S02:E21 - Dragon Quest

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

kinda cool episode. but the dragons were dicks

[twiia 1,843]

Meh, but was a bit too stereotypical.

[Thrond 3,263]

...am I the only person who really likes this one? Not so into the mane six laughing at Spike's concerns, and the exact phrasing of the moral could be better, but as with all Spike episodes, I like how it explores his anxieties. Compared to "Owl's Well That Ends Well" from season 1, this concern's a little less childish, if also somewhat less poignant. Moreover, I find the dragons to be a lot of fun, and the characterization of Rarity and Rainbow Dash in particular really drives home how far they've come. Rainbow Dash confessing that she's done "plenty of nutty things"? Rarity being willing to get her hooves dirty? They've grown a lot since the pilot, and this is one of the clearest demonstrations of what might be my two favourite character arcs in the whole show. I enjoy how much synergy Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash have here, as you wouldn't necessarily expect these three to complement each other so well, but they get along surprisingly well. I love this one. 

 

Don't see why people get so upset with Spike being pushed around; it's just cartoon slapstick. 

[Thrond 3,263]

Yeah, no, still really dig this one. Admittedly the show's treatment of dragons does get it into trouble - somehow it has to balance "they talk and think just like ponies can" with "they're still big and scary and rude," but having Spike go to the equivalent of a dragon fraternity mitigates that somewhat. The show simply isn't a serious enough piece of fantasy in order to really flesh out the dragon culture, and most of its attempts to flesh out any non-pony culture come across as somewhat shallow, but that's not really what "Dragon Quest" is about. Here, Spike's question of what "being a dragon" means is more of a catalyst than what the show's actually interested in, as the idea here is that Spike's heritage doesn't matter half as much as the people he grew up with and those he's close to. Having the frat bros stand in for dragons at large is questionable, but (unlike, say, griffons in "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone") the episode never really paints dragon culture overall as "wrong." The moral phrasing, that the ponies taught Spike to be "kind, moral, and true," might be interpreted as such, but I think the real heart of that is that ponies were able to infuse him with those values which he cherishes, even though they're not of the same species as him. The dragon frat was the closest Spike could come to relating to any dragons, but, aside from socializing with a fraternity not being the best idea for a kid like him, the conflict between that frat culture and his own values reminded him of how much growing up among ponies has shaped him, and how important the mane six especially are to him personally. He discovered that what "being a dragon" means doesn't really matter, because ultimately ponies are the most important relationships in his life, and there's nothing wrong with that. 

 

Also, can I just comment on how Rarity and Rainbow Dash seem to get along really well every time they share an episode? For characters whose first shared spotlight ("Sonic Rainboom") had them at odds with each other, and who seem like they should have such clashing personalities, they sure do seem to be on good terms most of the time they interact. Methinks they should have more episodes together. 

 

If I have a problem here, it's that the episode never really admonishes the mane six for mocking Spike at the start, but I think Twilight's decision to support him leaving at all sorta makes up for that. I mean, they continue to follow him because they're worried for his safety, but they also do come to understand the seriousness and legitimacy of his concerns, as is shown by the scene in Twilight's library. 

 

Score:

Entertainment: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Theme: 9/10

Story: 8/10

Overall: 88/100

Edited July 30, 2017 by AlexanderThrond

[dreamstream 235]

I really enjoyed this episode. I especially enjoyed how in the end Spike still doesn't know how he came to be, and still the only thing he knows is that he was given to Twilight Sparkle as an egg. The mystery is still there but Spike is content with not knowing.

Note: I just finished Season 3 so I don't know if he does figure out in the later seasons.

In my fanfic I show how Spike ended up in the hooves of The School For Gifted Unicorns. I may not have the most fantastic drawing skills, but I am able to do enough to get to the point.

 

 

The Everfree dragon in the Season 1:24 "Owl's well that ends well" is Spike's father!

 

 

 

 

:ninja:

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I liked this Episode, even though i dont like it all that much, that all Dragons are portrayed as Douchebags, but alright. From the Designs, i liked the White Dragon with the Pink Eyes the most.

[Meushell 52]

On 1/8/2018 at 12:49 PM, Nanotek said:

I liked this Episode, even though i dont like it all that much, that all Dragons are portrayed as Douchebags, but alright. From the Designs, i liked the White Dragon with the Pink Eyes the most.

I didn’t like that either. I think (hope) Spike just joined the wrong crowd though. Better dragons would avoid those creeps.

Not that Spike should have risked it, but would smashing a phoenix egg kill it? It seems like the baby and egg would just reform.

I don’t like Spike taking the egg home. He just kidnapped someone’s baby. I know posts above have given reason for his actions, but I have not seen a reason that works for me. 

