Friendship Is NOT Magic: Why Equestria's Collapse Was Inevitable · 7:35am Sep 3rd, 2023
Hello, everyone. I'm about to turn the entirety of the MLP fandom against me. 
I'm horrified at myself, too, but I have made an observation about G4 of our beloved pony series that has completely and utterly changed the way I see FiM and G5.
At the end of G4, also known as our beloved "Friendship is Magic" series, we were all heartbroken that the story of our dear Mane Six ponies was coming to a close. When G5 was announced, we all cheered with delight, only to discover - what's this? Equestria collapsed? Everypony hates each other and the tribes have separated? How?!
We were all in shock; some members of the fandom were so distraught that they still refuse to accept the existence of G5 as canon to the series, causing plenty of tensions in the fandom. To an extent, I can see why they would refuse to believe that everything they knew and loved was gone. The Royal Sisters, our wonderful princesses Celestia and Luna, left our beloved Princess Twilight in charge, and she had her Council with her friends to help her look after the country. All of Equestria's enemies have been dealt with. How could everything have spiralled that far downhill so quickly?
I know how, and it has been staring at us for all of this time.
Many of these issues have been raised by members of the fandom and laughed at by the fandom. Some serious stories have been written based on these points, too. However, as far as I'm aware, no-one has fully connected the dots, so here I am.
Time to ruin the show for you all.
First of all, we need to talk about Celestia. Equestria is a totalitarian dictatorship, an issue which was covered in a video by the now disgraced former fandom member Sawtooth Waves.1 In their video, they focused primarily on Twilight, but I want to talk about the state of affairs when Celestia was still Equestria’s primary leader.
Throughout FiM, Celestia holds absolute magical and political power over everypony. If anyone argues with what she says or believes she should have any less power than she has, well, we all know what happened to Luna. She was ignored for years; then, when she finally decided that gentle persuasion was not enough and that she would need force to show her sister the power imbalance between them, she was banished.2 We also saw, in the season 4 finale, after Celestia, Luna and Cadance gave their magic to Twilight,3 that the magic of the (then) four alicorns was equivalent to the magic of all of Equestria’s ponies, Discord,4 and whatever magic Tirek has himself in terms of its strength and potency.5 Even if we were to ignore Discord’s and Tirek’s magic, this means that Celestia's magical power would be equivalent to at least 25% of that of all of Equestria's ponies, which is not something that most sane creatures are going to want to end up in a fight with. How else has Celestia remained in power, practically unchallenged for who knows how many thousands of years?
Celestia is also somewhat of a hypocrite. She's horrified of invasions6 and makes out others to be the villains, but the Crystal Empire comes back, she gets a whole saviour complex (which is justified because of what King Sombra does, but still), she sends in Equestrian ponies to kick him off the throne7... and then she, the ruler of a whole other country, puts a lesser Equestrian princess on the throne and makes the Crystal Empire a part of Equestria8. She invaded another country and took it over, but somehow, because it's her, it's okay?
This is not mentioning her incompetence. We've seen the state her Royal Guard is in. The lack of Royal Guard defences or any kind of preparation for Nightmare Moon's return9 other than sending Twilight to Ponyville in the hopes of relying on her finding and using the Elements of Harmony; Chrysalis' invasions;10 11 Tirek breaking out of Tartarus because the only thing keeping him in there was a three-headed puppy dog who just randomly left because he wasn’t well-trained enough12... It's ridiculous.
Time to talk about Twilight. By Season 9, she’s been taught everything that Celestia wants her to know, and, judging by the above points, Celestia's idea of what Twilight will need to know as a ruler of a large country is not exactly the best for keeping the country stable. The ponies of Equestria can see, when Celestia and Luna announce their retirement, that Twilight is going to end up making exactly the same mistakes as Celestia. The only difference between the ruler and her mentor here is experience: Celestia has potentially a few thousand years' worth of it, while Twilight is very young. (Though some “canon” resources such as the Journal of the Two Sisters book suggest that pony ages are a little different to how human ages work, I’m going by the human age equivalent here and using a post from the MLP forums website.13 I agree with the cited post that she's about 19 at the start of FiM, and after the season 1 premiere,14 I’m fairly certain we only see two other Summer Sun Celebrations throughout the entire series,15 16 which would place her at being about 21 when she takes over from Celestia.) Twilight is also a bookworm who obviously isn't very streetwise and she has obviously lived a very sheltered life, thus why she lacks social skills at the start of FiM.17 She's not going to be able to reach everypony and relate to their experiences, or understand the full implications of her decisions on the rest of the population.
