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Why is it that ever Griffin we learned the name of all start with G? Gilda, Gustave Le Grand, Greta, Grandpa Gruff, King Grover, King Guto, Gabby, Gallus.

*insert long awkward exchange of Silverstream trying to convince Gallus to do an AMA... and him finally relenting* *sigh* Hello... I'm Gallus. Hi, I'm Silverstream and I'm the niece of Queen Novo. And I'm just a lowly orphan from Griffonstone. Anyway, we're both students attending Twilight's School of Friendship. We also did save Equestria from Crazy Glue... uh, I mean Cozy Glow. *giggles* That should've been her real name. Also, aren't you forgetting something Gallus? Huh? Oh right. Silver and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. *hugs Gallus extremely tight* And I love you soooooo much! *releases Gallus* Whoops, sorry. Anyways, I think we introduced ourselves enough. Feel free to ask us anything. Well, almost anything... Please read before posting

Since the show introduced the Student Six and treated them as the main role for a whole season and some, I'm curious what you all think of them. If you like/dislike them, what do you like/dislike the most about them and why? What distinct qualities and roles do you think they have apart from the Mane Six? How the aspects above are depicted through the show? What do you think of the future of Student Six? No need to answer according to all of that, but those are just what I'm most curious about.

I just noticed no one has made a thread for mister blue sarcastic griffon yet. He might be a little brash but he is a cool dude! You wouldn't deny him this would you?

Title: What Lies Beneath Release Dates: September 22, 2018 (official US Discovery Family airdate) Writer: Mike Vogel Synopsis: "The students at Twilight's School are cramming for a History of Magic in Equestria exam in the school library when they discover a part of the school that no pony else knows about. When they decide to do some exploring, they end up learning much more than they bargained for." I got the feeling we'll be getting some intense stuff here! Maybe some backstory for the Student 6 that even they don't know about! We shall see! Weeeeeeee shalllllllllllll seeeeeeeeee! Episode link:

Gallus the Griffon sabotaged the Hearth's Warming tree with a purpose, so that he didn't have to go back to Griffonstone and face the loss of his family. Now, with the help of Twilight and his fellow classmates, he must go to Griffonstone and face the tragic circumstances surrounding that dark day in his life. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/432834/gallus-tragedy

When the Tree of Harmony saved the Student 6 a student said "their glowing like the elements" that is incorrect they were glowing like the Mane 6 like the rainbow vision from season 4 were not the colors of a rainbow but the Mane 6's colors. Twilight is purple, Pinkie is pink, Rainbow dash is blue, Applejack is orange, Fluttershy is yellow, and Rarity is white. They weren't glowing the colors of the elements but the element bearers. Gallus was purple=Magic Silverstream was pink=Laughter Smolder was blue=Loyalty Yona was orange=Honesty Sandbar was yellow=Kindness Ocellus was white=Generosity

