S05:E25+26 - The Cutie Re-Mark

[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.

[Cavatina Operetta 3]

It was an extraordinary episode, and I loved it but.. I personally think it was too complex for the 5-7 year olds it was aimed at. I don't really think they would've understood how one change in the past can cause so much change to the world and all that. Heck, I had to pause to take it all in at first.

Loved seeing Starlight too..I just knew they were gonna bring her back.

All in all, a good episode.

good riddance, season 5.

Also..

STARLIGHT GLIMMER TOY FOR ONLY 6.55$

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[Number62 1,247]

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

Possibly. Exploring the history of Equestria and Griffinstone would be nice.

[Asteroids 39]

I have so much hype for this

[Luffyiscool 397]

I don't see why some people would take issue with Starlight being as strong as she is.

So are you guys saying you WANT Twilight to be a mary sue untouchable magic pants? 
Or do you actually want some proof that HARDER WORK can put you on par with those with talent?
Because we have it right here! And I couldn't be happier.
Why is it not something to celebrate that we've met a magically competent unicorn??

 

good riddance, season 5.

Really? My ranking goes 4>5>2>3>1.
For the handful of meh episodes we got, the amazing ones more than made up for it. 

[PonyHag1 591]

I liked this one very much. It was cool to see all the old villains return, and to see the various ways Equestia could have been under thier rule. I wish Sombra had a bit more to do, at least have a few lines, but I did like his metal pony army, very creepy and cool at the same time.

 

I think Starlight Glimmer's backstory was quite basic, but it did its job in terms of explaining why she felt the way she did about cutie marks. We'll have to wait and see where she goes from here, I guess.

 

The song at the end was good, but I think I like "Let The Rainbow Remind You" from season 4 better. 

 

I liked the closing picture of everypony. It's almost as if they're saying "Thanks for watching, friends" to which I'd reply "Well done, ponies, well done."

[Betelnut 13]

I thought it was excellent! Very entertaining and exciting.  When the first episode flashed up, "To be continued..." I actually was shocked and said to my daughter, "Already?"  It just whizzed by.

 

 

Some thoughts:

 

One issue that some people are having is Starlight Glimmer's reason for hating cutie marks.  I actually think there has been a lot of work done in previous episodes showing that the loss or withholding of friendship can be devastating.  See: Party of One, in the first season and What about Discord in season 5.  Friendship is shown over and over again (in other episodes also) to be very important to a pony's mental health and so it is easy to see why SG would go slightly off her rocker when she feels it has been taken away from her.

 

SG's reformation was quick and I agree that, as usual, the wrap-up was too fast--but, hey, they got in soooo much in just 44 minutes!  I do think that she was totally unaware that her actions were causing such havoc in other timelines and that she was shocked when she saw the end game.  I also think that it was great that she decided to stop on her own.  It didn't bother me when she relented.

 

Starlight Glimmer's future:  I thought that the montage at the end showed SG back at the Equalist town so I figured that she would stay there.  I can't see her joining the Mane Six but I suppose it is possible.

 

All in all, a complex episode.  A viewer would really have to be seeped in MLP lore and history to really enjoy it.  A novice watcher would not really enjoy it on the same level as a person who has seen the entire show from Season 1.  Is that a weakness or a strength?  As someone who as seen every episode (at least for Season 1-4) many times, of course, I was thrilled with the references and call backs.

[Singe 2,109]

Starlight Glimmer was obsessed with the idea to get revenge on Twilight Sparkle, that she never thought of altering the moment that started her downward spiral by stopping the books from falling.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Make of this screencap what you will.

