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spoiler Simple or grand? How would like your Season 5 finale?


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With season five starting in a few months, we can definitely speculate what our ponies will do throughout the twenty-six-episode escapade more. But one we don't know yet is the season finale. Earlier today, inspired by this topic on Reddit, Sethisto posted this about being okay if season five's finale was simple and similar to The Best Night Ever instead of epic with plenty of stakes like A Canterlot Wedding, Magical Mystery Cure, and Twilight's Kingdom.

 

With that, I have two questions?

  1. Would you like the season five finale to be simple like TBNE or grand with plenty of stakes like the previous three?
  2. If the season five finale is simple akin to TBNE, would you be for it?

I posted in EQD already, but I think I was too abbreviated, so I'll post a newer answer.

 


 

Honestly, the simpler finale is something FIM has been basically asking itself for a long time. Following The Best Night Ever, every single season finale has been portrayed as really epic with so much at stake.

 

A Canterlot Wedding upped the ante with its cliffhanger to conclude Part 1, This Day Aria, the looming threat, and the big brawl between the Mane Six and Chrysalis's army.

 

Magical Mystery Cure is slice of life with the stakes as high as The Crystal Empire. Twilight's friends' memories and lives were at stake, and the musical aspect thrust forward Twilight's will to persevere and "reward."

 

Twilight's Kingdom takes the stakes of A Canterlot Wedding and multiplies it by one hundred. Quantitatively, the ultimate "epic" episode.

 

Now, is it fine for an epic finale? Sure. But usually, they're best in small doses. Yeah, when you have that grand and epic finale, your heart pumps and you anticipate the next move. But when you do it again and again, you run into several problems, like overlooking the pace and putting one character on a pedestal (which we've seen time and time again). But there are two really important issues that occur when making these kinds of finales.

  1. You sacrifice character for the eye candy. One of Friendship Is Magic's cores is character-driven stories. When you write such bombastic scenes, the characterization often takes a back seat in favor of plot and action. More specifically, making the plot center on that epic scene alone. The trap Michael Bay's Transformers falls into.
  2. Battles and action are extremely addicting. If you want to see or write something so epic, one pitfall is to try to write something even more epic. Even grander. Even more exciting. And in each of the last three finales, the stakes have climbed up and up. Magical Mystery Cure is slice of life, but it's not a simple, casual episode unlike TBNE or Sisterhooves Social. Unfortunately, the more you up the stakes, the more overwhelming the action. Instead of biting your nails, you're trying not to drain your brain. Trying to beat Twilight's Kingdom's stakes is too much of a good thing and makes the finales feel not only more formulaic than they already are, but also like a ripoff of previous high-octane two-parters altogether. Thus, another so bombastic finale would be detrimental to the show.

All three have fallen into this trap. Each of the last three finales are stake- and/or action-heavy and don't concentrate so much on the quality of the logic and structure. A Canterlot Wedding has already shown its age; its flaws are so open, it's the classic guilty pleasure. The criticisms of Magical Mystery Cure have already been explained in several other threads. Now, even a few months old, Twilight's Kingdom is also showing some age.

 

Part of what made The Best Night Ever both the best finale and best FIM episode is how opposite it is compared to the other three and does it so much better. It's a very pure slice-of-life episode with absolutely nothing so serious at stake, and AKR et al. ran with it. It had the best pacing of any episode in the show. Each character was in character, three-dimensional, and completely likeable. The subversion of fairytale clichés is absolutely hilarious. By focusing on every single character of the Mane Six (including Spike), it's easily the purest episode of the show. TBNE doesn't the viewer tell Friendship Is Magic. It IS Friendship Is Magic!

 

Is it the grandest season finale? Not even close. But it doesn't try to be, and DHX was able to make it work so beautifully. In fact, that lack of both serious stakes and reliance on the plot to get to the epic scene helps give The Best Night Ever a very timeless quality. More of that timelessness, the better.

Edited by Old King Q
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Simple. If "The Best Night Ever" proved anything to me, simplicity is beauty in terms of slice of life, character driven shows such as FiM. It managed to give all of the main 6 rightful amounts of screentime and managed to lay an arc to rest on a high note with the memorable scene of all of them laughing off the struggles and disappointments of the night at Donut Joe's with Spike. Why the writers feel the need to make it some epic, DBZ-esque stuff is quite frankly beyond me, and I'll be the first to say  "Twilight's Kingdom," "Magical Mystery Cure," and "A Canterlot Wedding" weren't nearly as interesting to me as the simple SoL stuff like "Sweet & Elite" and "Hurricane Fluttershy." 

Epic displays of whatever isn't what makes me like this show. It's the amazing cast of characters that I've grown to care about and cherish, and that doesn't work as well in a DragonBall Z environment as much as it does a simple story, at least not to me.

 

Simplicity all the way here.
 

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Simple.

