DERPY!!! Our muffin-loving pegasus is back! YES! TAKE THAT, YOU SOCCER MOM HATERS! 
And with all due respect, had this been a truly girly eppie, Twily would've found a colt this season that was somehow related to Celestia or Luna and married him and become a princess that way.
And with all due respect, had this been a truly girly eppie, Twily would've found a colt this season that was somehow related to Celestia or Luna and married him and become a princess that way.
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This will definitely be a love it/hate it episode. Me? I loved it. So very much, and SO MUCH MUSIC! They crammed a full length musical into 21 minutes, which is a spectacular feat, in my opinion. Loved everything.
A+, and I cried at the end, too.
A+, and I cried at the end, too.
Haha. Despite the title it would never have occurred to me to think of the movie as a possible source of inspiration for a MLP episode. Now that you mentioned it, I kinda want to see a pony adaptation.
I don't know if you have seen the movie but it's quite surreal and lacks a coherent storyline. Basically, the plot is that some people go on a bus trip and do or encounter some very weird things on the way while inbetween the Beatles perform some awesome songs without any real connection to what is happening in the movie. Also, you can see Paul's penis (possibly in HD nowadays since it's out on Blu-Ray). I suppose it's better the episode didn't mirror the movie.
Now about the episode: I agree that things were rushed. I, too, would have preferred the cutie mark chaos to go on a bit longer or at least prove a bit more difficult to solve. The way it was shown it came off as a bit too effortless to result in Twilight being rewarded with being a princess. Then again, it was a bit unclear what she was rewarded for exactly. It probably wasn't for the resolution of the problem itself or even the completion of the spell (since Star Swirl the Bearded wrote plenty of spells apparently without being turned into a princess) but for bringing the element of friendship into magic. Maybe no one had done this before. Well, that's my take on it, anyway, for the time being.
I liked about the episode that finally the cutie mark fascism was addressed in some way - though not quite as radical as I would have done it. This is a society where your lot in life is assigned to you in some way at a very early stage in your life and then you're supposed to stick with that for the rest of your life and be happy with it. And it's even clearly visible to anyone else. If you think about it that's a bit disturbing, isn't it? I know it wasn't intended that way but still, ever since the introduction of the CMC this has bugged me. People should be free to choose their own destiny, regardless of what their cutie mark says. This shone through a bit in the episode although instead of just accepting that their cutie marks are wrong and living with it, they just got their old ones back. (Yes, I realise that was important for the plot of the episode.)
I loved how Rarity made all those great weather patterns (and getting no love for it from those philistines in Ponyville
). Rainbow Dash's struggles were a riot, too. I also appreciated the return of Pinkamena. The scene in that cosmic princess-space with Celestia was great, too. I loved Dashie's reaction to Twilight turning into an alicorn and Rarity's comment about it.All things considered, there was too much singing for my taste. I must admit, though, that I ultimately liked the pompous coronation.
This opens up a lot of additional story potential. So I'm curious how this will play out in the next season.
I think that the idea that magic needs friendship is a good one. And vice versa. And the idea of the cutie mark isn't that you get your destiny and live with it. It's that you embrace what is good about yourself and follow that path. I like that idea. In G1, you were born with your cutie mark. Of course that told something about you, but the writers never told us why ponies had their cutie marks.
Yeah, but what if you have more than one talent (most people do)? Or if you want to radically change your career after a while? I know that the aspects about cutie marks that I find mildly disconcerting are unintentional but they're there, nonetheless. It's likely that I'm not the only one who had the idea.
First impressions:
I didn't like it very much.
Sure, the songs were good, the animation was good (I really did enjoy that), it was like a MLP musical, entertaining to watch, but everything else... no.
For one (due to cramming in lots of songs) the episode just felt rushed, it felt like they smashed the plots from two different stories together and didn't give either one a chance to develop. Alicorn Twi... not impressed... the idea itself aside I feel like there were better ways of doing it... And I just don't know how will they keep the show the same like it used to be from now on. I iz puzzled.
This would be an okay (not great, not bad, maybe even quite good) episode to end the show...but not this.
