S08:E14 - A Matter of Principals

[Conred 274]

O think the main premise is

 

1 Discord appear in Twilight school at the same moment that Twilight need to leave for important stuff

2 Discord is present when she decide to find a replacement

3 Discord offer himself for replacement

4 Twilight choose Starlight instead

5 Discord feels hurt beacause he was the first one reformed villain and older Twilights friend than Starlight so this is more like a matter of principality to him

6 Hopefully he is also motivated by Fluttershy somehow and isn't just mad because of that reason

[FirePuppy 733]

I will REALLY not like it if I see another episode where Twilight is the only Mane Six pony seen in it at all. She's already done this twice earlier this season, and so far, she's already confirmed another two upcoming episodes in a row when the season continues, one of them being this episode.

I also don't want Fluttershy to be absent in another episode featuring Discord, seeing as though it's his only other role this season.

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

4 hours ago, FirePuppy said:

I will REALLY not like it if I see another episode where Twilight is the only Mane Six pony seen in it at all. She's already done this twice earlier this season, and so far, she's already confirmed another two upcoming episodes in a row when the season continues, one of them being this episode.

I also don't want Fluttershy to be absent in another episode featuring Discord, seeing as though it's his only other role this season.

Why not actually discuss the episode's plot, writing, etc. as opposed to fixating on solely parity? I don't mean to sound confrontational, but I remain unsure as to how 'this character must not appear alongside y otherwise this episode will be terrible!' qualifies as so vital to the show's wellbeing, considering how flimsy a construct it is to judge episodes on. 

Edited July 27, 2018 by Them's Seeing Ponies

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 7:57 PM, Truffles said:

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.

Fluttershy should be in this ep, there is no way she cant, she's a teacher, right? Somehow, they will make her conveniently disappear in this ep...

Anyway, even without Spike or Fluttershy, there are Rarity, RD, AJ and Pinkie who will keep an eye on Discord if he does something fishy, unless the plot needs some idiocy to make it works so...  Let hope Discord just want to prank Starlight for the lulz and they are just harmless prank and everyone hug in the end...…..

 

'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.'

No, this ep wont end well if Discord just sabatoge Starlight because of some petty reasons, he should have a very REASONABLE reason for this. Ah, I got it, maybe when Starlight is in charge of Friendship school, she acts like a dictator that make everyone (including Fluttershy) miserable so Discord has to stop her, sound better right!? but that will make Starlight a bad guy...…..

To make this episode, at least one of them, Starlight or Discord, must be a bad guy.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

And so the episode had just been streamed live on Smashcast. Cya at another Hearth's Warming out of season episode on saturday.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Buttonmash1973

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Well what do ya! I got what I wanted! I did not expect that!

Spike actually stayed with Starlight, but I didn't expect all the Mane 6 to go, nor did I expect Discord to be the cause of it! Yeah it's disappointing that Discord is still a whiny baby, but this was a FUN episode! The Student Six, Trixie, IRON WILL?! That's the second time he surprised me! How does Glimglam know Spitfire though? Regardless, this episode was AWESOME! But I kinda expected Starlight and Discord to share more common ground instead of Discord being his baby self. Oh well! Dubuc you did well! Hey anyone catch the 'banana phone' reference?

[Will Guide 21,360]

Wow! Not even 30 seconds in and I already found something to love about it. Ocellus, you are as well-read as you are adorable. 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Wholly Windcharger

[Will Guide 21,360]

Hmm...when Discord's involved, you can expect the animators to bring in creative animated gags that normally don't make sense. I'll keep my eyes open for all of them.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Wow! I would have to freeze frame to catch all the background gags.

Also, Cozy Glow makes a cameo here

As well as...

Spoiler

Iron Will, Cranky Doodle Donkey, and Dragon Sneeze Tree as Discord's batch of substitute teachers. 

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Wholly Windcharger

[Tacodidra 61,051]

I finally managed to watch it after a few failed attempts.

Spoiler

I thought this was a fun episode. A lot of small moments I liked – Discord roasting a marshmallow, his banana phone, Derpy coming out of Trixie's hat... Most of them thanks to Discord being Discord. It was nice to see some characters again, such as Iron Will and Cranky – not too many appearances from those during the whole series! Another thing I liked about this episode was how we got to see the students again, and this time interacting more in pairs rather than with the entire group, which gave them more chemistry! And what else was there that stood out – we finally saw Trixie again (it's about time!) and we again had throwbacks to previous episodes – "Princess Spike" in this case!

