What I Thought About "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" · 8:45pm May 24th, 2015
Spoilers. Episode review
Gummy is the best. Best pet. No other pet even comes close. He's too awesome for the universe to even handle. That's why he doesn't do anything. He exerts too much awesomeness already, and if he were to exert much more, the universe would explode in a toroidal donut of antiparticles. He does not let this happen, for he is a caring and merciful alligator, not to mention polite. As much as I'd like there to be a Gummy-heavy episode, the show couldn't handle it, either.
Gummy = best.
Okay, now as for the rest of the episode... it was okay. I had a couple of issues with it, but it was alright... I guess. I dunno. The pacing just felt really fast. Like, this would've benefited greatly from being a two-parter. Gilda felt weird, too. Like, she was really shouty and even more pissy than ever. Living in a dump can do that to ya, though, along with losing her only friend...
Nope, not making me feel sorry for her. Maybe if this whole thing had been executed better, I would, but I just can't. I just don't feel for her. I still barely know her. I mean, yeah, it sucked that she only had one friend, and that she turned bitter and mean over the years without Dash, and that her kingdom fell to ruin around her, and that her scones had rocks in them...
Okay, starting to feel sympathy, now. She really needs more fleshing out, though. Like, I wanna know more about how she turned cruel. There's a story there, and I didn't get to see it, here. It felt like they just packed a ton of stuff into this episode, and didn't have enough time to really explore it. Gilda's redemption arc was just really fast. Believable as explained, but really fast.
But enough of all that. Back to the good stuff, like Rainbow making fun of Twilight. Pretty funny, that.
That old griffon with a blind eye and that classic facial scar? That was pretty cool to see in a show like this. The griffon greed? Interesting, and partly explains the lack of friendship. I bet nogriffon ever gives gifts or anything, and no sharing without getting paid. Not very friendly. Economical, maybe, but not friendly. All they cared about was money, but they're not using it to fix their homes up. Maybe they just hoard it. I was also tickled by Gilda making fun of the old griffon as he told the story for what must have been the hundredth time.
Griffon history actually turned out to be a bit similar to my own thoughts on what their society, with them having been in conflict with themselves and others for a long time, only recently coming together and living in relative peace. That's about the only similarity, though, and even that wasn't that close. I don't think anybody saw their culture coming. Apparently, griffons live in a kingdom (with an actual king), and their capital is a tree atop a mountain. That's pretty cool. I liked how the griffons lived in birdhouses, too. Makes sense, right? I just want to see more of their culture now, though, and I doubt that we're going to see more anytime soon.
Oh, and did anybody catch that there was that one white and black griffon with raccoon eyes in the city? The one who competed in the Equestria Games? Nice to see her again. And hey, if the Griffon Kingdom is a separate nation, that means that the Equestria Games definitely hosts foreign competitors, like a proper Olympics. I guess Equestria is just the biggest and strongest nation, or maybe just what they call their continent. This also means that the Crystal Empire could also be its own country or city state. Interesting.
And Pinkie Pie? She was great. She wasn't annoying, she was fun and just really played her part well, I thought. She was actually thinking and trying to solve the problem before her. That's great to see from a pony who doesn't often show much depth. Even with her around, though, this episode felt different. Darker and more grim, and not just because of the skull of that goat monster (which is the first close, direct look this show has had at a creature actually dying*). Pretty interesting.
So yeah, this episode was not so great, but it did have a ton of interesting things that kept me watching. A ton of us around here have been wanting to know more about the griffons, or even just get Gilda back for a bit, so that was cool to see. Gilda having her abrasiveness explained and getting redeemed? I'm cool with it, but I just wish it had taken longer and been more fleshed out. Just slower pacing, y'know? Griffon history lesson was neat, and incorporated a weird new creature, so that was cool. But Gummy was the best part of the episode. It was so adorable when Pinkie gave him a kiss, and I couldn't stop laughing as his scene ended. Overall, I'd give this a 7/10. It has problems, but I'll probably watch it again a few times for the worldbuilding. Plus, Gummy was just awesome. That's what I thought.
*Tank didn't actually die, though that was a good allegory.
This episode made me like Gilda a little more, but she's still one of my least favorite characters.
Actually, from what I've gathered from Griffon The Brush-Off, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Hurricane Fluttershy, and pretty much any episode flashing back to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp, Gilda needed to learn the lesson Discord did in S5E7, and couldn't accept the fact that Rainbow was also friends with flutters, and adding to the abysmal state of her home... yeah.
You know, for a civilization that hoards gold and lives high in the mountains would be threatened by dragon attacks. Not only would dragons be trying to steal their riches, but they could also be looking for a new home. A strumah as Parthunaax would call it.
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Same here, yeah.
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Hmm. That jealousy could very well have been the catalyst, indeed.
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That is a little strange, isn't it? Maybe they have some agreement with dragons, or the can fight them off well enough.
3095654 And as for the episode itself...
As of now, all I know is that, for me personally, it's above "Appleloosa's Most Wanted" but below "Tanks for the Memories"