S06:E05 - Gauntlet of Fire

[GreenUnicorn 15]

now, whatever happened to the big, powerful dragons from s1? Or am I just unobservant? (And NO, Torch does NOT count; HE WAS THE ONLY SIZABLE DRAGON THERE)

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Twilight and Rarity were pretty humorous in here, but they seemed to be in the way. Hopefully Spike's next adventure won't have Twilight with him. I mean Twilight does have adventures without him, so why not the other way around?

[Thrond 3,257]

I think my problem is that this episode lacks internal conflict. Every choice Spike makes is noble, and that's honestly quite boring to me. Spike learns not a single thing from this episode, and while I guess he's more dignified here than ever before, to me that translates to him being blander than ever before. I can't relate to any of this. Technically, this is a political episode not unlike "Party Pooped," but in "Party Pooped" everyone was constantly expressing uncertainty, whereas there's never a moment of doubt in this. Rarity's relatively sweet, but she doesn't do a whole lot, and Twilight is a lot better in this than I remembered. I guess season 6 is actually where she started being good again, because this is one of at least three (!) appearances she had in season 6 where she get to see her nerdy side again. Then again, "No Second Prances," but still, it's so refreshing when we get to see her in a role other than "mentor" or "princess." 

And this is kinda the "character teaches other friendship" episode type at its most uncomfortable, because the more it emphasizes that dragons don't make friends (which is only plausible because they don't really have a society), the more it seems like it's calling dragon culture inferior. I mean, "just like all the other dragons"? It's a little iffy. And I say this as someone who loves "Dragon Quest," so I'm surprised that nobody else notices this. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but seeing other dragons who were interested in friendship would have helped a lot; like with the griffons and changelings, I think having a whole species stand in for a character trait - in this case, macho posturing - is inherently problematic, and I think the high stakes actually enhance that awkwardness because the episode's conflict is basically a matter of national security. Had Spike befriended a weaker personality, he would effectively be putting a puppet ruler on the throne, and that's... rather questionable, in my eyes.

At least Ember comes to accept friendship on her own. Too bad there's not much too her aside from trying to overcome prejudice against her, and although she's really well acted and somewhat charismatic, she's really just a cliche. She's the princess who's constantly underestimated because of her gender size and forbidden to go into danger by her father, and who disguises herself to get around this. I'm more fond of her as being a stand-in for the whole idea of extending friendship to the dragons, but even in that she's just sort of generically tomboyish, and I don't think she's particularly deep or subversive.

That said, this is still pretty consistently cute and funny. As I mentioned, Twilight is fantastic, but Garble consistently steals the show with his bad attitude and constant snark. I like my jerks extra smug, and Garble is a great example of that. Plus, the affection Spike's pony friends have for him is quite endearing, as is his friendship with Ember, even if I don't find ether particularly imaginative. Comparing this to "Dragon Quest," I can't help but notice that Rainbow's missing. I wouldn't need her back, but including anyone other than just Rarity and Twilight would make this feel less stale. I think the point is to emphasize how mature Spike has become, which is why he's accompanied by the two ponies who have had the biggest role in his life, but that's not a very interesting point to make in my opinion. Still, the episode's fun. Just don't get what's so impressive about it. 

Score:

Entertainment: 8/10

Characters: 7/10

Themes: 6/10

Story: 6/10

Overall: 68/100

[Nye 1,652]

And I gained tons of new ideas for a new line of camouflage clothing! I think I'll call it "Camo-Maud"!

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,627]

Oddly enough, the one I liked most in this episode was Garble.

[bigbertha 410]

This episode is a grand adventure and I love it. Everything about it works really well. There's great comedy, great action, and a really fun journey. Also, Garble gets hurt a lot and that's amazing.

Score: 10/10

Edited August 13, 2018 by bigbertha

[qwerE 95]

A fantastic episode. I was glad to see an episode about Spike where he actually is nice and achieves something. Also, the new character Ember was really fun to see!

