Thrond

she twi

and she sci

it just fits

Okay, point by point:

• The show should be exactly like this all the time. 
• My main gripe with Celestia in past episodes is that she has showed a really limited range of emotions, and those emotions have almost always been either carefully composed or played as a surprise, which makes her feel distant and unapproachable to me. I liked "A Royal Problem" so much because Celestia's frustration in that was one of the most human things I've ever seen from her, and this one one-ups that episode simply by showing her be earnestly enthusiastic about something. I didn't expect that particular attitude from her over this subject, but it's given just enough background, and even with what little we know of her personality it fits. We know there's a fun-loving side in there somewhere, and it's especially nice that there's a brief reference to her prankster side at the end. 
• And she's consistently adorable in this, too. I've never really been fond of the concept that because she's ancient and powerful she needs to be infallible, and I love how this episode presents her with a very relatable lack of self-awareness. She's just so excited to be part of the production, and it makes total sense that this might blind her to her own deficiencies - not least because of her patience. She never complains about Twilight's efforts to improve her performance, and the only time she gets upset is when she realizes that Twilight is nervous about being honest with her. 
• Not to mention that this, this right here, might just be the best Twilight episode since season 2. As always, her anxiety comes from grossly overestimating the consequences of her behaviour, but here her motivations are essentially selfless, which is a distinct change from my beloved "Lesson Zero." This difference, where the ponies' motivations are more mature and less hyperbolic but still ultimately misguided, is the direction that the show began to point towards in season 4, albeit in a comparatively safe manner. This, more than season 5's "mentor roles" or season 7's stodgy moral examples, is the direction the show should have gone in. 
• And I'm totally okay that Twilight doesn't fully understand how Celestia might react. It's a long-established trait that she inflates the importance of her own behaviour, and here she's clearly motivated by simply wanting to do something nice for Celestia, which is totally understandable even as she way overdoes it. One of Twilight's distinguishing traits is her determination, and at its best the show is able to represent this as a double-edged sword. Unlike Applejack, she'll change course if given good reason to, but she can still get stuck in a specific course of action, especially if she's really stressed out. 
• Also, I gotta talk about how good everyone else is in this. Applejack gets to be the voice of reason again - how long has it been? - and as always is great in the role. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are on the sidelines, but all have their fare share of charming moments; each is perfectly characterized here. Pinkie Pie is hilarious. In particular, I loved Rainbow's enthusiasm for spreading word of the play, as well as Rarity and Pinkie's special effects dispute, and Fluttershy finally taking up the mantle at the end. 
• Even Starlight actually feels like she fits, as has been a surprising trend this season. It's not like they just made her a nice pony, but her mild tactlessness is genuinely funny, and the episode even has Twilight react to it appropriate. I liked her most in season 7 when she finally stopped feeling sorry for herself, and this is very much like the best parts of her season 7 behaviour but without all of her severe mistakes. I like that she has way less experience with Celestia than the others, and I like that her anxiety is just a little more pronounced than that of Twilight's other friends. And let's not forget Spike, who reclaims much of his snark here; the noble Spike of the past two seasons had its appeal, but this is just way more entertaining. 
• Moreover, the jokes are absolutely terrific. A lot of them just come from the witty banter between these characters, but the key here is that they're both surprising and organic. There's a lot of wit which goes into stuff like Rarity's need for silk or Starlight saying Twilight isn't a "princess princess," and though some stuff like the pretentious acting instructors is clearly entirely invented, the best part of these jokes is that they're clearly based on a deep knowledge of and affection for this show. Of course Celestia has a Royal Canterlot Voice, but I wasn't expecting to actually hear it.
• Even when the episode repeats gags, it finds crazy new angles for them, like with Pinkie's increasingly absurd sun replacements. She bought contraband fireworks from Trixie! If that doesn't make you laugh, I don't get you. 
• And as much as I appreciate the more mature morals of later seasons, sometimes all we need is a specific and smart twist on something the show has already offered: honesty is still important in friendship, even when you're just trying to make a friend happy. They'll appreciate you more if you can be honest about their shortcomings, even if it conflicts with their dreams. 

Hey, I thought I retired from writing MLP reviews, but there I go with a wall of text. Goes to show what I'm willing to do when I'm actually enthusiastic about this show. 

Score:
100/100

Starlight seems pretty tragic in her own way. All that went wrong in her life was due to flaws in her perspective; due to a peculiar inability to understand others' viewpoints. 

CMCs had a small improvement around the time that the show started to move away from their obsession with cutie marks, and a big one around season 3 when their episodes started to actually become entertaining to me. 

