SPOILERS? Mariusioannesp Reviews: "The Times They Are a Changeling" · 6:58am Aug 23rd, 2016
WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “The Times They Are a Changeling”. 
Now, without further a-Changeling-times-do, here is my review of “The Times They Are a Changeling”.
Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike are off on a visit to the Crystal Empire when they discover that a Changeling has been spotted at the outskirts of the Empire! Spike being considered the hero that he is in the Crystal Empire leads the charge to track down the Changeling. However, when Spike finds the Changeling, he finds that it’s actually friendly and desperate to experience love and friendship as a relationship rather than just feeding off of it. Will Spike be able to use his hero status in the Crystal Empire to convince the Crystal ponies to accept this Changeling’s friendship?
So, what’s the verdict?
Alas, the dreaded Spike episode once more. This could be either really good or really bad. Could Spike the Brave and Glorious save us from the recent streak of lackluster episodes?
Well, this episode was certainly a lot better than the last ones.
So yeah, I liked it.
Let us begin once more where these things usually begin at the beginning. Twilight Sparkle is on board the Friendship Express to the Crystal Empire, excited to once more be visiting her niece Flurry Heart. Also accompanying her is Starlight Glimmer, excited to see Sunburst again as well. Really, Starlight. I bet Trixie is all kinds of jealous. But enough of my insanity. Starlight is a little concerned about falling behind in her friendship studies, but Twilight assures her that she can learn a friendship lesson anywhere. Also accompanying them is Spike, who insists on traveling with them incognito. 
He’s concerned that his status in the Crystal Empire as the hero Spike the Brave and Glorious will overshadow what is just meant to be a family visit. That’s why needs the right disguise.
Everyone will surely stay away from me if they think I’m Carrot Top!
Oh, look. Spike still has that Rarity plushie from “Castle Sweet Castle” last season. Yeah, that’s still not creepy. Not creepy at all.
However, when they all arrive at the Crystal Empire train station, they find that it seems that the whole town has been abandoned. “I've got a bad feeling about this,” Twilight says. You know, like they say in like every Star Wars movie! Figuring the coast is clear, Spike decides to remove his disguise. That’s when he is suddenly mobbed by the Crystal ponies. 
They’re all clamoring that Spike has come to save them again. They’re also quite suspicious of Twilight and Starlight, wondering if they’re really who they look like. Then they realize that Spike might not really be Spike and run away. When they arrive at the Crystal Castle, the guards there are equally as suspicious concerning the identities of Twilight, Starlight, and Spike, demanding some identification to confirm. That is until Princess Cadance herself shows up, and she confirms Twilight’s identity her own way. 
It’s the “Sunshine Sunshine” dance! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that. Twilight and Cadance seem to have outgrown it a bit, but this time, it’s necessary. Starlight wants an explanation for all of this, and Sunburst explains how a Changeling was spotted nearby. Sunburst suspects that all the love brimming in the Crystal Empire since Flurry Heart’s Crystalling is what drew it here. They suspect the Changelings may be after Flurry Heart! That’s why they’ve taken all these precautions to verify everypony’s identity and such. Despite this all putting a damper on her visit, Twilight promises to do everything she can to protect Flurry Heart. Then, the guards request that Spike the Brave and Glorious join them on their hunt for the Changeling. Twilight is hesitant, but Shining Armor assures her he’s safe with the guards, while Spike assures her that actually the guards will be safe with him. Hoo boy. So, Spike goes off leading the Crystal Guards on their search for this Changeling. They seem to accept Spike’s word when it comes to fighting Changelings though he doesn’t say much that isn’t already obvious. He has the guards spread out to cover as much ground as possible because you know the Changeling could be anywhere. 
He then tries interrogating this rock over whether it’s a Changeling. Can Changelings even turn into rocks or other inanimate objects?
Spike then ends up falling through a hole in the ice and almost sliding off a cliff, but he’s able grab onto a stalagmite before he can. 
Yeah, he’s really grateful to that stalagmite.
Anywho, Spike realizes it probably wasn’t a good idea to get separated from the guards and tries to go off. He thinks he sees something, but it turns out to be just his reflection in the crystal until he tries walking away. 
He tries testing this reflection further until he is satisfied, but then it trips as he walks away. 
Eyup, it’s the Changeling. 
