Mini Re-Reviews: "Dragon Quest" - Season 2 Episode 21

SPIKE: "...Anyone want a scone? Cookie? ...Blueberry muffin? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
APPLEJACK: "Just wondering what memes the fandom will make out of this moment, sugarcube."
PINKIE: "Yeah! Have you seen some of the stuff they extrapolate from any number of moments in these episodes? Look at this moment, Spike! You're blushing while wearing a pink apron - it practically writes itself!"
SPIKE: "...this didn't turn into a meme at all, did it?"
RARITY: "I'm afraid not, darling. But a mare can dream, can't she?"

The episode's cold open is possibly one of the funniest the show's ever had. It's completely unnecessary to the episode as a whole, and its justification for a reason for Fluttershy to not be at the Dragon Migration doesn't mean much when Pinkie Pie and Applejack vanish from the episode right after the first four minutes anyway. But it's one of the episode's most skillfully comic cold opens, not the least for Fluttershy asserting herself against Rainbow Dash in a way that pays off her self-taught assertive lesson two episode prior in "Putting Your Hoof Down". Every little touch, from her facial expressions, to her gallop-then-pause-then-nudge-the-window-open-then-sprint-away-again moment, it's all gold. Gold enough that I ported this paragraph out of Stray Observations to this review's cold open!

It would not be personally true to say that "Dragon Quest" improved compared to my previous memories of the episode, for I always felt that it got a very bad reputation. Ever since my initial binge of the 7 seasons at the time concluded, I always considering a largely solid little episode. And therein lies the clue; I obviously cannot fully put myself in the mindset of those experiencing this episode when it first premiered, but I suspect much of the discomfort at it had to do with what the episode didn't do. Take the fact that this was the first real look at other dragons outside of conflict; doubtless many people detested the fact of them all being portrayed as jerky teenagers (I can easily admit a sideways hint that Garble's crowd was just a bad bunch, like a disapproving reaction from one of the adult dragons during the hazing of Spike, would have gone a long ways). For years, that was the most we ever got of other dragons within the show, so it's understandable, if a bit irritating, that that coloured many people's opinion.

Of course, in the show's second half, sentient dragons began popping up more regularly, and two prominent ones, Ember and Smolder, showed rough but sincere sides to themselves, so now "Dragon Quest" can stand without having to shoulder the whole burden of portraying all kinds of dragons. That's not the only reason this episode is often frowned upon, of course; many viewers, here and in later episodes, find Garble and his gang unpleasant to watch. There is some merit to that thinking, even if I don't fully subscribe to it. But we'll get back to that.

One reason I find this episode worth giving a look to is that it largely avoids issues common to both Merriweather Williams' episodes, and Spike episodes too. Even for my second-favourite character, I can freely admit many of his starring episodes' primary conflict hinges upon him making awful decisions. Jealous sabotage of Owlowiscious; bargaining for gems to babysit the Mane 6's pets; becoming Applejack's clumsy assistant; supplying Rarity with a mind-manipulating book, and so on. None of that here: other then the sudden level of an existential crisis on the part of our favourite little drake, Spike himself is handled without any real slip-ups (one could argue that having said crisis build off of his previous dragon encounters that all sowed seeds of self-doubt would justify this a bit more; perhaps, but this show's writing process simply does not lend itself to reusing throwaway moments like that, not this early in the show's run anyway).

As for Merriweather Williams, the episode has two handy tricks up its sleeve that places her writing traits in more agreeable contexts, and they both have the same crux; the action taking place largely away from Ponyville. Thus, the "off-ness" present in her depiction of the town in "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" and "Putting Your Hoof Down", is instead turned into a strength, highlighting how different and out-of-place this other location far away that Spike ventures to is. The other major criticism is in characters acting like jerks, and again, the episode's story pushed this off of our Pony characters and onto the new dragons, a context far more agreeable, being both new characters and a different species altogether. It's not totally gone from the Mane 6 - Rainbow Dash has some rather painful moments in her mocking of Spike's girly-ness - but it mostly is.