I know I’m supposed to unconditionally love the Mane Six and the Princesses, but I’m starting to worry for everypony else.
Now, for the social issues in Equestria. Firstly, it's quite obvious from the very start of FiM that a lot of ponies don't trust outsiders,18 and for good reason. Neighsay, for all his racism and being an a-hole, was technically correct that there's been a ton of invasions from other creatures, and the country needs to protect itself,19 but Twilight throws this out of the window,20 further causing ponies to distrust her as well as not trusting the probably harmless but still potentially dangerous creatures she's willingly inviting into the country.
This isn't mentioning the issues with social class in Equestria. I mentioned about Twilight being sheltered, and that's because she's started life and lived her whole life in the upper class of Canterlot.21 She's a princess in her own right. Her brother's a prince consort. She's the personal student of Celestia. Her parents live in Canterlot and are probably fairly wealthy - even if Twilight had a fully paid scholarship for her tutoring at Celestia's school, it's quite obvious that life in the capital of Equestria is a world away from life in Ponyville,22 Appleloosa23 and Starlight's village, Our Town24 even based on the appearances of those places. We also see the actual social class issue when Rarity goes to Canterlot.25 In fact, there are other examples in other Equestrian cities. Applejack goes to Manehattan, and her relatives, Aunt and Uncle Orange, seem to be a part of the Manehattan elite.26 This shows how easy it is for the ponies of Equestria to form judgements about each other and become divided.
Furthermore, at the end of Season 9, we see how easy it is for the pony tribes - the earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns - to become divided again,27 so much so that they flock to their own separate cities around Equestria and the windigos return.28
If you need more evidence that Equestria's social situation is not all that perfect, the
Season 7 episode "Fame and Misfortune" comes to mind.29
So, here we have a country that's being led by an incompetent dictator, who's about to give the crown to another just as incompetent dictator who's also more naive and less likely to immediately stamp out any arguments against her being in charge. In one-on-one magic duels, Twilight knows what she's doing, and with her friends she's practically unstoppable, but on her own with an army against her, potentially being led by Opaline? She's not going to win, and the Royal Guard is in shambles, so they won't be able to defend her. We have a country that's got so many social issues that its all-powerful but utterly incompetent leader Celestia is the only thing keeping it together, and she's now leaving the equation. What do we have? A
perfect storm, or else a house of cards that's on the brink of collapse. Unfortunately, despite the hard work of the Mane Six and others throughout the series, it looks like the fall of Equestria was inevitable.
Sources
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo0mgbYo4vM
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5IfhvbvJO0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggdr_KrZOaE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHE4_Ob2eYs
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoowtoEle14
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl3Qbei85BU
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO4pwSD0rtI
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNgLqm_o1P0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDBExPJtlzc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsUAlH8zI90
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmfnQuc8kZE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJr4lpvZABc
- https://mlpforums.com/blogs/entry/5526-how-old-are-the-mane-6/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3sBf3fd5hc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAQ0yL5vxb4
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZILT-qnbR8
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQEcix1KeL8
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wjhVGrvXlY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se5sfp4q9Jk
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxpj1yV0JYo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLReOCIHKDA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ3_8RtFK4U
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0553Z2f6B4Y
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUo2efFJohA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm0evHZMbJY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkGog2nHO2w
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucBv71Q0ng
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml2DI9oL95k
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLkPGZqEH34
- The original thread that inspired this post: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/50/the-writers-group/thread/523594/why-i-refuse-to-believe-g5-and-g4-are-in-the-same-canon-timeline-universe
Hopefully you can still enjoy the show after reading this…
~ Angel
Whoa, that's a good analysis.
