S07:E22 - Once Upon A Zeppelin

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I enjoyed this episode so much, Twilight struggles as a princess in this ep... made everything happen in S4, S5, S6 look like jokes, why this ep happened so late? Never mind, its not too late, S7 totally nailed it. Iron Will is the only antagonist who escape with STYLES, he get everything he want (he learned from Putting Your Hoof Down, took the money first), that guy is badass. Cadance is amazing, her conversation with Twilight is just too good, especially she talked from her experiences. That Star Tracker guy creeped me out, he can TELEPORT to Twilight Sparkle........ more than Flash Sentry ever done, i smell shipping, damn... And this ep done ONE thing that deserve a praise, they DIDNT FORGET SPIKE, THAT IS AMAZING, just too good, this is so thoughtful, i predicted this ep will try to dismiss him again like Sweet & Elite but no, they make Spike absense x10 better, SPIKE IS JUST A BOSS in ep even he just have few minutes before the opening. 9/10, S7 win me again, i dont expect the remaining episodes before the finale are that GOOD, YES!

 

Edited: Wait a minute, how could i forgot the most important thing? THE ZEPPELIN IS AWESOME.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lambdadelta

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

Just rewatched it a second time. And need to revise my score. 12/10.

It is even better on a second viewing. I may not like Star Tracker getting in Twi's personal space so heavily, but I do and can understand it. Any hardcore fan would be just as awkward in the same situation, and I like at the end how he stood up for her and was trying to acknowledge she needed space as well.

I really don't like Iron Will... but Putting Your Hoof Down was the first episode I ever accidentally watched, and the episode that drew me in further and got me into the series, so it holds a very special place in my heart. As such, he is as much a part of the nostalgia as Fluttershy herself is. As much as I dislike hm, I find his over the top way of speaking and moving so ludicrous that I cannot help by sort of like him as well. He is no different here... as much as his actions frustrated me, the way he spoke and moved released that frustration just as quickly in a way where I could not "stay annoyed". His scenes just come off as both angering but hilarious all at once and I just cannot stay mad.

And when Twilight broke down at the end upon missing the Northern Stars it hit me right in the feels.. not just because favorite pony broke down in honest heartbreaking disappointment, but because I have been there myself and know that kind of feeling. What made it even more personal was how immediately after it did not seem like any of her family even cared... you all knew how much she was looking forward to them, you know she just missed them, and she is literally standing in front of you openly weeping and devastated at missing this rare opportunity and none of them could approach her to comfort her, just saying how awesome everything was and how happy THEY were. I know they were not being malicious or cruel, but having been on the receiving end of missing out on things I was truly looking forward to, and then having others sort of throw it in my face how awesome it all was really hit home. 

No worries Twi. We can take a vacation later and I will take you to see the Northern Stars. I have a couple of Final Fantasy airships in storage we can use.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

1 hour ago, GrimGrimoire said:

And when Twilight broke down at the end upon missing the Northern Stars it hit me right in the feels.. not just because favorite pony broke down in honest heartbreaking disappointment, but because I have been there myself and know that kind of feeling.

When Iron Will bring papers and feather pens, it reminded me the opening scene, i just screamed "NOOOOOO, FUCK THAT, EVERYTHING SPIKE DID TO TWILIGHT WILL BE IN VAIN, SHE DIDNT COME THERE TO DO THAT SHIT AGAIN."

[Violet Bookish 349]

46 minutes ago, Lambdadelta said:

When Iron Will bring papers and feather pens, it reminded me the opening scene, i just screamed "NOOOOOO, FUCK THAT, EVERYTHING SPIKE DID TO TWILIGHT WILL BE IN VAIN, SHE DIDNT COME THERE TO DO THAT SHIT AGAIN."

If I were her, I'd just use that spell Starlight mentioned before, the one were you can literally be in two places at once, have one of the clones do the book signing and have the other go do something else.

[GiFTGewEhrSCHutzen-4 8,827]

Wow, all I've got to say is that Ironwill is a d**k. Also, I love the design of the Zeppelin, totally nice. And also to add this, it's good to see Twilight's whole family in this episode.

[Thrond 3,257]

Season 7 has been doing for Twilight what season 6 did for Fluttershy. She's my favourite character, so finally having my complaints of the past several seasons dealt with has been really exciting for me. Even Cadance's role her has grown on me a little, although my score is the same as the one I projected earlier in the thread. 

