Do you wish for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic to end with a great, big bang? It already happened once before in Meghan McCarthy’s A Canterlot Wedding via its sentimental BBBFF, the fantastical comparison and contrast between the real and fake Cadance in This Day Aria, and its action-packed hilarity between the Mane Six and changelings. McCarthy’s résumé of two-parters is extended this season with Princess Twilight Sparkle (the premiere) and Twilight’s Kingdom (the finale). Discounting Testing Testing 1, 2, 3, the finale itself reintroduces Twilight as the central character for the first time since PTS, leading through a two-parter full of adrenaline, emotion, obvious writing shortcuts, and a rather fulfilling conclusion.

Strengths:

1. The abundance of Derpy. ^__^ Plenty, but not overbearing.
   
2. The battle is absolutely intense and is easily the best part of the finale. Given the very strict content rating (TV-Y) and Hasbro’s reputation of keeping it safe, DHX could’ve badly botched it and turned it into something extremely monotonous. Instead, it told a story. A great story. A fantastic story.
    
   If you remember Dragon Quest, one of the scenes was the transition as Spike migrated. He travels in hopes of keeping up with his fellow migrating dragons, starting and stopping and taking any means of transportation. While DQ — don’t even think about it — was a train wreck, that transition used no dialogue and was easily the best part (one of the best scenes in season two, I might add) and saved it from being worse than it is. If Dragon Quest was confined to simply a quest with as little dialogue as possible, you could’ve told a grand story.
    
   Why do I say this?
    
   Tirek vs. Twilight had no dialogue, and it was extremely well told. Without the dialogue overshadowing the action, Top Draw and DHX concentrate on showing the battle’s intensity through its choreography, special effects, Anderson’s background tracks, and animation instead. With it, you get two things:
    
   a. Tirek’s villainy (and he’s one evil fuckermother) from his strength is shown and validated.
    
   b. Twilight’s goal of showing loyalty to Equestria, confidence, and those she cares takes place within her mind, especially after her home of four seasons gets destroyed.
    
   I’ll get to that la— Oh, what the hell?
   
3. The Golden Oaks Library’s destruction is one bold move the sadistic bastards at DHX imposed on the audience. And god-fucking-dammit, wasn’t that grand. The main purpose of destroying the library is how, like I mentioned just moments ago, it's her home. Like what a famous song from the famous musical Promises Promises declared, a house is not a home. The library is possibly the most iconic landmark from a storytelling perspective. Think about it. The central character in the show lived there since the pilot, and there are so many fantastic moments like Twilight finding the Guide and fighting with her discorded friends as they refused to cooperate, drove her mad, and initiated a nasty catfight.
    
   And did it initiate emotions? Although not from me personally, it definitely worked because all of Twilight’s memories are suddenly gone. No way to recover from them. And if using continuity from Trade Ya!, the destruction (and near-death of a weary Owlowiscious) hit her really hard, as it SHOULD.
    
   Moreover, it marked one of the last steps needed for Twilight to complete her transition from common unicorn studying in Canterlot to one of the regal princesses in Equestria. Despite my major criticism of Twilicorn (and quite frankly, I still am against it due to extreme lack of utilization and recognition), it would’ve been really dumb to revert her back to the unicorn she was pre-Magical Mystery Cure.
    
   The destruction of the Golden Oaks Library and subsequent Castle of Friendship seals this. In other words, reviving the library would be very dumb because it’ll age T’sK very quickly and nullify her status. You progress her development. Keep it!
    
   (By the way, this response has nothing to do with the petition floating around online. The petition is pure trollbait.)
   
4. Without question, Tirek is the most imposing villain, which he ought to be due to his foundation from G1. If there was one way to describe him, it’s Sombra done right. Unlike Queen Chrysalis and Sunset Shimmer (whom McCarthy relied on being uncharacteristically stupid to be defeated), Tirek’s villainy hits all the right notes. Not only is he evil, but a combination of evil and cunning. One of his biggest advantages is his ability to play mind games. Conceptually, it creates a really menacing villain.
    
   a. His excellent first impression helps, too. While the valley scene is rather cliché in itself, it executes the right notes. Firstly, besides being a subtle nod to Magic Duel (and for those who focus a lot on continuity, Twilight’s Kingdom‘s continuity is pornographic!), the musical score is incredibly menacing, foreshadowing the terror that crept in the night moments later. Secondly, the wind and clattering of the can continued the transition, as all of us met Voldemort’s long-lost cousin, who later silently chanted avada kedavra and sucked the talent and goals out of unsuspecting unicorns. More importantly, it presents Tirek’s imposing, businesslike evil early without making the threat contrived. Overall, that scene was extremely creepy for the right reasons and easily the best in Part 1.
    
