S08:E25+26 - School Raze

[qwerE 96]

Looks like I've finallly finished watching all the 2-parters of the show. As I knew I won't be getting any episodes with this much significance in story for a while, I was quite hyped up for this episode. Sadly, although this episode had some cool moments and an okay story, I'll have to say that I was slightly disappointed at the episode.

This episode certainly wasn't bad. I do think the cause of my disappointment is due to my high expectations, but I'll still point out some things I think could've been done differently.

 

1. The episode was very dark and had a complex storyline for a FiM episode, but some parts of the story felt too lighthearted and didn't fit in well.

I usually enjoy FiM for its bright and non-serious stories, so I was quite surprised at how dark and serious the story was in this one. I didn't hate the change, though. Having a complex storyline for once did feel refreshing, so no problems there. However, some parts of the story like Pinkie Pie 'annoying' Tirek to make him help, didn't feel serious at all. Those kind of plots would've been fine in a normal episode, but given the tone of this particular episode, those moments felt awkward and out of place. I'm not trying to say that Pinkie shouldn't joke around in serious episodes - I actually liked a lot of her jokes here. What I didn't like, was that a joke scene served as an integral part of the story. Maybe it's me being too nitpicky, but some moments like those broke the serious mood of the story for me.

2. The ending was too abrupt and nonsensical.

If I recall correctly, there had been a lot of foreshadowing in this episode, and they were interesting to see. However, was there any indication that the tree of harmony was going to interfere? The student 6 do go though the secret corridor where they met tree of harmony, but I still don't think that's enough. The ending was too abrupt (while watching the show, I was surprised the it was almost over when nothing seemed to have progressed) and unsatisfying. Why couldn't the tree do anything earlier? In the end, it felt as if all the efforts from the mane 6 and the student 6 didn't matter. The tree is too convinient of a plot device, and just like the elements of harmony in previous seasons, prevents interesting stories to take place.

 

Besides, I didn't really like Cozy Glow. She was probably the most evil villain ever in FiM history - she didn't even have any reason behind her like Chrysalis or Starlight. Her strategies seemed too vile, being manipulative and deceiving, while pretending to be nice. No other villan has ever put on a show like she did (maybe except for Chrysalis, but she had her reasons).

Another factor that made her so unlikable was that she wasn't cool at all. Unlike other villains with powerful magical abilities and vicious looks, she looked lame and relied on other's powers. She is not the type of villain that appears in fantasy stories, and more of a villain that appears in criminal stories. It might be a personal preference, but I'd rather like a monster type antagonist with cool magical powers, like Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Starlight and such.

But isn't Tartarus a bit too much for a filly? I hoped Twi would teach her the real meaning of friendship, she even looked a bit concerned for Cozy in the end.

Edited January 2, 2019 by qwerE

[Senko 459]

Her plan also makes no sense I shall get rid of magic, get all the friends adn have all the power. The moment people realize you're the one responsible for taking away the magic you're going to have no friends and even if they did what relation does magic have to having friends?

[gingerninja666 487]

8 minutes ago, Senko said:

Her plan also makes no sense I shall get rid of magic, get all the friends adn have all the power. The moment people realize you're the one responsible for taking away the magic you're going to have no friends and even if they did what relation does magic have to having friends?

It's implied that she was using the crisis to come off like a hero.

Quote

Sandbar: Sorry I'm late. Cozy Glow gave our class tickets to a Sapphire Shores concert in Ponyville tonight.

Gallus: You get the feeling Cozy's trying too hard to make us like her?

Ocellus: Or maybe she just wants to help us keep our minds off of how scary it is that magic's disappearing.

Also, if no one had magic, then no one would be able to stand up to her empire of "friends." With the planes evened as it were, then the strongest would be whoever can convince the most people to be on their side.

Plus, it allowed her to trap the mane 6 in Tartarus.

[Midnight Solace 5,132]

23 hours ago, qwerE said:

But isn't Tartarus a bit too much for a filly? I hoped Twi would teach her the real meaning of friendship, she even looked a bit concerned for Cozy in the end.

I would definitely agree. After all we have heard about Tartarus and how all the evil spirits and demons go there, isn't sending Cozy Glow there a bit harsh?

[Senko 459]

22 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

It's implied that she was using the crisis to come off like a hero.

Also, if no one had magic, then no one would be able to stand up to her empire of "friends." With the planes evened as it were, then the strongest would be whoever can convince the most people to be on their side.

