The episode. [Spoilers] · 8:25pm Feb 16th, 2013
Edit: Sorry about that. My laptop doesn't like me.
So let's start the controversy. *sighs and steeples his fingers* Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be fine. I wish I could tell you I have faith in MA Larson, or that I was giddy about the episode.
All of those things would be lies if I told them to you.
If I had to summarize this episode into two words, it would be "Rushed Musical". It was so fast that I tried to piece things together, I had to go back and re-watch just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and just missing stuff. Things were bouncing all over the place for me, and it honestly seemed like pretty horrible pacing. Like, worse than the Discord ep.
Believe me, all wasn't bad. I got some laughs out of the episode. Rainbow in the cauldron with the animals marching around waving utensils left me dying on the floor and brought me back to my Redwall days. But other than that, and a few others parts, I just cringed through the entire episode.
I've never been in the 'DEATH TO THE DEUS EX ALICORN' camp, and I've might've been a touch upset about the decision, but this episode did leave a bad taste in my mouth. Everything felt wrong, rushed and incomplete, but that's a feeling I've been fighting off since around mid-season.
And... from a writer's perspective, I'm not thrilled. UniTwilight had so much more potential to her. It was fun to read stories which explored different avenues; yes, even the ones where she turned into an Alicorn. Now all the majority of the fics produced will have this new alicorn Twilight. And yeah, she'll still supposedly be the same mare as in the show but... its just not her anymore. Art, Music, Writing... that adorkable unicorn who spent so much time reading books, that research addicted and worry-wort mare that I could relate to... she's not going to be portrayed the same way. Maybe I'm wrong, and she just won't be aesthetically the same. But even still...
You know, before MLP, I used to think the word "Unicorn" was a bit of a joke. I mean, you hear unicorn and people instantly think something like this:
They were fanciful, fru-fru creatures that girls loved cause they were sparkly and magical. Same goes for pegasus.
Then Twilight, Rarity, and a whole fandom came along, and the word, and what it means to me changed. Unicorn became synonymous for Mage. Wizard. Sorcerer. It was no longer something I associated with little girls playing with toys. There was meaning behind that word now. I heard Unicorn, and I thought of this:
There was now untold writing potential and meanings behind the word "Unicorn" now. And powerful ones at that.
Alicorn was the same way. In my head, Alicorn = God. Its engraved in there firmly, and little will ever change. The one thing I LOVED about this fandom was how this aspect was explored and developed by Writers, musicians, and artists. Celestia and Luna controlled Day and Night... Nightmare Moon craved eternal night... banished to the moon for a thousand years...
This was a gold mine for us to work with, and we're still mining. Or put them trough a ridiculous dieting program like I did. But we used them, and the might;ve changed the way we thought. So much so that if someone probably spoke to you about a unicorn with wings before the Brony fandom, you thought of this
But now you think of this instead
But this episode... it crossed a line for me. Its hard to explain, but I have a problem with a unicorn turning into an alicorn. A mortal turning into divine...
No. I have a problem with how easy, how childish it was. Had it been an epic struggle against a foe, maybe Twilight actuallywriting and crafting her own magic instead of putting some words in a damn book, maybe I could swallow this pill. Something MORE. How a spell caster was turned into a god almost on a whim in the span of 22 minutes and EVERYPONY is acting like its fine, when... when it clearly isnt. Plus, the one thing I loved about the show was the equality amongst the races. We've kidded about unicorn superiority, and earth ponies getting the short stick of no wings and magic, but I always reasoned "Hey, the mane six is 2 unicorns, 2 pegasi, 2 earth, and they saved Equestria. Twice. Three-to-Six times if you consider other plots.
But apparently only unicorns can become gods because of their magic. Wow... really sucks to be an earth pony then. At least pegasi can fly.
And yeah. That's my thoughts on this episode. Im not leaving the fandom. I'm just... disappointed. Cause alot of things changed, and they're going to change. And they're changing in ways that I, personally, am not happy with. But what else is new, amirite?
Ah well. I should probably stop babbeling and get back to writing Slice of Life. Two more chapters, and then I can finally call it quits and write something I'm actually excited for... interesting. I had more fun and enjoyment writing Dis Immortalis. It wasn't anything you guys did, but I dug my own grave with SOL. I made it more stressful, and nerve wracking and made it more of a chore than it needed to be. If I kick the bucket, somepony write this as my epitaph: "Write for fun, not for fame. Write because you love the story, not because others love it. Write because it makes you happy, not because its what you're suppose to do."
