Retro Reviews Season 2: Luna Eclipsed. · 6:30pm Oct 31st, 2014
I swear, I did not plan on releasing this one today. Well, I did after I saw I posted the first two episodes of the season almost exactly three weeks previous to Halloween, so It’s a happy little accident. Still, I suppose I should do a spooky story or something for next year instead of just a blog post about my ramblings on a themed episode. But hey, it’s better than what I did last year, at least. (Re: Nothing) So come with me as I talk about one of the more well known episodes of season two, beyond the break!
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of humour. A year to the day after the premier of the Elements of Harmony pilot episode, we finally get to see the alicorn of the night, Princess Luna, once again. In that year, we have seen and heard precisely nothing about her, which has caused the fan community to explode with their own interpretations over the most fawned-over princess. Be it a technophobe, archaic zealot, remorseful sinner, or still embittered sibling, when news of her return fluttered through the internet, there was a simultaneous cry of joy and groan of agony over the ships that are to sink and headcanons to be imploded. But let’s just get on with it!
Wow. Scootaloo sure has grown! *Shot* I deserved that.
~Story~ (A longer edition than normal.)
Luna Eclipsed begins with Twilight Sparkle and Spike getting ready for the evening’s festivities. This year, Spike has chosen to go as a Dragon (how original) and Twilight as an obscure historical spellcaster named Starswirl the Bearded. In many respects, Nightmare Night is an almost exact duplicate of our Halloween (or historically All Hallow’s Eve) There are costumes, Trick or Treating, dances and an air of the macabre. Yet there is also the central figure of Nightmare Moon and a ritual where one offers a tithe of candy to a statue of the demonic figure before the night is out.
After giving out candy to some foals escorted by Granny Smith (and Pinkie Pie, who is Trick-or-Treating and dressed like a chicken), Twilight and Spike head out to the festival where soon after the foals are told to learn the history of the holiday by following Zecora to the statue of Nightmare Moon (Squeee!). Zecora, oh how I missed you, and you got an upgrade in awesome since last season to boot! Er, moving on, as the foals start to leave the candy, the clouds darken in a strange and unnatural way, causing them, and even Zecora, to retreat back to town from the frightful sight of bat-twisted ponies pulling a chariot form Pony HELL!
”You accuse me, Master Jedi?”
But, as it turns out, the chariot belongs to none other than Princess Luna, who dismounts mid-air and lands, dispelling a cloak as black as night by turning it into many bats. (Or maybe they were bats before. Who knows?) She tries to reach out to the citizens of town by gracing them with her presence and wishes to reform Nightmare Night into a joyous occasion rather than one of fear… but the townsfolk are all stiffened by terror at the sight (and sound, that’s a big part) of her. Dejected, she leaves in a huff.
The rest of the night continues as Twilight tries to help Luna, who is obviously not really adjusted to the changes after a millennium in isolation. With help from (a terror-stricken and nervous) Fluttershy, Luna learns to not shout at ponies like royalty did in days of yore. However, Pinkie and her troupe of foals discourage her by running away screaming. Twilight then takes her to Applejack, who teaches her how to loosen up and have fun, but Pinkie again foils the plan and causes the Princess of the Night to snap, declaring Nightmare Night canceled FOREVER!
”You shall not pass!”
Well and truly shamed by her actions and the townsfolks attitude, Luna sulks away, giving Twilight an idea. Together, they track Pinkie and corner her to get her to realize that Luna is no longer evil or hungry for pony flesh. Pinkie reveals that she knows all of this, but that sometimes it is fun to be scared. So, Twilight gets one last idea. The adults ferry the children back to the statute for the traditional offering, to which Luna lies in wait and scares the foals. At first, she has her doubts, but they come back and reveal to her that being scared was fun and that they love her for taking so active a role in making their night memorable.
And so Luna learns the true spirit of the holiday and embraces it, causing her and the townsfolk to see eye-to-eye and enjoy the remainder of the evening. Twilight writes a letter to Celestia and Luna barbecues Rainbow’s butt in revenge and all ends well. The End.
”Huzzah! The fun has been doubled!”
