BalanceBrony

Celestia and Luna = Sisters....so it does work that way, some of the time.  

 

I could possibly see this scenario playing out, but I thinking probably not.

Celestia and Luna are an exception. They are born Alicorns, or something else entirely that decided to take the shape of Alicorns.

I hate to depart from the original post too much, but I have to disagree about chaos. Chaos is needed for change only when people do not see the intrinsic value in improving the human conditions without need but because we can benefit as individuals and as a whole. 

In that case, head on over to the thread "Chaos: Is it Really Evil? And we'll continue that thread in the proper place. But I do have more to say on the subject. That being said, what do you think of the other points in that quoted post?

 

@, I fully agree. These are precisely the points which I would have stated.

Don't forget about primal chaos, from the elder times, when was nothing be in universe, no dark, no light, no order, only chaos.

 

We are both right, because we are speaking about complitly different things :(I understood what are you talking about, you talking about dark and light, chaos and order in basic philosophical concepts, whose meaning is,that everything is interconnected and inseparable from each other, and you right.

I'm talking about chaos and order. I was just wondering about this from a technical "mathematical"points of view. I believe, therefore, that the darkness (evil)is not necessary for harmony existing,do not confuse the notion of darkness as an absolute evil and darkness, as the natural phenomenon of existence( e.g. death or night.)

I'm glad that you clarified. To address this new point where, by darkness, you mean evil, and by light you mean the forces of good, I would provide this perspective. From the perspective of the way things naturally are, there is no such thing as good and evil. They are philosophical constructs inherent only in the consciousness of sentient beings. These two forces are excepted from discussions of Harmony because Harmony is natural, whereas Good and Evil are not. In a natural state, these forces aren't an issue.

 

And in fact, to pull in @@TheEngineer, I would posit that based on the above statement to zev_zev that Harmony is natural, and therefore cannot by quantified in terms of artificial constructs of sentient races. So it cannot be Evil, or Good for that matter.

 

I would agree with the points you made about Harmony not properly existing in Equestria. There is too much Order and not enough Chaos, as covered by this post: http://balancebrony.tumblr.com/post/64964500784/chaos-is-it-really-evil

 

What the ponies seek is an inherent contradiction. They are trying to achieve Harmony without Chaos. They need to do something where Discord is given just a bit of leash. Have him cause a small-scale disaster somewhere, then fixing it will allow change and growth, which are Chaos's positive features, among others. Otherwise, Equestrian society will eventually stagnate at wither from too much Order, and not enough Chaos. And a stagnated society is not a manifestation of Harmony.

Haha, I actually did follow you before! I'm the same Limit from Youtube, the comment on Digibrony's video!

 

I was even thinking of that post when making this, but I wanted to see some more opinions on it.

Ahhh. Well, I'm going to hang here and see other opinions as well!

snip snip

Ah! Fascinating points you have! I'm enjoying this discussion.

 

Regarding destiny and duty, do recall that ponies, while they have a set-in-stone talent, can still choose to do with that talent. For example. Rarity's talent is finding gems. But she uses that talent in her trade of making designer dresses, which was her choice. Her, and everypony else has no fixed goal. They just have a certain something that they are good at (which means everypony is excellent at something), and can do what they want with that something.

 

Determinism is certainly a curious concept to discuss. The way I see it is like this. Harmony isn't some sentient force dishing things out. It is a state of existence. A state where things just happen. I want to avoid discussing the nature of the soul if possible, but Harmony could work like this. Say you have your soul, where your consciousness and personality lie. Everypony has a uniqueness about them. Further, the events which happen to them through forces which they cannot control shape them by reacting with their base soul, defining them further as an individual.

 

When you reach a decision-making point in your life, you can see the different futures which may lay before you, and based on who you are and what you want in life, you will pick a certain path. You weren't forced into that path by any coercive force. Your mindset led you to one decision. At the moment of choice, you can see the different futures briefly. But once you have made a choice, you are set on a new path. The further you go down that path, the further away the choice seems, and the less probable the other paths seem. Once you have gone far enough, to the point of no regrets, you will have the mindset that your life couldn't have gone any other way. I call it the time dilution effect. Eventually, you can scarcely imagine the other potential futures.

