Cutie Remark · 6:47pm Dec 4th, 2015
Well, the screaming monkeys are back. If you read my review of Friendshit Games you know that that means.
That was easily the worst season finale I've ever seen. (And no, not just MLP)
Between:
Starlight's entire backstory being one big temper tantrum of her friend leaving. (Seriously, did she not write him a letter? Go visit? Did SHE NOT GET INVITED TO GO TO CELESTIA'S SCHOOL FOR GIFTED UNICORNS?!)
No explanation once-so-ever for how she's able to match an alicorn's magical power.
Starlight's smart enough to be able to augment a starswirl spell to a magic table that's never existed before, but not smart enough to do any research on Twilight's last 2 years in ponyville and all the crisis that her friends have stopped. Or to know about the butterfly effect and that time travel has consequences.
Redemption Trope is getting OFFICIALLY old.
Time travel cliche that goes against what was established in 'It's about time'
Someone THAT DEDICATED to hurting another, doesn't just change their mind because you ask nicely. SERIOUSLY at the end she had a IDGAF look on her face. When you take a character THAT FAR reason and logic will no longer reach them.
AJ FLAT OUT admitting that they're only going to be friends with her because she's too powerful to send away. (Celestia forbid they forget to invite her to a sleepover one day.) Great reason to be a friend here btw.
Starlight knowing how the cutie map works better than the princess that lives with the f-ing thing and studied it day in day out.
Happy go lucky song at the end where all the mane 6 are automatically accepting of this sociopathic unicorn with phenomenal godlike power.
The different futures, they looked cool, but they're bullshit. Filly RD get's stopped this way and that snowballs to Equestria stopping everything but Sombra, that way and they don't make it past NMM, another way and it's Tirek. (Really, it made THAT MUCH of a difference how she was stopped? BULLSHIT) Let's face facts, the only reason the rainboom mattered is because that's how Twilight became Celestia's student. Everything else still would have happened, just in a different way. And we all know it would have been NMM Vs Sombra anyway.
Yeah, this is a defining episode where they give a us a new character and it's obvious they shoehorned the fuck out of the end. Josh haber wrote this episode and the dude should be fired. He's written nothing but mediocre episodes (castle mane-ia) or flat out bad ones (leap of faith) and it shows.
My strongest defense of the show has always been it's smart writing and realistic characters. I cant use that anymore. This episode was a bad fanfic with an OP OC who's OP for the sake of being OP and completely unrealistic characterization. Sociopaths do not become better because you offer your friendship, nor would someone that dedicated to hurting you and breaking up your friendships miss the obvious question of how you became friends in the first place. Or what you've done in the past two years. (Seriously, it's called a fucking newspaper)
I've not liked episodes before (like 6 total and 1 movie) but this is the first time I've watched one and wanted to watch the show less (And TBH, stop watching it altogether). You don't put your third string QB in during the big game, and you don't let a mediocre writer do a series changing season finale where we're supposed to buy a new character joining the group. Especially not when that character's actions almost destroy Equestria and the only punishment she gets is having to be friends.
I can't even... Sorry, this was lowbrow writing and had a dumb feel-good ending just for the sake of having a dumb feel-good ending.
I've never cared for Sunset Shimmer all that much (I don't buy her redemption at being mindwiped by the elements) but if they wanted a Sunset Shimmer character to join the group, they should have just brought her back to Equestria. Starlight Glimmer (AKA Sunset Shimmer 2.0...) that was dumb. I can only hope they put her on a bus, or at the very least, forget the dumb song at the end and have her earn her spot on the group.
I still find it ironic that in Crusade for the Lost Mark they were able to nail DT's redemption, but in a 44 minute finale they dropped the ball, hard.
That so many people liked it... I can't even...
