Friendship is Card Games: Family Trees · 12:03pm Oct 1st, 2023
A midseason two-parter, eh? It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how it plays out for them.
Ah, youthful innocence and joy in the still disenchanted Bridlewood. I’m sure Misty’s elders would’ve stamped that out in short order.
So, the entire Opaline storyline can be blamed on this single bunnicorn. (She might have found another foal in time, but still.)
Huh. A mysterious door in the side of a tree. Something tells me this one doesn’t lead to a bar.
A dream rather than a straight flashback means there’s the awkward question of how much different memories bled into one another, to say nothing of pure fabrication. Still, there’s probably a lot to take from this opening. And I’m still blaming that mutant for much of Misty’s life, especially now that bunnicorns are Magic canon.
“It felt so real. Like it’s happened before… or it’s going to.”
Wait, is Misty getting prophetic dreams? Her being the reincarnation of Celestia would be one of the most hilariously ironic possibilities out there. Though one doesn’t necessarily need that specific soul to be a prophet.
Also, I know the concealer would just rub off on her sheets, but Misty spending any time in Opaline’s castle with her mark exposed is a massive opsec risk.
Oh, we do have some changes in the opening with Misty’s new mane color, a much happier expression during her and Opaline’s bit, and actually showing up at the closing group shot.
I feel like the tortoise will have a much harder time jumping through that garland.
Pipp watching Bridlewoodstock footage provides a temporal touchstone that largely isn’t necessary, but is nice to have.
Did Sunny forget she was holding that skillet, or is she planning on fighting fire with stainless steel? Either way, that poor pancake.
Ah, herd mentality. The faintest whiff of danger and the prey instincts start bouncing about the echo chamber. And Pipp, bard that she is, goes for inspiring courage.
I half-expect that Izzy’s incantation actually would have done something if she’d finished it. I quarter-expect it would’ve been on par with Lina Inverse’s Dragon Slave. (And if you understood that reference, sit up straight. Your back isn’t as young as it used to be. 
)
Shout over the idiots to make yourself understood. Misty has taken some lessons from Opaline whether she knows it or not.
I do appreciate how the pegasi’s altitude is directly related to their fear.
Given her life, I’m surprised Misty can distinguish nightmares from her usual dreams. I’d figure it’s like that one guy who only stopped having heartburn when he joined the army and stopped eating his mother’s cooking. (“Help me, Doc, the fire went out!”)
Pipp enjoying dream analysis makes sense. I imagine a number of factoids bounced around the Canternet and ended up lodged in her brain. Zipp being the one to assume it was a prophetic vision feels like more of a leap. Would’ve been a good opportunity for Sunny to note records from Old Equestria rather than have her of all ponies act as the voice of skepticism. Mind you, assuming a shadowy, looming figure in Misty’s dreams is Opaline is entirely reasonable.
“Describe it to me. Don’t leave out any details.”
She just said it was an indistinct shadow.
I do appreciate how even the other characters are pushing Misty to abandon this insanely risky infiltration. Wanting to atone is one thing, but there are ways that don’t involve incineration.
“What’s going on with Sparky?”
The same thing that’s been going on with him since Opaline drained him. Where have you been, Sunny?
The Bridlewood having healing properties might actually explain why unicorns ended up settling there. A last-ditch effort to retain or restore their magic, perhaps? (It definitely seems like the kind of folklore that predates the tribes separating… or Izzy’s making things up to justify taking Misty there.)
“I’m expecting clear skies and smooth conditions” says the mare with no way of knowing that beyond the view outside the windshield.
“Thank moons for that!”
… How many of them? Words mean things, guys.
I do wish the writers retained some degree of Sunny’s sociological/historical curiosity, but no, it’s all smoothies all the time now that she’s reunited the tribes. Sigh.
Meanwhile, I expect Pipp to go two hours without foaming at the mouth for social media. At most.
We go from a flight over an uninterrupted forest canopy to the Marestream having already landed. I can only assume it crushed several trees in the process.
Izzy seeing her home as less a possession and more something for which she has temporary stewardship is perfectly her, but I doubt it’s indicative of the larger unicorn worldview. We really don’t have a good window into how unicorns have adapted to the new era; our main sources are both outcasts from wider Bridlewood society for one reason or another.