 

So here is where that puts determinism. You may not have a choice in who you are, but who you are is not something you can change or want to change (usually). And who you are is what determines your life for you. It is not some force. You could even argue that it's just chaos theory. Some random events happened to make you who you are, and based on your psychological and biological features, you would only ever choose a certain path. It's the same either way. You don't have a choice, but for all intensive purposes, all of your perceptions lead you to believe you are choosing. And to you, it is a choice. To you, the different paths seem real. To you who are being affected, it is very real. The only way it would ever seem to be deterministic is if you were an objective being, looking down on you. Since we are not objective, this kind of determinism doesn't affect us negatively in any way.

 

In fact, to tie it into Harmony, it is in fact a positive thing. Harmony, as I see it, is not a force, or a being. It is a state. And it is a natural state as well. Harmony is the natural state of existence wherein the Universe is self-regulating. All aspects of existence work together in unity to form a beauty of creation. Harmony does not determine, or harm, or help. It is not good, or evil, light, or dark. Harmony just is.

 

That being said, I will bring this back to determinism. In a system of Harmony, all forces, beings, events, and whatever have you, through whatever circumstances cross and intermingle constantly. Certain things lead to certain other things. Different things interact in different ways at different times, but it is all causal, determined by the natural ways of existence, and the natural drives created by the souls of whatever things have consciousness. Harmony's beauty lies in seeing it all happen; seeing all of the different intermingling threads of existence which make life great. Part of the beauty lies in the amazing events which transpired to lead to a given thing, including the causal path brought about by the deterministic nature of our souls.

 

Think of the grandness of it all... Every little nuance of my 19 year old life has had some role in getting me here on the forums to talk with you folks. And who knows what chain of events led you here as well. Then think about the events which led to the shaping events of this moment. And the things which brought about those things. That is an almost negligible fraction of the picture. Think of all the complexity which was necessary just to bring you and me here at this given time. Then think of that infinitely multiplied. Plurality, multiplicity, beauty, balance, Harmony... That is what makes life beautiful. Determinism is but one of the wonderful aspects of existence, giving everypony purpose, to be a part of something wonderful.

 

To address @, and continue this train of thought, you are correct. Balance and Harmony are separate concepts. Harmony is what I just described. Harmony and multiplicity. Beauty and awesomeness. Balance is much simpler than that, though not as simple as Light and Dark. Balance, strictly defined, is the state where two aspects of a duality coexist in peace. Balance is Chaos and Order coexisting. Balance is also Light and Dark coexisting. Balance is any two opposites coexisting.

 

You have a slight misunderstanding of the philosophical concept of Balance. The teachings of Balance inherently contradict what you are arguing about Light and Dark, Chaos and Order. These forces are inseparable. it is impossible to have Light, but not Darkness. It is impossible to have Chaos and not Order. If Chaos exists, there will be Order somewhere, because Order is the absence of Chaos. If Light exists, Dark will also exist, because Dark is the absence of Light.

 

Further, the teachings of Harmony state that for the most beautiful thing to exist, all things need to coexist peacefully, regardless of where they stand. All parts of existence are necessary for things to work perfectly. The perfect society will be a society of Harmony, where all things coexist without hurting other things too much. The best society will have both Order and Chaos, Light and Dark, with all of them coexisting in Harmony. At least, that is what Isorropism teaches.

In my theory (what you didn't read as I see) I explained that harmony is the essence of light, chaos and order, order and chaos it's a not compatible elements, so the linking chain for them is a light

I just read it. Forgive my ignorant post at first.

 

But I do disagree however. You can combine opposite forces. And in fact, such is necessary if there is to be Harmony. Too much Order, and you have suppression, and tyrrany. Too much Chaos and you have crime, danger, and violence. You need some Order and some Chaos for the best society possible. The linking force is Balance. Light can't be it because both Light and Darkness are required for Harmony.

There two quaetions in your theory:

 

1) What harmony is? I also have a theory about what harmony is, you can read it here: http://mlpforums.com/topic/82186-the-creator-of-everything-or-the-primal-chaos-theory/#entry2112998. Besides, chaos isn't bad thing as far as it's not a good thing, chaos is chaos. Without chaos there would be no order, no harmony, no light, without chaos, there would be nothing

 

2)Whether everything that happens is a grand blueprint of Celestia? Well my opinion: yes.

 

 

Saying Harmony is evil is like saying Chaos is good which it isn't.

Both of you seem to be under the mindset that Harmony is the opposite of Chaos. Such is not the case. Chaos and Order are opposites. Harmony just is. It is a neutral state of things.

 

EDIT: Sorry. You know this already, zev-zev.

I noticed the same thing, and have a blog post about this very issue. I have some points about this, but it would be redundant for me to make all of my points again, and potentially mess them up. So, here is the link.

