S09:E01+E02 - The Beginning of the End

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

So, instead of an amazing and badass fight between Sombra and Starlight (with Spike for the assist maybe), we get an entirely pointless fight between the main six and background ponies... sigh. Yeah, that’s about what I expected.

 

Still, other than that disappointment, really good premier. The trailers made it look like the student six were going to be involved as well, though, but it looks like that’s being saved for later in the season. Probably a good thing, considering how cluttered and rushed the premier was regardless.

 

9/10, probably my second favorite premiere.

[RDDash 19,169]

To be fair, I really enjoyed Sombra's performance. The man can dream and  he also went easy on them. Hasbro once again trolled us by making Sombra really interesting and charismatic character.

Um at first I really thought that mane 6 would have to make great choices by choosing to fight their own friends. Like Rainbow freezing in front of wonderbolt, but then seeing Fancy Pants charging into combat kind of ruined the moment for me. Do people actually cared about him? Did Rarity even mentioned him in the last couple of seasons?

I am so happy to see Cozy Glow again. 

[Princess_Bellalatanya 1,053]

just saw the season 9 premiere,sombra finally got a voice and the entire episode was well written

although mega huge threats to equestria are still out there. as long as the mane 6 are a united team they will succeed. we are stronger together,like the avengers in avengers in avengers assemble

frienship will always be magic and definitely will succeed

[Thrond 3,263]

Yeah, sure, why not. If you gotta have the shameless fan pandering, you might as well make it breezy and fast-paced and occasionally funny. This doesn't feel like My Little Pony to me at all - even the animation feels different - but it's better than most of this show's attempts to be epic, and I still prefer it to a lot of the previous few seasons' attempts to be deep. Hopefully this is kinda like the Avengers movies, in that it's the fun box of fan service you get through to watch the more interesting stuff. My only real complaint is that if they're gonna have action, they've really gotta make the camerawork more exciting. The way the show currently does it feels too static. Otherwise this is fine I guess. 

I'll admit, however, that I'm always down for poking fun at Twilight's freak outs. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by AlexanderThrond

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Wow, that was one packed opener for the season.

I liked the premise of the princesses retiring and Twilight's reaction was obvious in universe and out.

It intrigues me how Grogar was able to summon Tirek and Cozy from Tartarus. His speech and plan were too obvious, so it doesn't feel as great as the rest of the villains, but his role left on the premiere showed us that there's more to him. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

I think that they wanted to set many jokes across the episodes, but honestly the only three that worked for me were:

• Starlight mirroring Twilight about taking care of the School and Castle. Nice tease, but I think it would have been even more hilarious should Starlight hadn't been faking.
• Cozy Glow telling Chrysalis to say something nice about ponies and Chrysalis's response!
• Discord admitting to have faked his injuries.

I think that the episode was good, but this is not what I look for in FiM. I enjoy silly slice of life way more than this somber scenarios and the episode was so rushed on raising the stakes time and time again that it had barely any silliness left.

Overall it's a good premiere, just good. Although I've gotta say that I'm more excited now about what's to come than before watching this one.

Edited April 6, 2019 by DonMaguz

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

Wow, I liked that a lot. I can't wait for the series finale. This is going to be so awesome!

[BornAgainBrony 2,397]

6 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

So, instead of an amazing and badass fight between Sombra and Starlight (with Spike for the assist maybe), we get an entirely pointless fight between the main six and background ponies... sigh. Yeah, that’s about what I expected.

Sombra isn't done... I don't think. Grogar is a necromancer after all. And he said that if Sombra failed, Grogar would own him. So... yeah. Sombra may be locked away in some kind of regenerative stasis chamber now.

The dynamic of the rest of that group seems off without Sombra, IMO.

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

Yeah, I am gushing over this. Personally, I wish to see more of the other 4 instead of just Sombra but I guess it makes sense to make it a season long thing.

Sombra's voice is also pretty neat too. I know some don't like the difference but I'm completely okay with it.

[Thrond 3,263]

It's all kinda worth it for finally getting a badass Cadance moment, to be honest, but that so much of this episode is "finally getting [x]" is kinda the problem for me. 

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

1 minute ago, AlexanderThrond said:

It's all kinda worth it for finally getting a badass Cadance moment, to be honest, but that so much of this episode is "finally getting [x]" is kinda the problem for me. 

How so? And what is it finally getting? I loved this as much as the Season 4 finale but I can understand the time constraints.

[Jeric 46,850]

I have to find a gif I Twilight doing a sideways horn parry of Sombra's blast. Loved that small slice of unique (for this show) animation. 

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

@Jeric

Gotcha covered

 

[Thrond 3,263]

7 minutes ago, TheTaZe said:

How so? And what is it finally getting? I loved this as much as the Season 4 finale but I can understand the time constraints.

I just don't find it very creative. It's nice to see Celestia and Luna contributing so much to saving Equestria, and it's nice to see the Elements used again, and it's nice to see Twilight struggling with governance for once, and it's nice to see Twilight's friends getting a bit more credit, and it's kinda fun to see all of these villains returning and teaming up, but it's all a bit predictable. Don't get me wrong, I think this episode is fun enough, but I kind of don't care about it. 

