My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

[Stormwatch]

So, I finally watched it, and...

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

SEASON 4:

Twilight leaves, goes off to do a bunch of princess shit, is replaced by Star Swirl. Pinkie Pie becomes main character.

After 26 eps, new main 6 track down Twilight, leading to a Blake's 7-style reunion/betrayal/shootout.

[Stormwatch]

You know what's sad? Twilicorn could have worked. One of my favorite fanfics did it right. Sorry for the obvious spoiler, but I'm suggesting it for the specific reason that it ends with Twilicorn in a way that works. Thing is, it doesn't take just finishing a crappy poem by some long-dead wizard: Twi only finds her destiny when the whole world is about to go to hell in a handbasket.

[The Coop]

Thing is, it doesn't take just finishing a crappy poem by some long-dead wizard: Twi only finds her destiny when the whole world is about to go to hell in a handbasket.

She's already helped do that three times; four, if you count the idea of the changelings spreading out from the Crystal Empire.

Now, I say this not to come of as some rabid "DHX CAN DOEZ NO RONG!" fanboy or anything, so please don't take it as such. But I can see finishing that spell being an important step for Twilight. It's one thing to learn magic created by someone else, but it's something else entirely to create magic for someone else to use (or help do so, as the case may be). This, basically, could be seen as her first step toward possibly being like Star Swirl later in life; a magic creator, and not just a magic user. How that idea could play into the new season, or if it does at all, we'll have to wait and see.

I know it's not a grandiose thing, with world changing events, mountains of shit hitting the high-powered fan, and monstrous villains to best. But if you think about it, it's a pretty big moment for someone who's basically a young magic user with a lot of as of yet unrealized potential and magical power... if her "how I got my cutie mark" flashback scene is any indication. Would it have been cool to have a new villain to threaten everything in some new way? Of course, but I can still see the importance of what took place, even if it was rather subdued for what the eventual outcome was.

[Vyxx]

[Stormwatch]

Coop, that'd mean anyone who creates a spell has earned a place among royalty. However, it is never said that Star Swirl, the greatest magician ever, was a prince. Whereas Twilight just finishes a single spell that he left unfinished, and... seriously, this shit just made no sense!

[Lord Satori]

I'm sick of people bitching about this episode. Twilight transforms and suddenly the fandom explodes. Sure, they sung a little too much in this episode, sure, maybe the spell thing didn't make as much sense as it could have, (she didn't finish it, btw. she rewrote it. the spell Star Swirl wrote was broken, she replaced it.) but honestly, all that matters is the end result. Besides, how many times has she saved Equestria from the brink of disaster? Besides, have they ever majorly let us down with an entire season before? I don't think they'll start now.

um... I'm not sure how to respond to this one.

[Stormwatch]

Besides, have they ever majorly let us down with an entire season before?

Umm... yes, they just did.

[The Coop]

Coop, that'd mean anyone who creates a spell has earned a place among royalty. However, it is never said that Star Swirl, the greatest magician ever, was a prince. Whereas Twilight just finishes a single spell that he left unfinished, and... seriously, this shit just made no sense!

To me, it means only Twilight earned a place (at least for the moment) among royalty. Her cutie mark is centered around magic, and potentially, the Elements of Harmony, which means magic is a very big part of her life. Plus, there was a lot of talk by Celestia about Twilight's destiny in that finale (hell, there was a song about it ), and it could very well be that finishing/rewriting that spell was Twilight's next step toward that destiny; that it was a part of only her journey, and not a journey for every magic user who comes up with a spell (thus, Star Swirl never being mentioned as a prince). I say all that because at times, Celestia definitely seems to know a fair number of something's about what's supposedly in store for Twilight; almost as if she's seen where the young unicorn will end up, and is preparing Twilight for that destiny. And while I understand what you're saying Stormwatch, you're applying one character's journey to all the characters. And it may simply be that what's happened only applies to Twilight's future role, and not every unicorn in the land.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I think what happened is being over analyzed, when what's gone on is really pretty straight forward... IMHO of course. I could be wrong, or we all could be wrong. Who knows. We'll just have to wait and find out.

[Lord Satori]

Besides, have they ever majorly let us down with an entire season before?

Umm... yes, they just did.

Why, 'cause you say so? What kind of response was that, anyway?

I fucking HATE IT when people just turn around and disagree without saying anything else. The only reason I'm actually responding to this post is to go on this mini-rant. Otherwise, I'd just ignore it.
By the way, that comic is retarded.

[Stormwatch]

What I meant is quite obvious: this season was crap. It had, what, three good episodes?! ¬¬

[KennyMan666]

Four.

I agree that picking up Starswirl the Bearded's work was something like a final exam for Twilight. But her becoming an alicorn and a princess out of it felt like it came completely out of left field (and in this case, "left field" is Hasbro wanting to promote the toyline - I'm about 100% certain that if not for that, it would never have happened). It would have made sense if she with her "graduation" instead had been promoted to something like grand wizard, or whatever the hell title Starswirl had in his day.

