Well Okay. That Was the Season Opener! · 2:11pm Nov 11th, 2012
So I just finished watching the first episode/discussing it thoroughly. And, instead of going to bed knowing that I have an exam (//checks time) tomorrow, I am going to hastily pen out some of my thoughts about the new episode. Y'know, what I liked and what I didn't, etc etc.
I think it goes without saying, but for the love of God...
*SPOILERS*
Overall, I think it's safe to say I enjoyed it. While it certainly wasn't amazing, the dynamic that is still so strong between the main six kept me well and truly entertained. A lot of the jokes were fantastic (Pinkie Pie pulling off the Fluttershy costume! How fantastically unexpected was that?!), and the interplay between them all was good fun.
No, where I think a lot of the problems started to creep in was with the outside characters. For starters, I am just going to get the obvious one out of the way. Sombra. Ugh. Villains can be really enjoyable. Especially to write. But villains are also incredibly easy to make bland, unoriginal and very boring. Sombra definitely fell into this latter category. I can't stress the importance of avoiding having your main bad guy be bad and do bad things with the sole purpose and justification that he is the bad guy. That will set you on a path for an uninteresting character faster than Twilight can come to the realisation that self sacrifice was important.
Wait...
Nightmare Moon and Discord were fantastic because they had a real sense of character development that defined them and gave their actions purpose. I knew why they were doing the things they were doing, and I believed them too. While Chrysalis wasn't as good in this regard (not to mention raising more questions about her backstory than answers given), she certainly had some character to her which kept her interesting enough. Sombra was just dull and utterly lifeless. There was no depth to him. There was no sense of purpose or design behind his actions. Instead we just had a bad guy who does bad things because he is apparently bad. How wonderfully engaging. That and his character design (visually) was really dodgy, haha. It's a moot point where I say if a fanfic author came up with that design, they would be crucified, haha.
Alrighty! Moving on.
The recycled device of a shield was kinda tedious. It's been done before, and it wasn't particularly interesting then, and it wasn't now. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with Cadence and Shining Armour's presence, but honestly, the shield could have been maintained by an inanimate object and the plot wouldn't have lost much. There is a little to be said about the reinforcement of the self sacrifice theme, but there is placing your metaphors subtly, and shoving them in the storyline for the sake of the metaphor. The latter is definitely best avoided.
Perhaps I wouldn't be so critical of this point if I actually liked Cadence and Shining Armour. I mean, while I am rather indifferent to the pretty alicorn, Shining Armour is so hideously bland that I would not be upset in the slightest to see him slide into the background where he never has to speak again. Because I like to make comparisons, what's an interesting side character, you ask? Does Princess Celestia count? Haha. They seem to be taking a similar of screen time now, so maybe they do. Anyway, Celestia is normally a character with fantastic depth who often plays that kind of side role.
I call Faust's influence on this point.
Okay. Now we are going to come to probably the most contentious part: the moral!
In my opinion, it was weak. Really weak. Why? Well, answer me this, was there EVER a scenario where any of you honestly believed that Twilight would put her personal interests in front of the well-being of an entire kingdom? And if you answered no, then why did Twilight have to learn the lesson? The best stories are ones where the characters learn something about themselves, and the universal morals are just an extension of that. Having it the other way around is preachy and starts to move into 'contrived' territory.
This moves into the problem I have with the whole scene with the royal sisters in the beginning. What purpose did Luna serve that wasn't simply fan service or poor construction? She comes in, says send me instead, Celestia says no, Twilight has to learn this lesson, and that's it. Why does Twilight have to 'learn' a lesson that she already knows? Self sacrifice is something she has displayed time and time again; she constantly puts her friends and her country before her own safety.
Sounds awful contrived to me.
However! If this started asking questions and hinting at something that will come back at a later date, then awesome! I am keen to see it unfold. If not, then I stand by my point.
Anyway. It's getting very late, and my ability to think clearly is slipping. I apologise for any mistakes in my writing as a result. I am sure there is something I am missing, and if so, feel free to shout it at me, haha.
So in conclusion? Yeah, I have some issues, but I'll take this moment to reaffirm "I really did enjoy the episode!" It was funny, and the main six were great, and that's why I love the show, so I am happy. I think the reason I am so critical is because I do love the show, and the fact that I can be bothered to even attempt to pick apart a kid's show is evidence of that.
