S02:E25+E26 - A Canterlot Wedding

[Pretty Fly for a PinkiePie 65]

OMG, This was the best episode. Cadence was beautiful, Shining Armor's voice! Twilight singing two songs! Evil Cadence! This day Aria!

I loved everything about it, it felt so special!

 

(OT: Sorry I've not been around for a while, I've been busy with school and bowling tournament prep.I will try to get on here more.)

[CaptainAron 4]

this episode was a great ending to the session

[Lord Sprixx 261]

This episode absolutely blew me away. It was fantastic, epic, funny, and kinda heart warming. I can only imagine what's in store for season 3 now .

[Warbalist 133]

There was a stupid grin on my face throughout the episode.

 

Amplified when I saw Vinyl.

 

In other words, I liked it.

 

Dude, same here. Smile just did not want to leave my face.

 

I loved all the new background scenery; they totally gave these episodes an atmosphere set apart from the rest of the season. Very cinematic.

[Yellow Diamond 7,564]

I'm guessing everyone noticed that Meghan McCarthy wrote the story for these episodes? She is a woman on a roll, every episode she has written has been fantastic.

 

Save for "Hearts and Hooves Day", she really has been one of the best writers for the show. "A Canterlot Wedding" might very earn her the crown for best writer, though.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

One of my friends offered jokingly that, in the continued vein of Dragon Ball, they should have gathered a bunch of energy a la the Spirit Bomb and beaten Chrysalis that way. Imagine a giant ball of friendship gathered from all of Equestria smashing into the Changeling Queen, sending her hurdling into the horizon. I suppose we'll just have to be satisfied with Shining Armor and Cadence's Love Orgasm.

 

5 bucks says that will happen in a future movie. That sounds like the kind of thing that would be most effective against a "mega-villain" stated in one of my topics about season 3 and even a movie.

 

Also, did anyone else get hyped when Celestia and the Queen engaged in battle? Albeit it was a bit brief, but it was awesome seeing two powerful monarchs go head-to-head... bah, I expected the Queen to win nonetheless, as it would have been bland had Celestia defeated her then and there. Fortunately the hype distracted me from bland prediction and it was very nice to finally see Celestia show off her offensive magic

[Yellow Diamond 7,564]

Also, did anyone else get hyped when Celestia and the Queen engaged in battle? Albeit it was a bit brief, but it was awesome seeing two powerful monarchs go head-to-head... bah, I expected the Queen to win nonetheless, as it would have been bland had Celestia defeated her then and there. Fortunately the hype distracted me from bland prediction and it was very nice to finally see Celestia show off her offensive magic

 

Witnessing Princess Celestia use offensive magic made squee with delight, much like viewing Princess Luna's Danny Phantom fan art. Even if it was clear Celestia would lose (it would have been funny if Chrysalis revealed herself, only to be promptly beaten by Celestia), the fact they duked it out for a few moments was glorious.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Thereisnospoon303

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Witnessing Princess Celestia use offensive magic made squee with delight, much like viewing Princess Luna's Danny Phantom fan art. Even if it was clear Celestia would lose (it would have been funny if Chrysalis revealed herself, only to be promptly beaten by Celestia), the fact they duked it out for a few moments was glorious.

 

Ah, crap. The Queen only managed to beat Celestia with "upgrades" - that is, absorbing the love that Cadence has for Shining Armor, so as a result, she is even more powerful than Celestia. Of course, this heavily implies that without such an absorption, Celestia would have destroyed Chrysalis, and Celestia was only somewhat hurt (it looked like it, at least...) when she lost the beam struggle. But then again... I'm also going to say she couldn't have used her full power (as she is literally a goddess) because it would endanger her subjects... ok, yep, by this logic, 5 bucks says that even with the "absorption" thing that the Queen put together, she still would have lost terribly to Celestia in a barren landscape. It wouldn't even be a contest... or then again maybe I'm just making homer calls.

 

That scene had everything action oriented, from slight drama (Celestia's tiara being thrown off) to a beam struggle. Definitely not what I expected from this episode, but what a wonderful surprise, at that. Meghan McCarthy and the developers have really outdone themselves this time.

[Gigabyte 8]

If Princess Candence is Princess Celestia's niece, then who is Princess Candence's mother, Luna? If so, then WHY DIDN'T SHE GO TO THE WEDDING? Is there a third sister? Is Discord her father?

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

"A Canterlot Wedding"

 

What I was expecting:

 

Fun, ponies getting married, friendship drama, love drama, and kissy scenes.

 

What I got:

 

An evil queen, The Mane 6 engaging in physical fights, beam struggles, magic offensive spells, gigantic force fields, underground prisons, malicious plot to overthrow and conquer not only Canterlot but all of Equestria.

