Why "Fiendship is Magic" Sucks

I have recently read the My Little Pony: Fiendship is Magic series, and I can honestly say that the comics branch of the franchise has hit an all time low. If I didn't consider the comics to be non-canon, then Fiendship might have ruined MLP for me entirely. Here's why:

Sombra: by this point, we all have our own headcannons about how Sombra was a big, badass dark wizard (personally, I like to think of him as an apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded alongside Clover the Clever), and the comics basically turned him into a victim of his own destiny. The guy had absolutely no personality until he met his so called "mother". I also disliked Princess Amore. For all her talk about how she belived Sombra could change his fate, I havn't seen any effort on her part to help him do so. Also, despite knowning his true nature, she did nothing to protect or even warn him against the effects of the Crystal Fair. What I disliked most about her, however, was that she seemed to be a watered-down version of Princess Celestia, possessing all of the rioughtousness and none of the wisdom and experience to back it up. She wasn't even an alicorn, which I think we've all come to associate with being a princess in the MLP universe; she was just a unicorn, which in my mind, seems to advocate the inherinte superiority of unicorns within the francise, something which I have a firm stance against. I also didn't like how the comic implied that she might return someday (I mean, I get that they had to keep it appropriate for little children, but still). I did kind of like Radiant Hope, however.

Tirek: This issue really didn't add anythign to Tirek's character. We already knew that he was a total dick, and the comic did nothing to explain his motives or how he got to be so powerful. It reminds me of anime filler-arcs which serve to keep fans preoccupied while they adapt more recent chapters of the manga.

Nightmare Moon: I'll be honest, the main reason I disliked this issue was because it utilized material that I had already decided that I hated (such as Nightmare Moon being a completely seperate, self-aware entity who was simply hijacking Princess Luna's body, rather than a manifestation of her darkest desires). Besides that, I also found the story rather weak. It would have been better if Nightmare Moon's psychological attacks against Celestia had been about her guilt over being unable to save her sister, and her insecurities regarding her ability to fulfil Luna's duties in her place. Instead, all we got was this one dinky little panel that was basically the writers saying, "Oh, you want some Luna? Here you go, now stop bothering us." That said, I find the concept of dreams being manufactured to fit well within the MLP:FIM universe.

The Sirens: To be perfectly frank, by this point I had lost all faith in the Fiendship series' ablility to entertain me and just skimmed through the whole thing. What I did see, however, made the whole comic look like one big joke. My real problem was when, at the end, they tried to convince us that Starswirl didn't just use the mirror to send the sirens to the human world, but also to send them to the future, even though the mirror obviously doesn't work that way, and the writers do not provide us with any explanation for how this is done. What really irked me was that this removed the best part about them, namely the idea that they have been on earth for centuries and have seen and done it all (I reccomend that you read Rated Ponystar's Dazzling Sun to understand what I'm talking about and it's appeal).

Queen Chrysalis: ok, I'll admit, this issue was the sole gem in an otherwise massive crap-heap. Many authors seem to belive Chrysalis to be an incompetent and unworthy ruler, and that the changelings are not quite as big a threat as they would initially appear to be. The comic depiction of them helped to show just how dangerous they really are. I especially liked the ending; it may be wrong of me, but I got a laugh out of how Chrysalis tricked Twilight Sparkle into freeing herself and her army, and how everyone was giving Twilight the stinkeye for it (say goodbye to your wings, Twily!). As for the changlings being birthed by a tree that ate a bug and some unicorn bones (and possibly Starswirl the Bearded's blood); meh, why not? It makes about as much sense as magic ever does. I would like to know where the acorn came from, however.

So there you have it.

Comments

[Shachza]

Hmmm, I like this.

I'd only seen the changeling one and snippets of the Sombra one, but your thoughts fell in line with mine, which makes me trust (and be disappointed by) your observations on everything else. I've only ever been mildly interested in the comics, and I don't think I'm going to get any more so.

I can use the stuff they introduced us to though. Just... with an AU bent.