The overuse of Hearths Warming Eve

[Sparklefan1234 184,954]

I love Christmas episodes but don't you think the ponies celebrate Hearths Warming *way* too often?

Most shows barely make one Winter holiday episode & FiM has FOUR of them.

1. Hearths Warming Eve     (Season 2)
2. Hearth Breakers              (Season 5)
3. A Hearths Warming Tail  (Season 6)
4. Hearths Warming Club  (Season 8)

Edited August 6, 2018 by Sparklefan1234

[Twilight Luna 31,499]

Its way too many in my opinion. All the other holidays/events are getting kicked to the curb.  I demand another Nightmare Night episode 

Edited August 6, 2018 by Twilight Luna

[Tacodidra 61,933]

As long as the episodes are good, I don't mind it. I think all four are different enough from each other not to feel like rehashes. Though I wouldn't mind having more episodes on other holidays.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

At least these stories are not the same.

'What!? Another Christmas episode?!'. That what i think when i heard about this episode.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

A lot of shows that have been around long enough will do one every year. So it's really not that weird. That said...

1 hour ago, Twilight Luna said:

Its way too many in my opinion. All the other holidays/events are getting kicked to the curb.  I demand another Nightmare Night episode 

Yeah, we need another one, with Luna having a major part in it. I want to see how she's adapted to life on a more personal level, and how her relationship with her subjects has changed overtime, and I think another Nightmare Night episode with her would be a great way to do it.

[Guest]

I, for one, am glad that there are so many Hearth's Warming Eve episodes since those tend to become my favorites. That said, I don't think it's too much at all. 

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

I hope for an Nightmare Night episode next season.

[Senko 459]

Yes I do by putting one in 6 and 8 they mucked up my 1 year per 2 seasons theory leaving me with 1 extra hearth's warming to account for so its back to the drawing board in working out the number of years in Equestria that have passed.

That aside I would prefer another holiday be shown like winter wrap up, chucklelot, nightmare night just for variety. Maybe a spring one as winter wrap up is more end of winter than begining of spring.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

5 hours ago, Senko said:

Yes I do by putting one in 6 and 8 they mucked up my 1 year per 2 seasons theory leaving me with 1 extra hearth's warming to account for so its back to the drawing board in working out the number of years in Equestria that have passed.

That aside I would prefer another holiday be shown like winter wrap up, chucklelot, nightmare night just for variety. Maybe a spring one as winter wrap up is more end of winter than begining of spring.

Interestingly I've noticed an almost complete lack of MLP Easter/Spring merchandise, which surprised me. Christmas saw a ton, as did Valentine's Day.

[Thrond 3,272]

I’d like to see more from other holidays, but I think part of the thing with Hearth’s Warming/Christmas is that its themes of family and bonding and goodwill are particularly compatible with the show’s themes of friendship. Halloween tends to be more superficial, and other holidays don’t have the same pull.

[Hierok 11,833]

I like them if they are well done, but I would definitly cheer for some other holidays also. 

[Sparklefan1234 184,954]

5 minutes ago, H'rok said:

I like them if they are well done, but I would definitly cheer for some other holidays also. 

 

I agree.

Hearths Warming is amazing but there have to be some other holidays in Equestria, too.

[Jeric 46,890]

No, becauae each one deepens the lore more than other holiday episodes. HWE is merely a framing device to explore Pony history, art, and culture. This last one expanded that to include other races. Since none of them have been repetitive in this, I'm fine with them using this holiday as much as they have. 

Remember the episodes are not actually about the holiday itself. It's about a wider theme. 

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

42 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I’d like to see more from other holidays, but I think part of the thing with Hearth’s Warming/Christmas is that its themes of family and bonding and goodwill are particularly compatible with the show’s themes of friendship. Halloween tends to be more superficial, and other holidays don’t have the same pull.

It's a pity that Nightmare Night didn't get more development than it did. Hearth's Warming is like a colorful blend of traditions and stories from numerous cultures that became something very unique. In spite of Luna apparently being the origin of the Nightmare Night, it's much more of a straight carbon copy of Halloween. Hearth's Warming even touches on the history of Halloween more; an annual party that in part celebrates the banishment of the Wendigos sort of reminds me of how Halloween involved wearing costumes and making scary lanterns to keep evil spirits from returning to Earth (though to be fair, if you go back in time far enough, Yule & All Hallows Eve were practically the same holiday). With Luna's return, Nightmare Night lost any spiritual relevance it previously had, and even then it seemed like nopony really believed in the Mare in the Moon story and just saw it as silly fun.

Edited August 6, 2018 by bornAgainEquestrian

[Jeric 46,890]

40 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I’d like to see more from other holidays, but I think part of the thing with Hearth’s Warming/Christmas is that its themes of family and bonding and goodwill are particularly compatible with the show’s themes of friendship. Halloween tends to be more superficial, and other holidays don’t have the same pull.

