Make Your Mark Chapter 4 Was AMAZING!!!! · 12:03am Jun 7th, 2023
SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!
Well well well. Just when a certain part of the final episode disappointed me a bit, the rest of Chapter 4 swings in to rope me in once again!! This isn’t going to be a full on spoiler discussion on each episode as I still need to collect my thoughts before doing anything of the sort, but I will be mentioning a couple of stuff that really stood out to me. Now let’s get the obvious question out of the way. Is Chapter 4 better than Chapter 2?
Yes!!
The animation seems like it has been given a massive upgrade to the point where it even looks like the movie in some places. I haven’t watched Bridlewoodstock yet, as I usually save the specials for last, but I will be doing that right after this post. What I wanted to do first was watch the rest of the episodes and comment on them here before watching that. In particular, I loved how Misty’s arc was the beating heart of this batch of episodes. Her conflict is given a lot more focus and it feels a lot more involved. You really feel for her at points and even though we knew what was coming, her redemption definitely felt earned and coming from someone who’s handling this plotline right now in the Misty Saga, that’s some high praise from the guy who did it first. The funny thing is, the first few minutes of “Missing The Mark” (excluding the intro) really did feel like I was literally watching Worthless put on screen. Not the physical abuse, no. That wasn’t there. I mean how the episode literally starts with Sparky already kidnapped, Misty going into the castle, Opaline showing up and complimenting her, as well as admiring Sparky, you get the drill. As an author, I like how my work was sorta kinda unintentionally adapted here. I do like the conflict that Misty had in the beginning (something that this episode actually did better than my story), and the moment she was revealed just wrecked me emotionally. The pain and anger in the Mane 5’s voices felt so real and of course, Izzy would be the most upset. That’s something I actually touched upon in Forgiven, so again, great job, writers!
The other episodes were great too. I do like how each episode feels more involved and progresses the plot, something that many haters have used to further complaints about G5 for a while now. The lore that’s included is fantastic!! We even got backstory for Opaline!! Holy cow, I was NOT expecting that. An Alicorn civilization, hm? Sounds very intriguing. Now, I know the haters are inevitably going to call Celestia and Luna’s involvement a plot hole (heck, MLP Fever already did, what a surprise), but I honestly think this is some great backstory. Is it what we all thought? No. But this does have some serious potential here. Sunny and Hitch’s relationship being focused on in “Sunny Side Up” was a huge treat and…Queen Haven and Alphabittle are a couple now? Be warned, Zipp and Pipp. You might have a new stepfather soon. The growth in Zipp and Misty’s relationship was great to see in “The Manesquerade Ball.” Also, Opaline does something!!!! So she’s not trapped in the castle? That’s good. I like how she has her own mini arc in “Sunny Side Up” that kind of gives her that sort of “antagonist at rest” sort of thing. More screentime for our favorite Fire Alicorn is always a win in my book. Sprout also gets involved in “Top Remodel” and his role isn’t just a cameo. Awesome!! Plus, the movie was referenced in the episode and considering that’s my favorite piece of G5 media at the moment, that’s a huge plus from me. Sunny vs Opaline was amazing and badass, especially when Misty and the remaining Mane 5 got involved and we had the whole Magic of Friendship laser blast thing with the cutie marks. Confirmation that the other creatures in G4 are still out there somewhere through the mention of more dragons? Check! It’s like the writers all got together and were like: "Hey, let’s take nearly every single criticism people have ever had about Make Your Mark and remedy them all in Chapter 4!!"
Boy oh boy, did those mad geniuses pull it off. Suck on that, haters! What are you gonna complain about now?!
I also…don’t hate that Opaline didn’t get destroyed anymore? I mean, it’s not ideal and more villains would’ve been preferable, but you know what? She can stay for as long as she needs to. Now that’s character development for you. Having seen the episode with the full context, I think I’m okay with her sticking around as the series’ antagonist. Her threat level seems to be increasing with each episode and we’re learning more and more about her in a way that builds up the lore and worldbuilding. I think that’s super cool and I don’t mind getting more of her now that it’s confirmed that she’s going after the other dragons. The world is clearly getting bigger and more expansive and if Opaline is our way of getting a bigger story, then I am all here for it.
If I had to knock down any points just to be fair, I’d say that the whole Twilight hologram plotline should’ve been resolved, with the rest of the secret message being heard. We seemed like we were going to get that and then it was just…forgotten about. Like what? I’m not mad, just confused. Maybe they’re saving it for Chapter 5. At this point, since alicorns can just…live forever as evidenced by how ancient Opaline is, just include Twilight in physical form already. Also, none of the episodes except for the final one hit me with the same emotions that “Portrait of a Princess” and “Ali-Conned” made me feel. Also, I didn’t come out with any story ideas this time. Maybe I will after watching “Bridlewoodstock,” but I kinda doubt it. “Winter Wishday” didn’t really give me anything save for a passing mention in Forgiven, so I doubt this one will give me any ideas either. For now, the Misty Saga is all I got, which is a shame as I want to make G5 stories a full time thing alongside the Lunar Literary Universe. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Announce the Misty Saga live-action remakes? I can’t do Misty’s redemption again as it’s already been done. Maybe I can show her adjusting to her new life with Sunny and the others? But that’s implying that she even left Opaline at all. The ending to “Missing The Mark” does leave it kinda ambiguous.
Heck at this point, I might as well announce the Opaline Saga or something. That’s literally all I’ve got considering the amount of time focused on her. The other episodes always gave me something to work with, no matter how small. These ones…these just didn’t do it for me. Now that’s not a bad thing at all, I mean there have been plenty of great MLP FIM episodes I’ve watched where my creative juices were left with squat. Not even a million squat. So I’m not saying that the episodes are bad because they didn’t give me anything to work with. I just think that it’s in that regard that those episodes succeeded where these ones didn’t, despite Chapter 4 being an improvement over Chapters 1-3.
