Thoughts on "Sweet and Smoky" · 3:39am Jun 1st, 2019
Um...
*sigh* I'm not a fan. 
The whole time I was watching it, I was feeling just so... weird about it. Was I surprised that Smolder's brother was Garble? Nah, it was pretty obvious that they were going for a big twist that this "sweet and sensitive" brother of hers was that annoying bully dragon we've contended with several times. Something, something, Garble still acts like a jerk to Spike, but then, suddenly, when Spike's away and Fluttershy's going to scold Garble... we have beat poetry.
Honestly, I thought that Garble being a beatnik was just tacked on. It makes me slightly regret being all huffy about Diamond Tiara's sudden sob story and mean mother (only slightly, though, I'm still not keen on it), since I could see the argument about DT being at her lowest point and finally seeing something amiss... with Garble, I feel expected to pity him because he's scared of being bullied, even though I've never gotten that impression because he's been the ringleader of the jerk dragons in his previous appearances. Let's not even get into the phoenix eggs thing or his idea of burning Equestria to the ground (felt more like he had a beef with ponies in that case).
And after the eggs are saved by him making the other dragons laugh (because suddenly laugh fire is hotter), the other dragons only get into the beat poetry because Ember said so. It's kind of like the Canterlot elite trying to kiss up to the highest-ranking pony in the room... and yet here, we're supposed to cheer when we're supposed have disdain when ponies do it?
Aside from a good Fluttershy and a couple of funny jokes involving the eggs (like that one part where Fluttershy asks Ember if the eggs are hers and Ember's like, "What, NO!", or their awkward attempts at hatching them), I just think this episode's mediocre.
You share my sentiments.
At least it’s better than Non-Complete Clause, the other episode by this writer. (But that’s saying nothing at all)