SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" · 5:48am May 24th, 2015
WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for today’s episode of MLP “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone.”
Now, without further ado, here is my review of “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone”.
Pinkie Pie is in the middle of a baking spree when her cutie mark starts a-tingling, meaning she’s been called by the Cutie Map! She leaves the baking to Gummy and goes to see what’s going on. The map has called Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to travel to the ancient land of Griffonstone, the very heart of the Griffon Kingdom! Griffons! Yay! Anywho, Rainbow and Pinkie go off to Griffonstone but find to their shock that it’s no longer the magnificent kingdom Twilight told them it was. Rainbow figures the key to fixing the problem the map sent them to fix is to recover the lost artifact that once united the Griffons together. Pinkie, on the other hoof, searches out another possible way to bring the Griffons of Griffonstone together. They also happen to run into a very familiar face. Will Rainbow and Pinkie discover the real way of restoring the kingdom of Griffonstone?
So, what’s the verdict?
Of all the slice of life episodes we’ve seen on the show, I think this was probably one of the most epic.
So, yeah I liked it!
We begin with Pinkie Pie baking one of her Granny Pie’s old recipes that she’s always wanted to try. However, her cutie mark starts buzzing. The Cutie Map is calling! Pinkie leaves the baking in Gummy’s capable toothless maw and goes off to see what it’s about.
This is a move I like to call the “Kricfalusi Slide” because of how often it was used on Ren and Stimpy.
In Twilight Sparkle’s castle, Twilight observes that the map has summoned just Rainbow Dash and Pinkie to Griffonstone, the very heart of the Griffon Kingdom. Twilight is particularly enthused by this. Since Gilda’s visit way back in Season 1, she’s been reading up about Griffons and their history. Rainbow isn’t too excited since she assumes that all Griffons must be as bad as Gilda. Gilda is being mentioned a bit. I wonder if that’s important. Anywho, Twilight regales them with a tale from her book about the foundation of Griffonstone. In the past, Griffons were as greedy as dragons, always hoarding their gold. (Fun fact: According to mythology, this was indeed something Griffons did.) Until one day, the Griffon King Grover found the Golden Idol of Boreas! They said it was forged from the gold of sunsets blown across the mountains by the North Wind! It brought so much pride to the Griffons that they finally finally came together and made Griffonstone the most majestic kingdom in all the land!
Behold! The Holy Grail!... I mean, the Golden Idol of Boreas!
And all of this is told in the same storybook fashion as those times in “Friendship is Magic”, “Twilight’s Kingdom”, and Rainbow Rocks. Yes, it’s quite epic for a simple slice of life episode. Rainbow isn’t too enthused about going and would rather Twilight go in her stead. She’s already excited about the prospect of them going to Griffonstone. However, Twilight has already resigned herself to the map’s decision. If it says Rainbow and Pinkie must go solve the friendship problem there, then they must be the ones to go. So, Pinkie and Rainbow are off. Twilight though provides them with a detailed book on instructions on what they should do, see, and how to go about solving this friendship problem. It’s like having Twilight in book form, Rainbow notes, and she reads from it whilst impersonating Twilight.
That’s got to be one of this episode's strangest, but most amusing moments.
So, Pinkie and Rainbow finally make it to Griffonstone, but they discover their shock that it’s not quite the majestic kingdom Twilight gushed about. 
It seems Griffonstone has fallen onto some hard times.
But on the bright side, Griffonstone is smorgasbord of Griffons. Now in the past we’ve seen Griffons like Gilda. 
And Gustave le Grand.
And those Griffon competitors in the Equestria Games.
But here, we have a whole gaggle of them. Each of them unique with designs never seen before. 
Gangsta Griffons playing cee-lo, yo!
Hello and welcome to Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post.
But among these new Griffon faces, Rainbow and Pinkie run into a very familiar Griffon face. 
Gilda! Yes, Gilda’s here for the first time since Season 1’s “Griffon the Brush Off”. (Although she did have a small appearance in the chapter book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell.) So, Rainbow and Pinkie inquire as to the reason for Griffonstone’s state of disrepair and lack of a king. Gilda’s grandfather Grandpa Gruff is willing to explain it to them as soon as they properly bribe him. 
