spoiler So it really has been (around) a year since the show began?

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

Just wondering what people think now that Tanks for the Memories has aired. There's been some thoughts about exactly how much time has passed since the show started with characters having birthdays and stuff, but nothing definite.

 

It seems like the writers are trying to suggest that it's only been a year. Winter just came again and we saw snow in the premiere (That was mountain snow though), so another Wrapup is probably on the horizon too. There's also supposed to be from what I've heard (I'm REALLY trying to avoid spoilers) another Gala episode coming up with a reimagining of Smooze from an earlier generation. It seems to stand to reason that it's been only a year.

 

What do you guys think?

 

I hope it's okay to post this. Last time I tried a Show Discussion thread Pathfinder said to post in a year old thread.

Edited April 26, 2015 by bronislav84

[Thorn O Discord 118]

That would make sense, actually, you raise a good point.

 

But we didn't see a running of the leaves, or some fall time foliage in the past couple episodes to make that a flawless theory.

[Firedog 320]

Idk I guess a year can be as long as they say. Considering that in order for it to be an actual year we would need 365 days worth of animation(Or days accounted for), so I suppose it doesn't really matter how long it is. I think its cool what they did this episode since it hasn't happened since season 1. Its also really cool to see the mane six in socks, reminds me of this video(except the socks aren't that long )

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz-x6SBrWjQ

Edited April 26, 2015 by Firedog

[Jeric 46,834]

Well, Seasons 1-3 were within one year. Season 4 began at the one year anniversary. That entire season may have been compressed (think comic book logic) So Season 4 and 5 are basically year 2.

[Silver Letter 1,830]

I would guess that's it would be at least a year and a half since the pilot. It started at the summer sun celebration and it's now winter again.

 

What an action packed year. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, the Changeling invasion....

Edited April 26, 2015 by Silver Letter

[simba86 1,541]

hard to tell, we don't know how long the seasons are in equestria or even how long they consider a month or year to be.

[Shadow Beam 1,179]

Well, if it is the truth what you speak, only one thing is certain...

 

It was quite the intricate kind of year.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Shadow Beam

[BlackWater627 700]

Just try figuring out the whole "moons" business. I tried. It's a black hole trap of lies and deceit. 

 

As for doing other season math, I get the feeling there would be summer/winter discrepancies that'd throw you off. I'm content with general time estimates like "it's been a half or full year." 

[ArcheoPony 76]

S4's start marked the closure of the first year. We're on the second now.

[mysticalnight 56]

if its really only been a year, then my theories on the timeline are out the window. itd take some serious episode rearranging to figure out any kind of order. but thats all speculative, since as simba pointed out, theres no way of knowing how long seasons are, or how long they consider a year.

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

I changed the title a bit since Jeric seems to be more correct. The show didn't *quite* start with winter, sorry. It definitely does seem to be comic book logic, where real time doesn't apply. Seasons repeating seems to suggest the passage of time though.

 

But yea I think those other events that were said to be yearly might come back too. I wonder how they'll be done the second time around, now that it's been a while?

Edited April 26, 2015 by bronislav84

[Venomous 18,813]

I suppose time flies quickly.

[Banul 3,831]

One year seems like too short a time period, in my opinion. I've chosen to kind of disregard how long its been altogether until a time when it seems to matter. 

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

This is actually kind of disappointing to me.  It just doesn't seem believable to me that all of this has happened in the span of one year.  The biggest thing is that Twilight's alicorn transformation/princess promotion doesn't seem believable if it was only one year from when she moved to Ponyville.  That's just too fast for it to make sense.

 

My headcanon?  One word--Westeros.

 

Equestria has been in the long summer.  The show has spanned about 5 years or so.  I mean, who's to say how long their months/seasons/years are anyway?  We measure time by the Earth's movement.  This is not Earth!  Their years could be ten times longer than ours for all we know!

[Captain Jebediah 12]

I have to say it's been about a year.

[Steve Piranha 28,768]

Yeah, I think that's pretty clear by now. Though, that made a plothole with Winter Wrap Up and Hearts Warming Eve, which implies that there are at least two winter seasons per year in Equestria..... Not to mention S1's Running of the Leaves came AFTER Winter Wrap Up  . Oh well, I guess that's excussable, I don't think the writers expected FiM's world would expand this much back then  :comeatus:

[Adash 193]

The one year mark was in the sesson 4 premiere with the two summer sun celebrations, but we also have seen two winters in one year (winter wrap up and hearts warming eve)

[silvadel 1,393]

Okay -- the way I see it is they originally intended for it to go in real time.  This was when they were writing season 1 and 2 episodes where you had all sorts of events and things and they thought it was going to run all of three seasons odd.  BUT it became apparent that things were going to be more long term with maybe 8 seasons. 