 

Greatest 45 minutes ever.

[Ra1nbowCrasH 271]

In part 2, right after defeating her doubles, Rainbow Dash very briefly kisses Fluttershy! If you listen you can even hear a *smooch* sound.

[Eenohay 318]

If Princess Candence is Princess Celestia's niece, then who is Princess Candence's mother, Luna? If so, then WHY DIDN'T SHE GO TO THE WEDDING? Is there a third sister? Is Discord her father?

 

It's never said she is her niece...

[Inkfeather 597]

I feel that my earlier post didn’t quite honor the episode at all. I will therefore write a new post, as I watch the episode, explaining my thoughts and reaction as I discover new things through the episode.

 

Just from the start I can clearly say that when compared to earlier episodes, the characters have very nice depth. Their reactions to the letter from Celestia at the start wasn’t something I noticed very much in my first view of the episode, but the way both Fluttershy and Rarity reacts towards their tasks at hand is well done, the voice acting was done extremely well and the overall feel of character was more convincing than compared to earlier happenings.

 

Another thing I just noticed. When you see Canterlot in the background as they have their picnic, you can actually see the outline of the barrier that isn’t revealed before later. It’s a small detail but it’s amazing to see how much they value correct graphical display of the story.

 

Twilight, when she uses the sandwich to speak, the animation was done very well to fit her odd imitation of her brother. The whole facial expression revealed much more of the actual scene than it would have done in earlier episodes, already from this point one can see the huge difference in quality.

 

All that background music, something you don’t quite notice in the first view, it’s so well done and fits the scene so perfectly that you barely notice it unless trying to.

 

And then Twilight begin to sing, the animation of the mouth is wonderful, that little twitch of the mouth as she drags out the “neeed” is a beautifully animated addition. The lyrical composure of the whole BBBFF song is extremely well done, the rhymes and structure is beautiful from a poet’s point of view as well as the cheerful music with a catchy tune adds nicely the the overall friendship theme of the whole song.

Throughout this song you also see the barrier again as the skim to the view of Canterlot.

Once again her mouth twitches nicely as she drags out the last tune of the song, with a tear in her eye it was a beautiful sight indeed. I see many people liking the “This Day Aria” and yes, the duet between the princesses were very, very nice. I still find this song to be almost as beautiful, but for other reasons.

 

Rarity’s overly dramatic reactions always make me smile, her whole role in this episode was one of my favorites. She was more comical than usual, her animation overall had WAY more depth in this episode compared to others. Her voice acting sounded just as exciting as her animations made her seem, perfectly matching one another.

 

The scene passes on and we see them write the train towards Canterlot and once again we see the barrier, except this time it’s actually animated, a nice spell reflection line passing down over the barrier. I really like this, just because it’s there.

 

And then comes the dialog between Twilight and AJ! More AJ in the spotlight is always good, she always seem, to have something nice to say and I feel we had more character depth in AJ in this episode than in any of the AJ centered episodes, such as Applebuck Season or The Last Roundup. We get her two bits in this part, telling Twilight not to worry and in general trying to be the friend she’s meant to be. It’s beautiful.

 

They pass through the barrier, all I can say is... That animation... *does a “gasm” something*

 

Pinkie Pie’s weird streamer-confetti sneeze, I don’t know WHY they added this, but it’s absolutely brilliant. The way they make Pinkie appear as random and overall funny in almost every scene is so amazing, another reason why she’s one of my favorites.

 

“And then give him a piece of MY mind” the facial expression on the guards as Twilight says this, it’s something I did notice a little bit when I watched the 480p, but when seeing it in 1080p it’s also a brilliant addition, it may just be me, but the way background characters have begun to interact more in the actual story is fantastic.

 

Animation depth of Twilight really shows when confronting her brother, her mane in general seems more real and makes her overall design look better than it did in earlier episodes, and I even checked an earlier episode, The Cutie Pox to be exact. Her mane is a tad wider and moves more with her character in this new episode. Also facial expressions when talking to her brothre shows amazing amounts of emotion.

 

Oh, and that voice for Shining Armor! It’s a real “big brother” voice, it was amazing to hear him talk, his voice actor is a real gem. It also fits very well with his design.

 

Animation of spellcasting, facial expression of Shining Armor, it was very nicely done. Same compliments as earlier on the depth of the actual scene of animation.

 

I also want to add that Twilight’s magic and her brother’s magic have the same color! It’s nice to see that the actual color is related the the family, as one would share eye color with one of your parents and/or siblings. More pony lore! Twilight and Rarity’s magic could easily been seen as design compliments to their color palette. Though Shining Armor is nowhere near the same color as Twilight ,except for the magic!