I like his design because he has a scar over his left eye, and he’s clearly blind in it. It’s like subtly dark. And apparently Gilda has heard this same story so many times she can act it out behind him. So anyway, the story goes that during the reign of Griffonstone’s last king King Guto, a cyclopean monster called Arimaspi stole the Idol of Boreas, and as the Griffons gave chase, both Arimaspi and the Idol fell into the Abysmal Abyss to be lost forever. The Griffons became so despondent over the loss of the Idol, Griffonstone fell apart. 
Even more epicness in that storybook style!
(Fun fact: According to Greek mythology, griffons battled with a race of one-eyed men called the Arimaspi who kept trying to steal their gold.)
Based on this information, Rainbow Dash determines that they were sent here to restore Griffonstone’s pride and glory by retrieving the Idol of Boreas. Gilda insists that the Griffons don’t care about the Idol. Pinkie isn’t too sure and wants to follow Twilight’s instructions and hit the library. Rainbow lets Pinkie do that if she wants to. She still heads to get supplies and a guide to go down the Abysmal Abyss in search of the Idol. Anyway, Pinkie is able to coax directions to the library out of Gilda. Unfortunately, the library is also in a similar state of disrepair. She messes around talking to the statue of King Grover like Kristoff talks to Sven in Frozen. Pinkie then decides the best thing to do is to lift the Griffons’ spirits with a song she knows about smiles. (I bet that’s the “Smile Song”!) However, Gilda points out to her that singing is prohibited in Griffonstone. 
Pinkie decides then that perhaps she could throw a party, but apparently Griffonstone doesn’t have a party store. She decides on cake, but it turns out, Griffonstone doesn’t have a bakery either. All they have are Griffon scones, which Gilda happens to sell from a cart. Wait, Gilda’s a baker of scones. Never expected that to be honest. Pinkie tries a scone, but it’s like worse than Sugar Belle’s muffins when un-cutie marked. Pinkie even breaks some of her teeth on it.
Pinkie chooses to help Gilda make better scones. While her grandfather’s recipe is fine, Pinkie suggests another ingredient. Gilda mockingly suggests it’s friendship, but Pinkie says it’s actually baking powder, which she never leaves home without. Gilda and Pinkie bake better scones that are so good that Griffon flying overhead that Gilda later calls Greta gets distracted and falls out of the sky. Gilda helps her up, but this Greta just walks off in a huff as Griffons do. Pinkie sees this as indication that Gilda still has some good in her. Gilda insists that she wants nothing to do with friendship given how her last friendship fizzled out. Pinkie Pie realizes then what they’re there for and runs off to find Rainbow Dash.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash is rappelling down into the Abysmal Abyss in search for the Idol of Boreas. She can’t simply fly down because the winds in the Abyss are too strong. Rainbow rappels down, but her line snaps and she gets stuck on a ledge with a broken hoof. She calls up to her guide for another rope, but her guide is only helpful when she’s paid. Since Rainbow isn’t around to pay her, she just saunters off. Gosh, Griffons suck! Soon though, Pinkie Pie shows up, and she tells Rainbow that the Idol isn’t the way to fix Griffonstone’s problem; it’s the scones! Rainbow asks for a rope, and Pinkie just throws her down one without tying it to anything first. Pinkie then goes off to get help. Pinkie finds Gilda again and asks for her help. Gilda refuses, saying Rainbow’s not her friend anymore. Pinkie makes Gilda remember the time when she and Rainbow were friends. Gilda does so, and there’s a flashback to when they met at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. The little Griffon chick Gilda even enthusiastically sings the Junior Speedsters song with filly Rainbow Dash. Continuity! And it’s adorable! Gilda, back in the present, actually tears up a little. She agrees to help Rainbow while still insisting it doesn’t make them friends.
Back at the Abyss, Gilda rappels down to save Rainbow from her slowly crumbling ledge. However, the ledge crumbles completely, sending Rainbow plummeting into the Abyss. Pinkie dives in after her, tying herself to the rope that Gilda had tied down for herself, sending them both plummeting down after Rainbow. Of all the dumb things Pinkie has done, that’s probably the dumbest. Gilda ends up landing on a ledge further down the Abyss with Pinkie and Rainbow dangling from the rope beneath her. She ends up lying face to face with the Arimaspi’s skull!
On another ledge across from her lies the Idol of Boreas. Gilda tries reaching for it, but Pinkie is slowly losing her grip on Rainbow. Just as Rainbow’s about to fall, Gilda reaches down and grabs her. The Idol then goes tumbling into the Abyss. Clearly, this was a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Gilda tells Rainbow that she’s more important to her than a chunk of gold.
