Before I begin, I'd like to thank everyone who takes the time to comment on these posts. Whether it's just a one-liner or Mike Cartoon Karma's incredibly detailed extravaganzas (and to answer your comment from last time, Mike, I do indeed read them!) they're all very welcome. And now, by dint of some complete accident meticulous planning, I'm watching this episode during the Olympics! Off we go...
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| Blueblood actually paying attention to something for once |
S4E24: "Equestria Games"
Written by Dave Polsky
3 May 2014
My original rating: 7.5/10 (=★★★)
IMDb score: 7.9
Thoughts: For a long time in 2014, many of us thought the Games would be S4's grand finale. As such, some fans were slightly disappointed that they turned out not to be. Still, this remains quite a fun episode, with lots of variety and colour as befits its subject matter. I like Twilight's slightly awkward compassion for Spike in this episode, and I believe this was the first ep (though of course not the last!) to feature four alicorns in one scene. As a Spike ep it doesn't quite hit the mark perfectly, although it's one of the best of his focus stories up to this point and the anthem scene is cringily perfect. The "ice cloud" scene is strange, though: a Games which took such precautions over cheating unicorns would surely have ponies standing by to avoid such danger. The Wonderbolts didn't help, either! I enjoyed Ponyville's relay silver winning the medal count* and I was particularly happy Rainbow and co didn't go in for the always-irritating "second is first loser" stuff when they medalled. Overall, it's all a bit Polsky: lots of fun ideas that maybe don't quite stitch together as seamlessly as they might have. A high three is what I gave this in 2014, and it's keeping that rating.
* Though only if you use US-style counting... ;)
Choice quote: Twilight: "Equestria, we have a problem."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is the big finish! Though as per my usual practice, I'll be giving each half of the finale its own post. "Twilight's Kingdom" is one of the most famous and popular episodes in FiM history – but does it stand the test of time? Part 1 coming next.
I'm here before Mike! :O
ReplyDeleteIt's a perfectly okay episode, I think a lot of disappointment is just wrapped up in the fact that the event was hyped up for two entire seasons, and... this was all we got. :B
Indeed you are! That can happen on a weekday, when I've started work right around when the post comes up and don't have space until the evening to come back and do my episode thoughts (not pre-written), and the Production Changes (obviously pre-written).
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Putting this in this comment because there's no room in any other posts on this page for it.
Just a little note for some - doing these Production Changes documentation is something of a personal experiment, to see how far I can take it, and whether it's worth it. I'm super stunned that this stuff is barely documented anywhere, despite our fandom's size, nearly two whole years on. I'm obviously using Logan's rewatch blogs as motivation to do them. My intention, when this season is over, is to do a blog of my own discussing how this production process works, give the full context, and them maybe a Top 10 Most Interesting Season 4 Production Changes. As relatively uneventful as this Season has been, it can still produce that! And probably from that blog I'll link to somewhere where I'll put these posts and my notes.
Don't know yet if I'll be as in-depth with Season 5 - I already looked through them in far less detail before, and it's got far more differences, many of them not for the better (would it surprise you to know that "The Cutie Re-Mark" was redone from scratch three or four times? Or that Starlight's "backstory motivation" was brought into one of the last scripts? Wait till you hear about how "Brotherhooves Social" went through four different iterations of an episode with Big Mac as Twilight's first guard - yeah, the season actually tackled Twilight being a princess! - before being tossed out).
But geez, these are stressful to do. I don't want to be less than thorough, so these notes can feel definitive. But it takes several hours per episode, and I have to do them right after rewatching it, otherwise it takes even longer without those fresh memories. This much I can say - I will not be continuing it into Season 6. Apart from having almost fully written off that back half of the show, I've looked at the documents enough to observe a change in writing. Very rarely does stuff change dramatically when hitting the writing stage, so lax was Haber and co. Plus, the script get written much shorter, meaning basically nothing gets cut. Enough that the visuals additions the storyboard artists come up with, which almost inevitably get cut here if they require dedicated screentime? They're actually a necessity in many later episodes.
Anyway, just a few cents on the matter.
If there's regularly far less to report in the later seasons, that's a good reason to stop. But know all of us here in the comments are cheering you on, waiting for your writeups with bated breath each week. :D
Delete"... Big Mac as Twilight's first guard..."
DeleteO.O Holy Carp! That would have been wonderful... if done right.
