Malarkey

All right, hear me out--I am not saying that it's BETTER if Sprout weren't to be punished, just that it's completely fine if he ISN'T. Furthermore, if a person in real life did the same things Sprout did, of course they ought to be punished. I am keeping in mind that this is a fictional world from a childrens' program. First off, let's ask ourselves: What is the purpose of punishment? There are two main reasons: Justice and discipline. In these cases, justice is not only to inflict payback against an offender so that they fairly receive as much suffering as they caused, but also to give closure and a sense of contentment to the people who were hurt. Justice has to be DESIRED. Discipline is to give someone an unpleasant feeling after they have committed unwanted behavior, so that they are less likely to re-offend in their efforts to not experience the unpleasant feeling again. Discipline is needed if someone needs to be taught a LESSON. For example, let's look at Starlight Glimmer. She wasn't really punished for her crimes. Why? There was no need for justice because Twilight didn't WANT to prosecute her, and there was no need for discipline because Starlight Glimmer had ALREADY learned her lesson. That can very well apply to Sprout too. Sprout does not need to be taught a lesson because he already KNOWS better now. The entire reason he destroyed Sunny's house was because he was certain unicorns and pegasi would be deadly if magic came back. But now that he knows they're not a threat, he's not going to repeat his destructive behavior. Sure, there was unfortunately that moment at the end where Sprout makes one last desperate attempt to seek his mother's approval, but look how remorseful he is after he snapped out of his power-mad, fear-driven rampage. There were some scrapped storyboards in which Sprout tries to run away, and then Izzy grabs him with her magic and he gets forced to apologize while still being terrified that Izzy could fry his brain. A lot of people prefer that ending idea, and I used to as well, but I realized that the current ending is much better for Sprout as a character. In the scrapped ending, he tried to RUN AWAY from his problems. In the finalized ending, he didn't run from the reality of his actions and bravely faced them no matter how terrible he felt--he even walked up next to Queen Haven, a pegasus. In the scrapped ending, he was FORCED TO APOLOGIZE even though he didn't yet understand that the other pony breeds aren't a threat! He still thought the unicorns could fry pony brains, and would probably go on being utterly confused that everyone wanted him to apologize for trying to stop something they ALL used to fear. In the current ending, he doesn't SAY sorry but to be fair, nopony else ever outwardly apologizes for formerly being racist. And you can tell how regretful he is just by watching him; he has his ears lowered moreso than just about any other pony ever did in the movie. So anyway, with the finalized ending in mind, punishing Sprout WON'T prevent any future crimes committed by him, because he WON'T commit such big crimes anymore anyway, now that he realizes the truth. Things will be the same whether or not he is disciplined. So what about the reason of justice? Should he still be punished anyway so that Sunny can get justice for having her home destroyed? Well... the big question is, does she WANT him to be punished? Everypony seemed to accept and forgive each other in the end despite all their histories of hating each other. Sunny said love and friendship are the true magic and that EVERYPONY needs to come together. Everypony has a past they're probably ashamed of now; Sprout just took things farther than the others. Queen Haven and her daughters are seemingly forgiven for lying about being able to fly, despite how angry all the pegasi were before. Phyllis is seemingly forgiven despite the weapons she made and the propaganda she spread. The ponies want to leave everything behind them and are too delighted about having their magic restored to bear any grudges. So, unless ponies WANT Sprout to be punished, he won't be. And it doesn't seem like anypony would. Plus he's already somewhat faced repercussions via the shock of almost running over his beloved mom--that must have felt TERRIBLE. I have the Warriors book series in mind, in which Graystripe has kittens with a cat from a different Clan--which is forbidden. However, his mate passes away during birth. Despite breaking the code, Graystripe doesn't get a proper punishment, because "the pain of losing his mate was punishment enough". I think the guilt of realizing his actions weren't necessary, and the horror of almost hurting his mom, are enough of a repercussion for Sprout. Besides, if we punish Sprout, then pretty much every single other pony in Equestria would need to be punished to some extent for harboring prejudice in the first place. You may say "That's not how things work! People can't get off scot-free just because they look sorry and other people don't ask for them to get punished!" I repeat, I'm looking at this from the context of the My Little Pony universe rather than real-world rules. And in case you need a reminder, here's a list of SOME of the bad actions that MLP:FiM characters committed that went unpunished: Fluttershy selfishly kept one of the Parasprites in secret, despite knowing how harmful they were. Because of her, the Parasprites multiplied again after the Mane 6 efforts to eradicate them, and ended up DESTROYING much of PonyVille. Spike let his greed get the best of him and conducted all sorts of theft and property destruction in Secret of my Excess. Starlight Glimmer ruled over a town and brainwashed ponies into abandoning their identities for a much longer time period than Sprout was emperor. Rainbow Dash abused her power to use the weather factory for her own purposes in Tanks for the Memories, causing a lot of damage and destruction in the process. That's just a few. Punishing Sprout won't change anything. He's obviously someone who hasn't experienced kindness or been listened to throughout his whole life, and being jailed or whatever will only isolate him further. He needs to feel respected, trusted, and important to others--and the only way he will become a better pony is not by being punished, but experiencing support and companionship from more ponies besides his mom. And at the end, his mom's reaction of completely dismissing him and walking away instead of addressing the matter definitely isn't a way of helping.