 

Read, if you want to hear what I think, and respond as well, if you have other ideas:

http://balancebrony.tumblr.com/post/65849126033/on-mlp-and-destiny

Oh lordy. I got stuffs on this. Plenty of stuffs. I submit as counterarguments my own interpretations of destiny and Harmony.

 

Most Relevant: http://balancebrony.tumblr.com/post/65849126033/on-mlp-and-destiny

 

If you are interested in my own views of Harmony: http://smith5000123.tumblr.com/

 

As my name suggests, Harmony and Balance are two major focuses of all of my philosophical explorations ever. I have plenty on the subject. But if you don't have the time, or are not interested in extended reading of my ideas, then here are the basics.

 

Read the first link, as it directly pertains to this thread.

 

Read this if you don't want to skim a whole blog:

-----------------------------------------

 

 

That's what I'm giving to you for now. But as you can tell, I am wholly and utterly in disagreement with the notion that Harmony is evil. Further, I see nothing wrong with the idea of Destiny. In fact, I find it better than free will, because true determinism holds that everyone has a purpose and niche in life, a very liberating idea.

 

Happy reading! And I can't wait to hear from you. I've never before heard somebody call Harmony evil, so such a point means that this will be a very enlightening discussion. Time to destroy my confirmation bias!

Though I see the endings of "Power Ponies" and "Bats!" more as non-sequitors than "foreshadowing"...  

But there are plenty of people who can only take so much trolling. Like me.

While I'd freking love having Flutterbat as a Hulk-mode for Fluttershy, it would probably work better just to keep the (small) fangs and have her suck an apple every no and then. Cute as all hell.

 

Well, maybe the box arc is planned over several seasons (seeing as S5 seems pretty much confirmed). Anyway, I personally trust the writers to pull it off.

As for the castle/Shadow Pony; we're still only a third into the season. Having an epic story is one thing, but you need some quite in between or its gonna get boring really quick.

Not really. If you've watched very story-centric shows, you know what I mean. I like to use Avatar: The Last Airbender as an example. That show is masterpiece of story writing. Nothing really seems out of place. Even very slice-of-lifey episodes such as the Cave of Two Lovers and The Runaway have some reference to some aspect of the overall plot. It is never completely dropped, and loose ends are usually touched upon within the next couple of episodes, even if they aren't resolved. If there is too much time passing with no progress, the tension can be too much, and turn from being suspenseful to being frustrating.

 

And that's where I'm starting to lean. I'm going crazy waiting to see where these plot threads go, if anywhere. I am also dying to see if they can do it in a way that isn't rushed. You know everypony will flip a cow if they see all 6 keys getting found in the finale, with every other suspenseful plot point being proven to be nothing more than hardcore trolls. We don't want that, and so far nothing suggests that it will be any other way but that way.

 

Another problem here is that the writers are attempting overall plot with a chronicle-based narrative style. Overarching plot can be tricky if a series is largely episodic, and not chronologically arranged. There is little to no correlation between consecutive episodes, which means direct connections are difficult to make without seeming jumpy. Due to the lack of transitions between episodes, it is difficult to bring up past plot points in a way that does not seem contrived. So there is the other issue with this.

 

I might be a little harsh, as this is an experiment on the part of the writers, who don't really have experience with this narrative style. But even knowing that, I can't change the way I feel about it. All I can do is hope that they don't make too dire a mistake with all of this. Hopefully they hone their skills before too long.

I hope so. If not, then the writers of the show are just trolling. Once or twice is good, but if these twists have no pay-off, people will be pissed. There will be certain camps of bronies who would just off and leave if we go the whole season without development. Everypony wants all of these cliffhangers to tie up nicely in an epic resolution. Seeing it just left there, while a good thrill for the moment, will result in people being displeased over the long-term.

 

We were promised epicness and a season-wide plot arc. So far, we have only been given cliffhangers, with nada in terms of a proper revisit. With every episode which fails to call back to earlier on, the displeasure with new episodes will increase. You don't want a frayed rope. You want a tight braid. The rope is fraying, but there is no braiding at all. They had better start working at these supposed epic plotlines, or people will be irritated at the unresolved tension they feel.

 

In terms of overall, we are 7 episodes in, and so far my fears have only increased. With the premiere, I was worried that trying something new with a new narrative style would result in it blowing up. I was afraid that they would do what they did in the past- have the premiere set the stage for something, then not visit again for the whole season, reulting in a resolution which is inadequate. Right now, it appears to be going that way. We are a third of the way done with the season, and all we have is two passing mentions of the box.

