When the Cutie Mark Crusaders are magically transformed into grownups,they discover that growing up the right way means gaining experience and wisdom that simply can’t be rushed.
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When another author releases his own version of the events in AK Yearling’s Daring Do books, Rainbow Dash is furious, while Fluttershy is curious to know the truth.
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Starlight decides to hire a Vice Headmare in preparation to take over the School of Friendship from Twilight. But she soon realizes that hiring the right pony for the job is going to be a lot harder than she thought.
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Twilight's hopes of keeping her Trivia Trot winning streak alive are waylaid when she's unexpectedly paired up with Pinkie Pie, who has never been to a trivia night before.
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Rainbow Dash is distressed when she and Pinkie Pie discover that A.K. Yearling has announced her retirement from writing the Daring Do book series, thus ending her adventures as the titular hero.
Well at least we got to see the Sphynx finally. It was kind of a shame though that it was only part of a flashback story instead of the present day plot. Still I thought it was a great episode, especially with the Egyptian vibe to it.
I loved Somnambula's design. The Sphinx's design was simply amazing but the voice threw me off a bit, and the riddle was simple yet effective. I especially loved the hieroglyphic way of animation for that one part in the episode and the Egyptian vibes, though the pacing could be better.
But now I'm sad that we don't get a new episode because I watched this one last week when it leaked. Sigh.
Hooded pony appears Me: Gee, who could that possibly be?
So 'Daring Do' apparently stole a whole bunch of necklaces. It occurs to me to wonder how long dead someone has to be for it to stop being grave robbing and start being archeology.
I, too, watched the episode when it leaked. It was fun but predictable. Above average, but nothing outstanding. I think even my two year-old niece would've recognized Caballeron, although she wouldn't have been able to verbalize it. Still, it was good to see RD and Pinkie travel to an exotic location again.
Also, is Southern Equestria part of Equestria? If not, why isn't the Equestria we know called Northern Equestria?
4663082 First thing I thought of was Aragon's story from way before we learned Daring Do and A.K. Yearling were the same pony. Actually, before A.K. Yearling was even canon.
It still irks me that Rainbow Dash didn't fly away when she had the chance. Also when she cried out for help and nopony noticed (except for Pinkie Pie and Daring Doo) made me laugh a bit.
Also... why did the screen go black when Rainbow Dash gets captured? Rape.
If there's one thing I disliked on this episode, it's the leap of faith by Daring and Pinkie. They could take 2 more seconds to find the geysers and make a leap of faith anyway - you wouldn't know whether it'd work, but at least it wouldn't feel so random. It would also be much closer to the Somnabula's one.
I assumed when watching this that "Southern Equestria" has something to do with Saddle Arabia.
And before people start questioning me about this. Let's remember the Middle East is a transcontinental region including Egypt and Saudia Arabia.
Not much else a part from how I like Daring is questioning her colataral damage. And I knew it was Doctor Cabaleron, or however you spell is name, I don't really care for him.
I like the story of the sphinx but the episode was kinda ehh for me. I wish it was more about "sometimes people quit" instead of "being blamed for a bad guys doings" which is a pretty well worn trope.
Dr Caballeron *knows*!that AK and Daring Do are the same pony. Why doesn't he do anything about that? It's like there's two worlds, one where DD is real and one where DD is fiction, and the good Dr and his crew are maintaining the masquerade.
I saw it on Youtube. It was fine but could've been stronger I felt. Either the hero having to own up to her mistakes or the villain spreading lies the public believes could've been really good on its own, but the two ideas combined took away from each other I felt. Season 7's had lots of bigger winners imo.
That said, Daring's voice sounds really pretty when it's soft and sad.
I'm actually really glad that Daring Do decided not to retire because I love her character and I would've been sad if she did. But this episode did have its pros and cons and I felt some things could've been done better.
Pros: The setup was captivating. From the very beginning, we're curious as to why Daring Do is deciding to quit her adventure that she's been on for possibly years. The legend was interesting and enjoyable for me. I loved the Sphinx's design. She was amazing. I was pretty disappointed she was only part of a backstory, but it was still worth the wait.
