My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:: READ POST 11156/PAGE 558

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I was pleased.

 

Much better than the Crystal Empire and actually brings my hopes up for this season. i admit, I was a bit cautiously optimistic after how lackluster Season 3 was. Always good to see some world building and flashbacks, even if they were pretty short.

 

It looks like Discord's role is going to be Q meets the Genie from Aladdin, which is not as bad as him being Q 2.0, one of the the reasons why I don't like him as much as everyone else. Also, I kinda like the fact that Discord is not so much evil as he is just a dick. Though Fluttershy threatening to "unfriend" Discord did Irk me a  bit. Seriously, I think redeeming villains just because they want a friend is the most cliche and unbelievable way to do so. 

 

But overall, a good way to start off the season, and i'm pretty excited to see more.

[Snatcher2047]

Wow.  I can honestly say that was my favorite of the two-parters so far.  I'm actually kind of happy the Elements Of Harmony are gone and probably won't make a return any time soon, so they have to try and come up with other methods to save the day.  Although that locked thingy makes wonder...

 

And THANK CELESTIA Discord is back to form and can return to his usual dickery without said Elements in play for the moment.  And I really love getting to see more of what really transpired between Luna and Celestia.  That was a rather chilling scene.

 

OK, bring on the the slice-of-life episodes we love so much!

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I was pleased.

 

Though Fluttershy threatening to "unfriend" Discord did irk me a bit.

You make it sound like they're on Facebook or something.

[Lux Klonoa]

Um, guys, I don't think we should count the EoH out yet. The Tree did sprout that mysterious chest from it, did it? For all we know, it could contain powered-up versions of them or something.

 

That, and Celestia's mane going upward when she was using the EoH... I'll leave it to you to figure out what I'm hinting at.

[Sean]

You guys don't need to use spoiler tags because the episode has already aired. Seriously, it makes reading this topic an absolute pain.

[LATER BUDDY]

So hello again! Honestly kinda fell out of this the past few months since there wasn't much going on, and doesn't seem like fan works are all that steady either. But as Season 4 kicks up I guess I'm back to anticipate each new episode as the weeks go on haha.

 

The first episode two parter was interesting to say at the least. I largely felt "where the fuck is this going" like the entire time, and even after it ended I was largely missing the feeling of the episode being resolved. I mean it was, but I guess it left more of a "Oh...ok, I guess that happened. Nothing to see here folks, just move along!"

 

Though on more specific things there are some stuffs I was really glad about. First and foremost I'm really happy with Discord's new position (assuming he stays in this role). I really enjoy that he's largely himself still, but still not ignoring the reform. He'll still let the world rot into devastation, loling as he's watching the world burn at others' expenses, but his intentions underlying it all that he's trying to teach a lesson. I hope that's not the end of him and continues with his havoc on the Mane 6.

 

The other thing was is that I hope with the Tree of Harmony holding the Elements of Harmony to stay alive, that this means the crew's fail safe is busted. No more retreating to "Oh no, bad things, lets go super sonic and clean this up real fast!," they're in actual danger now and have to do something else about solving their problems. No more rainbow blasted hyper beams to bad guy's faces to quickly resolve something, or at least I'm hoping.

 

So that said I hope the season finale is pretty intense. Would totally love an ongoing under-plot thing through out the episodes of Discord getting his revenge/uprising now that his weakness is gone, but we'll see I guess. More importantly excited for the regular slice of life episodes coming next.

[Sean]

The only thing I didn't like about the episode was how aimless it all felt. It had some nice scenes and some genuine emotional reactions out of the characters, however most of the time I was just only wondering about where the flying fuck it was all going to end up, and as a result it felt very difficult to care too much about what was going on.

[#AR]

Finally caught up and finished the rest of season 3 and watched today's episodes.

 

Pretty good episodes. Some pacing issues here and there that a lot of people mentioned already. I also was a tad bit frustrated at the whole "lol Twilight can't fly" shtick, but I was pretty much satisfied with everything else. I've been waiting a long time to see the battle between Luna/Nightmare Moon and Celestia, and I loved how they did it. It was amazing. Discord kicked ass in this episode (as per usual), not much else to say here haha.

In terms of the plot, I thought it was alright. The white potion thing I thought just kinda came out of nowhere and some of the resolutions felt kinda...rushed I guess. The whole momentary split made me go "...huh?" Seemed a bit too plot point-ish than an actual important growth thing.

Overall though, I was satisfied. Solid 7/10 from me. Still doesn't replace season 2's premier as my favorite, but an improvement over S3's. Anticipating what this season's going to bring to the table.

[Strickerx5]

My thoughts on this opener:

 

Interesting, that's the word of the day. This two parter certainly did tackle a lot of interesting ideas and completely surprised me at points. It was a good opener to say the least. I was going to type this out in my usual paragraph format but... it's been a long day and I just want to get my thoughts out.

