Retro Reviews Season 2: The Return of Harmony. · 1:46am Oct 17th, 2014
Yesterday, I did 1000 words of progress on Mezza Voce. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot... and it isn't... but it's a thousand words more than I've done in the past three months or so. I literally sat down with the doc opened to the part that needed doing and wrote down the first thing to come to mind with respect to what had happened previously and continued doing that when I stalled and ended up filling out those five hundred words or so needed twofold. Let's hope it works with the next section too, which is about 2.2k words long. Er, but progress updates aside, let's get on with it, shall we?
To those who do not know what this is, I write up a retrospective review of old episodes I missed since I did not start reviewing pony until Season 3, meaning this will be the last season of these. Ah well. At any rate, I write theses as if the episode is new including first impressions and all. I will also include a section (using in square [] brackets) to indicate my current thoughts on the episode and how it differs between the two set periods of time. So do not get on my case about how I seem to hate an episode you like. Odds are I warmed up to the episode. Now that the boring explaining is done, let''s get on with it.
I hate cliffhanger endings almost as much as I hate cliffhanger multi-part endings. Needless to say, I was QUITE annoyed when I found out the second season premiere would be spread out over two weeks. Less than a year ago, I never would have believed it if anyone told me I would get upset over a new season of My Little Pony. How the times change. Er, regardless, I stalled to review this because I like to do multi-parts as one episode, and since it took a week for part 2 to come about, this review is automatically late. *Sigh* Ah well! It was worth the wait! Without further ado: the season two premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: The Return of Harmony!
'Victoryful' is NOT a word, it's actually Disharmony, Sweetie is NOT a dictionary and Scootaloo isn't a chicken. Just to get things straight.
~Story~
We begin with the Cutie Mark Crusaders touring the Canterlot Gardens with their teacher for a school field trip when they inadvertently awaken the spirit of chaos and disharmony: Discord. Nice job breaking it, heros. It was only a matter of time before they spread mass chaos, and now they have. Literally. Soon after, strange things start to happen all across Equestria, like chocolate milk rain, cotton candy clouds and popcorn corn-on-the-cob. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and the others all try to assist, but nothing seems to work. Eventually, they receive summons from Princess Celestia to head to Canterlot immediately.
Once there, we get a bit of exposition about the Elements of Harmony and how Celestia and Luna once used them to defeat Discord and how they've been kept in the castle away from their users and under lock and key with only Celestia able to access them. Genius! (Sarcasm) Anyway, they find out someone's knicked the elements before the man of the hour himself shows up, voiced by none other than John freaking DeLance, aka Q! He gives a cryptic riddle to the girls about where to find the elements, causing them to race off to a previously seen hedge maze on the grounds. Once there, he takes away their flight and magic and tasks them with getting to the center to 'find the elements'.
However, after taking literally one step into the maze, the mares are all separated and ripe for the taking. First, Applejack runs into a grove of talking apples who tell her the mission they're on is doomed to failure. She can't accept her friends ever breaking up, and so she breaks and can only tell lies. Next, Pinkie Pie wanders into a party where the balloons laugh at her and then she becomes a sour puss when Discord makes it seem like her friends laugh AT her instead of with her. Next, he corners Fluttershy and tries to corrupt her by saying how her friends point out her flaws, but she has none of it, so he just skips a few steps. With Rarity, he makes her greedy by hanging a giant diamond (which is actually a rock) in front of her muzzle. Penultimately comes Rainbow, to which he poses an impossible choice: stay while he destroys Cloudsdale, or abandon her friends to help. She is corrupted and leaves, breaking the rules of Discord's 'game'. I don't know why he gives their wings and magic back though. *Shrug*
Trussssst in me~!
Part 2 commences a week (our time. For them, it's immediately later. Boo) with Twilight accusing Discord of cheating which he shrugs off. She presses, saying that he took away the maze before they could even find the elements, to which he laughs and takes her back in time to demonstrate that she misinterpreted him and makes her realize that the elements are ACTUALLY back in Ponyville. Spurred on by this, the unaffected Twilight leads her friends back to town, which has now become, as Discord puts it, the Chaos Capital of the World. As they slough back to the library, however, Twi's patience is pushed to the breaking point and then broken by the actions of her corrupted friends.
When they arrive back in the Library, they find Spike wondering what is going on with them and the town. They try to find the reference guide, and after a brief battle with her friends over possession of the book they find the elements inside. With Rainbow missing, Twilight designates Spike as the NEW Rainbow Dash and they go to face down Discord... only to fail spectacularly. This is the straw that breaks the horse's back and Twi leaves for the library defeated and shamefaced. When she goes upstairs to pack, she finds Spike curled on the floor constantly belching out letters from Princess Celestia. She picks one up and reads it to find they are her Friendship Reports and slowly regains hope.
With her confidence restored, Twilight goes around town and tracks down her wayward friends. Using a memory spell of some sort, she gets them to remember what their friendships mean to each other, fully restoring them. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are restored in that order, but Rainbow Dash eludes them since she has found the only normal cloud around and thinks it is Cloudsdale. With the mane six mostly back together, they cooperate to lasso Dash and drag her down to earth so Twilight can use the memory spell on her. Once Dash is back on their side, they confront Discord again and though he tries to corrupt them again, our favourite purple pony stops him and together, they encase him in stone once more. The end.
The man... uh... Draconequess of the hour himself.
