S08:E14 - A Matter of Principals

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Note: Some content from Season 8 was leaked near the end of last year. While much of it is officially revealed, much isn't. So, please keep leaked content under the tag and don't post or link leaked assets.

Zap2It first announced the episode's title and date, and Hasbro released their August lineup on July 20. Episode synopsis C&P'd from the linked PDF.

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Title: A Matter of Principals

Airtimes:

1. Boomerang/Australia: July 29, 8:25am Australia time
2. Disc. Fam./U.S.: August 4, 11:30am EST

Writer: Nicole Dubuc

Synopsis: Discord gets frustrated when Twilight Sparkle leaves Starlight in charge of the School of Friendship, so he does his best to make her new role impossible.

Extra Notes: This episode is S8's midseason premiere.

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SendVid: https://sendvid.com/1ox3stsl

 

[MangoFoalix 24,898]

Hah, I was wondering when the new pony was coming. I'm glad it's in the few weeks, I've been going through a withdrawal.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

1 minute ago, TheTaZe said:

Hah, I was wondering when the new pony was coming. I'm glad it's in the few weeks, I've been going through a withdrawal.

In Australia, it'll air about a week sooner.

[Will Guide 21,325]

So, the start of August will be a great week for me personally.

August 1st: Magic Castle for my (Almost) Birthday Dinner

August 2nd: My actual birthday

August 3rd: Theatrical Release of Christopher Robin 

August 4th: Return to Equestria for this episode starting the 2nd half of Season 8.

I'm so excited for all!

[FlareGun45 2,221]

The two Starlight combos the fans kept asking for: Starlight/Spike and Starlight/Discord! Guess Starlight/Discord's first! But I really wanna see her and Spike next season!

[KH7672 1,604]

"...he does his best to make her new role impossible."

I remember seeing when this was first announced and plenty of Starlight detractors jumped in quickly to say "look, they're dragging Discord's character down too just to make Starlight look better" and that I say look again at these characters. They are two characters that act in extremes and this is the perfect opportunity to have them just go at each other.

When I see "make her new role impossible" I don't see this being some kind of sob story of Discord being a big meanie to poor Starlight. No, this should be a call to action. Discord wants to play sabotage, fine Starlight will play sabotage and she will throw those "impossible" antics right back at him. I can see this escalating hilariously as Discord tries to keep ruining things but Starlight stays two steps ahead and keeps his fire going.

I want to see this be a story of "I don't care who started it" because having both in the wrong is better than one in the right when dealing with these characters. We'll see, but either way I'm excited.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I wonder if this episode's story is gonna take place simultaneously with Friendship University? That'd explain where Twilight is going (along with Rarity)!

Ah perfect opportunity for Spike to be Starlight's assistant for a change! Can't wait to see how that would play out if that does happen! Besides, both he and Flutters would help Starlight out with Discord since no one seems to know him better than those 2!

[Truffles 2,033]

This episode has some pretty big shoes to fill if it wants to keep the growth of Discord's character moving forward. Except for "Celestial Advice," (where he only had a minor role) and "Discordant Harmony (he kind of grew sideways in that episode) his character has been getting progressively better starting with "Dungeons and Discords." At the time that was my favorite Discord episode until "To Where and Back Again" aired. And that was my favorite Discord episode until "The Break-Up, Break Down" aired.

Will this be better than "TB-U, B-D?" I would be really surprised if it was, but until it actually airs you never really know what to expect. (The previous episode just mentioned being a prime example.)

9 hours ago, MegaSean45 said:

I wonder if this episode's story is gonna take place simultaneously with Friendship University? That'd explain where Twilight is going (along with Rarity)!

Interesting idea, though if that were happening I would think DFC would be airing this episode and "Friendship University" back-to-back on Aug. 4th instead of pairing it with "The Hearthswarming Club" to complete the A-B simultaneous story setup.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

5 minutes ago, Truffles said:

Interesting idea, though if that were happening I would think DFC would be airing this episode and "Friendship University" back-to-back on Aug. 4th instead of pairing it with "The Hearthswarming Club" to complete the A-B simultaneous story setup.

Perhaps. I just wanna see Spike stay at the school to help Starlight out instead of him going with Twilight for a change! :3

[Truffles 2,033]

1 hour ago, MegaSean45 said:

Perhaps. I just wanna see Spike stay at the school to help Starlight out instead of him going with Twilight for a change! :3

I agree it would be great for Spike to be around. First, for some interaction with Starlight again. But more importantly, he could be the tempering force against any lashing out Discord might do to Starlight. After his growth in "D&D" and "BU,BD", it would feel out-of-place for Discord to attack Starlight or plot some kind of petty revenge on her if one if his Guy's Night buddies was also there as the voice of reason.

Of course, that could also be a reason why Spike would be consciously left out of the episode - his presence would make the credibility of the episode suffer if the whole initial concept was for this to be a vehicle for Discord to be back to his old self again. I hope not, though.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,278]

Definitely getting a vibe of 'Starlight is the perfect one in the end'. I really hope that isn't the case here. Would be cool if Discord's antics become a test of their own for Starlight and for her to possibly lose her cool at some point. Seems to be the idea, but I just hope it doesn't make her the almighty all knowing being in the end like these episodes tend to do.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

44 minutes ago, Truffles said:

Of course, that could also be a reason why Spike would be consciously left out of the episode - his presence would make the credibility of the episode suffer if the whole initial concept was for this to be a vehicle for Discord to be back to his old self again. I hope not, though.

Well not to mention Flutters though! She would be even MORE of a vehicle for Discord to be his old self again!

