The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone Review · 6:17pm May 23rd, 2015
With this episode, the show officially becomes Hasbro's longest running show. The previous record holder, was the original G1 Transformers cartoon from the 1980's, at 98 episodes. (Originally, it was going to end at 100 episodes, but lack of interest caused "The Rebirth" to be reduced to a three parter. Japan would continue the G1 franchise for a few more years.)
This episode was penned by Amy Keating Rogers, who will be leaving us for Disney once this season ends. Last season, Amy's return was something a lot of people were looking forward to, but after "Filli Vanilli" poor Amy's reputation took a nosedive. "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3" got her back on the right track, so did this PinkieDash episode get her back into the Brony fandom's good books, or sink her back down to the lows of "The Cutie Pox" and "Filli Vanilli"? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Pinkie Pie doing some baking on her own, apparently having finally found time to try her grandmother's special reciepe. But that plan is put on hold when her cutie mark starts buzzing, letting her know that she's needed at the friendship castle at once. Before she leaves, she tasks Gummy with picking up where she left off. All in all, Pinkie Pie's character is off to a good start for this episode. So far, she seems to be more subdued this season in comparison to some appearances in Seasons 3 and 4.
Twilight tells Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash that the map is calling them to the kingdom of Griffonstone, apparently a settlement of girffons accessable by train. Rainbow Dash isn't too thrilled with griffons, seeing as her previous experience was with Gilda, and we all know how well that turned out.
Interestingly enough, Gilda's appearance last time around was enough to get Twilight interested in learning more about them. And she explains that originally, griffons were as selfish as dragons, but the first king of Griffonstone obtained a special artifcat that filled the griffons hearts with pride, and it stayed that for several decades.
Although Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie insist that Twilight should come with them, Twilight reluctantly trusts the map's judgement and sends Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash off on their own. It's been a long time since Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had an episode to themselves, the last one I can think of was all the way back in Season 1 (ironically, it was "Griffon The Brush Off").
Not one to let Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash go unprepared, Twilight gives them a guide on what they should do when they arrive in Griffonstone, and Rainbow Dash mocks Twilight by styling her mane to look like the bookworm. The results are, interesting, to say the least.
Upon arriving in Griffonstone, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash discover that the kingdom is run down and abandoned, and all the griffons are jerks. Not long afterwards, who should they bump into, but Gilda? Gilda still hasn't let go of what happened in Ponyville, and she is anything but happy to see ponies again.
An old griffon named Grandpa Grumble soon reveals that a monster from a faraway land stole the artifact, and when he fell into a bottomless abyss, the kingdom of Griffonstone fell apart and most of the griffons moved away.
Convinced that the way to save the kingdom is to retrieve the artifact from the abyss, Rainbow Dash ignores Twilight's instructions to check out the library, and goes to get set up for a journey into the abyss. Pinkie Pie, however, decides to follow Twilight's instructions, only to learn from Gilda that the library has been destroyed. But Pinkie Pie isn't willing to give hope, she suspects that something besides the artifact is responsible for Griffonstone's decay. And she doesn't like that.
While Rainbow Dash is busy trying to find a way into the abyss (which is harder than it should be because of the powerful wind gusts that prevent flying), Pinkie Pie continues to hang around, and finds out that Gilda apparently knows a fellow griffon, but she's unwilling to try and pursue a friendship. She then flashes back to when she first met Rainbow Dash, as a young griffon at Junior Speedsters. Just like with young Fluttershy, young Rainbow Dash saves Gilda from the trio of pegasi bullies, and she and Gilda became friends.
Pinkie Pie tries to convince Gilda that friendship is important, but then overhears Rainbow Dash's cry for help and runs away. It turns out, that while Rainbow Dash was looking for the lost artifact, her rope broke, and the griffon she was with left her since she didn't have any bits. I'll admit, that's a pretty pathetic excuse to not help someone, especially when that someone is an ambasador that's trying to help your country. And Pinkie Pie, in a joke that was probably suppose to be funny, throws down all of the left over rope. Fortunately, this moment doesn't last long.
Gilda is still in a grumpy mood, but Pinkie Pie comes running back to her and convinces her to save Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie accidentally drags herself and Gilda into the abyss, and Gilda finds the missing artifact. But in the typical "Friends are more important than gold" style, Gilda saves Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's lives instead. Not gonna lie, "The Emperor's New Groove" did this moment better. And Gilda's voice during this segment sounds off, though I'll chalk up it to her not sounding so gruff and grouchy all the time. Even so, this segment could use Indiana Jones music, don't you think?
