Crusaders of the Lost Mark, in which Applejack talks about her dead parents · 11:30pm Oct 10th, 2015
So some stuff happened. I'm pretty pleased with it, I even liked the songs, and DT can sing! I had two problems with it, though:
1. I wish we could have seen more of DT's internal struggle. The time between choosing to fuck over Pipsqueak and stopping before the point of no return is... Well, the episode's a musical, so I can wave a little bit of it, but just a few more moments of funny faces would have made me feel more lubricated about the whole thing. It was a helluva big change with a lot of baggage attached.
2. Those fucking cutie mark designs are awful. They're too detailed, and when they're shrunk to fit the line thickness is too thin. They look cluttered, and I don't think the colors fit anyone except Scootaloo. I'm really not looking forward to seeing the CMC again if I have to look at these.
But otherwise it was a solid episode, possibly one of the best in the entire show. Now I want to watch that leaked Halloween episode again and see if their cutie marks were visible anywhere.
Oh, and Applejack mentions her dead parents finally. That is a thing in the show now, not just implied with annoying symbolism or Twitter confirmed.
Well, at least I'm not the only one who doesn't like them. As much as I hate to sound like Rarity, the colours do clash with Sweetie's and Apple Bloom's colours. And they do look too detailed, and a bit small compared to other cutie marks. It would have been better if they'd gone for a more simple design. If their destiny is to help other ponies find their cutie marks, why not have the CMC emblem? Still, I'm glad they finally got them. Though the whole Diamond Tiara redemption will take a bit of getting used to.
3461003 We might just not hear from her ever again.
3461468 That would be sort of...sad.
It's kind of like when the Berlin Wall fell. The Crusaders have lost their primary antagonist. Maybe they'll have her as a sort of neutral character, not exactly friends with the CMC, but no longer a jerk to them. But I agree, she does seemed to have fulfilled her role. Unless they re-invent her character, both Diamond and Silver Spoon may be destined to live in the background forever. It all depends on how much the CMC story lines change with their whole 'mission' they now have. For all I know, they'll go on adventures like the Mane Six to help ponies out. Or they may just stay at the schoolhouse, helping ponies like Button and Pipsqueak.
3462063 Y'know, people are crying about the end, but if anything this smells like the setup for a spinoff, like how the conflict with the Cardassians in TNG was the basis of DS9 and Voyager.
3462113 I think they're probably aiming more for a toy line, with a side arc throw in for the next season. The CMC have basically had that already. With their marks now, they can go on specific adventures, rather than just tagging along. Honestly, having had a night or two to sleep on it, I don't think it's going to have a massive effect on them as characters. The only real difference is their motivation has changed. Now they're helping other ponies intentionally