Episode Re-Review: Princess Twilight Sparkle Parts 1 and 2 · 3:11pm Mar 24th, 2021
So, after only the original "Equestria Girls", there was a really long wait for Season 4 as fans were both anticipating it and dreading it, and it all stemmed back to one thing: Alicorn Twilight. There was a very big asertik about what (if anything) would be different now that Twilight had wings and a royal title. Meghan McCarthy, the show runner once again, was tasked with trying to answer those questions in this two parter. Was she up to the task, especially after "Equestria Girls" came and went with little fanfare? Well, let's find out.
Part 1 begins with a definitive retcon of Twilight flying into the camera at the end of "Magical Mystery Cure". She's now taking flying lessons with Rainbow Dash and is struggling to do so.
We learn through exposition that Twilight doesn't wear her crown and isn't comfortable being called a princess, at least by her friends. Still, she's going to be staying in Canterlot for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration, supposedly the first since the pilot even though at least two winters passed. And she's working on a "big finish".
Of course the only thing "big" about it is that Twilight loses control and crashes to the ground. Then we have the mane six all gazing up at a new stained glass window display of Twilight's ascension. And this is when the show's animation really started to be perfected. At times it almost like cinematic, which is no easy feat considering Flash Animation was still very limited. But it shows how this show pushed the technology to its limits and showed that it could be used for stuff that didn't look low quality. Anyway, Rarity mentions how what happened to Twilight is "everypony's dream" and Rainbow retorts that it probably isn't. Pinkie Pie mentions that her dreams involve frosting, and she starts drooling while thinking about "creamy frosty". Even if it is one of those jokes sneaking in under the radar I kind of feel like that one shouldn't be included.
The rest of the mane six are going back to Ponyville to take care of stuff there even though the town isn't hosting the Summer Sun Celebration, but Applejack insists that the Elements of Harmony will always keep them together. Kind of odd that someone as level headed as her believes that instead of someone more prone to fantasies like Rarity, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie. Anyway, the rest of the mane six all make a "Pinkie Promise" to keep Twilight informed as they set off by train back to Ponyville and Rarity briefly mentions making some renovations to the library since Twilight is still staying there. Pinkie Pie also tackles Twilight into a hug before leaving kind of like how Tigger always pounced on people.
Twilight can't help but feel like she's missing out already, but a message from Pinkie tells her she's not. Then, that night, the preparations are done early and Twilight potentially has time to swing by Ponyville. She isn't convinced, worried that something might come up or that she might be delayed getting back. Scenes like this were a nice reassurance that Twilight's character wouldn't magically change despite her being an alicorn. In fact, she still bows to Princess Celestia even though she's told there is no need to do so. And we get our first real look behind the mask as Princess Celestia somberly explains how this celebration has always been a reminder of how she had to banish her own sister to the moon. Unlike Nightmare Night I can see why Celestia wouldn't try to put a stop to something like this, she's the only one unhappy about it and she likely can't bring herself to let her subjects see her unhappy.
Celestia then decides to call it a night while Twilight opts to run through the checklist one more time. But that night, as Celestia is strolling along, a single vine appears behind her and captures her before she has much of a chance to react. Twilight wakes up sometime later to find that the sky is half day and half night. And the citizens of Canterlot have noticed too. So what do they do? Well they turn to royalty to solve their problems, assuming that the newest princess must surely know what's going on. Fortunately, some royal guards show up to rescue Twilight from the mob and reveal that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have gone missing. Since Princess Cadence is in the Crystal Empire they're taking their orders from Twilight. Don't think it would've hurt much to change the lines to them being sent specifically by Cadence with the order to serve Twilight. Even if she's got her own empire, something like this should warrant Princess Cadence being at least informed. It's just as bad as inexplicably snubbing her when the royal sisters decide to retire and don't appoint her to take over despite her being ahead of Twilight in line.
