Forgotten Friendship Review · 7:05pm Feb 17th, 2018
It's been a while since we've had any major Equestria Girls content. The YouTube series actually ended up being more of a "mobile app first" series, where the episodes first got uploaded to an exclusive app for Discovery Family, and then Hasbro eventually put some of them up on their YouTube channel including a sort of "Choose Your Own Adventure" mini-series. But all in all, the series ended up being a disappointment. By not evening opting for five minutes for each short, they made it impossible to really do much of anything with the characters. Stand alone promo shorts could get away with that, but for a full fledged series you're not likely to get far if you're using pre-exisiting characters in a very narrow run time. So, with this 44 minute special being cut down from a 50 minute special and penned by Nick Confalone (of "Party Pooped", "Hearth Breakers", "No Second Prances", "The Saddle Row Review", "Dungeons & Discords", and "Rock Solid Friendship" fame, a mostly solid track record with some questionable concerns), was it possible for Equestria Girls to re-capture some of the magic they lost last year with their three "specials", or did it just prove that Hasbro ultimately wasn't willing to commit to the franchise's potential? Well, let's find out.
We open up with an actual opening for the special, something that the series has sorely needed. It recaps Sunset Shimmer's progress and her story so far. Once it ends, we find Sunset Shimmer with her friends working on the yearbook committee. All of a sudden, Trixie storms in and demands that she be put in the yearbook for a title she herself came up with. Trixie even points out that the entire school once voted to crown Sunset Shimmer "biggest meanie" in the yearbook. We're also introduced to Wall Flower, and rest assured she'll be important later on. But I won't say why until we get to that point.
The next day, everyone gathers at the beach in bathing suits, and Sci-Twi has even invented a selfie drone that can spot any opportunity for a selfie. Feels like an invasion of privacy just waiting to happen. And we get to the main plot, someone has erased the Rainbooms memories of Sunset as a nice person, they still think she's a meanie. They even lampshade how ridiculous and stupid Sunset's plot from the first movie was (had any of the Rainbooms actually talked to each other, Sunset's plan would've fallen apart). Sunset writes to pony Twilight for help, and decides to travel back through the mirror to talk pony to pony. And yes, this time she actually gets to talk to Twilight.
After a bit of chit-chatting (as Sunset get used to being a pony again), Twilight takes Sunset to Canterlot to reunite with Princess Celestia and get help. Apparently, Twilight never told Celestia about Sunset's exploits in the human world, not even the journal, because Celestia seems a bit put off to see Sunset Shimmer again. Fortunately, we get a very heartfelt and beautiful scene that's every bit what we hoped for from fanfics, Sunset apologizes to Celestia and the two share a touching reunion. I would've liked to see more of this personally, because it's definitely the highlight of the special, and something tells me the six minutes cut from the television broadcast don't at all relate to this. Still, it's a nice dose of Momlestia.
Sunset also gets her chance to meet Princess Luna, and admits she's only used to hearing Vice Principal Luna barking out orders. Luna throws a bit of TFS on Sunset for this ("I don't know what this X is you speak of, but it sounds very Y."). Then Sunset, Twilight, and the princesses go to the Canterlot archives, which as it turns out has a restricted section that can only be accessed if you move two books colored like Celestia and Luna themselves. Of course, we get some freak outs from Twilight, but if I'm being honest as funny as they are they drag on too long and this has become all too common in recent seasons and specials. You know it's a problem when even the show starts lampshading it.
Eventually, Twilight finds the source of the problem, a little thing called The Memory Stone. Clover the Clever (who is now confirmed to be male, I wonder if that makes him related to Stygian or Sunburst at all) chased a thief who could erase memories, but every time he got close the thief would erase his memory and escape. Eventually, the thief fled through the same mirror portal that connects to the human world (it seems to be a dumping ground for the stuff Equestria deems too dangerous) and buried it somewhere, but the final page is missing. Armed with this knowledge, Sunset goes back to try and solve the problem, commenting on how Twilight was the best teacher for her. This actually causes Princess Celestia to get jealous for a moment, and Sunset is surprised to see she has a sense of humor (I suppose Sunset's escape to the human world led to Celestia lightning her mood, probably why she was more gentle in nudging Twilight and kept her in Canterlot for so long).
Sunset's confrontation doesn't go very well though, especially not with Trixie around. And you'd be forgiven if you expected her to be the villain here, even Sunset thinks that way and eventually confronts her (though not before stepping on Sci-Twi's selfie drone and breaking it). But it turns out even Trixie can't remember her confrontation with Sunset the other day. It doesn't stop Sunset from losing her temper and calling Trixie a self centered blowhard (she probably wanted to say "bitch").
Trixie actually has a soft side though, she understands what it's like to only be seen a certain way even when you've changed. But unlike pony Trixie, she doesn't get all "self-concious" about being judged for it (and it helps that the worst we've seen human Trixie do is occasionally antagonize the Rainbooms). This leads to a partnership between the two former bad girls, while back in Equestria Twilight learns a shocking truth about the memory stone. If the stone is not destroyed by sunset on the third day after the memories are stolen, they will be forever erased. Trixie and Sunset meanwhile, interrogate the entire school, but no one is aware of a memory stone or where it's buried, not even human Maud.
