Rainbow's New Position

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

So, this episode for me could've been executed better than it was...I mean, the fact that they had demeaning nicknames as motivation, seems contradicting if you ask me. Like, who would want that, it's like people are constantly teasing and bullying you about it, that it makes you want to be the best. 

 

Also, the lesson about fitting in instead of standing out is actually a major character development point for Rainbow. In all previous episodes, we've seen Rainbow Dash take the reins and execute. However, it was the complete opposite. It taught Rainbow Dash that working in a team and fitting in to accomplish a goal is sometimes better than taking the lead and causing things to fail. It's just like a band or a cast of characters. 

 

I still think this episode was rather...meh...and Dashie having to be put on probation...ugh...that hurts. At least she's still happy about being a Wonderbolt...

 

Thoughts?

Edited May 7, 2016 by C. Thunder Dash

[Glike 487]

So, this episode for me could've been executed better than it was...I mean, the fact that they had demeaning nicknames as motivation, seems contradicting if you ask me. Like, who would want that, it's like people are constantly teasing and bullying you about it, that it makes you want to be the best. 

 

Also, the lesson about fitting in instead of standing out is actually a major character development point for Rainbow. In all previous episodes, we've seen Rainbow Dash take the reins and execute. However, it was the complete opposite. It taught Rainbow Dash that working in a team and fitting in to accomplish a goal is sometimes better than taking the lead and causing things to fail. It's just like a band or a cast of characters. 

 

I still think this episode was rather...meh...and Dashie having to be put on probation...ugh...that hurts. At least she's still happy about being a Wonderbolt...

 

Thoughts?

She was put on probation for reckless endangerment of the team. Like Spitfire said, she's lucky she wasn't stripped of her status. This is something that would carry heavy consequences in the military in real life. It would've been bad writing for her to get away with little consequence.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

I liked it on the whole.  She realised at the end that the whole nickname thing is a part of the bonding process that they all had to go through, an initiation of sorts.

 

Even though she was on fatigues for the next month she took it in her stride and was happy to just be part of the team, having learned the lesson that all of the Wonderbolts are small wheels in a big machine.

 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

She was put on probation for reckless endangerment of the team. Like Spitfire said, she's lucky she wasn't stripped of her status. This is something that would carry heavy consequences in the military in real life. It would've been bad writing for her to get away with little consequence.

Yeah...I think Rainbow Dash was definitely showing her Lightning Dust side in this one. At least she didn't have to pay the price for it. Still, this was a very cringy episode for me...

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

Rainbow learned a very important lesson and in the case with the Wonderbolts, fitting in rather than standing out helps in the long run because you have to work together as a team.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Yeah...I think Rainbow Dash was definitely showing her Lightning Dust side in this one. At least she didn't have to pay the price for it. Still, this was a very cringy episode for me...

Mysterious mare do well 2.0 basically was how I felt.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Mysterious mare do well 2.0 basically was how I felt.

I havn't seen the episode yet (yeah i know how odd that sounds) but really in wonderbotl acedemy she was upset over not being a leader and didn't except being wing pony.  Granted Spitfire explainto or WHY this happened was bull but still.

 

Also seem to spit in sptifire face for oh abanding a team mate in Rainbow falls...

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I havn't seen the episode yet (yeah i know how odd that sounds) but really in wonderbotl acedemy she was upset over not being a leader and didn't except being wing pony.  Granted Spitfire explainto or WHY this happened was bull but still.

 

Also seem to spit in sptifire face for oh abanding a team mate in Rainbow falls...

She showed incredibly maturity though; she asked spitfire and was like "okay, cool." and that was that. This episode she behaved like a giant petulant attention whore the entire episode: even with the freudian excuse, it was still hard to watch.

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

I still think this episode was rather...meh...and Dashie having to be put on probation...ugh...that hurts.

