"And nopony cared about..."

My thoughts EXACTLY. The plot just... ended in smiles and laughter. There's no clarification of what happened to all the disturbances. Everyone just turned their mood around, accepted what happened or didn't happen and didn't question the confusion. It was just... over. 

53 minutes ago, StrawCherry said:

"And nopony cared about..."

My thoughts EXACTLY. The plot just... ended in smiles and laughter. There's no clarification of what happened to all the disturbances. Everyone just turned their mood around, accepted what happened or didn't happen and didn't question the confusion. It was just... over. 

Rarity was definitely the most vexing to me. She specifically said she didn't do what she had been accused of. A perfect moment for Twilight to go: "Wait a moment, what's going on here?"

I guess the writers wanted to really hit home with the message how the power of their friendship is like an unstoppable force of nature at this point where they don't even have to bother investigating attempted sabotage. In principle very beautiful, just in execution clumsy, as so often.

Hmm, maybe if we don't focus too much on those details, that would honor the principle?   (It's actually what I love so much about the show. The nitpicking is mostly just for fun.)

2 minutes ago, Dowlphin said:

Rarity was definitely the most vexing to me. She specifically said she didn't do what she had been accused of. A perfect moment for Twilight to go: "Wait a moment, what's going on here?"

I guess the writers wanted to really hit home with the message how the power of their friendship is like an unstoppable force of nature at this point where they don't even have to bother investigating attempted sabotage. In principle very beautiful, just in execution clumsy, as so often.

I suppose so... but in my opinion, it made the whole episode boring. The episode seemed unfinished because they didn't bother investigating what happened. Their friendship may be strong, but in the world of Equestria, it feels dangerous to not figure out what happened. Especially with the Chrysalis still on the loose. Now, they wouldn't accuse the changelings since that problem has been solved. But Chrysalis could easily play some other game with their minds, which she did; they just didn't bother finding it out. It was a really weak mid-season finale and it sucked the excitement right out of me.

12 hours ago, StrawCherry said:

I suppose so... but in my opinion, it made the whole episode boring. The episode seemed unfinished because they didn't bother investigating what happened. Their friendship may be strong, but in the world of Equestria, it feels dangerous to not figure out what happened. Especially with the Chrysalis still on the loose. Now, they wouldn't accuse the changelings since that problem has been solved. But Chrysalis could easily play some other game with their minds, which she did; they just didn't bother finding it out. It was a really weak mid-season finale and it sucked the excitement right out of me.

I totally would expect a bit of a resolution in the next episode. They can't expect us to believe they rebuild the campsite and then don't visit the tree room and notice the six pieces of wood.

That COULD lead to some interesting further story developments and provide episode content; Twilight trying to figure out what those artifacts are. ... Well, we can just wait and see and maybe get more surprises. ... Actually, this episode was a good example of how a totally predictable start can make an unpredictable ending hit so much more as a surprise. That evil-Twilight image up there, that's basically a reaction pic. It was a bit of a Magical Mystery Cure moment where we can just enjoy some pwnage instead of inflated, dragged-out drama. Interestingly, in both episodes it had the same cause/incentive for the writers: time constraints to a single episode.

1 minute ago, Dowlphin said:

I totally would expect a bit of a resolution in the next episode. They can't expect us to believe they rebuild the campsite and then don't visit the tree room and notice the six pieces of wood.

That COULD lead to some interesting further story developments and provide episode content; Twilight trying to figure out what those artifacts are. ... Well, we can just wait and see and maybe get more surprises. ... Actually, this episode was a good example of how a totally predictable start can make an unpredictable ending hit so much more of s surprise. That evil-Twilight image up there, that's basically a reaction pic. It was a bit of a Magical Mystery Cure moment where we can just enjoy some pwnage instead of inflated, dragged-out drama. Interestingly, it had the same cause/incentive for the writers: time constraints to a single episode.

That would lead to an interesting continuation.  I just expected more from an episode starring Chrysalis, I guess. I think I can declare this episode a least favorite. The calm and relaxing episodes are nice, but I don't think they are good for any kind of finale - mid-season or not. There's no cliffhanger that makes me want to see what happens next. If they actually showed the mane six making their way to the tree and finding the pieces of wood there, it would've been a different story. Now it's not guaranteed that they are going to start the season where it left off and aren't just going to drop everything that happened.  

I just realized: What would have made the episode so much more 'immersive' is if the clones weren't visually different. Would have put the viewer so much more into the ponies' perspective. The deliberate distinction might have been unwise extra effort. (Or maybe it was a Hasbro rule.)