Season Three Overview · 5:39pm Feb 21st, 2016
With how terrible seasons one and two were, I was hoping that this season would be better in terms of the writing and the characters. Was it? Let’s find out.
Episodes 1 &2–The Crystal Empire
This two-parter really annoyed the piss out of me. You would think that a premiere featuring our young heroines protecting a lost, forgotten empire from what can only be described as Pony Satan, we would get an epic battle. But, no. What do we get instead? We’re treated to Twilight learning yet another life lesson that Celestia couldn’t simply spell out for her. In the end, Twilight learns that she can’t always be the hero, meaning that over forty minutes was wasted on just this one lesson. This lesson could have easily been saved for a regular twenty-two-minute episode. The pilot didn’t need a lesson. The season two premiere and finale didn’t need a lesson. Why did this one?
The villain of King Sombra was extremely weak. For a character that was hyped up to be one of the darkest, most evil villains in the history of My Little Pony, he really doesn’t do much. He barely says anything. What makes this villain worse is that we literally know nothing about him. We’re never given any kind of explanation regarding his history. We don’t know where he came from, what he wants, how he became so powerful, why Celestia and Luna felt the need to turn him into a shadow (this did nothing but make him worse), how he escaped his prison, or what his motivation is for wanting to take over the Crystal Empire and enslave the Crystal Ponies yet again. King Sombra really feels like a character created by a fan of the show. It feels like he was created solely so Spike could have a chance to be in the spotlight for once. Why was this guy even a major villain if his true potential wasn’t going to be exploited?
Princess Celestia really annoyed me in this episode. She puts Twilight passing a test over the safety of the Crystal Empire. Why? This feels like a colossal dick move on her part. Why didn’t she just tell Twilight what she needed to do to protect the Crystal Empire?
The major problem with this premiere is that far too much time was spent on Twilight trying to pass her test and the festival. More time should have been used to develop King Sombra and the overall plot. But, hey, at least it was still better than the pilot and “The Return of Harmony.”
Episode 3–Too Many Pinkie Pies
When I first heard about this episode, I thought I was going to really hate it. What did I think about it? Well, while I can’t relate to the premise, I did find Pinkie’s problem understandable. You’re going to have problems managing your time between your friends and that’s not always easy.
Now in an ordinary story like this, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash would be fighting for Pinkie’s attention. The writers, however, decide to do a plot that’s been done before. Pinkie decides to clone herself so that she’ll be able to spend time with all of her friends. As you’d predict, things get out of control very fast because the Pinkie clones keep cloning themselves. Soon Ponyville is run amok with these multiple Pinkie Pies and it’s up to Twilight to, once again, solve the problem.
I really liked this episode because it managed to give a character I despise some much needed character development. It showed me that there is more to Pinkie Pie than just having fun. The clones are pretty much what you would get if you were to clone one of the Chipmunks: one-dimensional characters that exhibit only one trait and have no depth.
What’s also great about this episode is the fact that the Pinkie Pie clones manage to be funny, but they’re not the only ones. Pinkie Pie at the beginning was funny as she was running around Ponyville and trying her best to have as much fun with her friends as possible. The test that the Mane Six administer to the Pinkie clones also gives itself to some great comedy. One of the Pinkie clones makes a face that’s a reference to Generation 3 of My Little Pony, and Twilight proceeds to blast her to smithereens with her horn.
Some great comedy and a good story makes this one of my favorite episodes of this season.
Episode 4: One Bad Apple
In this episode’s defense, this isn’t the first cartoon to tackle bullying and not get it right. However, this doesn’t make the episode any more tolerable. First of all, any sympathy that I was supposed to have for Babs Seed was squandered because she went above and beyond what was necessary to be a friend of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I don’t think what she did could even be classified as bullying; it’s more akin to abuse than anything. And if the musical sequence is anything to go by, Babs seemed to enjoy bullying the Cutie Mark Crusaders even when Tiara and Spoon weren’t around. (That poor sentient cup getting his brains sucked out!)
The episode preaches the message of telling an adult is the best way to deal with a bully. I agree with this notion. I do not agree with Apple Bloom’s notion, “We need to fight back.” This is a terrible message to send to kids as I believe resorting to violence should only be used as a last resort and using it to deal with a bully as your first option makes you very immature. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t stand up for yourself or take a stance and use self-defense. Again, this should only be used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted, or unless the bully is causing you physical harm. If they just make a snarky comment to you, that doesn’t give you the right to punch them in the mouth. You do the responsible, mature thing and tell an adult. However, the episode fails to mention that telling an adult can result in nothing being done about the bullying, or making the bullying worse than it already is. But then the show goes and ruins the message when the ending comes up. Babs is preparing to go back home to Manehattan. Enter Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who show up and begin trash talking the Cutie Mark Crusaders as usual. What does Applejack do in response to this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Oh, I’m sorry. She does one thing: glare at them. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em, Applejack. Real good job of protecting your kin and her friends there. I do agree that it was cool seeing Babs stand up to them, but just the fact that no adult even bothered to acknowledge any bullying prior to this episode makes it extremely frustrating.
But what was even more frustrating is how Babs’ character was handled. Honestly, she was an even bigger bitch than Gilda. She shows up at the train depot and the Cutie Mark Crusaders welcome her with open arms – er, hooves, I mean – and are clearly excited about having her join their group. What does she do in response? She proceeds to stab them in the back and join Tiara and Spoon in their taunting. This is made all the worse when you factor in that one of the ponies she stabbed in the back was Apple Bloom, her cousin, and she did this all because she was afraid of being teased about her blank flank. So, it’s understandable why the Cutie Mark Crusaders would be pissed at her. But then Applejack enters with an excuse that the writers pulled right out of their asses: Babs came to Ponyville to get away from the bullying she’d been suffering from back in Manehattan. So the Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately save Babs from the trapped float and forgive her for all of her abuse. Let me explain why this hurts the Aesop: a tragic backstory explains why a character is an asshole or is evil. It does not absolve them of any wrongdoing. Now if this had been shown earlier and the Cutie Mark Crusaders talked to her about it, thus giving Babs some character development and had shown her apologizing as a result, that would have worked. As it stands, though, this episode fails to deliver.
Episode 5: Magic Duel
I was really looking forward to this episode since it brought back Trixie. For the record, the only reason why I hated “Boast Busters” was because of how the Mane Six acted. It had nothing to do with Trixie’s behavior, as I feel she did nothing wrong. So, how does her return to the show hold up?