Still, Twilight instructs the guards to simply do what they probably would've done anyway, look for clues and bring any information about the royal sisters' whereabouts to her. Then another guard shows up and reports that the Everfree Forest is invading Ponyville. Fluttershy soon becomes aware of this as all her animal friends huddle for safety in her cottage. And it's worth mentioning that, according to an interview M. A. Larson gave at some point, this was originally supposed to be part of "Magical Mystery Cure" before it was inexplicably plucked. I can't help but wonder if that means some of the stuff we see here was originally planned for "Magical Mystery Cure" as well. Anyway, the Everfree Forest's invasion produces thick black vines and also causes unicorn magic to short circuit. Heck, Sweetie Belle is alarmed because her horn has a mind all its own now. And in a nod to "The Return of Harmony" we have dark, thorny clouds invading Ponyville.
The rest of the mane six all gather at town hall as Applejack concludes that the forest will soon occupy half of Equestria if it isn't stopped. Fortunately, Twilight is on the way back to Ponyville with her crown. But Spike suggests that instead of taking the train they fly back there, and Twilight just happens to have a seatbelt for Spike to wear. They manage to make it to Ponyville and Twilight dive bombs right towards the library, teleporting herself inside but causing Spike to smack into a window. Instead of shattering it he just slides down it.
Twilight finds that her friends have already been scouring through books to look for answers, and Twilight decides they'll need the Elements of Harmony. Upon receiving them Applejack comments on needing to figure out "Who to aim these bad boys at." and Pinkie Pie briefly has a coloring book when mentioning she hasn't found anything. The Pinkie Pie scene, though kind of funny, makes her a little too childish and should've been cut. Anyway, Twilight seems to have a good idea of what's going on and makes use of a summoning spell through the Elements of Harmony to bring Discord out.
Discord happens to be showering and is singing "Winter Wrap Up". But he quickly insists he's innocent because he's "reformed". Only Fluttershy really believes him, and to be fair to the rest of the mane six Discord is the only one with both the motive and the opportunity to get rid of the royal sisters at this point. Of course, that doesn't mean he did it since there's no hard evidence and only speculation. Turning him to stone would be too extreme, but they are right to be weary of Discord's claim that he didn't do it. Then Discord, in his own way, suggests the mane six talk to Zecora. Zecora just so happens to have arrived in town due to the Everfree Forest forcing her to flee her hut. And she just so happens to have a memory potion that she can't use, yet she knows it will respond to "alicorn magic". And this, I think, highlights a problem with Zecora's character. She only ever seemed to exist whenever they needed a magical solution to a problem, or if they needed her to brew up some kind of potion to kick start a plot. Even in "A Health of Information" she seemed to only be there to kickstart the plot, it didn't feel like it was something that really expanded her character. And I'm willing to bet at least part of the problem stems from her rhyming and need to sound wise, which made it difficult to write her into stories.
Then, in what I can only assume is a first draft problem or someone just not paying attention, Twilight clearly uses dark magic and yet it's not treated like a big deal. No one reacts at all to it. And I'm pretty sure she was meant to use alicorn magic, but for whatever reason the animators used the dark magic colors instead. The potion turns from purple to white and Twilight takes a sip, soon finding herself in the Castle of the Two Sisters as Princess Luna suddenly appears. She doesn't seem to be reacting to or recognizing Twilight, and she transforms into Nightmare Moon. As she does so the expression on her face seems to convey a look almost like "This wasn't supposed to happen.", or "This wasn't part of the deal.". So while I think Luna willingly gave herself over to the darkness to get revenge, I don't think she fully anticipated what that would entail and didn't realize until too late the price she'd have to pay. Interestingly, the transformation encases her in an orb not unlike mega evolutions from the Pokemon franchise.
Part 1 ends as Luna is transformed into Nightmare Moon, and Nightmare Moon even bears fangs now. Kind of odd that she has them in the past but didn't have them in the present. It's likely a result of the improved animation from the pilot but it is still kind of odd. And at the same time I do miss the voice Nightmare Moon had in the pilot which gave her more of her own identity, whereas here it just sounds like more of a hammy Luna.
As Part 2 gets under way, Princess Celestia shows up and insists that she doesn't want to fight her sister. But Nightmare Moon replies in a way not unlike the whole "That man is dead" routine where someone denies who they used to be. She then of course vows to destroy her sister, having made it clear that she desires to rule alone.
