IDW Main Series #89 (Season 10, Episode 1) · 2:53am Aug 30th, 2021
First and foremost, I wanna thank all of you who sent me well wishes and support on my birthday as I was prepping for the colonoscopy. The prep went about as well as I expected and the procedure itself (once they got around to me, which was longer than expected) went fast (at least it felt that way due to the anesthesia, it was very fast acting). Since then I've been mostly sleeping better, though still not the greatest. And as for the diagnosis, I had to wait a whole week but I found out I have ulcerative colitis which is a type of IBD that affects the entire colon. They have started me on medication that seems to be controlling the symptoms, though it's only short term to (hopefully) induce a remission. They're already planning another colonoscopy in six months, which will give them a chance to determine what is and isn't working (and hopefully by then things will be mostly back to where they were before this).
Sorry, but I felt like I had to provide that little update for those of you who were probably curious as to what's been going on in my life since that post. Anyway, I did still celebrate my birthday by opening presents, and among the presents were some IDW comics. I know it's been a long time since I've reviewed any, largely because I haven't been too impressed by what's been put out by IDW and I've already collected everything that I really wanted to collect from earlier (including various side series, only the micro series, the first FIENDship is Magic issue and two annuals seem to remain impossible to track down).
But this comic, the first comic in the "Season 10" line that has now been confirmed to be the last story arc for the entire comics run of FiM, was something that did catch my eye back when it came out. It was originally intended for release in March of 2020 to kick off this hypothetical "season", but then of course everything changed when the coronavirus pandemic hit and drastic lockdowns had to be implemented to try to contain the rapid spread. IDW had to push back the planned release date for this comic until September of 2020 when things had eased (somewhat) and publishers both online and brick and mortor were ready to receive it. Initially, expectations were high and this comic seemed to meet them. Yet by the time the arc it was part of was over, the appeal seemed to dim and most now regard this comic and the bigger story it's part of as a disappointment. Is that valid, especially considering that all subsequent arcs in "Season 10" have been confined to one to two issues? Well, let's find out.
It's worth mentioning that we got a sneak preview of "Season 10" as the last thing before everything hit the fan in 2020. It was a short of Twilight's first sun raising and how she worried about what kind of ruler she was going to be. Fortunately, Spike reminded her of what's important, so this issue/"episode" picks up right where that story left off. Twilight has called all her friends to Canterlot for an important announcement. Well, almost all of her friends. Starlight Glimmer is inexplicably absent from this gathering for no given explanation. Supposedly, the IDW staff said she was busy with the school but we see a cameo of Sunburst among a bunch of ponies (and some non-ponies given Discord and Capper's presence) gathered in the throne room. So unless Sunburst isn't needed (and Trixie is there too, which she's supposed to be tied to the school too as a result of "A Horse Shoe-In" much as I despise the way the episode pulled her and Sunburst's inclusion out of thin air at the end), there's no reason at all why Starlight has to miss this important meeting. Heck, none of the student/young six are called even though Twilight is consulting "the brightest among us", and we only have three of the six pillars in Starswirl, Rockhoof and Meadowbrook. No word is given on the absence of Somnamubla, Flash Magnus, Mistmane or Stygian.
I know this is probably not that important, but you can't just exclude all these characters out of the blue for no reason while playing up all these other characters that are supposedly "important". It feels like you're selectively picking and choosing based on what your favorite characters are. And as we'll soon see, even many of the characters included here probably didn't need to be here given their overall contribution to the plot. Anyway, putting those questionable inclusions and exclusions aside, Twilight explains the reason behind the summons: She's noticed how the map of Equestria has expanded rapidly since she was a school filly. And now, as her first big act as ruler, she wants to expand the map some more. This honestly feels like a rehash of Twilight's sudden decision to build a school of friendship in Ponyville just because the map in her castle expanded due to the movie. But although the map's expansion was not necessary, it made sense for Twilight to want to do something like build a school. Her being a teacher is something that feels like a natural evolution of her character as does as her becoming ruler. But I don't know if I buy her logic of expanding the map as some sign of a good ruler. I'm pretty sure most rulers good or bad alike do not immediately turn their attention to expansion upon taking over, they try to get a feel for where their country or kingdom is and what it needs most.
Plus, Twilight states that she can't just go dashing off to other countries or territories on a whim because as a ruler she must remain in Canterlot. So it kind of feels like her being a ruler is just as restrictive to her as the map seemed to be for her in Season 5 or the school seemed to be for everyone in Seasons 8 and 9. Our character or characters can't do what they used to do because there's something in the plot that says they can't. I apologize if it seems like I'm being overly critical with stuff like this, but I feel like this is stuff that should've been considered when the story was being written. I'm pretty sure that Twilight could easily have a way to come back to Canterlot if there was a crisis, teleportation exists for a reason after all.