I'd like to add my metaphorical two cents though, if that's not a problem, haha,
Firstly, we see in the comics (I forgot which issue, sadly), that Equestria is quite decentralised and get a glimpse into how regional leaders - in this case Mayor Mare - are elected. It is kind of implied that she used to be appointed by Celestia or some other higher organ of the Crown before taking part in the first democratic elections in Ponyville. This was mostly done by the initiative of the citizens, though, so it'd be hard to speculate that this process spread much outside of the town. However, they did have to get the idea from somewhere, and considering how isolated Equestria seems to be, I doubt they got it from abroad. But anyway, this entire section shows us two things: local regions of Equestria presumably have a lot of autonomy, but at the same time, Celestia is presumably able to intervene without bounds if what is going on does not please her. That is still totalitarianism, or at least authoritarianism, of course, but it's also quite a deadly combo if there are few state institutions to regulate such interventions, as it allows the country to break apart quite easily in the absence of strong, revered leadership.
And I believe that might've been what happened after Twilight took over. She was not surrounded by a cult of personality like Celestia, and while she presumably did develop some administrative skills over her years in power, allowing her to grow the country's "objective" strength (more development, maybe better Royal Guard in Gallus' time as the Captain), the underlying issues of the entire system remained. It's an obsolete government designed literally millennia earlier which only supports the social issues plaguing the country. It probably wouldn't take much for Equestria to fall, under the right circumstances.
That said, Opaline also had one more advantage - she's a pony, and an alicorn. It's not as easy as "use the Elemnts against her" this time, as doing so would probably create some controversy; that is highly assumptive however, considering we also had Cozy Glow.
But yeah, these are my thoughts about all this. Thanks for the interesting blog!
Honestly, everything you said is overly ridiculous, because I personally couldn’t comprehend what points you were trying to make.
Also, you are aware that there are several other reasons for why people don’t consider G5 to be in the same universe as G4, right? Such as the designs of the ponies?
I mean, surely you know of how different the hoof designs of the ponies in G5 are from the ponies of G4? Along with the G5 ponies’ cutie marks only being on one side of their flanks whereas the G4 ponies’ cutie marks are on both sides?
They've managed to develop phones in the future but haven't even developed at least black powder for defense
...
Classic Pony L
But their world doesn't work the same way ours does. And comparing it to reality is rediculous.
I dont know if you noticed, but that "lesser princess" put on the throne of the "empire of love" is the "Princess of love" and has a cutie mark of a certain crystal heart "powered by love" in said "empire of love" which means she is either a descendant, or a destined ruler of some kind chosen by the magic of their world.
Also, their are nobles that obviously hold some power in the realm.
5745028
I'm pretty sure the Bible doesn't support attempting to insult people just because you disagree with them, but okay, preacher. I'll entertain your opinion for a minute if it helps you sleep at night.
The point I was getting at was that there were three factors at play that could have contributed to the collapse of G4 Equestria: Celestia made a lot of mistakes that caused the population to distrust her; Twilight was taught by Celestia, so the public likely have the same distrust of her as they do of her mentor, but because Twilight is more naive it would be easier to lead a revolution against her; and that throughout FiM we see that ponies are very easily divided and prone to becoming hateful towards each other. Any one of those things could easily have caused Equestria to fall apart long before it did.
Moving on...
The hoof designs thing isn't really concrete enough to be used to say it's an entire AU, because in FiM there are ponies who have fur around their hooves.
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/afa1a8b6-ccb2-445a-a496-fadf431a9709/d6gmhhk-6ddd1429-fc03-42f0-bd7c-d5a9527942b5.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_1309,q_75,strp/mlp__big_macintosh_singing_by_maxmontezuma-d6gmhhk.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9hZmExYThiNi1jY2IyLTQ0NWEtYTQ5Ni1mYWRmNDMxYTk3MDkvZDZnbWhoay02ZGRkMTQyOS1mYzAzLTQyZjAtYmQ3Yy1kNWE5NTI3OTQyYjUucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQiLCJoZWlnaHQiOiI8PTEzMDkifV1dfQ.N5wcVeG9lkuFjMseVvvKiUyatZ283-lfHNke6JmzOh8
If we're ignoring the fact that FiM just had a much simpler art style and we're looking for an in-world explanation, it could be that during the time of FiM it was a less common genetic trait but that ponies ever so slightly evolved over the centuries so that the trait became more common.
