Good evening everypony! I apologize for being so late on my season finale review; my original plan was to post it together with my full Season 6 review, but it turned out that both reviews together were simply to long to post in the same blog, so without further ado, here is my Season 6 finale review of "To Where and Back Again"!

The Season Finale

After seeing the season finale, I find myself in a very strange position. 95% of this finale was an A+ effort in pretty much every single way, but that 5% that wasn't brought it down quite a bit. In fact, while I overall very much enjoyed the product as a whole, I have to say that this is my least favorite season finale of all of MLP:FiM. How can this be, you might ask? Well, let's take a look, at both the good which was the majority of both episodes, and the little but very significant bad that brought it down quite a bit in my eyes.

In many respects, this finale in execution paralleled last season's finale. There was a lot of set-up and A LOT of slow, steady pacing for the majority of both episodes, sometimes to the detriment of the final product. The reason it worked for so much of the episode, however, is that this finale was focused almost entirely on Starlight Glimmer. This worked for quite a few reasons. First, most season finales since Season 2 have been focused on Twilight as the main character; this finale, like the season opener, kept the focus on Starlight, who had probably the most important character developments of the season, and capped a splendid first season featuring her as a reformed character and pupil of the Princess of Friendship. It gave us a great chance to see how she's grown and developed over the season and had some very nice payoffs, like getting to see Starlight and Trixie working together to save the day (for the record, they are quite adorable as BFFs and I really hope we get to see more of them next season). This time also, she was the undisputed sole hero of the day, in that unlike in the season opener, where Twilight and the Mane 6 played a role along with her in saving the day, Starlight (aside from having some friends along, only one of whom she was really well acquainted with) was the primary mover here and focus of most of the episode.

And for the most part, I have to say that Starlight had a great episode. In fact, I have no complaints whatsoever about her role in the episode or the lesson that she both taught and learned. This was a fantastic place for her to end up at the end of Season 6; in most of Season 6, she's been perfectly content playing the role of student, of supporter, of learner. In other words, she hasn't taken the lead on many things for the most part because the last time she was in a leadership role, she was an out of control megalomaniac and was terrified that she simply wasn't cut out for such responsibilities. Being a good friend and good pony was one thing, she was comfortable with that for the most part by now even if she still had some anxieties, but being a leader? She simply didn't believe she was ready for that, and couldn't ever be again, and it showed when she returned home and freaked out when all the ponies she'd formerly enslaved wanted her to help take charge with something as simple as festivity responsibilities. But at the end of the day, Starlight realized that she already knew what it meant to be a good leader, could put it into practice, and teach others what it meant. She kept the dysfunctional group she was in united and focused on their task of saving her friends and Equestria, she led them through many perilous situations and stayed at the center of coming up with their next move and bringing the best out of all of them, and she taught what she'd learned about what it means to be a true leader to Chrysalis and the Changelings to save the day. In summary, Starlight, as I said, had a great season finale, and it will be fascinating to see where she goes from here next season. I hope she stays in Ponyville because I've really gotten used to her presence this season and it's nice having a major character that's around as much as she has been this season who wasn't one of the Mane 6, helps mix things up a little. All in all, it was a great close of the season for her and really did justice to her entire character arc this season.

The supporting characters were great as well. The Mane 6 and Spike only showed up briefly (mostly at the beginning), but did give Starlight some great advice, and Princess Luna had a pretty great appearance as well in Starlight's first and second dream, first giving her some wonderful advice and then warning her of the renewed Changeling threat (sadly, Celestia did not get a similar appearance, but then again she had a pretty poor amount of screen time this whole season). Chrysalis and the Changelings were as intimidating as ever and, after waiting four seasons for them to come back in force, they made a great showing as the finale's villains, and had a really good plan to boot. Last time they showed up, aside from infiltrating a royal wedding, they tried for the most part to take Canterlot by brute force, which almost worked but in the end proved a futile effort. This time, they definitely upped the stealth and deviousness quite a bit, abducting pretty much every major ruler and protector of Equestria, which could have had disastrous consequences for all of Equestria. It wasn't made clear entirely in the second part if they just wanted to feed off of the rulers or take over the whole country, but I have to think that conquering Equestria was the end game here. Either way, it was a great plan and very dastardly in its execution and intent.

