S05:E25+26 - The Cutie Re-Mark

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

Looking forward to see what S6 will bring Starlight.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

These episodes confirmed Flim & Flam brothers are not just a mere antagonist businessmen, they are threats of Equestria too, so I can safely place them in "villain" category.

 

Even in timeline where Nightmare Moon wins, she's still the bad villain of the show.

 

Tirek really hate trees...

 

King Sombra and Queen are both dangerous villains. That why we need to banish/varporize them.

 

Starlight is a smart villain with mundane backstory.

 

This finale is the showcase of villains.

[Luffyiscool 397]

Did anyone else notice that the giant skull on the map is there for every future except the one where there's nothing left but barren wasteland?
That creature must have been terrifyingly powerful.

[DuskRain 193]

This episode was and AMAZING episode. Mega feels trip.

 

Fallout Eq because wasteland from last time warp with Starlight.

[JH24 385]

After re-watching I can honestly say this is one of the best finales for me personally. I can't place it higher than Twilight's Kingdom, but they're certainly close.

 

What I especially liked about this finale is, that in contrast to "Twilight's Kingdom", the pacing feels so much better. There wasn't one dull moment and every scene was able to keep my interest. Not to mention the sounds and background music were amazing. Especially during the different timelines and Starlight casting Starswirl's spell.

 

The different timelines were very intriguing, of course they had to tone down the violence and possible deaths, but I'm pretty sure during the war against the Crystal Empire many ponies have died or have gotten injured. Not to mention everyone seemed absolutely miserable, having lost all hope and working day and night to support the troops in a terrible war they were probably losing, or at least a war that has reached a bloody stalemate.

 

Personally, I can't help but wonder why Nightmare's Moon timeline was considered worse. Sure, it's always night but she seems much more rational as a leader in comparison to her earlier days. Chrysalis' timeline actually seems the worst. It feels like a terrible fate being locked into dungeons or camps, slowly being drained of your emotions and feelings bit by bit until there's nothing left. Then again, becoming subjects under King Sombra is probably just as bad.

 

It also begs the question...What happened to past Twilight? I shudder to think what her fate might have been.

 

 

Amazing finale that really enriches the backstory and world of MLP. I loved the emotional sruggle between Twilight and Starlight, how Twilight was slowly breaking down Starlight's shell she had build around herself, I really found their exchanges very, very well done. 

Edited November 30, 2015 by JH24

[Auditormadness9 61]

Josh Haber. He also wrote Friendship Games.

NOOOO!!!!!!! BRING BACK MEGHAN MCCARTHY PLEASE!!!!!! SHE DID A GREAT JOB FOR TWILIGHT'S KINGDOM!!!!

After re-watching I can honestly say this is one of the best finales for me personally. I can't place it higher than Twilight's Kingdom, but they're certainly close.

 

What I especially liked about this finale is, that in contrast to "Twilight's Kingdom", the pacing feels so much better. There wasn't one dull moment and every scene was able to keep my interest. Not to mention the sounds and background music were amazing. Especially during the different timelines and Starlight casting Starswirl's spell.

 

The different timelines were very intriguing, of course they had to tone down the violence and possible deaths, but I'm pretty sure during the war against the Crystal Empire many ponies have died or have gotten injured. Not to mention everyone seemed absolutely miserable, having lost all hope and working day and night to support the troops in a terrible war they were probably losing, or at least a war that has reached a bloody stalemate.

 

Personally, I can't help but wonder why Nightmare's Moon timeline was considered worse. Sure, it's always night but she seems much more rational as a leader in comparison to her earlier days. Chrysalis' timeline actually seems the worst. It feels like a terrible fate being locked into dungeons or camps, slowly being drained of your emotions and feelings bit by bit until there's nothing left. Then again, becoming subjects under King Sombra is probably just as bad.

 

It also begs the question...What happened to past Twilight? I shudder to think what her fate might have been.