Review on my blog, by the way. This is exactly what I want from this show. 

[Truffles 2,033]

20 hours ago, GrimGrimoire said:

I may not like Star Tracker getting in Twi's personal space so heavily, but I do and can understand it. Any hardcore fan would be just as awkward in the same situation,

I felt like it would have been just as easy to portray Star Tracker in a negative light compared to the sympathetic way they did eventually go with. Halfway through the episode, I was still left guessing whether he was just an awkward fan with personal space issues or would give us a big reveal where his bunk ceiling and walls were wallpapered with photos of his favorite alicorn. <_<

The fact that I couldn't predict his character is was what made it really interesting!

Edited October 9, 2017 by Truffles

[Sonic5421 423]

I really liked this episode since we got to see Twilight enjoy some quality time with her whole family, including her mom, dad, B.B.B.F.F., sister-in-law, and niece.

Also of interest is the return of Iron Will after so long, trying his hand at another business venture after the last one went bust.

Twilight had hoped to spend some quality time with her family, including seeing the Northern Stars with them, but had to contend with her duties with all the activities that Iron Will had set up that dragged on for so long that Twilight missed many of the things she wanted to do. Missing the Northern Stars to sign autographs was the final straw for Twilight, and she snapped at her family and Star Tracker over her vacation being ruined because of her obligations for Iron Will.

Deciding to have a heart-to-heart talk with her sister-in-law, Cadence explains how she was able to re-work her own schedule after Flurry Heart was born, and encourages Twilight to try and do the same so she can have that quality time with her family like she wanted. Taking Cadence's advice to heart, Twilight apologizes to Star Tracker and takes the family out for ice cream, but when Iron Will tries to take advantage of it, Star Tracker stands up to him, then Twilight explains everything to the other guests that she just wants some privacy with her family. Accepting her wishes, the guests turn their attention to Iron Will for having ruined Twilight's family time because of his actions. Trying to explain the fine print in the contracts gets him no where, so Iron Will chooses to cut his losses and escape, so at least his latest venture was not a total bust, if his parachute is any indication of that.

Some time later, Twilight's family make it up to her by putting on their own version of the Northern Stars for her, and the family share a happy family group hug as the airship returns to Canterlot as the sun rises, and the Northern Stars pass over one more time.

I really loved this episode that focused on Twilight's family, loved Shining Armor having a bad case of airsickness, and the return of Iron Will the Minotaur after so long. This episode gets a 10/10.

[Singe 2,109]

Morale: Don't sign contracts or make deals with horned hooved bipedal men.

[windy_prance 114]

Loved this episode. Great moral and Cadence is actually useful to the story for once!

Also quick question:

This pony...is...is that Rail Tracer from Baccano?! OMG this cruise now has a 50/50 chance of ending with a lot of dead bodies...

[Tacodidra 59,792]

Now that I've caught up, I guess I could try to say something about every new episode when one is released.

I thought this was a good episode. I wouldn't quite rank it in my all-time favorites but it was still an enjoyable one. An impressive debut episode for Brittany Jo Flores, all the characterizations were spot-on. My favorite moment was when Twilight lashed out at the others (we haven't seen the angry side of her as much recently), though I also enjoyed the throwbacks to the earlier episodes. Twilight with her checklists and charts is always funny, and who'd have expected to see Iron Will again? It was also nice to see Twilight's parents finally get a bigger part in an episode. Tara Strong's performance really stood out here, and I hope Twilight will have more episodes like this dedicated to her in the future, as we haven't seen many of those lately. I'd rate this episode 9/10.

[Guest]

Well I loved this episode. Iron Will was awesome, Star Tracker as the stand-in for bronies was hilarious and fun; shining armor constantly pretending not to be sick, and flurry heart stacking foals up like blocks was funny and cute. Definitely one of the best of the season, if not the entire series, it's definitely in my top 5 episodes of all time. I may even re-watch it later just for keks.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Guest

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

Loved it.  Just loved it.  Fabulous, darling!

I thought synopsis sounded a bit meh, but I was extremely pleasantly surprised.  So good.  When I first read the synopsis, I was worried that Twilight's parents were in on the plot, and that they were being paid off and were going to use trickery and deceit to get Twilight to go, and so forth.  I shouldn't have doubted them so much, but it's not like we knew much about them.  I'm so happy with how it turned out, though.