~Talking Point~
Mother loving Discord. Never before have I seen a villain on not only this show, but most other 'kids' programming achieve such a decisive victory so quickly after being introduced. Had it not been for Celestia preempting a breakdown and mass-mailing those friendship reports, it is very likely that he would have won outright. Discord is godly powerful and he knows it, but with that is the arrogance that was his downfall. He underestimated the lengths Celestia and Twilight would go to as well as the ponies themselves and, in the end, he lost because he grew too comfortable too quickly. And then there is the John DeLance factor. I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, but even I know about the literal deus ex machina's of Q. He gives a stellar performance in this episode, even if it feels a bit like a throw-away effort since, unlike Nightmare Moon, it's unlikely he'll ever been seen again.
Hey, Twilight, if you want to read that book so much, why don't you MARRY it! >=D Wait...
[Needless to say, since his introduction to the series, Discord has made a huge impact on the world, lore and history of the world Equestria is in as we know it. I'm still a little iffy on the whole 'reformed' thing, but the ways things are now, the mane six have sort of learned all they can about friendship by proxy of mastering the Element with the whole Rainbow Key thing. I was also in the midst of writing For Want of a Dawn when this episode aired and though very little changed from it's inception, I could not resist replacing my already-made God of Chaos for Discord since he was already packaged and ready to go!]
Oh Spike. =/
~Likes/Dislikes~
For starters, what did I like? John friggin' DeLance. Is that not enough? Okay, I'll have to stretch. I really like the idea that important events in national history are immortalized in stained glass. From now on, I shall call it 'The Painted Hall'! =D As I said before, in contrast to Nightmare Moon being made of cardboard, Discord was actually an active antagonist and a very major threat to the ponies. I can see it being a long time until he is unseated of this lofty perch. I also liked how Fluttershy and Rarity, two of my less-favourite characters actually went up in my opinion by resisting Discord, successfully or unsuccessfully. Also, I have a feeling that Spike being the new Rainbow Dash is going to be one of those things this fandom latches on to. And I must give kudos to the show for actually making me feel sad for Twilight in the second half when her friends abandoned her. Oh, and I can't forget that Star Wars reference at the end, which was almost frame-for-frame to the ending of A New Hope.
That said, my dislikes may sounds a little bit nitpicky, and they are slightly, but there are always problems with things. For example, since when has a new spell for Twilight ever worked? I mean, when she announces it. At least test them out first, please. Also, I know it was just my expectation, but would the elements not be safer closer to the mane six in case of an emergency rather than running to Canterlot and hoping Celestia can open the door for them? I have a feeling this will bit them in the flank eventually... In that vein of thought, Twilight, you could have used your magic to grab the book before Rarity did. Applejack is a horrible liar, even when her mind has been screwed and poor Spike was reduced to nothing more than a fax machine by the end of the story arc. =/
It looks like Discord has developed quite the serious drinking problem. *Ba-dum-pish*
~Conclusion~
In the end, The Return of Harmony marks a glorious return for Friendship is Magic! Despite the week-long wait between the two parts, the pay off was worth it. But how do they both stack up together? If you forced me to walk on streets made of soap for the rest of my life, I would have to rate this as a chaotic 87/100. There were some logic gaps, but overall, the emotional notes hit as well as a stellar villain made this one of the best episodes of the show yet.
Next week, Twilight Sparkle is late in sending Princess Celestia her weekly friendship report! Can she find a friendship problem before time runs out? Or will her failure send her back to Lesson Zero? Until then, this is Ciroton saying, "Hail Eris! Or Discord. If anyone makes a Rule 63'd Discord, she NEEDS to be called Eris. Get on it, fandom!"
I can't wait until The (Solar) Empire Strikes Back! =D
already too late on the whole Eris thing dude. lol.
at first i really disliked discord as much as i disliked Q. was q humorous and at times itnersting? very. but he was untouchable. having a villain absolutely incinvicble is infuriating and makes it seemed contrived when they are defeated by any means.
however by season four i grew to like discord largely because of that episode where he meses with cadance and tiwlight. it shows that he is, actually, not invincible. if you can touch discord you can harm him, if a difficult feat in that. so it made him powerful yet not invulnerable like Q was. more like Genie from alladdin with a mischevious streak.
what cemented it all was the combination of the origin of the pludner vines and the finale. it prvoes that for as powerful as discord is, he was threatened by the regal sisters to the point that he had to try a different method to eliminate them. discord has shown a preference to directly disabling threats, and if he didn't to the regal sisters it means he simply couldn't.
ultimately it culminated by the revelaetion that the collective might of the alicorns far surpass discord's powers. it means that ultimately discord is not unstoppable. the alicorns could eliminate him. perhaps celestia and luna alone, likely being stronger now than they were before. however discord is still so powerful and such a frustrating opponent that they do not want to press the issue and have a scenario where they have to put him down occur. the devastation would be too great.
2537846
Again, past perspective. =P I know all of this, I just wanted a cheeky way of my 'plea' coming true. Lol
Probably one of my most viewed set of episodes.
I had JUST finished watching all of season 1 by the time these new episodes came out. I was certainly pumped to see more and I was not disappointed. I actually didn't know anything about DeLance or Q so I didn't have any bias going in with this new character. I still ended up loving him. Discord remains my favorite villain of the series because he doesn't just beat the heroes, he crushes them.
At the time, by biggest disappointment was that their wasn't some culminating battle with Discord at the end. He kinda just sits there and takes it. We'd be getting better battle sequences later on but we'd have to wait for the season finale to see it. Still, a very good way to open up the season and welcome all the old fans and the plethora of new fans along with it.
2537862 rolls eyes.
I remember how they described Q once: "he's all-powerful and all-knowing but tends to forget that sometimes."