Cons: The episode felt a bit rushed in places and the pacing was a little off. I understand it's only twenty-two minutes long, so I'm not upset about the pacing. However, if the entire conflict was introduced in the first two to three minutes, it leaves a lot more time for the rest of the story to be told. I also think they should've picked voice actors for Somnambula and the Sphinx. The voice of the stallion coming from their mouths threw me off.
Overall, I loved this episode. It was enjoyable and adventurous and it had a satisfying conclusion. I hope we see more episodes like this in the future.
I really like those three characters together (DD, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash). They work off of each other really well. I especially like how Dash is sort of blinded by her adoration of DD and Pinkie has to be the more sensible one trying to help.
Honestly I would love to see more episodes of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash going to new exotic places and meeting new potential friends.
I do agree that I feel that the 1st half or so is stronger but I think that is sadly because its pacing was great for a longer episode and then it remembers it only has 22 minutes so they had to wrap it up. The tropes shown actually fit the sort of feel you should get from a story with a Daring Do type character so I am actually fine with that (the leap of faith thing is essentially a redo of what Indiana Jones does in the movie "The Last Crusade") and I am also fine with Rainbow Dash being the one rescued. Daring Do had to be involved in the rescue to make the morale ring true and Pinkie is perfect for being a character to show the power of hope (really if boil down what she does as laughter and were to put it into a more dramatic setting she would be really be a purveyor of hope).
On many TV shows, when the staff gets into the second half of the season, exhaustion begins to set in. And it showed in this episode.
"Daring Done?" really felt like one of those generic kids' shows where the work is being done simply because everybody needs the paycheck but nobody's heart is really in it. And maybe there are valid behind-the-scenes reasons the episode turned out that way (it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this series is produced on a slightly-too-tight schedule), but as a result, there isn't much positive to say.
Most glaringly, this episode fails the "kids are smarter than you give them credit for" test. Even the target-audience children who watch the show regularly will recognize Caballeron as soon as he appears, making it a long wait for the rest of the characters to finally find out for themselves. And for anybody who's unfamiliar with the character, his reveal isn't particularly captivating: "Aha! It turns out the mysterious hooded guy was lying, which supported our main characters' opinion of Daring Do all along!"
The sphinx's riddle was well-written, but we barely had any time to ponder it before the answer was revealed. And large portions of act three felt like the show wrote itself into a corner. Rainbow Dash is kidnapped, but Daring Do and Pinkie find out because unlike everybody else in the town, they've barely walked any distance from the destroyed statue (but somehow they only notice when Dash starts yelling). Daring Do needs to learn to have hope, which somehow translates into Pinkie Pie taking a reckless leap into a deadly pit (and I don't think "go ahead and take a reckless leap into danger" is the lesson they wanted to teach the kids). And it all works out because of some highly synchronized air jets that serve no conceivable purpose other than plot resolution.
This episode was filler, and it really, really felt like it.
At first, I thought they were going to address the collateral damage that comes with 'awesome' heroism, the livelihoods they haplessly destroy while saving everyone else and reap nothing but praise no matter what they trample in the process, show some actual consequences of destructive chase scenes and violent confrontations, maybe even someone getting hurt in the cross-fire.
But, rather than Rainbow learning a lesson about how her being 'awesome' can kind of suck for other people if she's careless, she comes away seeing only what she believed to start; that being the big hero is always good, end of story. They even seem to portray the severity of the statue being destroyed as something the villain was hyping up just to make her look bad.
Thinking about it, maybe it didn't make much sense to expect moral grey area in a kids' show.
At least Daring went back and fixed the damage she caused at the end, apparently without even needing to be asked, at that.
Quite a mess imho. Characters are leaving the scene - bad guys mostly, now we start with one of the good guys. How is this, plus Starlight Glimmer's trek to learn about friendship and a plot line for Flurry Heart going to fit in this season with the year coming to a close in a few months? Will there be an 8th season?
