S08:E21 - A Rockhoof and a Hard Place

[Dark Qiviut 22,457]

  On 2018-08-24 at 11:51 PM, Theanimationfanatic said:

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I like how they portrayed his struggle as him genuinely feeling out of place with his contemporary environment, rather than portraying him as an idiot.

 

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That's one of the biggest strengths of this episode. Rockhoof tries every single time to adapt, and he puts a great deal of effort to make it work. His failures come from inexperience, naivety, or inability to adapt, so we sympathize for him.

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Also…

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This is one of the darkest episodes of the series. Think about it. He's so embarrassed by his inability to adapt to modern times that he feels useless and unable to live his life to the fullest. Being cast into stone in a museum was an allegory of committing suicide, and the episode doesn't tiptoe around that at all. These implications are intentional, further evident by the characters' reactions. Even heroes and legends feel vulnerable, and the tabloids we read of celebrities fighting and struggling with addiction or mental illness parallels his experiences so rawly. He feels useless, and the episode treats it with the seriousness it rightfully deserves.

Yona's new idolization of him isn't far-fetched. She understands what he's thinking and feeling. She's in school in Equestria, where no one looks like her or shares her interests. Creating friends and bonding with her eases her vulnerability and makes her feel safe. His ability to be strong, brave, and persevere inspired countless individuals, including Yona, who has such an innocent, childlike personality. Their chemistry and her admiration are incredibly genuine, and the fact it's her standing up for him and convincing everyone in the school to gather around and listen to his stories at maybe the lowest moment of his life makes him realize at just that moment he means so much to them.

 

[RulesofRarity 493]

Thoughts on the episode. 

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I enjoyed the episode, I really felt bad for Rockhoof. With him wanting a statue being a clear allegory for suicide. I especially liked his connection with Yona. However, it makes me wonder they didn’t send him to live with the Yaks. 

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by RulesofRarity

[Dynamo Pad 11,483]

I found this episode to be pretty awesome.

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It's great seeing another of the Pillars of Old Equestria again. It was sad to see Rockhoof not being able to fit in to modern times, but I liked how he attempted to fit in. I liked how Twilight and the others tried multiple ideas on how to make Rockhoof fit in with the modern times. It felt like it was a callback to the episode, "The Faults in Our Cutie Marks," but it still felt original. I liked how we also get to see the other Pillars and where they have been since their time in the season 7 finale. I like how Flash Magnus is helping with the royal guard in Canterlot. It makes me wonder if they'll have some relevance in the future, since a majority of people say that the guards don't do that much. I like how Mistmane was given the role of the Crystal Landscaper. I would have expected her to go back to her old home, but I felt the Crystal Empire made sense. Mistmane could find the beauty in crystal gems to become crystal flowers. When she said that she knew where she belonged in her heart, I felt like she would fit well as a crystal pony. I felt disheartened that they didn't get to show Stygian, but it's nice to know that he's an author in writing books. I even liked how Rockhoof tried working with the Hippogriffs. I liked how they had a connection of not being sure of how to fit in. When Rockhoof told Twilight about being turned to stone, I was honestly surprised. I liked how Yona wanted to tell Rockhoof that she could understand his predicament and how she was able to fit in. It was nice to see that Rockhoof didn't give up and was picked to be a teller of tales. All in all, this episode was pretty enjoyable and it was great to see the other pillars again. The comedy was pretty funny and I really liked the moral. I look forward to seeing what's next throughout the rest of this season. 

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Dynamo Pad

[Will Guide 21,364]

  On 2018-08-25 at 6:59 AM, Dark Qiviut said:

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That's one of the biggest strengths of this episode. Rockhoof tries every single time to adapt, and he puts a great deal of effort to make it work. His failures come from inexperience, naivety, or inability to adapt, so we sympathize for him.

 

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Also…

  Reveal hidden contents

This is one of the darkest episodes of the series. Think about it. He's so embarrassed by his inability to adapt to modern times that he feels useless and unable to live his life to the fullest. Being cast into stone in a museum was an allegory of committing suicide, and the episode doesn't tiptoe around that at all. These implications are intentional, further evident by the characters' reactions. Even heroes and legends feel vulnerable, and the tabloids we read of celebrities fighting and struggling with addiction or mental illness parallels his experiences so rawly. He feels useless, and the episode treats it with the seriousness it rightfully deserves.

Yona's new idolization of him isn't far-fetched. She understands what he's thinking and feeling. She's in school in Equestria, where no one looks like her or shares her interests. Creating friends and bonding with her eases her vulnerability and makes her feel safe. His ability to be strong, brave, and persevere inspired countless individuals, including Yona, who has such an innocent, childlike personality. Their chemistry and her admiration are incredibly genuine, and the fact it's her standing up for him and convincing everyone in the school to gather around and listen to his stories at maybe the lowest moment of his life makes him realize at just that moment he means so much to them.

