My Review of MLP:FIM season 9 episode 1 & 2 The Beginning of the End · 7:24pm Jul 23rd, 2020
Grading Scale:
A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)
************
Greetings, ponies! Here is my review of season 9 of MLP: FIM premiere: The Beginning of the End! To be honest, after the disappointment of the season 8 finale which was accompanied by other underwhelming episodes, I had high hopes and expectations for this season. I was really excited to see the ninth/last season of the show. I also heard rumors that Grogar was going to be the new main antagonist of the season. I was like, “Hm, who is that guy?” I never watched G1 of My Little Pony, so I never heard of him until that time (April 2019). But he seemed really interesting. I was expecting groundbreaking episodes that would end the show in a climactic and satisfying way. So, after I watched the entire premiere, I was blown away in amazement. I loved the premiere!! Seeing Sombra coming back was quite a surprise as well. However, after rewatching the two-parter over and over, I started to recognize the flaws this episode has. So, with that being said, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?
Our episode begins with Twilight and Spike running to Canterlot after receiving an emergency message from Celestia and Luna. Their friends—Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy—join them as they enter inside the palace. But wait! They don’t have an emergency message! They actually have a much worse overwhelming message for the Mane Six! They announce... their retirement...
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!! Hold up! Since when did they ever feel the need to retire? The previous eight seasons of the show never showed them to be in need of retirement; but now they are suddenly desiring to retire from the throne? When you really think about it, this is not fair for Luna because she has barely been able to reign for a much longer period of time alongside Celestia over Equestria considering the fact that she was banished to the moon over a thousand years. Now her co-leadership has to cut short... why exactly?? After being notoriously known for doing barely anything during times of adversity in Equestria and always shifting the burden on Twilight and her friends, THIS is the best way for you two lazy idiots to go out? And who do they entrust the entire kingdom to? TWILIGHT SPARKLE HERSELF!!
Yes, the very pony who has absolutely no experience in being a ruler, a monarch, a governor, or any other high official office that oversees a city or regime (no, Princess of Friendship does not count) is being a ruler of a nation. Did the princesses not remember that Twilight is already a headmare of a school? That makes it so burdensome for Twilight which was why it was stressing her out! That’s why she was forced to hand that duty over to Starlight... and I’ll talk more about that bullshit in the future. Here is what I think should have happened which I have already shared with a particular friend who has a strong distaste and hatred for this season and plot point:
Twilight: Celestia, I... I appreciate you thinking highly of me, but I’m afraid I have to decline your offer.
Celestia: But Twilight, there is no other pony qualified for the job! You must be Equestria’s new ruler!
Twilight: Yeaaahhh... no. I’m already headmare of the School of Friendship and the Princess of Friendship. I’m already happy with what I have and what I have rightfully earned. I’m sorry.
Celestia and Luna: *Surprised Pikachu Face*
Discord: That was easier than expected.
Something along those lines. But yeah, this is absolutely ridiculous and absurd that the writers would pull this out of their asses and create this train wreck of an idea.
Ugh... anyway, later on that day, we see the villains of Equestria being summoned together in a filthy cavern where there was a strange crystal ball with an appearance of a goat’s eye. After they were questioning as to who brought them together, this badass shows up:
The very moment I saw him, I was immediately intrigued. He looked intimidating, threatening and overall interesting. This is the best part of the whole episode... the villains being united and brought together for the sole purpose of destroying the heroes. You have Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, King Sombra, and Cozy Glow meeting the infamous and legendary Grogar, the Father of Monsters. We finally have a villain who actually recognizes the power that helps the Mane Six win every time: working together through the power of friendship. So he proposes to the villains that they use the same strategy to destroy them. Despite how awesome all of this is, there is a problem with a particular old villain here:
This is NOT the Sombra we all know and love. Season 3 depicted him as a cunning, sadistic, and mute villain who barley spoke any dialogue except when he had to. He nearly won at the end until Spike and Cadence defeated him. Here, he is a whiny and egotistical mustache-twirling villain. He basically says this: “Muahahahahahah!! I will rule the world! I will say every cliche generic line in the villain book!” In my headcannon, this Sombra is a fake clone while the real Sombra is still dead. This Sombra is just a dumbass with a stupid voice. Yeah, they brought him back to give him more personality and screen time, but they failed to keep that essence he had from season 3. Ughhh...
