Finally done with Season 9. · 9:13pm Jul 10th, 2021
Wow, three blogs in the same week? I must be getting sick or something... Finished Season 9 at long last. Sat down and went through it, marathonning about the last half of it.
And... eh, it was decent. Not a lot of stand-outs, either positive or negative. Maybe it's all the spoilers, but nothing really stood out to me like some other Seasons or episodes did.
Big Mac proposing was fun (we got a bona fide Star Trek reference in there, nice), so were both Starlight/Trixie school shenanigans episodes. Other than that, I think most of you can guess what my biggest disappointments were, even if they weren't surprises (and by that I mean: the disappointments were things I suspected were coming seasons in advance.) The bodyswap between Fluttershy and Angel was pretty heinous, Garble's episode was mostly pointless, and I'd have done the cheerleading thing slightly differently, just slightly, but all in all it was par for the course.
As for the finale, I will say this for it: it did manage to capture some of the original hook of the show, at least for me. But my draw to the show, initially, at least, was always a lack of something negative, not a positive trait in and of itself, I'm realising. It lacked cynicism, and a general dark outlook on the world, while acknowledging that it's not all sunshine and rainbows, there are practical issues to consider. Might expand on that sometime later, but that's the gist of why I turned to pony. The whole speech about 'nothing matters, everything we do is pointless' at Twilight's low point... that is exactly how a lot of the reboots or sequel extensions have felt over the years, and it's exactly that sentiment that's kept me away from actually watching any of them. Thanks, Disney. It was also nice to finally see some proper fighting, decent combat, especially from Starlight. Though I do have to question the choice of making the actual final episode -- namely Twilight moves away, but that's okay because she can meet her friends every month -- directly contradict the exact same scenario of an earlier episode which necessitated public shaming of two national treasures. Scenario being: Scootaloo moves away, and that's not okay even though there's a train so she can see her friends every month, and potentially teleportation magic, and only for as long as the Shire Lanka research lasts.) Mixed messages, show, mixed messages.
But yeah, no stand-outs, no new ideas immediately following from the episodes. Just a decent wrap-up to a flawed but serviceable show. I have my own thoughts on how they represented Discord's chaos magic, but I can work within those parameters. There's a pony using chaos magic coming up in one story, so... one line of dialogue lets me jump through that hoop, big whoop. Cozy Glow, I don't really see the big deal, again I have my own take on it. I think you'd have to be French to fully understand, or at least European.
Can't think of why? Here's a little hint for ya:
So yeah, now that I've seen all of it, I can safely say this: y'all got played. Cozy Glow is just Tortuous Convolvulus in pony form. That's really it. The Gauls had to put up with this sort of nonsense, too. You really only need to add one thing to her character to make her work, and I will be doing so when she shows up in Bastion's stories, so stay tuned for that. Discord didn't deviate much from how I've started seeing him, which is pretty much his role as Enyalius... for reference:
But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night (Nyx), and the son of Cronus [i.e. Zeus] who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.
So... yeah, mostly harmless, mostly unmemorable as a Season. Which is fine by me.
But I'm in the minority in that opinion, I know that. So take that as you will.
I liked the one where Rainbow and or Twilight did the thing.
I love s9. Since you were dethatched from the commentary at the time, maybe now you can say what you thought of the discord reveal? That was a huge downer for a lot of people. It just made Discord annoying/pointless again and Grogar less threatening.
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I knew it in advance, honestly, so I can't say much about the surprise factor. In terms of plot, I can see why they'd do it: Grogar hasn't met the Mane 6 all Season. If you keep him around, he becomes a loose end. Use a previously established villain to impersonate him, you can trim some fat and help move the plot along.
As for his character: keep in mind I am a practising chaoist, so I may have a different definition of 'chaos magic' than most. Discord is acting like a typical trickster deity, or chaos lord. He throws up challenges in an effort to induce growth. We've already established him going too far against his nature would end his existence. Actually, I heard he did it to help the baddies see the ways of friendship, but I didn't see that in the actual show, so... buh?
Grogar was a threat, or at least his bell was: a threat that was dealt with ages ago. However, his power was still in the bell, and that souped-up the Big Three. I don't see what the big deal is, honestly. I mean, Maui actually did wreck the world, and his schtick/role in his pantheon was very similar. Ditto on Loki (the god, not the Marvel insult,) or Z'mey or whatever his name is in Thea. There are characters that are supposed to do this, and Discord has shown signs that he is such a character. But you'd have to look for them, perhaps. It was fine for me.
If anything, I'm more disappointed with the worldbuilding (again) than with Discord. The Palace has upped security, with anti-magic stones, but there's no set of black stone-stipped arrows to completely negate a magic user? There's a whole crew of Royal Guard Unicorns protecting the princesses, but none of them think to use anything other than a standard beam attack? One Cone of Cold, one Fog Bank, and that uppity filly is out for the count. Heck, Greater Conjuration of Bear Mace would do the trick. Or, you know what else? Get Snails in there and have the ten-year old cast a concentrated beam of light.
Flashbangs, you snobbish, overconfident horned hoofers. Learn how to cast'em. You have Pinkie Pie in the room and no ammo? That's just shameful.
And then the whole gender identity thing they had to toss in there at the finish mark with those two foal characters... but I digress.
Edit: I should clarify. I don't mind that the Royal Guard fails. What I mind is that after all this time, after stated efforts to improve, the attempt is so pathetic. You can make your villain way more imposing if they deflect a variety of attacks. Honestly, I kinda cheered when Cozy Glow remembered portal magic is a thing in Equestria since Neighsay.
But Discord? Discord was fine for what he is. To me, at least. But that's an issue the show has had since its inception: people don't watch it for what the creators made it, but for what they themselves see in it. I see Discord as a trickster deity, not omnipotent, and I see magic as... well, as something more concrete than the show ever let on. And, you know, my observations don't really count for anything, given the big errors I've made in reading the show myself.
So tl;dr I thought it was fine, it prevented some other issues that might have popped up (like bloat) but my opinion on that is not worth much anyway. My issues with the finale, if any, are issues that run show-wide and I have fanfic to address those or original fiction to just avoid them altogether and set a better example.