 

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Loyal Defender told me he was shocked when 

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Rockhoof wanted to be a statue in a museum. Luckily, we both agreed that Yona admiring him the most was just what he needed. I wonder how long it will be before the fan art of Rockhoof mentoring Yona comes flooding in. 

 

[MangoFoalix 25,038]

I have added a YouTube link for easy access to watch the episode.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

*Watching Rockhoof and a Hard Place*

00:00 - 05:00

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 Rockhoof turned out to be most destructive history teacher of the entire school. You will pay a lot of money for his lessons because he will smash everything. The tax cannot handle this... that guy is too expensive for a history class.

Still better teacher than Discord, Iron Will, Cranky, and the tree, I will never hire those guys even they do it for free. I want more ancient teachers like this, give me more.

 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

*Watching Rockhoof and a Hard Place*

05:00 - 17:00

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OMG, poor Rockhoof, he cant find his place in this modern world anymore, that guy rather become a stone so he can be a legendary figure that everyone can look up to than let his image become worse and worse overtime. ;-;

If this ep is from other series, it means a hero want to suicide so he can keep his image forever, like an another form of immortality.

 

[Oleks 1,993]

Although the episode itself is quite good, I didn’t find it completely satisfying. Here’s why.

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It has the same problem as Season 7 finale – too many interesting characters are given to little screen time and development. This is the issue with the Pillars, IMO. I’d like to see an episode about each of them finding their place in the present Equestria, and what I get – one Star Swirl’s episode and one Rockhoof’s episode with a “by the way, that’s what happened to the rest of them” side note. Maybe I’m asking for too much, but I’d rather watch something like this than a bunch of “old friends fighting” episodes that felt like season 1.

Also, the suicide theme is strong in this one – MLP tackles another tough topic. And they did a good job with it. Some minor notes: Yona gets more and more adorable with every episode; the crystal garden is among the best visuals the show has ever provided; the number of VAs who worked on this episode is impressive; Bulk Bicep’s scream made me laugh really hard; and imagine parents deciding to name their daughter “Fossil” – I really hope it’s a surname.

 

[Castle Bleck 19,386]

On a non-Rockhoof-related note...

 

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Anyone else think Somnambula learned her new ASMR from Tree Hugger?

Edited August 25, 2018 by A.V.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

*Watching Rockhoof and a Hard Place*

20:00

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OMG, even Yona and everyone came to cheer Rockhoof, he still be 'thanks for cheering me up mate, but I still want to turn into stone, bye'. It takes more 1 remaining minutes of the episode to finally convince him to stop. Even Twilight had to come up a new job for him, pulled from her butt.

*Finished Watching Rockhoof and a Hard Place

Thanks god, this ep ended in happy note. It would be really bad if this episode is from other series.

This ep is great, I give it a 9/10 but what the hell, show!? Am I supposed to watch this show for escapism?

[Goat-kun 2,530]

As a pointer to all you writers out there: the only people who will agree that warriors should be made useless are people who don't like them in the first place.

 

Go ahead. Tell them how obsolete they are.

 

... Then again, he is an earth pony

[MangoFoalix 25,038]

Wanted to leave something of not that even if you don't put your things in spoiler tags you won't be punished for not doing so. I just added that tidbit at the top to make it easier for myself to moderate the thread without spoiling the episode for myself.

[Lord Valtasar 12,701]

 

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let's start with this, i really like rockhoofs voice and manerisms

a strong episode, portraying the problem of fitting in, even having yona compare herself to him, in case someone missed the message that you don't have to be a timetraveler to have the same problems
seeing where the pillars end up was also nice to know, especially for those who like writing fanfics i think, and yona relating to a pony is something only rockhoof could provide, so i'm glad we got that, makes me wonder though, why didn't they sent him to the yaks when they were looking to find him jobs, he'd fit right in with them
finaly, him wanting to be turned to stone is the closest thing we'll get to suicide thoughts, and since it is a very serious problem i'm glad they toutched it even if evasively
overal a nice episode but not one of the greats for me at least i'd give it a 7/10

 

[Sparklefan1234 173,450]

Without giving anything away, I *really* enjoyed "A Rockhoof in a Hard Place". 

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

  On 2018-08-24 at 11:51 PM, Theanimationfanatic said:

  On 2018-08-24 at 11:51 PM, Theanimationfanatic said:

 

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While the "Fish Out of Water" Premise is a bit stock and basic, the execution is very humorous and it actually feels appropriate for a character like Rockhoof to be going through a crisis of faith like this. I like how they portrayed his struggle as him genuinely feeling out of place with his contemporary environment, rather than portraying him as an idiot. The Student Six were used very effectively here and they got some great lines (well, most of them). Also, great use of the other pillars (Stygian becoming a self-help author had me in stitches).