I have not seen this episode so maybe they convince her to keep writing? Dunno.
So, I finally watched this episode after dodging spoilers all week. It was... I guess the best word might be underwhelming. It wasn't bad, per se, but I definitely don't think it was this season's best showing.
To me, it felt like it was trying to be two episodes at once. I starts like a morality-centered episode about taking responsibility for your actions and deconstructing the somewhat destructive classic hero stories, then swerves into being an action-centered episode about adventures and danger and foiling the bad guy, then goes right back to being about responsibility for your actions. And while I think either of those concepts could have worked fine on its own, the lack of focus and direction made "Daring Done?" suffer, in my opinion.
Alternatively, I also think an episode where the main focus was Dr. Caballeron using both slander and actual events to systematically destroy Daring Do's reputation and self-esteem could have been fun and interesting to watch. However, the third act kinda soured things by things like Caballeron randomly exposing himself when he had no need to (I mean, they could theoretically had him give a flimsy cover story and RD unmask him herself, it would have achieved the same thing), RD just allowing herself to be captured, Pinkie and Yearling not realizing anything was going on until RD shouted despite being literally on the other side of a small plaza while Caballeron was monologuing extensively and his goons were jumping RD, and the leap of faith relying on those random pyramid things existing despite there being no evidence they did (and if anything previous shots of the slime pool actively showed there being nothing where they were).
Overall, I agree with the assessment that it was a decent episode up until the third act. That's when most issues cropped up, I feel.
Still, I loved the flashback with Somnambula. I'm always down for in-unvierse history and legends, and the animated hieroglyphics were a delight to watch. Although I can't help wondering how the ancient Egyptian pony culture fits in with Equestria's backstory from "Hearth's Warming Eve". Was this just a completely separate pony culture or did it arise after the migration or what?
It occurs to me to wonder how long dead someone has to be for it to stop being grave robbing and start being archeology.
Which turns out to be a very loaded question in real life, too. Tends to turn up not uncommonly when people want their ancestral relics back from whatever museum they're currently stored in.
4663233 the show is pretty much dead. It's got viewers but what I mean is, there's not much more they can do. The 8th season will most likely be the last.
4663248 Wrong. As long as there are viewers, Hasbro keeps making money and MLP:FiM reigns in as successful, regardless of it being good or bad. It's all about the viewings, not so much the ratings. As long as bronies and other so-called fans keep viewing the show instead of tearing their eyes away from the TV screens or watching other shows, MLP:FiM will likely continue to stick around, whether it's overstayed its welcome or not.
The same for me watched the episode last week, Hasbro did leaked it for profit so this kind of makes it not illegal, well sort off. Anyway I liked the basic idea of the story, plus we got another new legend, and well when the story reached the climax Rainbow Dash just got captured way to quickly, and for no other reason like we only have 3 minutes left until the end. Its kind of like there should of been some kind of logical explanation about what happened, and they just rush it
Although I can't help wondering how the ancient Egyptian pony culture fits in with Equestria's backstory from "Hearth's Warming Eve". Was this just a completely separate pony culture or did it arise after the migration or what?
I don't recall anyone saying how long ago it took place, so the city could have been established after Equestria's founding. The Egyptian style is just that: a style. It's not necessarily proof that it's older than the quasi-Medieval/Roman period.
Caballeron is obvious from the moment he appears and that's for an audience that has seen him about three times so far, possibly less. Apparently Daring, who has been foiling this guy for years if not decades, is unable to recognize him until his "sudden" reveal. At the very least she should've recognized his voice instantly.
Angry at someone for making false accusations against your hero? Make sure your audience has dispersed before confronting him about said false accusations. It's not like the whole point of going there was to clear her name by challenging these false accusations.
Want to kidnap someone? Make sure to do it in the middle of the day in the middle of town square despite having had the perfect chance to kidnap her in her sleep not even half a day ago. After all, no one ever goes into town square so who'll witness it?
Surrounded by hostile goons who intend to kidnap you or worse? Well you could use your wings to fly away but that would solve the problem.