 

Pros:

- The episode seemed so self aware of all the problems the fandom had coming out of last season. From Twilight telling her friends to not call her by her new title and that they would still be close to her to Discord managing to be the villain of this whole plot, it all just screamed "Yes, we made some changes but you're still going to get what you're here for" from the writers. XD

-Luna

-I liked the way Celestia was written in this. Really showed the close bond she has with Twilight along with her troubled past. Really hoping to see more of this as we go further into the season.

-Spike was as big of a character as any of the main six in this, not just pushed to the side like in a lot of other two parters.

-Almost all of the characters were on point and utilized well.

-Twilight's quick slip into her obsessive self from Lesson Zero

-Luuuna

-Discord is back with ALL if his charm.

-Nice to see Zecora becoming more and more of a main character.

-Nightmare Moon flashback sequence was as epic as it should of been.

-Dat reveal of Discord being behind all of it doh.

-Moon Butt

-Episode focuses on expanding previously discussed topics instead of trying to work in something new in the small time it had. What I mean by this is that it explains some previously unknown topics (like where the elements actually came from) instead of focusing on something new (like Sombra, he was cool... but not really explained and just ends up adding dead weight to the series).

-The loss of the elements make way for more, less generic, story solutions for the future.

-This animation... my god.

-LUUUUUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAA

 

Cons:

-The two episodes drag at times. It's liked they learned to not cram everything into one episode, but then went the opposite way and stretched it out for too long. It's not as bad as cramming, but it did seem unnecessary and is something I hope doesn't happen during the rest of the season.

-I did not like Applejack in this... more so than usual. It wasn't that she was out of character in her actions (she was being perfectly honest), she just came off as unlikeable to me. Her idea to send Twilight back to Pony Ville was just uncalled for and just ended up being a total waste of time.

-The whole scene with the main six accusing Discord just seemed out of place and kind of goes against what the show is in the first place, a lesson on friendship. Them being so quick to want to turn Discord back to stone just seemed a bit harsh. Especially with Fluttershy who, despite being the biggest advocate for him in Keep Calm and Flutter On, just seemed to stay on the sideline and barely intervened through the entire scene.

- As cool as the flashback sequences were, they seemed to be loosely based to what was actually going on and sort of came out of nowhere. What was that potion and where did it even come from? Also, these could of easily been their own episode and just seemed to be thrown in there just because. Especially the last two. It seemed as though we were thrown into the end of what could of been an awesome episode. Why do Celestia and Luna looked so beaten up like that? How did they learn about the tree? Seriously, not every episode has to revolve around one of the main six/CMC. I'm not saying I hated these scenes (far from it), I just think they could of been much more effective given their own episode.

-Some of the lines in this opener just came off a bit forced. Especially with the guards.

-No pretext for the Harmony tree. Which goes back to what I said about the flashbacks

-every scene that doesn't involve, center upon, reference, or directly relate to Luna

 

Overall, these were some quite enjoyable episodes that lead to a multitude of possibilities for this season. While it's not my favorite two parter or opening ( A Canterlot Wedding and The Return of Harmony still has it beat), it's still an enjoyable time coming off a long wait with much uncertainty.

 

Let the new season commence!

 

[Frogging101]

I just watched it now on YouTube (I don't get The Hub because Canada). I thought it was very good. The plot wasn't all that well executed, as others have mentioned; I felt that much of it lacked direction. Discoid was hilarious, and that twist at the end was funny as well. On the other side of the coin however, the flying jokes did get old pretty fast.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else Season 4 has to offer. I just watched the Season 3 finale last week and Twilight becoming a princess really came out of left field for me, so I want to see where that goes.

[Old dead account]

First off, I must confess that due to being busy and just lacking in motivation, I did not participate in the whole marathoning one episode per day like the rest of the fandom did and now I really wish I had... maybe for season 5.

 

Several points in the episode that didn't progress the plot at all, but other than that it was great and I'm very hopeful that this is going to be a great season. It can't be as subpar as season 3 was but I'm not expecting it to top season 2, maybe season 1 though...

 

Speaking of which, up to this point I don't think a season after this has been confirmed right? I'm expecting it to be like PPG or KND and reach a 6th season but I'm not expecting anymore past that. I really hope the seasonal decay that almost every season gets after several season will not come too harshly for this show...

[Applejack1973]

Here is m TV Com review.