   Also, if focusing on Jayson Thiessen’s Twitter, you can confirm that Tirek is The Pony of Shadows rumored from the end of Castle Mane-ia.
    
   Why?
    
   Look at these three screenshots from its end.
    
   
    
   
    
   
    
   Now concentrate on Tirek’s frail state:
    
   
    
   
    
   
    
   Notice any similarities?
    
   Yellow eyes.
    
   Identical cloak design.
    
   Identical furrowed eye design…
    
   Really sneaky, DHX.
   
5. Ingram’s musical score for both You’ll Play Your Part and Let the Rainbow Remind You fit very well with the scenes each represented. YPYP concentrates on Twilight’s current purpose as Equestrian Princess (thus becoming part of the Quarteticorn both physically and mentally), thus the focus on a Broadway-esque, royal mood from discouragement to optimism. On the other hand, LtRRY concludes the arc on a very upbeat rhythm, as Twilight finally finds her purpose and role in Equestrian society, one she — in HER words — CHOOSES to have.
    
   (By the way, that was a very clever lampshade of Magical Mystery Cure’s broken plot hole. )
   
6. Discord pre-alliance was very hilarious. The prankster was up to his tricks again by driving them all mad, fitting their agitation so much. On the flipside, his tricks fit the clever references, from Patton to Mary Poppins. His personality plays off very well with Tirek, for they’re both foils. Tirek takes things seriously, while Discord also takes things seriously, but with plenty of comedic flair.
    
   Also, despite not being self-contained, Discord’s betrayal was foreshadowed during his three previous episodes (PTS1/2, 3aC), as he drove the ReMane-ing Five absolutely nuts with his physics-defying logic, riddling, lack of specifics, and mocking. Although he was friends with Fluttershy, he never got along with the others nor behaved like he wanted to be friends with them. Up to the end of Part 2, he was still extremely antagonistic; after Discord intentionally got Rarity and Applejack sick, why would they trust him? Hell, even Discord confirmed to not caring for the others besides Fluttershy simply by the sly whisper once confronting Tirek.
    
   (In Three’s a Crowd, you can create a headcanon that Discord lured Twilight and Cadance into the distant hill to try to murder them in disguise of an accident, as he faked his illness and brought them out to a lethal land where Cadance and Twilight fought for their lives.)
   
7. Conceptually, Discord being the one to give Twilight Scorpan’s medallion was solid. It reinforces the theme of the series’s main arc, which is to give a gift to the one who symbolizes the ability to understand his or counterpart’s Element. It was very clever for Discord’s trust for someone else rear its ugly head, delivering much needed karma and further understanding of friendship. Moreover, it closes the door on Discord’s neutrality and evolving him into a more chaotic protagonist instead of neutral. Will the others beyond Twilight and Fluttershy trust him? If to avoid breaking continuity, they better!
    
   Also, pay attention to Scorpan during the hieroglyphic animation in Part 1's second act. In a panel or two, you’ll see him wearing the medallion that Tirek and later Discord donned.
   
8. Speaking of the medallion, once you look deeper into Tirek, notice this pattern. In early times, Scorpan wore the medallion. Later in the two-parter, Tirek is shown to be wearing it. You can make a great guess that Tirek wears it to remind himself of his brother, who he loathed for “betraying” him. The medallion made him very angry and further motivated his lust for conquest and dominance. Because he saw Scorpan in Discord, he allowed the draconequus to wear it and then steal his powers.
    
   By doing this, he’s telling the audience Scorpan’s decision to not side with Tirek still hurt him, and his cunning decision to lure Discord into trusting him was a way of getting back at him and relinquishing the anger that boiled inside of him. Once Discord was powerless, one piece of his lifelong anger was wiped away. When you think about it, it was really clever of Tirek (and McCarthy) to bait Discord into that subtle trap, furthering his credibility as a tyrant.
   
9. After going back to reading David Ker's panning of A Canterlot Wedding, T'sK illustrates the tension so well. (And this is something I should illustrate more in future reviews and see if it succeeds in next season's episodes.) With the urgency of the situation foreshadowed by the MD callback and illustrated in Act 3's montage, you can tell everything on the line.
    
