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The Second Opinion

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  1. The Second Opinion
    Thanks. And that last one's news to me, but I'll take it.
  2. The Second Opinion
    I'll be honest: This episode kinda saved MLP for me. When I saw it, I was still trying to be the cold, "tough but fair" critic, and episodes right before it were on a progressively more boring streak. I was downright surprised by how alive this one was. It took on a significant issue as best it could for the age level in question. It made a fair point in the moral it applied to the situation. It brought out everyone's lovable quirks (what with Applejack and her tree, Pinkie Pie finding a way to enjoy everything, Rainbow Dash being brash but ultimately showing a strong sense of right and wrong, etc.). And more than anything else, it just had a strong sense of fun to it, without losing the investment in the characters and their dilemmas. The pie war climax was goofy, but to be fair, it was kind of supposed to be. It found a way to do so much of what I liked and admired this show for in the first place, and I still think it might be the best standalone episode to utilize the entire main cast in equal measure. (Or almost-equal measure, anyway.)
  3. The Second Opinion
    I was wondering why so many people seem to be coming back to him in particular. Now it makes sense. I have to agree. It definitely seems like it might happen. They already dropped a possible hint at more to explore with them with Double Diamond and Night Glider's "This is where I first met Starlight/maybe you can reminisce another time."
  4. The Second Opinion
    I wanted more reasons to get behind our 4 newbie heroes at the end, but from the glimpses of personality we got, they all seem pretty fun and likable. I wonder if they'll be part of that big 100th "side character" episode the writers have been building up. (Though personally, I want Big Mac to be one of the main characters there.)
  5. The Second Opinion
    I do think they were going more for confomity in general (a word the brainwashing speaker even throws around a lot) than communism specifically. And despite the various connections that fans are eager to make, I think that approach was the smarter one, because communism, at this point, is pretty much a punching bag villain of fantasy and sci fi. Pretty much everyone who's going to see it already knows how to hit it, and none of them will actually be facing it at any point. Conformity is a much more basic and applicable subject that can be used to explore the main characters' personalities. Fluttershy, for example, is extremely averse to conflict, so she likes the idea of a setting in which everyone pretty much agrees. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, is proud of what makes her stand out, so it's one of those times where she actually gets to be the moralizer and call the flaws in this from the get go.
  6. The Second Opinion
    As someone already pointed out, she's sort of taking the conflict of Rainbow Rocks - whether it's better for the people with greater talent to put themselves above everyone else - to the other extreme. (And no, I don't think it's just coincidence that there's no cannon FIM material in between these two stories.) I think both conflicts come down to the same thing: Nobody has the exact same level of talent. If only one level of talent is the "right" one, and it's not perfectly acceptable for someone to be better or worse than you without repercussion, than a LOT of people are going to be getting the short end of the stick. There's no harmony when almost everyone is forced to have conflicted feelings.
  7. The Second Opinion
    Probably the brain washing. Starlight Glimmer turning out to be more of a narcissist than a misguided idealist also got my attention, but "creeped out" is probably the wrong word for that. Honestly though, it's not the creepiest thing I've ever seen. They way they used these familiar dystopian devices, while something new for this series, ultimately played like just a new way to challenge the main characters, rather than something that undermines their very foundation. At the end of part 1, it drops the moral ambiguity and makes it a clear case of heroes and a villain. From that point, it's mostly just another chess game against just another bad guy, without any major inner conflicts (or any at all, outside of Fluttershy and a couple side characters). But still, nothing wrong with a good story like that. And there might still be hope, if Starlight Glimmer is really coming back this season.
  8. The Second Opinion
    I was definitely glad that the theme turned out to be more conformity in general, rather than communism specifically. That's much more applicable and better for exploring the characters. (Communism, let's face it, has become a punching bag villain in the world of fantasy and sci-fi stories. Most everyone you're showing it to already knows how to hit it, and none of them will ever be attacked by it anyway.) I thought they gave themselves an easy out by making Starlight Glimmer as overtly villainous as she was, but they still managed to get a couple strong statements in there. I took the staff being fake as a reminder that there is no "devine power" that can will everyone to be like this. For people to conform like that in such a large and unanimous group, there has to be someone organizing it and making sure it stays that way who's not equal to them at all. Otherwise, as a new conflict, it was pretty enjoyable challenge for the main 6, and I thought it was more cohesive than many of the past 2 parters. But it's definitely not the best one. They rushed a few different points, like how easily everyone living in their own "utopia" was convinced to rally behind the exact opposite by Starlight Glimmer's exposure, and neither the passion nor the excitement quite measures up to the others. By the end, it feels like we've seen just another adventure, not a big, significant stepping stone in the lives of the main characters.
  9. The Second Opinion

    Finally time to review Cutie Map!

