Their Legacy: A Pre-emptive G5 Ramble · 6:32pm Feb 28th, 2021
"It was all for nothing!"
If you've been taking in all the recently released G5 news, you'll probably have come across this at least once: that due to the apparent separation of the pony tribes and the collapse of harmony, that everything Twilight Spark and her friends have gone through has been utterly pointless because it didn't last.
It is indeed a bleak notion. And yeah, it's disappointing to see Equestria fall like this*, and I sure hope they explain what happened in a way that makes sense.
But all for nothing? Well, with all due respect, to that I say this: horse hockey.
See, here's the thing; somepony is obviously sticking up for what Equestria used to stand for. Somepony is trying to help it get back to a better way of living. Somepony remembers.
So I ask this: if the ideals of friendship and harmony that the Mane Six stood for are still alive, even if not widely accepted but still being supported by someone out there, then was it really all for nothing?
My answer is no.
Life is a series of ups and downs. There is peace and prosperity, and war and strife. Nations rise, and nations fall. Culturally-accepted moral standards shift and change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst.
But no matter what happens, there will always be someone–or somepony–who will stand up to fight for what is right. Even in the darkest times, there's always hope somewhere.
So as long as there's that remnant somewhere, then I think Equestria is going to be alright.
And forgive me for assuming the opinions of fictional characters, but I like to think Twilight and her friends would agree.
*No, I don't think this is in an alternate timeline like some people think. Occam's Razor and all that.
A relevant excerpt from Colin Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates script—which, coincidentally, comes from a franchise that's faced similar complaints in recent years:
It seemed fitting.
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Oooh, that's a great quote.
Well said, Sir.
Things change over the years, a lot of times diverging away from a time long before another. But, that doesn’t mean someone out there wouldn’t strive to bring that back.
Yes. Thank you for saying this. I fully agree and am glad to know that there are others who think that this "waaah, it was all for nothing!" talk is bullshit.
You have both a cultural more and a political regime that last more than a thousand years. At the end of that period, the more is decisively undermined, and the political regime changes. The new regime commits itself to restoring the old more. The next we see of this society, both the new regime and the old more are dead and buried. It stands to reason that the new regime failed to implement its restorationist program.
I’m…sorry. I wish I could share your optimism, but I still think that, given the information we have, with MLP G5’s potential narrative route is unnecessarily risky at best and outright detrimental at worst.
I think of it similarly to measles. Aside from the potentially lethal short-term illness that everyone knows, the measles virus can induce “immune amnesia.” It can remove some of the immune cells’ stored immunities of other diseases, rendering the patient with a compromised immune system. Now, measles is not HIV-AIDS; in about 2-3 years, the immune system can rebuild. But there is a reason some doctors recommend that young measles patients undergo repeat vaccination after their sickness.
The point I’m trying to make is that just because a remnant exists, allowing the good from the past to be rebuilt, does not nullify the fact that some unfortunate (and possibly preventable) tragedy occurred. It isn’t all for nothing because there is still a remnant: a few ponies remember the harmony of old, a few white blood cells retain the immunity information of old. But that doesn’t change the fact that the legacy of the Mane Six could have been severely undermined, resulting in actual creatures being harmed by racial division. It doesn’t change the fact that for two to three years, the patient is vulnerable to catching and dying from something like Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia.
And the thing is, this could have been prevented. If a child has a measles vaccine, there is zero risk of acquiring immune amnesia. The writers could have their plot about racial division without risking the Mane Six’s legacy (and now that I think about it, the legacy of the original Hearth’s Warming ponies). They could’ve had the G5 ponies travel to another land that does not follow Equestria’s principles of harmony. This premise is still a distant future continuation of G4; it still has a theme of fostering racial harmony; but it does not put the Mane Six!s legacy in, what is my opinion, unnecessary risk.
Now, far be it from me to definitively state that G5 is definitely going to suck. I may be pessimistic, but I would be lying if I said I were completely so. I deeply wish I will be proven wrong, and G5 turns out to be a solid story that completely communicates its themes. Lastly, I can see how the G5 news made so many people happy. And honestly, that’s more important to me. Why should I deny that which makes a substantial number of people happy, even if I personally don’t see it and don’t like the odds?
So I guess I’ll summarize by saying “I am still pessimistic for G5 and I still believe it will reflect poorly on the Mane Six’s legacy. But I don’t want to take away from the happiness that others are getting from the G5 previews and when they say G5 will be good, I do honestly wish that they would be proven right in the end.”
I think the most alienating part of G5 isn't that Twilight and her friends' influence didn't last. I just didn't want the happy ending they got to be overridden. I wanted to believe that their happily ever after actually lasted ever after, and G5 came along and destroyed that illusion.
It's the equivalent of leaving your childhood hometown, moving back, and finding a liquor store where you're favorite ice cream shop used to be. Sure, you can always find a new favorite ice cream shop, and your new favorite ice cream shop might be just as good or even better than your old favorite, but you can't help but feel sad that your old favorite ice cream shop had to close.
That being said, I've gone from being alienated to actually looking forward to it. Hasbro exploited one of my many weaknesses, super cuteness.
The character designs were just too cute, man!
And that's the biggest thing that people seem to forget, peace isn't always everlasting. And considering and considering the fact that this take place many many years after Generation 4, it's obvious that a lot has changed since then.
Honestly speaking? A primary example of this could be the Legend of Zelda series. Sure things have become bleak, but that doesn't mean concept of peace is gone forever, so long as there are others willing to fight for it when she was of the past havee long since passed on..