What will be the excuse for certain characters being absent in the MLP movie?

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Okay, so we already know that the movie's production began around Season 4's timeframe. They had no way of knowing what new characters would be introduced, or how drastically the status quo of FIM would change back then. Yet they decided well in advance that regardless of how the last three seasons panned out, the movie would take place specifically between Seasons 7 and 8.

With that in mind, the show's staff will have a lot of explaining to do, within the context of the show itself, as to why Discord, the Pillars, Ember, Thorax and his reformed changeling hive, were never around to help save Equestria from the Storm King. And why Shining Armor, Starlight, Trixie and Sunburst apparently decided to sit the whole thing out. If they don't have a good reason for being AWOL, that will just make them look like the worst friends ever. The Mane Six would not appreciate abandonment, and neither would the princesses. Especially Cadence. I mean, she gets turned into a statue, and her husband isn't around to give enough of a flying fuck to save her? That's messed up.

How do you think they'll patch all this up?

[Feather Scribbles 194]

They might say, "Oh, they were away on a holiday."

Seriously though... I've got nothing...

[Castle Bleck 19,164]

The best I can come up with is, The Storm King severed all communications from Canterlot so they couldn't contact any of said allies.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Anti-Villain

[Will Guide 21,325]

@KillerKingBakudan

I'm pretty sure a topic about this has already been made months ago around the time of the film's theatrical release.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Just now, WiiGuy2014 said:

@KillerKingBakudan

I'm pretty sure a topic about this has already been made months ago around the time of the film's theatrical release.

If there is one, my bad. I haven't seen it.

[Megas 27,053]

"I'm OP" - Discord

Though they probably could have gotten away with turning him to stone

[Castle Bleck 19,164]

On 1/1/2018 at 9:12 PM, Prowl said:

"I'm OP" - Discord

Though they probably could have gotten away with turning him to stone

That, and he seems to mostly stay in Chaosville (his dimension's official name) unless he has something specific to do in Equestria.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Anti-Villain

[The MegaBrony 218]

The supporting characters captured Shining Armor.

[Prospekt 10,984]

Flurry Heart makes some sense because she wasn't even born until Season 6. Starlight wasn't reformed till Season 6. Trixie rarely appeared before Season 6. Adult Sunburst doesn't appear until Season 6. No changelings were really reformed before the middle of Season 6. The concept of the Pillars wasn't introduced until Season 7; Starswirl was only a long-gone mythical figure before then, and the Pony of Shadows (Stygian) was referenced in Season 4 but didn't appear till Season 7. Ember doesn't appear in any form until Season 6.

As for Discord? He is probably off in his own dimension doing whatever a draconequus does in its free time. And out of universe, he's so OP that he could have ended the Storm King's carnage all on his own. I bet the writers didn't want to take a chance with that possible plot hole by including him but not having him save the day. After all, the ponies and the new characters are supposed to be the stars of the show.

But Shining Armor baffles me. You'd think he would be there for his wife. I guess he could be holding down the fort in the Crystal Empire, but this is a big celebration he's missing out on. There is no real excuse to exclude him.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Prospektlicious

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Just now, Prospektlicious said:

Flurry Heart makes some sense because she wasn't even born until Season 6. Starlight wasn't reformed till Season 6. Trixie rarely appeared before Season 6. Adult Sunburst doesn't appear until Season 6. No changelings were really reformed before the middle of Season 6. The concept of the Pillars wasn't introduced until Season 7; Starswirl was only a long-gone mythical figure before then, and the Pony of Shadows (Stygian) was referenced in Season 4 but didn't appear till Season 7. Ember doesn't appear in any form until Season 6.

As for Discord? He is probably off in his own dimension doing whatever a draconequus does in its free time. And out of universe, he's so OP that he could have ended the Storm King's carnage all on his own. I bet the writers didn't want to take a chance with that possible plot hole by including him but not having him save the day. After all, the ponies and the new characters are supposed to be the stars of the show.

But Shining Armor baffles me. You'd think he would be there for his wife. I guess he could be holding down the fort in the Crystal Empire, but this is a big celebration he's missing out on. There is no real excuse to exclude him.

The movie happens after Season 7, not before it. That's official. So any of those characters could have appeared.

[Prospekt 10,984]

12 minutes ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

The movie happens after Season 7, not before it. That's official. So any of those characters could have appeared.

Yes, but since the movie's production began as long ago as 2014, many of those characters might not have even been created by Hasbro yet. And the plot doesn't really connect to Season 7 at all, even though it takes place between 7 and 8.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Just now, Prospektlicious said:

Yes, but since the movie's production began as long ago as 2014, many of those characters might not have even been created by Hasbro yet. And the plot doesn't really connect to Season 7 at all, even though it takes place between 7 and 8.

I already acknowledged that fact in the OP. This isn't about the production. We KNOW why those characters couldn't make it in the movie. I'm asking about how they're going to explain their absence within the canon itself. Real friends help each other in times of need. It would be extremely upsetting to all those involved in the plot for Discord, Starlight and such not to after all they've experienced together. If Hasbro wants to say that the movie is post-Season 7, they need to stick with it and give us credible answers so they don't come off as insufferable assholes. Derpy in comparison saved Twilight in less than ten seconds, and they're total strangers to one another. That's really sad.