Note: Credit to @Ganondox and Loganberry for this review. Like using Chrysalis to explain past events to the Everfree trees, much of what Vogel uses to start What Lies Beneath is exposition to describe the Tree of Harmony, its history, and purposes. But rather than using a character babble it out, it's told in the context of a classroom lecture followed by studying for a surprise test, and it wasn't all explained immediately or through one mouth. When Twilight lectured, students either asked questions, didn't believe her, or became frustrated over not knowing pony history, organically informing the audience of its lore. Now, whereas HW Club gave the Young Six the boost they truly deserve, WLB expands them further. Each of the Young Six start having doubts over whether becoming friends with others is natural to their consciences, culture, and themselves. Cozy Glow nicely sets up the conflict by going deep into parts of the Young Six's psyche, exploiting areas of their culture and livelihoods that are really sensitive to them. Is it racist? Absolutely; she's stereotyping the creatures as inferior to ponykind, and given how dubious she's been this season, it's intentional. Unlike Neighsay (whose racism is mixed with bitterness), her manipulation is masked with sweet innocence and then changes the subject, as if she meant no harm. Yet, pay attention to the moment afterwards and their little argument that night in the library, started by Gallus after getting annoyed at Silverstream for tapping her claws on the table. Her superiority complex cut deeply in them. And it's at this moment where the episode turns into an improvement of two past episodes: the pilot and The Crystal Empire. To get this out of the way, I agree with both Loganberry and @Ganondox regarding the Tree of Harmony's tests for the Young Six. Not only were they really harsh, but also morally questionable. What if Gallus failed his test? Would he be trapped in the enclosing cavern forever? Would the Tree create another test? Or what about Yona's arachnophobia; will she become so scared of spiders that she'd rather kill them over acquainting them? Fear is reactionary and not always based on logic. (And the dialogue was also a little rough with plenty of repetitive dialogue.) So, why does the Tree get a pass when Celestia and Luna don't? The Tree is omnipotent and understands the characters' strengths, weaknesses, and virtues. After seeing a friendship-related problem, she ties it to being(s) who can successfully heal it. Sometimes it's one, two, or more, depending on who and what they all have in common. Of course, this is a little different, because she tests them to determine whether they can become friends with each other or not. Additionally, despite its strong powers and subsequent growth, it can't fix it alone. Faith is placed upon them, and it's up to them to use their knowledge and friendship capabilities to solve it. OTOH, Celestia and Luna already defeated King Sombra, who cursed the Crystal Empire into disappearance. But after one of their guards alert of their resurgence, what does Celly do? Write to Twilight and place thousands of lives on her shoulders! Conversely, the stakes here are nowhere nearly as severe. In addition to needlessly putting countless lives on the line, they assigned her and her friends to take part in Twilight's challenge, but Celestia warned her that she and only she can save the Empire, contradicting the assignment Celestia placed on her since the beginning of the series. If she goes against the test in any way, she risks failing. So once she's trapped and requests Spike to return the Crystal Heart to its altar, she's rightfully worried, hence her dismay after Sombra's defeat. And the episode also has the gall to emphasize passing the test as the most important plot point over protecting the empire from Sombra, which makes the sacrifice lesson she spewed really hypocritical and phony. WLB counteracts this. Firstly, the Tree can't mandate them to take her test; they choose to explore what was under the drain grate she popped open. When Gallus crossly questioned her tactics, she was precise in her reply. Secondly, from the start, she explicitly tested their meddle to make them prove whether friendship's in their nature or not. She has the wherewithal to know that, yes, they'll break free, but will also not leave until they found each other. Tightening their friendship was the purpose for her tests, and the moral excellently backs her up. And how does WLB improve the pilot, specifically Part 2? Vogel spends a great deal of time equally pacing and exploring each of their fears along with sensible ways to face and beat them. Gallus and Smolder beat theirs first, but WLB doesn't forget about them. Instead, when one of their friends is very vulnerable and doubts if they'll ever conquer their fears, they bond with them more and use their own experiences as an example of overcoming them. The bonding between Ocellus and Smolder has added weight, because changelings and dragons retain an awful reputation (dragons for their brutish nature and history of terrorizing pony villages, changelings for nearly overthrowing Equestrian royalty twice), and the same can be said with Silverstream's horrific belief that the Storm King will reconquer Mount Aris. One little thing that gets overlooked is what Smolder and Gallus say after they arrive at the cave entrance… …AND after reuniting with all but Sandbar: With every opportunity to leave the cave, they willingly risked being trapped to find the others. Twice. No matter the consequences, they were NOT leaving ANYONE behind! Their friends matter, period! When the Mane Six were tested in the Everfree Forest, each one was segmented. When one trial ended, another began, and they were all written in to prove they properly represented the Bearers of Harmony. Sure, individualizing them isn't a bad thing, but by splitting them all up into only a few minutes, none of them had time to develop or breathe. Each segment was crammed, and be being bound to the E/I rating, the stakes weren't heightened as much as they should or paced more evenly. By contrast, Vogel intertwined each and every one of them simultaneously. None of their tasks ended at once, but he neither rushed them through nor ended them abruptly. He gradually built up their fears, exploited them, and ended them properly. What do I mean? They conquered their fears at the right time of the story, used the right characters to help pass their tests, and only after Vogel exhausted development of those fears. No matter the tone, each of their fears are treated with equal validity: Smolder's fear of femininity overtaking her persona was by far the most lighthearted, but the episode didn't treat it as a joke and utilized it as an example of being able to change from who she once was to Ocellus, who recalled how they used to treat others back then. The Storm King was already destroyed, but Silverstream's fear of his return resulted in her cheerful, optimistic personality being replaced to debilitating fright to the point of crying. Gallus realized his "return" was a mirage, but that wasn't enough for her. So he used his fear of small spaces, helped her overcome her fear of his return, and she let it all out to him. How Yona faced her fear was the most different. Gallus's trick foreshadowed what was to come, but when spiders faced her, her strongman personality gave way to intense arachnophobia. When spiders got too close, she was justifiably upset. With no friend she knew around, she wished they were there so she could get out. But in a twist, the lead spider Spindle talked to her. What the spiders were doing was that they weren't trying to scare her. They wanted to help, Spindle leading by example. Language barrier aside, they shared something in common: befriending each other and reuniting her with the others. Recall the second quote box above. Sandbar's fear's more subdued, but nonetheless validated. From the beginning, he focused on returning to his friends so they, "Dash," and "Rarity" can go on this adventure. Every time he questions his teachers' logic, they manipulate him into removing doubt and forcing him to run in a massive loop. Soon, he has enough, questions them outright, and when they express disappointment in him for caring about his friends than them, he turns the tables on them. As he lectures them, his friends arrive and watch from behind, adding more weight into how much they mean to him. He may be the quietest and most straight-man-ish of the Young Six, but he also needs to grow; confronting his fear of disappointment head-on was a fantastic solution. Without the constrictive E/I rating and by rearranging the plot, Vogel legitimized the stakes without phoning them in, which makes us invested in their obstacles, friendships, and outcomes. This next paragraph deals with spoilers for the S8 finale and S9 leaks/speculation, so it's under the tag. Overall, What Lies Beneath is another really excellent episode within S8B's fantastic lineup.

