The Elephant in the Room · 10:27pm Dec 17th, 2017
How 'bout them leaks, eh? The one everyone's talking about made the leak from October seem like nothing in comparison. There will be mention of spoilers after the break, so don't read the rest of the blog post unless you don't care about spoilers or have no intention of watching the next season.
In case you missed the news or the site-wide alert, a bunch of stuff was leaked from DHX's server, including six unfinished episodes, a seventh episode that was 99% complete, future plans for G5 and a second movie, the show finishing with Season 9, and various concept art and puppets for an incomplete Season 9 premiere whereby King Sombra mind controls all of Equestria, then gets usurped by Grogar, and it's up to Twilight to stop them.
Anyway, I have seen the incomplete episodes, and I'm hesitant to continue watching the rest of the season and their completed episodes unless word spreads of a truly excellent episode. I'll briefly go over spoilers from the leaked episode synopses, though the last three speculate on three synopses:
-Most of Season 8 revolves around a School of Friendship according to the leaked episode synopses.
-The S8 premiere, which hasn't been shown, focuses on establishing this school and introducing a ton of new characters
-Maud Pie gets a special somepony.
-Tirek returns in the S8 finale, but his role is unknown.
-Lightning Dust is likely to return, as one episode involves Scootaloo gushing over a group of stunt ponies called the Washouts and Rainbow Dash worrying about whether she'll be upstaged, which means I'm a little concerned over finding out how the Wonderbolts will play their inevitable role.
-There's only one StarTrix episode, which is a shame. My OTP needs more episodes.
As for the episodes that were leaked:
-There's a cute Starlight and Sunburst episode where we meet the former's father and the latter's mother. Starlight's father treats her like a filly, whereas Sunburst's mother is kind of snooty, and it makes for an engaging conflict when their characters interact. The episode is 99% complete and is only missing some sound effects for the ponies' magic, and it's by far the best episode of the bunch. However, its themes and how much progress has been made on the episode lead me to believe it's a leftover from Season 7. Remember that one of the underlying themes of Season 7 was family.
-One episode that involves the School of Friendship has Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to one-up each other to become Teacher of the Month, the conflict stemming from their competitive spirit. It's kinda meh in my opinion, and it does feel weird having this School of Friendship. Maybe I'll get used to it, but at the moment, I'm not exactly sold on the idea.
-There's a cute Celestia episode where she assumes the role of an actress for a play. Not much to say about this one, but it was nice seeing more of Celestia's carefree side and getting a chance to shine in the spotlight. This would probably be my second favorite among the bunch.
-One episode has Spike reaching the equivalent of puberty, albeit not to the same disastrous results as Secret of My Excess, and he even gets wings for his troubles. The episode has its moments, and it's easily one of the better Spike episodes, which admittedly isn't saying much. We even get another appearance from Zecora, which is a pleasant surprise, as she's an underrated character.
-The seapony episode meandered from place to place, and I cannot say I'm pleased with how much of the movie is being incorporated into canon. It's not the most exciting episode, but the hippogriffs being able to transform into seaponies on a dime is pretty neat. The Cutie Mark Crusaders also get to explore Seaquestria alongside Twilight, but it's amazing how quickly the CMC recovered from being locked in a cage and seeing their friends and family enslaved. You'd think they would still feel a little spooked about what happened, but that part's swept under the rug when Apple Bloom recounts the movie's events.
-The Chrysalis episode that we saw in the Hascon preview is not the S8 premiere we thought, and sadly, it's quite underwhelming given the missed opportunities. In the episode, Chrysalis uses the hairs and photographs of the Mane 6 to create doppelgangers, and she plans on using the Elements of Harmony with them to cause trouble. Unfortunately, the clones are split apart, bump into different members of the real Mane 6 and cause minor conflicts, and melt into wood once they argue in front of the Tree of Harmony and reveal their intentions to betray Chrysalis. Oddly, the real Mane 6 never encounter Chrysalis, and the lackluster use of the clones make the episode a huge missed opportunity for something exciting. Oh, and Chrysalis does not reform in the end. She just vanishes without a trace.
-The Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle episode has some cute moments, and it does get quite emotional in a few spots given the subject matter. It's not their best episode, but as a romance story, it's definitely passable and solidifies their relationship. Discord is in the episode as well and acts like a huge asshole, which is nothing new for him, but he does add to the conflict in an interesting manner and learns a lesson in the end. Just thought I should point that out for any Discord fans reading this.
Having watched these leaked, unfinished episodes, I cannot say I'm excited to see what the rest of Season 8 has to offer. I'll probably check out an episode or two should people rave about it, not to mention the Starlight and Trixie episode, but something tells me this season will lack the magic of Seasons 5-7. In fact, this focus on the School of Friendship makes it seem like they're trying to change things up a little too much, and while Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer were welcome additions in their debuts, they weren't joined by tons of new characters. I won't be doing the usual episode recaps when they officially air, as I'm unsure whether I'll watch some of them, but Season 8 seems to be suggesting a mixture of highs and lows.
