S09:E01+E02 - The Beginning of the End

[Venomous 18,813]

I am so excited to see what Grogar has planned. He already seems like he will be a villain to not mess with.

[Yfus 28]

On 4/7/2019 at 4:09 PM, Nightmare Muffin said:

Season 1- Nightmare Moon breaks the elements in front of Twilight 

Twi: doesn’t panic. Me and my friends are the spirits of the elements! 

 

Season 9- Sombra breaks the elements and tree. 

Twi:  BSOD

Yeah she needs to stop Twilighting had before being given any governmental position. Maybe give her an episode with Mayor Mare to get her used to seeing how such positions are handled by her.

Ooo, that's a great idea! Maybe some law studies too, so she won't be surprised if an official come and control her.

[bigbertha 410]

Surprisingly, I don't have a problem with Twilight freaking out here. With such a big responsibility put on her so soon, it makes sense that she'd react this way. Instead, I have a problem with everyone around her. Celestia and Luna at this point should know that putting such a big responsibility on Twilight with such little warning is a bad idea. And the ending just takes away tension from the rest of the episode and makes all the freaking out pointless. 

But my bigger problem is with the rest of the mane six. Apparently, nobody remembers the lesson of Lesson Zero since nobody takes Twilight seriously. They all brush off her very legitimate concerns by saying they can handle it because they've defeated bad guys. That makes no sense and Twilight doesn't really call them out on it. Just because they've been able to defeat bad guys doesn't mean they can handle the politics involved in running a kingdom. I just can't get over how insensitive and stupid the mane six aside from Twilight are. Not even Applejack realizes that Twilight might actually be right here and they all brush Twilight off as a joke. 

Speaking of jokes, I hate them. Most of them are about how often Twilight freaks out and how nobody takes it seriously anymore. The joke doesn't work because this is a situation where they should be taking Twilight seriously. Also, lamp shading like this only works if the problem the writers point out isn't that bad or if the writers are going to fix the problem, like Lesson Zero lamp shading Twilight having to give a lesson in every episode of season 1 and proceeding to fix the problem. Twilight freaking out all the time is a big problem and the episode obviously doesn't fix it since Point of No Return happens. And the rest of the jokes are pretty meh. Discord has a couple decent moments, but not enough to make up for everything else.

As for the story with Sombra taking over, it's really bland. Sombra has no presence because of his terrible voice and over the top design (there's a reason The Crystal Empire kept him as shadows for most of the episode). Also, the episode telegraphs very early that Sombra is not going to win since Grogar expects Sombra will lose and that removes tension. The only actually dramatic thing that happens is the Tree of Harmony being destroyed, but I don't really care about the Tree of Harmony. 

Overall, this is just another example of how MLP has gone from unique and charming kids show to generic modern cartoon. All this episode does is make me want to watch a better modern cartoon. 

Score: 3/10

[Rushing cash 824]

I found this episode in polish, in this version sombras voice is the same as in season 3, so people who did not like his voice by sanders in season 9 in english, may like this one. The overall voice actors are really good in polish, good job by them.

https://sparklesubs.pl/mlpfim/s09e01?mirror=4 

https://sparklesubs.pl/mlpfim/s09e02?mirror=4

 

 

[Turiel 6]

I think Discord was the best part of the episode for me. Having him be the one to be self aware and the troll at the end was great. 

[Singe 2,109]

So here is an angle I would change. Instead of Twilight being handed the succession. Celestia and Luna reveal there were other candidates that the sisters have been grooming along with Twilight though separately and secretly. It would be a way to give Twilight some legit rivals. Succession cannot be handled over, it has to be proven to the populace one can lead with their trust. So Twilight's objective would be to put her friendship to the test to get support from the populace.