 

 

 

[Chibi Rainbowgate 10]

So I have something to point out. i myself have been in starlight's hooves. oh but first where are my manners? *curtsies* my name is chibi! i may look like a filly but in actuality I am a mare who will be 18 soon *smiles sweetly* now then, allow me to point out some things I loved about the episode and what i hope to come, please forgive me if I'm sounding egotistic >///<. i'm trying to become a youtube reviewer so tell me what you all think 

 

SPOILERS FOR SEASON FIVE FINALE

________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so first and foremost, We get a feel for the speech as she talks about the sonic rainboom RD performed which got them all their cutie marks. Which will later, Play a big role in the episode. Then when the speech is actually happening, we see Twilight's old Canterlot friends, including Moondancer (I cant help but love how it was done. The imagery of the mane six as fillies when they got their marks, bucking adorable XD) And then starlight glimmer shows up, which is interesting because shed been spotted as an Easter egg throughout the whole season. i can't help but think she did this to only get underneath twilight's fur a bit, to make her paranoid and mess up her speech which as we all know she prides herself in when it comes to organization.

 

Now we continue with scene of two and spike worrying, spike saying how starlight is gonna come back for revenge, worrying twi more only to then reassure her its not possible for her to return. And then, she's in the castle. (DUN DUN DUN, in fluttershy's chair no less)

 

And apparently she has a spell that causes a major time travel orb with cool sounds and omg its so pretty and what's going on abdjdbdjvsos-*stand by chibi is having a fan filly heart attack* *clears throat*sorry about that...anywho we continue where starlight disappears, but where did she go?~

 

But, while Starlight did leave, she also left a crumpled piece of paper behind....Which twilight treats like the plague when spike hoes near. Seriously its a piece of paper, presumably a spell. Not dangerous unless you use it.

Cut to, starlight popping out if that orb thing and teasing twilight essentially saying I'll show you what I did, and then Twilight and Spike are dragged into the portal.

 

But wait, why are they in cloudsdale? Cut to ahsosbslsbsosbsk holy carp its filly dashie rainboom scene!! that was a good scene, and I'd like to say right now that I ac like the different ways that Starlight changed the past, It was all just very good, and ticked Twilight off the perfect amount XD. 

 

Then her theology actually made sense the way she explained it 0.0

 

And that condescending hoof clap when Twi missed and shot rd XD

 

 

But the whole thing was adorable.

Also KING SOMBRA AND CHRISSY AND NIGHTMARE MOON RETURN, I can't help but marvel at all the different styles of era the writers put into each alternate timeline. The one with Chrysalis was archaic and in a jungle setting, while nightmare moon's was in essence an eternal night and the opposite of harmony and justice. much like a totalitarian ruler like Stalin, she wanted no other being above her in power or intelligence. 

 

 

And the way rd and the mane six were in all different alternate timelines. Maud and pinkie in sombras though 030. though i can't help but feel more than confused, we saw on multiple different frames the mane six actually had their cutie marks, even though the rainboom never happened. so how is it they have the cutie marks from when it did? maybe it was just an animation error, or maybe it's a clue that no matter what happens in the end you will always have the cutie mark you were destined to, even if you don't get it the exact way it happened in another timeline or alternate universe. 

 

 

now for the ONE thing that bugged me....the flashback with starlight's friend...kinda..well...it wasn't a good reason to hate cutie marks. i get that the writers were toning it down to make it atmospheric to the usually style and pacing for the show, but I just feel like the fact his parents shipped him off to school to learn magic because it was his talent didn't seem to be a good idea. if it was that she was made fun of for it or even shunned after that happened, or compared to because of him THEN i would understand. 

 

And another thing, they never said the name of the village that Starlight was from as a filly, but i think they were alluding to the fact it was in fact the very village from the beginning of the season. (equestria equality village I call it) because Starlight before the flashback told her the village was "her everything" and "she made it what it was supposed to be', not to mention the style of the buildings, albeit they were more colorful, held very similarly to Equality village. so could that mean that when Starlight was older she founded the NEW version of the village from whence she grew up?

 

and finally, her redemption. this one just made the most sense and seemed so much more realistic than all the others in my opinion. it wasn't just firing the elements of harmony or talking to her, they had to pull it out of her. And coming from experience, I know exactly how hard it is to relive a traumatizing past just for someone to see why I hink the way I do, so when all twilight did was tell Starlight she was going to stop her, I thought it was just going to be "RAINBOW CANNONS, BAM YOU'RE CURED", but then we revealed her past as a filly and how she grew to think the way she does and her insecurities on changing for the better, afraid others wouldn't ever like her. 

