S05:E01+02 - The Cutie Map

[Chaton 3,765]

 

This has to be the best comic I've seen in a long time

[Prince Firemane 309]

I've made some posts about this earlier, but I wanted to wait until there were screenshots on the FiM Wiki to elaborate... and then I kinda forgot.
 
But has anyone else noticed that the Staff of Sameness bears a resemblance to the Lance of Longinus from Neon Genesis Evangelion?

 

 

 

 

I put the images in a spoiler tag because their kinda big.

[Reptilian_water_type 8]

Hiya, I'm Reptil, And this episode is really cool. not awesome though .

 

 

[Chara 1,565]

Wouldn't Starlight Glimmer be a communist?

If so best way to explain communism to children.

Yes think of the Children

[MidnightFire1222 1,771]

I've made some posts about this earlier, but I wanted to wait until there were screenshots on the FiM Wiki to elaborate... and then I kinda forgot.

 

But has anyone else noticed that the Staff of Sameness bears a resemblance to the Lance of Longinus from Neon Genesis Evangelion?

 

 

 

 

 

I put the images in a spoiler tag because their kinda big.

 

The shape of the stick might be a nod to that staff you put in the spoilers, or it could be a coincidence. I honestly wouldn't know though, because I've never heard of the show/movie/whatever it is that it's from. It wouldn't be the first time mlp has made nods to oter shows or movies. They've done it for Doctor Who a number of times.

[Abia 258]

It would make for a better episode if their cutie marks got put on the wrong personand the rest of the season can be them coping with and trying to recover their own cutie marks.Thoughts?

 

Sounds a lot like "Magical Mystery Cure". 

[BlackWater627 700]

I'm in agreement with the majority, I believe Starlight will have to make another appearance, either as a recurring villain or as a major return at the end of the season -- which, if they do the latter, would be pretty cool. I'd love to see the lengths Starlight would go to accomplish her ultimate goal.

 

Pretty much. Double the pride, double the fall. We'll see how it goes. Personally, I'd love to see the four townsponies come back. They stole my heart. 

[Vertigo-01 101]

I've made some posts about this earlier, but I wanted to wait until there were screenshots on the FiM Wiki to elaborate... and then I kinda forgot.

 

But has anyone else noticed that the Staff of Sameness bears a resemblance to the Lance of Longinus from Neon Genesis Evangelion?

 

 

 

 

 

I put the images in a spoiler tag because their kinda big.

 

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

 

... It's probably a coincidence, BUT, that's pretty awesome all the same. And if it was a reference, then all the more reason to squee. 

[Galen Selanno 351]

Honestly, I think the other premieres were better simply because of the villains. I mean, like, the Season 1 premiere had Nightmare Moon, who was a pretty cool villain, then the Season 2 premiere had Discord, and he's, like, the shit when it comes to funny villains, and then in Season 3, we had King Sombre, and he was a super awesome villain, even if he didn't last very long, and then in Season 4 we had these awesome evil plant-monster things, plus Discord, which was super-cool. But in this season, we had a pony who was taking away cutie marks. I mean, yeah, she had evil intentions, and taking away cutie marks is really bad, but, I mean, this could have been just one mid-season episode instead of a two-part premiere, y'know?

[applelove 64]

Is The Cutie Map like Fraggle Rock?

[Vevex 2]

Well, I hope that we will get more of Starlight this season.

[BlackWater627 700]

Well, I hope that we will get more of Starlight this season.

 

Considering her exit, I'm thinking there must be more of her to come. But then Chrysalis has only had comics since eher premier episodes. I sure hope Starlight doesn't get the same. It'd be really interesting to see her in the show again. 

[Twilight Dirac 720]

 

 

Wouldn't Starlight Glimmer be a communist? If so best way to explain communism to children. Yes think of the Children

 

Her town is like a combination of a personality cult and communist philosophy.   Probably closer to a cult though.  Good way to teach kids about cults, although this one kind of felt impotent.  The no cutie mark curse thing seemed to be doing most of the actual work of keeping everybody under control.

[Guest]

i could not believe it when i saw it, but when the map appeared i noticed that this could result in going beyond the boundaries equestria! this could mean something AMAZING!

[draconictome 10]

Alllllllrightythen.

Prepare for tl;dr everyone!

 

Cutie marks! The topic on everypony's mind! This episode has made me realize a couple things about these mysterious fate tattoos and COMMENCE RANT.

 

In this episode, it is interesting when you view the results of starlight glimmer's spell. She takes the mark, and the equal sign appears in its place. The main point here is what happens when a character attempts to do something that has to do with their talent. The mark glows dark, and they are unable to perform said task successfully. However, I believe they do still have their talents. The mysterious equal signs are simply restricting the use of said talent. You can see this clearly when Pinkie pie starts to exclaim with joy... and then immediately deflates and retreats to a more conservative and neutral tone and word choice.

 

This shows that the effects of starlight's spell were not to remove their talents, but only to remove the mark and replace it with a glyph that would restrict their original talents. This raises up some questions as to what happened all the other times their cutie marks were messed with. 