Or maybe I just like to feel important and clever :(
Anyway. What did you guys think? Did you love it? Hate it? Think I am totally and completely off the mark and should shut up and sit down? I am curious to see what people thought of it all!
In either regard, I think it's safe to say I am looking forward to next weekend. And that can only be a good thing.
Stay awesome! 
While I agree with all of these points (and I notice that some of these points are extensions of ones that I suggested to you), I still must retort with;
images.wikia.com/mlp/images/4/4c/Bleh!.png
493871
sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/374810_364122310345616_1322033104_n.png
But seriously, hahahahah, oh my God, where did you find that?!
i.imgur.com/MRlbF.png
493885 Shout out to the buffering wheel.
Well in the end it comes down to being a show for little girls. I mean the last thing going through a ten year old girl's mind is, "Ohmygawd guys, his character development was SOO bad!"
I found that Celestia and Twilight's ability to use evil magic was really cool, and honestly, I loved the episode because Spike got his time to shine. Spike took Sombra by the BALLS! And when he looked into the door and had a breakdown over Twi leaving him... I just...
Also, Luna was really moody did I catch that? And I'm pretty sure Applejack was flirting with Rare at the end...
You nailed Sombra, he wasn't even spanish! 
Good review.
Mystic, I completely agree with everything you said here. Sombra was such a boring villain, had no back story aside from: evil dictator (but never really said what it was that he did the was evil aside from "shadow magic") That and the fact he had about 4 lines which mostly consisted of: Yup I'm evil, and even then he didn't really Do anything evil except for turning some rocks grey/black. Dude had the potential to be a great villain and I did quite like the look of the glowy-purple-eye-shadowy... things he had. I did like the Crystal Heart in the episode, thought it added quite a nice bit of Lore to the story like; Is it the Crystal Empires version of the EoH, etc
Pinkie pie and Rarity were at some of their best in this episode, thought both of them were very funny.
All in all a good, if not mediocre, two parter episode even if it felt like they were rushing a bit to try to squeeze in as much world building as possible, but I suppose that happens when you introduce and entirely new land to explore for only 44 mins.
Some interesting points, there -- I mostly concur about Sombra's shallowness and the newlyweds meh-ness.
I *do*, however, think Sombra wasn't meant to be a "talker" type villain in this case. He wasn't there to produce moral conflict and doubt like Discord was -- he was presenting a looming and massive threat that created tension and urgency, like an erupting volcano or a swarm of killer insects. I wished he had more depth, but maybe after 1,000 years as a disintegrated shadow he was a little messed-up in the head. I know when I chatted with friends about the eps, I suggested that he would have worked better as Sombra's SHADOW... LITERALLY. Like, some fearsome phantom-like echo that frightens the Crystal Ponies due to their past and gets bigger and bigger the more they fear, but it more a haunted-house ghost than a King. Like some memory of past trauma stopping them from moving on.
As for the moral, I am less sure. Twilight was VERY "me me me" for most of the ep, and saw the whole business as Passing Celestia's Test, not as Saving Living Ponies Who Are Terrified. Her darkest fear, even, was failing Celestia. She's been like this before (Feeling Pinkie Keen, Return of Harmony, Lesson Zero) -- seeing things only through the lens of her own personal situation, trying to force circumstances to conform to her understanding -- heck, it seems like after her brilliant realization with the Element of Magic, she assumes that sort of approach will ALWAYS work.
Maybe Celestia's chatter about "self-sacrifice" was a polite, subtle, roundabout way to remind Twilight that "You're very special and important, but it's not ALWAYS about YOU, my faithful student."
493952
Only thing I have against the "evil magics" is that Twi learned it after 1 viewing... Other than that, yes awesome.
494166
While I see your point, at the end, I don't agree with it entirely. Specifically during the Return of Harmony. The entire thing was to save the country from Discord. How, exactly, would that be selfish? I'm certain that Twi would have defeated Discord with or without her friends, if she could have, so saving them really doesn't do anything selfishly (though, I'll admit, who wouldn't save their first real friends). Feeling Pinkie Keen and Lesson Zero, I'll give you. But, in Lesson Zero, she was just crazy.