One last thing: My question for you guys?
Why the fuck does Celestia have the bigger crown?
No seriously, go and look back at the coronation. She has a goddamn crown. That thing is freaking massive, and needlessly pointy. Then look at Luna. A tiara. So much for sister's sharing their rule.
834712 Her hair is literally etheral, Luna has stars in her mane, and a slew of other things. As far as Chrysalis goes, I subscribe to two theories: 1) Celestia could crush her, but in doing so would probably reduce the room/canterlot to the worlds biggest BBQ, so opted to restrain herself. Greater good, yadda yadda. 2) Love magic is incredibly powerful. Especially the love Shining felt for Cadance. Tacky, but makes sense to some degree. Beside, God =/= All powerful. Ares was caught by a silver net. Kronos was cut to pieces by his son. Baldr died from a piece of mistletoe. Even the gods can fall. That doesnt make them not gods.
Cadence I, personally, always thought was like... either a descendant of the original rulers of the Crystal Empire, or a bit of a "special" genetic mistake. Like, if 1/whatever billion gained the horn and wings. Longshot, but that never bothered me so much.
But you're right. They never explicitly stated they were gods. To be fair, they also said that what happened with Twilight had never happened before, so they never denied it, either. But oh well...
Also, dude. Really? 'Her special talent is the sun'? Seriously, what does one have to do to get something like that? If that's true, then I intend on getting a cutie mark of the freaking ocean and become God of the Sea. Hopefully Lord Tydal doesn't kill me.
834842 Now THAT I would pay to see. Add they don't have to change a goddamn thing. Those Sea-Ponies can shoo-dee-woop the entire time they're onscreen, and they'll still be the greatest thing ever produced.
As far as the CHrysalis thing, yeah, I'll admit to grasping to straws that Celestia held back. But seriously, name one other pony who has stars in her mane? Celestia's hair is the sky at sunset. Those two emanate power, and anyway, gods =/= all powerful/undefeatable.
834952 Okay. Rainbow Dash's hair is rainbow-colored, but still hair. Its a mane, even if its multi-colored. Regardless of its colors, its not a rainbow.
And Rainbow's not an unstoppable force of nature yet. Once she finishes the testing for her weaponized rain nuke, not even Discord can stop herLuna? Her hair moves with an ethereal wind. It floats. It slaps people. More importantly, it has STARS in it. Not painted on, not woven in it. Like, her mane is literally the night sky. A domain which she controls. One thousand years on the moon, brought about eternal night, raises the moon, enters dreams, ect. You add everything up = God.
Otherwise Zeus was just a really buff Greek dude.
834952 I'd claim Dash is an unstoppable force of nature for reasons entirely unconnected to her hair.
Meh, I thought the episode was fantastic. And I don't know if I share the concerns you do about alicornication. I think that the fact that you not only have to be an element of harmony, but represent friendship and get an understanding of it to your core and get the princesses approval means it wasn't exactly easy. And I don't think only a unicorn could have become one. The other elements can use the magic of their elements, even the earth ponies. If one of them was the element of friendship I think it would't be unreasonable to expect they could have been the ones blasted by the rest of the elements instead of Twi.
I loved the episode. Yeah, it was rushed, but it did a good job explaining everything (except where were the other Apples and weather ponies). Plus when everypony's bowing at Twilight and calling her an inspiration... I mean, that's awesome.
As for the alicorn thing, I understand where you're coming from. Part of why I loved Cadance was because she proved alicorn could be genetic, not just consequence of some epic immortality magic. Yet now that Twilight's become an alicorn... I mean, she could have become just a princess, not an alicorn princess. I do hope Season 4 will have an episode on Twilight paying mind to the Earth Pony magic. I mean, she is a third earth pony now, isnt' she?
I do feel obliged to point out tho, Twilight didn't become an alicorn because she was a unicorn and did a special magic, she changed because she had learned what she needed to fulfill her destiny. Which, in this case, was learning magic through friendship. Who knows, maybe a pegasus or an earth pony will have grand destinies too, and they'll have to do something different to *ascend* (blergh, hate the idea Twilight's gonna be so far up from her friends)