Lambdadelta

We got elephants cruelty this season, then in the same season, we got the worst of all, the cruelty of the poor inanimated object, Phyllis the plant. R.I.P Phyllis, you always will be in my heart. Anyway. This ep will be the last Starlight episode and it didn’t disappoint. She finally earns her place after years, being student of Princess of friendship, who think this mare can come this far since Season 5? I still prefer she become a badass magic expert to teach the new generation about magics but oh well, Friendship is Magic, the strongest kind of all (kinda) so it’s still a suitable role for her. I hope this will be not the last of Starlight because there is one last bang i need to see from her, her and Chrysalis, hope the writers dont forget that. The candidates for the school are actually very interesting this time. We got Starlight best friend *Wink*, a strong farmer, a musician, a doctor and a gold digger. The final candidate choice is questionable but i think Starlight doesnt know much about Spoiled, i guess, that woman could product a ton of pre-season 5 Diamond Tiara. Talking about Diamond Tiara, how the hell that girl has no line since her redemption but her mom got 3 speaking role in AJ Day Off, Apple Lies and this ep? That make no sense, what with your character treatment? Dont you see the potential of this character... *back to the episode before i go insane* It’s good to see background characters has more interaction with the main characters. Good fanservice but not out of place, Octavia and Dr.Hooves could be the great vice-headmare, but the plot demand Starlight best friend. *Wink* I dont know Trixie is suitable for her job or not, she’s too egotistical to listen to anyone problems but again she stand up for Gallus so she is not that bad, Starlight just give her a wrong job. Her first doing as a new student counselor is putting Phyllis to the trash can, broke Starlight heart... I dont know what i should feel about that. Sunburst is the perfect choice for the vice-headmare or headstallion, but the question is, will he move to Ponyville permanently? And thanks god, this is not Matter of Principals, because Trixie at least has some good quality to be in the School of Friendship... This is a very enjoyable school-centric episode, and a very last Startrix episode. Nothing is really wrong about this ep beside Floral cruelty and repetitive WINKs. 8/10 Bonus: i forgot to mention something. I strongly believe that Starlight really killed those flash bee. If it’s a friendly teleportation then why should they did that scene happen off-screen anyway? How Starlight quickly resort to violence when it come to save her friends is what i really like. Thanks god they put her out of 80% adventure-based story because it will be too anti-climatic. (Those goofy villains like Storm King have no chance)

Cheerilee character is never relevant in the first place. Her only chance is her notable appearance in Hearts and Hooves Day but the shipping went nowhere and it's officially dead by Sugar Belle's arrival. Zecobra and Trixie both were already high-demand characters with their first appearance only. It's too late for Cheerilee character, there are already a ton of more interesting characters who are screaming for their return but still didn't happen and will never happen. Cheerilee is even less relevant than Derby.

I enjoyed this ep a lot, this ep is definitely the highlight of season 9 for me. Drama queen Rarity is back, in full force, i didnt realized how much i missed the drama couch. This ep finally address that Rarity has taken Spike for granted for 8 freaking years in the show runtime. She unconsciously exploited Spike’s blind loyalty for years, get all his attention for herself then when he finally had his attention for something else, she realized how much she missed him and try to take him back. This ep feels like a deconstruction of Sparity. Rarity’s character flaws was emphasized in this ep but not in the distasteful way, not that awful 246G and definitely not Trivial Pursuit. Twilight character flaws in Trivial was over-exaggerated for the sake of comedy and the sake of her final last iconic crazy personality trait since Lesson Zero. Whatever Rarity doing in this ep works for the story context, it’s hilarious but it feels believable. I might disagree with her actions in act 2 but characters are not supposed to make me agree with them all the time, they challenge my outlooks in life. About Spike, his chill attitude throughout the episode, especially the cold opening of this ep, is OMG. Maybe i get used to his excitement whenever Rarity is around him, maybe it feels like somebody has a fond of you and suddenly it looks like they dont give a damn about you anymore. Rarity needs to get used to changes, like Forever Filly, Spike has grown up, he doesnt have to follow her around anymore. Friendship can be a obsessive sometimes, or love?! Wait, Rarity likes Spike, right, right?! Please tell me Sparity is not just a delusion... It’s good to see Haber episode again, he did a great job with drama queen Rarity again since his last Rarity episode (It isnt Mane Things About You). Dramatic apology! Definitely someone was hurted by the random object during the apologizing. Great episode 8.5/10. Thanks Haber. Wait, i forgot to mention Gabby throughout this paragraph........