I was expecting an epic battle akin to the duels in Harry Potter or Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Anyone else remember the duel between Harry and Malfoy in Chamber of Secrets, or the three-way tussle between Zuko, Azula, and Aang in the episode “The Chase?”) What do we get? Honestly, the first duel between Trixie and Twilight is very underwhelming, and that’s being nice. I was hoping for something a lot better than what we got. Keep in mind that these are two highly skilled unicorns, so you’d expect them to be blasting each other left and right with some cool-looking magic, right? (The battle between Starlight and Twilight showed what this duel could have been.) Wrong! For example, Trixie launches a cart of apples into the air. Twilight stands it upright and places the apples back in the barrels. Trixie fires at least five pies towards Twilight, who conjures up a Parasprite to eat them. Twilight gives Trixie a mustache (really?), which is quickly snipped away by Trixie. Look, I get that this is intended for families, but so were Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender and they got away with a lot! Come on, writers. You can do better than this. If shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender can make a duel awesome and epic, surely you guys can too.
But, all is not lost. Once again, Zecora was used very well here. She trains Twilight. That in and of itself is extremely interesting and something that I would have liked more of. Just the sight of Twilight levitating above a pool of water while bubbles revolve around her is really cool, as is the sight of Twilight’s head popping up above the water with an annoyed look on her face. I don’t know why, but that shot really interested me. It’s almost like it could be a cover for a horror film or something. You could call it Mare in the Water.
There are only a couple of things that I have to complain about, though. First and foremost, the way Fluttershy was treated in this episode. I absolutely hated the way she was portrayed here, especially seeing as how she’s my second favorite character. First of all, she’s shown panicking when Twilight is performing her spell on the animals, despite the fact that the animals are clearly enjoying themselves. Isn’t Fluttershy’s special talent being in tune with animals? Then she’s completely ignored by her friends, even though she was speaking loud enough to hear and wasn’t being drowned out by any other pony. This might have worked had she shown some assertiveness. She could have said something like, “Hey, you assholes! Listen to me! This book has a picture of the amulet that Trixie’s wearing!” I mean, how hard would it have been to throw in this line? Then when she’s sent to the Everfree Forest, she acts like a spineless coward. (“I wanna be brave at home, locked in my closet with my teddy bear.”) Hasn’t it been well established that Fluttershy is shy, not a spineless wimp? I can’t help feeling as if the writers sacrificed her entire character for some cheap jokes.
The next thing I have to complain about is Twilight's solution to the problem. She’s pissed at Trixie for cheating, so she defeats Trixe . . . by cheating. So, wait, cheating is only bad if the bad guy does it? It’s a good thing if the good guy does it to defeat the bad guy? Yes, it was a very clever plan, but how exactly does this make Twilight and her friends any better than Trixie? Again, I have to ask, these are the heroes we’re supposed to be rooting for?
I’m all for Trixie turning over a new leaf (it’d be cool if she helped the Mane Six defeat an evil foe in a future episode like Discord did), but it just came off as really rushed. I really don’t feel like this was deserved, as it came about simply because Twilight cheated. Maybe if an incident like what happened in “Boast Busters” had happened and Trixie helped the Mane Six defeat it, thus earning their respect and forgiveness, that would have worked.
Honestly, though, these are the only problems that I have with the episode and they’re so minor that they do little to sour my liking for this episode.
Episode 6: Sleepless in Ponyville
Scootaloo is my least favorite of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. To me, she’s too much of a clone of Rainbow Dash that she doesn’t rise above anything but that. (To be fair, you could make this argument with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom being clones of their sisters as well.) Even her design is basically a miniature version of Rainbow Dash, with her coat, mane, and tail being different colors. So, with that being said, I didn’t know what to expect with this episode.
I really love the fact that Applejack and Apple Bloom are going camping together, and the fact that they invite Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo to tag along. I get the feeling the mares are doing this strictly for the kids. Scootaloo tags along simply because she wants to impress Rainbow Dash, whereas Sweetie Belle tags along because she feels left out. Of course, it takes pulling some strings to convince Rarity to go with her, leading to Rarity packing a load of crap, which she forces Sweetie Belle to pull. (I wouldn’t have blamed Sweetie Belle if she’d said, “Fuck that. You’re the one who packed all this shit, so you can get some exercise by pulling the cart!”) This leads to a funny line from Applejack: “Gee, Rarity, did you remember to pack?” At the very least, Sweetie Belle got a break when Scootaloo offered to pull the cart.
This being a camping episode, of course scary stories are told around the campfire. Naturally, this frightens the girls (Scootaloo does her best to convince Rainbow Dash that she wasn’t scared), leading to some cute, heartwarming moments between Rarity and Sweetie Belle. (“Don’t worry. You’ll be safe with me tonight.”) I couldn’t help but laugh at Scootaloo’s “scary” story, as it’s pretty much a description of the show itself, as well as previous generations of My Little Pony. This “scary” story is made all the more hilarious when you watch “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep” and realize that this kind of thing is exactly what’s portrayed as Rainbow Dash’s nightmare, so I’m sure she found the story quite terrifying.
It’s in this episode that we learn Princess Luna has the ability to enter her subjects’ dreams. There’s a very brief shot of her walking in the woods during Scootaloo’s first nightmare with the olden pony. It’s one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments. This ability seems natural to the character. After all, she is the Princess of the Night. It makes sense that she would need to come into ponies’ dreams to protect them from their nightmares and such. This ability was used extremely well in the episode “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep.”
In the end, Rainbow Dash agrees to take Scootaloo under her wing, leading to one of the cutest moments of this season, if not the whole series. Unfortunately, this idea hasn’t been explored since this episode was written, except maybe in “Brotherhooves Social”, but even then it was very brief. Maybe in season six we’ll get to see this idea explored in depth.
Episode 7: Wonderbolts Academy
I really liked this episode. The beginning was great with all of the Mane Six there to support Rainbow Dash, who I think would be a great actress, as she’s able to fool her friends into thinking that she didn’t get into the Academy. Also, Pinkie was funny here too, being that she practically screams, “Don’t forget to write” into a megaphone as Dash is flying away, then asking her friends if Dash heard her.
