S05:E10 - Princess Spike

[LightningCharm 40]

You're not.  I want to know more about him.  Especially his history before ponies.

 

Same here.  Spike is a decent character.  I don't know why, but I really enjoyed this episode for some reason.  Spike did learn his lesson at the end and tried to fix his mistakes, so gotta give him props for that!

[Adamgreen 1,129]

M.A Larson is not the writer of this episode? Oh thank goodness!

[Mr. Mustang 647]

Welp, I've heard from some that this is pretty much another "Spike Abuse" episode, but to be honest I did enjoy him being in charge for once.

 

Even though it almost blew up.

 

Cadance was enjoyable as well, it was nice to see her in an active role in Equestria rather than cooped up in the Crystal Empire.

[Dust Caper 95]

I like Spike's character, but this episode didn't sit too well with me because there was no right way to go about doing things. He was gonna mess up from the start.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

This thought just dawned on me: Although Spike is made out to be a selfish, oblivious fool in this episode, his abuse of power and screwing things up comes off as justified to me, and it makes the thought of this episode somewhat (but not considerably) more tolerable as a result.

 

Think about this; the summit ponies were jerking their status and the importance of their roles in Spike's face throughout the first two acts of this episode in cutting him off and downing him for his lack of status despite having been in close service to the Princess for so many years. Seeing them for the gullible hivemind that they are, when Spike gets his hands on the name of a Princess, he gives them what's coming to them. Even though he is most likely not aware of it in his childish mind, he has become an agent of karma.

 

Although they don't abuse it outright, the summit ponies are just as guilty of letting power go to their heads as Spike is, and one of the top mistakes this episode makes is taking their side and not admonishing them for their small-mindedness, for lack of a better term. The writers' bias towards treating Spike like a lesser character has again gotten in the way of an episode that could have had more potential even without changing the premise, by instead having treated Spike as a mirror onto the demerits of the leaders rather than focusing on his own shortcomings to the absolvence of other characters possessing the same faults.

[FlutterDash4072 189]

Another bad Spike episode. When are they going to start treating the little guy they way he deserves to be treated?

[derpy4ever 48]

I dont see why people cant accept Spike as he is. He is designed to be a baby, which are inherently selfish and small minded. It is not the writers abusing him, it is spike being himself. If you don't like how spike is portrayed, you simpl don't like him because he is who the writers make him.

[PacificGreen 1,163]

These two entries from TV Tropes pretty much summarize what I think is wrong with the episode.

 

 

 

• Broken Aesop: The moral of the story is "don't let power go to your head", but most of the problems in the episode stem from the well-meaning decisions Spike made before he started misusing his power. By the time he's actively abusing his power (getting food for himself, commissioning a painting, etc.), all the Disaster Dominoes have been set up already. None of the issues in the episode resulted from Spike misusing his authority, but instead from him not having the experience to make good decisions even when he had good intentions. The fact that he used Twilight's authority for his own benefit ultimately didn't cause any problems on its own. The actual Aesop can be phrased as "Don't bite off more than you can chew."
• Idiot Plot: The central conflict only comes about because everyone involved missed the obvious possible solutions:
  • Taking care of maintenance stuff like landscaping ahead of time rather than during the conference itself.
  • Not dumping all the planning on Twilight, resulting in her going for three days without sleep
  • Giving Spike more specific instructions about what to do if somepony wanted to see Twilight
  • Simply closing the window or giving Twilight earplugs rather than trying to stop all work around her tower.
  • Posting guards of some sort to keep everyone away from Twilight rather than making Spike do it.
  • Redirecting everyone to one of the other princesses.

 

But otherwise, I like the delegates, workers, and other attendees.

[Princess Book Horse 350]

I feel like I liked this episode much more than a lot of people did. Then again, I usually like Spike episodes a lot more than most people.

[PROJECT: Simon 3,953]

It was.. a mixture of anger and funny feelings xD 

[ZUPERFLY 4]

That one pony who was a reference to that one lady from the movie Fargo. It was great that she was even there. Because Fargo is great.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

I don't like this episode for a few reasons.

 

Firstly, the things that Spike did to genuinely help Twilight, namely move the polo ponies, stop the trees from being cut down, and the water pipe from being sealed, we're all the things that ruined the hall in the end. This means even if Spike had never abused his assumed authority, everything still would have been ruined.

