S06:E25+E26 - To Where and Back Again

[dekutree64 713]

That was pretty awesome. Love that they brought Trixie back again. Twilight's tolerance at being rejected was admirable I hope we see her around more often in season 7, creating friction between Twilight and Starlight, but ultimately getting along since she finally beat Twilight at something (and it's friendship!)

 

Starlight's fear of social situations is very relatable to me. Go through all sorts of mental simulations worrying about what will happen, then decide you're being ridiculous and go to the event, and then it really does go badly but in a way you didn't plan for.

 

Discord was great in this episode as well. The bug jokes were highly amusing, and the room of Fluttershys was more irresistible than succubi. It's great to look back on what he was in season 2, and see that he's grown to be one of the heroes now

 

The ending felt rather abrupt, but I can think of a few explanations.

1. No changeling ever tried giving love before because Chrysalis was mind controlling them to her way of thinking.

2. The love nuke that Chrysalis sucked out of Thorax, plus ponies giving speeches, provided them with some love that they could give back.

3. As soon as Thorax made his transformation, he gained an equal amount of influence over the hive mind to counter Chrysalis, and that gave the others the opportunity to think and feel differently.

 

I hope we get one more non-finale Chrysalis episode, where she's built a new small hive and makes one last failed attempt at love-stealing. I think that could finally break her down and give her a heartwarming, non-rushed redemption.

 

I feel sorry for Celestia. She's really living up to her title of princess, getting captured and rescued every season. Must have Celestia-centered episode next season! I've been waiting for years and it still hasn't happened

 

Oh, and Flurry Heart can stand up now! But Cadance was carrying her afterward, so she may not be able to walk yet.

 

 

[Sonic5421 423]

Okay, I saw the UK version of the finale, and while I felt that having the focus be on Starlight and her coming full circle with accepting a leadership role again was a good choice, the way the finale was done was poorly written, especially considering that the writers went all out this time to have both the Royal Family and the Elements of Harmony out of the picture for most of it to give Starlight her time to shine, similar to Celestia and Luna, and even Cadance, having to be removed in a way that saw Twilight and her friends save them.

 

The part that really turned my stomach over in knots was seeing a scene similar to A Canterlot Wedding, only ten times worse, and that was seeing everypony stuck in cocoons this time instead of Celestia, and the real knife to the gut? Chrysalis appearing from being hidden among the Royal Family's cocoons, and even twisting her body in a way that made her more creepier and psychotic than when we last saw her.

 

UK version, cropped:

 

And here's an animated version of the UK version, not cropped:

 

USA version:

 

And now an animated version of this scene from the USA version:

 

Just seeing both a simple image and an animated version in High-Definition of Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart in cocoons instead of just Celestia like back in A Canterlot Wedding has me feeling like a Left 4 Dead Boomer who's ready to throw up any second.

 

The ending felt rushed as well as it did not take long for the Changelings to turn on Chrysalis, take Thorax's side, and make up for their earlier kidnapping and cocooning of the Royal Family and Elements of Harmony by destroying Chrysalis' throne, causing the cocoons to fall and break open off-screen. Had we at least seen the cocoons get released from where they were attached to the ceiling, fall, and break open, freeing everypony and leading to them waking up from their hibernation, that would have worked out better. Worse, Celestia and Luna had barely any dialogue here as Luna was only there to support Starlight and warn her of Chrysalis' return, then commend her afterwards for how much she's grown since they last met, while Celestia only spoke to Thorax regarding turning the ponies and Changelings from bitter enemies into the best of friends, before suggesting that the ponies return home for some well-deserved rest & relaxation after what Chrysalis had all put them through within the last few hours, if not days.

 

All-in-all, this might be a finale I might watch again in the near future, especially to compare the UK and USA versions regarding detail and voices between them, but I'm afraid that the way the Royal Family and Elements of Harmony were treated here forces me to give the finale a 7.5/10. Sorry.

