Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 Review · 5:30pm Oct 28th, 2017
I actually saw this two parter back when it was first leaked, but I was content to wait for it to air in the U.S. to give it a proper review. Josh Haber returned to write this finale, but while he takes solo credit for the story he was helped on writing with Nicole Dubac, who will become executive producer of the show next season. Nicole is like G. M. Berrow, her previous writing credit are tie in chapter books, her books focus on the CMC with the only one available at the moment being Ponyville Mysteries: Riddle of the Rusty Horseshoe which got everyone talking about Scootaloo's potential lezbian aunts (Aunt Holiday, an earth pony, and Auntie Lofty a bulky pegasus). With the promise of tying in with the IDW comics, particularly the Legends of Magic series still ongoing, this finale had a lot on its plate. But was it able to pull off the tough balancing act it had to accomplish, or only prove that the show and the comics work best when they stay out of each others' way? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Sunburst reading a page from Starswirl's journal, about how he and the pillars (a.k.a the five other legend characters introduced to us) faced off against a threat known as The Pony of Shadows, and none of them were ever heard from again after that. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are impressed and shocked by the discovery (as is everyone else present, worth mentioning is that Sunburst plays a significant role throughout the two parter though "Uncommon Bond" still more or less stands alone with the journal largely being introduced at the end so the writers wouldn't have to waste time explaining where Sunburst found it), and then task Twilight and her friends with finding out what happened.
Three days pass with no developments, but all of a sudden it seems Starlight has the answer since she seems to know a little about old ponish (I guess she dabbled in it after learning Sunburst was fascinated by it). The group travels to Ponhenge (based on Stonehenge of course) at Foal Mountain, which has been abandoned for a long time. There, Starswirl's journal triggers a holographic display of the pillars' last stand. They scarificed themselves to limbo, in order to trap the Pony of Shadows there, each utilizing their own artifact that was a precursor to the Elements of Harmony (Starswirl's journal, Rockhoof's shovel, Mistmane's flower, Flash Magnus' shield, Sonamubla's blindfold, and Meadowbrook's mask, the legend six's elements are as follows: Sorcery, Strength, Beauty, Courage, Hope, and Healing). The very next day, Twilight informs everyone that she's come up with a with to get the pillars out of limbo. And the map dispatches each of the mane six to retrieve the personal item of the legend they're connected to. Applejack is up first, and she runs into an arcehology expediiton that Peuntia seems to be part of.
At first the expedition head is dismissive of Rockhoof's tale, that is until Applejack saves her from a huge boulder with just her back legs. It's been a long time since Applejack's strength was made a thing, I believe the last time it was relevant was actually all the way back in "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" (and given how badly that episode turned out, it's understandable how people wouldn't remember that detail). Oh, and there's also a ponyfied Indiana Jones, so I wonder if that makes him Daring Do's father or uncle (assuming of course he's at all related to Daring Do).
Rockhoof's shovel is stored in something akin to a tomb, but Applejack has no trouble wielding it. Rarity also easily retrieves her item, Mistmane's flower. But Rainbow Dash (with Spike in tow since the shield ended up in the dragon lands) run into trouble when Garble shows up, why Ember hasn't banished him from the lands yet I have no idea, seeing as he's willing to pick fights with Spike and is a sore loser worse than Rainbow Dash. Luckily, he's still as guilble as ever, and Rainbow Dash tricks him into giving up the shield without a fight. Fluttershy doesn't have much trouble with her task, moving the flash bee hive, but that's only because she makes Cattail wear the mask to keep them distracted. Hey, at least this time it's a task that only she can do and she remembers she can fly.
And Pinkie Pie, well all she has to do is wear a scuba diver's suit and retrieve a blindfold stuck in the drain of that pit of bubbling goo. But back at Ponhenge, Starlight expresses worry about trying to bring back the pillars, even though both Twilight and Sunburst are eager to meet Starswirl and are convinced Equestria will be safer with him around. So, with the items in their respective places, Twilight casts a spell and brings the pillars back. But Starswirl expresses alarm, revealing something that I do have to question how no one even considered, bringing back the pillars would also bring back the Pony of Shadows. Part one ends with The Pony of Shadows returning.
Part two opens with The Pony of Shadows quickly taking out the stone pillars, so that he cannot be banished back. He tries to overpower Twilight, but Starlight backs her up and the Pony of Shadows retreats to become more powerful. The Legend Six are brought back to Twilight's castle, where it's revealed that the Tree of Harmony grew from a seed they planted, and the Elements of Harmony are the result of them infusing crystals with their magic. I do have a bit of a gripe with Sonambula's voice though, I get that it's supposed to be Egyptian or Arabic (depending on the ethnicity they're going for) but it sounds too old, I guess I just kind of assumed Sonamubla was a lot younger given her overall design, body, and personality in the comics. I don't mind Starswirl's voice all that much, though I probably would've gone for Richard Newman or even Ian Hanlin, and Rockhoof's voice fits perfectly (I don't know if it's supposed to Irish, Nordic, or Russian though). Anyway, it turns out that Starswirl is kind of pretentious and a bit of a jerk to put it bluntly (I suppose that if the Legend Six were to be part of the emotional spectrum, Starswirl would be Rage, Rockhoof would be Willpower, Mistmane would be Life, Flash Magnus would be Compassion, Sonambula would obviously be Hope, and Meadowbrook would be Love. Worth mentioning is that Atroctious and his Red Lanterns are, depending on the writer, more anti-hero than villain), which really hurts Twilight but then they always say to never meet your idols.
