Episode Review - The Beginning of the End (spoilers ahead) · 3:33am Apr 7th, 2019
Well what do you know, we've finally got a large villain team up. While we do still count Discord and Tirek being a thing, this is one of the larger villain team ups we've seen in the show. It's not surprising. Shows with a plethora of villains will always eventually get a bunch of them to team up for a few episodes. It's mostly to bounce them off each other while also upping the anty when it comes to our protagonists.
As for the episode, I'm not going to go through this play by play. I feel like giving a more general overview of it.
Well as some of you may know from trailers and other spoilers, Celestia and Luna decide to retire. They do this by sending vague letters to the Main six. So when Twilight hears this, she starts to panic. She spends a good half of the first part of the season opener panicking because of this decision. In all honesty, it's one of the few times I was really worried about Twilight. You see, while Twilight does panic a lot, most of the time it's herself blowing up little problems. She has a terrible problem with things not going to plan or being blindsided by a problem. While it can be humorous, sometimes I just want to smack her. Not here.
And onto Grogar getting his own team together consisting of Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Sombra. Still sad that we didn't get to see the Diamond Dogs or other minor antagonists but oh well. The cast might have been too bloated or something.
Now I'm going to talk about the whole 'retiring' thing. From the get go, I knew it wasn't going to come into effect. Why? Because I seriously doubt Luna would just give up the throne when she just got back, especially when she probably didn't get to have it for a good while before her banishment. It would feel really... off to have her just step aside so soon. As well, the thing is with Celestia and Luna, especially with Celestia, is that they actually run the country. Oh sure, they don't battle monsters anymore, but they keep the country afloat through it's economy, laws, and etc. Thrusting all of that on Twilight's and her friends shoulders just because they beat up bad guys and the like would be stupid.
And then you'd have to take into account the school.... I still think the school is stupid especially since it doesn't feel like there are enough teachers and the main six have lives and jobs outside of it. Having them run a country wouldn't be possible even if they gave up their teaching positions. Unless they divide up the country so it's easier for a collective to rule or become a sort of small council that rules the country but I'd be wary of giving these gals control of the country.
It honestly feels like one of Celestia's batman gambits. I mean, just as they retire Grogar comes back? Seems a bit too much of a coincidence. Then you have later Celestia and Luna say something along the lines of it 'not being the right time' to retire and yeah, I still think it was a batman gambit to lure out Grogar.
As for the princesses themselves, the episode really does love to poke fun at the fact that they basically do nothing to help beat the big bad. This isn't always true but still. I thought it was okay at first but wore itself thin. There's a thing in media where a show will point out an issue. Sometimes a show decides to point out a cliche and avoid it, something you see in some modern anime. However, sometimes the point is just brought up but done anyways. The episode doesn't have them do nothing but for a lot of it, they sort of poke fun at it and it makes me a bit miffed. They do get a time to shine when they fight the Everfree Forest but with Starswirl coming forward and doing a bit more impressively, not a good showcase for them. While it is true he might have been more powerful, I'd like to think Celestia has grown in a thousand years while both her sister and mentor were imprisoned but oh well.
The council antics were humorous. Grogar is an intimidating and intelligent villain even if he seems skinnier then his g1 counterpart. He's the perfect sort of villain to rule one of these team ups as he's powerful enough to put them all in their place as well as being the father of monsters. Really inspiring the villainy in a good way.
Chrysalis was... fun? I see that with this and Mean Six, the best way to write for her is to push her into insanity and anger. I really hope she takes more after her comic self in future episodes as she was more lively there and she is starting to feel that way here.
The other two, Cozy and Tirek, were fun too.
Sombra is.... I found him a bit of a mix bag for me. He was good. He was a fun villain and still incredibly powerful. However, it just felt like he became sort of a cliche bond villain. He isn't stupid per se but he does leave himself open a couple of times more then he should. Let's go over him.
He refuses to work with Grogar and makes a bet with him that if he loses, he has to join Grogar's council. So he goes off to take over Equestria. I get why he wouldn't want to join. It's a bad idea to have so many selfish people work together in the first place but still short sighted on his part. Strength in numbers is a good thing.
Then he easily takes over the Crystal Empire. Why they don't just use the Crystal Heart, I dunno. I guess they couldn't or something.
Then the main six come. He uses his fear magic on them but their Elements help keep them free of his work and they shoot him with the Elements of Harmony. I did like how it felt so easy. Even though it is a trap, sometimes you ponder how short these episodes would be if they could just whip out the Elements just at the get go.