Ah. Of course, it’s possible that Izzy has acted as a role model as the rest of unicornkind leaves the doldrums. And goodness knows we saw other artists even during the movie. It’s just that it feels like the culture-spanning malaise is getting swept under the rug.
Hmm. That portrait Misty’s admiring may have wings… or that may just be an effect of the Van Gogh-esque flowing brushstrokes. Also, yeah, the alicorn of fire doesn’t exactly seem like the most prolific artist. Not in terms of long-lasting media, anyway.
I do appreciate Sunny pulling back on Zipp’s reins. Yes, Opaline is a pressing threat, but you can’t force people to recall suppressed childhood memories. Have some patience, miss detective.
Pipp’s hovering lotus position is somehow even more uncomfortable looking than Somnambula’s sitting one.
Yes, just drop the box of macarons three feet onto a hoof. That surely won’t crush any.
“When I don’t record it, I can really taste it!”
I have several questions and concerns.
Sparky isn’t hungry. This is serious.
… Did Sunny just snap off that Rupee-shaped bit of crystal? I get it, some shortcuts need to be taken, but these are still rocks.
Zipp. This is a living, thinking, feeling person, not an uncooperative piece of evidence.
Misty’s mark glowing when she uncovers memories just feels like they’re overusing the gimmick.
Zipp.
You know it’s bad when Sunny actually has to do something unrelated to fruit slurries.
Huh. Did the tea room’s sign always steam? It’s a nice touch.
Having been spoiled on a particular revelation (by official sources no less) it’s kind of ridiculous how they’re dancing around the subject of Alphabittle. I probably could have guessed by this point even without that music video.
A conic-section cup rolling straight bothers me more than it should.
“I just need to be here in case.”
And if I couldn’t have guessed before, I certainly could now.
And, of course, nopony thinks that the door in a dream might symbolic, or even just dream weirdness. (It likely won’t be either, but still.)
Funny how Misty and Sparky both have a tendency to make trees glow.
Don’t worry, Pipp, Zipp’s recording everything as it is.
Ah, the return of the breezies. Also, good to have Sunny acknowledge a bit of Old Equestria. Hitch subbing in for Fluttershy as an interpreter is a nice touch as well. Mind you, I can’t blame Zipp for being at least a little paranoid. It’s a reasonable reaction to the fae.
Especially when they offer “a special treat.” 
Also, looks like they lost the unplaceably Northern European accent at some point. (Also, “hundreds of moons” doesn’t mean much in terms of the gap between G4 and G5 when the Apple Family reunion happened every hundred. But this is definitely more in the “a long but unspecified amount of time” area of things.)
I do appreciate the breezies playing with Pipp’s phone. Nice touch.
I am deeply concerned about how many other ponies are following the main cast in to the lands of the fae.
Is that a zebra mask at one of the market stalls? It’s certainly too big for breezies.
Ah yes, magical secrets lost to ponykind for generations… like headphones, apparently.
There’s also the question of whether the breezies were impacted by the Ebb of Magic, or if they just avoided contact with Equestria until it passed.
Props to Alphabittle for handling the sudden appearance of fables well. Of course, the same could be said for his handling the return of magic.
Can Pipp not use her phone because of her insistence on mindfulness, or because she’s not getting reception on this side of the Hedge?
And there’s the catch of a faerie market. They don’t trade in the same currencies you do. You’re lucky if they trade it physical objects at all.
Again, happy to get my wish with a more historically oriented Sunny, even if it’s only in relation to her father.
Oh goodness, that’s the Bloodstone Scepter. Just, you know, without the actual bloodstone. That may prove useful for an ailing young dragon.
“Those fruits look out of this world!”
Possibly accurate. And Sunny laughing at her own terrible joke is admittedly adorable.
I do like how continued exposure to breezie speech seems to help ponies understand them. It’s just a matter of processing the higher speed… though credit to that sales-breezie for the written instructions. The specifics of a magical item are definitely the sort of thing where you don’t want any possibility of misunderstanding.
And the price for the key is reliving old trauma. Ouch.
Ah. Marks responding after a long separation. Interesting.
Also, Zipp not wanting to spread the word about the alicorn coming to conquer Equestria is… a choice. More resources can’t hurt there.
Ooh, interesting fossil. Though it looks like a fairly standard pterosaur of some persuasion. Possibly an early bird.
