Applejack parents.

[CastletonSnob 3,079]

Well, we finally get to learn about Applejack's parents this season, and we'll get to see the episode next Sunday. What do you think will happen? Will they reveal what happened to the parents, and whether they're dead or alive?

[Steve Piranha 29,450]

I doubt it'll reveal the fate of AJ's parents. I think it'll be a Romeo and Juliette-like story because one of them is a Pear, implying Apples and Pears don't get along 

[cmarston1 5,960]

I don't really know, but if the writers want us to feel sympathy for them, the Apple parents have to be dead.

Because if they are still alive and haven't bothered to visit, or so much as write to their children after all this time, then they are even bigger deadbeats than Zephyr Breeze.

[TheGOAT 64]

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

[Castle Bleck 19,387]

16 minutes ago, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

 

Ideally, they'll be flashback-only, thus keeping the ambiguity intact without risking backlash from whiny parents.

[TheGOAT 64]

Just now, A.V. said:

 

Ideally, they'll be flashback-only, thus keeping the ambiguity intact without risking backlash from whiny parents.

Nope. They'll be in present time too because they're not dead.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

Yeah, the parents are going to be alive. 

I mean, it's practically impossible to make an episode about them without addressing whether they are dead or alive. And considering that Hasbro wasn't willing address the subject of death directly in "Tanks for the memories", I doubt that they´ll do it in this episode. 

[Megas 27,852]

I think the writers know that keeping her parents alive is a terrible idea, and at the same time they know they can't properly address their deaths.

Hoping for the best, I think they'll keep it unanswered, but strongly imply that they've passed 

[ManaMinori 4,146]

we got to see a "blink and you'll miss it" glimpse of them in AJ's dream, where she was being held by them, as a baby in "a Royal Problem"

but I don't think they should be kept alive, if we see them later in the season. Maybe in a flashback. Have we learned the lesson "they're still alive in your heart", yet?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,912]

The thing is, they could easily show that the parents aren't alive without ever properly saying it. That is a more difficult way to go about it of course, but I can see the writers pulling it off. I am not going to completely doubt it just yet, it is purely a wait and see situation. They could have the Apple's looking at a photobook of some kind, remembering the parents and it can be heavily implied that they are not around anymore, which would keep it a bit ambiguous, but we all would be able to assume that they are not alive.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

 

They probably won't reveal what happened to them, but they have already strongly implied they have passed away several times. As well as having it mentioned by writers here and there. They do not have to talk about it at all to get the point across. I don't think people will be happy until we get some macabre "The Apples Are Dead" song and dance to make it valid. Cartoons have had single parents, kids raised by aunts and uncles and grandparents and even foster parents, and have dropped little notes that one or both parents are deceased for years just fine and not had to go into some extreme detail to define it for anyone. MLP does not need to be any different.

 The hoops they would have to jump through to show them as currently alive would be beyond ridiculous and would really just creat more outlandish questions, thoughts and scenarios than any implied death ever could..

8 hours ago, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

They don't have to address it for them to be dead. They can continue doing it exactly as they have been and they can be just as dead.

[The Nth Doctor 663]

9 hours ago, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

Tanks for the Memories was one huge death parallel, with how RD reacted to Tank brumating for the winter

[FemaleIntrovert1995 138]

On 5/22/2017 at 9:15 AM, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

I respect your opinion, I'm also not trying to change your mind either. Yes, it is possible that Applejack's parents are still alive. However, I think Hasbro is going  to try the dead parent direction. They've shown how dark mlp can get. 

In the episode,"The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone",Pinkie Pie and Gilda rescue Rainbow Dash in the windy canyon. While they all try to climb out of the canyon, Gilda spots the dead body of the cyclops. They show the skeleton on screen too.

"The Cutie are-Mark", is the darkest episode so far. The apocalyptic timeline had no signs of life. No plants, no trees, no vegetation, and no ponies of any  kind. Sure, some ponies left to find a place that has food. It's also safe to say that many ponies died as well. They either died from starvation or were killed in the crossfire. 

King Sombra was also blown up into smaller pieces on screen. 

Disney's main target is children and families. They even  sell merchandise, and create tv shows and movies. However, they aren't afraid of killing things off. From The evil queen being pushed of a cliff, to Scar getting eaten alive by hyenas, Disney can get dark as well. They've been doing that for years, and no one complained. Even the good characters died: Mufasa, most Disney mothers, and a villiage was burned to the ground, some villagers were killed in Mulan. 

