Shadowmane Reviews: Daring Done · 4:29pm Sep 3rd, 2017
SHADOWMANE PX-41 REVIEWS:
Daring Done
Well, Dark Lord Hasbro. Here we are again. You've been hacked, whacked, and buggered so many times that I feel that a mass DDos attack bankrupting the company and allowing every brony to release every episode at once wouldn't be too much of a surprise. One day after Thorax gets his brother to refurbish his ruins of a kingdom, the brony fandom releases an episode about Daring Do which is still proof that she's not been axed off and is always a joy to watch over whatever bimbo did her roles in the Equestria Girls franchise. Honestly, Hasbro, you're gonna have to take a stand on this little situation. Get your shite sorted out, or the brony fandom is gonna overrun you and release every other upcoming season for the end of time in seconds.
So, with this episode, it turns out that Daring Do is planning on retiring from her adventures, effectively sending Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and every other one of her fans into a state of shock more harrowing than when the Harry Potter series came to an end with Deathly Hallows. In the sense that they'll all be struggling to come to terms with it and go through the five stages of grief all over again, starting by writing fanfics in denial, getting angry at others because they were toxic against them, bargaining with the original creators to try and keep the series alive, go into fits of depression with the fact that their pleas fell on deaf ears, before finally coming to accept that Harry Potter is no longer a boy and must now handle his own life, taxes, and child support issues.
When I said last time that the show was trying to balance winning me over with catering to the kiddies, it clearly listened to me, as this time it scrapped the kid's part and focused more on lore and world-building, as well as an intricate plotline to boot. And all at the same time, it knew full well that it was a Daring Do episode and that it rolled with it, essentially breaking off from the happy-go-lucky world we know and love as darker intentions, intense action sequences, and a strong narrative were pasted over it. See, there's a difference between desperately trying to be good and being good overall. And this episode shows just how much more I would watch this episode over Thorax and Pharynx's dysfunctional relationship every day. And let's be honest here, we're all suckers for this Indiana Jones pony and her many adventures, either to see the action at every turn, or to see Rainbow Dash having a fangasm like little miss Junie back through the mirror.
When Dashie and Pinkie go to investigate, we come to this town called Sonambula, and straight away, I'm impressed. Ancient Egypt is my FAVOURITE HISTORICAL ERA. PERIOD. There's only so much I can talk about when it comes to Egypt and the history that doesn't involve the IS militants in the modern day and age. Osiris, Seth, Anubis, Thoth, Ra, Sobek, Bastet, Isis, scarab beetles, mummies, pharoahs, pyramids, sphinxes even! I'm practically having a fangasm right now just thinking about it. Plus, let's not mention how famous the River Nile is, because it's practically the most talked-about thing whenever it comes to Egypt discussions.
Anyway, calming down from my little fangasm, it seems that, in this town, Daring Do has been made into a pariah because she caused destruction while trying to save the town from another of Ahuizotl's schemes. Basically, we've got a bit of a Team America situation here, in which they stop terrorism, but they're getting flak just because they sodded over the pyramids and smashed the city into pieces by doing it. And let's just say that, because of this, it breaks poor Daring's morale and turns her from Indiana Jones pony to Big Boss Snake pony. If ever Equestria starts mass production of Metal Gear Ray and Metal Gear Rex, then I expect Daring Do to swoop in and do something about it, only for her to die and have MLP make the second most famous Metal Gear Solid meme of them all. They already had Discord in the box with the exclamation mark, so let's just have a "Snake! Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAKE!!!" joke here somewhere, Hasbro. For god's sake.
As Dashie and Pinkie try to fix this little mess, it seems that the place did have some sense of heritage and prosperity to it, as we're now graced with the story of Sonambula, the pony who stood up to an ancient sphinx and saved the town, which is a great little story if ever I heard it. And, in addition, it's all told in a hieroglyphic art style, which is more bonus points for the show in my eyes. Whenever an Egyptian tale is told, if it's not in heiroglyphics or has almost no Egyptian depictions, then it can sod straight off for me. And, I would say that this story does rival Mist Mane's tale from Campfire Tales in many ways, purely because of the fact that this little pony stood up to impossible odds, helped the town thrive, and became a beacon of hope for many generations to come. See, it's psuedo-realism like this that makes me appreciate lore in fictional cartoon worlds like this, Hasbro. Why not explain that to Rockhoof and Flash Magnus?