And yeah, this is what you get for blithely and blindly trusting the fae. Your friend gets lost in a nigh-infinite bazaar. On to Part 2.
“It is tricky to spot a unicorn in a market full of unicorns.”
Is Hitch saying they all look the same to him? If nothing else, Misty has a very distinctive mane.
Ah, confirmation that there’s no service in the Wishing Tree. Definitely another world.
Breezies are big believers in Clarke’s Third Law, apparently. The unfamiliar is magic enough for them.
Hmm. Seems Sparky’s more interested in a footprint than the title of dragonlord. To be fair, it’s not like his subjects would be able to do much right now.
Misty isn’t the only one having flashbacks… though given how Sparky hatched in Maretime Bay, I have a number of questions here.
Well. That was a suspiciously familiar purple dragon… It’s probably nothing.
“These don’t look magical or healing!”
Yes, Hitch, because you’ve demonstrated such encyclopedic understanding of dragon medicine before now. That being said, “the only cure is to get him back with his own kind” is… a choice.
“I always knew I’d have to say goodbye to him one day.”
Huh. Unexpectedly morbid turn, assuming Hitch is talking about different lifespans.
Seriously, why are there suddenly multiple moons in unicorn idioms now?
Misty’s guide flying into an arch on his way out of scene is a cute touch.
Zipp, you are one more question away from a muzzle.
“You found a cure for him?”
“Only a temporary one.”
How do you know that? Is there any indication that the fossil didn’t cure him completely? (The answer, of course, is “Because that’s what the writers have planned,” but there’s no way for the characters to know that at this juncture. They can suspect, but there’s zero confirmation at this time.)
Pan from Alphabittle, mark glowing, to Misty, mark glowing. Real subtle, guys.
Breezies breathing glitter is more than a little surreal.
I have several questions about that horseshoe-shaped gateway that seems to lead to a tunnel full of glowing fungi.
Okay, one of those plushies is literally just the Team Fortress 2 Balloonicorn. And another appears to be Lauren Faust’s pony OC.
Ah. They fixed the lighting on the fungus tunnel in this shot… which bodes ill for general quality control for this episode.
In all, that song sure was a way to fill a few minutes.
“The dragon fossil helped him, but I don’t think it was enough.”
I feel like some scenes got shuffled around without considering how the continuity might work out between them.
“Even if you don’t find what you’re looking for, well, we could be your family.”
Yeah, there was definitely some last-minute reshuffling in this script. We just had a musical number about that.
“I’ve always wanted another unicorn in the family.”
I feel like this says a lot about Izzy’s actual family situation, wacky comments about aunts and grandparents notwithstanding.
Now see, this is the kind of sacrificial atonement I can get behind for Misty… even if opening a door to the Dragonlands also runs the risk of reducing her to a carbon smear.
Heh. Hadn’t thought of it until the key dissolved, but one-use keys are very video-gamey. And yeah, stepping into the mystery vortex is definitely going to take a leap of faith. Especially because it’s not clear whether there’s any way back from the Dragonlands.
Sunny voluntelling Hitch to go first is a wonderful touch. Really sells the idea that these two are lifelong friends who would die for each other… if they don’t kill each other first.
I won’t lie, a tiny part of me was hoping they’d come out in the human world. Ah well, there’s always fan fiction.
The transition of the Dragonlands from volcanic hellscape to tropical paradise… actually kind of does make sense. With the dragons and volcanoes both dormant, then it would be an incredibly fertile area.
Here, the lack of service is definitely more a matter of physical distance. Also, likely confirmation that Equestria doesn’t have communication satellites.
“I can’t wait to get photos of a real adult dragon!”
Darwhinny Award winner says what?
“Does he know the way?”
Is… Is that a hecking Ugandan Knuckles reference? I really hope I’m reading too much into that.
Izzy senses that the local vibes are atrocious.
I don’t think those are statues, Sunny. I think those are horns.
The ponies are making a lot of assumptions about dragon family dynamics. To be fair, it’s not like they’re well-versed in other cultures, but still.
Even Izzy thinks a dragon’s cave is a bridge too far. Good to know she has some sense of self-preservation.
“They must have sensed the growing dragonfire power in Opaline.”
“You sound so sure.”
I know, right? MLP’s never had the hardest magic system i nthe wrold, but they’re really making it up as they go with Opaline.
