Finale Thoughts · 11:10am Feb 17th, 2013
Well, that happened.
Don't take my tone the wrong way; like I said when the news first broke, I think Twilicorn's a great idea that sets up a lot of potentially really interesting stories come season four. I'm also kinda pleased, in a schaudenfreude sort of way, that the process of Twi's becoming royalty not only doesn't wreck my planned ending for Prince of Ponyville, but actually sort of dovetails nicely. Seriously, I have no problem with this development, aside from it being kind of unsettling to see our beloved pony sorceress with wings and a pointier horn. But the episode itself... kind of a lot of nothing.
And I mean a lot. I mean, I lost count of how many songs they crammed in there. It was like they have a seasonal musical number quota, and the shortened season meant they needed to cram in every one they possibly could. (I was half expecting Discord to show up at the end dressed like the musical demon from "Once More With Feeling.") Plus, it seemed to rush through the interesting "switched cutie marks/destinies" plot so we could get to Twi's promotion. Really, this could have been a nice two-parter, with lots of room to explore the comedy and tragedy of the whole miscast spell debacle and enough left over to discuss what Twilight's ascension to godhood really means for her and Equestria, but... well, clearly this was not to be. So instead we got two half-episodes, neither one of which was as satisfying as it could have been otherwise.
Plus, and this is really just a nitpick, but did anyone find the rest of the Mane Six's reactions to Twi's transformation rather understated? I mean, I know they couldn't have shown the sort of reaction I would have had ("Holy shit, Twilight, did you just become a god?!"), but everyone just seemed pretty blasé about it. Even Pinkie, at least by Pinkie standards.
That said, there were still some great bits, like Rarity trying to wrangle the storm clouds into a nice checkerboard pattern. (Speaking of, I felt a little offended on her behalf that Dash just went off and ruined all that hard work. I mean, sure, it was raining, but let's see you arrange the weather in an aesthetically pleasing manner.) And Pinkie going into Pinkamena mode from the stress and monotony of working a farm. And AJ trying to make a dress. (And Rarity's reaction to her work.) And, especially, 'Shy's little animal friends going all Lilliputian on Rainbow Dash. Seriously, there is a fic there.
"Down with the pony bourgeois!" Angel cried, raising his stolen butter knife above his head. "Viva la revolution! Death to the cyan oppressor!"
The second half of the episode... well, there's not a ton to talk about. Twilight Sparkle evolved into Twilicorn. Rarity made "alicorn" canon. Shining got the best line he's ever likely to have (heh, "liquid pride"). And I'd love to see a story about Prince Blueblood (not my version, natch, but a version closer to his canon persona) fuming about some commoner being promoted above him and plotting some elaborate scheme to ruin the ceremony.
Hrm. Actually, I guess that's the silver lining to the whole "the episode didn't have room to breathe" thing. There's a lot of room for the fandom to tell stories in the parts that were brushed past. Not to mention all of the possibilities Princess Twilight Acorna Sparkle creates.
So... yeah. Not a great episode, in an of itself. It would have greatly benefited from being a two-parter, but, alas, it got Moffat'ed. (That's a word now. I just made it one.) That said, it creates a lot of loose ends that my fellow brony 'fic writers will no doubt be playing with until season four rolls around, and the sheer volume of entertainment we'll all get out of that more than makes up for the lackluster seasonal send-off.
Now let's hope Season Four lives up to its potential, no?
Anyway, it's late and I should be asleep. Here's your video for the day.
[youtube=OV-OF9wZWDs]
Simple solution for last episode for fic writers. It was a dream. Hey Presto, non-Alicorn Twilight without an AU tag.
838334 Alas, 'tis was naught but reality.
Gonna have to disagree with you there. If the spell rewrote their memories so that those were always the cutie marks they had, then that means Pinkie never got her mark for making people happy, which means that she was never happy and thus didn't become "Pinkie" in the first place. Kinda scary, if you think about it.
839138
That's very true. Hell, there's tons of Fridge Horror to go around from this episode. I think a lot of writers will be having a ball with it; I expect plenty of grimdark 'fics about Pinkamena the farmer/serial killer and Dash being cooked and eaten alive by 'Shy's critters.
You realized that any story written about Twilicorn before season four starts will be Jossed, right?
I thought this episode was one of the best, maybe not the best, but easily top three
This is 1/3
2/3 and 3/3 is coming in Season Four... sometime between Sep-Nov