Thoughts on Argodæmon’s Remembrance

If you had to choose between friends and forever—what would you decide?

These are the words that start off Argodæmon’s latest video: Remembrance. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should check it out; his animations are a treat! Alternatively, the synopsis is spoilered below.) In it, Twilight Sparkle chooses to give up her wings and immortality in order to be with her friends again.

This video did two things well that I think are pretty much essential and omnipresent in great art: it made me feel and it made me think. However, I don’t think that the thoughts and feelings I had were what the creator intended. Browsing through comments on YouTube and EQD, it seems that, in general, people found this video to be sad, touching, and heartfelt. Furthermore, they viewed Twilight’s sacrifice as beautiful and noble. To me, this video was actually pretty depressing. More importantly, the decision Twilight makes, to me, represents something seriously wrong.

Let me explain.

In the beginning of the video, we see Princess Celestia and a forlorn Twilight walking down a hallway in Canterlot Castle. Lining the corridor are a row of guards on either side, each pony identical and standing at the ready, ever vigilant and prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect the princesses. Although the ponies involved may change over time, the Royal Guard as a whole never changes. When a guard dies, there is always another to take the fallen one’s place, each replacement identical to the last. These guards look exactly the same as the ones from fifty years ago.

At Twilight’s side is Princess Celestia: immortal and unchanging. Twilight herself has joined her ranks, and now knows the burdens of continuing on in the absence of those she loves. The pair pass by a window, depicting the Elements’ victory over Nightmare Moon, forever a reminder not only of the heroics achieved on that day, but of the heroes themselves. This causes Twilight to reminisce on her dear friends, and we see her memories of them appear in the castle and begin to walk beside her.

But it isn’t enough. These ghostly apparitions are quickly dispelled from Twilight’s mind, the memories never able to truly quench her loneliness. She misses them badly, and finds herself turning to Celestia for support, who offers Twilight a soft, reassuring smile in return. This façade is quickly broken, however, as the two reach their destination.

Here we see Celestia’s mask fall, and underneath it she is hurting. And why wouldn’t she be? Just as Twilight’s pain comes from losing her closest friends, today Princess Celestia is saying goodbye to Twilight. She may not be gone yet, but it is the beginning of the end, and to Celestia the rest of Twilight’s existence will be just another grain of sand in the hourglass. She clearly looks like she wants to say something, to make some sort of final, impassioned plea to Twilight not to go through with this, but she doesn’t—she knows there’s no point in trying to persuade Twilight out of this.

Then Twilight opens the door, revealing a private chamber containing five monuments, one for each of the late element-bearers (and what very well could be their final resting places). She begins to sing, cathartically releasing all the sadness, pain, and loneliness lodged within her heart. As she does so, a spell blossoms forth, breaking the bonds on the statues above each tomb. For the first time in this video, we see Twilight begin to smile.

The music and visuals swell, reaching a crescendo, until finally the spell is complete. The statues are freed and Twilight’s wings fade away—becoming no more real than the memories of her friends were. Twilight then tumbles to the floor, lying still with eyes closed. Upon reopening her eyes, she sees her friends, seemingly alive and well, bathed in a golden light. She is reunited with her friends, no longer immortal, but happy and at peace once again.

The only trouble is: that’s not a happy ending. In fact, this video ends on an incredibly bittersweet and heart-wrenching note, at least for me. When I watch this video, I see a pony who has lost someone incredibly close to her. A pony whose entire life seems frozen in time, except for her friends passing. A pony who can’t cope with the fact that they’re gone and is unable to move on with her life. I see a mentor who has dealt with the same devastating loss countless times and moved past it. And I see a younger pony who simply can’t.

To me, this video shows the story of Twilight not being able to get over the fact that her friends have left her, and chooses to let herself die in the hopes that she can be with them once again. As I said near the start of this blog post, to me this video represents something being seriously wrong with Twilight. She is unable to move on after her friends’ deaths and sees suicide as the only solution to ending her pain. This is not okay.

Even without overanalyzing the video, I think it’s clear that the plot is Twilight’s decision that her life isn’t worth living once her friends are gone. The ending is showing Twilight refusing to move on and instead choosing to give up everything so that she can live in the past a little longer. To me, this is an incredibly depressing and dark ending, and I’m not sure why others found it to be uplifting and happy.

Even though I didn’t see a happy ending, I still found the video to be powerful and enjoyable to watch and would be happy to hear other people’s interpretations. How did you guys feel about the ending?