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18 February 2013

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: "Magical Mystery Cure" Review



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Yeah, I think it’s pretty good.

Alright, alright, I’ll give you the full review right now, don’t get mad at me. But first lets go to the TL; DR. I honestly think this episode is still top tier, despite what everyone is saying, but I wouldn’t call it the best episode of the season. That honour still goes to “Sleepless in Ponyville”, but it does come close in some points, and if you want to find out I’ll tell you why.

FILM OF THE YEAR.
So the episode starts with Twilight Sparkle having a musical morning as she wakes up and sings about how everything in Ponyville is fine and dandy, how the sun shines, how everything is as it’s supposed to be, and suddenly she gets interrupted with a face full of water. Right when she’s about to call out Rainbow Dash for the mistake, she realizes that it’s not Dash but Rarity who is taking care of the weather, and even though her patterns look very pretty they really don’t have the most functional design as she’s causing weather disasters all over the place, giving the ponies sun burns, frost bites, and such. This is happening because Rarity has now Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, and so she is taking care of Rainbow Dash’s job. Things don’t get better when Twilight goes to check on Rainbow Dash, who is taking care of Fluttershy’s animals because she now has Fluttershy’s cutie mark. This throws us into a second song during which we find out that each of the Mane Six, except Twilight, has swapped cutie marks with each other. Fluttershy has Pinkie’s cutie mark, and her attempts at making other ponies laugh are rather pathetic. Pinkie Pie has Applejack’s cutie mark and this gives her flat hair, depression and the inability to repair water chutes. Applejack has Rarity’s cutie mark, and since she doesn’t have a horn to find gems with she is relegated to do the next best thing Rarity can do, and that is making dresses. So now Twilight has five of her friends out of control doing everything but what they are meant to do, which means Ponyville is in shambles for the billionth time. I seriously don’t know why M.A. Larson has such an obsession with destroying Ponyville. Seriously, check his episodes: “Swarm of the Century”, “Return of Harmony”, “Secret of my Excess”, “Magic Duel”, and now “Magical Mystery Cure”. I even went and asked him during an interview why is he so obsessed with destroying the town and the best answer he could give me was: “Huh,I don’t know, I never thought about that. Maybe I should go see a psychiatrist”. I’m pretty sure he was joking. At least I hope he was joking.

This makes me think of the sixties, and how much I'd love to live them.
Okay so we have our conflict, one big, messy problem for Twilight to solve, but where did it come from? Nobody explained anything as this is probably the very first episode of the series that starts in media res. I am not a fan of this kind of stories though, but I think I like how they approached it this time, with a very happy-go-lucky start and then a total mood swing towards the dark and dreadful. We find out, through Twilight’s exposition, that princess Celestia sent her a package containing a notebook that belonged to Starswirl the Bearded who, if you remember from Season 2, was a very powerful unicorn mage and was the author of hundreds of spells. However, this notebook contains a spell that he could never finish, and Twilight decided that the most intelligent thing to do was casting it. Okay, be fair, that’s like someone handing you the unfinished works of a famous composer or the unfinished comic of Tintin. You seriously have to try it out, who’s going to resist!? Sadly this has terrible consequences, as the unfinished spell switched the colours on the Elements of Harmony (which are now kept inside a display case into Twilight’s library) which consequentially changed the cutie marks on the rest of the Mane Six. The only reason why Twilight’s mark is still hers is because it was her element that casted the spell on the others. This apparently hopeless situation has Twilight desperate, as the unfinished spell is useless for solving this situation and things just keep getting worse and worse in Ponyville, which brings us to another song, a gloomier, darker song that shows how the town is going to Tartarus down the fast lane. Sweet Apple Acres is dry and decimated, Rarity’s boutique is in shambles and the windows boarded, the weather is a complete and utter mess, and everypony in town has gone bitter and angry without laughter.