   This is one thing Tirek actually does so well. Although the writing's shortcomings damaged his credibility as a villain, he helped create the magnitude of the stakes that he imposed on the princesses and Equestria as a whole. He's tyrannical, menacing, and maniacal, and manipulative. There was nothing he was going to do to conquer and destroy Equestria, even if he was going to use someone else's trust as a puppet for his schemes.
    
   Earlier, I wrote that the battle between Twilight and Tirek illustrated two very important strengths. There's a third: The tension and stakes that were told and shown culminated in this battle. Both sides gave it their all to prove who was the higher, more imposing power: Twilight's commitment to keeping Equestria safe and Tirek's lust for conquest. The fact that they ended at an impasse was extremely clever on McCarthy's behalf because it brought back one aspect of Tirek's personality that was lost in transition: his trump card, which led to the final key and overall resolution.
   
10. As Rainbow Falls is a train wreck that doesn’t deserve an ounce of praise minus Derpy’s glorious return, this deserves a mention:
     

    
    Twilight Sparkle: Rainbow Dash, you had the chance to fly with the Wonderbolts at the Equestria Games, but instead you chose to compete with your friends.
     
    Rainbow Dash: Sure! But being loyal to my friends was way–
     
    Pinkie Pie: Ooh, my turn, my turn!

    Even this episode recognizes how lazy and broken Rainbow Falls genuinely is.
    
11. The concept of the roundtable (or Council of Friendship, according to Voice of Reason and AnY’s collaboration) is a rather genius way to plug some of the questions people have as far as the ReMane-ing Five is concerned. By putting them — and Spike — on the same pedestal as Twilight, it gives them a sense of importance narratively. Previously, Twilight rose above the status quo by becoming a princess and becoming one of the most important voices in all of Equestria (does that old expression need to die or what?!), but the others remained in their same positions vying for the same goals.
     
    Now that they’re a part of the council, they’re still the same ponies in Ponyville and can vie for the goals they’ve yearned since the pilot or The Ticket Master, but have a semblance of voice and status that wouldn’t be quelled because they’re “beneath” the quartet. As heavily flawed are Rainbow Falls, Breezies, and Leap of Faith are, they fulfilled their trials and are rewarded for their efforts.
    

Weaknesses:

1. It doesn’t matter if Spike’s words were obnoxious. Smacking a child upside the head isn’t funny, DHX!
   
2. T’sK’s main internal conflict is despite Twilight’s status as alicorn princess, she’s merely stuck in limbo, discouraging her. She wants to contribute to Equestrian society and have more of a role. There are a couple problems:
    
   a. Several of the episodes literally have nothing to do with Twilight’s status as a princess (and sometimes ignoring it like in RTM). Sometimes, when she does, she either accepts it reluctantly or wants little to do with it. In Trade Ya!, when the traders greeted Twilight, she got very nervous and took off. When she became the de facto leader when Luna and Celestia were horsenapped in PTS, she took position as leader and guard commander.
    
   In other words, Twilight has been involved in important roles as princess. But this episode acts as if her status is mostly or exclusively about being a background princess (no pun intended), when she actually shared an equal balance of getting involved when necessary and not wanting anything to do with it at all. It doesn’t tackle the issue so directly.
    
   b. It doesn’t excuse the way Twilight was used all season up to the finale. If anything, her use in several of the episodes in season four becomes even more glaring and will cause some people to wonder if Twilight’s role in several of them — including Rainbow Falls, It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Breezies — should’ve been cut out entirely.
   
3. One of season four’s overrunning problems throughout is the overload of exposition, and it reared its ugly head again. For some examples:
    
   a. Twilight bowing before the duke and duchess of Mare-tonia and then having Celestia explain the purpose of her being there. Rather than using up about a minute of screentime, you can chop it up by having the AliTrio meet up with Twilight, who’s walking down the hall discouraged and then have Twilight explain how much her lack of involvement is hurting her.
    
   But the real problem is the dialogue in accordance to the exposition. The sentences are very complete, long-winded, and lacking thorough emotion. It’s a bunch of talking heads in pony form.
    
   b. Some of the lines from the ReMane-ing Five and Discord added very little aside from air and humor. After Celestia told Twilight she was going to send Discord out to find Tirek, there was a scene by the Tree of Harmony where Discord all but recounted events we all saw earlier. Although the jokes lightened the mood, it ate plenty of time. Unlike point 2a, this can still work if the lines were reworded to show more variety besides bringing in the journal and chest into the conflict.
    
   c. Act 1 of Part 2 had the Quarteticorn congregate in Canterlot Castle, and they all jibber-jabbered through the conversation for several minutes about what is a really stupid plan (which I’ll get to). Cutting down the dialogue, getting down to the point, and writing lines that genuinely fit the AliTrio (Cadance, Luna, Celestia) without the stupidity would’ve done wonders with the scene.
    
   d. Tirek’s passive dialogue in several of his scenes hurts his credibility as a villain. Sure, he’s supposed to be threatening, but the amount of passive lines he spouted lessens the strength of his evil from a narrative perspective.
    