Now, onto the part of "me me me" in this episode. Twi was TOLD to do this herself by Celestia. So of course she did it herself, or attempted to, her (practically) MASTER told her to do it alone! But, in the end, she gave up the chance to pass, and didn't care. If she was told that she didn't have to do it alone, she wouldn't have.
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Okay, my opinion. Uhm... Completely agree. However, I believe that the scene with the Royal Sisters was more to foreshadow something later in the season. As well, notice how Sombra was never actually defeated. The crystal ponies were saved, but Sombra wasn't defeated, only pushed back. I get the feeling that they will add on more for Sombra, and make him the end of season villain as well. Uncertain, but a possibility.
494248
You misunderstand what I was getting at. Not selfish -- SUBJECTIVE. As in, even when doing heroic stuff, being limited to the perspective in her own head. In Return of Harmony, she led the Ponies into the Maze because she couldn't think outside of her assumption about what Discord meant, and figured her idea was correct. The notion that a troll was messing with her and that, Picard-style, she should have refused to play into his B.S., didn't enter her head, because "she'd figured out the answer".
In Lesson Zero, she is the letter-writer and the report-maker, and no change in circumstances can shift that identity out of her head. She can't fathom just talking it out with the Princess or some other oblique solution -- it's "win" the way she understands it, or total disaster.
Likewise, Twilight drives herself to distraction trying to hold the Gak that is Pinkie Sense in the wide sieve that is her rigid views on what is and isn't possible. A staunchly scientific type would observe the constant correlations and conclude that it was possible SOME unrecognized mechanism was in play (and reserve judgement pending more data), but Twilight had decided. Twi says it's impossible, so it must not be true.
She forms a concept in her head and then bulldozes forward, expecting things to match her locked-in assessment and upset or frazzled when they don't. She is incredibly educated and intelligent, but REALLY not very wise.
In this new premiere, it's the same thing. She is told it's a test, she sees it as a test, so she TREATS it like a test until the eleventh hour. And even then, she assumes that what she is doing is failing the test to save Equestria. She doesn't let go of her grip on that view until Celestia pretty much slaps it out of her hooves.
That's what I meant by the "all about you" comment -- Twilight needs a little mental flexibility and objectivity.
494402
Hmm. Yes, I see what you mean. I can agree with that.
493952 Yeah, a lot of people say that because it's only a kid's show we shouldn't hold the standards of the character development etc too high, but it's why I am a big fan of making comparisons to the standard the show has already set for itself. If I know that they can do a good job because I have seen it, then I think I can be justified being critical when they deliver less. That's how I see it anyway, haha. And not just RariJack! There was heaps of shipping fuel all throughout the episode. I am convinced the writers are doing it deliberately now, haha.
493964 You agree with me, therefore 10 points to you! Haha. Everyone else only gets five points.
494248 Yeah, I think you're right when you say that Sombra will probably make an appearance again. Not too sure how I feel about that, honestly, haha. Hopefully they take the opportunity to make him more engaging.
494166 Yeah, I would agree with you about the whole Sombra not being a 'talking' villain. But I don't think that excuses him being evil for the sake of being evil. It was something I thought Cereal was way off about in the episode round up on EqD. Having a bad guy doing nothing but providing some kind of tension is incredibly basic, and I know the show can do better. Honestly, I think he would have been far better if he never said a word. Whenever he did speak I just cringed, flinching away from the cliché that was literally dripping from every single word.
How do I think he could have been better? I think your idea of making him pure shadow would be kinda cool (it also fits beautifully into the universe I have for all my stories, haha). But keeping him as he is, it would not have called for much to start making improvements. Little things like giving us an explanation for what he was enslaving the crystal ponies for would have given him a motivation to give him some context. Instead, he just seems to enslave them for no other reason than taking away someone's freedom is an easy (and cliché) way to get the audience to not like them. Boorrrriiing! Again, it's just a character doing bad things because they are the bad guy. Dull. Dull. Dull.
