Episode review: S7E25&26: "Shadow Play"

Okay, I can stop the review here, really. Five stars!

Well, here we are at the end of S7, and what an interesting season it's been. A satisfyingly good one too, if you ask me. I'll probably do some sort of overall retrospective of the season on LY eventually, but for now let's concentrate on the season finale. The end of "Uncommon Bond" looked very much like a set-up for this finale, and so it proved. But did I actually like it? After the break, you'll get your answer.

Yes! Oh yes I liked it! I suspect that "Shadow Play" might not hold up all that well to a serious analysis, which is why I'm not going to give it one. I also wonder whether it will remain quite as popular in future years – it's noticeable that most of the finales don't quite have the hold on all-time league tables they had in their day. But here, I'm going to gush about why I had so much fun watching this finale.

First up is Starswirl, who was portrayed really nicely by Chris Britton. (I'm somewhat relieved it wasn't a big guest star of the Patrick Stewart type.) If you've read the IDW Legends of Magic comics, you'll already know that Starswirl is a) basically Pony Gandalf, and b) a crotchety old so-and-so. I think that worked better than making him some kindly, twinkly wizard, even if it was a bit hard on Twilight. Though it's "a millennium", you grammatically incorrect conjurer!

He does remind me just a little of the Tantabus

The Pillars of Equestria, built up through the season, all came together here. I don't find them that interesting on the whole, so I fret a little about the fact that they're potentially a significant part of S8. Still, I did like the way they were brought in ("Ponehenge" is a dreadful pun. Bravo!) as well as the fact that their Elements broadly corresponded to those of the Mane Sixers who worked with them. The "getting the artefacts" sequence was fine, but the best part was Rainbow Dash with Spike. Give those two a team-up episode!

Oh yes, the Elements. I had somehow managed to avoid being spoiled on this aspect, and I really had not expected that we'd ever see the Elements of Harmony in modern-day Equestria again. I suspect some fans will have groaned, but I don't care. I had the stupidest grin on my face to see the Mane Six using the Elements in anger again. I do wish Twilight had said the phrase "big crown thingy", but you can't have it all.

The story of Stygian and the Pony of Shadows (one of several S4 callbacks) was perhaps a little on the predictable side, but that's nothing new for MLP. It was still decently epic, especially when things built to the struggle near the end – though I was mildly irritated at Stygian's post-reformation story being pretty much non-existent. But again, I don't really care about plotholes right now. I loved seeing the Mane Six being what they truly are: heroes.

The script notes "EST. EQG2" at this point...

You can perhaps argue about how much Starlight really needed to be in an episode like this, but these days it would have seemed strange if she hadn't been in a grand and climactic tale. Glimmy only had one or two important moments, but again that was fine: she's never been an Element-Bearer, so she couldn't be quite as central to the episode. I think the writers judged Starlight's appearances pretty well.

This is a good example of an episode that was clearly not flawless, but which I perhaps loved even more for that. After the Mane Six maturing through the seasons, one thing I've missed for a while is the whole lot of them being epic together. In "Shadow Play", I got my wish – and that sheer epicness is what pushes this episode into the highest star bracket. I liked last year's finale, but I loved this year's finale.

Best quote: Twilight: "Seapony etiquette isn't going to help right now, Spike."

Yays

• The Mane Six used the Elements of Harmony again
• The Mane Six used the Elements of Harmony again!
• Star Swirl's characterisation was terrific
• Nice fleshing out of the Pillars' backstory
• Rainbow and Spike made a great team
• Plenty of great callbacks
• The Old Ponish is actually (broken?) Old English

Neighs

• I'm iffy about how the Pillars may change S8's dynamics
• Stygian's story wasn't fully resolved

★★★★★