   And these are merely some of the offenders. Thankfully, unlike A Canterlot Wedding and Magical Mystery Cure, the pacing issues tend to hide a bit better for the most part.
   
4. Although McCarthy’s a very good writer, one of her quieter yet bigger problems in her bigger projects is her dialogue, and that’s the case in T'sK. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance don’t resemble any individuality due to how formal and long-winded each of them were; each line is Celestia’s under another voice. Applejack suffers from the same problem with lines like “As in Discord Discord” and her preference of the pre-reformed Discord. When Twilight and the others discuss the moments they had the Elements of Harmony they represent challenged, the vocabulary tended to be minutely repetitive; varying the vocabulary without looking like you’re relying on a thesaurus and length of the lines would’ve done that there.
   
5. The AliTrio’s reasoning for transferring their magic to Twilight’s was unbelievably DUMB!
    
   HELLOOOOOOOOOO!!
    
   Discord is helping Tirek absorb others’ inherent magic, and Discord has known about Twilight since their first encounter in Return of Harmony, Part 1. For all the quartet knew, Discord might’ve told Tirek Twilight is an alicorn before they conferenced in Canterlot’s throne room and was on the way. Imagine while they talked and prepared to transfer their magic, Tirek barges in and eats it all up. It would make Celestia, Luna, and Cadance look like idiots for coming up with such a claim.
    
   It’s honestly very baffling why Twilight never second-guessed her “logic” and went with it. If she were, then she would’ve interrogated them for this logic. The only reason she didn’t was to handwave any sensible logic and have Twilight fight Tirek alone.
    
   And even when they accomplish the feat and have the story contrivedly play off the bullshit of Tirek not know about Twilight because Discord “was playing a test” (be honest, that logic makes no sense other than to handwave Celestia’s idiocy), it was just as stupid to not cover up Twilight’s tracks by leaving the stained glass window out in the open. If the AliTrio wanted their hardest to keep her presence a secret, then instead of standing around and doing nothing, they should’ve hidden everything related to her before she arrived in Canterlot.
    
   And this doesn’t count Celestia telling Twilight not to let the others find out [about Twilight's powers] “because doing so would put them in great risk.” DHX, why the royal fuck shouldn’t the ReMane Five know about it? Friendship is magic, and it's important for them to know about it.
    
   On another note, how come they don't know Discord switching sides? Why didn't DHX have Twilight tell them so they can prepare themselves? Just so they get conveniently trapped, which Tirek can use as a crutch to betray Discord, which then DHX can shove the conflict into that large battle of rainbow explosions, which leads to the rushed third act? Bullshit!
    
   This plot point was beyond stupid: They HAD to know because Twilight knows, and she had to tell them for two reasons:
    
   a. So they wouldn’t be caught off-guard.
    
   b. Every single pony is in great danger, anyway.
    
   After all, wouldn’t it be better if they hid along with the rest of Ponyville or stood beside Twilight to fight both Discord and Tirek instead? It was as if the AliTrio’s warning of Discord’s betrayal was mentioned at one point and then forgotten once the script was locked. If Twilight saw her friends trapped and realized she had forgotten, then I would've had less of an issue as far as not telling them about Discord's concerned.
    
   Another user pinpointed another part of Dumbass!Celestia: sending Discord out to find Tirek without a backup plan. Because he’s apparently shown fragility in his allegiance (and even she doesn’t trust him too much, as evident by her whisper to Twilight and doubtful gaze in Keep Calm’s ending), it doesn’t make sense for the trio to enact without Plan B.
    
   And one more thing: Discord was sent out by Celestia because he could sense magical imbalances. When Twilight absorbed all of the princesses’ magic, he went haywire. Without McCarthy replacing their intelligences with idiot balls to make the plan credible on the surface, it would’ve fallen apart and — I guarantee you — would put Celestia, Luna, and Cadance into several “hated character” lists due to their severe incompetence.
   