Also, of course Opaline wants to conquer the world, Zipp. You’ve met her. How is this even remotely surprising?
Ah, the “Ash tries to leave Pikachu” story beat. A classic… or not. Though Hitch thinking he’ll have to let Sparky go one day is a headscratcher. What brought that on?
Okay, that’s definitely a statue. Also, I have to wonder just how long dragons have been active. Going by Opaline’s ominous statement from “Missing the Mark,” it’s possible they awoke and fled the hungry alicorn inside of a week.
Credit to Pipp. When she goes long enough without the Canternet, her brain starts working.
“And this one smells like ‘Canter Number 5.’”
I suppose “Pommel Number 5” would’ve been poking the bear again.
Well. Good to know the key is good for a round trip.
I do hope all of the ponies left before the Night Market closed. Especially since its hours are subject to the inscrutable whims of the fair folk.
“Who I used to belong to” is a really weird way of referring to one’s parents, but it does make sense given Misty’s relationship with Opaline.
Enchanted photos that cycle through a few different shots just seem like an effort to compress shots while denying the opportunity to really appreciate any of them. Seems like that one might have been a rejected prototype from the Sandwich Amusement Factory that got snatched up by the breezies.
“Wait a second. Alphabittle’s cutie mark was glowing today too…”
The greatest detective of Zephyr Heights, ladies and gentlemen.
“Alphabittle is your dad!?”
This is especially rich coming from Izzy, given how much speculation I’ve seen about him being her guardian.
Ah, a picture of young Misty that we’ve conveniently never seen before now despite being on display. Darn drama-sensitive perception filters.
“And I’m never losing you again.”
“About that. I need to go back to live with the evil alicorn who kind-of sort-of adopted me?”
“… You what?”
Never mind the tea kettle collection—though starting it before Misty was born does raise the question of her mother’s identity—I have questions about that book with Pipp’s cutie mark on the spine.
… Okay, the unicorn elders’ tea ceremony also raises questions.
“Nothing can dent my mood now.”
So Misty definitely hasn’t told Alphabittle about Opaline yet.
Huh. Not how I expected Rainbow Dash to make another appearance this generation.
In all, some fascinating stuff… though there is the question of why Misty keeps getting swept away by mist. And this may be some of the worst Zipp writing yet in terms of her recognizing other ponies as people rather than dialogue trees hiding event flags. Still, as far as encounters with the fae go, this one turned out quite well. Let’s see what I can get out of the bargain:
Acorn-Lantern Guide W
Creature — Pony Faerie Scout
Flying, vigilance
Breezies try to help more often than not. “Try” being the operative word.
1/1
Light the Path 1W
Sorcery — Adventure
Target creature gets +1/+2 and gains vigilance until end of turn. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)
Trail of Petals 1W
Enchantment
When Trail of Petals enters the battlefield, create a Food token. (It’s an artifact with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
Whenever you sacrifice a Food, return up to one target permanent you own to your hand.
Pipp always has an escape plan ready.
Wandering Bunnicorn 1W
Creature — Rabbit Unicorn
Flash
When Wandering Bunnicorn enters the battlefield during the declare attackers step, you may reselect which player or permanent target attacking creature is attacking. (It can’t attack its controller or its controller’s planeswalkers.)
2/1
Clarion Chorister 2WW
Creature — Pegasus Noble Bard
Flying
Inspire Courage — When Clarion Chorister enters the battlefield, other creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
There’s no room for fear when you have to remember the key changes.
2/3
Skillet Stalwart 3W
Creature — Pony Warrior
Celebration — At the beginning of combat on your turn, if two or more nonland permanents entered the battlefield under your control this turn, creatures you control gain first strike until end of turn.
Weaponized cooking utensils have a long and storied history among earth ponies.
3/2
Breezie Technophile 1U
Creature — Pony Faerie Rogue
Flying
(2u)(2u): Exchange control of Breezie Technophile and target artifact. Activate only as a sorcery.
Breezie merchants gladly trade in all manner of valuables, including themselves.
1/1
Glitterbreath Breezie 3U
Creature — Pony Faerie Wizard
Flying
Whenever Glitterbreath Breezie or another Faerie enters the battlefield under your control, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
2/3
Anomura, Hermit Queen 4U
Legendary Creature — Crab
Vigilance
When Anomura enters the battlefield, for as long as you control it, target noncreature artifact you control becomes an Equipment in addition to its other types and gains “Equipped creature has hexproof and gets +0/+X, where X is this artifact’s mana value.” Attach that artifact to Anomura.