 

I don't want another big bad terrorizing the land. Don't get me wrong, I'll take it and likely enjoy the heck out of it, but I really do want to see a lower key finale. I think a celebration tied around a big life event would be a perfect way to close out the season. Perhaps two of the CMC get their Cutie Marks except one and the last episode is the Cute Cinerea. Maybe the birth of a certain foal of a pink Princess is born, or a wedding that isn't in jeopardy. Or heck, they all just go out and try and have a nice night in for once. :P

 

You know, there are endless ways to close it out depending on the direction the season takes. Take a page out of Game of Thrones and have the season arc (if there is one) resolved in the penultimate episode, with the last one focused on the characters we love putting the pieces together and reflecting on the season and series as a whole. That way you can still have your season spanning epic, but close it out quietly. 

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It depends. While "Best Night Ever" was a good episode, it feels flat compared to other episodes in the series; and I'm not just talking about the other finales.

 

In any case, it really doesn't matter to me. Whatever they produce is whatever they produce, and as long as the episode is of quality; I won't complain.

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I want it to be grand and awesome. I want them to raise the stakes more this time. Slice of life is good and all but the finale should be so much more than that. Think about it? it is the last episode until we have to wait months for the new season.

 

Give me a moment in time that I won't forget for a while. That way when the next one comes about then it is still fresh in my mind.

 

If you they do a finale that is like the normal episodes or flatter than usual then it will be harder to remember what happened by the time, it kicks off again.

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A simple episode.

 

I prefer the innocent slice-of-life episodes, simply seeing the ponies learn a moral of life through living their lives as they'd usually do. Not these epic conflicts that are so cliché. That battle Twilight had with Tirek seemed so generic. Like I could already imagine in my head what was about to happen next from the script. And while A Canterlot Wedding wasn't as generic, it still had some clichés. 

 

A slice-of-life episode would be such a calming resolution, reminding people of the innocence of the show. That this is a show targeted towards giving people good morals to use in life. 

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reminding people of the innocence of the show.

 

Important quote is important. I love the high stakes episodes, but I absolutely think a more down to earth episode would be a great opportunity for the characters and the audience to be reminded why the Mane Six have gone through this journey to this point: to learn from each other, and themselves. To grow in friendship. And no, I do NOT want a clip show. I do want Twilight to be granted one moment where she can put aside her crown, let her mane down, and just be one of the gang again. :D

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While I like the calm, slice of life episodes, I would prefer a grand, epic finale. They have a whole season for slice of life and a big finale would leave more of an impact with me personally.

I would still enjoy it if they chose the other route but I'm hoping for something with high stakes.

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I think grand. While I do love the atmosphere for the finale in season 1, the show now is MUCH bigger than what it was back then. So it makes sense to send out the seasons with a bang. They still provide plenty of simple goodness in the seasons themselves so I see no problem with going all out at the end of one. What they did with the season 4 finale, to me, was nothing short of amazing. The over arching aspect in season 4 really helped that too.

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I'd be cool if they decided to go back to simple as long as it was good, but I confess that I do like the epic ones more. I feel like the the epic episodes don't happen enough to overstay their welcome.

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Unless it's done really, really well, it would be a big letdown to have a finale that might as well be another slice-of-life episode. Even more so with all of the trailers saying "Our heroes haven't faced anything like this before!" It would just feel like a step back (unless it's a grand epilogue, or something).

 

Also, since the majority of episodes in the show are slice-of-life episodes anyway, how would making a slice-of-life finale benefit the season?

Edited by SpaceOnion
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I'd prefer a simple season finale as well (my reasons are the same as , @ghostfacekiller39, @Jeric and ).

 

I hope they will continue the trend of alternating simple and epic finales:

The Best Night Ever (simple), A Canterlot Wedding (epic), Magical Mystery Cure (simple), Twilight's Kingdom (epic)...

Edited by Blobulle
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I like slice-of-life, and I like The Best Night Ever, but as a season finale I'd prefer something a little bigger than that. I like high-tension situations in a finale because it feels like a true climax, even in an otherwise light-hearted show.

 

Don't get me wrong, epic and slice-of-life can go together very well if it's pulled off well. The stakes needn't really be extremely high for an episode to be epic. All a good finale needs for is buildup and a payoff. TBNE did that well, but I feel it can be done even better.

 

The best example I can think of is a series about music ending with a large concert or something. No world-ending catastrophes, but still a definite buildup and payoff.

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I would prefer epic to be honest. Most of the shows episodes are pure slice of life, I like it when the finales focus much more on fantasy elements.

 

I'm not saying they should try and top Twilight's Kingdom in terms of stakes, that's asking for failure, but they should at least give us a more fantasy driven plot like the others.

 

I liked The Best Night Ever, but that was back then, when the show was much simpler than it is now. The writers today want to create something bigger and better . I suppose what they could do is what they did in season 4, have 2 2 parters except have 1 relatively small scale and slow paced one, and then have a large scale, action packed one. Season 2 had a big opening and finale, and while that was cool then, I think that what they did in season 4 works better for the show currently. Back in season 2 they didn't know how long the show was going to last, now we know its here to stay, so we can stop trying to make our seasons the best ever.

Edited by Arctofire
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(edited)
A slice-of-life episode would be such a calming resolution, reminding people of the innocence of the show.

 

Important quote is important.

