New and Latest Episode Thread

[Gnarrkhaz]

Rarity sucks at designing carts

But at least i have plenty o' rooooom for mah puppets!

One thing: How do owls fly on one spot like hummingbirds? But then again apparently Pegasi can do that too.

[CitricAcid]

Rarity has worked in the fashion business for so long, you'd think she would already be accustomed to her customers not always being satisfied. If that's how she takes criticism, no matter how unreasonable it may have been, she won't last long. Not that I know anything about fashion, but music is the same deal. Someone asks you make music that sounds a certain way, you do it, they tell you it's wrong, you fix it. You cannot get attached to your first work. An important lesson.

[itroitnyah]

Oh lawdy another episode about Dash being a greedy cunt and sports. Dis gun b good.

In this episode: fan pandering. And spike pandering, huehue

Anyways, I can't say I expected Spike to be an asshat to the people who were pandering them. I sorta half expected him to be like "nah guys, it's cool." But nevertheless, the episode took a complete turn away from what I thought it would be about. Then of course he goes about embarrassing himself. I actually had to pause the video for a minute when he was singing the cloudsdale anthem.

They had Katniss from Hunger Games in the final competition for the sports though, I'm fairly certain.

The moment where spike turns into the hero is a little far fetched. But overall the episode was a great episode. Season 4 is turning out to be a pretty great season, even if it isn't done by Lauren anymore.

[ph00tbag]

I literally skipped the part where Spike sang the Cloudsdale Anthem. I absolutely can't stand that kind of humor.

The rest of the episode was quite good. Best Spike episode of the whole series hands down.

Pinkie Pie was funny, Rainbow Dash was awesome/adorable, the interaction was all nuanced and fun. There were all sorts of cool little animation details. I really quite liked it, it was just kinda ruined by the whole Cloudsdale Anthem.

[Freewave]

We've been building up the EQ games ALL season long and it was completely overshadowed by a badly written Spike episode. If he's afraid of crowds he shouldn't have wanted to go up there a second time. The back and forth between cocky and confident and scared Spike made little sense. If a dangerous frozen cloud was threatening the crowd then the princesses (the most powerful ponies in equestria) and other ponies should have stepped in. It frankly really ruined what should have been an important episode. We saw very LITTLE of the EQ games and of Twilight's role in a princess position. Instead we got yet another Spike episode that made little sense, wasn't enjoyable, and yet again the show suffered for it. Most Spike focused episodes aren't very good and this especially isn't an exception.

I guess some people have spelled out that they "capped" all the unicorns magic as part of the security measures when they entered the stadium over concern for cheating. However,

[Gnarrkhaz]

I literally skipped the part where Spike sang the Cloudsdale Anthem. I absolutely can't stand that kind of humor.

I think that was hilarious. It was 100% vicarious embarrassment though for sure. I was cringing hard.

Yeah, taking away the alicorn magic was probably bullshit but i think the episode was fine. Had a mature lesson as well. I sure as hell can relate to it. I actually liked how the episode didn't focus on the games themselves but still showed enough of them to make it feel like something special is going on. But that's just me being completely bored of most types of sports in general.

[Gnarrkhaz]

One thing i was afraid of was that they'd go the "character becomes too full of himself and friends needs to get him of his high horse"-route but thankfully the episode didn't. We've had enough of those plots in this series in my opinion.

But then again that makes the scene in which Spike imagines himself being psionic kind of pointless.

[Freewave]

Well they saved the best episode of the season for the finale.

1. Discord does betray (and given a true redemption)
2. Awesome badass new villain
3. New songs (pretty decent ones)
4. Elements keybox
5. Epic battle
6. Background pony cameos
7. Alluding to new and old Equestria locations
8. Not permanently changing the mane 6 appearance (as feared) to sell toys
9. Treehouse destroyed, New castle
10. Twilight finally given a role and a duty

The pacing was excellent for a change so it didn't feel rushed or padded. I dunno, this is likely going in my top 5.

[CitricAcid]

It was definitely decent. I wasn't a huge fan of the songs, but at least they didn't cram 7 songs in like they did last season. Daniel Ingram must play mandolin, because that seems to come up a lot in songs. I'm glad they didn't undersell Twilight's power with all of the alicorn magic, though it felt a bit like watching Dragonball P.