Edited October 23, 2016 by Sonic5421

[FlutteringDweamz 2,086]

Best two episodes of the season. So epic, i went to take a nap and all i could think of were ponies xD

 

I had my riku plushie watch it on the tv in my bedroom too. I felt he would be able to relate to starlight in these eps...(i love treating my riku plushie like he's the real riku xD its fun^^)

 

Also, thorox makes an awesome new leader^^

[ChB 18,550]

 

The new Changeling design reminds me of Stantler from Pokemon

 

[Zantetsuken 364]

Ok time for my thoughts on the season 6 finale... again  

 

To Where and Back Again written by Josh Haber and Mike Vogel

 

This episode was an amazing way to end off the season and it is my second most favorite season finale behind Twilight's Kingdom. Even though I already went into great depth reviewing this episode in another thread I will still give my thoughts again here because I'm a nice guy... and I have no life.

 

I really like a lot of the character interaction in the first part and the changelings as the mane 6 were genuinely funny. I also like how Starlight's entire 'team' is made up of formerly evil characters. Thorax is debateable on that point but I'm willing to count him because he IS a changeling.

 

Another thing I like the concept of and can see fanfic writers like myself playing around with is the idea of how a changeling hive is always changing like its inhabitants.

 

And there are other things like Trixie and Chrissy and stuff like that that I like.

 

And also THANK GOD CHRYSALIS WAS NOT REFORMED when I first saw the episode and got to that scene I was muttering to myself "slap her hoof away, slap her hoof away, slap her hoof away." And she finally did and ran off and I was like "YES!" Chrysalis is pure evil, there needs to be an example other than Tirek that shows you can't turn everyone into a good guy. So I hope Chrysalis stays evil. Everyone complains about villains being reformed left and right so I'm actually surprised that some ppl here were disappointed that she didn't reform.

 

Things I don't really like or dislike 

 

I'm kinda meh on the new forms of Thorax and the changelings. I guess i don't mind it but seeing them for the first time was kinda offputting.

 

Now for a couple things I didn't like.

 

I think the hive could have had more traps and changeling goo. We saw a little of the hive but I think a tiny bit more world building could have been done. I would have wanted them walking through more rooms like the one Discord encountered all the imposter Fluttershys in. Now that room was interesting and a bit more in line with what I believe a changeling hive would look like rather than the bland-ish caves they spend the majority of time in. 

 

Also Im lifting this next complaint straight from my review in the UK airing thread but I'm doing so because I believe it's still valid. I'm wondering how the princesses, including Twilight + the other mane 5 + spike + flurry heart + shining armor were all captured, they never really explain it. I think that's the biggest issue here. MLP season finales usually resolve everything but that issue is never explained. Just oh look everyone is here, they are in cocoons, and that's all we get so I think that's pretty disappointing.

 

I'm pretty sure they were trying to use the fridge logic trick and hope no one would notice but that's a moderately big plothole.

 

However those two complaints are overlookable enough for me to still love this episode. The plothole is a pretty big pill to swallow especially considering the stickler I am for everything being explained and laid out to me. But the return of the changelings and Chrysalis denying reformation make up for it so yeah.

 

So Here are my scores

To Where And Back Again Part I 10/10
To Where And Back Again Part II 9.5/10
Overall Score 10/10

See all you ponies in season 7! 

[BlackWater627 700]

Best two episodes of the season. So epic, i went to take a nap and all i could think of were ponies xD

 

I had my riku plushie watch it on the tv in my bedroom too. I felt he would be able to relate to starlight in these eps...(i love treating my riku plushie like he's the real riku xD its fun^^)

 

Also, thorox makes an awesome new leader^^

Agreed! 

 

More Thorax for season 7! 

 

I like his new colors! Easter pastels are my favs and, though the new changeling colors are a little darker, I still love the light and cheery colors. 

[Sonic5421 423]

I think the hive could have had more traps and changeling goo. We saw a little of the hive but I think a tiny bit more world building could have been done. I would have wanted them walking through more rooms like the one Discord encountered all the imposter Fluttershys in. Now that room was interesting and a bit more in line with what I believe a changeling hive would look like rather than the bland-ish caves they spend the majority of time in. 