The fight rages on for a bit before Nightmare Moon manages to hit Celestia in the neck and send her plummeting to the ground. Twilight grieves over what she assumes is her mentor's dead body only for Celestia to stand up looking none the worse for wear. It's only once Princess Celestia busts out the Elements of Harmony, however, that Twilight realizes she's in the past. Celestia wields the Elements of Harmony and it isn't long before Nightmare Moon is defeated and banished.
Admittedly, this scene is kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things. It only reveals that the potion can show the past. It is probably meant to give Twilight guidance by showing her what Princess Celestia went through, but even so this is long after Celestia has become an established ruler whereas Twilight is just starting out. Still, she takes another sip of the potion and now experiences the battle against Discord. Strangely enough, Celestia and Luna appear rather bruised and battered for some reason, perhaps implying an earlier struggle with Discord. But Discord is not only not intimidated by them but he's also munching on some seeds, so you know they're going to be important since they were never mentioned before. Celestia and Luna pull out the Elements of Harmony, and oddly enough Luna wields loyalty, honesty and laughter. So if she wielded laughter how did Luna not know what "fun" was? Anyway, Discord is quickly defeated, but this time it's excusable because he's never seen the Elements of Harmony before. It's his defeat the second time around in "The Return of Harmony" where he has no excuse for just standing there and letting it happen.
Then the memory flashes back even further to the never before seen Tree of Harmony where the Elements of Harmony came from. Not sure how Celestia and Luna could've known about its existence since they were never aware of the pillars or the seed that they planted. Maybe they discovered it near their castle when they lived in the Castle of the Two Sisters, but then again they could've moved there after discovering the Tree of Harmony. And somehow, Celestia knows that the tree contains a powerful magic that will hold the Everfree Forest in check. Some complain about the tree having Twilight's cutie mark on its trunk, implying that Twilight was some sort of "chosen one". But there's no guarantee that her cutie mark was meant to be that symbol, or that the tree would only allow the elements to be used by somepony who had a similar cutie mark. Anyway, Twilight comes back to the present as she tells the others about her discovery and they head to the Everfree Forest to find the Tree of Harmony.
It isn't long after entering the forest, however, that Twilight and the others run into trouble. Twilight steps on what she thinks are rocks but they're actually the scales of a cragodile. Twilight tries to fly rather than use her horn and has to be rescued by her friends. It's because of this close call that Applejack suggests Twilight go back and not risk herself, owing to the fact that she's a princess and that there's no guarantee they'll find Celestia and Luna even if they find the Tree of Harmony and save it. During this heartfelt scene, Rainbow Dash is unnecessarily blunt and jerkish about the whole thing. I know she doesn't like to show her affections outwardly but you'd think this would be an occasion where she would make an exception. The phrase "Jerk with a heart of gold" exists for a reason after all. But Twilight agrees all the same and heads back to Ponyville where Discord is only reluctantly helping when Twilight tells him to. Even he seems surprised Twilight came back, and in his own Discord way he berates her for inadvertently declaring herself to be more important than her friends in this situation. He even produces a special cane that became a fandom meme (the first of many such launched this season). Although Spike concludes that Discord is just trying to get under Twilight's skin (or I guess fur would be the better term since horses don't have skin?) Twilight goes back into the forest anyway.
The rest of the mane six manage to find the Tree of Harmony (and Pinkie Pie tumbles down a staircase that leads to it). But it's covered in vines and is actually dying. Applejack and Rainbow Dash try to get rid of the vines only to be halted, and then Fluttershy states that Twilight would know what to do if they hadn't sent her away. Meanwhile, Twilight stumbles through the forest and gets lost. Spike manages to climb up a tree and spots the Castle of the Two Sisters, but when he turns back to look Twilight is being overwhelmed by noxious gases from some of the plants. Rather than maybe try to fight off the plants with his fire breath, Spike runs to get help. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, are arguing about who's idea it was to send Twilight away and the rest of the mane six are just standing here (even if they can't do much they could at least be trying). And it isn't broken up until Spike stumbles down the steps and pleads with them to save Twilight, which they do.