Getting tied up and blindfolded by goons? Make sure to not fight back or offer any resistance of any kind that might produce noise until they're dragging you away. Any sooner and you might get rescued before the plot wants you to.
Your best friend is getting kidnapped 30 feet away from your current location and literally in the middle of town square with absolutely nothing preventing your witnessing of it or preventing it entirely? Make sure to not turn around until it's too late!
You're 30 feet away from your friend as she gets kidnapped? Give the kidnappers a head start, otherwise you might rescue her before they get to the pyramid where it'll be next to impossible to rescue her.
You want to get rid of your most dangerous adversary permanently? You could sully her reputation and therefore take away her spirit, but, in the inevitability that that fails, you can try killing her in the exact same way you've tried to kill her several times before. It's not like she makes a living escaping from deathtraps or anything.
Want to make it impossible to rescue a helpless victim from a sinking platform? First make sure the most obvious form of rescue is obsolete. Check. Now make sure there are no contrived, pointless, and otherwise useless Deus Ex Machinas that only exist to let the hero win with absolutely no effort... Damn.
I've been losing confidence in the show for awhile now. Episodes like this are the reason for that.
Pros: -Loved the legend of Somnambula and how she outsmarted the sphinx. -Worldbuilding. -I loved the new character designs for Somnambula and the sphinx.
Cons: -Didn't really like the 2nd half of the episode, as it felt rushed. -Why didn't Rainbow Dash fly away when she was about to be captured?
The episode was entertaining to a certain point. Then it got kinda meh.
So, let me see if I've got this straight. Northern ponies think Daring Do is fictional, but Middle Eastern Southern ponies know she's real.
...
Y'know, A.K., at some point, you're just gonna have to say "eff it" and publish your stories as nonfiction. Just throwing that out there.
Anyway, this was not what I was expecting, but what I got wasn't half-bad. I thought this was going to be a story akin to Pinkie's Micro comic featuring Ponyatchi, where Rainbow has to come to grips with the fact that her hero is ready to move on. In fact, I think that's what Pinkie thought for the first half of the episode or so. But instead, the story of acknowledging your mistakes despite your good intentions and not giving up hope in the face of doubt is quite resonant.
It's nice to see more diversity and world-building in the environment (though why the Equestrian equivalent to Egypt is located in the south, I have no idea), but once the cloaked pony *cough*Caballeron*cough* shows up, things become painfully predictable. That and the townsfolk are a bunch of idiots who change their minds on a dime. Seriously, it took two seconds for them to go from listening to Rainbow Dash defend Daring Do to buying into Caballeron's slander. That's ridiculous.
Oh well. At least A.K. Yearling has some new material for her next book. I actually think she should make it completely meta and actually write how a "character" in her book was trying to derail the story and stop her from writing. I don't know if it would be as funny as A Barrel of Laughs, A Veil of Tears, but it would throw the literary critics for a loop.
Man, we need a bit more positivity about this episode in here. Here goes nothing.
Rank 7th in the season for me, best episode in the second half of the season so far and best Daring Do episode to date. Pinkie was on top form, Daring got a new side to her character that she badly needed and Rainbow was really embracing her element for the first time in a while. Ok sure, the fact RD completely chumped out in the face of Caballeron AGAIN was kind of infuriating, even moreso since it replicates Stranger than Fan Fiction (Worst episode for me) but the rest balanced it out generally and the fact I got some fic inspiration as a result further mitigated damage to its rating.
Plus Somnambula's legend telling completely showed up Campfire Tales in how it's done. That's always a plus.
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Watched this last week after the leak. Wouldn't feel right doing a play-by-play this time. *sigh*
Funny how I was browsing ancient Egyptian musical instruments before watching this ep.
Well at least we got to see the Sphynx finally. It was kind of a shame though that it was only part of a flashback story instead of the present day plot
. Still I thought it was a great episode, especially with the Egyptian vibe to it
.
Loved that riddle and its answer.
