S06:E01+02 - The Crystalling

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

Wow, I'm just stunned......stunned about how right I was. 

 

The writers took the "please feel sorry for me" route for Starlight, and it appears to have done the job. In any case, I do like how they showed that her severe anger issues are still a thing. Show's that her mental problems haven't been entirely glossed over. 

 

Flurry Heart's supersonic scream, which started all this trouble, is flat-out nonsensical. If you'll notice, her horn never glowed at all when she did it, meaning that it had absolutely nothing to do with magic and is just some power that she inexplicably has....for some reason. 

 

In any case, I'm sincerely questioning whether or not the mane five are still main characters. For the second two-parter in a row, they've done absolutely nothing noteworthy, and overall, it's starting to show that they really just aren't that useful anymore. With Starlight now around to devalue them further, what other use could they possibly have to the show? Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were relegated to convincing an obviously braindead group of citizens to evacuate while Pinkie and Rarity were mostly just trying to tame Flurry Heart, which was obviously beyond them.....and that's about it. But naturally, Twilight was still front-and-center when it came to figuring out what to do, and Starlight managed to make herself useful when it came to restoring the Crystal Heart. So there's no need to worry about Twilight being stripped of her status as the main character, but Starlight is now comfortably situated directly underneath her in terms of importance, with the mane five dangling somewhere else. 

 

Overall, this shows that FiM will now handle seven main characters just as poorly as Equestria Girls does. When it comes to two-parters, there's probably no reason to expect anything from the mane five anymore. But then again, it's possible this will be the last season, so...

 

Worst premiere to date, in my opinion. How such a crappy writer like Haber has rose through the ranks to replace McCarthy, whom I now sincerely miss, is a complete mystery to me. 

You're entitled to your opinions, but what I don't understand is why watch the show if it constantly annoys you?

[melody5697 195]

Okay. The episode was decent. I give it an 80%. It was not amazing, but it was not THAT bad. It did have some flaws in my opinion, but in the end of the episode most of them were fixed. The biggest being the uncontrolled magic of Flurry. Clearly her magic is powerful but it doesn't seem too overpowered, just stronger than an baby Unicorn as they said. What they did with Sunburst and the Crystal Empire was nice. All in all it was decent, with lots of references here and there. 

 

My only big problem was how Celestia said that she and Luna weren't born as Alicorns. Faust said they were, but since she's not on anymore and they changed it I'm sad to see it not canon anymore. Hopefully we'll see an episode on how they got their wings/cutie marks.

They didn't actually say that they weren't born alicorns. All they said was that they didn't know anything about baby alicorns and that a baby alicorn had never been born in Equestria before. According to The Journal of the Two Sisters (which is canon because Twilight read part of it out loud in Castle-Mania), they were fillies when Equestria was founded. They didn't have cutie marks yet because alicorns age differently, and it was implied that they were born alicorns. They were raised by alicorns in Canterlot and they were taught the Royal Canterlot Voice because the other alicorns thought it was an important part of their education. They obviously had been alicorns for as long as they could remember, and surely you can't become an alicorn as a toddler. I think that they were the last alicorns ever born for some reason and the rest of the alicorns died before telling them about baby alicorns. Perhaps they thought it wasn't important since they thought there would never be another baby alicorn anyway. Based on The Journal of the Two Sisters, I don't think that there's really that much of an age difference between Celestia and Luna. Celestia was probably too young to remember when Luna was a baby. I really hope the show never actually says that Celestia and Luna weren't born alicorns because then I'll have to print out the fan fiction I'm writing, rip it to shreds, and delete it.

[Riganthor 483]

How I feel about this season finale....... I think it's ok, not great but not bad either. I loved sunburst and I did enjoy starlight and spike's characterization in this season opener. I missed the song, there was no song in this episode. For the first time in a season 2 parter the princesses weren't written off but did something usefull. Flurry heart isn't that bad but  I rather not see too much of her in this season maybe 1 episode but no more. Overall this season opener failed to get me overly happy/hyped but it didn't leave me with a bad taste like what about discord. It's just an ok episode which is a shame I hoped on a good episode for this possible last season

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

I loved the interaction between Spike and Starlight and thought that was very well done

 

 

Right on. I love how Spike was so well used in this episode. In a good way. Though he kind of took Twi's OCD to Starlight's concerns. 

