'Royal Problems' was awesome. (Spoilers, of course) · 1:36am May 23rd, 2017
Everybrony! Mark your MLP calendars, it finally happened! We’ve gotten … AN EPISODE WHERE CELESTIA HAS A PERSONALITY!
We may have had a moment here or there, like when she laughed at Discord’s joke about Twilight’s bad flight skills, but here’s an episode where she has a realistic character flaw and it is resolved well. I know a lot of people were waiting for that; frankly, I was worried they’d keep Celestia at arm’s length for the whole show run.
I loved this episode, in case you couldn’t tell. I think it’s long overdue and important to show what kind of relationship Celestia and Luna have, and it was done very well. I’ve been reading fimfics speculating about this exact subject for a long time, and my major project is based on it. I must admit it feels quite validating that a bunch of fan interpretation of the characters has been proven accurate or at least close to accurate. Didn’t this episode remind you of how Celestia and Luna have been depicted on this site? Because it really reminded me.
And, speaking of fimfics about the princesses … if you’re someone who follows me, chances are you know about that story I’ve left incomplete for quite some time. Well, knowing that it would be poor form to post a blog instead of what people are actually waiting for, I knew I had to put a couple more chapters out as well. The plan was to get the entire story written and fixed up so that the next time I updated, you could read the whole thing. I figured I’d kept certain people waiting long enough and it was only right that the next time should include the ending and I could finally mark it ‘complete’. But then, this episode happened.
(I appreciated this image …)
And if I was going to talk about it, I ought to include something else along with it. Rest assured that it’s my poor work habits that are causing the delays, not lack of caring. I do feel terrible about how long it’s taking me to finish this and the story is still very important to me. I’m working on it, I swear.
So. Royal Problems is amazing. Though … there is one slight problem …
I found a plothole! Literally!
NURSE!
Celestia, why does your coat have to be white? The white moon wouldn’t show up in it, and it forced the animators to make a plothole! Now look what you did, we don’t know exactly what Luna’s mark is anymore. It’s Vinyl Scratch’s aura colour all over again!
I don't like that they reduced the royal sisters like that. They should be immune to magic from a normal unicorn.
4707781
I don't think that would make sense. They weren't immune to anything else magical that's ever happened to them. Not Chrysalis, not Luna being overtaken by Nightmare Moon, not Discord stealing Celestia's tail ... they couldn't even keep Tirek from draining them. So the magic of their enemies can touch them, but they ought to have some natural defense against their own people? I think not. Immortals they may be, but they're only ponies, ponies who follow all other known rules excluding natural lifespan. When magic like the Stare fails on Discord, that makes sense because he doesn't follow the same rules; he's from out of their plane of existence. They have cutie marks like anypony else, which means those cutie marks can be manipulated.
If you said they should be strong enough to consciously defend against unicorn magic, like using a shield spell, then sure, I'd agree with that. But Starlight surprised them.
4707870
Nightmare Moon was something that came from within Luna. It wasn't external. Not to mention it's something physiological, not physical. All of Nightmare Moons power was Luna's power.
Chrysalis was a stretch but she is a changeling alicorn and was supercharged by Cadance and Shining. Discord can mess with them, he's one of the few characters that is unquestionably more powerful.
Tirek is a stretch as well but I actually do think that if they had confronted him when he was still weak he wouldn't have been able to take them. He certainly couldn't take Twilight's magic while she was charged up.
They are indeed ponies and I'm not saying they are immune to magic entirely. However as immortal alicorns they should be above the power level of a normal unicorn. Even one highly talented like Starlight. They should simply be above that and that spells like that don't affect them so easily.
4708321
Mm ... 'simply' is my problem there. Starlight's wielding magic not unlike everything that's come before her; she may be smaller and weaker than their previous enemies, but there's nothing inherently weak about the type of energy she's using. It's sort of like saying that if a knife is small, it shouldn't be able to cut someone. A knife is a knife; some are more dangerous than others, but they're all sharp and all require a deliberate action to defend oneself. I'd honestly have been confused if her magic just 'bounced off' of them, inherently unable to affect them. Wouldn't that mean they couldn't be lifted if a unicorn tried to levitate them, if unicorn magic is simply beneath an alicorn?
4708421
Maybe it does affect them but they just instantly undo it. Something that makes them appear more powerful. I think having them be this helpless against a unicorn spell really reduces them and makes them seem less impressive.
I would think their immense magical power makes them inherently very resistant to magic.
4708426
Well ... then we get into how fallible and sidelined the princesses frequently are, and how they should probably be stronger than this ... and that's been an issue since long before Starlight. The fact that she caught them by surprise is enough for me, but I get feeling like 'how are they this easy to defeat?'.
4708430
It indeed was a problem before and this isn't helping it. Starlight should not be able to harm the princesses. They should be above her.
Image links broken.
5004983
Never would have noticed without your comment. Hold on, I fix.
5005121
Wow, that was quick!
5005156
I'm never off FimFic.