[bigbertha 414]

What a disaster. Apparently we should all be girls because boys suck. How was this episode made? The only things keeping this from a 0 are a few good gags.

This is the only episode of the first 3 seasons that I hate.

Score: 1/10

[bigbertha 414]

I can see where this episode is coming from. It wants to do a story about falling in with the wrong crowd. That's fine. The issue is that it has some unfortunate implications. The mane six constantly generalize dragons and while we can see adult dragons during the migration that don't act like the teenage dragons, it's never acknowledged outside of dragons in the background. The mane six aren't called out for generalizing dragons and Spike's only encounter with dragons seems to have made him believe that all dragons are bad. This could've easily been fixed by an adult dragon finding out that the teenage dragons were acting stupid and stopping them. Then not only would the ending not be anticlimactic, but it would also remove the implications. The ponies would realize that not all dragons are terrible and the message of not falling in with the wrong crowd would still come across. 

Even aside from the message, this is a boring episode. It takes a generic story and doesn't do much with it. And Rarity is a little out of character here, but it's not one of the bigger problems.

Despite all of this, there are some good things here. I like some of the jokes and I like the set up. It's just that the rest of the episode doesn't take advantage of the set up.

Score: 2/10

Edited January 6, 2019 by bigbertha

[Lucky Bolt 35,063]

This was an okay episode. 6/10

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

I absolutely loved the premise.  Spike episodes often have a good premise, but tend to fall short on execution.  This one was no exception.  I've always liked the idea of Spike trying to discover more about his identity and his species, but I just felt like the the way it turned out was rather underwhelming.  I mean, I guess the moral was good, but... idk... I think I would have personally liked it more if he met some wise, mature dragons that actually taught him something useful about himself and their culture.  I guess I was hoping for some good dragon lore expansion, which we finally got with Ember and Smolder.  So... kinda meh episode.

[Octavian 5,421]

This an ep that is definitely better on the rewatch. When I first saw it I wasn't a fan of the dragon bit. 

Now though, dropping in and out, I love certain bits of the ep. The pheonixes followed by the egg smashing peer pressure bit are lovely :3

[Astralshy 26,692]

The basic idea of this episode is a really great one: Spike going on a journey to find other dragons and learn more about them and himself.

But something in this episodes makes me not like it so much. Still don't know what it is. This episode has some really good moments. I don't like Garble, but I don't think it's just him, because later episode with him I like quite more than this one. But it's still a good episode, and someone which should be watched at least once because introducing some character which will reappear and we learn more about dragons.

I almost forgot this one here: If I remember aynthing from this episode, it's him

[CoconutCake 360]

The ponies dressing up as the dragon made it a lot funnier, but the story was pretty good as well. It's not one of my favorite episodes, but it has just enough goodness in it to make it worth the watch! I never knew dragons could be so snobby, though.

[Cash In 22,318]

I like this episode more than most. While I will agree that Garble and his pals are awfully generic, I saw it more as their group just being obnoxious. I didn't feel like it was generalising all dragons as jerks.

I think this episode was an interesting look at the world outside Equestria. While the Dragon Lands are more dull from a visual standpoint, I welcome the change of pace. I see more as a reflection of Spike stepping out of his comfort zone.

I think the message of peer pressure is a good one. In that sense, I enjoyed the idea of Spike trying to find himself and getting mixed up with the wrong crowd in the process. I think it's an interesting thing to touch on.

I enjoyed this. One of my favourite Spike episodes.

(Also, I loved the dragon costume. :p)

[Prospekt 11,018]

Some of the dragons are annoying, it's a fun episode though. This is one of the first episodes in the series (come to think of it I think it's the first) that gives us a look at the world outside of Equestria. That makes it an important stepping stone in the grand scheme of things, because eventually the writers engaged in more of this kind of worldbuilding. 

The moral of the episode is a strong one. Spike's found family influences him and it doesn't really matter if dragons tend to be more prideful, abrasive, or downright obnoxious at times. Just because there are bad apples doesn't mean that every other dragon is going to be the same way.

[Hadrien 950]

This episode is fine, I think a lot of Spike's character arc is about him finding himself and coming to term with being a pony-raised Dragon. Yeah, the guy is still a kid so it makes sense, and this episode is just him trying to find out more about it'S like being a dragon, and not liking it. The Phoenix makes a return, and Garble makes his first appearance. He's a douchebag and a bully, but that goes wihtout saying for most dragons, so there's not much to it.

Honestly, not much to add to this, it's a fine episode. 6-0.5/10, I hate Garble.

[Antiyonder 1,153]

YouTube upload of the episode: