The first time I watched this episode, I recognized a lot of things I liked in it. There was tons of creativity on display, from the animation to the characters and their unique interactions with each other. But at the end of it, I felt nothing. I realized I hadn't really enjoyed the episode.
After seeing so many people rave about the episode afterwards, I wrote off my apathy to the fact that I had been watching too much MLP. I watched it again multiple times and convinced myself that I loved it. I lauded the episode's highs while refusing to even look for faults with it. But every time I watched it, I still felt nothing. It seemed so dull and emotionless and I couldn't figure out why. Now I have and I'm here to tell you why The Return of Harmony is MLP's most overrated episode.
Why is this episode overrated, you ask? How can anyone not like an episode with John de Lancie in it? Now of course it's important to have good actors in your cast. And de Lancie's a fine actor for the part. He's charismatic, funny, and seems like he's having a blast guest starring on this show made for 8 year old girls.
But here's the problem. A great performance can't save an episode. If an episode is full of holes in logic and terrible writing, it's going to still suck, albeit to a lesser degree. Now before any of you start screaming at me, let me make it clear that this episode is not bad, it just sucks a lot. With that out of the way let's jump into my objective statement on the merits of this children's cartoon episode.
Part One: The Opening Scene
The opening scene of this episode is so stupid. Not just from an execution standpoint but in principle as well. I'll talk about execution first.
So we start the scene off with a bunch of really little ponies on a field trip to the Canterlot garden. I knew the episode was going to suck just by the first dialogue out of the main characters' mouths. Hey wait a minute! Those aren't the mane six!
So it seems that MA Larson needlessly shoehorned the cutie mark crusaders into an episode that has nothing to do with them.
The handicapped one starts by saying "How cool would it be to have that for a cutie mark!" Cuz you know, we forgot what these characters do over the break between the 1st and 2nd season. I know this show is made for little kids, specifically girls, but even they don't need to be reminded of central details about the characters.
So then Larson starts off the season with clumsy attempts at humor, first with uninspired slapstick, then with banter that sounds like it was lifted out of somebody's fan fiction. Seriously, it's so bad that Daniel Ingram had to insert cue notes after every line. He does this in a desperate attempt to manipulate the audience into thinking that what they're hearing is sharp and funny dialogue. But what he's actually doing is masking this very unfunny dialogue. So if you saw this scene and laughed at it, then you were tricked!
See when you're telling jokes, it's often better not to put too much emphasis on them. Good dialogue stands well on its own.
Of course sound can be used emphasize things happening in a scene. When used effectively, you can create a pretty memorable moment. Heck, it's even been done right in this show before! However, this is not an inspired way to use sound.
To an attentive viewer, cue notes like these can actually highlight the problems with your lines. By using it this way, you try to get a reaction out of the audience. But for those of us who aren't wearing diapers or watching the show for the characters' personalities, this kind of technique has a numbing effect on us. This occurs when the show you're watching is telling you you're supposed to be feeling something, but all you feel is a gnawing emptiness inside of you.
So we're not even 30 seconds into the episode and already I feel uncomfortable. And it doesn't get any better when THAT scene happens. You know, the redundant info dump they always throw into kids shows that gives background information about the plot of a big episode. This isn't even the first time they've done it in this show (see the first episode).
So we learn that Discord is a dra...draco....dracona....whatever. And we learn that this statue represents Discord. But if you're like me, you were thinking that this scene represented Discord much better than that stupid statue. Just look at it! You've got characters trying their hardest to get your attention. They're fighting and beating each other up because they disagree on words. Is this supposed to be funny?
Then we get panning, music cues, more panning, more music cues, and not so subtle foreshadowing in a pathetic attempt to hold the audience's attention while Ms. Cherry Bean gives her boring lecture. Then once they all shut their faces finally the statue cracks and it's implied that Discord is escaping.
What?! So let me get this straight: Celestia defeated what is basically a god that is stronger than her and then imprisoned him in a statue that she displays in a garden that anyone can access. What if some nut job worshipped Discord and wanted to free him? Or what if someone accidentally set him free? Like maybe some gardener who hadn't had his coffee was careless and bumped into it? Or what if a little kid was goofing around and broke it? I bet you're rethinking this trip now, Cherry Lee. Anyway, the point is that putting the god of chaos on display where anyone can see him is probably not a very good idea. Celestia is supposed to be wise right?