 

 

 

I can't deny she has a cute voice

 

Someone's quite the smitten kitten. 

 

 

 

What I liked most about this premiere was the chemistry between Spike and Starlight. Dare I say this was one of the best written Spike characters to date!

If we're lucky this will be a trend going into the season. I got the progression I longed for in the CMC and now it would be a cake on top of a cake to get progression with Spike. He showed maturity here that he learned in past episodes. 

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

Wow, I'm just stunned......stunned about how right I was. 

 

The writers took the "please feel sorry for me" route for Starlight, and it appears to have done the job. In any case, I do like how they showed that her severe anger issues are still a thing. Show's that her mental problems haven't been entirely glossed over. 

 

Flurry Heart's supersonic scream, which started all this trouble, is flat-out nonsensical. If you'll notice, her horn never glowed at all when she did it, meaning that it had absolutely nothing to do with magic and is just some power that she inexplicably has....for some reason. 

 

In any case, I'm sincerely questioning whether or not the mane five are still main characters. For the second two-parter in a row, they've done absolutely nothing noteworthy, and overall, it's starting to show that they really just aren't that useful anymore. With Starlight now around to devalue them further, what other use could they possibly have to the show? Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were relegated to convincing an obviously braindead group of citizens to evacuate while Pinkie and Rarity were mostly just trying to tame Flurry Heart, which was obviously beyond them.....and that's about it. But naturally, Twilight was still front-and-center when it came to figuring out what to do, and Starlight managed to make herself useful when it came to restoring the Crystal Heart. So there's no need to worry about Twilight being stripped of her status as the main character, but Starlight is now comfortably situated directly underneath her in terms of importance, with the mane five dangling somewhere else. 

 

Overall, this shows that FiM will now handle seven main characters just as poorly as Equestria Girls does. When it comes to two-parters, there's probably no reason to expect anything from the mane five anymore. But then again, it's possible this will be the last season, so...

 

Worst premiere to date, in my opinion. How such a crappy writer like Haber has rose through the ranks to replace McCarthy, whom I now sincerely miss, is a complete mystery to me. 

 

You're a cool dude Clever and i respect your views. But i am a bit with fanatic here, why still watching when you're annoyed by it? I know you're annoyed by it since season 4.

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

You're a cool dude Clever and i respect your views. But i am a bit with fanatic here, why still watching when you're annoyed by it? I know you're annoyed by it since season 4.

Yeah why continue to watch a show if it bothers you or makes you annoyed? That'd be like if I kept playing a video game even though I hate that video game.

[Dark Horse 12,799]

An enjoyable season opener to be sure. We finally got some much needed character development for Shiny and Cadance!

 

Starlight had some great development too. I know there's people who are still saying it's silly how easily things have turned around for her, but c'mon, we're six seasons in and you don't expect that from this show already? Besides, I like how they portray her as still carrying some baggage and regrets around, and her interactions with Sunburst gave her the chance to express these feelings and give a reasonable release for them. I also liked her interactions with Spike, wouldn't mind seeing more parings of them in the future.

 

Flurry Heart.. I'll be honest, I don't like the plot point of having an overpowered baby who can't control their powers. There have been some terrible examples of that in the past. Thankfully, while Flurry is used as a catalyst for the plot, she isn't really as "in your face" as I was initially fearing. Her skits with Shining were entertaining, and I can't deny that she's pretty adorable.

 

Speaking of the plot, that was probably the weakest part of the episode. The whole super storm swallowing up the Empire just felt like a throw it in as an excuse to have some form of overarching danger, as is standard for these premiere episodes, but it was nothing to really care about. Or maybe a part of me just wanted to see another Sombra appearance. Nonetheless, the quest to restore the crystal heart served its purpose, and gave both Starlight and Starburst the chance to make amends. (I suspect much shipping!)

 

Overall, there's been better season openers for me, but this was still a pretty decent two-parter. Looking forward to what they have in store for us later on in the season!