 

The first reviews had been stumblin' in. 3 years had passed with FiM and time flies. This epsiode shows hpw the ponies had grown since the first meeting with Discord. After waiting through spring and summer a brandnew Season began. This time black vines, Discord, a rock crocodile and Nightmare Moon is on the loose. Can't get any crazier than this! The ponies are about to begin thr Summer Sun Celebration a midsummer like celebration. But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are talen away so the six ponies and Spike goes out on a quiest in the Everfree Forest. A load of black vines art and fics will show up thereafter. 40 minutes of feel good and a lot of shoutouts to Bronies too. Now beware of early S4 twitters and more if you don't want the remains of S4 spoiled, The Season opening is not having any new songs, but Discord sings Winter Wrap Up shortly. I guess the songwriters got burnt out after the many songs in S3. There are tears to shed, funny scenes and more for everyone. The S3 ending got blend reviews, but with this S4 opening I guess S5 is in sight,.

 

Here are the Power Ponies screenshots spoilers.

 

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Ponies/Gallery

[MegaMan_EXE]

Here is m TV Com review.

 

The first reviews had been stumblin' in. 3 years had passed with FiM and time flies. This epsiode shows hpw the ponies had grown since the first meeting with Discord. After waiting through spring and summer a brandnew Season began. This time black vines, Discord, a rock crocodile and Nightmare Moon is on the loose. Can't get any crazier than this! The ponies are about to begin thr Summer Sun Celebration a midsummer like celebration. But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are talen away so the six ponies and Spike goes out on a quiest in the Everfree Forest. A load of black vines art and fics will show up thereafter. 40 minutes of feel good and a lot of shoutouts to Bronies too. Now beware of early S4 twitters and more if you don't want the remains of S4 spoiled, The Season opening is not having any new songs, but Discord sings Winter Wrap Up shortly. I guess the songwriters got burnt out after the many songs in S3. There are tears to shed, funny scenes and more for everyone. The S3 ending got blend reviews, but with this S4 opening I guess S5 is in sight,.

 

Here are the Power Ponies screenshots spoilers.

 

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Ponies/Gallery

Woah, woah, woah! We're talking about Season 5? Don't get me wrong, I would love to a Season 5, and even a Season 6, but Season 4 just started, and we're already jumping on the S5 bandwagon? Here's what I think about this:

If Season 4 ends on the perfect note, with everything being resolved, and no need for another episode, a Season 5 and even a Season 6 would be pushing it a bit much. I also say this because I don't want Friendship is Magic to head down a Spongebob route, where the animators and staff don't care about the show anymore, and just make content to please the kids and fans, even if the series ended perfectly (see my Spongebob example from the movie). Then again, the only thing the staff did to get me really upset were a couple of episodes, and that horrible special Equestria Girls. I'm sure S4's gonna be awesome, and it probably won't end on a note that doesn't need another episode. 

[DGam'r]

I watched Season 4 yesterday morning and I really enjoyed it. It did kinda feel rushed though and they put many things in on purpose just to mess with us, but overall the season did open up great. Now we have to find fucking keys now. Just great!

 

Oh and the cane/sceptor joke

This joke makes me so happy

[gato]

I'm going to start off by saying I quite liked this 2 parter.

 

Now let's tear it apart for all it's worth!
 
 
 

Overanalyzing is like a mystery box

 

 

 

Do you dare to open the spoiler?

 

 

 

Episodes 66 & 67: Princess Twilight Sparkle

We get a fun cold opener with Twi not being able to wing, not much else to look at I guess...

 
*NEW INTRO*
 
Or more like, old intro with 2 scenes added, a bit disappointed about that, but nothing worth fuzzing about.
 
 
 
So, the episode itself starts with the mane 6 looking at yet another stained window representing Twi's ascension, which either means this is a new hobby Celestia picked (or picked back) up because she loves the mane 6 very very much, or the last 1000 years were really boring.
 
The episode continues with one of the scenes some bronies actually dreaded when this whole princess thing happened, Twi stays in Canterlot doing royal stuff while her friends stay in Ponyville... But then it was also stated in the episode that Twi still lives in the library and should be back with them by the end of the festival which makes Twi's melancholic attitude feel a little odd, but anyway, the mane 6 hug Twi and leave (no hugs for Spike :<).
 
The next scene we come back to Twi's room in the castle and we get a little reintroduction of PurpleSmarts crazy side with added random flight to replace her crazy, "hole digging" pacing she used to have in the past. Actually, this episodes made a pretty big deal out of Twi's wings, which doesn't really happen with the other princesses... I wonder if she'll go back to spend most of the time trotting once she gets used to them.
 
But yeah, Twi's descent (or ascent?) to another of her episodes is soon interrupted by Celestia, who needs to keep reminding the purple Alicorn that they are equals now (not Spike tho, he can keep bowing :<), she also tells Twily that this will be the first time in a while that she's actually looking forward to the Summer Sun Celebration, which gave us some little tidbits to chew on. First, reminding us that Celly led a long and quite depressing life until recently :<. And second, that either the SSC isn't an annual thing or years in Equestria are longer than ours.
 