 

Now true Sunset went through this is the equestria girls movie, in the end all they did was talk to her for a few short minutes and fire a rainbow at her. of course the second movie redeemed this flaw by showing she wasn't all the way accepted and battled the injustices she had done, but i can't help but feel it was too cliche to that of other redeemed ponies. 

 

Buit starlight was welcomed only after a long discussion (albeit they did not show the entirety of this discussion) but nonetheless it was more well done out. and the song after it was just beautifully written and well designed in the sequences. I wonder if the fact she apologized to the villagers means she'll be going back. tell me what you all think! Chibi out, Kisses and hugs! *hugs the screen*

 

 

[Singe 2,109]

Looking back, a major weakness for this story was making Twilight Sparkle be more important than the world.

[RubberDuckyNinja 0]

Wait, the alternate timelines aren't right! 

 

In the sonic rainboom scene, shouldn't there be multiple twilights and starlights running around?!

[Truffles 2,033]

Wait, the alternate timelines aren't right! 

 

In the sonic rainboom scene, shouldn't there be multiple twilights and starlights running around?!

 

Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. My guess is every time she returned it erased the other versions of all three parties involved since Starlight said the spell had been altered to pull her out of wherever she was to where and when Twilight was, essentially creating a "clean" copy of the rainboom event. I'm presuming the same holds true for Twilight and Spike.

[Luffyiscool 397]

Looking back, a major weakness for this story was making Twilight Sparkle be more important than the world.

Starlight: "Spare me your overblown ego! No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight's, is that important!"

 

Twilight: "I don't know why my friends and I are so important to Equestria... but we are."

 

Starlight: "Ugh! What's so special about your friends?! How can a group of ponies that are so different be so important?!"

 

 

^ I'm hoping that all of this is foreshadowing. That season 6 will explore the reason why Twilight and her friends are so special.

It seems like Starlight is asking questions that the fandom has been lobbying for years, and maybe this is a promise of

finally answering those questions, especially since even Twilight admitted that she didn't know.

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

Well, i liked it.

 

There isnt really anything else i can write. The Episode overall wasnt boring...but it wasnt spectacular either.

It was kinda, Starlight stole a magic roll with a spell and even if i heard that the person who wrote this spell, couldnt travel trough time that much, Starlight still could for some reason...i dont know.

Maybe i once again didnt get it, because i havent watched the show that much...that could be a possibility.

 

Than there was the alternate timelines with the boring fight scenes that were way to short.

And i dont know.

 

Good things were the fights against Starlight, Starlights look to Twilight, when she shoot Rainbow Dash and Nightmare Moon was okay.

I liked the Episode. It entertained me...but...i dont know, overall it was just meh.

I still like it because of Starlight. But thats it.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Rex Ruthless

[LHfunk 422]

That was one of the best episodes by far (I know it's technically two, but meh). I gotta say, seeing Sombra, Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon again was one of the greatest things I've seen. They are my three favorite villians in the show (Chrysalis and NM making it on the list of all my favorites from everything), and seeing them be evil and stuff was great. Sombra was awesome (and soldier Dash with Maud and Pinkie was awesome!), Chrysalis and Zecora interaction (who'd have thought?) was amazing, especially with Chrysalis being so awesome and evil. Nightmare Moon being all evil and supreme (and amazing voice!) was awesome. Also, surprise Flim Flam brothers! Didn't see that coming. Anyway, this season has been great. This is the first season of anything that I've been at for the beginning and end. Gravity Falls' last episode hasn't been released yet, and Doctor is Still episodes away from the finale. All in all, spectacular season, amazing episode, and awesome journey.

 

(If you read all that, you are awesome, and thank you).

[Persona22 205]

After watching the episodes, this is what first came to my mind when I saw the scene...

