My Review/Rant of MLP: FIM season 8 episodes 25-26 School Raze · 9:56pm Dec 20th, 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)
Hello, jesters. This is Mr. J back with my final review for MLP: FIM season 8! This afternoon, I will be reviewing the two-parter finale entitled: “School Raze”. Seeing that this was written by both Nicole Dubuc and Josh Haber respectively, I can already tell this is gonna end up in flames. Look, you have one of the worst writers of the show co-writing with a half-decent writer! What can possibly go wrong?
Anyway, this finale is absolute garbage; it was nonsensical from start to finish due to the fact that all logic and continuity were thrown right out the window. What better way to start this disaster by having the first part be written by someone who gave zero shits for continuity?
The first part begins with Cozy Glow taking care of everything with dedication and thoughtfulness. She even helped Twilight stay on schedule and attended her other duties ahead of time. Pretty decent start, huh? But as Rainbow Dash was presenting Cloudsdale to the students, with Starlight casting the spell to keep the clouds solid where they stand, the students began to fall down one by one. All their winged friends barely saved them from falling to their deaths, and Starlight realized that her magic was failing.
Hold up…shouldn’t Rainbow and the other Pegasi lose their magic too? Are we forgetting that Pegasi need their magic in order to fly and control the weather, as stated in “Twilight’s Kingdom”? If Nicole actually watched that finale, then she would’ve had Rainbow and the others lose their flight and had everyone fall to their deaths.
Moving on, Rainbow and Starlight inform Twilight about the incident, but the latter brushed it off while casually dissing Starlight for seemingly doing her spell wrong. But the moment her own magic failed too, Twilight became surprised. That’s called karma, honey. How does it feel, hm?
As everyone realizes the severity of the crises, Cozy suggests that Tirek may be the culprit despite the fact that he’s imprisoned in Tartarus. Then Spike shows a letter from Celestia that they are needed in Canterlot immediately. That’s where they learn more of the widespread loss of all magic across the entire land.
According to Starswirl, all magic will be lost within three days: the loss of unicorn magic on the first day, the loss of magical abilities on the second day, and the loss of all magic on the third day by sunset. I’m sorry but how in the hell did he came to that conclusion? Doesn’t he need magic in order to make such a prediction? He’s a unicorn, and since unicorn magic was nearly gone by the time they received his letter, he shouldn’t have been able to accurately deduce what will happen within the next three days.
Also, how come they said absolutely nothing about Pegasi magic or earth pony magic? Unicorns aren’t the only ponies who have magic, and once again, the writers forget that the season 4 finale perfectly outlines that they all have magic as well. How they managed to forget that, I have no clue.
Twilight and her friends plan their trip to Tartarus to interrogate Tirek, so they pack their stuff while Starlight becomes temporary head mare. Cozy tags along to help Starlight and strangely suggests in helping her with substitute duties. Then later on, Starlight disappears. Cozy explains that she had to go to help Twilight at the last minute and told Cozy to take charge in her absence.
Yeah, that totally doesn’t send any red flags at all. Nothing suspicious whatsoever. The Young Six are rightfully suspicious that she’s trying too hard to make them like her and are determined to find out what she’s up to. Then Cozy stumbles upon…Chancellor Neighsay in Twilight’s office who demands to know her location.
Furious that she apparently left to pursue adventures while Equestria is in danger, he decides to take over the school EEA style. He catches the Young Six spying on them and accused them of draining the land of its magic while he has no evidence to make that conclusion. Dude, are you serious? I just find it absurd that he would make such statements without any evidence to support those baseless claims.
I was honestly rooting for him since the beginning of the season, but now they are just forcing him to become even more unlikeable due to his speciesism. Sandbar decides to pretend to not like them anymore so he can escape and call for the CMC’s help, given that they’re friends with Cozy Glow.
Once Twilight and her friends enter Tartarus and find Tirek, they question him about the whereabouts of their magic. Tirek then gloats over their misery and is satisfied knowing that his protégé’s plan is working. Then he reveals the most unbelievable part of their cooperation: they are pen pals and have been communicating with each other via letters about draining all magic.
HUH??? WHAT??? First off, how in the fuck is that possible? Why the hell would Celestia allow mail ponies to deliver letters to and from Tartarus, knowing that a dangerous criminal is sitting there and could plot his escape by getting outside help?! And how exactly was he able to write letters to Cozy? He’s in a prison cell with no access to anything. Does he have pen and paper stacked somewhere? Does he have a pocket dimension in his ass somewhere?
We’re just told of these things, and they expect us to not question the plot poles and inconsistencies they throw at us?