Plus, it allowed her to trap the mane 6 in Tartarus.

Except there was no plan to "save the magic" so outside of the students at Twilight's school no one's really going to know about her much less listen to her. With magic gone you still have the Equestrian army, adult ponies who are bigger and stronger, organizations that have more members. It just doesn't hold together for me. She assumes she'll have the most friends and the most power but the crusaders know the truth, that one moonwalking colt know's somethings going on, Neighsay know's the truth. Even if everything had gone off perfectly she'd not really be able to muster much power compared to even Mayor Mayor much less the larger Equestria and that's assuming all the other students did join her.

[Senko 459]

Tartarus seems to have gotten a fairly major downgrade from its first appearance though we have Tirek, Cozy and a bunch of dangerous animals not the most powerful and evil beings in Equestrian history.

[gingerninja666 487]

14 minutes ago, Senko said:

Except there was no plan to "save the magic" so outside of the students at Twilight's school no one's really going to know about her much less listen to her. With magic gone you still have the Equestrian army, adult ponies who are bigger and stronger, organizations that have more members. It just doesn't hold together for me. She assumes she'll have the most friends and the most power but the crusaders know the truth, that one moonwalking colt know's somethings going on, Neighsay know's the truth. Even if everything had gone off perfectly she'd not really be able to muster much power compared to even Mayor Mayor much less the larger Equestria and that's assuming all the other students did join her.

That's the point though. Cozy's a very persuasive pony. The assumption is she would be able to sweet talk and charm the majority of people into siding with her once the strongest magics were neutered and people became scared and confused. Especially if she had the backing of a respected institution like Princess Twilight's School of Friendship. Do you honestly think she couldn't play Mayor Mare like a fiddle if she wanted to? She wouldn't be a straight conqueror. She'd likely continue doing what she did with Twilight. Worm her way into being loved and trusted, then taking over.

Edited January 3, 2019 by gingerninja666

[CypherHoof 26,482]

8 minutes ago, Senko said:

Tartarus seems to have gotten a fairly major downgrade from its first appearance though we have Tirek, Cozy and a bunch of dangerous animals not the most powerful and evil beings in Equestrian history.

I have no idea why the animals are even there (except for plot convenience of course) - Flutters Stared the cockatrice into compliance, but anypony else is going to need smoked glasses at least; the chimera was a nusance to AJ, but not really a threat (and clearly she knew it would be there, hence going equipped) although I can see why it might have been a problem for anypony else (the everfree largely has more reasons to be afraid of the mane 6 than they have of it, but of course that isn't true of ponies generally)

Tirek we know is there, and as far as I can tell, there isn't really any other powerful and evil being they have that CAN be locked up there (smokebutt got smashed to pieces, cheesebutt is still on the loose (and presumably could just change to something that could squeeze easily out of a cage), and even if Discord wasn't reformed, Tartarus isn't really going to hold them.  There was (briefly) the Pony of Shadows, but they got pushed back into the void.  Stormy went the same way as smokebutt, so that's the lot for more recent bad guys other than Crazy Glow of course.

Given equestria's practice of reformation rather than imprisonment, it would seem reasonable that Tartarus is more there to act as a threat to potential evildooers than an actual working prison for them.

[Senko 459]

24 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

That's the point though. Cozy's a very persuasive pony. The assumption is she would be able to sweet talk and charm the majority of people into siding with her once the strongest magics were neutered and people became scared and confused. Especially if she had the backing of a respected institution like Princess Twilight's School of Friendship. Do you honestly think she couldn't play Mayor Mare like a fiddle if she wanted to? She wouldn't be a straight conqueror. She'd likely continue doing what she did with Twilight. Worm her way into being loved and trusted, then taking over.

Perhaps I find it hard to belive she'd be believed especially since she'd have to keep dodging around what happened to Twilight, Starlight and the rest especially since her plan didn't go off properly and Neighsay told Celestia what she was up too.

 

2 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

I have no idea why the animals are even there (except for plot convenience of course) - Flutters Stared the cockatrice into compliance, but anypony else is going to need smoked glasses at least; the chimera was a nusance to AJ, but not really a threat (and clearly she knew it would be there, hence going equipped) although I can see why it might have been a problem for anypony else (the everfree largely has more reasons to be afraid of the mane 6 than they have of it, but of course that isn't true of ponies generally)

Tirek we know is there, and as far as I can tell, there isn't really any other powerful and evil being they have that CAN be locked up there (smokebutt got smashed to pieces, cheesebutt is still on the loose (and presumably could just change to something that could squeeze easily out of a cage), and even if Discord wasn't reformed, Tartarus isn't really going to hold them.  There was (briefly) the Pony of Shadows, but they got pushed back into the void.  Stormy went the same way as smokebutt, so that's the lot for more recent bad guys other than Crazy Glow of course.

