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| "I assure you, I had nothing to do with those Dutch releases" |
Thankfully, yes. This was a vastly more likeable Twilight Sparkle, and one that reminded me a bit of the pony we saw learning princessing from Cadance way back in S3's "Games Ponies Play". This week's Twilight was one I could actually see running Equestria without the entire place imploding inside the first fortnight. The episode even lampshaded the change, with just slightly too many references to "character growth" to sound entirely natural!
Meanwhile, there was a welcome return to the evil doings of Grogar (though he barely appeared) and the Terrible Trio of Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow. Their group dynamic remains very enjoyable, especially now Chryssie has recovered from her crazy spell and become the most devious of the outfit. Cleverest, too? Well, I don't know. Cozy may actually take that crown – and I have a wild theory about her that I'll share later. Tirek remains a bit of a lunkhead, frankly.
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| "I ain't sure Twi would appreciate these forfeits, Pinkie" |
We also got a very mixed picture when it came to Canterlot Castle security. I appreciated that the events of "Sparkle's Seven" were plot-relevant, even down to Chrysalis transforming into a goose at one point. On the downside, the "incompetent Royal Guard" thing is getting frustrating now. I do rather struggle to buy that a supposedly elite squad (and one overseen by Shining Armor) would simply accept Chrysalis's fairly unimpressive excuse about her badge.
Discord was in a fair number of scenes in this episode. It was a slightly uncharacteristic appearance from the draconequus, though, in that he didn't actually do very much. Okay, you could put that down to Twilight's note card, but even so I'm struggling to think of an episode Discord's appeared in with so little actual effect. I'm rather hoping that at some point (the finale being the obvious option) he'll lock horns with Tirek again, and that really will be something worth seeing.
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| "I always take my travel chessboard when I'm out villaining!" |
Oh yes, pony tribes. And tribalism. The way Chrysalis got under the skin of the (very nicely designed) firework unicorns was something new, and it also took me back to S4. In this case, "Flight to the Finish", wherein the CMC inform us that Ponyville is special in that the various kinds of ponies live together as friends. I've always found that intriguing, yet the show has shied away from developing the idea very far since then. I wonder, I just wonder, whether we may be seeing windigoes in the finale too.
A pretty good episode all round, then, albeit a notch down from classic status. I'm not sure Twilight's unilateral decision to supplant the Summer Sun Celebration with the Festival of the Two Sisters will meet with universal approval, but I can see her point. Vogel once again did good, and I think I may need to watch this episode a couple more times to catch everything that happened. That won't be any hardship, since it's a nice ep to look at anyway. FiM seems to be back on track.
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| You've come a long way, Twi |
Best line: Applejack: "I told y'all this was a bad idea, but nopony ever listens to me!"
Best moment: Twilight raising the sun. A real cheer-out-loud moment
Worst moment: Tirek apparently being able to hide in central Canterlot
Yays
- A vastly more satisfying Twilight than last week
- We got to check back in with the Legion of Doom
- Intriguing hints that sowing tribal discord may be on the agenda
- A very nice and varied episode visually
- Discord was a little bit of a dead weight
- Some hoof-waving over Tirek's ability to sneak
Well after two mediocre and one God awful episodes, it's nice for season nine to get back on track with an amazing performance. What made this episode for me was the background music during the montage where everyone was fixing the mess that was caused. As for everypony not noticing Tirek was behind the Earth ponies falling ill is probably the fact that cutie marks didn't vanish like they did in season four. If I had to nitpick I personally would of aired this a couple of episodes after last weeks, then it would of looked like Twilight had more time to work on her Twilighting problems that she had during the Trivia trot faux par. Overall this gets a 9/10 from me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention the music, but yes, that was excellent. William Anderson is a very underrated contributor to the show's quality.
DeleteAnd he has always been excellent!
DeleteAfter the past several weeks of enduring episodes that were either 'just' okay or downright awful, for me this episode was the saving grace for the show. Is it perfect? No, the episode has a few flaws that go unnoticed (Incompetent guards and how the heroes are once more oblivious to the villains, etc.). And yet for all that it's worth, I do believe that this episode is still worth watching. If not to focus on the fact that this is truly the princesses' last celebration, but in a way it was truly a Twilight Sparkle episode we sought.
ReplyDeleteWe all complain about the princesses being seemingly useless and Twilight Sparkle's 'twilighting' has been taken with much chagrin in recent months, if not years. But surprisingly, even when things started to get chaotic and her friends couldn't keep it on the down low surprisingly Twilight was actually being cool, calm, and collected. She insisted that she truly changed, that she doesn't want to just freak out and obsess over every little thing but it seemed her friends didn't listen. Even when Applejack insisted that they tell Twilight the truth that things weren't going as planned, most of them were so afraid of what they know she'd do it ends up getting worse (Makes me feel bad that Applejack gets ignored when she knows there's a right thing to do). True Discord could have been more useful, but he truly wanted to see if Twilight was truly changing or if she was going to predictably freak out under the pressure... Say what you will about him not doing much, but I'd like to think he was testing the princess in the most unusual way.
As for the celebration in general, I do think it was a lovely tribute to the princesses and I know there are some fans who may feel heartfelt with Twilight showing how much Equestria truly appreciates their rulers who've been there for the ponies since the beginning. That this celebration was not about bringing the light back from the darkness or the return of a princess from an exile, but rather celebrating the two princesses all together and the accomplishments they've had even prior to the start of the show. And looking back on that one particular scene, it's kind of like a symbolic gesture of the fanbase thanking the staff and crew for giving us a show that officially put MLP back on the map.
In the end, it's not entirely the perfect episode we were looking for but it still remains an episode with a ton of heart. Who knows? Maybe Twilight Sparkle can pull off the whole princess gig after all.
Fair point about Discord. I'm not sure I entirely go along with it myself, but it's a perfectly reasonable perspective to have. And as you say, the episode had heart. That's always something I want FiM to display.
DeleteThis ep airs right after Trivial Pursuit is a poor decision which is very unfortunate. They overused Twilight freakout mode a lot after the movie then sudden turn off her Twilighting right after her biggest freak out moment since Lesson Zero, then move her back to her S4 character.
ReplyDeleteThis Twilight character development (even lampshaded by Discord) feel unnatural. And what I mean by "back to her S4 character" is Twilight in S4 already know how to order people around to do her things back to S4 premiere so her incompetent in Between Dark & Dawn is unbelievable. The calm, cool and collective Twilight has already existed back to S4, I even thought she will become a ruler in S4 finale. Heck, even some people call Twilight a Mary Sue back then. A character has developed too much might be pretty boring so it's ok to revisit their old habits that make them interesting in the first place but go overboard with their flaws then just turn it off right away like a flashlight is just not a good writing.
Great episode for Twilight character development checklist but the placement is questionable. Should have an episode in between Trivial Pursuit and this ep to show her character progression or just... make a big gap between those two episodes...
Yeah, I had the same feeling, especially after watching this and A Trivial Pursuit back to back as a catching-up double bill (because reasons), that felt like a particularly jarring gear change even in-season, never mind the (wholly accurate) observations others have made about Trivial... feeling like something from several seasons ago.
DeleteStill, though, on its own merits I really liked this. Best episode of this really rather lacklustre second half-season by some distance for me. And Twilight's rededication of the holiday took me by surprise as much as the Princesses, and in a really touching way. I'm feeling much better about the upcoming episodes now than I was a couple of days ago!
And just for narcissism/completeness' sake... My own updated s9 rankings so far would be as follows.
