So Opaline Wasn’t Defeated…. · 7:46am Jun 6th, 2023
SPOILER ALERT!!
Problem? I mean, yeah. Dammit, she’s a series-wide villain, isn’t she?! Now now now, let me explain myself. I haven’t watched all of Chapter 4 yet. Instead of watching the special and the other episodes first, I decided to cheat and jumped right to the ending of the final episode to see if Opaline was going to be defeated like we all thought. And she wasn’t. I mean she kinda was, but not really. She’s still around and hasn’t been destroyed.
WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!!!
Listen, she’s an amazing villain. But why is she a series-wide villain? Seriously, why?! Why do we need her as the overarching villain?!! The beauty of MLP in all its generations (unless there’s something I’m missing) is that it builds a rogue’s gallery of villains with their own distinct threat level and FIM is best known for this. Honestly, I…I guess I can live with it. We at least got a major hint towards the existence of the other creatures through Opaline promising that she was going to go after the other dragons. That does throw a major criticism of G5 out the window, so that makes me happy. Plus, Misty finally admitting everything and being forgiven was absolutely fantastic. It was beautifully done. I didn’t expect it to be like Worthless, obviously, so for what it is, it’s amazing and I’m glad that thread is closed in the most perfect way possible.
But really, I put my credibility on the line during my debates, telling Ohvist specifically that the Opaline arc was most definitely ending here. Why didn’t it end?!! Now they’re probably laughing at me now!! We could’ve gotten an introduction of another villain that would have greatly expanded the mythos of Make Your Mark. But no. We’re instead stuck with Opaline for probably the duration of the series. This is going to be hard to defend in my video, let me tell you. I’ll probably just acknowledge it as a valid criticism and move on. Seriously…
Don’t worry. I’m not joining the dark side, not by a long shot. G5 haters are terrible people and I will never associate with them for as long as I live. I swore a blood oath to the gods on that one. I will concede that series-wide villains can be masterfully done. Bill Cipher, King Andreas, and Emperor Belos are some phenomenal and iconic examples. So if the show staff really are committing themselves to the story-driven approach that Gravity Falls, The Owl House, and Amphibia have done, then I expect them to go all-out with it. The final nail in the coffin for the old approach to MLP has already been put in, so if Hasbro wants to milk the success of those shows and take this brand in a new direction, then they better have a damn good endgame in store because if they’re making us wait this long for Opaline’s defeat, then the wait better be worth it.
As for The Misty Saga…I guess that means I’m off the hook! I don’t have to compete with Hasbro as they already dropped the ball, so I’ll be working hard to craft a real ending to this arc with Redeemed, which is still targeting a June 7th or 8th release date. Hopefully this ends up being a great definitive end. As for the rest of Chapter 4, I still need to watch it and I’m still totally looking forward to it. I’m just glad that I already watched the portion of the Chapter that I was the most scared for, so I can’t get disappointed a second time. I’m sure the rest of Chapter 4 will be amazing.
With that being said, I will see you all in the morning with the Epilogue of The Fall of Opaline. See you all later!!
I’d say this could actually work.
We never got much screen time dedicated to Opaline to develop her as a character. Most of her screen time has been her ordering Misty around. Now that she’s alone, we’ll get to see more of her as a threat.
Also, while another villain would’ve been fun, I think it’s for the best we don’t just change villains. This was something mentioned back in the day by Silver Quill (Hippogriff reviewer. Probably heard of him) about how G4 villains constantly coming in was basically getting close to dragon ball in terms of villain introductions. AKA: power bigger than last power that was bigger than the power before that. With Opaline, we also have a backstory that connects to how everything started in the first place.
Honestly, I’m excited to see where things go from here.
Also, I was almost kidding when I said I expected Misty to be revealed by Opaline and then everyone hated her. OMG, I was basically right. All we needed was them singing and we would’ve had the liar revealed from Lion King 2. And that is the one liar revealed i actually love, namely since Not One of Us is awesome.
5731975
You know what? You may actually be right. I think my anger mainly comes from hyping myself up for something that wasn’t meant to be, and I think I’m just too used to the multiple villain approach from MLP. As I said, series-wide villains have worked, so the writers probably have a great plan up their sleeves. I don’t hate this ending as like you said, there are upsides in regards to more screentime for Opaline to build up her threat level, so there’s that to look forward to.
Perhaps I’m being a little too harsh, but this really marks the first time I’ve been let down by this show due to unrealistic expectations. I think the fault’s more with me and not the episode as I should’ve known better that Opaline would be staying around. I’m not mad, just a bit disappointed. But as always, I will be keeping an open mind for the future.
Also, thanks for spoiling the way Misty gets revealed. I haven’t even watched that part yet, dang it!! Well, you’re totally right that “Not One Of Us” is awesome. Now all we need is a cool fan-edit or animatic of this song with the Make Your Mark context. I tried to get Kibat Grenbuku to make one, but they have other priorities at the moment with their animation reel.
5731976
So you knew that Opaline wasn’t defeated, but not that Misty was revealed to be a traitor in the same episode, scenes before? That’s………odd.
Well, at least I didn’t spoil a certain scene I say an image for that I know people will go nuts over. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
5731977
As I said in the blog, I watched the end of the climax and the ending to the episode itself where Misty is forgiven, not the full episode yet. I was too excited to see the final confrontation that I jumped to the end to see what happened. That’s how I found out. I’m assuming Misty’s reveal happens earlier?
Also, I’m curious as to what image you’re talkin’…I’ll have to get back to you on that after I watch the rest of Chapter 4.
5731978
Just avoid Derpibooru. That’s how I got spoiled.
Also I guess I see your point, that’s literally what I did.
I just finished watching all of chapter 4 and honetly, I'm cool with it. If Opaline was defeated just like that, she would have turned out to be a really pathetic villain. But now we know she cannot be just swept aside like that. I'm interested to see what's her next move gonna be. As well as the return of dragons as a whole.
My main issue was with Misty. Let's be honest, we all saw her heel-face turn from ten miles away. It was very predictable from the start and there was no tension to it and I was half-heartedly still hoping it wouldn't happen. Also, the fact that her cutie mark ended up being a butterfly - the very same cutie mark she made up for herself - feels very contrived. Why is it even a butterfly? I thought cutier marks represented a pony's special talent. How is anything she's ever done related to butterflies?
Well maybe it just means Opaline will return but not for a while. Like how Chrysalis disappeared for 4 seasons straight between her first two appearances.
5731984
Butterflies are a symbol of Change and rebirth, hope and faith.
She has changed for the better, and with faith from her friends, her future is hopeful.
Now she can start a new life, rebirth.
I feel the CM is symbolic.
🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