Episode Review: Father Knows Best/School Raze · 6:48pm Jun 19th, 2019
1: Father Knows Best
Well this is it folks. I have finally finished season 8.... I think it's my least favorite season. Not entirely bad, but just not as good as others. I'm surprised really. I never thought I'd see a day I'd like a season less then season 4 but here it is. So let's start off by going over the last two episodes of this season shall we?
So one of them is Father Knows Best, a Spike episode. I honestly don't have 'too' much of a gripe with Spike episodes. Yeah, most of them I find either eh to okay but there are a couple I still really enjoy. This... this one's just okay. It's not bad, but still.
As per usual with dragon focused episodes, I can't help but scratch my head about a few things. So it starts with Twilight trying to teach Spike how to fly. Again the show seems to wait on some plot points more then I think they should but eh. Well it's not working. Then Smolder comes around and teaches him. I like this because it does differentiate how their wings differ from ponies and how they would learn differently. That was a nice tidbit.
I am a bit bewildered that dragons teach their young to fly. Previously, they stated that dragons kick out their offspring when they go through their metamorphosis. Do adults just track down their children after a while and hope they are still alive? Or do children who survive go back to their parents who just welcome them back? I dunno. I really think dragon lore and biology is the most horribly managed aspect of this show. It always seems to fail in some way. (Like reminding me that Twilight STILL doesn't know too much about dragons. Lady, they migrate through your country. Your country is over a thousand years old. You are now in contact with dragons and in peace talks. Yet ponies are still this ignorant? It's aggravating.)
Then we have an adult dragon crash into town. At least they say he's an adult dragon. He's about as tall as the teenagers and we've SEEN adult dragons. They are huge. Did he just never grow or what? Well this runt is brought to the castle and the mane six help him. Well it feels more like Pinkie's helping him while he's annoying the others but still.
Then as he's about to leave, he finds out Spike's an orphan. He automatically tells them he's his father. They buy it. He isn't the 'best' liar but I've seen worse. Still though, given their experience with liars, one would think one of them would be more suspicious. Like Fluttershy or AJ. Still, he stays and mooches off of them. During which, Spike tells Twilight that she's not a real parent and we see her heart breaking. Wow... I never thought the show would go there. I applaud them and groan slightly. OH it's a great moment, but Twilight's more of his sister. I'm sorry, but she was a small child when she hatched him. I HATE how the show makes it almost seem like Twilight was the only one raising him when that makes no sense. Why not Twilight's parents since he's more of her brother or Celestia?
Did people forget how Twi and Spike acted less familiar with each other in season 1?
So that happens then Smolder comes in and calls out the faker for doing things not like a dragon. Oh yes, he's not as tough as the other dragons, but dragons literally have a tale about a dragon taking advantage of another dragon's hospitality and taking their stuff. So really, this is very dragonish behavior in this universe. I guess Smolder is just angry that he's doing it to a friend or the lessons in the school have finally gotten to her and she's shedding some of her dragonish behavior.
So he leaves and Twilight and Spike reconcile and he's become more comfortable with his pony family and who he is. In all honesty, this is an alright episode. I'm still not a fan of the show's dragon lore and biology. It's a mess but the message and relationships shown here are alright. It's passable.
2: School Raze
Ah the finale. Not a ton to say about this one, oddly enough. Is it bad? No. Is it good? Yes? Well it's more alright. It's not bad but it doesn't have the pizzazz a lot of previous finales had, even the bad ones. (Glances at season 2's finale and shivers.)
So it's basically about magic disappearing from Equestria for some reason. Twilight and her friends go off to find out why, suspecting it's Tirek so they go to Tartarus. They leave Starlight in charge but Cozy Glow shows up instead and says Starlight left with them.
Well, Cozy did something to Starlight. Even without her magic, I still don't know how Cozy was able to trick Starlight into that glowing bubble of energy. Oh yeah, Cozy's the villain by the way. I will say this. I did like how this season built her up and didn't make it so bloody obvious she was evil. You could probably guess and guess right but it's still a good effort on the show's part.
So Chancellor Neighsay arrives to take over once Twilight's gone, much to Cozy's frustration. This keeps going, the mane six and Young Six find out the truth about Cozy, yadda yadda yadda. Cozy tricks the other students into going against Neighsay, tie him up, then the young six free him which makes him relent on his anti-non pony stance. (Which is some good character growth for him.) He escapes to tell Celestia and Luna.
While the mane six escape Tartarus, the Young Six go and confront Cozy. She of course wants to rule Equestria as its Empress, believing friendship is power in some warped sense of reality. She then tricks the other students into thinking they were taking away the magic and in the ensuing chaos, the young six are trapped in the magical orb as well. As they are about to be banished, Cozy tells the other students to leave them to their fate. However, the other students call her out on this saying it isn't going with their lessons.
Then the tree of harmony rescues them and the young six take out the artifacts powering the spell. The princess and mane six arrive and Cozy is taken into custody and into Tartarus.
Now there are some finer points I'd like to go over:
1. Cozy Glow
I honestly thought Cozy Glow was done perfectly. She was manipulative and sadistic, showing not an ounce of concern for anyone but her. Having her have correspondence with Tirek was interesting as well. She was a good villain. It's interesting to see that Equestrians would lock a child up in Tartarus, but I've noticed how Equestrians deal with such villains. If someone is repentant and their damage was reversed, they are given a second chance. If a villain is not repentant, they will lock them up. It's simple but effective.
2: The Young Six
They were okay. Not a lot to say about them but they were used well enough here.
3: The Tree of Harmony saving the day
..... I don't know how to feel about this one. It comes out of nowhere and the episode did not build up to it. If the season did not have a previous episode with the tree still alive in the school, then I'd call bullshit. As it is... it's still an asspull but it's not... okay, it sort of is but it was responding to the young six's heroics. So there's that.
Overall, it's an okay finale with some good and bad stuff. Not a ton to talk about it, really. Now I just need to get caught up in season 9 before the show's over. I will not miss the finale. I hope you all do well and until next time, take care.
I was not a huge fan of either of these episodes overall, but Cozy Glow was a pretty cool villain to me, and she only gets better in Season 9.