Do you miss the elements of harmony?

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

So, as the topic says, do you miss the elements of harmony? The jewelry macguffins from S1-3? Do you enjoy rainbow power replacing them?
Would you like to see them remain gone, or return?


If you DID like the elements of harmony, what about them did you most enjoy?

[BlueBrony 388]

I think it was good that the show cycled out the elements of harmony. I enjoyed their time in the show, but the more often they were used, the less that they felt like the physical manifestation of the bonds of the friendship. Eventually they just became a "thing" that blasted the baddies . I am not a fan of the rainbow power design, but it was nice that it went back to a manifestation of their bonds of friendship, something that for the most part was out of their physical control (they can't just "put it on" when they want to).

 

Actually, what I would like to see come back is the tree of harmony- the idea that the bonds of true friendship bring about LIFE fits in well with the messages the show is trying to convey.

[Megas 27,765]

Not really, they never really served any importance aside from the Season openers(aside from the Crystal Empire, which had it's own super god rock) and the finales(aside from BNE and MMC), and it just felt like they were there to blast the bad guys

 

And on top of that, in ways I always felt it kind of they held back the mane 6 in ways, especially in the eyes of fans. I mean I get that they represented a certain characteristic of the 6, but the mane 6 dared stray from their element(especially if there names were Rarity or Rainbow Dash), bronies would foam at the mouth as if they just murdered their families and go into a full witch hunt, and in plenty of cases they'd attack the staff merely because they wrote them doing things they didn't like

Edited August 7, 2015 by Lemon Zest

[S.F. 1,560]

I don't really miss them, but I am interested to see what they do next, whether it is with the rainbow power thing or something else.

 

I liked the way that the Cutie Map defeated the villain without the need for a magical artefact/weapon thing.

 

Also, can the mane 6 just 'power up' into their rainbow power now, like in Luna's dream, or was that just a part of the dream and they need the tree of harmony to do it or what?

[Princess Lona 382]

I don't miss the physical elements themselves, but I will be sad if the show drops the theme of the ethereal elements, the concepts of kindness, honesty, etc. The rainbow power is kind of vague. They all found their key by having their element challenged and growing because of that challenge, but when they actually powered up, there was nothing to say that they were specufically powered up in a way that was connected to their original element. They were just kind of jacked up long enough to overpower Tirek.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,730]

I don't miss the actual items themselves, but I do miss the theme that they held up. The honesty, loyalty, laughter stuff and all of that, I miss that representation. The objects themselves were just kinda there. They seemed to only be used when big bad stuff was going down and not much else. Also they were used as a threat to Discord once. That's cool I guess.

 

Rainbow Power suffers from not really having any message behind it, other than it is supposedly powered by friendship. I like the designs that it has, but overall I feel like Rainbow Power is a tad...empty.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I don't really miss them, but I am interested to see what they do next, whether it is with the rainbow power thing or something else.

 

I liked the way that the Cutie Map defeated the villain without the need for a magical artefact/weapon thing.

 

Also, can the mane 6 just 'power up' into their rainbow power now, like in Luna's dream, or was that just a part of the dream and they need the tree of harmony to do it or what?

I also enjoyed the magic less defeat of Starlight Glimmer. It makes the ponies make use of their talents in more creative ways than just blasting a villain with rainbows.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

We dont have Element of Harmony anymore but we have an awesome map to do friendship mission, a castle to represent mane 6's status as ambassador of friendship, and Rainbow Power to defeat the Big bad when needed. We lose EoH, but we gain something better.

[cider float 2,538]

I actually preferred the dependency of them, gave them a challenge so they couldn't easily utilize the ultimate power. Example of how Twilight's crown was actually used by Sunset Shimmer.

[A Joe in the Bush 255]

I preferred them because they could be stopped. Discord, Chrysalis and Sunsetlall removed the elemnts to weaken the Mane 6. New villians can't do that with the rainbow power. So if Luna's dream is accurate, the Mane 6 can just go full Hadooken on people whenever they feel like it.

Edited August 8, 2015 by The Only Joe

[Rhod 120]

Nooooppppeee not really. I don't really see them having much of a proper use in the show anymore.

 

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

They were cool at first, but honestly them being around always raised some logical problems I had. They seemed to do whatever the story called for them to do. They don't seem to have a set effect. For example, they purified Luna but they turned Discord into stone. Idk maybe you could say they just reset the status quo, so meh, whatever.

 

What I really disliked was how they were locked away in a chest in Canterlot that only Celestia had access to. Not only inconvenient, but really silly, considering no Celestia = no usuable elements. Maybe that was changed offscreen during season 2 though, since they made an attempt to retrieve the elements w/o Celestia in A Canterlot Wedding.

 

Anyway those are just trivial concerns. Overall they can work, granted that the characters have to work to use them like in The Return of Harmony, but as an easily accessible,e magic reset button they're not very interesting. It's kind of like watching a Cena match on Raw: no sense that anything can go wrong.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I honestly miss them, for asthetic thematic reasons.

