Thrond

I complain because I find it deeply unsatisfying. It doesn't logically follow from anything she has seemed to care about or the vast majority of what she's done. The show constantly gives us glimpses of how she feels about it - that is, unhappy and anxious - but doesn't actually make stories about those feelings, and without her actually seeming to want the role, I'm not entirely sure why I'm supposed to care about it. I don't think it has anything to do with what this show is about, and the princesses have never been that important to the things that actually happen in the show. To me it seems like a downgrade from being headmare of the school, which was the logical conclusion of her arc, apparently just because it's not big enough, and worse still, this episode takes away traits I found relatable for the sake of a story that I find meaningless.

Angel is such a jerk, oh my god. I don't think this fully convinces me to sympathize with him - isn't it true that every animal is unable to talk to anyone except Fluttershy? - but this does a decent job of showing how profoundly lonely he must be, and how exhausting it must be for him to try keeping up with ponies. Fluttershy's ability to talk to animals has never really been explained, so I can't help but wish there was some way for others to be able to talk to animals - I'll take anything that makes this world seem a little more cheerful - but it works for this story. I also kind of wish that this had addressed Fluttershy's busy job a little more; I get the sense that her special abilities prevent her from getting the assistance she clearly needs, which is frankly kind of depressing, and the solution she and Angel come to here seems like it would make her even busier. Still, I found her situation even easier to sympathize with than Angel's, which kind of made me wish it took longer for Angel to understand her perspective. The fact that I can make such nitpicks really shows how this manages to add nuance to a cliched body swap storyline. More importantly, I'm always down to watch Fluttershy act like a jerk. It just never gets old to me, and Angel's specific flavour of awfulness is very different from "New Fluttershy" or the versions created by Discord and Chrysalis. I'm not sure the parts of this story are laid out very well, and every hint towards the show's broader vision annoyed me a lot*, but Fluttershy being mean kind of made up for everything, especially with the really solid character work for everyone here. I can't stay mad at you, My Little Pony. * Two particular throwaway lines stand out. The first was the one reference to the school early on, which just made me sad because it reminded me that Fluttershy has like three jobs between the sanctuary, the school, and saving Equestria from time to time. The other is Angel saying that Fluttershy wants to marry Discord, which I really hope is just him exaggerating, because I find that pairing kinda gross and the show has put no effort into building it up. But this is the same show which decided that Pinkie needs to find her purpose and Twilight needs to rule Equestria, so I'm worried that they really are going to just dump that on us at the last minute. Also, it's impressive that the show took this long to do a body swap episode, though they did have the cutie mark swap back in season 7.

Why’s he doing it at the window, though?

Uh... no comment. I'm not really into this kind of thing in the first place. Okay, I did like a couple segments. The basketball thing was kind of neat I guess. Pinkie opening the locker got me, although it would be even better had they cut Dash's scream slightly earlier. Not sure the "deal with it" meme will age well, but it was relatively close to something I might laugh at on Twitter. And Pinkie's whole cupcake thing was great, as was whatever the hell Cranky was doing. The rest, um, maybe not.

I mean I guess there's a way this could make sense, but if they still want this to seem 100% good for Twilight, that would need to be a different show entirely. I need some reason to care about this storyline, because it doesn't feel like a natural progression of anything the show had been doing before. But having Twilight change for the sake of becoming ruler - without any indication that she's at all happy to be chosen - is the wrong way to go about it, I think. I do wish they'd just let her remain the headmare of the school, because that just seems right. Not looking forward to the finale.