~Talking Point~
Princess Luna. For a long time now, many fans of the series have been awaiting her return, since she was an instant Fan Favorite with only two lines of dialogue and 50 seconds of screen time. (Nightmare Moon does not count) As such, complex fanon personalities and constructions of her character have been built up in the year since her last appearance. So, how does our canonical Luna break the most popular ones? Well… she doesn’t, and that’s really the amazing thing!
For all intents and purposes, Luna is a reclusive, repentant, socially awkward and archaic mare who, after a thousand years plus of loneliness, sorrow and feeling unloved only seeks acceptance and friendship. Canon Luna is a hybrid of all the most popular fan interpretations, meaning I speculate her popularity to only skyrocket. The Royal We, Royal Canterlot Voice and somewhat shakespearean method of speech are just frosting on the cake, as well as the nod that Luna even knew a pony like Starswirl when she saw Twilight’s costume and commended her on the authenticity.
It is funny how one episode can change so much. In twenty two minutes, Luna went from being a void of possibility to suddenly becoming more fleshed out and even have more lines of dialogue than her sister Celestia enjoyed during ALL of season one.
You thought I’d forget Derpy? Never!
[To this day, Luna Eclipsed remains an all-time fan favourite for many fans of the show. Even more than three years later, the new direction in animation, story presentation and impact remain as crisp and coherent as newer seasons. Though we’ve yet to see Celestia get an episode of this scale, or any episode at all, and I would very much like to see one for her in season five or beyond. It has also become a tradition for me to view this episode on Halloween and despite all the times I have seen it since release, I always smile and laugh. That is the mark of an episode that is truly special and great. Oh, and if you look hard enough, you’ll see the first reference to Daring Do.]
Best Zebra being best Zebra. Even if she’s the only zebra.
~Like and Dislikes~
Like last episode, if I were to go for all the things I liked, we would be here all night. So, instead I shall go for my top three, sans Luna herself since I already rambled about how she’s become Best Princess. Foremost, Zecora. She is downright fantastic in this episode and an absolute joy to see again after having heard nothing of her since her rather controversial introduction. Second, I loved all of the little references in the costumes of the background ponies. If you look hard enough you can see Jaws and even Mortal Combat references hanging around. Finally, the humour here is the best I’ve seen of the series yet, even if it gets just a bit irksome at times thanks to one Pinkamena Diane Pie.
So, those are some pretty lofty things. Now, how about the stuff I did not like? Well, the sacking of Rarity from the story all together while the rest of the mane six got at least a few seconds to Luna. I realize that there was time constraints, not to mention the confusion since both Luna and Rarity are voiced by Tabitha St. Germain (who does a FANTASTIC job, regardless). Still, she could have at least been in the background or had a line or something during a crowd scene. Alas. Secondly, I was not too fond of Pipsqueak; he seems like a very forgettable character that was given a bit of exposition (by Twilight no less), yet I feel they were trying to make an instant fan-favourite character… but I was just not keen on him. Finally, Rainbow Dash came off as a bit of a jerk for pranking Luna and making her feel bad. Even if she did get her comeuppance.
That face you make when you sit on something and get bit in the ass.
~Conclusion~
This is easy to figure out, but in case you’ve skipped to here (a pox on thee!), this episode is fantastic and as close to a perfect episode as we may see for a while yet. However, at times it feels a bit rushed; enough to make one wish it were a two-parter where it would have more time to build the mythos of Nightmare Night and Luna. Still, for what it is, if you were to trap me in a room of animated Spider Toss toys, I would rate this episode a frightful 95/100. As I said, it suffers from time constraints and a few nit-picky things and exclusions, but still a brilliant episode.
Next week, Rarity and Sweetie Bell have a falling out as an annual picnic comes around that Sweetie wishes to attend, but Rarity wants nothing to do with. Can they put aside their differences and have fun? Or will the Sisterhoof Social pull them apart? Until then, this is Ciroton saying, “Huzzah! How many points do I receive!?”
”T’is a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!”
Good ol' lunie Luna. Pretty much my thoughts all around.
Now we wait for a proper Celestia episode.
Well, there was a deleted scene that had Rarity gaud Luna up like a pink, pink, pinky-pink pink THING AND the original concept art for the tub scene had her (and not Golden Harvest/Carrot Top) stand there scowling in irritation when confronted with the natural result of non-optimal visual acuity so it ain't like the mare with the Esperanto accent was missed.
2566824
That is what I was alluding to, yes. x3