spoiler Synopsis for the finale.

[PiratePony 8,473]

Starswirl will shock the community by sounding exactly like Pinkie Pie.

[Hierok 11,829]

10 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Well, Starswirl is referred to as a unicorn, so presumably not.

More likely, in order that the Legends wouldn't use their considerable power to escape, they are suspended in time, so for them no time has yet elapsed since their imprisonment (or distorted enough that it has been minutes, or at most hours)

That would mean that the mane 6 are leaving for years too if they go into that realm.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

Just now, Hierok said:

That would mean that the mane 6 are leaving for years too if they go into that realm.

Not if they find them *literally* frozen in that realm, not unlike the hearthwarming eve tale

[Jeric 46,835]

2 minutes ago, PiratePony said:

Starswirl will shock the community by sounding exactly like Pinkie Pie.

That's two of us that thinks they are going the goofball wizard route (if you are being serious). When I did the comic read of him, I did a cross between a happy Skeletor and Zummi Gummi. 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

It took them seven seasons to finally explain what became of Starswirl the Bearded and I'm honestly satisfied with this reasoning. Hopefully, time constraints don't force them to having to provide a basic explanation which doesn't get into the juicy details. Now that I think about it, this finale concept was kind of obvious in that this is what they were planning on doing given how they've been talking about the other legends from the Legends of Magic comic these past few episodes.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

Just now, Ganondorf8 said:

It took them seven seasons to finally explain what became of Starswirl the Bearded and I'm honestly satisfied with this reasoning. Hopefully, time constraints don't force them to having to provide a basic explanation which doesn't get into the juicy details. Now that I think about it, this finale concept was kind of obvious in that this is what they were planning on doing given how they've been talking about the other legends from the Legends of Magic comic these past few episodes.

And of course each of the mane 6 has a special connection to one of the Legends - which could be the key to unlocking them from their long imprisonment.

[Goat-kun 2,498]

That Wakfu flashback ... How about a similar plot twist?!

 

 

Anyhow, this has the potential to go terribly right, or terribly wrong. Both options seem interesting.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

11 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

And of course each of the mane 6 has a special connection to one of the Legends - which could be the key to unlocking them from their long imprisonment.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed the case.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 minute ago, Ganondorf8 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed the case.

So much of this season has been building up to this it isn't the pony of shadows - it is the pony of foreshadows

[FirePuppy 627]

Well, with the Mane Six episodes going on, Starlight Glimmer's chance of being a main character is getting more unclear now.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

4 minutes ago, FirePuppy said:

Well, with the Mane Six episodes going on, Starlight Glimmer's chance of being a main character is getting more unclear now.

Not seeing a need to change things there - she is Twi's student (well, journeypony) and can be called by the map just as Spike can be. She is showing up as a support character in the other episodes, and getting some of her own too. would be nice to see her called by the map WITH a mane6 character, but as it stands, I would much rather see Sunburst get some episodes of his own, even if that means less Starlight.

Edited September 20, 2017 by CypherHoof

[Jeric 46,835]

6 minutes ago, FirePuppy said:

Well, with the Mane Six episodes going on, Starlight Glimmer's chance of being a main character is getting more unclear now.

Please see Season 8 Premier animatic and get back to me.

Sunburst is in the Season 7 finale which will likely tie into his visit to Ponyville in Uncommon Bond (which is another SG episode) and the Fantasy Spell from Celestial Advice. She'll be involved in the finale. 

 

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

23 minutes ago, FirePuppy said:

Well, with the Mane Six episodes going on, Starlight Glimmer's chance of being a main character is getting more unclear now.

She doesn't have to be some legendary figure to be a main character.

[Jeric 46,835]

5 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

She doesn't have to be some legendary figure to be a main character.

Pup is just basing his speculation on some parity rule that requires equal time for characters or something. That doesn't apply to this show anymore (it never did technically). He sees a Man Six episode and believes SG doesn't count as a main character. Also believes of one character gets too much time they should be demoted as a main character. I use 'believe' because he uses verbiage suggesting it's usually guaranteed or mandated. 

 

 

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

After reading said synopsis, I believe one song sums up our anticipation:

 

 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

"Limbo" opens up many new potential stories

Starswirl

New villain

mane 6

 

I am so freaking hype for this!