 

On top of that, there are many loose ends which have been created:

-The castle: Why is it being restored?

-The Pony of Shadows: What da hay? I like to climb back up after dangling off of a cliff

-The Fang: Same issue as the Pony of Shadows

And of course

-THE FREAKING BOX: We are a third of the way in, and no progress has been made on this point

 

The writers need to do something about these things. Nopony likes being trolled.

I think I countered this effectively enough in the official show topic as to not have to do it again

 

So, yeahh...it appears that, unfortunately, you don't seem too open to new ideas about this particular episode You said almost the exact same things I countered in the other, official, episode thread, without throwing any new perspective or ideas in there,  or re-thinking your stance to see if it you were truly correct about how bad it was, because, had you done that, your argument would've changed. Maybe not your perspective in of itself, but I think you need to be more open minded about certain aspects of the show.

I'm open to new ideas. In fact, I used one of your points. You changed my perspective on the characters. And I did provide as objective review as I could. But if you recall my response, the fact of the matter is, knowing other perspectives does not alter my response to the stimuli. Once again, even examining this from the perspective of humor alone, in and of itself, it still falls flat.

Ahhh, Power Ponies. The hype was strong for this one. Was it worth it? Personally, I don’t think so. In fact, in my opinion, this episode was, well, not good. But it seems like everypony else liked it. Why not me? Well, there’s a few reasons. For starters, we will discuss the humour, because that was pretty much the purpose of this episode. It was a fun romp, just like Castle Mane-ia. Or at least it was supposed to be.

 

This episode was not very funny in my opinion. The laughs I emitted were mostly from the usual Pinkie antics, so I don’t give much props for that. Because who can’t laugh at Pinkie Pie? But other than that, and the silliness of Flutterhulk, there wasn’t much going for humour here. There were some cheesy puns, probably to maintain the trope of the ridiculously un-punny catch phrases from comics, but like their inspiration, they failed to illicit more than a slight snicker at the cheesiness. The episode resolutely lacked good hearty belly-laughs. Humour failed here, meaning in its own right, the episode failed to serve its purpose.

 

But humour is not the only area which falls short. The whole plot of the episode was predictable. It went beyond the predictability of Castle Mane-ia, where you figured it was Pinkie later on, because she wasn’t in the group as they were walking together. No. I was able to call pretty much the whole episode from the beginning. Oh look, Spike is the useless one. Spike thinks he’s useless. Something happens to put the ponies out of commission, and Spike saves the day, before being told for the millionth time that he does have value. I was so annoyed as each event unfolded, I forgot to pay attention to what happened specifically, because it was just too much that I knew the whole plot from the beginning.

 

Even the moral was easy to guess, because we’ve seen it before. I don’t know how many times we’ve seen Spike depicted as underappreciated. Honestly, unless you are going to go a little deeper and examine why he feels the way he does, repetition does neither the moral nor Spike’s development any good.

 

In fact, it is pretty much getting to the point of “Where is Spike’s development?” Honestly, two episodes about greed and two about feeling underappreciated, all of which seem to have never happened once we see the next Spike episode? When can we see his development solidified?  I am not saying they are bad episodes, just freaking repetitive. I want to see that Spike actually learned something, and if the same thing is taught multiple times, every successive depiction is just irritating.

 

Spike’s character isn’t the only one that irritated me in this episode. For the most part, the other ponies were pretty much true to their character. Fluttershy was cutesy and quiet, with a bit of a tough streak if you mess with innocent animals (FLUTTERHULK SMASH!), Twilight was a good leader (I love how her character is peaked to allow others to grow), Dash was reckless (LEEEEEROY JENNNKKINS!), Pinkie was Pinkie (always a hoot), Rarity was fabulous but awesome (I loved how nonchalant Rarity was), and AJ was- I don’t know. I saw no characterisation on AJ’s part really. I thought we were trying to stop her from being a background pony? Their depictions in terms of personality were pretty good (ASIDE FROM AJ, GOD DANGIT). They weren’t as deep as I would like, but they weren’t the focus, so it’s understandable that such was the case.

 

But something that did displease me about the characterisation was in the abilities. Their powers suited them. (Wait, what?) But how would that displease me you may ask? Because their powers suited them, it doesn’t make sense that they would not be able to use them right away (aside from Fluttershy). And yet, Dash fails to control her storm, Twi can’t use her magic properly, and AJ the rodeo star doesn’t know how to lasso. Given their natural abilities, they should have had no trouble. I have seen the argument that “It’s a different universe, so there.” But I would respond that such an argument is only a justification for the contrivance which was the Mane Six failing to use their powers, solely so that Spike could be useful. It shouldn’t be necessary to argue on grounds of different physics.