I have to say Discord was quite a jerk here! Doing all that because of feeling left out, and worst of all, subjecting the students to his crazy and downright dangerous antics. But even if it felt like something he would more likely have done in the earlier seasons, it didn't feel entirely out of character for him. Maybe he didn't deserve to be rewarded for all that he did, though! The chemistry between Starlight (with Spike) and Discord was great – and we again got to see the character flaws of Starlight in some parts, which is why I have always found her an interesting character!

As for negatives, I don't think there were many here. Maybe I'd have liked to see more of Spitfire and Maud, as their roles were pretty brief. And Discord seemed to revert a little to how he was in the earlier seasons, as I already stated.

In general, this was another very good episode, and I found it a better episode to end the hiatus than "Yakity Sax". A rating of 8.75/10 feels appropriate after first viewing – not an all-time favorite but a strong episode in any case!

 

[Will Guide 21,360]

"What exactly is a long distance plan?" spoken into an actually working banana phone. That's an image I've never thought I'd see today.

[Will Guide 21,360]

If I didn't know any better I'd say....

Spoiler

The chaotic shenanigans of the school will give Neighsay reason to strike back come the end of the season. We're seeing the "bowling pins" being set up ready to be knock down at the end of the story arc like most good story arcs do.

 

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

1 minute ago, Wholly Windcharger said:

If I didn't know any better I'd say....

  Hide contents

The chaotic shenanigans of the school will give Neighsay reason to strike back come the end of the season. We're seeing the "bowling pins" being set up ready to be knock down at the end of the story arc like most good story arcs do.

 

You also forgot one thing

 

Spoiler

Remember when Princess Celestia dropped the Student Six down a trap door in Horse Play(By Accident)?  If that's not grounds for her own school getting shut down, I dunno what is

Edited July 29, 2018 by SaburoDaimando

[Will Guide 21,360]

1 minute ago, SaburoDaimando said:

You also forgot one thing

 

  Hide contents

Remember when Princess Celestia dropped the Student Six down a trap door in Horse Play(By Accident)?  If that's not grounds for her own school getting shut down, I dunno what is

Or what happened in "Non-Compete Clause"

[Will Guide 21,360]

1 hour ago, MegaSean45 said:

Well what do ya! I got what I wanted! I did not expect that!

 

  Hide contents

Spike actually stayed with Starlight, but I didn't expect all the Mane 6 to go, nor did I expect Discord to be the cause of it! Yeah it's disappointing that Discord is still a whiny baby, but this was a FUN episode! The Student Six, Trixie, IRON WILL?! That's the second time he surprised me! How does Glimglam know Spitfire though? Regardless, this episode was AWESOME! But I kinda expected Starlight and Discord to share more common ground instead of Discord being his baby self. Oh well! Dubuc you did well! Hey anyone catch the 'banana phone' reference?

 

Yeah, I caught the reference to the last thing you said in the Spoiler box.

Also I wish...

Spoiler

We saw where the other half of items were hidden. Still we got to see more of the school.

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Wholly Windcharger

[Truffles 2,033]

14 hours ago, Wholly Windcharger said:

Or what happened in "Non-Compete Clause"

Or a dragon being put in charge of a class who manages to use that legendary dragon persuasion to get them to pledge loyalty to him in under a minute.

It wouldn't surprise me if all these events are analogous to the "hidden Starlights" in S5 and they all play a part in Twilight losing her school in the finale.

 

Anyway, strange episode. Or one that left me with a sense of bewilderment.

I generally enjoyed it, but seeing the relationship between Spike and Discord take a major hit was kind of painful, especially after still experiencing the high from "The Break Up, Break Down" despite all the time that has passed.

I get all the stuff Spike said about Discord, but I thought he and Starlight were beyond being "tested."

The number of callbacks were pretty amazing. Though I never expected we'd get not one but two direct references to "Princess Spike." 

The Student 6 were great but I wish they were less naive like they were in "Non-Compete."

Edited July 29, 2018 by Truffles

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

15 minutes ago, Truffles said:

Or a dragon being put in charge of a class who manages to use that legendary dragon persuasion to get them to pledge loyalty to him in under a minute.