I wish I had more to say about this episode. But I think most people's disappointment that the Equestria Games themselves were relegated to mostly background noise, after a few prior episodes had their plots pivot around setting up the games, is bang on.
ReplyDeleteIt's very easy, when consuming a fiction, to not take the result on its own merits due to it not matching your own pre-conceived expectations. This impulse is dangerous, of course, and we should welcome having our expectations challenged. As adults here, we all know that. But it's totally different when they've being setting up something, and then bail on it.
What's weird is, this doesn't read as them changing their minds about not focusing on the games or anything. Instead, I get the impression that they never intended to give them much focus - "Games Ponies Play" could well have been a standalone episode, many cartoons have characters go through a task to get something good for the future that we don't see and aren't meant to, because it's not the point. The two Season 4 episodes are different, but by then they knew, of course, that they intended to have this episode. More than that, I think the staff honestly thought that an episode focused purely on the academic events, without the usual character dilemma, wouldn't be a good fit for the show. I can see that - certainly, while I want an episode more about the games themselves, I don't know how it should go.
Of course, that the episode comes up as "less then the sum of its parts" doesn't help matters either - had it delivered, there'd be far less "you should have done this!" reactions. As far as spotlighting Spike goes, his character is more passive than most of the Mane 6, so some plot and character tugging is required to get around that. This, I think, works, though two key elements had better explanations that didn't make it to the final episode (the details of how Spike saved the day don't matter as it's transitioned from history to legend already, and spotlighting that his heroic side works best as a impulse when there's no time to think.
[As arbitrary as the ice cloud incident seems, it's a small wonder it comes across that way, what with that section being retooled and stripped of lore baggage towards the end - not that said baggage makes it any better.]
Let's note that, like many episodes of its vintage, it is quite good at letting the little moments along the way deliver. I actually remember quite a bit from this one, despite it being no more then pleasingly diverting. The episode's main plot may get sidetracked from the games, but little moments - and especially the visuals - do a great job of tying it to prior Equestria Games episodes that little bit more. And I do mostly like Spike's arc and plot in this - as far as his arc goes, it's one of his better episodes (I'll admit, got a little teary-eyed at his final speech). Certainly, one can see the start of his greater respect and treatment come Season 6 starting to take root here. So, yes, the episode is disappointing, but still solid enough in its own right. Dumping the Games wasn't smart, but given that, this is good enough.
P.S. Doesn't it seem bizarre that a town a small as Ponyville could win the medal count? There's only so many top athletes you can have with a population that small.
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Thanks everybody, for the acknowledgements that you do read and enjoy the Production Changes comments!
I was more saying that I wished the changes were more interesting - Season 4's development seems to have been very uneventful compared to most others (again, most aren't interesting enough for DVD extras). And since it takes hours with each episode to put these notes together, I don't fully format them for easy reading. So I'd totally get glazing over them.
Happily, these last three episodes all have whammies - stay tuned!
DeleteThe answer is they have one.
Rainbow Dash.
That's all you need.
“Equestria Games” - Production Changes
ReplyDeleteAs one might expect with an episode juggling as many plot lines as this, it wasn't a smooth ride! Dave Polsky wrote this one from the start - fitting, as he wrote "Games Ponies Play", which kicked off the Equestria Games plot line over a year prior.
PREMISE
The episode's first half, through to Spike getting down in the dumps once Twilight tells him how she lit the torch, is the same, other than Spike being instantly nervous when asked to light the torch, rather than only upon arriving at the stadium. Similarly, once an icy incident arises in the climax, the episode ends the same.
But those middle seven minutes, they're a bit different! Basically a paragraph summarises how Spike keeps inserting himself into situations to do something outstanding, but on top of not feeling satisfied, he messes things up for those who's time to shine it is. He keeps trying harder and digs the hole more. The Mane 6 try to put a positive spin on things, but Spike won't feels good until he believes the praise personally, so they resolve to intervene. And it's at an ice-skating event where their attempts to stop him crosses paths with his own terrible plan and freezes some competitors.
All in all, a bit vague, but par for the course when your Premise is only a page.
OUTLINE
Similar to "Rainbow Falls", Bulk Biceps is called Brutus until later script drafts, before the character's name was fully settled on. There's very little differences through to Spike being asked to light the flame (and being instantly nervous) - and some of the detail, like the opening scene on the train, is scarily accurate already. Differences include, instead of Spike being whisked away on a chair, he chases a footpony that carries their bags away, and is confused when addressed by title after the foot pony apologies. And the scene in the palace of his reputation being explained clarifies how the details of what he did are incidental since he is the stuff of legend.