 

A character who completely bombed was the Mane-iac. Seriously? She wants to give everypony bad hair? Ridiculous. I understand that the intent was to go over-the-top to get some laughs, but she went to far, and overshot funny into the territory of just plain dumb.

 

Geez BalanceBrony! Is their any saving this episode for you? There were actually a couple of saving graces, though they are precious- two. I loved the little dialogue between Spike and Twilight at the beginning. The “two minutes” thing is exactly the kind of banter I would expect between a mother and a foal. I feel this brief seen really gives credence to the notion that Twilight and Spike have a deep familial relationship, and that Spike is not her slave or pet. So, now all I have to say is this: STAHP SPILIGHT PEOPLES! It’s just wrong.

 

The other thing which interested me in this episode was the return of the ruined castle. Why does it keep coming up? Will it have some kind of significance later? Potential continuity foalks! *squee*

 

So what is my final diagnosis of this episode? The plot was predictable, the humour was nothing special, the moral was redundant, the characterisation was lackluster, the villain was ridiculous, and the lack of development was infuriating. The only good things were the depiction of Twilight and Spike’s relationship, the potential continuity, and some aspects of portrayal. But overall this episode failed pretty hardcore to entertain me. It didn’t disgust me, but it was just boring and un-entertaining. My impression is meh, but my rating leans towards bad, at 3.5/10 stars. Impression is what I feel, rating is my point-by-point analysis.

 

Let me know what you guys think. Do you want more reviews in the future? What did you think of Power Ponies?

 

I hope to hear from you all!

I color coded this, because whatever

 

Yes, but these weren't the ponies in Mane 6 form; it was some alter-egos from an alternate world, and I doubt either world or alter egos will ever resurface Not much development was needed for this reason alone. That's why, even though development and portrayal are always the #1 things of how I judge an episode, I had to give the latter of those 2 things much more weight than the former when judging this. As for portrayal, barring Twilight and, to an extent, Applejack, they were all done excellently; even if I don't enjoy watching Fluttershy's minor flaws played up for laughs (or anypony's, for that matter) I still chuckled to myself a bit when she went berserk in the end. They were portrayed well, and, in an episode where they're under a different alias and/or in a different universe such as this one, you have to weigh portrayal more heavily than development in my philosophy of analyzing episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

 

As for the part in pink, this wasn't a serious villain by any measure Put Mane-iac up there with QC, Sombra, Discord, and NMM and compare and contrast, and tell me that she's on their level She isn't, and I'd bet my next 4 paychecks she's a one-off, as is the case with the Power Ponies.

 

This is essentially my whole philosophy when judging episodes; the plot is always predictable to me, but I fell in love with the characters in the show. So I judge development and portrayal more heavily. I love the show for the ponies in it, you know?  

 

Unbolded, I either agree on our consider this valid and just.

I disagree. This isn't a dream. The Mane Six were actually in the comic. The physical Mane Six that we have gotten to know. It would be one thing if this were a dream or something, so the depiction would rest on Spike's perception of the others. But this actually occurred. Meaning that these should be the same ponies we know. While their portrayal was in-character for them, and I'll give you that (save AJ, who had almost no characterisation), their abilities should have been reflected too.

 

There is no reason Twilight shouldn't have been able to use magic, or AJ should fail with a lasso, magical or not. You could write off the others, and even Twilight as having different physics in the comic world, but a rope is a rope. Further, having to imagine a difference in physics shouldn't be necessary to justify a sudden failure in skill or ability. This was a contrivance to clear the way for Spike, and you know it.

 

As I said, the development point was mainly regarding Spike, because he regressed to feeling underappreciated for the millionth time before doing a prompt 180 thanks to the same encouraging words he heard before.

 

Regarding the Mane-iac- I understand her purpose was to be a silly villain. But she overshot it in my opinion.

 

That being said, I wonder if we are just debating aimlessly here. For the most part, these are our opinions, so really, there's no argument to be had. It's really just us explaining why we personally liked or disliked the episode at this point.