However, although Twilight can't go she's decided to do the next best thing and make her friends do her bidding for her (typical leader, delegating assignments and tasks out to others that they can't or won't do themselves). Fortunately, she let them all pick where to go and who to take with them. Rainbow Dash is going to accompany Captain Celeano (but none of the other pirates who are absent for reasons unknown) to meet up with some of her old bird friends. And she's taking Spitfire, Lyra and Bon Bon with her (the comics officially confirming them as a couple). Fluttershy didn't feel comfortable leading an expedition by herself, so Pinkie Pie got paired up with her and the two are going to accompany Caper back to his homeland (which is not Klugetown). Oddly enough, Trixie is the only one who has previously worked with Caper due to the whole "Knightmare Knights" thing. Oh, and Discord is also going even though Tempest at least is aware that he kind of put Equestria in danger with his stupid "test". Honestly, lumping Fluttershy in with Pinkie Pie feels like it was done just because they couldn't think of a separate story for her and for Pinkie Pie. But if it was that hard to give each mane six member their own story, then maybe this concept should've been reconsidered for a later date. It feels like this was too ambitious a start for any season, even if the comics were not bound by show restrictions anymore.
Again, I must apologize for the probably overly critical remarks, but again the writer in me feels like the points I make should've been been brought up in light of what will happen later on and what these comics ultimately chose to build to. They aren't self contained stories, they're part of a bigger arc. And it's imperative that the arc be built up properly and that each story contribute to it without feeling tacked on, wasted or just there. Anyway, moving on we have Rarity who is going to the Diamond Dogs kingdom, except the comics now retcon their own continuity from Friends Forever where they established a Diamond Dogs kingdom. Rarity's group consists of Maud, Big Macintosh and Mage Meadowbrook (as she puts it: The Brain, The Brawn and The Magic). And that leaves Applejack with her group of Tempest, Rockhoof and Zecora. And they're going to Zecora's homeland. Except Zecora has no interest in revisiting her homeland. She scolds Applejack for doing this without consulting her, to which Applejack argues back that she did it as a favor to Zecora. Zecora does rightfully argue that Applejack doesn't know if Zecora is maybe unwelcome or in danger back in her homeland, and she stops rhyming while ranting about this. But then we got a moment that makes Zecora look bad that never gets addressed. She brings up Applejack's mom to make a point, and even Applejack knows now that her mom is dead. But Zecora never apologizes for this and no one calls her out for the remark that was definitely going too far. We get an acknowledgement that she didn't speak in rhyme, but not an acknowledgement or an apology of the whole "mom" point.
Zecora does relent and agrees to go with Applejack since it's helping a friend, then we get mostly just pointless filler as Rainbow Dash is there on the docks to see Applejack's crew off on their ship. The only thing we learn is that they're sailing to a place called Farasi. We also get a pretty unfunny and dare I say racist joke about donkeys when Cranky Doodle Donkey is revealed to be the captain of the ship (for whatever reason). And we have a sudden appearance by a pony Ragamuffin. But ultimately, his inclusion is going to be completely pointless since he contributes nothing of substance to the entire story and will soon be forgotten about. I don't even know why he was put in there when his human counterpart was totally pointless in "Spring Breakdown" and sounded like his voice actor had no clue what kind of accent he was supposed to use. Yeah yeah, there's a joke about Applejack and Rockhoof not understanding him when they speak in their own accents, but their accents are actually established whereas Ragamuffin's is all over the place (pick an accent and stick to it, or don't bother doing an accent!).
From there, we're treated to a montage that details what happened to the ship enroute to Farasi, which mostly shoehorns in a cameo of Steven Magnet when he saves the group from pirate Diamond Dogs. But aside from the payoff from a joke about Rockhoof not finding a good use for a shovel in water (he uses it to bail water out of the ship when they spring a bunch of holes from angry narwhals), it accomplishes nothing of substance other than wasting time. Oh, we also have a lot of jokes with Tempest that are just about her still being an edgy edgelord apparently, because apparently that's all they think she is. And you know, seeing and hearing Tempest constantly complain about being friendly, it really doesn't paint her reformation in a good light anymore than her two parter in the comics did. She could at least pretend to be nice so as to not make the decision to redeem her seem bad. Or is she saying she wants to be a bad guy all by herself even though she'll most certainly not last long on her own regardless of how skilled she is? Again, these are all things that should've been considered and brought up, because I have to ask what is the point of all this stuff in the grand scheme of things? Nothing, that's what! It has no relevancy to what Zecora is going to go through, and instead of maybe devoting the time to an apology from her for the "mom" remark they're instead shoehorning in fanservice for the sake of fanservice.
