SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "The Cutie Map Parts 1 and 2" · 6:24am Apr 5th, 2015
WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for today’s MLP season premiere of MLP “The Cutie Map”.
Glad to have you back Professor Song to warn us of spoilers.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my review of the fifth season premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic “The Cutie Map”.
It feels so good to say that after such a long time.
So, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends take their seats in Twilight’s new throne room, wondering what they’re supposed to be doing now that this castle has popped into existence. Twilight has been tasked as Princess of Friendship with spreading friendship throughout Equestria. How do they do that from a castle in Ponyville? Once they sit their flanks down, the cutie marks on their thrones glow and a magical table map pops out in front of them. The titular “Cutie Map” we can surmise. Their cutie mark senses start tingling and little replicas of them go and float over a point on the map. Twilight deduces that this means that they have to go to this place on the map and solve some kind of friendship problem. Once they arrive at this spot, they find a town populated by ponies seemingly living in friendship and harmony who all have the same cutie mark. This is by design according to the town’s leader and founder Starlight Glimmer, who believes true friendship and harmony can only be achieved if everypony is the same. Starlight desires Twilight and her friends to embrace their way of life… whether they want to or not. Can Twilight and her friends show the ponies of this town the true meaning of friendship?
So, what’s the verdict?
Now, I’m of the opinion that MLP hasn’t really had a good season opener since Season 2’s “The Return of Harmony”. Season 3’s “The Crystal Empire” was rather lackluster. Season 4’s “Princess Twilight”, though, was quite the game changer by returning the Elements of Harmony. It also built up more of the lore behind the Elements and introduced that season’s Rainbow Power arc. Still, it was a rather middling opener, lacking some of the drama of previous two-parters.
Season 5’s premiere has been highly anticipated since last July, and expectations were high. Based on what I had seen of this premiere’s premise, my expectations were particularly high. Unfortunately, I don’t feel this premiere met my expectations exactly. I was hoping for something with a bit more philosophical depth, and it ended up not being that deep. Still, these episodes were exciting, dramatic, and had a compelling villain, all the trappings of a good two-part episode.
So yeah, I liked it!
There is a lot to like about these episodes. The opening scene is a fully animated version of the animatic from the last San Diego Comic Con along with some nice additions. I still liked how Spike apparently is going to spend the weekend talking up hoofball with Big Mac. (I really hope one of the episodes this season is just about Spike and Big Mac doing these kind of guy things.) Anyway, as noted before, they follow the magical map to a small town in a remote corner of Equestria where they find a strange town populated by seemingly happy ponies. Pinkie Pie immediately notes their creepy Stepford smiles. Twilight, though, is more concerned with how everypony in the town has the exact same cutie mark. The ponies’ coloration overall is also much duller compared to typical Equestrian ponies, and they all have almost the exact same mane styles. On Applejack’s advice, they head into town to find out what’s going on. There, they meet two ponies named Double Diamond and Party Favor, who take the Mane 6 to their leader, a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer.
Starlight Glimmer explains to the Mane 6 how she believes the key to true friendship and harmony is the removal of a pony’s cutie mark. The special talent that comes with a cutie mark makes a pony better skilled at something than others. Starlight feels this leads to conflict. So, everypony in her town has their cutie mark removed and replaced with an equal sign. Starlight explains her views in a musical manifesto called “In Our Town” along with the whole town in a choreographed march that would put the North Koreans to shame. That song was seriously creepy, though, with lines like “To find out that our destiny is just emulate,” or, “You can’t have a nightmare if you never dream.” After Starlight’s song and dance number, she hopes the Mane 6 will be willing to give up their cutie marks and join her cult… I mean community. None of the Mane 6 is really sure about that. Fluttershy, as kind as she is, is willing to give these ponies the benefit of the doubt. In my initial viewing, I found Fluttershy’s attitude kind of annoying. It does work out for the best in the end though. So, Starlight lets the Mane 6 go about town to learn more about their way of life. Starlight hopes that having a princess adopt her way of life would help spread her message throughout Equestria.