My opinion has changed. New least favorite is Power Ponies. It's like Castle Mane-ia. Only, on top of lacking humour, this episode also has a repeated moral (underappreciated Spike has value), an outright ridiculous plot, as opposed to simply boring one (bad hair days will rule the world!), and little to no depth to the characters, sometimes even outright forgetting aspects of a character (Applejack the rodeo champ, and Twilight the Element of MAGIC. Still fail to use rope and magic lasers respectively.). The focus character received almost NO development. My review:

 

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The plot was boring and predictable. I was able to call pretty much the whole sequence of events. The humour was mostly meh, though the Flutterhulk was pretty hilarious. The moral was a repeat about a Spike who feels useless and underappreciated, but isn't really. The whole motive and plan of the villain was as silly and underwhelming as the villain herself. The characters were overall very dull, with minimal to no development for any of them, and very little depth to any of them. Further, some of the characters' issues with their powers made no sense. In particular, Twilight's talent is magic itself, and Applejack is a rodeo star. There is no reason these two should've had trouble being useful, regardless of whether they could figure out their new powers or not, they still had their preexisting skills with magic and rope respectively. Overall, this episode is somewhere in between meh and ugh. Initial impression is 3/10 stars, making my least favorite episode thus far.

 

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That was before browsing the forums, after just having watched the episode. After reading some comments on here, I noted a few other positives.

 

Positives:

- Twilight and Spike's relationship: about time they covered this. Spike is not her pet, or her slave. The "two minutes" dialogue definitely seems along the lines of mother/son. SO STAHP, ya'll Spilight shippers. It's just wrong

- The castle: the repeated presence of the castle could definitely means it may well be important later on.

- I forgot to give props on the hilarious Pinkie antics this episode. This episode was a really funny performance for her.

- Rarity was pretty cool too.

 

But the negatives still stand, and overall, my impression has only been upgraded to 3.5/10. Not much, because the episode was still resolutely un-entertaining for me. Stay tuned for my second viewing impressions. My rating always improves after a second viewing.

As well founded as your opinions are, and as much as I can respect them, I think you're leaving a major variable out of this analysis, dude.

 

This episode wasn't supposed to be taken as seriously as the ones before it

 

Now, I'm all for show analysis, I love it; yet, there's a certain weight you've got to identify with each episode, you know, dude? Such as last week's episode; it was supposed to be much more serious than Power Ponies, in case that wasn't obvious; Power Ponies wasn't supposed to provide too much development as well, in contrast with Daring Don't, last week's episode, etc. This was much more of a fun episode as to important, something leisurely and lighthearted.

 

Ergo, it should be weighted as less important on aspects such as what you brought up, such as character development and the villain's motive being silly or not; had this been a much more serious and dark atmosphere, such as the ones found in other episodes, it should be weighted more heavily and taken more seriously.

 

What I've bolded are things I'm talking about; the rest of the points you've brought up are either completely reasonable opinions or agreeable, in my line of thought

True enough. Were I to analyse this relatively (compared to other funny episodes) and not comprehensively, it would still be much the same to me, however. In the past, even purely humour-centered episodes have had good plot and character development, or at least show some understanding of the characters. Castle Mane-ia for example, was a romp, just as this was supposed to be. But it still had continuity, and still showed a deep understanding of the characters. And the moral, while shoe-horned, was still unique to that episode. In this case the moral was a complete repeat, for the umpteenth time, that Spike has value to his friends.

 

Spike really needs something new to be added to his character, because the underappreciated Spike thing is just getting insanely old. Perhaps go a little deeper, and point out some deeper issue of self-worth, which is why this keeps cropping up. I took points off of development primarily because the focus character had no development which we haven't already seen on multiple occasions. The focus should always get some development.

 

Regarding the villain- honestly? Her motive was to give everypony a bad hair day? I get the idea about a silly villain trying to get laughs by being so over-the-top, but the Mane-iac overshot silly humour and went into the territory of sheer absurdity.

 

And as I mentioned before, aside from Flutterhulk and Pinkie's antics, very few laughs were extracted from me, meaning it failed to entertain even in its own category as a humour episode. So, even completely forgetting the points I made above, it would still be in between "blegh" and "meh." It might end up getting an upgrade to 5 or 6 out of 10 if I could forget all of my other points, and just look at the humour. Probably 5. But since I can't forget my other points, I have no idea what I would objectively rate this episode from purely the stance of humour. My rating also stands because the show is meant to entertain, rather than just make you laugh, and entertainment is comprehensive- the overall enjoyment I derive from the episode.

Turning her into an alicorn princess was a decision by Hasbro. The writers never intended to make major changes to the show.

