Episode Review: Princess Spike

Spoilers. You know the drill.

You know how sometimes an early part of an episode or movie can get your hopes up? I saw all the princesses together, and the variety in the summit audience, and I thought 'yes!' Luna with a speaking role, and maybe the others too! But then the ponies interrupting Spike as he offered his assistance pretty much set the mood for the rest of this episode. It's far from the worst Spike episode, but it's still pretty bad. As far as season 5 goes, I'm even confused as to whether to rank it above or below 'Appleloosa's Most Wanted.' So lets go through this.

Twilight Sparkle has taken on organizing a three-day summit that draws speakers and attendees from all across Equestria, and she's been up for three days doing it. This has left her at clearly sub-optimal performance levels, and one adorable book pile crash later, it's clear she's down for the count. This leaves the summit in need of someone to troubleshoot situations in Twilight's place, and Cadence decides that the one for the job is... Spike.

So here's our first issue: Earlier Spike offered his assistance at any old odd job where anyone needed some assistance, and while he was not straight-out shot down, he was pretty well ignored, and definitely talked over. While he has lived with Twilight all his life and does know the way she thinks by now, how can Cadence believe for a moment anyone's going to listen to him? And Fluffy Clouds proves it, calling him 'some random dragon' when Twilight's loyal assistant ought to be a well-known sight in Canterlot and Ponyville. Heck, we know from 'Tanks For the Memories' that Fluffy Clouds is part of the Ponyville Weather Team, so how is it he does not know who Spike is? I could also assure Fluffy Clouds that if Spike was just 'some random dragon,' his mane would be on fire by the end of that sentence -- but that's a different matter, even though it's not as though dragons are common enough in Equestria that Spike's presence can just be shrugged off. Except in the comics, maybe.

The other issue here is: what are the other princesses doing? First they left all the organizational issues to Twilight, to the point where she exhausts herself, and then they leave management of the summit in Spike's claws? Are they simply passing the buck and Cadence was the only one we saw doing so? That is extremely irresponsible.

I can tell you that organizing an event that last for one evening is no small feat, and doing it right is not easy. Fortunately by the time Cadence puts Spike in control, he just has to make sure everything's going smoothly and do damage control when necessary. Heck, he's not immediately in control of anything: he just has to make sure Twilight gets the sleep she needs. Oh, but this is more about Twilight's efforts, so we'll get back to Spike shortly. Twilight had to arrange the venue and catering, invite dignitaries and speakers, get volunteers / staff, and make sure they had all the supplies they needed (just off the top of my head). And we all know how she is about scheduling, so that's no easy task for her. Understandably, she's out like a blown candle. So, Spike right?

Why didn't Spike just close the window? I'm sure it wouldn't have kept out all the noise from the jackhammer, so it's not like all of the episode's conflict would have gone out the window just from that easy solution. But that brings Spike to the polo game and the city workers, and he asks them to wait on both their jobs. Ordinarily this might be a good decision, especially since Fancypants didn't think to ask them to do this before the summit, and neither did Twilight herself. But these are time-sensitive issues, with the trees about to fall and the pipe about to burst. A simple 'wait as long as you safely can' would have sufficed. That, and that closed window everyone keeps asking about. Also, since when did Canterlot have trees whose flowers Spike was allergic to?

Another issue here: there are these things going on that produce enough noise that they might wake Twilight up, and all Spike does is try to stop the noise altogether. Not minimize. Then, all of the things that had big consequences later come out of these actions, and not the decisions Spike made once the 'princess power' got to his head -- and only Cadence called him on that. In fact, none of the things Spike did as an abuse of borrowed power had any consequences. He even solved a few minor problems on his own, like the issue Fluffy Clouds had. The scheduling snafu with the Manehattan and Whinnyapolis dignitaries was Twilight's fault, as exhausted as she was, and Spike did his best to try to fix it. I think that apart from the trees and pipe, he handled things admirably. It's just unfortunate that in the one thing that Cadence asked him to do, he made decisions that ended up with the most damage.

And this is the thing that sticks the most, at least in my mind: in trying to do his job without consulting others who might be more knowledgeable and offer more on-point advice, Spike messed up in a big way, producing an angry mob that demanded mob justice, and he even managed to flood the venue. His mistakes had nothing whatsoever to do with an abuse of power, so the writers messed up the Aesop completely. Cadence allowing Spike to continue when she knew he was on the wrong path was negligent, and she should have offered to help. She could have even been the one he consulted, having matured in Canterlot so she knew the city's rhythm well, and also being aware of royal duties. So why not do this? Because the plot demanded that everything be on Spike's shoulders?

'Because the plot said so' is a poor reason to do anything. On certain Arena forums, we refer to that as 'PIS,' or 'Plot Induced Stupidity.' There's also 'Character Induced Stupidity,' which is when someone gets caught holding the idiot ball for an episode. That usually happens on a number of disliked episodes in this show, and it's a real shame. So is PIS.

The shame here is that this whole episode is centered around a faulty piece of logic: like I said earlier, none of the decisions Spike made when he was abusing his power resulted in a bad consequence. This wastes the Aesop we got, but I think it's more important that the writers wasted an excellent opportunity to show what great leadership is. At the end of 'Magical Mystery Cure' we got a taste of this as Celestia summed up the characteristics of a good leader, but here, in the organization and operation of a major event (like a convention), we see another side of what quality leadership can accomplish. With Twilight exhausting herself taking on the project without help even from Cadence and the other princesses, and Spike failing to consult with anyone else (although he did try Twilight, she was in no condition to help), we only get examples of what good leaders are not. The moral for Twilight should have been to delegate and share responsibility, and what is required to inspire others to take ownership and pride in their part in something. The lesson for Spike should have been to try your best to find a solution, and to ask for help from someone more knowledgeable when in doubt. This is an especially important lesson when you're on the job and a new situation comes up, because I know many people who would not ask for help out of fear of being seen as stupid, or just out of embarrassment, even when just the act of asking can help to avoid further embarrassment. Like a flooded venue.

All of this is not to say that the episode is entirely bad, as it had its moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the different pony designs, and I also liked that a Gryphon was included in the attendees. I like that Spike honestly tried to do his job, even before the 'power corrupts' part. There were also some gags that worked well, and although it was strange seeing so many ponies, Fancypants especially, reacting so angrily -- still, nice to see him back, and in a speaking role.

I give this episode a 5.5 out of 10, and a C-. It's barely a pass, in my opinion, and the most damaging thing is that they fumbled the Aesop so badly. Writers, I expect better from you the next time around. [Vader finger] Do not disappoint me a second time.

PS: Cook, Price, and Fresh Prince ponies are best cameos.