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| Caption* |
Written by M. A. Larson
24 Sep 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 9.1
The one with Screwball.
Thoughts: Back in 2011, fans had to wait a week between the halves of this premiere – and it's taken me even longer! What can you say about this episode? It's widely considered (including by its writer) a triumph and is often cited as being one of the finest episodes of the series' entire run. Is it that good? Well... yes. After the "Previously on My Little Pony" and the opening theme, the action never lets up. The stakes get increasingly high as the five corrupted mares get even greyer and, eventually, even Twilight gives up. There's still comedy, though, not least in Spike's "New Rainbow Dash" sequence – as well, of course, as "Your Face!" from Fluttershy and various of Discord's chaotic creations. Indeed, the dialogue is generally excellent. 'Shy also plays a pivotal role late on, being spurred into Dash-catching speed when reminded of Discord's meanness. The ponies still have strongly horsey attributes, as seen when Twilight carries Tom on her back. Still, what I really like about this ep is the way it's resolved, using all those letters Twi sent to Celestia as a very effective and very Equestrian way to turn the tide. We get a full-on Elements/Rainbow of Light sequence to restone Discord, and then the icing on the cake is the brilliant Star Wars homage in the final scene (with, I think, the show's first changed end credits music). Part 1 scraped a five-star rating. Part 2 clears the bar with effortless ease.
Choice quote: Twilight: "This is my book and I'm gonna read it!"
New rating: ★★★★★
Next up is "Lesson Zero", an extremely popular episode with most of the fandom and one I've always loved. Will I still? Wait and see!
* I meant to do that... Liarjack face.
The letters thing is a masterstroke that still sometimes makes me tear up a little, and all of the things you mention help make this one of my all-time favourites. I've nothing much to add to what you wrote, so instead I'll add three personal reflections if that's OK!
ReplyDeleteThe focus of the episode has changed subtly, post Discord's reformation and becoming a recurring guest star. At the time I first watched "Keep Calm and Flutter On" it felt forced and unnecessarily rushed, given how effective Discord's heel work is here as the first genuine villain since the premiere. Rewatching part 2 now, it seems so much more obvious that he's not *evil* so much as omnipotent, bored, lonely and childish, and that friendship really was the solution the whole time.
Secondly, for years this was one of my children's favourite episodes just for the surrealist vision as Twilight walks through The New and Improved Ponyville - the pony skittering along the edges of the screen, and the ballet buffalo never failed to get an uproarious laugh, and so I always find it highly amusing on rewatch.
Thirdly, I - and so possibly quite a few UK viewers - didn't actually see the ending sequence properly until much later, as Tiny Pop spliced in the ordinary end theme (and the credits from The Crystal Empire) straight away. Boooooo.
Amazing episode, five stars forever.
(also is "caption" a Discord meta joke?) ;)
I'd forgotten until you mentioned it that Tiny Pop usually messed around with the end credits. I now remember that it was quite a persistent thing, particularly annoying in the era when FiM quite frequently had episode-specific endings. (I think they did at least keep the one from "Stranger Than Fan Fiction"!)
DeleteAnd yes, absolutely deliberate. Definitely. No doubt about it.
The moment the sequence with the letters came up, reminding Twilight Sparkle of how important those lessons were and not just for the sake of plot device, it all goes to show how much the series values these morals. Twilight was at her lowest point when it seemed her friends were beyond help, that Discord seemingly outsmarted the group, and there seemed nothing left for her to do but leave town. And Discord back then would hold no remorse, as this would mean his chaos would reign supreme. But thanks to those letters, it all the more encouraged Twilight not only to continue her fight against Discord but to fight for the most important folks in her life: Her best friends.
ReplyDeleteBefore Discord would end up becoming a breakout star in the series, essentially featured in other episodes, we thought he'd just be another one-off villain meant to serve for a season opener. Yet back then, he was a villain who nearly succeeded in his goal. He nearly assumed complete control of Equestria, it's heroes were corrupted by their opposite personalities, and since Celestia & Luna are no longer bound to the elements, who knows what either of them would do? Course, we wouldn't expect Luna to even come back till much later.
Overall, it's plain to see why this episode (Along with the first) are among the best episodes the MLP staff put together. We are introduced to a villain who grew to be popular, some of the animation techniques were fun, several memes and fan characters would grow from this two-parter alone, the comedy (For the most part) is spot on, and we even see how much the theme of 'friendship' means to Twilight as something to fight for and not just for convenience. Plus, that nod to 'A New Hope' was such a creative touch.
I'm old, so it'll forever just be Star Wars to me. :) But yes, it's wonderful. Cleverly written, exciting and entirely in keeping with Equestria rather than trying to be "Earth with ponies" as sometimes happened in later seasons.
DeleteI did really like this episode a lot more than part 1. The effectively frustrating warped version of them and how Twilight had to deal with them, and when Twilight herself gave up, it was one of the show's more heart-wrenching moments. To me, this made up for Discord's inability to warp Fluttershy in part 1. The rest of the girls, he very directly convinced them to become corrupted, but Twilight did on her own. Yes, because of events Discord had perpetrated, but more as a side effect of them. It wasn't clear to me whether Discord had planned it this way, or if he felt like Twilight being alone nullified her as a threat, so sinking into despair was just a nice bonus. The fact that it works either way was a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteThe way the letters came in, and the voice-overs of them overlapping created a pleasant effect, but if I have one beef, it's that Celestia (as would form a pattern for the whole show that people liked to ridicule) took an absentee-landlord approach with it. I would have much more liked to see her deliver the letters personally.
Incidentally, this shows that Celestia keeps the letters, so I wonder if Twilight returned them to her afterward.
I got the feeling Twilight's corruption was in the "nice bonus" category, to judge from Discord's immediate reaction to it. Hard to be sure, of course. I don't know about the letters. Maybe they were stored in the library and Twilight went to see them from time to time. Maybe that even helped to sow the seeds of the idea for the Journal later on.
DeleteA fantastic episode, no two ways about it. Pushed our heroes to extreme limits, and pays off everything they've learnt so far in the best possible way that ties together the 28 episode thus far beautifully. Parts of it can be harrowing if you've grown to care about these characters, due to how they act, but there's still the right amount of light comedy that it's never painful to sit through. I'd also totally forgotten about the Star Wars ending parody until rewatching it some weeks back for these rewatches too, funnily enough. I suppose it's easy for some scenes from these early episodes to leave the mind when there's over 200 of them now.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, a definitive 10/10 episode. Though some cases come quite close, never again would we have a two-parter Premiere as masterful as this - in fact, I would argue no two-parter finale does that either, to the ire of many of you, I'm sure, though a fair few do come close.
I might even agree with you about two-parters, though there are a couple that come close so I'll reserve judgement for now. And certainly there are one-parters I like more, albeit not that many. But undeniably this episode was a high point in the show's run.
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