Insert jokes about Detroit here.
However this doesn’t let Twilight’s spirits down, as she figures out the best way to fix this whole situation, and I have to admit in my first viewing I didn’t quite get what she was doing with this or what her thought process was, but after a second viewing it does make a lot of sense. She goes to Fluttershy and drags her into her cottage, where Rainbow Dash has been tied down by the animals who are now intending to cook her into a pot. As soon as Fluttershy shows up the critters, big and small, calm down and the meek pony starts corralling them and feeding them. This unlocks something inside her, and as she glows with a mystical pink light, Twilight slaps her Element of Harmony on her neck, and the memories of who she is flash before her eyes, bringing her back to normal. I think Twilight’s thinking was pretty clever here, how she brings each pony to what they used to do before the cutie mark swap so they remember who each one of them are. With Fluttershy’s help, and assisted by yet another song, they go through town recovering each other’s memories and bringing things back to normal. Rainbow Dash takes care of the weather problem clearing out all the skies, Rarity recovers her boutique and removes all of Applejack’s abominable dresses, Applejack manages to bring Sweet Apple Acres back to normal (with the help of jump cutting and “Lion King Magic”), and Pinkie Pie returns to her puffy happy self to the joy of everyone in town. This last one is my favourite of the bunch. For some reason I start blubbering like an idiot when every pony shouts “Pinkie!” I guess it’s the sequels left by “Smile, Smile, Smile”.

They too have sequels left from "Games Ponies Play"
Once all is settled back to normal they share a group hug, as Twilight is hit with sudden realization that makes her eyes sparkle. She has figured out what was missing in that spell written by Starswirl the Bearded. They all return to the library as Twilight pulls the notebook out and writes the second half of the spell, which many have pointed out is a counter spell, and I will be willing to agree with their interpretation. As Twilight scribbles the full stop on the spell, the Elements of Harmony suddenly activate by themselves and zap Twilight out of existence, leaving a churned black spot on the floor.

BAD END.
Of course, she is still alive, but the place where she is teleported is somewhere we haven’t seen before or being explained what it is. It looks like a literally ethereal plane full of stars and clouds, and out of those clouds a too familiar figure emerges: princess Celestia. Twilight is confused as she doesn’t know what’s going on, but the Sun Goddess explains that, after she completed Starswirl’s unfinished spell, she then completed her destiny. When Twilight asks what destiny is this, Celestia replies with yet another song, this one fairly emotional to be honest, as we are giving a slide show of previous episodes, all focused around Twilight since the very first time she arrived to Ponyville. By the time the song ends, Twilight gets wrapped into a flashing pink light that swirls around her and then we cut to Ponyville, where what looks like a glowing shard of the element of magic is floating outside of the library, right in front of the rest of the Mane Six. Once the glow fades, Twilight stands up in its place, and unfurls her new pair of wings.

Half of the fandom: Yay! Other Half of the fandom: Ruined forever!
To the stupor of all her friends, Twilight has grown a new pair of wings and so she has completed her journey as princess Celestia’s student. They all seem shocked at first, especially Twilight who looks at her wings not sure if she likes it or not, but they quickly warm up to her. Rainbow Dash being the first one (and keeping in character) as she sees Twilight as a new flying buddy. They all mention how she looks just like a princess, and without wasting a second, princess Celestia shows up to confirm that she has, in fact, turned into a princess. Now Twilight is more than just the student, she is also the teacher, and someone everypony should follow. The next day the coronation event takes place in Canterlot, where Twilight is crowned princess and presented to the whole crowd of cheering ponies. Her friends cry happy tears, her brother Shining Armour has a heart melting moment and sheds a couple of tears too, and the parade departs from the castle as Twilight waves from her carriage with one last song playing.

But then she goes to trot with her friends, because screw oficial secured transportation.
So that was “Magical Mystery Cure”, possibly the most divisive and controversial episode of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, at least concerning the brony fandom, and I can’t deny, I too have some mixed feelings towards this episode. I might have different mixed feelings than the majority, that’s for sure, and from what I have seen in message boards and talking to other people maybe those things that are deal breakers for them are not so much deal breakers for me. I have come to be very forgiving with movies and TV shows nowadays, as I have started to use my cynicism a lot less and leaving my vitriolic comments aside. So if it feels like I am going soft in this episode: One, you are right; and two, I’ve been going soft on this show since 2011, so this is nothing new if you are a long time follower of this blog. The one issue that many have talked about, the whole change that Twilight experiences, has already being addressed in a previous entry, so feel free to check it out to know what I think of this decision. I think the best thing to do is to focus on the one thing that I didn’t like which, oddly enough, is the one thing that everybody is bringing up.

