S05:E08 - The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone

[Luffyiscool 397]

I'm tearing up right now.
I don't think most of you guys will ever understand the great joy this episode gives me. 

Ever since I saw Turnabout Storm, I've believed in this outcome.That Gilda could patch things up with Dash.
That she wasn't all that bad. I FEEL SO DAMN VINDICATED.
Tears are rolling down my cheeks. Thank you DHX. Thank you Hasbro.
And a kiss/hug/thank you to Amy Keating Rogers too.


Here, we got the reason for why Gilda acted the way she did. Griffonstone's problem existed long before the mane six even met. 
THIS JUSTIFIES EVERYTHING SHE DID ON THAT FACT ALONE. I totally understand why she was being such a grump.
The fandom raked her over the coals just for making Fluttershy cry, but I hope they can finally put that shallowness behind them and forgive her. 

So, so pleased with this outcome. 

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

, 

 

Just a thought, I think RD needs to consider running said Camp. Turn that place around real quick!

 

There is some precedent, she was great with the kids in her and Spitfire's Friends Forever comic . I'd like to see a story like that play out in the show proper.

[Jeric 46,835]

She didn't give them to guide just to help them, she gave them the guide because she apparently expected that they would be lost and clueless without her. 

 

On my first trip to Bangalore India, my wife went out and, on her own, bought me a few books on the area and India. I am quite comfortable in my ability to use the internet being a developer of said information repository. I had access to that info already.

 

Does that make my wife a bad friend or condescending? No. It was a nice gesture. It is really the same difference when you think about it. 

[Gearbox10mm 794]

Its not that they can't die. Its just that the theme doesn't encourage it. They are like too good to not die in general. Its a joyful world for ponies ^^

 

 

Obviously the main characters are not meant to die, otherwise I'm pretty sure that anvil to the head would have taken Twilight out a long time ago.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Gearbox10mm

[Cwanky 17,457]

You would have to actually watch the episode to get this reference, but when Gilda was torn between grabbing the Idol of Boreas and saving her friends, it's a clear reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DHIqUkmj-o

 

Pretty fitting way to sum up the moral of the episode too.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Cwanky

[A Joe in the Bush 255]

IHere, we got the reason for why Gilda acted the way she did. Griffonstone's problem existed long before the mane six even met. 

THIS JUSTIFIES EVERYTHING SHE DID ON THAT FACT ALONE. I totally understand why she was being such a grump.

 

I wouldn't say justifies. What she still did was rude, mean and uncalled for. Explained? Yes. But not justified.

 

Shes now relateable character instead of just a bully who everyone hates.

[Rosemary Comet 76]

That twidash hair though.

[Blaze Bronson 343]

HOLY BALLS! This was a great episode! Never have I laughed this much of any of the MLP episodes thus far.

Pinkie Pie was best pony before, but this season she really takes the cake 

 

There is so much awesomeness here I can barely contain it 

- More Gilda

- Awesome Pinkie Pie

- Awesome Rainbow Dash

- Awesome Twilight

- Best humor

- More and interesting exploration of Equestria

- More backstory for Gilda and Rainbow Dash

- Great and fairly subtle moral of the downsides of greed

- Good moral of how friendship is something you can be proud of, not just status or money

- Exploring the awkwardness of making friends, and breaking the mold

 

I even try to find something negative here, but it's only negligible nitpick

- Why could't Twilight just join them?

- Dangerously close to being too predictable and cliché to the point I went: "ohh no, ohh no, don't do that and ruin the episode!" but they handled it very good.

 

10/10 will watch again    

[Toast 55]

Probably my most favorite episode ever!

 

I had no idea griffons were such greedy jerks though...hopefully Gilda changes that...I've always idolized the mlp griffons :/

[InfectedPone 1,548]

It's always good to see Equestria being expanded upon, and I also liked the return of Gilda, but if she wasn't in an episode about griffons the fandom would riot so I guess they had to.

[rjrgmc28 130]

Whew! Despite some technical difficulties during the first screening of the episode where my primary live stream failed, my backup stream lagged out and my router crashed and had to start the episdode again on a replay stream, it's time to give my thoughts.

 

To quote from my tweet this morning:

 

"Awwww...now that was an episode that was good! I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!"

 

This was my first initial reaction after the second screening. However, it all changed when something came to me when I was writing my blog post:

 

"Hang on a moment. This just came to me. Is Griffonstone, Equestria's version of Struggle Street?"

 

Ok, it may not be the best reaction or it has any relevancy to the episode itself, but for me this episode originally for me was a 50-50. I didn't hate it nor did I like it enough to warrant a definite decision. But on the second screening, my overall thoughts changed somewhat.

 

Overall this episode told a different tale for me. Not of one with mythology, not of one with history, but one that reflected a real world experience for not just myself, but for many others as well.

 

Now bare with me for a moment. When I first saw Griffonstone for the first time I thought the place had been trashed and left in a destitute state over time. On the second screening, I saw it differently in the form of the country going through a rough patch when they mentioned that it was once ruled by it's treasures to keep balance and all hope was lost after they were taken.

