S09:E01+E02 - The Beginning of the End

[YoshiAngemon 223]

Who voiced Grogar? I gotta know.

[cmarston1 5,965]

So here we are at the premiere of the final season of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic.  It certainly has been quite the journey getting here.  I know that I am going to miss the show when it ends, but I was also excited to see how the final season was going to turn out.  When given previews and synopsis for the premiere, I was rather interested in seeing what this episode had to offer.

After watching The Beginning of the End I have to say that it was a pretty solid season premiere.  I enjoyed how by now Spike and the mane 6 are able to expertly handle Twilight's freakouts as I feel that does a good job at showing how close their friendship has grown over the years.  I also really liked the joke where Rainbow Dash said that the princesses have literally almost never helped out.  I am also someone who gets a kick out of continuity nods so seeing them in the premiere was pretty nice, and also helped with the tone of this being the final season.  I knew that King Sombra was going to return here, and that Grogar was going to appear her, but I was surprised to see Chrysalis and Cozy Glow show up as well.  Cozy Glow was great here, and had some pretty funny lines.  These episodes did a great job showcasing and celebrating the friendship of the mane 6, and I really did enjoy the conflict of Twilight having to get used to being a new ruler of Equestria.  Discord also had a pretty good showing here as an effective trickster mentor, which I appreciated.

Overall I really enjoyed this premiere and I am looking forward to see what the rest of the season has to offer.

[Dark Qiviut 22,681]

*spits internet water* PRETENDED TO BE HURT?! DISCORD PRETENDED?!

Why, you son of a centaur…

2 minutes ago, YoshiAngemon said:

Who voiced Grogar? I gotta know.

According to the credits, Doc Marris.

[PoisonClaw 8,177]

Just now, YoshiAngemon said:

Who voiced Grogar? I gotta know.

Doc Marris, according to this screenshot of the credits.

[TransitPony 239]

Well my God, best season opener ever!!! This is gonna be a crazy one to never forget. Now we have to see how the students will face in the next episode. Also, the ending of the concerned laughing of the other three villains tells they are not so sure about this. Grogar has bigger plans for himself... 

Edited April 6, 2019 by TransitPony

[Will Guide 21,378]

Amazing Season Opening. And they brought a Season Arc. I'll be waiting for Chrysalis to shine!

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,608]

And with that, "The Return of Harmony" has been dethroned as the best opening two-parter!

[NotATimeTraveller 6]

King Sombra did cool stuff. I approve.

[Early Sunsets 2,112]

Grogar needs to be nerfed in the next patch

[jorge123esp 912]

This was a very intense premiere, holly molly . I think is going to be a veeeeeeeeeery very very exciting season. 

[Steve Piranha 29,504]

1 hour ago, Will Guide said:

And to complete the Countdown:

 

I think it’ll fit better after the series finale airs. It is a new age for all of us who see FIM as more than a mere show 

[Will Guide 21,378]

40 minutes ago, TheAnimationFanatic said:

I was hoping that Cadence and Shining Armor weren't going to be reduced to objects needing to be saved. Ah well.

They AT Least wrote a message for help which is more important than doing nothing.

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,608]

This was the perfect way to begin the season. It's the perfect blend of funny, dark, serious, and crowd-pleasing.

[Will Guide 21,378]

Just now, Steve Piranha said:

I think it’ll fit better after the series finale airs. It is a new age for all of us who see FIM as more than a mere show 

But it is the start of a new season so it fits.

[Sparklefan1234 189,173]

Just now, TheAnimationFanatic said:

And with that, "The Return of Harmony" has been dethroned as the best opening two-parter!

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. 

[RulesofRarity 493]

This is definitely the best premiere, if only because it acknowledged how useless Celestia and Luna have been throughout the entire series.

[Goat-kun 2,532]

So, who still thinks Sombra is not a dead idiot with a goofy voice that's running around with his tragic past waifu?

 

 

Glad we've put that question to rest. So this is the best ultimate dark lord our glorious writers could come up with? Grogar the grumpy executive? His presence is rather underwhelming. Us weebs have absolutely nothing to worry about

[Myung 9]

Unpopular I guess (?) but I wasn't really a fan of this premiere.

• The pacing just felt completely off throughout both parts and I disliked the way the Mane 6 suddenly lost their intelligence and their powers where the plot suited it.
• Twilight suddenly remembers how to teleport to get into the castle but couldn't do that multiple times before.
• The other villains had no screentime at all after their first appearance and the end of the episode. The princesses retiring came out of the blue.
• The lesson about "having the elements within" is rehashed and has been covered multiple times. Just in the season 1 premiere in fact, Nightmare Moon destroys the elements but the Mane 6 realise the power is within them and defeat her.

Probably my least favourite premiere but maybe it just needs a rewatch.

[PoisonClaw 8,177]

A ton of meta in this episode. Though... the Tree of Harmony is still dead, so that doesn't exactly solve the problem of the Everfree Forest quite yet.

(Though it does open up the door for my next fanfic idea perfectly.)

[Jeric 46,894]

Well there were definitely some Bingo squares made in this one. 

Overall fun episode and I loved the Tia “doesn’t do anything to save the day joke” and that the show was finally giving Discord a canon reason why he doesn’t lend a hand. 

 

Grogar is kinda bad ass. Sombra was kinda a major threat. Legit start to the season. 

[Steve Piranha 29,504]

Well, the final season started with the best season premiere of the whole show. That was a nice start ...... of the end 

[Adamgreen 1,130]

Well that was a pretty solid premiere, I gotta say.

It's mostly what i expected from a 'league of villains' introduction episodes but with some really nice moments here and there. The best thing about this premiere is definitely Discord. His acting skill is subpar personally, but I love that he's a motivator and not being a prick about it. Having him to fake his own injury just to get them to actually not depend on him to save the day is nice and of course, shows that he cares (in his own way that is).

Besides Sombra unexpected voice, I feel like he was just too typical of a villain and it's pretty much a test subject for Grogar to gave Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy a warning to never defy his demands to work together. I get the point, but it's pretty disappointing. Who knows? Maybe he'll bring him back from the dead again since he has done that before.

Nice character interactions, cool effects on the beam fights here and there and I do like the struggling moments where the mane 6 were despairing over their love ones being controlled by Sombra. It's nothing much, but I like that it's there.

[Mirage 24,799]

It was a lot of fun. It still has the after S5 feel to it, but it was not a disappointment. Looking forward to more!!!

[Jon the VGNerd 896]

I'm VERY impressed of the two-parter of the final season, which shows that Hasbro is bringing their a-game on. And King Sombra having his own spoken dialogue is a step-up, and he wasn't playing around when he meant business, especially by destroying the Tree of Harmony. And Grogar... one glance and you realize that he's the mastermind of all this, and he isn't playing around as well. King Sombra was defeated a second time at the end, only this time, no respawns. This time, it was a permadeath, which I realized that King Sombra was indeed gone for good, which shows that Grogar isn't playing around. He really means business that those who fail or betray Grogar... he's clearly sending a message and Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis are seriously taking notes about this.

What a way to start of Season 9.

[Jeric 46,894]

As one negative about some of the writing, pacing was rushed but that is typical in these 2 parters. Also the “happens off screen” bits were a little overdone. I understood why they went that route. Now that I’m thinking about it the Grogar introduction and putting together a team might have been a better placement at the end of Season 8 as a teaser.