Honestly cannot think of anything I want less from this show than "Twilight Sparkle learns to stop freaking out so she can be a better ruler of Equestria." Absolutely no interest in that, and I'm kind of angry that they went in this direction. Writing Twilight's "freak outs" as something she needs to get over is the exact opposite of what made me like this show in the first place, and it reminds me of how some writers seem to have decided that Fluttershy should be an extrovert now. The way Twilight acts here, combined with the fact that she's barely in this episode, gave me distressing flashbacks to season 4. Apparently she can be only one thing or the other, because nobody writing this show can conceive of her as a three-dimensional person. At least with Fluttershy, seeing her act assertively is funny because it's ironic, but you can't make calmness funny. And if Twilight being Celestia and Luna's successor is only something she needs to be "ready" for, then I will never be satisfied with it. A reminder of how much Celestia and Luna mean to her does not make this story arc even remotely personal. This role means nothing to Twilight, she never asked for it, and she doesn't seem to like that it's been thrust upon her. But I'm supposed to care because she's "come so far"? This isn't a reward, it's an obligation. At least recognize that and let her react to it in a way that makes sense and is emotionally satisfying. Why do the mane six not just tell her what's up right away? They don't even try to hide it, and it's obvious that she'll find out eventually. The show could have done anything with this storyline instead of this predictable nonsense, and it makes Twilight's relationship with her friends seem weak. Do they see her as a friend who they trust, or as someone they have to be careful not to upset? It's not like they're any less stressed out than Twilight would be had they just told her. Plus, I don't think the stuff around Twilight meshes well with the stuff around the villains at all. These two storylines distract from each other, and it seems like the mane six have bigger things to worry about than Twilight's mood. Plus, putting these stories next to each other exposes how hollow they both are. The show clearly expects us to take all of this somewhat seriously, but it doesn't have a single fresh idea to offer. You don't have to do the most generic things possible just because you're a kids' show. I also do not want to take these villains so seriously. I liked them when they were bumbling, and I liked them when they were learning about teamwork, but here they're just treated like the annual obligatory villains. Their previous episode was fun because it focused on them as people, and because it was just so goofy. Here, they seem to be taking the place that Grogar should occupy until he inevitably catches on and stops them. Their interactions are way too plot-driven. And I do not need the show to remind me of that trivia episode, thank you very much; it's bad enough that it was approved in the first place. If the show is going to have that much continuity, then it needs better quality control. But some of the incidental characters were fun, I liked little moments like Rarity rambling about fashion trends, Discord was funny and ironically seemed like a voice of reason to me, and the goose was amazing even though they didn't do nearly enough with it. If you care about anything going on here, then it's executed well enough. But I really wish the show hadn't gone in a direction where it can only end with the main character literally becoming the ruler of an entire country and fixing all of her character flaws in the process. To me that feels like a betrayal of what drew me into the show to begin with.

"Rarity Investigates: The Case of the Bedazzled Boot," which is exactly the kind of thing I want from this show. Rarity being Rarity while others act equally goofy around her. Brilliant.

I just don’t think it fits a story where she’s supposed to be a teacher. I mean, just do your job.

It's the little things that make this great. It's the way Twilight raises her eyebrow while thanking Starlight for saying she's not a "princess" princess. It's the way Rarity freaks out while Twilight is still explaining that Celestia will act in the play. It's the way Spike makes the best of having tomatoes thrown at him. But it's also the big things. Until season 7, we had only ever seen Celestia from below - someone to be admired, but not someone we could ever relate to. That's how Twilight viewed her too, and what we learn here is that Celestia always assumed their relationship was closer. I mean, since Twilight is a princess now, why wouldn't it be? But we've never seen them hang out. So it makes sense that Twilight sees her as less a friend than a hero, someone who deserves to be paid back for all she has done. Celestia thinks it's a favour, but to Twilight it's more than that. The choreography of the climax, where the two ascend the clouds together, is beautiful not only because it's so precisely choreographed, but also because it reflects Twilight starting to recognize how Celestia wants to be treated. Their relationship is special in ways that Twilight's other friendships aren't, which is why we see it on the cloud tops. But as they sit aside each other on the highest cloud, they can finally see eye to eye. I complain that the show isn't this good more often, but it's kind of a miracle that it has ever been this good, let alone as many times as it has. Even as this show disappoints, it's the fact that it can still offer up stuff like this that keeps me coming back. This show is capable of great things even if it's not great as a whole.

Alright, I guess we're on the same page here; I bring all of this up because in seasons 4-6, when Twilight almost always made the right decisions, I found her very boring, which I liked much less than what she's like now.

I know what you're saying, but I don't agree with this part. "Person overcomes the odds to do great thing" is one kind of conflict, but there's other kinds as well, most of which can be more complex than that David and Goliath model. Not everyone has made mistakes as dramatic as the characters in My Little Pony do, but by the same token, not everyone has done anything as dramatic as saving a country. Everyone has made mistakes of some sort or another, and we all would like to think that we learn from our mistakes. I like watching the mane six make mistakes because they reflect my own mistakes, which can be as emotionally satisfying as watching them do good deeds. You say you like "Lesson Zero," but do you like it because Twilight makes mistakes, or despite that? That's not a story about Twilight overcoming the odds, that's a story about her realizing "how stupid she was" and apologizing once someone else fixes her mistake. But it's great because we always know where she's coming from, which makes it meaningful when she learns from her mistake. That's what makes a great episode of My Little Pony to me.

