Season Five Finale: A Discussion · 10:07pm Nov 28th, 2015
WARNING: SERIOUS, COMPLETE SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON FIVE FINALE BELOW.
Additional warning: beware this site until you have seen the episodes; people will spoil unapologetically at this point, and someone is undoubtedly working on the most spoiler filled fic that can be put into one thousand words even as I type. AGAIN, SPOILERS BELOW BREAK.
Edit: Sure enough, two hours after this was posted, two very short very spoilerific fics have gone up.
Well that one was very different.
In the first four seasons, if there was one fault that could be leveled at the two parters it was an increasing sense of the formulaic: a great evil would arise, the girls would get together, their friendship would be reaffirmed and they would use the Elements of Harmony (in one form or another), or else a similar magical artifact, to defeat it. Additionally, this would substantially alter the status que.
A Canterlot Wedding broke the mode a little; the newly introduced Cadence and Shining Armor ended the threat, via a near naked deus ex machina.
By and large, though, enjoyable as the were, they were very similar.
This season they really mixed things up.
The opener featured a relatively low key problem, with a likewise relatively low key villain; it was one small town, with one apparently normal unicorn. While the Mane Six were in danger, and things were hardly pleasant for the towns ponies, it lacked some of the grandeur of other two parters.
This is not to say it was bad. Indeed, I found this different approach an interesting change. It also broke the mold in that it's principle antagonist was not defeated and remained a threat.
Which brings us to our finale; Starlight Glimmer, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, is back. She comes armed with a modified version of Starswirl's time spell and a plan for petty revenge; the word, "petty", it transpires, is rather important.
She is going to do what fan fic authors have been speculating on since Cutie Mark Chronicles in season one: stop the sonic rainboom. It prevents the Mane Six from ever getting their cutie marks and making friends, with devastating consequences for Equestria.
There are many other ways in which this differs from the pattern: with the exception of Twilight, the Mane Six are largely bit players, rather than being concerned with world conquest, Starlight desires only petty vengeance: note that in none of the altered Equestrias was Starlight herself in charge.
First, let us get out of the way the things I did not like.
The first: the Mane Six, sans Twilight, as bit part players. Poor Pinkie, in particular, was barely in it; they could have replaced her with a cardboard cut out and it would have made no difference.
Secondly, Twilight's security issues were not addressed; Starlight would have had a hard time getting anywhere had Twilight had some basic security: her lack of guards, or, apparently, locks, really bit her in the arse; that needs to be addressed for season six.
Finally, Starlight Glimmer's ultimate "why I'm the headcase I am" scene. I understand that the restraints of a young children's show is a factor, and that they can only go so far into the Freudian Excuse spectrum, but surely they could have done better than a friend going to boarding school.
Also, I would have really liked to see alternative cutie marks for the Mane Six.
There were things here, however, that were of great interest: the alternative Equestrias are a goldmine for writers; there are a few people who will be getting up this morning and thinking it's Christmas. I fully expect to see the war against Sombra, the guerilla war against Crysalis and the rest to get some awesome epics written about them in due course.
Further, the worsening situation was an interesting touch. In the first bad present, the situation, while bad, is fully retrievable: Sombra might be defeated in due course and Equestria returned to some semblance of normal. Crysalis had already overthrown the kingdom and was only mopping up resistance, led by an awesome Zecora. From here, we pass the point where there is hope of recovery, ultimately showing a windswept dead waste; the darkest image in the history of the show and something I'm amazed they got away with, given what it implies.
While some might call foul on Starlight's advantage, remember: what she had to do was much easier than what Twilight had to do; she need only disrupt the situation in any one of a number of ways and she scored a victory. Twilight had the more difficult task of preventing a disruption.
Of additional interest is Starlight's ignorance of the true consequences of her actions; surely even the most basic fact finding on modern history would have given her some hazy idea of how bad an idea this was? Either she was in denial, deluded, or too obsessed with getting her own back to think things through. Of course, the writers may just have not thought of it or disregarded it.
In any event, this ignorance is the key to solving it: for the first time, a major antagonist is not defeated, but talked down, and set on the path for reformation with no rainbows required. Some might argue that Starlight got off far too easily, and was in effect rewarded for her catastrophically dangerous rampage in the past, and they would be right. It could equally be argued that by winning Starlight around, Twilight is turning a dangerous problem into a boon for Equestria. I personally shall reserve judgement until I have seen what they intend to do with her in the next season.
Also, I know it will hurt Twilight, but that time spell needs to go; it is far, far too dangerous.
All told, a very interesting close to the season, now the long wait until the next one.