Season 8 is the best season in post-S5 era. It has consistent theme (school), proper plot building up (Student 6 and Cozy Glow), entertaining villain (Cozy Glow herself), and a good chunks of good episodes. And... Season 9 wasted all the good potential that season 8 has built up to. Season 9 is not a bad season but it didn't feel like a "finale" season for me, except the premiere and the finale (obviously). It has a lot of fillers that you can include in S8 and notice no difference (like Point of No Return). When it try to "wrap something up", it feels underwhelming, like Summer Sun Setback. Summer Sun Setback is a great episode but Twilight's achievement feels rushed and hollow, and it isn't even Mike's faults, it's someone who thinks to put Trivial Pursuit and Setback right next each other is good idea, I don't buy her sudden character development. Underwhelming is one of S9 key words, I can give more example but Summer Sun Setback is already good enough. My only hope is Starlight's story arc or whatever it has left. I want to see her last bang before I cant see my favorite character ever again. Her future confrontation with Chrysalis, which has been promised in S6 finale and still being referenced until now, is one of my last saving graces of season 9, I think they will drop that too.

I wish Angel would interact with more characters than just animals. He could talk to Starlight (preference to Nick's 'No Second Prance') or Discord (preference to S3ep11). The body-swap concept could have some insane interactions but Nick didn't use it at full potential, what a waste of comedy mine. At least, elephant abuse can be pretty entertaining...

Dumbo in this universe still get bullied and even get eaten alive, nature must be cruel. The snake with a cookie jar is one of the silliest scene of S9, on par with the flock of cockatrice don't know how to get pass the wall scene. How can you force a carnivous creature eat cookie instead of meat? That's cute and nonsensical at the same time. I still don't understand Equestria as much as I thought.

This ep airs right after Trivial Pursuit is a poor decision which is very unfortunate. They overused her freakout mode a lot after the movie then sudden turn off her Twilighting right after her biggest freak out moment since Lesson Zero, then move her back to her S4 character. I have no problem with developed characters still have flaws in them, that what make them interesting in the first place but you cant just go overboard with their flaws then just switch... So Twilighting will be gone from now on? Bad or good thing?

When I saw Michael Vogel in the episode name, I knew this ep will be great so how it compare to 2 best episodes in the first half (Frenemies and Sparkle Seven)? Unfortunately, this ep still cant beat those two but it still an amazing episode nonetheless. This ep is a mixture of Sparkle's Seven and Frenemies. We got villain team-up and how they get through the security that nearly impossible for the mane 6 and they succeed, villains are really scary when they united. After many filler episodes, this is another plot-relevant episode that build up 'Twilight learns to be a ruler' story arc and villains story arc, which I always appreciate. Villains are the best part of this ep, the episode started by them, they created conflict and this ep ended with them that make Mane 6 plot less interesting in comparison. Enough villain plot, let talk about the celebration plot, so... Twilight stopped being freak out for once? She just created a new holiday that celebrate two retired rulers of Equestria (awww), nice. The one who can create a new holiday out of blue is the one who rules, can we have Twilight books holiday too. Twilight's character development (which is even Lampshaded by Discord), is a bit weird to me, especially after her last episode (Trivial Pursuit). It feels sudden and a bit weird, just like Twilight just turn off her freak-out mode just for this ep. She finally learn to act like a ruler for once? Learn to be a ruler, you have to learn to tell people to do the jobs, not all by yourself, hmmm... did Twilight already do that in season 4 premiere? And the show sometimes forgot Twilight is exceptional at organizing that make Amethyst lost her job. What i'm trying to say is the whatever lessons Twilight has to learn about being a leader in season 9 story arc should belong to S4, not this late stage of game. The hardship of being a ruler is what I want to see but it may be too depressing for younger kids because Twilight has to rule Equestria just half as long as Celestia to know how tiring it is. The moral lesson of the day is Applejack is always right, like Horse Play. I think they are running out lesson for kids, how can I blame them? How can you make a story about learning being a ruler for kids without some gritty reality in it but you have to put some kid-friendly lesson because of TV Rating? No, they cant This ep is very entertaining (thanks to villain for the most parts) and it feel like a proper build-up for the end game (Twilight story arc and the bell), I cant ask for anything more than that, 8/10. I wish I can force Mike to wrote more...