 

This for me relfected life on the bottom line. Living on low income and struggling to make ends meet.

 

Instead of seeing griffons being who they are, I saw them living life on just the bare essentials and on the skids.

 

Where every bit of money means more than a scrap of food and decisions on whether to buy the essentals or pay off the essental services.

 

Decisions that cannot be put off have to be made and often result in being short changed.

 

Stuck in dead end jobs and every bit matters towards their daily income.

 

A place where anger rules and being happy is being frowned upon and depression is through the roof and poverty is at an all time high.

 

I don't know why I felt like this or why I immediately had those thoughts, but this is what I genuninely had in mind when I saw the episode.

 

Still on the subject, Gilda for me also brought a change in heart. I originally invisioned Gilda as a griffon who didn't change after season one on the first viewing before it become abandoned, but after the second viewing where I was calmed down enough to understand the situation, you can easily see that she has been though a lot.

 

I won't go into more detail as there is a lot to cover and these forum posts can only hold so much, but my full thoughts on the episode can be found on my blog here.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

 

And why would that automatically disqualify you from being cuddle-worthy?

 

Silly eagle-lion.

[Positively Pinkie 109]

Best episode this season!

 

After last one this is like super sky high top 5!!

 

Laughed, d'awwed. Enjoyed every minute of it!

[Flutter's lover <3 8,204]

Not a bad episode. It's cool to see them visiting other places. We also got to see more griffons and the return of Gilda.  I guess this would be a "reform" of Gilda? She seemed genuinely appreciative of Dash and Pinkie in the end. 

 

Though what I didn't understand was, why did Dash not just attempt to fly down into the cavern in the first place to get the idol. Seems like something she'd do, despite the fact of the high winds in the cavern. Knowing Dash, she would've at least of attempted such a stunt. Then she should've realised "hm, maybe I Need help" and gone for the supplies and the guide afterwards.. 

 

Also, was quite interesting on sending just two of the mane 6. Hopefully we see more of this in future episodes. I guess the problem only called for those two elements.

 

It was an overall ok episode. there was suspense and peril, so that made it exciting. 

Edited May 23, 2015 by :Flutterdash:

[Kevin 160]

That was a great episode! Pinkie really stole the show here! It was great to be able to see whee the Griffins live and get some more world expansion in Equeatria.

 

What surprised me the most was Gilda showing up and even more so that she was reformed by the end of the episode and personally I think they handled her redemption pretty well. By the way, young Gilda looked adorable!

 

I will say one thing though, that skull really creeped me out! You know the show in general has matured greatly when it's able to show something like that!

 

I have to say Season 5 has really been delivering so far! Now it's the waiting game for the 100th episode to air.

[Cleverclover 1,525]

On my first trip to Bangalore India, my wife went out and, on her own, bought me a few books on the area and India. I am quite comfortable in my ability to use the internet being a developer of said information repository. I had access to that info already.

 

Does that make my wife a bad friend or condescending? No. It was a nice gesture. It is really the same difference when you think about it. 

 

I can understand that, yet it still seems too much to me like she lacked faith in their capability to complete the mission without her assistance. Consider also that she had never been there herself, and had no idea what they were being called there for, yet she still felt the need to micromanage them by giving them obvious advice and instructions that they should have been able to figure out for themselves. 

 

However, I will say that it would have been a hell of a lot more annoying had something from her guidebook actually made them realize the solution. 

 

If this is the start of a series of "mane six go on various friendship missions in pairs" episodes, then I truly hope that the next one does not include this (unless, of course, Twilight is actually included in the mission). If she must continue to be a walking exposition machine by knowing every last thing there is to know about every last corner of Equestria, then fine. But I would strongly prefer there not being anymore handholding "go here, do this" guides from her, which only serve to trivialize the mane five's level of competence before they even get started. 

[Persona22 205]

Well, after watching the episode, we now know why there wasn't any Griffon on the official stands during the Equestria Games...

 

[Blaze Bronson 343]

I have one major problem with the moral's approach. Here, Pinkie and Dash realize that the reason Griffonstone is in such trouble is because they're not friends with each other. Nononononononononono!

 

Griffinstone is a wasteland. There's nothing exciting or endearing about this place. The houses are rundown. There's no food, no water. It's desolate out there, and chances are they don't get much rain by how dry the ground and sky look. Present-day griffons have every reason to be grumpy: While others such as Ponyville thrive, Griffonstone looks war-torn.

 

Someone here implicated how greed can lead to problems in society and friendship to heal itself for the future. The problem is there's a deep disconnect between what the moral is trying to say and what they're saying. The griffons here aren't greedy. They're fighting for survival. They don't ask for money at any given turn without reason. As comedic as many of the scenes are, the griffons are in very deep trouble. If they don't ask for money, they starve and will die.

 

The episode treats the moral as a one-size-fit-all solution to Griffinstone's problems (and by association, others in real life). That doesn't work. Even if society is welcoming and friends with each other, that still won't solve the economic and agricultural turmoil. Friendship can only build so much, and it's a false pretense to believe otherwise. Sure, it's a start to maybe building Griffinstone back up, but the griffins are in a life-or-death predicament, and they don't completely treat it as such.