It's a show about six friends who live near each other. If Twilight moves back to Canterlot, Rarity moves to Manehatten, and Rainbow Dash moves to whereever the Wonderbolts train they would probably keep in touch but that's pretty much the end of the show.

 

Wrong. The Alicorn bit was Hasbro, but Princess Twilight has been the plan from the beginning, according to Lauren Faust.

 

 

Bare in mind that the ascension to Princess was relatively rushed, and even though that Twilight does have the box to worry about, shouldnt she be getting the same treatment as Luna and Celestia?

 

Then again, come to think about it, nothing was said about Twi becoming immortal or living for thousands of years.

Eh. Perhaps being a princess is not all it is cracked up to be.

 

It is confirmed that Twilight won't outlive her friends. That either means she is not immortal, or it means all of her friends will become immortal.

 

Regarding the thread as a whole, @@Kyoshi,  is right. I fully agree. The whole purpose of the premiere was to work out some concerns about Twilicorn, and to also show that her character is pretty much peaked. I have said this numerous times on these forums. Twilight has pretty much achieved her destiny, and overcome most of her flaws. Her character is pretty much done. All that's left is for Celestia to hand over the crown. It has also been established in the premiere that Twilight wants to be treated mostly normally by people, and live as normally as she can given her duties. Everything about Twilight is pretty much worked out. If there were any focus on her, it would be redundant, and stale.

 

All the writers need to do is throw stuff in from time to time- brief regressions of character, like in the premiere, just so we know that Twilight still struggles with her flaws. But any more than that and it would be repetitive, and un-entertaining.

 

And this is intentional, as well. Twilight has been mostly capped in order to give other characters a chance to grow. It allows for other ponies to get some love, like the CMC, and even background ponies, if we are to recall Q&As. Twilight being pretty much the best she'll ever be means that we can now focus on other character arcs, and I like that. All they need to do is nod at Twilight's character development from time to time- a brief regression; a reference to some flaw; somepony giving her some respect- and it will be enough for me.

The plot was boring and predictable. I was able to call pretty much the whole sequence of events. The humour was mostly meh, though the Flutterhulk was pretty hilarious. The moral was a repeat about a Spike who feels useless and underappreciated, but isn't really. The whole motive and plan of the villain was as silly and underwhelming as the villain herself. The characters were overall very dull, with minimal to no development for any of them, and very little depth to any of them. Further, some of the characters' issues with their powers made no sense. In particular, Twilight's talent is magic itself, and Applejack is a rodeo star. There is no reason these two should've had trouble being useful, regardless of whether they could figure out their new powers or not, they still had their preexisting skills with magic and rope respectively. Overall, this episode is somewhere in between meh and ugh. Initial impression is 3/10 stars, making my least favorite episode thus far.

 

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That was before browsing the forums, after just having watched the episode. After reading some comments on here, I noted a few other positives.

 

Positives:

- Twilight and Spike's relationship: about time they covered this. Spike is not her pet, or her slave. The "two minutes" dialogue definitely seems along the lines of mother/son. SO STAHP, ya'll Spilight shippers. It's just wrong

- The castle: the repeated presence of the castle could definitely means it may well be important later on.

- I forgot to give props on the hilarious Pinkie antics this episode. This episode was a really funny performance for her.

- Rarity was pretty cool too.

 

But the negatives still stand, and overall, my impression has only been upgraded to 3.5/10. Not much, because the episode was still resolutely un-entertaining for me. Stay tuned for my second viewing impressions. My rating always improves after a second viewing.

twilight is dead, she died in magical mystery cure.  go back and watch it.

 

Yeah... you probably right.  I afraid that "Old" Twilight whom I liked disappeared without a trace. Damn the new screenwriters

Theories that Twilight is dead are nonsensical. If it appears that she is alive, given the context as a little girl's show, then we are to assume that she is alive. They won't hide a deep subtext like that to convey some secret message.

 

Although it is up to you whether or not you like Twilight now, there is no denying that it is Twilight. Although I still don't understand why people don't like Twilight's new form. She is still the same old Twilight. She just happens to have wings now.

Twilight won't outlive her friends? It's mean that she's ot immortal? Or her friends wii became immortal? Or Twiley will... die? What do you think?

Don't know which. But she won't see them die before her. Although I rather hope its the case where she isn't immortal, and not the case where her friends become immortal. Because the latter would mean they would see their loved ones die, and it would mean being Alicorn loses its value.

