Okay, so if some of you remember back last season, we normally post a discussion thread for the current episode, and I usually put it up the night before. Then, any other threads that start about that episode get locked and directed here, so that we can keep it all in one thread.

Well, it's that time again! Season Six is starting off with a two part episode called "The Crystalling". Sounds all Crystal Empirey. In fact, "crystalling" kinda sounds like "christening", and Cadance was pregnant last time we saw her...

We'll get to find out the answers to all sorts of things, though, like how important Starlight Glimmer's gonna be in the new season, and who's actually writing these things, with MA Larson and Amy Keating Rogers both gone. Josh Haber, maybe?

There have been all sorts of spoily pictures of this one around. I'm minimizing spoilers in the first post, but I'll leave one picture.

--Sweetie Belle

[Season 6 intensifies]

5133502

I'm minimizing spoilers in the first post, but I'll leave one picture.

How could you! I didn't know Starlight would change her hairstyle! Now I can't enjoy the episode!

5133502
So, according to that giant spoiler picture Spike has finally move on from Rarity and is now all about Glimmer's booty. Man, they're taking some real risks with this season.

Welcome to the night before episode thread, how may I take your order?

5133539
Make it a good one, please. I'm okay with a few plot holes, but characterization should be spot-on.

5133505

Lets see what everypony on the internet is saying about it!

[youtube=X1GaiElwsjw]

[youtube=KrOQnnrEzMk]

[youtube=vLFT-QTkpS8]

--Sweetie Belle

5133544 Coming right up, good sir.

5133553

*gets out spork and spife*

5133502

Sounds all Crystal Empirey.

Because it IS set in the crystal empire!

Based upon speculation that Cadence and Shining Armor are definitely ruling over the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart is most likely at the Crystal Spire.

That or you could just watch a promo clip, that mentions the Crystal Empire, and some sort of "Deep Freeze" thing.

I'm also rather confused as to how biology in the MLP works now, since Unicorn + Alicorn = Even more powerful alicorn?
And how weather works.

And basically how the Crystal Heart works.

A lot of questions.

5133502
5133527

So, according to that giant spoiler picture Spike has finally move on from Rarity and is now all about Glimmer's booty. Man, they're taking some real risks with this season.

Spike: Booty had me like... @_@

5133502 Oh crap that's coming out tonight/tommorrow/timezonespls

5133502
Everyone knows with babies it's actually the "cry-stalling".

Guys, I haven't watched any seasons past S2.

Should I watch this episode or am I gonna be all like, "Wtf is going on "

I want to discuss it with you ponies, but I don't want to hamper the discussion with dumb questions.

5133660
WHOO-boy, there's a LOT of shit you've missed if it's been S2.

5133663

I know the major things, mostly because The Internets had let me know how much they hated Twilight being an alicorn and fighting Satan...er...Tirek.

I figured I'd debrief myself on Wikipedia and MLPPedia if I needed more info.

I've even heard all about Baby Snowflake or whatever her name is.

5133666
It's still a good idea to at least watch the S5 premiere and finale. Premier to get to know Starlight, finale to get to know where we are now.

5133667

Can do. Also, I know Starlight. She's the one who wanted to remove cutie marks. I thought she had a good idea, really.

But that's because I am a rampant authoritarian and enjoy telling people what to do.

That is why I decided I might be a schoolteacher. I went back to college, you see.

EDIT:

I think all of the mane six should become Alicorns. I disagree with the Alicorn haters.

Pinkie Pie should be the Alicorn of Party Rock.

5133660 Huh, in my opinion, the show's been getting better since season two, with season five being phenomenal.

Of course, that's my opinion and I know a lot of people would object to me. For knowledge of post-season 2 to get properly into this episode, I think five episodes could help.

The Crystal Empire- a seriously underrated, or at least at the time, episode and is one of my favorites of the show. It helps introduce the Crystal Empire and give Cadance her station.

Magical Mystery Cure- Given that the episode is going to be addressing alicorns, or at least some of it, I think watching this episode could help understand and get into the groove of Twilight's current position.

The Cutie Map- Starlight's introduction

The One Where Pinkie Knows- It's the episode they find out Cadance is pregnant. I thought it was funny as well.

The Cutie Re-Mark- {my favorite episode} Starlight's redemption and where we're going from.