But lets stop delving in the past (for now), Celly is happy today and can trot in her castle with her eyes closed like if nothing ever happened before...
 
But then suddenly, tentacles!
 
 

This little scene is so silly! She's like... "yay! Pinkie! n_n"

 
 
The next scene we are back in Twily's room, when the newest princess awakes and notices something odd's going on, she wakes up Spike and when the dragon asks he what time it is she tells him it's the middle of the night... And day! (get it? Mid night? Mid day? huehuehuehuehuehue.... OKay I'll stop) Understandably, the whole Canterlot is in an uproar and like the emergency protocol seems to indicate, at the first sign of trouble you should run and cry to the nearest princess (not to discredit the Canterlot people, most of us would probably do the same on this setting), and Twi happens to fill that role now, PurpleSmart starts being crushed by her people but she gets snagged by a pair of royal guards, they quickly inform her that the other 2 princesses are gone! (And that Cadence is still ruling over crystal Tokyo so she can't come in) And because of this, she has become the sole ruler of the country! After a bit of hesitation Twi makes her first royal command and orders the guard to search for the missing sisters but this little victory doesn't last long because right after the armored pair leaves another guard comes with news from Ponyville about the whole Everfree Forest invading! (also, it seems like being turned into a dog might have some consequences to poor Spikey Wikey, that or he's channeling Rarara)
 
 
 
And so we switch to our beloved town. We start with Fluttershy reacting, as one would expect... Applejack tries to clean all the vines as if they were very stubborn weeds, RD is having problems trying to control the Everfree weather, and Rarity acts... Completely oblivious to everything. XD
 
This is an interesting scene if I must say so, not because it shows us that the forest had tricks planned to mess up with all the pony races (kind of a shame it didn't apply this traps consistently during the episode, but I guess you can ask so much to a bunch of plants) but also because apparently, Sweetie can do magic now (or the forest was messing with all the unicorns even if they can't use magic yet), it's a shame the first time we see her using it is being messed up by the forest (which also explains the change in aura color BTW, or so I think).
 
Back in Canterlot our new princess decided to screw the old plan of performing her royal duties as only princess in the land and took the more active approach of finding the rest of the element bearers, she seems to be lamenting the fact that the train might have already left but Spike points that Twi can fly now... Or she could have just used her royal chariot, but hey! Let's forget about it just for comedy's sake! (Having said that, Twi doesn't seem like the kind of pony who wants to follow the protocol right about now).
 
And so they fly away! With the grace of a winged Magikarp!
 
 
 
The next part of the episode starts with Twily crashing straight into the heart of matters (is it wrong that I actually think she'd put some seat belts on herself?). Lucky for her the rest of the gang was already there looking for a solution, they talk things out a little and come to the conclusion that the only being able to cause this sort of predicament is no other than... Discord! And here's where the madness begin...
 
 

I will destroy you! And steal your fiance! ♪

 
 
So Discord arrives and the mane six starts asking to fix this mess he probably did (interesting reactions by Pinkie there, I wonder if she holds a grudge against him for turning her into the No-Fun-Allowed mare), the Draconeequs is obviously offended by this baseless accusations, the argument keeps going back and forth for a few minutes until our favorite Q-expy points at another fan favorite walking from the forest, and it's no one else but Zecora! Who was fleeing from the even crazier forest, lucky for our heroes, she also happens to have a potion that allows us to see why day and night are so messed up right now (and I don't dare to think how the other side of the world is faring) and happens to only work with Alicorn magic...
 
Holy contrived coincidences Batman! I can let go the Alicorn magic thing but the rest was quite specific... Oh well, it's not the first time it happened, probably not the last, and I'm pretty certain we aren't going to see anything from that potion ever again... But it still bugs me, this is probably the first of (IIRC) 2 negative points on the episode.
 
But anyway! Twilight summons her Alicorn magic, which is surprisingly similar to the dark magic Sombrero used (and I'd really like to think these are connected somehow, but let's just chalk it up to a not so good re-use of visual effects by the animators for the time being), she completes the potion and takes a sip.
 
 
Now, I thought a little about how this potion worked, since the effects it had were quite outlandish/spiritual than usual, and I'd like to think this is a "Why potion", the user should drink it while thinking about why something is happening (as Zecora suggested) and then she'd have a vision that would point to the answer, keep drinking and the answer becomes clearer and clearer. The zebra has stated that she doesn't dare to use it on herself so it's also safe to assume it wouldn't work as it's supposed to on regular equines, the Alicorn magic is required to make it work and so I guess such a demigod-ish being would also be the only one to stand the effects of it. Or maybe it would work if the question was more simple and not something that requires thousands of years worth of history to resolve.
 
