immblueversion

Yes, he wrote the episode that Lauren Faust herself reportedly apologized for its existence, since it was deemed one of the most controversial MLP episodes in which its message was worded in such a way that caused many people to think it promoted a "theism vs. atheism" debate in favor of the former while demonizing the latter. Of course, plenty of us (such as you yourself, I'm sure) know that's utter bullplop. I think "Feeling Pinkie Keen" is really meant to teach how a skeptic should not limit their worldview to the known, or use it as a means of making people who have faith in indeterminable factors look bad. From the looks of things, there will be two basic parties in the next episode: the protagonist party (Fluttershy and Princess Celestia) who think Discord deserves another chance, and the antagonist party (Fluttershy's friends) who do not. I think people are worried the antagonist party will be portrayed more as the villains than Discord (after all, "antagonist" does not mean "villain"), and that the message at the end will vaguely reinforce their purported villainy, similar to "Feeling Pinkie Keen". So, yes, we really should stop being uptight over a cartoon, because when that happens, no one has fun.

Hell, Q outright said in his second appearance that he's gone from calling humanity an inferior race to one that's actually worth studying. Even if he does like to get under their skin once in a while.

Hows about 18 episodes? 18 seems to be a reasonable number, wouldn't you agree? It's been done with other shows before, methinks.

Well, we know that it's in Fluttershy's nature to show kindness to others, and that the rest of the Mane Six have good reason not to trust Discord. Dave Polsky has handled the conflict where neither side is really wrong or bad in "Over a Barrel". I guess what we all want is for this episode to strike a balance between Fluttershy's conflict with her friends and her interaction with Discord without going too much in favor of either side. This shouldn't be a "black vs. white" plot; it should be "white vs. gray", or "gray vs. grey".

The sad thing is, I heard someone say they heard Lauren Faust say somewhere that she doesn't have the heart to see the episodes that have aired after she left. I can understand that kind of feeling, and I won't let it affect how I think of the show (that is to say I love it about as much now as I ever have), but I can't help but feel a bit sorry for her.

I think I'm one who thinks that expectations are, or can be, further influenced by time. The longer we wait, the more we risk becoming lost in our own imaginations. No doubt a good number of us expected King Sombra to be this big, bombastic villain when he ended up being more underplayed, which let a lot of people down. He also had an image of himself leaked at least four months before his debut. If we never had that single image, at least so far ahead of the airing, and we were instead introduced to him through the episode itself when it aired, would things have been different? I'm bringing this up because, while nowhere near as long a wait as the season premiere, the next episode is just under two weeks away, and we have no new episodes to tide us over until then. And as one of the most heavily anticipated episodes in the series' run, we may or may not be setting ourselves up for major disappointment, which I myself am trying to avoid.

Allow me to present my King Sombra headcanon: King Sombra wasn't really a pony at all, but rather some kind of anthropomorphic personification (or ponification) of dark magic not unlike the kind of magic that, according to Lauren Faust's headcanon, took hold of Princess Luna through her jealousy and became Nightmare Moon. Instead of possessing a pony, he perhaps achieved his own kingly, pony-like form after becoming imbued in the crystals of the arctic north, being discovered by the Crystal Ponies brought into the Crystal Empire for study, and taking in the Crystal Ponies' (supposedly) empirical culture and knowledge of Equestria's dominant race. That'd explain his obsession with "Cryssstalllsssss..."; he is one. Where he came from, we still don't know. But we don't know where the magic that supposedly corrupted Princess Luna came from either, assuming it's from an outside source as reasoned by Faust. His role of a tyrant is a mere parody of what he truly is: a wayward force of pure, unadulterated evil whose very nature is to spread fear and despair.

That's why I want to see it again. Can anyone find it? It makes also me excited, but I forgot exactly what he said. Also, John de Lancie did leave some subtle hints during his appearance in the game "Quantum Conundrum", though nothing revolutionary or mind-boggling:

Yes, just 329 hours until we get to the episode that some people are dreading whether or not will be worth the wait because they didn't like the writer's previous episodes. Which reminds me, apparently, there was some Twitter response from Dave saying how excited he and the other staff are for when the episode comes out.

Well, the latest synopsis says they have to tame Discord, not necessarily turn him good. The mirrors between him and Q just continue to grow. First, I'm gonna repeat what Fhaolan said above: I can also see that if Discord is kept in check in mind rather than in body, then he won't cause any more trouble like he did in the past. But what intrigues me is not only why Celestia herself wants him put in check, but why now of all times. The synopsis says she's only just decided he needs rehab, so she may have something more planned for him than a simple "Discord may break loose again and we may not be able to stop him then, so we need to nip him in the bud." But I'm not completely counting on that. Could this give credibility to the rumor that Discord is to become Twilight's mentor for the next phase of her studies? In his rumored leaked lines, he seems to be acting in a position higher than Twilight, yet judging from the next episode's synopsis, the Mane Six are the ones above him. This could either mean he's just being a troll as usual, or the lines are for a future episode where his and Twilight's roles from "Keep Calm and Flutter On" are switched. Furthermore, how will the Mane Six go about reforming him, or at least interacting with him? If we take the rumored lines at face value and apply them to the next episode, he will be turned into a pony, possibly stripped of his powers. But should the lines turn out to not be in the episode, what then? Will he be let out of his prison, or will the Mane Six actually be let in? Or maybe...what if it's all a lie? What if it's really Discord trying to trick the Mane Six into thinking Celestia wants him to reform just so he can escape, tear the Mane Six apart using Fluttershy as a catalyst, and plunge Equestria into eternal chaos? And even if he's stopped, he would still have bragging rights to say he finally broke Fluttershy.

Sorry you had to be disappointed today... And next week... The next episode had better friggin' be worth the extra wait. I may know the synopsis, but I have no intention of even looking at a single screenshot of that episode until I see the whole thing. I'm also praying for an early leak I know may not come...

Well, it may not be canon, but the "Ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders" Tumblr plans to take itself in this direction. The funny thing is, it happened before "Apple Family Reunion" came out, yet plans to include two members. Any lover of the CMC should read this Tumblr, by the way. It was made by the same genuis who gave us this wonderful music video. Just beware one thing:

If the show ends, it'd better go out on a high note. I just hope the next episode won't be the one that all bronies fear--the one where the show jumps the shark.

So much fear and negativity, and we still have two weeks to wait for the next episode. On top of that, I don't plan to look at any videos or images of the episode until I see the whole thing. I hope the episode leaks early, otherwise this is gonna be a loooooooong month.