 

Also Im lifting this next complaint straight from my review in the UK airing thread but I'm doing so because I believe it's still valid. I'm wondering how the princesses, including Twilight + the other mane 5 + spike + flurry heart + shining armor were all captured, they never really explain it. I think that's the biggest issue here. MLP season finales usually resolve everything but that issue is never explained. Just oh look everyone is here, they are in cocoons, and that's all we get so I think that's pretty disappointing.

 

I'm pretty sure they were trying to use the fridge logic trick and hope no one would notice but that's a moderately big plothole.

 

I'm with you there. I really wanted to see how everypony got kidnapped and cocooned to begin with, then when Chrysalis' throne blew, how the cocoons fell and broke open to free everypony. They never really go into much detail on that.

 

It's all: "Thorax enters the throne room, disguised as Starlight, some Changelings goo drips on him causing him to look up and see Discord, Trixie, the Mane Six, Spike, and the Royal Family all trapped in cocoons, fast asleep, he tries to move to free them, but Chrysalis reveals herself to have been concealed among the Royal Family's cocoons, summons her Swarm, and subdues him. Then the overhead shot of Celestia, the Mane Six, and Spike as Chrysalis monologues."

 

After that: "Starlight lowers the shield she protected herself and Thorax with, looks around to see the Changelings having all evolved as well, then sees everypony who was cocooned emerging from their shattered prisons, none the worse for wear except being a little groggy, and covered in some leftover Changeling slime from their cocoons." Rushed much?

 

What a rip for what most still consider a good episode overall anyway.

RIP old geeky Thorax. The only thing left of him might be his voice and personality, and that might even be gone if they change them to fit his new regal stature. 

 

They did some really nice particle animation when the top of the castle spire was blown off.

 

The ending still felt rushed, though seeing it for a second time plays a little better now than when I first viewed it.

 

While I agree the ending was rushed, I'm still not sure I'll bear being able to watch it in High-Definition as it only makes Chrysalis' appearance from being hidden by the Royal Family's cocoons that much more creepier.

[Luminance 2,186]

Amazing Finale! I really love it how it's comprised of the reformed-villains coming out to save the day. Discord as always, has his affinity for Fluttershy and that's very sweet and not too overbearing. Trixie is actually a redeeming and great character, her quibbles and banter justify for her new reformed self and glad that she didn't left her snarky sassy character. Thorax was, I felt like the true underdog here. He was an outsider from his kind, a reject and now he would have to save all of Equestria even though he's a changeling. He's essentially the Changeling's ultimate secret weapon and with this, his true light finally reveal that it's you to whom you want to be not what the Queen wants you to perceive but it would be all useless without Starlight Glimmer. She was an flower bud awaiting her transformation in the right time to finally show her true beauty. She was an advocate to help open Thorax and to the changelings to prove that the most you can make out the most is the friends you make and to open with love and without that you'll be on a path to suffering and evil ways. She not only helped reformed an entire race of enemies but she open herself to Chrysalis, to help lend a fellow hoof in forgiveness but Chrysalis turned her down. It's Chrysalis's mistake in returning that she would only find darkness in spite of her once loyal kind finding a life of new profound love. She's blinded by hatred and outright drive to stab to those whom stand in her way. Again, a very powerful turning point for Starlight and the Changelings as two whole characters.

[Ganondorf8 11,295]

The one impersonating Twilight seems to be the only one trying. I've seen Tabletop players who stayed more in character!

 

Perhaps that one had more experience than the others or actually studied up on Twilight.

[Professional Horse 94]

I already posted my thoughts on this finale in the UK release thread, but I'm going to repost them here. Maybe someone might find my review mildly interesting.

 

---

 

There's so, so many good things about this finale that I'm not really bothered by the flaws.

 

Hey, let's make a list! Cheap internet tabloids and lazy youtubers love 'em!

 

GOOD things:

+++ THE GRRRREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE

+++ Chrysalis is the best god damn villain. This is an objective fact.

+++ FUCK YOUR REFORMATION! MWAHAHAHA (part of the above I suppose)

+++ The clutzy draconequus

+++ The changelings in general

+++ Spades of humour! YES!