Anyway, let's end this blog post on a positive note. I have an incomplete story that's currently undergoing some editing, but I thought I'd share a snippet since maybe two or three of you may be curious about my writing habits. Nothing's finalized, but it should give you an idea on the story's general feel.
Don't know if this will see the light of day, and the description and tags are temporary, but that's what I've been working on for the past week. While I haven't pegged my next story project yet, I've been brainstorming and practicing writing during this time, and maybe I'll soon have another idea worth sharing. Anyway, I wish you all the best!
Dude, maybe it's just me, but i loved the Spike episode. You have no idea how long I've waited for him to get wings.
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While it wasn't my cup of tea, the episode does have some cool moments, and I knew you'd love it. It's his second best episode with Gauntlet of Fire edging it out a little, but either way, he's certainly come a long way since the series began.
How this happened? I mean the leaks. And that Rainbow's episode is also worrying, but I guess the leaked episodes that you mentioned, except for the one of Rainbow and AJ because I feel it will end very badly with character derailment, will be good.
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In layman's terms, the same person who leaked the movie somehow got into DHX's server and dumped everything onto the internet, and I do mean everything. As for the Applejack and Rainbow Dash episode, it's not a good one. Less because of characterization and more because it's not that interesting, but that's just me.
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I see.
One burning question remains... Is it tax-exempt?
More to the point of the OP, I think I might sit this one out. Some of those concepts... are not my cup of tea. The lacklustre returning villains, for instance. I liked the old days when the show introduced a new villain every two-parter to keep things fresh, with - credit where it's due - Starlight Glimmer being an excellent new variant, whose danger was based more on her warped philosophy than on her raw magical power.
Can't say I've seen anything that grabs my interest, really. Still, to those who enjoy the new seasons, more power to you, says I.
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The addition of a School of Friendship does give it a lot of importance, though it does seem kind of unusual in my opinion. As for the various episodes that were leaked in one form or another, I'd recommend the Starlight and Sunburst episode as well as the Celestia episode and SugarMac episode. The first is excellent, and while the latter two aren't perfect, they have enough fun or interesting moments to make them enjoyable.
Haven't watched the leaks. Probably will just wait for them to air since I already have a ton of anime I want to watch and I want to watch the episodes in their entirety. ALthough, could you send a link to the stuff about series 5 and the movie? I don't mind spoilering myself on those, especially since they could possibly change.
As for the emphasis on new characters, it'll probably just be a number of one shot characters that have their importance, most likely with the main character's story arc of the season or just the episode. I am freaking out about Lightning Dust returning. I loved her in her episode and I've been waiting years for her to return. Another Celestia episode sounds good and well deserving. I'm hesitant to watch the Starlight/Sunburst episode with the parents. Could be very good but I don't trust Starlight's parents given what happened to little Starlight.
I'm glad to hear that Grogar is finally returning and while I would like to hear more about future antagonists, exploring some of the old ones should be interesting. Sombra really needed it after all. Not looking forward to Chrysalis though. (And we need some more pegasus/Earth pony villains.)
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Can't post anything regarding leak sources because of FiMFiction rules, so you'll have to search them on your own. As for the episodes, the group of new characters show up in various episodes, though they have more focus on the School of Friendship episodes. The return of Lightning Dust isn't confirmed, but I'd say there's a 95% chance of it happening based on the episode's synopsis, and Grogar won't be until Season 9, though it could change since that's still in the concept stages for all we know.
With the premise of the upcoming season, I'd be curious to see just how they pull this off. Hopefully the new characters will add something unique, as with this premise it'll fall a lot on character interactions to make this premise fun and interesting.
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Some of the episodes have my attention, but more than a few don't pique my interest, and I'm unsure of how they'll seamlessly incorporate the new characters into the show without it being too overwhelming. Would've preferred character development for established side characters, but I guess that's how things went.
On that note, I'm glad Celestia got another episode.
Hasbro should've upgraded their securities by now. These leaks are getting ridiculous
I haven't watched the leaks yet, but for now. I guess I'll be at the bunker when all of these are avoidable again. Probably just using youtube not login.
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To say Hasbro has terrible security would be an understatement.
Haven't seen the leaks, but I think a few of those premises might be interesting.
Kind of sad that Season 9 might be the last, of course, but it's probably for the best. Might end the series on a high note, too.
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Yeah, some of the leaked episodes were great, especially the Starlight/Sunburst, Celestia, and SugarMac episodes. The rest of them weren't my cup of tea if I must be honest, but the Spike episode certainly had its moments, and the Chrysalis episode had an interesting concept.
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Having checked a few out, and assuming their final products represent the norm of all the rest, I personally might still have some faith in the season. I'll admit I find the school idea strange too, but going off the synopses, it's likely there'll still be an amount of episodes that won't stem entirely on the setting and characters, at least in a way that they'd be inseparable from the plot, but I also think some of the ones that do sound like they might work to build on it some more, so I'll probably give them a chance.
I might be late on this post, But I highly doubt mlp will end in season 9, Hasbro hasn't said a thing, which leaves me to believe It was all made up by a troll in the fandom, and the emails? those could easily be manipulated, It's easy to make fake Emails until Hasbro says something, Its fake news.