As a side note, my fondness for the season 4 finale is probably disproportionate - it's more drawn out and I don't really care about Twilight being a princess. I mostly like it because it was surprising when it first aired, which none of the finales have been since... although, premieres tend to switch things up a bit more; this new one is the most generic of them by a country mile, although not my least favourite.

Edited April 6, 2019 by AlexanderThrond

[Twilight Luna 31,345]

I’m glad that Sombra wasn’t a one trick pony (pun intended?). He had a plan within a plan to take over. He’s shown to be an effective villain. 

[Misty Shadow 7,846]

I have many weird feelings about this season premiere that make it difficult for me to articulate my thoughts...but I will start by saying that it was awesome and miles and bounds better than the first premiere involving King Sombra. The pacing was perfect, there was always something happening, a constant feeling of suspense, and best of all, do I even need to say it...King Sombra.  I was pleasantly surprised at his competence as a villain, to the point where he used his own defeat to his advantage, and happy at the confirmation of my suspicion that he was never actually killed (dispelled into the ether), but also weirdly disappointed that he still played the "typical shadowy bad guy villain" trope to a T in terms of personality and that the end actually left more of a reason for him to come back. Either way, it's better than giving him a rushed reformation, even as I would not mind a well-done reformation to keep the show attuned with the comics, so I'll let it slide. I also would not mind them making him irredeemable so long as proper closure is involved, even with the implication that Grogar is actually more evil than Sombra. That implication that he actually killed ponies caught me off guard.  This special was a great set-up for what's in store for the final season, as all I want to see after watching this is more. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by CloudMistDragon
Read the transcript about Sombra and Grogar's deal, minor oopsie

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

5 minutes ago, Twilight Luna said:

I’m glad that Sombra wasn’t a one trick pony (pun intended?). He had a plan within a plan to take over. He’s shown to be an effective villain. 

I have a feeling he will come back. Just a feeling...

Was I the only one that adored Discord in these two episodes? I just liked how they wrote him!

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

1 hour ago, Dark Qiviut said:

How 'bout applauding the Lady Writers and crew for how genius Discord's written here? He's unbelievably hilarious here, and his acting while being "hurt" is really convincing. How William Anderson built up the score alongside Discord's exasperation at the end sells the timing.

This episode also not just fixes TCE in a way, but calls back Princess Twi, too.

1. In TCE, Celestia and Luna are supposed to be Twi's guides and mentors, but they leave responsibilities up to Twilight to fend off Sombra. Here, Celly and Luna test Twi's strengths by preparing for the coronation abruptly, but at the time, there was no threat. When Sombra returned, they had no idea and weren't warned by Twi. Star Swirl contacted them to get involved. Additionally, Discord's amoral; it makes perfect sense for him to test the RM6 and idle by.
2. In PTS, Discord wasn't on good terms with anyone besides FS. When he revealed to accidentally planting the seeds, no one trusted him. Now their relationship's much stronger, so they trust him more.

I completely agree about Discord. His voice actor really got to shine here. The writers handled the whole scene where the Mane 6 thought Discord was severely injured very well. It showed all the Mane 6 caring about whether Discord survived it which I LOVED because like you said except for Fluttershy the others didn't care for him much at the beginning of his reformation. This shows real character growth of all the characters and a true bond between them. Twilight even says "We need you!" to Discord when she used to not be able to stomach Discord. Once I found out he faked it I was like ""Geez, thanks Discord for permanently scarring the Mane 6 emotionally, especially Fluttershy" Fluttershy thought one of her best friends died to save her for crying out loud! But great plan by Discord and I love that he did it because he had total faith in the Mane 6! 

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

This is still technically a spoiler so I will post this here.

This is some great artwork!

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,601]

I LOVED this episode. As someone who dropped the show at around S5's halfway point, this has gotten me interested.

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

The premiere just makes me wish the Lady Writers were the story editors again. Instead, we're stuck with Haber and Dubuc. 

[RulesofRarity 489]

15 minutes ago, Twilight Luna said:

I’m glad that Sombra wasn’t a one trick pony (pun intended?). He had a plan within a plan to take over. He’s shown to be an effective villain. 

I'd say he's always been effective, he would've won way back in S3 if it wasn't for Spike.

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

1 minute ago, VG_Addict said:

The premiere just makes me wish the Lady Writers were the story editors again. Instead, we're stuck with Haber and Dubuc. 

Why exactly? This premiere wasn't bad at all.

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

Just now, TheTaZe said:

Why exactly? This premiere wasn't bad at all.

It wasn't, but when the Lady Writers were story editors, we had arguably the best season of the show in S7. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

Just now, TheTaZe said:

Why exactly? This premiere wasn't bad at all.

His point is they wrote such an amazing premiere that he wishes Lady Writers were in charge of the show again.

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

Just now, RyanMahaffe said:

His point is they wrote such an amazing premiere that he wishes Lady Writers were in charge of the show again.

I guess that makes sense...?

1 minute ago, VG_Addict said:

It wasn't, but when the Lady Writers were story editors, we had arguably the best season of the show in S7. 

To be fair, I still feel the best Seasons of the show was back in Season 4 and 5, but that is just me.