Nov
28th
2015
Season 5 thoughts · 6:02pm Nov 28th, 2015
After watching the finale I have come to this conclusion.
Season 5 is the worst season to date.
While there were a few really good episodes too many where either badly written or wasted potential. This even applies to Friendship Games. SO much wasted potential there.
It's sad that I am more eager for fimfic stories updating then seeing the show.
And in the finale they gave Starlight such an idiot ball. If she knew about Twilight in the Cutie Map then she should know about them defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord at minimum. THen having her tie with Twilight who is an alicorn with a talent of magic! 
Their writing has got to improve next season.
Agree!
There were some duds this season. But I kind of liked the alternate worlds they visited in this last episodes. Total War Equestria vs Sombra was interesting and a world where Nightmare Moon was victorious was kind of cool. Love the armor they gave her guards. And Rarity as her majordomo was almost a given.
3574355 the finale gave Starlight an idiot ball for not know what Twilight's friends did. And while Sombra and Chryssy's Timelines were interesting but shouldn't even happening because of Nightmare Moon. It would have been awesome just from them to be in that timeline throughout the whole thing.
And where the heck was Starlight during those? She should have seen those Equestria's and notice she was making things worse. It's sad that fimfics put better thought on time travel then the show writers did.
3574383 Its not that she didn't know what they did, she didn't care. I'm guessing though that Celestia somehow defeated Nightmare Moon allowing for the later timelines to happen. But there is always a point of failure somewhere along the timeline where things go off the tracks.
As for where she went. I think Starlight probably reset where she wanted to be. Her village way out in the middle of nowhere. Where her dream had come true and continued to happen. She may not even have known anything was wrong being out in the boonies like she was. And when she appeared in the Nightmare Moon timeline she may have just thought the magic had done something weird.
3574407 I don't know it feels weak writing there and the fact that Twilight kept being returned to the table Starlight should have as well. Just poor writing there.
Why can't a frigging villain ever win?
Where's all the blood and gore a traditional kid's show should display?
3574439 Oh that's true, Starlight should have been returned to the table but I'm guessing since she modified the spell she controlled where she returned to. The only proviso was that if Twilight returned to the past Starlight was forced back as well. And the longer they did it the more tired they were going to get. Look at the Nightmare Moon timeline. She was probably there for a few hours. Enough time for Starlight to be doing something else other than wait for Twilight to return to the past.
The real fun was in all these pasts Twilight was still a Alicorn so she didn't replace her alternate universe self but was her own entity and so there was a Unicorn Twilight somewhere in these alternate Equestria's running around. Would have been interesting to see where a Unicorn Twilight was during the war with Sombra or if she ended up in Nightmare Moons service. And no mention of Cadance either.
3574489 Like I said poor writing. a hallmark of this season.
But seeing an alternate Twilight would have been fun. Sombra likely either at the front or reachering new spells to use against him. Chryssy, in a pod since she still be in Canterlot. NMM also in Canterlot.
But why didn't Moony twing on the fact that there was an alicorn standing in front of her?
Yeah, though it does highlight the biggest flaw in many of the stories involving adding a new Element of Harmony or changing the crew. The sonic rainboom is the true start of the series and without it causes a cascade effect. Of course everything ends then when Nightmare Moon returns so everything after that is pretty inconsequential. New ponies need to be tied in with the rainboom event somehow or a good reason needs to be given for it not being there at all by going even further back.
Even this episode screws it up because how can the five even get the same cutie mark without the rainboom? It shows them with the same mark a couple times during the alternate timelines so that's a bit of a problem. Personally, I might use this episode in my story but most likely to show how time travel doesn't really work as it either creates a closed loop, ie destined to happen, or is more dimensional travel as you travel to another timeline and any changes have no effect on your current line. If you DO seem to change something it is more a screw-up of the spell bringing you to the new line instead of your own, or the work of a godlike or higher power, of which Discord isn't included.
3574521 No one noticed that Twilight was a Alicorn. NOT ONE PONY other than a brief recognition from RD. One thing I was thinking about, every one of these timelines Twilight stayed a Unicorn, never was Celestia's student so she probably wasn't in those timelines the OCD antisocial Unicorn we first met in Season 1. She was probably normal in all those timelines. Starlight Glimmer messing with the timelines perhaps made Twilight Sparkle, Unicorn of Canterlot normal and well adjusted! At least until she got drafted to fight Sombra alongside her brother, and would there have been a wedding if Twilight had never been Celestia's student? Cadance and Shining probably never met. She probably was living a normal life working in a bookstore in Canterlot in the Nightmare Moon timeline. But I did notice a observatory near Nightmare Moons castle....
3574527 Would have been better if they just were in one Timeline, Nightmare Moon's and have Starlight see what her actions are causing. Heck have it be irony that she meets the alternate self and hates her/
Fan fics have done a better time travel story then this. Heck Star Trek Online did the butterfly effect better.
3574558 Yeah, though to sum everything up...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/11/28/1032038__safe_twilight+sparkle_princess+luna_princess+celestia_screencap_animated_princess+twilight_cute_spike_discord.gif
3574527
I think it proves that a cutie mark really does signify destiny. Your cutie mark is already decided for you when you are born. You just have to discover what it is.
A big problem is that this episode was made by Josh Haber and he just can't write large stories like M.C. Carthy can.
Also with Jayson Thieson leaving it will only get worse. Jim Miller hasn't proven himself all that competent and Jayson was very involved with Faust since the beginning of the series.
3574674 Except for the CMC... They pretty much got theirs for being quitters
3574692
not exactly. They said they wanted to make others discover their true calling.
3574818 which is a weak calling. Again the fans did a better job the the show writers with this.
3574830
maybe a weak calling but a calling nonetheless.
3574830 It also went against the whole everyone is special and unique thing. Their marks pretty much tell them that they are the same.
3574848 BINGO! I personally recon this concept in all my stories they will go past this point.
3574843 I point to Fresnor's comment.
3574884
I see that.
The lore of MLP was the main thing that attracted me so much and it's now broken beyond repair.
3574897 yup. poor writing in many areas and no fore thought. Again the fans do this better then the show writers.
You know you failed as a writer when you go into easily avoidable cliches...
1: "I know i went back in time and i know the past changed, but i will think i returned to my timeline".
2: "I will change the past to avoid only 1 event without knowing what else would change, DUUUUUHH!"
Sadly I agree. It wasn't that bad though I mean think about all the possible futures they showed.
Did anyone else notice Twilight "Me and my friends" helped save Canterlot from invasion.....what? they did nothing but doubt you and kick some ass, you did all that, but Cadance saved your butt.
3574481 And the finale was the practically Starlight's MEH! The fact they had the audacity to redeem her only pisses me off more!