Hello everypony!

I wrote a Magic Duel review in the discussion thread, but since I really like doing this, I decided I should start blogging these for reference. Be free to give your own thoughts on the episode here below if you want though.

Wow, what an episode! I'm not kidding when I say Magic Duel could be one of my favorites in the whole series, surpassing even Lesson Zero when it comes to single episodes. Trixie's return was handled extremely well, making her a real threat instead of the annoying pony she was in Boast Busters. The alicorn amulet was mysterious and cool, plus alicorn is now a canon term which is nice. And Trixie wasn't the only continuity we got, this episode had it all over, which I love- references to Pinkie once being a rock farmer, parasprites, Pinkie's music abilities, Snips and Snails overworshipping Trixie, Fluttershy's struggle with assertiveness- returning elements are always awesome to me. Also, Twilight being trained in magic by Zecora had to be the most awesome Star Wars reference ever. Both duels were fun to watch, with the second being way cooler with all the stuff Twilight just threw out there, all just to trick Trixie! All in all, I really could not believe how apologetic Trixie was in the end, I really don't think I hate her anymore, maybe. My only gripe is that I wish there was more of this wonderful episode! Also would've been cool to see more of the Saddle Arabians, but oh well. But really, those are minor nitpicks of an absolutely phenomonal episode, after the Crystal Empire being great and the two afterwards not being super excellent, this was truly what I was waiting for. Potential best episode of the series if you ask me!

Le Source: S03:E05 - Magic Duel