. It could be like my hypothetical episode idea I asked about a while ago, only without any technical death. I like to think that the creators are listening to what fans say in preparation between seasons.
I'm glad you enjoyed this episode, and I hope to see more from ya next season (and don't worry, it wont be that long. I've had to wait for Dragon Age: Inquisition for two years now).
Sometimes I wonder if the writers don't like Celestia or something, considering how she has done this twice now with no real good reason for doing it.
I keep trying to defend Sunbutt, but the show is making it hard. C'mon guys, can't we have more of Celestia like she was in the first two seasons?
My biggest problem with the episode was the fact that the whole first half felt like constant exposition. The only time i felt like i wasn't watching a plot summary or being told what happened was when Discord was speaking. With that, the rest of the m6 really didn't say anything that wasn't exposition (except fluttershy, which is odd). Also, the first 7 minutes of the first half were unnecessary.
Other than that I'm nit a song person, before, the music in the show was just there and could be ignored, but here the songs were pretty bad
Yeah, that was one of my biggest problems with the plot. This is, what, the third or fourth time someone's told Twilight to do something without her friends, when it turns out that having her friends help was exactly what was needed?
#savetree
2101452 yeah, usic is subjective, but in earlier seasons the songs were forgivable because they had rhythm, chorus, harmony, etc. but now its like listening to a musical where they sing all their lines, except in those they have tempo and witty writing (find a pet is a good example) here its... Like the who tone of the scene is kinda washed by them singing when just talking would have sufficed.
Golden Oaks Library NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I stopped caring about the battle unfolding after that. I was too much in shock. I mean, it actually has become an extension of Twilight. When I think of her, I think of her being her being her bookish librarian self, forever sorting books. But mostly having Spike sorting them for her.
How many pieces of fan art use its interior as a backdrop? How many fanfics has it been used in? How many times in the show?
I can stand Twi becoming an alicorn, but I'm so sad about the library. It's been a thing of consistency since the start of the show. It's design is ingrained into my head as much the cute design of G4 ponies and the show won't be the same without it.
It survived being blown sky high in one of Twi's OCD tantrums. It's had things hurled through it, like Tom and Rainbow Dash. It totally could've survived an energy nuke blast. Kinda. Not really.
...Yeah, I'm butthurt. Really, really butthurt. Over a tree. That had dictionaries and stuff shoved into it.
If Twilight had the chance to, and Golden Oaks could talk, would they have exchanged goodbyes before it was shattered into firewood?
RIP in peace Golden Oaks Library. I miss you so much!
*cries*
Loved the finale, the fight was badass and so was the Princess Harmony song. I was kinda hoping Discord would be taken out, sadly that didn't happen but the rest of it was just so good that it was overshadowed.
Wouldn't you know that 2015 is actually "Late 2014" in TV terms.
Someone's a Settler's of Cataan fan?
Great review. You pretty much said everything I would have about this. Except I don't actually mind the rainbow designs. I am glad that they're not permanent, though.
DalTRS raised a good point about Cadance in this thread, which The Descendant and I responded to. It might get you thinking.
What...? NO!
The only thing that really bothers me too much is the overly volumous manes that seem to threaten to devour and subsume their hosts entirely. This is especially bad on Fluttershy who already had the longest mane to begin with. More subdued interpritation where there manes are stil the same length work pretty well, if still being a bit overly gaudy...
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140125015531/mlp/images/e/ef/MLP_Rainbow_Power_logo_and_Mane_6.png
...though Rainbow Dash still really needs her sweapt backstyle, since other wise she ends up looking to samey, since her mane can;t get any more rainbowfied.
I could still do without the hoof markings though. I sort of get what they might have been going for with somekind of full-body cutie mark, which actually even harkens back to some of the more exotic desing styles of some previous generation toys, but they end uplooking more like the cast all fell into a vat of stickers.
Still all issues of astetic design aside, at least they are just a power up mode and so we don't have to look at the ALL the time.
Sort of, but to be fair the dais ex status of the old EoH never really much interfeered with the show being great, principly because the focus was always on the more slice of life style ordinary daily troubles that couldn't besolved by shooting then with rainbows. As such I don't really see these new powers being any more problomatic. This show has always been about "friendship" being the most powerful an unstopably source is all, so it's not like the contents of the box basicly being the Elements of Harmony 2.0 should really be all that surprising.
Exactly! Discord thinks that by siding with Tirek he can get all the perks of having a "friend" with none of the restriction on his ability to caust wanton mischief. Which is inturn why he actually is so surprised and genuinly hurt when Tirek later ilustrates that their is no honor among thieves and turns around and betrays Discord once he's no longer needed. Admitedly I still don't really buy into Discord even caring about something like friendship in the first place, since his whol reform has been handled problmaticly from it's inception, but with in the framework the show is trying to sell this new episode does at least make sense in that regard.
Still not really sure why Twilight is so quick to number Discord among her friends at the end though, especially since it's his betrayal that put them all in this mess to begin with.
All true, and alongside Celestia thinking Tirek could never find out about Twilight (forgetting about Discord, the window, or the giant cermonial coronation they had post the episode implied to be when Tirek escaped) it's definitly one of the weaker plot points in the episode. Still, the way you phrased it here actually gave me new idea. I think maybe it was a back up plan, but not for defeating Tirek. Rather I think it was a back up plan for keeping Discord himslefin line. Going back to the earlier point about Discords supposed new found love of friendship, he might indeed actually feer slipping back into his evil and uncaring way now that he no longer has th the threat of being turned into stone to keep him in line. So in a warped way he might want the M6 to get their new powers so that he'd no longer have the temptaion to betray them.