[Will Guide 21,325]

My thoughts:

Best chemistry: Spike and Starlight (Best Episode to have Spike in a supporting role)

Best new character: Sunburst

Flurry Heart: I still thinks she's cute and glad she's no longer OP

Weakest: Crystal Ponies' idiot ball. (Doesn't bother me much, but I can see why others would hate it)

Ending: Good. Even if the premiere was bad, we still have 24 more episodes to see.

 

Other Thoughts:

Twilight's confident about being a teacher

Sunburst MIGHT get a recurring role

Celestia and Luna MIGHT still be Naturally-born Alicorns, since they were born BEFORE Equestria was founded.

Edited March 26, 2016 by WiiGuy2014

[Jeric 46,835]

You're a cool dude Clever and i respect your views. But i am a bit with fanatic here, why still watching when you're annoyed by it? I know you're annoyed by it since season 4.

If you look at some of CC's Season 5 comments, he actually had several positive things to say about a few episodes.

 

---

 

In general the B plot and one shot moments overshadowed the Flurry Heart aspect of the plot. Sunburst, Starlight, Spike, and Shining were all well presented. It wasn't bad ... wasn't great ... but I liked it just fine.

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

If you look at some of CC's Season 5 comments, he actually had several positive things to say about a few episodes.

 

---

 

In general the B plot and one shot moments overshadowed the Flurry Heart aspect of the plot. Sunburst, Starlight, Spike, and Shining were all well presented. It wasn't bad ... wasn't great ... but I liked it just fine.

 

I won't deny that.

 

I am just looking for a reason here. What keeps Clever going?

[Cleverclover 1,525]

 

 

You're a cool dude Clever and i respect your views. But i am a bit with fanatic here, why still watching when you're annoyed by it? I know you're annoyed by it since season 4.

 

Because I'm hoping it'll snap back to being the show I fell in love with. But I'll admit, it's getting harder and harder. 

 

How can we legitimately still see the mane five as main characters when they're now so damn useless to the show's milestone episodes? When there's now a new addition to the main cast who's importance will now more than likely tower above their own, even though she hasn't earned it, nor does she deserve it?

 

If you want to say "Well, they still get their own focus episodes", I'll reply with "So do the CMC. But they aren't mains." 

 

I feel like the mane five have officially been demoted, and that saddens me more than anything. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Yes. Yes. Yes. In a chat I was in I had to react to this ... and all humor aside it wasn't really much of an exaggeration. At least for me, it was pretty much a close depiction of exhaustion meets anxiety meets bliss.

 

I really want more Shining Armor scenes like these.

Not at all surprised to see you relate to SA here. The humor works because it's a situation we can relate to; we can sympathize with him here.

 

I really hope the show never actually says that Celestia and Luna weren't born alicorns because then I'll have to print out the fan fiction I'm writing, rip it to shreds, and delete it.

I wouldn't do that. If the show does specifically state it, you can criticize it for disregarding its own continuity (The Journal of the Royal Sisters is considered part of the show canon). If it doesn't work, you can always mark it as a canon divergence AU.

[LunaLover92 315]

I thought it was a great episode!, I'm totally going to start shipping Sunburst and Starlight, I might call them SunStar!

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

Or maybe a part of me just wanted to see another Sombra appearance.

 

 

I concur. Because we all know it would have been epic as Tartarus if Sombra came back and was all like "muh crystal ponehs!" and the baby was all like "goo ga goo" and vaporized him with a sneeze. 

 

...and we'd get more Gak commercials. 

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

Celestia and Luna arent born Alicorns? is the only thing in my head now

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

 

We got our first strike everybody.

[Brony Mata 134]

Wait, y'all stay here and talk on this as you watch the episode? doesn't that ruin the experience? Also, I noticed there are some critical reviews... are there any noob-y reviews like "THIS TOTALLY RUINS MY HEADCANNON." "Twilight was terrible in this episode MORE SCREENTIME" or something written 71|<3  7|-|15

 

Anyways my opinion. Yes, terrible first episode for a 2-parter. The first episode was very predictable, Sunburst, Unnamed Baby, Alicorn, Amending Fences Take 2,,, Until she screamed.... I think this... premiere was used moreso to introduce Starlight as a MAIN character/ protagonist and her replacing Twilight as a student, maybe in four seasons SHE will be an alicorn, eh? Or maybe something to show that although that haven't written it into the plot yet, that their magic is more complicated than they want to show it as.

