S05:E18 - Crusaders of the Lost Mark

[ImpctR 155]

So they finally got their marks, let's see how this will develop in the next season,

 

 

 

butt tattoos

 

 

I love that definition lol!

Edited March 5, 2016 by ImpctR

[Nagisa452 182]

Two of my favorite songs were in this episode. "The Pony I wanna be" and "Light of your Cutie Mark". Love these songs, and so happy to see the CMC finally have their marks, long time coming.

[Sonic5421 423]

This was probably one of the best episodes I've seen! After 5 long years, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finally got their cutie marks, and it was helping their old enemy, Diamond Tiara, with understanding the true meaning behind her cutie mark, that led to them being rewarded with theirs!

 

Everypony was so proud of them, from the Mane Six, to all of Ponyville, to even Celestia and Luna themselves when they got the message from Spike.

 

This episode earns a 10/10 from me, and I can't wait to see the Crusaders begin this new chapter in their lives with helping others find their cutie marks!!!

[DeathBronyYT 18]

I'm glad the CMC's got an episode again lol

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

im finally glad CMC got their cutie marks they deserve. Three cheers <3

[PixelWhisker7303 7]

HOLY CRUD! diamond tiara is JUST like Draco Malfoy!!!!!

reasons

1: bad attitude at first

2: makes fun of a group of three friends

3: Snooty as fudge

4: has friend(s) that drive you crazy and practically worship them.

5: irresponsible and evil(ish) parents

6: ends up being minor itty bitty friends in the end.

7: gets MAJOR character development that makes you feel like crap for ever judging them.

[Nightmare Moon Draws 31]

OMN, this episode was da best! Sure I thought the CMC would each get a unique cuitie mark ( probably cause the animators were lazy ), but I'm glad they didn't spend all their lives cutie mark-less!

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

I've been away from the show and fandom for so long due to work and shifting interests. However, recently, I've been getting bored and decided to get back into it. I picked up where I left off, about half-way through season 5, and this episode... Wow!

 

First of all, I love CMC episodes (despite a general disinterest I've noticed from a lot of people) and I also love episodes with songs, so even without all the character development I still would have loved this episode. To be honest, though, I wasn't sure what to think of it all at first. Silver Spoon turning on her best friend and Diamond Tiara redeeming herself. It didn't seem right. Even though I wanted it to happen, it seemed too sudden. Likewise, when the CMC got their cutie marks, it seemed like the wrong time and their cutie marks didn't make sense to me at first. By the end of the episode, though, it all came together nicely and made sense, for the most part.

 

There were a couple of things I still didn't understand, though. If I remember correctly, their special talents are helping other ponies find their special talents. That can't be all though. For one thing, they're surely not going to do that for the rest of their lives. I mean, it's fine while they're still in school, but when they grow up, they're going to go out and get jobs. That leads me to the other thing I don't quite get. They each have different symbols in their cutie marks which, I assume, represents their secondary or true special talents. Sweetie Belle has a music note and we all know she's good at singing, so she'll probably be a singer, but I don't understand Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's symbols. Apple Bloom's is an apple, but I thought she was good at building or making stuff, so how does an apple represent that? Also, Scootaloo has a lightning bolt. I know she envies Rainbow Dash and wants to fly, which may imply she's going to be a Wonderbolt, but she's not good at it. She's just good at going fast on her scooter. Maybe she'll get better at flying later on. Maybe she'll even get good enough to join the Wonderbolts. That would make for interesting character development and an emotional episode if it ever happens, but it's all still a mystery at this point.

 

Needless to say, I'm excited after watching this episode and can't wait to see what this all means for the future. I had lost interest for a while but after this, I think I'm hooked again. 

[Foxy Socks 2,599]

I have watched it again recently, and I find it to be a fantastic and beautiful episode. I really like how they had shown how the CMC got their cutie marks by helping Diamond Tiara, which was a great lesson and moral. I loved all the songs in it too, it flowed very well to me.

 

I do wish Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were shown more after that. I hope they will be eventually, though it probably won't be in this season. Hopefully if there is a season seven they will.

[MAIKUN 262]

Q: Why did Button Mash got recoloured in the first place? Maybe because of the C&D right? And why his hat isn't spinning at all?