We get introduced to Lightning Dust, another pegasus who’s not unlike how Dash was back in season one. Boastful, willing to do anything to push herself to her limits, cocky, and reckless. This is in complete contrast to how Rainbow Dash is now. She still brags from time to time, sure, but she’s a lot more humble than she used to be. Looks like that lesson is finally starting to stick. Being that she likes to push herself, of course Lightning Dust is made a lead pony, while Rainbow Dash is made a wing pony. Naturally, Rainbow Dash is upset by this, but as Spitfire explains, she made Lighting Dust lead pony because she likes to push herself. Though, I don’t think she appreciated being defied by Lightning Dust.
I liked how Spitfire was portrayed here. She’s tough, but not rough. She’s your typical drill sergeant. She screams in ponies’ faces, talks down to them, and tries to break them down so she can mold them into what she wants them to be later on.
Aside from Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash, and Spitfire, Pinkie is also great in this episode. She stands by her mailbox eagerly awaiting Rainbow Dash’s letter. She’s constantly opening the mailbox, bright-eyed and perky, only to be disappointed when she finds nothing inside. She wants to be by the mailbox so that she can read Rainbow Dash’s letter the instant it arrives. That way, she can write back as soon as possible. She fears failing to do this will cause Rainbow Dash to flunk out of the Academy and thus, crush her dreams of being a Wonderbolt. It’s finally decided that she and the others will go to the Academy to deliver a care package to her personally.
About the only thing I don’t agree with this episode is Rainbow Dash chewing Lightning Dust out for her actions. Uh, Rainbow, you took part in that reckless behavior, so you’re just guilty. Of course, she makes it a point to leave out her involvement in these activities, so Lightning Dust gets punished and Rainbow Dash gets off scot-free.
What really shocked me about this episode was the fact that Rainbow Dash was so disgusted with Lightning Dust’s behavior, ignoring the fact that she took part in said behavior, and the Academy’s reaction to it that she decided to quit without a second thought. Holy crap! Talk about character development!
Episode 8: Just for Sidekicks
Right off the bat, what pissed me off about this episode was the fact that Spike was forced to give up Pee Wee, his pet. Yes, it does rectify the unintentional moral about kidnapping in “Dragon Quest,” but Pee Wee was one of the few things Spike had that made him an equal to the Mane Six. Not only that, but as “A Bird in the Hoof” pointed out, phoenixes can live for millennia, so aside from the Princesses, Pee Wee is the only thing that Spike won’t outlive. So, the girls get to keep theirs, but Spike has to give his away? You know, it’s this kind of crap that has me convinced that these writers hate Spike and go out of their way to torture him just because they can’t think of anything else to do with him.
Furthermore, there is no absolutely no reason given as to why he wasn’t invited back to the Crystal Empire, which did nothing but anger me more. Did Cadence just suddenly forget that Spike was vital to saving the Crystal Empire the last time he was there? (This fact is actually pointed out in “Equestria Games.”) After the events of the premiere, I was really hoping that Spike would begin to become more of a badass and become an equal with the Mane Six, but this episode clearly establishes that the whole premiere was pretty much pointless, and it was only used in “Equestria Games” just to once again drag Spike through the mud. I just cannot accept the fact that Cadence pretty much told Spike, “Screw you! You’re not important enough to help out.” Out of all the characters, Spike deserved to go more than anypony else besides maybe Twilight. This is by far the worst Spike episode (yes, even worse than “Owl’s Well That Ends Well”, though it’s hard to believe) because it takes all of the character development Spike got in “The Crystal Empire” and throws it out the window, so it’s almost like that premiere may as well not have even happened.
This episode could have been quite humorous had the writer simply omitted the scene where it’s stated that Spike wasn’t invited to go to the Crystal Empire with the girls. But because this scene was included, the entire meaning of the episode is completely changed. They could have easily removed that little tidbit, made this episode stand-alone (I presume this was the writers’ original intention given the date on which this episode aired), and they would have had some great classic Looney Tunes style comedy gold here, like in “Feeling Pinkie Keen.” As bad as that episode was, it was at least hilarious.
Let me explain why this episode hit a little too close to home for me. Here, we have a character who is looking for something – anything – to go right in his life, but the writers take such glee in making poor Spike miserable that he isn’t not even allowed to have that. As someone who’s both autistic and blind, let me tell you something: I’ve been there. I know what that feels like. Seriously, try being blind and having this dream of being a writer. Now, on top of that, think about having nobody to support or encourage you in your dream and you’re left to do everything yourself just to get a novel published, with nobody doing anything to help you. In addition, once you realize that it’s nearly impossible for you to get around and find work and get an education, it makes your life extremely dour. (Thank you, Zecora!) It makes you succumb to depression very easily. It’s not fun in the slightest. Also, I can tell you from personal experience that all of this, combined with an unrequited crush (I had a crush on the sixteen-year old preacher’s daughter when I was a kid), leads to very serious mental and self-esteem issues. (I’ve contemplated suicide more than once.) I love this show because it allows an escape from all of that crap. Watching this episode evoked these feelings and it really terrified me. What’s worse, this is all played for laughs, and that’s downright sickening that the writers would think that anyone would find this crap funny. Seriously, to quote the Rowdy Reviewer from “TV Trash”, “Who would think that was funny?!”
This episode’s only saving grace is the fact that we finally get to see Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders sharing an episode. It leaves me with the hope that we may get more of them in the future. Being a huge SpikeBelle fan, I hope we get an episode where Sweetie Belle develops a crush on Spike. To quote Sweetie Belle, “That would be adorable!”
Episode 9: Apple Family Reunion
Like any American brony, Applejack is not one of my favorite characters. She’s not a bad character, mind you. I just don’t see a lot of potential for stories with her character. Like I said, “Applebuck Season” pretty much established her character arc and got through it all within twenty-two minutes.
Being like Fluttershy, I don’t like social situations. My uncle has hosted a couple of family reunions over the past couple of years, but I’ve never attended because I don’t like being in social situations. Being that there are Apples all over Equestria, of course Applejack’s family is quite large. We get introduced to a few of them in this episode, as well as get some interesting flashbacks to previous family reunions. I will say that baby Applejack is adorable. I imagine the tapes on her diaper came loose after eating all of those apple fritters, and yet she looks as if she hasn’t gained a pound. It’s in this episode where it was firmly established that Applejack, as a youngster, had the appetite of a full-grown stallion, which I’m sure has led to many weight gain fanfics involving her. (This calls into question why she didn’t eat the muffins in “The Cutie Map, Part One.”) Even Babs gets a minor role in this episode. Despite her actions in “One Bad Apple” I like her. I really like the fact that Apple Bloom refers to her as her favorite cousin, and becomes aggravated when she isn’t able to have some alone time with Babs due to Applejack’s activities.