Also, I can't be the only one who sees Rockhoof asking Twilight to stone him a euphemism for killing him. Kind of dark, but that was just my interpretation.

 

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It's not the funniest or the most emotional episode

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I agree.

Edited August 25, 2018 by Buttonmash1973

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

What an awesome episode, I loved this one. Nonstop enjoyment for me. One of my favorites of 8B for sure.

Edited August 25, 2018 by RyanMahaffe

[MangoFoalix 25,038]

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Absolutely awesome episode. I really did enjoy it. Rockhoof reminds me a lot of Luna when she tried to fit into current pony society.

 

[gingerninja666 487]

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One of my favourite little details in this episode was the whole "stars shift over time" thing. Mainly because in stories that are about time travelers struggling to fit in with the modern day, normally they are at odds with society itself. People and culture and technology have left them behind. That happens here, but it's more than that. The very nature of the world has changed, even if it's in a small way. One of his most helpful skills has been rendered muted or even useless not through progress or anything like that. But because of time.

 

[Ganondox 899]

Missed the stream yesterday, but glad I saw it now. This episode got surprisingly dark at the end. Not quite suicide as they could unpetrify him, but still, that's a dark wish. It goes deeper than that though. Rockhoof's story is a story not just of disconnection, but structural unemployment, it reminds me of the coal miners in West Virginia (I think they should convert the mines to a museum and then the workers can become storytellers like Rockhoof, there is a lot of tourism potential in West Virginia, it's a beautiful state). People think depression is a young person's disease, but IIRC it's actually most prevalent along the elderly, and it's easy to see why in this episode. Not only are those who you loved gone, but people no longer need you like they used to. It's pretty heavy stuff. Then the ending was so sweet, Yona was great this episode. 

[Brainstorm 4,112]

I'm surprised to see the Pillars are fitting in with the world again. Even Stygian, finally getting the attention he deserved. You can't blame Rockhoof for having problems, can you? Maybe the Pillars will get back together soon.

I'm also glad that Rockhoof has become a Keeper of Tales. I was a little surprised when he tried a messager for Bulk Biceps, never thought I see some pony out strength Bulk.

It was also cool seeing Mount Aris Hippogriffs again, maybe they'll again soon.

It was also cool seeing Zecora again, even if it was for a moment.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,673]

Dang, I was actually rather impressed. Feels like it's been forever since I've seen characters struggle earnestly rather than fall into some plot-advancing drama.

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This is why one should let go of their pride. It makes people very rigid and unable to adapt. To think that he would sooner turn to stone and surrender his life than change. He just got lucky that Twilight figured something out on his behalf. Hah. Such is the magical land of Equestria, eh? Had it been real life, he more than likely would have been on his own. The outcome would indeed have been bleak.

Letting go of one's pride is just one piece of the puzzle but it's a critical one no less. It means you can burn off parts of you that doesn't work and grow anew -- grow into a new "you." The ego's biggest lie is that you die with it. Allow yourself to change, to be transformed and reshaped. Focus on your environment, observe its patterns, learn from it, build yourself into something that can overcome whatever it throws at you. You'll become a different person and the kind of person that's better prepared to thrive in the world than the previous one. Otherwise, you just might end up a stone relic that no longer has a place in the present. Just sayin'.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Querch

[Ganondox 899]

  On 2018-08-26 at 12:43 AM, Brainstorm said:

I'm surprised to see the Pillars are fitting in with the world again. Even Stygian, finally getting the attention he deserved. You can't blame Rockhoof for having problems, can you? Maybe the Pillars will get back together soon.

I'm also glad that Rockhoof has become a Keeper of Tales. I was a little surprised when he tried a messager for Bulk Biceps, never thought I see some pony out strength Bulk.

It was also cool seeing Mount Aris Hippogriffs again, maybe they'll again soon.

It was also cool seeing Zecora again, even if it was for a moment.

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Like all body builders, Bulk's muscles are all show, Rockhoof is someone who is actually strong in a practical way. 

[RDDash 19,207]

I figured that Yona is going to be number five in the voting

[Twilight Luna 31,437]

It was good to see the student six get some good lines in.
 

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Rockhoof: The time I was in the forest and came across an ursa major.

Sandbar: We're not doing that, right?

 

 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

Finally, season 8 has it's god-tier episode; the equivalent to Perfect Pear and Shadow Play from season 7, IMO. Who would've thought that Rockhoof would've made for such an interesting, thought-provoking, funny, and just all around enjoyable episode? Color me VERY impressed!