 

Secondly, the way Cadence treated Spike in this episode, and the way she acted in Equestria Games, were two entirely separate attitudes. I would have appreciated consistency here.

 

I can't ever say I hate an episode, but to me, this might be one of my most disliked episodes.

[Lucky Shot 232]

The episode was okay-ish, but I disagree with much of the characterization within the episode, particularly one that has been bothering me for a very long time.

• First the good news: Cadance was very sweet, trusting, and supportive throughout the entire episode, to a naive level. I found this a very favorable view into her character outside of Twilight's direct presence and rather cute. (I've actually forgotten whether she too loses her temper with Spike eventually.)
• Spike, however, has long since been a very frustrating character for me. The majority of the show's writers hate Spike -- so far as I know only Polski particularly likes him -- and they don't give him very much character, developmentally or otherwise. This is but one of many episodes portraying Spike as selfish, irresponsible, inept, and asinine, with no redeeming or likable qualities. (Ironically, the only other episode with such a hateful Spike is Spike at your Service, a Polski episode.)
• I was a bit disturbed to see Fancy Pants of all ponies lose his temper and presume the worst of Twilight, rather than his previous, incredibly patient and forgiving demeanor. He's also presumably a smart enough man that he should have been able to figure out that Spike was the buttface, not Twilight.

The only thing I really liked about the episode was that, for some strange reason, Canterlot has flowering trees whose only purpose is to make Spike miserable.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Lucky Shot

[derpy4ever 48]

Personally I love spike and this episode. Plus I think canterlot was rude to spike anyway in the beggining when they interupted his speech.

[Lucky Shot 232]

A friend of mine pointed out that it was impossible for Spike to succeed even if he had acted in full best intentions, that Cadance (a former foalsitter) essentially dropped a highly adult responsibility onto the lap of a kid who couldn't ever have handled it, and that it was a very bad move to solely blame Spike for his failure when a. there was no way he could've succeeded and b. it was Cadance's fault for basically tasking a 10yo boy with the responsibilities of a national leader.

 

Now, a later episode implies that Cadance would have seen Spike as relatively heroic and mature because he helped save the Crystal Empire, but partway through the episode, she clearly catches on that things aren't going as planned. Cadance should have immediately stopped him or said something. Instead, she stays quiet and lets it happen.

 

Even worse, there was no particular reason that Spike specifically needed to do anything. Even without being married to the Captain of the Royal Guard, Cadance alone as a Princess can order any Guard(s) in Equestria to stop anyone from even going up the stairs, let alone attacking the door; and if Princess Twilight had any duties she had to attend to, they could merely have royally authorized any trustworthy castle staff, ministers, advisors, etc. to make those decisions in her stead, since that's pretty much what they did with Spike.

 

Regardless of foresight or no, after everything inevitably descends into chaos, everyone blames Spike... The characters should have recognized Spike as a kid who was in way over his head and, rather than condemning him for failing what he was clearly not at all ready for, Cadance should have taken the blame for dropping something on him that he obviously wasn't fit to handle.

[derpy4ever 48]

A friend of mine pointed out that it was impossible for Spike to succeed even if he had acted in full best intentions, that Cadance (a former foalsitter) essentially dropped a highly adult responsibility onto the lap of a kid who couldn't ever have handled it, and that it was a very bad move to solely blame Spike for his failure when a. there was no way he could've succeeded and b. it was Cadance's fault for basically tasking a 10yo boy with the responsibilities of a national leader.

 

Now, a later episode implies that Cadance would have seen Spike as relatively heroic and mature because he helped save the Crystal Empire, but partway through the episode, she clearly catches on that things aren't going as planned. Cadance should have immediately stopped him or said something. Instead, she stays quiet and lets it happen.

 

Even worse, there was no particular reason that Spike specifically needed to do anything. Even without being married to the Captain of the Royal Guard, Cadance alone as a Princess can order any Guard(s) in Equestria to stop anyone from even going up the stairs, let alone attacking the door; and if Princess Twilight had any duties she had to attend to, they could merely have royally authorized any trustworthy castle staff, ministers, advisors, etc. to make those decisions in her stead, since that's pretty much what they did with Spike.

 

Regardless of foresight or no, after everything inevitably descends into chaos, everyone blames Spike... The characters should have recognized Spike as a kid who was in way over his head and, rather than condemning him for failing what he was clearly not at all ready for, Cadance should have taken the blame for dropping something on him that he obviously wasn't fit to handle.

