MLP episode review: Luna Eclipsed · 5:42pm Jul 7th, 2014
Alright, this is... not gonna be a fun one, folks. Here, my ire for Pinkie Pie really starts. Doesn't help it's a Halloween-themed episode either. I'm not that big a fan of that holiday. So, time for...
Luna Eclipsed
We open with Spike... in a dragon costume. That's meta. He looks up the stairs and complains to Twilight they'll be late for the 'Nightmare Night' festival. And Twilight appears at the top with triumphant music and background! No, no! Twilight, your Trixie costume is all wrong! The Great and Powerful one disapproves! She's got on a hat with bells and a cape. Spike asks if she's the creaky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village. Get off his lawn, that's his snack! No, she's Star Swirl the Bearded, the one who wrote... 'that' spell. He also created the amniomorphic spell. So he's the Wizard of Stallionlo Park, then. She grills him, but he's saved by a knock at the door. It's foals, all dressed up and asking for candy. It it very adorable. Granny Smith is chaperoning them and should've been asleep five hours ago. I can... actually empathize. I'm an early to bed guy myself. Twilight floats candy into their bags, but a colt bursts through the lines... and wobbles. He's not a Weeble, so he falls down. He's Pipsqueak the Pirate from Trottingham and he's our breakout character for the episode. It's his first Nightmare Night ever! I... can't read much into that since the first time I ever went out trick-or-treating was when I was seven or so. So, yeah.
And then our villain for the episode comes in. I speak, of course, of Pinkie. She's in a chicken costume and says she's never too old for free candy! Okay, but she's too old for going door-to-door. Twilight's a bit miffed as she gives her a piece of candy. She then says that Twilight makes a fantastic weirdo clown before STEALING all the rest of the candy from the bowl! *Slaps Pinkie* Twilight's indignant at people not knowing who she is.
Back from commercial, Twilight expostis about Star Swirl, and we get some awesome costumes from everyone around. I'll admit, I've got some big problems with this episode, but the costumes and scenery are great. Big Mac's towing a cart with some marvelous mares, there. Big Mac tonight! So, Star Swirl created two hundred spells and was the most important conjurer of the pre-Classical Era. I'll take him as an alicorn over you, Twilight. And I don't even read the comics! She thinks about starting up a group for him, and Spike doesn't care because he's got a massive pile of candy. Pinkie rushes up with her bag of candy, and then we see Dash dressed as a Shadowbolt. This is like Batman dressing up as one of the Joker's goons. She flies over with a thundercloud and she hits Pinkie with a bolt of lightning. She also causes Spike to choke on his candy. Dash, not cool. She's completely remorseless and goes off to screw with others. Excuse me, Dash. I need to smack you. Twilight shows some compassion to Spike as she floats him onto her back.
We cut to an apple-bobbing tank, hopefully Gummy-free. Applejack as a scarecrow is running it. I think she's looking for Missus King somewhere. She thinks is a country music singer. Willie Nelson, perhaps? One of the Oakridge Boys? El-vira! Carrot Top and Ditzy bob for apples, but then Ditzy shows off some stuff Doctor Whooves showed her by appearing in the tub next scene and pulling the plug. On a stage, Mayor Mare has dressed as a clown. Oh, so she's going as herself this Nightmare Night? She introduces Zecora who will tell the legend of Nightmare Moon, and we get an in-joke with Spike mocking Mayor Mare. Zecora appears in a puff of smoke, and thirty-six seconds later Dash shouts out, "Magic, schmagic, boo!" ;) She's dressed all up as an Evil Enchantress and looks awesome!
She leads them out to a... statue of Nightmare Moon. That has never been seen before and raises a metric ton of questions. She uses green dust to create illusions of Nightmare Moon. The costumes are to disguise them from her, and Nightmare Moon wants to eat them. Pinkie also put on the wrong costume, she should be an ostrich with her head in the ground like that. And the candy's to placate her from really returning. Pinkie leads them to dump candy there, but then an ominous wind kicks up. Clouds spiral around the moon and...
Okay, like I said, I got problems with this episode. But this, right here? This. Is. AWESOME!