One of the best bits of this episode is the song that’s featured in this episode – “Raise This Barn.” (Yes, some people have joked that the lyrics sound more like “racist barn.”) Why is it Applejack and Rarity get the best songs? This song sounds like something that wouldn’t be out of place on a country music station. This is one of those songs that’s so catchy and upbeat that you just want to get up and dance.
The moral for this episode is also a good one as well, the lesson that your family is the first group of friends you ever make in life.
The other thing that I really like about this episode is that Applejack’s parents are confirmed as being dead in this episode. There are a few shots of two shooting stars, both of which have been confirmed by the show staff as being Applejack’s parents. (Up until “Crusaders of the Lost Mark”, this was the writer’s way of dealing subtly telling the audience the truth about her parents.)
As far as Applejack episodes go, this is one of the best ones, besides maybe “The Mane Attraction.”
Episode 10: Spike at Your Service
To my recollection, the only good episode Merriwether Williams has written was “Wonderbolts Academy.” I say this because this episode was probably her worst. Like all of her episodes besides perhaps the aforementioned one, all of the characters are flanderized beyond belief.
Let’s start with Spike. Yeah, the guy is Twilight's number one assistant, but I’m sure even he enjoys having some time to himself. This was even shown at the very beginning of the episode. He was excited about having the day off and getting to do the things that he wanted. Unfortunately, Williams seems to think that the only thing Spike loves more than Twilight is work. This portrayal of him is evident in this episode, as Williams takes his love of work to a ridiculous degree. Furthermore, this so-called “dragon code” he has was pulled right out of her ass. Spike has been saved multiple times before (even in the third season premiere), but he has never said that he’s been in their debt as a result.
Now let’s move onto Applejack. She doesn’t feel good having Spike do things for her. On the other hand, Rarity and Rainbow Dash would absolutely love it if they had someone doing things for them. (Isn’t that what Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are for? Scootaloo even said in “Owl’s Well That Ends Well” that she’d do anything for Dash.) When Dash brings up Applejack’s “unfinished novel” (I’ve been there myself multiple times), Applejack has a surprised look. It’s almost as if she’s asking herself, “How did Dash know I was working on a novel?” Dash herself has taken to creative writing, stating that she’s been working on a novel where an awesome flier becomes captain of the Wonderbolts. Needless to say, Rarity is less than impressed. The best scene with Applejack is where Spike is scratching her back. Or should I say behind? His left hand is clearly scratching her rump. Then, he inflates her. I think I remember someone writing an inflation fanfic between her and Rarity.
Just like in “The Mysterious Mare Do Well”, the others have the option of maybe talking some sense into Spike, but they don’t go for that option. They instead decide to try to trick him. Again, just like “Mare Do Well” had they tried talking some sense into him, only for him to not listen to them, which would prompt them to pull this stunt, this wouldn’t have been so bad. But, because this is Merriwether Williams, we have to have the Mane Six be manipulative little pricks. If anything can be said about this scene, it’s that Applejack’s bad acting and Rarity’s over-the-top acting were funny. I don’t know why, but something about Pinkie screaming her head off with a huge grin on her face is just hilarious. And at least Spike didn’t fall for their stunt. That just leaves the ending.
I will say that the build-up for it was quite good. It has us believing we’re in for an epic climax. What do we get instead? Spike chucks a rock down the Timberwolf’s throat and it collapses. That’s it. This reminds me of what they did in “A Canterlot Wedding.” This had so much potential to be an epic showdown, but they went and wasted it, just like they wasted Princess Luna’s potential. This kind of crap makes these episodes really hard to watch more than once.
Episode 11: Keep Calm and Flutter On
This episode was so good that it could have easily been a two-parter. In fact, it should have been a two-parter. Why? Because this episode was horribly rushed, but that’s not the only problem with this episode.
So, Celestia shows up with the Mane Six and says that she wants to reform Discord. Now who do you think would best be suited for the job? Could it be Pinkie, a pony who has a lot in common with Discord and therefore, could probably rein him in? Could it be Twilight, a highly skilled unicorn who would be able to keep a leash on Discord with her magic if he should get out of control? Both are such obvious options, but Celestia doesn’t pick Pinkie, nor does she pick Twilight. Instead, she chooses Fluttershy. Yes, Fluttershy, the same pony who couldn’t take on a dragon until it attacked her friends. This is the same pony who had to take a course in being assertive because she was too much of a spineless wimp to stand up for herself. Why, in the name of all things holy, would Celestia be so daft as to pick Fluttershy over her star pupil? Why, I ask you? Why?!
Oh, but that’s not all. Fluttershy is shown to be just as stupid as Celestia. Instead of setting rules and regulations for Discord to abide by, she pretty much gives him free reign over the house. This leads to him levitating the house a good fifty to one hundred feet off the ground and rotating it, no doubt destroying Fluttershy’s belongings in the process. Anytime Discord acts up, she excuses it away. Being a friend does not mean you make excuses for a friend’s bad behavior. You correct them when they misbehave. Why do you think Twilight got so pissed off when Spike lied to her about burning her astrology book?
Despite the characters being pretty stupid, some of them have common sense. For starters, before they even free Discord, Twilight insists that they wear their Elements at all times, just to be on the safe side. It turns out that this was a bad idea in hindsight because Discord talks Fluttershy into removing her Element. What’s more, Fluttershy actually agrees to this plan. It was at this point that I was groaning to myself about how Celestia had really screwed up on this one. So, yes, Fluttershy, to answer your question, I do believe you are “a naive, gullible fool.”
Like I said, this episode should have been a two-parter because it’s really rushed. Not long after the Mane Six arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, which has been flooded thanks to the beavers that Discord discorded, Discord sets everything right out of fear that Fluttershy will stop being his friend.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who predicted that Celestia had Discord reformed because she had some purpose for him. As “Twilight’s Kingdom” showed us, she saw the incoming danger in the form of Tirek, which was why she had him reformed. And as we saw, this plan of hers blew up in her face.
Episode 12: Games Ponies Play
When I heard that Cadence was going to be in this episode, I was really hoping that the writers were finally going to give us some more background information on her, maybe give her some character development. They could have shown us how she became an alicorn or what she was like as a filly besides babysitting Twilight. What do we get instead? Rarity working on her headdress. Okay, first of all, Rarity is a dressmaker, not a cosmetologist. Second of all, who cares about the headdress? Ugh! It’s these episodes that have me convinced that Cadence will never do anything important. Every episode that features her only has her standing around and looking pretty.