So, until now, all we've seen from Twi's parents were basically cameos; not enough to gauge personality at all.  (In fact, isn't this the first time Night Light has had a speaking part?)  I don't know if it's just me but I always imagined her parents being wise and soft spoken, kinda like Tia, I guess.  I always imagined her dad being like Starswirl or something.  But they seem kinda....simple?  Yeah, let's go with simple.  Simple folks.  It seems like Twi's intelligence and magic skill are random traits that don't really run in the family.  And Velvet is kind of a little bit of a nut.  But that's cool, you know?  Makes them interesting.  It was kind of dumb of them to not read the fine print on that prize package.  But, you know, silly mistake; doesn't make me mad or anything.  I'm just glad they weren't in on Iron Will's game plan.

So, I loved the return of Iron Will.  He's so funny.  What I found so interesting about him is that he really didn't do anything all THAT bad.  I mean, he's certainly not evil.  Just self-serving and a little manipulative, but no more than the average cynical businessperson in real life.  I mean, he was completely honest, never lied, was true to his word, and never omitted any information.  He just provided the information in such a way where he knew that nopony was probably going to read it; y'know, just like companies in real life.  I mean, it was all there: he provided all the details to Twi's folks, and he made no guarantees of actual princess participation to the other passengers.  I mean, was it a nice thing to do?  No.  Was he an ass?  Sure.  But I'm not mad at him, y'know?  He was too funny to be mad at.  I loved when he pointed out the fine print and then bailed out.  So funny.  But one has to wonder: Who flew the ship after he jumped?  Wasn't he the pilot?  I mean, what was he assuming would happen?  Was he assuming that he was leaving the ponies to their doom?  He couldn't have.  He's not an evil monster.  His assistants just seem like actual goats--non-sentient.  I don't think they flew the ship.  I'm sure somepony on board new how.  Twi could probably figure it out.  I just wonder what Iron was thinking.

I was just a great premise, though, and I thought it was all well done with interesting and mature storytelling.  I felt extremely empathetic towards Twilight during the sad moments, and I really loved the beautiful bonding moments between her and her family.  It actually made me stop and feel more grateful for my own family.  I'm an adult and live with my parents.  Due to a lot of complicated reasons, the independent working sort of life doesn't work for me, so we do the best we can and do what works for us.  But it's often frustrating and I sometimes feel resentful towards my parents.  But I'm really thankful for them because they're great and supportive parents, and I remind myself how lucky I am to have them.  So many people don't have good families, and will never know what it's like to bond like Twilight in the end scene.  I'm incredibly luck to have parents like that.  I wish everyone did.

I absolutely loved that Twilight had "princess duties".  They never show anything like that.  As far as I know, there's only two royal duties she's ever had: 1) Smiling and waving at the Crystal Empire for the Saddle Arabia delegate arrival, and 2) Running the trade convention in Rainbow Falls.  It goes a long way when they show some other duties once in awhile.  I mean, it's supposed by some manner of job, right?  It's not just an honorary title, like being knighted in real life today.  I often wondered why exactly Tia made Twi a princess.  Like, sometimes I think Celestia herself didn't know.  "Here, Twilight.  Just be a princess for some reason.  You'll think of something to do."  Like...what did Tia have in mind?  Did she have a plan?  Interesting questions.  But I love when they show Twi actually performing royal duties.  I wonder what all that paperwork was, too.

Twilight was adorable throughout.  Many people think Fluttershy is the cutest pony, but she's not.  She's the sweetest.  Twilight is the cutest.  By far.  Big difference.  It was so cute how Twi kept turning around and bumping into that fanboy.  He was cute, too.  That's probably how I'd be if I got to meet Twilight.  I like how they delved a bit into the troubles of being a celebrity.  I like how they still touch on that now and then.  Like, ponies haven't forgotten that Twilight is pretty special.  Uh, let's see what else...I love that Spike was included as Twi's family.  Sometimes he's forgotten, so I really love that Twi mentioned that.  I also thought it was really nice of him to cover for her to let her go on the trip.  It was neat that Velvet has the same color magic as Sparks.  Cool detail.  Do you think Night Light calls his wife T.V.?  I bet so.  Who wouldn't?  Think of all the jokes!  "Hey, guys, wanna watch TV?"  Night Light starring adoringly at Velvet: "Already am."

