About the finale...

... it wasn't bad. Let's do a rundown, starting with the negative. It was too rushed. It really should have been two episodes, first fixing the cutie marks ending with Twi's disappearance, the second being her coronation and adjustment to princess-hood. So far, none of the songs stuck out, not like the other eps with only one song. I'm still worried about the scaling issue with the rest of the Mane 6 now that Twilight has unlocked god-mode.

But, all of those have some explanation. First and foremost, MLP is IP of Hasbro, so it's primary job is to sell toys. They have Pricess Twilight in the works, then the season better show off a Princess Twilight. While the writing woujld have demanded a two-parter, other priorities demanded a Princess. While none of the songs stuck out, that's because the episode was a freakin' musical. Which is AWESOME. I'm sure if I listen to it again, I'll find a favorite or pick up on some subtleties, but even before that, Sweet Celestia, Celestia's singing sweetly. As for the scaling issue, I agree with bookplayer in that Twilight was getting a reboot, and I think that's a good thing. She reacted in a very Twi way to her ascent, so I'm not worried about her character. Also, she reassured us in the final fly-by. Which Sweetiebot totally called. And I definitely believe it was for the bronies to calm us the buck down.

So, anything stand out? I liked how when Twi was restoring her friends, she wasn't the one doing it the whole time, like in Return of Harmony. She helped Fluttershy, who helped Rainbow and so on. Good sign of a leader. This episode is best taken in context with the rest of the season as one long story arc. Last episode, we saw Twi getting some lessons in calming down. All throughout the season, she's getting assignments. The Elements are left with her from a previous episode. Starswirl's book makes a return from its cameo at the end of part-two of the premier.

But, the episode was not blowing me away quite like other episodes. Is that a bad sign? No. Most of the time, I like episodes after I've watched them a couple times. Sure, some stand out immediately, like Magic Duel and Sleepless in Ponyville to give some S3 examples, but I liked the Showstoppers after the third of fourth time I watched it.

Anyway, all this controversy is really stemming from not being able to see the result of this. Ask a brony who started the show in the middle of season 4 about Twilicorn. I'll bet he or she has a different reaction than us right now.

So, here's my actual, honest-to-god livestream commentary:

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