 

 

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Awesome episode! I liked Starlight's backstory.

[cider float 2,535]

It was an extraordinary episode, and I loved it but.. I personally think it was too complex for the 5-7 year olds it was aimed at. I don't really think they would've understood how one change in the past can cause so much change to the world and all that. Heck, I had to pause to take it all in at first.

Loved seeing Starlight too..I just knew they were gonna bring her back.

All in all, a good episode.

good riddance, season 5.

Also..

STARLIGHT GLIMMER TOY FOR ONLY 6.55$

BUY OUR TOYS BUY OUR TOYS

Yes good riddance Season 5... not having any expectations for Season 6 though.

 

Well let's wait another year and a half for it then.

 

 

After watching the episodes, this is what first came to my mind when I saw the scene...

 

 

Hot!

Edited December 2, 2015 by cider float

[Music Chart Fan 818]

Overall, while these episodes bring up some interesting alternate timelines and questions about the Mane Six's role in Equestria, there are several issues that significantly brought down my enjoyment of the episodes. Starlight Glimmer's plot for revenge and her actions often didn't make much sense, her redemption seems to come too easily, and the story behind her dedication to equality is disappointing and takes away many of the interesting aspects of her character from the first two episodes of the season. The alternate timelines essentially confirm that the fate of all of Equestria is dependent on the Mane Six and their friendship, which I think might make the Mane Six too powerful in the grand scheme of things. Shouldn't Equestrian society be able to survive without the friendship of six of its members? And as a consequence of this, Twilight's attempted lessons about how all friendships are important fall flat, since her and the Mane Six's friendship is so much more important than most everyone else's. There's a lot to talk about, so I divided this post into thematic sections.

 

--

 

In this first section, I'll talk about Starlight's role in these episodes. First, if Starlight's goal is to get revenge for losing control of her town and for everyone getting their cutie marks back, then it doesn't make sense for Starlight to go after Twilight and Twilight alone. Twilight didn't have a disproportionately large role in those things occurring; arguably, Fluttershy was more responsible for those events occurring than Twilight was. And all of the Mane Six played some role in the events; the Cutie Map did call all six of them there, after all. Starlight even says in the episodes that Twilight and her friends ruined her village, so why is there no attempt to punish the rest of the Mane Six? Does Starlight just think it would be a greater challenge to defeat Princess Twilight, as opposed to any of the rest of the Mane Six? Does Starlight anticipate that defeating Princess Twilight would be more impressive to Equestrians, thus making them fear her more for some unspecified future plans she has? I don't know.

 

Starlight's single-minded thirst for revenge seems to have precluded her thinking too much about the consequences of her plan in the first place, though. As Twilight points out, she and Starlight could spend an eternity going back in time, and every single time they do so, Starlight would have to stop the rainboom while avoiding Twilight's attempts to defeat her. And while Starlight at first seems perfectly willing to do that so long as she gets her revenge, would she be so enthusiastic after the 500th time that it happens, especially if Starlight never actually gets to see Twilight have to live without her friends? And later, as Starlight is ripping the scroll that the time travel spell is on, she says "Who knows what'll really happen?" if she stops the rainboom and destroys the ability to change it back. Starlight is apparently really willing to risk a timeline in which any number of bad things could happen to Equestria, all so that Twilight can (supposedly) feel the pain of losing a friend because of a cutie mark. Of course, Starlight doesn't seem to consider that whatever satisfaction she gets from seeing Twilight suffer could be dwarfed by whatever terrible events could happen in an alternate timeline. And of course, Starlight initially doesn't realize, and refuses to believe, that the fate of Equestria rests on the Mane Six's friendship. Is Starlight unaware of all the times that the Mane Six have saved Equestria? Does news of all of those feats just never get around to the remote areas of Equestria like Starlight's town?