I already briefly explained in a forum reply why I personally am more interested in G5 than G4 now. But I thought I would go into further detail here. I am not saying my opinion is right or that G4 isn't great, I just want to explain why I've developed a stronger connection to G5 already! Please note that a lot of this is SUBJECTIVE! For example, when I say "The Mane 5 are more interesting than the Mane 6" I mean they are more interesting to ME, and I'm not trying to state a fact or expect others to agree. Just to note, I have seen all 9 seasons of FiM and the movie. Section 1: I prefer Generation 5 characterization. Point 1: The Mane 5 are overall more interesting to me and less tropey than the Mane 6. Twilight is an anxious nerd. Rarity is a glamorous fashionista. Rainbow Dash is an egotistical jock. Applejack is a hard-working cowgirl. Fluttershy is a shy introvert. Pinkie Pie is an energetic party animal. YES, there's a lot more to the Mane 6 than that! But on a basic level, they're characters I had already seen plenty of times before with minimal subversion aside from in Rarity's case (which is a reason why she's my favorite Mane 6). I already know how any Mane 6 is going to react in almost any scenario. In any FiM episode, I already knew Rarity was likely going to make a remark about fashion and Twilight was likely going to have some dialogue about books/research. There's nothing wrong with cartoon characters revolving around specific exaggerated personality traits, but the Mane 5 feel more like real people have the availability for wider complexity in my opinion. I think the only super-tropey Mane 5 pony is Pipp as she's the "phone-obsessed girl" archetype that has risen in recent years, but I think she still showed subversion in the little screen time she had since she's part of the friend group instead of being a frenemy/antagonist. Comparisons suck, but for the sake of examples... Zipp is an athletic pegasus with a dose of snark, but she doesn't brag about herself at every opportunity and despite being a tomboyish "rebel princess", she isn't fiercely against femininity like I feared she would be. The closest she gets to that is when she's like "I didn't sign up for this" at the prospect of getting a unicorn make-over, but she quickly owns it instead of being the "Ewww I hate dresses!" type like RD. I just don't like it when writers think the key to making a strong or unique female character is to make them resent girly things. Izzy is ditzy and energetic, but she feels a lot more down-to-earth than, say, Pinkie Pie or Silverstream. I don't like to call Pinkie Pie "annoying" but she can be way too disrespectful of those around her. Plus hers and Silverstream's voices can be VERY harsh on my sensitive ears sometimes, and it's hard for me to have a strong connection with Pinkie since she has limited emotional depth. She does have some serious emotional moments but they're rare. Ironically, Izzy is my LEAST favorite of the Mane 5, for one of the same reasons--I don't see much emotional complexity in her aside from the campfire scene; personally, characters who are just about ALWAYS happy are difficult for me to connect with, but I still prefer Izzy over similar G4 characters because she seems a lot sweeter and more thoughtful, and less likely to disrespect her friend's boundaries like Pinkie Pie often does. Point 2: The Mane 5 have a more believable bond. The Mane 6's friendship is great most of the time, yes. But while rewatching early seasons of Friendship is Magic, the Mane 6 could be such jerks to each other at times! All friends go through rough patches, but things like Rainbow Dash and Applejack accusing each other of cheating and then trying to get the other to lose, or Applejack and Rarity reveling in each other's suffering during the Look Before You Sleep episode, are painful to see. (And I actually really like Look Before You Sleep, lol). It felt as if the Mane 6 weren't actually FRIENDS until significantly later in the series. There's still a possibility of the Mane 5 making the same mistake and being needless jerks to each other in the series, but so far, this group of friends has a much stronger start and I have faith their friendship will be nicely executed. The first episode of Friendship is Magic just had all the PonyVille ponies irritating Twilight and imposing on her boundaries, so I couldn't really feel their chemistry in the next episode where they actually did become friends. The Mane 5 met and developed their relationship in a more engaging way and all with their own dynamics. Some were understandably snarky and distrusting of each other at first, but you can watch them develop a genuine understanding for one another and I can't imagine them being outwardly disrespectful to each other from now on (aside from possibly the pegasus sisters, which would be fine by me as they clearly have some familial bond issues they need to work through). Point 3: The male characters are better-written this time. We did eventually get some good male characters like Sunburst and Shining Armor, but Friendship is Magic was pretty terrible with its male characters at first. Big Macintosh was nice but kind of empty and it took a long while for him to get development. Snips and Snails were just unfortunately treated as butts for terrible, unfunny jokes. Spike wasn't really