Oh god how that picture makes me laugh
Not my favorite, to be honest. The first half is alright, the second goes downhill.
Geysers ex machina? Eh. . . .
A statue can be fixed. A person's reputation, however. . . .
the sphinx was hawt
I loved Somnambula's design. The Sphinx's design was simply amazing but the voice threw me off a bit, and the riddle was simple yet effective. I especially loved the hieroglyphic way of animation for that one part in the episode and the Egyptian vibes, though the pacing could be better.
But now I'm sad that we don't get a new episode because I watched this one last week when it leaked. Sigh.
Meh. This episode was a meh for me.
So am I the only one who instantly associated this with the clop with the same title and similar premise?
No?
I'll show myself outside...
Hooded pony appears
Me: Gee, who could that possibly be?
So 'Daring Do' apparently stole a whole bunch of necklaces. It occurs to me to wonder how long dead someone has to be for it to stop being grave robbing and start being archeology.
I, too, watched the episode when it leaked. It was fun but predictable. Above average, but nothing outstanding. I think even my two year-old niece would've recognized Caballeron, although she wouldn't have been able to verbalize it. Still, it was good to see RD and Pinkie travel to an exotic location again.
Also, is Southern Equestria part of Equestria? If not, why isn't the Equestria we know called Northern Equestria?
Two words for this episode: World building.
4663082
First thing I thought of was Aragon's story from way before we learned Daring Do and A.K. Yearling were the same pony. Actually, before A.K. Yearling was even canon.
Anyone else have dish and see the title and information from Daring Don't instead of the real one?
It still irks me that Rainbow Dash didn't fly away when she had the chance. Also when she cried out for help and nopony noticed (except for Pinkie Pie and Daring Doo) made me laugh a bit.
Also... why did the screen go black when Rainbow Dash gets captured? Rape.
If there's one thing I disliked on this episode, it's the leap of faith by Daring and Pinkie. They could take 2 more seconds to find the geysers and make a leap of faith anyway - you wouldn't know whether it'd work, but at least it wouldn't feel so random. It would also be much closer to the Somnabula's one.
Otherwise it was a great episode in my eyes.
I assumed when watching this that "Southern Equestria" has something to do with Saddle Arabia.
And before people start questioning me about this. Let's remember the Middle East is a transcontinental region including Egypt and Saudia Arabia.
Not much else a part from how I like Daring is questioning her colataral damage. And I knew it was Doctor Cabaleron, or however you spell is name, I don't really care for him.
I like the story of the sphinx but the episode was kinda ehh for me. I wish it was more about "sometimes people quit" instead of "being blamed for a bad guys doings" which is a pretty well worn trope.
I need more pretty, kitty sphinxes in my life, although I do wish they gave her a voice of her own, listening to the guy speak instead was weird.
Dr Caballeron *knows*!that AK and Daring Do are the same pony. Why doesn't he do anything about that? It's like there's two worlds, one where DD is real and one where DD is fiction, and the good Dr and his crew are maintaining the masquerade.
Pro: Finally get to see the Sphinx like I wanted to two episodes ago
Con: The story being entirely narrated by the old stallion, voice included.
The episode itself was meh, especially with not only Dr. Caballeron being easily found, but Rainbow Dash being easily caught.
I saw it on Youtube. It was fine but could've been stronger I felt. Either the hero having to own up to her mistakes or the villain spreading lies the public believes could've been really good on its own, but the two ideas combined took away from each other I felt. Season 7's had lots of bigger winners imo.
That said, Daring's voice sounds really pretty when it's soft and sad.
I think this was the first episode to feature an attempted murder.
Rainbow Dash doesn't fly nor hover except for emphasis? That was a changeling impostor. (Must not be in chronological order, or it's Chryssy.)
I'm actually really glad that Daring Do decided not to retire because I love her character and I would've been sad if she did. But this episode did have its pros and cons and I felt some things could've been done better.
Pros: The setup was captivating. From the very beginning, we're curious as to why Daring Do is deciding to quit her adventure that she's been on for possibly years. The legend was interesting and enjoyable for me. I loved the Sphinx's design. She was amazing. I was pretty disappointed she was only part of a backstory, but it was still worth the wait.