Then there's the question of how Discord escapes. Why does he just now after 1000 years decide to break....oh... So Celestia in her infinite wisdom has concluded that Discord was able to escape because she and Luna are no longer connected to the elements of harmony. But wait a minute that doesn't make any sense!
Wouldn't the connection have been broken when Luna became Nightmare Moon and was banished? Well, maybe only Celestia was needed to control the elements. But if that's true, why wasn't she able to use them in the first episode when Nightmare Moon returns? It kind of seems like she hadn't touched them in 1000 years. So if she couldn't use them then, I would think that means she was no longer connected with them. Therefore Discord should have escaped years ago! But let's just assume that somehow the spell lasted until the mane six took possession of the elements. Well that was a whole season ago! Are you telling me that the spell didn't break until this episode? Now this whole losing connection to the elements explanation makes even less sense!
You know, come to think of it, does it really make any sense that losing control of the elements would undo that spell? Like if I shot somebody but then gave away the gun, the person would still have a bullet in them. I guess magic works differently, but I don't really see how the spell can be affected by or even know when Celestia and Luna lost control of the elements. Maybe the spell was continuously being kept up by Celestia. But if that was the case you'd think it would affect her in some way. She'd probably have bags under her eyes and she'd probably be tired all the time. Eh, maybe she has like unlimited magic power. Oh wait that's not true because in Twilight's Kingdom she transferred all of her magic in a finite amount to Twilight. Ugh, now this whole show doesn't make any sense!
So that's the intro. And aside from the annoying things in it and the confusion it creates, it's also completely pointless. I mean the main point of the scene is to introduce Discord. But Celestia goes ahead and does it again a few minutes later! Not to mention it completely ruins any sense of mystery in the next scene. All this scene really does is give exposition that is rendered completely redundant two scenes later!
The scene also is an excuse to give characters with nothing to do with the story screen time. But that shows it's even more pointless, doesn't it? They should have just scrapped the scene entirely! I mean why not? You don't lose any information and you get rid of the terrible comedy. Even if you like watching these characters, you'd probably admit this is not a very flattering depiction of them. So in conclusion, this entire scene sucks and has no reason to exist.
Part Two: Dissolution of Mystery and Logic
So as I was saying, the first scene completely does away with the mystery element to this scene. This is too bad because it's a really good scene as it is. I think if they had opened with this scene and then transitioned to opening credits, then it could have been a very strong opening. There's actual humor and the scene is well paced and doesn't overstay it's welcome. And most importantly the characters that actually matter all appear and they all do things that reinforce their personalities and/or element (which actually kind of matter in the story). It's a good way to start the new season and the episode.
But even amidst all of these impressive qualities, the scene contains a few problems that I find distracting. First, Rarity shows up and says "I heard about your problem Applejack..." Heard about your problem? What kind of crappy dialogue is that? I'm supposed to believe that in the 14 seconds (yes I counted) since Applejack's corn began popping that she heard about her problem and came over? Is this supposed to be a joke? Like was Rarity already in the area and came over just to say that? Wouldn't a more appropriate line be "Sweet Celestia! What is going on here?" If this line is a joke, Rarity's taking this sudden chaotic phenomenon awfully well.
Then Fluttershy just happens to be there. Considering Applejack was shown working at the beginning of the scene, I assume they were not hanging out together. So what is she doing there? I'll let Pinkie Pie's sudden appearance go because that's sort of her "thing". But then Twilight and Spike inexplicably show up. Oh did you "hear" about the problem too Twilight? I appreciate the fast pace of the scene, but these rapid, convenient appearances of the characters kind of bother me. I mean surely you can spend the extra minute coming up with dialogue that doesn't insult our intelligence.
So then Celestia calls the mane six in to pick up the elements of harmony to stop Discord. She's then shocked that her brilliant plan has been ruined by Discord stealing the elements. Ok so the Elements of Harmony are like super important to Equestria. The mane six are the only ones who can use the elements, yet they're locked miles away from where they live in a castle and inside a vault that only Celestia can open. Oh...
Also, it's worth noting here that the whole "eternal state of unrest and unhappiness" comment about Discord went right over Pinkie Pie's head. She actually seems happy that the elements were stolen. Fans and reviewers of this show like to throw terms like "out of character" and "Flanderization" around a lot when complaining about character's actions they don't like in an episode. Well for all of you people who complain about Pinkie acting oblivious and too immature in seasons 3 and 4, I present you with this. Either this really is her character or she is out of character here. I'm leaning towards the former, which I still dislike because I don't think she should be portrayed this extreme. But given that she is very often portrayed like this, I'm forced to accept that's who she is.