Lastly, Tirek reveals the identity of his protégé: Cozy Glow. Wow! Shocker! And…why did Sandbar shout her name like that? Was he reading the script for dramatic effect? Anyway, he and the CMCs slide down the cavern where they see Starlight trapped in a magical ball where all the magic is stored by magical artifacts.
Cozy then declares her evil plan to send the magic into another realm as she hates the idea of the magic of friendship. Rather, she thinks that friendship is power. With all her enemies out of her way, she will become the Empress of Friendship.
To that I say……
Hey, idiot, I’m not sure if all the other idiots ever told you in class, but…YOU NEED MAGIC TO LIVE!!!!!!! Nicole, you are a clueless moron!! The season four finale clearly states that without magic, the weather won’t be moderated, the crops and fields won’t be attended to and will slowly die, and no one will be able to use magic to carry out their daily duties—such as raising the sun and moon!!
What a disastrous start to a finale. It has zero respect to continuity, and it is riddled with logical errors and inconsistencies. Surely, the second part can’t be worse, right? Let’s find out…
We’re now in part two. Tirek is overjoyed by seeing the Mane Six and Spike’s reaction to the Cozy Glow revelation and the fact that she outsmarted all of them. I genuinely don’t understand why Tirek is happy in this situation. Now that I think about it, why did he even give her those instructions to begin with?
Tirek is a self-absorbed, power-hungry villain who feels like it’s his right to absorb all magic for himself. The fact that he gave someone else the instructions and the knowledge of how to drain Equestria of all magic without gaining anything from it is a humongous character assassination.
Furthermore, if this was something he actually thought about and taught Cozy, then why didn’t he ever attempt it himself in season 4? Why couldn’t he just tell Cozy to transfer all magic directly to him as he could eat it all and break out of Tartarus? Why would they ever want to get rid of it all?
Hell, in the season 9 episode “Frenemies”, Tirek literally told her that removing all magic was excessive! THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF DOING IT??? What could Tirek have possibly gained in not taking any of that magic again? Seeking petty revenge against the Mane Six by trapping them in Tartarus with him is just dumb. Even worse, when Twilight retorted that he is trapped forever with them, that’s when he realized he didn’t think it through.
That’s another character assassination as well. Tirek always thinks things through, unlike Discord, and is considered to be one of—if not the most intelligent villain in the entire show. His IQ is on par with Bane from the DC Universe if you think about it. So for him to realize he stupidly brought this on himself is incredibly out of character for him. They brought back Tirek for no reason.
They didn’t even need to brink him back, and they showed no hesitation in ruining his character. And here I thought watering him down in season 9 was a bad idea…
The Mane Six run forward in an attempt to escape, but it was no use. Seeing that every other creature was losing magic as well, Twilight hatches an idea that will allow them to escape Tartarus and make it back to Ponyville on time. Pinkie coerces Tirek to help them out by annoying the heck out of him…which is expected of Pinkie to do.
Meanwhile, Neighsay has nearly taken over the School of Friendship and attempts to enforce his EEA doctrine on the students. But Cozy upstages him by twisting his words in order to turn the students against him. They chain him up on Twilight’s chair while Cozy escorts them out so she can taunt him further.
Cozy once again expresses her whimsical desire to gain power by gaining more friends than everyone. Two questions: one, I can understand how gaining power through popularity can often work, but…what’s the point if there is nothing appealing or interesting about Cozy to begin with?
A villain gains power through manipulation because he/she has something that justifies or supports his/her use of said manipulation. In other words, they need to have something that they can give to someone else in order for their persuasion to work. You cannot give what you don’t have. Otherwise, they have no reason to follow you or obey you. What does Cozy Glow have that would justify ponies in befriending her?
She’s a regular filly with no magical powers of her own; she’s practically harmless to everyone, so why should anyone be afraid of her? She’s only useful for her manipulative skills, but even they are useless if other people either see her for who she really is or if they just don’t care what a random filly says.
Let’s look at Scar from the original Lion King. Why was he so successful in gaslighting and manipulating everyone around him? Yes, he was a weaker lion than Mufasa, but because he was a part of a royal family and he had something he could give in return (food for both lion and hyena), he was able to achieve his selfish goals.
So by erasing all magic from Equestria, she practically will have nothing else to offer to any pony she “befriends”. Riches? Wealth? Nope. Royal power? Nope. She has nothing to offer them in return. Oh wait a minute…I forgot. THEY WILL ALL BE STARVING TO DEATH WITHIN A WEEK DUE TO THE LOSS OF MAGIC!
Her entire plan makes no sense whatsoever, and this whole finale proves that she is one of the worst villains in this whole series.