Cons: The episode felt a bit rushed in places and the pacing was a little off. I understand it's only twenty-two minutes long, so I'm not upset about the pacing. However, if the entire conflict was introduced in the first two to three minutes, it leaves a lot more time for the rest of the story to be told. I also think they should've picked voice actors for Somnambula and the Sphinx. The voice of the stallion coming from their mouths threw me off.
Overall, I loved this episode. It was enjoyable and adventurous and it had a satisfying conclusion. I hope we see more episodes like this in the future.
I really like those three characters together (DD, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash). They work off of each other really well. I especially like how Dash is sort of blinded by her adoration of DD and Pinkie has to be the more sensible one trying to help.
Honestly I would love to see more episodes of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash going to new exotic places and meeting new potential friends.
I do agree that I feel that the 1st half or so is stronger but I think that is sadly because its pacing was great for a longer episode and then it remembers it only has 22 minutes so they had to wrap it up. The tropes shown actually fit the sort of feel you should get from a story with a Daring Do type character so I am actually fine with that (the leap of faith thing is essentially a redo of what Indiana Jones does in the movie "The Last Crusade") and I am also fine with Rainbow Dash being the one rescued. Daring Do had to be involved in the rescue to make the morale ring true and Pinkie is perfect for being a character to show the power of hope (really if boil down what she does as laughter and were to put it into a more dramatic setting she would be really be a purveyor of hope).
A good episode until the third act.
On many TV shows, when the staff gets into the second half of the season, exhaustion begins to set in. And it showed in this episode.
"Daring Done?" really felt like one of those generic kids' shows where the work is being done simply because everybody needs the paycheck but nobody's heart is really in it. And maybe there are valid behind-the-scenes reasons the episode turned out that way (it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this series is produced on a slightly-too-tight schedule), but as a result, there isn't much positive to say.
Most glaringly, this episode fails the "kids are smarter than you give them credit for" test. Even the target-audience children who watch the show regularly will recognize Caballeron as soon as he appears, making it a long wait for the rest of the characters to finally find out for themselves. And for anybody who's unfamiliar with the character, his reveal isn't particularly captivating: "Aha! It turns out the mysterious hooded guy was lying, which supported our main characters' opinion of Daring Do all along!"
The sphinx's riddle was well-written, but we barely had any time to ponder it before the answer was revealed. And large portions of act three felt like the show wrote itself into a corner. Rainbow Dash is kidnapped, but Daring Do and Pinkie find out because unlike everybody else in the town, they've barely walked any distance from the destroyed statue (but somehow they only notice when Dash starts yelling). Daring Do needs to learn to have hope, which somehow translates into Pinkie Pie taking a reckless leap into a deadly pit (and I don't think "go ahead and take a reckless leap into danger" is the lesson they wanted to teach the kids). And it all works out because of some highly synchronized air jets that serve no conceivable purpose other than plot resolution.
This episode was filler, and it really, really felt like it.
4663183
Although I liked it better than you did, this is all fair criticism.
At first, I thought they were going to address the collateral damage that comes with 'awesome' heroism, the livelihoods they haplessly destroy while saving everyone else and reap nothing but praise no matter what they trample in the process, show some actual consequences of destructive chase scenes and violent confrontations, maybe even someone getting hurt in the cross-fire.
But, rather than Rainbow learning a lesson about how her being 'awesome' can kind of suck for other people if she's careless, she comes away seeing only what she believed to start; that being the big hero is always good, end of story. They even seem to portray the severity of the statue being destroyed as something the villain was hyping up just to make her look bad.
Thinking about it, maybe it didn't make much sense to expect moral grey area in a kids' show.
At least Daring went back and fixed the damage she caused at the end, apparently without even needing to be asked, at that.