So what does this mean? Well, Make Your Mark has won me over again, but I probably won’t be talking about Chapter 4 as much as the others. It’s definitely an improvement, but so much time has been devoted towards Opaline and Misty, but not enough towards the other characters. Misty’s arc is the main focus, which is outstanding, but it leaves me without many new ideas to explore and write about, nor to analyze. I can’t do Misty’s arc again, sooooooo…I’m sorry guys, I’m kinda stuck. I think it’s for the best that the Misty Saga will be ending in a “Flashpoint”-type continuity reset with “Izzy Moonbow: Beyond The Multiverse of Randomness” as I can’t milk it for a second arc. But Make Your Mark Chapter 4 is still great and I look forward to seeing how this series keeps getting better with every entry.
It’s time for the scores:
Make Your Mark Chapter 4: 8.75/10!!
With that being said, I shall see you all soon with the Epilogue to the now de-canonized The Fall of Opaline. Byeeeeee!!
Did anyone catch the name of the alicorn settlement that Opaline claimed to come from? I don't watch Netflix with subtitles, and I don't think a transcript has been made yet.
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It’s apparently called Sciros. Skyros? I don’t know how to spell it, but that’s what the settlement is called.
Edit: According to the official subtitles, it’s called Skyros. Thought so.
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Hmm. Not the most clever of names, but I can live with it. Thank you!
I do enjoyed it as well, and some moments in chapter 4 I can truly appreciate, I just hope that Misty can make up as the sixth member (gotta keep the balance after all.) and go on some of the adventures Sunny and the gang will be doing.
I am curious as to how this society of alicorns came to being, like why wasn't this brought up in G4? Is this some kind of secret tribe that Equestrian history forgot to mention or chose to omit?
Really exciting stuff as to what goes on in future chapters!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was much better than Chapter 2.
The Bridelwoodstock special started things off with a bang. I do enjoyed the overall plot and the music and the fact that the show finally moved out of Maretime Bay which was explicitly where Chapter 2 was set was a real treat. We're finally utilizing the other two locations as well. Also the two Bridelwood episodes both brought back my favorite background pony, Onyx and I'm always happy to see her.
In "Top Remodel", I gotta admit, I was pretty gutted when Sprout turned out to be still an obnoxious jerk. I guess some things - or ponies - never change. But appreciated the call back to Canterlogic even though I was surprised it shut down. You'd figure it would now manufacture products for all three pony kinds.
I absolutely adore the relationship between Haven and Alphabittle. When Haven failed to show up for her daughters' breakfast in the Jinxie Games, I already had a suspicion he was involved and honestly, I really love how they're portraying their developing romance with these short and sweet scenes. Especially in the Manesqarade Ball.
The weakest part I feel was "A Little Horse". Not only was it a rehash of the TYT episode "A Day in the Life", but there was also not much happening in it. And it was the last episode before the finale. As it went on, I just wanted it to be over so we could get to the showdown in the final episode and halfway through, I was honestly considering just skipping it.
And I already discussed my thoughts on the finale in your previous post. Overall, I'd say it was an excellent chapter.
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I wholeheartedly agree. This was definitely a massive improvement for the series. I may not have come out of it with any story ideas, but that’s okay. The addition to the lore was fantastic, the fact that Opaline actually does something is so cool to see, Misty’s redemption was awesome, the lessons are still amazing, so on and so forth. And since I’ve made peace with the fact that Opaline is sticking around, you won’t hear any complaints from me on that end anymore.
Also, I don’t see Sprout as having ever been reformed, so it wasn’t a gut punch to me at all when he turned out to still be an obnoxious jerk. The only thing he was most likely sorry for was destroying Sunny’s lighthouse judging by his facial expressions in the speech scene. But causing chaos and mayhem? Nah nah nah. You can’t convince me that he was ever sorry for any of that. In the very next scene he’s like “Mommy, was I a good sheriff?” No “I’m sorry” or “My bad” or anything like that. He never changed one bit, which is probably why he got community service in Chapter 2, let’s be real.
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Yeah. It's probably just wishful thinking on my part about Sprout. I actually never thought he was doing community service, I thought he was just given a janitor job or something like that at his mom's factory, but I guess this episode ruled that out.
To be honest, I scrapped my original plan and ended up watching the whole thing. I knew I was kidding myself
I can definitely agree that this was better than Chapter 2. Probably with the exception of The Jinxie Games, every episode was a joy to watch, especially Bridlewoodstock. It was nice to see the return of the old Canterlogic factory, and more focus on secondary characters like Queen Haven, Alphabittle, Jazz, Rocky & Sprout.
And for a single 20 minute episode, I think they handled that final episode pretty well. Much better than Magical Mystery Cure, I'd say. And yes, I saw some of the similarities to Worthless too!
Admittedly, it did seem a bit weird how the Mane 5 just walked out after Sunny defeated Opaline. And any truth about Opaline being able to give Misty a cutie mark was basically left up in the air once she actually got it. And Misty didn't even seem to cut ties with Opaline at the end either. Although if that's true, then I think it sets up a good plot for the next chapter. If Opaline still believes Misty is allied with her, then Misty will be able to pass on information to the Mane 5 so they'll know what her next move is.
Chapter 4 was well worth the wait. I can't wait to see what's next!
You know how the background premise of G5 is that every lesson the Mane 6 ever taught in friendship and bringing all the different races together was completely forgotten and everyone separated again?
I actually think that makes the G5 ponies seem even more human than the ponies of all the previous generations.