++ Great set-up in the first part, it was tense and exciting

++ Great character interactions

++ Magic users have to solve problems without magic! Yes!

++ The visuals and the setting! Esp. the hive!

++ Glimmy was alright, but her development in this episode was pretty fantastic

++ The animation in general

++ Princess Luna was pretty great

++ Discord and Fluttershy are good friends. Friends. I approve.

+ Thorax was cute I guess

+ Part 2 was good before the ending

+ Cute and funny meme faces

 

BAD things:

- No Sunburst (only mentioned) for some reason

- No Ember or dragons, I would've liked to see them again

- Glimmy and Trixie saw the changed mane 6 communicate with Chrysalis because... coincidence? No, lazy writing.

- The darkstone throne felt like a cheap ass-pull. A cool ass-pull, though

-- No song?!

-- The reformation of the changelings was too fast and easy

-- The ending in general left a bad taste in my mouth (so they all just shoot love out of their chests and... uh, what?)

-- The new changeling designs look... weird.

-- How was everyone captured again? You gonna explain that, or...

--- No Spike! What the hell? He should've been in the B-team! It would've been perfect! Besides, this is Season Spike! Come on!

--- Twilight did not talk to Starlight at the end, aside from asking "dafuq happened fam". Disapponting and odd. Why didn't they wrap up Starlight's sparse arc properly?

 

So, I liked it. I think that Best Night Ever was a better finale and Return of Harmony a better two-parter, but this one was better than all the other ones. Really happy with this.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Professional Horse

[Merrypaws 71]

Overall, I don't have many strong feelings about the finale. The plot was kinda easy to predict, but it had fun moments, and it was nice seeing some new characters get some spotlight time for a change.

 

But, one thing left what feels like a permanent bad taste in my mouth: The changeling redesign.

 

I'm just trying to wrap my head around the why of it. The creators have given the fandom small nods all through the series to acknowledge and thank us for our support, so they can't NOT know how popular the changelings have been. So why have the creators now gone and taken away all that made the changelings cool and interesting creatures?

 

Let me break it down a bit further. Changelings represented, at least to me, a more faceted angle on the pony universe. 

 

The show style is overall pretty uniform, round shapes and candy colors. Against that background, the changelings were a welcome change. They weren't unappealing by any stretch, the amount of fanart that exist should be a testament to that. But they had that little edge, that little feeling of otherness and danger that gives opportunities for some great character exploration.

 

Same goes with the character traits and interactions. Aside from the obvious big villains like NMM, the worst we really saw prior to the changelings was really about par to schoolyard bullying. Nothing wrong with that, BUT this only really added to the appeal of the changelings. Because they are the grey area. Chrysalis was clearly a villain through and through, but take an average rank and file changeling, and how 'evil' were any of them really?

 

Literature and pop culture has long since created a stable trope of 'a noble vampire'. Not always a literal vampire, but a character that has morals, who doesn't wish to harm anyone, but has no choice if they wish to survive. Now think of changelings as the vampires of Equestria, they feed on something essential to the other creatures, whether that's something physical like blood or less tangible like love. Not because they are mean, but because they have to. They have the potential to be the greatest ANTI-HEROES of Equestria.

 

This is the kinda stuff that gets me invested, because it gives my own creative side something to work with. How will an individual changeling feel about his part in the Cantelot Wedding? Guilty? Vengeful after being treated with prejudice in the past? How would he act afterward, when they've all been blown away and scattered? Would he be trying to return to his queen and happily take his place in the hive, or if he was unhappy before, strike out on his own?

 

This whole redemption thing doesn't leave those kinds of loose ends for the imagination to grasp. The idea of all changelings being good now and not needing to feed on love anymore might be satisfying in the short term, but it doesn't have the kind of interesting setup for how one individual might deal with a situation he finds himself in. I would have been okay with the good part, just leaving their need to feed would have made an interesting premise for their future interaction with the ponies. But as is, there aren't any blanks there for me to fill. They might as well be just a another community of ponies now.