OMG such a cliche (no hard feelings man), it's soooo boring. I really hope that Twilight will never rule. It's a goddamn cliche. Besides, if she will become the ruler, she must become immortal. So, if she would be immortal and all of her friends would not, Twilight will just helplessly watching how they die one by one. Very sunny ending huh?

That would be a valid argument. If it weren't planned from the start that Twilight will rule (but still some possibility of me being wrong, though it seems to be going that way still), and if it weren't confirmed (by  Meghan McCarthy, so still canon) that Twilight won't outlive her friends. The latter is confirmed, the former is just my prediction based on earlier statements from the writers, and the way it's going right now.

 

Let me say that would be an amazing ending my friend! However, I wouldn't like to see Luna and Celestia going away from Equestria, I'm not even sure if they would, just as you say, I think they love Equestria too much to do that. On the other hand, zev_zev has a point up there, this ending is a liiiiiiitle bit cliche, but that was the way Faust wanted it to be, right?

Yes. That is how Faust planned it, minus the Alicorn part.

^ While I wish that were true, you can't confirm this. A lot of writers seem to love using Dash and she has a habit of popping in episodes  and taking larger roles than expected: Game Ponies Play, Dragon Quest, Too Many Pinkie Pies.

 

 

Yes and No. She is Scootaloo's mentor and idol, so she has to be seen giving support. But in this case, Fluttershy would have been better to deliver the overall message.

 

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Next week is a Mane Six episode. The following week is about fruit bats, so I can only think of AJ or Fluttershy being the major players. After that, Rarity. After that, Pinkie. These are all confirmed, except for my assumption about the fruit bats one, but it is an educational guess.

 

Assuming they maintain the logic of having characters do what they do best, fruits bats will be AJ (since it most affects her) or Fluttershy (because animals). Other possibilities are it being a Mane 6 episode, or Twilight episode. I see no context in which Dash will be the most useful in dealing with an infestation.

 

And even if they do somehow make it Dash-centered (which I don't think they will), it will be one episode . The other 3 are guaranteed to be non Dash-heavy. And 4 episodes make one month of pony.

Flight to the Finish. Was boring as hell, only had 4 characters who were relevant to the plot, I never laughed, accomplished nothing, and Scoots didn't get the mark.

I'm not sure if themes of bullying and disability are supposed to make you laugh. Are they supposed to be funny concepts? Nothing wrong with your opinion. You can dislike as you wish. Just saying, this episode wasn't supposed to be that funny. It was supposed to be inspiring and bittersweet, and that it certainly was. It achieved its goals very well.

 

Catle Mane-ia for me. I have seen the whole booby-trapped castle thing so many times. This rendition of it was nothing special, and I would even say that it is the poorest implementation of this story archetype I've ever seen. The laughs were there, but nothing hilarious. The plot was horrendous. The only cookies I gave Castle Mane-ia were for the smashing character depictions, and the fact that it maintains the promise of an overall plot by adding two more elements to the overall story, while maintaining previous ones.

 

But one outstanding characteristic, and one expected characteristic, do not make up for stale humour and poor plot, not to mention a shoe-horned moral which was barely present throughout the episode. Plus, I said to myself while watching that no facehoof would suffice if Pinkie were the mystery. She was. No facehoof will suffice.

As people up there say, I think it'd be premature for Twilight to have such responsibility... At least not this season. However, I like the way BalanceBrony thinks, Twilight may be the succesor of Celestia and Luna. Celestia controlled both the Moon and the Sun for 1000 years herself, yeah, may be Twilight will have that same duty in the future.

I think it will go down like this. The series will end with some big conflict which rocks Equestria down to its core. Perhaps a spirit of pure hatred or something, to go against everything which holds Equestria together. But whatever the conflict is, it will be too much for the sisters to handle with their limited understanding of Harmony, and they may even be knocked out of the picture temporarily (but remember, they're immortal).

 

Once Twily overcomes the conflict, the sisters will be 100% certain that Twilight is ready to rule. Celestia and Luna will hand the title of Crown Princess to her, and then they will either leave Equestria, to go back among the stars, or they will love Equestria too much, and hunker down somewhere. Although, I feel like the former would be a far more beautiful and poetic thing than the latter.

 

I can just picture Celestia and Luna ascending to the heavens while saying "We will always be watching you Twilight Sparkle. You, and all of Equestria. Take good care of it. Always remember the power of Friendship which brought you here today, and maintain Harmony amongst all ponies everywhere, for as long as you live. Farewell Twlight. Farewell, to all."

 

That would be quite an ending, I think.