 

It's never said that they are poor, only that they don't care.

 

Going by the story, they started off as greedy, but when king Grover used the Idol of Boreas to unite the griffins, they became prideful instead. However, when the idol was stolen, they lost their pride and went back to becoming greedy. Nothing about becoming poor. They only lost the idol, which in itself didn't give them any wealth.

 

The status of their village is only a result of their greed and lack of caring. Essentially they don't care that their home look like shit, or if they do, they don't want to show that they do, since the social norm dictates that you shouldn't care.

 

The closes thing hinting at them being poor is when Gilda says: "I just want to sell enough of these so I can leave this lousy town".

 

Also judging by the book Twilight had, it seemed like they were doing good when they were united and had the idol. Since the idol itself doesn't bring any wealth, it's probably because they got along, and actually cared for their kingdom.

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

I thought it was ok. I liked seeing the skeletal remains of a deceased villain, I thought that was a bit dark, but good. I thought it was a nice episode. 

[Foliha 395]

I can understand that, yet it still seems too much to me like she lacked faith in their capability to complete the mission without her assistance. Consider also that she had never been there herself, and had no idea what they were being called there for, yet she still felt the need to micromanage them by giving them obvious advice and instructions that they should have been able to figure out for themselves. 

 

However, I will say that it would have been a hell of a lot more annoying had something from her guidebook actually made them realize the solution. 

 

If this is the start of a series of "mane six go on various friendship missions in pairs" episodes, then I truly hope that the next one does not include this (unless, of course, Twilight is actually included in the mission). If she must continue to be a walking exposition machine by knowing every last thing there is to know about every last corner of Equestria, then fine. But I would strongly prefer there not being anymore handholding "go here, do this" guides from her, which only serve to trivialize the mane five's level of competence before they even get started. 

OK, so when you get tagged to go to Burundi and sort out some unspecified problem that only you and Pinkie Pie can solve, I won't bother to loan you my book on Burundi with the glossary of commonly used terms, a section on how not to offend the plethora of taboos that carry the death penalty and a couple of sections on who runs the place and how to get close to them.  I wouldn't want you to think I was a micromanaging, OCD know-it-all who assumes you are an idiot!

 

I'm not going to send you on a mysterious mission to Burundi, but I do have a challenge for you.  How about you make your next four comments on this episode that doesn't involve ranking out Twilight Sparkle?  I bet you can't make it to next week without trashing her in some way.

 

You keep watching this show, so you must like it.  Why can't you let go of this obsession to endlessly complain about Twilight Sparkle?  It's even a big part of you profile page.  Dude!  It's eating your head.  Is there someone in the real world who is a micromanaging, OCD know-it-all who assumes you are an idiot?  If so, how about either setting them straight or just walking away from them.  You would probably feel a lot better, and be able to laugh at Twilight's flaws with the rest of us.

 

You are part of the hui (look it up) here.  We want you to be happy.  Anyone who devotes this much time to trashing a cartoon character has to be unhappy on some fundamental level.  Smile.  Chill.  You are among friends...

[Scootaloodle 1,621]

Brilliant episode!

 

I love every minute, and Pinkie Pie was especially awesome

 

 

         

 

 

Kind of appreciate how they had a happy ending since the last time we saw Gilda.

 

[Jon the VGNerd 842]

Anyone else noticed that Gilda's voice sounded different than in S1? 

[Antidaeophobia 299]

It was interesting for sure. I'm more upset to find out Gilda was living in poverty, MLP has never really touched on that before. It was cute to see Dashie and Gilda becoming friends at flight camp, although I would have thought Fluttershy and Gilda would have met there, but they didn't seem to know each other when they met. Seeing all the different griffons was interesting, I suspect a rise in griffin OC's now. LOL

It was an alright episode overall. 

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

Well, that was an very interesting and fun episode.

 

It was nice to see some nice worldbuilding and that the map was used again. I thought that the beginning scene with Twi was very adorkable and that her being upset in her way was great. Also, Rainbow Twilight.

 

 

Gilda is back and i am thankful. I wasn't the biggest fan of Griffion the brush off, so giving her another chance was nice. She was still her brash self and had even more lines to use then before. We also got to see another site of her, which is welcome, because i always thought that she also has emotions like dash had.

 

Pinkie was hilarious in this episode. I really like how she threw the rope at Rainbow, without tighing it up to a rock. People would think that Pinkie was stupid, but i think that she was just naive. Rainbow didn't tell her that she should tie it up first. Also, Backpowder solves everything...as well as gak.

 

 

Then, there was the Flashback...OMG, my diabeetus went off the roof. People where asked for a long time, to show Gilda and Rainbow as fillies and this time, the did the chant for real. It was just so adorable.

 

Sorry, that i can't say more, but i was a bit busy tonight and had other things to do, so i am a bit tired.

 

All in all, good episode. Not as good as the last, but that's hard anyway.

[CaptainDoubloon 856]

I just now watched the episode, I got distracted this morning and completly forgot. >.> Anywho, the episode was great! 4 out of 5 from me.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Seeker Dragonheart