I'm going to parrot this, too, because it's one of the most important points in this thread thus far. These finales could feel really fun and fulfilling. But one of season one's and two's biggest strengths is something many of us don't talk about anymore: the innocence. There's a really timeless charm in many of the episodes because they don't rely so much on the One Epic Scene nor the One Pop Culture Lollapalooza. The past three finales all rely on either the one scene or Twilight herself to pick up the slack. Regarding the latter, that puts her on too much of a pedestal and creates the unfortunate implication that her friends are just stepping stones narratively to approach her epic goal. Which is a shame because the whole cast is colorful and deep.

 

Also, since the majority of episodes in the show are slice-of-life episodes anyway, how would making a slice-of-life finale benefit the season?

Jeric posted something that would fit well with your question:

 

I do want Twilight to be granted one moment where she can put aside her crown, let her mane down, and just be one of the gang again. :D

Since we've had three consecutive finales that are written as very epic with plenty of stakes (all with Twilight as the main character), why not change the pace a little and revive the innocence and simplicity of season one or season two? Instead of putting heavy emphasis on Twilight, why not give them all equal focus? Remember, this show is about the magic of friendship, not magic itself.

 

Put it simply, this show is NOT designed for having extreme light shows, Dragon Ball ripoffs, obnoxious pop culture references, or the wedding whose most memorable scene is the brawl. We're here because the show's very character-driven, and slice of life presents better character-driven stories in this show. Their best episodes are usually the simpler slice of life stories, and TBNE is easily one of the best executed for reasons I already explained.

Edited by Old King Q
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Simple. We don't need every season premiere and finale to be big and spectacular. The Season 1 finale had magic that none of the others were able to capture. It was a big deal because of what it meant to each pony, what it brought out in them, what they learned as individuals. The Season 2 premiere with Discord struck an excellent balance between simple and serious, and they've drifted away from that. I don't know if they can get it back but that sure would be nice.

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Simple. We don't need every season premiere and finale to be big and spectacular. The Season 1 finale had magic that none of the others were able to capture. It was a big deal because of what it meant to each pony, what it brought out in them, what they learned as individuals. The Season 2 premiere with Discord struck an excellent balance between simple and serious, and they've drifted away from that. I don't know if they can get it back but that sure would be nice.

 

I personally disagree. I think that a big finale is better, read my other post if you need to know why.

 

The Best Night Ever was great, but the show was different then. Back then it was a girls show that could be enjoyed by all ages, now its a show for all ages. While it did have a wonderful innocence that has yet to be replicated, the fantasy driven plot is part of what is so good about this show, and if you lost that at the end of a newer season, I personally would be disappointed.

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As much as I enjoy the grand finales, I think they have been overused now. TBNE is simple, but that doesn't make it any less fun, and the comedy was spot on, so I hope to see another finale like that eventually. However, given the premise of season 5, at least based on what we know so far, a grand finale may be more fitting this time around, but that doesn't mean I'm not holding out for another simple finale to happen eventually.

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I'd personally love something simple...I mean, maybe the opener can be grand...but the ending? I'd rather something heartwarming and memorable. I think that's one of the things I really have been missing show wise...the heartwarming moments that just make you go, "awwwwwe" and then refuse to watch the episode again around anyone else for fear of gushing manly tears. (Or laughing way to hysterically) It seems to me the slice of life episodes always are best at that to me...A Friend in deed being a great example! When was the last time there was a song as groundbreaking as "smile" in the show?...There's been some other awesome ones of course, but nothing quite that mimetic...so in short? Epic Opening, simple closing would be perfect for me! :)

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I wouldn't have a problem, if it was either Grand or simple, or maybe a mix of both.

 

While i really love the Season finales like A Canterlot Wedding or Twilights Kingdom for their epicness (a word which is overused BTW) i would have nothing against an episode, which would melt my heart and where i go "awwwwwwwww."

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I would definitely prefer simple, but I fear that the show is past simple finales at this point. Now it seems like every single one is required to drop some massive bombshell, ending with Twilight winning yet another prize just on the merit of being Twilight. 

 

It's a shame, because at this point, a simple finale would feel like a breath of fresh air. Honestly, these "last-minute villain pops out of nowhere to carry out plan to take over Equestria" finales are going to seem redundant at some point, and that goes for the premieres as well. But the bigger issue is that I really don't think this slice-of-life based show handles the transition to these sorts of tense moments that well. It's like: "Yesterday, we were doing an investigation as to who took some bites out of a cake, today we're trying to stop an army of shape-shifting monsters from devouring every ounce of love from every pony in Equestria." That definitely sounds a lot stranger than: "Yesterday we were secretly preparing for Pinkie's birthday party, today we're attending the most high-class event in Canterlot." 

 

Unfortunately, I have to say that I would honestly be surprised if we got another finale that was more akin to The Best Night Ever. This is clearly a different show now that more grimdark moments and DBZ-like battles are apparently permitted by Hasbro. If anything, for the season 5 finale, all I can really see the writers being concerned with is how they can make it even more "epic" than Twilight's Kingdom. 

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