3/3
Dream Analyst 4UU
Creature — Pegasus Advisor
Flying
When Dream Analyst enters the battlefield, draw a card for each tapped creature target opponent controls.
“Your teeth falling out is very common. Yes, and feathers.”
3/4
Ancestral Guidance 7U
Sorcery
This spell costs 2 less to cast for each creature you controlled that dealt combat damage to a player this turn.
Draw three cards.
Izzy showed Misty centuries of culture she’d never known about… and how to pick out the less depressing bits.
Breezie Night Market BB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you draw a card and lose 1 life.
At the beginning of each other player’s upkeep, that player draws a card and loses 2 life.
Everything, for everypony, at every price.
Dragoncave Bats 2B
Creature — Bat
Flying
1R: Dragoncave Bats gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
The ambient energies of the Dragonlands promote good health in dragons and unusual magic in everything else.
2/1
Never Seen Again 2BB
Sorcery
This spell has flash as long as you control a Faerie.
Destroy target creature. Its controller loses 3 life.
The breezies have learned many ways to ensure their safety and secrecy.
Looming Trauma 3B
Creature — Nightmare Horror
When Looming Trauma enters the battlefield, each opponent reveals their hand. Exile a nonland card from each of those hands until Looming Trauma leaves the battlefield.
The shadows of memory hide yet deeper darknesses.
3/2
Mycelial Tunnel 4BB
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If it was a Fungus card, create two 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens. Creatures you control gain menace and haste until end of turn.
There are always more spores.
Needlefang Protodrake 1R
Creature — Dinosaur Drake
Needlefang Protodrake has flying as long as it’s attacking.
Unearth 2R (2R: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
2/1
Flee from Opaline 2R
Sorcery
Up to three target creatures can’t block this turn.
Hoofcraft — If you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns, other creatures also can’t block this turn.
Even draconic courage has its limits.
Hunger for Glory 2R
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard two cards or a Dragon card.
Draw three cards.
“It’s great to see ponies enthusiastic to meet other thinking beings, but maybe we should start with, say, zebras?”
—Sunny Starscout
Unplugged Ascetic 2R
Creature — Pegasus Monk
Flying, haste
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, if that player controls fewer artifacts than each other player, they untap and gain control of Unplugged Ascetic.
The path to enlightenment has no charging stations.
2/2
Fossilized Clawprint 3R
Artifact
T: Add RR.
Whenever you cast a Dragon spell, untap Fossilized Clawprint. It becomes a 3/3 Dragon artifact creature with flying and haste until end of turn.
Dragon magic lives as long as dragons themselves.
Fossil Shopping G
Sorcery
Join forces — Starting with you, each player may pay any amount of mana. Each player returns X cards from their graveyard to their hand at random, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way. Exile Fossil Shopping.
Sacred Hospitality 1G
Enchantment
Each creature has hexproof and indestructible as long as it entered the battlefield this turn.
Alphabittle saw two options: He could ask dumb questions, or he could pour a cup of tea for the living fable.
Concealing Ivy 2G
Creature — Plant
Flash
When Concealing Ivy enters the battlefield, target permanent you control gains hexproof until end of turn.
Even in this interconnected era, the Bridlewood likes to maintain an air of mystery.
2/1
Bridlewood Branchtender 3GG
Creature — Unicorn Druid
Whenever you tap a Forest for mana, add an additional G.
When Bridlewood Branchtender dies, search your library for up to two Forest cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
“The land and the ponies are one.”
3/3
Bridlewood Ancient 4GG
Creature — Treefolk
Reach, trample
When Bridlewood Ancient dies, you may exile it from your graveyard. When you do, return any number of target nonland cards with total mana value 6 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
The oldest trees shed memories like leaves.
6/7
Salvaged Scepter 3
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each card exiled with Salvaged Scepter.
1, T: Exile target creature card from a graveyard.
3: Equipped creature gains all abilities of target card exiled with Salvaged Scepter until end of turn.
Equip 1
Bliss Quartz 5
Artifact
T: Add CC. You gain 2 life.