As for the cutie marks thing, they take a lot of magic. What did Equestria not have for hundreds, or potentially thousands, of years? Magic. As with the previous point, if we're ignoring art style differences (and the G4 merchandise - I collected a bunch of those toys as a kid and I still have a whole ton of them, all of which show ponies as having a cutie mark on only one flank), there's still an in-world explanation. In my opinion, it makes sense that there either wasn't enough magic for a cutie mark to form on both flanks, or that ponies evolved out of it. Just my thoughts, though. Neither of us can physically force or threaten the other into agreeing with them, so if you still insist that something is wrong with my explanations of what is, at the end of a day, the lore behind a kids' show, maybe we can just agree to disagree and leave each other alone?
5745017
Thanks!
It never is. I like hearing other ideas. As long as people are being respectful, I'm all for hearing what you and everyone else has to say.
True. We also see in Season 5 (the episode where Diamond Tiara gets reformed and I think Pipsqueak becomes president of the school council or something?) that foals in Ponyville are taught what a democratic system is. Ponies do understand the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship, but for some reason the overall leader of their entire country is decided through the latter.
I think we see this at the end of Season 9 a bit, when all of the towns and cities are sealing themselves away from everypony else. Apart from the Mane Six, there wasn't an official organisation in place to prevent this from happening, and in Ponyville at least, Mayor Mare - an earth pony - was pretty much chosen by the population to be in charge of protecting the earth pony town.
Exactly what I was thinking. The system was designed in the early days of Equestria, and back then it probably worked to an extent, but it's outdated and reinforces issues that really needed to be fixed back during the time of Luna's thousand-year banishment.
Then again, Cozy became an alicorn through stealing magic, whereas Opaline probably earned her transformation, or perhaps she was born an alicorn - and maybe the Royal Sisters were too. When Flurry Heart is born, either Celestia or Luna makes the remark that she's the first alicorn to be born in Equestria, but from what little I've heard (since I no longer have Netflix but I don't want to spoil the series for myself), in Make Your Mark it's hinted at that the Sisters and Opaline came from an island outside of Equestria. So, there could still be a fair bit of controversy. Plus, the physical Elements of Harmony no longer exist, so that's something else that the Mane Six would have to contend with.
5745051
If I had a pound for every time someone on this site called me or something I said "ridiculous" today, I'd have £2. It's not much money, but it's kind of funny it happened twice.
For clarification on the whole "lesser princess" thing, what I mean is that she's obviously not as powerful as Celestia or Luna when it comes down to magic, and although in theory she's the eldest and has been a princess for longer, so she should be the heir after Celestia and Luna retire, the crown is passed down to Twilight. The line of succession skips past her, which suggests that she has less political power than Twilight, too.
Also, regarding destiny, royal titles and cutie marks, Cadance helped save the Crystal Empire from Sombra, and perhaps her cutie mark was meant to symbolise that rather than her becoming the Empire's new leader. Other than a few coincidences, she had no claim to the throne of the Empire. Perhaps she could've been a descendant of somepony who was a leader of the Crystal Empire, but I'm fairly certain it's canon that she's adopted because she was abandoned as a filly, so we were never told who her biological family are. Plus, in the book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, there is a necklace with a small blue heart-shaped crystal on it, bearing a lot of resemblance to the Crystal Heart, which was once owned by an enchantress whom Cadance defeated. Her cutie mark could, for all we know, be everything to do with that and nothing to do with the Crystal Empire at all, and it may just be that Celestia - and we, the audience - misinterpreted it.
5745028
This is the most nonsensical counter I can think of. By this logic, every Star Wars show with the slightest difference in art style is in an alternare universe. The design of G5 has absolutely nothing to do with whether it's in the same universe as G4.
Also, there's absolutely no reason at all to be rude like this. If you have a counter-argument based on evidence, then share it. Otherwise, don't post.
5745051
Another thing I neglected to mention in my first comment, in response to you saying that comparing G4 to reality is ridiculous, is that the show contains a noticeable amount of metaphors for reality. Let's see which real-world issues the show references... Colonialism; racism; slavery; religious discrimination in the form of how Zecora is treated in Season 1; mental health, including discussions around depression, self-harm and psychotic episodes; love and marriage; war; existentialism; coming of age... need I go on?
5745052
I have two questions: First of all, how much power do they actually hold? Second, do they think there should be a democracy, or do they prefer a system with Celestia (or Twilight) in charge?