 

 

Amazing finale that really enriches the backstory and world of MLP. I loved the emotional sruggle between Twilight and Starlight, how Twilight was slowly breaking down Starlight's shell she had build around herself, I really found their exchanges very, very well done.

 

Yeah, Twilight's Kingdom is the best episode so far. The only thing i didn't like in this episode that Starlight appeared to be more powerful than Twilight. That's bad and stupid. The battle with Tirek, the library destroying, the rainbow power, the new castle, the song with reminding the characters that helped the rainbow. That finale had more sense than this one. And a question, what happened to the library in the timeline?

Soon, all the antogonists will be redeemed in the 2017 movie and we all can kiss a farewell to the show.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Auditormadness9

[Twilight Frost 271]

I never thought Starlight Glimmer was going to be so powerful. So powerful that Twilight cannot out magic her like she has every single other pony ever.

 

I am really glade for that part, Really, Glimmer has to be one of twilights most powerful enemies. She is probably the most powerful and gifted magical pony in the world. This is been a great end to a great season, but I really wish they would had opened the plot for the next season.

I never thought Starlight Glimmer was going to be so powerful. So powerful that Twilight cannot out magic her like she has every single other pony ever.

 

I am really glade for that part, Really, Glimmer has to be one of twilights most powerful enemies. She is probably the most powerful and gifted magical pony in the world. This is been a great end to a great season, but I really wish they would had opened the plot for the next season.

NOOOO!!!!!!! BRING BACK MEGHAN MCCARTHY PLEASE!!!!!! SHE DID A GREAT JOB FOR TWILIGHT'S KINGDOM!!!!
Yeah, Twilight's Kingdom is the best episode so far. The only thing i didn't like in this episode that Starlight appeared to be more powerful than Twilight. That's bad and stupid. The battle with Tirek, the library destroying, the rainbow power, the new castle, the song with reminding the characters that helped the rainbow. That finale had more sense than this one. And a question, what happened to the library in the timeline?
Soon, all the antogonists will be redeemed in the 2017 movie and we all can kiss a farewell to the show.

 

I really don't ever see Tirek, Crystalise or Dr. Von Badpony ever being redeemed. Especailly the later one. We do not even know what the plot of the movie is going to be so chill.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Is it just me or they really brought in a WWII theme in the scene were it presented the alternated Equestria in a war vs King Sombra

slpa fight..of death!! (kid show  taking all the fun out of fight scenes)

 

edit later

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,673]

Look what I found. 

 

 

And have some music to go along with it.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

when Zecora mention a river and time travel, you think I ould think of doctor who but nope. I thought of Prince of Persida the sands of time
"For i have seen the face of time, and I can tell you, they are wrong."

Strlaight redempton was nice, i mea yo ucoud sense it in her speach and such that she need a good talknig too. hehe good old  twilight sparkle alays using her speaches where her magic fails.

[cider float 2,537]

People might say that Starlight's motives were weak but... I think that's missing the bigger picture.

 

Doesn't anyone find it at all weird that Starlight at such a tender age seemed to have absolutely nopony to turn to? Did she truly grow up feeling alone and rejected? I mean, doesn't she have, I don't know, something called a family? Either her family was too out of touch for her to confide in or she didn't even have one. Either way, it's pretty disturbing. 

 

No wonder she's off her rocker.

 

Well compared to how Moondancer took Twilight's departure, Starlight took it way too far.

[JH24 385]

I'm wondering, when Chrysalis and her changelings disguised as Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack appeared in the village, they all looked beaten up/worn out. Does this mean they have been in a fight with the real versions and then copied them afterwards? Could it mean Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack have been defeated/captured? (Or worse)

 

When I saw Chrysalis and the other two changing in their true form, I got a very uneasy feeling about their fate.

