No Opinion's Opinion On: Tanks for the Memories

I am so very proud of the writers, animators, producers, songwriters, and everyone who had a hoof in making this episode. They took a very heavy subject and made is accessible to children, while at the same time not dumbing it down to the level that many other shows for this age group tend to do. It's not hard to figure out what they were trying to accomplish and teach to children, and I am ecstatic and a bit teary eyed that they took this chance.

Tanks for the Memories is an allegory for dealing with death and/or the loss of a love one. This subject is always a tremendously difficult one, no matter what stage of life you are in. For young children this is even more so, as many have yet to gain the mental reasoning and experience to understand and express themselves when faced with such a loss. We've all seen the kid questioning why Mr.Bubble the goldfish won't wake up. They ask questions that sometimes don't have clear answers, or are unable to understand the answers they are given. It's a heartbreaking scenario, but it's a needed step forward when growing up in a world were death is a constant.

Unfortunately, many of these kids are denied this critical step. Many parents will make excuses or ignore the questions altogether, especially when it involves a family member. Though it's understandable in that account why they are unwilling to sit down and talk with their child about what has happened, they themselves already in the grasp of grief, the child still needs to have a minimum understanding of what's going on when it concerns them.

Whats great about Tanks for the Memories is that they give these children a relatable scenarios without being too on the nose. Rainbow Dash is upset knowing that soon she will be without her dear pet Tank. We learn in this episode just how close they have become, and how excited Dash is for the upcoming winter because she can't wait to have fun with Tank. However she starts to notice that Tank is acting strange. Fluttershy comes to the rescue, sort of, explaining to Rainbow that Tank is going to hibernate. Hearing this Rainbow Dash is horrified at the news. She doesn't want Tank to go away and leave her, she doesn't want to lose her dear friend, somebody she loves dearly. She just can't imagine, and deal with, life without him.

And that's when we see Rainbow Dash start to go into the five stages of loss and grief. In the first stage, she denies that Tank must go away. She does everything in her power to ignore it, believing that everything will be fine is she just pushes the thoughts out of her head. Then when it become more obvious to her that Tank just can't keep up, that he wants to hibernate, she goes into the second stage - anger. She lashes out at her fiends, angry and upset on the dawning reality that her pet will not be in her life much longer.

But then Rainbow gets an idea, a horrible idea, that the only solution to her problem is to make sure winter never comes, for without winter Tank won't want to hibernate. Rainbow Dash attempts to take control of her situation in the third stage by sabotaging the hard work of her fellow weather pegasi. But all her attempts are in vain, for in her own words "for every hoof step back, they take three forward". Seeing that her efforts aren't good enough, she aims bigger and higher. Her new plan is to go straight to the source of the problem - the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

Infiltrating the factory, Dash sets out to break something to halt winter's arrival. But of course this plan backfires, putting Tank, Rainbow Dash, the factory workers, and Ponyville in danger. In the end Rainbow Dash's plan only makes winter come with a bang, literally. Her efforts for naught, Rainbow enters the second to last stage, depression. She curls up in bed with Tank, still not wanting to let go of him but also knowing that their ins't much else she can do to stop it. Thanks to her friends, and the harsh yet needed words of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash finally enter the last stage, and accepts that Tank must hibernate. Even though it was hard, with the support of Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, Dash is able to cope as she lets Tank go.

Rainbow Dash is lucky in knowing that Tank will come back in the spring, but it is still a very hard thing to know your about to or already have lost someone you love. My Little Pony did a great job establishing this, and I do hope this helps children who find themselves in similar situations. To date, this is my favorite episode out of the whole show and I applaud the team for takeing on such a heavy subject.

Now excuse me while I go give my entire family, pets included, hugs.