  10. The Second Opinion
    The season premiere of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic, is finally here! But is The Cutie Map worth all the hype?
  11. The Second Opinion
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M4FNytoTXY
  12. The Second Opinion
    I will say that it's common (and sort of human nature) to disown something when you find something else you like more in the same category. If you asked the fans, for example, to give you the good and bad episodes of the show, you'd probably find there are an awful lot of "bad" episodes for a show that's had such above average critical and popular reception. Or consider how season 4, with maybe 3 or 4 episodes coming up as all-time fan favorites, is currently winning polls as the best season. When people are enjoying something in the moment, they don't want to hear about how they should concede to something else as better. (Quote a Simpsons episode where Lisa becomes a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival, only to lose it the next day to Nelson, "I like this movie much better than the one by that little girl. Because I saw this one today.) Plus, with a cast this diverse, people with favorites are gonna be prone to criticizing the character whose appeal rests on something entirely different, hence contradicting their vision of what one of these characters "should" be.
  13. The Second Opinion
    And as the ref counts three, the crowd goes wild! Celestia begins taking her bows, until she hears a muffled "Princess Celestia? I think you can get off my face now." Now Spike starts cracking up, followed by Sunset Shimmer, and finally all of them collapse in a fit of laughter. And, as they all begin helping each other up and congratulating each other on the great match, it seems we couldn't go the whole tournament without any pony girliness. I'm gonna leave before they start hugging each other...
  14. The Second Opinion
    Considering that both of the claims this thread is based on stopped being true in season 4 (even season 3 to an extent, bad as that season could be), and Spike just recently earned a throne right next to The Princess of Friendship as her right hand dragon, that would probably be REALLY stupid on the writers' part.
  15. The Second Opinion
    I just finished pointing out what everyone here (who voiced any expectation) came to see. Evidently the route we do want to take is the "fingers in our ears" route. Tell you what: You can keep announcing this "reset" match you've spotted. Myself and the other commenters (unless they no longer feel like it) will continue with this illegal, ficticious nonsense that has been the entire tournament up to now. As I was saying before, it's all Twilight and Celestia, and now they circle in close after exhausting most of their long range arsenal, where Celestia catches Twilight with a perfectly-timed ! Yes, for obvious reasons, it's probably gonna be all flying moves for awhile. Twilight, trying to recover quickly, circles back unsteadily to retaliate, but Celestia dives down and springs off the ropes to hit her with a Phoenixrana, launching her down towards the ring, head-first! But wait, Twilight straightens up... lands seated on the ropes, and springs off, catching Celestia midair with ! Beautifully executed by Equestria's newest princess! Hold on though, Sunset Shimmer seems to be up to something down below... She's looking for a vanatge point, and I think we're about to see Solar Flare's trademark, the blinding flash! Twilight appears to see her, but SS has already found her vantage point behind Celestia, and there's the move... but Twilight summons the legendary castle mirror! Yes, Twilight shields her face and sends the flare right into the eyes of Princess Celestia! She must have planned for this moment ahead of time! I don't even know where she was storing that! An angry Sunset Shimmer blasts it away, but now Spike taps her on the shoulder... and gives her a taste of her own medicine with the ! Seems Rainbow Dash set an example for him in the last round. Is this becoming a pattern? Normally, the referee would chastise for that, but since Sunset Shimmer was interfering without being tagged in the first place... Spike caught her off-guard pretty well there, and now he climbs up the side of the ring and springs the Dragonrana on her. Yeah, she won't be interfering again anytime soon. Twilight, meanwhile, is taking full advantage of Celestia's temporary blindness, hitting her with a flying clothesline! And now she's circling back. I wonder if she'll try the Shining Wizard in the air? But no! Twilight underestimates the sun princess' ability to shake off blinding brightness, and Celestia summersaults Twilight for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb! She's dropping her former protege over 30 feet back into the ring, flat on her back! If Twilight can't reverse the hold in a second, it could be all over!
  16. The Second Opinion
    Well those too, granted, but you're pretty darn late in the game to be trying to add a new rule like that now. Nobody has been following this thinking that's what it's going to be. What has been discussed, on the other hand, is whether Celestia's magic should trump Twilight or vice-versa. Get creative. It is really not hard to write a match that includes both. (And let's be honest, Mick Foley went through far more outlandish stuff than this back in the day.)
  17. The Second Opinion
    ...You realize that literally every match, including the 12 written up by the guy who started this thread, has included magic, flying, or both, right?
  18. The Second Opinion
    Am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought it could be changed to "Praise for Fluttershy?"
  19. The Second Opinion

    The overdue part 2:

