Mariusioannesp Speculates Wildly: Season 6 Premiere and Other Stuff · 7:23pm Mar 11th, 2016
Greetings my Brony brethren!
I seem to have gotten into the habit of posting a blog once a month. That should end this month as there will be a lot to write about very soon. It was quite a newsworthy weekend last weekend. Why was that? Well, our good friends at Equestria Daily dropped the trailer for the Season 6 premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and it dropped quite the bombshell.
Yes, you heard that right! Season 6 officially begins on March 26th! In just a little more than two weeks, MLP Season 6 will already be here. The most surprising thing about it though is that we were initially told Season 6 would begin in May. And now here it is coming almost two months earlier than expected. The most interesting thing about this though is that this year March 26th is Holy Saturday, the night of the Easter Vigil and the day before Easter. Last year, Season 5 premiered on April 4th, which was also Holy Saturday. As a man of faith, I feel inclined to read into these signs and wonders.
March 26th is also the day before my birthday, March 27th! Just letting you know so you can get me a present! I kid of course. You all don’t have to get me a present. I will gladly accept cash.
Anywho, Equestria Daily has also provided us with synopses for the two part Season 6 premiere now known as “The Crystalling.”
Season 6 Episode 1 - The Crystalling Part 1
The Mane Six attend the Crystalling of Cadence and Shining Armor's new baby at the Crystal Empire; Twilight gets the chance to present Starlight with her first friendship lesson.Season 6 Episode 2 - The Crystalling Part 2
The Mane Six scramble to save the Crystal Empire from an eternal winter; Starlight struggles after the failed reunion with her old friend.
Crystalling. It sounds just like Christening. They’re alluding to Christian Baptismal tradition on an episode that airs the day before Easter. Hooray for Jesus!
Moving on, there are many things that can be speculated about the premiere based on the trailer and the synopses. 
We all knew about wee little baby Princess Flurry Heart being an alicorn. However, her status as an alicorn comes as a surprise to Mane 6 and appears to play a big role in the episodes. It also appears from the trailer that she’s directly responsible for bringing on the eternal winter mentioned in the synopsis of Part 2. If that is the case though, that could be kind of lame. We might be in for another low-key premiere much like Season 4’s premiere “Princess Twilight.” However, there is always the possibility that Flurry Heart attracts the attention of some magical malefactor. I read the synopsis before I saw the trailer. When I saw “eternal winter”, the first thing I thought of were the Windigos. Then again, there’s always the possibility they’ll bring in a villain from G1 MLP and use King Charlatan who I’ve mentioned before. Perhaps he’d be reimagined as some kind of Arctic griffon. From what I heard of the news that came out of the Toy Fair, griffons might be making further appearances in Season 6. Or perhaps it’ll be an ice dragon of some kind. Dragons are supposed to play a role in Season 6 according to the news from the Toy Fair as well as some other promotional material that we will be looking at.
Whatever comes to pass in the premiere, there appears to be a secondary plotline that may prove to be quite interesting. Just as I predicted not too long ago, we will be seeing Starlight Glimmer again in this premiere. Starlight Glimmer will be presented with her first lesson in friendship. (What that montage at the end of the Season 5 finale was I don’t know.) Apparently this lesson will involve a reunion with an old friend. When I read that, I immediately thought of Sunburst, the colt who was Starlight Glimmer’s childhood friend until he got his cutie mark. In fact, a pony greatly resembling a grown-up Sunburst appears briefly in the trailer. 
It seems the premiere will have a pretty strong connection to the Season 5 finale. In fact, with Shining Armor and Cadance’s baby being born in this episode, there’s a pretty strong connection to Season 5 as a whole. My sense is that Season 6 will be more or less a continuation of Season 5. Though I understand this season’s theme is “Explore Equestria”. It’s rather different from last season’s theme “Cutie Mark Magic”. “Explore Equestria” does sound like it could work pretty well in connection to the Cutie Map. I’m certain we’re going to see more of that this season. I sense the connection between these seasons as I suspect they were worked on almost simultaneously.
Moving on, Equestria Daily also revealed another decidedly different trailer for Season 6.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I do not currently watch Game of Thrones. I am currently a little more than halfway through the first Game of Thrones book. (Whether or not I’ll watch the TV show one day remains to be seen. I’m leaning towards no.) I am familiar enough with the theme song and opening sequence to at least recognize what is being alluded to here. It’s not really that surprising that they’d do this given the “Winter is Coming” joke they made in “Tanks for the Memories” last season. Anywho, one moment in particular stands out. We see Spike standing in a place called “Dragonlands” on the giant map of Equestria we're flying over.
As I mentioned before, some of the news that came out of the Toy Fair seemed to suggest dragons will be playing a role in this season. Perhaps Spike will be joining one of the Mane 6 on a trip to these Dragonlands in a future episode, maybe at the behest of the Cutie Map.
On to some older news that I feel is of interest. That is because on top of Starlight Glimmer already being confirmed to return, it seems that a few of my other predictions have been confirmed. The season hasn’t even started, and my predictions are already coming true.
First up is the news from Equestria Daily concerning an upcoming DVD from Shout Factory collecting a number of MLP’s family themed episodes. All the episodes listed are familiar to us, except for one. This unfamiliar episode must be a Season 6 episode, and since the DVD is set to be released in June, one would presume it will air early in the season.
This episode is called “Flutter Brutter.”
That’s right. This must be the long-awaited episode where we are introduced to Fluttershy’s brother. And thankfully it appears to be coming up pretty soon.
