Hey Prymestryker, I would like to ask if I can offer a rebuttal to the points you made in this review please. I did enjoyed some of stuff in this review, but I feel there are points I wish to point out.

Hey Prymestryker, I would like to ask if I can offer a rebuttal to the points you made in this review please. I did enjoyed some of stuff in this review, but I feel there are points I wish to point out.

You may proceed.

You don't need permission, BTW.

Okay, thank you Prymestriker. To begin:

I disagree with the notion there is no predetermined deadline as Celestia said this from Swarm of the Century:

Princess Celestia: Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the "magic of friendship" in person?

Twilight Sparkle: My... report?

Princess Celestia: Haven't you learned anything about friendship?

It implies to me that Celestia does expect Twilight to deliver a friendship report at a predetermined time or otherwise she wouldn't have asked if she had a friendship report ready to be delivered in person or letter.

I'll explain why I view Lesson Zero so favorably in that:

1. It was the first non two parter that no longer held the educational label that season 1 had. The many insane feats like Rainbow Dash destroying a barn in a glorious nuclear explosion, Flutershy seemingly snapping a bear's neck, and Twilight blowing up a ball via telefrag was all delibrately done to show off of how far Meghan can push the new Y rating label. It was essentially the series growing up and stretching it's new longer limbs after what it had to be restricted to in season 1. Many future slice of life episodes followed suit after.

2. It allowed the series to not only no longer be held by giving a tacked on friendship lesson each episode, but it also no longer required Twilight to be forcibly involved in every episode. Those two I mentioned were huge for the series as now future episodes don't have to be concerned for what friendship lesson or what role Twilight has to have in whatever episodes that season 1 had to be put under.

Pair those two with giving one of Twilight's best characterized episodes in the series and you have a great episode in my eyes

Okay, thank you Prymestriker. To begin:

 

I disagree with the notion there is no predetermined deadline as Celestia said this from Swarm of the Century:

 

 

Princess Celestia: Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the "magic of friendship" in person?

Twilight Sparkle: My... report?

Princess Celestia: Haven't you learned anything about friendship?

 

 

It implies to me that Celestia does expect Twilight to deliver a friendship report at a predetermined time or otherwise she wouldn't have asked if she had a friendship report ready to be delivered in person or letter.

 

 

I'll explain why I view Lesson Zero so favorably in that:

 

 

1. It was the first non two parter that no longer held the educational label that season 1 had. The many insane feats like Rainbow Dash destroying a barn in a glorious nuclear explosion, Flutershy seemingly snapping a bear's neck, and Twilight blowing up a ball via telefrag was all delibrately done to show off of how far Meghan can push the new Y rating label. It was essentially the series growing up and stretching it's new longer limbs after what it had to be restricted to in season 1. Many future slice of life episodes followed suit after.

 

 

2. It allowed the series to not only no longer be held by giving a tacked on friendship lesson each episode, but it also no longer required Twilight to be forcibly involved in every episode. Those two I mentioned were huge for the series as now future episodes don't have to be concerned for what friendship lesson or what role Twilight has to have in whatever episodes that season 1 had to be put under.

 

 

Pair those two with giving one of Twilight's best characterized episodes in the series and you have a great episode in my eyes

I agree with the two strengths you listed, so no arguments there. However, as I mentioned in the review, even though that quote exists and it implies that there was some sort of expectation of the letter, a deadline for them is still a stupid idea. Expecting a letter every week about a friendship problem means that you expect there to be some kind of issue and/or crisis every week, which is extremely sadistic of Princess Celestia. Even so, I'm not sure that one off-hand quote is enough to support the concept of a deadline, especially since it was only mentioned there (for a different purpose entirely) and in this episode, where it was abolished. If you were only going to use the "deadline" prominently in one episode, there's no effects of getting rid of it, so it still feels like a plot contrivance. 

I still like "Lesson Zero" as a good episode, but I don't think it's flawless anymore.

I agree with the two strengths you listed, so no arguments there. However, as I mentioned in the review, even though that quote exists and it implies that there was some sort of expectation of the letter, a deadline for them is still a stupid idea. Expecting a letter every week about a friendship problem means that you expect there to be some kind of issue and/or crisis every week, which is extremely sadistic of Princess Celestia. Even so, I'm not sure that one off-hand quote is enough to support the concept of a deadline, especially since it was only mentioned there (for a different purpose entirely) and in this episode, where it was abolished. If you were only going to use the "deadline" prominently in one episode, there's no effects of getting rid of it, so it still feels like a plot contrivance. 

 

I still like "Lesson Zero" as a good episode, but I don't think it's flawless anymore.

Thank you, now onto the timetable.

Since when is deciding to introduce a definite timetable for the letters a bad thing? We know there is a case for that she has time for each letter to be delivered and the quote implies it as such. Putting in a weekly timetable for Twilight to deliver is nothing terrible as we already have knowledge before hand that Twilight has a timetable to deal with, all Lesson Zero did was give us a clear answer for how long it is.

Thank you, now onto the timetable. Since when is deciding to introduce a definite timetable for the letters a bad thing? We know there is a case for that she has time for each letter to be delivered and the quote implies it as such. Putting in a weekly timetable for Twilight to deliver is nothing terrible as we already have knowledge before hand that Twilight has a timetable to deal with, all Lesson Zero did was give us a clear answer for how long it is.

I'm not blaming "Lesson Zero" for introducing nor reinforcing a time table. I'm talking about the sadistic nature of wanting receive one letter every week about how she solved or learned from a friendship problem. Again, this is Celestia assuming that there's going to be a problem every week, and realistically, this is not the case in strong friendships or friend groups. Having a friendship problem every week is a pretty clear sign that you need to find new friends.