 

The plot this far is nice and steady, not fast paced except for Letter -> Canterlot trip instantly. The whole thread against Canterlot in connection to the wedding may be a bit cliche, but it’s pulled off nicely in my personal opinion. How one doesn’t get to know that the thread have something to do with the wedding, because it’s part of the master plan. Again, so far the plot isn’t that deep, but it’s still interesting.

 

Oooh, that cute little smirk Shining Armor makes when he asks Twilight to be his best mare, proves just how much of a brother he is, how well he knows his sister. It’s really nice to see that they share a bond and that they actually know about each other in the series. You can see on Shining Armor’s face that he knows how Twilight will react to the question.

 

The plot twist of Cadence being Twilight’s old foalsitter is a brilliant idea. That Twilight wouldn’t know who she was, be upset and then find out it’s her bestest of marefriends from her childhood! It’s a brilliant idea. Then comes the flashback, it’s cute it’s insightful to Twilight’s past and will probably inspire lots of fiction authors to new stories. In general whenever we get insight in the past of somepony it’s a huge thing for the fandom. Also, the “out of the eye” animation used for the flashback is a bit cliche, not that I mind it though.

 

I really liked Cadence’s design, her eyes particularly. The twist to the eye style was very complimenting to her sugarsweet pink princess design, I also like how the wings look like normal pegasus wings at that stage rather than the size of Celestia’s wings. Her cutiemark, being a heart-shaped gem is a nice design for her special talent, being love.

 

To some criticism, Filly Twilight’s voice didn’t sound much like a kid. Just the normal Twilight with a little pitch. It didn’t bother me much, but I just noticed it being there. I also really like the voice of childhood Cadence, it’s a nice voice, fits her style and person very well.

 

The little rhyme that have, it’s cute. That is all.

 

And then we “zoom out” to reality again and we actually meet Cadence. And form the very first moment one can feel that something is really wrong. I noticed instantly that it wasn’t the same pony as in the flashback, you can’t change from being THAT sweet to being THAT rude.

 

They could have concealed this a bit better to give it a more mystical feel, but this means theý create some early drama, which is great as well.

 

The clinging to Shining Armor from Cadence side was cute enough, well until she gives that EVIL stare to Twilight, again a nicer dramatic effect to make the story move a little faster. Compared to her trying to impersonate someone, she’s doing a really bad job towards the people who know the real Cadence deeply, but since she has hypnotised Shining Armor and Twilight’s the only other real friend of Cadence that we know of, she’s the only one being sceptical, it’s a very nice overall idea of the story, the writers have done a great job planning this villain’s masterplan.

 

The kitchen scene, Twilight’s animated pose is nice, some frontal view of the whole body is a rare sight in this series. Her grumpy facial expression is also very cute :3 Please tell me I’m not the only one with this opinion?

 

I do wonder how that ladder didn’t topple the cake? Must be one tough cake there! Another Applejack scene as well, which is great to have some more of. The running around shows great and flawless animation, woohoo for that!

 

Twilight munching on cake is CUTE! :3 Man, I love the depth of Twilight’s facial expressions in general. She’s such a nice character.

 

And now Spike plays with dolls, shows us that he’s a sensitive soul indeed rather than what he makes himself try to look like in other episodes, he does have a taste for romance, that little naughty dragon that he is!

 

The way the make the smile of the fake Cadence look really fake is also a very nice touch, it actually looks fake even though it’s animated in something as simple as flash. I’m a bit bothered that Applejack, the element of HONESTY, can’t see through this facade.

 

We know, for the first time see the magic of the fake Cadence, her now GREEN aura shows clearly around her horn, it looks fake if you compare to the magic of other unicorns, it’s straight around the horn, just glowing there, it’s not flowing as magic should. Also, her aura changed from light blue to green since the flashback another nice addition from the animators and story writers.

 

Her voice drips with sarcasm through the whole scene, again I’m bothered that Applejack didn’t notice this at all.

 

The statement on the different animation used for magic is clearly seen in the next scene, Rarity’s magic is FLOWING around her horn.

 

Twilight’s desperate try to get someone to see her point in something being entirely wrong is a nice story addition, she follows her instinct because she KNOWS something is wrong. Though of course Rarity have some excuse to shrug it off as nothing to worry about.

 

Rarity is such a hooflicker in this scene, bowing deeply and showering the fake princess in compliments. Sigh.

 

She also instantly notes down what the princess wants, not even annoyed that she’s criticizing her design. Another proof that her personality is one that would do almost anything to get some remark from royalty.