 

 

 

FluttershyFiM, this episode does an excellent job of addressing then promptly ignoring its own plot holes.

*Thumbs up* *Dabs*

 

 

She's my worst nightmare come true, a bad OC implemented into the show's canon.

a Mary Sue? Maybe I can put my character in the show. Do a submsission and - holy crap I dnt have any OC-s....

 

 

I'm sincerely questioning whether or not the mane five are still main characters

Yeah,,, they may or may not have a hard time balancing out how much they use each character this season

 

 

Celestia and Luna arent born Alicorns? is the only thing in my head now

Oh, I thought you left the forums... thank celestia. Anyways, you ever read that book, the "Diary of the two sister" i think? I think it said something about them coming from some other lands where alicorns lived or something, I check it later.... little busy

[CT-1138 3,180]

OMG! That episode was so CUUUUTE!!!! 

 

 

And Twilight's and Shining's parents finally spoke! YAY! 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Spoiler alert!!! I loved the first episode of season 6 of MLP. I was happily surprised to find out Starlight is living with Twilight. I liked that after 6 seasons all of the characters were still very in character. I found it interesting that this episode has 2 major plots happening between the Alicorn baby and Starlight's friendship with Sunburst and seems to give a good amount of time to each plot point. The thing I found most shocking was that it is implied that Celestia and Luna earned their Alicorn status liked Cadence and Twilight instead of being born as Alicorns. At least I think that is what they said. Right? I guess that proves Cadence was a pegasus to start?? I liked that all the princesses took active roles in protecting the empire. I think the main lesson of this episode is to tell the truth and be honest with yourself as shown manly by Starlight and Sunburst's part of the story. This kind of fits in with Starlight's whole arc because by forcing everyone to be equal she was dishonest with herself and her entire village. I like Flurry Heart. I like how her powers mimic those of the cake twins, only vastly more powerful. I guess that answers that question about foals having power bursts out of nowhere being normal. I liked the ending with the crystalling and I think the animation on the crystal ponies has improved. I thought sleep deprived Shinning Armor was a riot! I also thought the pairing of Starlight with Spike was totally cute. I thought it was a great decision that let Spike have a much needed role in an adventure episode. I liked the scene where Starlight tried to manipulate Spike slightly because it proves Starlight is still Starlight. I think they could have gotten to the Crystal Empire a bit sooner but I still liked the castle scenes. I loved that we heard Twi's parents talk! I can't promise I'll review/give thoughts on every episode this season but I will try.

[ShadowSJG 62]

Does anyone know an online link to the episode?

[Cleverclover 1,525]

Yeah,,, they may or may not have a hard time balancing out how much they use each character this season

 

 

Haber: "Twilight, you get right on cooking up a spell. Starlight, you'll need to be around when it's time to cast said spell and save the Empire. And as for the rest of you....ummm....go convince these stupid ponies to get to shelter or something, because in the middle of a crisis in a two-parter, that's honestly the most important thing I could possibly think for you to do as main characters of this show: jobs that could easily be given to a couple random guards." 

Edited March 26, 2016 by Cleverclover

[Ed Lyons 105]

it was OK but definitely the worst premiere/finale made for the show

[Batbrony 15,994]

Well, that wasn't long now was it?  I already commented about this, but man, that was a short hiatus by MLP standards!  They must've started work on S6 while they were still finishing up S5, cause it's only been about 4 months since we had new pony.  Shortest hiatus ever, that's for sure.

 

Anyways, welcome, welcome, welcome back everypony to another edition of Batbrony Reviews!  Today we'll be looking at the Season 6 premiere, and thankfully, while there's plenty to talk about, it's not what I would call a mountain's worth of new stuff.  This was something we really haven't had in a season opener since the first half of the season opening in Season 1: a very slice-of-life season opener.  But considering what it was setting out to do, it felt very appropriate for that, and was actually a really relaxing experience.  There wasn't too much new stuff to digest, and it felt like a very natural continuation from where Season 5 left off.  So, let's get it.  Without further ado, this is The Crystalling: Parts 1 and 2.