Most episodes so far are watchable at worst but what i want is something more than just ‘watchable’, especially the final season.

I have some expectation for season 9 and so far, season 9 disappoints me. High expectation hurts me a lot in many times but I would rather have high expectation then disappointed than embracing mediocrity (and I am not even that hard to please).

This episode definitely has some few issues (mostly Twilight). Twilight is mean to Pinkie in this ep and people who think highly of Princess Twilight will not like it. However, unlike the last episode, this ep is extremely fun to watch, there is no moment that made me feel like i'm wasting my time. The ending is satisfying, Twilight learns the lesson and she didn't win and that ending make episode so much better, unlike Matter of Principal or Non-Compete Clause, when characters act like jerks, didn't learn their lessons and still got reward in the end. Nothing more to say about this ep, no thought-provoking stuffs to discuss about, just a dumb fun episode to enjoy this week. If you don't like Twilight characterization in ep, you may dislike this ep, if you have no problem with that, enjoy Twilight crazy faces collection!!!

Like many story arc throughout this series, this series is suck at building up some plots but you know what, at least, they happened regardless. Rainbow became Wonderbolt in a very mediocre episode, they didn't really build up anything, even RD fans feel unsatisfied with it, it still happened regardless. Some few moments between Chrysalis and Starlight can make me happy, is that much to ask, right?

If the story isn't ended by its own term but by the influence of the company that care about money and statistic then I don't expected any great story-telling in this very last season. How could I invest for the new installment if I know someday it will get the same fate as G4? or EQG? I always believe "the journey matters than the destination" in enjoying media is totally delusion, so I hope the writers could end this series in a good note.

If To where and back again didn't exists, I would agree with you. Chrysalis vowed her revenge directly to Starlight face and reference Starlight name in almost every episode she's in. She certainly hold a grudge against Twilight and her family because of Canterlot Wedding and she did actually succeed capturing them so the debt was paid. Starlight is a different case, she turned Chrysalis's hive go against her, tell her how to be a ruler, and shove friendship speech into her face that she still find it disgusting until now. Do you try to convince me all of this don't actually happen? She vowed her revenge to Starlight face, she didn't scream Twilight and friends, Cadance, Shining Armor name before she escape, she directly vowed her revenge to Starlight personally, and that revenge plot should not go unfinished. I have some wishes for this final season but it look likes most of them will not happen. This is one of the few wishes I had that have a very reasonable reason to believe, if even that small thing they couldnt give me, I would be very pissed, for real.

I understand your skepticism. Actually it could be truth, maybe Hasbro told the staffs to stop G4 production so they can proceed to G5 because G4 is no longer profitable for them anymore. Conspiracy much? I guess. That's what happen to Game of Thones season 8, HBO offered 2 directors more episodes and seasons but they turn down to rush it as much as possible so they can proceed to new Star Wars trilogy, and we got the most disastrous final season of all time. Conspiracy, conspiracy is magic.

The final confrontation between Starlight and Chrysalis that I'm waiting for years. I will be very pissed off if they drop that plot. They spent a lot of their last remaining episodes for fillers so we can only hope the finale can be a good paid off, which is impossible for 44 minutes so I'm very cynical.