One day later than planned owing to the G5 trailer being announced for tomorrow, here we go with the penultimate part of one of the most popular Friendship is Magic seasons.
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| A fun Easter Egg here: that's Blythe's scooter from Littlest Pet Shop |
10 May 2014
My original rating (for the whole finale): 9/10 (=★★★★★)
IMDb score: 9.2
Thoughts: Here we are: the grand finale! Well, the first half of it at least. I enjoyed it enormously in 2014, and I still think it's great. I must admit I was wondering whether it would hold up after all these years – but apart from a few niggles, it generally does. This episode held me almost all the way. Tirek may not be quite as brutal as his G1 equivalent, but he's still a truly dangerous villain with the ability to manipulate Discord into joining him. (And in S4, at least, Discord's wavering on how good he really wants to be still feels believable.) The tie-in to the Cerberus scene two seasons earlier in "It's About Time" was quite something, too. Twilight's doubts about what being a princess means are something we don't see explored very much from S5 onwards, but at least we got it here, and it gave us one of the finest songs of the series, too. The visuals continue to be as good as S4 has got us used to, and while the rest of the Mane Six don't do a huge amount there is at least a nice touch of Fluttershy's slightly different view of Discord from the others. Finally, the requirement that the alicorns "rid ourselves of our magic" is perhaps a bit silly if you consider it too hard, given all the threats that must have turned up over the centuries, but it does up the stakes very nicely. Discovering how the box works by Pinkie chucking Boneless at it is even sillier, but it does advance the plot. Overall, I reckon this episode is a very high four for me these days. The song almost gets it a five, but not quite.
Choice quote: Discord: "Woe is me; will I ever learn the intricate nuances of being a good friend?"
New rating: ★★★★
Next up is, of course, part 2 – bringing us to the end of an era in FiM, and in more ways than we appreciated at the time. I'll be considering the episode on its own merits, and trying not to be influenced by what happened next. Trying
“Twilight’s Kingdom - Part 1” - Production Changes
ReplyDeleteThe Premise of this two-parter doesn't have a clear divide between the two parts, and is quite different from everything in the outline onwards (and would necessitate spoiling the big difference at Part 2's end). So it will be discussed separately when Part 2 is posted.
OUTLINE
Compared to the Premise, very little is different here! Many sequences go by with no different detail, or only the smallest, inconsequential difference. And most of those carry over to the first script.
Twilight’s friends are absent for the Crystal Empire scenes (which they didn’t contribute to anyway…). Tirek abducting the first unicorn’s powers has him silent until he’s taken the magic, at which point he thanks the unicorn for his donation. The scene with the Mane 7 and Discord shuffles around a few Mane 7 lines (giving Pinkie one of the other’s barbed insults, oddly), but is the same. When Tirek convinces Discord of his friendship, he gives the friendship object, a leaf-shaped clover from his cloak, to Discord there and then. The only change in the others realising what the Keys are for is Twilight assuming the objects are the Keys, rather than being clues to them.
Nothing to Part I's few changes - most carry over to the script, and the few that don't are the sort that naturally gets smoothed over with polish.
SCRIPT
The first act in the Crystal Empire is the same from the get-go - even the song's lyrics were a 90% match, though Cadance and Luna's solo had their roles reversed, and there was no visual description - little point when songs usually get rewritten by Daniel Ingram anyway. The rest of the script mostly had just little changes from the 1st draft to the 2nd draft, outside of a few select scenes. Tirek's first two scenes were functionally identical but still got overhauled - his first scene took another draft to match the final episode, while his scene with Discord was dramatically tightened up by 1.5 pages. This starts a trend, as Discord's scene with the Mane 7 also lost 1.5 pages from removing much protracted material (the most notable part being him "wondering" why Twilight was given her wings and crown, with Rainbow Dash countering that she earned them).