 
Anyway, PurpleSmart takes the potion and nothing seems to happen but then she suddenly appears in a castle, looking at a very angry Luna, Twily tries to talk with her but the Night princess doesn't seem to be in the mood for words, as a matter of fact, she seems to be pretty fed up with how things are going right about "now"...
 
 

This made me think of Sauron for some reason...

 
 
And man, that transformation sequence was badass! Luna turns into Nightmare Moon and seems like it's planning to bring ever lasting night... Again!
 
 
 
MYYY LITTLE POOON*brick'd*
 
 
 
You know, I kinda miss when we had to wait a week to see the second part of a season Opening/Ending, those made some crazy days of speculation...
 
But anyway! We are back where we left and Nightmare Moon doesn't waste any time and starts wrecking everything, Twi flees but then she sees Celestia who starts heading towards her fallen sister (did I mention she looks badass!?), Celly tries to reason with her but Nightmare Moon has other plans and so a pretty cool chase sequence begins, NMM manages to strike Tia down and Twily goes rushing to her, lamenting how all of this happened (this scene would have been a lot more powerful if we didn't know what's going on... Sometimes being savy about this sort of stuff sucks) but then Celestia gets back up, and summons her secret weapon! BAD CGI CHAOS EMMERALDS! The elements of harmony! (really, this is probably the first time I see CGI used in the show in a way that makes me feel it looks plain bad, I didn't say a word about the Timberwolves! (Which I actually liked FYI) ) Twilight also notices that the elements look a little bit odd (CGI, huehuehuehuehue), and this is when she realizes she isn't watching the second coming of the Nightmare (or third if you count the comics I guess) but she's witnessing the day Celly banished Luna to the moon.
 
Which BTW, considering how widespread the legend of the Mare In The Moon became, it makes you think this whole conflict would have lasted a lot more than a few minutes... Did we got an abridged version or something like that?
 
Anyway, Celestia goes super saiyan and laser beams her sister to the moon.
 
 
 
Which finishes our first flashback, Twi comes back to the present and sees all her friends worried about her, apparently what she goes through in the visions is also evident in her corporeal being as our heroes point Twi had a breakdown at the moment her spiritual self watched her mentor being shot down... And of course, Discord had to be a dick about it.
 
 

I missed you so much, you incorrigible mass of chaos!

 
 
But despite all of this the answers aren't clear enough, it's so that Zecora suggests to go a little bit deeper, Twi takes another zip and we get our second flashback.
 
This time we see both princesses facing Discord, and the moment they turn him into stone, once again, a little less "epic" than what one would expect it to be but 1) I'm still going with abridged version theory and 2) The Draconeequs seems to have overconfidence as a very fatal flaw (as seen all the times he got stoned).
 
But then we switch further back, and we find the princesses facing a glowing tree, it turns out this is the tree of harmony, and it's an... Organism?... Mechanism?... I don't really know (which is actually kind of fun, fire the headcanons!), but it's the thing responsible to hold the Everfree back (though it doesn't seem like it was called like that back in the day). The princesses take the elements from the tree in order to use it against Discord, believing that it would have enough energy to control the woods without their help.
 
And so the second and I guess third flashback ends. Now our heroines know what it must be done! Find the element tree and somehow make it start working again. This gives a strong sense of nostalgia to our ponies, going back to the Everfree to save the world like they did some time ago, but this time, Twi is 100% sure that they can do it Together! o/
 
And so the rest kick her out of the party at the first sign of troubles...
 
 
 
Now, I've heard some cries of OOC here, but I don't take it as such, what I do take is that suddenly the Cragodile must have hit everyone on the head because they became quite... Stupid... Despite the fact that AJ actually presents a good reason for Twi to stay behind (and she does it out of her feelings of always protecting those dear to her) they forgot the reason the Alicorn should be there on the first place. It's like they remember the objective is finding the tree but they forgot they also have to fix it (and that Cadence actually exists). >_>
 
The next scene with Discord was kinda cool (and I think I detected a little stealth jab at the rest of the princess) and presented us with an interesting point as to why this might be happening on the first place, it's not that Twi thinks she's better than the rest of the mane 6 but it's them who think the new princess has become too important to get in harms way (and in the same way, it could be that they are also unconsciously pushing themselves a little apart from Twily), and I'd like to think this is something they'll start working out on this season (sort of). But still... This whole sequence was unnecessary conflict that wasted time that could have been used to give some of the mane 6 some more time in the spotlight, And is my second low point on the 2 parter.
 
 
 
Once we got over this the group who kept going into the Everfree also realize they might have not thought this through, and Twi gets ambushed by toxic spewing facehugger plants! Spike manages to contact the rest of them and so they reunite the party and take down the plants together, as they should have from the very beginning.
 
 

Also, let's take a moment to see how awesome AJ looks here, and here.

