Friendship is Card Games: Going to Seed · 11:23am Jun 2nd, 2019
Sadly, despite the title and the Apple-centric plot, this episode is devoid of a certain Manehattan hairdresser. Let’s see what Linus Van Pelt’s favorite episode of FiM does have going for it.
In the Apple household, even the dog gets pancakes.
Blueberry syrup? I suppose they don’t have a feud going on with any berry producers.
In the initial harvest schedule, Granny Smith’s bucking more of the Acres than Apple Bloom. We do see that Granny yields more apples per kick, but it still surprised me.
So the Convergence happens every hundred moons? Going to have to see how that lines up with Apple family reunions.
I do love the design of the Great Seedling. That said, my first thought on hearing the benefits of capturing it was “How is that different from normal for the Apples?” After all, it seems like there always apples on the trees as it is. Of course, the existence of the Confluence does help justify that: Usually, the trees are fruiting out of sync with one another.
“Since you were little,” says Applejack to Apple Bloom. The good news is that she really has accepted that her little sister’s growing up. The bad news is that it’s possible to go too far in the other direction.
I do love seeing the Apple siblings buck competitively. Not sure whether Mac’s absurdly flexible tree or AJ’s Norris-grade roundhouse wins. Also, as I noted earlier, Granny’s still got it.
Heh. Shades of Applejack hunting the Sass Squash, though in this case, they actually want the cryptid.
It’s interesting to see Goldie’s reaction to signs of the Seedling. When they first happen upon the tracks, even she seems surprised. The next day, she and Granny are giving each other knowing looks. Were they aware of Mac’s sleep harvesting by that point?
I wonder if Apple Bloom ever considered asking the other Crusaders for help. Maybe she figured they wouldn’t understand or be interested since they don’t come from farming families themselves.
Wow, AJ. “No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus. Now get to f
ing work.”
As a reminder, this is a photo of a hundred moons before “Apple Family Reunion.” Make what you will of Applejack being about Apple Bloom’s age during the last Confluence.
Also, we have confirmation that the Apple parents were in fact alive when Apple Bloom was born, so there’s that unfortunate consequence of “Where the Apple Lies” taken care of. (Furthermore, if this was the last harvest Applejack ever had with them, that would certainly help explain how she got soured on trying to catch the Great Seedling.)
Wait, the Apples are growing carrots? Then who’s the carrot-shaped house for?
Poor, poor Big Macintosh. He just can’t win this episode. He knows that all those apples divided by one pony just don’t add up.
So why are the sisters suddenly so afraid of the Great Seedling when they finally see it? I suppose it does look a bit menacing (and one does have to wonder how its eyes are glowing given its true identity,) but the sudden turn into monster movie territory makes none of the sense.
I’ll be honest: I legitimately did not see the ending coming. It’s obvious in hindsight, yes, but I figured he’d just been exhausted by figuring the logistics and then constantly readjusting it to account for his sisters. (And, you know, toiling from sunup to sundown.)
I legitimately want to see a story where Golden Harvest catches the Great Seedling.
It’s a good pair of lessons: Work-life balance is necessary for a happy life, and you’re never too old for a little idealism. That second one’s especially pertinent as pony comes to close. Still, it definitely could’ve definitely been paced better. That first act felt very lightweight. Still, far from the worst the show’s ever given us.
Now, let’s see what’s sprouted from this soil:
Bonding Exercise 2W
Instant
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Paired creatures you control get +2/+2 until end of turn instead.
As Applejack spent the day with her little sister, she remembered all the things she’d been so quick to give up in her own youth.
Apple Family Rationalist 3W
Creature — Pony Spellshaper
1W, T, Discard a card: Destroy target Spirit or enchantment.
She shows no pity to the willingly deluded.
2/3
Extra Rope U
Instant
Tap target creature.
Splice onto Trap 1U (As you cast a Trap spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
Syrup Spill 1U
Instant
Creatures target player controls get -X/-0 until end of turn, where X is the number of tapped creatures that player controls.
“And that’s why I don’t trust blueberries.”
—Granny Smith
Dubious Existence 2U
Instant
Return each creature that entered the battlefield this turn to its owner’s hand.
Just as belief can bring fantastic creatures into being, doubt can reduce them to broken dreams.
Apple Family Trapsmith 3U
Creature — Pony Artificer
When Apple Family Trapsmith enters the battlefield, return target Trap card from your graveyard to your hand.
Alternative costs you pay to cast instant and sorcery spells cost 1 less.