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Well, at least we now know why Diamond Tiara was such a bully throughout the series. Her mother is basically the number one candidate for worst mother of the year.

[Baykush 328]

Magical Mistery Cure, Pinkie Pride, this episode, Heart's Warming Tail.... musical writers should learn from the MLP crew, they don't only make great music, but they know how to use it. All those episodes just get better each time you watch them, this one I have seen like 2347664 times. MMC and CoTLM are both really special too because of the emotional factor, no wonder they're among my all time favorites. 

[MAIKUN 262]

This is why I don't like this episode so much as well as the CMC cutie marks...I just wish it was ERASED from the MLP canon in the first place

[EVBP 94]

What is the name of the super-strong pony that lifted the school house to get her ball?

[Thrond 3,263]

You can just feel this pushing against the time constraint. Diamond Tiara at the start feels like a different character from her at the end, and the episode just jumps from emotional beat to emotional beat with so little time to breathe that it almost fails to convince... and yet, I can't get through it without tearing up slightly. Maybe part of that comes from the absurd grandiosity of the music, which somehow turns this relatively low-key, personal story into an epic of huge choices and politics and social expectations, and maybe part of it comes from just how sympathetic Diamond Tiara's issue is at its core.

Like "Magical Mystery Cure," the show has utterly failed to build Diamond's personal issues up, but the actual idea is just fundamentally easier to accept. Diamond Tiara isn't being rewarded for anything, she's just being treated to a sublime act of empathy, and it's easy to sympathise with her wanting to change and move away from the social pressures acting on her even though before her song she always seemed sincere in her nastiness. Unlike "Magical Mystery Cure," the emotive bombast of the music compliments this story, largely because the songs themselves are so enjoyable. It'd be nice if this season didn't try to be epic so often, but it really does work here. 

And then there's the CMC's cutie marks, which do feel earned even if the actual design feels like a compromise. I mean, getting "Crusader" cutie marks makes perfect sense, and I'm glad they kept those other talents, but we've not seen ponies with a hybrid mark like this in the past. Still, it's easily one of the biggest changes in the entire show, and it's so damn satisfying. Now that the show's actually freshened up slightly, it doesn't feel as revelatory, but at the time this was the last thing I ever expected to happen. 

The songs don't really have that much variety in melody, however, and frankly they all sort of sound like different segments of the same epic song. Maybe that's how musicals usually work - I'm not very knowledgeable about the genre. Anyway, this helps with the episode's flow, and these are some of the catchiest songs in this whole season (which isn't a high bar, but still). I'm a little less forgiving of some of the pretentious lyrics - is this school election really that big of a deal? It also doesn't have much to say about upper-class social pressures, but those do influence Diamond Tiara's character arc. I do wish this were longer so it could add more detail and give its emotional beats more time to breathe, though. 

I do find the songs' grandiosity quite emotionally evocative, though. Diamond Tiara is throwing off her shackles and doing what little she can to contribute, and I think that's more of what this episode is trying to be about. The way she decides to pay up for the playground repairs, no statue included, sort of comes back around to the political lyrics of the earlier part of the episode. Anyone can change, anyone can contribute, and anyone can make a difference. I'm not sure how much I want this kind of message from My Little Pony, but I can't deny that it's effective. And while it cheapens the finale, using the letter part from the opening actually works here, because the CMC getting their cutie marks really is a big deal. 

Imagine if this was a two-parter. Then it might actually be a contender for the best episode of the whole show. As is, it's "merely" excellent. 

Score: 

Entertainment: 10/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 9/10

Story: 7/10

Overall: 85/100

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

This day marks the 3rd year of the CMC getting their cutie marks.

[Quinch 1,120]

HOLY WHATEVER, IT'S BEEN THAT LONG?!

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I liked this one, i just disliked some of the Songs. But otherwise i was happy with this Episode.

[Nye 1,652]

I really liked the songs in this episode! And the ending has a great surprise!