ReplyDelete1 Frenemies
2 Between Dark and Dawn
3 Common Ground
4 Student Counsel
5 The Beginning of the End
6 Sparkle's Seven
7 The Summer Sun Setback
8 Going to Seed
9 Uprooted
10 Sweet and Smoky
11 A Trivial Pursuit
12 The Last Laugh
13 The Last Crusade
14 The Point of No Return
15 She's All Yak
16 2-4-6-Greaaat
Not a million miles from mine, I think, though I still need to rewatch "Common Ground" to see whether I underrated it first time out, and I might click "The Last Crusade" a notch higher simply for Scootaloo's aunts having annoyed various people I don't mind seeing annoyed!
DeleteNow, that is an excellent point, and possibly enough by itself to lift it back up above Cheese Sandwich 2: The Cheesening!
DeleteI enjoyed this one a great deal, and the little inconsistencies didn't bother me much at all. I continue to love that Chrysalis is making clever use of her shapeshifting! The bit with the goose made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteChrysalis is becoming my favourite of the villains. I don't know whether she'll be reformed at the end of the series -- given this is FiM, there must be a fair chance -- but until and unless it happens, I'm finding her more and more watchable.
DeleteLast week's episode was a semi-return to normalcy for S9 after 246G. This is a true return to that season with easily the best second-half episode. There are a lot of really nice, little details here.
ReplyDelete1. Tirek rescuing a bird that got swept by SA's turbines, a nice callback to Frenemies.
2. After the swanifying ceremony, Twilight claimed to not freak out beyond her Twilighting in Trivial Pursuit. The episode explicitly referenced this within the first few seconds of Act 1. Of course, whether you believe it fully or otherwise is up to you.
3. Because of Twilight's history, the RM6 and Discord were 100% justified to hide the instantaneous carnage taking place outside. Since her declaration was so recent, they had no idea if she was truly over it, which happened during believable times (Beginning of the End) and otherwise (Trivial Pursuit). Her stated relapse played pivotal in the plot. If they could solve the sudden problem before she found out, then they won’t have to worry about that aspect in the first place.
4. To date, this is the Terrible Trio at their most competent. In order to get through security, they needed to come up with a plan. Rather than a full-blown conquer, they diverted.
a. This is why Tirek didn't fully absorb all their life force: He would be too easy to identify if he did.
b. Cozy Glow was able to manipulate a pegasus who didn't know of her existence and help cause troublesome cloud cover.
c. Meanwhile, Chryssie tackled a stinging problem for their performers: their job. Due to their magical performances possibly being overshadowed by a flyover and the celebration itself, she made them feel like they could do much more.
5. The Summer Sun Celebration is a celebration of the Summer Solstice in Equestria, but had been traditionally the mark of Celestia overcoming Nightmare Moon. That changed after the Royal Sisters reunited. Now with their retirement looming, this Summer Sun Celebration carries more personal weight. Like AJ from Apple Family Reunion, TS wants to thank her mentor and sister with a more major honor.
The updated ceremony was just part of what makes this special. The other half was the episode's biggest surprise. To show gratitude and appreciation for what they did over their lifetimes, she created a brand-new holiday: The Festival of the Two Sisters. Her decision's very clever, on brand of Twi, elevates Luna to equal status, and shows how much Luna and Celly matter to her and Equestria as a whole.
6. [ Discord: "Character growth is so boring." ]
LOL! XD
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Suffice it to say, I love it. One of the best of the season.
P.S.: I'm not gonna write a review for this episode beyond this comment. Don't have the muster or time to do it this week.
This is my order from best to worst with grades:
Delete1. The Last Crusade: A+
2. Sparkle's Seven: A+
3. The Summer Sun Setback: A
4. Between Dark and Dawn: A
5. Common Ground: A
6. Frenemies: A
7. She's All Yak: A-
8. The Last Laugh: A-
9. The Point of No Return: A-
10. The Beginning of the End: B+
11. Student Counsel: B+
12. Uprooted: B+
13. Sweet and Smoky: B
14. Going to Seed: B-
15. A Trivial Pursuit: B-
16. 2, 4, 6, Greaaat: D