As for the moral, I knew this would definitely be the most contentious part, hehe. I think you are definitely right with the points you raise, I just don't think the nexus between them and her actions/the moral was strong enough. While I don't disagree that Twilight was very focused on herself and doing well to please Celestia, I don't see how that would be to the extent where she would put herself in front of the well-being of the empire. Her studious nature got them as far as it did, for starters, so her actions were filled with positive reinforcement during the entire episode. At the end of the day, to me it came across as a reminder aimed at the audience, not a lesson that Twilight learns. On some level that's fine, but I dunno. I guess I just didn't engage with the way it was put across.
I think I just don't feel as if Twilight learned anything about herself, and that bothers me. The characterisation leading up to the moral pay-off just didn't match up.
But yeah, I am fully aware this is easily the most subjective part of my review, haha. Thanks for leaving your thoughts! Discussion is always fun, haha.
>She comes in, says send me instead, Celestia says no, Twilight has to learn this lesson, and that's it. Why does Twilight have to 'learn' a lesson that she already knows? Self sacrifice is something she has displayed time and time again; she constantly puts her friends and her country before her own safety.
Still, Luna's facial expression was pretty awesome.
496571 Hahah, you're not wrong. Luna's facial expression was awesome. If I can find a screen cap of that with the text "Luna will take none of your shit today", then I will be very happy indeed, haha.
I personally see Sombra as the typical 'big bad'. I felt hints of Sauron from him.
I don't dislike his shallow development, it's just that he's a more serious villain compared to the other three, losing not by underestimation.
496615 True, but I didn't like that he was awfully cliché. Every time he opened his mouth I winced because it was just so... ugh, haha. He would have been much more 'Sauron' if he never said a word and was allowed to be that mysterious big bad.
I think it was less "Twilight has to learn about self-sacrifice!" (something she's already deeply familiar with) and more "Twilight needs to get over her fear of failure and realize it's not all about her". The best part of this episode is the implication that Twilight has finally managed to alleviate some of her self-doubt and crippling fear of disappointing her mentor, and the implication that this will actually stick and not be absorbed into the status quo. Not like Flutterbutter and her constant lessons about assertiveness. Christ that gets old.
Probably shaky on that last point, but if it sticks then the episode is absolutely brilliant. That's been Twilight's heroic flaw since the beginning, and the fact that she's beginning to overcome it in earnest is awesome and ties in perfectly with the "ready for the next level" theme we seem to be easing into.
...It would be really, really nice if that were true. Otherwise, yeah, kind of flawed. But fuck it dude, ponies.
496716 Y'know, it's interesting if that's the case because then I think there is room for some criticism/discussion on Celestia's methodology. After all, she is the one first calling it 'a test', not Twilight. If anything, that's a deliberate attempt on Celestia's behalf to put Twilight in that frame of mind. And if so, is it all to make her learn a lesson? Deliberately manipulating her into a position where she is forced to overcome her fear of failure (or the empire falls)? Raises some very interesting and potentially dark questions.
I love it because Dancing on Silver Strings becomes increasingly validated the more I think about it, hahaha.
496746
Having the entire world on your shoulders for so long tends to chip away at your moral compass.
Still calling that she's grooming Twilight to be her successor, and really just wants to retire for a few thousand years and forget she made all these bad calls. Although, let's not knock it: The only time Celestia was actually wrong was the season 2 finale. Keep in mind she's absolutely ancient: She's had plenty of time to master her craft and learn the finer points of pony psychology, in and out. Perhaps not as sinister as Dancing on Silver Strings, but, she's definitely a chessmaster. That has to be canon. If she's seriously just running blind at all times, she's incredibly inept, hilariously and endearingly so. Like, Ice King bad.
She's way too good at predicting how things turn out and acting accordingly. She must be absolutely terrifying at Poker. To her credit, she's good at what she does. And maybe it's the only way she can get things done at this point. A thousand years of no sleep tends to put a damper on your personal effectiveness.
496821 I absolutely adore that idea of chessmaster Celestia. It gives her such an interesting personality to try and understand. And boy does it raise some complicated moral questions, haha.
I have to admit, the idea that she could be grooming Twilight to be her successor is really very daunting. Not too sure how I feel about it, tbh.