[Ganondox 899]

I keep seeing people praise the hell out of this episode, but the one thing I remember about this episode is that it was a major letdown, and MMC it was rushed and didn't make much sense. In fact, it's probably the episode in the series I have the least memory of, I completely forgot the plot details beyond Spoiled Rich sucking and CMC getting their cutie marks, and every song in it, which is odd as know pretty much every other song in the series. Maybe I was just sick or something when I watched, but looking up the songs later doesn't inspire anything in me, and I do have some distinct criticisms about them gaining their cutie marks here. What am I missing? 

On 6/10/2017 at 4:53 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

You can just feel this pushing against the time constraint. Diamond Tiara at the start feels like a different character from her at the end, and the episode just jumps from emotional beat to emotional beat with so little time to breathe that it almost fails to convince... and yet, I can't get through it without tearing up slightly. Maybe part of that comes from the absurd grandiosity of the music, which somehow turns this relatively low-key, personal story into an epic of huge choices and politics and social expectations, and maybe part of it comes from just how sympathetic Diamond Tiara's issue is at its core.

Like "Magical Mystery Cure," the show has utterly failed to build Diamond's personal issues up, but the actual idea is just fundamentally easier to accept. Diamond Tiara isn't being rewarded for anything, she's just being treated to a sublime act of empathy, and it's easy to sympathise with her wanting to change and move away from the social pressures acting on her even though before her song she always seemed sincere in her nastiness. Unlike "Magical Mystery Cure," the emotive bombast of the music compliments this story, largely because the songs themselves are so enjoyable. It'd be nice if this season didn't try to be epic so often, but it really does work here. 

And then there's the CMC's cutie marks, which do feel earned even if the actual design feels like a compromise. I mean, getting "Crusader" cutie marks makes perfect sense, and I'm glad they kept those other talents, but we've not seen ponies with a hybrid mark like this in the past. Still, it's easily one of the biggest changes in the entire show, and it's so damn satisfying. Now that the show's actually freshened up slightly, it doesn't feel as revelatory, but at the time this was the last thing I ever expected to happen. 

The songs don't really have that much variety in melody, however, and frankly they all sort of sound like different segments of the same epic song. Maybe that's how musicals usually work - I'm not very knowledgeable about the genre. Anyway, this helps with the episode's flow, and these are some of the catchiest songs in this whole season (which isn't a high bar, but still). I'm a little less forgiving of some of the pretentious lyrics - is this school election really that big of a deal? It also doesn't have much to say about upper-class social pressures, but those do influence Diamond Tiara's character arc. I do wish this were longer so it could add more detail and give its emotional beats more time to breathe, though. 

I do find the songs' grandiosity quite emotionally evocative, though. Diamond Tiara is throwing off her shackles and doing what little she can to contribute, and I think that's more of what this episode is trying to be about. The way she decides to pay up for the playground repairs, no statue included, sort of comes back around to the political lyrics of the earlier part of the episode. Anyone can change, anyone can contribute, and anyone can make a difference. I'm not sure how much I want this kind of message from My Little Pony, but I can't deny that it's effective. And while it cheapens the finale, using the letter part from the opening actually works here, because the CMC getting their cutie marks really is a big deal. 

Imagine if this was a two-parter. Then it might actually be a contender for the best episode of the whole show. As is, it's "merely" excellent. 

Score: 

Entertainment: 10/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 9/10

Story: 7/10

Overall: 85/100

I more or less agree with much of what you're saying, just interpreting the mixed parts more negatively than positively. The one thing I disagree with you is the music, I LOVED the music in MMC, but I found the music here to be incredibly dull. Anyway, I have a lot of experience with musicals, and no, the songs don't act as portions in a greater whole. That's more of an opera thing. The only real exception is the use of reprises, which is similar to but substantially different from the operatic idea of the leitmotif. 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Ganondox

[Thrond 3,263]

16 hours ago, Ganondox said:

The one thing I disagree with you is the music, I LOVED the music in MMC, but I found the music here to be incredibly dull.

The songs in "Magical Mystery Cure" are catchier, but it's hard to divorce them from the context, which makes it hard for me to listen to them. The ones here don't linger in memory, but I get caught up in their emotional sweep while listening. 