Oh, and there's also something about Caballeron making revenge again, but honestly, I'm still pining for the day that we can see Ahuizotl again. See, in this kind of universe, Caballeron seems like that one-time only kind of villain, but Ahuizotl is the arch enemy, so he should naturally have the most involvement in Daring Do's battles. That's like when you decide that you give Bowser the side role and instead let someone else become the main villain of the Mario franchise, like Dimentio or the Shadow Queen instead. It's a little bit of a chink of this impregnable armour of an episode, but it doesn't really do much when it comes to this episode's quality. It's still good, but it's just a shame that we're not gonna see Ahuizotl again. His little tail with a hand at the end of it always gave me chills...
Epic action sequence involving Dashie and Daring again—with Pinkie Pie as well because she's not just the butt-end of every joke in this world—and we get our happy ending, with Dash dealing with Caballeron hopefully once and for all, clearing Daring Do's name as she promises to make amends for everything that Caballeron did to shatter her name in Sonambula. I feel that if I talk about every different thing individually, then it makes my reviews drag on, so I only talk about the big and important things, the elephants in the room, and how some things really get on my tits. I don't want to seem like one of those big-shots because being a big shot also gives you a higher tendency to sod things up and make you lose followers by doing so.
Alright. So where do I stand on this episode?
It was good. Like. REALLY. FUCKING. GOOD. This was an episode that I loved every part of from the world building to the narrative, to the plotline, to everything. I've got nothing more to say other than the fact that you should watch it and like it for what it is. A heartbreaking note about Daring Do giving up on being Daring Do, swiftly followed by an adventure through the wonderful land of Ancient Egypt in Equestria, complete with world-building, fantastic action, and just everything that tickles my fancy. It just goes to show that everything can be good if they try and don't do it desperately to try and lure you in with every second of it. Even the most charming things can be made by anyone, including G.M. Berrow, the writer for this episode. You remember her? The girl behind One Where Pinkie Knows, Fluttershy Leans In, and ALL OF THOSE MLP BOOKS IN THE BOOKSTORE? She made this. And it was glorious.
Y'know, maybe there's hope for the show after all with episodes like this. It just goes to show that, if you really do try, and if you really do succeed, then you can go down in history as a great writer. Even if your first forays into the world are confusing, hard to swallow, or even downright unbearable, then you can still do incredible things so long as you commit yourself to them. And I'm glad G.M. Berrow finally did it. She made something that wasn't boring as hell, predictable as fuck, or just plain bad. And the angels shall ring out a heavenly chorus from the heavens as the seraphs blow on their horns, welcoming this glorious episode into our history.
Now we've just gotta hope that she doesn't screw it all up like a few certain SOME people I've seen in these past few years. I'm looking at you, Becky Wangberg, Sammie Crowley and Whitney Wetta, and ESPECIALLY at you, Fucked Mother Demarco...
I'll admit, I liked this episode too.
Yeah, this was a good episode too. Though the one nitpick I have is that the Inn Keeper has a Southern accent in Egypt.
I really enjoyed this episode! It would be neat to see more of these Daring Do adventures play out in the show. And I would also like to see more of the myths and legends highlighted in the show as well because they are really neat!
I did really enjoy this episode, and it was cool they had Pinkie Pie go along for the venture rather than having Twilight go with. I could imagine the two of them getting into an argument about what made Daring Do great while the ponies just sat there and watched and listened.
But overall I enjoyed this episode and will watch it again. I still think Daring Do is related to Rainbow Dash somehow, even if she's not her mother...... or so we think. Nah I tease, she's really Tia's daughter. Daring's just her older sister.
When I heard that the village was named Sonambula I thought for sure they would have to fight an evil youth draining sorceress.
Sonambula.
Sonambula was an evil youth draining sorceress in G1.
4657326 said : "I really enjoyed this episode! It would be neat to see more of these Daring Do adventures play out in the show. And I would also like to see more of the myths and legends highlighted in the show as well because they are really neat!"
It'd be nice if they made a spinoff series featuring the adventures of Daring Do.
4658768 That would be really awesome a well. XD
I loved this episode. My favorite part was the story with Sonambula who is currently my favorite character from the "Legends of Magic" comics.