Shadow Reviews, Episode 12: Equestria Games · 3:15pm May 3rd, 2014
I was about to lose confidence in Spike, until this episode came out and turned it around.
First off, I wanted to say that this was definitely a massive payoff, to the two episodes that built it up. Not only did the Crystal Colosseum look amazing, but it also had very tight security to boot. I mean damn, magic stopping? They're taking notes now. Especially after most of what we know so far. I also sympathise with Spike, I too get a little nervous when facing down huge crowds in my Keyboard Concerts. But I'm able to get it over and done with easily. And while his nerves did edge him out a little, the same with parts of Inspiration Manifestation, It was still enjoyable.
We also got to see various call backs to some of the build-up episodes, like the CMC's routine from Flight To The Finish, and Ms Harshwhinny from both of those episodes. As far as people know, I'm one who loves call-backs. It gives me a sense of nostalgia and bliss. And there were some good call-backs here. And while there could have been more to it than just that, it's still fun to find those little call-backs and references here and there.
Finally, Spike takes his shame way too far in the end, and it ultimately jeopardized his character development for the most of it. But even so, he was able to sum up the courage and burn an ice cloud. Which, I have to admit is quite impressive, but not as impressive as some of the other feats this series has pulled out over the years. In the end, it's the simple "It's-All-In-The-Past" lesson, and it's all well and good. Something I've been following for quite a while now, every defeat I suffer in Call Of Duty, now only teaches me lessons, but it also raises my awareness to better my last attempts. So I liked this ending, it was easy to manage and very memorable.
Equestria Games is not only an amazing pay-off to Games Ponies Play and Flight To The Finish, it's also quite interesting at some times, with Spike being worshipped as a god, even though Twilight found the Heart in the first place. The humour was a little crude and could have used some freshening up, but I still enjoyed the little tidbits of humour. Spike's overall performance, if I had to give an honest review, is that it was decent, compared to last week's episode, where he held himself back until Rarity went mad with dark power. But overall, we can expect to see some great feats from this little dragon in the upcoming Season 5, because in all honesty, if he too is in Rainbow Rocks, I don't expect much from him, other than light comic relief, and being Twilight's little lap dog. Get it? lap DOG? I'm terrible at jokes, I know.
But overall, while Equestria Games wasn't a gold medal performance...
It still gets a silver, in my books.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Dave's last work this year was good, something I wasn't expecting.
NEXT WEEK'S REVIEW: Twilight's Kingdom
We are running out of time. If Twilight doesn't obtain her Key soon, we're all looking at the demise of Equestria as we know it.
ok and i hope Twilight get her Key or else bad stuff will happen and i know that every pony dose not want bad stuff to happen to Ponyville or Equestria