On Twilight's Kingdom · 7:13pm May 11th, 2014
The world of My Little Pony is almost what we bronies wish it would be. Almost. Achingly close, but not quite there. The appeal of MLP: FiM and other "world" shows like it - TaleSpin, Swat Kats, Darkwing Duck, etc... is that of a world filled with lore, with details and history, side characters to be explored, and more stories to be told than can be easily counted. There's also the child-like nature of it, the world is simpler, more obvious in a good way, less jaded, less cynical. And, of course, it's fantastic enough to grab our imaginations. It's a world we'd love to be in, or adventure in. It's a break from Dungeons and Dragons, and sci-fi, and beating up hookers for health points. It's unique, and engaging, and relies on simple but powerful symbolism to hook us. It's a very accessible world.
But it's not ours. We stole it. We quite literally ripped it out of the hands of little girls and made it our own. And the series writers have been remarkably adept at trying to cater to the the adult fans. But it is still a kid's show. It's still primarily aimed at little girls.
For thirty years the solution to every major problem in the world of My Little Pony has involved "rainbow magic". THIRTY YEARS. Yet people have gone off the rails with anger that S4 came to an end with a Deus Ex Rainbow. They still get incensed that there's things that happen purely for the sake of product placement. Furious about plot shortcomings. I've always argued that no kids show should underestimate the intelligence of their audience, but there is a level of simplicity to be expected from these shows. That's just not going to change.
So... overall, was I upset? No, not in the least. Someone came up with some new dress designs for the pony toys and told DHX to work it into the show, so they did. Big whoop. Look what we got in exchange.... a battle worthy of the 80's cartoon this came from. Back in the 80's, MLP had some seriously god damn dark battles. Tirek of Old, even the Smooze, were pretty ghastly things to animate. The dragons of 80's MLP were far scarier too. This episode was a break with the soft-focus, villainy-lite of the past 3 seasons, and instead presented us with an epic smack-down and an utterly terrifying monster of a villain.
While I didn't LIKE the outfits at the end, they came as quickly as they went, so who cares? The only major quibble I have is that the writers spent all of Season 4 building up the Castle of the Two Sisters as the obvious place Twilight would inherit. It seems just as obvious to me that somewhere towards the end, Hasbro thunked down a crystal treehouse and ordered that that be where Twilight gets her castle, effectively demolishing a major plot arc. I'm positive that was a toy-driven decision that DHX just had to eat. I fault Hasbro for that, not the writing team. So, in the end.... I was quite happy with what we got, with a few quibbles about corporate toy placement.
I think we need to be ever mindful of what this show IS, and not what we want it to be. It's a kid's show aimed at girls. It will always be that, no matter how much we desperately want it to be more. The show writers do as much as they can to make it more, and overall, have done a very good job with that. But it's still not our show. As much as we might be inclined to be upset about certain things, I think much of the negative reaction to the end has a lot to do with the disconnect between MLP being a show for little girls, and a show for the bronies.
Judging the show for what it is, and not what I wish it was, this episode was just fine in my book.
I concur.
You, my friend, have earned yourself a follower.
While I'm here, thanks for the faves on my Ultimate Saga. What is it that you like about them?