 

Lyra gets her voice! *squeeee*

 

Comparing Rarity’s reaction towards her friends as she designs their gala dresses and the princess’ demanding nature as she just orders “other colors” is a little weird, she questions her friends about what they want but she doesn’t ask the princess the simple question of “what colors?” Another tiny break of character.

 

The background art for the reception is amazing, so many details on balloons and everything else in general. Also, chicken dancing Pinkie is best Pinkie.

 

I’m not really surprised that Pinkie doesn’t notice the sarcasm in the fake princess’ voice. She’s Pinkie Pie, she loves birthday parties.

 

Twilight then proceeds to take her opinion of Cadence up with her friends and I find their lack of support really out of character, but then again, it’s not much of a story without this happening.

 

The animation as Twilight drinks, it’s so detailed!

 

Again, I’m surprised none of the ponies have noticed how mean the fake princess sounds, not even Fluttershy, if we expect that the princess spoke to her as she spoke to the others. I think this is a little over the edge.

 

And the depth of the voice acting in this scene is magnificent! Twilight’s voice is done perfectly according to the mood and the animation, not even a pinch of doubt exists whether she means it or not.

 

“See! Rude” *folds arms* I loved this, for the sole reason of the anatomy and expression Twilight gave. It was brilliant.

 

As well as “Nevermind...” *Rolls eyes* towards Pinkie Pie playing with Spike.

 

And here the writers make Twilight seem like the bad pony, which is another great story twist, suddenly she’s the bad pony, she’s the one who’s being rude. It’s nicely written..

 

Now, this is getting a little out of hand, I’ve written this from the first 15 minutes of the story, meaning if this goes on I will have written around 5000-6000 words before the end. I guess i’ll take it a little more briefly and stop commenting and all the small, but wonderful details.

 

And, now we actually get semi-violent behavior from Twilight, nothing of the gentle stuff, another great proof on how for this show have moved since episode one.

 

And once again the amazing background music is noticed, it’s beautifully implemented in the whole episode to fit all the moods. I really love the depth of this whole episode.

 

We now also get more character depth from Shining Armor, his ego shows a bit as he asks Twilight if he’s looking good, but being captain of the royal guard is no small feat and I bet it takes a good physical shape to achieve the position, so I presume he have reason to compliment himself that way.

 

Also, now the changeling princess begins to discuss SA’s (Shining Armor) outfit for the wedding, why does the villain even care what he wears as long as she gets his love? Hypnosis should be plenty to make him do as she wants why bother with addressing hit attire?

 

The “headache” is what I presume to be SA trying to break free from the spell cast upon him which she notices and therefore proceeds to reinforce the spell put on his mind. Just a guess though.

 

The whole story twist with new bridesmaids almost made me believe that the fake princess had hypnotised the other ponies, I was thinking it would be a bit cliche because the same thing happened with Discord, at least I was wrong on that point. Though it’s lovely to see how the writers make the story unfold far from one’s expectations.

 

I like that we’re constantly reminded, through visual input, that the barrier is in place. It’s always there in the background and the sound effect is clear when Twilight walks outside. It’s also clearly seen shining through the windows when the pony crew walks up the carpet.

 

And, the music suddenly stops when we notice Twilight isn’t there, another amazing effect on the scene. And Spike proceeds to play with his dolls, so cute.

 

Twilight’s facial expression when she shouts at Cadence and the others at the altar is a bit overreacted, she’s glaring them down hard and it’s maybe a tad too much for the scene.

 

Twilight also seems to easily teleport now, compared to earlier in the story, a proof of physical as well as mental progress of the characters. We’re shown that they actually develop their talents rather than staying the same all the time.

 

Her ability to imitate the eye thing is funny, enough said.

 

Twilight with evil smirk is amazing. She’s like a whole other pony in this particular scene, but not in a bad way at all. She’s trusting her instincts and doing her best to protect her beloved brother, sadly she’s approaching it from the wrong angle.

 

She seems satisfied with her result, she actually made another pony cry, her brother’s one true love at that. It’s not like Twilight to be THAT evil.

 

The depth of the voice of SA in the following scene, his aggressive confrontation to Twilight is nicely pulled off, the acting is done perfectly in synch with the animation again.

 

 

And another story Twist, rude big brother done well, Twilight sad done well. I should really just watch the rest rather than commenting on everything.

 

Though, the sound effect every time SA has some headache pain is nice and subtle yet adds to the feeling that he’s really hurting.

 

The fact that he hints towards Twilight staying away from the wedding is extremely cruel, but then again, Twilight did just make his love cry and run away. I’m split on this one, the only reason I’m on Twilight’s side is because I know that the Cadence is fake.