Now here is my second question: how in the hell is she still flying? I really hate repeating myself, but I’ll say it again anyway. Pegasi need magic in order to fly and control the weather, so the fact that she and other Pegasi can still fly somehow is a continuity error in and of itself.
Oh, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders did little to nothing in this whole finale. They managed to distract Cozy long enough for the Young Six to rescue Neighsay until the fillies got locked in a closet. That’s it?? That’s all they’re gonna contribute in this whole thing? They were the first ponies who met Cozy, and they got the short end of the stick. I almost forgot they were in this episode until the end.
The Young Six free the chancellor, and they attempt to save Starlight until Cozy and the students confronted them and falsely accused them of the crime. The Young Six try to fight off the students and then sacrifice themselves to save each other until they all got in the orb with Starlight. Then the vortex opens up to get rid of them forever.
The other students see this as an act of friendship and convince themselves to help out the Young Six, but Cozy coldly brushes it off as useless.
Uh, Cozy, you do realize that by showing your true colors, they will no longer support you, right?
Suddenly, because the plot demands a pure Deus Ex Machina, the Tree of Harmony helps out the students with its own magic and empowers them to move the artifacts carefully to bring back all the magic to Equestria.
Thus, Cozy is defeated, is exposed for who she is, and is now imprisoned in Tartarus. Did Cozy seriously expect to escape and hope to manipulate other people even without practicing the Elements of Harmony? Is she just stupid or did she forget she’s supposed to be smart and manipulative?
And Celestia and Luna thought it was a good idea to take her cell right next to Tirek. Sure, it’s not like they’re gonna plot their revenge or their escape or anything! Let’s keep them together ‘cause why not! They know they were in cahoots together, so shouldn’t they keep Cozy away from Tirek??
Wow, guys…this was an absolute disaster of a finale. This is the worst two-parter in this whole show by far; yes, it’s ten times worse than “The Ending of the End”, and that is saying something. This gets a devastating F! Horrible character assassinations, nonsensical plot holes, dumb inconsistencies, irritating characters, etc. Nicole Dubuc may have started the fire, but Josh Haber fed it with more gasoline.
That’s how you make a dumpster fire like this. It’s genuinely awful, I tell ya.
This season, as a whole, is mediocre at best. It has its best episodes and worse episodes, but most of the other episodes range from boring to decent. So overall, I will give this season a solid C.
Peace out.
It’s been years since I saw “School Raze”, but you commendably detailed every reason for why I’ve been having a hard time seeing the majority of Seasons 8 & 9 as officially canon in a nutshell. And with this being the Season 8 finale, I definitely agree that there were too many problems in its writing and direction.
Looking back, the only major draw-in for me was simply being able to see Tirek again. I always wanted to see a hero or more visit Tartarus to confront him over something, and it seemed like such a fun idea. In the case of “School Raze”, though…it was clearly done terribly, and the worst part is that Tirek wasn’t honorably portrayed throughout the whole thing!
Sweet jeebus, this two parter sounds like it sucks.
Now I do wonder what would happen if the show managed to keep consistent good writing and not constantly assassinate characters just for the plot.
Shame really.
Yeah, but how do you explain the setting of G5 where they don't have their magic for a long, long time until the G5 movie's events came out?
How the hell are they surviving for this long!!??
5759946
That's honestly something I've been wondering about as well.
5759946
Either they managed to create a spell that prevents any natural disaster from happening or…the writers simply abandoned that concept because they’re idiots.
Thing is, Cozy (despite her intelligence) is still a kid, so her plan was bound to be flawed. Not saying that this justifies the episode, just pointing it out.
5759948
Plus, it might've something to do with the magic not being permanently gone like Cozy tried to do?
Since Twilight did put all pony magic in those new Deus Ex Machina; "Unity Crystals"?
I just now realized that thinking about it, does this make Twilight a massive hypocrite? Since she is essentially doing what Tirek/Cozy Glow were doing, but for "selfless reasons" on her reasoning?
5759949
I get that, but it still doesn’t excuse her from being a terrible villain.
Chrysalis or Neighsay should’ve been the antagonist. I say Chrysalis because it would give her more time to shine, and Neighsay would work too because he’s had such a heavy presence in this season.
5759966
Yeah. On the bright side for some people, at least Neighsay saw the errors of his racist ways and redeemed himself at the end, especially making amends with the Young Six.
5759948
Maybe Equestria itself saw how ponies relied on magic too much and decided to use natural methods for them like the real world.
5759956
5759946
Considering G5’s overall poor writing quality, I’d say the latter.
5759968
Seriously? An interesting theory.