Starswirl proposes redoing the banishment spell with the Legend Six, and drawing on the power of the Tree of Harmony (which is actually still around, it was a seed sprouted from it that grew into Twilight's castle) to send the Pony of Shadows back to limbo. Twilight, hoping to impress Starswirl, comes up with a spell that will draw on the power of the Elements instead of the Legend Six, but the Tree of Harmony will be left powerless and likely will die (though Twilight doesn't mention it's necessary to contain the Everfree Forest and stop it from encroching on Equestria). Starswirl dismisses it, but Twilight's friends rightfully stick up for her and call Starswirl out. However, a short time later, Starlight decides to raise an objection about the fact that the map is calling the mane six to aid the pillars and banish the Pony of Shadows, drawing on her own experiences to make a point. Except, Starlight herself is in NO position to make such judgements, because she herself became evil just because one friend got his cutie mark before she did, and then of course she not only ignored her ephipany when her lies were exposed on a village she ruled like a dictator, but she also sought out revenge and was willing to spite Equestria to multiple horrible fates just to get back at Twilight. And many would argue that she got a second chance she probably didn't deserve! You know who might ACTUALLY be capable of making a point against banishment, Princess Luna, seeing as she was once corrupted by darkness because of her own desires, and had to be banished! But she was able to be freed, and even then she was stopped before she could truly harm anyone! This isn't enough to sink the episode, thankfully, but it's a point I feel is worth bringing up because Starlight is the last character who should be making such a call. Maybe if her back story had made more sense, she'd have a stronger arguement.
The only place in modern Equestria where the Pony of Shadows can draw support from now, is a place called Hollow Shade. And we learn that he was once a scholar named Stygien, who united the pillars to fight against The Dazzlings, which basically make Equestria Girls canon for those who didn't already get that idea from stuff like the ending of "Friendship Games" or "Mirror Magic".
Anyway, Stygien was caught taking the artifacts wielded by the Legend Six and was cast out as a result. When he was seen again, even Sonambula gave up hope of saving him. This leads into the confrontation in a place in Hollow Shade known as the Well of Shadows, the Pony of Shadows rants about how the Legend Six were selfish, before they and the mane six (minus Twilight) open up the portal and start to push the Pony of Shadows in. Twilight hesitates for a bit, but prepares to light up her horn and do the deed, before she sees a pony inside and dives in. She finds Styngien, and extracts a confession out of him (which is heard by the Legend Six). Styngien lacked magic of his own, or even strength, to stand with the legends, so he sought to cast a spell with their items to make a copy and become powerful enough to fight alongside them. Why he thought that would work, or why he chose to steal the items instead of asking if he could borrow them (maybe Starswirl would've refused but Sonambula and probably Meadowbrook and Mistmane would've been sympathetic to his cause) is beyond me. Still, it's worth mentioning that this draws parallels to the symbiote in Spider-Man comics and cartoons, as well as movies, at least until recently when they started doing this whole Agent-Venom thing (it was a cool what if concept at first, but now I don't like that it seems to have replaced the traditional Venom who worked just fine).
Twilight (with Starlight's help since this time she has a more compelling point to make about coming back to the light), locks on Styngien and tries to pull him out. But it requires the help of everyone (including Sunburst) to do so, and after Styngien is pulled free, the Pony of Shadows is pulled into the portal and banished back to limbo in a rainbow explosion. The Elements of Harmony are saved, since they were used for healing instead of hurting, and Starswirl apologizes to Styngien for not considering his plight earlier (earlier in the episode Starswirl commented "Once a villain, always a villain", and given his absence it's understandable he would hold such an extremist view). He and the pillars go back to Canterlot to reunite with Celestia and Luna (and I hope we get to see more of Starswirl and the Royal Sisters next season seeing as he appears to have been something of a father figure to them), and everyone celebrates, though not without one small bump in which Twilight praises Starlight for reminding her of what she knew, treating it like this is Starlight's victory even though it really wasn't. Sure, she raised some objections, but hardly any of them were compelling, and it was Twilight who made the initial effort to reach out to Styngien and pull him free from the darkness. Plus, Starlight isn't Twilight's student anymore.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episodes? Well, they're pretty good even if at times they seem to have a few bumps in the form of questionable emphasis or character motivations (Starlight particularly, at times she comes across as too pretentious and preachy). It's largely in the same boat as to "To Where and Back Again" in that part 1 was the set up for a pay-off in part 2, but here the set-up was much stronger for a more powerful pay-off. Also, this finale is arguably the most slice of life since "Magical Mystery Cure" even though it boasts a new big bad. I quite like that, because not every two parter needs to keep trying to ramp up the stakes and be more serious and challenging than the previous one, at some point you start crossing the threshold from believeable to contrived. Escalation can be a bad thing. Everyone's in character though, and although there are some things that could've been done better, I don't think there's anything to majorly fault this episode on, and I sincerely hope we'll see more of the Legend Six in the show next season, because there's a ton of stories that could be explored with them. So I give this episode an A+, putting it above "Uncommon Bond" since it was a bit of a contrivence how Sunburst and Maud could just hit it off so easily and Trixie's line about being judged was not needed given how badly her other episodes in Season 7 made her look, but below "Forever Filly" simply because in terms of emotion and conflict it's stronger, plus it was able to do a conflicting loyalities story where both sides were treated as in the right and in the wrong, so both were sympathetic and understandable. So, Season 7 manages to top Season 6 and become the best season.