BTW: When I call her a Sociopath, this is the definition I'm going off:
(Sociopath in Culture)
Someone whose social behavior is extremely abnormal (I lost my friend, well, the only sensible action is to become a cult leader!). Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others(You cost me my town? Welp, I'm going to CHANGE TIME to take away your friends. Who cares about any unforeseen consequences).
Wow, i see first person who acualy didnt like this episode just like me, But hey for some reason when you check basicly any review of it ppl prais it, and put even higher then sezon 4 finale, witch is just lol !
3592272
As a fandom, we tend to have some... rose-colored glasses, where we accept anything and everything. Even it it breaks the most basic rules of storytelling we still accept it without complaint.
The problem is, if you don't call out the bad while celebrating the good, it all starts becoming bad (Bad's a lot easier to do). And, eventually, the only people left are the most dedicated fans, and that's not enough to keep it going. The writers have given us a certain standered of episodes, and if we don't hold them to it, we'll just get shit (like this).
This whole season reminded me of the 2013 Denver broncos. It was an EPIC season, just for them to fumble horribly at the Superbowl. You know, the one game that actually matters.
I think what needs to happen is that the next time that there is a villain who is merely a unicorn pony like Starlight Glimmer is that they need to get rid of the whole Redemption trope and just make them flat-out evil like Tirek or Nightmare Moon. I mean, we need a villain who has a backstory, while at the same time isn't out for revenge based on something extremely stupid. Like, why don't we just have a pony who wants to take over Equestria and nothing more?...
Holy SHIT... I just got an idea!
Yeah I didn't like this episode either and you elaborated on the things I didn't really like.
IMHO, The first 30 minutes of the episode were Twilight and Spike going through the different dimensions and having very little purpose other than to kill 30 minutes. (Whats the point of showing all these cool alternate universes only to whisk them away 5 minutes later? I guess to just further prove the whole 'Every dimension I go to is worse than the last' But still... Waste of time. Any ONE of those universes and how they came to be would have been a better story than the episode.) Then in 5 minutes we learn of Starlights backstory... Er very weak backstory, then in another 7 minutes we have a song and the ending.
The way I imagined this episode going into was that Twilight and Spike would have to reunite with the other mane 6 and stop whoever the villain was in that dimension. But nope.... The first dimension with Sombra would have been a fantastic episode to watch and I was actually kind of hoping for that sort of outcome. The two spent the most time in that universe after all. Besides what was the point of the whole backstory with Sombra taking over equestria and the army and whatever?
For that matter what happened to Starlight whenever Twilight went back to the past? Did she just stay in cloudsdale? And what about this, if Twilight and her friends never happened, then wouldn't that mean that in all the other dimensions Starlight wouldn't be all freaked out and seeking revenge? She would still be at her little village and potentially the spell she created never happened.
I actually felt like season 5 was lacking on a lot of things...
Stalk stalk stalk.
Starley Glimmerus I hearby sentence you to 1000 years on the... APPLEFARM!
3592830
I think murder would be a kinder punishment.
So...
TO THE APPLEFARM!!!!
So, I get that you don't like it, but it really hurts that you would essentially demean the people who liked the episode, and you even say they have rose colored glasses in another comment. Everyone has different tastes.
Seriously, you make me feel stupid and like crap for finding joy in it, and that's because I respect you as a writer. I will not however back down on my opinion of the episode.
This finale was almost as bad as the thought of an alicorn of magic getting stopped by a... Wait nvm. I hate how starlight was able to bring that fight to a stalemate, and you know what they shouldve done? Twilight wrecks Starlight but realizes that it would bring too much attention . And then fix the rest of the episode. This wasn't "season finale" worthy...
3593286 How about Twilight wrecks starlight, not caring about the damage it causes, then pulls her broken body into the future with her, takes her back to the past, and when she's brused and battered, let's Rainbow perform the sonic rainboom?
3593289 Heh. Would've made a more interesting story. Also, starlight was able to remember what happened when twilight came back from the other dimensions. They also should have made it so that it was a bit like groundhog day, where twi remembers everything that starlight tries to do, and then after starlight gets completely mutilated, sonic rainboom, cut, fade to black.