  20. The Second Opinion
    Can The Second Opinion resist the most acclaimed finale in the history of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic? Or are we headed in a direction that none of us expected? Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TheSecondOpinion11
  21. The Second Opinion
  22. The Second Opinion
    Actually, you kinda missed a lot of the color commenting already. Speaking of which... It's been an exciting match so far, but Twilight might have to dig a little deeper if she wants to turn around a match that has, frankly, been going Solar Flare's way from the start. We of course saw Spike start off the match, attempting to get Solar Flare to reveal their tricks, but there wasn't much he could do against the magic of Sunset Shimmer, who managed to repel his fire breath with ease and then transition into her team trademark, the blinding flare, just when he needed to inhale again. From then on, it was mostly her match, telekinetically blasting and tossing him around the ring. As you'll see on the replay here, he does manage to slip in his signature Dragon Whip while she's deflecting his attempts to counter attack, but no sooner does he scoop her up for the running dragon bomb than she teleports away and counters with a mule kick while he's still in mid-slam. And here's the Sunset Flip, the count, and Spike looking at her face-to-face, manages to slip in another burst of his fire breath, kicking out at two while she just manages to pull her head out of the way in time. Referee Mick Foley seems to have been grazed by it though... he probably wouldn't have been able to count "3" anyway. Eh, he'll be back in a minute. He's had worse than that over the years. After that, battered and beaten, Spike had no other option but to crawl his way to the corner and tag Twilight, who came on strong, overpowering Sunset Shimmer blast for blast. And when Celestia's former protege realized that she couldn't compete with the alicorn upgrade, she challenged Twilight to see who really deserves those powers, in a fight with no magic. But while Sunset Shimmer at first seemed to be the more athletic of the two, Twilight wisely played possum after being slammed, prompting Shimmer to try and show her up once and for all with a more advanced version of Twilight's signature finish: The 360 Shooting Star Press. Here she goes for the move, only to find nobody home when Twilight rolls out of the way. From there, it was all Twilight, first with the Shining Wizard and then the original Shooting Star Press, just to drive the point home, I assume. Sunset Shimmer then attempted to break the magic embargo by teleporting away, but Twilight simply blasted her into her corner, where Celestia made the tag. So now it comes down to what we all pretty much knew it would: Pupil vs. Mentor. Princess vs. Princess. Twilight vs. Celestia. And following that initial standoff, where I think I heard a parasprite yawn, they've been circling each other in the air, firing blasts of magic that have this whole stadium shaking! Their partners below are watching totally in awe! Sunset Shimmer, having taken quite a beating, won't be good to go for awhile, and while the crafty little dragon may have single handedly disposed of Maud Pie in the semifinals, he just had no answers to Sunset Shimmer. We probably won't be seeing him tag back in any time soon, if at all. It's up to Twilight to do what even Princess Luna could not. (You'll see her in the stands there, finally taking notice of the match and telling Button Mash to pause the game). But after losing some of her energy against Sunset Shimmer, it looks like she might not have what it takes...
  23. The Second Opinion
    No! Sunset Shimmer sees it coming and shoots the hat out of her grasp! There's the flare... and Daring Do sees it coming a moment too late! She's defenseless against Celestia's onslaught! Now Celestia spins around... and hits her with the snap-mare! Daring Do is flat on her back! Celestia points to her sister in the stands... and hits the Standing Moonsault! Rainbow Dash throws Sunset Shimmer aside and rushes to make the save... but her sore wing gives out! The count! 1... 2... 3! It's over! Solar Eclipse moves on to face The Princess and the Dragon for the title! For shame. And of course, we all saw Twilight settle with Pinkie Pie in the ring a moment ago. While Pinkie managed to elongate herself out of the way of Twilight's Shooting Star Elbow Drop, she made the mistake of sticking out her tongue, which Twilight then seized and used to slam Pinkie all over the ring. And while Pinkie was on her back, checking to make sure she could still say "pappy pony picked a pluck of prickly pluff nuggets" Twilight picked up the pin, despite her sore elbow. (Or is it a sore knee?) Spike and Maud, meanwhile, sat resigned outside the ring, having a short-sentence conversation about rocks vs. gem stones.
  24. The Second Opinion
    Always trying to make 5th place sound good. What, was Twilight gonna blast away the competition with her magic? Pretty sure that's illegal. You're saying that Twilight almost resorted to breaking the rules, aren't you? AREN'T YOU? I tell ya, some people... And to answer your question, I'd rather not see a couple of goody-two-shoes alicorns all reluctant to hit each other in the ring, and the alternate of Twilight vs. Sunset Shimmer is a match we've all seen before. I'd much rather see Twilight and Rainbow Dash settle the grudge of Daring Do siding with Rainbow over Twilight! Not to mention that Rainbow Dash has fit into this whole pro-wrestling shtick by far the most naturally of anyone in this tournament. Just look back at the promo she did for this match: "Well let me tell YOU something, 'Solar Eclipse!' You may think you're hot stuff! But by the time we're done you, you're gonna know what it's like to be 20% cooler! We're gonna lower the rainboom! Bring down the tower! Empty the Griffon's Goblet all over you! So if you can't face us with everything you've got, you'd best run away as fast as your legs can carry you! That right, you have a choice: Do... or Dash!" Celestia dodges Daring Do's hat throw and lunges at her. And now the two are duking it out center stage! Blow for blow! Celestia towering over the brave adventurer! Daring Do desparately looking for a way to topple the alicorn princess! Wait now, Sunset Shimmer, pulling herself back to her feet, appears to be seeking a vantage point behind Celestia. She's gonna try another blinding flare to give her partner the edge! Rainbow Dash, still hurting from that Phoenix Splash, seems to have noticed and is dragging herself towards her partners sun hat, to see if she can return it to her and negate the effect. But will she get there in time? The tension is unbearable!
  25. The Second Opinion
    Well, I did have to look up a couple of these moves on Wikipedia
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