6. Speaking of that, there was no need for DHX and McCarthy to retread the same side-conflict featured from the series premiere, Return of Harmony, Equestria Girls, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why does Twilight have to re-learn the concept of friendship is magic when she’s done this multiple times? Sure, she has to fulfill the plot of finding her key, but there are ways of accomplishing this feat without having to rip off past two-parters — including the season premiere — and stylize it differently. Reduce the plot into simple bullet points:
    
   • Twilight has a conflict.
    
   • A villain poses as a threat.
    
   • Twilight must solve the conflict by herself for a contrived reason.
    
   • Twilight realizes her friendship creates the magic she needs.
    
   • She and her friends defeat the bad guy.
    
   • Episode ends on a happy note.
    
   This is what you get. Sure, the episode dressed it differently and might’ve presented a different moral. But it still doesn’t change the body underneath. There was a ton of action with extremely high stakes, but variation of both its premise and story will be necessary. DHX, you can’t rip off past episodes for the sake of contrivance anymore nor can McCarthy and crew pretend this is any different and hope to have several people fooled. It’s old and treats the arc of finding the keys (especially Twilight’s) with severe disrespect.
   
7. The pacing throughout was extremely flimsy. You can obviously tell it was a problem simply by the expository dialogue padding some of the scenes. But it was very problematic in other scenes:
    
   a. Tirek’s manipulation to convince Discord to join him was very implausible. One of RoH1’s biggest strengths is how Discord was able to manipulate four of the ReMane-ing Five (Fluttershy exempt due to her “incorruptible” status) into becoming the opposites of who they truly are.
    
   i. Applejack being told a “blunt truth” of ending their friendship with her behind her back, hurting her and wanting to tell lies.
    
   ii. Pinkie Pie’s Element of Laughter was turned upside-down when balloons laughed at her and continued to bully her into a mega grump.
    
   iii. Rarity being mesmerized by a large, once-in-a-lifetime, perfect “diamond,” converting her into someone greedy.
    
   iv. Discord was able to convince Dash into either continuing the game or having Cloudesdale collapse from Discord’s magic.
    
   Tirek targeted Discord’s teetering conscience as someone who loves to pull tricks that annoys others while remaining loyal to Canterlot and Fluttershy. However, Tirek’s mind games aren’t deep or sharp enough. They were passive and don’t have the bite or longevity to convince Discord to side with him.
    
   b. All of Act 3 in Part 2 crammed way too much to flow organically. You had Twilight stare at her friends trapped in Tirek’s bubbles. Then, she receives her epiphany and receives Scorpan’s pendent from Discord (who was betrayed earlier). Next, they race to the chest with Twilight feeling confident the pendent was the final key. The chest opens, and they become the latest Rainbow Powers, who then seal Tirek back to Tartarus and revert Equestria’s magic back to normal. The chest becomes Twilight’s castle, and they all become important “knights,” per se, for Princess Twilight’s roundtable. Cue final song to end the episode.
    
   That is a ton of information to cram in eight minutes. They just go from one after another without spending any time developing them. The script was quickly telling itself that time was running out, and they had to end it or force overtime. Instead of having Twilight receive her epiphany and key midway in Act 3, then how about cutting a repetitive scene or two out and start Act 3 when Twilight and the others open the chest?
   
8. As for Tirek, despite being very threatening and evil, that still doesn’t make a factually good villain. He has some problems himself.
    
   a. Like what I said earlier, his credibility to manipulate others was marginalized by the poor pacing, dumb planning by the AliTrio, and blunt exposition.
    
   b. Despite him eating everyone’s magic, he basically stands in one spot as he victimizes others or banters with others. By doing this, his screentime presence becomes typical via its journey. This is unlike villains like Discord, who was very active in his constant corruption of Equestria and the Mane Six themselves and never stayed in one place for so long, always popping up when least expected.
    
   c. Tirek’s personality really shines most when he’s still confined in his cloak and frail. His voice is croaky, dry, and weak. Ironically, this gives him an edge in wisdom because of how old he looked. When he becomes giant, quite possibly his biggest personality strength (his quick wits and ability to manipulate others emotionally) gets pushed to the wayside in favor of his lust for rule over Equestria, and his voice becomes very typical for a villain. Healthy? Sure. Unique? No.
    
   d. His original centaur design from Part 1 was very creative and stuck out from the one featured in G1. His skin remained red, but it wasn’t clean and leaned towards brown. Just by that, you can tell how evil he was, but his presentation was much more subtle, especially with the elderly voice that accompanied him. When he became a giant with brilliant red skin and shades of gray and black in his body, the centaur no longer becomes unique anymore. Black and red are typical colors of evil, so the color combination boasts his villainy far more than it should. Like Sunset Demon in Equestria Girls, Giant!Tirek’s design doesn’t show the audience he’s evil; he’s telling them he’s evil. The centaur's frail presentation is much more menacing because he showed the audience how evil he was in a rather cunning and ironic manner, and it doesn’t fall for the typical clichés in graphic design.
   