 

But perhaps the biggest issue with Starlight in these episodes is her backstory of why she's dedicated to equality and removing other ponies' cutie marks. First, I think it's fair to ask why Starlight (in a fit of rage) even bothers with taking Twilight and Spike into the past to show them this traumatizing event from her childhood in the first place. How does this fit into Starlight's plot for revenge? What does Starlight hope to accomplish by doing this? Does Starlight think that Twilight will feel the pain that she experienced, and that would act as a form of punishment? Does Starlight think Twilight will acquiesce to Starlight enforcing equality and removing other ponies' cutie marks if Twilight sees her motivation for it?

 

And then there's the traumatizing event itself. Starlight's childhood friend Sunburst got his cutie mark, and then, if we're to believe Starlight's account, he was more or less immediately whisked off to Canterlot, never to be seen again. There are several issues I see with this story, though. Why does Sunburst's going to Canterlot mean that Starlight never sees him again? Even as a kid, why didn't Starlight ever contact him or visit him? Did Sunburst never return home for holidays or to visit family and friends? Did Starlight ever try to seek Sunburst out at any time later, such as when she became an adult? Starlight also says that she stayed in her hometown and never made another friend, but why was she, as a child, allowed to do that? Why didn't her parents, teachers, etc. recognize her emotional trauma and help her work through it?

 

And, of course, Starlight came to the wrong conclusion that Sunburst's cutie mark itself was the cause of Sunburst being taken away and her never seeing him again, when in reality, there were other factors at work. Starlight apparently never realized that what happened with Sunburst is probably a relatively unique case. Not all ponies who gets their cutie marks immediately leave their friends and hometowns never to be seen again, regardless of whether they get their cutie marks before their friends. But the big problem to me is that, while it's somewhat understandable for Starlight as a child to misunderstand the cause-effect relationship between Sunburst getting his cutie mark and her never seeing him again, Starlight carried this childhood misconception into adulthood and even based her life around it. She apparently never tried to make an honest friend, for fear of her friendship turning out the same way as with Sunburst, even long after having or not having a cutie mark stopped being an issue. Starlight says that she and Sunburst turned out different and it tore their friendship apart, but she apparently never considered if it was the circumstances and the actions that she, Sunburst, his parents, etc. took that caused their friendship to end. I would think that Starlight would be smart enough as an adult to realize that it's not valid to draw a general conclusion that cutie marks are bad and take away friendships, and therefore everyone should be equal, from a single relatively unique event in her childhood.

 

And that's why I think this episode took away many of the interesting aspects of Starlight Glimmer, especially those that made her a threatening and sinister villain in the first two episodes of the season. I thought that a big part of why Starlight (and the town she created) was creepy and dangerous was that she seemed genuinely committed to the ideology of equality and to enforcing it. She was able to brainwash and propagandize most of the ponies of her town into submission with her superficially plausible emotional appeals to how equality brings true friendship, inequality leads to suffering, etc., even as the ponies in her town appear to be worse off for it. All of that, combined with Starlight's actual magical talent to take cutie marks away, her willingness and ability to fight back against dissenters, etc., made her a real threat, and not just in a brute force kind of way. So, to me, it's a letdown to learn that Starlight's motivation for all of this is a single misunderstood and overblown traumatic childhood event, one that people would not normally obsess about into adulthood and beyond.

 

Finally, Starlight seems a little too easily persuaded to give up her desire for revenge and to give new friendships a chance after she's spent a good chunk of her childhood and her entire adult life determined not to make true friends and dedicated to equality. If I were in the Mane Six's position, and considering how she acted up to that point, I wouldn't take her "transformation" at face value; I would suspect that she's faking and still plotting to get revenge and get her town dedicated to equality back. However, the last episode gives no hint that Starlight's "transformation" disguises evil intentions, or that Starlight is liable to "relapse" into her old ways. I guess we'll just have to see what Starlight ends up doing in the next season.