 

Or a certain someone pouring a bottle of Szechuan Sauce down Chancellor Neighsay's cloak.  (smirks and walks off)

[gingerninja666 487]

Spoiler

Alright. I fully watched the episode. I enjoyed it. I loved seeing more of the Student 6 and the little storytelling nuggets they sprinkled in about some of the other culture’s heroes (like the Yak warrior who was so noble that people stopped fighting around him peacefully. Yaks as a culture need someone like that.) ANd that moment where Ocellus is pushed over and Smoulder casually helps her up was really sweet. Also, I love Gallus. "I saw Spike hide it earlier."

I liked that Trixie was the one teaching magic. I bet she probably adored that to no kind of end. Spike was great. Voice of reason Spike is my favourite version of him and he definitely didn’t feel useless. I liked him acting as the one who wasn’t as annoyed by what Discord was doing as others, but recognized at some point that he’s pushing it a little.

Starlight I really liked here. Being told she was power hungry really seemed to get to her. She put some stank on that banishing spell. And again, we see that she really REALLY loves Twilight and wants to do right by her. In fact, that was what caused the issue. She was worried about doing things according to the way Twilight would’ve wanted and she let that get in the way of her just giving Discord a chance. Would Twilight really have cared if Starlight deviated a little from the notes she left? No. That was a thing STarlight imposed on herself because of the pressure she felt.

Now, Discord. I found him funny honestly. This isn’t like What about Discord because here the gags are attempting to be funny. It’s not intentionally alienating. He’s also not as malicious as in that episode. He was a bit wounded that no one bothered to invite him to the school, so invented an excuse to be helpful. Then Starlight shut him down completely and it hurt his pride even more, so he decided to mess with her in his classic style.

"I want my own office, expense account, parking space…"

"You’re new to the world of education, arent’cha?"

(beat)

Okay. I really liked that line.

 

[bigbertha 414]

I'd say the best thing about this episode is the comedy. There are a lot of witty lines and fun visual gags to keep me entertained. There might have been a few too many callbacks to previous episodes with the visual gags, but they weren't too bad. I'd say the worst thing here comedy wise is Cranky who feels a bit too jerky.

The story is not very good though. It relies on Discord being terrible to everyone and while that's definitely funny, it isn't in character for Discord at this point. The ending is something that I'm mixed on. I don't have a problem with Starlight saying she handled the situation wrong, because she did. Sure, she was justified when she blasted Discord, but it just ended up causing more problems. Talking it out would not have. What I do have a problem with is Starlight making Discord the Vice Headmare. Acting the way he did does not warrant a promotion. The way the episode's written, it makes it seem like Discord's motivations completely absolve him of any consequences which is really stupid. Starlight should've still called out Discord even when apologizing to him.

Score: -8/10

Edited September 29, 2018 by bigbertha

[gingerninja666 487]

5 minutes ago, bigbertha said:

I'd say the best thing about this episode is the comedy. There are a lot of witty lines and fun visual gags to keep me entertained. There might have been a few too many callbacks to previous episodes with the visual gags, but they weren't too bad. I'd say the worst thing here comedy wise is Cranky who feels a bit too jerky.

The story is barely there. The ending tries to tell us there were themes and lessons that the characters were supposed to learn, but it feels like it comes out of nowhere. The episode feels less like a story and more like a collection of gags. There is nothing here about Starlight acting too much like Twilight and not like a guidance counselor. There is no realization that Starlight is handling the situation wrong and needs to understand Discord's motivations. Nothing about that comes up until the very ending. Enjoying this episode will depend on if you can forgive a bad story if it has good comedy. I can see someone really disliking this episode if they didn't find it funny. I'd say the best comparison to this episode is "Bridle Gossip". Another funny episode with a bad story.

Also, Maud was chosen as a substitute teacher, but we never got a scene with her. That's unforgivable.

Score: -8/10

I think there are a few hints to some of those things. I definitely got the impression that Starlight was handling the situation wrong. Spike questions why Starlight didn't just talk to Discord right after she banished him, and then she starts to wonder exactly WHY Discord is giving her such a hard time. That's the note the scene ends on leading into the Spellvenger Hunt. And the beginning of the episode has her denying Discord because she wants to do things according to the way written inTwilight's notes.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

*Finished watching A Matter of Principal*

First of all, I have to say this ep is decent at visual gags, almost all the characters in this ep are nice (except Discord, Iron Will,Cranky and the Dragon sneering tree). Starlight and Spike is my dream team, it's good to see they are together again. Starlight can banish people now, you better not piss her off. Overall, an 7 out of 10 episode, an OK episode, not the best episode to start a season after the episode 18 which is just an average episode, I am a bit hungry for amazing episodes

……………...