 
 
The ponies get to the tree and Twi remember something Celestia said in the flashback, she comes to the conclusion that all of this happened because the harmony tree ran out of energy and so it's decided that the elements must go back to the place where they belonged. The mane 6 discuss it a little since by doing this they are pretty much ditching the only weapon Ponykind has against Discord (and who knows what else) but Twilight says that their friendship is more powerful that any magic element. So it's with a heavy heart, that we say goodbye to the skittle magics for now... You shall be missed. ;-;7
 
By feeding the elements to the tree (but not without first showing us Twi almost getting chocked while the rest of the group just stood there and watched >_> ) Twily manages to destroy all the wild plants (and I guess weather) that were consuming everything, much to Discord's disappointment...
 
And it also happened to save the princesses since they just happened to be caught next to the tree. he group feels relieved that everything is over, yet sad for the prize it had to be paid but suddenly, something happens in the tree! And from a little flower a mystery box of plot importance appears! Six locks for six keys... And with Celestia's hunch that this is something Twily won't be able to solve alone it seems like this is the beginning of something big. (and then all the TF2 jokes were made) Now, let's hope they actually do this and we don't get another Starswirl's book scenario when the box isn't touched upon til the last minutes of the season. . _.
 
 
 
But this is not over. The mane 6 go out of the forest and meet Discord who gleefully recieves them and asks how did they manage to beat the forest, they admit the elements are gone but any thought Discord could have about taking his chances is quickly squashed by Fluittershy (man it feels so weird to see she's the one wearing the pants on that relationship), so he wears an hilarious maid costume and decides to help the ponies clean up everything, but not without mentioning that he was actually the one behind everything... Sort of... You see, (this is part headcanon) it seems like Discord always wanted to touch upon the Harmony tree but it never could, so the moment the princesses took the magic source out of the crystal plant Discord started spilling things called plunderseeds to both take care of the Alicorns and get rid of the source of Harmony, alas, as Celly said before the tree had enough energy to keep going for a while and she was right, since the seeds didn't emerge until Discord was imprisoned, freed, imprisoned again, freed again and reformed.... whoops!
 
 
Also, I doubt this has any relation with EqG but in the movie Sunset mentioned "things" happening by sending an element of harmony through the mirror, and Celestia also expressed concern about sending more than one because it could upset the magical balance, just let that sink in for a while together with the fact this happened right after the Flash Sentry show... 
 
 
The mane 6 are quite upset about this but it really seems like it wasn't Discord's intention for this to happen (so far) so it seems like we can keep going. The final scene is back on the festival, where Celestia kinda said out loud that she didn't really feel so happy about the lasts SSCs and all the mane 6 are there despite the fact that they said they couldn't at the beginning of the episode (then again, maido Discord probably helped with that) and it seems like for the moment, everything is going to be just fine!
 
Somewhere, Trixie is screaming "Showoff!"
 

 
 
 

 

 
Small note: I went to sleep after writing the review and I came back for this, so please excuse if you notice some different views to what I said above (I don't think there are). :v
 
 
 
Twilight had 3 important characteristics on this episode, the first one was her crazy side still as paranoic as always, the second was her "i'm still the same" mode which she tried to convince her friends of (with varying degrees of success, as how they left her out of the quest for the tree shows) and the third one is an interesting one. She feels quite lonely and a bit sad about how she has to left her friends behind to attend to her royal duties.
 
At first I thought it was a pretty good move from DHX to recognize this issue many fans pointed out but it's also worth considering that only Twi (and Celestia) seems to feel this way, it's stated in the episode that she's still working in Ponyville and that her visit for the SSC is nothing but a temp jig she has to do but she still feels like she is going to have to struggle a lot to keep everything going as it used to be (when the rest of the cast seems to try to clarify that this is hardly the case). It's like they are trying to address the changes the characters went through while also trying to keep everything the same as it used to be, and it feels quite odd for me.
 
Maybe it's Twi's crazy side exaggerating the issues again?
 
As a little note, this is the first time in a while where we see Twily NOT abusing the postal service. And there was also a nice detail for when Celly got shot down by NMM she didn't address the sun princess by her title.
 
 
 
 
Rainbow Dash didn't have much to do that I can remember, you could argue if her agreeing (and then disagreeing) with the party split up could be against her element but Loyalty happens to be one of the few elements that are open to different visions and interpretations (without the need of twisting it too much like that cruelty/kindness pair I remember reading in some fanfics).
 
And it's not like ponies never act against them every now and then anyway.
 
 
 
 
Pinkie Pie was nothing but comic relief, I didn't have problems with her besides the coloring book thing tho... On a more positive note, she seems to have put her obsession with keeping in touch with her friends (as shown on Wonderbolt Academy) to good use here since her letters really arrived with a nice timing to cheer Twilight up.
 