Well I just got done watching it and I can say that I'm impressed. I'm not going to talk about the plot first but more of the dynamics of the characters involved. So to start just a personal Statement. Shout out to Spike for keeping Twilight in check, and I think his voice deepened
(Sorry, huge spike fan).
So Starlight.... I hound the hell out of the writers for anticlimactic villan "reformations" and this is a prime example. Someone I watch on youtube, Lily Peet, said it best. The show takes certain psychological problems like Fluttershy's obvious social anxiety, and treats it like a little personality quirk. Starlight has some seeeeeeeeeeeeerious abandonment issues that have affected her greatly through life, like to the point to where she became an Egalitarian dictator. That isn't something Twilight's preachyness can turn around. I mean, I understand that she realized that she has destroyed the world over... how many times was it? Like seven? Anyways, I know that eventually she'll stop what she's doing, but trusting someone as powerful as she is, especially with her track record? Yeah no...
I agree completely. So getting that rant out of the way.
I would lie if I said I didn't like the episode. In a way, I predicted it. After I saw the panel where they displayed the first five minutes I ties it to MIB3 Terminator 2 or 3, and the flashpoint paradox. I did not expect them to follow it so fluently though. I did not like Twilight's involvement though. Okay class, how does one truly realize they made a mistake? By dealing with the ramifications first hand.
I felt like she was completely unnecessary when it came to stopping her. I would have like the episode more, and found it more believable it Starlight lived in the world that has gone to pot before getting over her petty ways and try to fix everything. I mean oh my goodness Twilight's preaching, made me feel like I was in Sunday service. I know the show isn't one for realism or continuity, but they had so many ways to go, not saying they chose the wrong way. I'm still thoroughly pleased, but it was just. Not what I was expecting. I can't speak for other fans though. There were people praising this episode before it even aired.
Anyways, to cut this short, since I have a tendency to rant. I thought this was a good way to end the season (I'll bet you five bits we wont see Starlight aside from background pony cameos). I look kinda forward to season six
I can't tell you how much of an "oh shit" moment I had when Twilight mentioned that the Crystal Empire covered half of Equestria on the new map. I think the Sombra timeline was by far my favourite.
My key issue with Starlight isn't her plan, her motivation, or even her willingness to condemn all of Equestria to death in the name of spite. It's her power. Girl went toe-to-toe with an alicorn while levitating herself and fought her to a draw. Yes, we don't have a good idea of how much more powerful Twilight has become since her ascension, but that stalemate still seemed like bullhonkery. That plus feats of chronomancy Star Swirl apparently couldn't achieve made Starlight feel like a Villain Sue, undermining the "normal yet threatening pony" vibe that made the premiere so strong.
Of course, it could be that Star Swirl just knew better than to modify the time spell in that way, knowing that no good could have come of it. Still, the direct confrontation leaves a poor taste in my mouth.
3575597
The reformation, I suspect, will bother a lot of people; I can taste the bile that will come poring from some quarters all the way here in England, though I shall name no names. The show has previous; many of it's antagonists has been reformed, often too rapidly to be believable. Like I said, though: I shall reserve judgement.
The one redeeming factor is that Starlight apparently had no clue how much damage she was causing; the shock of seeing that waste might explain some of it. Though I will not argue with anyone who says she got off far too lightly.
I myself watch Lily Peet. She makes some good points, though some people have a hard time understanding that she is playing a character for the camera; much of the bile, contrarianism and narcissism is being put on or played up.
3575627
You make good points. I like the one you made on Carabas' blog: the how and whyfores of which villain won. I think various factors contributed in each case, and I look forward to seeing it explored.
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You are completely correct, and this bugged me as well. The self levitation was, it could be argued, forced on the writers by the fact that they were in cloudsdale, but the rest was pushing things. Much of her victories can be accounted for by her easier 'win' condition; in gaming terms, she had one easy target to "shoot", while Twilight had a difficult and complex 'escort' mission.
I would have preferred her digging up an unknown spell; there's plenty of previous for this, and her merely parroting instructions would have made things a tad more palatable.
3575727
On a less serious note, anyone else worried that Rainbow's ego is probably larger than our sun right now
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Yes. Yes I am.
3575727
Seems Carabas himself has the right idea about the possible diverging causes. Personally, I'd add that most of the major differences could've been caused by the changed timelines of the other foals at the camp. Fluttershy and the bullies in particular could also have taken vastly different paths depending on what they saw that day.
I hope all the people who are upset about Starlight Glimmer getting redeemed so quickly were outraged when Luna got her throne back immediately.