Don't cross the fans!
People are saying that the episode feels rushed, even those who liked the episode said that it was a bit rushed and, yeah, they are right. It does feel rushed, it is rushed. There are a lot of things going on in a very short period of time and it’s hard to keep up if your attention diverts into something else. This episode demands that you have watched, at least all the episodes of Friendship is Magic that have a big focus on Twilight Sparkle, which amounts to more than fifty percent of the series, so if you want to initiate people in this show don’t pick this episode, they’ll probably hate it. However, this wasn’t a problem for me. I didn’t mind how fast the whole episode is, I actually understand why they had to do it like this. They are telling one epic story and giving the main character a permanent change in less than half an hour, so of course there are going to be setbacks. There are ways around it and I think the way they picked was the correct one. Besides, it saves us from incessant amounts of moping and crying and feeling miserable, and it also doesn’t have those boring, predictable moments where the heroine is blamed for all that’s been happening around town, so if we can avoid those moments I will be more than happy to sacrifice length of it. People say it should have been a two parter, that there should have been two episodes instead of one, and if we take Meghan McCarthy’s words to heart, I think they too know it should have been like that. And from the looks of it, it’s very possible we won’t get two episodes, but three, it’s just that the next two episodes are going to take a while to arrive.

Patience Avatar, patience. It is a virtue, isn't it?
So in their best attempt to make the episode feel less rushed they included a butt-load of songs, and let me tell you, I would have done exactly the same thing. The way I see this execution is very simple, let me explain. Music and songs in particular, are a very special media. They have to tell a story, transmit a set of emotions, and be cohesive, in a very short amount of time, especially with animation. That’s why so many animated movies are musicals, and that’s why so many animated movies are shorter than live action ones. The way they use the songs in this episode is very similar to that. The starts with a happy song to show how good things are in Ponyville, then we move to a conflict song to established how wrong everything is, then we have a sad song that shows how gloomy and bad everything has gone, then we have another happy song to solve the conflict established before, we continue with a ballad that introduces the ultimate change to Twilight Sparkle, and finally we end with another happy go lucky song. For me, all of these songs work fine, some better than others. Oddly enough, the short songs are my favourite ones, “Find a Way” and “Celestia’s Ballad”, mostly because I feel there is a lot more emotions thrown in than in the others. Don’t get me wrong, the other songs are good, but those in particular feel heavier and more meaningful, especially “Find a Way”. I am also a sucker for that style of singing, so the moment the instrumentals start I was just dragged into it. I am biased, I admit it, and I can see how some people get sick of so much song. I perfectly understand you if you decided to just give up after the fourth song, and I can actually feel the fans throwing their arms up in the air whenever a new musical number started. I personally didn’t mind, and those that I liked I liked them a lot.

Somepony activated the Bass Canon inside the library, again.
So an excess of songs, and the episode feeling rushed seems to be what everybody is bringing out, but there are a few other things that I heard people say and I am willing to tackle them just so I can come with a different perspective on the whole thing. By the way, this next paragraph is just me giving a very lengthy explanation about minute details, so it’s very likely I will start reading too much on everything. I’m mostly doing it to compare notes with everybody and to put out there a few different takes on things that have not been fully explained.

Is that Little Pip coming from behind the barn?
The whole cutie mark swapping idea is, in my opinion, pretty clever and it gives us the chance to see very interesting visuals. I thought it was quite a sight to see the weather in Ponyville looking like a patchwork bed cover, and how the snow and the sun were freezing and roasting the ponies. I also found the view of Sweet Apple Acres as a wasteland foreboding and downright scary. Fallout: Equestria has never been so close to be canon. However, this whole concept brings up a few questions, to which I might have answers. Why is Applejack making dresses when Rarity’s real talent is to find gems? Well, maybe because Applejack doesn’t have a horn to use magic and thus use her gem finding spell, so she chose the next best thing, and that is making dresses. Why is Rarity controlling the weather when Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark represents that she broke the light spectrum by breaking the sound barrier? For the same reasons, as Rarity doesn’t have wings to be a great flier she has to take control over the next thing Rainbow Dash does best, and that is weather managing. Another issue people brought up, even in this blog, is how Twilight can become an alicorn just because she completed one spell? Well, this opens the possibility that Starswirl the Bearded was, in fact, an alicorn and not a unicorn. There are no official pictures of this character, and the closest thing we know how he used to look like is Twilight’s costume, and from what we see the wings could be covered by the cape. This also reveals that the only species of pony powerful enough to create magic are alicorns, which brings me to the whole issue that some people are having regarding the title of princess.