[Edmond Dantes]

What I meant is quite obvious: this season was crap. It had, what, three good episodes?! ¬¬

I have to disagree. Of the entire season, the only episode I found repulsive was "One Bad Apple." the others were middling-to-good.

Season 2 is fucking overrated. That season was so terrible I almost stopped watching the show after every other episode. It was clear that the loss of Lauren was a huge blow and they were still struggling to recover. And seriously, people complain about marketing now--where were these same people when the show was forcing Pinkie down our throats and always cameoing that obnoxious pink Friendship Express? (Seriously, it was clear in S2 that Pinkie was the franchise's mascot and was being written as such, rather than being treated like a three-dimensional character).

Seriously, Season 2 felt like the people behind it had no clue what they were doing anymore. "Hey, let's have an entire episode revolve around Pinkie being an obnoxious little prat who destroy's a Donkey's life, and we're totally supposed to root for her!" Or "Hmmm, we've got six neurotic village girls... let's have them fight a god of chaos!" A god of chaos? That concept belongs more in The Avengers or Justice League than in MLP. The only thing that makes that episode palatable now is that Discord returns in "Keep Calm and Flutter On," an episode I actually liked. But we're not done yet! Hey, the Mane Six pretend to be Batman! Yeah, such a solid premise! And hey, lets have a whole episode about obnoxious stereotype dragons! And an episode about little girls getting blackmailed and then shunned by the entire town!

Yeah, Season 2 was awesome.

Season 3 was, if anything, a return to form. Pinkie Pie was no longer written like a one-dimensional mascot, there were no longer awkward attempts (save maybe one or two) to force MLP into genres where it clearly didn't fit, the stories--while sketchy at times--at least went back to having more in-depth premises rather than "Rainbow Dash learns reading is fun!" Yes, marketing reared its ugly head in the finale, but at least the Friendship Express wasn't as in-our-face as it used to be and the balloon (which I always liked) made a return.

End rant.

[Stormwatch]

At least Discord did something other than growl and mumble about crystals and slaves...

[BIL]

um... I'm not sure how to respond to this one.

Napalm?

[Lord Satori]

Anyone who hates an entire season of this show takes it too seriously.

[Stormwatch]

A punch in the gut.

[Giest118]

I have a question: What the fuck is SUPPOSED to happen when you become apprentice to a god? Are you like... NOT supposed to ascend to demigod-hood at some point? How did everyone THINK Twilight's journey was gonna end?

Also, finishing the spell isn't what triggered it; it was the fact that her friendships that she'd built up over the three seasons allowed her to solve some serious identity shit and do what was thought to be impossible. Basically, she pulled off some Gurren Lagann shit, except instead of creating a galaxy-sized robot, she fixed some ancient magic that was never thought to be useful or capable of being cast correctly.

[Lord Satori]

A punch in the gut.

Reading this, I still stand by most of what I said, but I'm willing to admit that the show has taken on some strange turns. However, I don't understand why they'd be trying to remove the bronies from their fanbase. Wtf, I thought they liked to make more money, not less. If you can satisfy two completely different markets with one show, DO IT! Don't be a dumbass and spout thoughts that can barely be called 'thoughts' such as "we aren't at this market, lets change direction towards this other market."

I have a question: What the fuck is SUPPOSED to happen when you become apprentice to a god? Are you like... NOT supposed to ascend to demigod-hood at some point? How did everyone THINK Twilight's journey was gonna end?

I'm not sure this is the end, really. The end of the season, sure, but not the end of the show.

[The Coop]

I'm not sure this is the end, really. The end of the season, sure, but not the end of the show.

Season 4 later this year will have 26 episodes, so no, it's not the end of the show. Not only that, but Meghan McCarthy said in a Tweet that she considered Season 3's finale to be part one of a three parter, with the last two parts not being aired for a while.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

A punch in the gut.

discordeyesrollingoutoftheirsockets.gif

[njiska]

I hate to admit it, but I think I might be about done with this fandom...

I know I've been one of the most vocal supporters of the show on this forum and fought against all the bullshit, arguing in favour of the show on it's artistic merits, but after this past season and the new anti-fan direction of Hasbro, I don't know if I can continue. I first realized something was wrong around the mid-point of this season. Normally I'd force myself to be up nice and early to be sure I could catch the livestream of a new episode, even if it meant being exhausted, but by the 8th episode I found myself no longer doing that. In fact the last time I had any energy to really try and catch an episode close to air was Wonderbolt Academy. I even started to forget that new epsiodes had aired and sometimes didn't catch them until days later. Hell I barely even remember the last half of the season, despite having watched every episode.

I was also getting rubbed the wrong way by Hasbro's sudden crack down on fan projects. Fighting is Magic is about the biggest thing the community had going, enjoyed years of good publicity and then one day Hasbro just axed it. That's not how you reward fans. It's not even how you protect a brand. Hell if that was their concern then the project should have never gotten off the ground. There's also the bullshit that's gone on with FIW, a genuinely protected parody, and Dawnsomewhere's productions. It feels like all of the "fun" that existed in the fandom is slowly being squeezed out.