 

 

NOOOO!!!!!!! BRING BACK MEGHAN MCCARTHY PLEASE!!!!!! SHE DID A GREAT JOB FOR TWILIGHT'S KINGDOM!!!!
Yeah, Twilight's Kingdom is the best episode so far. The only thing i didn't like in this episode that Starlight appeared to be more powerful than Twilight. That's bad and stupid. The battle with Tirek, the library destroying, the rainbow power, the new castle, the song with reminding the characters that helped the rainbow. That finale had more sense than this one. And a question, what happened to the library in the timeline?
Soon, all the antogonists will be redeemed in the 2017 movie and we all can kiss a farewell to the show.

 

Starlight wasn't really stronger than Twilight though, they seemed evenly matched at best. And Starlight had prepared herself well. Being an Alicorn doesn't mean that you're head and shoulders above others immediately. But I think it does mean an Alicorn has more potential regarding magic and power. I can live with it because Starlight seems to have an affinity for Magic, just like Twilight.

 

I don't think we have to worry about all antagonists being reformed. Some characters will still be off-limits. Although it would be nice if we learn more about the backstory of King Sombra for example. How did he turn out the way he did? Was he always evil or was he a good king/pony once?

Edited November 30, 2015 by JH24

[Swifty 249]

If the episodes are anything to go by, she's useless to Equestria. I have to wonder how it even managed to stay together for 1000 years with a ruler like that.

The luck of having third world neighbours like Griffinstone? ;D

[cwhip9 1,078]

The final act is what got me most with Starlights song. Lets be honest we all want to go back in time to fix something we did for a better future, small like a test in school or big like basic training or collage. Man I love this show its like the title of this show "friendship is magic" Finley fleshed out for everypony.

 

Also not many shows now a days do this reform the bad guy bit that iv seen growing up. Generlay its bad guy dose something bad, heros defet bad guy, bad guy only comes back for revenge of some sort. This show puts that on its head and slaps it a few times then hand its a cookie on how they treat the villains.

 

And about time they took a nod to the dark fandom idea's like fallout equestrian and the like. If I had to show someone knew this show it would be the season 5 opening followed by this ending.

 

So the next question, what are you going to do next for us MLP?  

[tickleshine 19]

_{seems like I missed a lot relating to the last episode......}

[Grtxkkyz 388]

Congratulations Starlight, you're the new Sunset Shimmer/Trixie/whatever now

Jokes aside, that was a rather interest finale. While not as climatic as Twilight's Kingdom, I really enjoyed the time travel elements, specially all the alternate timelines where the villains won. Plus, Chryssie and Nightmare Moon (and even the timberwolves) make a triumphant return as well as King Sombrero. And really kickass Zecora action too! She's been pretty negated trough the recent seasons, poor girl should get an episode to herself. The wasteland timeline does bring up some Fallout Equestria flashbacks, gotta admit. And the alternate counterparts of the Mane six are quite unique as well. Pretty sure this will be a mine of gold for fanfic writers. And yeah, it's good to see a villain getting redeemed by the power of a true friendship (The poor filly's story makes sense after all) but Starlight's redemption was rather awfully rushed, I gotta say. Heck, the ponies were quicker to accept and forgive her than with Discord! But given Twi's got her own apprentice under her mantle, this will open up for more story possibilities

Well, now it's time to withstand yet another great pony drought. I better go back to read some more fanfics.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Dino-Mario

[Singe 2,111]

Things that happen to Rainbow Dash and the time lines it caused, off screen.

 

1. Rainbow Dash gets in trouble for possession of illegal substance. Timeline: Tree Hugger is the Princess of Nature.

2. Rainbow Dash gets a broken wing. Timeline: Spitfire leads a military coup against Celestia.

3. Twilight Sparkle says a curse word that causes Rainbow Dash to lose concentration. Timeline: FIM is on PBS.

4. Rainbow Dash gets turned into a mouse. Timeline: FIM is owned by Disney.

5. Spike is thrown into Rainbow Dash. Timeline: Dragons rule Equestria.

6. Rainbow Dash gets sick. Timeline: Pinkie Pie becomes the number 1 most wanted criminal in Equestria.

7. The bullies get bought off. Timeline: Equestrian Kingdom financially collapses.

8. Rainbow Dash gets spooked by a skeleton. Timeline: A new villain has risen the dead and conquered the Equestrian Kingdom.