Did you notice how the other passengers were completely reasonable and understanding when Twi said she wanted to spend the rest of the trip with her family?  Totally reasonable and understanding...  this from probably some of the same asshats that took a big sh*t on Twi and her friends in Fame and Misfortune.  But, that's because this was the REAL FIM universe, not the alternate tangent universe.

Did anyone else think that Velvet sounded almost exactly like Mrs. Cake?  I was sure that it was the same VA, but it turns out not!  Velvet is voiced by Patricia Drake, and Mrs. Cake by Tabitha!  That blew my mind.  I never knew that.  What's crazy to me is that Velvet and Cake sound really similar, and yet Cake and Rarity/Luna sound nothing alike!  Wow.

This episode was so good, I didn't even mind that wretched, vile little demon baby.  I actually thought it was really cute when she lifted that other foal up with telekinesis, and then dropped her when Cadence covered her face with her wing.  I guess it's like peek-a-boo; as soon as Flurry couldn't see the other foal, then she didn't know the other foal existed, and thus could lift her anymore.

I want to see the alicorn Q&A.  That sounded so great!!  I have questions that I want answered!  Twilight: ARE YOU IMMORTAL??!  I WANT THE Q&A!  (I don't really think she's immortal.)

I'm having so much fun writing about this episode, I don't want to stop, but I'm out of things to say.  Great episode.  Super nice.  The kinda stuff that makes me love Pony.

*EDIT* Oh, you know, I forgot to mention: I loved how Cadence actually had a good and emotional contribution to the story for a change.  I really like how she drew from her experiences to make the moral more meaningful.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Justin_Case001

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

giant wall of text

I aint readin all that.

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

1 minute ago, Twilight Kyle said:

I aint readin all that.

LOL.  That made my day, actually.  I know the feeling.  What can I say, I like to write!  That's why I could never use Twitter.  Thanks for the brohoof, anyway!

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

LOL.  That made my day, actually.  I know the feeling.  What can I say, I like to write!  That's why I could never use Twitter.  Thanks for the brohoof, anyway!

With all the effort you put into writing all that, I figured it'd be rude not to! I'm sure it's riveting, but I just don't have the patience to read that much, lol.

[Music Chart Fan 818]

Overall, this episode reminds me a bit of my reaction to "Parental Glideance"; there are many aspects of the episode that are enjoyable, but I have frustrations with a couple of major parts of the episode. The beginning bit with Spike convincing Twilight to go with her family, while she says that he's as much a part of her family as anyone, is nice to see. It's also nice to see those moments when members of Twilight's family are concerned about her relaxing and enjoying herself on the vacation, too. It's good to see a little bit of personality developed for Twilight's parents. Cadance's heart-to-heart where she shares her experience with Twilight was gratifying, and is a good lesson for Twilight to learn. I like that the cruise attendees are understanding when Twilight asks to spend time with her family. And the final scene of Twilight's family cheering her up is satisfying. The two major aspects of the episode I find frustrating are Twilight's response to the situation of her family being manipulated by Iron Will (who is admittedly clever in being underhanded in a legal way), and the extent to which Star Tracker is repeatedly oblivious to how uncomfortable and annoyed he makes Twilight throughout the episode.

To start, I find the response by Twilight's parents, and particularly Twilight, to Iron Will's manipulation of them frustrating. First, Twilight's parents' naivete in signing paperwork for a free vacation without asking any questions is still bothersome for reasons I mentioned here, even if it didn't end up being a plot to threaten the leaders of Equestria or anything like that. However, interestingly, after Iron Will says that he outlined the details of the cruise in the "Prize Acceptance and Consent Form" that Twilight's parents signed, he doesn't tell Twilight and Cadance that the signed form legally requires them to do activities with the cruise attendees, nor does he necessarily say that the family must immediately deboard if Twilight and Cadance don't do the activities. That might indicate that Twilight's parents could not legally consent on Twilight's and Cadance's behalf for them to do anything; rather, Twilight and Cadance would have to consent themselves, since they are full-blown adults. So what did that form say? Did Twilight's parents consent to being responsible for bringing Twilight and Cadance on the cruise?