I continue to feel the quality of Spike episodes has been fairly consistent. Two of my favourite Spike episodes are in season 2. 

Fluttershy and Twilight declined in my opinion for a while, but their episodes improved for me considerably in seasons 6 and 7 respectively.  

Oh, so this show CAN still be this good. I had forgotten. 

I don't even know what points to make. I'm just here for all of it. I don't expect these characters to always make the best decisions. I just want to always understand their motivations. I want to be able to sympathize with their anxiety and delight in their enthusiasm. What we get here is an actual balance of the two, where characters are both enthusiastic about the play and nervous about its failure. The way they react to each other is understandable even when it's exaggerated. Starlight is present and plays a part without overpowering the story, and doesn't even play the primary voice of reason. The relationships actually feel like they used to and like they should. Celestia gets to express a range of emotions beyond her public facade. Twilight's anxiety is easy to understand and even selfless while also being clearly misguided and distinctly over-anxious in her usual way. And the episode is just so funny. 

I know I complain a lot about this show but this is all I really want. Honestly it's probably better than many of my season 2/4/6 favourites. Legitimately one of my favourite things this show has ever done.  

100/100

4 hours ago, Lambdadelta said:

 A.K.A Every Little Thing You Need To Know About Starlight Glimmer.

Making extreme mistakes is one of enjoyable aspect of Starlight character which they don't use it frequently nowadays (the backlash)... Maybe I am the only one who enjoy whenever Starlight use her magics to cause problems. 

It's not very endearing, which is why I started to get tired of it when it did happen in season 7. But it's also one of her only character traits I'm interested in. 

I'm sort of indifferent to the majority of griffon characters we've seen, but I really like Gabby. 

1 hour ago, BlackPony said:

ELTSD, Starlight got a talk from Twilight, and a brief verbal beat down from the remane 5. And that's it.

1 hour ago, BlackPony said:

In Princess Spike, Spike had to face consequences for his actions, and actually fix his mistakes, and face the crowd that he screwed up with

Starlight does all of those things in the end of "Every Little Thing She Does." I have issues with the episode, but I don't think people give it enough credit; it's the one time where Twilight's approach to Starlight's consistently extreme mistakes makes sense. 

3 hours ago, KH7672 said:

I'll take on this criticism with a no, no she hasn't. In all her appearances she was that voice of reason four times(possibly five); twice to Twilight (Shadow Play and School Daze) once to Pinkie (Rock Solid Friendship) and once to Sunset Shimmer(Mirror Magic) and the fifth could be Fame and Misfortune or A Royal Problem but that was more of an "outsider-to-the-conflict" role she filled. However compare that to how many times someone was her voice of reason: Spike (The Crystalling, Every Little Thing She Does), Twilight(No Second Prances, Every Little Thing She Does, Uncommon Bond), Trixie (To Where and Back Again), The Re-mane 5 (Every Little Thing She Does, To Where and Back Again-near the beginning), and Thorax(To Change a Changeling). And even still the stories justified her being the voice of reason by showing the how the conflict affected her. Being dragged around by Pinkie or putting herself in one's shoes, it's a natural mindset to have in the conflict. I would totally understand the frustration if she just randomly entered the conflict with a "What's wrong?" followed immediately by "Oh here's the solution/moral of the day" (looking at you Season 1 Twilight in CMC episodes). I will say Mirror Magic would be closest to this but Starlight herself says only "what she would do in such a situation" and not certainly implying she knows Sunset more to know the best solution.

This might be a big part of why I like her more in season 6 than season 7. Also, while she's less successful in this instance, she does play a neutral/"straight mare" role in "The Maud Couple," which for me makes four since season 7 - exclusively counting the mane six - versus one for the reverse. I agree that most of those cases are appropriate (I do not like "Shadow Play"), but I just don't see any evidence in future synopses that this weird imbalance will change. 

8 hours ago, BlackPony said:

B. I kept referring to the writers “doing something” for Sunset because I feel that Starlight’s episodes are repetitive; most of her episodes are either her screwing up or doing something reprehensible and either getting away with it with a slap on the wrist(Every Little Thing She Does) or having it work out in the end out of sheer luck(To Change A Changeling), and most of her other episodes are just playing the straight mare to better characters like Maud, Trixie, and even Sunburst. 

Yeah, this. And I don't really feel she has a strong, distinct enough personality to really stand on her own when she's not messing up in some way or another. 

And, while this is slightly off topic from the original post, I get pretty frustrated that Starlight has on several occasions been the voice of reason relative to the mane six, but the opposite almost never happens. 