5133730

Crap, dude, you'd never reckon it from the way these Internet People complain.

They imply that it would be better to commit suicide than to watch the latest seasons.

Then again, the Internet loves to tell you 'kill urself lol' regardless of the situation.

5133660

You know, everypony's been recommending vital episodes to watch to know what's going on, but I kinda think watching a couple of the really good ones since season two might be an idea, just to see if you are interested.

I'd suggest watching "Amending Fences", as it calls right back to the first episode of mlp, and tends to be one of my favorites of the series. "Pinkie Pride" was great as a Pinkie Pie episode, and had Weird Al guest starring in it. "Sleepless In Ponyville" and "Flight to the Finish" were essential Scootaloo episodes, if you like Scootaloo. "Rarity Takes Manehattan" was a pretty well-done Rarity episode, and Film Noir Rarity in "Rarity Investigates!" was good, too.

"The Mane Attraction" is one I thought was worth watching, even if the main villian was a bit one dimensional.

Of course, the trouble is it's all gonna vary depending on what you liked and didn't like about the show. There are all episodes I'd enjoy rewatching, not necessarily ones you'd like...

"The Cutie Re-mark" has a bunch of alternate realities, and you were talking about zebras the other day:

[youtube=Pu_6uAGjZaA]

--Sweetie Belle

5133819

Holy Celestia.

I take back everything I said about this show.

Zecora is a Mercenary Captain of an irregular Militia army. YES. She is also dressed for War exactly as I had imagined, with her mane done up like the plume on a Spartan Corinthian Helmet.

I wanted to have my personal zebra OC, Alsvid, be a mercenary commander as well, but I didn't know if Zebras did things like that.

Now I know...and now I'm gonna do it.

I shall write about you being the master sniper in my mercenary company.

[stuffs SweetAI Belle into Halo MJOLNIR armor] Master Chief Petty Officer Belle! Concentrate your firepower on the tangos to the North Side Ridge! Stay frosty! We are OSCAR MIKE.

5133822

I wish they'd spent more time on that reality. (which was also kinda a general complaint on the episode, really)

Still, that's honestly one of Zecora's best moments. I'd love to see more like that.

That is one thing to keep in mind. The episodes can be pretty good as inspiration for writing.

A sniper? I might be able to manage that.

--Sweetie Belle

5133829

[solid_snake_voice]I'm counting on you.[/solid_snake_voice]

This is our jam:

This next track is for when we're under enemy attack from all sides and forced into defensive potions.

Edit: I'mma stop being offtopic now, but I just wanted to note some about Zecora the Paramilitary Captain of the Irregular Equestrian Militia:

She is a citizen - unless she was a soldier or warrior before coming to Equestria - who became a soldier. I am just like her IRL. I lift weights, exercise frequently, and train with my firearms at the range so that I, too, can be a Citizen Soldier. I used to go to Full Contact Martial Arts schools and actually fight people hand-to-hand for a while, until our sensei left.

Real enlisted men and women may laugh, but our backs are what will rush to their defense if someone invades the USA. Don't underestimate us civilians! Some of us make capable fighters in a pinch.

What I'm saying is that the moral of Zecora's military theater is that anyone can be a soldier - even YOU. *points at the people reading this.*

5133502 will there be somewhere online that will post the episodes? I have no access to TV, just internet.

5133861

Well, we can't post 'em here 'cause of site rules, but there is this Equestriia Daily post that should update eventually and has a few places that will be streaming it. And, honestly, if you just keep searching youtube for the Crystalling, sometime during the day it'll probably turn up, though you'll probably find some fake videos too.

BTW, this is the site rule from the faq:

Illegal content is not allowed. This includes links to unofficial uploads of episodes or other copyrighted material.

--Sweetie Belle

Season Six is upon us!

Now, I'm both excited and terrified for this new episode and for Princess Flurry Heart in general. I'm happy because I'm intrigued to see where they take this, but at the same time, every time I see her or she's mentioned, I'm gonna have traumatic memories of the One Where Pinkie Knows, which I dubbed as the worst episode of Season 5...

Either way, ponies are back, and better than ever!

5133873

It'll be interesting to see how it goes. Josh Haber's the head writer now, apparently, though I don't know if he wrote this episode. He did write "Bloom & Gloom" and "The Cutie Re-Mark", tho'.