Then we get to Twilight's handling of the situation. After Iron Will's trickery is discovered, Twilight offers a deal to Iron Will: "If I agree to do whatever princess activities you want, will you promise that my family gets to do the activities they want?". As soon as Twilight said that, I knew that she was being far too vague about what she was agreeing to do. Why doesn't Twilight even ask what activities are scheduled with her and Cadance and the cruise attendees, so that Twilight can see how much work that would entail? Plus, I would think that Twilight and her family have at least some power in this situation. They can tell the cruise attendees that Iron Will took advantage of Twilight's parents to get Twilight and Cadance on the cruise, and that the two of them had not agreed to take part in all of these activities, even as Iron Will advertised them to get ponies to take the cruise in the first place. I would suspect that almost all of the attendees, especially if they're admirers of Twilight and/or Cadance, would take Twilight's and Cadance's side, and agree that Iron Will was being a deceptive jerk. Then the attendees (along with two of the princesses of Equestria and their family) would know about Iron Will's underhanded ways, and would spread the word not to do business with him.

So it seems like Twilight could tell Iron Will to let both her and her family do what they want to do on the cruise, and in exchange, Twilight could agree to some of the activities with the cruise attendees (on her schedule), perhaps preventing the cruise attendees from being totally disappointed and disillusioned with Iron Will's cruise and how it was advertised. Instead, frustratingly, Twilight makes this open-ended deal and allows herself to be pushed from activity to activity, never knowing or asking what she's going to be doing or for how long, and seemingly never attempting to negotiate any limits to the activities. Throughout most of the rest of the episode, Twilight seems to have an expectation that she'll be able (more or less) to do most of the things she wants to do with her family, and is repeatedly disappointed when she misses them. But then, could Twilight really expect to do those things, if she doesn't even know what activities she agreed to do with the cruise attendees? Finally, I can't help wondering whether Spike might have gotten Twilight to slow down, think about what she's agreeing to, and negotiate if he were there.

The other aspect of this episode that I find frustrating is (what I consider) the extremity of Star Tracker's behavior. Star Tracker repeatedly violates Twilight's personal space, including standing so close to her that she bumps into him and later steps on his hoof, and talking directly into her ear a few inches away from it. Those seem like things that almost anyone beyond immediate or intimate family members would find awkward and uncomfortable. So does Star Tracker regularly violate the personal space of acquaintances or random strangers like that? Or does he only do that around Twilight? Even if Star Tracker is nervous or socially awkward, I would think that Twilight's flinching, backing away, and annoyed/pained facial expressions would be signs to respect her personal space and refrain from interrupting her.

In fact, after Twilight steps on Star Tracker's hoof, she yells at him and says "maybe that wouldn't have happened if you weren't practically standing on my tail!", and she has a point. He's been bumping into her and violating her personal space repeatedly all day; how many times does that need to happen before he gets a clue? Furthermore, other than one muttered "Sorry", we never see Star Tracker apologize as he repeatedly interrupts Twilight, gets in her way, and violates her personal space, even as Twilight is pretty clearly uncomfortable and annoyed. But then Twilight is the one who apologizes to Star Tracker in the end, saying "If I felt like you were standing too close, I should have said something". But should Star Tracker need to be explicitly told not to stand uncomfortably close to people, or stand in their path, such that they might bump into him and even hurt him while moving normally? Maybe Star Tracker's line about Twilight's family being kind to include him but their deserving their own vacation is supposed to indicate that he finally realized how uncomfortable and annoying he was being, but I can't help feeling like it doesn't quite address the number of times his uncomfortable and annoying behavior built up over the episode.

Now for the rest of my miscellaneous observations:

Man, when is Spike going to learn to point his fiery burps away from people and things that might be damaged by them?

Who came up with the idea of deep-frying gems, since (to my recollection) dragons are the main beings who eat gems, and we wouldn't really expect pony society to cater to dragon tastes? Does Spike deep-fry gems himself? Also, are the gems battered or something before being deep-fried, since presumably the gems themselves are basically unaffected by deep-frying?

Spike makes motions as though he's "rolling up his sleeves", but is that something that people would do in Equestria? How often would ponies or others getting "ready to work" be wearing a shirt with sleeves to roll up at the time?

I noticed that "Zeppelin" is misspelled as "Zepplin" in the title displayed in the episode; that may be corrected in future airings.

