Twilight, Spike, and my opinions on them being family · 4:53pm Jan 29th, 2016
I think I've started to want to see Spike and Twilight as family more seriously.
So... some history: after S5 I had decided on my favorite and least favorite scenes in the season with Spike. Nothing from his actual episode hit either of those, even though it was a terrible episode. I posted this to a forum before, rather than as a blog post, but maybe it deserved a blog, too.
Either way, my favorite and least favorite beneath the break:
My favorite scene was the scene where Twilight talks about Spike and her traditions for Hearth's Warming Eve at the beginning of Hearthsbreakers.
My least favorite was when Spike didn't show up during the baby announcement party The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows.
Yes, I know you can hear Spike's voice in the background. That is, most likely, them forgetting about Spike and remembering at the last minute, so inserting him. The rest of the episode was fantastic, so it didn't ruin the episode or anything, but when I'm thinking "which scene did I hate the most regarding Spike" that's the one.
The first scene is obviously related to family. Holiday traditions is basically something you do with family, thus Twilight and Spike having them is a sign of their strong affectionate familial bond.
The second scene is a little less obvious... but after some considering, the reason I dislike that one so much is because... this is Twilight learning more about her family. And bonding with her family! And Spike is forgotten. It doesn't directly contradict that Spike is like family to Twilight, and you can basically insert your own headcanon that something happens that proves that his apparent lack of appearance does not imply he is being excluded from a family announcement but... from what we've actually seen, it erodes the sense that they've got a familial bond, by showing that Twilight has these important bonds with her "real" family that do not include him.
I remember hearing that Cathy Weseluck considers Spike and Twilight sharing a sibling-like relationship. As if they're siblings who have missing parents. I think that is sweet... but I think the show is just a bit too far away from actually showing it. You see shades of it, but it doesn't actually create a full picture of it.
But I think I'd like it to. It's a feeling that grows stronger the longer I see the show, actually.
I was also thinking about the whole "new family member" thing vs Spike. Have you seen short S6 promo? Apparently, we are going to have episode where Twilight is visiting Crystal Empire and her niece. I wonder if Spike will play any role in that one? Because, indeed, the show is hinting on family bond, but doesn't explore it too much (with exception of aforementioned Hearthsbreakers).
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I did see that promo. Maybe that's why this is on my mind now?
There was that rumor, before, that one of the episodes will be named "Uncle Spike". I don't think it was credible, but I still had the cynical thought that it would be like the ending of Dragon Quest, where Spike dramatically declares the Main 6 to be his family... only to then to not explore that "new bond" in the least bit, him going back to being their tag-along-kid exactly like before.
It would be really nice to see Spike in there, but so far it's been very binary. When Twilight's family shows up, Spike leaves. The only one Spike has interacted with is Cadance, and that's only in the capacity as a princess either honoring a local hero or correcting an employee of another princess, not as the sister-in-law to your foster sister.
... Sometimes I think that Spike should have been a bit older than he was... and not imply that Twilight is his only family. They could be close friends, a close employee-friend-almost-family bond and it not be potentially tragic because he's a child interacting with the only caretaker we know of.
3721092 What can I say? I would love to see some continuity from that little Dragon Quest statement. And this looks like a perfect occasion to bring it up. But for that to happen, this would have to be Spike's episode. And I am 90% sure it is not...
Well said, Rad.
I remain steadfast in my belief that Twilight coming right out and saying that she loves Spike remains the only way to right the entire situation. These glimpses of family life between them, as endearing as they are, just don't add up to "family environment for a kid to grow up in." If any of the other mane six are capable of being his family, I certainly wish they would have stepped up by now.
As Key implied, the episode about Twilight's niece will be a demonstrable watershed about how far into Twilight's "family" Spike is included. While the Uncle Spike "leaked" episode title (taken with bargeloads of salt) remains potentially a remedy for Princess Spike (if it is a real thing, again) I have lost a lot of confidence in the show's staff when it comes to having them write Spike. I guess that the only thing to do is wait and see...
As indicated by yourself, just having Spike's voice there shows that they forget to have him there for the Big Reveal. My clearest indication of what they think of Spike is my least favorite scene for him this last season: When he burns up Shining's comic book and then puts it back. I don't know what the point of the scene was, if not to make Spike seem like a dick.