Given equestria's practice of reformation rather than imprisonment, it would seem reasonable that Tartarus is more there to act as a threat to potential evildooers than an actual working prison for them.

Perhaps but we do see other figures in its first appearance that just seem to have disapared.

[Senko 459]

2 minutes ago, Bas said:

Who is smokebutt?

Cozy Glow is a fantastic villain for me because she is just so adorable, cute and innocent. No super powers. Just good old manipulating. Really reminds me to some disney "villains", lol.

From the context I'd guess they're referring to Sombra and using canon show episodes not the comics where he gets resurected and also redeemed.

[CypherHoof 26,482]

11 minutes ago, Senko said:

Perhaps I find it hard to belive she'd be believed especially since she'd have to keep dodging around what happened to Twilight, Starlight and the rest especially since her plan didn't go off properly and Neighsay told Celestia what she was up too.

 

Perhaps but we do see other figures in its first appearance that just seem to have disapared.

Maybe they escaped at the same time as Tirek, but are keeping their heads down so they aren't rounded up and stuck back in there?

[gingerninja666 487]

25 minutes ago, Senko said:

Perhaps I find it hard to belive she'd be believed especially since she'd have to keep dodging around what happened to Twilight, Starlight and the rest especially since her plan didn't go off properly and Neighsay told Celestia what she was up too.

 

Perhaps but we do see other figures in its first appearance that just seem to have disapared.

Oh, once Neighsay got to Celestia her plan was screwed, but that wasn't what she was originally aiming for.

She actually wouldn't need to dance around Twilight. Twilight (and Starlight according to Cozy) chose to go off and inspect Tartarus of their own free wills, but ended up becoming trapped inside because they lacked magic. It's tragic, but it'd be a stretch for anyone to blame Cozy for it. Especially since Twilight never mentioned where she got the idea that the threat might be tirek.

[Sparklefan1234 169,813]

I still don't understand Cozy Glow's reasoning behind her plan.

[Regent 77]

I question the idea of putting Cozy in Tartarus. I also wonder how the residents are fed and kept clean. There has to be a staff, yet there were none to be seen in the show. Perhaps the location is magical, and so long as you're there you don't need anything? In any case, Cozy is really young - normally I dislike that so many villains are reformed, but here is a situation where that'd be appropriate. Maybe that's a job for Starlight Glimmer.

> It's tragic, but it'd be a stretch for anyone to blame Cozy for it.

Cozy packed the magic key for them, and it conveniently imploded after use. Her intent was for Starlight to go along, but she had to make new plans when it was decided that Starlight would stay and run the school. Obviously, she wanted them to become trapped there.

[gingerninja666 487]

8 hours ago, Regent said:

Cozy packed the magic key for them, and it conveniently imploded after use. Her intent was for Starlight to go along, but she had to make new plans when it was decided that Starlight would stay and run the school. Obviously, she wanted them to become trapped there.

But who actually knew of these things? If the mane 6 didn't tell anyone about the magic key that conveniently exploded, or that it was Cozy who pointed them towards Tartarus, then where's the trail one could follow back to Cozy?

[Partialgeek514 5,011]

I just rewatched this finale. It's getting me more hyped for Season 9!  I just wish the army could have been used more, instead of just to arrest Cozy. Maybe next season? 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

Curious to see how this ties into Season 9.

[CypherHoof 26,482]

7 minutes ago, TheAnimationFanatic said:

Curious to see how this ties into Season 9.

Could be a redemption arc, could be she has been feeding hints to the S9 nemesis, could be both

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

Just now, CypherHoof said:

Could be a redemption arc, could be she has been feeding hints to the S9 nemesis, could be both

But why?

[CypherHoof 26,482]

5 minutes ago, TheAnimationFanatic said:

But why??

Because S9 is the wrapup season and she is a loose end?

[Yfus 28]

I think that Young Six will become Bearers of Harmony, when Mane 6 will be too busy to keep Equestria safe.  They now have to run a school and many other stuff...