The Mane 6 stop by a bakery and meet the baker Sugar Belle, who only makes muffins that are terrible. Sugar Belle observes the Mane 6 get into a disagreement over whether coming to this town was really worth it. Twilight assures them that she is sure something strange is going on there. Sugar Belle asks them about their friendship, clearly mystified as to how they can be friends though their cutie marks differ and they each have their own strong opinions. Sugar Belle surreptitiously asks them to meet with her in the basement of her bakery before they leave. Pinkie Pie is forced to each all the terrible muffins to have an excuse to go inside. (If only Derpy was there. As bad as they may be, she’d probably still eat them.) Down in Sugar Belle’s basement, they meet Party Favor again and a Pegasus called Night Glider (in the credits). These three ponies admit that they kind of still wish they had their cutie marks and the special talents that come with them, but they fear how Starlight Glimmer would feel about that. From them, Twilight learns that Starlight keeps all the ponies’ cutie marks in a vault in a cave in the nearby mountains, and she removes them with an artifact called the Staff of Sameness. (Rather uncreative a name, but it may have been intentional as we will see.)
The Mane 6 ask Starlight if they could see this cutie mark vault. Twilight believes their mission in this town is to return the cutie marks to everypony. Once at the vault, Starlight shows them the Staff of Sameness, which she claims was one of nine artifacts belonging to a Unicorn mage named Meadowbrook. (World-building!) She then asks them who was it that told them about the vault, and Pinkie lets slip that they were told by three ponies who said they missed their cutie marks. Suddenly, the Mane 6 are surrounded by more of the townsponies, and Twilight realizes as Admiral Ackbar did that it’s a trap! Starlight then steals the Mane 6’s cutie marks and seals them in the vault! She vows that the Mane 6 will spend the rest of their lives in her town learning to live without their cutie marks!
We then find the Mane 6 imprisoned in a room with a loudspeaker that spouts aphorisms from what sounds like Starlight Glimmer’s personal Little Red Book.
Chairmare Starlight says, “In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie.”
Chairmare Starlight says, “Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail.”
Chairmare Starlight says, “Be your best by never being your best.”
Yes, Starlight Glimmer is trying to indoctrinate them. You know because children love nothing more than watching ponies get brainwashed.
The effects of the cutie unmarking on the Mane 6 also becomes apparent. Rarity can’t tell if the drapes in the room are tacky. Pinkie is less enthused. Fluttershy can’t talk to animals. Applejack can't come up with her country-isms. Their colors are also much duller than normal. After some time, Twilight comes up with a plan. One of them will pretend to have accepted the cutie markless philosophy and work from the outside to get their cutie marks back. They choose Fluttershy since she already spent the last episode saying how much she liked the town and how the ponies there were so nice. Kind-hearted as she is, she still thinks that they are in spite of them trying to brainwash them and taking their cutie marks away. Soon enough, Starlight Glimmer comes to ask them if they will join their cult… I mean community. They all refuse and are sent back to their reeducation cell, but after being silently prompted by Twilight, Fluttershy tells her that she’ll accept their twisted brand of friendship.
Just to be sure of where her loyalties lie, Starlight asks Fluttershy to identify the ponies who told her they missed their cutie marks. Fluttershy tries to stall, but fortunately Party Favor comes forward and confesses that it was only him who had said that. He is sent with the remainder of the Mane 6 to be reeducated. Twilight hopes that if they can stay positive, they can show him that friendship is possible despite how different they are.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy is staying in Starlight Glimmer’s house. That night, she tries sneaking out to find their cutie marks, but she observes that Starlight had Double Diamond bring her the Mane 6’s cutie marks. Starlight notes that Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark as it is a princess’s cutie mark it will be important to their cause. While spying on Starlight, Fluttershy discovers when she bumps into a bucket of water that Starlight still has her cutie mark! The equal sign is just makeup. (Interestingly enough, a pony altering their cutie mark with makeup is something that has been seen previously only in the comics. This is the first time seeing it on MLP proper.) The next morning, Starlight once again asks the Remane 5 if they are ready to accept their philosophy, and they silently refuse. Fluttershy asks if she could escort them back to their cell. Party Favor, on the other hand, begs for Starlight’s forgiveness and wants to return to their way of life, despite Twilight and her friends’ efforts. Fluttershy then tells Starlight that Twilight is indeed ready to accept their philosophy. Twilight justs wants to know if it was at all possible for a pony to live in this town with their own cutie mark. Starlight reaffirms that it is out of the question as such a pony would undermine their entire philosophy. Fluttershy then throws a bucket of water at Starlight, but she dodges it. Just enough water falls on her, though, to smudge her cutie mark, and Party Favor is able to rub it off, revealing all that Starlight Glimmer still has her cutie mark!