Also Ponyville had better at least double in size by next season. There's a princess and her castle there now.

[ph00tbag]

I can't even.

This episode just blew my mind.

For me, the most important thing is Twilight including Discord among her friends. Since Three's a Crowd, I've basically been feeling that Twilight accepting Discord's friendship openly, despite how irksome she finds him, would be a major plot development. I hadn't quite expected it to be the key, so to speak, to unlocking her Rainbow Power, but in retrospect it makes total sense, since that was a major flaw in her standing as Element of Magic/Friendship, basically since Discord's reform. Now that it's out in the open that Twilight does see Discord as a friend, it will be really interesting to see how their relationship develops.

My only gripe is that Celestia and Luna without their magic didn't revert to pink hair and light blue hair, respectively. I always liked the idea that their flowing manes were the product of their overabundance of magic. Not a huge problem, I just felt that the headcanon was better (and better attested in the preceding lore [I mean, they even referenced that coloration in the same episode]) than the canon.

[Stuntddude]

HOLY SHIT. !!!

I can't figure out if I just watched My Little Pony or Dragon Ball Z. With the mane 6 going straight super saiyan and all. And Twilight's combined alicorn powers.

Perhaps the best part of the episode for me though was how they had the epic DBZ-esque ultra-powerful super action fight, and then immediately followed it up with a bunch of personal friendship snazz and how Twilight's role as a princess is to spread friendship everywhere like wildfire, and it didn't feel like a jarring transition or like it was deliberately contrasting the two contexts, they just fell right into the same episode as two elements of life belonging together (given, most people don't literally go super saiyan, but I think you know what I mean). I've always had mad respect for how well the core principles of the show represent the diversity of real people and real life, and how different extremes of people's personalities and lives are not as separate and exclusive to one another as they're portrayed to be. This episode absolutely nailed it for me.

The normal season episodes are in many ways hit-and-miss in my opinion, but there's some special mode of production where they really pull out all the stops for season finales and openers. I have yet to be disappointed by any season premiere or season finale, and I'm just now coming to realize how much I appreciate that format. I love how slice-of-life most of the mid-season episodes are, and I love that they break from that to always do something really grand and fantastical and special for the premieres and finales.

That said, the songs were totally forced and arbitrary, I agree, and they weren't that great. But they weren't that big of a deal so I didn't really mind. They knew there was no way they were going to pull off a musical like they did for the season 2 finale, and they cut it back to two incidental songs, and that was okay with me.

[itroitnyah]

Whoa there Rafiki, calm down man.

AH HA! WE FUCKIN' KNEW IT. WE FUCKIN' CALLED IT. They actually did it, they actually made the items that the mane 6 received the keys to Discord's chest.

Well fuckin' shit, this is intense. Going all Avatar and shit on him. Blowing up libraries at shit. In fact, I'm pretty certain that a lot of the influence for the fight scene between Twi and whats-his-name came from the original Avatar Finale.

But holy shit, that was an amazing episode. Like, season 2 quality shit right there. I loved every second of it, and am super psyched for season 5 to roll around.

This is really making me want to watch Lion King and Avatar TLAB again. And the new Avatar series, since I haven't seen those yet. Gawd damn that was good.

[Facade]

that was some real stick figure fighting action right there

no for the wait yay

[ph00tbag]

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think the final fight was interesting because we got to see Twilight pushed to an extreme. We've seen her angry before, but this was the only time it's ever been completely and violently furious. I kinda like seeing how characters react to that kinda pressure. Also the scene where Discord initially confronts Tirak was really neat imo. It sorta feels like it was more well thought-out than some of the other scenes in this finale.

Also dat princess song

[ganondox]

I literally skipped the part where Spike sang the Cloudsdale Anthem. I absolutely can't stand that kind of humor.

The rest of the episode was quite good. Best Spike episode of the whole series hands down.

Pinkie Pie was funny, Rainbow Dash was awesome/adorable, the interaction was all nuanced and fun. There were all sorts of cool little animation details. I really quite liked it, it was just kinda ruined by the whole Cloudsdale Anthem.