 

As for the new visual design... I'm trying really really hard to come up with something to say besides 'What the HAY?' and I'm drawing blanks.They're good now, so they have to be sparkly and pastel colored? Thorax was one of the good guys in 'Times They Are A Changeling', and we didn't need him to be painted with sugar frosting and sprinkles on top to get that! There were some elements to the design I liked, like the new wings and Thorax's horns, but overall... It just seems excessive, tacky and grossly playing into stereotypes. I'm not a fan.

 

 

TL;DR: I would've liked the finale, but a complete redesign of one of my favorite things in the pony-verse ruined it at the last moment.

[ph00tbag 108]

Well, this was pretty much my favorite season finale thus far. I feel like there were very few, if any, execution flubs along the way.

Starlight's development was really great to see. In a season where the write staff has struggled to consistently express her struggle with her past and its integration into her new self, It's heartening to see them ending on a high note. The growth is demonstrated thematically at first, then explicitly through her dialogue with others. And it's the fact that theming is employed so consistently throughout the plot that makes this episode so delicious.

I also love, love, loved Trixie in this episode. She's still a boastful, incorrigible PoS, but it's really adorable how Starlight weakens her facade, and so Trixie does all these little things for Starlight to show she cares. Like when they're running from the Town, and Trixie is hiding Starlight in her cloak, or when she hammers home the episode's main point to Starlight by telling her that even if she's afraid of leading, she's good at it, and needs to do it in that moment. It's even cooler that this scene is right before Trixie goes off to distract the Changelings so Starlight and Thorax can go on. This both casts Trixie as a principled hero in her own right, while also showing that for the first three quarters of the episode, she was like a set of training wheels for Starlight, and at the end of the episode, the training wheels are off, and Starlight is riding on her own.

Trixie was also wonderful in the way her relationship with Discord evolved. Their bickering throughout the second half was a delight to watch, and I love how they wound up making up and forming a very odd couple relationship by the end of everything. Discord already has a very weird way of expressing his feelings (particularly the way he teases and needles Twilight because he wants her to like him but doesn't know how to do that, so he just winds up pissing her off), and the fact that Trixie is just as awkward and prickly makes their attempts at rapprochement so fun to watch.

To boot, Chrysalis was especially nasty this time around. Her entrance was so creepy, and I love that the show went out on a limb like that. In presentation, Chrysalis has all this rage and resentment, and it's made her an even more compelling villain. The unhinged notes in her delivery sold it in particular. Kathleen Barr deserves a lot of kudos for this performance. I particularly like that she's so fargone that she ultimately rejects Starlight's entreaty to come to the side of light. It makes her a much stronger villain, and creates the potential for her to appear more often and continue to be a foil to the cast of this show.

Really, the only personality that felt flat to me in this episode was Thorax, and that's really only a relative thing. He's not a badly developed character; he's just a very milquetoast personality. He doesn't have the snark of Discord or Trixie, and isn't having a panic attack like Starlight, so it feels like he's just there to move things along, and, in the final scene, deal the killing blow to Chrysalis's plan.

I also appreciated the lack of song. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I felt like the songs have been a little too forced lately. A song wasn't necessary to move this plot along, so I'm glad they avoided it. I also liked that the coups d'etat was left offscreen. It puts the viewer in the mind of the protagonist. You wonder right along with Starlight what the hell is going on. And the fact that it's never really revealed, and unlikely ever to be, means its up to the viewer, which makes Chrysalis as clever and conniving as she needs to be at the cost of literally no screen time. Keeping some things offscreen is often necessary to keep up tension, and I think it was very well-applied, here.

Edited October 22, 2016 by ph00tbag

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

 

 

TL;DR: I would've liked the finale, but a complete redesign of one of my favorite things in the pony-verse ruined it at the last moment.

 

 

I don't fully agree...But I can totally see where you're coming from. Personally, I actually do like the new designs overall, I think they look pretty cool, but they have taken away a lot of the original appeal of the Changeling's. They aren't really "Dangerous" anymore, they're just another race of friendly Equestrian creatures. I do still think they look rather strange though, they still feel "Alien" and otherworldly in appearance, maybe even more so, just...in a different way.