The plot does finally get going again when the ship docks in the port, and Zecora now starts having second thoughts again. But before she can even think of backing out, she's greeted by Marini. Marini asks for a hug, but Zecora declines and is more than a bit upset that Marini is apparently making light of her for speaking in rhyme all the time, confirming that Zecora is the only zebra to do this and she wasn't born doing it. I should also mention that it was confirmed by the DHX staff that they wanted to do a Zecora episode in Season 9 but it was ultimately scrapped (because you know, we totally needed to waste episodes on Twilight freaking out over an overdue library book, unwanted redemptions of Garble, Dr. Caballeron and Ahuizotl, this never before mentioned interest of Apple Bloom's that had no connection to anything else, Rainbow Dash being a terrible cheerleading coach when she was assigned the job for no given reason, Twilight freaking out over a trivia contest or an out of place episode that had been shelved since Season 4 where the CMC apparently didn't know how trains worked). So the comics were picking up that possible idea, though I have a feeling that the DHX staff wouldn't have done everything that gets done in this arc.
Marini takes the time to lead Applejack, Zecora, Rockhoof and Tempest away from the port as she reveals that the homeland is actually Zebri (or something like that). And then she decides to call in the rest of Zecora's "old friends" despite Zecora's objections. They include (beside Marini): Dust Devil, Desert Rose, Crystal (who is said to be a kelpie but if so is of a different design/breed than the one we saw in Main Series #23) and Medley Brook. And "Episode 1" ends with the group shot as Zecora is quite terrified for whatever reason.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue/episode? Well, it is a fairly interesting start to a big arc, not gonna lie. But I feel like it trips over itself in the details, seeking a justification for something so grand right out of the gate when it probably would be better to take things slow. A lot of time is wasted on explaining who will be going where in the overall story arc for the "season" and then even more time is wasted on pointless fanservice that doesn't need to be there given what we'll see later on in this first "arc". As I mentioned before, Zecora's remark about Applejack's mom never gets acknowledged or called out despite the fact that it really should. Remarks like that in fiction are always supposed to be followed up by a realization from a character that they went too far. But Zecora never apologizes (at least on page), even though she does bring up good points about Applejack not consulting her before deciding to go back to her old homeland. Still, the idea is there and it does seem interesting when we do get to Farasi and meet Zecora's old friends. However, the most we get out of this issue because of all the wasted time is that Zecora speaking in rhyme is something she taught herself to do and not something that all zebras can do (so thankfully, Zecora isn't a stereotype or all zebras not are lazy copies of her). But we could've gotten to that in half the time if this issue had bothered to cut the filler and just get going. It's still a fine start to what may be the only good arc in the whole "Season 10" narrative (stand alone issues don't count since they have no known connection to anything that happens in any of the other Season 10 comics). So I'd say pick this up if you're interested, mostly if you're a Zecora fan or ever wished the show had elaborated on Zecora's backstory. Pick it up at a brick and mortor comic store if you can because they need the business now more than ever, but you'll probably find it online no hassle, just don't go outside the five to ten dollar range.
I've got two more comics in this arc to review now, and I'm probably going to order the final one for the arc soon. So come back tomorrow for my review of Main Series #90, Episode 2 of Season 10 and the second part of this four part arc.
Honestly, I wasn’t impressed by this arc at all.
I hated that they decided to make the new characters and the Zebralands so similar to Equestria and its inhabitants, and Zecora seemed to be getting reduced to a mere zebra version of Twilight Sparkle. Not to mention this arc made a reference or two to previous comic stories that were either retconned by the show later on or tried to contradict the show itself.
If they really wanted this “Season 10” in comic form to be canon, then the references should’ve been kept out.
5575472 I think they did a good enough job of making Zecora and her friends feel unique and not carbon copies of the mane six. But where I think they stumbled was in giving the zebra lands the exact same Tree of Harmony with the exact same Elements of Harmony for no given reason at all. It's not original, clever or anything like that. It's just lazy writing that implies the writers couldn't be bothered to come up with new elements or make a tree that could at least be reflective of the zebra lands, so they just copied and pasted the Tree and the Elements and honestly thought no one would notice. And then they decided to just copy paste the exact same formula for all the remaining searches and honestly thought no one would notice.
This arc should've been sent back for revisions and kept in reserve until it could've been given the polish it needed, not just rushed out because someone wanted to hammer home the message "Imperialism is bad" as if Season 8's School of Friendship didn't already trip over itself trying to hammer home "Diversity is good".
5575525
That’s exactly what I think too. The whole “Other Trees and Elements of Harmony” thing was an openly unoriginal and lazy course to take, and it basically cheapened the Main Six, Pillars of Old, and Student Six to where they’re basically not special or unique as characters. If they really wanted to show that friendship isn’t limited to Equestria, they should’ve come up with an entirely different idea than this.
The new characters are also forgettable at the most because I can’t find anything about them to be remotely distinguishable in terms of personality or trait, which is why I found them to be carbon copies of the Main Six. The “expansions” of Zecora, Capper, and Celaeno likewise not only did nothing but reduce them to copies of an individual Main Six member, but they took away everything that helped them be special and stand apart.
The move that they made regarding the world building was also pretty mediocre, because the new countries that were depicted are so similar to Equestria that I can hardly remember anything significant about them. Heck, I can’t even remember their names.