This ties into one of my complaints with the series overall, especially prevalent in later seasons, when they treat friendship as if it's a religion where you must believe in it and do everything mortally possible, even taking it to far extremes, to salvage your friendship. They never rarely consider actually not clicking with another person or finding other friend groups when one obviously isn't working. That's all that complaint in particular is -- it showcases the unrealistic nature of the time table vs. the subject of the letters. 

I'm not blaming "Lesson Zero" for introducing nor reinforcing a time table. I'm talking about the sadistic nature of wanting receive one letter every week about how she solved or learned from a friendship problem. Again, this is Celestia assuming that there's going to be a problem every week, and realistically, this is not the case in strong friendships or friend groups. Having a friendship problem every week is a pretty clear sign that you need to find new friends.

 

This ties into one of my complaints with the series overall, especially prevalent in later seasons, when they treat friendship as if it's a religion where you must believe in it and do everything mortally possible, even taking it to far extremes, to salvage your friendship. They never rarely consider actually not clicking with another person or finding other friend groups when one obviously isn't working. That's all that complaint in particular is -- it showcases the unrealistic nature of the time table vs. the subject of the letters.

Providing a written paragraph report on a certain topic and what you learned is not very much to do, especially for a bookworm like Twilight. I don't consider it unrealistic as in college, such assignments are expected to be done such give a brief on any news subject each time you show up for class. Twilight is still Celestia's student at that point so it makes sense for her to try to complete an assignment on an expected date lest she earn a displeased glance for her lack of initiative.

Considering the nature of the show and the group's dynamic in general, friendship would have to be an important thing for them lest the tree of harmony not view them worthy of it's intention. Granted, there were a few times where I did felt the extension of friendship was unnecessary so I'll agree it is not perfect, but I don't view it bad either and don't see a need for tremendous changes to the show's core formula.

Providing a written paragraph report on a certain topic and what you learned is not very much to do, especially for a bookworm like Twilight. I don't consider it unrealistic as in college, such assignments are expected to be done such give a brief on any news subject each time you show up for class.

I understand. I'm not arguing that providing a written paragraph report is unrealistic. Solving a friendship problem every week is unrealistic. Therefore, writing to Celestia periodically when you've learned something is much more ideal than being on a mission to constantly look for trouble all the time. Because it becomes just that: a mission to look for trouble, not a mission to make new friends. A flaw in Celestia's logic? Possibly, I can see where it might be akin to a teacher requiring assignment submissions every week, but in the context of what she actually has to report, it's very awkward and pretty stupid a requirement. I'll still blame this episode for highlighting it and making it a messy plot tool. It doesn't gel well at all for me either way.

Twilight is still Celestia's student at that point so it makes sense for her to try to complete an assignment on an expected date lest she earn a displeased glance for her lack of initiative.

 

Considering the nature of the show and the group's dynamic in general, friendship would have to be an important thing for them lest the tree of harmony not view them worthy of it's intention. Granted, there were a few times where I did felt the extension of friendship was unnecessary so I'll agree it is not perfect, but I don't view it bad either and don't see a need for tremendous changes to the show's core formula.

I agree with all of this, although I don't want to change the show's formula, I was pointing out that "Lesson Zero" is one of the examples of this show's borderline obsession with friendship going way too far (in relationship to the aforementioned time table, not Twilight's characterization............though it could be argued....................).

Nice review, I had a couple of chuckles as I read it.

I understood the deadline thing to be a bit of a meta-joke. The show generally airs a new episode each week, hence the "once a week" deadline. It's like in the song Art of the Dress, where there is a line about "make sure it stays within our budget," even though there is literally no other indication that Rarity is asking for payment. The song itself makes references to different kinds of "problem clients", even though it strictly speaking doesn't make sense in-universe.

Nice review, I had a couple of chuckles as I read it.

 

I understood the deadline thing to be a bit of a meta-joke. The show generally airs a new episode each week, hence the "once a week" deadline. It's like in the song Art of the Dress, where there is a line about "make sure it stays within our budget," even though there is literally no other indication that Rarity is asking for payment. The song itself makes references to different kinds of "problem clients", even though it strictly speaking doesn't make sense in-universe.

Aaaah.

That's a funnier idea, then.

 

I understand. I'm not arguing that providing a written paragraph report is unrealistic. Solving a friendship problem every week is unrealistic. Therefore, writing to Celestia periodically when you've learned something is much more ideal than being on a mission to constantly look for trouble all the time. Because it becomes just that: a mission to look for trouble, not a mission to make new friends. A flaw in Celestia's logic? Possibly, I can see where it might be akin to a teacher requiring assignment submissions every week, but in the context of what she actually has to report, it's very awkward and pretty stupid a requirement. I'll still blame this episode for highlighting it and making it a messy plot tool. It doesn't gel well at all for me either way.

 

 

 

I agree with all of this, although I don't want to change the show's formula, I was pointing out that "Lesson Zero" is one of the examples of this show's borderline obsession with friendship going way too far (in relationship to the aforementioned time table, not Twilight's characterization............though it could be argued....................).

I see what you mean, forcing a friendship lesson can be problematic. It's why I think it may have been an idea this episode decided to poke fun of the idea of forcing friendship lessons as it was exactly what Twilight did throughout the episode when she couldn't come up with a report so she tried to make one up instead by deliberately causing problems, which the episode admonished her for it for all the crap she caused.