[Steve Piranha 28,778]

Just what I needed, twice my pony fix per week 

[Truffles 2,033]

1 hour ago, MegaSean45 said:

Well not to mention Flutters though! She would be even MORE of a vehicle for Discord to be his old self again!

I would think the opposite to be true - that she would have the same tempering effect as Spike to keep Discord in line.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

7 minutes ago, Truffles said:

I would think the opposite to be true - that she would have the same tempering effect as Spike to keep Discord in line.

Right I misunderstood what I said. She would be trying to keep him under control

[Conred 274]

I hope Discord is motivated by Fluttershy to become a Principal and isn't doing it just because of personal egocentrism of wanting to feel important.

[RDDash 18,864]

It's sounds like this is going to be an episode that I am going to really dislike. Why would Twilight even leave Discord in charge if he wasn't even hired to work in the school in the first place?

Edited July 22, 2018 by R.D.Dash

[heavens-champion 1,893]

16 hours ago, R.D.Dash said:

It's sounds like this is going to be an episode that I am going to really dislike. Why would Twilight even leave Discord in charge if he wasn't even hired to work in the school in the first place?

You'd think that thought would occur to Discord.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

The premise of this ep is interesting but what matter is the one who wrote this. Nick or Debuc is a safe choice for me.

If this ep is just about Discord sabotage Starlight just because some petty reason, some people will not like it for the same reasons  with What About Discord, Three's Crowd, Celestial Advice or even Make New Friends but Keep Discord. This ep will be more fun if Starlight return to her old self and show Discord why she is the best villain of the series and ruin his day but people will complain about 'character progression' so its safer for Starlight to be a innocent victim and Discord is the bad guy but other people will complain about how they 'make everyone bad just to make Starlight look better'. The solution for this mess is they dont release this episode in the first place or use Nick to make it work.

Please dont be another Non-compete Clause. 

[gingerninja666 487]

32 minutes ago, Lambdadelta said:

The premise of this ep is interesting but what matter is the one who wrote this. Nick or Debuc is a safe choice for me.

If this ep is just about Discord sabotage Starlight just because some petty reason, some people will not like it for the same reasons  with What About Discord, Three's Crowd, Celestial Advice or even Make New Friends but Keep Discord. This ep will be more fun if Starlight return to her old self and show Discord why she is the best villain of the series and ruin his day but people will complain about 'character progression' so its safer for Starlight to be a innocent victim and Discord is the bad guy but other people will complain about how they 'make everyone bad just to make Starlight look better'. The solution for this mess is they dont release this episode in the first place or use Nick to make it work.

Please dont be another Non-compete Clause. 

No matter what happens I'd be VERY surprised if this was as bad as What About Discord. WAD was flawed for a VERY specific reason (and I actually liked it more than most people). It was bad because the entire episode was built around intentionally unfunny jokes where you were specifically supposed to NOT get them in order to sympathetically feel Twilight's frustration.

Edited July 24, 2018 by gingerninja666

[Will Guide 21,325]

On 7/22/2018 at 3:08 PM, R.D.Dash said:

It's sounds like this is going to be an episode that I am going to really dislike. Why would Twilight even leave Discord in charge if he wasn't even hired to work in the school in the first place?

The synopsis clearly says Twilight left STARLIGHT in charge, not Discord!

On 7/20/2018 at 7:45 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

Synopsis: Discord gets frustrated when Twilight Sparkle leaves Starlight in charge of the School of Friendship, so he does his best to make her new role impossible.

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by Wholly Windcharger

[RDDash 18,864]

42 minutes ago, Wholly Windcharger said:

The synopsis clearly says Twilight left STARLIGHT in charge, not Discord!

Yes she did. The whole point of the episode is going to be is that Discord is jealous of Starlight because she was one of the six ponies thats was hired to work in the school and he wasn't. Why? Maybe they just can't afford him that often.

Edited July 24, 2018 by R.D.Dash

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

37 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

It was bad because the entire episode was built around intentionally unfunny jokes where you were specifically supposed to NOT get them in order to sympathetically feel Twilight's frustration.

 I agree that a lot of jokes are so unfunny but I personally like the atmosphere of that ep, the feelings of being left out. This ep miraculously works for me.

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 12:07 AM, Truffles said:

Of course, that could also be a reason why Spike would be consciously left out of the episode - his presence would make the credibility of the episode suffer if the whole initial concept was for this to be a vehicle for Discord to be back to his old self again. I hope not, though.

Right now, Spike is voice of reasons for both craziest adult characters of the show and he's still Twilight's voice of reason too, that kid is too incredible so he need to be left out. Common sense should be saved for the last few minutes or some episodes WONT WORK. 

[Truffles 2,033]

7 hours ago, Lambdadelta said:

Right now, Spike is voice of reasons for both craziest adult characters of the show and he's still Twilight's voice of reason too, that kid is too incredible so he need to be left out. Common sense should be saved for the last few minutes or some episodes WONT WORK.

Maybe, but I think the bigger problem with Spike or Fluttershy being around is still going to be a potential disconnect with the audience if his character acts unusually cruel towards Starlight if either of the two of them are in earshot of his actions. It has less to do with stating the moral early and more to do with the credibility of the episode if either of them allows Discord to run roughshod over Starlight since they are his two closest friends.

[JH24 385]

13 hours ago, R.D.Dash said:

Yes she did. The whole point of the episode is going to be is that Discord is jealous of Starlight because she was one of the six ponies thats was hired to work in the school and he wasn't. Why? Maybe they just can't afford him that often.

I wouldn't be surprised if it simply turns out Twilight felt Discord didn't have the right qualities to run a school. 

It depends if Twilight knew Discord was interested in playing a role in her school or not. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by JH24