Well this complicates things. Now Gallus is added into the list of characters whose family is a complete mystery, alongside Spike, Smolder, and Scoots (other than her aunts)! So... who's up to theorizing Gallus' family? Here's my theory: Gallus comes from royalty, but since royalty is no longer a thing in Griffonstone, Gallus might have no idea, and it's up to him to reunite Griffonstone as it's rightful king! Yeah, that theory came outta nowhere like my Smolder theory and it's random, but this could give Gallus what he rightfully deserves! Other than Gabby, Gallus is a griffin that can reunite Griffonstone, he could make a great leader figure! How about your theories on Gallus' family?

This isn't a big deal, but it has bothered me a bit. Of all the Young 6 characters, Gallus' appearance seems to bother me. It's not because he's the only male of the group, minus Sandbar. But his color scheme, while matching the Equestrian and FiM color scheme, contrasts with thel colors of the griffons: If you look at all the griffon characters thus far, Gilda, Gustave, Gabby, Grandpa Gruff or any of the background griffons, they all possess a more natural and earthy appearance in color - shades of brown, white, beige, grey, black and other similar colors and hues. Griffons in lore are predatory and carnivorous, so it makes sense that they colors that resemble or correspond to those of predatory birds like eagles, falcons, hawks and owls. Gallus by contrast, seems to notably go against this design. My theory is the animators and designers deliberately chose to give him a new style as part of a way to have the Young 6 stand out. I do find it interesting, though that Yona was kept a natural and earthy brown, like the yaks and real life yaks are. It may also be that Gallus was made to be a next generation version of Rainbow Dash, minus the rainbow. He can fly like she can, he has her laid back indifferent "cool" personality, he even has a very similar shade of cyan. If I didn't know any better, I would think the writers took that line about Rainbow Dash wanting to be a griffon several seasons back and Gallus was the egg that hatched from it: I am probably overthinking this like an egghead, but I couldn't help but fixate on the designs of the Young 6, including Gallus.

I apologize for the length of this audiovideo at 27:40mins, please take your time to listen, and I also apologize if I seem to have rambled and repeated myself at times. God Bless! Here I talk about how fans have felt after the S8 premeire, and why with these new 6 characters being introduced, that fans have nothing to worry about this season or into season 9, and why the season will be the only true season based on the school of friendship and the only season to soley feature these new 6 characters. Comments are Welcomed