But really, the true supporting characters of both episodes were Starlight's motley crew of Trixie Lulamoon, Thorax, and Discord, and this was a fun bunch. When Starlight thought of bringing Trixie along rather than Twilight, it was both adorable and hilarious (mostly because of how peeved and passive aggressive Twilight was about being passed up for Trixie and how smug Trixie was about it), and they were wonderful throughout both episodes. Trixie's still Trixie, and I wouldn't want that to change one bit, but she's also a true friend, even BFF, to Starlight in her own way. They probably shouldn't have turned tail and fled Starlight's town when Starlight had basically a panic attack, but then again, this wasn't one of the Mane 6 who would encourage Starlight to stay, this was Trixie. She's still new to the whole friendship thing herself, and her #1 concern was probably Starlight's comfortableness, not her reconnecting with ponies who Trixie had never even met. Besides, it paid off considering they were able to get back in time to figure out what the Changelings were up to. Her interactions with Discord were also a hoot and pretty much what you'd expect from two reformed villains (Tier 1 and Tier 2 respectively) in the show being around one another for a long period of time, although some of the times when they bickered were a bit much just because it was clearly not the time or place (then again, these are two VERY stubborn characters so it's believable enough out of the two of them). Thorax had a very nice return as well, though I felt a bit bad for him. Don't get me wrong, he was smart, intelligent, very helpful considering he had tons of insider information on the Changelings, and kind of a steadying and calming voice along with Starlight, but he sometimes felt like a fourth wheel. I know that he's kind of a shy and quiet character by his nature, but sometimes, especially in the second episode, Trixie and Discord went at it so much that you forgot he was there (Starlight was usually the one playing peacemaker between the two). Overall, however, he still turned in a really good return, and even though he was hardly as old of a character as Trixie, Discord, or even Starlight, fit right into their motley crew. Finally, Discord was, well, what else, Discord. The strangest part of his appearance was seeing him not being able to use his chaos magic for most of it, but it was great getting to see Discord in a major role in a season finale once again, and this time actually helping for most of it. He was also even more obnoxious than usual considering he barely knew or cared about any of the ponies he was working with and was unabashedly only there to help Fluttershy, but that just made him even funnier (his stand-up routine in front of the Changeling guards was particularly hilarious). Overall, aside from (and we'll get to that in a minute) one little bit at the end, this season finale had a great bunch of supporting characters, even if it was a bit odd seeing the main group of the episode limited to four characters when we're so used to the group of six (seven if you count Spike) we're so used to seeing in major show events in the Mane 6.

So... what didn't work? What was the little, tiny bit of this finale that brought it down in my eyes as my least favorite season finale of MLP:FiM to date? Well, it wasn't the obvious plot device in Part 2. You all know the one, the "Changeling magic rock/Chrysalis throne" that sucks out all non-Changeling magic in the vicinity preventing the rescue team from using any magic besides Thorax. Yeah, that didn't actually bother me. I mean, it was obviously a plot device for the sake of convenience to prevent Discord from just using his chaos magic to save the day in two seconds (the show itself admitted as much), but I didn't mind that because it made for a pretty unique situation. We had two unicorns and a draconequus incapable of using any magic to save the day, and a Changeling who could really only use his to transform his appearance. It required a lot of hard and clever thinking from Starlight and company, and even then they only barely succeeded. That, however, is where the problems come in.