Back in Griffonstone proper, Gilda apologizes for the way she treated Pinkie and Rainbow. Rainbow laments not being able to recover the Idol. Pinkie though explains that the map didn’t send them here to recover the Idol but to replace it with something better, friendship! If the Griffons learn to care about each other again, then Griffonstone can become an even mightier kingdom than before. Like Rainbow says, it’s sappy, but it’s a lesson I can stand behind! Oh, I get it! The lost treasure is friendhsip! Anywho, Pinkie encourages Gilda to try making friends with Greta, so she brings her some of their new and improved Griffon scones. Despite being initially weirded out by Gilda approaching her, she told Gilda the scone tasted good, which is apparently the nicest thing a Griffon has ever told Gilda. Rainbow and Pinkie’s cutie marks go off again, meaning that they’re job is done. It seems that was the friendship problem they were sent to solve. Pinkie then reminds us that this episode of MLP is brought to you by baking powder!
With Pinkie and Rainbow leaving, Gilda is feeling a bit daunted by the task of bringing friendship to Griffonstone, especially since she hasn’t made a single friend yet. But Rainbow reminds her that she’s already made two friends, her and Pinkie. They promise to visit and start making their way back home. Pinkie is looking forward to seeing how much progress Gummy has made with her cake.
Back in Sugarcube Corner, we see that Gummy has done absolutely nothing.
Seeing Gilda again after all these years was quite a pleasant surprise. I know some fans have been clamoring to see her return. *COUGH COUGH* Doctor Perseus *COUGH COUGH* Seeing her reform and become Rainbow and Pinkie’s friend wasn’t too surprising. She went the same way as Trixie. With Gilda’s return this week and Maud Pie making her second appearance last week, it makes me wonder what other surprises this season has in store for us. I look forward to them.
I really enjoyed seeing the history of the Griffons here. The Griffons and their kingdom has been the source of much speculation in the fandom. It makes me wonder though. Presumably, Griffonstone is the capital of the Griffon Kingdom since Twilight describes it as “the heart of the Griffon Kingdom”. If Griffonstone has no king, then does that mean the Griffon Kingdom is in a state of anarchy? How is it a kingdom without a king? Maybe there are all these Griffon warlords out there fighting for dominance. Or is the King of Griffonstone like the King of Omashu, and there’s still a Griffon King out there? Oh my gosh! What if there’s like a Griffon Dai Li?! Anywho, like I said before, I really like how the Griffons were designed. I also liked how some of them are wearing fezes. Fezes are still cool. The design team here really outdid themselves.
It seems this is another case where I was right from that blog where I speculated on MLP’s future and predicted that they would travel to lands beyond Equestria. I'm still winning.
Most of all, I really liked the use of mythology here. Beyond what I already mentioned, there’s how Boreas, the Idol’s namesake, is the Greek god of the North wind. Twilight also mentions the Hyperborean Mountains that lie on the way to Griffonstone. Hyperborea was of course the legendary land in Greek myth that lay beyond the north. Lot of mythology there. I love it!
It is often the case that the most popular episodes of MLP are those two-parters that often bookend each season due to their epicness. This episode shows that a slice of life episode can be just as epic. It’s quite the skill to cram this much epicness into one episode.
Pinkie Pie also had a huge fourth wall breaking moment here. She had one last week too. She’s just breaking the fourth wall all over the place.
As for what I didn’t like… I got nothing. There is nothing here I consider a discernible flaw. It’s a very solid episode.
Overall, “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone” was a great episode. It’s living proof that you can still have epic adventure in a slice of life episode.
What did you all think of “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone”?
If Gilda’s grandfather is possibly the last king of Griffonstone, does that mean Gilda’s going to be become Griffonstone’s Princess of Friendship?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
As you already know, I too really liked this episode.
Yep! My clamoring finally paid off!
That sounds absolutely and terrifyingly awesome.
That would be an interesting twist. Either way, I'm hoping that we get to see more of Gilda in the future.
This season seems to be really good at bringing back old characters. Braeburn, Discord, Gilda, Maud, etc. And I think Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda are set to return in Slice of Life. I wonder who's next. Cheese Sandwich? Coco Pommel? Trixie? Lightning Dust? Babs Seed?
3094408 Coco Pommel I believe it's been said that she'll be showing up this season. There's some speculation Cheese Sandwich might also be making an appearance. Right now, all bets are off. They seem to be doing a good job so far keeping all these surprises under wraps. Anything may be possible.