Down-home ingenuity trips up intruders.
1/2
Exhibition Trap 4UUU
Instant — Trap
If an opponent cast a spell with converted mana cost 6 or greater this turn, you may pay 2UU rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.
If a creature would enter the battlefield under an opponent's control this turn, it enters the battlefield under your control instead.
Pit of Iniquity 1B
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices a tapped creature.
Flashback 4B (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
“Who keeps digging these?”
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
Exhausted Stallion 2B
Creature — Pony Citizen
Exhausted Stallion enters the battlefield tapped and exerted. (It won’t untap during your next untap step.)
The differences between a tired earth pony and a zombie are mostly cosmetic.
5/5
Stag of the Bleak Harvest 4B
Creature — Elk Spirit
Haunt (When this creature dies, exile it haunting target creature.)
When Stag of the Bleak Harvest enters the battlefield or haunted creature dies, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
Branches’ shadows hide dark secrets.
4/3
Fretify R
Sorcery
Fretify deals 1 damage to target creature you don’t control. Each creature dealt damage this way can’t block this turn.
Overload 2RR (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of "target" with "each.”)
Excitable Collie 1R
Creature — Hound
When Excitable Collie enters the battlefield, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Cat creature token.
Excitable Collie attacks a player who controls a Cat each combat if able.
Training can only go so far.
3/3
Macroagronomics 1G
Sorcery
You may play an additional land this turn. Assemble a Contraption. (Put the top card card of your Contraption deck face up onto one of your sprockets.)
Tradition is one thing. Feeding half the nation is another.
Myth Hunter 1G
Creature — Pony Scout
When Myth Hunter enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a land or legendary card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
1/1
Roundhouse Buck 1G
Instant
Target blocked creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking it.
“I may not have wings, but I’m still plenty light on my hooves.”
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty
Mule Umbra 1GG
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has shroud. (It can’t be the target of spells or abilities.)
Totem armor (If enchanted creature would be destroyed, instead remove all damage from it and destroy this Aura.)
Sleep Harvesting 2G
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature you control
At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, if enchanted creature is tapped, add an amount of G equal to its power.
Some dreams come to very literal fruition.
The Great Seedling 4GG
Legendary Creature — Elk Spirit
Hexproof
Untap all lands you control during each other player’s untap step.
5G: Creatures you control gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Springing from farm to farm, it brings bounty wherever it goes.
3/4
Harvest Confluence 4GG
Sorcery
Choose three. You may choose the same mode more than once.
• Create a 2/2 green Pony creature token.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
• Return target land card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Farmland Security
Artifact — Contraption
Whenever you crank Farmland Security, until your next turn, creatures can’t attack you or planeswalkers you control unless their controller pays 2 for each of those creatures.
Pass the Yoke 1(gu)
Instant
Move any number of counters from target creature onto another target creature with the same controller, then proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
Kitchen Clowder 1GW
Creature — Cat
When Kitchen Clowder enters the battlefield, you gain 2 life.
Undying (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Allow one cat in the kitchen, and you’re doomed to allow ten more.
2/2
Lumbering Harvester 2RG
Creature — Pony Citizen
Trample
Whenever Lumbering Harvester deals combat damage to a player, add that much mana in any combination of R and/or G. Until end of turn, you don’t lose this mana as steps and phases end.
Apples drop in time with his steps.
3/3
Disorientation Trap 3RW
Instant — Trap
This spell costs 1 less to cast for each creature attacking you or a planeswalker you control.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt by target attacking creature this turn. That creature deals damage equal to its power to its controller.
Carrot slaves.
5068299
Slaves who harvest carrots, slaves who are carrots, or both?
5068305
Whatever floats your bazooka.
You awesome mad genius :3
The Apples probably just grows a relatively small number of them to keep and feed themselves, whereas Golden Harvest grows a large number to sell to the public.
Best I can figure is that they're like elves from D&D, where the first century and change is all considered to be their youth.
Other than that, author inconsistency. Since they seem to have forgotten about the apple family reunion also taking place during that interval, and there's 4 of those we can point to (baby AJ "more apple friitter?", the one in the photo, S1E1, and the one AJ ran).
Think this might be the shortest hot-take yet. And the first time the card section was longer than the blog.
Fancy-shaped silos? Mills?
Also I'm vaguely aware it being said before that the Apples did grow carrots too, but can't recall where.
Carrox, the Dread Mistress of Vitamin A.
Yay greens!
Typo on The Great Seedling: should be "Creatures you control get..."