Discord shows up and things begin to get interesting again. He's mouths off to Celestia who's completely powerless to do anything. You get a real feeling of hopelessness start to emerge and you wonder just how our heroes will overcome this when Celestia says, "You'll never get away with this Discord!"
Oh for Christ's sake! "You'll never get away with this?" What is Celestia going to do about it? She just told everyone that the only way to stop Discord was to use the elements, which he currently has. How can Celestia say that with a straight face? How is it that I'm laughing at this supposedly serious line more than at the comedic dialogue earlier? Is MA Larson some sort of mad genius? Or is he just a clueless hack? I'll let you decide.
Since Celestia doesn't seem to understand that she has no leverage, she demands to know where the elements are. Since Discord is just as bored with this shitty dialogue as we are, he decides to tell them. After taking their time and carefully considering...oh wait. After like five seconds Twilight comes to the conclusion that he's talking about the maze. And since nobody has the heart to tell her that she's neglecting half of the riddle, they all just decide to go with her on this. For someone so bright, it's astonishing that she could come to such a lazy answer. How is this in any way saying that the elements are in the maze? Even the wise Celestia makes no attempt to answer this riddle. She just nods. 'Yup Twilight. Makes perfect sense. 10/10, great job!'
Anyway, now the mane six are committed to go to the huge, inescapable maze and find the elements, based off of a riddle their enemy gave them. Gee, I wonder how this is going to work out...
Part 3: The Maze of Stupidity
So everyone goes off to look for the elements in the maze. Wait a minute...what's Celestia doing? Are you telling me that Celestia isn't going with them?
Seriously, why is Celestia just staying behind? You'd think that they could use as much help as they can get when looking for six relatively small objects in a gigantic maze that looks like it goes on for miles! Even if you're just gonna fly over it, more flyers will make it go faster! And being that Celestia lives there, you'd think she knows the maze at least a little better than the mane six. What good is she going to do there in the castle? Seriously, she's just gonna sit around and chat with her guards while the others...hey wait a second!
Celestia has a ton of guards just sitting around her castle. Why aren't they going? If nothing else they'd just be extra sets of eyeballs. But no, that would probably take way too long to animate. But even so, Larson neglects to address them. I mean you could just make something up like "the guards are needed here to stop looting". Even if it didn't really make that much sense, it would still be an explanation. But that would have taken a little extra creative thought and we know that taking a minute to think of that just isn't worth it when you're making a show for kids.
So while Celestia is just chilling in her palace, the search to save Equestria is underway. I'm still a little put off by their enthusiasm and confidence in their mission. I mean I can believe that Discord wanted to have a little fun with them. But come on! It's just too easy that all you need to do is a scavenger hunt to stop him. Even if you do find the elements in there, Discord will probably just snap his fingers and make them disappear. The guy just got free after being imprisoned for 1000 years. You don't think he's really going to put himself in danger, do you? He's just doing this for a good sadistic laugh and they're all playing right into it. As a viewer, it's really hard to be invested in this whole maze portion of the episode, because you know there's no way they're actually going to get elements in there, unless Discord is completely stupid. Either way, this section is set up to be a drag.
So then Rainbow Dash does something incredibly stupid. Yeah just broadcast to the world that you're going to fly over the maze! I'm sure Discord isn't anywhere near here to hear that.
So Discord takes away their wings and horns and then gives them some rules for his game. Then he splits them apart by manipulating the maze. So at this point, a few things are established. One: Discord has incredible power that's unmatched by anyone. Two: he's smart. Three: he's the only one who knows the location of the only magic that can beat him.
Right now it's pretty much checkmate. The only way they can beat Discord is for him to do something stupid, which seems to be out of character for him. Any tension here is dissolved away now that the audience realizes it's one of THOSE episodes. The first two-parter had the main villain messing around and losing because she was acting stupid. This time, the odds are even more stacked against the mane six. They no longer have the elements of surprise and obscurity in their favor. Also, the villain is far more powerful this time.
You see, stacking the odds to the point of hopelessness does not increase the tension in the narrative. In fact, it does the exact opposite. We can already know at this point that this will be resolved by the villain making a boneheaded mistake or by a dues ex machina! Neither one if these options provide a compelling resolution. By this point the story is broken and barring the addition of a new factor into it, like a character who can turn the tables or the reveal of an additional weakness in the villain. Otherwise it's like trying to kill a player on god mode. It's a pointless effort that nobody can become invested in.