The gag about Shining Armor pretending that he doesn't get airsick (because that's not "manly" or something) as he's getting airsick gets irritating as it's repeated several times, and in fact seems to be most of what Shining Armor does on-screen for the whole episode.

So what's powering this zeppelin, since it does appear to be powered? Are there large coal-fired or petroleum-powered engines in Equestria?

When Night Light says "Oh, I just love how the numbers and letters are organized in their little boxes. It's so satisfying", he's presumably referring to bingo, but at first, I thought he was referring to Twilight's schedule itself.

If Twilight as the bingo caller can't even make out what her dad is saying, couldn't that be problematic for hearing a winner call "bingo", or possibly determining who called "bingo" first, if that becomes necessary?

Why couldn't Twilight's signing table be set up in view of the Northern Stars? In fact, Twilight could have even incorporated that as an event - see the Northern Stars right after Twilight explains the phenomenon to everyone! Also, I thought that the "Northern Stars" would be the analog to the "Northern Lights", and as far as I know, those are a phenomenon that lasts more than a few seconds. 

If Twilight's stepping on Star Tracker's hoof is supposed to be a significant injury, then shouldn't there be medical staff on the cruise to handle that kind of thing, rather than Twilight's mom handling it?

Finally, after Iron Will announces "If it's your dream, come to the deck for ice cream!", Star Tracker tells Iron Will to leave Twilight alone, and Twilight launches into her speech. But was that actually intended to be an event with Twilight? After all, Iron Will had said earlier that the signing event was the last thing that Twilight had to do for the day.

[Violet Bookish 349]

17 hours ago, windy_prance said:

Loved this episode. Great moral and Cadence is actually useful to the story for once!

Also quick question:

This pony...is...is that Rail Tracer from Baccano?! OMG this cruise now has a 50/50 chance of ending with a lot of dead bodies...

Oh crap, how did I not see that? XD Be careful Twilight...

Edited October 9, 2017 by Kreamer

[Violet Bookish 349]

On 10/9/2017 at 1:33 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

I absolutely loved that Twilight had "princess duties".  They never show anything like that.  As far as I know, there's only two royal duties she's ever had: 1) Smiling and waving at the Crystal Empire for the Saddle Arabia delegate arrival, and 2) Running the trade convention in Rainbow Falls.  It goes a long way when they show some other duties once in awhile.  I mean, it's supposed by some manner of job, right?  It's not just an honorary title, like being knighted in real life today.  I often wondered why exactly Tia made Twi a princess.  Like, sometimes I think Celestia herself didn't know.  "Here, Twilight.  Just be a princess for some reason.  You'll think of something to do."  Like...what did Tia have in mind?  Did she have a plan?  Interesting questions.  But I love when they show Twi actually performing royal duties.  I wonder what all that paperwork was, too.

 

Agreed. I was honestly getting tired of the whole "being a princess is hard work" yet all we get to see Twilight do is be bored seemingly having nothing to do and Princess Cadence definitely doesn't help this claim either, especially when we see here in Games Ponies Play chill laxing in the spa saying princess life was boring and later in Princess Spike claiming it was hard work despite the fact she hadn't even lifted a hoof to help. Becuase of these instances, it was nice seeing Princess Twilight actually have some Princess duties and see Princess Cadence actually help get to the solution in this episode.

On 10/9/2017 at 1:33 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

Did you notice how the other passengers were completely reasonable and understanding when Twi said she wanted to spend the rest of the trip with her family?  Totally reasonable and understanding...  this from probably some of the same asshats that took a big sh*t on Twi and her friends in Fame and Misfortune.  But, that's because this was the REAL FIM universe, not the alternate tangent universe.

 

Perhapes but considering how her popularity has grown and how it seems anyone from anywhere can get on this zepplin ride, I'm sure there were loads that weren't even involved in that whole ordial. And, I'm sorry, but Fame and Misfortune is canon and it actually happened. It was a tragedy, but it sadly happened. Let's just hope we don't get any more episode that stoop down to its level.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Kreamer
adding, deleting stuff and fixing grammar errors.

[strangepigeon 31]

I really enjoyed this episode!  I did not expect Iron Will to return,  I didn't even recognise his voice at the beginning, but that was probably because I watched a version with crappy sound quality. 