FINALLY!!! SOMEONE WHO GETS WHAT IVE BEEN TRYING TO SAY IN MY LAST FEW BLOGS POSTS.
I think I'm gonna make a blog post with a link to This blog post.
BUT SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY GETS IT!!
SQUEE!
3593436
It was so painful, my god so painful.
Season 5 overall was great in my opinion. Then the season finale happened and it felt like a mess. At first I thought something was wrong with me cause the internet was giving it such high praise. I'm happy to see that i'm not the only one who thought this was the worst season finale yet. And yes I hate to say that cause I love MLP as much as the next person in this fandom. But i want quality episodes like Crusaders of the Lost Mark or Amending Fences.
Alicorn Twilight getting into a stalemate with the Unicorn Starlight really bothered me. I wouldv'e been fine if by going back in time somehow Twilight reverted back to a Unicorn and then fought Starlight. Which then caused a stalemate.
Also Starlight's motives to hate cutie marks was stupid and made no sense. And her quick redemption was just shoved down our throats. I do agree it feels like she is Sunset Shimmer 2.0.
The alternate timelines while cool kinda took all the tension out of the story for me. Maybe if they kept it to one timeline and Twilight has to fix it or if she does not she is stuck in that timeline forever. Instead we get several timelines and I never feared for Twilight or her friends at all.
3593838
Agreed with everything you said. I love MLP, I loved this season, but this finale just... they fucked it up. Which is basically fucking up the Superbowl.
3593843 Pot Stirrer.
blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/05/image001.jpg
3593902
You know you love it!
I get what you're saying here and I do agree with you. For someone who is older, it does seem like a huge mess. But there is one thing that most of us forget about this show even though we all watch it and practically live in the fandom. That being that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was ORIGINALLY created for little girls. At that age, things don't need to make sense. What most kid cartoon creators are aiming for are moral stories and you can't have a moral story without redemption redemption redemption. No bad guy is going to get sent to the moon, turned to stone, etc etc etc. Let's face it, if the story had be written for people our age, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Tirek would all have lost their heads by now by way of a very sharp blade.
This is, by no means, saying that you're wrong. Just remember to what audience age the show's creators are aiming at.
Darkestar
3594099
i hear that, I really do. It's just a shame they have to revert to such a cop out answer to pass this BS. Up to this point the show writers have been SMART about it. Yes it's a show for girls, but the stories and characterization have been very realistic. There's a reason why so many adults like it.
And now, at episode 116 and 117, they threw that out the window. This is the first two parter I've really felt was made for 8 year olds. It lacked any of the smart writing or characterization we've come to expect, simply to arrive at shoehorned ending without any real thought.
They also did themselves NO FAVORS by putting such an important episode in the hands of a novice writer with a shaky track record. Had they given these episodes to Amy Keating Rogers (for her final episodes), M.A. Larson, or even Meghan McCarthy, there's not a doubt in my mind it wouldn't have half these issues or have divided the fandom the way it did. instead they gave it to Josh Haber who's track record is, well, bad.
3592849
Forgive me for the delay in my reply, I've given some thought on how to reply to you and wanted to try and do it right.
(I'll prob still mess it up though.)
You were right, I came off as way to critical of people who like these episodes. So let me say this.
It's fine to like something that's dumb.
I'll say it again.
It's fine to like something that's dumb.
I like the first EQG movie. The movie is dumb, stupid even, but I can turn my brain off and enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. The movie has a SHIT TON of faults, all of which I acknowledge and none of which I defend (Starting with Brad and Sunset Shimmer). Where I have issues and come off as wanting to bash my head against the wall is with those who refuse to acknowledge the faults. Those who stick their head in the sand and say things like "Best finale ever! MLP at the top of it's game! Etc... Etc..." This is what I call the 'there is no spoon' type people. You can't talk to them, you can't reason with them, you can't have a conversation with them. Because they refuse to see exactly what's in front of them. Those are the people I demean.
