Episode review: S8E23: "Sounds of Silence"

Doesn't this imply Autumn Blaze owns the newspapers she's pushing in the same sequence?

Getting close to the end of the season now, at least for the minority of the fandom that hasn't binged the whole lot already. Just two regular episodes left before the finale, and this one had a new writer: Gregory Bonsignore, about whom I knew nothing. (He has a Wikipedia page, though.) There were a couple of things about this that I'd already seen and was looking forward to, so – to use a rejected Darkwing Duck catchphrase – let's get spoilery!

As Twilight pointed out right at the start, this was the first time we'd had a repeat team-up for a Friendship Quest. Applejack and Fluttershy last worked together in Las Pegasus, but they were in a very different environment this time. Even in S8, it seems that near-unknown tracts of land still exist (though for some reason little-used branch lines run close to them anyway) for ponies brave or stupid enough to explore!

Let's cut to the chase and talk about the kirin. Autumn Blaze has proved an instant fan favourite, not least with Seth on EqD. It's not hard to see why: she quickly demonstrated an almost Minuette-like joie de vivre, but in her case it was tempered and darkened somewhat by her inability to talk to anykirin else. Still, she was a fun character and now the kirin's problem has been solved I wonder whether we might see more of her next season.

"Oh, really, Applejack? Can't you even speak a few words of Squirrel?"

The episode had quite a strong moral and one which may be seen as a little bit political in 2018: if you hide from ever saying anything because you might offend someone, you will become a fiery evil nirik won't give anyone a happier life. This doesn't mean that MLP has allied itself with the fundamentalist wing of the US free speech movement, but simply that – as Autumn Blaze stated in satisfyingly show-appropriate terms – rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let it rain.

The other kirin, with the brief and late exception of Rain Shine, were inevitably reduced to bit parts by their silence, but both they and their village were attractively designed, looking a little bit strange without seeming entirely alien. The fact that they could understand Ponish was interesting: was there some low-level contact (perhaps via Celestia) continuing even through their years of isolation? There's a fanfic in that somewhere. Mind you, there's a fanfic in everything...

AJ and 'Shy worked well together, although in truth they were apart for much of the episode. The second act was mostly just Applejack befriending Autumn Blaze, which made this feel a bit more like an AJ-with-Flutters episode than a true double act. Their arguments (crucial to the episode's resolution) felt reasonably well in character, and I was glad to see Fluttershy willing to push to get herself heard early on, rather than simply reverting to her old meek self.

AJ employing the "Speak Ponish loudly and slowly" method of talking to foreigners

I was a bit iffy about Fluttershy's suggestion that the kirin needed to remain silent forever. While she made an excellent and very 'Shy point about the danger of fire in a forest, I'd have liked her to seem a bit sadder about having to propose it. Applejack by this time knew about the foals-breath antidote – thought not what the flowers actually were – and so it was fair enough for her to be a bit impatient with Fluttershy's approach.

We got a song this time, and a good one it was as well, though it did teeter on the edge of Daniel Ingram's repeated tendency to overcomplicate. I enjoyed the references within it, and guest star Rachel Bloom belted out the lyrics with tremendous verve. Add to that some snappy dialogue (rather ironically) and that silly-but-funny cameo by the railway ticket office clerk and "Sounds of Silence" continued late S8's strong run of episodes.

Best quote: Twilight: "Sorry, Fluttershy – flanks don't lie."

Yays

• The great Autumn Blaze, very well voiced by Rachel Bloom
• Both kirin and nirik had striking designs
• Clear, strong message about managing anger
• A very good song (and singer)
• AJ and FS sparking off each other quite nicely

Neighs

• Fluttershy was a little sidelined at times
• Applejack's "police" joke feels un-Equestrian
• Equestrian Railways must lose an absolute packet

★★★★