I found it hilarious how the production team was trying to reassure everyone everything is gonna be just fine with that song: "Everything is just fine" or something like that.
At least there was tons of Derpy. I mean, there were good parts sure: Princess-space/Pinkamena/animals cooking Rainbow etc etc...but as a whole....
I didn't like it very much.
Sure, the songs were good, the animation was good (I really did enjoy that), it was like a MLP musical, entertaining to watch, but everything else... no.
For one (due to cramming in lots of songs) the episode just felt rushed, it felt like they smashed the plots from two different stories together and didn't give either one a chance to develop. Alicorn Twi... not impressed... the idea itself aside I feel like there were better ways of doing it... And I just don't know how will they keep the show the same like it used to be from now on. I iz puzzled.
This would be an okay (not great, not bad, maybe even quite good) episode to end the show...but not this.
I found it hilarious how the production team was trying to reassure everyone everything is gonna be just fine with that song: "Everything is just fine" or something like that.
At least there was tons of Derpy. I mean, there were good parts sure: Princess-space/Pinkamena/animals cooking Rainbow etc etc...but as a whole....
Great episode with the exception of the princess elements, they managed to compact the cutie mark swap plot fairly well but it could have benefited from more time. I was bit annoyed however that Celestia purposely set Twilight up to mind screw her friends. There had to be a better way to test her that doesn't involve brainwashing. Overall B, it didn't blow it out of the park but I've been convinced to stick around for season 4.
Ah, so it was the inspiration for this weeks episode.
First impressions:
I didn't like it very much.
Sure, the songs were good, the animation was good (I really did enjoy that), it was like a MLP musical, entertaining to watch, but everything else... no.
For one (due to cramming in lots of songs) the episode just felt rushed, it felt like they smashed the plots from two different stories together and didn't give either one a chance to develop. Alicorn Twi... not impressed...
Eeeyup. Perfect summary here:
I don't know who "noobsqoou" is, but I salute him for cooking up the perfect analogy.
Ha!
You're usually so down on things I was sure you were going to hate this one. Shows what I know, eh?
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I posted this at BK, but I figure it works here, too. Plus, why type it all out again when it's just what I'm going to say anyway?
When I sit down to watch the show, I expect nothing. All I plan on doing is watching the episode, and savoring the time I have with my ponies. Every new episode is a new adventure. Now, are there episodes I like less? Sure, just as there are episodes I could watch over and over again. That comes down to taste, but the show itself is innocent, lacks heavy cynicism, and allows that friendship is truly a powerful force in that universe. I can be hard and cynical when I want, but I don't want it. I eschew the need to be pessimistic, because pessimism leads nowhere, and it sours what may be a delightful experience.
Of course, it all comes down to an old axiom that says, "to thine own self be true". A classic take on "to each their own", as it were. This will definitely be a love/hate episode. I just don't want the hard work of the studio, the actors, the creative minds who had to make this all happen in a pleasing way, I don't want that hard work to be lost or forgotten, and sometimes I feel like there are fans who demand things their way. Well, it won't always be like that, and while I understand the desire to keep Twilight Sparkle as a unicorn (I adore her as a unicorn), her becoming an Alicorn does not change who she is inside, which is a lesson of the show, that no matter what changes outside, and what circumstances create around us, deep down inside we are still the very same people, the same personalities, the same thoughts and feelings by which others have fallen in love.
That's nothing against people who hate the episode. They have the right to do so. Everyone is different and looks for different things. I just want the drama to stay low key. No needless proclamations that the fandom is dying, or that anyone who likes/hates the episode isn't a "real" Brony (an absurd statement if there ever was one). Be different, be happy that you're different, celebrate those differences, so that we can celebrate the things we have in common.
When I sit down to watch the show, I expect nothing. All I plan on doing is watching the episode, and savoring the time I have with my ponies. Every new episode is a new adventure. Now, are there episodes I like less? Sure, just as there are episodes I could watch over and over again. That comes down to taste, but the show itself is innocent, lacks heavy cynicism, and allows that friendship is truly a powerful force in that universe. I can be hard and cynical when I want, but I don't want it. I eschew the need to be pessimistic, because pessimism leads nowhere, and it sours what may be a delightful experience.