[bigbertha 414]

This episode is garbage. The Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in this episode are completely different to how they were in previous episodes. Before, they were written to be irredeemable antagonists and this episode, they have to be changed in order to be more than one not bullies. Making characters out of character for sympathy is one of the cheapest forms of sympathy. The episode knows that just changing Diamond Tiara's character a little bit won't be enough to make us sympathize with her, so the episode just says "it wasn't her fault, it was all her mother's fault". This is such a lazy way to handwave away everything Diamond Tiara has done. Her song is laughable because of just how different it is from every other episode with her. When Diamond Tiara rebels against her mother at the end, she becomes a completely different character, just like how Gilda and Discord suddenly changed their characters in their reformation episodes. The songs are okay, but the CMC's voices sound more processed and fake than ever before. Spoiled Rich is so stereotypical and over the top in her terribleness, that I just can't take it seriously. Just like with "The Mane Attraction", it makes the story being told feel so shallow, like there wasn't much effort in Diamond Tiara's redemption.

The CMC's cutie marks all being the same feels a bit like a cop out, but it does make enough sense. What bothers me is the ending song which is trying so hard to be like "Magical Mystery Cure" in reminding the audience of the past of the show, that it feels more desperate than emotional. Especially when Applejack mentions her parents. All I can assume is she only mentioned them because the fans would feel more emotional if the parents were mentioned.

Also just like "The Mane Attraction", it feels more like a cheesy Lifetime original movie than an MLP episode and there is some really bad dialogue like when the CMC just state exactly what Diamond Tiara's song was about right after we heard it. Not surprising that they have similar problems because they were both written by the same person.

Score: 0/10

Edited July 30, 2018 by bigbertha

[qwerE 96]

This episode was lovely! It had some of the best songs ever, and I was quite surprised at how good Diamond Tiara's singing was. The CMC's music was really nice, too. I never thought CMC's songs were super great, but it was different this time. The whole episode felt so beautiful because of it.

I liked the overall story, that even Diamond Tiara had her reasons for being so mean. Also, the CMC got their cutie marks after reforming the main antagonist, who was actually the reason CMC was made in the first place. It made a whole lot of sense- the CMC was established because Diamond Tiara made them feel bad for not having cutie marks. However, through various adventures, the CMC find out the true meaning of having a talent, and ironically, reforms Diamond Tiara with it. This moment was the perfect moment for them to get their cutie marks- and they did.

I do think that the change in Diamond Tiara's character was very abrupt, though. In my opinion, it was okay until the part where Diamond Tiara goes back to school and meets her mom. I could see that Diamond Tiara was confused and unsure of how she should act before that scene. However, she suddenly becomes so full of conviction and confident all of a sudden. I think it would have been better if the CMC stood up for Diamond Tiara when she was being scolded by her mom, and that led to her opening up her mind.

Still, it was a great episode worth watching.

[Meushell 52]

I enjoyed this episode, though it did have major flaws. The show had years to work on Diamond Tiara (and Silver Spoon). We know they can show development because they have. It makes the sudden change of these two ponies rather disappointing in itself. I’ve been wanting to see this, but it started and finished too quickly. 

Diamond is a bully because her mom is abusive, and Silver is a bully because Diamond bullies her.

First Diamond... Really show? They could have easily made it that the pressure to be high class was too much. It could have even been pressure she put on herself. She always wants to be better, so she started putting ponies down to lift herself up. Losing Silver as a friend makes her realize that she’s only hurting herself. Instead we have an abusive mother, and no one says anything, even as she starts bullying other kids...in front of the teacher...who did nothing.

As for Silver, I wish this was a two part episode so we could see more of her. What is her talent anyway? Has she been reformed too? I did like everyone’s reaction to her being told not to talk. I wish we had seen more of her after she left.

The CMC finally gets their cutie marks. Here is where the show did great. The writers took their time, and we saw them doing just this before. It’s like the cutie mark gods went, “Oh, we gave some marks way too soon. We need to fix that.”

[Rain Breeze 6]

I love how a new side of Diamond Tiara is shown in this episode. When her mom criticizes her for being too nice and hanging around "lower class ponies" we see that Diamond Tiara is very unhappy with her current situation. I love how the CMC do their best to help her even though she had bullied them for a long time.