Map of Harmony episodes

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Map says go here, and is only reason why new characters/ species are introduced to the mane 6 or other ponies the map calls. Do you guys think the map missions is a crutch for lazy writing?

[CypherHoof 26,483]

Obvious plot device is obvious. I am reminded of "sheep in the big city" where the plot device was an actual device called "plot device"....

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

Who names their kid "Farmer" anyway?

The Cutie Map is an extremely conspicuous plot device and has been since its introduction in S5, most notably in that its rules remain undefined and inconsistent (how does the map decide which ponies to summon, what is stopping the M6 from defying or subverting its commands (most notably how seriously Twilight treats her exclusion from missions during S5 - what is preventing her from accompanying Pinkie/Dash and AJ/Rarity exactly?) and how can Sunburst, Starlight and Spike be summoned if they're not connected to the Tree of Harmony as the M6 are?) yet the show utilizes it as an integral catalyst for a number of episodes in recent seasons. Needless to say, I'm not holding out for much explanation regarding the subject in season 9. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Them's Seeing Ponies

[Metemponychosis 1,262]

I think the map is a crutch, yes. It let's the writers conjure up an episode with a premise and no need to create an actual reason the specific characters they want would to go that place. I used to say this is lazy writing, but now I think of it more as a tool... The quality of the episodes has a tendency of being found, more typically, in character interaction than on the premises and worldbuilding, anyway. Also, the map has a tendency of introducing new locations and characters that the writers might have more difficulty and less time exploring otherwise.

So I like it? Not really... But I can't deny that it works.

[gingerninja666 487]

I feel like some of the map stories would require contrivances in order to happen anyway.

The map honestly doesn't bother me the way it does for some people. It's mission control. It's like any show that has a character sitting at a computer who says "There's been reports of people going missing over in blah blah blah, you should go investigate. There's been weird energy readings over in yadda yadda. Send a team to report." It's like that but with every aspect of the story being a mystery to uncover. 

And I don't think any new race but the Kirin has been introduced via the map. Unless I'm really forgetting some stuff. Like, the entire student 6 were introduced outside of a map episode. Ember and Thorax were introduced outside of map episodes. Cozy wasn't a map ep, nor Neighsay, nor the Pillars.

Who the map chooses to summon would bother me more if the map was demonstrating inconsistancy. But it isn't. It's been expanding it's reach steadily, and everytime something particularly noteworthy happens, Twi makes reference to it (like, she's stunned when it summons Starlight. She mentions that the map is "really branching out" with Spike, she mentions that Sunburst is the first person to be summoned outside of Ponyville). The Map is expanding in what it can do, which was confirmed in What Lies Beneath. This fits thematically with the show in my opinion. Friendship is being passed on. The cast needed to pass on the traits of the elements to gain the keys to open the box back in season 4. The map expanded it's reach when the cast traveled beyond Equestria. The map started calling on people who were close to the Mane Cast and touched by them (Starlight, Spike, the CMC), now it's calling people to it from greater distances. (Sunburst). Then in School Raze we saw the tree give it's blessing to a group made up of all kinds of races not living in Equestria. Harmony is growing. It wants to be paid forward.

Edited January 31, 2019 by gingerninja666

[ExplosionMare 18,083]

I guess it is. It’s not like it does anything besides be a tool.

[kazamacat 64]

I don't think so, no, I rather like the idea of the map. I'm a little saddened that only Applejack and Fluttershy of the Mane 6 got to go somewhere in season 8.

[Thrond 3,263]

I just want a good explanation for why the mane six obey it every single time, for how much it knows, and for why it makes the decisions it does. Is it sentient, like the Tree of Harmony? It just feels like the show doesn't want us to think about it very hard - like, on a level far beyond everything else. I like that it cuts down on exposition, but it feels arbitrary to me. 