9. Rainbow Dash's wings gets zapped away. Timeline: Princess Celestia is married to the Prince of another Kingdom.

10. Twilight Sparkle injures Rainbow Dash with her horn. Timeline: Sunset Shimmer returned and overthrew Celestia.

[KingsInEquestria 32]

Omg this episode had so many feels in it, like just seeing Twilight go back in time and seeing what the world would look like if the villains had won was just so heartbreaking and so awesome. I don't even know to describe how awesome it was for me to see the old villains(mainly Sombra and Nightmare)again. This was such a wonderful season and my love for MLP has grown ten fold with it. Thank you Hasbro, you've out done yourselves again.

[Truffles 2,033]

Oh, ho, ho, have I got an answer for THAT!  What I got from the episode, or rather, what I already knew to be a basic law of sci-fi time travel, is that every single action, every single decision ever made, no matter how big or how small, can affect the fate of the entire world, the entire universe, even.  The particular event that was altered in this case was the rainboom, but Starlight could just as easily have prevented Pinkie from...like...baking a single cupcake or something, and it may have destroyed the world, too.  Every pony is equally important, and everything they do is equally important.  The rainboom was no more or less important than anything else.  But given Rainbow's reaction at the end, you may have a point.  I wonder if it will go to her head.  What she'll need to realize is that everything that everypony has ever done is just as important to the timeline.

 

Yes, exactly. Rainbow simply needs to see her Rainboom is just one of many chained events needed for everything to work out the way it should.

I still like the idea of an episode featuring her turning OCD about failing and fretting over turning Equestria into a post-apocalyptic wasteland because she forgot to do mundane stuff like preen her feathers that morning or such.

If she did start fretting over failure, she'll have turned into what she said Twilight was - a pony writing whole arias about failing.

 

I thought for sure that it was going to be shoehorned into the end of the finale, which would have kinda sucked.  But instead, they actually left it for the next season!  This is great for two reasons--it would have been rushed in this season, and also, it means that there's still hope for some much needed character development from Shadance.

 

I'm glad DHX came through for you in this regard.    I wasn't too worried, because birthing a foal with Starlight causing trouble would have been overload and caused the whole finale to crumble under its own ponderous weight. I think I speculated as well that it might be part of the season 6 opener, but I'm less sure now. It could be a mid-season episode, especially if they decide to do a hiatus again and need a mid-season finale, kind of like how the Luna episode was. I guess it really depends on which quarter Hasbro wants to sell a lot of baby pony toys next year!

 

At least it wasn't very loud, and it was the only slapsticky thing, but it was a bad move.  What possessed them to use a blaooga horn, I don't know.  Waaay to looney toons.

 

I didn't even notice it, mainly because I was transfixed by Twilight's sudden binocular toon eyes when she spotted Starlight talking with the bullies and Fluttershy.

DYN those binoculars are exactly the same as the ones Starlight was using in "What About Discord."

 

 

 

why did the scroll disappear into the time portal after they resolved things with Starlight?

 

I think it was because the Map/Tree of Harmony saw that the timeline was fixed (or at least was close enough) and quickly grabbed the map with magic and sent it off as far as it could into the distant future, much like how the Crystal Empire was time displaced.

 

At which point some unsuspecting unicorn schmuck will find the scroll again and screw things up, but that's future Spike's problem. 

[Reading Heart 167]

Redemption is always rushed in this show.. that's the price for having a limited amount of time to devote to it.. you need an entire season to really work on it.. which they did with discord.  Although, it's not as unrealistic as you might think, many people in life have had a life changing experience and in a single moment, had a complete 180 turn..  the problem is trying to cover everything that happens to a person in that moment, inside.. and representing that in fiction and media isn't always done well.