9. You’ll Play Your Part has a fantastic score, but the lyrics themselves leave a bit to be desired. There are three problems:
    
   a. Some of the lyrics feel stiff. One important component of lyrics is to create a sense of direction that aims at the goal immediately and explains and/or exemplifies it.
    
   Here's an example picked out from Digibro in his analysis video:
    
   I want to have a purpose
   Want to do all that I can
   I want to make a contribution
   I want to be a part of the plan.
    
   Here, despite wanting to contribute to the royals, the lyrics are rather passive because she says the same thing above and below, but what makes it worse is the structure. Because three of the meters started with “I want,” it makes the verse very repetitive, circular, and mechanical. They parallel to what Twilight feels and yearns, which is great, but how she says it makes it sounds very artificial. It’s too structured, undermining Twilight’s desires. It’s important to have the lyrics drive the story (both in the song and around it) forward. More direct activity in its drive would've helped.
    
   This one here’s more of a personal gripe, but when Luna sung, they used “more” and “soar” twice for the rhymes. Again, more variety with more oomph would do quite a bit more justice.
    
   b. One of T'sK's biggest problems is the pacing. Here, it goes on too long. Twilight tells the Alicorn Trio that she doesn't feel like she's contributing. There is so much to go through, and forty minutes is very little time. While Kazumi Evans singing as Luna is a wish come true to a lot of bronies (and it in itself is a grand treat), it doesn't mean it'll help the story. You can have Twilight worry about her status and explain it to them succinctly. Luna, Celestia, and Cadance would reassure with a couple of lines themselves to end it. Instead of spending over three minutes to explain it, chop the song down to two minutes, if not a little over one, and have the trio sing YPYP only. From there, use the spare space to expand other scenes and give them more depth.
    
   c. From a musical perspective, the visual appeal is plain. For over half of YPYP, the princesses stay in all but one spot and relied on very few visuals to drive the message and not force the viewer to fast forward. Its visuals are VERY conservative and don't get inherently interesting until the final chorus; when you have a three-minute song within a twenty-minute episode, that hurts it.
    
   I think some are going to ask this (and this has been discussed back and forth already): How are the visuals and choreography in songs important?
    
   Much more important than you think.
    
   While songs can carry weight, it’s much more different between hearing it through your earphones and hearing and seeing it simultaneously. In all forms of viewable entertainment, it’s extremely important to keep the viewer engaged. When you hear and see it, you need to not just have the song good, but also have the visuals tell a story along with it. Make it bold. Make it interesting. Make it memorable! Make the choreography engaging to drive the story to the next part and make even the weakest of songs sound even better.
    
   Yes, choreography does determine the reception of the song much more than you think.
    
   Take Three’s a Crowd’s A Glass of Water. De Lancie has a history of not being a good singer and will sometimes disguise it. Admittingly, the vocality is rather lackluster. But what did it were the visuals and gags. The pop culture references, animation, transitions, and overall gags really did the song justice and made the experience truly hilarious. Without the visuals driving the story and providing plenty of laughter, then A Glass of Water would’ve been around the middle at least.
    
   Another from this season is The Goof-Off. It’s a very good song with a very clever Smile Song reference, but on its own, it doesn't have that strength. Yet, it’s the visuals that really did it. Every single gag and joke fits Pinkie’s and Cheese Sandwich’s characterizations so brilliantly. They’re wild, wacky, hilarious, and story-driven. None of the characters stayed in one spot, and the camera angles and transitions provided that heartstopping tempo a competition such as TG-O successfully made. Combine all those with two funny live-action shots, and you create a memorable one-plus minute off the bat. The end was perfect for Pinkie to receive her epiphany, and that’s what happened. If the visuals were plain, TG-O would’ve flopped and be placed in more “dislike” columns. But because of its bold and hilarious choreography, it's the most memorable song in Pinkie Pride.
    