Starlight admits that the Staff of Sameness was just a stick she found in the desert, and it’s her special talent in magic that allows her to take away ponies’ cutie marks. They call Starlight out on her hypocrisy, and she runs away and locks herself at home. The townsponies go to the vault and get their cutie marks back where they are transformed into more brightly-colored ponies with unique mane styles. Starlight in an act of petty revenge then runs away through a secret passage with the Mane 6’s cutie marks. Double Diamond, Party Favor, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle then help the Mane 6 go after Starlight to get their cutie marks back. They find the end of the secret passage in the nearby mountains and see Starlight making her way to a cave system that will be impossible to find her in if she makes it in. Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Double Diamond work together using their individual special talents to stop Starlight from getting to the caves. The jars she’s holding the Mane 6’s cutie marks in break, and the Mane 6 get their cutie marks back. Twilight is able to stop Starlight from trying to take their cutie marks again, stating that it’s the lessons she has learned from each of her friends’ unique gifts that have brought out the magic in her, the magic she can now use to defeat Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer then teleports away. Twilight only hopes in time Starlight can realize the error of her ways. The townsponies then return to the town and celebrate their rediscovered uniqueness. The Mane 6’s cutie mark senses start tingling again, and Twilight figures it just means that they’ve complete the Cutie Map’s mission. In the end, Twilight tells them that even though she’s the Princess of Friendship, they’re all part of the mission of spreading friendship across Equestria.
Now, let’s talk about one of the best things about this episode, the mare of the hour Starlight Glimmer. 
I learned my lesson after my initial review of Rainbow Rocks where I was critical of the Dazzlings for not being as good as Tirek. That is an impossible standard. I did not go into this episode hoping Starlight Glimmer would be as good as Tirek. She’s not admittedly. However, Starlight Glimmer is still quite a compelling villain, and what makes her so is ironically how unique she is. Way back before Season 4 started, I blogged about how I was hoping to see Discord become what I termed a “Real Life Villain”. I defined it as a villain who believes their villainous actions are for the good. Starlight Glimmer is the first MLP villain to be a Real Life Villain. I was kind of right about seeing that on MLP. Starlight Glimmer legitimately believes that cutie marks are evil and the source of conflict. However, she is unable to give up her cutie mark, making her akin to the many hypocritical, egotistical totalitarian dictators who feign a desire for egalitarianism throughout history. And just like any totalitarian, she can also be incredibly ruthless when the occasion calls for it. Out of all the villains on MLP, Starlight Glimmer is the only one who could sort of exist in our world. I also appreciated how she wasn’t converted to the side of true friendship immediately at the end. Perhaps it’s a sign we’ll be seeing her again. Perhaps very soon.
There’s another reason Starlight Glimmer appeals to me. It’s mostly because I’m also a fan of Avatar: Legend of Korra. Starlight Glimmer is pretty much a ponified version of the Season 1’s main villain Amon. For those of you not in the know, Amon is the masked leader of a group known as the Equalists, who want to make everyone equal by eliminating benders. Amon plans to do so by using a mysterious power he has to remove a person’s bending. Eventually, it is revealed that Amon is actually a bender himself; he’s a waterbender who uses bloodbending to remove a person’s bending. The fact that Starlight Glimmer secretly kept her cutie mark and uses the special talent that comes with it to remove other ponies’ cutie marks makes her basically exactly the same as Amon.
Clearly, I’m not the only one who’s noticed the similarity. I’ll bet you anything someone on the MLP staff is a fan of Legend of Korra. If so, that would make Starlight Glimmer the second MLP villain to be inspired by a character from another show. (Discord was the first of course. He was inspired by Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation.)
I did have a few issues with the premiere though. Like I said in the beginning, I felt it didn’t meet some of the expectations I had for it. I saw early on how Starlight Glimmer’s philosophy is meant to be like collectivism. Usually, when collectivism is opposed, it is by the opposing philosophy of individualism, which is something that is valued in modern American society. However, extremes in individualism can be just as hazardous as collectivism. My hope was that MLP would instead have the Mane 6 oppose Starlight Glimmer as a group. Their group of friends would represent a kind of a microcosm for a community. It would have thereby set up the community as ideal opponent against collectivism. You kind of see that going on here with the Mane 6’s four friends among the former cutie markless ponies working together with their individual special talents to stop Starlight Glimmer. However, I don’t feel the show made it that explicit. It could still be interpreted that Starlight Glimmer was defeated by individuals using their individual talents. But overall, that’s just me, and it’s not really detrimental to the episode.