treated well either, and all the other male ponies have inklings of loveable personalities but didn't get enough screentime or development. All 4 of the main male ponies in A New Generation were great and thought-out characters. Hitch is confident in a charming instead of annoying way, can't resist music, attracts animals, and went through the best character development in the movie in my opinion. He has a reputation to uphold but tried to remain friends with Sunny despite her breaking laws all the time, and despite being such a stickler for rules and tradition, he grew to realize that pegasi and unicorns could be his friends after all. Sprout is a hilarious and interesting character who is different from any other pony in MLP history, a cowardly manchild who was jealous of Hitch and set up by his mom to deal with the panicked town... which led to him going mad with power after he was given control for the first time in his life. Argyle was an intelligent and loving single dad who was dedicated in his research, and raised Sunny to have faith in harmony despite everypony else believing him to be wrong. Alphabittle seemed tough and gruff but he's got a youthful, competitive spirit and warmed up to the other ponies by the end of the movie, and it's fun to have a character interested in bets and games. Heck, even the pegasus guard Thunder is a lovable character, being an endearing dork who's a bit of a scaredy-cat and relies on Zoom to deal with things. Point 4: My combined love for the Mane 5 is bigger than my combined love for the Mane 6. THIS POINT IS PURELY REVOLVED AROUND MY PERSONAL OPINION. Rarity is the only Mane 6 pony I ever felt a strong passion for, and I love Fluttershy and Twilight after her. But Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie never appealed to me much. In fact I prefer Applejack's characterization in Pony Life. With the Mane 5, I absolutely love Sunny, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp on a level equal or above Rarity depending on the pony, and Izzy is the only one on a lower tier. When MLPG4 merch was still common in stores, I'd struggle to decide who I wanted to buy if Rarity wasn't available. When I saw plushes, I didn't really care enough to get anypony besides Rarity unless they were super-duper cheap on clearance. But with the Mane 5, I am excited to get merch of any and all of them. So naturally, I'm more excited about a generation where I absolutely love 4/5 of the main characters, than one where I love 3/6. And I love Sprout even more than the Mane 5 or any other MLP character in history, so he's another reason why I love the G5 cast so much! Section 2: I prefer the Generation 5 style. Point 1: More life-like but still adorable traits. It took me a long time to warm up to G4's style because of the overly massive eyes and tiny, pointed snouts compared to previous generations. I got used to it and I really see its cuteness now. But I think G5 has the perfect blend of MLP styles. The ponies still maintain irresistible cuteness and stylized faces but now they also have a more reasonable eye size, more rounded out snouts, less wonky leg anatomy, and HOOVES! The G4 style still has some pros such as brighter colors, more distinct mane styles, and more variation in tail styles, but overall the G5 style has more appeal to me. Point 2: More personal, detailed expressions and mannerisms. Combined with the more reasonable face proportions, the realistic expressions and their subtle changes makes watching G5 ponies similar to looking at a real person, forming a more personal connection. FiM had great expressions too but I feel as if I can empathize with G5 ponies more. Every slightest lift of an eyebrow, or shifting of their weight on their hooves, really brings the G5 ponies to life. G4 ponies are more expressive in a cartoonish way, but G5 ponies are more expressive in a subtle and human way (while still retaining the familiar, cute pony behaviors from G4 such as drooping their ears and sitting down like dogs). Point 3: More immersive and easier to imagine the ponies as real. I am fully expecting the G5 series to have a massive quality downgrade, but as it stands now, the G5 style works wonders in making these ponies feel real. Just by looking at them I can tell the exact texture of their hooves, fuzz, and manes, and I can see how they look at any angle imaginable. This way it feels more like the characters I love so much actually exist, and it's a lot easier to daydream about them accurately. It's difficult to imagine how the manes of G4 ponies would look at specific angles as they turn their heads and stuff, and I can't even imagine what G4 hooves feel like haha. But G5 ponies actually seem there without needing fan art to make them more life-like. Section 3: G5 has the chance to avoid G4's flaws Point 1: FiM had a lot of great moments... but a lot of unfortunate moments too. Nothing FiM has done has ever really angered me, and I don't HATE any of the episodes. But there are lots and lots of boring episodes like Applejack's Day Off, and painful moments like Fluttershy pretty much telling Pinkie and Rarity their lives are meaningless. Then there are issues where the show was terrible with its morals, like Over a Barrel. They took a really serious, heavy topic and acted as if both parties' problems were on the same level even