[bbydolly 10]

I personally feel like this was an amazing start to the season. I had been hoping Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis would come back in this season, so that was a pleasant surprise. King Sombra was so different than I expected, but I actually really liked the way he was portrayed. I really enjoyed how they addressed the fact that the princesses never helped, and I may or may not have cried a bit (a lot) when discord pretended to be hurt and gave that whole speech :,)

[bigRoadman 17]

wait sombra can speak what is this

[heavens-champion 1,893]

I can't remember. Did Twilight call any of her friends by name in this premiere?

[Shigaraki 270]

l wish l could talk about the very last episodes of season 9 on here but there is no threads for that right now.

but anyways lets talk about the first and second episode. l think the episodes made me laugh because of Cozy Glow xD why

also this is late timing for me to talk about it now...oops

[Shigaraki 270]

1 hour ago, Bas said:

You can apply to that season 9 spoilers + speculations forums.

l thought that was close

ok thx

[The Nth Doctor 652]

I'm sure letting a neurotic racist who leaps to the worst conclusion at the drop of a hat run the country won't end with Equestria at war with everyone by the end of the first hundred days

 

Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

[Props Valroa 26,042]

Neighsay is one of the best characters of the show. Change my mind.

[Stardust Balance 7,716]

Hello my name is Prince Snrub! And I come from uh... Someplace far away!

(Yes that'll do.)

Anywho, I say we cancel Princess Twilight's ascension and put Celestia back on the throne!

[Lordofcrazy 6]

I can say sombra is back and the tree is destroyed know you that sombra means shadow but i want to say this who is it posiple that only frienship is powerfuller than the element of harmony and ther frienship

[JMTV99 1,348]

This episode was a DOWNER! It really puts me in a bad mood watching it.

Also, I was ticked off that The Elements and The Tree got destroyed by Sombra because it just destroys Lauren Faust's original concept for The Elements. There's subverting our expectations, and then there's completely misses the point of the original FiM concept since 2009.

Plus, having Discord getting shot was a surprise for me since I never expect him to do that. While he did give a nice speech about "it doesn't about the elements, it's about you gals coming together with the magic of friendship and stuck together as friends", but it's completely ruined by Discord faking it, making the whole speech completely pointless.

After watching that, I think to myself: What was point of this?!

It just left me confused and baffled when watching it.

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

I enjoyed this Seasons premiere, its really nice to see yet another villain from a previous Gen appear and plan revenge, since it really has been centuries since his original defeat so he is very believable when he says he dislikes the ponies.

I also enjoyed that Sombra finally had a bit moe character to him and he was a cool villain. 

The only thing i disliked was, like the previous poster said, the emotional speech was kinda wasted, since it was Discord who said it, all the time i could only think: Oh, hes faking his death, isnt he? He is just trolling right? * sigh * 

Why Discord? You could have literally anyone else say the speech, why on earth Discord? You destroyed an otherwise very emotional scene.

[Gale Wind 79]

Discord saying the speech was wasted was subtle foreshadowing of him actually behind it all. It was kind of interesting watching the ep with knowledge of what was actually going on.

Did some places tweak the animation of Sombra”s death so you can’t see the body horror at all? It’s hard to see anyway though.

I wish they hadn’t dropped the stuff with the young 6 and the elements of harmony. I agree the tree shouldn’t have been destroyed but then we have the next episode and then they just…drop it. 

[doomie-22 17]

So let me see if I understand this. Celestia and Luna decide that it would be. A great idea to put a kid in charge of the institutions of Equestria. Seriously, what were they both thinking in putting Twilight Sparkle and her friends in charge of a literal kingdom when they had zero to no understanding on how a government operates? Add into account that, if you look deeper into it, Twilight was easily manipulated by Celestia when she was just a filly and spoon-fed the idea that friendship was the greatest thing to bring order to Equestria.

Yeah, look where that got us? By the time G5 came around, Equestria had collapsed, the pony races were at each others' throats, and Twilight having been responsible for stripping them of their magic. Really shows how things went down before Sunny and her friends came along.