Forget the head canon, we need a head battleship.
To crown a character princess is something more abstract than what we give it credit for. This show uses the terms princess and prince so they don’t have to add other titles like Duke, Empress, Emperor or Ambassador. If you think about it, Cadance shouldn’t be a princess at all; she should be an Empress because her duty is to rule the Crystal Empire. In a very early interview with Lauren Faust, her original ideas for Celestia and prince Blueblood were that Celestia was going to be a Queen, and Blueblood was going to be a duke. I’m willing to bet that the use of simple words like prince and princess is due to the show’s target demographic. It’s a much better idea to use simple words so things are not muddled when it comes to tell the story. I don’t mean to say that kids aren’t smart, I’m just saying that when you want to tell a story and deliver a moral all at the same time, you want it to be clear, not complicated. So with all this, what would Twilight’s actual title be? Will she be a duchess? An ambassador? This is me, again, reading too much into things, but I like to entertain the idea that the best term to describe Twilight would be archmage. Think about it for a second. She doesn’t really rule anything, she doesn’t control any patch of land, but she is a magical savant, she is prodigious when learning new spells, and now she has a power equitable to Celestia and Luna. So she might not rule over anything, but she’ll be able to produce astonishingly powerful spells and magic. What I’m trying to say with this whole paragraph is that I support the use of the word princess when referring to Twilight Sparkle and any other good alicorns on the show.

Oh, so this is where all those removed videos from YouTube go to.
Now it’s time to talk about what I liked and, yeah, I know it sounds too weird after I spent more than ten paragraphs talking about the things everybody hated weren’t such a bother to me, but there were things that I really did like of this episode. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to drone on and go gaga over every single point...Maybe on one or two, perhaps.

Expect me to say how much I love this design several times.
I loved Twilight in this episode. I loved her, I loved her, I loved her, she was awesome, she was cute, she was adorkable, she was determined, and brave. She was just the little purple unicorn pony that I grew to love. This season has been light on her, oddly enough, as it preferred to focus on those that surround her rather than herself. So to have an episode focused on her (besides “Magic Duel” and they were both by the same writer) makes me happy. She was in character the whole time, and to those who are worried that she is not going to be that adorkable little pony anymore, I have one line straight from the equine’s mouth so you can all stop worrying.

“But, what do I do now? Is there a book about being a princess that I should read?”
This line moves me beyond all repair. She went through a life changing transformation, she completed her destiny, and she is still obsessed over reading books and making sure everything goes perfect. She is the same Twilight Sparkle we all love, she just changed a little and now has a different view on things. That my friends, is good writing.

I'll hide in here just in case.
I thought the ideas they came up with were pretty creative. I think Fluttershy trying to make Pinkie Pie’s job was a genius swap. Put the anti-social, shy character to do the work of the out-going, extroverted girl. Rainbow Dash doing Fluttershy’s duty was also pretty smart too. What else could be more opposite to adrenaline junky than peaceful living in a cottage near the forest? Applejack doing Rarity’s work is a no brainer. I was actually surprised that some of the dresses AJ comes up with don’t look half bad. And it was hilarious and heart breaking every time she tries to make the sewing machine work and things turn out terrible. Pinkie Pie with a southern accent and flat hair was a joy to see. I am amongst the many fans of flat hair Pinkie Pie (referred often as Pinkamena) so seeing her back in the show for the first time since “Party of One” was really cool.

Maybe the sewing machine is an Android, that's why it's not compatible with Applejack.
There were continuity nods all over the place in this episode. We had call backs to “Return of Harmony”, “The Cutie Pox”, “Keep Calm and Flutter on” (with the Elements of Harmony being in the library), “Friendship is Magic”, “Luna Eclipsed”, and of course a lot of throw backs that we could see during Celestia’s song towards the end of the episode. For those who are continuity nuts like myself, this episode was perfect and full of it, and it all fell well into place. Also, is it just me or does the whole thing have a very “series finale” feel to it? I saw a few mentions regarding this and, yeah, I have to agree with them, it feels like the show runners were finishing the series right here, which will make perfect sense as well. It feels like the end of the journey, and in my opinion it’s going out with a bang. I myself feel rewarded for it.

Sibbling hug! This is always touching.
Overall, and in my opinion, I really liked this episode, errors and things to complain about and all. It was a very enjoyable experience and a very risky move from both Hasbro and DHX. I appreciate the care and attention they put into every frame, from Twilight’s new design, to sneaking Derpy Hooves and Vinyl Scratch into the background. It was fun, it was entertaining, it was gorgeous to look at with some staggering visuals, and it felt like a Friendship is Magic episode. A much faster, not slow paced at all, but still with the same magic from the very first day it aired. If I was to put it in a top five of the season, it will definitely make it into the fifth position, just below “Magic Duel”, “Too Many Pinkie Pies”, “One Bad Apple” and “Sleepless in Ponyville”. So yeah, I definitely enjoyed it.