Part four: Idiots In A Maze
If you're still watching, you're either blissfully unaware of the problems I just or are praying to god that this conflict will not be resolved by Discord doing something stupid. Discord warps everyone's minds so that they act in ways that are contradictory to their element. Please note that the odds grow more against them as each one of them gets Discord's special treatment. I contend that this just goes further to dissolving the tension.
As Twilight comes across each of her friends, she seems completely unaware of their transformations. Sure she notes that they're acting weird, but she never stops and tries to figure out what happened. She also seems to be completely ignorant of the desaturation of her friends' bodies. It's very obvious, but yet Twilight doesn't even acknowledge it. If I saw one of my friends looking like that, I would probably freak out. Especially knowing that there is a rampaging lunatic around that can change your body at will, I would think Twilight would be concerned about this. But aside from looking annoyed and confused, there's no real reaction out of her.
This wouldn't really be as much of a problem if the animators didn't make their bodies lose their color. I'm going to guess that this wasn't originally planned and was added during the animation process to help kids understand what had happened. Since the dialogue never references this, it would make sense. So this one goes on the animators and whoever the yes-man is here.
Anyway, Discord wins and apparently decides he doesn't want to transform Twilight. I can buy that he wants her to be conscious of her failure and of his triumph over them. The first part of the episode ends and things appear to be completely hopeless.
Part Five: Part Two
So on to part two. It starts off with some actually funny moments. Hey, maybe now this episode will get really good. Sure, there were some stupid things in the previous episode, but all will be well if the episode can just stay on track.
Twilight dashes my hopes by telling Discord he didn't play fair. Not playing fair!? Twilight are you an idiot? You think Discord actually cares about playing fair? He never would really give you a chance to defeat him. Right? Well....
Twilight finally realizes what a fool she was earlier and decides to call it a day. But then she gets an idea. "The elements must be in Ponyville!" What!? Back where you began means Ponyville? How? Oh what, cuz that's where they were at the beginning of the episode? Spoiler alert the elements are in her treehouse. How does back where you began mean Twilight's treehouse!? They started the episode at Applejack's farm. Shouldn't they be there?
But wait there's more! Why would Discord actually leave the elements in a book in Twilight's treehouse? That's kind of stupid. Unless he wanted them to have a chance to make things more exciting. But then why leave them there after Twilight and her friends had been defeated? Well, I guess it didn't matter anymore. But since they're defeated shouldn't they lose connection with he elements? Couldn't someone else use them against him? Remember only Celestia and Luna used them against him before? Well, couldn't Twilight use them by herself?
After some more comedy in the treehouse, Twilight does something very stupid: she challenges Discord without Rainbow Dash. Now, even if she thought the others could use their elements, clearly Spike has no power over them. I get she's losing patience, but she's not losing her mind, right? That's not for another episode!
So things look bleak for our heroes. They've failed to beat their own stupidity and now are completely gray. But thank god, Celestia has been sending Twilight letters! This makes total sense, because obviously Celestia knew what had happened to them when she was hiding in her castle waiting for them to do her work for her. Oh wait.
So instead of going to help them with the problem she had no way of knowing about, Celestia stayed in her castle and sent letters that she apparently knew would cure Twilight's blues, er, grays.
So somehow this cures Twilight and she then goes to cure her friends. But they don't get letters. Instead she performs this weird mind-spell on them which somehow cures them too. Now wait, what is this spell? And why didn't she use it before? I am so confused.
It's a shame, because this part of the episode had some pretty good moments. There's funny writing and goofy animation that works really well. But then as soon as MA gets back to the story, he becomes MIA. Get it, like, he's lost when he's trying to deal with the actual plot line...
Part Six: Story Structure
This brings me to a fundamental problem with the episode with regards to story structure. This episode uses a formula I call the "lose-learn-win" storyline. The protagonist is faced with some sort of conflict. When attempting to resolve it the first time, they fail. Afterwards they figure out why they lost and make the necessary changes. Then when they try again, they are successful. Now the most important part of this narrative structure is the "learning" part. You usually get the message of the story from this part. It's also where something called character development often occurs. What's happening in The Return of Harmony?