Love the fact they did an Egypt-y theme on this episode
Oh and the legend
Quite a mess imho. Characters are leaving the scene - bad guys mostly, now we start with one of the good guys. How is this, plus Starlight Glimmer's trek to learn about friendship and a plot line for Flurry Heart going to fit in this season with the year coming to a close in a few months? Will there be an 8th season?
I have not seen this episode so maybe they convince her to keep writing? Dunno.
So, I finally watched this episode after dodging spoilers all week. It was... I guess the best word might be underwhelming. It wasn't bad, per se, but I definitely don't think it was this season's best showing.
To me, it felt like it was trying to be two episodes at once. I starts like a morality-centered episode about taking responsibility for your actions and deconstructing the somewhat destructive classic hero stories, then swerves into being an action-centered episode about adventures and danger and foiling the bad guy, then goes right back to being about responsibility for your actions. And while I think either of those concepts could have worked fine on its own, the lack of focus and direction made "Daring Done?" suffer, in my opinion.
Alternatively, I also think an episode where the main focus was Dr. Caballeron using both slander and actual events to systematically destroy Daring Do's reputation and self-esteem could have been fun and interesting to watch. However, the third act kinda soured things by things like Caballeron randomly exposing himself when he had no need to (I mean, they could theoretically had him give a flimsy cover story and RD unmask him herself, it would have achieved the same thing), RD just allowing herself to be captured, Pinkie and Yearling not realizing anything was going on until RD shouted despite being literally on the other side of a small plaza while Caballeron was monologuing extensively and his goons were jumping RD, and the leap of faith relying on those random pyramid things existing despite there being no evidence they did (and if anything previous shots of the slime pool actively showed there being nothing where they were).
Overall, I agree with the assessment that it was a decent episode up until the third act. That's when most issues cropped up, I feel.
Still, I loved the flashback with Somnambula. I'm always down for in-unvierse history and legends, and the animated hieroglyphics were a delight to watch. Although I can't help wondering how the ancient Egyptian pony culture fits in with Equestria's backstory from "Hearth's Warming Eve". Was this just a completely separate pony culture or did it arise after the migration or what?
4663223
Yes. It was announced some time ago, plus they actually showed some storyboards just today.
4663084
Which turns out to be a very loaded question in real life, too. Tends to turn up not uncommonly when people want their ancestral relics back from whatever museum they're currently stored in.
4663233 the show is pretty much dead. It's got viewers but what I mean is, there's not much more they can do. The 8th season will most likely be the last.
4663248
Wrong. As long as there are viewers, Hasbro keeps making money and MLP:FiM reigns in as successful, regardless of it being good or bad. It's all about the viewings, not so much the ratings. As long as bronies and other so-called fans keep viewing the show instead of tearing their eyes away from the TV screens or watching other shows, MLP:FiM will likely continue to stick around, whether it's overstayed its welcome or not.
The progress for season 8 seems to be going well.
4663248
Plus if the show even dies, there's a lot of talented Bronies in this Fandom. They might revive the show like Lauren Faust did.
The same for me watched the episode last week, Hasbro did leaked it for profit so this kind of makes it not illegal, well sort off. Anyway I liked the basic idea of the story, plus we got another new legend, and well when the story reached the climax Rainbow Dash just got captured way to quickly, and for no other reason like we only have 3 minutes left until the end. Its kind of like there should of been some kind of logical explanation about what happened, and they just rush it
4663231
I don't recall anyone saying how long ago it took place, so the city could have been established after Equestria's founding. The Egyptian style is just that: a style. It's not necessarily proof that it's older than the quasi-Medieval/Roman period.
Decent first half, horrible second half. Why?
SO. MANY. PLOT HOLES!!!!!!
Caballeron is obvious from the moment he appears and that's for an audience that has seen him about three times so far, possibly less. Apparently Daring, who has been foiling this guy for years if not decades, is unable to recognize him until his "sudden" reveal. At the very least she should've recognized his voice instantly.
Angry at someone for making false accusations against your hero? Make sure your audience has dispersed before confronting him about said false accusations. It's not like the whole point of going there was to clear her name by challenging these false accusations.