[bigbertha 414]

Cozy Glow's plan makes no sense. Making friends does not equal power. It's only Twilight's group of friends (and the student six) that has power because they're connected to the elements. I don't see how Cozy has any threat because after taking of Twilight's school, what power does she have? She has no plans on how she could take out Celestia or Luna so I just can't take her seriously as an antagonist.

Pretty much the entire first part is also really bad since it's been painfully obvious that Cozy is evil, yet the episode builds it up like the audience isn't supposed to know and her being revealed as evil is a huge reveal. And Starlight getting locked up by Cozy is ridiculous. Even considering Starlight has no magic and Cozy has the element of surprise, Starlight is bigger than Cozy. In general, Cozy's plan actually working is insanely contrived. You're saying that none of the other students than the student six find Starlight's note suspicious. And how is Cozy able to convince the other students that the student six are wrong about the note by appealing to pony-centrism? Do the other students actually think that ponies can't be scheming and evil? It's incredibly unbelievable that not one other student other than the student six ever find Cozy to be suspicious. But of course, if this episode made sense, Cozy wouldn't be able to do anything. 

As for the subplot in Tartarus, it's pointless. I assume it's there to convince the audience that the mane six serve a point, but they don't they don't. They serve as much of a point as Starlight, except the episode doesn't give an entire subplot to Starlight. The jokes aren't funny and the way they get out makes no sense. The animals lost all their magic already. And even if they have magic, the amount that they're still shown to have is ridiculous.

There are other issues too. The ending is anti-climactic, the CMC get shoved in a closet instead of doing anything, the student six still aren't interesting, and Neighsay's arc is really basic. First he's racist. Then he learns that being racist is bad.

I can't think of anything good here. Everything about this episode is so contrived and badly done. 

Score: 0/10

[Will Guide 21,360]

54 minutes ago, bigbertha said:

.

There are other issues too. The ending is anti-climactic, the CMC get shoved in a closet instead of doing anything, the student six still aren't interesting, and Neighsay's arc is really basic. First he's racist. Then he learns that being racist is bad.

I can't think of anything good here. Everything about this episode is so contrived and badly done. 

Score: 0/10

You're wrong about the CMC not doing anything. They DISTRACTED Cozy Glow, while the other student 6 went to help Neighsay. It was small, but their single action of distraction set in motion our heroes' victory. Without the CMC help, Cozy would have won. You don't have to do something big to be heroic and the CMC didn't do it for recognition. They did it to help their friend, which is far more important than the scale of their help

And Neighsay wasn't being racist without good reason. In the past, Changelings invaded twice, dragons and Yaks threaten to go to war with Ponies, one Griffin left Rainbow Dash at the bottom of a chasm she couldn't fly out of, and the Queen of the Hippogriffs refused to help the ponies while hiding from the Storm King. All this gave him good reason not to trust the non-ponies and in his mind, he believed non ponies could destroy Equestria. Which is why he never suspected Cozy Glow of being evil until it was too late. It wasn't a non-pony who would destroy Equestria as we know it, it was a power-hungry little kid. 

When the students saved him, he realized that he was wrong, and like good people, the student 6 forgive him when he owed up to his misguided racist views of others. He truly was thinking about what's best for Equestria and has just simply been under a false belief that non-ponies are not to be trusted.

[Rushing cash 836]

A lot happened in these episodes and it did not feel rushed. Cozy unlike all the other major villains, she lacks powerful magic, she causes all this mess with her knowledge and manipulative skills. So far she and her backstory remains a mystery, I guess we will learn more about her in season 9. Before watching this episode I though that cozy worked for neighsey, so the fact that she worked with tirek surprised me, even if I knew tirek will appear here.

Tirek on the other hand was more goofy here than I would have liked, and how did he managed to write cozy glow from tartarus? There were some plot holes but overall it was an enjoyable episode and I am looking forward to see cozy's interaction with tirek next season. In addition, it was nice to see the cmc in the finale even if they did not do a lot.   8\10  

[Allen 1,387]

Cozy Glow is a scheme for this one. They anticipated the disappearance of magic in Equestria. We can't defend Equestria without magic! At the last part of the eighth season finale, the Equestrian magic is back thanks to the Young Six who restored all Equestrian magic and released Starlight Glimmer from there! Cozy Glow is sent to Tartarus for doing something schemy with all of Equestrian magic.

I will say this is a great episode and the season finale too!