When Ms. Harshwhinny is explaining things to Spike (she oddly fawns over him much like the crystal ponies), he's led onto the field prior to the ceremony starting, and there's some different details (Shining Armor being with the Princesses, Rainbow and Fluttershy in the stands). Though the CMC parrot Spike's advice back at him, he's still very nervous. Next difference comes after the torch lighting - Twilight tells the others to compliment Spike before he shows up, and his "I can light fire with my mind!" bit goes on longer, and though Twilight rebuffs Applejack saying she's got to tell him, she only does so once Spike is telling Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps that he can't attend their event due to possibly setting the Wonderbolts on fire by accident. He's crushed, of course.
Next scene finds Spike in a mopey daze in the stands, comforted only by the fact that the Wonderbolts won't spontaneously combust, while Rarity complains about the horn-disabling spell, rather then he seeing it being applied. Spike gets more dejected as he keeps getting asked for autographs, and decides to do something. At the Track and Field event, the Mane 6 take a break as there's no Ponyville players there and it's not a final, but Spike excuses himself. Once let past security by Ms. Harshwhinny… Spike starts running in the event, and though lagging, he's determined to prove himself. Ms. Harshwhinny argues with him, and though she softens once he's explained why he needs to do this, the main runners about about to lap them! The two are whisked to safety in the nick of time, but the incident causes Spike's popularity to evaporate. She resolves to not let him out of her sight.
[outline continued below]
[outline continued from above]
DeleteAt the ice-archery event at night (Celestia and Luna switch places to let one preside over the event depending on the time of day), it is a unicorn-only event, done by ice spells rather then arrows. Spike is stuck being babysat by Ms. Harshwhinny, not even registering the Mane 6's protests that he's special to them ("yeah, for sweeping floors and carrying bags"). Applejack calls it off, saying he's too despondent to be helped right now, and they resolve to do something for him back home later.
The incident that goes wrong is quite different - one unicorn misfires and encases another in ice, and their own panicky ice spells worsen the problem. Since the competitors only have ice spells enabled and everypony else is fully blocked, there is a panic, with Ms. Harshwhinny rushing to get the disabling spells cut off, but the unicorn is turning blue fast. Spike melts the ice off, and the episode basically end the same thereafter.
So! Much like the Premise, the first half and the last few minutes are very close to the final episode (excepting some prolonged setup to the torch lighting), but most of the second half is vastly different. Spike really got the Idiot Ball, trying to compete in an event like that, and the incident being a pony almost freezing to death… how did that get approved? Very dark, bleak stuff. Comes across as a huge safety hazard, if freezing spells can do that.
1ST SCRIPT
This deserves its own section, as it hews quite closely to the outline. Thankfully, everything to do with Spike running in an event is scrapped for him botching the Cloudsdale anthem, but a unicorn almost freezing to death is still here! And even more bleak with the description of him turning blue as security frets and can't cut the disabling spell because one of the four ponies needed is missing.
Most other differences from the outline carry over. These include Spike chasing a footpony, being instantly nervous, Ms. Harshwhinny fawning over him (she asides that her nieces and nephews will think she's so awesome for having walked with him), the failed reassurance from the CMC (Spike excuses himself to try and use them needing help as an excuse to get out of lighting the torch), and generally a little less focus on the events.
The scenes between Spike moping off after Twilight tells him the truth, and the anthem botch, go a bit different - like the outline, Rarity complains about the disabling spells rather than us getting to see them be applied. There's a bit of the CMCs noticing Spike isn't present and Apple Bloom going off to find him. She finds him near the palace, reflecting on feeling he let everypony down, and only when Apple Bloom, after failing to convince him to come, or that everything's fine, suggests he ask Ms. Harshwhinny for something to do, does he come back. His initial attempt is politely turned down - as she still fawns over him, she assures him everything is fine and that as a hero, he should just enjoy the show. She even buys him a soda and pats his head before moving off! Him going onto the pitch is almost halted by security, but they let him past once they realise who he is.