5745058
I’m a human being, just like you. Not a saint. But, you are correct that I should never insult others or put them down. Then again, insulting and putting others down is something everyone shouldn’t do, not just one group of people.
I remember another fan or more saying just about the same thing in the past.
I don’t believe in evolution. I don’t think it’s real or that it provides a logical explanation for the differences in hoof designs. Then again, when you brought up Big Mac and other ponies having similar designs to G5 characters, it occurred to me that it seems to be limited to a small percentage of stallions, mainly ones that are larger compared to others. The mares of FiM never had such designs, even the big ones.
Also, I really don’t recall cutie marks ever being formed by just magic. I remember that magic was part of having a cutie mark, but I’m pretty sure it’s also a part of pony DNA. It just doesn’t seem logical for ponies to for some reason not have their cutie marks on both flanks instead of one.
Admittedly, part of why I voiced my disagreement is because I’m very anti-G5. I particularly consider Hasbro’s decision to try making it part of the same universe as G4 a mistake, because even when G5 media and various people try to explain how the two series are connected, everything only seemed to get more confusing and incomprehensible to me. Not to mention the qualities of its storytelling and animation styles were generally poor, the characters weren’t ones I particularly cared for, and the visual inconsistencies were too apparent.
I don’t care whether people consider “My Little Pony” a kids’ show or not. There’s never an excuse for poor quality.
5745064
Different franchise. Different rules.
Of course it does. And evolution is not the answer, because it’s not real to begin with.
On top of this, when it comes to programs and fandoms, “evidence” on these sort of things hardly matter. Only opinions and perceptions.
5745067
I apologise if I'm being stupid here, which is definitely a possibility, but I don't really understand this sentiment. Is there any statement regarding this, official statement, I mean? If not, why would you assume that these are "the rules" for My Little Pony? It's been stated multiple times by the creators that G5 is a sequel to the G4 we all know and love. If they want to make it an alternate universe in the future, I'm sure they will drop something about it in the show or on their social media or wherever, really. It's absolutely fine to have headcanons of course, but the official continuinty is what it is, at least for now.
I'm not the biggest fan of G5 either; I like it, but not as much as G4. Still, I do have to accept that it's the same continuity.
Again, I might be being stupid, but... why? It's just a redesign. If we want to be analytical purists, then sure, we can say that it's somewhat of a "clue", but that's pointless, really, especially since we can also come up with a bunch of other explanations, most of them probably relating to magic.
It is indeed not the answer, because evolution takes millions of years to take effect, and I somehow doubt that's how long the timeskip between G4 and G5 is. It is very real though, and I'm down to discussing that if you would ever want to, but I doubt either of us wants to argue. But even if it wasn't real though... this isn't our world we're talking about. Different world, different rules.
5745066
Dear God or whoever's out there, and dear Man Undercover, I'm sorry I had an emotional response to an unprovoked insult that was directed at myself and my hard work. Please forgive me for my many severe sins.
Can you show me any evidence other than the Bible to prove that evolution is not real?
As I've said before, it could just be a difference in art style.
Having a horn is a part of a unicorn's DNA but that doesn't mean the magic channelled by said unicorn horn always works. Without enough magic, unicorns can only cast basic spells, or in extreme cases, no spells at all. The cutie mark appears partially due to DNA and partially due to a pony's magic, but if the magical component isn't there it won't work properly, and in this case, that means that a cutie mark will probably only appear on one flank.
You can dislike G5 and not insult people who like it, though.
I'll try and explain my blog a bit more. The vast majority of the points I made in the actual blog were in-jokes from the fandom that I decided to view through a more serious lens, for the sake of comparing them to human civilisations and politics. My findings were that Equestria in G4 had a lot of political and social issues similar to those faced by countries just prior to major political changes such as revolutions and civil wars. A corrupt, incompetent but all-powerful leader? An enormous social class divide? We could be talking about France or Russia before their respective revolutions here. Racial divides, too? I'm pretty sure race played a significant part in the American Civil War. The English Civil War was caused by a lack of trust in the monarchy, and the ponies of G4 Equestria had plenty of reasons not to trust their monarchy, which I discussed in the blog itself. There are enough similarities to not one, but many major political events on Earth throughout recorded history for it to be considered more than just a coincidence.