"The Lion Guard", even should a dead elephant on screen. That spinoff was made for small children. Small children watched Simba attend a funeral. That episode was recent. Pixar even killed of characters.

If Disney can get away with it, than why can't Hasbro? Mlp is not a "little kid's show", it's a family show. Mlp isn't full of rainbows and sunshine either. 

[ManaMinori 4,146]

On 5/22/2017 at 7:15 AM, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

they did, in "Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", (showing the dead skeleton of Aramaspi (, they did in "Hearts and Hooves Day" (showing the funeral ad a coffin that Sweetie Belle interrupted), they did in "no second prances" (Trixie saying that if Starlight didn't teleport her out of the mouth of the manticore in time, she'd be a goner), and they did in "Secret of My Excess" (Rarity saying "if we don't make it", as she and Spike were plummeting to the ground)

[SBaby 660]

On ‎5‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 9:15 AM, TheGOAT said:

Her parents are not dead. You're dreaming if you think Hasbro will even address death.

...  ...  ...

 

But you know, Hasbro would NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER address death.

So yeah, despite what I think will happen, I'm not necessarily ruling out the possibility.

Edited May 28, 2017 by SBaby

[Steve Piranha 29,450]

4 minutes ago, SBaby said:

...  ...  ...

 

But you know, Hasbro would NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER address death.

So yeah, despite what I think will happen, I'm not necessarily ruling out the possibility.

You are comparing giant robots beating the shit out of each other with pastel-horses. While I don't think MLP are too shy away from death, I think the argument of "But they did it in their other franchise" is poor 

[FemaleIntrovert1995 138]

2 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

You are comparing giant robots beating the shit out of each other with pastel-horses. While I don't think MLP are too shy away from death, I think the argument of "But they did it in their other franchise" is poor 

 

2 hours ago, SBaby said:

...  ...  ...

 

But you know, Hasbro would NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER address death.

So yeah, despite what I think will happen, I'm not necessarily ruling out the possibility.

 

2 hours ago, SBaby said:

...  ...  ...

 

But you know, Hasbro would NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER address death.

So yeah, despite what I think will happen, I'm not necessarily ruling out the possibility.

I wish I could give you more than one brohoof...

[SBaby 660]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 9:33 PM, Steve Piranha said:

You are comparing giant robots beating the shit out of each other with pastel-horses. While I don't think MLP are too shy away from death, I think the argument of "But they did it in their other franchise" is poor 

Franchises made by the same company, I might remind you.  Also in the G.I. Joe movie (the one from the 80s, kids), the original plan was to kill Duke and replace him with a new character.  The reason they didn't, was NOT in fact because of the fear of backlash from parents, but it was because audiences didn't react well to the death of Optimus Prime and the deaths of several other Autobots (read:  MOST OF THE CAST) in the first act of the Transformers movie (in fact, the scene in G.I. Joe was kept and they added dialogue in post to state that Duke was just in a coma; if you watch it without the audio, you can tell where editing came in and changed this). 

My point, if they'd be willing to kill a person in a cartoon in the 80s, I wouldn't put it past them to at least discuss the idea of a pony dying in a cartoon today.

Edited May 31, 2017 by SBaby

[Jeric 46,866]

On 5/27/2017 at 10:33 PM, Steve Piranha said:

You are comparing giant robots beating the shit out of each other with pastel-horses. While I don't think MLP are too shy away from death, I think the argument of "But they did it in their other franchise" is poor 

I completely agree for the reason you mentioned and the reason people seem to forget. The reaction to that scene was rather significant to Hasbro. The death of Optimus Prime was a "WTF" moment for many kids my age, and stories of kids crying in the theater were not exaggerated. I was nine years old when I saw this. It was a phenomenal first and last act that had such an emotional impact that Hasbo reversed course post haste when faced with pitchforks and torches. 

Transformers is a horrible example to use as evidence that Hasbro should do have AJ confirmed dead because the history of that scene undermines the point. Bad example.

I believe wholeheartedly that Applejack's parents are deceased. If they magically appear in the show completely ok, this will be a narrative travesty that may retroactively knee cap several key Applejack episodes while sending a horrible message. 

