After watching "Analyst Bronies React: Season 7 Finale "Shadow Play",

[bwrosas 252]

After watching "Analyst Bronies React: Season 7 Finale "Shadow Play", I can understand many of the points that they made.  However, if you really think about it, Starswirl was just as much to blame for what happen as Twilight.  Now you may ask, "How can that be?" Well, when you think about it, if he had placed a note in his journal, telling whoever came across it, not to reverse the spell, maybe the Mane 6 would've been more cautious about it. 

Now let's say Twilight still wanted to reverse the spell, she could've done it in a way, that like in the S4 premiere , she could've put her own spin on it, and like later on in Part 2 of "Shadow Play", assumes she's figured out a way to bring the Pillars back without the Pony of Shadows, only to have it backfire, for example,  when it at first it seems to have work, and even Starswirl seems impressed, but as they start to leave Ponhenge along with the Pillars, that's when the lighting hits and the Pony of Shadows emerges, and as they all turn around and see this, that's when Twilight realizes her own spin on the spell failed.

Another thing is, if they wanted to involve Celestria and Luna a bit more, they could've had Starswirl teach them (back in the past) not opening or reverse any kind of spell that's meant to protect Equestria, and then have them pass it on to their future students.

One thing some fans have taken issue with, is Starlight being the voice of reason, and basically being the one that saw the bigger picture of the situation and realized that there was possibly more to this than what was being telegraphed. 

And the reason that was, was because she was using her past experiences as an antagonist and what she had learned as Twilight's Student to realize that they were only getting one side of the story and not the other, and when they finally did get that side of the story, the reaction of the Pillars and StarSwirl was one of, "Oops! We Fu**Yeah** upped!

Because they realized that hear their friend out on his reasoning for taking their items, and his reasoning, was because he wanted to help them in battle.  And Starlight's reaction towards when this revelation was made, was one of, "See, Stygin was ready to talk and explain his actions"

One other thing, is some fans may not like the fact, that it took towards the end of part 2 for her friends to stick up for Twilight, but my guess, is they love and respected Twilight enough, as to not confront Starswirl's berating of her, that was until he didn't even get a look see or consideration to her proposed plan/spell, and guess that was moment that the rest of the Mane 6 were basically "Enough of this berating crap of our friend!"

So overall, yes!, "Shadow Play" was/is possibly one of the best Season Finale's the Show has done.  But yet there are issue's here and there, that some members of the fanbase will take issue with, either positively or negatively.

But those are just my thoughts. What did you guys think of what I had to say? Take Care! 

Edited January 23, 2018 by bwrosas

[Thrond 3,257]

I don’t like this episode.

On 2018-01-23 at 1:08 AM, bwrosas said:

After watching "Analyst Bronies React: Season 7 Finale "Shadow Play", I can understand many of the points that they made.  However, if you really think about it, Starswirl was just as much to blame for what happen as Twilight.  Now you may ask, "How can that be?" Well, when you think about it, if he had placed a note in his journal, telling whoever came across it, not to reverse the spell, maybe the Mane 6 would've been more cautious about it. 

Starswirl could have had plenty of reasons for not leaving a note, but Twilight’s behaviour stands out to me because I never found her motivations reasonable. Equestria has gotten over every threat it faced without the Pillars, so I don’t understand either why it’s so necessary to get them back, or why Twilight couldn’t take a moment to consider Starlight’s point of view and then come up with a solution to that problem.

On 2018-01-23 at 1:08 AM, bwrosas said:

And the reason that was, was because she was using her past experiences as an antagonist and what she had learned as Twilight's Student to realize that they were only getting one side of the story and not the other, and when they finally did get that side of the story, the reaction of the Pillars and StarSwirl was one of, "Oops! We Fu**Yeah** upped!

That Starlight is basically the only one to consider this, and that Twilight just goes along with Starswirl even when visibly considering Starlight’s arguments, indicates that they have ultimately not learned enough from all of their own encounters. Wouldn’t it be satisfying to see the mane six stand up to the Pillars, finally deciding to try reaching out? But instead the narrative arc is flat: Starlight is right and barely doubts herself, Starswirl is wrong and barely human, and Twilight’s genuine conflict is pushed to the sidelines. People always argue that the mane six wouldn’t think to sympathize with a monster, but I want to see their views challenged and changed, and instead that’s largely pushed aside for Starlight being right in a way that she’s basically always been right. 

Also, I’m starting to get the sense that Starlight’s empathy only comes out when another person’s situation reminds her of her own, which I’m not very fond of. I find her self-pity really uninvolving, and it’s starting to give me the impression that even when she thinks of others, she’s really only thinking about herself.

 

[maverickBNA 42]

Clean Ponehenge, clean Ponehenge, 1, 2, 3, 4...

Together we can clean Ponehenge!

[RDDash 18,858]

The destruction of cultural monument, thats the only thing they could charge Twilight with. Another thing is that criminal negligence is kind of pointless now because she already fixed the issue.

[Singe 2,109]

I don't think Starswirl needed to do anymore. Any character with some sense that paid close attention to the whole reenactment would get a good grasp of what was happening.

It's Twilight. She's no longer a student and is a princess, which means she's changed some of her ways. This episode does reflect of Twilight's progression from being proactive in the early seasons to being reactive later. I chalk that up to Celestia's teaching to reinforce that.

The thing about Starlight's worrying that it may go wrong, she goes half the distance but doesn't get to the point by saying we may accidentally release the Pony of Shadows.

[Kadeda 178]

I think it makes sense. She is Star Swirl biggest fan and Twilight has an obsession with ponies she look up to... believing them to be on a higher plane than herself.

Starlight being the voice of reason made sense imo. She messed up bad so she's really careful with situations like this. The other ponies trust Twilight completely. Her motivations are reasonable enough. Wouldn't you rather have more than one line of defense and for that to be the greatest wizard known to modern history?

Basically, I can see what critics are saying but I tend to avoid them because they can really ruin the fun I had watching an episode. It doesn't happen often but it does happen when a critic takes the fun out of something I really enjoyed. Like... a lot of people expect mare do well to be bad because everyone said it's bad so they pay attention to only the bad happenings of the episode. That's why i like Silver Quill so much. He focus on what episodes did right which can make me want to watch an episode again and see it as better than before.