Twilight then arrives at the Tree of Harmony and concludes that there's only one solution, give up the Elements of Harmony and put them back on the tree. The rest of the mane six are shocked at the idea, Rainbow Dash even arguing about how they'll keep Discord in line without the elements and Applejack wondering how their friendships will survive. But Twilight rightfully tells them the elements aren't what made them friends and that they'll just have to find other ways of making sure Discord behaves. Then Twilight takes all the element jewels out of the necklaces and her crown and tries to put them back on the tree. She struggles to do so when some of the vines grab her, but she manages to put the last one back just in time. The vines are dispelled as the Tree of Harmony is restored, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are freed.
The tree then conjures up a six sided chest, teasing the possibility of a search for keys as Princess Celestia tells Twilight she and her friends will have to look for them together. They then exit the forest and Discord is there to celebrate the victory. When he notices the Elements of Harmony are nowhere to be seen he learns that they were given up, but Fluttershy quickly puts him in his place by telling him that if he wants to remain a friend he better not try anything evil. So reluctantly, Discord gets to work on cleaning up but not before revealing that the vines were his doing. They grew from seeds he planted during his fight with Celestia and Luna, but they were supposed to sprout up a long time ago only for the Tree of Harmony to keep them at bay. Twilight berates Discord for not sharing this information sooner, but Discord says that if he did that he'd have robbed Twilight of a valuable lesson about being princess. This is the only time him being a trickster mentor actually works, because he had no way to know Twilight would give up the Elements of Harmony. Telling her to go back into the Everfree Forest didn't benefit him at all. Every other time he does it, it's because he just wanted to do so and his "lesson" is one that either didn't need to be learned or could've been learned at any point without his help.
Sometime later, Princess Luna makes her public debut at the Summer Sun Celebration (even though she was at least present for the celebration after the royal wedding) and Twilight pulls off her "big finish" with a new crown by pulling off some kind of variation of the sonic rainboom but with her cutie mark.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the two parter? It's pretty good, not gonna lie. I'd say it's the best two parter of all time in my book. It's not completely without fault, the first flashback might as well be an abridged telling of the fight between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia for how short it lasts and how easily Nightmare Moon is defeated, and it doesn't accomplish much of anything. Rainbow Dash is a bit of a jerk for no real reason when everyone else is being heartfelt about sending Twilight back. And Pinkie Pie acts a little too childish sometimes, making her humor feel like a reach. But this two parter did so much to alleviate the concerns people had about alicorn Twilight, and showed that the show was able to work around the new changes to the status quo that the end of Season 3 brought about. Couple that with some of the first glimpses into Princess Celestia as a character and animation that feels almost cinematic at times, and both parts easily score an A+.
Next up was Season 4's attempt to shake up the status quo and complete what "Lesson Zero" started in terms of growing the beard. I'm of course talking about "Castle Mane-Ia" and the debut of what would become Meghan McCarthy's designated successor: Josh Haber.
Replace that with amazing, and I'd agree. Also I don't think Rainbow was being a jerk. I think that was her attempt at bringing levity to the situation, as well as not wanting to be sappy directly.
This is definitely the first two parter that I could consider really great
5482531 I think it's saying something when this two parter had the least baggage of any to date. The only other one I can think of that was not controversial even to some was Season 5's premiere.
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The season 2 two parters and twilight's kingdom are pretty universally loved.
5482575 A Canterlot Wedding remains really divisive even to this day. There are still people who hate part of or all of it.
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Every episode is hated by some, but the people who love it far outweigh those who don't. On IMDB part 1 has a rating of 9 and part 2 has a rating of 9.3, being one of the highest rated episodes of the show.
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I actually can't really think of any baggage associated with the pilot or some of the other two parters. Some of them definitely are controversial (especially the last two finales), but not all of them.
And yet, this is far from her worst moment of the entire season.
This is the first two part I watch when I get into mlp. Yes, I watch season 1 and 2 two parter before season 4 but as a new episode this is my first and I love it