"The Beginning of the End" (S9 E1,2) Thoughts/Review · 9:26pm Apr 6th, 2019
This episode was definitely something else. What that something else is... I'll discuss below. Because mild spoilers and such.
You get the drill.
So, in the span of one episode, we not only get the return of some old villains from the past, but we also get a brand new one who actually is speaking the most amount of sense since Tirek attempted to destroy everything and almost did. Color me intrigued.
I really like the idea of bringing back some old-school characters and introducing them into the modern world the show has created. It just feels satisfying in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Kind of like how 'Bring Me The Horizon' started playing some of their old-school death-grind-core stuff at shows this past year even though they're an alternative pop band now. It's just refreshing. So, the idea alone for that gets positive marks from me.
Also, as far as more traditional stuff, this premiere was a lof fun. It was funny, semi-suspenseful and threw a few curveballs! (Rainbow Dash finally telling it like it is about the Princesses was glorious). It also gave us some good worldbuilding. Told us kind of how Equestria was shaped a millennia ago and who was responsible for it. It's always nice to get some concrete answers about that stuff. I also think the subtle nods about character growth were great, too. Like how Twilight was ready to fork over the castle and school to Starlight, showing us how her training has pretty much come full circle.
Long story short, it was really solid.
All that being said, some things didn't quite hit with me. Like, some jokes just didn't really seem funny and others were kind of strange. it was also a little overly "friendship will let us beat you" at times. (Discord's speech was top-notch sappiness though. Loved it.)
It was definitely a good two-parter, but still can't quite hold up to the premiere of Season 5, which I consider to be the gold standard.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
I loved the whole thing myself. The episode was so self aware.
Also Sombra's final death reminded me of The Black Cauldron. O.o Absolutely brutal!
5039715
Reminded me of Toffee's death in Star vs. The Forces of Evil.
5039795
duuuuude yeah now that you mention that, it does. Twilight's eyes go white and then the death ray of rainbows straight up murders the scary dude. Just like star's did before she melted Toffee down to his fundamental particles.
Episodes were lit, really hoping there's some more mid-season buildup for the new villain plot. Fair assessments all around
I would have liked this episode far more if it wasn't sooo rushed.
It's like boom, all the villains are back, oh there's another, now we're in the Crystal Empire, and it's completely taken over in a minute or so. Princess Cadance is captured, wait I blinked and now she's free again.
There's so much happening so fast but we barely see any of it, we never see what happens in Ponyville or Canterlot, it's only the end result. I get that the focus is on Twilight, but it's just way to stuffed from the first minute on.
The only thing that was paced appropriately for me was the last confrontation with Sombra.
Great episode still, but so many missed opportunities and missed potential if you ask me.
5039892
I agree most of it is rushed, and I didn't get time to soak up the details. But the final confrontation was well done and Discord being the mvp for both episodes imo, he been saying the thing that the six need the whole time and I'm like yes listen to the Chaos god in the corner!!!
Still I enjoyed the two part episode.