6 hours ago, Nyactis Mewcis Catlum said:

You only see a small glimpse of them in the episode because they're not the focus of the episode. Why do you think they're too nice because they're positively engaging who is essentially a celebrity? Of course they are. Twilight is a celebrity tourist, so they make sure to show her the best sides of them.

It's a tonal thing. It's not just that they positively engage with everyone, it's also that apparently nobody here has any sort of problems except Terramar, whose only problem is that he's overthinking stuff. I'll totally concede that it's a matter of taste, though.

6 hours ago, Nyactis Mewcis Catlum said:

I guess we're just confused as to what you want from them in this episode. Would you have liked the parents to have been mean to Terramar or each other? That would not only have diluted the point, I think, but have even changed the entire message of the episode. And the other hippogriffs? What would it have added to this episode in particular if they were a society of some meanness, when it seems your main complaint in the episode appears to be too much focus on world-building as it is?

I feel focusing more on a human aspect than the world-building would have already helped by giving some depth and dimension to hippogriffs beyond just being vaguely utopian. I also would have preferred if the episode didn't go through so many motions of the CMC not finding anyone with any sort of problem, but I suppose what I mostly just want more personal detail. 

Admittedly, I've actively tried to block the movie from memory, and I'm probably biased due to finding Silver Stream's chipper attitude annoying.  

6 hours ago, Nyactis Mewcis Catlum said:

The episode is very clear about what Terramar's conflict is (he even specifically mentions he fears he'll be letting someone down), and Twilight even provides the reason why he's having it: he's making the issue too complicated in his head. The idea that no one relates to this puzzles me. Have you never overthought anything and made something harder on yourself? The problem is not that Terramar has to choose, that is not the problem that Terramar is having. The problem is that he feels that he has to. DQ pointed out that someone mentioned that his parents were subtly pressuring him.

I could relate to the specifics of Twilight's anxiety, though, whereas I'm sure there's higher stakes to what Terramar's worrying about, but the episode focuses so much on the world-building that the idea of Terramar also needing to choose between parents barely registers to me. I can't really relate to having two awesome places to live and not knowing which one to live in. There's a lack of detail in the human side of the story. 

6 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

There's more to that. Until at least a month or two go, they weren't celebrating their culture at all, because they were hiding from the Storm King. Now with him gone, they regained their freedom and cultural identity. It's no surprise they revived it and intend to spend as much time as possible celebrating. Heaven forbid someone as bad as the Storm King could invade Aris again.

This is a non sequitur. We all know that cultural celebrations aren't inherently conflict-free. 

1 hour ago, Slipstream95 said:

Would EQG Twi become an alicorn on the other side then? Even if she herself is "not worthy"?

Yes

1 hour ago, Slipstream95 said:

The whole conversion thing is weird, so I'm not sure about that.

There don't seem to be any rules to it. I think animals & people just become what their counterpart on the other side is. 

No, she would be a dog. A very good dog. 

Starlight has character flaws in a way that Sunset doesn't, but often I feel that's about all there is to her. I once saw someone describe her as "Twilight Sparkle but edgy," and that's not too far off - I'm starting to appreciate that edge in season 8, but a disproportionate number of her character traits are things which other characters used to do, so I don't always feel like she adds that much of a new perspective to the show. Furthermore, all of her flaws are so severe that either the show emphasizes them so much that they override all other personality traits, or doesn't invoke them whatsoever. In basically any episode where she's the voice of reason, she just comes off as a touch bland, and that's encompassed all of her appearances so far. That said, I feel like season 8 has solidified her weirdly coarse personality a bit more, and I'm starting to see potential in her again.

But yeah, Sunset just doesn't have significant enough character flaws. Like all of Starlight's flaws, Sunset's anger is something the show scrambles to have her get over rather than an essential part of her character. The thing is, she has a more distinct flavour than Starlight, and the recent short series has done a great job of expanding upon her interests, hobbies, and career while also solidifying her "cool girl" persona. I still feel like parts of her story are undercooked in comparison to the mane six, but that's true of Starlight as well. 

So to answer your question: in some ways yes, but in some ways no. 

3 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

They weren't able to celebrate their culture, because they lived underground, isolated from all contact. Only recently the Storm King was destroyed. The relocation to the surface remains a revived experience that none of the hippogriffs want to pass up.

You're just repeating yourself and not engaging with my point. I'm not bothered that they're celebratory, I'm bothered that they're too nice, and therefore boring. 

