Shadow's Seasons: Hearthbreakers · 4:45pm Oct 24th, 2015
Hello, everyone. This is Shadowmane PX-41, and welcome to episode twenty in my Season 5 Review Series.
This time, we're looking at Hearthbreakers; a heartwarming christmas story by Nick Confalone, which is a great fill-in for the rest of a traditional Hearth's Warming.
The first thing you should know is that each different character has their own traditions in the show. For example, Twilight Sparkle is usually so excited to see what she gets, that she and her family usually open their presents the day before Hearth's Warming. Now pay attention, because the whole thing about different traditions are what make this episode stand out as a whole.
So, the story is about the Apple and Pie Families getting together for Hearth's Warming, and the chance for Pinkie Pie and Applejack to make some new friendships along the way. As well as a recapping of the Hearth's Warming tale from Hearth's Warming Eve in Season 2, we also get to hear and see the four traditions that everypony celebrates year after year. First, they all eat a traditional Hearth's Warming dinner. Second, they all hang Hearth's Warming Dolls by the fireplace. Third, the families raise the flag of Equestria to represent the fall of the windigoes, and the birth of Equestria; Finally, they all open presents together as friends and family.
As we move to the Rock Farm, we see the return of Maud Pie, as well as the introduction of the other members of the Pie Family: Igneous Rock, Cloudy Quartz, Limestone Pie, and Marble Pie. Igneous and Cloudy are heavily christian ponies, and usually act in a divine way; whereas Limestone is somewhat of a brute, and Marble is the shyest and youngest of the family.
Moving into the plot, the Pie Family has a very different way of celebrating each of the four traditions. They eat soup with rocks in it for the dinner, make their dolls out of rocks, go on a small little hunt to find a rock so that they can raise the flag, and eventually have to look far and wide for their presents; even if they're never found. And these are what confuse and bewilder Applejack and the Apple Family.
Near the end of the second act, Applejack gets the idea to try and combine the traditions of both her family and the Pies. This ultimately causes the felling of the Pie Family cornerstone; Holder's Boulder. A fade to black later, and the Apples are forced to leave, with Pinkie Pie and Applejack left to sob in a cave and ruminate on their failures.
At the end, we finally realize what made Holder's Boulder so unique in the first place. The Pie's first member found that stone deep in a dragon's nest, then bravely took it home with him to the farm and kept it as a treasure. He eventually built the whole farm around it and said that it brought Pinkie's Family good luck, no matter the cost. This gets Applejack to think, and eventually see the moral of the episode, and the error of her ways.
The episode ends with the Pies and Apples returning Holder's Boulder to the farm through teamwork, and Applejack apologizing for her stubborn ways. She was so intent on sharing her traditions with Pinkie's Family, that she was blind enough not to take an interest in theirs and find out why they run things differently. This is the perfect Christmas moral, as every different religion celebrates Christmas differently, and others might not be so keen on celebrating your own.
Overall, this episode was a fantastic seasonal episode, taking what we knew about Hearth's Warming, and giving it some expansion without any need for extreme conflict, or a force that would threaten the end of Equestria. I would highly recommend watching it again, as well as Hearth's Warming Eve during Christmas this year, and every other year.
Hearthbreakers is a seasonal episode that takes something that is heavily established in the real world today, and puts it into the world of Equestria as an extraordinary example. Telling us all that sometimes, we shouldn't follow our own ways of celebrating the holidays around a family or religion who do it differently.
The pacing, humour, and emotional value here is one for the ages. It's everything that a successful holiday special should be, without anything cringe-worthy or unmemorable. And the way that it is all presented is also keeping in line with what we already know and love.
Overall, this episode is just as rewatch-able as the other seasonal episodes of MLP:FIM. Just like the ones in the years before this, this episode takes the central concept of one of the major holidays of the season, throws its own little twists into it, and makes it seem just as pleasant as the traditions we do year after year.
Just with COTLM, there is no reason for me to say "still" here. There are absolutely no flaws in this episode whatsoever, as they build both the Apples and the Pies without any hitches whatsoever. Each different character, each different pairing, and each different moment in this episode will never be forgotten, as it is a definite recommendation to sit down with your family and watch if you truly want to get into the holiday feeling.
When a hearth is broken, it will take some real healing to fix. Take time, love, and care into the holidays
...and you'll have a magical tale to tell...
10/10
Thank you very much for watching, and join me next week for a special editorial on the Halloween episodes of Friendship is Magic.
(I'm not re-reviewing Scare Master unless my opinions change.)
Until then, farewell...