 

I felt REALLY bad for Twilight when her friends abandoned her to check up on the fake princess, and also Celestia, her longtime mentor was disappointed in her! Twilight got it rough this time.

 

The overall animation of this scene was really good, the teary eyes, the frowns and all the anger was displayed nicely along with the voices of the actors. You could really feel the disappointment her friends felt, just from the looks on their faces.

 

How the whole scene ends with Twilight singing her BBBFF chorus again, this time more melancholy, it was amazing, really made the cherry on top of the whole scene. Also, how the stickfigure’ish animation was crushed by Cadence hoof gave a subtle hint about how little she cares for Twilight, if at all.

 

The teasing, oh the teasing! She pats her head! She smiles! AND THEN! She sends her through the floor in flames, oh boy these scene... Made me shed more than a few tears for Twilight’s sake.

 

I really loved the spell animation, lively, nicely done and actually very beautifully animated as it went through the floor in a portal like motion.

 

That was the end of part one. Now, more pony.

 

Echoes and reflections, all over the place. The subtle glow of Twilight’s horn and the overall background being really well done in my opinion. The cave was probably the best scenario of this episode, the crystals really gave a touch of evil lair prison.

 

That maniacal laugh you hear in the background is nice and creepy. It really shoes the skill of the voice actors.

 

More background sounds to set the lovely mood, more brilliant animation that I won’t comment further one and a lovely evil dialog between the fake princess and Twilight. It was such a lovely scene. She also uses actual magic meant to harm. Which means it’s not all love and peace in their world. She’s actually trying to physically hurt this fake princess and ends up blowing a hole in the ground, imagine if she had hit herself, she would’ve been toast!

 

The animation of the princess’ face being shown on the rock beneath Twilight’s hooves were a bit annoying as I see it again, she only reflected herself on the actual crystals, the floor even looked crystal as she did it, yet the next second it’s rock again. Maybe it was a slip?

 

She tries again to cast this spell of destruction, once more proving how much she have progressed in the art of magic since we first got to know her, where she could barely pull off more than one or two teleportation.

 

And now we meet Cadence, the real one. At first I thought this was just the evil Cadence’s hiding place, her mane frazzled up because of Twilight’s spell, because at the time I didn’t know there were two of them which makes this scene amazing. The depth of her voice as she tries to convince Twilight that she’s the real Cadence, you can clearly hear the difference in person just from the voice, that it’s two entirely different ponies.

 

Also the fact that Twilight doesn’t believe her until she recites their silly childhood rhyme is a very nice addition to the story, as I, Twilight believed this cadence to just be evil rather than the one she had met being an imposter. I like the use of this rhyme again, making it seem even more beautiful that they can know it’s the real deal just by reciting this.

 

Twilight’s facial expression as Cadence does the rhyme is also priceless, the whole of Twilight’s face just makes me giggle with glee, she’s so adorkable.

 

The background music of this particular scene reminds me of Kingdom Hearts. Really, people who have played this game, go find the scene and listen closely. It’s pretty KH’ish.

 

The hug made me cry, it was so beautiful...

 

When they zoomed in on her face in the hug I was almost expecting her to make the evil faze again, just proving my theory about her really being evil, but no. You hear the cackle in the background now twisting the story again to prove Cadence’s tale of the imposter.

 

That light glint, I wonder how they could see it from so far away though, how were they actually able to see such a small source of light from so far away, from the roof of the cave?

 

Why did Twilight stand on the crystal wall in that scene? She’s talking to Cadence and telling her that they have to stop her, which I fully support, but why did she have to stand on that crystal wall?

 

And here comes the duet, I won’t really explain much on this other than I found it amazing and it sounded like something you could’ve heard in a Tim Burton movie.

 

Ooooh, Shading! Something you rarely see in this series is shadows! In this duet though, as the fake Cadence makes the mannequins bow and it zooms in on her face, there’s VERY heavy shading on the left side. It’s wonderful to see these shades in a flash animated series of such a cartoony style.

 

The roughed up art of the real Cadence is nice, she looks naturally worn from her imprisonment. The way the voice shifts between the two is also amazing.

 

The whole scene of the evil Cadence reminds me of something from the good old Disney movies, the solo songs of the evil witches of the different classics, the way they behave in general, just look at Cadence, it’s like she was pulled directly from a Disney classic.

 

The lyrical composure of the duet is not THAT well done, it’s rather dull if you ask me, the whole deal with how she sings out an evil monologue is alright, but not really the BEST way to go about if you ask me.

 

That maniacal look in her eyes though is amazing, she’s really scaring me at this point.