And to say that they can't confirm their death creatively is one part arrogance (too many fans thinking they are better writers than the actual writers) and one part disaffected nonsense (thinking the big bad Hasbro won't address death). 

Applejack also has had a mixed bag when it comes to character development. Her parents passing away could have been a seminal moment in her life that has shaped much of who she became. With one clever sentence, she becomes one hell of an inspired role model. 

 

.....

 

Now to the next issue. We have seen writers nail parents in this show this season. We have seen them fumble with romance almost immediately after. This upcoming episode has elements of both. The viewer will imagine the characters as parents, and will judge if their romance feels right. This is a higher degree of difficulty from a writing perspective. I do not envy the writer who took on this episode. Not one bit. 

After discussions with the staff over what they ultimately believe, I fully expect this to be a decent episode. I actually expect the wording to be cleverly constructed, yet leave no doubt. Here's hoping. 

....

And to show you how easy it is to do, without saying the words dead, died, passed ... there is such a wonderful solution. 

All they have to do is change the tense during a scene setting up the flashback or during a v/o narration transition.

Was/were instead of is/are. 

Boom! Confirmed dead. Language is a wonderful communicator when coupled with brevity. Though it is likely apocryphal, this illustrates what I mean. 

"For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."

 

 

[Megas 27,852]

On 5/27/2017 at 7:27 PM, SBaby said:

...  ...  ...

 

But you know, Hasbro would NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER address death.

So yeah, despite what I think will happen, I'm not necessarily ruling out the possibility.

There's so many things wrong with this argument

1) One show is about giant robot factions at civil war with each other and the other show is about magic candy colored horses spreading the magic of friendship. By it's concept alone it's easier for Transformers is able to get away with this, whereas MLP is usually a feel good show so it'd be much difficult to pull it off(especially with how much more sensitive audiences are these days :/)

2) Transformers generally appeals to an older audience with exceptions like G1(we'll get to that) and Rescue Bots...and mayyyybe Bayformers

3) Like Jeric said, the deaths in G1 was not received well with the audience at the time(because Hasbro was reaaaaally stupid and thought people liked the show for the toys, not the characters), it was so bad that Hasbro made a 180 by the end of the season. And unlike later iterations of the franchise, it could be argued that G1 was for a younger audience, due to its Saturday morning cartoon nature. Nowadays Transformers shows are usually darker than G1 and aim for an older audience(compare G1 to Prime or even Animated and the differences are staggering), not to mention they have better story structures compared to G1(which was honestly on the fly) so it's easier to pull off a character death(see, Animated Prowl or Prime Optimus. In comparison the G1 movie deaths were mainly there for shock value). Meanwhile in the Bay films, the Transformers themselves are more giant robots smashing shit rather than actual characters, so in that case it's just hard to care

 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Whompy Whomperson

[SBaby 660]

23 hours ago, Whompy Whomperson said:

1) One show is about giant robot factions at civil war with each other and the other show is about magic candy colored horses spreading the magic of friendship. By it's concept alone it's easier for Transformers is able to get away with this, whereas MLP is usually a feel good show so it'd be much difficult to pull it off(especially with how much more sensitive audiences are these days :/)

Death didn't happen until the movie, and even after it, it was pretty rare in the overall animated franchise.

23 hours ago, Whompy Whomperson said:

2) Transformers generally appeals to an older audience with exceptions like G1(we'll get to that) and Rescue Bots...and mayyyybe Bayformers

Kids watched Transformers when they were eight.  And don't make the mistake of thinking the audience was meant to be older because Bayformers was PG-13.  The target audience of G1 Transformers was children.  But not only did they have character death in the movie, but there was actually swearing.  And as you observed in this post as well, G1 was aimed at a younger audience than current Transformers is.

23 hours ago, Whompy Whomperson said:

Like Jeric said, the deaths in G1 was not received well with the audience at the time(because Hasbro was reaaaaally stupid and thought people liked the show for the toys, not the characters), it was so bad that Hasbro made a 180 by the end of the season.

Actually, it was almost at the end of the series.  The show went a whole season with Optimus dead.  The season 3 finale brought him back, and there were three episodes after that (which are barely considered to even be part of G1, since the three episodes were actually intended to be a pilot for a new series called Headmasters, which was cancelled in the US, but aired in Japan with a new pilot for it), and that was it.  And keep in mind that none of the other Autobots came back.  Only Optimus.