497008
I doubt Celestia's going to keel over. She just needs a break. Who wouldn't? The president of the USA looks half-dead after just four years. Celestia's been running an entire continent for thousands. She may looks healthy and beautiful on the outside, but on the inside... She really needs to hit the beach for a century or two. Let the neurotic grad student and the possibly mentally ill sister handle things.
She might just be looking for an excuse to give Luna more power. Luna always wanted a bigger role, after all. Being a mother to her species and Twilight's mentor in being a princess would be just that.
497015 >"Let the neurotic grad student and the possibly mentally ill sister handle things."
Hahahahaha, oh my god, that is such a fucking awesome way of putting it.
While I agree with you at some points such as Twilight not really learning a lesson, and certain character's screen times and developments (heres hoping Shining Armour becomes a permanent background character in future episodes) I might have to disagree with you with King Sombra. I think he got just the right amount of screen time, given how short it was, because I think if he would have gotten a longer part to play, I don't think the story could properly play out, without dragging on and the story making sense at the same time - i.e. If Sombra had gotten any closer, he would have reached the castle and they were going on saying that if he reached the castle that would spell their fall. This is of course something ridiculous or something completely out of the blue were to happen and somehow defeat the him, but this just makes the plot confusing and rushed.
I guess my point here is that unless the episode was longer or they cut out various other scenes to give Sombra more time in the spotlight (which frankly would have been a mistake given most of the story is well told and revolves around what is happening in these scenes) then I'm, frankly, fine with with Sombra's limited screentime. It showed that he was menacing, had a history of evil and showed off his evil (if only briefly). Although I think there could have been more background to where he came from (or better yet who he overthrew in the first place). I think the former should have been introduced, giving him more screentime would have redeemed him indeed.
This is just my personal insight (no matter how weird it might be) into this, feel free to criticize me or give thought to my opinion, would like to hear your feedback
p.s. not sure if someone's already covered something like this, I only read your blog and not the comments that followed and wrote this.
I enjoy your review and agree most parts of this.
There are some of my opinions.
First, we all know Twilight knows self-sacrifice, she even considers her friends are more important than herself.
However, she thinks that "Celestia" and her relationship with Celestia are much more important than her own life. (Lesson Zero and Crystal Empire).
It was EXTREMELY dificult for her to make the decision to let Spike finish the blow.
Celestia may still be really happy for that Twilight sacrificed her own test to save the country, and lives of her friends and family.
By the way, I think that Celestia did not expect the ending.
She may just want Twilight to find the way know how to deliver the jobs properly. (Twilight need to help Cadance/SA alone).
That what a leader need to learn.
Second, I think these two episodes also showed the differences between royal sisters. Celestia is always a great chessmaster and is extremely good at manipulating things (in a good intention, not a evil way). Even if mission failed, she and Luna were standing by for a rescue.
Luna seems like to do things directly (Just like she want to join Twilight's advanture squad and finish Sombra whithn a minute with her godly powers). Celestia knows to "trust".
At the end of episode 2, Celestia smiled and watched Luna, her emotion and face almost said "See? WE CAN TRUST THEM." Fortunately, Luna admitted Tia was (always) right "Hmm" and smiled back. (Of course, Celestia is not a all-known goddess, she sometimes made mistakes, especially in the Royal Wedding)
Third, the music is great :D I also love the plot that Season 3 is for Twilight's learning magic. Day and Night only coexist in Twilight (and dawn). Both Celestia and Luna are finally in agreement on Twilight's next step of studies. I'm interested in Luna's book (DeathNote?). The cover is Stars and Swirl..
Con: Sombra sucks.. and I know this season is focusing on Twilight. In previous season, Twilight is learning to trust her friend. In S3E1 E2, her friends want Twilight to trust HERSELF. This is really good, but I hope they still can let other mane 6 have their days.
Pro: Music! Plots (not royal plots of Tia and LuLu..)! Celestia and Luna finally acted TOGETHER! And Luna finally smiled (She looks really moody and stern while she does not not smile....)
I give it 4.5/5 for the start.
Gotta admit that it's pretty amusing that Twilight is so surprisingly nonchalant about fighting gods of chaos, evil alicorns, changeling queens and saving the kingdom every other week, but if the last action is packaged as a 'test' she starts losing it.