 

So, expectantly but still very refreshingly enough, Starlight, NOT Twilight, was actually the main character of this episode, and even more surprisingly, technically had the A-plot even though the biggest threat stemmed from the B-plot.  I was very, very glad to see that, even though things have clearly improved for her, everything's not hunky-dory.  She's still very insecure, very unsure if this new chapter of her life is going to work out, and they did a great job of conveying that.  There were moments where she just expressed her insecurity in her body language alone, and I loved that.  Her interactions with Sunburst got all the attention and time they needed, and their reconciling did not feel rushed or forced at all.  It flowed very nicely and progressed at a very good pace, and it resolved itself just as nicely; they're not on perfect terms, but they got off to a fresh start, and that's the best she could realistically ask for.  It's nice the episode chose to resolve this, and I also liked how they seemed to convey that Starlight's the more powerful magic-user of the two while Sunburst is better at studying and explaining magic, so if they pair up with each other in the future, it would actually make a lot of sense.  They naturally complement each other and that's why their lives went astray when they both separated; if you noticed in the flashbacks, she always accomplished the more impressive magical feats when he explained everything to her.  They're kinda like the Wonder Twins in that regard, and I'd really like to see them pair up more in the future.  So yeah, as the newest member of the Mane 7, Starlight's off to a great start and I look forward to seeing what the writers do with her.  Aesthetically, her new mane style is very lovely and I think she's going to be a great addition overall to the main cast.

 

 

Oh wait... Twilight's her teacher.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... pray for Starlight's sanity people.  Pray for it   

 

Next up, ol' Spike had himself quite the episode as well.  It was really nice seeing him giving advice to someone besides Twilight, and they wrote him really well.  He was a nice combination of helpful and not helpful; he didn't have all the answers and sometimes he tried stuff that didn't work out, but it was never in an insultingly stupid way.  Everything felt like actions his character should take, and I really liked that.  I hope he gets to work with Starlight more like that as well as aid Twilight in becoming a better teacher too, because he also gave her a great pep talk at the end of the opener.  Overall, definitely one of Spike's best appearances in a supporting role.

 

 

Yes it's true, I am this awesome... wait, why are you ignoring me?

 

I already covered a lot about Sunburst, but for one of the show's few male supporting character's who's actually contributed to resolving a crisis, they handled him very nicely in his debut.  It was obvious that he was covering something up, but the revelation as to just what was wrong in his life was very nice all the same and, like I said, complemented Starlight's own past nicely and highlighted just how important their friendship is to bettering each other's lives.  His design was pretty cool too (I was really digging that beard, loved that design choice).  His voice actor was nothing too special, but he was fine.  I do wonder how much we're gonna see him, but hopefully we get to at least one or two more times this season considering he seems very important to Starlight.

 

Our lost new character, Princess Flurry Heart, is already proving to be controversial to quite a few fans, but I have no complaints about her myself.  Her wings are still hilariously gigantic, but really I thought they handled her fine.  She had some crazy powers to the point that her scream was able to shatter the Crystal Heart, but they actually explained that nicely.  We already know that baby magic users in Equestria have strange power fluctuations as infants, and this wasn't just a baby unicorn, this was an alicorn, which even Celestia and Luna explained they didn't know how to handle or what to expect from.  So yeah, it wasn't hard for me to buy that she could buck so much up so easily, this is new territory for even the alicorns over a thousand years old (though that does raise a question as to whether they were born alicorns or received their wings/horns at some point, weird, right?).  Besides her power, and tendency to buck things up in spectacular fashion, she was quite adorable.  I wasn't crazy about her design at first, but it grew on me, and I thought they had a nice balance of cute baby noises and motions without it being overkill.  Plus the power thing shouldn't be a problem after the way they resolved things in the end.  She's a happy baby who does adorable things (and we probably won't see her too much), what more could you want?

 

 

D'awwwwww, you're adorable!!! 

