On Alicorns and Endings (spoilers)

Ok, it's Sunday night, I overslept on Saturday, and I just this morning caught the season finale of Season Three. I don't know how I got lucky enough to get eleven people watching me, so I figured I'd abuse the privilege and throw in my two bits, though certainly not is as amusing a way as Saberspark. I'll leave comedy to the funny bronies.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first, shall we? I have no problem with Alicorn Twilight. I know the fandom damn near lost their minds when the spoilers got released, and I myself wondered if it was the end of the series, but then I sat down, thought about it, and saw the tweet about season 4. I actually liked the idea of Alicorn Twilight, I thought it was kind of a cool idea. Still do, actually. I mean, we have a Princess of the day, a Princess of the night, and a unicorn who's name is literally what the time in between is called. Something tells me this was planned out for a while.

But Alicorn Twilight aside, how was the actual episode? Um... ok, I guess? I'm gonna level with you, I have quite a few problems with it. Number one, the songs. Sweet Celestia, the songs. Not that I didn't like most of them, because I did. I'm a music junkie, and DHX frequently delivers. My real problem is the grouping. It feels like the episode has way too many songs, all jam packed end to end. And that can work sometimes, if the musical numbers all have a similar tone, or if it's parodying the idea of randomly bursting into song. But I didn't get that from this episode, and I'll give you an example (SPOILERS). Remember the bit where the girls each sing about their conflicting destinies? How it was fairly upbeat, ear-wormy catchy, and how it had images of the girls epicly failing at their new jobs for comic effect? Good moment, right? But, not five minutes after that, right after Twilight explains how things went wrong, she launches into a slow lament about how it's all her fault and she needs to fix it. Emotional whiplash, plain and simple.

Not only that, I think the episode as a whole suffers from poor pacing. It's way too fast, and it felt like things were just kind of squished together. There were few if any moments where I could take a breath. I flipped back from commercials a tiny bit too late, and Twilight was already fixing the girls' Cutie Marks, that kind of thing.

But I think what really irks me about this episode is the handling of Twilight's transformation. As I said before, the change itself I'm pretty on board with. But I also think it was handled a bit poorly. Mostly because it broke a cardinal rule of storytelling: Show, don't tell. What do I mean by this? Well, near the end (SPOILERS AGAIN), Celestia talks about how Twilight learned about the different Elements of Harmony, and that's what made her ready to become a Princess. But where is the evidence of that growth? In this episode? I don't think so, or if it was it was lost among numerous song sequences and competing plot points. Was it over the course of the series? Possible, as I don't have every episode memorized, but I feel that the show could have conveyed that a little bit better.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this had been conceived as a two parter. And I know about the Meghan McCarhty tweet about the three parter, but that doesn't help this episode. If this is true, then it should have been a four parter. Maybe have the first part be about the Cutie Mark mix up, and the second part be a kind of test for her transformation. I think this episode squishing comes from the reduction in episodes, from 26 to 13, but I could be wrong.

But with all that said, there are things I like about the episode. The Mane six are in top form, especially Pinkie Pie. I do honestly feel the support and love they have for Twilight, and Twilight's speech to the crowd felt heartfelt enough that I bought it. And as I said, the songs themselves are good, even if I'm not crazy about the placement. The animation is as good as ever, and seeing the ponies fumble through the mismatched destinies is highly entertaining.

When all is said and done, I feel like this episode was something of a misfire. But then again, that's the opinion of one brony, and not a very talented one at that. I just know what I like, and that's pretty much it. All my love to Hasbro and DHX, let's cross our fingers (or hooves, if you prefer) for a kick ass fourth season.