Last year, I was worried that "To Where and Back Again" would be a by-the-numbers, over-serious finale which just rehashes the same plot points the show had been trucking out for years now. To my delight, it turned out to be something else entirely, and it quickly became one of my favourite two-parters in the entire show. "To Where and Back Again" excelled because it was a character-driven story which focused on the human side of the story rather than the rote details, and as such it was refreshingly light on exposition and action.

Turns out all I had to do was wait a year, however, because "Shadow Play" is exactly what I was worried about back in season 6. It's the worst example yet of the show's increasingly dull mythology, and it's filled with backstory exposition which takes itself way too seriously. There are certainly moments of humour here which bring the episode to life, but the plot is just so formulaic that it's hard to be invested in any of it, and enough of the episode takes itself so seriously that the fun moments can't break the monotony.

When Twilight Sparkle uncovers what happened to Starswirl the Bearded and four other ponies he calls Equestria's "Pillars" (ugh), she sets out to save the Pillars from Limbo, not realizing that doing so would also free the evil Pony of Shadows. Soon, she realizes that she's made a mistake, and must work with the Pillars to save Equestria.

You might have noticed that the whole plot is dependent on Twilight making an obviously poor decision, and worse still, she does it despite Starlight (of all ponies!) trying to warn her of the consequences. Indeed, Twilight's sheer hero worship for Starswirl renders her nearly useless throughout the episode, and while this is the only blatantly stupid decision she makes, she also spends most of the episode just doing whatever he says despite outclassing him. At the end, Starlight suggests that there must be some way they could convince the Pony of Shadows to stop, but Twilight just... ignores her, apparently because she's so blinded by her idolization of Starswirl.

It's a double-edged sword, too, because Twilight's sheer enthusiasm is also the episode's main saving grace. Watching her gush over the idea of having Starswirl back is frequently delightful, and it demonstrates how good this season has been at reviving her geeky charm. Other characters have their moments too: One scene in the Dragon Lands is genuinely entertaining, where the dragons are using Flash Magnus's shield for lava surfing. That's easily the most creative scene in the episode, and it's also fun to watch Rainbow Dash trick Garble into just handing over the shield. Another scene featuring Fluttershy is pleasant as well, and Pinkie has a good handful of fun lines, but all of them suffer from a lack of personal stake in the story.

The mane six are only dominant in the first half, and the problem with this is that the first half has almost no stakes to speak of. Twilight is insistent that Equestria is "better with Starswirl in it," but that's hard to accept when the ponies have done perfectly fine for themselves without him. Because of this, it's hard to be invested in anything which happens in the first half, which is as incident-free as "The Crystalling" but without any of the anxiety or introspection. There's still funny moments, but most of the first half is focused on the mythology of the world, which is no deeper than five ancient heroes sacrificing themselves to lock away some ancient evil. The episode tries to build on this, but it never steps away from dull cliches.

Further, much of the first half has the mane six just acting broadly admirable, and I have never found that particularly interesting. At times, it even breaks credibility: Applejack manages to stop a falling boulder with her hind legs, and Rarity somehow trims a whole overgrown garden in what can't have been more than a few minutes. Rarity's scene is especially annoying, because the caretaker of the garden talks a lot about one flower being "all she has left," suggesting that she somehow never thought to just trim the bushes a bit. Am I supposed to believe that? Meanwhile, Pinkie's lasts less than half the time of the others, despite being perhaps the funniest. Altogether, I'm just tired of watching ponies collecting MacGuffins. We've seen that several times before. It's time for something new.

In the second half, Starlight increasingly takes the reigns from the mane six, and she's as bland as ever. I explained why she's such a dull character in the "Uncommon Bond" review, but suffice it to say that she's no more exciting here, and her main contribution - the experience of being forgiven - is territory which this franchise has explored better in the past, though perhaps not in the main series. Unfortunately, "Shadow Play" has almost nothing to add beyond that, and a lot of this comes from just how little there is to Starlight. She's still a tool of the plot more than an actual character, and that means that prevents anything she does from feeling organic, no matter how hard the writers try. We occasionally see Twilight doubting herself, but the episode spends relatively little time on that, and in the second half Twilight's friends are once again sidelined. We know that the mane six have stood up to authority figures in the past, and we know they believe in second chances, so it's hard to accept Starlight needing to set them straight.

Ultimately, it turns out the Pony of Shadows used to be a friend of the Pillars by the name of Stygian, and that he and the Pillars both came to believe the other had betrayed them. The theme of misunderstandings which many episodes this season have followed comes to fruition here, but while Stygian is immediately sympathetic, neither he nor the Pillars are developed enough for this climax to have much emotional effect. We learn about Stygian almost entirely through exposition, and the Pillars themselves are given almost nothing in the way of characterization. Sunburst is present too, but he mostly serves as an extension of Twilight.

And because the worldbuilding is so unimaginative, the large chunks of the episode dedicated to exposition very quickly become tiresome. At one point, the Pillars mention that they planted the Tree of Harmony, which is completely useless information because it explains very little about the Tree itself. Apparently they somehow imbued it with the forces they represent, but I never asked for the origin of the Elements, and it hardly explains why Twilight's cutie mark is on the tree. We still know nothing about how it actually works, so all the actual questions surrounding it remain unanswered. Plus, the map is shown to be able to locate not one but two other kinds of MacGuffins now, because of course it is. It's been awful for three seasons, so why should it stop now?

Ultimately, the problem with the show's mythology is the problem with "Shadow Play." Rather than actually develop the world which exists, the showrunners like to just pile new aspects onto it while neglecting everything which came before. And that ultimately harms My Little Pony's world, which was initially one of the things which drew me to the show. When world is emphasized over character, you must have a good enough world to hold it up, and this show simply does not anymore. Combine that with a plot cribbed from earlier stories, and Starlight continuing to be bland while still taking over the story, and you've got the least exciting two-parter to date, even beating out the similarly dull "The Cutie Re-Mark."

Score:
Entertainment: 4/10
Characters: 5/10
Story: 4/10
Themes: 6/10
Overall: 48/100

P.S.
This isn't fun for me any more. If season 8 is a big enough improvement, I might return, but for now, I'm officially retiring my My Little Pony reviews. I'm gonna give the Equestria Girls series and season 8 a shot, but I'm not committing to either of them, and I'm definitely not going to take the time to write at length. Still, I need some closure, so I'll make a few more posts in the weeks to come before I retire this blog. First, an overview of season 7 at large. Second, an updated list of the show's Top 10 Worst Episodes. Third, a list of my 26 favourite episodes in the show. Finally, I'll be uploading my to-date score sheet in all its incomplete glory, which I may or may not attempt to fill out during the hiatus. If you want more of my writing, you can always check out the main blog, and if you want to keep up with whatever Pony opinions I still have, I'll try to keep the score list updated, and you can follow me on Twitter. Until next time.