New episode commentary

OK, so I had to go to work this morning and I just watched the episode. Normally I'd check my Tumblr, dA, and Fimfic to see what other people thought and use their thoughts to help me formulate my own opinion. I'm not doing that today. Instead, I'll just list off the various points I took note of as I watched the episode and make an opinion on my own. Then I'll go and see who was butthurt over the episode and who wasn't.

The episode started out on a good note with the song. I thought that Twilight and Horte Cuisine tap dancing on the tables was funny. I expected Caesar and the mare he was with to frown at somepony dancing on their table, but I guess they must have a thing for tap dancing.

A few things in the background caught my attention during the song. First, I saw Derpy on the bridge behind Twilight as she was walking by. Next to Derpy were Colton and Daisy. It was nice to see both of those. Also, a few seconds before Twilight gets doused, I saw two stallions singing behind her. From the look of their manes, I could tell they were crystal ponies. We see a few more crystal pony sightings throughout the episode. It's nice to see that the Crystal ponies are becoming part of Equestria and, as evidenced by the previous episode, vice versa.

Vinyl being at Sugarcube Corner made me smile. It's to see the animators throwing us a bone every now and again.

Spike takes seven hour bubblebaths? I wonder if scales can get pruny.

I liked the motherly nature that Celestia showed with Twilight when they were talking in the dreamscape.

True True Friend song was pretty good. I really liked the singing voices. We haven't heard the mane six sing individually in a while.

I hope someone writes a short fic about what happened between the point where Twilight's friends saw that she was gone and when they saw her appear outside. It'd be nice to see their reactions. I'll bet Fluttershy almost cried, thinking they had obliterated their friend.

I loved Pinkie's water glass gag.

I'm glad the animators put Twilight's parents at the ceremony. It's good that they put in those little details of continuity.

Cadence wore her fancy crystal hairdo to the ceremony and then had her normal hair when she and Shining congratulated Twilight. I think her hairdresser is back.

Liquid pride. Nice cover, Shining.

Overall, the episode was not my favorite. I think it would have been much better if it was a two-parter. It felt a lot like what my old choir teacher said about musicals from the earlier part of the 20th century. The songs were good, but it felt like "hey everypony! Let's sing a song! La la, everything is rainbows and butterflies." The episode didn't have a lot of suspense. There wasn't much character development. Twilight just used the power of friendship to fix everything and now she's a princess, the end. I'd rate the episode as so-so. Probably about five or six on a scale of one to ten, ten being great.

Now, for the big thing I was worried about, changes to my headcanon. There were actually a lot less than I thought there'd be. Twilight just has wings now. My Twilight romance story can still work, depending on what happens with Twilight being a princess in the future. Until something in the show convinces me otherwise, I can just use the same rules for Twilight that I do for Cadence. I'm thinking that she'll eventually grow old and die, because if Celestia had her make all those friends, only for her to have to watch them grow old and die and then watch all their kids grow old and die, that would be too cruel.

So, there are my thoughts. Now I'm off to see what others thought. I hope not too many people have left the fandom.