[Music Chart Fan 818]

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the ponies from the Legends of Magic (Somnambula, Mistmane, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, etc.) are going to be appearing in-world in the finale? When we saw these legends in the episodes so far, I would not have expected that the characters in the legends were trapped in "limbo" since the time that they were living 1000+ years ago, and that they all would show up in the flesh in present-day Equestria. So it'll be interesting to be how that plays out.

The funny thing is that I might normally expect these characters from the legends to encounter significant language/culture/technology/etc. barriers, considering how much can change in a thousand years. If someone from the year 1017 were suddenly summoned to our present society in 2017, and asked to help fend off some threat, how well could such a person communicate with us or utilize current technology, as opposed to the most-likely obsolete technology with which that person would be familiar? But I suppose Luna, who had been banished to the moon for a thousand years, was still able to talk to others in a comprehensible (if not the most socially acceptable) way, and more-or-less adjusted to the present-day Equestrian culture.

It also sounds as though this could all of the Mane Six (plus others), with Twilight being a bit more in focus. I'd probably enjoy seeing this become a big team effort, with all of the Mane Six, the ponies from the legends, etc. playing their parts to stop the Pony of Shadows.

[Jeric 46,835]

1 hour ago, Music Chart Fan said:

how well could such a person communicate with us

Put a pin in that thought until you check out A Health of Information. You just brought up a really really good point but I don't want to spoil anything for you. I'll bring it up in that episode's thread on Saturday so we can dig into that language weirdness. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

It's been so long since we have had a new villain, I want someone sinister and kinda creepy, similar to Tirek when he was still in his weak cloak state, but also with the power to back up. I want a smart villain like King Sombra who is always one step ahead of the heroes, and I want a villain who won't laugh in the main characters face when he hasn't won yet.

Pony of Shadows, be my new favorite villain, I am counting on you

Starswirl, imma cry when I see you on screen, no joke.

[Star Petal 215]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! PONY OF SHADOWS AND STAR SWIRL! 

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I'm kind of betting on a "Mutual kill" kind of imprisonment here; I figure the six ponies of legend being imprisoned ALSO imprisoned the pony of shadows, or at least sealed him away heavily (so he couldn't really do much physically in normal reality). After all, the pony of shadows hasn't exactly been wrecking stuff up in the interim thousand years since the other legends dissapeared, yeah?
Kind of figure that Twilight might have a bit of a "nice job breaking it hero" moment in that her saving the other six are why the pony of shadows is able to manifest once again to threaten equestria.

 

 

 

Of course, this begs the question: What will happen to the LEGENDS after this? are they still going to be around? New secondary characters? Or maybe they pull a heroic sacrifice to stop the pony of shadows and fade away as well? (Or maybe starswirl uses his time travel magic to head back 1000 years again with them afterwards)

[Will Guide 21,325]

Whoa! I'm going to leave all speculation to rest of you Bronies!

I just hope they explain the new characters well enough so that you absolutely DON'T need to read the comics to understand what's going on. The comics and what they revealed should be extra information, not a requirement to read.

If they actually do make Starswirl like the Disney Wizards, Merlin or Yen Sid, they better do it well enough to not offend the Disney Fan in me after the Disaster that was Hard to Say Anything.

[Thrond 3,257]

Well, that settles it. This season is officially MLPForums: The Show. The lunatics are running the asylum. 

Look, I guess that sounds like a fun premise, and after last year I know better than to judge a finale by its cover - if anything, this sounds less bland than "To Where and Back Again," and Haber is still rumoured to be involved, so there's a reasonable chance I'll like this.

Hopefully, this shows the return of relatively comedic, "Return of Harmony" style two-parters, because otherwise this seems to be taking a hard digression from what I consider to be the show's main appeal. Too much plot has never really suited this show, in my opinion. 

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Wow, wasn't expecting that. 

[Thrond 3,257]

5 hours ago, FirePuppy said:

Well, with the Mane Six episodes going on, Starlight Glimmer's chance of being a main character is getting more unclear now.

What do you mean by "a main character"? I thought she earned that status by being the clear focal point of several episodes, some of which didn't have a single other main character. 

6 hours ago, PiratePony said:

Starswirl will shock the community by sounding exactly like Pinkie Pie.

I sure hope they give him the goofball personality from the comics.