Princess Luna rides a chariot that looks like the Munsters made it, towed by a pair of bat-pony hybrids right out of a pony's nightmares. Lightning flashes and Luna's got a jack-o-lantern's illumination thing going on with her face, there. Pinkie screams it's Nightmare Moon... which is dumb of her, and runs off. Pinkie you KNOW it's not Nightmare Moon. You were there when she was beaten, you dumb cluck! We come back from commercial with her running through the town with the foals, past one pony who actually kinda looks like a grown-up Babs. Luna steps off the chariot and everyone bows to her save Twilight. She goes to greet her, but Spike stops her. Spike... not the best move here. Luna smiles and then turns the dial past eleven as she speaks, saying she has graced their town so they may see she's a creature of nightmares no longer. They'll change this dreadful celebration-which I agree it is-into a bright and glorious feast! And they all creep away from her. Hey, everyone. Remember the SERIES PREMIERE and the party you threw for her?!
Pinkie cements worst Mane Six status by completely and deliberately misinterpreting Luna's words into her feasting on them all. Pinkie, fuck you. Luna's voice lowers and she says she wants screams of delight, not screams of terror. Screams of delight... I'll back off from that one. :p She stomps the ground and she craters it. The rest cower before her as she points her hoof at them, like a deer in headlights. She stalks away, not even bothering with the Traditional Royal Farewell! Twilight goes to talk to her, and Spike joins in the panic patrol. Twilight, however, displayin rationality, says she saw her be changed back to Luna and she's having trouble adjusting, which kinda makes me wonder what the hell Celestia's been doing with her for the past year.
We cut to Twilight finding Luna in front of that horrible Nightmare Moon statue, offering it a piece of candy. It is sad and makes me want to punch Pinkie with a freight train. Twilight introduces her and Luna knows who she's dressed up as. Even got the bells right. She even knows it's Twilight and then begins floating in the air while her voice echoes like it's in front of a fan, expositing a bit about the series premiere. Twilight's not sure if Luna's happy or not about it, but she is. Twilight questions the bullhorn effect, and it's the Royal Canterlot Voice, useful for balconies and speeches, not so much for conversation muzzle-to-muzzle. Twilight's beard is bent and somewhere ZZ Top sheds a tear. Twilight says she should change her approach a bit. Lower the volume, for one. Luna's not sure she can.
We cut to Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight's sure she can help because she's so shy and demure, and the irony fairy bites back with Fluttershy's voice shaking the door as she says no candy or visitors. I'm with you there, Flutters! Twilight announces herself and she opens the door, and calls Luna Nightmare Moon. Is long-term memory a problem or something? She slams the door shut. Twilight gets in and we hear some chaos inside, complete with the standard goat-bleating. She forces Fluttershy outside and Luna asks for lessons in lowering her voice. Fluttershy looks like she's about to stroke out from the stress and... I can't blame her too much. Nightmare Night sounds like her worst day of the year for her. She says lesson's over and flies back, but Twilight slams the door on her and we get concussed Fluttercake. Luna's voice lowers by a few dozen decibels, and it's all good! She TK's Fluttershy over to hug and thank her, but Fluttershy is still pretty Dazed and Confused. And on cue Awful Pie comes by, asking to be hid. She sees Luna and says Luna stole Fluttershy's voice so she could be gobbled up without no one noticing. Luna is visibly distraught and hurt by this and I am legit PISSED. We'll get back to why later.
At the festival proper we see some pumpkin-chucking. Next up, the Mythbusters! Luna walks in and the music stops, complete with needle scratch. Luna's depressed and thinks no one will like her. Considering Pinkie's actions, I can't blame her! Twilight's leading her to Applejack, who is saving Pipsqueak from a watery demise. Good on her. She sees Luna... and cowers. *Sigh* Twilight says Luna's looking for advice on how to fit in. Applejack stands up and gives her some advice. Applejack, thank god! Luna asks what 'fun' is. I'll get back to this, too. She tries the spider-tossing game and Applejack cheers her on! Yay! She enjoys it! Next is pumpkin-chucking, and we get the 'Fun has been doubled' meme. Applejack suggest apple-bobbing, and 'brags' she's got the best apples in Equestria. Luna asks to be called 'Luna', and this looks like a hope spot. She might fit in and be accepted! She spots Pip about to fall into the tank again and goes to save her... just as Pinkie shows up. She spots Luna saving Pip and yells she's trying to eat him. I have no words for my hatred of her right now. I am dead-on serious here how effin skeevy she is here.