Later, he destroys the... (gasp)... the Tree of Harmony!! Oh no!! He destroys the tree! He entraps the Mane Six and seeks to brainwash them! Huh? Whoa... wait? He isn’t? He just... leaves them there? If he had done that, then it would only leave Celestia, Luna, Discord, and Starswirl. That would surely cripple them into fear... the natural fear that he could relish from. Thus, it would drive them to do more than just tame the out-of-control forest or brainwashed ponies. Celestia and Luna would’ve had much more chances to shine when facing King Sombra again. But NO!! Screw that! Praise and Worship Twilight!! SHE IS THE CHOSEN ONE! 🤦🏻♂️
Anyway, after they dealt with the brainwashed ponies, they face Sombra in the throne room. Discord helps them out until he saves Fluttershy by taking a shot to the chest from Sombra’s beam. He says his epic and moving speech to encourage them which it worked. Twilight and her friends unite together in friendship which unleashed a magical wave. It wiped out Sombra for good and restored peace and harmony in Equestria. That was really awesome. I have to admit it. However, the way Sombra was vanquished was a little too graphic since you see his bones and sounds of his flesh being peeled off. You know, for kids!!
Then at the end, Grogar sees the crystal king’s defeat and used his death as leverage over the Treacherous Trio to make sure they follow his demands. The episode ends with him laughing evilly and his eyes glowing in the dark. Now, THAT is how you end the episode! I wish we had more of him later in the season.
In conclusion, this episode had so many things that just gave season finale vibes. The villains except Sombra were great, the ponies were good, but the overall story here is filled with... questionable plot points that make little to no sense. But, it was still decent to watch and a decent way to begin the last season.
This gets a C+. Any thoughts?
Peace.
This is one of my favourite episodes. Dang it! It got me so hyped for season 9. Let´s be honest, the best part of this episode was Grogar.
5319840
Yesssssss...
I've seen this whole episode. I personally liked it a lot.
(As least Sombra was a bit better in my stories... right?)
5319871
You mean OUR stories...
THAT'S WHAT I KEEP SAYING! :/
5319884
Yeah...
Any thoughts on the other points I brought up?
5319891
Noice indirect mention of me. X3
5319904
Glad you noticed! I was thinking of you when I wrote this.
5319911
Heh =3
Btw, I actually do have a wild and crazy Season 9 theory of my own. Wanna see it? :)
5319929
Sure! I know it will be fascinating.
5319939
Here it is :3
What if the royal sisters we saw throughout of Season 9 were in fact fakes and the real ones were kidnapped, thus the fakers ended up tricking Twilight and her friends saying they were going to retire from ruling and pass it down to Twilight Sparkle only? In my opinion, the real Celestia and Luna would never want that at all, especially the latter given her whole Nightmare Moon stint.
How's that? :)
5319943
I had a feeling you would say something like that.
Anyway, I like it! Actually, you can theorize the same about certain episodes which I will also review later in the future.
5319951
Heh :3 According to one of my friends, that theory can be used as a potential story idea on this website. What say you? :)
5319959
That’s... actually appealing. If you want, we can collaborate on that idea together in the future.
5319969
Heh, don't worry. I will keep the collab in mind.
I do wanna maintain my rep for transformations of course. X3
5319973
Okay! I appreciate your thoughts
5319975
Okie =3
I think Tim Curry would've been the perfect voice actor for Sombra.
5319981
For me, Jeremy Irons would’ve been better.
5319985
Yeah, that's a great choice too, but I still think Curry would've been perfect, because the Sombra we saw during the Season 3 premiere was basically a combination of three iconic characters all played by Tim Curry:
- Hexxus from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
- Pennywise from It
- Lord of Darkness from Legend
5320022
Also Forte from Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas and Professor Calamitous from Jimmy Neutron.
Sorry, I had to mention other characters he voiced.
5320031
I never watched Enchanted Christmas and I've only seen three or four episodes of Jimmy Neutron.
5319883
Right
5320035
Really? I recommend watching that movie. Forte was a beast and awesome villain there! You will enjoy it
5319981
5319985
Funny thing. Tim Curry and Jeremy Irons were both people that I thought would’ve been perfect for Sombra.
Of course, later on...it clicked in my head that the most perfect choice for the character was Ian McShane.
5320192
That’s another great choice! I love his voice acting for Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda.
5320210
Yay. And he also did a brilliant job portraying Black Beard in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.
5319943
Who would have kidnapped them and would they sadly stay captured or something?
Felt like it would add more problems to their track records, Luna's suffering worse.