Deciding to give friendship a chance, Gilda manages to befriend the griffon that she knew from earlier. And Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are notified by the map that their assignment is complete. Gilda is more than a little worried about saying goodbye to her new pony friends, but Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash vow to come back and visit someday.
After a commerical that would be right at home in the 50's, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, our two heroines set off for home. And meanwhile, Gummy hasn't done anything at all since Pinkie Pie left him.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? Well, it's pretty enjoyable, especially since we haven't a PinkieDash episode in such a long time. Pinkie Pie's character is handled pretty well, though Rainbow Dash's jerk like attitude can be a bit gratting at times, even if there's the justifcation of her experience with Gilda. Gilda's redemption is fairly surprising, though the moral is predictable, and there was a missed opportunity to include a nod to Daring Do. But there's nothing significantly wrong with it, so I give it a borderline A/A+, putting it above "Tanks for The Memories" by a hair, but below "Make New Friends But Keep Discord".
Up next, we've got the 100th episode! But because of Discovery Family's extremly ridiculous schedule, we won't get it for a whole month. So tune in on June 13 for "Slice of Life", and we'll see how the show crosses the 100th episode threshold.
For those of you wondering I tagged "Pinkie Pie: The Amazing Spider Mare" with this blog post, it's because this episode contradicts my canon for Gilda in that fic. But I already have a plan in place to address that continuity issue, the Gilda that becomes the Green Griffon is an imposter.
havint seen the episode yet but, the 100th ep will be a weeding between Matilda and Donkey, I had the feeling they get marred soon.
3091328 At least unlike with Shining Armor and Cadence, they're not dropping the relationship onto us right when they're getting married.
YOU SIR ARE AMAZING! I LOVE THAT IDEA AT THE ENDING! Sorry just... this is by far my FAVORITE character centered episode featuring my favorite one-shot antagonist!
Also you could make the REAL Gilda take up the Goblin mantle ala Golden Goblin. A HEROIC Goblin who's BAD ASS.
I'll repeat the comment I wrote about this as a reply to you in the Writer's Group's commentary of this episode:
Ah...the fabulous 50s. I happened to have most recently collected LPs from the '50s. I play them on my new phonograph, which my cleaning lady lady lent me, which works wonderfully. I collected the following such LPs:
That's all I'm writing here for now.
I was kinda hoping for Daring Do to make a appearance in the episode but still this is a great episode.
I don't know where the episode is placed overall, but I know it's below both Tanks for the Memories and Make New Friends But Keep Discord for me
I enjoyed this episode too, my two highlights were the return of Gilda which was by far long overdue and the quick 50's style commercial from Pinkie.
Roll on episode 100 which will be a long wait, but at least I'll have some stories to write during the 3-week break.
3091725 So, what episode of the season is your favorite so far?
3091845 Tanks for the Memories: It showed a new side to Rainbow and finally gave her a song.
3091863 That's still a good episode, particularly for Rainbow Dash's character. The only thing is, I don't think the comparisons of hibernation to death are completely justified. Not because hibernation as a substitute for death is something the show wouldn't do, but because the five stages of grief can be triggered by more than just loss. Moving to a new location, getting a promotion or a new job, divorce, or a parent or friend getting married, can be enough for people to go into the five stages of grief. Even if loss is the most common trigger for them.
3091898 True, but I don't think any of those would affect Rainbow as much as loss would.
I enjoyed this episode for every bit of it's silliness and heartwarming. It was great to see Gilda again, although now I have to destroy my headcanon now that she's not gonna be part of the assumed Legion of Doom I'm thinking of for the finale. Pinkie Pie was hilariously weird and awesome as always. I liked the flashback with Gilda and Rainbow Dash as well (I wonder if that's a nod to that Dash Academy fan comic).
This episode gets a 8.5/10. I would've wished for something more exciting, like, I dunno, if that beast that stole the goblet was still alive and the artifact kept him alive or something, now that would've been a twist, but I digress. I enjoyed this episode nonetheless. Good review.
I hope that Amy Keating Rogers goes on to work on shows like Star Vs. The Forces of Evil. I think she can really do something with that show.