She screams for them to run, and they do. Luna's understandably pissed and lightning flashes. And the ponies who were accepting of her... back off in fear. I am... so angry right now. Luna asks for them not to back away and Luna tries so HARD to get them back, tossing a rubber spider at them. She then... makes it come to life. Along with the rest. They crawl onto the net and she asks how many points she gets. This is so sad I have no words. One of them crawls onto Carrot Top's face and it's chaos an bedlam. Luna finally loses it and I can't blame her one bit. She decrees that this 'insulting celebration' is to be cancelled. For-EVER!
And you know what? I'm 100% on her side. This thing IS insulting to her.
Back from commercial, Applejack's miffed since they had things going their way. We pan to see the townsfolk sad and a foal crying she wanted to be a zombie next year. I am... not really sympathetic to them. Twilight lifts off a hoof, revealing the image of Nightmare Moon and says it's not over. She's gonna do what she does best! Completely misuse her magic in a way that if it was anyone else, jail-time would be the only option? No, lecture her! Wait, Luna doesn't need a lecture, she needs Pinkie's head on a platter! She runs around and find Luna on a bridge. She says Nightmare Night's one of the most popular celebrations they have. And so what? It's still insulting and demonizes Luna. Luna snarks at hr and walks off. Twilight thinks for a moment, and we fade back to Ponyville. We see Pinkie, who spots a piece of candy. She pulls a Woody Woodpecker on it, eats it and follows a trail. Twilight tackles her and tells her screaming or shrieking. She has Pinkie promise not to shriek, and Luna comes forward. Twilight introduces Luna, and Luna remembers her horse hockey. She asks if Pinkie's come to make peace. Oh... :( They raise hooves... and here comes Dash. Oh, no. I just... no. Dash causes some lightning, Luna's eyes flash and Pinkie screams and runs, leaving behind an egg. I don't care about explaining the egg. Dash laughs and I feel the need to KILL her. I know she didn't mean anything too bad by it and I don't give a damn. Because the worst is yet to come.
Twilight 'ports herself in front of Pinkie and tackles her to the ground. She says Luna's not scary or wants to gobble her up, and Pinkie says... she knows. She knows she won't gobble her up. Because "Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared." Oh, OH!!!!!!!!! But Luna doesn't WANT to be scary you fucking idiot!!!!!!!! And Twilight says... she's a genius. Oh, I have no words. Twilight goes back to Luna and says she's figured out why she's having trouble. I know why. It's Pinkie Pie. But nope, she'll explain on the way.
Back at Ponyville, Pip is sad his first Nightmare Night is the last. Zecora shows up and says they've still got candy to give. Mayor Mare pulls a Pinkie and says they don't want Nightmare Moon to gobble them up. Spike walks by, saying the rainbow wig kills it. Applejack says it'll sound like fun and we see them placing candy at the statue, which still bugs the hell outta me. As pip comes up, the wind kicks up and Luna's voice booms up, pleased for the candy and she'll eat it instead of them. And she shows up... as Nightmare Moon. Okay, cute she spits out the fake fangs. She's not sure that did what it was supposed to do, and Pip comes back and asks if Luna could come back next year and scare them again. Luna's confused, and so am I. Lune decides to bring Nightmare Night back. I have no idea why, and Pip says she's his favorite princess ever!
Luna's happy and goes full Voice, but tones it down at the end. Twilight writes a letter to Celestia as we see Luna finally fitting in, and that... I can't finish. Dash gets hers in the end from Luna, and I laugh at her.
