My Little Pony Season 9 News 05/24/2019 · 12:06pm May 24th, 2019
GOOD MORNING, FIMFICTION FANATICS!!! This is the Dramamaster829; Critic, Actor, Writer, Motivational Speaker, and Occasional Singer, keeping you up to date with the latest news for the final season of MLP! Today, following that rare episode where the villains got the spotlight, we draw our attention back to some familiar faces who are about to embark on a friendship mission in a world very familiar to some of our subjects in question. As for the title of said episode, I can tell you this has nothing to do with a flavor of barbecue sauce nor does it genuinely reflect the true personality of dragons as opposed to being greedy, brutish, and pony-hating creatures of mass destruction (Though I can see where the stereotypes come in), what I can tell you is that we're indeed having a 'dragon' based episode set to air tomorrow. So without any further ado, let's dive into this Dragon adventure appropriately titled:
Sweet and Smoky
Based on what we know about this episode, Fluttershy and Spike are called away to head off to the Dragonlands to help Smoulder with a little problem. As it turns out, it's not so much Smoulder who's got a problem (Or so we are led to think) but rather it's for the two to solace Smoulder's brother. Now we don't know if he's supposedly the older or younger brother compared with Smoulder, but all we know for sure is that he 'is' one of the more 'sensitive' Dragon which I can imagine must make it difficult for him if it makes him feel like an outcast. One would think that's all they got to worry about, but actually things get rather complicated when it turns out that the dragon eggs are not hatching and apparently nobody can figure out 'why'. Now I can understand why Spike would be needed, given he's made quite a few trips to the Dragonlands before... But 'Fluttershy' is needed for this episode?
Here's the thing with Fluttershy: Ever since Season 1, Fluttershy has had this deep fear of Dragons to the point she 'refused' to watch the Dragon migration. Now we know she's not afraid of Spike who she thought was cute when she first met him and given Smoulder is one of her students at the school she has no quarrel with her. But as Fluttershy put it herself back in 'Dragonshy': Fluttershy's fear comes from the fact that the Dragons she's scared of are 'huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon!' (WOW, that was a mouthful). Immediately fans would argue Fluttershy 'should have' gotten over it when she did assert her assertiveness toward a Dragon when it pushed her friends around that episode and yet if this fear of Dragons is still going to be considered a problem then what is it going to take to prove it was no mistake having her come to the Dragonlands (Since we pretty much know her fears will probably play a 'big' role in the episode). Then again, I've had some fans draw fan concepts that there should've been an episode where 'Fluttershy was turned into a Dragon herself' as a way to see life through their perspective and maybe gain a bit of respect for them... But as of this point it's all been wishful thinking.
But I think the 'bigger picture' we need to determine is this: The Dragon eggs, for whatever reason, are not hatching and somehow it involves Smoulder's brother. Now I barely know how Dragon eggs work in this universe, as we've seen Spike's egg hatch due to magical influence through Twilight Sparkle when she was a filly (Course that was made possible when she was startled with immense power that involved Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom). Of course we've seen Dragon eggs hatch differently in several forms of media, sometimes they hatch no differently than bird eggs or lizard eggs, sometimes it's part of a bond between a Dragon and a Rider in the 'Eragon' series. Whatever the case may be, the eggs have not been hatching and if Smoulder's brother is involved with this somehow, he must feel very insecure as if he feels responsible like some form of omen (I can imagine he must have a level of insecurities even if he tries to hide it). The other dragons definitely won't be making this easy neither for him or the gang sent in to help (Given that for the most part they've been jerks), least the few allies Spike and Fluttershy do have is not only Smoulder but Ember as well.
In a way, what I am hoping for with this episode is that even if it's not Spike learning more about his origins or even if it's not Fluttershy getting turned into a Dragon, the least we can do is get a better understanding of their culture. Even though in the earlier seasons we would not have wanted to go back to the Dragonlands given that Spike's encounters with 'teenage dragons' offered a negative perspective on Dragons, the more time we were drawn back to this realm, took a deeper dive into their culture (Such as these 'games') and learning of their stories, in some way we want to know if the Dragons are more than as they seem to be. The show wants us to get to know these Dragons for a purpose, especially considering the eggs especially, maybe this could be an episode that's worth tuning into tomorrow. It may be considered 'filler' to some fans and maybe this plot won't carry on for the remainder of the series, in some ways it might not even be anyone's favorite episode, but if we only take the time to get an understanding of what the staff are going with then maybe we can at least admire whatever effort they put in to make this episode entertaining (And I'm not just saying that because I am partially of fan of dragon-based material). But the big question remains:
What do YOU think? Be sure to leave a comment below at your earliest convenience.
Until next week's review, this is the Dramamaster829... Signing out!
Well, good for Garble...
Smolder is a girl by the way.
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I'm well aware that Smolder is a lady thank you very much. If the moments where she dreams of wearing a dress and doing girly stuff doesn't give it away then I must be blind. But fortunately: I am not, so I don't know where that statement came from.
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The whole Garble picking on Spike routine, but when Fluts and Ember gave him a piece of their minds...
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Yes I agree that was getting very old, very fast. But the use of our ladies in the episode on the other hand... I give them props for their performance. I will say Fluttershy did come along way, I'm still surprised she was willing to go to the Dragon Lands. But I'll get more into that during my new review.