Season 7 finale · 5:20am Oct 9th, 2017
So, the last few episodes of the season were leaked online, and I just finished watching them through to the finale. This is a review with spoilers, so the short of it is that the last two episodes of the season were great. Spoilers below the break.
So, first off, these episodes made Starlight shoot up on my favorite pony list to number five, just before Spike (in a supporting role), who is at four, Twilight at Three, Chrysalis at two, and Luna at one. Most of this was due to her being the voice of reason for the episodes, as she pointed out issues with bringing Starswirl and the other Pillars back from Limbo, and even managed to correctly guess what was actually going on due to a similarity between her case and what happened here. (Hint: it involves the map.)
Secondly was it added to the lore of the series just a little with a single line. The place where the Pony of Shadows found his power being ruins when he found it. That's to say it was ancient while Luna and Celestia were still being taught by Starswirl, which, along with my point upside of the finale, adds a lot to the world as a whole, and more head canon material.
Third is that the status quo was shook up a little in the fact that Starswirl and the Pillars remain in Equestria. No "time catching up with them and making them age super fast" stuff, no "second heroic sacrifice" cliche you'd expect from something like this like I was. The Pillars are back and exploring Equestria as it is now, potentially leading to them showing up later in the series.
Fourth, and probably the best praise I can give it, is that it shook up Twilight's conceptions about her hero, as he was far different than she expected him to be.
Now onto the cons of it for me.
Firstly, while the background for the Pony of Shadows is interesting, they did nothing creative with it. He was the brains behind the operation, and as such didn't get the respect the others did. You know how that cliche goes.
Second is something that calls Equestria's general history keeping into question (if the fact Starswirl is considered real but the other Pillars aren't doesn't). During a flashback brought on by Starlight asking the Pillars about the Pony of Shadow's history, we see the six of them fighting the sirens, as well as their banishment. While it doesn't directly conflict with what Rainbow Rocks showed, it still makes me wonder how many other Equestrian legends have been messed with due to history. To quote Dr. Wolf: "Fanfic writers, get on that."
Third-which is more of a personal reason than the others-is that we only saw interaction between Luna, Celestia, and Starswirl at the end of part 2. While I did like it, I would have more enjoyed seeing their initial reactions at seeing their teacher back in Equestria.
Fourth is that Twilight didn't think bringing back the Pillars through. Refer to pro 1. I get she basically has fangirl-itis over Starswirl, but seriously, even I-someone with almost common sense- was able to give a reason as to why it was stupid!
Small notes I enjoyed seeing but didn't overall effect how I felt about the episodes. For one, we see Rainbow actually think a plan through and it works. Second is a callback to the first episode to mention a pony of shadows, can't remember the name.
And yeah. Those are my thoughts on the season finale. Maybe I should do this for future large episodes in the series, as in finales, or premiers