Thoughts
I am... really conflicted here. I got problems with this one. Okay, I love Luna. I love her voice, her mannerisms, everything about her. She's large, in charge and the Voice is awesome. She exudes cool. Twilight and Applejack were great, too. I love Twilight trying to jhelp her out and Applejack, despite some initial nervousness, warming up to her really quickly. Pip's cool. The costumes and designs were amazing. But...
1. Nightmare Night? Really? Why is this a thing? Why if you've got a statue of her and an entire holiday you didn't know who Nightmare Moon was in the pilot? And why did Celestia let this go on?
2. Luna's behavior. While aweomse... what has she been doing for the past year?! Celestia, your sister's back! Might wanna bring her up to speed a bit! It's like she just got out of the moon YESTERDAY! No lessons about the Voice, about Nightmare Night, about anything like that? SOD-breaking.
3. Hey, Ponyville? Remember that celebration for Luna's return in the premiere! Apparently not. Good lord you have goldfish memories! I get it's night and the holiday and all, but good grief!
4. And the big one... Pinkie Pie. I LOATHED her in this episode. She came 'this' close to completely destroying Luna, made sure at pretty much every turn to ruin any progress Luna made at being accepted and riled the townsfolk up. And the thing is she KNEW that Luna was Luna. "Sometimes it's just fun being scared." For you, not for the person who didn't want to be scary! Luna wanted to be accepted and fit in, and you ruined it for her, you insensitive jackass! And in the end, it was Luna who learned the lesson, not you, even though you needed the Encyclopedia Britannica thrown at your head by the end!
Some people might say, "How could Luna not know she was being scary?" Well... she didn't know what 'fun' meant and spoke in a way a thousand years out of date. Maybe she really didn't know how to tone it down. She DID need help just to not speak at a level capable of outshouting Black Bolt. And Luna had no idea Pinkie was doing it on purpose, either. So... yeah.
Hell, think about it. Why did Luna go Nightmare Moon? She felt shunned and alone. Nice job, Pinkie. You had this close to reverting. You suck.
So to sum up, some great bits but Pinkie was a horrid little troll in this episode. There's a lot of confusion here and aside from Luna, Twilight and to a lesser extent Applejack, this episode's not one of my favorites.
Later tonight, Sisterhooves Special. I need something a lot cheerier after this one.
Sometimes, you have to wonder exactly what Celestia is thinking. "Oh, I'll send my PTSD-ridden sister to the town where she got her evil flank spanked, to celebrate a holiday that is all about her when she was evil. Nothing could possibly go wrong..."
And, yea, Pinkie Pie can go Die In A Fire for her actions in this episode. Doing everything to remind the PTSD-stricken alicorn of the night of what she did and making fun of it...that's not silly. That's attempted "suicide by Princess".
I think Celestia let it continue, so, when the time came, the Bearers wouldn't hesitate to free Luna. If they knew some bit of Luna was in there, they would hesitate, and give NMM time to attack them, if they thought it was just Moon, then they wouldn't hesitate, and be able to free Lunal
Also, she knows what fun is, but the word, fun, is less than a 1000 years old. She knows how to have fun, she just doesn't know what it's called in this day and age.
I think Luna was studying up, but was also busy gaming. That, and Celestia has her duties, as does Luna.
Someone had a great theory about Nightmare Moon's recognition. The myths depict her as a foal eating monster who could be placated by candy, while her first appearance was her declaring her intent to spread eternal night and usurp Equestria. The analogy was it's like meeting Freddy Krueger and he's robbing banks instead of his usual schtick.
I never want any character killed for their insensitive actions. Smacked in the face maybe.
As for Celestia not putting her hoof down regarding this insulting demonization of her sister? This is a mare that can't be bothered to tell the party planners of the Grand Galloping Gala that she wants something new. I doubt she'd be able to stop what was likely originally a form of national stress relief in the aftermath of her sister's usurpation.
It wasn't my favorite either, I think for Halloween they could have done better. But then no one else really seems to try anymore.
You're right about Pinkie. She seems to do whatever she wants, without any consideration for others.
I'm starting to think the average pony IQ is 5. I can't understand why they wouldn't remember the Princess they had the big party for either. It isn't like the Royal Sisters are friggin twins.