Finally, the sequence of Twilight and the other discussing the Keys, and putting them into the chest was originally 10.5 pages! This was due to having full flashbacks for all five ponies with dialogue from those scenes (sometimes not matching those episodes due to being based off of scripts at the time), and a lot more recapping on Twilight's part. All this was cut, losing over 2 pages, but other material from this sequence didn't get cut until the animatic.
These three massive cuts were enough to shorten the script to 27.5 pages - the Polish draft changed Tirek's 1st scene again and made more tweaks, including cutting a transition of Twilight looking out her bedroom window after her song; changing Pinkie activating her Key from being on purpose (she somehow knew…?) to being an accident; adding Scorpan to Tirek's backstory (it was much simpler originally, only two lines); and adding the flashes of Tirek and Discord stealing magic all over, though as proper isolated scenes, not they were eventually used. Lastly, the final scene of Celestia explaining things got a few tweaks, though it was changed much more later.
ANIMATIC & OTHER CHANGES
Because the final script came in at just under 29 pages, script cuts at the animatic stage are initially quite narrow - until the scene of Twilight telling her friends about Discord’s job, only a few sentences. Cuts and differences from then on include:
* The scene above had longer exposition from Twilight, and Pinkie taking Twilight’s “Unless you want me to smile and wave” line seriously, with resulting Pinkie silliness.
[animatic & other changes continued below]
[animatic & other changes continued from above]
Delete* Several of Twilight's friends supply reasons they’d like to visit the castle - Pinkie verbally and visually references her organ bit from “Castle Mane-ia” while Fluttershy says she wants to read a book about ponies who live under the water.
* The Mane 7’s initial research in the Castle has more Pinkie silliness in her showing some random objects that, naturally, are not clues (this is supposed to be a Clue bit, apparently).
* The sequence of the group figuring out about their Keys has flashbacks for all the Mane 5 (Pinkie got dialogue, Rainbow Dash and Rarity didn’t), and brief flashbacks later of them receiving their items, alongside longer dialogue throughout the scene.
* The scenes of Tirek and Discord stealing pony magic were scripted as separate scenes, complete with a few Discord lines (no pegasi scene existed at all, that was a storyboard invention). They were moved to visually accompany Celestia’s exposition in the final scene - this both saved time and kept said exposition from being draggy.
* The backstory of Tirek and Scorpan was originally just dialogue - the visual storybook element was added by the storyboard artists.
Animatic feedback was full of lots of praise - given how much this two-parter relies on visual spectacle, the storyboard artist’s work really cannot be understated. Pronunciation of Tirek wasn’t consistent at first, but they had takes of “TEER-wreck” from everyone. DHX also intended to keep Tartarus pronounced as it was in “It’s About Time”, but evidently this decision was overruled later on, as from this episode on, it’s been pronounced “Tar-tu-rus”. Most notes are standard “make this visually clearer” comments, though there was a mishap in using an older version of “You’ll Play Your Part” from before some lines were swapped between Luna or Cadence.
[That reuse of a LPS asset was specifically suggested on Hasbro's part - DHX jokes sharing assets would be easy, as they're just down the hall!]
The big change in the animatic came from Meghan suggesting, 11th hour, that the separate scenes of Tirek and Discord stealing magic be merged into being visual accompaniment to the final scene of Celestia explaining what had happened. DHX resisted this, feeling it messed with the pacing and that cutting from Twilight saying “Discord was trying to help in his own way” to him helping Tirek was too good to throw out, for the emotional impact. DHX’s hand was evidently forced, as there is a script extract for the revised final scene (the dialogue order is shuffled around, saying Discord betrayed them early on, but the lines aren’t changed), and more feedback about the revised ending. To their credit, Hasbro does acknowledge this late revision (across just five days - DHX worked fast!) was a painful experience, but the end result was worth it.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If we discount the notably different Premise, the outline and scripts for Part I doesn’t have much of note, surprising for a season finale which would have had lots of people to please. Biggest thing is nearly 6 pages getting slashed in the 2nd script, really tightening up three key scenes or sequences that were very draggy originally. Shows great restraint and a desire to make it as economical as possible! The song being so close from the get-go is surprising too, guess Meghan McCarthy was learning Amy Keating Rogers' musical instincts!