 

One benefit of the new design is that the Changeling's are now more distinct. They have different colors, some have gems and other things to set them apart, etc. This means if we get more Changeling characters, it'll be easier to tell them apart. That's a plus, but on the other hand this could have been pulled off without totally overhauling them. A more subtle evolution with maybe just some slight color changes and differences could have worked.

 

 I really like the "Evolution" concept here. Changeling's accepting the idea of sharing love instead of just stealing it, and the magic of doing so improving them as a species. That's a neat idea, but instead of removing their need to feed entirely, it could have made them just a bit more efficient instead, making it a bit easier for peace negotiations between their race and Equestria, with their feeding now being a little safer, but not totally removing the danger from Changeling's becoming greedy or gluttonous and stealing love for themselves.

 

 A lot of that would have required extra time though, and probably more episodes to fully delve into, which the writer's might want to spend on something else...We could still get something like that in the future though, there's still ways to make these new Changeling's interesting, and there is still Chrysalis on the loose and who's to say that she can't find other old Changeling's that weren't in the hive, or even make new ones?

 

 We'll see, I suppose.

[Ninjaed 526]

Lot of stuff

 

One thought I've had with changed-lings is...well, not just one. First, can they still shapeshift? Can their need be satiated with just changed-lings sharing love with one another or does it require another race? But most importantly...

 

Can they regress?

 

I haven't seen this question asked anywhere, but what if a changed-ling lacked the love to sustain his evolved form and regressed back to this parasitic form? Or what if a changeling sucked it all out and forced a regression?

Edited October 22, 2016 by Ninjaed

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

First, can they still shapeshift?

 

I'd imagine so, and I'd really hope so. Taking away their ability to shapeshift leaves them with very little in common with their former selves, plus it'd be very strange for some kind of magical evolution to take away such a potentially useful ability...Also, that would just make their name awkward. Changeling's who can't change? Sounds like a bad joke.

 

 

 

Can their need be satiated with just changed-lings sharing love with one another or does it require another race?

 

 

 Well, an idea Thorax originally had was he wanted to see if his colony could learn to produce love for themselves, so...possibly? We can't know for sure though.

 

 

 

Can they regress?

 

 

Good question, obviously we don't have an answer yet. However, they had to share love to gain the forms in the first place, right? So, maybe if they stop sharing love, become greedy and horde it for themselves...then they revert. Like how Dragons seem to turn into monsters when they let their greed consume them. But if they still need to take love as well...It could be like a balance thing? Take too little and they revert, take too much and keep it for themselves and they revert, gotta hit the sweet spot. Take what's given, but don't forget to give in return.

 

 How would reverting affect them? That's a question I have. Pre-evolution Changeling's are apparently hungry all the time, and to suddenly go back to a state of constant hunger after finally feeling satisfied...Oh, that could be ugly.

Edited October 22, 2016 by BasementGlimmer

[Libarty Justice 18]

Personally I feel like this episode could have been made a lot better by having the CMC kidnapped and replaced as well. You wouldn't have even had to have drawn much attention to it. It would have made sense cnsideirng how well loved the CMC have become as shown in The Fault In Our Cutie Marks and would create subtle continuity with the comics as a preventative measure. so really their being kidnapped makes sense whether or not you've read the comics.  It would also bring an excuse to include Gabby in the team or even Diamond Tiara whom we havn't seen mane nor flank of since Crusaders of the Lost Mark

[Ninjaed 526]

Problem is, they had enough trouble cramming everything into this two-parter as is, with some elements lacking in fact. Adding a new member to the MLP Suicide Squad would have been impossible without taking away from what has been given to us in this finale.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

 

 

It would have made sense cnsideirng how well loved the CMC have become as shown in The Fault In Our Cutie Marks and would create subtle continuity with the comics as a preventative measure.

 

After how much they annoyed her in that comic arc, Queen Chrysalis probably wants them staying as far away from her and her hive as possible.

 

 That's my thoughts on that anyway.

[Truffles 2,033]

Chrysalis was clearly a villain through and through, but take an average rank and file changeling, and how 'evil' were any of them really?