 

The fact that they have to use a mining cart to get to the exit just proves my point of the light source being way too far away to make a noticeable glint for them. Though, if they didn’t see this glint, it wouldn't be much of an escape, now would it?

 

The fact that the earlier bridesmaids were all hypnotized just increases my theory of the rest of the mane 6 being so as well. If the evil Cadence did it to her old ones, why not to the new ones as well? It would explain why they were a little out of character when Twilight tries to defend her opinion.

 

The fake Cadence breaks character, Celestia notices this as well. It’s clearly seen how she reacts when Twilight shows up at the wedding. But again, I can’t see why not even Celestia have noticed how evil she is at this point D:

 

At least Cadence didn’t correct herself with “I mean...” That would just have been too revealing and way too cliche.

 

I like the joke about how they escaped the bridesmaids, really a good way to throw in some comedy in the middle of all this drama, making it feel like MLP a little more than ALL the drama filled adventure.

 

As the good Cadence tosses the bouquet of flowers we also see how her aura is indeed light blue and wavy compared to the straight bright green aura of the changeling.

 

Oooh, and the silly wedding rhyme in the background music in that scene is just brilliant!

 

And then we meet the Changeling Queen. Her design is so intriguing. Her overall graphical composure is amazing. The theme of pure black with bright green eyes is a nice mix. Her voice is also one you could relate to a Disney themed witch. Something more I love about her is her bug like wings, nice to have more types of them.

 

The wetmane style hair of hers looks so natural on her overall design. It’s really wonderful to see them being so creative. The way the minions were “chipping away” on the barrier looked silly, not that there’s anything wrong with the whole “minions = stupid” theme which one often see when you have an army of evil things.

 

And now to the epic battle where we finally get to see CELESTIA stand up to the evil rather than shoving it to Twilight and her friends. She’s finally going to take care of something!... But... She fails, which is brilliant! Except for the fact that now we hear about the elements of harmony once again and how they’re THE ONLY THING that can save them in this time of need. I was really close to believing it would actually go that way, but I found it too cliche to happen again, and luckily it didn’t.

 

This battle of magic reminded me of Harry Potter vs. Voldemort. Just sayin’

 

Celestia, sorry for saying this, made an orgasm face when the magic ray hit her horn. I was actually giggling “Molestia” when I saw this.

 

The changeling queen looked surprised by her own power, that she was able to beat Celestia must’ve been more than she thought she were able to do. It’s nice to see that it isn’t all a linear plot.

 

Celestia actually sounded angry as she said they HAD to find the elements to defeat the queen, I don’t think we’ve ever heard her be angry before.

 

When Rarity stopped to catch those dresses, man I laughed hard, another one of her silly moment that just proves how obsessed she is with all her fashion.

 

“You can run, but you can’t hide.” I just noticed that she specifically said this overused sentence, why does she think they wanted to hide? I think Celestia spoke loudly enough for her to hear what they wanted to do, unless of course she were too absorbed by her own power to notice.

 

And now comes the scene, as taken from an alien action movie. Weird creatures dropping from the sky, smashing into the ground without taking damage from the impact. More proof of how far this series have developed since the beginning, it contains love as well as action and real drama now. Very different from how it was in season one where it was mostly the girly giggling and life lessons we saw for most of it. Not that this made it bad, it was still a nice series at that point, but compare this twoparter to the first of season one, they have come a long way since then.

 

The double Rainbow Dash scene, as an introduction to the whole “clone war” (star wars pun NOT intended) was funny as hell, the mirroring of each other may be a bit cliche, but it’s funny none the less.

 

And now we have straight out violence! This is a first time of the show, we actually have ponies... hitting PONIES!

 

Fluttershy, oh Fluttershy. So cute when she tries to act evil as if she were one of them. This whole scene was a bit predictable, especially how AJ and Twilight was back to back and then Twilight changes, I saw that coming, but it was well used! Then we have the real Twilight, with more offensive used magic. Brilliant to see that she’s not only a nerd, but a battle mage as well!

 

And... The Twilight gatling gun... THE TWILIGHT GATLING GUN!

 

So much for Pinkie randomness. Man, that idea... Whoever came up with it is a genious.

 

And for Pinkie Pie, I like how they reintroduced her concept of “Giggle at the ghosties”. That’s pretty much what she does here, she uses her Pinkie logic and wins. Because she’s Pinkie Pie.

 

Offensive party canon is best party canon. Pinkie Pie in general in the whole fighting scene was fantastic!

 

And we see more nicely done shading as they enter the room of the elements. It’s still something we rarely see in this show, and never seen done this well! The whole scenario of the room was shaded as well as their faces as they opened the door!