 

--

 

Next I'll talk about some of the observations and issues with time travel and the alternate timelines of these episodes. First, when we first see Starlight stopping Rainbow Dash from performing the sonic rainboom, we might think that as soon as the timeline is altered - as soon as Rainbow Dash is stopped from performing the sonic rainboom - the changes as a result of doing that would take effect. So we might expect that Twilight would lose her wings and no longer be a princess, that Twilight might even have a different cutie mark, that Twilight and Spike wouldn't know each other (and Spike might not be born at all), etc. But of course, Twilight and Spike are unaffected by altering the timeline. I don't know, does the spell to bring them back in time somehow render the two of them immune from the effects of altering the timeline? Is the Tree of Harmony somehow maintaining them in the "correct" timeline so that they'll be able to bring the timeline back to normal?

 

Twilight tells Spike that what Starlight did in the past changed things in the present, and that she's not sure that anything they know is the same, but after saying those things, Twilight acts totally shocked and hurt that Applejack doesn't recognize her, and insists that they're friends. Of course, without the rainboom, wouldn't it be a significant possibility that Twilight never became Celestia's student, and hence, would never have been sent to Ponyville to get to know Applejack in the first place? Throughout these episodes, Twilight and Spike repeatedly fail to realize that in alternate timelines, there should be no expectation that the Mane Six or other ponies that they know in the "correct" timeline will recognize them, be friends with them, trust them, etc. Based on Twilight's statements, I would think that she would realize this ahead of time, but even if not, Twilight and Spike should learn this after the first time it happens.

 

It also seems a bit random where Twilight, Spike, and the Cutie Map are located every time that Twilight and Spike are sucked through the portal back to the present. In the Sombra timeline, Twilight, Spike and the Cutie Map seem to be not too far from Ponyville, maybe even where Twilight's castle would be; in the Chrysalis timeline, they're somewhere in the middle of the Everfree Forest; in the Nightmare Moon timeline, they're close to the Castle of the Two Sisters; etc. It doesn't seem like the geographical layout of Equestria should vary that much in different timelines created by stopping Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom, so why does the spell seem to take them to different geographical locations in the present?

 

Furthermore, the fact that different timelines have different villains from previous episodes taking over Equestria implies that, in some of the timelines, some of the villains are defeated even without the Mane Six's friendship connection, while other villains aren't. So, if we take the episodes in chronological order, then in the Chrysalis timeline, Nightmare Moon and Discord were successfully defeated (or were never unleashed in the first place); in the Sombra timeline, Chrysalis and the changelings were successfully defeated; etc. But how is it that there are so many different outcomes from merely making minor changes to the immediate circumstances around Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom? Why is it, for example, that Starlight knocking Rainbow off course produces a timeline in which Tirek is destroying the countryside (implying that all the other prior villains didn't successfully take over), while Twilight freezing Rainbow Dash in a crystal produces a timeline in which Discord has taken over Equestria? I wouldn't think that, say, the ability of Celestia (and sometimes Luna) to defeat the other villains would significantly change because of a change in the circumstances around Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom.

 

Speaking of villains, I don't believe that Flim and Flam are villains on the level of Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, or Discord, and I don't think that their taking over Equestria should have been included as one of the "disastrous" alternate timelines. Flim and Flam never displayed any desire to take over Equestria or anything like that; they're essentially just slick salesponies trying to make easy money, sometimes through dishonest means. In "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", there's no indication that, even if Flim and Flam had won the Apple family's farm, that would lead to mass industrialization or destruction of the environment as depicted in the alternate timeline in the episode. 

 

Finally, Twilight says multiple times that every present she comes to is worse than the last, but how is she making that determination? And even if that statement is true, why would that be the case? Why wouldn't the presents she and Spike go to appear more or less random?