   Finally, season two's The Smile Song contains a chirpy, happy tone that fits Pinkie to a “T.” If it weren’t for Party of One, it might’ve been Pinkie’s best characterization. Do we know Pinkie likes to make others happy? Oh, hell, yeah! We’ve known it since the pilot. But one thing TSS does so well is keep it nice and fresh. Each meter is very organic because they vary, sound very “Pinkie,” and feel like something someone in real life would actually SAY! And the flow is incredible — never skipping a beat and honing both Ingram’s and Rogers’s musical prowess. It tells her love for happiness without making it repetitive.
    
   But would have it been memorable if the animation was poor? Absolutely not! The beginning of the episode commences with the snap of her hooves, showing life and joy; a subtle detail, but really helped start the song on a high note. Combined with the jumpy instruments, it’s a great hook that gets viewers immediately invested. During her tour in Ponyville, Pinkie’s joy begins to rub on everyone and turns their solemn or glum moods into happy ones. That happiness joins into one big ball of joy, sending happiness throughout and making them loose and fun.
    
   The animation is fun. The song is fun. It WANTS to tell you it’s fun to watch. It SUCCEEDS! Its presentation is absolutely refined, and the choreography is fantastic, especially in a few scenes:
    
   i. Pinkie and the fillies jumping rope while no one’s holding the ends.
    
   ii. Happiness and sadness personified during the bridge.
    
   iii. As Pinkie hops on the rooftops, ponies who followed her did the same.
    
   iv. The ending that was building itself up for the previous two minutes hit its mark. The background dancers exploded in joy and joined in the chorus. Up till the end where she meets Cranky.
    
   I bring this last example up because YouTube reviewer Mr. Enter claimed The Smile Song has much, much less to do with the narrative in A Friend in Deed than YPYP. Quite frankly, that's bullshit! Again, The Smile Song tells a grand narrative of what she loves and how her happiness ebbs on them and vice-versa. So when Cranky Doodle Donkey shows up and doesn’t smile, she gets confused and wants to do whatever she can to make him smile, leading to her screwups and tension. The fact that her antics bothered him makes sense because it ties back to the narrative presented in the song. The chaotic situations were funny because she was presented as a character in the wrong from a narrative perspective (at least in the first two acts). And the fact she screwed up royally by accidentally destroying the scrapbook crushed her, leading her to want to make it up. Of course, she screws up again and then after finally realizing the situation, she was able to make up for it, all leading back to what Pinkie likes to do: make friends and make friends smile (as established by The Smile Song), which makes her smile, and she learned personal space…after the moral.
    
   Granted, she should’ve been presented with a consequence or two because the cartoon methods of apologizing create unfortunate implications, and the moral itself is tacked on. What Pinkie did from beginning to end was very in character, but took a very safe approach in Act 3 and really teetered the line into making her just as creepy as Party of One. “Not everyone will want to be friends with you if the way you’re behaving towards them rubs them off” would’ve been better. A better method of solving the conflict would’ve been following Twilight’s advice instead of going Looney Toons on him. Still feeling guilty, she talks to Matilda, who later meets up with Cranky, who was cleaning up the mess. Matilda and Cranky talk about how they met long ago and wanted to find each other again; Matilda also holds a copy of her scrapbook containing a copy of the pictures taken at the Gala. Pinkie apologizes for her behavior. Cranky forgives her, smiles, and calls her a friend. Cue the moral. Episode ends.
    
   Regardless, the song really connected to the thematic message of not just the episode, but the series and moral, also. It was a major catalyst to the conflict that immediately followed and foreshadowed the ending and moral. Hell, The Smile Song is what started the conflict in the first place! On top of that, it’s one of the best written, most fluent, and best composed in the series. The choreography strengthened the song, made it belong in the episode structurally and thematically, and helped create the gigantic following TSS has.
    
   What does this have to do with YPYP?
    
   Although TSS and YPYP are thematically relevant and carry great scores, The Smile Song has the polish and drive from beginning to end along with fantastic visuals to compensate it and make it better and memorable.
    
   For songs that aren't exactly so catchy or well sung, A Glass of Water doesn’t have a satisfactory singing performance (on its own, it's one of the worst songs of the season), but the hilarious visuals hide it very well and tell a grand story. Without Discord's antics and chaotic animation, AGoW's reception would've been down the middle at least.
    
   Conversely, You’ll Play Your Part doesn’t have that. Some of the meters are clunky and remain as idle as a running car until Celestia sings or the first chorus. To make it worse, the plain visuals and conservative choreography do very little to carry the message and influence its impact. In actuality, the lack of visual substance hurt the song’s message, underminded its importance, and made it less appealing to listen to and follow along. Sure, you have little details to alleviate it (the aurora representing Celestia, Luna's night sky, and Cadance's Crystal Castle), but without the bigger details, the little ones won’t matter.
   