They're the type of people that see any form of criticism as a personal attack by haters. I don't hate MLP at all, if I did I wouldn't have written 1 million words of fanfiction over two years. Yet because I point things out like this, I get called a hater and told I'm being too critical.
All in all, the show has a great track record. 117 episodes and only 6 I hate (plus a movie). That's anything BUT a hater. Of course shows are not equally weighted and getting a finale wrong like this matters a hell of a lot more than episode 13. (especially when it has lasting implications for everything coming after)
Shit, I got off track again. Let me just summarize. If you like something that's dumb, great! I like lots of things that are dumb. But if you block out and refuse to acknowledge the dumb things about it. That's when you're wearing the glasses and denying the existence of the spoon.
Hopefully that makes more sense, and maybe goes a little way to clearing it up?
I prob messed it up...
3594137
Believe me, I understand it has faults, and I understand that things weren't perfect, and I can agree on some of the stuff you said.
As I said, the biggest offense I took to your post was not that you were bashing an episode I quite liked despite its faults, but that you were so critical of the fact that anyone else could like it. I don't always agree with your opinions, Friendship Games being one example, but I still respect you, and seeing this blog post was a bit disheartening is all.
In short though, yes, you cleared it up.
3594099 I really hate using the excuse this show was made for little girls when we get a bad episode. I'm fine with redemption stories even though I feel not every character should be redeemed. But the thing is you can go back and look at other redemption stories in this same series like Crusaders of the Lost Mark. The writers had like 22 minutes to cram in everything they could to make it an amazing redemption story and they exceeded in my opinion. Then you look at this story in the season finale where they have 40+ minuets and this redemption story feels so much more rushed and makes no sense.
3594754 Be that as it may, the underlying theme is, THIS WAS MADE FOR LITTLE GIRLS!!! When the show's creators came up with the idea, they didn't plan on 20+ something men and women falling for it. Then, on top of all that, they have a writer who, from what I've read, has a horrible rep for writing horrible story plots. Add that all together and what do you get? The 2 part season finale.
You may call it an excuse, but I do not. I call it as I see it. Yes, I enjoy MLP:FIM. I'm reading a story, on Fimfiction, daily. I've watched and rewatched all the episodes. I've even watched all 3 of the EQG movies and I'm eagerly anticipating the soon-to-be released full feature MLP:FIM movie. Not to mention Season 6 has already been announced. That does not mean that I expect the creators and writers to write a story just because more adults like the series than little children do. When they write a story, they look for what will captivate an audience of children, not adults. If this was designed for adults, then they would put more thought into the underlying morals and themes in their stories, but since it's not, they don't and we shouldn't expect them to. Just be happy to have a season finale and the announced movie/season 6 as it is. They could have just told their entire audience (children and adults) to buck the hell off. I would really hate to be a writer for the series as I would hate to know that there are people out there who hate my everloving guts just because I wrote a story meant for little children.
As I stated once before, this show was meant for little children. If you want to call it an excuse, so be it but there are others out there, like me, who see it as it really is.
3595106
The issue here is we were, well, spoiled. They gave us smart writing and realistic flawed characters that were relatable (AJ notwithstanding). They had a certain standered of storytelling and writing, that, over the years, we've come to expect. Every season finale was better than the last, every season opener was better than the last, and while yes, they'd drop the ball every now and again, they've never done so on series changing episode.
So are we wrong to hold them to the standered they've given us? Ehhh... yes and no. We are, because we were spoiled to begin with. They sought to write a smart show for little girls, and they succeeded so much that it attracted 20-30 year olds. But we're also not, because, well, if it weren't for that, this show would have gone off the air by now. The show's unusual following made it a hit success that has taken it WELL BEYOND what any other children cartoon has ever achieved. The show gave us writing at an 8-9 level, and then let it slip to a 4-5 level.