I think this episode sets up a few things we can expect to see later on this season I suspect. After Starlight Glimmer claims the Staff of Sameness was one of nine artifacts belonging to a Unicorn mage named Meadowbrook, Twilight points out that despite not knowing much about Eastern Unicorns, she’s certain Meadowbrook only had eight artifacts. Firstly, I sense we might be seeing these eight artifacts pop up later on this season. Secondly, Eastern Unicorns! Is that supposed to be like Asian Unicorns? Are we going to see some of those too? Also, Starlight Glimmer mentioned that Twilight’s cutie mark would further their cause because it’s a princess’s cutie mark. In one of the behind-the-scenes promos for Season 5, Meghan McCarthy said that with the right kind of magic, a pony could use the Cutie Map to do other things. Pinkie did vaguely mention the Cutie Map to Starlight Glimmer. Perhaps if we indeed do see Starlight Glimmer again this season, it might have something to do with her trying to hijack the Cutie Map. Also, did you happen to notice something very interesting in a remote corner of the Cutie Map?
If you look closely, it appears to be a mountain with a ram/goat skull at its peak.
That can only mean one thing. 
Grogar is coming!
I’m calling it now! That mountain is Tambelon, and we’ll be seeing Grogar this season! Perhaps it will be in the finale. It would be great if it’s earlier in the season, and it kind of sets up the finale though. I can only hope.
Overall, “The Cutie Map” was a pretty good opener for the season, and I look forward to what the season has to offer that comes out of this.
What do you all think about “The Cutie Map”?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
And of course, Happy Easter!
Jesus is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Happy Easter!
I absolutely loved the episode, though I didn't notice that little ram skull. I'm guessing we'll be seeing Grogar after all!
because I love Grogar!
2948002 I certainly hope so. I mean we are going to see the Smooze this season. It just makes sense. Though the G1 Grogar is kind of lame. He pales in comparison with G1's Tirek. I'm certain FIM's writers can do something amazing with him.
Ah yes, "guy things." Like playing sports. Or barbecuing. Or working out. It'd be fun to watch in ABC-TV's Bewitched vein.
Which explains why the two lines are squashed on top of each other.
WOW! Now Mel Brooks and I have something to give our thanks to: the "Springtime for Hitler" scene in Brooks' 1968 film The Producers has been successfully emulated by Hasbro Studios! Possibly, right down to the way in which the ponies move in it! I would not be surprised if they walked around in the form of the cutie mark (a la the shot in which the dancers walk around in the form of a Swastika!)
No comment.
Ah yes. The most notably vile one (according to such Jews as myself) was Adolf Hitler. He killed 6 million of us Jews. Unsurprisingly, Starlight Glimmer, the way you have described him, might at one time try to kill 6 million ponies who have cutie marks. If so, we could have World War III right in the palm of our hands!
Uh, I think that that is a circle, not a goat or a ram's skull. This indicates that the photo of the something very interesting in a remote corner of the Cutie Map has since been deleted. And if that doesn't, God knows what does!
Nice to see you and Professor Song back for another MLP review.
As you already know from reading my review, I liked this opener as well...though I probably liked it a bit more than you did.
If Starlight is set for a future return (which I really hope happens and has something to do with a potential arc for Season 5), I'm pretty sure this will allow us to get a deeper look into her philosophy. Perhaps that's why things didn't get as deep here as you wanted them to. They're saving the best for later on.
Grogar would be a fitting follow-up finale villain to Tirek.
Starlight is also eerily similar to Amon. I agree with your theory that there's probably some Legend of Korra fans amongst the MLP staff.
2957090 Well it wasn't so much that we didn't get a deep look at Starlight's philosophy. If one already understands collectivism, it's pretty straightforward. What I was hoping was that they would show as explicitly as possible that true friendship where different people come together for a shared goal was the basis was community, and that is the answer to collectivism. But if we're all right about Starlight coming back later this season, perhaps they will have another chance to make that point.