 

And at this point the writers saved my day, they didn’t make them get the elements after all, they killed anything that would’ve become too cliche.

 

(Side note, I’ve paused this episode so many times to write this that I’ll have to see the whole thing again afterwards.)

 

Slimy cocoon prison for Celestia, adds to the whole bug theme of the changelings. It’s nice that they actually kept the theme overall rather than just using it as a design.

 

I really like the use of the villain to make it up to Twilight, the actual villain, the bad guy of this story actually helps Twilight get an apology from her friends, maybe not directly, but she mentions that Twilight was right all along, thereby restoring her personal honor.

 

And she sings the chorus of the “This Day Aria” again, ending it with “Who says a girl can’t really have it all” another thing that makes it feel like a Disney classic, I really love how they catched that mood several times in this episode.

 

And here comes the most beautiful scene of the whole episode, love conquers all. The almighty power of true love is the one source of power that exceeds the magic of friendship. This whole scene made me shed so many tears. So much love and sorrow in this scene. Cadence crying, her hugging SA... Sigh, I really am a sucker for romance.

 

SA is weak, he can’t repel the evil. “My love will give you strength”. This whole scene now, becomes VERY cliche, but! It was done extremely well. I don’t mind it being cliche if it’s done correctly. It was a beautifully animated scene, it was extremely touching and the overall mood was beyond my mortal comprehension. The background music... The background music!...

 

I’m shedding silent tears as I type this. The most beautiful moment of the episode, of the whole series. The moment where true love conquers all evil and exceeds in pure strength to repel the bad and corrupt of the world. *sniffle*

 

And now we get to see what’s beyond Equestria. A rocky wasteland of nothingness is what’s out there. No wonder Equestria is a common target of evil when it’s such a nice place. We see the queen being thrown far out of the grass green border that is Equestria. It’s lovely to see that Equestria isn’t a world, but a country, a continent maybe. There’s more out there!

 

Though, this could also just be the direction of the prairie and where Appleloosa is, but who knows? :3

 

The overall animation so far have never declined, it’s only getting better and better as one notices remarkable feats of capturing true emotions in the eyes of these lovely equines.

 

The beautiful new checkout of the preparations, the dress, the food, the birds. Just overall how Cadence is a beautiful soul of love and care for others. She’s a new favorite side character of mine, so much depth to her person. It’s amazing.

 

Chicken dancing Cadence is best Cadence :3 Just like Pinkie Pie.

 

I always cry at weddings, this one was no exception. It was so beautiful, just... beautiful.

 

Something I got to think about as Celestia announced their names at the wedding. Their names always seem to have something to do with who they are and what they do. What does Cadence full name have to do with anything? If anyone knows, please, do tell.

 

And of course we get the lesson as well! “Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn” and it is indeed.

 

We also got to see how ponies kiss! *more squeee*

 

Rainbow Dash have clearly developed herself physically since her last performance, she is now able to perform a Sonic Rainboom on command, a remarkable feat if you ask me, compared to how much she were struggling for the best young flier competition. The character progress through the series, both in personality and physique.

 

And a smiling, lovingly Luna is what we get to see near the end, also a proof of character progression since Luna Eclipsed. An amazing addition for the overall lore and for the fandom as well.

 

We also get to see more of Vinyl Scratch as I prefer to call her. Haven’t seen her since the Hoity Toity show. Nice to know they think about who they’ve used before.

 

And now, “Love is in bloom!” from Twilight herself, that amazing voice of her is perfect. It’s my favorite song of the show, I think it’s more catchy than the others, the lyrical work is amazing and it’s overall a very good song.

 

There’s a lot of hints in the end of this season, we see AJ with two other western styled ponies, looking older than herself. It could be her parents! We see spike dancing with Sweetie Belle, sister of his crush and much more near his own age. I personally support this ship ;3

We also see Rarity dancing with Fancy Pans, but we already know that he have got Fleur De Lis, and that he’s a bit older than Rarity.

We see Rainbow Dash and Soarin’, maybe another ship that’s already fairly known in the fandom for those who support shipping.

 

And of course the whole episode have to end with another comical scene of Rarity. Catching the bouquet with a maniacal glee on her face, it’s priceless.

 

And now I cry again, this whole thing, even though I paused so many times to write this, is just amazing beyond description. I can’t help but shed tears of joy and happiness as I see this ending. It’s a better 40 minutes of pony than any movie I’ve seen before. It have got it all, comedy, drama, love, good vs. evil and ponies. This makes for a greater movie than many other works out there.