 

This put them in a hole in that with the characters aging like that, you need adult CMCs, animals start to die of old age, Ponies like Granny Smith are in danger of the same. 

 

So an executive decision was made that since there wasn't any real date ties in the first couple of seasons, they would compress time down and make it firmly one year from season 1 to 4, and maintain that with things like the gala and the current episode where it is no more than 9 months between episode 2/7 and episode 5/5.  Essentially we are 18 months into the series right now. 

[mysticalnight 56]

well, lets look at this in a linear manner.warning, im about to go deep into analysis, so be ready. assuming the seasons work the same for them they do for us, things get complicated. the start of the series is summer, thats a constant. ok, first seasons a lead up to the ggg (grand galloping gala). now, if we look into events in "sweet and elite," twilight says the galas coming up. either a sceond year had begun, the galas more than once a year, or i dont know what the bucks going on.

 

then theres hearths warming eve, obviously comes during winter. safe to assume it comes between fall weather friends and winter wrap up, if were assuming it really has only been one year.

 

then theres pinkies birthday. party of one pretty self explanatory. then in a friend in deed she says her birthdays mot for 70 something days. either its been a year since party of one, or friend in deed takes place before that, or we have some real continuity issues.

 

then theres the recent episode, "tanks for the memories". *spoiler* (but i doubt anyone here hasnt seen it yet) we learn that it was to be their first winter since meeting. now, she first gets tank back in season 2. but then raises a few questions. if this is the case, then the earliest she couldve gotten him was spring, not long before season 4 premiere. meaning, the 2 of them hadnt been together as long we were led to think. which makes her little rampage make even less sense.

 

my overall analysis: the timelines completely bucked, or someone wasnt paying much attention. 

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

The one year mark was in the sesson 4 premiere with the two summer sun celebrations, but we also have seen two winters in one year (winter wrap up and hearts warming eve)

Sorry about that. The first Summer Sun Celebration wasn't exactly a good event and was the start of the show and I totally forgot about the Hearth's Warming episode as another winter, so it just seems like Tanks for the Memories solidifies that it's the second year even though we have had two winters in the same year. I would like to not read too much into Hearth's Warming though and focus on the two Summer Sun Celebrations and the winter in S5.

 

Starting to think maybe this theory is bad, though.

@@silvadel Hmm, maybe my theory has more merit then.

[Adash 193]

Sorry about that. The first Summer Sun Celebration wasn't exactly a good event and was the start of the show and I totally forgot about the Hearth's Warming episode as another winter, so it just seems like Tanks for the Memories solidifies that it's the second year even though we have had two winters in the same year. I would like to not read too much into Hearth's Warming though and focus on the two Summer Sun Celebrations and the winter in S5.Starting to think maybe this theory is bad, though.@@silvadel Hmm, maybe my theory has more merit then.

I would also like to point out that the first running of the leaves takes place after winter wrap up. Everything from then until hearts warming eve is spring/summer.

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

@@Adash Well then we might be back to square one on deciding if it's been a year or not as @@mysticalnight says......

[dekutree64 711]

Dang it OP, you say you're trying to avoid spoilers, and then you go and put a totally un-tagged spoiler in your post?

I'd already been spoiled on the smooze part, but not the gala.

 

 

Anyway, the timeline is a mess as far as I can tell. We know one year passed between the season 1 and season 4 openers, because Celestia specifically said it was the first summer sun celebration since Luna had returned. So that means only one winter has passed by the time of season 4.

 

Season 1 had Fall Weather Friends and Winter Wrap Up, which implied that winter came and went at that point. Reinforced by Twilight still seeming pretty new to the whole friendship thing during them.

 

But then there's Hearth's Warming Eve late in season 2, after Tank's introduction. Did that actually take place before season 1's Winter Wrap Up? Or was it actually in the middle of the year, and ponies just dump snow everywhere for a short time to celebrate the founding of Equestria, which happened during an unnatural Windigo-induced winter?

[colt_following 169]

I thought it to be about two years, but then I don't keep up so much with the seasons in-show.

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

Fixed the title, adding Spoiler tag. Sorry about that.