It was nice seeing Twilight's family all together on holiday. I loved the character of Star Tracker, too. The ponies in the background all looked really interesting and had nice colours. 

I think I would give this episode an 8 out of 10.

[twilightsparkle3562 144]

On 10/9/2017 at 0:18 AM, Tacodidra said:

Now that I've caught up, I guess I could try to say something about every new episode when one is released.

I thought this was a good episode. I wouldn't quite rank it in my all-time favorites but it was still an enjoyable one. An impressive debut episode for Brittany Jo Flores, all the characterizations were spot-on. My favorite moment was when Twilight lashed out at the others (we haven't seen the angry side of her as much recently), though I also enjoyed the throwbacks to the earlier episodes. Twilight with her checklists and charts is always funny, and who'd have expected to see Iron Will again? It was also nice to see Twilight's parents finally get a bigger part in an episode. Tara Strong's performance really stood out here, and I hope Twilight will have more episodes like this dedicated to her in the future, as we haven't seen many of those lately. I'd rate this episode 9/10.

I agree that we need to see more of the emotional side of Twilight in the near future.  Her breaking down and crying at missing the Northern Stars was one of the highlights of the episode for me.  Yes, I did feel bad for her and I don't mean to sound evil, but I feel that it's very important to get across out of her character.  We see it frequently with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, so why not Twilight? 

To be honest, there have been times where we should have seen Twilight break down and cry and yet, she doesn't.  Sure, she shows it in a few episodes, but they are nothing on the level of her breaking down and crying in this episode.  

[TwiTracker 973]

By far one of my favourite episodes of the series. It introduced me to one of my favourite ponies for probably a long time, Star Tracker. He seems shy and quirky, whilst at the same time energetic and loving, and thats why hes amazing. He seems into astrology giving his name and his remark on Twilights name, and knowing Twilight is also into this sort of subject, seeing these two being Astrological Partners or something would be none the less adorable. I do hope we get to see more of this character, and more of Twilights Parents too.

 

Oh, and less of Iron Will

[CypherHoof 26,479]

6 minutes ago, TwiTracker said:

By far one of my favourite episodes of the series. It introduced me to one of my favourite ponies for probably a long time, Star Tracker. He seems shy and quirky, whilst at the same time energetic and loving, and thats why hes amazing.

Came across more than a bit creepy-stalker really, but I suspect you could justify that - getting to spend a day with Twi and her family would be overwhelming for anypony, and he is both an overexcitable teen and clearly a massive Twilight fan. 

 

6 minutes ago, TwiTracker said:

He seems into astrology giving his name and his remark on Twilights name, and knowing Twilight is also into this sort of subject, seeing these two being Astrological Partners or something would be none the less adorable. I do hope we get to see more of this character, and more of Twilights Parents too.

Twi's parents do need more screen time - that her mother is a thrill seeker was unexpected, Twi clearly takes more after her bingo-playing father.

Star Tracker seems a decent enough pony, so it would be a nice gesture for Twi to invite him to visit her and the other ponies at the castle; she does owe him more of an apology than she has given.  Bit too young really to be shipping material for her yet - but give it time; maybe in another decade or so....

6 minutes ago, TwiTracker said:

 

Oh, and less of Iron Will

 

[TwiTracker 973]

33 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Came across more than a bit creepy-stalker really, but I suspect you could justify that - getting to spend a day with Twi and her family would be overwhelming for anypony, and he is both an overexcitable teen and clearly a massive Twilight fan. 

 

Twi's parents do need more screen time - that her mother is a thrill seeker was unexpected, Twi clearly takes more after her bingo-playing father.

Star Tracker seems a decent enough pony, so it would be a nice gesture for Twi to invite him to visit her and the other ponies at the castle; she does owe him more of an apology than she has given.  Bit too young really to be shipping material for her yet - but give it time; maybe in another decade or so....

 

Tbf, I find it hard to justify Ponies ages, so Im not 100% sure on Star Tracker. I guess its not a full on Romance Ship, far from that. More of a alot in common ship. But yeh, definitely not into that zone yet

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

It was a great episode that I especially liked because we got to see all of Twilight's family interact with each other and the other ponies, however I will say that this episodes release was definitely overshadowed by the movie premiering the night before, (Which I still haven't seen yet).