To Where and Back Again Part 1 and 2 Thoughts (Major Spoilers)

So, the episodes have been leaked out in the UK and I decided to take a look. Having been on the internet since its creation, I know that if I don't want to have something spoiled for me I have to watch it immediately. To be quite frank, I kind of wish I hadn't this time around. The season finale was really good, though, I'd only rank it at the fourth best finale. The Cutie Re-Mark with evil Starlight Glimmer is still my favorite finale, along with Twilight's Kingdom being second best finale.

I'm going to start from the beginning of this finale, so bear with me until I get to the biggest change since alicorn Twilight.

Right off the bat we get Starlight, and I have fallen smitten with Starlight, hard. She may be Twilight's replacement in learning things, but she's vastly more interesting in this fashion. I much prefer Twilight as the alicorn/teacher role than how she used to be prior the wings. We get to see Starlight acting super upset at her town reunion which is adorable, even if the horrid Trixie is there. Oh my gosh, I hate Trixie. I've always hated Trixie. But I do love her friendship with Starlight, and so this finale was still a good finale because she was added to the mix. I think if it had been Trixie-less it would have suffered.

The major problem I have for this entire finale though, is that it starts out with dream sequences. One in the beginning, then another with Luna saying "help help, I've fallen into the moon and can't get up!" These two red herrings really make it seem like the ending is going to be a dream sequence. Once Discord gets involved everything is more hilarious, but as far as we've seen, Discord and Starlight have had no communication. Hell, I wrote an entire story getting them connected. (Speaking of Relationships are Evil, that story has called SO MUCH of this season prior to each episode. From Discord loving D&D, to Applejack barely liking the Spa. I must be a fortune teller or future seer. It's a shame I couldn't predict the ending's nonsense.)

Anyway, once Thorax shows up it really makes me think it is a dream sequence because of his wings. He looks a little different, like a dream would, and so that's what I expected. I really thought it was going to be "Starlight has a dream with these social outcasts and then discovers something about herself so that she can go and enjoy the town reunion". After they arrive outside the changeling hive, things go off the rails. (Another speaking of Relationships are Evil, I totally called the outside of the hive! A disgusting white tower in the middle of a forested area. Of course, I certainly didn't predict the inside or the amount of changelings.) The inside of the hive is really interesting, and whoever came up with the idea of a shifting and changing the hive of holes is a genius.

However, I hope the same writer who thought the hive's holes changing is not the same person who came up with the HORRID designs of the "pure" changelings. Now, before I begin, I would like to state that I am not a big fan of the changelings or Queen Chrysalis. Though my writing of Relationships are Evil may make it seem that way, I have no real fanon ideas of what the changelings are like, nor do I care to have any. What they want to do with the changelings is no skin off my teeth. But DEAR CELESTIA, whoever came up with the UGLIEST, NEON, REINDEER-LOOKING CHANGELINGS needs to be fired. This was not the Rainbow Power or Alicorn Twilight idea from Hasbro, this was the writers coming up with it and thinking "oh yeah, that's cool."

I have never once thought in the last six seasons that the writers have lost their minds. I accepted alicorn Twilight, I accepted Flurry Heart, I accepted Rainbow Power with strange large hair things. To be quite honest, none of that bugs me whether it's Hasbro's idea's that are being forced in or not. But these disaster looking changelings caused me, for the very first time, to question what the writers are doing for this show.

The only grain of happiness taken from the ending is that Queen Chrysalis did not reform. I do hope she returns to the show again to get her revenge, because now that absolutely has to be an episode, but she should never reform. Also, side note, why did they change the changelings/Queen Chrysalis voice from the modulation sound effect? I really enjoyed that type of voice. Though, I suppose that reason would make sense if it WAS A DREAM SEQUENCE BECAUSE STARLIGHT HAS NEVER ACTUALLY MET QUEEN CHRYSALIS PRIOR TO THIS EPISODE!

Okay, rant over. Final thoughts, I enjoyed this season finale up until the last eight minutes of the show. If I could change it, I would have made Starlight defeat Queen Chrysalis and step onto the throne, then she could link the fire and the process would begin again. (That's a Dark Souls 2 ending reference.)

~TheTimeSword