[bigbertha 410]

This is definitely a fun episode, but it's not a particularly interesting episode. At its core, it is very similar to Dragon Quest with all of the dragons being the big brutes and pony values being seen as better than dragon values. Granted, this episode focuses more on the adventure and fun rather than themes, but those themes are still present. And on to that the fact that there's not really any internal conflict aside from the cliche "learning to appreciate friendship" thing Ember goes through, and you've got a pretty shallow episode. 

But it's still fun for what it is. Garble is much better than he was in Dragon Quest since his treatment of Spike is played more comedically and he's beat up a lot. The climax has some actual tension, which is rare for this show, and the jokes are pretty good. If the story had more to it and those unfortunate implications weren't still around, this would be a lot better. But as is, this is just a good episode.

Score: 7/10

[Cash In 21,488]

Now THIS was a Spike episode. Ember is awesome and for something with a more serious plot, the jokes really landed. Honestly, this is probably one of my favourites from the entire show.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Cash_In

[Rushing cash 824]

One of spikes best episodes in the show, it showed spikes best and of course we learned so much about the dragons! Ember is a fantastic character, she is my favorite out of the dragons and I really wish they used her more, I want to see how she rules the kingdom and if there are any challengers. The story is interesting with lots of world building, the only thing that bothers me is that twilight was so passive during the fight and let a dragon she barely knew save spike(I guess the reason she backed down against garble is she was startled and by instinct afraid of him, she would have snapped out of it eventually), other than that the episode is fantastic, 9\10, spike was really good in this episode. I want to know what the sector can do, what powers it provides(if any).   

[Props Valroa 25,967]

I enjoyed this episode. Not only was it funny, it showed that strength isn't the only quality in a leader. The Dragon Lord torch is a funny character, I wish we saw more of him in later seasons along with Ember. It's a good lesson too, the parents aren't always right and anyone can be who they want to be and sometimes that shows the parents how proud they are of their son / daughter. Twilight and Rarity were quite cute in this. The dragons are shown more as loveable brutes rather than fearsome beasts. I like the way that Spike showed his worth but without Ember, he wouldn't have gotten there. Garble would have won if it wasn't for them working together.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,290]

Spike going on a quest in the Dragon Land with Twilight and Rarity in tow wearing a familiar disguise.  We're introduced to Ember in this episode, right?  

[Sonic5421 423]

10 hours ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

Spike going on a quest in the Dragon Land with Twilight and Rarity in tow wearing a familiar disguise.  We're introduced to Ember in this episode, right?  

Yeah, we are. Along with her father Torch, and the return of Garble from Season 2 regarding Peewee the Phoenix.

[Astralshy 23,442]

I really enjoyed this episode too. I appreciated the world building by give the dragons more details and show more about their ways. This episode just does that in a very fun and and entertaining way for me. The introduction of Ember is appreciated and I like her character. The plot of this episode is a bit easy to see through so.

This is definitely one of the episodes where Spike shines

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Looking back at this episode, I still say that it is among one of my absolute faves. It really shows that size doesn't matter, as we all hear today "You may be small, but you can do great big things."

What's also cool about this episode is how Spike showed that living by a stereotype isn't worth it, because people wouldn't want to be around you. Spike may be a dragon, but he has a sweet and tender soul, always looking out for his friends. I'm really glad Spike was able to teach that to Ember and the others. 

[Samuel L Changeling 1,425]

Be honest who else loved seeing Garble get his just desserts in the end of the episode. 

I don't think an episode ending ever made me laugh harder.

 

"What are you doing?!"

 

"I... I can't tell you."

[Iforgotmybrain 3,468]

Rare Luna sighting. Very funny episode overall! Love Torch, all his jokes were great. Especially when he’s ordering the others to react, basically doing the dragon equivalent of Jeb Bush’s “Please clap”. Plus Rarity and Twi constantly trying to sneak about and blend into the environment like they’re in MGS.

I quite like Princess Ember, her design is pretty. Her action scene towards the end against Garble is cool as well. Her and Spike worked well together.

Also more lore about the dragons in general this episode. All in all this was pretty much the perfect Spike episode imo.