The circle is complete.
I think that covers everything, both what people liked and what people didn’t like. Again, I’m not trying to change anyone’s opinions. They are yours, and as long as you can write them down without offending anybody or forcing them into anybody’s face, then go on ahead and do it. If you want to agree with me, awesome, if no then that’s cool too. I am an open guy, I don’t gain anything from this but knowing what you guys think, which I consider quite valuable. It’s good to have perspective on things, so that’s why I’m here typing words and trying to make them make sense, so you all can have perspective on a show about pastel coloured miniature equines.

Thank you all for being with me in this wild ride of a season. I will keep it up through the drought with editorials that will range from pony to other subjects. I hope you all the best, have very creative ideas, and don’t be afraid to share your opinion as long as you do it respectfully and properly. Thanks again, and see you all later.

Have an adorable Twiley gif. How can you be mad at that?
- Defining Moment:Find a Way” and “Celestia’s Ballad” both songs full of feels and with a really visually interesting set up. And Twilight Sparkle’s design as an Alicorn princess, which is pretty awesome too.

23 comments:

  1. I think Alicorn Twilight will lead to some very interesting episodes. For example, Rainbow Dash teaching Twilight how to fly better. Comedy gold :D

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    1. Or Shy teaching her how to take care of her wings. D'aaaawwwws incoming. <3

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  2. clap clap clap

    Awesome review altough....okay if I have one point I disagree with you is the Cutie Mark business.
    To me the first half of the episode was made to dispell that fandom notion of taking the Cutie Marks literally. Cheerilee on her first appeareance says her Cutie Mark is symbolic, the smiley happy flowers being a simbol of helping her students blossom. They are not meant to be literal.
    Rainbow´s mark represents her passion for adventure, how she is a lightning of rainbows striking from inside a cloud, breaking the norms. Rarity´s mark shows finding the secret beauty inside of everything, the gem covered inside the rock and so forth.
    If Cutie Mark tells you what you are and what you need to do, then why are they unhappy? If they destinies have been changed they should automatically be good on those destinies, right?
    No because Pinkie destiny is brining joy to others not doing many chores she doesn´t have the patient or the skill to. Applejack destiny is to be with her family and cultivate the land (which earth ponies have magic powers to control something that was already mentioned several episodes) and give the entire town both food and a tradition, that´s why she sucks at making dresses. There´s no connection to land and her practical mind lacks a sense of fashion.
    That was brilliant to me, like summarizing every Cutie Mark Crusader episode in 15 minutes. You are what you make yourself to be, what you truly feel like. I couldn´t stop smiling with Fluttershy took a baloon to come back to Cloudsdale, that means she was still who she was, she was still no good at flying even her destiny had changed, it didn´t change who she was. That was brilliant!
    But on everything else I agree with you. Yes a bit rushed and Twilight still seemed a bit insecure to me but reaction and everybody else reaction was perfectly in character. That almost felt like a jab at the audience, no "oh my god you´re gonna live forever and bury us!" nop they were just happy.
    And hey who knows, maybe next season is about Twilight being a teacher about friendship in Ponyville, maybe being head of Celestia School, fans have been writing that story since day one.
    Also OMG I love that youtube joke. That was good.

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    1. If their destinies were changed, they should be different.

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  3. -Between this episode, Return of Harmony, and Cutie Mark Chronicles, a lot of M.A. Larson's writing seems to reflect the core theme of friendship harder and stronger than other writers. All these episodes are basically about how true friendship always shines through and how it has bettered the very lives of the main characters. For my money, he's the best at putting characters in scenarios that provoke genuine sadness without being overly harsh.
    -Larson also continues to have some of the tightest writing of any of the writers. Not a moment in the episode feels wasted and every little detail seems to be in service of the story rather than a deviation from it. His episodes have very little "fat", is what I'm saying.
    -The true MVP of this episode has to be Daniel Ingram. Every single song in this episode feels unique and has genuine emotional resonance. My personal favorite is "True, True Friend", which comes dangerously close to dethroning "Smile, Smile, Smile" as my favorite song in the series. By the time we got to the "magic hug", I was in tears and I don't care who knows it.
    -It really feels like this episode is part of something greater. It's a symbolic closing on a chapter and the start of a new one for the series. So if the episode feels rushed, I think it's because the point of the episode is not watching Twilight solving her latest problem, but rather Twilight cementing her status in Princess Celestia's eyes as worthy of becoming a princess.
    -The most impressive aspect of this episode has to be how DHX took something that could've easily been simple "toy bait" and turn it into something truly trascendant. This is an episode that had me hooked all the way through, at times making me forget that I already knew how it was going to end. It gave me that inexplicable feeling of warmth inside that this show always evokes in me when it's at its best.
    -By the time the episode ended, I felt the same way as Twilight. I'm uncertain about the future, but right now, I couldn't be happier for what's to come.

