This train don't stop

Holy crap, my heart. That episode. I... I... can't...

I'm a little bit in shock right now. Season 5 is just so... progressive? Not the implication I'm looking for, but the best definition.

Still no screencaps. Going back to the episode and combing it for frames is the last thing I want to do right now. Spoilers ahead, of course. Drop what you're doing and watch this thing if you haven't already. Jeez.

Funny story: the ever-diligent vren55 was poking me once again to get a move on editing his new chapter (as is typical for a Saturday afternoon), so I shrugged and opened up the doc, where I found a discussion with another pre-reader about the proper spelling of Apple Bloom (it really is two words. Who knew?). I took issue with that, so I looked her up on the wiki.

Biggest mistake of my week.

Don't go to the wiki if you want to avoid spoilers.

So I dropped everything else and gave thanks to Ms. Faust that I found the episode on YouTube right away. And now here we are.

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So first things first. We got another exploration of a side character, like last week, and one I've been wishing for for a long time. Diamond Tiara's identity struggles have been well-speculated by the fandom, and I love that they're finally being confirmed.

After two weeks of this style of episode, I'm really wondering who else might get the microscope in the near future. We've seen Trixie twice already, so probably not her. Since the Mane 6 are busy with their friendship map thing (which found a wonderful parallel in the CMC's new role, by the way) and therefore their own side characters (Lightning Dust, anyone?), we're probably looking at more CMC-side cast. It might be a while before Silver Spoon gets her own spotlight, but that could easily work. As could Snips and Snails, Pipsqueak (again), Twist, and even Button Mash and Rumble.

I also expect to see more of Sweetie Belle's parents, and finally meet Scootaloo's family. Zecora is another character with potential, though I don't know how an episode about her would be framed. I think it would have been easier before today's episode.

Here you can see my reaction video to the twist of today's episode.

Can I take a break here to ask what it is with the landmark episodes having stupid punny names? "The Magical Mystery Cure" and now "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"? Really, people? Is that the best you guys could come up with? Were you hoping to mislead us into thinking nothing important was going to happen? 'Cause bronies are way too well-informed for that to work. Most of them, anyway. I'm not.

So matching marks. Not bad. The marks themselves at least recognize their individual talents (except for poor Apple_Bloom), but I'm pretty sure they themselves haven't yet. Was I the only one who thought the colors kind of clashed? It's really hard to have three differently-colored ponies share the same mark and all three pull off the look equally well.

Also, what was up with the floating? No one else floated when they got their marks (well, except Twilight, but I'm pretty sure that was for a different reason than the one we just saw). Is the floating significant? Are they even more actually special than we thought?

Who knows? I don't.

Oh, and shoutout to Diamond Tiara's mom (Diamond Ring?) for reinforcing the fandom trope of the Equestrian Upper Class being snooty enough to completely ignore the fame and respectability of the Mane 6 and their families. Thank you, you steely-eyed missile mare. (Wasn't that such a good movie? Sean Bean got to help explain the Council of Elrond. That's a story for everyone on the set to tell their grandkids.)

Oh! And parents! How could I forget about Mom and Dad Apple? Holy crap again!

Comments

[Bugsydor]

Yeah, I thought the colors of the marks kinda clashed on everypony but Sweetie Belle. Yet another reason she's the best CMC.

Diamond Tiara's mom's name is Spoiled Rich, by the way. It was mentioned during the vote song. Speaking of Spoiled Rich, how about them earth pony naming conventions? While I don't see this happening for all three tribes, we now know of two earth pony families that have a common last name among themselves (i.e. the Cakes and the Riches). Then again, Diamond Tiara doesn't appear to have "Rich" as a last name, so it's not airtight by any means. Anyhow, it's pretty clear to see that DT didn't get her attitude from her dad. My guess is that Filthy Rich is a relatively decent guy, but that he's a workaholic who has little time for his family at home.

It was cool to see that I wasn't the only one who drew the parallel to the name of "Magical Mystery Cure," too.