Spike tries running away, but in his panic he slips on the ice and falls off the cliff! However, inexplicably the Changeling grabs him by the tail and saves him. Spike’s confused because Changelings are supposed to be evil. Turns out this Changeling isn’t evil. His name is Thorax, and all he’s ever wanted was to know friendship. It’s the one thing he’s always wanted since he hatched. 
Feast your eyes, my friends! For the first time, we get a look inside an actual Changeling hive. And there’s Queen Chrysalis too. Oh so brief, but sweet.
Thorax also participated in Chrysalis’ failed invasion of Canterlot way back in “A Canterlot Wedding” at the end of Season 2. However, after seeing such true friendship on display by the Mane 6, he decided he could no longer feed on love like his Changeling brethren. He wants to share in it. He went out to search for love to share, but now he’s starving and was drawn to the Crystal Empire by all the love that’s there. Thorax figures if he had a friend, perhaps the love they shared would sustain him. That would be certainly interesting if Changelings can indeed function like that. The problem is though Thorax doesn’t think the Crystal ponies would want to be friends with him. Spike though begins to hatch an idea. He could use his status as Spike the Brave and Glorious, hero of the Crystal Empire, to convince the Crystal ponies to trust Thorax and accept his offer of friendship. In fact, Spike is pretty confident he can do that.
Somehow, Spike is back with the guards at the Crystal Empire, and they’re wondering if he managed to find and defeat the Changeling. Spike assures them that he did much more than merely defeat the Changeling; he managed to befriend it. Their reaction is to laugh at Spike, believing it a joke. 
Try as he might, Spike is unable to convince the guards of the truth.
Then, Shining Armor comes in, not thinking any of this is funny at all. 
Eyup. The guards just bolted on Spike.
Shining Armor doesn’t think Changelings can be nice given his experience of having Queen Chrysalis kidnap Cadance and bewitch him. He draws quite the hard line on this. That’s understandable given everything he went through like he said.
So, Spike immediately backs off his attempts to convince everypony in the Crystal Empire that Thorax isn’t a threat. He goes back to Thorax to give him the bad news. Thorax isn’t surprised; he wouldn’t expect ponies who look one way to trust something that looks like him. He illustrates this point by briefly transforming into a random Crystal pony colt. This gives Spike another idea. Somehow, Spike is back in the Crystal Empire again with Thorax disguised as a Crystal pony colt in tow. Twilight shows up because she wants Spike to take notes while she and Starlight work on a protection spell of Flurry Heart. Spike though takes this opportunity to introduce Twilight to Thorax by once again using the Line-of-Sight Name Trope to come up with the alias for him "Crystal Hoof". You know, they used this gag in “Gauntlet of Fire” earlier this season, but it didn’t really serve much of a purpose. Here though, it provides the alias Thorax uses for most of the rest of the episode. But having it this episode too kind of makes it into a running gag. Could that have been the reason it was in “Gauntlet of Fire” in the first place? Anyway, Spike quickly improvises a story that he met Crystal Hoof when they were there for the Equestria Games and have been pen pals ever since. Remember the Equestria Games way back in “Equestria Games” in Season 4. Continuity! Despite their silliness, they manage to convince Twilight and allay any potential for suspicion. 
Wait a minute. That face looks familiar. 
Oh, so they trotted out that old chestnut.
Moving on, Spike goes all around the Crystal Empire with “Crystal Hoof,” allowing him to ingratiate himself with the populace. Everything is working out just as Spike suspected it would, but Thorax is concerned that he can’t pretend to be a Crystal pony forever. That’s when suddenly they are summoned by Princess Cadance. Turns out, Cadance heard that Spike was hanging out with a friend and wanted to introduce herself to him as well. However, Cadance then presents Flurry Heart to Crystal Hoof, and this doesn’t turn out too well. The amount of love in Flurry Heart’s presence is too overwhelming for Thorax, and he can’t stop himself from morphing into his Changeling form. 
Everypony is quickly on their guard, but Spike tries to explain the situation. Sunburst interrupts with the only logical explanation they all can understand. The Changeling replaced Spike’s friend to get close to Flurry Heart. Spike in his panic says nothing to refute this, leaving Thorax really hurt. Thorax then runs away. 
While everypony goes on high alert and searches for the Changeling, Spike goes to look for Thorax himself at the one place he’s sure to find him again. He goes back to the ice cave he initially found Thorax in to apologize about not sticking up for him. He doesn’t have much luck finding him because he’s cleverly disguised. 