Beyond that, lots of great additions in the storyboard stage, and a last-minute revision to the ending that saved time and combined several scenes in a more effective way - not bad! Say what one will about the two-parter being style over substance, but in Part I at least, they worked very hard to improve and sculpt it along the way. And it shows.
P.S. On time again! This ghost is a little rushed today, so my thoughts on the actual episode will come later.
I hope that big surprise change helps explain why Tirek thought all of Equestria's magic belonged to him. :O Always wondered about that line.
Delete...given how much this two-parter relies on visual spectacle, the storyboard artist’s work really cannot be understated."
DeleteAmen to that! The layouts were spot on for mood and clarity as well!
the visual storybook element was added by the storyboard artists.
DeleteGood for them! I really liked it, as I did the similar section the following season in the Griffonstone episode.
Good for them! I really liked it, as I did the similar section the following season in the Griffonstone episode.
DeleteAlternate art styles for backstories are one of those ideas that's such a no-brainer, but only because they always tend to work so well. That, and getting any scene in in a different visual style (one of the many, MANY pleasures of the Kung Fu Panda films is this, usually for two key scenes each film).
It doesn't make this backstory scene super-great - it's too short and just surface-level stuff to resonate as much as the one that started the show, for instance - but it's absolutely got the goods.
I hope that big surprise change helps explain why Tirek thought all of Equestria's magic belonged to him. :O Always wondered about that line.
…I wouldn't hold your breath.
Really, though, you wondered about that line? I just interpreted it as typical power-hungry villain stuff.
This is almost a great double-parter in my eyes. It's a very neat wrapping up of Twilight's and Discord's season-long arcs, and Tirek makes for a juggernaut-type villain who works awfully well for a season climax. In fact, pretty much every Discord-Tirek interaction collectively counts as one of my favourite parts of the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat holds it back are two things:
Firstly, in order to get the big epic showdown, Celestia has to make the dumbest decisions possible. Discord was never in a position where he'd earned any trust (the season premier should have put paid to that idea with his withholding the Plundervine info till afterwards), so why the hell did she not give him a chaperone? Like, I dunno, Fluttershy, who's effectively his parole officer?
Especially since the flashback unintentionally confirms that Tirek CAN be stopped without Discord, even if he's needed to track the magical imbalances in the first place, there was no reason for Discord to go solo other than to get the plot started. When Celestia says, "I put too much trust in Discord", my reaction is always, "Geez, ya think!?"
To say nothing of the incredibly weak assumption in her later strategy that Tirek does NOT know of Twilight's existence, nor of the obvious problem that hiding the magic is only a minor delaying tactic at best, nor of the fact that not telling her friends is what gets them into danger to begin with...
Like, there could have been ways to write these decisions and have them make sense, but in their current form, they make Celestia out to be shockingly inept at crisis control. I mean not in a way that was intentional by the writers.
The second thing that holds it back is the far-too-obvious toyetic motive behind some narrative moves, but we'll shoot that bugbear when we get to it...
I take the point about Celestia, and of course this was hardly the only time in the show that she was dumbed down compared to how she must have been in reality. I suspect the toyetic things will bother me a bit less now than they once did, though we'll see.
DeleteLike the premise outline, it's hard for me to handle two-parters as two separate episodes, so I'll just say I always liked this one, I was glad we got a big knock-down, drag-out fight with Twilight just being MAD at someone, and I'm very glad it didn't set the tone for the continuation of the series. It was a good one-time deal that didn't destroy the core of the show or anything. :)
ReplyDeleteI am very much looking forward to the fight scene. Unless something very weird has happened since I last saw this episode, I'll love it as I always have.
DeleteWith the caveat that I had to accept Celestia's major moves as, "She's an immortal chess master and there must be things going on that I don't know or understand," I loved this episode.