--Sweetie Belle

5133881 He also did the Friendship Games from what I recall...

Honestly, all I'm looking for is a somewhat cohesive storyline. I want some kind of quest that will take most of the season to complete, so we have some story progression. This piecemeal shit is basic Season 1 stuff. A lot of shows start out like that, but by S2 or S3, they usually have a metastory going.

5133882

So kinda mixed, then. Well, we'll see. I'm still kinda looking for something official saying he's the head writer, too, though I've seen it mentioned.

5133883
I'm looking for fun episodes I enjoy watching! There doesn't really have to be a season arc, but I'd kinda like to see more two parters, and maybe even three or four parters. It always seems like they have trouble cramming everything into one episode.

I'd actually kinda like to see at least an episode or two about Diamond Tiara. Reforming her was rushed, and it'd be fun to see her trying to be nice an' not doing a very good job. Not to mention her friendship with Silver Spoon needs patching up now.

--Sweetie Belle

5133889

I'd kinda like to see more two parters.

I know. In those episodes, you feel like there's the matter of life and death to be tackled with most villains in the show. I like them too, but given that MLP has quite a few more lseeons to teach, I think we'll only be limited to Premieres and Finales having two parts only.

Interestingly enough, in the original Yu-Gi-Oh anime, there were even five-part episodes. Namely, the duels with Maximillian Pegasus and Yami-Marik are what I remember having five parts. And as much as I did like the idea for suspense, I don't think we'll get anything more than two-part episodes in MLP...

I never slept and my mine mind is mush can anyone tell me if the premier is in 15 minutes or 1 hour 15 minutes kthx.

Ok here is a question, It has been nearly a year since the end of last season, or how ever long Cadance was pregnant, so why is this Starlight's first friendship lessons? What happened before now...did Starlight have other lessons but keep failing them? Maybe Twilight is taking her to the Empire in an all or nothing approach.

Twilight: "If you can't be nice to a baby then I don't know what to do."
Starlight: "But babies drool and smell funny."

So many reformed characters in the show. I wonder if there will be any others or returns.

On a side note,(spoilers of plot)I think I've heard of an endless winter and I hope this doesn't start up you know what.

5133928
Excellent question.

Maybe now we can say that time is moving relatively the same as reality, i.e., months here, months there.

I maintain the view that the in-universe year is 1003 Celestial Peace.

5133916
Yeah, I just pretty much want them to take the length of time it takes. If the idea really only needs one episode, it should be one episode, but a lot seem like more would help.

5133906
You know, the original Dr. Who sometimes had six and even eight part episodes!

5133928
Weelll... Cadance might've already been pregnant for a while in 'The One Pinkie Knows", and we don't know how much time there was between that episode and "The Cutie Re-Mark". It could be that the start of season six isn't really that far off from where season five ended...

--Sweetie Belle

5133946 Or it could be year 3 Luna's return.

5133949
Yeah, except remember the whole 'yeah, Twilight went from shut-in bookworm to Princesss of Friendship in one year' thing? (That practically none of us ever adhere to.)

I mean... benefit of the doubt here. But it does seem more likely that the events of S5 were spread out over a couple of months.

Live stream link?

5133938 Where can I watch it...? I wanna see the... Wait, 10 central? What site?

5133964
5133968
You might want to look at this comment: 5133869

5133790 I wasn't exactly a big fan of season 4. It had some really great episodes, but it kept pushing all the main six into episodes and their characters seemed to suffer for it. {Being kind of simplified for it.} So I'm half and half about season 4. Not terrible, but I felt kind of agitated in one too many episodes.

5133969 Can you or someone just pm me the name of the site? Not the link?

5133970 I haven't seen all of the episodes from any of the previous episodes because some of them were just too stupid, or funny for me to finish without dying.

5133981 No TV.

5133981 I gotta do it online...

5133985 Eh, I wasn't exactly fond of the opener. It brought up some great points, but I never felt like it expanded upon them well enough and I didn't enjoy myself as much as I'd have liked. Kind of my least favorite of the openers. Again, that's just me.

5133985 Also, yes. It did help Pinkie's character and growth quite a bit and she's my favorite of the main six as well. Though I have to say, I thought season five did a good job in keeping her hilarity and character growth.

5133999 I'm led to believe that applies to uploads of episodes on YouTube. I've never heard a ruling on streams.