One reason I really like this episode is that its character conflict is universe-specific in a way that can't directly apply to us (a pony-raised dragon has an existential crisis and approaches other dragons to see how well he can fit in with them) but it also has another angle to it that is largely uncommented on by the characters but hits home hard for the viewers. This episode is as much about a boy having trouble fitting in with others boys after a lifetime of being friends with all girls. It's a dynamic that is never explicitly stated, but coy visuals like Spike's apron that he enjoys wearing, to Garble's verbal disgust at discovering Spike lives with ponies (seriously, think of that as him saying "you have out with girls? Eww!") hammer this home, to good effect.

Garble's posse of other dragons are largely one-note characters, mostly saying whatever the episodes requires them to at the time, but the episodes alternates between them enough that they're clearly not supposed to be proper personalities. As for Garble himself, had he been purely against Spike the way he later was in "Gauntlet of Fire", then it would have been a problem. But the episode largely strikes a balance of his actions just being those of a rowdy and brutish teenager rather then being against Spike in particular, so they serve their purpose of being a comment on toxic male masculinity. Plus, his initial traits of caring about being "cool", being insensitive to others' feelings, and enjoying coarse behaviour gets a boost when he shows Spike some respect after his belly flop (truthfully, the behaviour of him and the others was getting to be a bit much at that point). Now he shows a genuine willingness to help Spike fit in with his social group (again, think of this as a tween trying to fit in with some teens and it all falls into place). By having this trait fuel his actions mildly throughout and then come to the forefront in one key moment, it makes him seem more dimensional; nowhere near our main characters of course, but it's enough for the episode, given he's only in just over half of it.
Does this make the story that much more compelling? Not hugely, but the believability to more of Garble's actions then you might think contributes to my enjoyment of it. Certainly some of the episode's weak reputation hangs on the teens being insufferable and juvenile, but this is exactly the kind of tomfoolery that adolescent males with no adult supervision and a new kid would get up to. And while the overall message of this kind of toxic masculinity isn't handled with much nuance, it's still a finely done one.

One last thing this episode often gets a sour rap for is the closing moral, hinting Spike is borderline rejecting his dragon origin due to the experience. But again, future episodes later in the series run make it easier to take given this wasn't his defining experience with other dragons forever and ever.

With all that, it should be said I don't view this episode as some kind of undiscovered masterpiece, just one where the problems are blown out of proportion or no longer applicable. The comedy is largely good, if rarely stellar (other then the cold opening again, of course), which does mean it's still not an episode I go back to rewatch much. But it's still well done enough to merit a 8/10. I'm sure I'm gonna get some ire in the comments for that rating - to believe all those who voted on IMDb, this episode is barely any better then "The Mysterious Mare Do Well", after all.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- One thing that gets aggravating about Spike's treatment, in his episodes and out of them, is how often the focus is on him being different from the Mane 6. Either as episode plots, having him separate from the rest, or just as the butt of jokes. There has to be some level of that present, to never comment on it would be unrealistic. But it does get to be a bit much at times. The later seasons do, at least, intentionally fix this by such moments disappearing altogether, as other characters are far more used to Spike being around. And by 'intentionally', I of course mean 'by happy accident'. Happens.
- While I don't think this can be called a true adventure episode - one travelling montage and a few quick-cut late-game chase sequences aren't enough for that - it streamlines that aspect into its bloodstream really well. In particular, I love the shot of Spike walking through the forest, towards the distant dragon migration, with the phoenix couple that appears later in the foreground; it's a dynamic shot with effective layout them shows scope on both a physical and a character level.
- Most other common complaints had in this episode can be hand-waved away too. There being so little knowledge about dragons - well, why should there be? Future episodes perhaps make that seem questionable, but in the context of how far pony society seems to reach up to this point in the series, it's fine. Besides, if we list every thing in early episodes that later ones make seem odd, we'd be here forever, and most of them are things people like or adore, so they're not going to want to write all those moments off, too many are worth saving.
- Even Merriweather Williams's tendency for character making snarky comments is handled better then usual here. When Rainbow Dash remarks that even she's done some stupid things, and Twilight & Rarity respond "We know!", it rings rather true given some of her actions this season. Also the vocal delivery and animation timing make it come across as mere playful banter.