Some highlights from this season and the specials: Best Gift Ever - The term "Twilynanas." Sparkle's Seven - Rarity's imagined noir scenario. The Point of No Return - Twilight's pride in having her picture in a library. Common Ground - Quibble Pants not knowing what a ball is. Frenemies - "I'm a pathetic pony princess! I made a detailed list of all the ways I'm a failure!" Going to Seed - Everything the cats do. Between Dark and Dawn - The post office.

This is what I tend to blame for a lot of my frustrations in the show, yes. Do you prefer when the mane six make mostly good decisions? I personally find their flaws - and how they manage to be good people despite those flaws - to be the most relatable thing about each of them. In fact, my absolute least favourite Twilight Sparkle characterization is when she's blandly righteous, especially when she has to tell her friends the right way to act. The most common pitfalls for all of the characters is when they're understood shallowly - that is, when they're heroic without showing their unique traits, or when they're flawed without showing their insecurities. The latter extreme in particular is something that every character has suffered from at every point in the show, and I think it - alongside plot-first writing - is the reason for most of the show's lowest points.

I would have a hard time arguing that this was written by someone who has never seen the show before - so many of the jokes here are just references to earlier episodes that, if anything, it comes off as bad fanfiction. But for the life of me, I will never understand how anyone could think that petty bickering is why anyone watches the show. I don't find all of these weird faces funny, as to my eyes the animators have just gone and made the show uglier for no good reason. So every major character in Ponyville takes trivia this seriously? And why did Sunburst come to this town's trivia contest? Has he ever lived in Ponyville? They're all there because this episode mistakes callbacks and screaming for comedy. I kind of like seeing Twilight get excited about rules, and I kind of like seeing Fluttershy be confident. But once Pinkie and Twilight were teamed up I don't think I laughed once, and in fact I found this incredibly annoying. I didn't expect Twilight getting so frazzled that she started giving wrong answers, but I can't even give the episode credit for that because that just means she gets even more obnoxious. And you know what, yes, having the mane six act like this to each other so often does undermine the show's premise. They barely ever seem like good friends anymore, which is why stuff like "Sparkle's Seven" is so refreshing to me. I don't understand why this show can't be like that all the time. Also, have some of you actually gone back and watched season 1 lately? It wasn't like this.

I thought last week’s had a bad premise as well, but at least there was some fun to be had there. She’s been lazy in the past, but it was in a very different context. I feel like these past few seasons have made a lot of important steps forward, but their low points feel so much lazier.

I honestly don't feel like Twilight even wanted to be a princess. She could run a friendship school without the royal title, and every time the show focuses on the fact that she's royalty, it seems to make her miserable. And why shouldn't it? She never asked to be a princess. She never gave any indication that it's something she wanted. I'm certain she would be good at ruling Equestria, but it was offered so abruptly, and the show never gives her the option of saying no. In "The Beginning of the End," becoming the ruler of Equestria makes her incredibly nervous. In "The Point of No Return," she's constantly talking about how good she thinks the job of a librarian is. I think the difference says it all. There are many great stories about people who are thrust into a position of power despite having no interest in it, but they take that person's feelings seriously. There are also many great stories about unambitious people who become great leaders despite that. If My Little Pony takes the time to show us when and how Twilight decides she's ready for the role, then fine, I'll begrudgingly accept it. But I have my doubts.

Did not like this. Dash being lazy and dismissive was annoying. The students shouting at her was annoying. Twilight setting the whole thing up to teach Dash a lesson was extremely annoying - if you're going to do that, cut the attitude and just have her be a nag. But what really bothered me was how basic it is. I kept thinking there would be some twist about Dash's avoidance, not only because her attitude doesn't fit her current place in the show - I would have been a little easier on this she weren't, you know, a teacher - but also because there's barely any arc to it. Rainbow ignores the students, the students get mad at her, rinse and repeat until suddenly she decides to care, because... reasons. This is bad characterization for Dash because it seems inconsistent with everything we've seen with her lately - even the bad episodes, which have been basically all of them, don't show her being lazy about her own responsibilities. But it's also bad because there's nothing relatable about what she's doing here. She's just being a jerk, and I don't want to see that. Oh and what's with Celestia being super into sports out of nowhere? That feels way more tossed-off than, say, her being super into theatre in "Horse Play." Man, I should watch "Horse Play" again. That's always been a saving grace of "Rainbow Falls" for me. As contrived as that episode is, at least Dash is relatable and sympathetic in it.