Now, expect to see a ton of blogs over the next few weeks, related to Season 7 and even kind of not related. First up is a blog ranking the second half of Season 7 to the second half of all other seasons (minus Season 3 which didn't have one), to see just how big its victory over Season 6 is.
Oh don't worry. Eddie's gotten the symbiote back.
For me, personally, this is not only the best two-parter yet, but also the second best episode of the season (continuing THAT trend), as well as the third best episode of the series as a whole.
I'm sorry, but I have a major problem with this. Starlight was simply suggesting another way of doing things. he remembered how Twilight talked to her like an individual and helped her. Thus she thinks doing the same here will help. She's using ehr oast experiences to help another pony. She wasn't making a judgment.
If it wasn't for Starlight, Twilight wouldn't have gotten through to Stygian and been able to pull him out of the darkness.
And? So what? Twilight isn't Celestia's student anymore, but she's still learning from Celestia. Allow me to quote from "Celestial Advice":
What does Starlight no longer being Twilight's pupil have to do with anything? As Celestia and Twilight did with each other, Starlight and Twilight can still learn from each other.
Concerning that part about Indiana Pony or Pony Jones Jr., whichever you wish to call him and his relation to Daring Do, this is a Personal Head Canon I have:
While Pony Jones Jr. is Indiana Jones ponyfied, I am going to say that Daring Do is Laura Croft Tomb Raider ponyfied. And it does make me wonder if her family linage historically are famous for being tomb raiders/archeologists.
In reference to your statement about Pony Jones Jr. being her relative, I'm not sure. I mean I can't see her being his daughter or niece. I could see them being siblings or cousins, but even I think that's a little far fetched. And, well, maybe she could be the pony version of Marian Ravenwood from the first and fourth installments of Indiana Jones, but I can't see her as a gender swapped pony version of Henry Jones III (a.k.a. Mudd). I think that would be more up Rainbow Dash's alley, but that boat sailed a while ago with the introduction of Rainbow Dash's parents.
Anyways, I think the episode two parter itself was awesome, and I am looking forward to season 8. I already got a glimpse of the premiere, but I won't spoil anything about that, and Dr. Wolf gave a little spoiler for the season 8 finale, which also seems rather juicy. But again, I won't say anything here, because of those who are not fans of spoilers.
4711221 I never thought about it, but Daring Do does seem to be more akin to Lara Ravencroft than Indiana Jones. She's more hooves on exploration than indirect archeological study. Plus, in her civillian life she's a writer, Indiana Jones is an official archeologist.
The finale has finally arrived and I've gotta be honest, it more than makes up for the majority of so many poor episodes we've had to endure this Season. I too would like to see the new faces come back regularly. But if I'm gonna be brutally honest, this Season has really soured my interest in the show, terrible writing being one of the big reasons. Lessons surely have to be learnt for the next Season they do.
4711857 Well part of the problem was, this season was ordered while both the movie and Season 6 were still in production, to say nothing of the writing talent that got sucked away to work on the Equestria Girls franchise that's now getting its own spin-off. Many shows that bring in a slew of new writers during one season, tend to run into problems. This show managed to somewhat defy that curse, but I think Josh Haber played a large role in that.
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All she missing is some signature weapons like Laura Croft and she'd be set. I was surprised to see Pony Jones Jr. didn't have a signature weapon with him. All we saw is a cutie mark whip.
This finale was better than Season Six's but not by much.
4797841 True. This finale still has the same overall structure as To Where and Back Again, Part 1 is largely the set-up and Part 2 the payoff. It's just that here, the set-up is made stronger for a mostly stronger payoff. I say mostly, because there are at least two major plot points that raise concern: Nopony seemed to think that bringing back the pillars would by default bring the Pony of Shadows back, and didn't think to have a contignecy plan (or something along those lines) in case that happened. And, Starlight's role being overplayed, Luna or Discord could've worked just as well as a counter-argument, and Spike could've had some of the concerns about Twilight's strategy, instead of having his role in the second part more or less being reduced to just backbreaking labor for Twilight.