 

--

 

Finally, I'll talk about some other things that Twilight and the Mane Six did and said in these episodes. First there's the time that Starlight convinces the bullies not to tease Fluttershy, and Twilight is essentially left at a loss for how to reply to what Starlight says. To start, it doesn't seem plausible that the bullies would immediately stop teasing Fluttershy, and even offer to help her, after listening to Starlight for just a minute or so. Why are the bullies even listening to Starlight, let alone seemingly taking her words to heart? She's not in any position of authority over them or anything. Starlight says to the bullies and Fluttershy that no one would ever tease anyone else in a world where everyone was equal. Twilight doesn't have a good counter for that, but Starlight's statement isn't believable if they think about it for a few seconds. Ponies could, and in many cases would, be teased for almost anything (e.g. mane or coat or eye color, tripping over something, paying too much attention in class, etc.), regardless of whether they have equal talents or the same cutie marks or whatever. And with regard to everyone being equal, there's a fairly basic argument that ponies (and humans, obviously) having different talents and different specializations results in greater overall technological progress and greater production of goods and services, which makes everyone better off.

 

Obviously the problem with Twilight failing to convince young Rainbow Dash to do a sonic rainboom isn't just that a sonic rainboom is supposedly impossible, but also that Twilight is acting like a total creep - perhaps another case of Twilight seemingly failing to realize that she traveled back in time and that she's a total stranger to young Rainbow Dash at that point.

 

In the "wasteland" timeline, Twilight says to Starlight that she doesn't know why she and her friends are so important to Equestria, but they are. I guess the simplistic answer for why the Mane Six are so important is that they're the Elements of Harmony and have saved Equestria from world-stopping villains on many occasions. But of course, that raises a whole host of other questions that aren't answered in these episodes. Why are Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy the Elements of Harmony? Are they really the six ponies from all across Equestria that best represent their elements? If so, wouldn't it be an unbelievable coincidence that they all live in Ponyville? Why are there so many villains who can't be stopped (at least not reliably) by anyone else but the Mane Six? Why is Equestria so reliant on the Mane Six and the Elements of Harmony for normal survival? I don't know if we'll get satisfactory answers to questions like these.

 

In light of seeing in alternate timelines how important the Mane Six and their friendship apparently are for even the mere survival of Equestria, Twilight's statements about how all friendships are important really ring hollow. Twilight tells Starlight that "It's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria - everypony's are!", and as proof, Twilight says that when Starlight's friendship ended, it led them here, where Starlight has the power to change the course of history. And later in the episode Twilight says "even when one friendship dies, the results can be disastrous". But the Mane Six's friendship is a special case because they're the Elements of Harmony and, as mentioned before, the power of their friendship is apparently required to save Equestria from all kinds of villains. And Starlight's friendship with Sunburst is also a special case, because Starlight is a powerful unicorn who's able to modify Starswirl's time travel spell and go back in time to change the course of Equestria's history. Most people (and their friendships) are not being relied upon in particular to save the world, nor will most people have the power to change the fate of the entire world in going about their normal day-to-day lives. Friendships begin and end all the time, and most of the time, those events will not have far-reaching society-wide effects and will not be especially disastrous.

 

Rainbow Dash's excited statement about how all of Equestria depended on her rainboom could be worrisome. I really don't want that to go to Rainbow Dash's head - I think we've had quite enough of Rainbow Dash being egotistical and needing to be taken down a notch. 

 

Pinkie then adds that she didn't know how all of Equestria depended on the Mane Six. But what about all of the times that the Mane Six saved Equestria from villains? Did Pinkie think that those villains could have been stopped from transforming or destroying Equestria without the Mane Six or without the Elements of Harmony?

 

Immediately after Pinkie's statement above, Twilight says "I think it's more than that. Friendship connects all of Equestria, and undoing one group of friends made its magic less powerful.". I honestly don't know what that's supposed to mean. What magic is being referred to - Equestria's magic? What's that? How did undoing one group of friends make that magic less powerful? Is the implication of this statement that ending any friendship - not just the Mane Six's - makes Equestria's magic less powerful? How/why would that happen?

 

Applejack's statement that "But if [starlight]'s as powerful as all that, we can't just send her on her way, can we?" strikes me as weird. The implication of it seems to be that because Starlight is powerful, she must be controlled by the Mane Six and not allowed to make her own decisions about where to go and what to do, almost as though she's a wild animal or something.