10. The Rainbow Power ponies. Besides having the ending spilled several months ago (unrelated to the show, BTW; just an observation), there are two problems:
     
    a. It all but renders their sacrifice of the Elements of Harmony rather pointless. One of the greatest strengths of sacrificing the Elements of Harmony from a narrative perspective is twofold: Their friendship is connected far beyond powerful jewelry, and DHX is forced to come up with solutions that don’t rely on a possible Deus Ex Machina or hat-pull. The fears reared its ugly head in EqG and all but ruined the reputation of the concept. The Rainbow Powers are a more powerful, elaborate version of the Elements of Harmony. Despite a change in status, the Rainbow Powers basically put the concept back to square one.
     
    b. The designs themselves are TERRIBLE! I take graphic design very seriously, so the designs are personally my most HATED part of the finale. FIM contains a soft, pastel atmosphere, making the colors visually comfortable. The RP ponies rely far too much on style over substance. The bright colors clash with not just the pastels of the characters, but other bright colors that touch, also. Thus, the characters’ presentations are too gaudy and unpleasant to look at. Hasbro doesn’t need to plug in flashy colors just to pander to kids; it’s very bad character design and bad graphic design in general. You can make the characters look aggressive withOUT saturating the colors.
     
    (Apparently, the Rainbow Powers will have some importance in Rainbow Rocks, as evident by the change of the characters and Rainbow Power appearances in the leaked music video Shake Your Tail!)
    
11. The castle design is very unpleasant. Sure, Twilight’s new castle is supposed to connect with the Tree of Harmony’s rocky, crystal presentation, but on its own, it doesn’t fit at all. The Golden Oaks Library perfectly represented not only Ponyville, but also Twilight. It was homey, beautiful, clever, and pleasant in its interior and exterior. But…
     
    a. The rocky exterior doesn’t have the organic shapes of Ponyville. It looks like something that belongs to The Crystal Empire, but even their shapes are more organically structured. The colors themselves are also too dull and don’t have the pastel, yet warm colors. Visually, the presentation is out of character of Ponyville because it’s far too elaborate, the cold colors clash with the rest of the town, and its inorganic structure appears incomplete.
     
    b. Inside, the hallways and throne room are very rocky with very deep, dark colors to counterbalance with the bright whites, greens, and yellows. It doesn’t have a sleek, regal presentation, and the really dark majesty doesn’t make the castle feel like home, but a prison instead.
     
    Altogether, Twilight’s new castle is telling the audience, “This is my new, grand home,” but it shows the opposite.
    

Like Princess Twilight Sparkle, Meghan McCarthy’s penmanship in Twilight’s Kingdom takes center stage. In the premiere, it was McCarthy’s goal to create a satisfying story of Twilight adjusting to royal society. Despite annoying retcons and sloppy writing decisions (poor pacing, the alicorn potion, goofing up Applejack’s and Pinkie’s characters, poor dialogue, a lack of concrete timeline), it nonetheless pushed season four forward. Meanwhile, the finale sealed the overarching plot of the Chest of Harmony and the annoying flaw of Twilight’s princesshood being merely a title. It behaves like a series finale, but also an opening for future ideas. With season five coming up sometime during the winter holidays, it’ll create many new questions without having the dark cloud that hung over the head following Magical Mystery Cure.

Now, as insulting as the idea is, as Tommy Oliver stated in his FIMpression, (like A Canterlot Wedding) the less you think about T’sK's flaws, the more fun it is. And it's a blast to watch on the first try.

But now that Twilight’s Kingdom has aired, it’s time to think about it. So through the critical eye, is Twilight’s Kingdom the best FIM finale?

No. That still belongs to The Best Night Ever.

It’s full of really unpolished executions, so these pieces collectively dropped the quality. Objectively, it’s at most above-average. But it’s better in quality than the other two-part finale, A Canterlot Wedding: While A Canterlot Wedding is rushed as hell, very sloppy, and full of several loose ends that weren’t fulfilled, Twilight’s Kingdom contains more importance than its comparison; while there's plenty of stupidity and pacing issues to question, season four's finale concludes itself and many arcs as a whole more satisfactorily.

Now, bring on EqG: Rainbow Rocks season five!

Source: S04:E25+26 - Twilight's Kingdom