 |
| This was really quite shocking the first time I saw it |
Written by Meghan McCarthy
21 Apr 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 9.3
The one with the mine cart ride
Thoughts: This was the first time the season finale was broadcast all in one go, meaning that the cliffhanger from part 1 was resolved almost immediately. A slight shame if you ask me. Still, what an episode this is, and what a ride. We have Chrysalis, in my view the best villain the show ever had, and one we now know never got reformed. Quite brave really to have someone who's effectively a succubus in a kids' show. Her reveal scene is breathtaking, and I really like her voice here – the distortion was sadly removed at Hasbro's behest for later episodes. We get our first real fight scene, something that was a huge talking point in 2012. We get "This Day Aria", one of the finest songs of its kind in any cartoon, up there with many of Disney's. The Elements of Harmony are a diversion this time and don't actually matter in the end, which I didn't see coming. Yes, the love-drenched resolution is a bit silly and a bit sappy, and Twilight's laser spell became overused later in the series, but right now I don't really care. Plus we get custom end credits music, with a reprise of the theme from "The Return of Harmony". I always liked it when they did that, and it's a real shame Hasbro vetoed its return for the S9 epilogue. Still, this episode is a triumph. It's exciting, it's moving and it's supremely watchable. It's also, as you'll long since have realised, another five-star episode.
Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "Meh. I've seen better."
New rating: ★★★★★
Next, I'll make a post looking back at my S2 rewatches and reflecting on what I've seen, along the lines of the one I did for S1.
Damn, you took all my favourite talking points away from me. I got little else to add but: "Yeah! What he said!"
ReplyDeleteI suppose I'll have to chuck in some trivia instead.
It's funny people talk about how awesome Queen Chrysalis is (and, yeah, she is), because she spends a good chunk of this in Cadence's form, and even at that point, she's still an effective villain. There's no physical monstrosity revealed yet, despite some hints during her part of This Day Aria: what we see is pure, love-to-hate-able bitch. Sort of like if Diamond Tiara had grown up and gone full Dark Side. I kinda love how manipulative she is in this form, even though her pure evil changeling incarnation is an amazing piece of design work.
And what a design it is! A mishmash of everything dark and sinister: rotting zombie-like legs and mane, hive insect wings and social structure, black and twisted horn like it's been burnt in a fire, slitted lizard-like pupils, sickly/gangrenous green motifs, and even the name hints at an old-fashioned fey/elven motif (of the more traditional, amoral kind, rather than modern ideas of elves). Unlike the goofy Discord, elegant Nightmare Moon, and basic ghost-shaped Windigoes, this is a very visceral villain design, and I love how they felt confident enough to go there and make something memorable.
On a briefly mentioned other hand, Chrysalis' plan is... full of holes, frankly. She overlooks easy opportunities to finish or stop her enemies repeatedly, basically assumes too much that Twilight will finish off Cadence for her with little persuasion, sends three frankly sub-Twilight bridesmaids as a pretty flimsy barrier, pointlessly reveals herself when it would have been to her advantage to sow confusion a little longer, and clearly has no actual plan in place for dealing with the two resident alicorn princesses. Plus, if she was already inside the shield, why did she not use that method to smuggle in other changelings?
But the magic of this episode is that, even if the plotting is shaky as hell, the spectacle that results is outstanding. This Day Aria is one of the cleverest songs in the series just for the inclusion of an actual "false cadence" in its music.
Chrysalis' reveal can still gives chills years later, just for how unsettlingly off it is and the distortion effect in her voice (and props to Kathleen Barr for the sterling performance). Even her (surprise) defeat of Celestia was an effective horror moment for its time (weakened since for being done to death); until now, no one had actually defeated her onscreen, nor in such blunt, violent fashion.
And then there's the changeling attack, which is as brutal as a meteor shower and then full of funny and effective moments as the Main Six and the changelings take advantage of the latter's own shapeshifting ability (case in point: I swear Rainbow kisses Fluttershy after her feint move, and of course Pinkie's use of Gatling Twilight right after her one line is a highlight).
ReplyDeleteI think that's the general theme of the episode: what can they get away with? The massive, Powerpuff-Girls-esque fighting scene alone packed so much violence into the show without precedent. And it's a thrill ride for a good chunk of the episode.
Even the next questionable element - getting Shining Armor and Cadence to unite again under Chrysalis' nose, since Chrysalis is clearly holding the Villain Ball at this point in effectively letting them - leads to at least an inevitable pay-off for all the character shilling, and yet more spectacle as the changelings are blasted out and the Canterlot residents can get back to a peaceful celebration.
Throw in the final song for a feel-good pay-off, and however rickety the flight over, I say the view was spectacular and the landing went like a charm. Taken as its own episode, this is arguably the best (if not most watertight) way to end a pony season ever devised. I don't think I'd put it at five stars - the plot holes and little idiocies do work against it - but for sheer gumption and pay-off, it's incredibly close.
When I introduced my mum to the show, I put this 2-parter on for her. :D
ReplyDeleteIt might just about scrape into my top 10, I'm not sure.
Hmm, would it make my top 10? It might. Eventually I may try to produce such a list. I reckon 5-6 episodes are certainties (eg "Hurricane Fluttershy") but the other places I'm really not sure of offhand.
DeleteI agree entirely with your Pinkie quote.
ReplyDeleteThis is the song that lots and lots of people hold up as the show's best, but it's middle of the road for me. I did like Chrysalis's premise and character design, but her plan was pretty dumb. At least the episode did keep up a good adventure pace throughout, but when the changelings' MO became to cocoon up their victims, why was Cadence left to roam relatively free? Or Twilight, for that matter. Why not copy her as well and have her return to the wedding all contrite for her behavior? There was too much about this that wasn't well thought out for me to place it any higher than "pleasant but unremarkable."