At that point, the "It's a kids show" excuse is weak and called a 'bait and switch' in the real world.
Umm... who's doing this? I don't know anything about Josh other than by the stories he wrote. He's probably a great guy, IDK. I know he's a shabby writer on this series though because what he's given us is mediocre at best. Now the rest of the writers ether have to make up the ground he lost, try and roll with it, or accept this level of storytelling as the new normal. It's them I don't envy. They got their work cut out for them if they want to stay true to the overall standereds they've given us.
Personally, I didn't mind the episode. I do agree with the fact that it is the worst 'two-part' episode made (mostly due to the time travel business...the concept never works unless it's in an educational show like the Magic School Bus), but I must disagree with the concept of you hating her reasoning for doing this.
I personally know what it's like to lose a friend and never see them again. What's worse is that that friend just turned into a bully and effectively began pushing me around like he owned my life. So what Starlight did is basically better than what I would have done. Right now, for me, friendship is just a waste of time and I no longer consider anyone I know as a friend. Why risk the chance of this whole thing happening again. Not only that, but my distrust in humanity prevents me from even giving them a chance to speak their words. My disgust in the human race has me wishing for our own extinction to come. Why should we be given life when we have more than proven that we don't truly deserve it.
I understand if you disagree with my beliefs for we are all not the same, but I really wish everyone had gone through what I had been through that day. It was only the second time that I wished I would just die or not to have been born at all. The first time I almost took my life...all because I had no idea of what sibling rivalry was. My sister almost bullied me out of my life. Until you have been through what I've gone through, one cannot truly understand the actual meaning of both the opening and the ending of season five.
3632097
There's not a single human alive that hasn't at some point lost a friend. To do what Starlight Glimmer did in response to that is trite to say the least. We've all dealt with it at some point of time or another. I've never known anyone in my life that hasn't. If that's justification for doing what she did, well, I better break out the ak-47 because I got some catching up to do.
They made her into a winy brat just over a lost friend from ten years ago, they gave her phenomenal power just cause, and then they shoved the shit sandwich down our throat and expected us to eat.
And your analogy is of a friend turned enemy, all we got from her backstory is that her friend got his cutie mark and then was whisked away from her. Making her feel alone. However that alone is trite because we never saw her trying to associate with him again, or any attempts SHE made to reach out to him getting rejected. It's more than reasonable to believe he was sent off to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, but here's the thing, are you really telling me SHE didn't get an invite? That they never sent her to the school?
As it stands her backstory is completely and totally BS that we might as well not have gotten. They took her characterization far to far into the realm of a sociopath, and then they expected us to chew and swallow.
No fucking thank you.
3632130 Oh, I see. Then the only response I have for that (albeit an obvious and overly used one) is that we all take action without thinking. I bet that if they saved the Alicorn Amulet idea for this it might make the episode a little easier to swallow, but even then it wouldn't have done much to salvage the situation.
Season five is, most definitely, the worst season of all. The only episodes I truly liked in it were Crusaders of the Lost Mark (although could/should have been an hour special due to how highly anticipated the episode has been), Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, The Lost Treasure of Griffenstone (just glad Gilda and Ranbow are back on good terms and on how they first met), and the one I had been waiting for since season two... Castle Sweet Castle. The rest were pretty much just a throw away... Well, with the exception of The Mane Attraction as well. Not one I fully enjoyed, but not one to be shafted in the worst of the worst column.
3632655
Honestly it's nothing more than characterization contrivance. I went back and reviewed Josh Haber's work (the writer) Hes a... cartoon writer. His episodes and past works are very much in the 'it's a cartoon' type theory. They're really flashy, but fall apart at the slightest bit of analysis.
The guy got his break on MLP, and his contributions are... well... bad. They do not live up to the standered the show has given us and it's rather obvious when you look at them. He lacks the ability to make things make logical sense and instead simply tries to detract you with flair (bright shiny things). In many ways he's Michal Bay of MLP.