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  4. Also, Twilight is best Princess.

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  5. What I want to see, as well as many other people, I'm sure, is a sequel to "Games Ponies Play" showing the Equestria Games.

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  6. I was pretty into this episode, it was friggin' emotionally charged for nearly the entire 22 minute period. It felt like 2 episodes put into one for sure, but the musical style alleviated a lot of issues with that I think. I was pretty nervous about this one, but I'm seeing tons of positive comments about it, which makes me happy, SO much negativity these past few weeks.

    Regardless, it's over! I'll see you guys for S4 I'm sure. I think we all need a break, haha.

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  7. Good review James. I agree with all what you've said. Also If we will lose some raging fans for this episode, I guess It's only a good thing, we get rid of the bad fans.

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  8. I think this is one of your best reviews yet darling! So very innovative and thoughtful you really brought up some awesome points. I especially LOVE your paragraph on how Twilight is the equivalent of an archmage - this idea I rather enjoy. So then we can assume her duties will not be like Celetia's or Luna's where she will be like... ruling Ponyville or something but rather she'll be doing something she loves - studying and experimenting with magic! And her alicorn status is like a recognition of that fact. And that kind of makes sense if you consider the cutie marks of the other princesses:

    Celestia - power over the sun/day
    Luna - power over the moon/night
    Cadence - power over love
    Twilight - power over magic

    If you really think about it, that's a hell of a talent - having an exceptional talent over something that literally changes the seasons in Equestria?

    And once again, you have managed to make me look back at the show and rewatch scenes - and this time with the music. I think my favorite of the show is What my Cutie Mark is Telling Me just because it was the one to stand out to me and I don't really know why. But Find a Way was beautiful and I totally missed that. All the freaken depression - the expressions on all the Mane Six's faces and Spike's too! God, Spike's got an Aaaah out of me. I also rewatched the 'Friend in Need' song and wow that one was great too. I need to still re-hear Celetia's song (though I did squeal when she started singing because that was just awesome).

    Ok now, let me say a few other quick things -

    As far as Twilight being an alicorn - what I hated about it was how the company announced it. It's like what Pokemon just did. We all know Generation six is on the way, we've had the starters and two main legendaries revealed already (which is what they always tend to do). But then a week ago they give us the biggest, most anticipated reveal of the entire generation just to sell toys of it in July even though the gen won't be fully revealed until October.

    And the fanbase is just like Twilicorn here. We've got people flipping out; falling in love or throwing their computers out windows. Swooning over the 'cuteness' and how they want everything or screaming how ugly it is and how it ruins everything.

    I feel sorry for anyone hardcore into both these fandoms who hate both changes, because they probably feel like the world has failed them right about now LOL.

    Anyways, point is, twilicorn was a spoiler. It killed the episode a bit because we all knew it was going to happen - and even me, who doesn't go on Equestria daily or any pony sights, had NO chance of not getting spoiled. Eventually, I saw her on DA. And then later on youtube. And I know they did it to get the toy line out. I mean really, they sell to seven year old girls. Seven year old girls generally like princesses. Many probably like Twilight. They will want Twilight princess ponies to play with.

    But for the adults who love this show - this news hit the fanbase hard. Change is often never well accepted; but I have to wonder if the news would have been taken differently had we been allowed to watch the episode first and see the execution and the way they approached it first?

    Not to mention I just totally hate spoilers anyways. It takes out a lot of the surprise factor. I mean that's like knowing who dies in book 6 of Harry Potter before you've even started Book 1. It just... kind of ruins it?

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    1. But, as it is, her being an alicorn was just sort of an 'okay' to me and I tried not too get too upset or anything, trying to remind myself to wait for the episode and see the reasoning behind it all. And after watching the episode and especially reading your review and the way you supported it (not to mention your other post regarding it), where you cited strong examples and whatnot, I've actually come to like the change even because your right. It makes sense and... it's actually pretty cool even.