I'll address these two parts separately.
Lack of quality in terms of storytelling? I really don't know what you're talking about. The special at the start of Make Your Mark was nothing amazing, sure, but the movie was great in my opinion, and from what I've heard, after the first blunders in Make Your Mark it got better.
As for poor quality animation? The movie was stunning. Make Your Mark's first chapter was a bit of a shock in terms of loss of quality, but for me, the later clips of Make Your Mark are back to looking amazing. Tell Your Tale looks like the best of both worlds between FiM and Pony Life, and I like it. I love the fact that we have CGI ponies now, and the 2D animation is the best we can get after the loss of Adobe Flash and all the software that relied on it so heavily.
I thought they all had stories to tell, but okay. You're entitled to an opinion.
The art style used to portray a story does not affect which universe the story takes place in.
I really don't see how G5 is "poor quality." They upgraded the animation to CGI. Rather than trying to be both a silly innocent show and a show full of deep lore and storytelling at the same time, G5 gave us two shows, one of them being for the cute fluff and innocent stuff, and the other being for the storytelling and lore, so people could pick and choose what they were more interested in or enjoy both without everything getting too complex and nothing feeling complete. We've been given a gift in that Hasbro continued the MLP franchise at all, let alone that we've had a movie, a special or two and several seasons of two shows already. So much work has gone into making G5, and from where I stand, dismissing it as being "poor quality" is pretty ignorant of the effort that's actually gone into bringing a new era of our beloved pony universe to life.
5745062
Good reference, Love that. Loved it what MatPat used it too.
Look, I'm not calling what you are saying rediculous directly, I watch game theory FFS, and i didnt mean to get involved except for a short comment but it seems i screwed that comment up. But I'm talking about the the fact that reality and conventional logic is being applied to a cartoon where its mostly speculation in a universe where Magic dictates much of what happens and, even in at least some way, who someone is. It's still mostly logic, reality, and theory being applied to a cartoon/game. As far as I can see this is simply one way of viewing all this and I'm not here to take a stance on it. You can give it all the facts you want as to why it makes sense. It still ruins much of the fun.
All this is fair, but honestly, I dislike G5 for other reasons. I just don't find it to be enjoyable in the end. And I personally believe the reason it was set up to be the way it is is so they can rehash the same mesages as G4 AND play it safe by keeping G4 as cannon because they were concerned about the people that people wouldn't like it if G4 wasn't around anymore.
5745071
Did I miss something? Why is the Bible being brought up? And what insult was said? All I saw from him was "this is overly rediculous" which it entirely subject to opinion and I do not see it as very insulting, it is simply a statement. I MUST have missed something...
5745071
You’re right about that, and I’m sorry if that’s what I was doing.
That’s exactly what I’ve noted with G5. Everything you described Twilight as in terms of being the new ruler is basically how I felt about Sunny Starscout as an alicorn and leader, and what you commented on about Celestia is just about what Queen Haven, Phyllis, and Alphabittle are.
For me, the prime reasons as to why I wasn’t particularly fond of MLP: ANG’s overall story is because it lacked originality and actual human-inspiration. Its concept was too similar to Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon”, and it felt like the movie was also copying aspects of other Disney movies with uninspired and messy results. Compared to Raya, the themes and morals of MLP: ANG were executed in a way that seemed more reminiscent of a political lecturing. One that went on and on without really coming to a point.
I haven’t seen Make Your Mark in full yet because I’m currently waiting for it to conclude production before making my inevitable review, but from the clips alone…it seems like it lived up to my theory of the film’s generic aspects rubbing off on it. Same with Tell Your Tale, which I’ve seen in full.
The film’s animation style, for me, made everything look like an over-extended and cheap toy commercial. It didn’t translate as well as I hoped it would, and it seemed like the animators weren’t even giving their all. Make Your Mark’s animation was very much the same, but with a cheaper look. And Tell Your Tale…well, the overall animation quality of that show was cringy and had too much of a “Teen Titans Go!”-look.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t what it looked like to me. Everything about G5 has so far felt like it was done for profit-purposes only, and while I am grateful that Hasbro is continuing the MLP franchise in general through whatever way possible, how they went about it ultimately resulted in a series that lacked any sense of passion and creativity.
