Shadow Play - Reveiw and Meditations

Okay I'm going to risk somewhat going against the popular flow here but bear with me and everything that I will say will make sense.

Firstly, I have to emphasise that there is nothing wrong with this episode. It has some genunely laugh-out-loud moments and I loved the way Rainbow Dash both outfought and outwitted Garble (something that he needed to experience to cure him of his contempt for ponykind). All of the mini-quests were well done and I appreciated that the Mane Six were able to take charge and save the day on their own initiative rather than stumble accidentally onto solutions or have someone else point them in the right direction. That's a real change for how the characters (with the exception of Twilight Sparkle) are generally presented in the two-parters and I appreciate seeing it here.

My problem is this: This shouldn't have even been an episode at all. It should have been at least six episodes, the first outlining the problem (the first reel), possibly including Starlight, Sunburst and Twilight's debate about the difference between 'could' and 'should', which deserved more screen time. The next five would be the rest of the Mane Six's artefact quests with plenty of time for them to express to their sidekicks their reasons for respecting their respective Pillar's tale and why they want to help free them from Limbo. IMO, the season-ender should have been exclusively the rescue of the Six Pillars and the fight against the Pony of Shadows, who needed far more screen time to establish him as more than a hypothetical threat.

This is a conceptual disagreement that I have with the crew over how this story was handled. If it had been done more like the Keys of Harmony arc in season 4, then season 7 could have been an enormously different experience, especially with the comics tie-in. This doesn't really impact on my enjoyment of the episode but it is nonetheless a disappointment.

BenRG's Rating for Part 1: 8/10 - The best season finale set-up since Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1.

As for Part 2? Well, this was the best season finale that I've ever seen. It had the action of Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2 and the wisodom about the Magic of Friendship of The Return of Harmony, Part 2.

I expected to resent Starlight Glimmer's role in this episode when I first read of it but, for the very first time, she was written correctly as a foil for the Mane Six, specifically having the courage to speak out against Star Swirl's plan when Twilight wouldn't (because he is her hero) and the others wouldn't because of their respect for Twilight's judgement. Starlight became the necessary figure to remind Twilight that conquest and punishment were not the only options because of the kindness she was shown herself after committing nigh-unforgivable crimes.

Star Swirl was a revelation and I think that Josh and Nicole deserve credit for how consistently and three-dimensionally he was written. Powerful, knowledgable and wise, certainly, but also more than a little too over-impressed by this and this leading him to believe that no-one could advise him or have a valid opinion that differs from his. This leads to a minor nit-pick in that I would have had Mistmane advise him to give Twilight's spell a chance as she was a sister mage and someone whose opinion of formal and ritual magic he would instinctively (if grudgingly) trust. That aside, we knew from as far back as Magical Mystery Cure that Star Swirl's Achilles Heel was his inability to understand ponies. He could lead but he never really understood how to be a friend and that undermined him.

Stygian interests me on several levels. Now he is cured of his madness and has both Star Swirl and Sunburst to aid him, I find myself wondering where his researches into magical power may take him. It is possible that we may yet see a magical 'iron pony' concept emerging, imitating the powers of the Elements to create a great magical tool not unlike the Marvel Comics universe's Infinity Gauntlet. Naturally, something like that would turn into a McGuffin for a future episode.

So much has changed now. The presence of the Pillars gives the Bearers of he Elements of Harmony distinct mentor figures who might appear more in Season 8 to share their wisdom and experience (as well as benefit from the younger ponies' own hard-won experience too).

So, hardly a perfect episode but nonetheless an excellent bit of writing that did the job of bringing the heroes of the past to life and reminding us agian why the Mane Six are heroes of today. Oh, and we got to see Adagio, Aria and Sonata, which was a major bonus!

BenRG's Rating: 9/10 for Part 2 - Some of the best character writing in the show's history

BenRG's Overall Rating: 8.5/10, tying with Twilight's Kingdom as the best season finale. If they hadn't super-compressed the Artefact Quests into part 1, it would have been the perfect season meta-arc.

Favourite Pillar: Flash Magnus - He accepted Rainbow's claims to being a hero in her own right without question and was the first to accept that they needed the Element Bearers' help.