And that's still not all the differences! Most of Shining Armor's lines on the pitch before the anthem are said by Rainbow Dash. In the opening scene on the train, Dash had a bit of chrousing for better whinnying from the teams too. Finally, the scene of the CMCs trying to convince Spike to come (the scene header says two weeks have passed) is longer, more focus on them needing their gear out again for a repeat of their routine at the closing ceremonies. And much of the dialogue on the events is different (nothing about medal count leads). And there's more small scenes that got cut, like a few bits of Twilight and Cadence in the box (a level lower then the Royal Sisters).
[continued below]
[continued from above]
DeleteREMAINING SCRIPTS
A few bits are cut in the next script - Dash chorusing for better whinnying - but mostly things get replaced, so the length remains the same. Almost all notable differences get axed - Spike gets picked up at the train station rather then chasing a footpony, we see the disabling spell get applied to Rarity, the CMCs short scene of failing to convince Spike to come is truncated, the scenes building up to the song are revised to match the final episode, and the competitor getting iced is now a cloud (though still by a spell, it's a unicorn-only event). There's quite a few new extra bits, but they don't get cut until the animatic. Most details about the events themselves, like the medal counts, get added here too.
The next polish draft shortens the script by 2 whole pages, to barely 30. Some scenes, like the exposition of Spike's fame in the palace, get shortened and adjusted to perfectly match the final episode. A bit on the train of Dash listing off the random events of the other teams, complete with cutaways to their bizarre outfits, is axed. Dialogue between Twilight and Cadence in the stands early on is cut, and the scene of Spike being nervous on the field is cut too, so now he only gets nervous when at the torch. Harshwhinny fawning over Spike hits the recycle bin too. The ice archery event is retooled to be with arrows and not unicorn-only (the previous draft had the anomaly of the favourite from Cloudsdale being a unicorn, to be fair!).
The remaining drafts simply adjust a few lines between Spike and Ms. Harshwhinny, change some of his reflection dialogue at the end, and correct all mentions of Brutus to Bulk Biceps.
ANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES
Though the final script is only just 30.5 pages, the presence of many visual-only bits that require more screen time then the script dictates (both events are only described in the barest of visual details here) still means a share of cuts and changes. Notable bits include:
* Apple Bloom fretting she forgot their hoop whilst on the train, before Spike assures her he packed an extra - this was shortened to a visual of the CMCs being excited and Spike with their gear, still getting the desired exposition across.
* After the opening titles, Dash and Pinkie talk about the medals (Pinkie remarks it’s tense already, to which Dash point out the games haven’t started, and Pinkie elaborated that means it’s a twelve-way tie already!), and Dash settles into the seat brought for Spike before being dumped out. Spike also leaps out while carried away for the bags he’s supposed to be helping with, giving more context for Cadence saying they’ll get other ponies to handle those.
* A short scene of Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity in the stands, remarking on Spike’s role, and Pinkie yelling and failing to get Dash and Fluttershy’s attention. There is also a visual of Celestia with a central seat in the box, which Luna takes over to lead the Games by for the night events. Twilight was scripted as being a level down from Celestia and Luna, with Cadence and other important ponies.
* Ms. Harshwhinny addresses Spike in the script as Mr. Spike - the “Mr. The Dragon” bit came from DHX as an idea while recording.
* After Twilight tells Spike that she covered for him and he slouches away, she tries to convince him he was great, to a mopey reply. He counters the argument that he saved the Empire by saying he just carried something, and carrying things is his one skill. Meghan McCarthy lobbied for this to be retained, for better clarity as to the subtle theme, but Jayson countered that aside from being tight on time, it extended the scene past its natural ending point and was a redundant double beat.
[continued below - yes, 4 parts were needed this time]
[continued from above, and finally concluded!]
Delete* Rarity tries to use a spell after being disabled - and set off a loud air horn blast.
* The anthem Spike sings wasn’t totally improvised - the first 15 seconds or so were as written but the song finished shortly after, so all of the rest was Cathy Wesluck improvising to the provided tune.
* The focused ice archer is not another pony trying to catch up to Number 7, but Number 7 straining to hold his lead, leading to the mis-fired arrow.
* Many unicorns try to stop the ice cloud, but the airhorn blasts from doing so stop them, and also cave in rubble that blocks Celestia and Luna from intervening in time.
* Many fun gags, like Spike using his head like a lighter (a callback to “Apple Family Reunion”) and him whipping out an umbrella after saving the day, were added in storyboards.
Animatic feedback is quite long too! There’s a couple of mistakes on DHX’s part which they assured they’d adjust, and a fair share of “can you visually play this moment up more, or adjust it like so?” requests. One particularly smart call was to lose Spike looking around before leaping into action, as the episode is about how his instincts to be heroic when needed triumph all else where he doesn’t get too deep inside his head.