But, that’s just my opinion.
5745069
Except for one thing:
Hasbro has frequently contradicted itself in the past with whatever statements they make. An example coming from “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”. The creators keep saying that it’s a prequel to the films by Michael Bay, but there are aspects it contains that’d openly contradict the statements, such as Unicron being a planet destroyer instead of the Earth as revealed in “The Last Knight”.
5745081
I’m glad that someone around here sees that I’m not insulting anyone, and that I was merely expressing my opinion.
5745086
I think tensions are just high, this is a sore subject, and people are having emotional responses and maybe don't see that the way they are saying things could be taken the wrong way.
5745084
That is true, however in this case, I'd say it's more than just a statement; this is basically the entire premise of G5 at its core. Episodes also feature a flashback to Twilight Sparkle as well as the Royal Sisters. I really don't see much to support it being in some kind of a parallel universe, except for a few select inconsistencies we can indeed focus on if we are to be analytical purists. But to be honest, there were a bunch of inconsistencies within G4 alone as well, and there is little point to doing that.
At this point, there is little point in arguing, I think. It is possible to justify either explanation, at least to a degree, and hence headcanons are being created, but I personally prefer to go off of what is official at the moment. And right now, whether it changes in the future or not, G5 is stated to be a continuation of G4.
5745058
I think you could have made a way better response than this. His response could have been better as well, but as a third party observer, this whole thing is unnecessary and is being handled in a way that's just escalating emotional responses.
5745092
I can see where you’re coming from, but still…there are things about G5 that make the idea of it being a direct continuation of G4 less than believable.
As for G4 having inconsistencies of its own, I really don’t recall it having such. Everything seemed to be firmly in place with the overall lore, world building, and continuity. The only exceptions I can really think of come from the majority of the G4 comics; along with the 8th & 9th seasons admittedly having reasons for their place in the continuity being questionable, which I believe had a lot to do with newcomer Nicole Dubuc helming the two seasons.
5745092
And some people just don't like G5.
Yes, it IS its premise, and that's part of the reason why some don't like it.
5745092
5745095
Both have some inconsistencies, but I'm pretty sure that's mostly the result of the fact there are multiple writers for the show.
5745096
Well, of course. And they have the right to think that. The only thing I'm saying is that this is the official state of the franchise right now; whether we like it or not is a completely separate matter. I myself think that one of G5's weakest aspects would be how it is linked to G4, honestly, at least so far.
5745097
Well, like I said, I didn’t think Seasons 1-7 carried any kind of inconsistency with each other even when the writing staff changed. Each new writer for those seasons showed that they were passionate for the show and wanted to be as faithful to the continuity as possible.
When newcomer Nicole Dubuc became head writer and story editor for Seasons 8 & 9, though…everything went downhill. Especially in terms of continuity and faithfulness.
5745099
I didn't want it to be linked to G5 honestly.
I KNEW something like this was gonna happen and ruin the magic. And maybe even divide the comunity.
I wanted G5 to renew some of the love for MLP and maybe bring some fans back... instead: 2 writers I loved left, and one that stayed canceled his story.
I understand if some people like G5 and/or want to defend it's direction.
But this is a magical world where anything could have happened but reality comes crashing down instead.
And in my opinion, defeating the purpose of it all for many people including myself.
I know that the point of discussion is to share views on the POSSIBILITY of G5...
But I still think G4 lore did not ABSOLUTELY lead here... G5 lore is what it is, and it has some factual support... but this did not HAVE to happen this way, and it leading here hs irreparably damaged G4.
And now it FEELS like pessimists and and some realists come to disect it's corpse before its even actually dead. Putting the final nail in G4's coffin.
but maybe im the one just ruining someone else's blog about lore...
have a great day everyone!
Wow, I wasn't lying when I said I was turning people against me just by posting this here
For the sake of mine and everyone's sanity, I'm not going to keep on responding to comments here. Some people may enjoy internet drama and lurking in every comment section of anything they don't like in order to cause more trouble - I'm not accusing anyone of anything, just saying it happens sometimes - but that person isn't me. I was just trying to come up with a hypothesis to make sense of the link between the two series, and it seems like that's obviously something I shouldn't be doing in my own blogs. My mistake. I'll learn from it next time.