The Cloudsdale Anthem was the only thing I liked in that episode. The rest of it was seriously meh.

Well they saved the best episode of the season for the finale.

1. Discord does betray (and given a true redemption)
2. Awesome badass new villain
3. New songs (pretty decent ones)
4. Elements keybox
5. Epic battle
6. Background pony cameos
7. Alluding to new and old Equestria locations
8. Not permanently changing the mane 6 appearance (as feared) to sell toys
9. Treehouse destroyed, New castle
10. Twilight finally given a role and a duty

The pacing was excellent for a change so it didn't feel rushed or padded. I dunno, this is likely going in my top 5.

I think there was one part were the pacing was off, namely when Twilight discovered what the keys were, but other than that and a few minor plot holes, it was an excellent episode and makes up for the rest of the princess arc.

[Gnarrkhaz]

There's some stuff that doesn't make much sense (like always) but i'm not too hung up on that. I wish there would have been more songs and the songs that were there weren't all that special. The Dragonball stuff was overly silly (...but kind of awesome still) and so was the rainbow nonsense. Thank god they reverted back to their normal form. I found it quite funny that Twilight was wondering at the beginning what she's supposed to do as a princess given that she doesn't do anything ever. Exactly the same thing that everyone has been criticising. Also, what exactly was in the chest now? Overall it was good and a fitting ending to the season. More importantly it makes me excited for season 5.

Still, A Canterlot Wedding is still my favorite of the opener/closing episodes.

[simonli2575]

I found it quite funny that Twilight was wondering at the beginning what she's supposed to do as a princess given that she doesn't do anything ever. Exactly the same thing that everyone has been criticising.

And you know, they've actually never thought about, let alone discussed Twilight's destiny. There was no build up to it whatsoever, which I found a bit irritating.
That said, the season finale was still great, the battle scene and the build up to that was fantastic and there were some twists and turns I didn't quite see coming.

[The_Rariot]

Finale was great. Got chills during the whole "Princess Quartet" thing, even though the song was kinda lackluster. Both songs were a bit of a let-down IMO, but Twilight's badassery more than made up for it. I definitely didn't see My Little Dragonball fight scenes coming.

Also, this

[ganondox]

Also, this

I'll raise this.



Your turn.

[simonli2575]

The one on the right. Now where's my prize?

[ganondox]

The one on the right. Now where's my prize?

His right or our right?

[FLAOFEI]

His right or our right?

Idk what he ment... But if it where up to me I'd chose the one on our right.
The lighter blue one would contrast a great deal with his red skin, drawing focus away from his eyes. That's not what we want, so I'd go with the one that will attract the viewers eye less, allowing the viewers attention to be focused on the eyes.

[ganondox]

His right or our right?

Idk what he ment... But if it where up to me I'd chose the one on our right.
The lighter blue one would contrast a great deal with his red skin, drawing focus away from his eyes. That's not what we want, so I'd go with the one that will attract the viewers eye less, allowing the viewers attention to be focused on the eyes.

I agree, and I do say he'd look rather stunning in it.

[ExoBassTix]

I watched the season finale today.
- Tirek was very well thought out;
- The spoilers I inevitably encountered on Tumblr really made me think the fighting scene would be a huge DBZ-ish thing, but I was happily surprised when it wasn't too much of it;
- Twilight has a new home, that'll promise interesting stuff for S5;
- I strongly disliked the Mane-6's super saiyan forms;
- Discord, and how Twilight treated him, was awesome;
- LOTS of AWESOME facial expressions;
- Quite some weird and annoying (imo) facial expressions, especially from the three not-Twilight princesses (especially the songs);
- Except for the fact that Celestia, Luna and Cadence sung together, I didn't particularly enjoy the songs. They're not bad, but not too good either imo. I also reeeeaaaally didn't like the three princesses' movements during the whole of their song-part;
- They gave -all- of their powers to Twilight :D wejoooo;
- Twilight fucking moved the sun and moon! YES FINALLY!

All by all, second-best episode. Daaamn good!

EDIT - a post worthy of being my 2500th on this forum.