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I think one of the more frustrating parts (as it usually is, for me) is that, like in the scene at the beginning of Hearthbreakers, there are elements in the staff who know that their relationship is (at least in part) a familial one. They are savvy enough to put this in the beginning of an episode about something completely different as something adorable. Then they stumble here, instead.
It's like... I know there are multiple writers. I know that Spike is not a main character, therefore he has less chance to be regarded as important to the story. Not all the writers know what to do with him (although this writer was doing a great job until SA and Cadance showed up), and I'm sure there must be some who do not like him. In all likelihood those are the reasons that he was forgotten until the final stages of production. And they even did insert Spike's voice, clearly indicating they know that he would
trigger bitching by people on twitterbe missed.But it... just makes it harder to accept as part of "the same world" where Twilight would go out of her way for Spike.
But if the show were just completely disdainful of Spike... I would just know that they hated him, and probably just move on. But the subtle "sometimes we just want to cast him aside... but not all the time. He's great! Except for these unfortunate implications." is more long-term frustrating than if it were a clear rejection of his character, which would annoy me once and be over.
I give the episode a pass for the comic replacement gag. It seems like an irresponsible thing to do, to not even tell anyone, and thus is appropriate for a child who doesn't want to be caught. Although an earlier episode used it as the starting point for the entire episode (Owls Well...), so it could be seen as inconsistent, It's just the kind of thing that I see a cartoon doing as a gag. And I laughed at the Shining Armor payoff.
3721254 That's a good point about the rest of the Mane 6. I think most ponies figure that the normal treatment and behavior of children just doesn't apply to dragons, so nobody feels like they know enough to question Twilight's actions. But Applejack is in practically the same boat! She's basically raising a kid who is only like a decade younger than her, at some point she should really have noticed the dramatic differences between how she treats Applebloom and how Twilight treats Spike.
Honestly, I thought that was one of the most disappointing parts of Spike at Your Service, that Applejack watches Spike try so desperately to please others, and doesn't notice "Ok, that is not the behavior of a healthy child/young man."
The part where Spike accidentally destroys the comic and quietly puts it away though? I actually liked that part, because it felt like exactly what a bratty younger brother would do to an older brother.
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Well... AJ also has 2 others to help her: Her grandmother and her older brother. So, she might not have an accurate opinion on exactly how responsible for Spike Twilight would need to actually be, since when she leaves Applebloom then AJ's family takes care of her too. That's only tangentially related to the idea that Twilight essentially asks too much of Spike, but it is at least something that AJ might not have thought of... and a big difference in the dynamic of AJ and Rarity's sisters compared to Twilight and Spike's relationship.
Yeah... overall the entire thing of Spike is that he appears to believe that him serving and pleasing others creates the relationships in his life. That without being useful to others Spike would not have any relationships, friendship or otherwise. Twilight is the big example, solidified right in his first episode where he concludes that if he's not useful to her and thus he has no place with her anymore. She comforts and says that he can't be replaced, but isn't specific as to whether she thinks that he is going to be still useful to her despite doing something wrong, or that he won't be replaced whether or not he keeps being useful.
I think it's supposed to be the latter, since overwhelmingly this is supposed to be a saccharine kids show, but later character development for Spike didn't really seem that it sunk in like the latter, so I wonder if it's effectively the former.
And of course, his crush on Rarity mostly involves him serving her, in hopes that she'll develop romantic feelings for her if he proves his devotion... which is a romantic strategy that is pretty foolhardy, to say the least.
3721663 I think you're exactly right about Spike's problem, he doesn't seem to think he holds inherent worth beyond his service to others.
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Here's your explanation: Pinkie Pie Knows was written by the author who introduced everyone but Spike while setting a scene with the mane seven, then had Rarity introduce them all to a new character by saying [paraphrased], "I would like you to meet my five very best friends in the entire world! Oh, don't worry about your luggage, Spike will get it." It's amazing he was in the damn episode at all.
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Was that from one of her chapter books?
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Affirmative. "Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity." That's where all my appreciation for Berrow was shredded.