Antismurf9001

That's fair, that would probably work too. I'm not sure if that would solve the problems that I had with the music, since a movie would likely have a bigger budget and thus feasibly be able to improve on it. I do agree though, a lot of the story problems could have been solved with another 20 minutes or so.

Okay, first of all, I want whoever reads this to know that I actually did enjoy the finale. It was really freaking good! However I have problems with it, some more important than others. Just so everyone is clear, the reason that I'm about to be harsh on it is because I enjoyed it, if that makes any sense. Most things were fantastic. The story was cool, Tirek was a pretty decent villain, the initial interaction between Tirek and Discord was awesome! I'm sure that many people will agree that the visuals were the best that we've seen in MLP, period. I honestly believe that my favorite part of the whole finale was the song with the princesses, but that doesn't mean that other parts weren't done really well too. And then there were a couple of things that weren't quite so fantastic. A lot of people would probably list this as a minor point, but the music really bugged me. It just... wasn't up to par with what I was seeing on the screen. Particularly during the end and the battle with Tirek, it just sounded so... standard. It was like a normal episode; closer to Applejack kicking a chimera in the face than two demigods in a battle for the fate of a planet. That really disappointed me, and I would love to see those ending scenes reorchestrated. Then, there was the ending with Discord: I liked it, right up until Discord had his friendship monologue... It felt so forced, and cheesy. They could have incorporated it so much better and not had it be so obvious that he was doing this monologue. Give it a moment of silence, give it some time to sink in that Twilight just gave up Equestria to save her friends, and make the viewer really question whether or not that was the right decision. Make the viewer realize that Twilight just sacrificed the lives of millions for the temporary freedom of six friends! Then, bring back the hope, open the box, shoot friendship railguns, etc, etc. It's not like the team can't do scenes like this, it was done exceptionally well in Return of Harmony. Just... urgh... As my final thought, I think that the main problem with the episodes was that it was a 2-part season finale. Why is this a problem? Because I honestly think that this should have been a full-length movie instead. I fully believe that all of the problems that I mentioned could have been solved if they had been given more time, and they could have made the really good parts even better. Think of what they could have done with Tirek if they were given an extra 45 minutes! Or the fear spreading over the population of Equestria as their magic energy was being stolen! I have no deep hatred for Equestria Girls (it actually turned out to be much better than I expected), but Hasbro, this is the movie that we wanted! Lastly, yes, as many people seem to do, I am judging this on a level with films like Schindler's List and Cloud Atlas rather than what an 8-year old girl would typically watch. It's just... when you have something that's already this good, how hard would it be to take it the one step further to make it fantastic? Again, I really did enjoy the finale, but I feel like it could have (and should have) been so much better.

I think it's quite obvious that you've been recognized as the Chosen One, prophesized to bring balance to kids shows and unite all of them beneath the glorious banner of the Great and Holy Hasbronan EmpireTM. That, or your destiny is to be horrifically sacrificed before a golden idol of Pinkie Pie, you can never really tell with these darn prophesies.

My idea wouldn't exactly be a 'house', it would be a movie theater advertising a full-length MLP movie where all of the characters remain as ponies. Once the audience was seated, the exit doors would lock, and there could be no escape. The previews would run (which would, of course, be no less than 13 repetitions of the Gak commercial), and then it would proceed with a 10-hour loop of the following:

Did they just turn the Equestria Games into a Spike episode? I... wasn't expecting that. (Note that I did not read any of the synopses.) All in all, I'd say that it wasn't bad. I thought that the message at the end was really good, I'm just not sure that I cared for how they got to it. I don't know, maybe I was just expecting a little bit more since they've pretty much been building up to this episode since last season. Overall, it was okay. In any case, we'll see what the finale has in store for us next week. I usually don't like to hype myself up for this kind of stuff, but the promo commercial is making it look pretty awesome!

Right, but wasn't that the same castle that they defeated Nightmare Moon in during the first two episodes? Or am I getting something wrong (which is highly possible, I only saw Castle Mane-ia once)?

I don't think that it was specifically stated, but the castle Spike got the book from looked like the castle in the Everfree forest, and I don't know of any other abandoned castles that it could be.

I actually thought that she had said "Derp Magic" for a moment... Also, has anyone else noticed how nonchalantly they go to the abandoned castle now? In the first episode, it was this terrifying adventure though *gasp* THE EVERFREE FOREST but now it's more like, "Eh, we're going to the the Princesses' old castle now. See ya later."

Oh wow, that was much better than I had expected! For the first half or so, I could only see it as a combination of a bunch of other episodes (Lesson Zero, Secret of My Excess, Cutie Pox...), but then it got really good. Instead of Rarity realizing what she was doing wrong, it was Spike who had to put his friendship with Rarity on the line so that he could help her. It was an interesting concept for an episode, and it was presented very well in my opinion. Most importantly though, we have the return of Octavia! Okay, maybe not most importantly, but it was appreciated. She hasn't been seen since mid-season 2 (in Sweet and Elite). It was getting to the point where I just figured that the show staff had forgotten about her. Overall, a great episode, and it's very possibly my favorite Spike episode. I'd also venture to say that it's one of the better episodes of the whole season. Not the best, but it's certainly up in the 'above average' category.