S07:E10 - A Royal Problem

[Stickman, The Legend 303]

Gaben: Worth the wait!

I agree, this episode was totally worth the wait. Highlight of the season!

[Truffles 2,033]

44 minutes ago, Jeric said:

I couldn't help but think of this moment. 

These Princesses and fighting exhaustion all the time.

Any scene of Twilight fighting sleepiness is adorable, IMO. Her curling up with her books in "Princess Spike" is one of the (few) nice parts of that episode.

Though when I thought of pancakes, I thought of the scene soon after where Spike goes, "Oh - you mean now..." and proceeds to stuff his face with the rest of the pancakes on his way out. XD

[Ganondox 899]

10 hours ago, Kyoshi said:

That doesn't give anyone the right to try and silence others because of that. I have been seeing that a lot today. If people are tired of it, then they should ignore it and leave it be. 

I don't think Starlight is a bad character at this point, she sure as hell started out as one, but she is a lot better now. I just feel this particular episode was pretty terrible at having her be a focal point. I feel it didn't work out well. 

What silencing? Are you mistaking disagreement for attempts at silencing? 

[Jeric 46,851]

1 minute ago, Truffles said:

Any scene of Twilight fighting sleepiness is adorable, IMO. Her curling up with her books in "Princess Spike" is one of the (few) nice parts of that episode.

Though when I thought of pancakes, I thought of the scene soon after where Spike goes, "Oh - you mean now..." and proceeds to stuff his face with the rest of the pancakes on his way out. XD

My Little Pony: Friendship is Pancakes

[Ganondox 899]

9 hours ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

if I feel she's not needed in an episode, and somepony else could be explored and given characterization, then I'll say it. And I have thank you for pointing that out. I didn't say Starlight is terrible- is she being overused? YES. Would I like to see somepony else if the situation calls for it? YES. Is she a terrible pony just by existing? NO. I've already made that clear by saying I LIKED her appearance in Fluttershy Leans in.

You liked her appearance in Fluttershy Leans In...where it made absolutely no difference to the episode. Meanwhile, she actually was important for the plot of this episode, and the Maud Pie one, ect. Really what you're saying is you don't want Starlight Glimmer to matter, so you really do just hate her. She really hasn't appeared that much at all (if anybody it's the cutie mark crusaders who have been showing up all the time), you are just complaining about her being treated like she's a main character. Guess what, she's a main character now, and you're just going to have to accept it. 

[Jeric 46,851]

16 minutes ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

i honestly wouldn't want to have a friend who showed no regard for my destiny

Well ... 

 

It was amusing because I believe Starlight got the shaft in a way. Her spell actually had a built in reset button (not that it was needed because it looks like the Map took care of it at the end). Will someone please hurry up and make this Pony the Princess of Kites?

Impulsiveness seems to be a requirement for the Princesshood elevation path. Except for maybe Cadance ... who is probably shaking her head at the lot of them. 

This is probably why none of those particular issues bother me. I'm a slave to a good story and characters who are in service to the story. 

If I want other elements of narrative style, I can look elsewhere or pull a Barthes. I SHALL DESTROY THE AUTHOR WITH MY GREATEST ARSENAL ... MY IMAGINATION. 

> Evil Daybreaker Laugh

[Scrubbed user 3,416]

This was posted on Deviantart two months ago, and Daybreaker as seen here is exactly the same. Coincidence? I think not.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

16 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Well ... 

 

It was amusing because I believe Starlight got the shaft in a way. Her spell actually had a built in reset button (not that it was needed because it looks like the Map took care of it at the end). Will someone please hurry up and make this Pony the Princess of Kites?

Impulsiveness seems to be a requirement for the Princesshood elevation path. Except for maybe Cadance ... who is probably shaking her head at the lot of them. 

This is probably why none of those particular issues bother me. I'm a slave to a good story and characters who are in service to the story. 

If I want other elements of narrative style, I can look elsewhere or pull a Barthes. I SHALL DESTROY THE AUTHOR WITH MY GREATEST ARSENAL ... MY IMAGINATION. 

> Evil Daybreaker Laugh

Twilight's destiny altering flub was a mistake, because she didn't know what she was reading or what it did. That's forgivable. (though not very smart to read aloud spells you don't know what effect thay

ll have). Starlight does it deliberately.

[Jeric 46,851]

11 minutes ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

Starlight does it deliberately.

Im going be "2nd definition guy". She didn't have time to to it in a deliberate manner. It was a snap decision based on gut instinct. Definitely no deliberating was involved.

Oh and I was mostly being silly with that earlier response. I figured that the Princess of Kites thing would give it away. At this point I'm in levity mode. 

[Thrond 3,263]

49 minutes ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

Twilight's destiny altering flub was a mistake, because she didn't know what she was reading or what it did. That's forgivable. (though not very smart to read aloud spells you don't know what effect thay

ll have). Starlight does it deliberately.

Starlight doesn't want to hurt anyone, though. She just... doesn't think about what she's doing. 

Edited May 21, 2017 by AlexanderThrond

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

New favorite in the season, guaranteed for top 10 of the series, stellar, I hope Day Breaker returns, she is so sassy yet evil at the same time.

 

I was lowkey hoping for a Luna Celestia 2v2 vs Daybreaker and Nightmare moon, obviously it wouldn't have happened but it would have been cool.