But Cadence’s wasted potential is not the only problem with this episode. The plot of this episode revolves around the Mane Six sent to fetch the inspector for the Equestria Games and accidentally getting the wrong pony instead. First of all, they’re sent to collect her and the only information they’re given is that the pony they’re looking for is named Ms. Harshwhinny and she’s carrying a floral suitcase. Wow! With an in-depth description like that, it’s no wonder they screwed up. What makes this worse is the fact that the Mane Six don’t ask the pony they pick up if her name is Ms. Harshwhinny. No, she doesn’t even get a name, leaving it to us bronies to give her a name. Most people choose either “Peachbottom” or “Ms. Chickadee.” If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was a pony who was created by a fan. Secondly, her cutie mark is a chicken. The Mane Six had ample opportunities to point this out, but they didn’t. Why would they assume that a pony with a chicken for a cutie mark would have anything to do with sports? This wouldn’t be so bad if this pony were just another background character, but we spent the entire episode with this character. Even when Twilight asked her, “Aren’t you Ms. Harshwhinny”, she just tilts her head in confusion instead of saying something like, “No, my name is duh-duh-duh.” It never occurs to them to ask this question at the train depot. Instead, they spend the whole day with her. Writers, if you’re going to create a character and have an episode revolve around them, for the love of Christ, could you please take the time to think up a name for them instead of leaving it to us bronies to give them one?
The Mane Six also don’t act very bright in this episode either. In fact, they come off as a bunch of dullards. Why? Well, for one thing, Pinkie Pie is more immature, more childish, and more easily amused than usual. This makes her scenes really grating on the nerves. She is not the only one at fault here. At every turn, the Mane Six think that they’re being tricked. Hey, morons! Fucking morons! When a character who’s been established as being cold and stuffy is prancing around town in excitement, you don’t assume she’s trying to trick you; you should come to the rational conclusion that you have the wrong pony! Furthermore, Twilight's subplot brings back a character flaw that she’s shown to have overcome on a number of occasions. So, in summary, this entire plot relied on the Mane Six acting like a couple of imbeciles.
I love this show. Really, I do. But this is one of those episodes that actually left me frustrated. This episode’s only redeeming qualities are Cadence and Shining Armor. Sure, they’re flat as cardboard and they’re only used as plot devices, but at least they got some character moments. They’re at least better than Ms. Chickadee. She’s mainly reduced to being a one-note joke that gets old very fast. Also, the idea that she might be claustrophobic feels like it was pulled out of the writers’ asses. It feels like it was shoehorned into the character in a sad, pathetic attempt to define what little character she had. This is in complete contrast to the earlier seasons where we had great one-shot characters like Photo Finish, Hoity Toity, Trixie, Sapphire Shores, Cherry Jubilee, and more. Here, Ms. Chickadee and Ms. Harshwhinny are completely wasted.
Not even the production design could save this episode. As far as I’m concerned, this episode could have and should have been set in Canterlot for all the difference it made to have it set in the Crystal Empire. I understand that this setting is a ploy by Hasbro to sell more toys, but the Crystal Empire is so bland and forgettable in its design and look that I don’t see the Crystal Empire toys selling very well. It looks so artificial and devoid of any life or charm.
Granted, this episode isn’t as bad as some of the abysmal ones that occupied season two, but this episode is still on par with what people used to think of when they heard the name My Little Pony.
Episode 13: Magical Mystery Cure
There are so many flaws with this episode that I don’t even know where to begin. Like “Keep Calm and Flutter On” this episode should have been split up into two parts. I mean, even when the show was at its worst, it was still a matter of the episodes not being as good as the others. This is especially true for the first two seasons.
The first problem with this episode is that there are too many songs. As much as I hated “A Canterlot Wedding” one good thing that I will say about it is that it at least established plot points between the songs. This episode wouldn’t have been so bad had there been some kind of a plot or a conflict going on, but the story is so incomprehensible and rushed that it’s infuriating. I understand that this is the first part of a three-parter (with “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Parts 1 & 2” being the other two parts), but first, the writing shouldn’t be this bad, and second, it should flow naturally. I mean, the writing in this episode is just downright terrible!
To be fair, the opening was pretty good. The only problem was that it dove head-first into the conflict. I really feel like this could have been developed more.
First and foremost, why would Princess Celestia give Twilight an incomplete spell? Why would she do so without telling Twilight how to go about completing it? Second, why would Twilight cast said spell without asking Celestia what it was supposed to do? Even if she did know what it would do, why wouldn’t she cast the spell in a safe environment?
In “Keep Calm and Flutter On,” Princess Celestia said that she would keep the Elements of Harmony with Twilight should trouble arise and there be a call to action. Unfortunately, what Twilight does to safeguard the Elements makes you realize that this decision of Celestia’s was incredibly stupid. Keep in mind that Celestia had the Elements put in a vault that only she and she alone could access. We go from the Elements being safely held in a heavily guarded vault to them being placed in a case like they’re an open display at a museum, where anypony could just waltz right up and take them if they please. I can’t even . . . I just . . . What?!
So, anyway, Twilight casts the spell, which ends up causing her friends to swap cutie marks since the spell affected the Elements of Harmony. Okay, so far, so good. This idea I can get behind because it’s interesting. But then things start to get confusing. For whatever reason, the spell caused the Mane Six to forget what their true talents are, and trying to perform the task that their cutie marks indicate ends in failure. Okay, how does this make any sense, especially within the context of “The Cutie Pox?” As long as we’re on the subject of cutie marks, why does Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark dictate that Rarity control the weather? Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark when she found her life’s calling in flying, speed, and being a good athlete.
The way Twilight goes about learning how to solve this crisis is so incredibly rushed and so out of left field that it begs the question as to why it was even put together in the first place. I mean, immediately after seeing her friends and their screwed up cutie marks, the solution comes to her almost immediately. Granted, this seems believable, given Twilight's vast knowledge, but when it comes to storytelling, you have an obligation to flesh this stuff out. Give more information on the characters and what’s happening to them, whether they be in a crisis due to a conflict or a crisis trying to solve a problem. Like I said, as an idea, the plot is fine, but the way it was written was horrible. I really feel like this idea could have been expanded upon more.