3 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

No one's experience is the same. Their split's much cleaner, because they remained very friendly with each other without any bitterness. They want what's best for their son, but accidentally contributed to the instability and confusion he faced. Little bits of dialogue by both his parents show how much they wish to see him more, but also leads him to believe he spends little time with them (a point brought up by an EQD user).

Okay, that's fair. Though that comes back to my complaint that this episode weirdly downplays the human element in favour of exploring the setting. 

3 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

No, the map was right. The CMCs initially went about solving the problem the wrong way.

It's not clear to me how the way they went about it couldn't have been done by anyone else. You look at the map episodes in the past two seasons at least, and they're always very specific to the personalities in question. The CMC get in the way more than anything, and it's Twilight who tells them what to do. 

1 hour ago, Music Chart Fan said:

It's a little strange to me that Twilight is undertaking the task of finding Silverstream's parents and getting them to sign her permission slip. Isn't that usually the student's job, rather than the teacher's or school administrator's job?

This is probably an excuse to travel. 

Twilight Sparkle, absolutely. 

Rarity and Rainbow Dash aren't far behind, though. 

Just now, gingerninja666 said:

Honestly for me, MLP is just a show I like watching because it's kind and because it's neat. I have such a hard time getting into shows nowadays, so I kinda like having something that's simple. I dunno.

I'm glad for you that it's scratching that itch. The kindness is a plus, but it's not the only reason I'm here. 

9 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

The hippogriff and seapony culture is really important. When the Storm King terrorized Mount Aris, they lived in hiding, and the audience didn't get to see their culture. His demise allows many of them to finally relocate back to their original homeland, some of them not in many years. They're very celebratory for a reason: They can celebrate their lives.

It doesn't just seem "celebratory" to me, it seems "tidy." Literally the only problem anyone comes across is because both hippogriff societies are too awesome.

9 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

@Nyactis Mewcis Catlum pointed this out in her response to @Truffles. Children depend on a stable home environment, something the hippogriffs lacked for years. Now, for the first time in many of their lives, they have the ability to live in a stable home. Most hippogriffs decided where to live, including most of Terramar's family; this is where the pressure comes from, explicitly stated in the show. Neither Skybeak now Ocean Flow could agree where to live, hence the split, and Terramar is subconsciously living on an island. To him, if he doesn't choose, then it's as if how he lives is no better than when the Storm King conquered Mount Aris, but if he does choose, then he says goodbye to one side of his family, and that kills him. This literal dilemma hurts him deeply inside, and that's crushing for him, since he's a kid who wants to belong.

Okay, I'll accept that. Still, the show's ultimate solution is more or less the status quo. Does he need a stable home environment or doesn't he?

Part of what I'm complaining about is that my own parents are divorced and I'm on good terms with both, and I don't feel this speaks to any of the genuinely challenging parts of my experience. This episode is just so... clean. From everything I've seen, you're a huge fan of clean, whereas I think it's a little too simplistic and undramatic. But then, my experience wasn't exactly like Terramar's here. 

9 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

History is a big factor. Prior to Lost Mark, they spent a large chunk of their childhood searching for who they are; the Map trusted them to use their own history to help guide Terramar into deciding where to live. Unfortunately, when they tried to help him, their own biases and tastes kick in, and they were using their feelings to blindly determine his home for him, leading to their fight and further confusion. They had to learn how their fight was only hurting him further, and after seeing his mom and dad be amicable to each other, they were able to figure out how to solve his dilemma.

So the map was wrong, is what you're saying. 

3 hours ago, VG_Addict said:

How is the season so far, in your opinion?

Acceptable. Way better than season 7. Sort of lacking the spark which initially drew me to the show, alas. 

Ooh, like "Bloom and Gloom," but stretched across the mane eight and put in the context of an adventure two-parter. I could get behind this. 

Really, really good apples. 

More like not enough. 

Yeah, it'd depend a lot on the how and why. I never finished reading it, but there's an arc in the comics featuring a mirror world where everyone's qualities are reversed, and while that's probably a bit different from the mane six we know becoming evil, it might be a place to start. Besides, if they were to take any joy from doing evil things, their personalities would presumably be dramatically altered. 

As far as mind control is concerned, that would probably result in them following someone else's orders, which in itself could manifest in various ways. Again, assuming they become happily amoral, many of their worst qualities would probably be enhanced: Applejack's stubbornness, Rainbow's egotism, Rarity's vanity, Twilight's control freak tendencies, etc. Pinkie and Fluttershy don't have that much of an outward dark side, so they might behave more unexpectedly. Pinkie at least would probably retain her in-your-face behaviour, but Fluttershy, like with Discord, would probably be unrecognizable. That could probably be a two-parter, but the six's behaviour would probably follow a template not unlike the Discord episode, and more fun might come from others trying to save them. 

