Alright, fine. Everyone else is doing it. · 10:33pm Apr 4th, 2015
My thoughts on the new season's opening episodes...
The big bad was a disappointment. She felt like a mid-season minor villain. What? No decimation of the enemy at the end? What is this, another Trixie? Communist!Trixie should have been teleported to Friend-Space or something rather than escaping to plan more nefarious plots and finally defeat Inspector Gadget! Even a non-entity like Sombra got dealt a more definitive conclusion.
Other than that it was a nice introduction to the mechanics of the Crystal Tree of Friendship's Holotable of Doom. Plenty of visual gags that made me laugh at the beginning too. Although it was kinda "meh" after that. To think I actually liked Pinkie the most in this episode.
To be fair though, I'm more interested in what the rest of the season looks like, what with the whole Vinyl/Rarity/Tavi & Sweetie Belle thing.
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I'll be disappointed in it only if she doesn't return at some point in the season.
~Skeeter The Lurker
2946152 there's one I haven't seen yet
2946184 Made that one up today XD
Just you wait until the season ending villain, who will literally be a Commissar Trixie.
Tried to embed but it's being a shit
https://derpibooru.org/826723
2946152
I do despise that turn of phrase, because if anything, Twilight and Company are the Marxists, while Starlight Glimmer's little society is Leninist.
I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her. A villain doesn't just elude capture or justice unless they'll be back someday. And if so, I hope they explore her character in greater depth, because I sensed some real psychological issues behind her actions.
But yeah, it was a pretty great premiere.
I was never as excited for the season premiere as I am for next week's episode and the 100th episode, but I did enjoy it. It was more cerebral than we're used to for pony, and Starlight Glimmer was a bold choice of villain in that her methods and plans are more esoteric. And frankly, what she was doing in that village is just plain creepy.
Anyway...she'll be back. She wasn't properly defeated. The second part left too many dangling threads. We're not done with Starlight Glimmer yet by a long shot.
2946261 And then there's the Chekhov's Gun(s)...
Yeah, that's not a good sign...
What is this "Vinyl/Rarity/Tavi & Sweetie Belle thing" of which you speak?
A little of Fluttershy's character managed to shine through this episode.
2946199 All of my yes
I was impressed that the writers created a real sort of villain, instead of the usual 2D cardboard type.
This was a situation that can, and does happen in the real world. A number of unhappy, disaffected people are lured into the control of a malicious deceiver who gradually gains such power over them that they say nothing against outright brainwashing being used to bring others to their cause. This is how cults get started, after all. This was a look back at Jonestown, Guyana, where the phrase, "Drinking the Kool-Aid" got its horrific start.
2946277 What about it? You mean the other 8 artifacts that got mentioned?
2946277
Yeah, just like Fluttershy's vampire fang, the mysterious shadowy figure in Castlevania and probably many more I don't remember.
Chekhov's guns only work in fanfics.
2947861
The vampire fang seems to have been just a throw-away visual joke, but I'm pretty sure the creepy glowy-eyed cloaked character was implied to be Tirek, lurking in the Everfree and gathering his strength.
2947417
Of course, since Starlight's Staff of Sameness wasn't one of Meadowbrook's artifacts, but just a prop, that may turn out to be a big red herring!
Eyup, the story and villian destruction could be a bit better.
Ok, but the animations ... these were gold
2946639 We were teased with a chip of Sweetie Belle on stage, with a panel of judges. These judges being Rarity, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch.
2947973 Huh. I caught Sweetie with the mike, but not the judges. Thanks.
2946277
I have a feeling those 8 artefacts will come into play later.
And weirdly enough, Pinkie Pie was my favourite in this episode. All her expressions were new and unique. The writing for all of them was pretty good overall.
2948265 I'm interested about these Eastern Unicorns that Twilight mentioned. Maybe they will be introduced later on? Perhaps even wielding the artifacts against Equestria.
2948265 That is my feeling too. It was too much mentioning and implying for it to be a random reference.
2947861 They work in literature and have worked in TV for the longest time. Now that they've started meta-plotting the series instead of just randomly doing episodes, it's more likely to mean something than not.
Wait... recurring villains are a bad thing now?
Last time I remember a major complaint about villains, it was people whining that they never lasted for more than one episode. I just can't keep up with this fandom's wishy-washy complaints about everything!
Season 2: "Why'd you permanently defeat a villain?! We want more of her!" (Chrysalis)
Season 5: "What, giving us more of a villain?! Just permanently defeat her and move on to a new one!" (Starlight)
Y'all just refuse to be satisfied, eh?
2948823
Pretty much. Welcome to every fandom ever.
2949175
I want to get off Mr Bones' Wild Ride.
I'm amazed at how fast /mlp/ wrote a clopfic with her.
2948823
To be fair, not all villains are created equally. Chrysalis is one of the more memorable villains of the show, and more than most should logically be able to have another go at Equestria (unless most of her changelings didn't survive their eviction from Canterlot).
And I for one would actually be thrilled to see an actual episode centered around the idea of a changeling living peacefully among the ponies. A bit of a cliche at this point but I'd still be happy to see that come up in an episode.
Honestly, I'm glad that Starlight was a lower key villain for the premiere than usual.
Having every season begin with a big powerful baddie gets old after a while.
Season 4 started the trend of not having the fate of Equestria lie in defeating one huge baddie, but Discord (AKA a former villain) WAS behind it, so it's still a borderline example.
But this was a nice change of pace.
Plus, Starlight getting away in the end was rather impressive.