ReplyDeleteThe song is one of my favorites of the whole series, and the artists knocked it out of the park on this one. Just look at the boarding and layouts for the alley scene with Discord and Tirek!
As PP said, it is hard to give separate ratings to the two parts, but I think I'd give this one five stars on its own... if I don't think about Celestia's "plans" too hard.
It's absolutely on the four/five boundary for me at the moment. So much so that I might well have given it a five on another day. If there was a 4.5 rating, it would get that for sure.
DeleteIt is very, very hard to look at two-parters as individual episodes (excepting cases where there is a notable quality difference, like "A Canterlot Wedding"). It's arguably even harder here, as most positives and negatives more fully involve the events of Part 2, or at least need it for full context.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really until my rewatch of the show that it fully dawned on me how the show's Season Premieres/Finales in general tend to be weaker then most viewers feel, but especially the Finales. Excepting "The Best Night Ever", which is able to still tap into the same gentle Slice of Life benefits common to the rest of the show, it's a poor slate - everything past this point is bad at best and abysmal at worst, but even before now, we've had one status quo changer that shook the fandom and which is, frankly, a hot mess at best. Even "A Canterlot Wedding", I was shocked to discover, suffers from its setup episode being merely decent, though its second part is truly fantastic. It doesn't help that, from Season 2-4, the season finales had to shoulder the brunt of Hasbro's Buy Our Toys pushing - given that, many parts of them turned out quite well. But the show still gets alarmingly poor with hiding its motives during these episodes.
Given all that, I was happy to find that "Twilight's Kingdom" was better than I remembered. My points for this episode are basically the same as Impossible Numbers (though marginally less intense on the negatives). Twilight and Discord's arcs are in pretty great shape, and I was surprised at how effective Tirek was - that's what the rot of Season 9 will do for one's impression of a character! Every scene with Tirek and Discord sings with comic chemistry. The song featured here truly is one of the show's best. Many of the big flaws are actually less noticeable next episode then here - the toyetic marketing stuff is mostly confined to there, the Mane 5 still get a little to do here, and more Idiot Ball decisions happen there than here. Though Part 2 contains most of the highs, "You'll Play Your Part" excepted.
But let's not miss the forest for the trees - the Idiot Ball is strong with this one. I have no new observations, either to Impossible Numbers' points or those that have been made ever since this episode Premiered. I will keep my frustration in check - compare this to something like "School Raze" and this one's writing mishaps barely register - but we've seen the show, and Meghan McCarthy specifically, handle this kind of thing no problem before. It doesn't cripple the episode, but it certainly takes a large chunk out of its armour.
That being said, I think these two episodes (they're still close enough in quality that it's not worthwhile tackling them separately) are really good. It's worth noting that it is more or less the one time a season finale actually makes use of preceding events across the season, in plot and character, and strengthens its resulting effect. It's certainly easier to be gentle on the Mane 5 being largely Glorified Extras with the previous setup events in one's mind judging this alongside the season.
I didn't dwell too much on this episode's positives, huh? It honestly does work really well, and comes quite close to greatness. The positives are there to be seen and have been for over seven years. Even if it says a lot that episodes with as notable flaws as these are still, by default, the show's 2nd best season finale!
I kickstarted a thread elsewhere on this page on the quality of the storyboarding and layout, so I'll just chime in again - it really is so good! Making such things actually interesting and dynamic in Flash animation - even this Flash animation - is hard, and these two episodes are surefire candidates for Most Visually Impressive Episodes. Helps that, unlike sporadically throughout this season, the ambition usually sticks the landing!
It'll always be a five for me, even without the second half; it feels like a two parter on its own, packing in so many lasting moments. The scenes with only Tirek and Discord are like a reverse Bechdel test case! And that song is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree on the Tirek/Discord interplay. I'm actually surprised I didn't really touch on that in my "Thoughts" above, but then it's not supposed to be a complete review. That's my excuse, anyway!
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