Every time I've watched this episode this whole part left me with that uncomfortable numbing feeling. Like I knew I was supposed to feel happy or relieved at this point. The characters are excited, the music is attempting to cue my emotions again. But once again, I feel nothing. Here's why:
Twilight and pals lose because they've been stripped of their ability to use the elements. Ok, so this isn't really going to be about learning something, but rather gaining something. So far so good. So how are they going to go about re-gaining their powers? They are restored by a deus ex machina given to them via a major plot hole. You see, Celestia had to stay behind in the castle so later on she could send Twilight letters to help her out with a problem she would have only been aware of had she been with them!
Now the viewer feels totally cheated. What was the point of setting up this additional conflict if it was going to be resolved so quickly by an external agent? It just feels like Larson got to this point and realized that after wasting so much time with the maze and comedic filler he didn't have time for a proper resolution. What makes everything worse is he also tries to drive home a message that is neither new to the characters or the viewer. Something about friendship...I don't know who cares.
So now the narrative is completely butchered. The characters have gained what they need to defeat the villain, but they have done so in a way that doesn't really make sense or add anything to the story. They didn't really do anything to earn it either.
Like when Luke defeats Vader in Return of the Jedi, you really feel a sense of triumph. "He did it! He overcame and grew so much!" There was actually growth and steps towards achieving a goal that we witnessed. Here, the main characters are not involved in solving this conflict. By doing this, you lose that sense of triumph as a viewer. In this type of story, you have to let your characters solve their own problems! Otherwise it feels cheap when the problem is solved.
As a result of this development, I feel completely checked out of the story. I'm devoid of emotional involvement completely now due to the broken story and lack of logic presented to me.
Now Larson decides he needs more conflict in this episode. I guess he realized that the last conflict was resolved in a cheap, detached way. So now he decides to shoehorn another one in that will require actual actions and effort from the characters. How does he do this?
Well now that five of them are back to normal, they go to find Rainbow Dash. They find her but have a hard time getting to her. The conflict is set up. Then they come up with a pretty good plan. But then he dumbest thing ever happens. Fluttershy tells Rainbow Dash that she's going to "hold her down against her will."
If the fate of Equestria wasn't on the line, then this might be funny. Instead, it destroys Fluttershy's character. What, you can tell a dragon off, you can disobey your ruler, but you can't grab your friend to save your life, her life, and all of Equestria!? That's a load of crap Larson, I mean Fluttershy.
In fairness, we do get probably the best scene of the episode as a result. But it was set up in such a contrived way and at a point where it's hard to care about anything happening that you get a weak high at best from it.
Afterwards, all of the restored ponies go to stop Discord. Now, he is completely unaware for some reason that they are back to normal. What was it I said earlier? Oh yeah. Well, I guess it's time for the...
Part Seven: Big Dumb Ending
It's like we guessed. Discord was defeated by being an idiot. You can't even say arrogance blinded him. The only way to explain this would be if he was just blind literally. Once again, I'm guessing the animators screwed this up with the shading, because it makes no sense that both Twilight and Discord are unable to see the difference here. Discord just sits back like an idiot as the mane six use the magic of friendship, whatever that is, to imprison him once more. What a cheap way of overcoming a conflict. And this is the THIRD time in this PART of the episode that a conflict is resolved in a cheap way!
To celebrate, we get a big award ceremony that's a homage to Star Wars. You know, none of them really did a whole lot to be celebrated. They all messed up in various ways here and things just sort of worked out for them in the end, via plot device, dues ex machina, and Discord going full retard. Cool as it is, the whole ceremony feels like a big cover up for how stupid everyone acted. I'm looking at you Celestia. The only one who did anything right in this episode was Spike. He stayed at the house where he belongs and was tortured via letter vomiting. By doing so, he saved the day. If anyone should be getting rewarded it's him. But he's just standing off to the side. Thanks for not caring guys!
And that concludes The Return of Harmony. The first half, aside from that one minute scene at the beginning and line here and there was complete garbage. In part two, there were several funny and entertaining scenes, but coincidentally they are all also what we call filler scenes. They're good, sure, but they really just pad out the episode and serve no real narrative purpose. The issues in the scene could have been taken care of in a fraction of the time. Not to mention they're surrounded by terrible resolutions that make you lose all feeling in your body. So take your pick: straight to the point garbage, or a combination of filler and blue balls. Well at least part two had redeeming qualities. It also had the lowest lows. At least part one was bad all the way through and you didn't have to ride a emotional roller coaster throughout it.
So overall this episode is a mess, but has some memorable moments and a memorable appearance by John de Lancie. This is probably why it's loved so much. But even it's biggest fan must admit it has some pretty dumb elements in it. Haha (get it!?)
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