Whoa....whoa there...that was the best part of the whole episode, and the only redeeming factor.  For the first time in FIM history, we saw a pony face the consequences for doing something stupid.  It was a professional punishment that she absolutely deserved.  This show needed to demonstrate that actions have consequences, and one needs to be responsible and own up to their mistakes.  For me, this disciplinary action went a long way to fixing an otherwise very flawed and poorly executed episode.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

 

 

Whoa....whoa there...that was the best part of the whole episode, and the only redeeming factor. For the first time in FIM history, we saw a pony face the consequences for doing something stupid. It was a professional punishment that she absolutely deserved. This show needed to demonstrate that actions have consequences, and one needs to be responsible and own up to their mistakes.

 

Definitely.  It's entirely appropriate that insignificant crimes such as trying to alter the timeline for personal revenge, like Starlight Shimmer, or trying to take over an entire village, Like both Starlight and Trixie can be completely ignored, but there has to be a line in the sand, a line which if stepped over, attracts an appropriate punishment.  Apparently  that line is drawn at showboating.

 

Oh well.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

This episode really blew it as far as making a plot point that was built up since episode 1 feel fulfilling and finished. That really hurts considering the more satisfactory endgames Rarity and Twilight got, even if Rarity's was a bit understated and Twilight's came a bit too early. The episode was too full of mindless fluff, a standard plot, and Flanderized characters for it to be enjoyable to me.

 

On the issue of the Wonderbolts' nickname policy, the revelation that they actually identify each other by those nicknames in public, especially at the end, was the only part that really bothered me about it. This has no precedent in previous episodes and sounds so terribly forced at the end of the episode that I just couldn't stand it. It's one thing to use nicknames playfully, but it's another to base a person's entire identity off of it. The episode makes no distinction and no ass-pull solidarity ending is going to save it from that fact.

 

I suspect Rainbow Dash will continue to appear in future episodes, especially when they feel the need to use the entire main cast. They may even pretend this episode doesn't exist, like they tried to do with "Rainbow Falls".

 

As for what Rainbow Dash learned in this episode, she didn't learn anything. She already knew how to be a team player and put others first in episodes like "Hurricane Fluttershy" and "Wonderbolts Academy" as well as pretty much her entire time in the Mane 6, as well as self-confidence in "Wonderbolts Academy" and "Testing, Testing, 123". It's only since Season 4 that she's regressed into a shell of her former self and has needed to re-learn loyalty in episodes like this one and "Tanks for the Memories".

Edited May 8, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

Now that Lightning Dust is mentioned She haven't been around for ages.

[The Nth Doctor 652]

So, this episode for me could've been executed better than it was...I mean, the fact that they had demeaning nicknames as motivation, seems contradicting if you ask me. Like, who would want that, it's like people are constantly teasing and bullying you about it, that it makes you want to be the best. 

 

Also, the lesson about fitting in instead of standing out is actually a major character development point for Rainbow. In all previous episodes, we've seen Rainbow Dash take the reins and execute. However, it was the complete opposite. It taught Rainbow Dash that working in a team and fitting in to accomplish a goal is sometimes better than taking the lead and causing things to fail. It's just like a band or a cast of characters. 

 

I still think this episode was rather...meh...and Dashie having to be put on probation...ugh...that hurts. At least she's still happy about being a Wonderbolt...

 

Thoughts?

I'm amazed Dash still thinks the Wonderbolts are awesome

 

Everything I've seen about the Wonderbolts paints them as horrible role models

[pony.colin 156]

Did not like the overall episode and thought it was below par for FIM standards. Would be re-stating what I thought earlier. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't state a couple things earlier.

 

I never saw it as a lesson that Dash needs to learn how to fit in rather than boast. I may not recall all the episodes but I'm almost certain Dash has already learned by up to this point about together in a team rather than act like a showboat. @@Wind Chaser, has pointed out examples and other points that I agree with.  Same with feeling that Dash would probably know how to work with others in a team given her own experiences with her own friends.  It feels comparable to me like how I felt that Twilight acted far too "thick-headed" for her character in 'No Second Prances' because the plot demanded it in order to move forward. It feels like similar parallels with Dash here in this episode.