 

 

Crying Rarity, Applejack and her hat. All the nice little things that makes this series so perfect in the end is the small details they put into the story. All the funny additions and silly puns, they’re all there to make this show what it is, and this episode made the series more honor than I could ever have hoped for. This was, without any doubt, the best episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, that have ever been made.

 

(Seems like I did reach about 6000 words after all.)

 

 

Inkfeather out with running tears.

[Bunni 1,075]

It is one of the best endings I have ever seen!

 

Even had to re-watch it several times due to my mind not being able to both comprehend its epicness and that the season was actually ending.

 

I couldn't have imagined a better way for the season to end than this.

 

**Removes my hat and gives a huge applause to the creators for this fantastic season**

Edited April 22, 2012 by TheBrokenToast

[Forlong 1,725]

Looking back at my previous little review, there are a few things I didn't get. I did write it at 2 am, so I wasn't completely on the ball.

 

The reason I said the "Big Brother Best Friend Forever" song was meh is because the music was as bland as an oatmeal sandwich. The lyrics and emotion behind them were good, but I couldn't see myself humming along with Twilight.

 

I also got to ask why they couldn't find anything more interesting for Spike to do. They just resorted to using him for cheap laughs. I was a little disappointed there.

 

The Changeling Queen was just as good in part 1 as she was in part 2. She was able to act like a princess, but not quite like Cadence. This was why she had to distract Shining Armor with the "unseen threat" and put so much effort into the wedding. With all that was going on, it made sense to assume she was just being cranky because of all the stress she was under. I hope Britt McKillip gets more work as a voice actress after proving herself here. Just by listening to her voice, you can tell when its fake or real Cadence.

 

I just can't stop saying great things about the Changeling Queen, and how glad I am that she wasn't redeemed or sealed. I'm pumped for season 3 and the hope that she'll return to exact revenge upon Twilight and Shining. This might just be the best female villain ever.

 

The changeling invasion was great. Just when you thought they were taking full advantage of flash animation, they hit you with this curve ball. The vast numbers of changelings drives the helplessness home, though not as much as their queen knocking Celestia on her ass.

 

Oh, and after rewatching the episode, I noticed how good that last song was. I seriously want that song played at my wedding.

 

In general, I saw this show as just good. I found none of the episodes to be amazing, but none of them are actually bad. This episode is on a whole other level. Its not just great, its fantastic! If half the episodes of season 3 are this good, I'll be one happy pony.

[Zoop 8,384]

Everything Inkers said

With that post, you captured nearly every thought I had as I watched the episode myself - almost perfectly, I might add. I regret that I can like it but a single time.

 

Many kudos to you!

[Dave247 568]

Everything Inkers said

 

Now I want to watch the episode again and read your post along the way to fully understand it because there's certain bits I can't remember clearly. Probably because I'm rather tired and it is now 6:30AM. I really should go to bed.

Great post though, just gota not be half asleep when getting deep into the show

Edited April 22, 2012 by Dave247

[Inactive01 5,298]

WHAT IS UP WITH THE CHANGELING QUEEN!?

Seriously, this is the kind of horse Lord Zed would ride. Little girls were watching this show and just got nightmares.

 

As one Youtuber commented, the finale is more of a brony episode than a little girl's episode.

[Twilight Sky 449]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsixRtMKUCk&feature=related

Best version I found on youtube so far....

[Esmeshy 58]

It was happy, sad, tense, touching, scary and basically, just a massive roller coaster up until the end. I was captivated for the entire time I was watching, I never looked away once and it barely even felt like an hour had passed - in a good way! I didn't guess what the twist was and I loved all of the new characters. The humor was used really well and I was laughing out loud at every moment. The songs were great, especially the duet between Cadence and The Queen, it felt like a classic Disney movie! The ending was a bit rushed, but they did the best with the time they had, and it didn't bother me too much. They had a lot more adult orientated content - especially the appearance of DJ Pon-3 and the references to stag parties. I honestly think it was one of the best episodes and to criticize it too much would be getting nit picky. Sure, it had it's faults but they worked well with the constraints they had. It was 100% a rainbow-puke worthy episode.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Esmeshy

[prettycool 65]

BY FAR this was the best episode of the entire series.

No, not the best episode of season 2. THE BEST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES.

[Twilight Sky 449]

NO KISSING? Then again it is 'suppose' to be 'appropriate' for a certain age group....

Edited April 22, 2012 by Danger Dash

[RippedOffMattress 314]

NO KISSING? Then again it is 'suppose' to be 'appropriate' for a certain age group....

 

What do you mean? Yes there was!

[Twilight Sky 449]

I missed it?! Da fuq?

[Skullbuster 1,906]

i can see a variation of TF2 jokes now

 

change scout is a spy!

 

to rainbow dash is a changling