Also a good point about the statue and lack of sense in the ponies.
My biggest gripe is with Celestia. What in the hell was she doing for the last year? Did she take any friggin interest in her sister, other than she's back in town? No 'hey I gotta tell you a few things that changed'? No, 'I decided to demonize you...its still going on. Sorry about that, nothing personal. I was just bored and feeling like a petty bitch'?
Luna is best Princess, and the lack of airtime/lines she has is criminal.
No thoughts on what the "amniomorphic" spell actually means? Ah always assumed it had somethin' ta do with reproduction, mahself. Though some folks have pointed out that it can be read as "bowl-shaped"…
Q: Why didn't anyone know Nightmare Moon in the premiere?
A: Because to the modern ponies, she's a myth and fairy tale. Imagine finding out that Santa Claus was one of the US Founding Fathers. The ponies are having a similar moment of total confusion. "Who is this, what has she done with the Princess, and why is she dressed up as Nightmare Moon?"
Q: Why does Celestia allow the Nightmare Night?
A: Because she can't and doesn't want to totally suppress the memory of her sister and of Nightmare Moon, but she can, over the centuries, help soften the truth. Turn the real horror into a fairy tale, and tie her in with a nighttime celebration that plays right into Luna's liking of the melodrama and the macabre. I think it's a good plan!
Q: What the hell is Pinkie thinking?
A: Pinkie Pie's number one personality flaw is that she is lousy at communication. She sees Luna on the Nightmare Night, putting forth a frightening persona that has more than a little resemblance to ol' Moony? Obviously, Luna is trying to scare everyone! So she jumps in and "helps", by bringing the kids around for another shot of scariness every now and then, and then runs off with them, never explaining what she's doing or getting her assumptions confirmed by anypony. Pinkie's never around long enough to see what really is going on.
Q: What the hell is Rainbow thinking?
A: Rainbow Dash is a prankster and a jerk. Nightmare Night is a perfect opportunity to scare ponies and zap them!
Pinkie for all her good qualities has a major flaw which leads to that poor communication. Her tendency to think everyone is like her. It's a blindspot in her worldview. She's not really learned all that well from the incident with Cranky. Somethings like phobias I don't think she really understands. See "Filli Vanilli" Fluttershy's inability to deal with being the center of any attention is something that Pinkie Pie just does not understand in any way. To her Giggle at the Ghosties applies to ANY and ALL fears when for the kinda issues Luna has in this episode and Flutters in the above mentioned one don't work and tend to make things worse.
My theory on why Nightmare Night exists draws primarily from Mel Brooks: if you can't win a debate against a dictator, you can always mock them to they point of being too ridiculous to take seriously. As someone said earlier, Nightmare Night turns Nightmare Moon from an usurper whose plan would ultimately kill off all life on the planet into a childhood boogeyman who is placated with candy. A potential usurper is scary, but foalhood monsters can be dealt with.
Thank you. Twilight proclaiming Pinkie a genius instead of cracking her skull open with a rusty coffee maker cemented my absolute loathing of this pest. My biggest dream is a Friendship is Magic without Pinkie Pie.
And I like Celestia, but she gave God-Emperor of Mankind vibes here with either being a jerk or an idiot in not telling her sister about the changes. Even if you subscribe to the idea that Luna sneaked out without her sister's knowledge, she still sneaked out one freaking year after they were reunited.
Rainbow Dash was a jerk as well but at least she got her just deserts, unlike Pinkie. Come to think of it, does Pinkie Pie ever get what's coming to her? I don't remember but I doubt it.
Though the most probably explanation is that, like The Mysterious Mare Do Well, they sacrificed quality for comedy.
I know this review is old, but I had a thought, or two. One is that, the word "fun" by itself, from my knowledge, is less than a thousand years old, so ergo, she wouldn't know it, maybe something like amusement, sure, but not "fun". Also, in my personal headcanon, Celestia, not wanting ponies to remember her sister as Nightmare Moon, created the holiday to demonize Nightmare Moon, and keep Luna innocent