 

 

 

Oh, and apparently very picky too   

Moving onto the original Mane 6, our favorite girls were, pleasantly surprisingly, all supporting characters here, including Twilight, who was basically the deuteragonist.  This was unusual to see, but I really liked it, plus the new things they're going to get to do with Twilight.  As I pointed out last season, the show itself has already identified that she is now stepping into a role in her own way that Celestia has been to her the whole show, that is, becoming a mentor and teacher to Starlight.  This is a whole new responsibility for her personally and as Princess of Friendship, and one in which I imagine we'll see her acting quite a bit this season, so very glad to see I was on the money about that at the end of last season.  Of course, she overdid it as only Twilight can by trying to get friendship down to a science, but she realized by the end that wasn't the way to go about things, and Spike did a good job of helping her take a step towards being a better teacher in the future by advising her on giving Starlight some space to grow just as Celestia did for her.  Besides that, it was fun seeing her interacting with Cadance and Shining Armor and stepping into her role as an aunt, and she helped resolve their little crisis quite nicely.  As for the rest of the Mane 6, they were just supporting characters here helping out however they could, but that's not a problem at this point.  The show's always focused on them and they'll get their own episodes for sure this season, but after five seasons, yeah, seeing an opener not completely focus on them is totally fine.

 

 

Majestic as buck!!!   

 

 

Pinkie, get that out of your face, you have no idea where that's been

 

As for the rest of our supporting cast, Shining Armor might've very well had his best, or at least funniest, episodes yet.  Seeing him panic as a new father was both understandable but also quite funny, but he carried himself well as well when the situation called for it.  It's pretty funny that he handled himself better when he was evacuating the city than he did when he was preparing for the Crystalling, but again, understandable.  Cadance didn't do a whole lot, but it's always fun seeing her with Twilight, and she too responded nicely to the situations at hand, doing what she could to save her people and take care of her baby.  It was very refreshing to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna there for a change and also helping in what way they could, and hopefully we'll get to see more of them, especially Celestia (Luna's still my best princess, but Celestia terribly needs her own episode at some point, and it needs to happen this season) later this season.  Not to mention that their crystallized versions were FABULOUS!!!

 

 

Fatherhood: it does stuff to ya

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHBPRzWIbx8

 

Can we just have an entire Luna episode about this

Besides that, there's just a couple other things to cover.  The Crystal Empire was cool as always, and it seems too that apparently the Crystal ponies aren't always crystally; rather, it seems to be something that just happens when an especially large amount of love gets released in the empire, which I guess makes sense.  It was nice that the threat wasn't an actual villain but just the terrible weather of the Frozen North itself, especially since the episode didn't have to get distracted covering it that much then (though I couldn't help but wonder if an especially large amount of Windigos are somehow responsible for the terrible weather up there).  The themes in the episode were great, it felt very relaxed for a season opener (but in a very nice way), and I adored the pacing, everything felt like it got just the right amount of attention it needed and everything tied up very nicely.  Finally, HOLY CRAP, Twilight's and Shining Armor's parents finally talked!!!  It only took five seasons after they first appeared. 

 

All in all, Season 6 is off to a great start, and things like Starlight's joining the group, the birth of Flurry Heart, Sunburst coming on the scene, and just the fact that characters like Celestia and Luna could still get more attention show that DHX is by no means out of stories to tell for these lovable ponies.  I think this is going to be a very relaxed and slice-of-lifeish season, but a very good one all the same, with hopefully some nice new developments for old and new characters.  It's off to a great start so far and I can't wait to see where everything goes.  Until next time everypony, this is Batbrony signing off.  I'm off! *cue dramatic exit*

 

 

Hmmmmm... still needs more pony

[Brony Mata 134]

 

 

jobs that could easily be given to a couple random guards.

 

Oh wow, we need to put this on the news and out 'em on trial. But what I meant was like how there are episodes based on AppleJack, episodes based on Twilight, episodes for Background characters (please let there be another one just because!!!) you know, another character another episode....

 

 

Like that one time they completely redacted fluttershy from that one episode.... then that one time MAS did the same thing but for a lot of episodes

[Odd Ball 230]

The crystal ponies annoyed me with their stupidity.