      I'm not sure if I'm even making sense over here LOL.

      Finally my other complaint is the same as everyone else's (even apparently the writers!) and of course that is the episode should of been two-parts because it was way too rushed and there were parts lacking in explanation we probably kind of needed. Then again, if we consider the demographic, most of that stuff would go over the young'en's heads anyways.

      But you know what suffers most about the one-episode slot? The music. I think if we kept the same amount of songs but had longer spaces between them it would of allowed for us to appreciate them more. Instead we're getting slapped with them every two minutes and it is a bit much especially since I think the most amount of songs we've every had in an episode before is... like... two?

      And if anything else, MLP has AMAZING songs and it feels a bit sad they have to suffer this way because, as I relisten to them now, they are stupidly brilliant and my god Rarity's voice in her parts is just... wow factor good. Applejack too.

      Another little issue I had with this episode was why was Twilight and Spike the only two aware that the cutie marks were different and something was wrong? The mane six are practically famous for all the things they've done in Equestria - but even if they weren't... Pinkie is friends with everyone. Rarity and AJ sell to the ponies of ponyville all the time. RD needs to be the center of attention. Only Fluttershy might not be as well-known since she's sort of antisocial and lives in a secluded area but even still... I mean isn't the Apple Family a little confused why Pinkie is suddenly at their farm doing AJ's work?

      The only argument I can come up with is that the casting of the charm not only made the ponies affected forget who they are but everyone else in the world forget who they really are as well. Except Twilight who cast it in the first place - and Spike, because he;s not a pony and it's a pony-specific spell. Not sure how well that argument holds up though.

      Oh, oh, oh. But one last thing.

      You know what I loved about this entire episode most?

      It is Friendship is Magic.

      LITERALLY.

      Friendship was the magical cure that fixed the cutie marks and put everything right again. It's like Discord's title drop in plot form (LOL THAT PUN I REGRET NOTHING).

      But it was beautiful. All the friendship that spilled out in those few minutes was just... ffff-worthy. Rarity wanting to save Applejack's farm (gosh she and AJ have come so far) and AJ's determination as they head for her home once she realizes Pinkie needs her... Gaaah those two moments were brilliant. I even loved Spike so hardcore in this episode; all his attempts to help and cheer up Twilight are great.


      Okay I'm done. Lol. But anyways, it's been fun once again dear! I'll keep up with the 'My Thoughts On' stuff but otherwise, see you for Season 4!

      P.S. Wow this was a long response lol

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    2. I agree. It feels like this fandom could use a bit of a cleansing.

      Also, it's kind of sad how fans are missing the point of the entire series, as in, friendship being literal magic.

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    3. Completely off topic and probably missing about five points. but are you really trying to say that another damn eeveelution is the most exciting potential reveal of Pokemon X and Y? Because I think I need to come up with a brand new word to describe just how wrong that is.

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  9. I'm starting to think that the reason why this season was so short is precisely because of Twilight's transformation. Hasbro wanted to put out Princess Twilight as soon as possible and they didn't want to wait through a 20+ episode season to do so. Makes sense to me, but I don't know about you.

    I maintain that the while the episode feels rushed, there's a good reason for it. I already mentioned this, but the point of the episode is not Twilight fixing the problem but rather Twilight proving that she's ready to move to the next level of her training. If the cutie mark problem had been fixed until the third act, we wouldn't have much time to deal with the transformation aspect of the episode (I?m pretty sure that if that had happened, the same people who condemn the episode for being rushed would STILL condemn it for being rushed). Given how it's such a big change for the show, it makes sense to me that the episode would take as much time as it did to bring on the pomp and circumstance of Twilight turning into a Princess. I just wish more fans could see that perspective.

    Also, I never had a problem with the "logic" behind the switching of cutie marks. First of all, IT'S MAGIC. Magic generally isn't supposed to be logical. The switching of cutie marks because of a halk-baked spell makes about as much sense as turining rain into chocolate milk. It's kind of sad watching so many fans trying to find the logic behind the use of magic in this episode. A lot of fans seem to be assuming that the spell must've also altered time somehow, so at some point the ponies must've undergone an experience to get the wrong cutie mark. I think the only thing the spell did was alter the present state of things and nothing more. And given the importance of cuite marks in this world, this is why the girls don't seem to remember that they used to have a different one.