 

--

 

Now for the rest of my miscellaneous observations:

 

Throughout these two episodes, it gets old that Spike repeatedly points out the completely obvious to Twilight, who apparently doesn't notice anything other than what's right in front of her face. Spike points out that Starlight is in the castle; that the castle isn't there and that the world has changed in the Sombra timeline; that Starlight is over talking to the bullies and Fluttershy; that the two of them are being approached by Pinkie, Fluttershy and company in the Chrysalis timeline; and that timberwolves are approaching them in the Nightmare Moon timeline.

 

It seems a little weird that the magic to activate the time travel spell is contained in the parchment itself, and not in, say, the words. I suppose that we saw something similar in "Magical Mystery Cure", where Twilight wrote the words to the spell in the spell book and that activated the magic.

 

I suppose the Apples' farm being made into a factory for mass-producing apple products is supposed to be horrifying, but I'm not horrified - it just seems like the march of progress to me.

 

Shouldn't the hair nets on Applejack's mane and tail actually cover all of her hair? Otherwise it would seem to defeat the point of wearing them in the first place.

 

I think that the battle scene showing Celestia's and Sombra's forces essentially slapping and wrestling with each other was pretty underwhelming. I guess the show can't get too violent or anything, but if that's the case, maybe the episode would have been better off not showing some of the details of that battle.

 

If Twilight was capable of using her magic to break out of the crystal Starlight cast around her and Spike, why didn't Twilight try to break out sooner? Also, did Starlight expect Twilight to be able to break the crystal and free herself and Spike, or did Starlight expect the two of them to fall to their deaths?

 

Twilight tells Zecora that "my friends and I" stopped Chrysalis, but the Mane Six played almost no role in expelling Chrysalis and the changelings from Canterlot - it was Cadance's and Shining Armor's "love blast" or whatever you want to call it. So maybe we're supposed to assume that Twilight is including Cadance and Shining Armor under "my friends" in her statement. But then, would stopping the rainboom really affect whether Cadance and Shining Armor get together, or whether they're capable of stopping the changeling invasion?

 

Starlight tells Twilight that she really needs to work on her aim, but it's not as though Starlight is doing any better of a job.

 

What's with Rainbow Dash's demand to Twilight to tell Nightmare Moon what she wants? Does Rainbow Dash think that Nightmare Moon needs help in getting Twilight to talk? Also, Rainbow Dash only gave Twilight about a second before starting to yell at her. It just seems strange for one of Nightmare Moon's guards to do something like that.

 

Why did the scroll with the time travel spell on it get permanently sucked into the portal? Is it because nothing happened to change the past, and so somehow the Tree of Harmony knows that the scroll isn't necessary any more?

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

I loved that episode. It was very well thought out and the story a really entertaining one and moving. 

 

10/10 

Would watch again million times <3

[Trixio 443]

I really enjoyed the last episode, all in all a good season finale.

It contained a quite "dark" story, but without going over, as it should be for an animated series aimed mainly at a certain age group. I'm sure that many "adults" have enjoyed the episode.

Though .. for a moment I thought I could see Trixie again, in one of the alternative futures of Equestria .. but it did not happen .. but maybe it's better that way.

[DageNox 109]

I constantly spazzed out because I couldn't find the logic in the last episode. Shouldn't all the timelines have had Nightmare Moon instead of Prince Sombra or Queen Chrysalis, or Discord? (Discord had the best alternate reality  ) Because the first villain to ever show up if the Mane 6 had never come together would have been Nightmare Moon. Unless maybe Sunbutt would still be able to stop her I guess in those realities..? Hmm. It was a good episode, but I kinda dislike somepony else being better at Magic than Twilight  . 

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,627]

It was okay. Starlight's backstory is kind of disappointing,though.

[The Nth Doctor 652]

Make of this screencap what you will.

 

 

 

THEY TOUCHED HORNS

 

SPARKLIGHT CONFIRMED

 

And Spike is trippin' balls

Or...doing something else

 

Oh myyyy