[Ganondox 899]

8 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

Now that was definitely an episode though I will say that there are some contradictions in place mainly because of Celestia having performed Luna's duties for 1,000 years, but that's another story and not this one. Anyone who has said that Celestia was dull and boring now realize that she is anything but that. She has insecurities, fears, and even mopey moments that she has done well to hide for so long. Plus... Daybreaker.... Nightmare Star's official form in the show and a counterpart to Nightmare Moon. If Celestia never thought about what might happen were she to go down the path of darkness, seeing an evil version of herself will definitely do it.

Luna also got some much needed character development though maybe she shouldn't smile as much because it can and will cause nightmares. Speaking of nightmares, that one scene where the fillies confront her in front of the mirror was definitely creepy to the point where I felt uncomfortable watching it. I knew the writers could provide dark scenes but nothing like that. She also wins at having the best grumpy face imaginable. Upon looking back on the episode, Twilight wasn't really needed as all she did was continue giving Starlight unnecessary stress, but I can look past that because she was so adorable as that little dancing figurine--I legitimately freaked out when I saw that was her.

Then we have Starlight herself, and while she did unintentionally get things rolling by relying on her gut, she became more of a supporting character in the second half while the princesses came to the conclusion on their own with Starlight providing a few suggestions to help them along. I personally didn't see Starlight as being a divisive presence but rather someone who continues questioning her methods because she gets stressed out when nothing goes the way she hopes. Granted, her instincts do lead to more trouble but at least she admits when she is wrong though maybe more consequences are in order.

No doubt this episode will be well remembered for everything it did and judging from what I've been seeing, it's already proving to be divisive for the obvious reasons.

I think she performed only the lowering of the moon, which is what her snip about it being easier was a reference to, so Equestria was just terrorized by nightmares for a thousand years I guess. 

[Steve Piranha 29,421]

Well, there's one way to react with this episode

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

...Whoa

I mean, I expected this episode to be interesting at the least, but I didn't think it would exceed my expectations this much.

Luna and especially Celestia finally get the screen time they deserve, and it shows. Celestia especially shows quite possibly the most depth she ever has in this show. It also manages to put a knew twist on the, "Character has to spend a day in the other character's shoes" cliche. That, including the little sprinkles of humor between Twilight and Starlight make this episode stand out.

[Ganondox 899]

2 hours ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

i honestly wouldn't want to have a friend who showed no regard for my destiny, by switching it with anothers' without my consent, on a whim, or who mind controlled me for her own ends.

and Sunbutt likes to eat pancakes

 

ohhhh sweet Molestia

So? That's beside the point, which is that her magic impulsivity had nothing to do with her graduation, that was the theme of only one episode. 

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

9 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

Now that was definitely an episode though I will say that there are some contradictions in place mainly because of Celestia having performed Luna's duties for 1,000 years.

Actually, Celestia just raised the moon. She did not help with dreams. In fact, they literally say in the episode that Celestia CAN'T control dreams like Luna can.

[DJ Wolfe 5,335]

My reaction.

That episode was superb. The writers did a great job as well.

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

Something I wanna add that I thought was fascinating: Daybreaker right now stands as the only villain that none of the Mane 6, be it in Equestria or on Earth, actually even confronted.  It's only Celestia, Luna and Starlight.  Which makes me wonder how Twilight and the others will react to the idea of Daybreaker?

[Jeric 46,851]

@SaburoDaimando Right? If Starlight actually mentions that Daybreaker seemed even more powerful than NMM (based on the effort Celestia had to expend to defeat her compared to NMM) ... I imagine they would have a look on their faces akin to horror. 

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

17 minutes ago, Jeric said:

@SaburoDaimando Right? If Starlight actually mentions that Daybreaker seemed even more powerful than NMM (based on the effort Celestia had to expend to defeat her compared to NMM) ... I imagine they would have a look on their faces akin to horror. 

Judging by how the episode ended, I think Twilight may have learned about Daybreaker.  

 

Speaking of which, if I see Tara Strong again at Comic-Con, I would simply ask "How would Twilight Sparkle react if she learned about Daybreaker?"

[Katze 198]

"So much black! We get it, you're sad."
Made my day.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Katze

[Baykush 328]

This episode is why I don't read synopsis, the map calling Starlight? She switching the royal sisters' cutie marks? Yeah, I wouldn't have any faith in an episode like that to work out as well as it did, but the writers pulled it off wonderfully. I think this is what "Do Princesses Dream Of Magic Sheep?" should've been, something with a conflict that isn't forced, and that even though it has some obvious fanservice it makes it work in the story. I want to write my thoughts but I feel it'd take me a lot of time and I don't feel up to it at the moment, I'll just say it's a definitive 10/10, best episode of the season and one of the best of the show.

[Jeric 46,851]

A bit of an aside, but the poll options are amusing considering the pancake joke at the end of the the episode

 

Starlight: *spits in barf bag* "Did Tirek bake this cake?!" Celestia: "No. Tiberius." Luna: *facehoof* ("I hate it!" >__<)

 

Luna should have blamed Tiberius!

[Honeysuckle 135]

i really loved this episode! seeing the royal sisters being bitter made me feel kinda happy? like idk made them seem realistic. same joy i got from seeing them bicker at the wedding for the 100th episode. shows us they're not perfect. not to mention OMFG DAYBREAKER!!! WHAT?!!?! 

[Totally Nyx 36,023]

I gotta say, I should've known something was up when the map gave Starlight a solo friendship problem. I mean pretty much her main skill that none of the other mane 6 have is magically altering other ponies' minds and/or cutie marks to solver her problems.

I enjoyed the new expressions we got, Luna had a ton of great ones. And I get the feeling music box Twilight is gonna take off almost as much as the Twicane.

I absolutely loved this episode and put it up with my top episodes overall. It might even get close to contending with Slice of Life for best episode. 12/10