    Going back to the "logic" of magic, I think discussing it is about as pointless as discussing the logic of time travel. I mean, it's science fiction. It's not supposed to be immediately believable. For one thing, in most movies about time travel, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Usually, it's used as a mechanic to tell a certain story or reflect on a certain theme (ex. Looper).

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  10. i liked the episode to a point, wich one you can probally guess^^. allright all the good things, there were some really awsome songs, twilight and the other mane6 were also great and the first 2/3 of the episode(even if it was rushed a lot) was quite enjoyable, the last third sadly wasnt, to me at least.
    one scene actually made me hate the episode, tbh. the scene were the other mane6 bow down before twilight, thats pretty vile. a true friend shouldnt bow down before a friend ever. because that means the mane5 are now twilight subjects and that does change a friendship a lot. i could go on on how a princess twilight is bad thing, but i wont, because its useless.

    on thing though, when celestia mentioned that twilight brought her and luna back togther/close again i was thinking that id love to see that, a episode where twilight was actually helping the two to become close again, or a episode where luna and celestia work out their troubled past, so i can only asume that all happend offscreen or was she referng to the mane6 shooting a rainbow laser at nightmare moon?

    i know a lot of people seem to like/love the episode, i dont get it but i dont need to, hey i like sombra and a lot of people didnt so that fair i guess.

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    1. >the scene were the other mane6 bow down before twilight, thats pretty vile. a true friend shouldnt bow down before a friend ever. because that means the mane5 are now twilight subjects and that does change a friendship a lot. i could go on on how a princess twilight is bad thing, but i wont, because its useless.

      They bowed out of respect just like Twi did when she bowed to them. And unlike them she did that before the entire nation watching her and that when she had been crowned a princess.
      She even waved them to come onto the balcony, something Celestia/luna didn´t seemed important enough to consider themselves. She told the entire nation that she wouldn´t be standing there befor them as a princess if if weren´t for those ponies and their friendship and that she´s grateful for it. For their friendship, not the title/alicornhood as those were simply the result of their friendship and its magic.

      So yeah, i saw no lesser friend or better friend thingie here. Espically in the first half where each helped out the other and made it clear they all have a veryimportant part in each and everypony´s life.
      If you did it makes sense that you would dislike the show, but it didn´t looked nor felt this way to me and many other watchers so i dunno tbh.^g^

      Liking Sombra must be a bit tough, given how much he´s the butt of many villian jokes cause unlike Discord/Chrysalis he seems to be a one-trick pony.^^;
      Crrryyyystaaaaallsss~

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  11. Finally a Review.

    Best Season enindg ever.

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  12. Honestly, I think the only pacing issue was the Coronation at the end. If they had finished the episode at the transformation, I think it's impact could have been explained more and then left the whole finale for the start of season 4.

    Then again, I'm a world building nut, so I have an insatiable need to know more about Equestria

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  13. CI felt it was definitively a very emotional episode, especially Celestia's ballad. Wow. And all that despite the faster-than-dash pacing.

    I'm gonna miss your reviews, you know. I'm really excited about the 2 others parts of the 3-parter, what do they have in store for season 4? It's gonna be a long wait...

    Also, do you know if you'll stille write reviews for the season 4 episodes?

    Simontheb


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  14. I've just been wondering why Twilight becoming an Alicorn should be so controversial, especially with the brony community (as briefly mentioned in this article). I don't follow MLP controversy, and I typically just watch the shows on my own, so I'm not really aware of any controversy surrounding them. Other than personal preferences, why would anyone extremely dislike Twilight becoming an Alicorn? And how was it hinted at during the series? I don't really have a preference one way or another - I suppose some people might consider it being 'Mary Sue'-like, but what's the real issue?

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  15. I already know i won´t remember the name of your site once S4 starts and i wanna read your reviews. <_<

    Yay for MLP, Yay for a good final and YAY for your last review for the next couple months!

    Hope to see you in S4 and read some of your reviews! :D

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  16. The thing is that Twilight says: "Oh it's not their memories I changed, but their destinies! OMG!!" and then, as you said, reminded them on who they used to be. Altough they never were that person because of Twilights spell, Twilight reminded her friends of something that never happened. And this is why this episode fails.

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    1. And considering how she changed their destinies, that would mean that they would actually be GOOD at the new things they do. As that is their new destiny and what they have been doing for their entire lives. The episode is just a cluster of bad story telling and plot holes.

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