Thursday 23 February 2017

Some thoughts on the recent announcements from Hasbro

The Toy Fair announcements have been coming thick and fast, but most of them have involved actual products. Not all, however, and today I'm going to give some brief thoughts on a couple of really interesting things we now know. Major spoilers for Season Seven and the movie after the break! Don't come any further if you don't want to see them!

The film first, since the news here was fairly straightforward: another character reveal. This is Stratus Skyranger, whose toy packaging proclaims him to be a hippogriff guard. That's right, a hippogriff. I'm actually fine with this, and a little surprised that some fans are freaking out about it. Let's face it, if you saw an alicorn for the first time you might think that was a hybrid.

So, that's that. We also had a genuinely earth-shaking spoiler for S7: not only will we be meeting Rainbow Dash's parents, but Applejack's as well. Big Jim Miller's reaction to the news was "Dammit Hasbro!" and you can see his point. The bits and pieces revealed so far suggest a sort of Montagu/Capulet rivalry between the Apples and the Pears, with Applejack's mother singing a love song in flashback. Presumably no suicides, though.

There are three ways that this could go, I think:

1) Applejack's parents confirmed dead. Morbid as it may sound, this is the path I'd prefer the show to take. An episode about loss and bereavement would be tough for a TV-Y show, but if any such show can do it then it's FiM. "Tanks for the Memories" provided us with a gentler version of that plot, after all.

2) Applejack's parents confirmed alive. It would be a glorious thing to see AJ and her family reunited after so long, and I wouldn't begrudge her a bit of happiness. But I do think it would devalue all the touching little hints we've been given over the last few years – those shooting stars and so on. And why would a family as tight-knit as the Apples never have talked about them?

3) The issue left open. This could be done, with a bit of finessing (see the "If your mom and dad were here..." bit in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"), but I don't think it would be at all satisfactory. It would definitely seem as though the show had tried to tackle one of its biggest mysteries but then lost its nerve.

We'll see soon enough. I think I saw it mentioned somewhere that this was planned to be episode 13 of S7, though eps don't always go out in production order. If so, you wonder what they could do in the second half of the season to top it. Maybe they might actually tell us something about Scootaloo's background? Or is that just crazy talk?

Finally, a more recent piece of news suggesting that Discord (or at least, John de Lancie) may not feature in S7. That does surprise me a little bit, though I'm not as het up about it as some since I'm not as massive a Discord fan as many. (He's fun if used sparingly, but I don't want to see him too much.) Of course, it could all be Mr de Lancie having a little fun...

10 comments:

  1. There's hybridizing among ponies, and then there's hybridizing with the lower races. IT'S DISGUSTING AND SENDS A POOR MESSAGE TO CHILDREN >:V

    I believe the Appleparents announcement suggested they were going to appear in a flashback. I'm just mad no lip-service is being given to the Oranges. Like, whose cereal did they poop in that they're written out of the show after S1? :(

    And I don't trust deLancie's Tweet (he's notorious for just not knowing what's going on), much as no Discord would instantly make S7 better than S6. Yes, I say this in light of Discord finally getting a good episode.

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    1. Griffons are nice. :P

      Yes, flashback – but how much of their story will be told that way? If it's a full-on "Where the Apple Lies" episode, that's one thing, but if it's present!Applema reminiscing about past!Applema, that's another.

      True.

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    2. Silver Quill will die in happiness xD

      About Applejack parents, i am not exaggerating to say they are the only character in 2016-2017 that i want them to STAY DEAD so badly, even they are alive, if i got some writers power, i will kill them by my own hand to make sure they are dead, that sum up my reactions about the chances that AJ parents could be alive that will ruin the whole Potential Applejack character development that started in Season 3.

      After the writers didnt reform Chrysalis, i believe they know what lines they cannot cross, i trust the writers know it more than me. In the interview, someone who currently work for mlp storyboard confirmed the deaths but some parts in me still tell me there are slim chances the writers will screw up.

      Maybe they find the way to explain how the parents are alive in whole 6 seasons without take care of AJ, heh, my friend has a theory about amnesia or shit... but the point is, I DONT WANT IT, just dont, just confirm they are dead in the most subtle way as possible, dont make the shooting stars scene or Crusader of the lost marks scene POINTLESS. You know what make me hate Kung fu Panda 2 ? the freaking patents are alive!!! I hope this wont happen ever again.

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    3. I'm not sure it would necessarily ruin AJ's development, but I do agree that having her parents actually be dead would be the best thing overall. It'll depend on exactly how the writers do this. After all, I didn't want Fluttershy to have a brother, and I like "Flutter Brutter" – though not Zephyr! :P

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    4. Ditching the Oranges is worth it for the "Grand Pear" pun. I'm betting the episode will be a story told by Granny Smith, and I'm all over that.

      deLancie may well be confusing S7 and S8, which hasn't even been written yet.

      Hippy Grifs are totes a historical thing! I know you're still in the deNile phase, but soon you will come to lurve him with the rest of us! (Or Silver Quill will peck your eyes out... don't dis his people, man!)

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    5. "Ditching the Oranges is worth it for the "Grand Pear" pun."

      No it is not. D:

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    6. Everybody knows my favorite color is orange
      My rhymes are so fly, they're better than... um...

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  2. I heard that Applejack's mother would be singing about love in a flashback, so it could be that they're dead. :(

    Season 7's interesting me either way from what I've heard of what might happen in it with the comic tying into it.

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    1. Well, I've read #51 of the main comic now (review in a few days) so if that guest character is the link, it'll be interesting.

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    2. It's out already? That's great, and I'll check out your review. I can't wait to read it (been a long while since I dropped the comics, stopped after #37 but glimpsed at some others).

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