Oct
21st
2017
Points of Canon: Legends of Magic #7 · 2:45pm Oct 21st, 2017
Evidently, they’re not done with it yet.
Framing story
- The story sets itself to after Shadow Play, since Sunburst is saying that he has to “resort everything! Now that I know…”
- He receives another book from an anonymous source who just knocks on his door and never actually appears or uses a postbox or anything. It’s wrapped with a ribbon, which I find rather odd, since the note inside is signed with “S” and is apparently meant to imply Stygian, rather than Star Swirl. Sunburst is at least sure it’s not Star Swirl’s hornwriting. So why the ribbon? And why running away?
Stygian’s story
- Stygian had the time and skill to do an illuminated manuscript himself. Including an illustration of himself. Nevertheless, the illustration contains an obvious kerosene lamp, as well as something that looks like a magnifying glass on a pantograph suspension. Furthermore he is wearing glasses with extra lenses on extensions.
- “The outside of the shell is porous and it feels like it’s been smoothed over time.” I’m not that up on biology to be sure, can anyone tell me that this sort of thing happens to a living shell? Because if it were a dead mollusc, the inside would be smooth too, wouldn’t it?
- “Evidence suggests that these shells might be hundreds of years old. Certainly proof that there are things in the sea ponykind has only dreamed of.” Like the ancient lost city of R’lyeh, I bet. </sarcasm>
- “It was fall and soon to be winter, so I had to dress warmly.” Actually, considering how we almost never see this kind of a fall on screen, and also considering how strangely the seasons seem to work in Equestria…
- “I only knew that last summer I had been collecting folktales and legends from around Equestria, and while I loved the legends of heroes, great ponies like Rockhoof and Mistmane and Flash Magnus…” Said ponies were legendary heroes well before Stygian ever met them, or so he insists.
- “…what really fascinated me were the tales of mystical sea ponies. There was no evidence they existed, but there were so many stories.” Shoo-be-do… Sea ponies are really an odd subject in canon – the origin story that sea ponies are transformed hippogryphs that the movie offers precludes this transformation from happening pre-Nightmare, essentially, otherwise Celestia would not send Twilight to the queen of hippogryphs, it has to be recent. Unfortunately for Stygian, he meets the Sirens, whom he apparently takes to be seaponies. There is some resemblance, I suppose…
- “My name’s Adagio. This is Sonata and Aria. We’re the Dazzlings.” They used the name “Dazzlings” to refer to themselves back in Equestria, apparently. Further they even say, “Where we come from, the dazzlings are the most beloved singers. Everybody has heard of us.” Wait, where did they come from, then?
- “Sirens? Amazing! I can’t believe I’m actually meeting sirens!” Stygian was aware specifically of sirens existing, at least in folk tales, before this meeting.
- Stygian looks sirens up in “Starswirl’s Guide to Magical and Legendary Creatures,” which exists – and also suggests that Star Swirl hasn’t met a real siren yet, but thought they were “bad news and thrived on others’ negative energy.” While sirens do slip while talking to Stygian, they’re hardly showing any evidence of being harmful at this point…
- Stygian gets sidetracked helping one Ms. Malus with her chores – an even more communal economy than seen in Equestria in present time, that – and while he uses his magic to trim trees (which her list calls “bushes” for some reason) and wash dishes, he uses his hooves to make baskets.
- “From where I was standing, I could barely hear the music, which is probably the only thing that saved me. The sirens hypnotized the ponies with their song, absorbing their magic. And I could see my village weakening before my very eyes.” Wait, what? Sirens have magic-absorbing properties now?
- Plugging your ears is sufficient protection against sirens.
- “I’m not a hero, but I know all of their legends! And if the legends about the sirens are real, then maybe so are some of these legends about heroes!” If Jesus Then Aliens. An admirable logic, but wouldn’t these heroes be his contemporaries and thus available for verification?
- And the first thing Stygian packs in his bindle is a sandwich. See Sandwich Problem.
- The list of dangers depicted that Stygian has to face to find the six heroes contains sea serpents, giant crabs, timberwolves and griffons.
- “Well, you’e gonna head down this road till you get to the field with the sad cow, then you’re gonna turn right. Now, mind, if you get to the melancholy cow, you’ve gone too far.” “How will I know the difference?” “The sad one seems like he’s given up, whereas the melancholy one has more of a sense of longing.” Wait. He?!
- “But finally, after weeks of travel, it would pay off.” The quest took him weeks, just to find Rockhoof.
And, it says “to be continued,” so I presume we’ll see a few more issues of lore-wrecking adventures… It doesn’t sit particularly well with the primary canon as it is.
Really don't understand why IDW and show writers work independently. Is it that much of a problem to connect them together and thus create a consistent canon for both show and comics?
4704179
Evidently, yes. Even when they deliberately try to do so.
4704179 Considering how the show writers themselves generally don't work so well with each other...
4704193
I think that it's less about "it's hard to do" and more about "nobody cares".
4704268
That is indeed the way the evidence seems to point these days, yes.
So I assumed S was Shadow Lock. If this is set after the series finale, maybe he's heard his ancestor was misunderstood/redeemed and is trying to fix his campaign of knowledge erasure?
4704179 In the process of hearing about how Fame and Misfortune was written, it sounds like the writing process for an episode is two-fold: The writers and the showrunner get together in a room and come up with basically an outline for each episode. Then an individual writer goes off and writes the actual script of that episode on their own. I wager that the comic writers and show writers shared outlines with each other, but not actual scripts in advance.
4704530
In that case, where did Stygian himself run off to? And Star Swirl, and the rest of the pillar heroes, for that matter?
4704885
To Season 8, hopefully.
4704885
4704894
I thought “Shadow Play Part 2” ended with all the Pillars deciding to go visit their old homes, to see what had become of them after all those centuries. Presumably, that’s where they all are during this comic.
And since long-distance travel in Equestria follows no logic whatsoever, their trips will keep them away from Canterlot and/or Ponyville for exactly as long as the plot needs them to be away.
4704918
…Hopefully long enough for Josh Haber to move on to something else. :)
Still a better Siren story than their FIENDship issue.
Yeah, dude. They always did. That happened several times in Rainbow Rocks.
Add a tally to my "friendship is magic → Emotivores are thaumovores" pet hypothesis.4705029
Guess I need to get around to watching that sometime.
Indeed, there is interestingly no truly gender-neutral singular term for cattle in English…cow should be a she. (Also, directions based on emotions of motile creatures? Those should be spectacularly unuseful unless delivered by prophetic oracle, or line-of-sight such that the directions should be different…)