Second, Equestria Daily also revealed that there is another returning character who will be making an appearance in Season 6. 
That’s right! It’s Babs Seed! The Bad Seed is coming back. I was right! I was always right! Are you happy you were wrong on this Bad_Seed_72?
Last but not least, Equestria Daily also revealed a bit of news concerning the next installment of the Equestria Girls series, Equestria Girls: Legend of the Everfree. It apparently will be about the Equestria Girls going to camp. It is set to premiere in the Fall of this year and will once again be straight to TV just like the previous installment Friendship Games. But there is one thing that is particularly interesting about all this. Legend of the Everfree is going to premiere on Netflix before it does on Discovery Family. This is quite the development. Now, I’ve said it many times in the past how I thought the first two Equestria Girls films were released in theaters to test the waters for and MLP feature film. And then we got an actual MLP feature film. I think Equestria Girls is once more being used as a guinea pig. It’s testing the waters to see how well an MLP property does as a Netflix exclusive premiere. I’ve already said in my aforementioned predictions how I speculated that it’s very likely Season 6 could be MLP’s last season. It could also be the case that Season 6 is the last season of MLP to air on the Discovery Family. It’s possible MLP could continue on Netflix. In the past, I’ve speculated on MLP’s future after The Hub that Hasbro has the option to further double down on Discovery Family. I speculated that MLP could make the move to Cartoon Network or the Disney Channel if that were to happen. Netflix didn’t even cross my mind at the time. It seems overall that Hasbro is downsizing its television properties. Littlest Pet Shop is currently in its final season. Transformers: Robots in Disguise, the sequel series to Transformers: Prime that airs on Cartoon Network, was reduced from three planned seasons to just two and so is now in its final season as well. It’s also interesting to note that one of The Hub’s flagship series was a show based on the Care Bears called Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot. It then became one of the casualties when The Hub gave way to Discovery Family. Last November, a continuation of the series called Care Bears and Cousins premiered on Netflix. I could see the same thing happening with MLP. Children’s programing is quite prominent on online streaming services. It might be a natural shift for MLP, and Equestria Girls will once again be blazing that trail.
So those are my thoughts on some of the recent developments as we get closer and closer to the Season 6 premiere of MLP. What do you all think of my speculations? Is there merit to them or am I off my rocker?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
I'm just looking forward to the episode in which Trixie and Sunset Shimmer demand to be taken on as Twilight's student. (Or, alternative, Trixie kidnaps Starlight and murders her for daring to try to lay claim to her rival.)
For the character of Sunburst, I'd like for him to be voiced by Kirby Morrow as a Casting Gag to his past history with Starlight's VA, Kelly Sheridan, where they often got casted as love interests. Some of their previous work together include Miroku & Sango from InuYasha and Jay & Theresa from Class of the Titans
Definitely looking forward to Season 6 and Equestria Girls 4. This show's future is very much a giant mystery. Where the stories go. How long it lasts. I mean, we are entering MLP's sixth season. Very few animated shows make it this far. Heck, LPS was an interesting exception with it making to four. Even Avatar: The Last Airbender got only three seasons (not counting Korra's sequel series), though three seasons was enough to tell its amazing story. But, at times, it feels like we're standing on the edge. Like we're all just waiting for the day an article pops up on Equestria Daily officially revealing Season 6 to be the last one. Or maybe MLP will last for another season. Either way, we know that Season 6 won't be the last time we see our favorite ponies because, whether there's a Season 7 and beyond or not, we still have the 2017 film to look forward to.
3803844 Yes, that would be funny.
It would be even funnier if I'd ever seen InuYasha or Class of the Titans, or knew Kirby Morrow was. 
Sorry.
3804018 Yeah, I don't quite know why we seem to be having the sense that MLP is nearing the end of the road. Six seasons is quite a lot for a cartoon, and it's Hasbro's longest-running cartoon series. It is rare. Though there are a number of cartoons that have been around for like a decade like SpongeBob SquarePants or The Fairly OddParents. Though from what I understand the quality of such shows has diminished significantly over time. Certainly, the last thing any of us wants is for that to happen to MLP. At root of it though, I think it's just better for it to end when you've been expecting it to end rather than for it to end when you're not expecting it at all.
3804075
Fair point. At least we're sort of mentally preparing ourselves for that inevitable day. I mean, I love MLP but the show will have to end at some point. If it kept going on, it could follow in the vein of Spongebob, Fairy Odd Parents, Family Guy, and Simpsons with having its quality diminish as it continued. Granted, there are those out there who think that MLP has already begun its descent but I disagree with them and it's their loss (if anything, Season 5 was the best season thus far IMO). But I would like to see MLP end with it still being good rather than it continue on and slowly become bad. Look at Gravity Falls. It only got two seasons. Granted those two seasons were mysteriously stretched out from 2012 to early 2016 but, overall, it's still 2 seasons and 40 episodes overall. But it managed to end on a good note and by the creator's own decision, which I respect. But, then again, shows that go on for a long time can still remain awesome. Look at Doctor Who. Though, granted, the opinions on the show's quality are more clustered than a landfill residing within a 4chan thread on Miley Cyrus's laptop. Still, I've thoroughly loved the show thus far and I think it's still going strong (ten years for the modern era and over 52 for the show overall).
3804118
We're not alone in that opinion apparently. Equestria Daily recently had a poll asking which season was the best, and Season 5 was voted the best overwhelmingly. I found that rather surprising since from a few people that Season 5 wasn't that well liked.