 

I'm still rather unsure of how I feel about the hazing aspect of this episode, just feel at both ends with it.

 

 

 

On the issue of the Wonderbolts' nickname policy, the revelation that they actually identify each other by those nicknames in public, especially at the end, was the only part that really bothered me about it. This has no precedent in previous episodes and sounds so terribly forced at the end of the episode that I just couldn't stand it.

 

That's another good point, none of these nicknames have had any prior establishment before in the series as well.

 

 

 

I suspect Rainbow Dash will continue to appear in future episodes, especially when they feel the need to use the entire main cast. They may even pretend this episode doesn't exist, like they tried to do with "Rainbow Falls".

 

I'm uncertain if being in the wonderbolts is a full time occupation, it seemed Dash being in the reserves didn't exactly take up her whole time.  I'm unsure of how often she will be pulled away (it would actually be pretty interesting new dynamic if they introduced this element into the series, or at least I think it branches the series into other directions). But I also agree I think if they pull the manecast as well, Dash will always be present regardless.  What contradicted Rainbow Falls? 

Edited May 8, 2016 by pony.colin

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

This episode really blew it as far as making a plot point that was built up since episode 1 feel fulfilling and finished. That really hurts considering the more satisfactory endgames Rarity and Twilight got, even if Rarity's was a bit understated and Twilight's came a bit too early. The episode was too full of mindless fluff, a standard plot, and Flanderized characters for it to be enjoyable to me.

 

On the issue of the Wonderbolts' nickname policy, the revelation that they actually identify each other by those nicknames in public, especially at the end, was the only part that really bothered me about it. This has no precedent in previous episodes and sounds so terribly forced at the end of the episode that I just couldn't stand it. It's one thing to use nicknames playfully, but it's another to base a person's entire identity off of it. The episode makes no distinction and no ass-pull solidarity ending is going to save it from that fact.

 

I suspect Rainbow Dash will continue to appear in future episodes, especially when they feel the need to use the entire main cast. They may even pretend this episode doesn't exist, like they tried to do with "Rainbow Falls".

 

As for what Rainbow Dash learned in this episode, she didn't learn anything. She already knew how to be a team player and put others first in episodes like "Hurricane Fluttershy" and "Wonderbolts Academy" as well as pretty much her entire time in the Mane 6, as well as self-confidence in "Wonderbolts Academy" and "Testing, Testing, 123". It's only since Season 4 that she's regressed into a shell of her former self and has needed to re-learn loyalty in episodes like this one and "Tanks for the Memories".

Yeah the nickname part somewhat confused me since they never established it before.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

I'm amazed Dash still thinks the Wonderbolts are awesome

 

Everything I've seen about the Wonderbolts paints them as horrible role models

I mean...this is the first episode where they teach Dash a lesson. In previous episodes, she's had to teach them a thing or two...

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,237]

What I was hoping for the absolute most was Rainbow actually showing THEM how to be a bit humble, that would be an amazing position to have in the Wonderbolts, to actually be a role model, but instead the episode portrayed her just as cocky as she was in season 1 and it made her look like a fool and it painted the Wonderbolts as this wonderful team of ponies.

 

For an episode all about Rainbow living her dream, that was pretty abysmal.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

What contradicted Rainbow Falls?

They didn't directly retcon the episode, but Pinkie Pie's timed cutoff of Rainbow Dash during the exposition dump in "Twilight's Kingdom" is easy to take as an implied swipe at that episode. Sucks for Rainbow Dash and a very inconsiderate moment for Pinkie, but a very subtle hint of self-awareness.

 

Beyond that, I don't think I've ever heard any exposition dumps refer to that episode ever since.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

dashie should be "named" as the advanced wonderbolt member since i liked the way she flies