Want to kidnap someone? Make sure to do it in the middle of the day in the middle of town square despite having had the perfect chance to kidnap her in her sleep not even half a day ago. After all, no one ever goes into town square so who'll witness it?
Surrounded by hostile goons who intend to kidnap you or worse? Well you could use your wings to fly away but that would solve the problem.
Getting tied up and blindfolded by goons? Make sure to not fight back or offer any resistance of any kind that might produce noise until they're dragging you away. Any sooner and you might get rescued before the plot wants you to.
Your best friend is getting kidnapped 30 feet away from your current location and literally in the middle of town square with absolutely nothing preventing your witnessing of it or preventing it entirely? Make sure to not turn around until it's too late!
You're 30 feet away from your friend as she gets kidnapped? Give the kidnappers a head start, otherwise you might rescue her before they get to the pyramid where it'll be next to impossible to rescue her.
You want to get rid of your most dangerous adversary permanently? You could sully her reputation and therefore take away her spirit, but, in the inevitability that that fails, you can try killing her in the exact same way you've tried to kill her several times before. It's not like she makes a living escaping from deathtraps or anything.
Want to make it impossible to rescue a helpless victim from a sinking platform? First make sure the most obvious form of rescue is obsolete. Check. Now make sure there are no contrived, pointless, and otherwise useless Deus Ex Machinas that only exist to let the hero win with absolutely no effort... Damn.
I've been losing confidence in the show for awhile now. Episodes like this are the reason for that.
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I'm really hoping they go more this route.
I feel like this was an okay episode whose conventional storytelling and message really let down its great premise.
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Indeed. The kids will love it.
Pros:
-Loved the legend of Somnambula and how she outsmarted the sphinx.
-Worldbuilding.
-I loved the new character designs for Somnambula and the sphinx.
Cons:
-Didn't really like the 2nd half of the episode, as it felt rushed.
-Why didn't Rainbow Dash fly away when she was about to be captured?
The episode was entertaining to a certain point. Then it got kinda meh.
So, let me see if I've got this straight. Northern ponies think Daring Do is fictional, but
Middle EasternSouthern ponies know she's real....
Y'know, A.K., at some point, you're just gonna have to say "eff it" and publish your stories as nonfiction. Just throwing that out there.
Anyway, this was not what I was expecting, but what I got wasn't half-bad. I thought this was going to be a story akin to Pinkie's Micro comic featuring Ponyatchi, where Rainbow has to come to grips with the fact that her hero is ready to move on. In fact, I think that's what Pinkie thought for the first half of the episode or so. But instead, the story of acknowledging your mistakes despite your good intentions and not giving up hope in the face of doubt is quite resonant.
It's nice to see more diversity and world-building in the environment (though why the Equestrian equivalent to Egypt is located in the south, I have no idea), but once the cloaked pony *cough*Caballeron*cough* shows up, things become painfully predictable. That and the townsfolk are a bunch of idiots who change their minds on a dime. Seriously, it took two seconds for them to go from listening to Rainbow Dash defend Daring Do to buying into Caballeron's slander. That's ridiculous.
Oh well. At least A.K. Yearling has some new material for her next book. I actually think she should make it completely meta and actually write how a "character" in her book was trying to derail the story and stop her from writing. I don't know if it would be as funny as A Barrel of Laughs, A Veil of Tears, but it would throw the literary critics for a loop.
Man, we need a bit more positivity about this episode in here. Here goes nothing.
Rank 7th in the season for me, best episode in the second half of the season so far and best Daring Do episode to date. Pinkie was on top form, Daring got a new side to her character that she badly needed and Rainbow was really embracing her element for the first time in a while. Ok sure, the fact RD completely chumped out in the face of Caballeron AGAIN was kind of infuriating, even moreso since it replicates Stranger than Fan Fiction (Worst episode for me) but the rest balanced it out generally and the fact I got some fic inspiration as a result further mitigated damage to its rating.
Plus Somnambula's legend telling completely showed up Campfire Tales in how it's done. That's always a plus.