Of course, it all comes down to an old axiom that says, "to thine own self be true". A classic take on "to each their own", as it were. This will definitely be a love/hate episode. I just don't want the hard work of the studio, the actors, the creative minds who had to make this all happen in a pleasing way, I don't want that hard work to be lost or forgotten, and sometimes I feel like there are fans who demand things their way. Well, it won't always be like that, and while I understand the desire to keep Twilight Sparkle as a unicorn (I adore her as a unicorn), her becoming an Alicorn does not change who she is inside, which is a lesson of the show, that no matter what changes outside, and what circumstances create around us, deep down inside we are still the very same people, the same personalities, the same thoughts and feelings by which others have fallen in love.
That's nothing against people who hate the episode. They have the right to do so. Everyone is different and looks for different things. I just want the drama to stay low key. No needless proclamations that the fandom is dying, or that anyone who likes/hates the episode isn't a "real" Brony (an absurd statement if there ever was one). Be different, be happy that you're different, celebrate those differences, so that we can celebrate the things we have in common.
Ha!
I have been pretty down on this season. Between the neutering of Discord and various other ideas that fell on their face this season has been mediocre at best for me.
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Watched it a third time with my Skype brony group, still good.
Love the avatar.
I'm going to make one to put up for tomorrow.
Since I didn't watch it live I missed all the princess coronation bits in the breaks (except for the last one). Were they any good?
Watched it a third time with my Skype brony group, still good.
Love the avatar.
I'm going to make one to put up for tomorrow.
Thanks, I just loved that moment. The Celestia/Twilight scene still steals the whole show though but I'll make one for it too at some point.
Less painful than the wedding special bumpers, but not great either. They were very short. Best part was a little bit of new voice work for the mane 6, but it was just one or two lines per character. The character animation was largely reused from other episodes and pasted into the shot with miss America.
You're not missing much by not having seen it.
Whole thing was great. Yes, rushed, but the individual character and story beats were there. There was absolutely no time for padding in this episode but there was little time for fleshing it out either; I wonder if this was planned for a two-parter but wasn't working out as one?
As this would arguably have been the series final had the show not been extended for a fourth season (cartoons are often contracted for up to 65 episodes so they can be "stripped" five days a week for 13 weeks or one quarter of a year, which is how advertising is often sold), I would've been happy if it had ended here. Everything from this point on is pure gravy, so I hope that the producers will feel less pressure from Hasbro and really craft some good episodes next year.
Thing is, as we've seen with Transformers movies they NEED to sell toys to keep moving. So going forward I fully expect to see some new characters added (at the expense of the Mane Six) but hopefully they will expand the world while respecting what's come before, versus just abandoning the old cast and dynamic. We've seen this done well and poorly in other cartoons; this finale practically sets up some main cast changes coming next year.
So yes, I loved it; and I hope that the harbinger of sweeping change I expect to happen will be mitigated by the awesome creative team behind the show. We've got so much more Pony to love coming!
Mark
As this would arguably have been the series final had the show not been extended for a fourth season (cartoons are often contracted for up to 65 episodes so they can be "stripped" five days a week for 13 weeks or one quarter of a year, which is how advertising is often sold), I would've been happy if it had ended here. Everything from this point on is pure gravy, so I hope that the producers will feel less pressure from Hasbro and really craft some good episodes next year.
Thing is, as we've seen with Transformers movies they NEED to sell toys to keep moving. So going forward I fully expect to see some new characters added (at the expense of the Mane Six) but hopefully they will expand the world while respecting what's come before, versus just abandoning the old cast and dynamic. We've seen this done well and poorly in other cartoons; this finale practically sets up some main cast changes coming next year.
So yes, I loved it; and I hope that the harbinger of sweeping change I expect to happen will be mitigated by the awesome creative team behind the show. We've got so much more Pony to love coming!
Mark