though the ponies were the ones who put apple trees on the buffalo land without their permission! A New Generation didn't have such big problems... and of course that's only because it's one movie, and throughout FiM's 9 seasons of episodes, there's bound to be plenty of bad. However the movie was very promising and I have faith that the new series won't repeat certain missteps FiM took. Writers USUALLY know to be more careful with the things they teach kids in the modern age, and I'm certain the characters will be nicer to each other throughout this new series so they can be good role models for young girls. Point 2: G4 added too many characters, leaving some in the dust. I can't be certain G5 won't make this same mistake, but I don't think modern CGI animated kids shows typically add many new characters to the cast. Friendship is Magic just kept adding, and adding, and adding... which was fine at first, and of course Hasbro always needs new characters to make toys of, but there were plenty of instances where the show could have added development to an existing character but instead introduced a brand new one only to never show up again. I think Cheerilee could've been used a lot more but she sadly wasn't, and Silver Spoon + Diamond Tiara were practically abandoned after their redemption! Then there was the thing with G4 adding a bunch of other species. I don't mind it much, but I don't really feel invested in the other species and I prefer when My Little PONY is about the ponies... plus regarding the yaks, something feels off about introducing an entire species who just likes to destroy things and can't talk properly... Even the G4 movie had way too many characters in its cast, and none of them got enough chance to be developed. We have the Mane 6, Spike, Capper, Tempest Shadow, Grubber, Storm King, Princess Skystar, Queen Novo, all of the pirates... In A New Generation, the cast was smaller, so each character expressed their personality and played a satisfying role in the story. The only pony who got the short end of the stick was Pipp, being the last of the Mane 5 to show up in the film and thus having less screentime. But hey, at least she was used more than Fluttershy in the G4 movie. Section 4: I had a much better first impression of G5 than with G4. Point 1: It took me years to finally like G4. However, I'm loving G5 right from the very start of the generation, so this generation already means a lot more to me in the long run. I loved My Little Pony since I was a kid. I liked watching My Little Pony Tales and the original My Little Pony movie, and I had a lot of G3 toys. Then G4 happened... I remember the first poster I saw for Friendship is Magic in a magazine. I HATED the style so much! I barely used the internet at the time, but eventually G4 ponies were everywhere on an unrelated forum I used. I eventually watched the first 2 episodes of Friendship is Magic and was not impressed. I was pretty much an anti-brony, but it wasn't because I thought ponies were cringey and girly, it was because I had been a MLP fan for a long time and didn't like the new incarnation at all. Every so often, I watched an episode of Friendship is Magic to give it another shot, and I slowly warmed up to it by the time Season 4 was over. When Season 5 came around, I watched the two-part opener... and finally, FINALLY loved G4 of My Little Pony. It took like 4 years. But I LOVE Generation 5 from the very beginning and I'm already super excited for more content. And no, my interest in it isn't just because G4 exists. I'd love this even if I never liked G4, and I'd prefer the series to have as little G4 references as possible since I've lost most of my passion for G4 anyway. I've never felt this happy about a franchise in a long time, and I'm so so so glad G5 exists! I've already watched the movie over 35 times and I'm definitely going to remember G5 more fondly than G4, since I made an instant connection with it from the start. Point 2: The tone and traits of G5 are more to my tastes. I am someone who enjoys focus on slice-of-life, drama, or interpersonal relationships in cartoons. I prefer villains, if any, to be ordinary people/ponies instead of big magical monsters. Lore and high fantasy usually bore the heck out of me. I'd rather see the Mane 5 have cute tea parties and strengthen their bond. How do I know the G5 Netflix series will appeal to my tastes? Well, I don't, but the movie already had a normal pony villain instead of a big monster of magical creature so that's a GREAT sign. There seems to be less focus on high-level magic and fantasy and the world seems more down-to-earth. The crystals and alicorn transformation are perfect, but I'm not really interested in more advanced things like fancy spells and big magical locations and stuff. Plus... This implies the series will be heavily character-driven and possibly slice-of-lifey like I want. I don't know if "exploration" is about exploring the world or exploring one's self, but I hope it's the latter. And the fact the article noted connection with the characters and self-expression makes me confident the series will have the perfect tone and themes I'm hoping for. For me, the characters themselves are what I invest my interest in most. That's all for this blog entry. Sorry if it was too long. I want to write some character analysis later!