Nightmare Night, from a writing perspective, is a tad trickier to write and not make it a hollow excuse to see Ponies in costumes. The first one was great because it explored Luna and the holiday initially. You see with the second one where they had to fill it with costume humor and expand on previously trod on messages to get it to work. 

It's too easy to fall into the trap of Nightmare Night as a glorified DA fan art slideshow. I think this is why HWE works better in general for story telling ... at least expanding the lore. NMN was a more or less holiday created surrounding a resolved event in the show, so now it just feels like Pony Halloween. 

5 minutes ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

With Luna's return, Nightmare Night lost any spiritual relevance it previously had, and even then it seemed like nopony really believed in the Mare in the Moon story and just saw it as silly fun.

Yeah this is one of the main issues that the writers would have in using NMN is a cool framing device for something more than 'Ponies in costume'.

[Thrond 3,272]

4 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Nightmare Night, from a writing perspective, is a tad trickier to write and not make it a hollow excuse to see Ponies in costumes. The first one was great because it explored Luna and the holiday initially. You see with the second one where they had to fill it with costume humor and expand on previously trod on messages to get it to work. 

It's too easy to fall into the trap of Nightmare Night as a glorified DA fan art slideshow. I think this is why HWE works better in general for story telling ... at least expanding the lore. NMN was a more or less holiday created surrounding a resolved event in the show, so now it just feels like Pony Halloween. 

Yeah this is one of the main issues that the writers would have in using NMN is a cool framing device for something more than 'Ponies in costume'.

The season 5 Nightmares Night episode got some mileage out of a moral about fear, even if it was a fairly well-trod one, but Hallowern doesn’t lend itself to much which isn’t related to either fear or costumes. I’m not that bothered by how straightforward a Halloween parallel Nightmare Night is, but given its history it could be expanded if ponies oriented it around Luna and her return, instead of forcing her to embrace the Nightmare persona.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

2 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

The season 5 Nightmares Night episode got some mileage out of a moral about fear, even if it was a fairly well-trod one, but Hallowern doesn’t lend itself to much which isn’t related to either fear or costumes. I’m not that bothered by how straightforward a Halloween parallel Nightmare Night is, but given its history it could be expanded if ponies oriented it around Luna and her return, instead of forcing her to embrace the Nightmare persona.

It kind of fits right in with her talent though; teaching fillies how to deal and even have fun with fear in a safe, simulated setting. It probably makes her dream guardian job a lot easier.

[Thrond 3,272]

3 minutes ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

It kind of fits right in with her talent though; teaching fillies how to deal and even have fun with fear in a safe, simulated setting. It probably makes her dream guardian job a lot easier.

I feel this could be done without forcing Luna to indulge this constant reminder of her darkest hour.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Well the thing about Hearth's Warming episodes is that it tells us whether or not a year has gone by since the previous episode, and it's been the 3 years since the Cake twins were born, so they need to at least grow some eyes by now!

Also, Hearth's Warming Club broke the timeline a bit. I'll make a separate post about that.

[ggg-2 3,557]

There's a 5th one coming up taking place after season 8 so.....Yeah, way overdone.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

I think that the Hearth's Warming theme is used as the setting of each episode to tell distinctive stories, because of that it doesn't seem to be an overused theme. Something that cannot be said about Flim and Flam episodes.

[gingerninja666 487]

I feel like they've all been different enough and given us something new enough to where I don't mind it.

It gave us proper characterization for the rest of the Pies.

It gave us a bunch of really good songs.

It fleshed out the Student 6 and gave us some information about each of their cultures.

[Goat-kun 2,532]

Love Christmas. Hate Christmas episodes. They feel like high school sex ed classes. The problem with pony holidays is that they are all way too connected to certain Equestrian individuals, which basically turns them all into Equestrian national holidays. There's no place for magic of seasons. The best you'll ever get is our glorious writers baiting you with windigos for the one last time before they shut it all down.

 

P.S: Grogar should hijack Nightmare Night.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I feel this could be done without forcing Luna to indulge this constant reminder of her darkest hour.

That would be a pretty interesting episode, if she voiced that she didn't want to "be" that anymore. It'd be like a very clever take on some of the sociopolitical problems that Halloween has dealt with in recent years with offensive costumes and such. It'd be cool if they evolved the holiday somehow so Luna isn't the butt of the joke. Of course, one thing that always irked me is that Celestia never did something about this in the first place. I was thinking it immediately from S1:E2, knowing how saddened Luna was that her beautiful nights were never appreciated because everypony was in bed, I would've declared a "Moon Festival" holiday for that very purpose. Either plan for a night where the ponies stay out (not something fear-based like Nightmare Night), or keep the sun down during the normal daylight hours. Also, eclipse festivals, because those are truly epic.

Edited August 6, 2018 by bornAgainEquestrian

[TBD 17,276]

I don't mind it for almost every seasons...it feels traditional. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by TBD