Thoughts on S6 E4, E5 · 9:47am May 4th, 2016
As circumstance would have it, I ended up watching these in reverse - Second Prances before Gauntlet, because I missed the latter when it came out.
There's not much to say about Gauntlet. It was cool, and Spike finally got a good episode. He overcame otherwise insurmountable obstacles with the power of teamwork, pony style, so hurrah for that little growth arc. Ember was cool. All the dragons in armor and fiery elements reminded me of how much I enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I wondered if I should give Korra a shot when I don't have the time to.
Despite most opinions I've read so far, I didn't find Twilight and Rarity as being extra. They hampered the tension, any sense of danger really, but they also provided a kind of comfort to the proceedings: nothing seriously wrong could happen when you had a pair of ponies that traversed the most dangerous course the frikken Dragonlord designed, based on his own high values, while dressed as the background, right behind and ready to save his tiny tail. Friendship may be magic, but magic is hax0r. Screw learning about dragon culture, Twilight. You could assimilate it into your own.
Pictured: Powerful unicorns or weaksauce course, depending on your perspective
Also, Dragonlord Torch had an Australian accent. Something something Australian species are 100x dangerous than the local variety, something something huge reptile.
Croikey, bloody draggos, mate, first one to chug a thousand pints of Toohey's wins me crown oy reckon, keen as
No Second Prances I enjoyed a bit better, but that's because I like Starlight Glimmer. I loved the casual slips into villain mode, and the Fluttershy scene was top.
If only she had stayed a while longer. Then the flood of episode-response shipfics would have been okay for once.
And, uh, Trixie. There's something real weird going on with their voices, or is it just me? Starlight's starting to sound a lot like Twilight. Trixie's voice is unique, I guess, but reminds me of a more tongue-tight Luna, which would be weird considering Trixie's a showmare who talks a ton. Actually, maybe it's because she's too used to shouting, so when she has to talk at normal volume she doesn't know what to do?
So, on the one hand, now I have to work Trixie into Sabbatical, because friends and blah. It's not difficult, it's just that I've been solidly indifferent towards writing about Trixie. It's so... saturated, you know, with the whole regretful!Trixie fics. But now I have a reason to. And so far, I'm actually enjoying it. She's got the same force of personality that makes things happen around her. And she slips into third person when she gets agitated -> confirmed to be canon! That's useful.
It was pretty clever how fast Trixie tried to build up that barrier of denial. That was some solid characterization in play, which is why I liked this episode a bit more.
The visual touches were nice too: Trixie bending the forks into a shape, the perfect rotations Celestia examined her fork with, the whole Hoofdini flashback sequence. The script had some great gems like Twilight's remark on proper cutlery etiquette, which I'm sure will be worked into a fic eventually.
So: nice touches here and there, a lot to enjoy overall. It's a really solid episode, more solid than most, with a good dynamic for a change: funny, emotional, actiony all come in at the right time, and it's resolved nicely enough at the end.
Oh, right, and most importantly no song. A song would have thrown everything off key, I feel; everything was paced fine as it was, and hopefully it stays that way. >_>
Yeah, teleportation rather invalidates an obstacle course.
And I agree on Trixie's voice. I don't think we'd ever heard her being casual until that spa scene. We've had showy, domineering, terrified, insane, and vaguely repentant, but never relaxed.
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Thinking about it - I had forgotten until you mentioned teleportation, but Starlight's thing in Prances was that she'd help teleport Trixie out of danger into the box. It just reminded me of the previous finale, when teleporting repeatedly was a big deal in her and Twilight's duel. It's probably not much, but it's a nice note to pick up on that Starlight's two for two for being good at instant transport.
Also, the Sisterhooves Social are probably made redundant by magic. There'd have to be rules preventing the use of magic. Which you could construe as discriminatory, since the pegasi had no issue using their wings(?). Which a certain unicorn who's big on equality might not take well to...
I found myself at one point shouting "TRIXIE SONG" at the screen. :B
Thus proving ponies are the superior species. :V
And you should definitely check out Korra. Season 2 is a little less awesome than season 1, but I enjoyed the show all the way through.
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You joke, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think it's the truth. In a way the concept at play in that episode is stupefyingly scary and topical. The dragons called to compete for leadership of their kind (within Equestria's borders?) are far less intelligent, far less culturally sophisticated, and appear to be far more powerful than the average pony… a race whom they're not opposed to doing into all out war with. Into this environment ventures Spike, the smallest and yet possibly most advanced dragon in the country…
And No Second Prances was pretty awesome, too
… but did Trixie seriously fire herself out of that cannon assuming she had no escape route?
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That's a good point - while Spike doesn't have any sort of raw talent in terms of strength, he does have the power of knowledge and culture. That stuff shapes history when pushed properly.
And if he took some lessons from his new housemate on controlling crowds and swaying public opinion...
I see what you did there
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Also, Scribblestick! I seem to recall you taking a hiatus way from long ago; if so, welcome back, and if not, well,