 

Literature and pop culture has long since created a stable trope of 'a noble vampire'. Not always a literal vampire, but a character that has morals, who doesn't wish to harm anyone, but has no choice if they wish to survive. Now think of changelings as the vampires of Equestria, they feed on something essential to the other creatures, whether that's something physical like blood or less tangible like love. Not because they are mean, but because they have to. They have the potential to be the greatest ANTI-HEROES of Equestria.

...

As for the new visual design... I'm trying really really hard to come up with something to say besides 'What the HAY?' and I'm drawing blanks.They're good now, so they have to be sparkly and pastel colored? Thorax was one of the good guys in 'Times They Are A Changeling', and we didn't need him to be painted with sugar frosting and sprinkles on top to get that! There were some elements to the design I liked, like the new wings and Thorax's horns, but overall... It just seems excessive, tacky and grossly playing into stereotypes. I'm not a fan.

 

To your first point, the changelings that replaced the Mane 6 and Spike seemed particularly nasty. They not only didn't like ponies, they didn't seem to like each other very much, either. That brings to mind one gripe I have: If the changelings had such nasty personalities (aside from Thorax) why would a change of their physical form cause them to undergo a complete personality transplant?

 

Granted, I can't go and talk to a butterfly and ask them how they felt when they were a caterpillar, so I can't say for sure going through metamorphosis wouldn't change them, but I was at least expecting them to still have a rude demeanor about them instead of standing around smiling at one another. I guess it could just be they were happy to not feel like they were starving anymore and it will be revealed next season that they still have a lot of personality quirks that need to be trained out of them, much like how the dragons are currently undergoing.

 

As for your second point, I wholeheartedly agree. They didn't need to make them "pretty" to show they were now nice. In the original leak thread, I stated my biggest gripe by far is that they took away a character who was beautiful on the inside but presumably viewed by ponies as ugly on the outside. (Though I personally thought Thorax's old design was cute, mostly due to how expressive he was.)

 

I thought it was a good lesson for kids that they shouldn't judge a book by it's cover with Thorax, but now that lesson is gone since he essentially got turned into a princess. I suppose Hasbro marketing asked for new versions of the changelings that would be more popular with little girls, though I question whether little girls would really prefer the new designs over the old ones?

 

Furthermore, I also worry this new race is is going to end up like "Rainbow Power" where it got used once and then was never seen again except in a dream sequence. Even though I said above there could be further developments with this new race of changelings, Celestia's comment about leaving them to themselves makes me wonder if that is all we'll ever get? I mean, Flurry Heart had this big introduction by being a major plot point in the season opener, and she didn't even figure prominently in the finale. If they can effectively push her aside, who is to say the new changelings won't meet the same fate? Unless her alicorn status is a multi-season arc like the Equestria Games was?

 

 

Personally I feel like this episode could have been made a lot better by having the CMC kidnapped and replaced as well. You wouldn't have even had to have drawn much attention to it. It would have made sense cnsideirng how well loved the CMC have become as shown in The Fault In Our Cutie Marks and would create subtle continuity with the comics as a preventative measure. so really their being kidnapped makes sense whether or not you've read the comics.  It would also bring an excuse to include Gabby in the team or even Diamond Tiara whom we havn't seen mane nor flank of since Crusaders of the Lost Mark

 

Chrysalis seemed to only care about the ponies with major magical power. She didn't even care about the other known leaders like Lady Ember and Prince Rutherfort. Honestly, the dragons and yaks are who she should have worried about the most because her magic-sucking throne would have no effect on them if they decided to attack the hive in order to rescue their new pony friends!

[ph00tbag 108]

TL;DR: I would've liked the finale, but a complete redesign of one of my favorite things in the pony-verse ruined it at the last moment.