According to the animatic feedback, Twilight was initially boarded as sitting with the dukes and wealthy elite, to show how she’s not yet on the same level as the other three Princesses (Cadence moved up to them), and to play into her own feelings of being superfluous, with no proper seat - she gets sandwiched between the rulers and regular ponies. Evidently after this response to Hasbro’s confusion, this got retracted (on DHX’s own doing or by Hasbro insisting is unknown) and Twilight got a proper royal seat.
Notably, Meghan McCarthy chimes in with feedback of her own here too (most of it about getting back in some cut lines). One other contention point was removing Celestia and Luna being subdued, as it opened the question of why the Princesses didn’t jump in - Jayson responded that they’d already shortened this action scene as the cloud descended too slow otherwise and planned to cut it down even more, and that doing so and keeping the focus on Spike’s heroics was better then adding an additional problem and muddling the focus just to address one tiny complaint most viewers would never notice or think of. They do have a point - it is often better to tighten the focus and spotlight the emotional intent such that plot holes don't register, rather then devoting so much screen time to addressing them that the scene's pacing, intent and entertainment value takes a nosedive.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
That was a lot of differences - and I can skipped over some tiny ones not worth recapping! The two biggest takeaways there are the asinine point of Spike trying to compete in an event himself in the outline, which just paints him in a horrible light. And, of course, a competitor almost freezing due to an ice spell, which is so dark one wonders how it made it as far as the 1st script. Past that, while not as much of the 1st script was retooled as with "Inspiration Manifestation" or "Leap of Faith", a fair chunk was revised, mostly for the better, and it's interesting that two pages were cut in a polish draft. Those who feel the events didn't get enough focus will be interested to know it was even less in the script - other bits were cut to have more focus shots of the aerial relay, so it at least pays off of "Rainbow Falls" better.
So, as much as the final episode still seems a bit muddled and unfocused, and bizarre for sidelining the Equestria Games themselves for a Spike-focused episode… take pride in the fact that it was far more muddled earlier and made asinine and bizarre decisions got cut or revised. And the pacing was more sluggish too.
Yeah, it really does sound better thanks to polish and revision.
DeleteThank goodness DHX came up with "Mister The Dragon", that's honestly one of my favorite parts of this episode. :D
I don't know what I missed, but I never got the sense that this episode was being saved for a big finale. I thought it was fun and had a nice moral, though Spike's delusions of grandeur were a bit too over the top. I very much agree that the lack of a safety backup for what happened at the archery contest rankled me, as it seems obvious something like that could happen. One of my favorite incidental moments was how happy Lyra looked after passing through the magic suppression portal.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for most people, but I certainly get the impression that people generally did not think the Equestria Games would be the season finale the way Logan noted above - though if he can verify it from the time, that's good enough proof for me! More just that it shouldn't have been mere background noise.
DeleteHa, from now on, whenever someone points out the lack of safety backups during the archery contest, I can only smile and laugh, knowing in the original draft it nearly froze a competitor to death, and the problem came about because the unicorns competing could only fire freezing spells (apart from anything else, this contradicts established lore that unicorns can, in nearly all cases, only do basic telekinesis and magic relating to their special talent, so that's another benefit to changing it). So the disabling spells not only stopped them fixing the problem, they caused it in the first place! Flabbergasted that didn't get shot down right away, let alone making it through the outline and 1st draft.
No joke, I actually went back and checked that moment of Lyra's smile, couldn't remember it despite only watching the episode a few weeks ago. Not sure quite why she's so happy, but good for her! I'm sure the fandom has ways to fit that in with her oft-kilter fandom personality (maybe not having making makes her feel more like a human? Who knows with this fandom).
"...cringily perfect."
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why this episode gets a much lower rating from me: I hate cringe comedy, and got tired of Spike being an utter moron for laughs a couple of seasons before.
Couple that with the glaring logic gaps, and Polsky being his usual gag-meister-at-the-expense-of-the-story self, and this episode only just squeaks into two stars territory for me.
Totally subjective, I know, but (IMHO) the Idiot Ball is a thing that needs to be killed with fire.
I don't often comment as I don't feel I have anything interesting or insightful to say, but I read these avidly and always eagerly anticipate the new one, so thank you!
ReplyDelete