Then there's the season finale. What an ungodly paced piece of shit. Poorly paced, illogical. It was just all round awfully produced. If this is what the future holds, then I don't know if I'll be able to find the desire to watch season 4. MLP just isn't very fun these days.

[BIL]

A punch in the gut.

Fascinating read. I remember when Hasbro stopped making awesome super-articulated GI JOE figures and started doing those shitty, chunky ones with no rotator cuffs because kids in the mid-90s had no taste. Cunts!

[Edmond Dantes]

I have a question: What the fuck is SUPPOSED to happen when you become apprentice to a god? Are you like... NOT supposed to ascend to demigod-hood at some point? How did everyone THINK Twilight's journey was gonna end?

To be honest, I thought it was gonna end with her getting married.

I've heard the whole, "obviously Celestia was grooming her for this" line, and I don't buy it. Why isn't it possible that Celestia just thought Twilight really had potential to be a great mage and for some reason thought she was the best pony to teach her? Perhaps Celestia does this once a century to, I dunno, stay close to her subjects, or perhaps she wants someone she can talk to and relate to on a more personal level, or perhaps she was just bored and felt like training a magician would be an entertaining passtime.

I mean, I can think of dozens of reasons Celestia could want to train Twilight, and none of them go towards "because she wanted to turn her into a Princess one day."

[KennyMan666]

It's worse than that. While working on the second part of my analysis based on comments I got on the first part (it wasn't actually meant to get a second part, originally I was just planning on answering comments, but then realized I had enough to incorporate it into a part two), it hit me that if we take what happened in this episode with cutie marks and destinies and whatever the fuck at face value, then Twilight hasn't had any choice about this since the day she got her cutie mark.

With her transformation, her cutie mark changed. It gained an extra small star around the big one.

The entire episode is full of absolutely horrible implications about what cutie marks are if you actually think about it.

[Edmond Dantes]

Why does your link no longer go to that forum anymore? Now it just goes to an HTML of the article itself--I kinda wanted to see how other people responded.

[KennyMan666]

Because I wanted it to have a permanent home that wasn't on page 49 in a topic on a Metroid forum past its prime (get it? Get it?).

The topic in question still of course exists here but that's not where I got the comments since that topic has like four or five posters - the comments I got my material from were gotten elsewhere, and I really don't feel like heading back and finding them in a topic with close to 342000 posts.

[Giest118]

I mean, I can think of dozens of reasons Celestia could want to train Twilight, and none of them go towards "because she wanted to turn her into a Princess one day."

So because you didn't think of it, it's the worst plot development ever in the history of all of fiction?

I don't... I don't get it. Nobody bothers explaining why it's bad; it's just "SHE'S AN ALICORN NOW FUCK YOU HASBRO EVERYTHING YOU DO IS GAY FOREVER"

[Lord Satori]

Seeing this reaction, I'm wondering what people would do if Pokemon decided to evolve Ash's Pikachu.

Seriously, though. Just get over it. While I kinda think having her be a princess doesn't make sense, (I'm fine with her being an alicorn, but why she has to be a princess as well I don't know) its not as big a deal as it seems. Shouldn't we at least give season 4 a chance before fandom explodes?

[Edmond Dantes]

Ugh... sorry about that last post [now deleted]. Okay, less asshat followup.

The problem with "Alicorn Twi," on a wide level, is that basically it marks a huge change. Twilight goes from being a meek, insecure, somewhat insane librarian chick with nerd tendencies to being a big fancy Princess. Some fans see this as a smack on everything MLP has been about, regressing into traditional "girly" conventions in a show that has always defied them. But for the most part, the problem is what it means for the show. The "Mane Six" dynamic is skewered now, because Twilight can't be seen as equal to the others--unless they're all suddenly given royal positions now. And that would be... weird.

On a personal note though, my biggest fear is that Season 4 will try to pretend the wings aren't there, or else will remove them entirely and make Twi her old self again. Either of these would be terrible. The former perhaps moreso, because it will be just odd and awkward for an acknowledged princess to still be working in a library, still be acting like an adorable bookworm, still being treated like she's a normal pony and not a princess. It would seem so hollow and artificial. But if Twi winds up losing her powers, then that would feel wrong too, and it would also be so typical of an American cartoon--it would probably disillusion me on the show entirely.

As for the episode itself... it really could have been handled better. As it is, I really feel like Twilight became a Princess for basically no reason at all. Don't get me wrong--Twi is my fave pony. But what exactly is "Princess" about her? She's a neurotic, insecure airhead who stresses over silly things and nearly tore the town apart just so she could come up with a subject for a letter. Yes, she's learned a lot about "friendship," but most of what she learned was stuff the other ponies already knew. She has very few legitimate accomplishments to her name.

I mean, it just bothers me when characters are handed rank and power on a silver platter, without having really earned it. If you're gonna get an upgrade, you should have to go through hell for it.

That's what I think, anyway.