But to showcase how horribly rushed this episode is, things get even worse when Twilight, from out of nowhere, learns how to counter the spell, gets blasted with the Elements of Harmony, and instantly is granted the title “Princess Twilight”, effectively becoming an alicorn. First of all, she learns how to counter the spell immediately after a musical number. Now it’s possible to do this sort of thing within a musical number, but here’s what sets musicals apart from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: musicals are longer. Thus, they have more time to flesh out the characters and the plot and the conflict. Second of all, how did any of this earn her that kind of graduation? The plot itself was her own fault. The spell she was trying to complete wasn’t hers to begin with. (For that matter, why was Star Swirl the Bearded even working on a spell to turn somepony into an alicorn?) Third, and probably most problematic, the means she goes about fixing this problem is never fully explained. She just kind of found out. It feels like they wasted this great idea for a plot, got through it as fast as possible, just so they could hurry up and get to Twilight's ascension.
This was yet another problem that I had with the episode, the way “Princess Twilight” was handled. No, I don’t have a problem with Twilight being a princess. Unlike some other people, I think it’s a wonderful idea that lends itself to a lot of different story ideas. As I said, the problem that I have is the way in which it was handled. We weren’t given enough input. All of the marketing and advertising for this episode was centered around Twilight becoming a princess, but they only devote a total of seven minutes to it. (Each act is split up into seven minutes and Twilight's ascension took place in the third act.) Honestly, it felt as if the whole thing was shoehorned into the episode at the last minute. Seriously, this episode was dedicated more to the conflict of this episode than Twilight becoming a princess. Twilight has dealt with more mundane problems than having her friends’ cutie marks swapped. I mean, for crying out loud, they devoted an entire episode to figuring out who ate a fucking cake! And yet you’re telling me that the writers can’t even spend an entire episode dedicated to their lives being altered?
Furthermore, we have no idea how Twilight's life is going to be affected by this change. Is she still going to live in Ponyville? What is she princess of anyway, if she is princess of anything? Is this ascension going to affect her life in any way, shape, or form? We have no idea, and the writers made no attempts whatsoever to answer these questions.
What makes this worse is the fact that none of the parties responsible for this received any punishment for it. Celestia nor Twilight don’t show any remorse. To add insult to injury, Twilight is rewarded for this while it seems as if her friends were merely used as a ploy to get her to this point in her life. Don’t they get some kind of reward for helping her along in her journey instead of having to live the rest of their lives kissing her ass?
Now that I’ve gotten through all of the writing and characterization, let’s get into the songs. As I said, this episode had an overabundance of songs in it. I counted at least seven songs, counting the reprise of “Morning in Ponyville”, meaning that a song came up every three and a half minutes. This really hurt the episode in the long run as it did nothing but take away any kind of plot build-up or tension. Maybe instead of seeing how many songs they could cram into one episode, the writers should have been concentrating on making a compelling plot.
As I’ve said in the past, I understand what time constraints these writers are under. However, this episode was such a failure in terms of basic writing that it was just downright insulting to my intelligence. This was such a piss poor attempt at a season finale. It had little to no conflict. The pacing was horrible. It had too much time dedicated to the main conflict and not enough time dedicated to Twilight becoming an alicorn. They crammed so much stuff in this one episode that I really do believe that this episode would have been a lot better had it been split up into two parts, very much like “Keep Calm and Flutter On.” All they would have had to do was omit “One Bad Apple,” “Just for Sidekicks,” “Spike at Your Service,” and “Games Ponies Play” from the roster of episodes. (For the record, I consider these four to be the worst of season three.) Is it any wonder why so many people consider this to be the worst episode of the entire series? By the time this episode aired, my interest in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was dwindling and this episode nearly sealed it. It’s just a good thing I stuck around for the fourth season because the fourth season is the only good season this show has had, besides maybe season five, which was nothing short of amazing.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This season was just okay. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. Like the first two seasons, we had some great episodes, some bad episodes, and then there were those episodes that were just dull. In my opinion, the fourth season is where this show really started to pick up and the fifth season is where they hit their peak. I can only imagine what they have in store for us in season six, which looks like it’s going to be another great season.
I feel like Season 3 is way too overhated, simply because older fans started expecting the show to cater directly to them even though they weren't the target audience.
Celestia isn't stupid, she would've stepped in to save the empire if it was really necessary to do so. She just wanted to give Twilight a chance to learn an important lesson first, and learning that you can't always be the hero is not the same as learning not to worry about everything all the time.
This was a good episode, but I hated how they went about getting rid of the clones. It seems like the rest of the mane six think Pinkie Pie is always cheerful and upbeat no matter what, so when they notice one Pinkie Pie acting glum they stupidly assume she's just a clone. News flash, if one "clone" stands out from the others, it's probably the original. And the test is also not a fool proof test (aka asking something that only the real Pinkie Pie would know), instead it's watching paint dry and the instant the clones look away at all they get blasted back, they aren't even given time to return their focus to watching the paint dry. What if the real Pinkie Pie blinked, sneezed, or coughed? And they never even bother to confirm that yes all of the clones are gone. The ending is the only stain on what would become Dave Polsky's redeeming work, it just needed a little revising to make more sense.
That was the first big mistake after Cindy Morrow decided to just have Babs suddenly join Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with no prompting what so ever.
Telling an adult isn't a bad idea, but often times the adults can not or will not intervene, and there are cases where the adults are the bullies. Fighting back is wrong if you throw the first punch, but sometimes people won't stop doing something until they associate the experience with a negative outcome or unpleasant memory. There is no one size fits all solution to bullying, each case is unique and will require a different way of solving it. Something that this episode doesn't bother to mention. What's really sad is that this episode could've been the one to redeem Diamond Tiara before "Crusaders of The Lost Mark" by making her become aware of how her actions were hurting the CMC, and have her and Silver Spoon struggle to make things right. I do hope sometime in Season 6 we'll get to see Diamond Tiara dealing with the reputation she had as the school bully, and see her make more of an effort to right the wrongs she did in the past. I'm also hopeful she'll accompany the CMC to see Babs in Manehattan, there could still be some bad blood between the two of them because of this episode (though more than likely the two have forgiven and forgotten considering the CMC were more than willing to help Diamond Tiara with her problems after all everything she said and did to them).