Luna retiring really just.. felt like the writers screwed her over for the sake of Twilight there.
And the fact whatever issues/conflicts should happen about her retiring gets brushed aside.
I wouldn't call Luna "lazy" since most likely the times she choose to not intervene/help is due to Celestia forcing her to stay on the sidelines for the sake of her "chosen one".(Rainbow Dash's line in the end of the princesses choosing to not help since they are "training" Twilight pisses me off so much. Celestia is basically screwing Luna over for the sake of her "chosen one"). Such as what happened in The Crystal Empire, Luna wanted to help but Celestia wouldn't let her.
Luna never got to save the day DIRECTLY since coming back from the moon but either kept failing(as in getting taken out) when some villain attacks or forced to not be involved. Celestia should have let Luna go deal with some threats to save the day so she can prove herself to Equestria and start redeeming herself truly.
Speaking of the Crystal Empire, Spike really got shafted here.
He had a big hand in stopping Sombra in season 3, why the hell he didn't get to have a huge hand in beating Sombra here??
Sombra didn't even realize that he was ultimately foiled first time around by a baby dragon, he didn't notice Spike's achievement there.
What happened to Spike there with him ending up brainwashed like the others solidified the feeling that no matter what he does, he will be in the Mane 6's shadows in the end since he's not an Element Bearer. It felt like Spike's achievement with the Crystal Empire got cancelled out here.(And the fact all of this is due to a certain spirit's iffy plan just.. argh..)
This could have been avoided if Spike got to be with the girls when they returned the Elements to the tree. Like why the hell wasn't he with them? Spike not getting to go with the girls on something ends up biting him in the ass BIG TIME this time.
Bad enough Spike gets left out at times but him ending up left out despite he was clearly with the girls(like during Yakity Sax and Shadow Play) but disappeared for no explanation makes it worse.
In fact if Sombra didn't brainwash the girls due to his ego or something, by that logic wouldn't he not brainwash Spike but try to kill him instead out of wounded pride when he finds out the Crystal Ponies basically worship Spike as the one who stopped Sombra? Pretty sure Sombra's pride would be hurt big time.
Speaking of Sombra, I headcanon that how he was brought back messed up his mind/personality(and even his voice. Even if he would sound different now he has a physical form, his voice we got in season 9 shouldn't be like that).
Especially with well.. what go revealed later on.
I’d like to confess something:
Before the revelation that Grogar was actually Discord in disguise, I was not at all enthused by him making an appearance. It’s mainly because the character felt too last minute, and as the season progressed and more focus was put on Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow...he kinda started to become worthless to me.
Along with that, Sombra’s appearance in the episode and the fact that he wasn’t reformed was something that I felt deeply glad about, mainly because I read the “Siege of the Crystal Empire” comics at one point and deeply despised them, because they wasted Sombra by turning him into a cliche reform and creating a terrible storyline. To me, “The Beginning of the End” was pretty much Sombra’s saving grace thanks to it retconning “Siege of the Crystal Empire” as non-canon.
Also, funny story, but I couldn’t help but theorize that the reason why Sombra’s voice sounded the way it did in this episode was because some of Discord’s magic slipped into the reviving spell he was using.
5338966
I respect your opinion, but I actually felt intrigued by Grogar. He was the best thing that this whole season had to offer because we actually had a villain who was smart enough to realize what gave the Mane Six the victory all the time. He just gave me cunning and calm & calculated vibes... until it was shown that it wasn’t the real him.
Just so you know, I hate the Grogar twist. It made his return to the franchise after 30+ years completely pointless, and it felt like a middle finger to the Grogar fan base.
5338968
Understandable.
And this may just be me, but I actually think Grogar has a lot more potential as a recurring villain of an MLP reboot or FiM sequel spin-off than an appearance in this series, particularly as a nemesis to characters that aren’t the Main Six.
5338980
That, I can agree with. That’s what I’m actually hoping to happen.
Have you ever read “Siege of the Crystal Empire”, by any chance?
5339442
Never have.
5339450
I was just wondering.
5339451
I see that you deleted your comment. Was it about your rant on Grogar which you saved for the group?
5553935
It was.
5553937
Knew it. Like I said, I'm impressed you gave elaborate reasons why you were underwhelmed by Grogar's inclusion in the season. However, you could have titled your post including the words, "more detailed reasons" so that people won't think you're ranting on the same character you've already spoken about before.
5553941
Good point.