 
 
 
Fluttershy was also pretty tame as far as her character is concerned, but this was a nice episode to show her "cooler" side, she doesn't only still keeps a tight leash on Discord (somehow) but she also was quite active in the fight against the facehugger plants (and showing some flight prowess at that). She seems to have been a little more reluctant about the Cragodile but I guess that might be because it was an animal...
 
Oh yeah, I almost forgot that she is also the only one actually willing to give Discord a chance.
 
 
 
 
Applejack was maybe the worst handled character on this episode for me. as far as action sequences go she was the best tho, she was the one with the most time under the battle spotlight and she used it very well, but as far as character goes it was a bit of a mess.
 
The first odd thing I noticed was her obsession with the elements, like if they were the only thing keeping the mane 6 together... I can understand their interpretation as a symbol of the mane 6's bond but she makes such an emphasis in the fact that throwing them away would also have a negative impact in the relationship of this 6 ponies that I found, quite confusing.
 
She also says this after sending Twilight away so... Yeah...
 
 
 
 
Rarity didn't do much either but it was nice seeing she doesn't seem to hold anything against Twi for basically living her dream. =P
 
 
 
 
And now that I have the mane 6 done it'd be nice to give some time to the one who stole all the spotlight (again) and yes, I'm talking about Discord. I'm not sure if he lives in Fluttershy's house (contrary to what the OP might said) because he seems to need to be summoned in order to make an appearance in an episode (maybe he still visits her every now and then tho?), but yeah, he was awesome.
 
I loved how he's so much of a bastard that he unintentionally triggered everything that happened here, I love to see how he seems to be the only one able to get on Celestia's nerves and it was quite interesting to see how despite everything that happened, the mane 6 (sans Flutters) don't want to have anything to do with him.
 
Twily acts a lot like Celly would do around him. RD, AJ and Rare actually seem to be pretty bent on actually getting rid of him at the first chance of him doing anything chaotic and Pinkie of all the ponies seems to be very on edge at the sight of the Draconeequs.
 
It's also interesting to see how he keeps being tied to Fluttershy even after the elements stopped being a menace, it also makes me wonder if he would have withdrew info like he did or spend the day doing nothing and relishing on the chaos if Shy had asked him to do otherwise (I mean, when she said "clean" he put on a maid costume and got to the job right away). But yeah, he was awesome and really makes me wish we had villains at least half as crafty as he is. I can only hope we get some this season.

 

 

 

 

Your tears are delicious too.

 

 

Click me!

 

I spend a big chunk of today and last night pondering if I should upload a kinda suggestive picture (by Derpibooru standards) but I chose not to.

 

 

 

 

I think I could compare this episode with Canterlot Wedding (the first and arguably best 2 parter wrote by Meghan until now) in a sense that it has some pretty visible flaws that bring it down a few notches, but it's packed with cool moments that make you say "wow! Ponies are awesome!". 

 

It's a chapter that gets toned down by things like some odd characterization here and there (AJ and maybe Twi), Zecora carrying a plot advancement potion (but I could count with one hand the times she doesn't), and flashbacks that felt too short considering they cover very important events.

 

On a more neutral note, this flashbacks came with some very nice world building. or not really, they just show us events we already knew how they went by while also introducing even more questions! What is this tree? Where does it come from? How did Celly and Luna found about it? Why aren't the royal sisters speaking in old Canterlot (yet another continuity thing that makes Luna Eclipsed such a headache to watch at times)? I actually consider most of this positive, because I love me some speculation, and the box certainly made a lot of bronies wreck their heads and come up with all kinds of answers about what it contains (I'd like to think Rainbow Power but Hasbro hasn't really pushed that toyline as the next big thing so I don't have many reasons to believe they are going to use that other than "I want to see Magical Girl-Esque transformations! :U")

 

On the positive side Discord was awesome, the princesses got some cool moments (despite being flashbacks), the action sequences and most of the animation bumps were a treat to see and it seems like DHX is going to try to make a season long arc (hopefully they make it right). Not to mention the humor that in most part was pretty good (and you know I love that side of the show).

 

All in all a pretty good start for the season, it picks my interest and makes me look forward to what is going to happen in the next weeks.

 

 

 

ps: I decided to keep most of my post spoilered because... Well, they are quite a mess and they are full of pictures. I've been thinking the last part is the only one worth reading anyway. (that and the random pic I post before it).

 

Now if you excuse me, I'm off to read some JoJo.

[Applejack1973]

So many Spoilers for future episodes whoa nelly!

 

Update!

 

 

 

"Rainbow Dash and her friends anticipate the release of the newest "Daring Do" book, but when the publication is unexpectedly delayed, the friends decide to get in touch with the series' author, who is in need of some special assistance."