This is the first time where the only real explanation that works is "It's a show for little girls." Which is a slap in the face to everyone that helped make it popular, and all the other writers that had a higher standered up until now.
This explanes heat of the moment things, but not things that you plan for 10 years, or for an entire season.
3632699 You have no idea. I still hold a grudge with everyone that had wronged me and still wish for their end. That was almost twenty years ago...and quite a few of them being family members to boot. But due to my psychosis, it prevents me from even acting on such actions. And I'm sure there are those who plan their revenge for years. Almost a concept where they lose themselves to their own desires; Nightmare Moon being a near close example of that. You can even take a look at those in real life who had also caused pain and suffering to others.
But I might as well cease any arguments in saying what is right and what is wrong. I am really blind to what happens around me or the world and choose to see what I want to see. As for who writes the episodes...I choose not to care. I follow the concept of belief that nothing is perfect.
Although I enjoy MLP a lot, it does not compare to anything I watched in the eighties and nineties. Those were the decades that created a generation of imagination...before the 2000's came in and destroyed everything good. Teen Titans being the only good thing to come from that decade. Just wish everything could go back to the concept of doing things freely and not let the shows popularity go to their heads.
3632825
i don't really care what people write. I only care that it makes sense. Writing should follow a narrative flow, actions and reactions to said actions should be realistic, characterizations do not change at the drop of a dime. Sociopaths on the verge of wining don't change their minds because the person they're angry at asked nicely. You can't reform everypony with 'friendship' and when the same writer that ruined EQG for me ruins a fucking season finale, I get a little irate. Especially when there's an obvious pattern in his work being crap.
He doesn't understand that once you take a character past a certain point, the reactions need to follow. Starlight didn't give two shits about Twilight's friendship speeches and wanted to hurt her so badly that she was willing to change time to do it. This is not a mare that'd do a sudden 180 simply because she was asked nicely. And even if she did, odds are good she'd turn back just as quickly.
Her characterization is that of a sociopath
Her maturity is that of a 10 year old throwing a temper tantrum. (Bo ho ho, I lost my friend. Name ONE PERSON who hasn't?!)
And her power is that of an alicorn, just cause.
If this was a fanfic, it'd be laughed off the site. But because it's an episode we give it a pass? No. Just no.
The general belief is that Luna was possessed into being Nightmare Moon, that's what the show indicates and it's backed up by the comics.
IT'S NOT THE FRIENDSHIT GAMES EVERYPONY it's called the Friendship Games and I did love when Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo got they're cutie marks and it is so adorable when they were happy they got there cutie marks and I love the way that Diamond Tiara now stopped say "blank flank" so yeah
The mane 6 got dumbed down in order for starlight to be in the right all the time. So believe me you haven’t missed much. The writers completely forgot pinkie is a baker twilight is pushed aside for starlight fluttershy is just there the only characters they hadn’t completely ruined are rarity and rainbow dash maybe AJ. I forgot how did you feel about pinkie’s characterization after season 2?
5073948
That would be in line with Josh's writing. F-ing hack.
As far as Pinkie goes... it's complicated.
I like her role in the group, I like the part she plays. I don't like her all that much. I don't know if that makes sense or not. She, as a character, is a bit too one-note for me. There's not a lot of growth, challenges overcome, or learning experiences with her. She has a 'flat' character arc, she's someone that doesn't learn or change.
That sounds really negative. But I don't hate her or anything (unlike with say... AJ) rather Pinkie's a character that just flat neutral with me. For every bad thing that I can say about her, I can say something equally good. She's literally a 50/50 character IMO.
5073959
I understand I really do and I am glad you are honest about it most people would just try to sugarcoat it with some excuse. As for AJ eeeh I don’t care about her. RD is best pony hands down in my opinion. I don’t know what else to say but I understand.