Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - The Other Side of the Story · 3:36am Sep 23rd, 2019
Like most bronies, I have, at one point or another, grown tired of the show's compulsive need to reform every single villain, and every mildly unpleasant character. However, this season feels different to me somehow.
Angel Bunny did not need a redemption arc for the show to feel complete. Ahuizotl did not NEED a redemption arc either. These were neither lose ends, nor characters that required deeper explanation.
However, I found their transitions delightful, and I'll tell you why. Almost every episode of this season has shown an acute self-awareness of its own finality. It's a certain magic in the air that permeates every story. The writers knew that this was their last chance to write a Daring Do story. There were no loose ends with her that absolutely needed tying up, but they decided to give us some closure anyway. You can say the same of the return of Cheese Sandwich, or the decision to bring Quibble Pants back, or the aforementioned reformation of Angel Bunny.
Yes, we've had big closure on storylines like Spike and Rarity's love-interest, and Scootaloo's long anticipated parents. We've seen loose ends tie up as Twilight sets the course for Starlight to become the new Headmare of the School of Friendship.
However, these small resolutions really mean something to. It's sort of a love letter to the show itself.
It reminds me of Season One. They didn't know the show was going to be a hit. They didn't even know if it was going to get a second season, so the creators explored and expanded the universe with tremendous affection, trying to make every single episode count. Here we are, 9 years, (and a phenomenon no one could have predicted) later, and the end actually is certain. As a result, each episode, regardless of whether or not it was technically perfect, has that same energy - that same love - that same sense of making every 22 minutes special.
Now, the way I'm talking, you'd think that I was implying that the episode lacked merit apart from its sentimental value. However, on its own, I also think this story happens to be one of the best villain "reformations" they have done. Realistically speaking, nobody ever reforms until they want to, and in this case, Daring Do herself was the one who changed her ways, not Ahuizotl.
The twist that Ahuizotl was merely doing his sworn sacred duty to protect the artifacts (that Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron constantly tried to steal) made sense. As somepony who has rather heavy responsibilities, I even found it surprisingly relatable.
The exchange between Ahuizotl and Fluttershy wasn't heavy-handed, either. In fact, it was tender and sweet in all the right ways.
It reinforced the moral of the story which was nuanced, complex, and highly applicable.
My friend Skullivan who admins one of the two Facebook "Bronies" pages summed it up really well:
"I really like the lesson presented in this episode; that you should always be willing to listen to all sides of a story. It doesn't necessarily mean all parties involved will be telling the truth, or that their actions are justified, but one should always strive to have all the facts before passing judgement on others. It's a message that seems especially relevant in today's culture, when so many people seem so willing to condemn others over as much as a bare hint of impropriety, without taking time to actually learn the facts."
Discuss.
-Sprocket
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Well said, Sprocket!
Indeed. :)
1. What is it with overusing 'redemption' for any time any even slightly antagonistic character is portrayed in anything other then a wholly antagonistic manner? There was no 'redmeption arc' or story with Angel, it was just him and Fluttershy coming to have abetter understanding of each other and working through an issue they were having, he didn't really change on any fundamental level beyond a better appreciation for everything she does. Same for Garble, he didn't have some major change that altered who he was, we just learned why he was the way he was, and he learned something that looks like it might start him down a path of character development into being slightly less of a jerkass.
2. The issue with this one, is it does not explain things well and opens up numerous plot holes. If he was just guarding artifacts, why was he trying to create an massive heat wave and acting like a super villain while doing so? Why was he down in Southern Equestria messing with artifacts well outside the area he is supposed to protect that would cause eternal night in the region?
I do like the idea of him being a guardian for the places Daring Do has been raiding, but it needs more to explain why he's been so supervillain the rest of the time, maybe he'd lost sight of his mission, had pushed so far by all the thefts he over did it and was just trying to strike back and Daring Do, something to address things better.
I think you and Skullivan both have great takes on this. It was a dialogue that solved this. It wasn't "just stopped being evil because of a single act of kindness." Fluttershy didn't go "Gosh Mr. Ahuizotl, you're really handsome, and more people should appreciate what you do!" and suddenly everyone gets to walk out with everything they want. That's the sort of thing Rarity would pull in the first two seasons to make people give her free stuff. (Admittedly, that kind of dialogue is a little reminiscent of how Fluttershy talks to the creatures that attack her, but animals for the most part aren't real characters that an episode hinges on). Fluttershy talks to him, and Daring herself decides after hearing him speak that he's a person worth talking to. Then she compromises by agreeing to leave the Tenochtitlan Basin, despite it having made her career. Caballeron... he's still sort of a worm, but he doesn't take pleasure from someone else's suffering, and decides that he can make more profit writing books than pulling heists.
I think my favorite aspect of is the moral victory concerning the setting itself, of Equestria and Tenochtitlan (which is named for an actual ancient Mexican city). Even if the nature of Daring Do herself has changed drastically since Read it and Weep, it's always been a sendup and tribute to the adventure stories their generation grew up with, including my parents, and probably the writers for Friendship is Magic. Now the final outing with Daring is commentary on how older serialized entertainment didn't go beyond black and white.
I'm really happy with how Ahuizotl gets to be a real character, and I also found his conflict pretty touching. I grew up with Indiana Jones, and while I can enjoy classic treasure-hunting, pith helmet adventure stories, I can admit that there can be unfortunate connotations to it. Even in the most fantastical franchises that I'm a huge fan of:
The entire "exotic treasure hunter" sub-genre grew from the centuries-old view of "archaeological adventure" as defiling holy sites and literal graves, pocketing the artifacts, and shipping them off for display in OTHER countries. And because those sites were made 'holy' by 'wrong' people. Daring Do isn't a colonialist, and Ahuizotl isn't one of the Na'vi, but by making a story about these two factions having a dialogue about how to best treat the artifacts, I feel like they're owning up to the complicated real-world history involved.
I really do buy the idea of Ahuizotl being misjudged as flatly evil by Daring and other ponies. Partly for his appearance, which we know that ponies aren't above doing to other species, and his design is definitely one the strangest in the show. But then again, Daring and Cabbellaron had a perfectly reasonable response to what could be seen as homicidal rage. Then again, AGAIN, homicidal rage is sort of an understandable reaction to someone coming in from another country to steal your expensive shit. He's not a 'good guy,' but there's still a motivation there. He's Shrek mixed with the Hovitos.
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I'm using the term "redemption" euphemistically, and yes, the fandom tends to misuse it.
The problem with this episode is it overlooks that Ahuizotl genuinely was a villain, not just a misunderstood monster. For example his line from Daring Don't—"Oh, Daring Do, I will so miss your amusing laughter-jokes. Now, I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat!"—can't be reconciled with his claim to be nothing more than a poor, put-upon guardian of antiquities.
None of Daring Do's fans seemed to have a problem when she was kicking a kitten!
Are you sure about that?
Because in all honesty, I didn’t think the twist made sense at all. Nothing about him revealing to be a guardian didn’t seem or feel logical to me, even if he touched the Truth Talisman.
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EXACTLY!
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Are you sure Ahuizotl is really a guardian of artifacts?
Because in all honesty, even though he touched the Truth Talisman, I found myself far from convinced. Nothing about what he revealed lined up at all with his previous appearances and intentions, and he was shown to clearly be a villain in “Daring Don’t”, with no intention of guarding artifacts whatsoever.