 

And some Twitters.

 

Fake. We do have some good stuff in store for Spike in #MLPseason4 but I’d call it character building and not “big changes”.

 

In case it wasn’t clear in episode 1 of #MLPseason4 Rarity plans on helping Twi decorate her loft in Ponyville —where she still lives :-)

 

Next week’s episode of #MLPseason4 is super fun! And spooky. So spooky. (Boy does it feel great to be able to type “next week’s episode”)

 

Episode 413 might feature my favorite Rarity performance ever. Really not sure how @StTabitha made it through that record.

 

Episode 5:
December 14 – “Flight to the Finish”: The Cutie Mark Crusaders vie for the honor
of carrying the Ponyville flag at the Equestria Games.

Episode 6:
December 21 – “Power Ponies:” When Spike and the Mane 6 end up as
superheroes in a comic book world, the only way to get back home is to defeat
the super-villain, The Mane-iac.

Episode 7
December 28 – “Bats!”: Vampire Fruit Bats take over Sweet Apple Acres and
Applejack and her friends’ efforts to get rid of them take an unexpected and
frightening turn.

 

[Old dead account]

Dunno about y'all but I'm already more sick of this idiotic Twicane meme than I was of Gak. Gak at least died in less than a week, this will not only obviously go on for months, it STILL manages to feel more forced.

[gato]

Dunno about y'all but I'm already more sick of this idiotic Twicane meme than I was of Gak. Gak at least died in less than a week, this will not only obviously go on for months, it STILL manages to feel more forced.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm not one to get tired of these things easily (and this one isn't an exception) but maybe it will go away once the next episode rolls...

 

Though the only episode when I think something sillier could happen is a little far away (the sixth one).

 

 

 

*backpedals on idea of using the Octavia scepter as an avatar*

 

 

 

EDIT: We interrupt this useless post to bring more synopsis!

 

Episode 5:

December 14 – “Flight to the Finish”: The Cutie Mark Crusaders vie for the honor

of carrying the Ponyville flag at the Equestria Games.

Episode 6:

December 21 – “Power Ponies:” When Spike and the Mane 6 end up as

superheroes in a comic book world, the only way to get back home is to defeat

the super-villain, The Mane-iac.

Episode 7

December 28 – “Bats!”: Vampire Fruit Bats take over Sweet Apple Acres and

Applejack and her friends’ efforts to get rid of them take an unexpected and

frightening turn.

 

 

 

I want to know how many hours it took them to come up with that last title.

 

Also, remember those April fools Tweet's Meghan did?

 

 

Don't believe her liiiiiieeeeees

 

[Snatcher2047]

Dunno about y'all but I'm already more sick of this idiotic Twicane meme than I was of Gak. Gak at least died in less than a week, this will not only obviously go on for months, it STILL manages to feel more forced.

 

At this point I'm begging for a new episode, just so we can move on from this with something new.  Out of all the things from the two-parter to stick (no pun intended), THIS.  I usually enjoy just about everything this fan base creates, but this is already in overkill mode.

[SweeCrue]

We got something much better than that stupid scepter meme.

 

SENZU BEAN!!!111!1

 

I have to say, I think this has to be my favorite season premiere so far. I really liked that we didn't get yet another new villian, and instead got more backstory for the EoH, Celestia, Luna and Discord.

 

Oh. And man... Just look at dat fanservice~

 

HNNNnnnng~

[gato]

Any tinfoil hat user would tell you this is part of Hasbro's strategy to push the brand in Japan.

 

(then again, using Discord as a model doesn't sound like the most clever idea out there... Unless you were a fan already, then it makes perfect sense)

[Kevin]

Look what comes out December 7th 9 PM Eastern Time:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJXK7i9Vfg

 

I can't wait since I really enjoyed the first two PONIES: The Anthology!

[Dark Qiviut]

It's official. Twilight's scepter's feeling a little manly today. XD

 

 

Why?

 

Because the scepter says so!

[Celestia]

Look what comes out December 7th 9 PM Eastern Time:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJXK7i9Vfg

 

I can't wait since I really enjoyed the first two PONIES: The Anthology!

I'm super pumped for this. I rewatched the first two anthologies the other day and it gave me an odd feeling of nostalgia. Ah, good times.

 

Oh, and I enjoyed the premiere. In some ways I liked it more than the other season openers, which surprised me a little. I'm looking forward to going back to slice of life-y episodes, though. Episode 3 sounds like it'll be fun.

 

I wonder if the speculation I've seen about the Everfree castle becoming Twilight's castle will come true? Then again, the forest is probably still dangerous so it wouldn't be very convenient...

[Applejack1973]

Look what comes out December 7th 9 PM Eastern Time:

 

Both Ponies The Anthology and Daring Don't before my Birthday, sweet!