[Justin_Case001 4,882]

 

Yes, exactly. Rainbow simply needs to see her Rainboom is just one of many chained events needed for everything to work out the way it should.

I still like the idea of an episode featuring her turning OCD about failing and fretting over turning Equestria into a post-apocalyptic wasteland because she forgot to do mundane stuff like preen her feathers that morning or such.

If she did start fretting over failure, she'll have turned into what she said Twilight was - a pony writing whole arias about failing.

I actually think an episode like this might be a really cool idea.  As someone pointed out....somewhere...in another thread I think, it would be dumb to do another Rainbow boastful episode, like Mare Do Well.  She's learned that enough times.  But having her start freaking out Lesson Zero style because she thinks she's going to doom Equestria could be very interesting.  Twilight could end up having to explain to her that not doing something that hasn't been done yet is fine.  It's not going to screw up the timeline, because it hasn't been written yet.  Rainbow would then have to realize that she just needs to relax and not worry, and we could have some sort of "take life as it comes" moral.  Not a bad idea.

 

Oh yes, and now I want to see a clip of Rainbow preening her feathers.  That sounds precious.

 

 

 At which point some unsuspecting unicorn schmuck will find the scroll again and screw things up, but that's future Spike's problem. 

I smell a Jumanji denouement!

[FlowerHearts 66]

i am just OMG OMG i still can't sum up my feels.

[Truffles 2,033]

 

 

But having her start freaking out Lesson Zero style because she thinks she's going to doom Equestria could be very interesting.

 

You read my mind. That's exactly the kind of overreaction that would be amusing to watch. She's overdue for one, anyway.

[Carl Poppa 464]

I liked most of the episode, but Starlight's redemption was much too rushed, and didn't seem to make sense. It was kind of a lame ending, imo. As much as she was against Twilight, I certainly hope she still has some redeeming to do in the next season, although I doubt that will be the case.

[TwistedGear 27]

It's weird, the second half of season 5 has just felt off for me. And this finale is no different. While I enjoyed the episode while I watched it a few minutes later I felt like I was just played for a sucker. All that spectical, all that awesomness, and they didn't expand on the lore of cutiemarks. Infact they completely skirted around the issue by having every alternate future mane 6 wear more clothes. We never saw if the timeline changed what their cutie mark became, we never learned if cutiemarks can be altered in a good way, and the entire plot had nothing to do with cutiemarks despite begining with a speech about them, featuring a villian centered around them and being named after them.
I enjoyed the alternate timelines, yes. But even those were very vague and only held implications. You could write entire seasons based on each one and we only got a fleating few minutes of each, we never even learned what would have happened in half those timelines and it didn't even make all that much sense that changing how rainbow dash DIDN'T preform the rainboom would radically alter the timelines.
And in the end whats our new status quo change? Starlight glimmer is reformed, sure it's implied that she's going to be a main character now. But even if that is the case, thats a pretty weak change to what could have happened. There is no intrigue in how Starlight will change the status quo. We've already seen all that already with Sunset, Trixie, Moon Dancer and Even twilight herself. They could have ended the finale with something so much bigger and if the next season premire doesn't follow up with something bigger this finale wasted so much story potential that they'll never get a second chance at using.
Then again the per season status quo shift itself might be the problem, maybe what I really want is something that changes everything at once, like a 5 year time skip, or shifting the focus to the pie family or just starting fresh in a place we haven't seen as much of. I just saw all those alternate timelines and felt like those would be more interesting. It's just so weird that this is the point in the seires that I have to start using the excuses of  "This is a kids show," "This is a show made to sell toys" when I never felt like I needed to back in seasons  1-4. 
I don't want to dislike this episode, but I do. And I don't know if its because it's  different from what I love about this show or not different enough.