Dark magic Twilight and Celestia were pretty neat. Though considering that Twilight was able to learn a dark magic spell just by watching someone else cast it for 3 seconds, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if the royal guard had very detailed contingency plans in place in case she ever went rouge.
497283 Oh, I don't mean he needs to get more screen time. Although that would have been nice, it's certainly not necessary. I just mean using the time they had better. Little things like a sentence or two explaining why he is enslaving ponies (what is he getting them to do, basically) would go a long way in giving him some more depth and just generally making him more interesting.
497369 Yeah, the interesting part will be seeing what kind of role the princess will play in all of this, especially as the season develops. If there was one cool thing about this episode, it was that they seemed to be hinting towards something cool in the future--something big. Either way, I am excited to see if it comes to anything or not!
499949 See that is an episode that I would like to see. Celestia goes bad. There you go, Twi! There's a test and a half for you! Haha.
Yeah, I agree on those points. The thing with Sombre was exactly as you said, he was just a cardboard facade of a villain. He's bad because he's bad. When they showed the crystal ponies in shackles in the past, I was thinking, "So they just stand around in chains?" I mean, even Sombre forcing them to mine the crystals for some sinister purpose would've been better than nothing. But nothing is what we got.
The two points that peak my curiosity are: 1. That school teacher-ish looking white pony with Celestia at the beginning. I'm speculating that might be one of Twilight's old teachers at the school or something. The design looked far too complex to be just a background character. 2. THAT BOOK/DOSSIER AT THE VERY END. I remember chatting with a friend on skype when that happened with something along the lines of "wtf was that book at the end. WHOA WHOA WHOA roll back, what was that?"
I just thought it was strange and intentional. But whyyyyyyyyyyyy... 
Oh, and everyone seems to be slighting on the fact that Sombre was the first MLP fatality. He looked like he got pretty vaporized there.
Enjoyed the episode on the whole though. 4/5 sounds fair?
Actually, Nightmare Moon had just about as much screentime as Sombra had. You might be thinking of Chrysalis, perhaps, but I think this season might be a new beginning. Just because of a little slip-up, that doesn't mean they're losing their edge...
They were under a full-on metric shit-ton of pressure. Season 2's finale? It was going to take a fuckload to top that masterpiece, and especially with all the fanservice, and all other things they had to attend to...the fandom has brought FiM to newfound glory, but it has also put some stress on the makers of the show as well (all fandoms do, essentially).
I pretty much had a bit of a mini-heart attack at Season 3's reception so far, but I have new hope.
500564 That first pony had a frightening resemblance to Sarah Palin, or at least her mane did. I don't like seeing something cute that also reminds me of Sarah Palin; it makes me feel weird, haha.
As for the book, I know, right?! I definitely think that is something we can expect to make an appearance hopefully in the not too distant future.
501452 I have to say, despite all the episode's failings, it has made me excited for the new season, which can only be a good thing. It looks like we have some pretty cool episodes coming up, and I really want to see how it all works out. So on to the future! Haha.
I feel like Sombra, while a weak villain, was simply a placeholder. This seems to be more of a Princesses' majesty sort of episode than anything. Cadence got fleshed out a bit, plus when she directed the Crystal Ponies to power the gem, she was absolutely boss. Cadence finally got to show off her badass, princess, super-magic.
I don't think the moral was all that weak. This seems to have been as much a test of Twilight's stability as a test of her mettle and dedication to her country. Twilight has set Ponyville on its ear (quite possibly, she did so literally) numerous times because she was worried she'd disappoint Celestia. The biggest known incident being when she went bananas and cursed a toy, sending the entire town into a raging, lootfest riot. Except one thing got stolen. Clearly Twilight can make rash and VERY bad (and funny) decisions in the name of her studies, and so Celestia forced her into a position in which she had to choose between failing her studies (or so she thought) and letting Sombra win. Honestly, depending on her state of mind, I'd have given that a 50/50.
On top of all of that, Luna and Celestia had some private one on one talk time, which I've been dying to see since Luna became a defined character.
506158 Hehe, well I'm definitely glad to see that some people enjoyed it a fair bit! I'm just hoping that the rest of the season will be more to my liking.