Some thoughts on Electric Sheep

After seeing yesterday's episode, which was both astounding in its bravery in addressing adult issues, and disappointing in distracting from them with what was likely meant as comic relief (not sure), I found myself wondering how Luna's dream in the intro would have ended. This scene, along with Luna's admission and near forfeit towards the end, had the highest impact in my opinion. As the function of the Tantabus was to create nightmares to torment Luna, there seem to me to be two likely scenarios: 1) the rainbowfied heroines were meant to win and either send Luna back to the moon or revert her to her normal form, or 2) Luna was meant to win as NMM and vanquish them. The question is, which outcome would cause Luna the most pain (her goal)? Option 2 seems more likely. In 1), the punishment would simply be defeat by an external force, which would serve as a reminder of Luna's crime, but wouldn't carry with it more than shame (when she's reverted, she doesn't seem to be hurt). One could argue that Luna's act of assuming the role of villain (reliving her worst failure) was enough to serve as reminder and punishment, of course, but it is interesting that the first attempt of the dream Mane 6 to blast her failed, while the Tantabus was still in control. NMM laughs it off. I believe that the next thing she would have done, had the Tantabus not escaped at that point and let the dream meander to a happy ending, would have been to either severely wound or kill the Mane 6 (anything can happen in a dream). This would have magnified her sense of guilt, of complete failure and betrayal as a leader, and having become a monster. Those fangs can't just be for show, right?

Or maybe the Tantabus just had bigger fish to fry.

As for the ending, does Luna dream of ... sleeping?

This episode was excellent, but it could have truly transcended the medium if it had been executed with more attention to the emotions involved and the dynamic of the story arc.