Traditional unicorn crystal healing methods go back as far as anypony can remember. With magic restored, healers have to deal with the new complication of the treatments actually doing something.
Painful Reminder 1BR
Sorcery
Until end of turn, each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard gains “Flashback — Pay X life, where X is this card’s mana value.” (You may cast that card for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Every new memory was like another kick to Misty’s gut.
Nostalgic Reunion 2RG
Sorcery
Discard all the cards in your hand, then draw that many cards. Return a card that wasn’t discarded this way from your graveyard to your hand.
Father and daughter embraced, and the years sloughed away.
Kindred Resonance 3BR
Enchantment
As Kindred Resonance enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Whenever a creature you control of the chosen type attacks, return up to one target creature card of that type from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking. Exile that creature at the beginning of the next end step.
Bigger on the Inside 3GU
Sorcery
Draw two cards. Then you may put a permanent card with mana value less than or equal to the number of cards in your hand onto the battlefield.
“All dimensions are relative. Some are the kind you don’t talk to at Hearth’s Warming.”
—Time Turner
Ominous Absence 4UB
Sorcery
Choose two creature types. Destroy all creatures of the first type. Return all creatures of the second type to their owners’ hands.
The Dragonlands were full of many wonders, but had a notable lack of their namesake.
Gate to Desire
Land — Gate
T: Add C.
2, T, Sacrifice Gate to Desire: Search your library for a basic land card or Gate card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
It doesn’t take you anywhere you want. Just the place you want most.
Now that would have been good comedy. I mean, we already know just how dangerous Izzy is without her magic (see her ability to fell trees with her horn at mach speed). Imagine if she had Lina's destructive potential.
There are? Don't tell the internet. The hive mind might not be happy.
Earth-pony magic? I d'know. I got nothing.
Because the show is written by people who consider "continuity," "coherence" and "consistency" bad words?
So much like humans and talking, according to Ford Prefect in HGTTG.
Terracotta seems like a logical medium. Especially with that one mythological army.
We've already established last week that her mother will murder the
out of Opaline at the first opportunity, but Zipp is heir apparent and thus has the same issues with Opaline's existence processed differently.
FoME, buddy, you already called them fae. This barely even scans compared to some of the stuff they get up to in the myths. Could I have your name?
It was a tad disruptive to suddenly drop in Misty and Alphabittle like this - Bridlewood seeming like a small, tight-knit community as it does, I would have thought that Izzy should have known Alphabittle's story all along. But Bridlewood's entire backstory lies in a magical haze, and I do like the two of them together, so whatever, it's fine.
But I did really like the Night Market. While I generally have thought that g5 leans too heavily on g4 lore, I like that they did something new and interesting with the Breezies, and for bonus points it harkens back to the same faerie mythology that brought us changelings.
All that said, my first instinct when they went to the Dragonlands and saw zero dragons was to assume the animators just don't have the budget to put animated dragons in the show
But I do maintain that the character animation has taken a step up in this chapter.
I know I'm supposed to feel sad because Sparky is sick, but I'm finding the character to be a lot less annoying like this.
When Sunny said "Go easy on her, Zipp," I genuinely hadn't realized that the previous line was meant to be intense interrogation rather than bland exposition. There are a lot of subdued performances in what is presumably meant to be a lively animated series.
True, but if it results in one fewer time that we have to hear "thank hoofness," I'll allow it.
I haven't been spoiled -- and as of the time I'm writing this sentence, I still don't know exactly how Alphabittle knows Misty, although I can guess -- but the writers' efforts to keep him from recognizing her are painfully obvious.
My immediate concern is that, even though G5 explicitly has some sort of not fully explained connection to G4, dragons have been reimagined/retconned to essentially be real-world dinosaurs. As evidenced by the fossils and lush yet unfamiliar plant life.
Well, it was nice to get something resembling an emotional journey for one of the characters, although I suspect I should have felt more emotions during Misty and Alphabittle's reunion. I don't know whether it was the writing or the acting or both, but "father reunites with his lost daughter after many, many years" should have been a bigger moment.
I have nothing against the (re-)introduction of the breezies, but it was disappointing that their only two traits were 1) talking funny and 2) being servile to ponies. I get that they were there solely to propel the plot forward, but it would have been nice if the episode hadn't been so obvious about not caring about the breezies beyond their ability to help the main cast.