 

I have a friend with similar views on the Changelings, and looking forward to this episode, he and I both had a lot of discussions about this very topic. I can definitely understand the reasoning behind why this episode would make Changeling fans upset. There's a notion that the Changeling outlook could be reconciled with ponies without the aesthetic needing to be changed, because it's not inconceivable that a Changeling could participate in a mutualistic relationship, where they are loved for their contributions to society, and everyone wins. In a way, this isn't really so far from that. But I think what it says is that Changelings are capable of love themselves, which allows them to be feedback loops of love. From a purely thermodynamic standpoint, this is horrific, but I think that it makes sense from a storytelling perspective, and I think it actually helps to make Chrysalis even more insidious, like a pony version of Stalin. Her cold black heart is the reason the Changelings were starving, and is the reason their bodies were so deformed. I actually think it makes Changelings even more tragic, really.

[Sonic5421 423]

Problem is, they had enough trouble cramming everything into this two-parter as is, with some elements lacking in fact. Adding a new member to the MLP Suicide Squad would have been impossible without taking away from what has been given to us in this finale.

 

Yeah, I think this could have been made a three-part finale instead so there would have been more room for everything we wanted and everything the writers put in, including more screen time for the Elements of Harmony and Royal Family as well, showing us how they were captured and cocooned, and then showing them being freed when Chrysalis' throne exploded and took off the ceiling where their cocoons were attached, leaving gravity to do the rest.

Chrysalis seemed to only care about the ponies with major magical power. She didn't even care about the other known leaders like Lady Ember and Prince Rutherfort. Honestly, the dragons and yaks are who she should have worried about the most because her magic-sucking throne would have no effect on them if they decided to attack the hive in order to rescue their new pony friends!

 

Yeah, Rutherford would have smashed her with his body, and Torch and Ember would've charbroiled her. Then they could have taken out the throne themselves, and allow the Royal Family and Elements to escape from their cocoons on their own, unless Ember and Torch do it themselves, using their claws to cut open the cocoons themselves and help the ponies trapped within get out with their support.

[vanillapudding 44]

 

The new Changeling design reminds me of Stantler from Pokemon

 

I dont know if you saw my post, but I was immediately reminded of a cross between Chickorita and their evolution of Bayleaf. But I do concede. Your pokemon reference is a might bit more accurate than mine XD. Just give it the neck jewels and done.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

That was the most epic season finale up to date! And now...the Changeling Kingdom is open! And the changelings are good! ...well...except Chrysalis. She's probably gonna try to find more hives. Now, I have a feeling that Season 7's gonna be about exploring new areas of Equestria. 

 

The lesson was so good. Everyone has a fear of the past. You just have to learn to let go and don't let yourself get crazy over it. 

[pnylvr 185]

 

 

That brings to mind one gripe I have: If the changelings had such nasty personalities (aside from Thorax) why would a change of their physical form cause them to undergo a complete personality transplant?

They were probably just hangry. 

[AmberDust 1,118]

"Now, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters?"

 

 

I wrote two long, rambling blog entries about this episode...but even though a lot of what happened in it bothered me, I still enjoyed watching..through my fingers, granted, but I enjoyed parts nonetheless. It was definitely better than the two-part season opener, at least.

 

Anyways.

The story itself felt forced, was full of headcanon-smashing, ended in a 'everything's-better-now' rush, and had one big, lazy, unacceptable deus-ex-machina plot device, but the character interactions were fun and the scenario itself was new for the characters involved. Discord is becoming a bit of a caricature of himself, but this has been happening for two seasons now. *sigh* Some characters are better in small doses, I suppose.

 

But seriously. A magical rock that absorbs all non-changeling magic? I just...I can't accept it. If Chrysalis had a whole giant throne's worth of this rock, which is powerful enough to cripple even DISCORD from such a great distance, carrying a few pebbles into her Canterlot invasion would have GUARANTEED her success. This rock was just lazy writing. If your plot is resolved too easily, don't just throw in some magical mumbo jumbo. This would have been acceptable in season 1, but there's no excuse for introducing such a game changer this late! I realize the character's have peaked in terms of power level, but there are better ways to get around that.

 

 

Also, As far as side characters go, what happened to Zecora? Or Spike, for that matter? I realize Starlight is this season's grand new character, but Zecora, guys. Imagine if she was included in this episode alongside Discord!

 

Also: Flurry Heart was officially entirely unimportant in this season. Officially.

Edited October 23, 2016 by AmberDust