As I said before, the pacing was very similar to Season 5's season finale. A lot of set-up and a lot of action in the middle of the episode, executed very slowly and very steadily. While this makes for some great scenes at the beginning and in the middle, the problem is the pacing was just a touch too slow. Hence, the conclusion was a bit rushed like last season's. However, that's only the beginning of the problems of this conclusion. Last season, the biggest problem with the conclusion was that it was rushed; however, it still was a very solid conclusion because it was squarely focused on the reformation of one character, Starlight Glimmer. Season 6 only made that conclusion even better because it was clear that, while she was reformed, Starlight still had a lot to learn this season. THIS conclusion, however, was rushed in a bad, noticeable way that caused a lot of problems because it was not about the reformation of one character. THE ENTIRE CHANGELING SPECIES (aside from Chrysalis) WAS REFORMED! That is what we call a rushed ending in the worst sense. All it took, literally ALL IT TOOK to reform the Changelings was one speech from Starlight Glimmer, a pony they'd never met, and a display of magic from Thorax which they'd never heard of. While Thorax sharing the magic of his love for others wasn't problematic (I can totally buy that he'd be able to unleash that at this point), the rest of the Changelings proceeding to do it was downright damn confusing! How did they unlock such magic??? These Changelings had never loved anything before like Thorax had (unless you count their adoration and loyalty to Chrysalis, but I don't think that's love, that's fanatic devotion), and all of a sudden we're supposed to believe that they're unlocking a magic that Thorax himself hadn't known he could unlock in his current condition until two seconds ago? That's just downright ridiculous.

The follow-up to that, however, might prove more controversial to fans. After the Changelings ridiculously unleashed a power they shouldn't have yet in a completely random and unjustified act of reformation (talk about your bad deus ex machinas), they, well, for lack of a better term, went through a metamorphosis. And what emerged? Well... this.

Yes. All Changelings (except for Chrysalis and any she is able to produce from this point on, I assume) have been turned from their intimidating appearance into beautiful, majestic looking creatures. Which... kind of defeats the purpose of Thorax's first episode. And therein lies the problem. Thorax's debut was probably the most beautiful episode of the season in its heart and message. And at the center of the end of that episode were the ponies of Equestria and the Crystal Empire overcoming their prejudices against Changelings and placing their trust in a member of a species they had only ever feared, and for good reason, even though he still looked like something out of a nightmare. Now, that's just all gone. It's not hard in the slightest to ask ponies to trust Changelings when they look so damn wondrous, majestic, and beautiful now. The designs themselves were fine, I have no problem with them from an aesthetic POV, but my problem is with the principle of changing their look in the first place. For a show that has always promoted fellowship and goodwill between all no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you look like, it feels wrong on some level that such a shallow change in character appearance would be made just to signify that all Changelings are "good" now. Thorax was good when he looked like a regular ol' Changeling, and I have no idea why that had to change now. In fact, the sad thing is I think I know what drove them to change the appearance. With all of the Changelings reformed, I think the animators were afraid that we wouldn't be able to distinguish Thorax from the rest of the Changelings (or any individual Changeling characters for that matter). If this was their driving incentive, there were surely better alternatives out there; they could've either solely changed Thorax's appearance while keeping the other Changelings the same, or even retained the Changeling body designs but just changed the individual color designs of each one. But now, they're just this beautiful looking species which no pony in their right mind should have any trouble trusting, and something about that just doesn't feel right for this show. It's lazy, it's somewhat questionable from a principled POV, and it wasn't executed very well either. I was happy that Chrysalis is still villainous as ever, and now has a bone in particular to pick with Starlight Glimmer to boot (new nemesis, anypony?), but the end overall was rushed, lazy, underwhelming, and anti-climactic. Even afterwards it was! Did we get a song to end out the season, or even a satisfying closing scene? NOPE!!! While it was nice seeing Starlight return to her town with all of her friends, all we got was this lame bit from RD about how somepony needed to catch them up on everything they missed and... that was it! Seriously, that was it. WHAT A LOAD!!!

Bronies, take notes. If you're putting together an essay, or a video, or writing a story, whatever, this finale right here is perfect proof of why a strong conclusion is so important, because your entire body could be perfectly good of whatever you've worked on, and it would still be noticeably sullied by a weak conclusion like what we had here! Overall, I'm not disappointed with the whole of the season finale, really, I'm not. It achieved exactly what it wanted to in strongly closing out the most important story and character arc of Season 6, Starlight Glimmer's. But for a season that was so strong, it is just a tad disappointing that things ended on such a weak, unmemorable note in those last five minutes, as though the end of an entire season of MLP were nothing but an afterthought. Overall, however, "To Where and Back Again" is on the whole a strong season finale to another splendid season of MLP. That's all I got for ya tonight, everypony, until next time this is Batbrony signing off. I'm off!!! *cue dramatic exit*