My Review of MLP: FIM season 8 episode 21 A Rockhoof and a Hard Place · 9:37pm Nov 25th, 2023
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another MLP episode review for today. This evening, I will be reviewing the twenty-first episode of season 8 entitled “A Rockhoof and a Hard Place”. This was a very interesting episode to re-watch, and it managed to pull off a daring yet intriguing premise that explores an overall bland character and made him into a somewhat less bland character.
This episode starts with Rockhoof trying to help Professor Fossil by digging up a relic from the ground, but the latter stopped him from doing so. She informs him that this is for the preservation thereof and they must be treated with utmost carefulness. Another item he used to play with eons ago is now used only for a museum. Unfortunately, Rockhoof simply couldn’t help himself as everything he literally touches crumbles.
Afterwards, she takes him to Twilight as there may be a chance he can somehow fit into the modern world. The latter appoints him as a new teacher at the School of Friendship, and everyone seems to like him so far. But then as he tells one of his stories to the class, he ends up breaking everything around him.
I actually appreciate the fact that Kaita Mpambara gave Rockhoof a personality and made him a relatable character. There are a lot of people who are struggling to fit in to society for many different reasons; they feel isolated, lonely, and hopeless because they feel like they don’t belong anywhere in this world. The fact that they’re tackling this issue in a kid’s show is very admirable because people need to realize that they aren’t alone and unnoticed.
Additionally, despite the fact that I despise the Pillars due to how overall useless and boring they are, Rockhoof is the only one among them I hate a lot less…thanks to this episode. I still don’t find him interesting, but at least he’s the only one out of them all who had a story to tell—literally.
But if there were some things I didn’t like about this episode, it would be two things. One, the other Pillars weren’t of much help to Rockhoof. Actually, now that I think about it, shouldn’t these guys have stories to tell as well? They’re supposed to be the ancient Pillars of Equestria, yet Rockhoof is the only one who was passionate enough to tell tales of ancient history?? What about Starswirl? Isn’t he worthy enough to tell stories as well?
The other thing—and this is the more serious issue out of the two—is the way the writer tackled the topic of suicide. After Rockhoof failed to be of proper service to everyone he reached out, he asked Twilight to cast a spell on him that would turn him to stone so he can be displayed in a museum. When that happened, I was just as surprised as Twilight.
But when word got out, Yona convinced him that he was their dear friend and they loved his stories regardless of his weird personality. So he changed his mind and told more stories before the entire school, much to Twilight’s joy. So at the end, he finally realized and accepted his new place in the modern world: the official Keeper of Tales.
Yeah, the way he eventually shook off his sense of worthlessness was a little too quick which somewhat downplays the realistic nature of suicide. That should never be taken lightly under any circumstance. For anyone who is feeling suicidal, please seek professional help and talk to someone immediately.
Other than that, this was a pretty good episode. I will give this a solid B-! So out of all the three episodes Kaita wrote for this show, “Horse Play” is my favorite one. This one is more middle ground for me. The only episode she wrote that was legitimately horrible was “2, 4, 6, Greaaat.” How on earth did she manage to write the best episode of season 8 yet write one of the worst episodes of season 9?!
She is one of the new writers of the show, and she almost made it! Either she hates Rainbow Dash, or she suffered from Hasbro’s awful management for the last two seasons. Either way, her talents could’ve been utilized better.
Peace out!
Well short, I do like the bonding moment between Yona and Rockhoof since I feel like that the two can relate to each other in someway.
I agree that this was one of the better episodes from Season 8. Heck, if it wasn’t for “A Rockhoof and a Hard Place”, I wouldn’t be classifying Rockhoof as one of my top three favorite Pillars of Old. I loved how the episode further fleshed his character, and it was nice to see what’s been going on with the rest of the Pillars (minus Starswirl) after returning from Limbo.