My Review of MLP Season Eight, Episode Eleven, "Molt Down" (Spoilers) · 3:44am May 28th, 2018
Oh, boy. Molt Down. What a wild ride it was. A wild, wild ride. A ride wilder than most.
In some ways, the reveal this episode gave us came at me like a wondrous kick in the stomach. Nothing prepared me for it. Well, save the promos and catching what I think was a quick glimpse at the images those leaking prunes posted. Ya'know... stuff that ruins the surprise. You all know what I'm saying? Good. Now, as you all may know, the most delicious treat to talk about mayhaps be the reveal itself. A reveal that brought about a most spectacular change upon a character who deserved it.
By all that is evil, Spike's got himself a pair of wings. It's like with Twilight when she got wings herself, but the ones Spike's got are smaller specimens to be sure. But I was right, in the end; Spike would get wings. My prediction (as written in my tale, Love in a Time of Dragons) came true! I knew it all along. My memory may be perilously fickle, but my foresight is quite swell.
One of my favorite scenes in this episode is when Smolder and Spike have a little chat. Smolder comes to Spike and tells him about the molt after seeing his odd behavior in the school. She tells him all about how it makes his body do all sorts of odd things, most notably how he will give off a delightfully rancid stench that will attract predators. So... Spike is in hefty risk of getting devoured by our newest mythology-inspired monster of the week. First off, it's nice to see that we get more worldbuilding... as well as just how utterly harsh it is to be a dragon. Seeing Spike and Smolder speak to one another gives me some plans to ship them together, like how I mentioned a while back, but there was just as many (nah, a lot more) scenes with Spike and Rarity talking adorably in the episode. Also, apparently, phoenix feathers cause deafness, hence Rarity constantly shouting. Who knew? Sure is a coincidence that it all falls into play when the climax shows up, isn't it?
Anyway, our story goes on and on until we get to the really good bits. After a culmination of eight, long seasons, we finally see Spike get what is rightfully his: wings, and a brand-new outlook on life. Followed by a graphical scene of violence when he fries a roc with his breath. We get some hugs, we get some kisses, we get some last laughs in, and we get the credits.
I give this episode...eight stars out of ten. The dialogue, without a shadow of a doubt, was quite loud and lively, and the action with the roc was a literal blast. A good message was delivered in the form that just because Spike is molting, and how other dragons will kick out their young when it happens doesn't mean that ponies have to be like it; go by all those shipping fics you want, I love it when we see some sister-brother/mother-son interactions between Twilight and Spike. More Zecora scenes is also a win in my book. Sure, in some ways the reveal with Spike is as obvious as what we all know occurs when a lit match meets gasoline, but it's still as sweet as can be. This season really is going all out to please us.
Oh, yay! An episode about dragon puberty... How great.