Nice new entry in the Confluence cycle! I guess the broad template for that card was written for you, wasn't it?
The "hundred moons" doesn't really make much sense, but it was lovely to see Bright Mac and Buttercup on-screen again for a few seconds, even if they didn't get to speak.
I find myself wondering if the
on the Contraption is meant to be a watermark. And whether you've got any Un-style watermark-matters cards in the FICG archives...
(Edit: Hah, and now I've just found Fic or Faction which answers my question and then some. Good to know I guessed the right answer, anyway!)
5 minutes in, I was sure I was going to HAAAATE "Going To Seed". I figured there was only two ways this would play out:
A) Applejack gets way too angry at Applebloom, forcing a lesson onto her about letting kids be kids (basically a worse version of Hey Arnold's Snow episode). Or
B) Applebloom was going to be screwing up the entire harvest operation by refusing to work, and laying traps that "comedically" wreck everything. THEN Applejack blows up at her, but instead of being justified, the episode would paint her as the villain for wanting to keep her farm afloat.
But to a heady mix of relief and wasted dread, the two sisters have a totally natural conversation about it, and Applejack has a totally reasonable, responsible edict as Applebloom's authority figure: help us do the work, and then I'll help you with your hobby. So there's that disaster averted. That's a good example to set, but I like this episode beyond "it didn't suck."
Instead of trying to play this as a grade school-level mystery story, by the middle the audience is plenty clued in that this is being caused by Big Mac. The emotional heart is the sisters being together, and being happier for it. Applejack knows how to have fun, but this is her reconnecting with her childhood. Watching AJ & AB trying to defy their sleep schedule reminded me of when I stayed up late at home for the first time with my Dad, or the 'powwows' at Indian Guides. Reconnecting with your inner child isn't reliving things that you've outgrown. That's closer to a nostalgia trip, and what Rarity was trying to recapture in "Forever Filly". Being childlike is doing things that are pointless, and probably going to accomplish nothing for material gain.
Applejack has always been the hardest to write spotlight episodes for, because she's already where she wants to be. She's never expressed a desire to leave the farm, skip out on Ponyville, earn any kind of promotion, or extend and franchise the family business across the nation. The only time she had that kind of exploring, enterprising attitude was while setting up shop in the Grand Galloping Gala to win over the Canterlot elite. Applejack also doesn't have some skill she feels the need to drastically improve or compete in like with Rainbow Dash, and she has no social failing or emotional imbalance she seeks to correct like early Twilight or Fluttershy. This is why she fits better into support roles for other characters in center stage.
If you were to ask a show fan to label AJ's greatest character flaw, they might might think back many years ago to "Applebuck Season" or "Last Roundup", and say that it's her tendency to shoulder too much responsibility. But that hasn't needed to be breached for most of the show's lifecycle.
One conflict that we've all imagined and feverishly hoped taking place for most of the lifecycle is the reveal of Applejack's parents (and and presumed fate), and then studying the blowback of it to Applejack and her whole family unit. But despite the Apples so clearly not being a nuclear family, the show was seemingly barred from addressing something that was probably obvious to any child of the intended demographic. We got only one reference that played into the story, and we otherwise just had to imagine what they were, and what effect their absence DID to Applejack.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/10/Applejack_Shooting_Stars_S3E08.png/revision/latest?cb=20121223051816&format=original
"Not everypony can make it to the reunion."
But "Going To Seed" has now retroactively conjoined those two issues, like a splitting tree branch.
The episode explicitly states how she was so disappointed in herself for not being able to help out with the harvest one year after falling into her own trap. A pretty major implication is that just a few years later, her parents would end up dead. So she blames the thought of the Great Seedling, and her own gullibility, for wasting the precious time she had left with Bright Mac and Pear Butter. The embarrassment over that incident probably helped lay the foundations for her workaholism. Even without the vow against the Great Seedling she made while sitting at the bottom of her pit trap, Applejack's chances at fillyhood silliness were probably greatly limited with picking up the slack from her parents' passing. So when she's lying in wait in the dark, letting responsibilities go of any concerns beside her sister, Applejack is getting back the portion childhood she denied herself.
---
Outside of the two sisters, I was never predicting that Big Mac could be doing it all in his sleep. This guy is a BEAST. Besides the joy of being surprised, it also helped with avoid the treading of old ground. If Big Mac had been going through an elaborate disguised performance for the sake of recapturing his sister's childhood, that would have been very reminiscent of Orchard Blossom.