Stick to the chain of command, learn the concept of power and authority, ditch friendship when it comes to government, and actually think logically. I know it's a kids' show, but seriously, they could've been more realistic in showing how Celestia could've stepped down and maybe had Luna be the one to rule, considering she was banished to the moon for a thousand years.

You know what's so messed up about this? Twilight didn't choose this path. She was forced into it by Celestia. She didn't have free will and was essentially a tool for Celestia to use to solve her own problems in Equestria.

[doomie-22 17]

So let me see if I understand this. Celestia and Luna decide that it would be. A great idea to put a kid in charge of the institutions of Equestria. Seriously, what were they both thinking in putting Twilight Sparkle and her friends in charge of a literal kingdom when they had zero to no understanding on how a government operates? Add into account that, if you look deeper into it, Twilight was easily manipulated by Celestia when she was just a filly and spoon-fed the idea that friendship was the greatest thing to bring order to Equestria.

Yeah, look where that got us? By the time G5 came around, Equestria had collapsed, the pony races were at each others' throats, and Twilight having been responsible for stripping them of their magic. Really shows how things went down before Sunny and her friends came along.

Stick to the chain of command, learn the concept of power and authority, ditch friendship when it comes to government, and actually think logically. I know it's a kids' show, but seriously, they could've been more realistic in showing how Celestia could've stepped down and maybe had Luna be the one to rule, considering she was banished to the moon for a thousand years.

You know what's so messed up about this? Twilight didn't choose this path. She was forced into it by Celestia. She didn't have free will and was essentially a tool for Celestia to use to solve her own problems in Equestria.

[heavens-champion 1,893]

So all the villains up to this Season were tests to see if Twilight was worthy of ruling Equestria? It makes it sound like Celestia's willing to gamble with ponies' lives. Or am I understanding it wrong?

[GloryForShame 26]

Man oh my god! finally some episode/premier with that old fantasy and adventure feeling old g4 mlp had! that is what i mostly liked with this episode, it was really nice to see the villains all once again, making me excited to see what they will do during the final, the story was really cool aswell, it felt a little rushed, but this time i can totally forgive, since there was a lot of stuff happening in just two parts. Cozy Glow was more fun and interesting here than her in season 8 lmao, the other villains dialog was nice aswell, i have few problems with King Sombra, i never really cared about him before, but i know how his character was a little different in here, he felt more like the Storm King, a villain with serious and dark plans but himself is pretty silly and goofy, his voice is just so bad and funny lol. Discord acting like a asshole feels less annoying when rewatching and knowing his reason. Overall really good and incredible premierer, made me excited to see how season 9 will go! 8/10.

[Hadrien 937]

I just started season 9 after putting it off for 5 years, and this premiere was a pretty good start. I like the introduction of Grogar, an OG mlp villain from past generations, as the boss of this new bunch of villains. Feels like he finally came home after years (or eons), to wreck things up. The trio of Chrysalis, Tyrek and Cozy Glow is pretty awesome, if a bit too Stooges at the start. Like yeah they don't want to work together, but clearly you're not going anywhere with your current plans. Finally got to see and hear Sombra for real, my favorite villain in terms of design. Very regal, very menacing, and with fear magic to boot. His possesion of all of Ponyville felt really intense, and the way the Mane Six had to plow through their friends and allies to get to him was really satisfying. Of course, Discord is always fun to see, and him taking up the role of secret mentor to Twilight was pretty interesting. He's really grown attached to the ponies, and really is rooting for Twilight to become the full-time princess Celestia wants her to be (that make 1 of us at least hahaha). Not a fan of Celestia and Luna retirering, but I understand it as a plot device to conclude the serie. The status quo can't be maintained forever, and for things to change, someone new must take the throne, and Twilight is the only choice. But I'll maintain that for me, Twilight was perfect as the headmare of the school of friendship. 

[wjbrony 0]

On 2019/4/6 at PM9点16分, YoshiAngemon said:

结束该系列的唯一真正方法是合上这本书，就像第一集中打开该书以开始该系列一样。

You are truly a prophet 😭