I just think the elements looked really nice, had a good "feel" to them in interlinking the mane six, and were decent macguffins. The necklaces and their cutie marks had a nice look to them (apart from Twilights tiara: her current crown is much more comely and the other one looked too large on her head).

One thing I find important in the more macguffin/magical girl side of things is the visual aspect: The show is still meant to be watched after all, and you need things to look pleasing. The EOH looked nice, while Rainbow power or alot of the other toyetic parts of the show don't really compare.

 

 

Plus, the EOH were just a nice macguffin IMO.

 

I preferred them because they could be stopped. Discord, Chrysalis and Sunsetlall removed the elemnts to weaken the Mane 6. New villians can't do that with the rainbow power. So if Luna's dream is accurate, the Mane 6 can just go full Hadooken on people whenever they feel like it.

 

 

yeah, this is a big issue I have currently with things in the current state.
There's no real way to logically neutralize the mane six outside of corrupting or seperating them if they can rainbow power at will (Why they didn't do that in the premier for example is a question).

I personally had hoped Rainbow power was "expended" in the S4 finale and was gone, but the last episode seemed to imply otherwise.
 

 

 

Disposing of the EOH as being game breakers I actually can agree with to make the plots easier, but they went and gave them an even MORE broken Macguffin instead :/
 

[SquipyCheetah 449]

Kinda but it's also a good thing they aren't physically there anymore. They seemed like the physical bond keeping the mane six together but now, even without the physical elements, they are still together.

[Luna_tic 120]

Not really, but I don't much care for the Hasbro, money-power forms.  The rainbow I can handle, but the hair is just too awkwardly large.

[Pastel 7,630]

Not at all, I didn't like them because they were too OP (just like the Rainbow Powers).

I hope the mane 6 will defeat the villains by themselves in the future.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Not at all, I didn't like them because they were too OP (just like the Rainbow Powers).

I hope the mane 6 will defeat the villains by themselves in the future.

 

 

This runs into a bit of an issue due to power creep though, something that is very apparent in the comics for example. Specifically, that the other 5 tend to come off as weaker COMBINED than twilight by herself.

(take for example the cattle rustler comic where the other 5 were willing to fight the villains but utterly impotent, and the problem was solved in 5 seconds when twilight was convinced to fight them and did so without even the slightest effort).

 

 

twilight's magical powers are very OP at this point so that having the mane six defeat a villain without use of a macguffin would lead to issues of the other 5 contributing; Heck, in power ponies twilight was arguably NERFED in her superhero form while the others were powered up just to equal her (nerfed) level of abilities.

 

 

 

making villains require a macguffin to defeat gets around that issue.

[cider float 2,538]

You know they are missing out a lot on the potential behind the Elements of Harmony. Just like Sunset Shimmer was capable of using the crown of magic, the other Elements can technically be used by someone else. There can be a more corrupted Honesty that would actually teach a lesson that too much honesty can be harmful exhibited by the villain that wields the Element of Honesty, that sort of thing. Or one could use honesty as a weapon to hurt others.

[NezPPTS 36]

I just wish they would do without deus ex machina conclusions/solutions. So no, I do not miss the EoH, but I do think they were slightly better than the Rainbow Power.

[Januaree 38]

I liked them, but I can't say I miss them. The show is doing fine without them so why bring them back? They had their time and it ended. Plus they even mentioned that even though they had to give them up, they are still connected somehow. So there would be no point if they brought them back.

[chirox the pony 1,336]

I don't miss them but I will say I did prefer them to rainbow power, simply because I'd rather have a consistent "solve all problems" device rather then one showing up out of nowhere and then being forgotten the next day.

[Marimo 555]

I personally had hoped Rainbow power was "expended" in the S4 finale and was gone, but the last episode seemed to imply otherwise.

 

Nothing about the last episode said that the mane six could still utilize rainbow power. Luna just dreamed up a mane six that could. The fact that it was a dream of Luna's own construction is not evidence that the same could just happen in the real world.

[RivkaBobble 110]

Its Nightmare Moon! Elements of harmony!

Its Discord! Elements of harmony!

Its Queen Chrysalis! Elements of harmony!

Its the Everfree forest! Elements of harmony!

 

Nice to see when they have no choice but to use something else to defeat their enemies. Remember AJ, you guys are still bonded.

[CoconutCola 48]

I really don't care, but I do think that "Rainbow Power" is the stupidest thing on the planet. It looks dumb. It is dumb. Keeping the elements would've been a wiser decision then creating the abomination known as Rainbow Power. (Plus... Rainbow Power? They could have been a little more creative honestly :/)

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

(Plus... Rainbow Power? They could have been a little more creative honestly :/)

I'd blame hasbro for that. the rainbow power concept seems to be something that the Hasbro execs would think up for a toyline, much like how we have the "Cutie mark magic" toyline that looks like everyone's suffering from the Cutie pox.

 

 

Nothing about the last episode said that the mane six could still utilize rainbow power. Luna just dreamed up a mane six that could. The fact that it was a dream of Luna's own construction is not evidence that the same could just happen in the real world.

I hope so....