A concept I've often considered is Twilight having another "Lesson Zero"-type incident, except with far more at stake due to her duties as a princess. That's a bit different from the scenario you've proposed, but having these characters become a danger to Equestria entirely because they improperly respond to some other threat is something that has interested me for a while now; nobody would have to act all that different, except they're a bit more anxious, a bit more severe, and possibly also a bit corrupt. Now that I would like to see. 

This isn’t really the show I signed up for. It does everything it aims to do fairly well, but I don’t think it’s aiming very high. It’s not even all that funny. I kind of enjoyed it, but this show’s late-period trend of either extremely high ambition or not much at all is poison to me. Point by point:

• The hippogriff niceness is at least toned down here, but I really do feel it robs them of complexity. I have no interest in a society of do-gooders. 
• The tone here is relaxed and mild to the point that I didn’t feel any stakes. There’s something anti-dramatic about this particular setup, which emphasizes the best-case scenario to the point that it eliminates almost anything interesting about the blatant divorce metaphor.
• And I’m sure this mora has resonance for a lot of people, but for me it’s sort of hard to relate to. I don’t even know why Terramar felt the need to choose. What are the pressures on him to do so? Is this expectation something actual kids feel in this exact scenario? I don’t know that, so I would like more context. This isn’t empathetic art, it’s a lecture.
• This is actually some of the the most imaginative worldbuilding the show has had recently, but the sheer emphasis on it feels to me like it actively harms the metaphor. Terramar barely mentions his parents, which seems like it should be a much bigger consideration. 
• And even in an imaginative world, I’m not terribly compelled by characters just sort of frolicking in it. Worlds should serve a purpose. Here, I feel like I’m being sold a play set, which isn’t helped by the relentless expository dialogue.
• What do the CMC add here? Childish squabbling? Their presence is cute but the conflict between them feels incredibly forced and childish, and not childish in a good way. If they’re there to provide an age-appropriate voice for Terramar to relate to, the episode places little emphasis on that.
• It continues to surprise me that people are able to tolerate the Cutie Map. It always feels contrived and arbitrary to me, and they haven’t fixed it in the four years it has existed. We’re just supposed to accept it, and I find the show doesn’t make much effort to give it any purpose beyond making impersonal stories happen. I truly hate it. At least someone finally decided to go even without being summoned.
• This was cute, sure. I didn’t hate it. But it lacks most of what makes the show interesting to me. Episodes like this don’t feel like a good show, they just feel good for a kids’ show. I want to recommend this show to my friends, but often I’m not even sure why I’d reccomend it.

Score

Entertainment: 6/10

Characters: 5/10

Themes: 7/10

Story: 4/10

Overall: 55/100

On 4/16/2018 at 6:19 PM, BlackPony said:

Question: Why are people so offended by what AJ was doing? It was in RDs imagination, even if it was still AppleJack's character. The only real appearance she had was in the beginning, and honestly, I don't take issue with her being overprotective here; she's not completely going out of her way to protect them, like she did in SPTWOM, but she's just showing concern for them. 

Well, even interpreted charitably, her instructions are awfully vague. 

On 4/16/2018 at 11:18 PM, Justin_Case001 said:

There's just nothing to say about, really.  Ummm....  it was nice that we got to see Rainbow in her 'bolt uniform....for a few seconds....at her friggin locker.  *SIGH*  Sure would be nice if we could see her fly with the 'bolts....y'know....actually do something with them....actually get some 'bolt action for once....after all those seasons of waiting for her to achieve her dream...all we get is occasional shots of her putting her towel away at her locker.

I'm not terribly bothered by this, but it is somewhat ironic that one of the few times we've seen Rainbow fly with the Wonderbolts was in season 5's "Rarity Investigates!," which was before she got the full-fledged membership. 

On 4/16/2018 at 11:18 PM, Justin_Case001 said:

So, the only thing that doesn't make sense is this: why in the wide, wide world of Equestria would Rainbow, or ANY WONDERBOLT, give one single BUCK about riding a roller coaster?!!

She does this,

  Reveal hidden contents

 

and she thinks it's so cool to go down a little roller coaster drop?  It would be like if Superman rode on an airplane and went, "Wow!  This is great!  We're flying!!"

Because it's an exciting experience which doesn't require her to exert herself? The implication is that the rollercoaster is especially intense.