Right, I'm leaving now, to go outside, get some fresh air and touch grass. I need to clear my head after reading through all the comments.
~ Angel
5745149
Completely disagree. You're free to post whatever you want on your blogs, especially if it's something like this which required effort and sources.
Next time, just don't respond to every comment. You're not obligated to respond to your commenters, especially if they make you mad.
5745152
I mean... true. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks
5745155
Deep is a super cool person with great advice and a very level head. When I was around more before I fell into depression I used to hang out in his blogs and just talk and chill, he and a few othera helped me get over my posting anxiety... yes, I used to be afraid to comment in blogs and post my own.
If you're not following him yet, I recommend changing that.
5745149
It's not you, it's the nature of sensitive discussion. You must accept it for what it is and remember that the important part succeeded. It's not like people were calling others out for a pistol duel at noon or anything... people share their opinions and move on. Some people do it better than others.
I SUCK at sharing my opinion and discussing things because I'm a sad lonely socially inept moron. But I will still try. Never give up!
5745169
Deep and I have known each other for years now. We started off trolling each other and it turned into a genuine friendship - although there is still plenty of trolling in said friendship, of course.
I guess so. I didn't think of it that way, to be honest.
You and me both.
Thanks, and you too. I mean, surely at some point if I keep failing at social interactions I'll eventually get the hang of it and learn how to not fail at them?
5745169
Dude, you legit made me smile. Thanks!!
You're pretty cool too.
The nature of online discussion itself is rightfully rough for many people emotionally. In person, you can discuss opinions with your own friend group, which is small and made up of people you know. But online... you can have an endless amount of strangers who pop in at any time. And the more emotional they are, the more likely they are to pop in. Most people are not meant for that, and it's not their fault. So please don't call yourself sad and socially inept for this. It's an unfair metric.
I’ve never been super into the show itself, so I’m not as affected by theories like this; if anything, I find them extremely fascinating.
Funnily enough, I’ve been privately developing a character that has a deep-seated grudge against Celestia for reasons unrelated to her rule, and by extension, a deep distrust of Equestria.
5745344
Okay, you've said too much. I need a story now XD
Hey, you're not turning me against you. I can see where you're coming from although the term dictator for Celestia does kind of bother me. Dictators don't care about their citizens at all (Putin (allegedly elected), Kim Jong Un (birthright) for example). She does however have absolute power and that can be problematic. I can see where you're coming from with the Crystal Empire and i personally think her putting a Crystal Pony in power there would have been far better. What she did with the C.E. was turn it into a puppet state of Equestria, just as Belarus is for Russia.
Regarding their incompetency, 100% true. When was the last time they did something to protect national security, turning Discord to stone? Of course Celestia "saved" Equestria from Nightmare Moon although one thing we must remember is that she tried to kill Celestia so that could be seen as an act of self-defense. Once Twilight came along and she sent her to Ponyville, it was up to her protege and her friends to do her job for her.
Regarding Twilight, I do agree that she lived a rather sheltered life and had no real life experience when she took over. Yes she and her friends used the Elements and friendship to defeat Equestria's villains but what about after her friends passed? That was all gone and Twi certainly couldn't handle the likes of Opaline without wicked powerful magic and take everypony's magic....which had its own bad side. Distrust returned, they all accused one another of taking their magic and of course they had to have turned on Twilight for not being able to do anything about it (although in reality it would be REFUSING to do so), they just didn't know she was the magic thief.
My guess is that there was a coup that resulted in her ultimately being assassinated by furious unicorns who ultimately blamed her for not being able to restore their magic....unicorns did suffer the most without it....of course then unicorns fled into isolation which allowed the pegasi to take over Canterlot and build ZH over it.
This does prove one thing, relying on the "magic of friendship" does not work, especially when a sheltered pony with almost zero life experience is put on the throne. I know I'll likely anger some by saying this but Equestria's system was always vulnerable, especially given it had no actual military. I'm not saying that any other kind of government would work any better because it wouldn't. Every nation is doomed to die, it was simply Equestria's lack of national defense and incompetent leadership that led to its downfall.
as a meber of the Equestrian Intellijence ajency i say this is a ineresting theory
please come with us, do not resist