 

The main 3 points that come up are magical mystery cure, blank flanks, and twilight's kingdom.

In magical mystery cure, the mane 5 have their marks switched. However, we can clearly see that they have not lost their talents. They are attempting to perform another's talent, and it is not working whatsoever. When they try out their original job, they remember what their original talent was and BAM! Cutie mark returned. It is here that I believe there is an important point. They gain their cutie marks when they realize their talent. Sound familiar? It should. The process they go through here is the same as that which happens to all foals when they first gain their butt mark, just with the added complication of element of harmony jazz and another cutie mark in the place of the original. Foals may be good at something, but it is when they realize it that their mark appears.

...twilight's kingdom, though, changes things. Ponies' marks are not simply replaced, they completely disappear! I would like to think that during this time, tirek would have been able to steal magic even from foals w/o cutie marks. The idea here is that they still have their special talent, but don't realize it yet. Therefore, they don't have a cutie mark. However, there's more! Tirek takes not only their cutie mark magic, but their racial magic as well. I'm pretty sure these are separate (see pound & pumpkin) but I'm too lazy to gather evidence here.

 

So we've come this far, and there is one question left: what magic is there in cutie marks? In twilight's kindom, the mane 6 are imbued with all sorts of magic from the mystery harmony box, and are covered in tinier versions of their cutie mark. Definitely something there. Also another point: Why would starlight glimmer need the marks if they're just symbols and the original talent is still in the possession of the original pony? I'm missing something here. Now DISCUSS WITH ME.

 

 

Wouldn't Starlight Glimmer be a communist?

Starlight glimmer is not a communist and [TOWN NAME REDACTED] is not either. It's a cult. I forget who mentioned it in their analysis of the episode, but their wonderful little community has all the elements of a cult. Plus, not everypony in the town in equal. Pegasi, unicorns and stuff. Also their philosophy is specifically directed towards equality by cutie mark, not equality in general. 

 

 

Honestly, I think the other premieres were better simply because of the villains.

OBJECTION! I disagree!

Yes, it is true that the other two-parters had more action, and the villains had plans that threatened "all of equestria!" But seriously, you can only have so many plots for eqine domination before it gets redundant. Starlight is a much more personal and unsettling villain, with a backstory that seems to be intriguing!

Also, in other season finales/premieres, they have used a lot of deus ex machina. Crystal heart, love shockwave, element blast x 3, and other sorts of things. *coughcoughrainbowpowercoughcough* Just like the grand galloping gala, this premiere throws away magical princess/super action tropes and does something different. This is good writing and I like the direction they are taking! 

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

I don't know about you guys, but that look that Twilight and Pinkie Pie gave Fluttershy was kinda creepy looking.

[throwawayaccount9238179 1]

Maybe this episode is american propaganda telling children that communism is a bad thing! 

Just kidding, maybe I'm just thinking too hard about a "kid" show.

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

This episode just screams "Return of Harmony pt 1 & 2." Discord turns the mane six into their complete opposites, the equality cutie mark seems to do the same thing. We see Fluttershy blow a rasberry(which she would never do). 

Edited May 28, 2015 by Candy Star

[Jeric 46,843]

This episode just screams "Return of Harmony pt 1 & 2." Discord turns the mane six into their complete opposites, the equality cutie mark seems to do the same thing. We see Fluttershy blow a rasberry(which she would never do).

How was Rainbow Dash not being able to fly fast similar to her leaving her friends behind? AJ also didn't turn into a liar. I'll stop there. I'm not seeing the similarities ... and there are worst crimes than being compared to one of the best episodes ever.

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

How was Rainbow Dash not being able to fly fast similar to her leaving her friends behind? AJ also didn't turn into a liar. I'll stop there. I'm not seeing the similarities ... and there are worst crimes than being compared to one of the best episodes ever.

 Fluttershy seemed to be the most effected, doing an action she never meant to; but i guess starlight doing this:

 

 

 

 

 

I guess that set her off, but not sure if her kindness was taken away or she just couldn't help herself. After realizing it, Fluttershy covers her mouth. But this seemed to do the opposite of what discord did to them, taking away their cutie marks is the same as discord taking their strongest traits and reversing them. But that's just my opinion.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Candy Star

[Luffyiscool 397]

We see Fluttershy blow a rasberry

No, we don't. 

 

 

Starlight didn't do it either. The image you posted is an edit.

 

 

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

No, we don't. 

 

 

Starlight didn't do it either. The image you posted is an edit.

It is?  Well now i'm embarrassed.​ But that would have been funny nonetheless.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Candy Star

[Unr3alGamer 230]

Fantastic Premiere. Perfectly Paced, interesting concept, and refreshing ending. Only nitpick: Rarity didn't get her moment to shine, but was still as present as all the other characters.

 

A+

[TranceBrony 16]

Well, this episode was pretty good. I like the pacing of the episode. The dialogue was funny, good strong ending and I love the apple mac reference during the episode, What a great way to start the season! 10/10.

[laurathevixen 3]

Loved the new Season 5 Animation! Much better than Season 4.