Castle Mane-ia thoughts · 12:36am Dec 1st, 2013
So I just saw today's yesterday's wait it was leaked wasn't it THIS WEEK'S episode, and so like with the two parter I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I held out in watching it until today, and I'm really pleased that it was actually worth the wait. I enjoyed so much about the episode. It was very interesting to see so much more of that grand old castle introduced to us back in the original two parter. The characterisation of everypony was again back to its best, from Pinkie being Pinkie in a very-much-not obnoxious way to Fluttershy being the right kind of wimpy once more (and Rarity not letting the dirt get to her like so many authors of fan ficiton think is in-character), and all that significantly helped me not hate the ending and its 'twist' - which I could see coming from a mile away (though I doubt I'm the only person) - or the writer and character responsible for it, despite my fears early on. I'm taking that as a good sign that the writers have really worked on developing their episodes, something I hope to see continue through the rest of the season.
Oh, and I have to comment again on how much I love season 4's lighting effects! Nice to see it wasn't just reserved for the two parter. 
Oh, and hey look! It's December now, fancy that 
I still found Pinkie to be a bit presented less crazy than stupid (especially the whole "Ringing the school bell" thing) but I liked the rest of it; especially the scenes with Rarity and Fluttershy, and the part near the end, when everypony is freaking out, and Twilight's just looking at them like
The organ controlling stuff was a nice touch, as with the quote about Luna liking the slides. I'm guessing the "star spiders" are going to be relevant later, along with the yellow-eyed shadow at the end.
Finale villain, anyone? (It also resembled Zecora when she first showed up. hmm...)
In general, I loved the interaction here; this episode had everything I loved about Season One, plus some.
1570015 Eh, I figure that was just her going "Hey let's make this fun and make good use of my earth pony/cartoon character ability to take hits in a funny way for the little kids!" Something like that.
But yeah, the way Twilight just didn't give a damn about the scary collapsing palace while everyone else (except Mr Street Smart Angel, as per usual) just went utterly bonkers was fantastic. And done so well, in its writing, acting and animation.
It was pretty cool seeing that organ and having Celestia's Diary and even more back story on the Sisters and Everfree Palace.
And I've also heard rumours that the shadow pony will be a recurring villain this season, or something to that effect.
Yes, it was good seeing all that wonderful Season One esque characterisation, hopefully that will continue and at the same time show in different ways that the lessons they learned have stuck.
1571119 Ah, that works, I suppose. *shrug* Though I did like how she was 'judging' the competition between Rainbow and AJ; it seemed to me that she had decided right away not to allow things to spiral into more hostile territory. And her showing up as the organ player was pretty neat, too;
Eeyup! I felt a bit embarrassed on everyone's behalf, but given how frayed their nerves were by that point, it was understandable.
Indeed.
Although I hope those weren't actual hooves in that one hall... 
Ah, huh. I guess it'll be something to look out for. INB4 It's actually Derpy
Indeed; I am feeling more and more optimistic about this season.
Heck, even the "Power Pones" episode hasn't made me feel the dread I thought I would, if only by virtue of the fact that we're getting our first honest-to-goodness Earth Pony villain. 
Evil is now equal-opportunity!
1571814 Oh indeed, as I said in the main post, I very much enjoyed that they pulled off the ending with her as well as they did, despite it being obvious what would happen for the most part. Also I like that her scoring was picture based
Mmmm, yeah, I guess so. It was pretty funny either way.
I hope to see more of that kind of comedy later in the season.
Ha, I don't think so, but I hope not. I can't wait to see what else is expanded upon in this season. Maybe the creation of Equestria and the planet around it, or the g4 origins of other races? Something cool I hope.
Oh, you mean one of the episodes from the animatics? That's interesting...
OOOOH, I remembered something that's been teased! If it wasn't simply about Discord's singing winter wrap up in the two parter, HE MIGHT GET HIS OWN SONG OR SOMETHING SIMILAR
1574622 Indeed, that was pretty well-done; I especially liked the music when Twilight was walking up the steps towards her. And that was indeed rather fun. :)
Eeyup! The "Slow Burn" is a great thing.
Yeah, I figure they're just stone carvings. And that would be cool. (Sphinxes!
)
If it turns out that the Pony Of Shadow is completely accurate to Granny Smith's story, I wonder if NMM's bit in the Premiere was foreshadowing? (Also, the first thing I thought of when Applejack told RD that, was Lunaverse!Cadence's origins.)
Yep.
YEAH! Megan said it had 'quite a few words in it' so I'm guessing it's his own, yet to come.