I assume this takes up at least a day or two because of what'll happen a little later on. Anyway, Sunset and Trixie realize there's one person they haven't asked yet, Wall Flower. She's in the computer lab and admits to being president (and only member of) the school's garden club, which allowed her access to where the memory stone was buried. Sunset then reads Wall Flower's mind and learns that she's the one who erased all the memories. Wall Flower resents the fact that no one ever noticed her, and that Sunset Shimmer was so popular and loved, so she decided to erase everyone's good memories so they would "see" Sunset hadn't changed. I get what they're trying to go for here, but it makes no sense. Even if Wall Flower's shyness prevented her from being noticed or making any effort to be noticed, I fail to see how she thinks Sunset hasn't changed despite all the evidence to the contrary. It gets better a little later on though, so in terms of motive I'd put her above Juniper Montage and probably Abacus Cinch.
We get a song, and then Will Flower erases the entire encounter and leaves Sunset and Trixie trapped in the computer lab. Somehow, no one notices or even attempts to access the computer lab at any point. And it turns out that when the sun sets that day, all the memories will be erased forever and everyone will only remember Sunset as a bully. Luckly though, Sci-Twi left her drone in the computer lab at some point, and Sunset was able to use it to record the entire encounter and remember. Trixie then uses a smoke bomb trick to escape, and while it's funny I really don't get why she can't just open the door (or when Sunset gets out, why she can't unlock the door).
Sunset runs outside to the parking lot and confronts Will Flower, who admits to be angry at Sunset for not noticing her, and Sunset tries to apologize, only to be rebuffed.
Will Flower tries to erase the Rainbooms memories of each other, and Sunset Shimmer dives in front of the blast to stop it! This selfless scarifice allows the Rainbooms to come to her aid and they all power up (but alas, Sunset Shimmer still doesn't have any wings, firey or otherwise, Sci-Twi gets pony Twilight's human form wings) to destroy the stone and restore all the memories. Will Flower then apologizes, and Sunset does too for not paying attention to those outside her circle of friends. Sci-Twi also encourages Will Flower on the fact that you can't just erase awkward moments, you have to work to get past them and put yourself out there. Then we get an epilogue, where everyone gets a yearbook (and Will Flower is even recognized and has a picture) and everything is back to normal for the most part. There's actually a change for the positive, Trixie got her own title in the yearbook and she and Sunset Shimmer are friends. It actually feels a lot better than pony Trixie's friendship with Starlight Glimmer.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the special? It's a definite improvement over the shorts series and the specials from last year. In fact, I daresay it's the best Equestria Girls has been since "Friendship Games" ("Legend of Everfree" was good, but Sunset got shunted to the supporting protagonist role and Sci-Twi/Timber Spruce is still a problematic ship). The story is pretty good, despite some moments dragging on for too long and others going by too fast, and there's plenty of fanservice and fandom nods. Will Flower's early motivations don't make a whole lot of sense, and if they'd just kept it to her hating Sunset Shimmer for being so popular she'd be a tad bit stronger. She's relateable for sure, because haven't we all wished we could do some things over again, or erase memories we'd rather forget? The time skip may or may not be a result of the 6 minutes that got cut, but otherwise there's no major plot holes and the only thing remotely questionable I can think of is Sunset just confronting the Rainbooms with photos, when she already used forged photos as part of her plot to frame pony Twilight. I give it a B+, largely because I think the initial plot could've been stronger, and I would've liked there to be more time spent with pony Sunset Shimmer and Princess Celestia. All the same, I'll take what I can get.
I know this is going to sound strange but do you know where I can watch this special?
4798885 Not at the moment. Maybe try DailyMotion, but I think any recordings will be of shaky quality at best at the moment.
Ah yes! I was previously informed about this and how it has received many positive reviews from fans.
4798885
Same here
Now that I've had a chance to see it, here's what I personally have to say about it:
I'm not a fan of the first two songs.
The beach scene was adorable until Sunset came on, but that was definitely intentional.
The humor was pretty good overall, especially when they talk about the songs.
The Sunset and Celestia scene was definitely the highlight in terms of emotions.
The library scene was definitely the highlight in terms of the comedy.
Trixie was great as always.
Wallflower's song, was definitely amazing. In fact, it's my new second favorite EQG song, pushing Legend of Everfree's theme into 11th.
Wallflower is definitely among the top 3 EQG villains. Don't know if she's number one, though.
And as for where I'd rank this special among everything else...I'd put it in second place, behind Mirror Magic. As great as the special is overall, seeing Starlight in EQG is just something I doubt will be topped.
The Memory stone looks like it's of Sheikah design. This was an enjoyable episode, shame the rest of the EG: DS is rather dull. I have nothing against CYOA segments but I feel like they don't belong there.
So, I already said it in my own blog, but this entire "special" honestly could have been cut in half, or changed up a bit if they had done one thing....... Ask Spike. Seriously, not once did he mention that Sunset was mean, nor did he give her a "I only remember you from the friendship games" talk either.
Biggest reason I think he could have been utilized was that I think Wallflower Blush would have not considered him in this whole, make sure all forget Sunset's good deeds. She was probably thinking, Make the students and school faculty forget Sunset's progress of change. Spike's not a student. Or a faculty member of the school. He's Twilight's pet.
I feel that if Sunset Shimmer asked Spike what he remembered about her, he would reveal to the crew that he did remember Sunset Shimmer was the rest of the Mane 8's friend. (And yes, I consider Spike to be a part of the main group.) This I feel in turn would lead to an interesting investigation of how the girls lost their memories of Sunset's progress with them, and of course help from Princess Twilight and the Princesses of Day and Night, would still be included. And I could have easily settle for a plot twist where none of the girls get their original memories back, but after going through so much with Sunset that day, they form new memories of friendship with her, but the school will be back to square one with Sunset, still not trusting her.
That's just my opinion though. The episode was still good in it's own way. And I did like that they gave a shout out to the environment in their own unique way.