I believe Mr.Enter refers to this as "Explain v.s. Excuse". You want to do the former as much as possible for your characters. You can make excuses as to why they act OOC, but often those excuses won't help make your characters look good (such as Amy claiming Pinkie Pie's behavior in "Filli Vanilli" is excused due to Pinkie Pie's tendency to speak at random, that's something I might buy for Rainbow Dash, but not for Pinkie Pie).
In addition to how badly M. A. Larson butchered Fluttershy's character here (though why couldn't Twilight use something besides animals for her trick, just in case something went wrong?), the idea of having Fluttershy be the one to sneak out of the dome to find Twilight was dangerous, because Fluttershy was the only one who hadn't yet angered Trixie, and if she were to get caught at any point, that factor would be taken away from the rest of the mane six. Applejack or Rarity should've been selected, Applejack because she can't lie but can stretch the truth, and Rarity because she's a great actress when the situation calls for it.
I did kind of hate that about Scootaloo early on, she was too similar to Rainbow Dash to the point where it became a problem. Thankfully, Season 4 managed to do a good job of helping her to stand out more, they even gave her an episode with the rest of the CMC were she never once talked about Rainbow Dash, and it felt believeable. I also have Matt11 and RylanKrios and their fanfics for helping me come around to Scootaloo. I really do hope we see more of her personal life in Season 6, we still know very little about her, which is a problem considering she's one of the main characters.
I think it's Rarity's subtle way of punishing Sweetie Belle for guilt tripping her into doing something she really doesn't like doing.
That's the big problem with this otherwise great episode, Pinkie Pie sucks away too much screentime, which leads to the ending being rushed. If they'd trimmed a couple of minutes or so of Pinkie Pie's subplot, they probably could've made Lightning Dust's fate more clear. I also don't know if I approve of Lightning Dust getting kicked out of The Wonderbolts for her behavior. Much like Rainbow Dash in "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" she isn't aware that her actions are causing a problem. Yes, she deserved to lose her status as lead pony for being so reckless, but kicking her out without giving her a fair chance to prove she'd learned her lesson is wrong. I know that in the military/navy/airforce or anything related to that, there's very little room for mistakes, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't excuse giving a cadet another chance if they're willing to learn.
So an unrequited love in real life is why you hate Sparity? Sounds a bit excessive to me.
She may have a big appetite, but she doesn't eat everything first chance she gets. Rememeber how she was surprised at how small the portions for meals in Manehattan were when she was a filly? (Though I think that could've been rectified if she were allowed to eat fast food, that stuff comes in big portion sizes).
Honestly, I feel like Cindy Morrow took the concept of "Make sure Applejack isn't upstaged by anyone or anything else" too far here. Any plot point is hijakced and shut down by Applejack before it can get started, but because they haven't developed Applejack beyond the traits she had in "Applebuck Season", she's not compelling enough to hold together the episode by herself. "The Mane Attraction" managed to defie this, mostly by not having apples or family pop up as a main point in the episode, but she still frequently worked off other characters. Applejack as of now seems to work best if she can play off of the antics or emotions of other characters, while only occasionally stepping into the spotlight. She really needs to be developed, especially if Starlight Glimmer is going to be the eighth mane cast member (so far there doesn't seem to be much to indicate that, but I'm hopeful that's just because DHX has things planned for her and wants to keep them under wraps, though they could at least confirm she is going to be in Season 6).
Because Fluttershy was the only one Discord couldn't corrupt with his mind games, thus making her the wisest choice.
Fluttershy reveals that the whole point of doing so was to gain Discord's trust, and that she was aware of his behavior while also understanding that she couldn't force him to behave. Something that the rest of the mane six seemed to ignore in Seasons 4 and 5, at least with the exception "Make New Friends But Keep Discord". And then they wonder why he betrayed them for Tirek, with friends like that who needs enemies?
I liked Cadence at first and find her to be overhated, but I feel like DHX's attempts at trying to give her character have only made her worse than she was when she seemingly had no character at all. In episodes like "Three's a Crowd", "Princess Spike", and "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows", I found myself questioning why she could possibly be like that? She sang the praises of wanting to marry Shining Armor, yet she finds life in her own empire with that same stallion boring? She lectures Spike on responsibility and not exploiting your authority for personal gain, yet she is never called out for putting the idea into Spike's head or the fact that the things that backfired on Spike were things he did under her instructions. And she decides it's perfectly okay to tell all these random ponies that probably don't have a right to know, while keeping her daughter-in-law in the dark about a life changing thing just because she likes being surprised, all the while knowing she was placing more pressure onto Pinkie Pie to keep it secret?
This episode was an attempt at a "Faulty Towers" comedy of errors episode, except it forgot the comedy. But I feel like they did it intentionally so as to make sure it wouldn't overshadow the finale.
And yet you praise "Crusaders of The Lost Mark" for being esentially the same thing, more or less. I personally like both, as well as "Pinkie Pride", because if you want to see a musical episode done horribly (as in the songs don't move the plot along at all, and the entire story doesn't even begin to make sense) see "Atlantis Squarepantis", no doubt the worst mistake the late great David Bowie ever made was agreeing to voice a character for the special.
3769584
That's exactly why i loved this episode. It gave Pinkie the character development she needed. However, I do agree with you that the plan that they chose could have easily backfired. In all honesty, I don't think that the real Pinkie doing something involuntary, such as sneezing or coughing, would have been enough to blast her.
To be fair, I can kind of understand why she chose to side with Tiara and Spoon. Still doesn't excuse her behavior in this episode, though.
I think the only way she would see any consequences of her actions is if one of the CMC committed suicide due to her actions. I see Diamond Tiara as being this show's version of Eric Cartman, a character that is vile in terms of behavior and relishes in torturing others, someone who doesn't see anything wrong with what they're doing. South Park had the opportunity to redeem Cartman and make him see that his actions had consequences in the episode "Bass to Mouth", but they didn't go that route, so Cartman remains an asshole because the writers can't bear the thought of him ever being in the wrong. This is one of the reasons why I stopped watching the show.
Ugh! Aside from that painful moment, I enjoyed "Filli Vanilli." It almost ruined the rest of the episode for me, though.
As far as I'm concerned, there was no way for either one of them to get past the dome without alerting Trixie. (It's implied that the dome itself is connected with her magic, thus alerting her if somepony tries escaping.) To be fair, the choice of picking Fluttershy since she could easily escape the dome without being noticed. They probably could have used the same tactic with Applejack or Rarity, though.