And then there's what I said about G.I. Joe in my previous post.  All this comes down to the fact that Hasbro isn't necessarily against dealing with tougher subjects like death.  I think people doubt the possibility of it happening in FiM, because it's never happened before in a My Little Pony series.  But know this:  This Gen of MLP has seen a lot of things that have never been done before in the franchise.

Edited June 2, 2017 by SBaby

[Megas 27,852]

19 minutes ago, SBaby said:

Death didn't happen until the movie, and even after it, it was pretty rare in the overall animated franchise.

Even then, it was still a possibility up for debate, in the end it was still a show about robots going to war with each other, vs a show about magic horses spreading friendship

Quote

Kids watched Transformers when they were eight.  And don't make the mistake of thinking the audience was meant to be older because Bayformers was PG-13.  The target audience of G1 Transformers was children.  But not only did they have character death in the movie, but there was actually swearing.  And as you observed in this post as well, G1 was aimed at a younger audience than current Transformers is.

And like I said in that earlier post, those deaths did not go over well with the audience at all, which leads me too

Quote

Actually, it was almost at the end of the series.  The show went a whole season with Optimus dead.  The season 3 finale brought him back, and there were three episodes after that (which are barely considered to even be part of G1, since the three episodes were actually intended to be a pilot for a new series called Headmasters, which was cancelled in the US, but aired in Japan with a new pilot for it), and that was it.  And keep in mind that none of the other Autobots came back.  Only Optimus

For starters, the franchise took a huge hit following the movie, with both toy sales and tv ratings falling. Not to mention, considering how production works, they were probably working on season 3 not to long after after the movie was finalized(and probably didn't premiere yet). And lastly, had the reaction not been as bad as it was, I doubt they would've brought Optimus back. The original staff and heads of Hasbro iirc said that they brought him back due to said backlash. And like I said, they originally didn't want to kill off the characters but only did so because Hasbro wanted to advertise new toys and thought kids cared more about the toys than the characters, so corporate didn't know any better. As for the other Autobots, while people were upset, they didn't get the reaction Optimus's death got

Quote

And then there's what I said about G.I. Joe in my previous post.  All this comes down to the fact that Hasbro isn't necessarily against dealing with tougher subjects like death.  I think people doubt the possibility of it happening in FiM, because it's never happened before in a My Little Pony series.  But know this:  This Gen of MLP has seen a lot of things that have never been done before in the franchise.

Again, GI Joe is about military commandos fighting terrorists, vs a show about magic horses spreading friendship. At this point you might as well compare God Of War to fucking Super Mario.(Also funny how you brought up GI Joe, the original leader, Duke, was supposed to die in the GI Joe movie, but was changed to a coma after how bad the reception to Optimus's death was)

I'm not saying FiM tackling death is impossible, but it's definitely uncharted waters for the franchise and is difficult for a show like FiM to tackle a subject matter so off-color for it, not to mention it'll likely be rejected by Hasbro for the same reasons)

Edited June 2, 2017 by Whompy Whomperson

[Jeric 46,866]

30 minutes ago, SBaby said:

Actually, it was almost at the end of the series.  The show went a whole season with Optimus dead. 

Return of Optimus Prime was ordered by Hasbro before the first episode of Five Faces of Darkness even aired, hence the massive continuity errors due to production overlaps between Return and Prime's appearance in Dark Awakening. 

28 minutes ago, Whompy Whomperson said:

And lastly, had the reaction not been as bad as it was, I doubt they would've brought Optimus back

100% correct as confirmed by a Hasbro exec himself. Also you touched on the same production issue I did with season 3 vs. Return. Glad to see Wingnut and I are  not the only Transformer's historians here.

51 minutes ago, SBaby said:

I think people doubt the possibility of it happening in FiM, because it's never happened before in a My Little Pony series. 

It has been touched on. 

I think Whompy and I were just pointing out that Transformers is a bad example. I know I was ... 

 

You see, this is not about showing a death, or a recent death. Applejack's parents (if confirmed dead) died some time prior to the pilot. It's acknowledgement of death. So I agree it's no big deal and as I pointed out can be done effortlessly to great effect.