Dark Qiviut

It's really difficult not to underestimate the major undertaking Dubuc (in her FIM debut) and Haber took to writing Shadow Play. It had virtually everything going against it: pacing, a ginormous character cast, a large intertwining of plotlines dating back to the pilot, characterization as a whole, and Hasbro's toyetic plugs/influences in its franchises. But with all the decks stacked, they're somehow able to create an episode so cohesive, creative, balanced, and character-driven that other finales and the movie dreamed of making.

Twilight's Kingdom: Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were completely incompetent in defending against Tirek, and their reason for letting Twilight borrow their magic's some of the dumbest logic I've seen in the show's history.

A Canterlot Wedding: retreads some of the same scenes from Lesson Zero, has an incompetent villain, and flabbergasting scripting of nobody suspecting SA was hypnotized despite its blatant visibility.

The Film: More than twice SP's length, yet really struggles with the pacing, and characterization of the cast minus Twi, Pinkie, Tempest, and Capper.

Shadow Play has none of these issues. Dialogue's some of the tightest of the show, an improvement that continues today. Comedy really well done, including the snark. Worldbuilding and lore remains maybe the best of the series. Characterization's incredibly balanced. A great deal of effort was put into the story as a whole, including its usage of Ponehenge (a reference to Stonehenge). I don't know if they looked this up, but Stonehenge is believed to be an ancient burial ground, so its makes sense for the Pillars to disappear with Stygian, as though it's their final resting place. But specific areas earn their serious due, too.

1. The villain's backstory remains the best of the series. Previously, each villain has some flaw that holds it back. Starlight's plausible yet abbreviated, yet has some of the best characterization. NMM's great, but she's a stock villain. The Pony of Shadows and Stygian's backstory starts out with great detail, but Haber and Dubuc wouldn't stop there. With each passing scene, the PoS's backstory becomes richer and richer.
2. The Cutie Map's involvement is still the show's best plot twist, but it also makes so much sense. Coming into that moment, the Pillar Six and Bearers pieced so much lore related to the map and castle — started out as a seed infused with each of their biggest virtues, each of them grew into the Elements of Harmony today. Harmony gives that Tree omniscience, an ability to see things no one else could, all started by the Pillars eons ago. When it looked like the story was going to go one direction, it swerved; the Map's involvement led to this next point.
3. Starlight's inclusion is earned. Unlike S6, she belongs in both the show and the ReManing cast, all thanks to really improved writing and editing of her. Everything she did throughout S7, big and small, culminated to this very moment. The map's involvement added an extra layer into the conflict, and Starlight was a piece of it. While everyone justifiably looked for a quick fix before the PoS regained power, she looked for a real fix: the cause of their friendship, divide, and his villainy.
   
   Neither Haber nor Dubuc mirrored her backstory with Stygian's by accident; despite not meeting him, she saw herself in him. As an ex-villain, she understands the villainy mind better than anyone else. Star Swirl's brisk bitterness towards him cuts deeply into her, because much Star Swirl's historic teachings modeled Twilight's life and her empathy for Stygian.
4. This two-parter was never a stock good/evil affair. Some wondered why everyone took the stakes so seriously when we saw little of his power and criticized the episode for it. That's the point. Shadow Play was never about how to defeat an ultimate evil at his highest, but properly infuse the Magic of Friendship to reunite the Pillars with Stygian before history repeats itself. The PoS bid his time, but our heroes caught breaks as he couldn't find any hideout to regenerate. This gave them, and us as an audience, time to gauge the conflict and look at every lens without cramming the story.
   
   This tactic allowed both Haber and Dubuc to co-write a story with a trope used for most of 7B: "both sides have a point," this the ultimate use. Stygian, the Pillars/RM7/Sunburst, and Starlight all had separate views, and the episode spent a great deal of time validating them. Even more impressively, SP sympathized Stygian/PoS with barely any screentime until the climax.
5. It brings up an important point about the Elements of Harmony. Until this episode, FIM normally used harmonious magic to defeat, hurt, or banish evil. Starlight, not an Element, rightfully took it personally, because they weren't using the Elements to create harmony, but force it. She believed they could be used for a better purpose other than banishing a personal foe, one they were previously in great terms with.
   
   Just as Twilight was ready to push him back to Limbo, she saw Stygian struggle to break free from him (and the bitterness in his heart), and she stopped her own spell to confront him and treat him as an equal. When Stygian explained his wish to work with the Pillars in battle, everything SP built up was put together. The Pillars were wrong, but so was Stygian, yet no one looked dumb because of it.
   
   Why did Star Swirl not understand friendship so well and not take it so seriously? Because he and the others lived in a very tumultuous era of Equestria and the Realm as a whole. As the Pillars' magic grew in their absence, so did the light of the Realm; it took a life of its own to maintain peace. This episode was a lesson to him, as well as the other Pillars, about how powerful the Magic of Friendship truly is.

Shadow Play still holds up beautifully, yet is a little bit better than before. Not only is it still the best two-parter of the show, but also one of the five best overall, as well.