The fact they even managed to sneak in a reformed Starlight cameo with Trixie is a big hint that they've been keeping tabs on FIM since the animating process began. Now the onus is on them to tell us WTF they were doing the whole time Canterlot was held hostage. I want to see that in a new episode.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

They wanted to focus on the movie exclusive characters--the typical method to promote an animated movie--so some of the regular cast were pushed to the sidelines in order to focus on these exclusive characters in addition to the main cast. In terms of providing an explanation, I don't know if the writers will be able to come up with something. Instead, they might just shrug it off by saying something that constitutes as an answer just to placate us. If the movie was in production for years, some characters weren't included as they hadn't been conceived at the time and they only had enough time to include a few as cameos that if you blinked, you would've missed them and never knew they were there.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

14 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

They wanted to focus on the movie exclusive characters--the typical method to promote an animated movie--so some of the regular cast were pushed to the sidelines in order to focus on these exclusive characters in addition to the main cast. In terms of providing an explanation, I don't know if the writers will be able to come up with something. Instead, they might just shrug it off by saying something that constitutes as an answer just to placate us. If the movie was in production for years, some characters weren't included as they hadn't been conceived at the time and they only had enough time to include a few as cameos that if you blinked, you would've missed them and never knew they were there.

Well based on the Season 8 leaks that I've seen....

The intro has been completely redone to accommodate the events of the movie.

Even if it's a last minute effort, they have to give some exposition for what those missing characters had been up to for it to matter. Starlight alone would have been a problem for the Storm King's henchmen. I don't think the Mane Six could look at her the same way again if she and Trixie just happened to sit around with their hooves up their asses while every pony in Canterlot was getting enslaved.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

On 1/1/2018 at 8:34 PM, KillerKingBakudan said:

Okay, so we already know that the movie's production began around Season 4's timeframe. They had no way of knowing what new characters would be introduced, or how drastically the status quo of FIM would change back then. Yet they decided well in advance that regardless of how the last three seasons panned out, the movie would take place specifically between Seasons 7 and 8.

With that in mind, the show's staff will have a lot of explaining to do, within the context of the show itself, as to why Discord, the Pillars, Ember, Thorax and his reformed changeling hive, were never around to help save Equestria from the Storm King. And why Shining Armor, Starlight, Trixie and Sunburst apparently decided to sit the whole thing out. If they don't have a good reason for being AWOL, that will just make them look like the worst friends ever. The Mane Six would not appreciate abandonment, and neither would the princesses. Especially Cadence. I mean, she gets turned into a statue, and her husband isn't around to give enough of a flying fuck to save her? That's messed up.

How do you think they'll patch all this up?

Well it is all pretty easy to explain.

The Pillars, Shining Armor, ect. We see in the shot of Canterlot that ponyville is also under attack, you can use this to believe that this is a nationwide assault and most major cities are under attack, including the Crystal Empire.

As for Thorax, instant communication is hard to come by in Equestria, so it isn't likely he knew it was happening, same with Ember and the Yaks (or maybe the yaks were assisting the Crystal ponies) as for Starlight, she was in Canterlot so chances are she went down fighting. Maybe she and Tempest had a lil 1v1 when she was heading to her ship. Discord is a dimensional being who can be anywhere in the universe. Him not knowing is fine.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

10 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

as for Starlight, she was in Canterlot so chances are she went down fighting. Maybe she and Tempest had a lil 1v1 when she was heading to her ship.

Any dialogue between her and Tempest would have been referenced by the end of the movie, or even before that when Tempest was pushing her point of view onto Twilight. Plus, Starlight saved the Mane Six and all the princesses from a changeling hive. She didn't do it alone, but up until that scene with Chrysalis, it was mostly accomplished without magic. She would have had all of her power at her disposal for the movie. More than enough to solo Tempest in a fight and put a significant dent in the invasion.

Hell, that's probably why the others had such an easy time rescuing Twilight with that trojan cake of theirs. Because most of the henchmen were too busy dealing with Starlight, and there were few left to handle the Mane Five, the pirates, Capper using Spike as a flamethrower, etc. But even if they don't solidify that as a fact in Season 8, I want to see something that at least shows she wasn't being useless.

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

Wellllllllllllllllll........ Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ they might try to explain it away as the Storm King's armies were able to hold off the forces of the changelings and any help from the Crystal Empire, I mean after all, the Storm King's army literally just kinda waltzed on into Canterlot and took the city in a matter of minutes even with all the powerful alicorn rulers there, so I could imagine them being able to hold off any counter-attacks by far less powerful outside forces.  

[HereComesTom 2,232]

On 1/1/2018 at 11:56 PM, Prospektlicious said:

But Shining Armor baffles me. You'd think he would be there for his wife. I guess he could be holding down the fort in the Crystal Empire, but this is a big celebration he's missing out on. There is no real excuse to exclude him.

Actually, considering that there weren't any royal guards at all in the whole film as far as I could tell, here's a plausible theory as to why they and Shining Armor were absent:  the Storm King made Celestia believe that there was going to be a threat to Equestria at some place other than Canterlot, which served as a diversion to trick her into mobilizing her guards elsewhere.  Shining Armor is among the best of her soldiers, so he'd be right there with them.

Consider how much planning had to have gone into the attack on Canterlot---after all, the stormguards had anti-magic armor and weapons, specialized obsidian orb grenades to petrify the princesses to neutralize them as threats while still keeping them alive and get past said princesses' magic defenses, and they had anti-magic restraints and cages made to keep the ponies enslaved, too.  Clearly, the whole attack had a very carefully-thought-out plan, it's not a stretch to think that creating a diversion elsewhere in Equestria could be a part of that plan, albeit a part that the writers simply couldn't fit into the movie's narrative flow.

[Cahead2015 72]

Oh I got a certain character: Starlight glimmer and this video(probably) shows why she's not in it for more than 2 seconds, all because of one of her friends won't stop bregging about their friendship.

 

[Singe 2,109]

Frankly some pony or ponies decided to be stingy with the invitations to that event in Canterlot which is why said characters are no shows in the movie.