Exactly! Spike is a baby dragon. He shouldnt have to deal with this

[Burizinatu 91]

Great episode! I love my little pony so much!!!

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

SUPER BAD!! shouldnt spike play with somepony else rather taking orders.

 

2/5

Oh wait, there's a new episode?

Well, I just hope it won't be about Spike becoming a princess or something.

i couldnt even imagine if spike ACTUALLY does become a spoiled princess

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

For some reason, i love this Episode. Even though the Story might not be that great,i was entertained by the humor and interested by seeing a few new Characters, also i like how Cadence played Twilights role a bit this time and that we saw more of her.

[LucasB 195]

There aren't many MLP episodes I dislike, but I just absolutely hated this one.

The plot may be the weakest thing I ever seen. It relies heavily on typical kid cartoon strategies to move the plot along, such as Spike sneezing directly into the statue (twice) and Spike thinking that it is more important to make sure Twilight stays asleep than to protect Twilight's name. It's just so stupid it hurts. Everything else actually had reason and logic and not added just for a weak childish joke. Despite being a cartoon for 6 year olds, none of the episodes actually lowered it to a 6 year old level except this episode.

[Thrond 3,257]

This one doesn't evoke much of an emotional response from me, for the most part; watching Spike through the first two thirds, where he's just trying to keep the noise down and complete Twilight's work, is sort of blandly watchable, even. It goes downhill in the final third, where Spike very suddenly shifts to abusing his power, which is weak characterization but too bland for me to really be bothered by, and seemingly resolves itself immediately. It's all kinda stupid, but it also moves way too quickly to be that irritating. The part that actually bothers me is the ending, where all of this is resolved just way too cleanly, and where the plot in general is too bland for it to be satisfying. Mostly I just dunno how there was no way to soundproof Twilight's room; this all seems like it could easily have been averted. Then all this mess could have been prevented without waking Twilight. 

Score:
Entertainment: 5/10
Characters: 4/10
Themes: 5/10
Story: 3/10
Overall: 43/100

[Senko 459]

I really wish I could create an alternate reality where I can see how things would develop if when pressed by those first two delegates spike actually told them the truth. "The princess said to put the hay in the apple and eat the candle." They wont take his advice that's fine princess Twilight is so exhausted running the event this is her solution, of course you could just let her get some sleep and ask Cadence or Fancy pants both of whom seem to be doing some of the organising.

Still I do somewhat suspect someone in the background was setting things up to go wrong otherwise why were all those delegates going to Twilight's BEDROOM to ask her for advice rather than looking for her in more sensible locations.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Senko

[bigbertha 410]

Like many other episodes, others have said what's wrong with the episode better than I could. All I can say is that it it's not that bad and not even close to the worst of the season compared to the real garbage later on.

Score: 3/10

[Meushell 52]

I can’t really say much except that Spike seems to be at his worse when he has an episode. It felt too similar to his other episodes for this reason.

@bigbertha I wonder if you realize you septuple posted.

 

On 11/18/2015 at 3:15 PM, Lucky Shot said:

A friend of mine pointed out that it was impossible for Spike to succeed even if he had acted in full best intentions, that Cadance (a former foalsitter) essentially dropped a highly adult responsibility onto the lap of a kid who couldn't ever have handled it, and that it was a very bad move to solely blame Spike for his failure when a. there was no way he could've succeeded and b. it was Cadance's fault for basically tasking a 10yo boy with the responsibilities of a national leader.

I realize this is an old post, and from someone banished, but I still wanted to address this issue since it was brought up. I am kind of curious on how others view Spike in this regard.

Personally, I don’t agree. While Spike is a “baby dragon,” he rarely is treated like or acts like a child. Episodes based on him seem to be the expectation, at least with his behavior. If he really is supposed to be the equivalent of a ten year old, then there are bigger issues. All the work Twilight gives him, for instance. 

Since I don’t know how dragon age, but it seems to be based on hoarding... I’m guessing Spike is kept physically younger because aging comes with a personality change. Mentally though, he’s more like an older adolescent or young adult.

Part of the issue might be the writers having trouble writing children. The CMC weren’t consistent with any age at first. They seem to be more like preteens now.

[qwerE 95]

Why can't Spike get a single good episode? He's usually not so terrible but somehow turns weird when he's getting an episode.