Oh, so Changelings can disguise themselves as rocks. I wonder now what is the true extent of a Changeling’s shape-changing ability.
Thorax though is not too happy to see Spike after his so callous betrayal. 
Spike ends up slipping on the ice again and hanging on the edge of the cliff by the tips of his claws. 
Thorax refuses to help Spike because he’s an evil Changeling and all. Spike though insists he’s still his friend, and he just wishes he had been there for Thorax. Spike slips off, but Thorax does indeed swoop in to save him once again. Thorax admits he understands the position Spike’s in. He can’t ask Spike to sacrifice the love the Crystal Empire for him. But Spike says he doesn’t have to ask, and he goes off to do what he should have done in the first place.
Back at the Crystal Empire, everything remains at high alert as the guards frantically continue their search for the Changeling. Starlight questions the propriety of this response, but Cadance insists that it’s necessary given that the presence of one Changeling could mean a whole swarm is on its way. Twilight agrees but also admits that things seem to be getting a little out of hand. That’s when Spike arrives with Thorax in tow. Everypony is shocked when Spike announces that Thorax is his friend. Then Spike furthers his point by regaling us with a song. Eyup. For the first time ever, Spike actually gets his own song. It’s a delightful song called “A Changeling Can Change”. The most interesting thing though is how the lights dim, and there’s this inexplicable spotlight on Spike during this whole sequence. 
Look how confused Starlight looks when the lights suddenly go out.
This is the moment when Spike’s song wins Twilight over.
When Spike’s song comes to an end, Twilight praises Spike for being brave enough to sacrifice his status in the Crystal Empire by standing up for his friend. Twilight declares that as Princess of Friendship, she tries to set an example, but this time Spike was the one who taught her that you can truly find a friend from anywhere. Now, that’s a lesson I can stand behind! There’s also kind of another lesson about the true meaning of bravery, but I stand behind that too. Twilight accepts Thorax’s friendship, and this seems to inspire Cadance to do so as well. She even presents Flurry Heart to him! 
Even Shining Armor too is willing to accept Thorax’s friendship, and he had the strongest opinion against Changelings here.
What?!
Anywho, Thorax is ecstatic over all this. He wants to learn everything he can about friendship, and perhaps he could take what he learned back to the Changeling Kingdom. If Changelings can learn to create love for one another, they won’t have to take it from others. So, there’s a Changeling Kingdom. Interesting.
After some more cheering on of Spike, Starlight tells Twilight how she was right about being able to learn a friendship lesson anywhere. 
This episode was written by Kevin Burke and Chris Wyatt, two new writers on MLP. They’ve apparently both written before for the series Avengers Assemble and Ultimate Spider-Man. I’ve never seen either series, but I believe I’ve heard good things about them. I would assume these series are more serialized than MLP tends to be. Given their experience in that regard, it makes sense that their episode builds off of the season premiere as much as this one does. If MLP was a more serialized series, this episode would have aired at least in the first half of the season. For me, this probably would have worked better as the mid-season finale or mid-season premiere. This is certainly something new for MLP. They’ve never really done a random episode in the season that followed up on the premiere like this.
Speaking of that, this episode is very much built off season premiere. Starburst’s here again, but he doesn’t do much frankly. He pretty much just holds up Flurry Heart’s bassinet. 
And then of course there was that mysterious flying thing in the background at the very end of “The Crystalling” that many suspected was a Changeling. 
We now know that was most likely Thorax arriving in the Crystal Empire after being drawn by the great love released from the Crystalling.
This is one of those episodes that showcases Spike at his best. Spike is at his best not when he’s the center of attention, but when he’s helping others in their development. In this case, he’s not just helping Thorax, but the Crystal Empire as a whole. I like to think that Spike is what is known as a catalyst hero. That is a hero who rather than undergoing development themselves, helps other characters undergo their own development. To a certain extent, this episode combines various aspects of Spike we’ve seen before. The part in the beginning where he lets things go to his head briefly with the Crystal Guards is kind of like how he was in “Princess Spike” last season. Of course, Spike’s whole thing with helping others is something we’ve seen in most of his quality episodes beforehand. The Crystal Empire is also perfect backdrop to showcase Spike. In the Crystal Empire, Spike is a hero for all he has done for them. It’s one of the places that gives Spike the attention he truly deserves.