But that not all I really want to say about this ep, just my tradition to say something nice about an episode even I don't like the most of it. The primary thing I want to say about this ep is

Spoiler

WHAT F#$K IS WRONG WITH DISCORD?! EVERY MINUTES OF THIS EP JUST MAKE MY KILLER INSTINCT GROW STRONGER AND STRONGER AND I WANT TO KILL HIM IN THE MOST GRUESOME WAYS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, BURN THAT BODY AND DESTROY HIS SOUL SO THAT DRAGONEQUUS WONT HAVE ANY CHANCE FOR REINCARNATION FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. WHAT AN ASSHOLE! 

He hired the most dickest teachers he can find to screw teach the international future generation of Equestria, a jerky muscle minotaur, AN ASS (no offend, Cranky but you are a fucking ass in this ep, I will talk about YOu later) and a fucking tree which has anti-dragon ability, a very 'nice' reference to Princess Spike. Why every creature has to go through all of this, that poor Yona, she usually a victim of these abusive teachers, Non-compete Clause and now this, someone needs to give that poor yak a break. What did they do with my lovely crumpy Cranky? He could be a good reference to EQG, just a grumpy teacher but they make him an ASS that spit on that poor griffin's face 3 TIMES, that's not EVEN FUNNY I HATE THE WAYS THIS EPISODE TRY TO MAKE DISCORD'S ACTIONS NOT SO BAD BECAUSE HE'S JUST DISCORD, NO NO NO, IT'S SO WRONG, even What About Discord DIDNT DO IT, WHY DOES THIS ASSHOLE GET A PASS FOR EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE JUST BECAUSE HE FELT BEING LEFT OUT? ATTENTIONS ARE WHAT DISCORD SEEKING ALL THE TIMES BUT THIS IS TOO FAR. Even Starlight has to apologize him, but he is a kinda unstoppable creature so that's the only way to stop him, I guess but let him stay in school afterall of this!? Even the students DIDNT WANT IT, LOOK AT THEIR FACES!   Why didn't Fluttershy say anything!? Please somebody point out his action instead of scaring him just because he's a god-like creature. BANISH!!! This school has serious problems...

You can look at Starlight's murderous gaze when she threat Discord, that's why I give this ep an 7, that's 'when you crossed the line' moment, one of the best moments of Season 8 belongs to Starlight

Now I need to get back to play Doom so I can virtually murder something.

Random:

My most favorite line:

'This is your last warning.' - Starlight Glimmer.

Where Maud and Spitfire anyway, they could be the coolest teachers, the writer just introduce them and leave them out for some reasons...

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Lambdadelta

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

Just started watching Matter of Principals.

OK, Twilight may really organize, sometimes to an extreme. But forcing Starlight, the guidance counsellor, to go over such an insane amount of info in such a short time is really overkill. DHX exaggerated Twilight's organizational skills for comic relief, but I'm not laughing here.

So far, the best jokes are Gallas's quip to Silverstream and Spike's shade at how hard working for TwiTwi is.

Quote

Starlight (sarcastically): Great. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, DHX's computer's named Murphy, and Murphy makes the Laws.

[RDDash 19,163]

Spoiler

The episode was just really awkward for me, Iron Will probably would be a good substitute teacher, Cranky completely missing the point and just want's students to serve him. We never get to see Discord sabotaging Maud or Spitfire. And the whole map was faked by Discord just so he could troll at Starlight's expense. But one point I actually liked is that Twilight never hired any substitute teachers just for this situation.

 

[gingerninja666 487]

6 minutes ago, R.D.Dash said:

  Hide contents

The episode was just really awkward for me, Iron Will probably would be a good substitute teacher, Cranky completely missing the point and just want's students to serve him. We never get to see Discord sabotaging Maud or Spitfire. And the whole map was faked by Discord just so he could troll at Starlight's expense. But one point I actually liked is that Twilight never hired any substitute teachers just for this situation.

 

Spoiler

Actually, it seemed like he faked the Map situation so that he could show up and offer to help with the school (in his own presumptuous way). He only really seemed to get pissed after Starlight shot him down because she wanted to stick with Twilight's plan.

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

Discord took over Twilight's office.

And two gags at Spike's expense, thanks to Discord's chaos: Twitter mites zap Spike (causing him to yelp and jump into the moat, and then limburger cheese squashes Spike and nearly makes him gag. I know Discord and Spike like to get under each other's skin sometimes, but here, it really feels like mild Spikeabuse.