Again, it's not really a character direction I like the show taking with Discord. I prefer him as an unrepentant villain, but at least I can maybe make some semblance of sense out of the things were stuck with.
Exactly. Though to be fair to the people who say it all comes seeminlg comes out of nowehere, it sort of does. Yes reading between the lines it's easy to understand her shift in attitude between the premier and the finalle, but the intervening episodes barely did anything to bridge the the gap with much in the way of meaningful foreshadowing. Still, inter-episode continuty is kind of a new thing for this show, so I'll cut the staff some slack for mistakes made this season. Hopefully next can be even better though.
I don't know if I've ever really had a best princess. I mean, outside of Twilight (who's new to the role) we barely even know anything about any of them. Still, Celestia's character has been on a serious down turn ever since the S3 premier, and recent ation in this latest finalle have me revaluting everthing about her going all the way back to the orginal pilot episodes. I sort of miss the days when we all just safely assumed that she was a flawless beacom of leadership and wisdom.
Agreed. Losing Twilight's old Libray and replacing it with a guady palace in a cyrtle tree that lools woefuly out of place amongst the rustic thached roofs of Ponyville doesn't bug me nearly as much as just dropping the whole Everfree Palcace angle that they'd seemed to have been previously building up. I mean, what was really the point of making it a new set piece this season (including a renovation project), if it wasn't going to become Twilight's palace? Most everything that happened there could have just as easily played out anywhere else.
I don't know, maybe it did, maybe it was transported and reconstructed into the new one, but still...
Yeah, that's about where I would as well. Probably fitting too since they tie almost directly into each other like a delayed 4-part episode, or rather five-part counting MMC.
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I don't think it's an intentional hatred or attempt to tear down Celestia's image. Rather I think the staff has just gotten careless. Since the solution to these big epic episodes is always "trust in your friends" they keep needing to contrive reasons why Twilight wouldn't just be doing that from the start, and having her personal mentor tell her to go it alone is just the quickest way to do so. Just seems awfully inconsistent when it was that same mentor that first sent her to Ponyville to make friends in the first place.
Though the lens of these newer episodes though I find myself taking a new view of Celestia. She's already before told Twilight that Starswirls greatest failing was an inability to understand Friendship, but it's starting to look like Celestia might not have a much better grasp of the concept. Celestia understood enough to know that Twilight needed to make friends in order to reawaken the Elements of Harmony, but it's possibly she thought Twilight would still wield those elements alone (as Celestia had before), and so when that power was instead split amongst six ponies it took her by surprise.
As such this might explain why Celestia seems to keep trying to separate Twilight from those friends. Being the savior of a Equestria is a destiny that Celestia prepared Twilight for from a very young age. As such, she might see the ReMane-Five more so as innocent civilians inadvertently dragged into circumstances beyond them and so in a misguided way is trying to protect them from further danger. Not exactly the most flattering image of our solar princess, but not an entirely bad one either.
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Nor was Tabitha, regretfully. Luna's singing voice sound far to much like Rarity. Though I guess at least we didn't have the return of the bizarre last scene voice from For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils.
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Why is that so heartwarming?
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YES YES YES! Someone else gets it! I am not the only insane one. I have had this theory for a while now. Ok work with me on this one but...what if the whole point of the lessons, weren't just for Twilight? What if Celestia...wanted to remeber what it means to be friends? She had been seen as a queen for so long, intent on being the sole ruler and betrayed by her best friend-Luna. Maybe all this time, she wanted to find a way to become friends with her sister again. Now build that, and you can see a falliable princess who is always thinking about the greater good. One who wants to make sure that others don't get hurt.
Lets also not forget that it seems...everyone underestimates the seamstress, caretaker, Racer, farmer, and Pinkie.
True, but at least at least here they have an equal role in defeating the villain (or doing anything to fight the villain, really) than in "The Crystal Empire."
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To be fair, the Discord plan was working. He was able to trick and trap Tirek with no difficulty, and has up to this point shown no sign of taking over again after Fluttershy's admonishment back in PTS. Where she ultimately failed (besides the whole "Don't tell your friends" thing) was in not smashing the stained glass window before Tirek arrive. Discord didn't even bring her up until he noticed it. One rock was all it would take, but no, Celestia has to preserve her fetish for stained glass windows.
I also never really assumed she was flawless, and as far as wisdom goes, she's right a majority of the time. Her major fumblings were not realizing Discord could escape, not recognizing that Chrysalis had replaced Cadance, getting kidnapped by a failsafe trap Discord planted over a thousand years ago, and dropping the ball with the whole Tirek thing, and the other three have extenuating circumstances and other explanations for what happened. I just wish they would focus on her in some role other than the wise mentor who needs to be proven wrong. You know, perhaps give her an episode?!
(Seriously, that's my one hope every season, and they disappoint every time.)
And now that she's going to suck royally in the card game, and the comics are setting up another arc about her forbidden interdimensional love dooming two worlds, she really needs some good press.
Yes.
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Agreed.
I'm sure the idea is to somehow showcase Twilight as having outgrown her mentor or something, but they shouldn't have to make Celestia incompetent just so Twilight can supposedly look like a more independent hero. Especially since it really only reflects poorly on Twilight as well that she keeps even listing to Celestia's bad advice in the first place.
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AMEN!
There is no reason not to at this point!
This sums up my thoughts, and oddly, I am in total agreement, IAH.
2103140 Well, somebody's plan needs to be fucked up somehow in order for Twilight to look better.
...oh wait , i didn't comment on this post already? for so long i thought i was waiting for a reply that now i don't remember anything i've read on this page :c ....
I actually like the Rainbow Power designs.
Otherwise, yes, this is the best finale so far.