That's just unnecessarily cruel. Yes, I get that Rarity does not enjoy the outdoors. (I share this trait with her.) Yes, it was wrong of Sweetie to guilt trip Rarity into doing it, but that hardly constitutes Rarity forcing her to carry all of her crap. I get the feeling that these two don't really get to spend that much time together, seeing as how both are very busy with their daily lives. (Rarity with her dressmaking and Sweetie with her Crusading), so it's highly likely that Sweetie would immediately jump at this chance to spend time with Rarity. The instant Apple Bloom brings up the fact that she and Applejack will be going camping, Sweetie immediately states, "I wanna go."
Fair point. I do agree that Lightning Dust didn't deserve to get kicked it. I would say that I'm hoping she makes a reappearance in season six and gets redeemed, but at this point, I highly doubt it.
I just don't like Sparity just because I can't see it working in-universe. Rarity is practically in her 20's, while Spike is more or less twelve, thirteen years old. I prefer SpikeBelle because, not only do they make an adorable couple, but it makes more sense. Spike and Sweetie Belle are pretty much the same age. And considering that Rarity is always using Spike's affections for her to get him to do what she wants, I wouldn't blame Spike if he told Rarity to piss and get with her little sister just to piss her off.
Being a farmer, it does make sense that she would have a big appetite. I'm just saying that it would have made more sense for Applejack to eat them instead of Pinkie Pie. I imagine that Applejack has quite the strong stomach. Remember, this is the same pony who ate a load of plates full of apple fritters while she was still in diapers.
Agreed. Like Spike, Applejack works best when she's in a supporting role, when she's not the central focus of the episode. Basically, every Applejack-centered episode requires her to act like an idiot, especially where her family is concerned, as in "Apple Family Reunion." I am also looking forward to what the staff has planned for Starlight Glimmer, though I can't help wondering where she is in the animatic that was leaked onto YouTube. I'm betting that it's the opening to the premiere.
Yes, that's true, but out of all the ponies, I imagine Fluttershy would be the most hostile towards Discord, the pony who would have the most aversion to having him around because Discord is the one who turned her into a bitch and caused her to be cruel to her friends. She was so horrified by this that she considered it to be "a terrible dream."
Yes, I agree that the Mane Six have been acting like a bunch of pricks towards Discord, though I can't say I actually blame them after all he's done to them. But my main problem was the fact that Fluttershy was excusing away behavior.
I like that the writers are actually trying to give her a personality and character growth. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't go about it the right way. I didn't mind Cadence in "Three's a Crowd," but I do agree that it was stupid of her to make sure that nothing disturbed Twilight. However, she didn't tell him to take over Twilight's role and start making decisions in her name. I didn't mind her and Shining Armor refusing to tell Twilight about her niece as it Twilight's expression at the end of the episode makes it worth it. However, I do agree that it was stupid of them to make Pinkie Pie the secret keeper. This at least lent itself to some comedic moments as Pinkie is basically going through what Twilight had to go through during "Green Isn't Your Color."
My problem with this episode was that it was so cliche and predictable, hardly up to par with the usual great writing that makes this show so great.
That's exactly why I hated this finale. Yes, the songs did what a musical is supposed to do: tell you how a character is feeling and moving the plot along), but the story made little to no sense whatsoever. I loved "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" because I think it worked better. There were a lot of great character moments, some great songs, the pacing was smooth, and the plot was well developed and well written.
3769722 That animatic was debunked as fan made by the show staff.
3769732 I'm talking about the little teaser trailer that was leaked on YouTube, the one where we get introduced to Princess Flurry Heart.
knowing very little about a villain is fine. He was inspired by Sauron to whom we also know very little. The more mystery there is the more interesting a villain tends to be. That's what gives Chrysalis the edge over Discord. Also Sombra is not a weak villain, he looks very threatening, you've seen the consequences if he wins, keeping him out is draining away all the strength of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance and he has set up all those traps to keep the crystal heart sealed away. By doing it this way they can focus more on Twilight and the group, which is what the series is about.
That sentence makes no sense. Twilight passing her test IS the plot. It's what the story is about. Why did we need development of King Sombra? I thought it was pretty clear that he was dangerous and we saw in a flashback what would happen if he would win. Why do we need to know more?
Actually Rainbow did have second thoughts. She hesitates after slamming down the badge.
My main gripe with "just for sidekicks" is that Spike didn't do anything immoral. He just took a job and was payed for that and they keep treating it like it is greedy. It wasn't greedy because he actually tried to earn the gems. It was more because of nativity and lack of thought that he got himself into that situation. I actually felt kinda bad that he lost all the gems, he had taken on this huge responsibility to earn them. Also this really cemented my hate towards Zecora, that she takes the gem then gives an arrogant speech about greed and admonishes Spike and then doesn't even help him really ticked me off the wrong way. Zecora has never been a character I like, her demeanor is extremely arrogant, her constant rhyming is annoying and her unhelpful nature is quite grading.
Cadance doesn't need a backstory, what she needs is development. Her character needs to go forward in a certain way and develop more layers. I want to see her getting stressed or getting furious. Maybe having a strong hatred towards changelings or being very controlling in romance. Just something that makes her stand out and have flaws.
Um, to test her? That's what's called having faith in someone. She gave Twilight a challenge now without any instructions and if Twilight can figure it out on her own it will prove that she is ready.
I think there is nothing wrong with the episode except it being a single episode. Twilight becoming a princess is a big deal so it should also get a proper amount of screen time to really make that apparent. The thing is that this should have been a two-parter. I think it was handled extremely well, they crammed way more in there than I could have believed possible and it did line up. The elements are the embodiment of their friendship and even though they themselves may have changed their friendship has remained. Twilight wouldn't be punished because she solved the problem.
Also giving more attention to Twilight becoming a princess will make the conflict even more rushed than it already is. The song "Princess coming" was a really good move. It conveyed all the importance of becoming a princess in just 40 seconds. I can't think of a better way to do the pacing than how they did it.
There really is just 1 problem and that is time-constraint. It had to be 2 parts. Also that being said season 3 should have been a full 26 episodes so that they could have done more foreshadowing of Twilight's studies reaching completion.
I think they did the princess thing far too early. I'm not against it but they should have waited another season and made this one full length.
3796997
Season three was supposed to be the final season, but it got renewed for a fourth season at the last minute, so the writers had to rush to rewrite the script. The season only had thirteen episode to incorporate the "only 65 episodes" rule in cartoons that you often see.
3798282
that they tried to rap it up makes no sense. Why would Hasbro want to end their most successful series?