One of the best thing about this episode is the potential for future episodes. I certainly would like to see Thorax again, and perhaps we will. Thorax is voiced by Kyle Rideout. If that names sounds familiar, it’s because he also voiced Vinnie on Littlest Pet Shop. I think it’s cool now that LPS has ended that they can shift some of the cast members onto MLP. Anywho, Thorax could find himself in a rather interesting predicament going forward. Given that Thorax flipped out when in the presence of Flurry Heart, it’s possible that he doesn’t have complete control over his Changeling instincts. Thorax could find himself in the same situation of a vampire who’s trying not to feed on human blood and stuff. I’d also like to see that perhaps not everypony is not on board with Thorax’s presence. It couldn’t have been that easy. Given this episode gives Thorax a tangential connection with the season premiere, I think I’d like to see Thorax show up in the season finale as well if it also happens to focus on the Crystal Empire. Perhaps it could mean the finale will include Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings again. We have been seen quite a bit of the Changelings over the past two seasons. It would make sense if Chrysalis made her epic return at the end of this season. We’ll just have to wait and see.
This episode also gave us a slight look at Changeling life. We Bronies do love our Changelings. We actually got to see the inside of a Changeling hive. 
We also learn that Changelings hatch from eggs and begin their lives as larvae. They also all appeared to have been mothered by Chrysalis herself. It’s also confirmed for the first time on the show that Changeling drones can speak. (We’ve only seen them speak in the comics until now.) We also learn that Changelings can shapeshift into inanimate objects like rocks as well as non-ponies like baby dragons. There’s apparently also a whole Changeling Kingdom. There’s also Thorax’s suggestion that Changelings won’t need to feed on love if they could share love with each other. What Spike managed to do in this could end up changing the nature of all Changelings forever.
Then there’s the matter of Changeling naming conventions. It was confirmed first by M.A. Larson and then by the MLP card game that the Changeling in attendance at Cranky and Mathilda’s wedding in “Slice of Life” was named Kevin. 
Now we have a Changeling named Thorax. I was already headcanoning the idea that Changelings had names like Bob and Steve based on Kevin having his name. Perhaps Changelings can have both kinds of names. Maybe it’s an indication of a caste system among the Changelings. Upper caste Changelings have more buggy names like Thorax and Chrysalis while your typical drone has a name like Kevin. It could indicate that Thorax is more than just a typical drone.
Like in the season premiere, the Crystal ponies are still less crystally. This seems to be a permanent redesign on the show’s part. I don’t know if it was done to save money or time or whatever. Also, the Crystal pony guards are now almost completely Pegasi. There were Crystal Pegasus pony guards before, like in Equestria Girls and Season 4’s “Three’s A Crowd”, but there used to be Crystal pony guards as well in Season 4’s “Equestria Games”. 
And if you look carefully, you’ll notice these new Pegasus Crystal Guards lack the hexagonal eye dots that distinguishes Crystal ponies from the other types of ponies. These guards aren’t even Crystal ponies! I imagine they might be imported from the Royal Guards in Canterlot. What I can’t imagine is why when there were perfectly good Crystal pony guards before.
As for what I didn’t like, the climax is a bit rushed. Every pony is just willing to accept Thorax, even Shining Armor, though he was the most dead set against the idea of a friendly Changeling. All because Spike sang his song. I mean it’s a great song, but not that great. 
I imagine the reason for this is that episode writers Mr. Burke and Mr. Wyatt are used to handling a plotline like this over a two episode arc. When they realized they were running out of time in the episode, they just rushed to the conclusion, figuring that on MLP a song is enough to convince ponies like this. So, this could be chalked up the these new writers not having enough experience writing under the more constricting conditions of MLP.
Overall, “The Times They Are a Changeling” was yet another quality Spike episode. Sure the ending was a little rushed, but it still manages to show Spike at his best. That’s really all we can hope for in a Spike episode.
What did ya’ll think of “The Times They Are a Changeling”?
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
So now that Kyle Rideout has voice work for MLP: FIM, the voice actors for the 7 main LPS pet characters who have yet to join the herd are Jocelyne Loewen (Penny Ling) and Kira Tozer (Minka Mark). I wonder if they even will at all?
I... I couldn't get past his voice. It just grates on my ears.