But it is a trap, showcasing that Sombra is still rather clever when he wants to be. As he followed the main six and destroyed the Tree of Harmony. (Which also causes the Everfree to go haywire.) However, he decides not to take them over and instead trap them because... I guess he wants them to watch him take over or something. I dunno. Villain Arrogance.
He takes over both Ponyville and Canterlot and the main six have to beat him. Which leads to one badass moment where Twilight is actually standing up to Sombra's magical bolts, swatting them aside showing that she is an incredibly powerful user when she puts her mind to it. Loved it. Still though, Sombra does come off as powerful in his own right.
The other fuss up is when Discord is hit by one of his bolts and he gives a long speech. Sombra just.... stands there. I guess he's confident in his victory now that Discord is out. True but yeah....
Sombra just feels like he's a good villain but not exactly what I thought he'd be when he came out since his meticulous traps and the fact he was able to organize a war well into a year's run shows that he did have a great intellect. I guess he's just prone to thinking he's all that. Still enjoyable though.
Then he died..... Again. That's thrice he's died. I am disappointed that we didn't get to see him develop some more, but at the same time, I can't help but think Grogar will bring him back to fulfill his side of the bet they made. Hoping that's the case.
I do like Discord in this episode and how the main six FINALLY kept going to him to solve the issue. Well that didn't work out so well once and the magic stealing rock stopped him from owning the baddie that time, but this time there's no issue. Spoilers ahead:
Discord didn't help because he wanted to see them grow. (A much better version of season 4's absymal opener.... I don't hate every part in that episode but it is still the weakest opener of the show.) And when he was hit, after showcasing how he could just snap the Sombra problem easily, his fake speech was punctuated by fake coughs.
The reveal was honestly hilarious and I chuckled when Celestia sort of trolled him. So I think it was a good outing for Discord.
Some good Starlight moments in the beginning as she helped Twilight. She's got a good head on her shoulders and knows how to make ponies tick in certain ways.
Overall, a good opener. Not my favorite and it has a couple of problems but none of them are anger inducing. Still a good way to begin season 9. Hope you all enjoyed it and until next time. I'll be busy finishing up season 8 and writing those reviews.
I wish the producers would make up their mind about Twilight's power. Starlight Glimmer beat her, but she's casually swatting aside magic from another unicorn that is arguably as strong as Starlight. I just get irritated with the inconsistency. I wonder if her power depends on how much studying she did that week.
I dunno. I need a drink.
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She and Starlight were pretty toe to toe initially. And then Twilight got tired because she spent some time in each alternate present and had to fight in a couple, where Starlight apparently hung out between each loop. If she'd be jerked back to the same point as Twilight on every loop, it stands to reason she'd like take a nap or prepare herself to throw down with Twilight again.
And then Twilight also realized that directly fighting her was leading to some of the loops.
Also, Starlight is an entire different magical tier than Sombra.
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Inspired has a point. It should also be noted that Starlight dodged and fought with strategy. Sombra basically just shot at her head on. Twilight isn't exactly a strategic fighter as she relies mostly on her friends to help her when it comes to that. She tends to do her best fighting when in a group and not on her own.
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Which brings up questions about Sombra....
*headbanging on desk intensifies*
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5040098 Starlight seemed to have had more combat spell and tactical training, that's what let her beat Twilight.
And in this episode, Twilight is only able to really overpower Sombra once the magic of her friends boosts her power. Notice she gets so much stronger once they start holding her hoof.
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It should also be noted that throughout the series that life has handed Twilight a giant fucking mallet (her magic) qnd pointed her at a buncha nails (life in general). If she hits a nail with her mallet as hard as she can and it doesn't go away, she doesn't know what to do.
Starlight is also the same way admittedly but has a bit more finesse in the way she uses her mallet for daily tasks than Twilight does.
Not every show, tho. There are shows with loads of villains that never crossed paths with another. I personally like this rather than the team up, because every villain has a different motivation and once they finally meet it will create a conflict between them that will easily lead to their defeat anyway.
Still don't like Sombra's voice..
This episode... was a mixed bag for me.
Am I the only one feels that how the Mane Six defeat Sombra (for real) was an asspull? I mean they "We're friendship is magic, go away Sombra!" I mean where did that magic come from? Is it the remains of the Elements of Harmony?
And I agree that Celestia and Luna deciding to retire came out of nowhere. I was expecting Twilight to say no to being Equestria's next ruler.
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Agreed.
And let's not forget the rest of the Mane Six have jobs.
But Grogar was cool. And seeing Tirek, Cozy and Chrysalis interact was fun to watch.
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Agreed. Is it just me or does Sombra sound like Eddie Murphy trying (and failing) to sound like Keith David.