[gingerninja666 487]

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I just want a good explanation for why the mane six obey it every single time, for how much it knows, and for why it makes the decisions it does. Is it sentient, like the Tree of Harmony? It just feels like the show doesn't want us to think about it very hard - like, on a level far beyond everything else. I like that it cuts down on exposition, but it feels arbitrary to me. 

Well, have they ever been given a reason to not trust it?

They've never failed a friendship mission, and in cases like Made in Manehattan, where they've doubted why a certain pony was chosen to go over others, they've found out that there's a very good reason for it.

People want the cast to doubt the map, but when has it ever led them astray?

[DonMaguz 1,023]

9 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

...in cases like Made in Manehattan, where they've doubted why a certain pony was chosen to go over others, they've found out that there's a very good reason for it.

That's what I like the most about map missions from S5 and S6, also the fact that missions were about friendship in a community and not just for a single friendship, although S6's Top Bolt broke this rule for the first time.

[Thrond 3,263]

11 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

Well, have they ever been given a reason to not trust it?

They've never failed a friendship mission, and in cases like Made in Manehattan, where they've doubted why a certain pony was chosen to go over others, they've found out that there's a very good reason for it.

People want the cast to doubt the map, but when has it ever led them astray?

I guess that ship has sailed. The mane six should have questioned it back in season 5. Still, there doesn't seem to be a particularly good reason that only specific ponies should go on these missions - do they know for sure that this approach isn't actually making things harder? 

And I'd still like to know how the darn thing works, because having them obey a mysterious force they've never questioned just because it's always worked out for them isn't very satisfying. 

[gingerninja666 487]

7 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I guess that ship has sailed. The mane six should have questioned it back in season 5. Still, there doesn't seem to be a particularly good reason that only specific ponies should go on these missions - do they know for sure that this approach isn't actually making things harder? 

And I'd still like to know how the darn thing works, because having them obey a mysterious force they've never questioned just because it's always worked out for them isn't very satisfying. 

I kinda just assumed that the map, tree, and elements all have the same mind. So what we saw in What Lies Beneath is what's sending out the map missions. Harmony is "the living spirit of the land" after all.

Applejack did question the map actually. Back in MAde in Manehattan. She wondered why Twilight wasn't summoned, since her magic would be able to easily get the stage ready for Coco's show. But then they realized that if Twi had done that, then the Manehattan crowds wouldn't have been moved to action like they were by the more conservative stage Applejack created out by the streets. The whole problem was that the neighbourhood didn't think their contibutions would be able to make a difference, and having an ultra powerful alicorn instantly erect a massive stage wouldn't have fixed anything.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

15 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

I kinda just assumed that the map, tree, and elements all have the same mind. So what we saw in What Lies Beneath is what's sending out the map missions. Harmony is "the living spirit of the land" after all.

Applejack did question the map actually. Back in MAde in Manehattan. She wondered why Twilight wasn't summoned, since her magic would be able to easily get the stage ready for Coco's show. But then they realized that if Twi had done that, then the Manehattan crowds wouldn't have been moved to action like they were by the more conservative stage Applejack created out by the streets. The whole problem was that the neighbourhood didn't think their contibutions would be able to make a difference, and having an ultra powerful alicorn instantly erect a massive stage wouldn't have fixed anything.

Map seems to be an extension of the tree, and given we (but not the Mane 6) know the tree is fully Sentient and can talk - they could just go ask it.

[Thrond 3,263]

8 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

I kinda just assumed that the map, tree, and elements all have the same mind. So what we saw in What Lies Beneath is what's sending out the map missions. Harmony is "the living spirit of the land" after all.

That's a nice theory. I'd like to see it actually confirmed in the show. 

8 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

 Applejack did question the map actually. Back in MAde in Manehattan. She wondered why Twilight wasn't summoned, since her magic would be able to easily get the stage ready for Coco's show. But then they realized that if Twi had done that, then the Manehattan crowds wouldn't have been moved to action like they were by the more conservative stage Applejack created out by the streets. The whole problem was that the neighbourhood didn't think their contibutions would be able to make a difference, and having an ultra powerful alicorn instantly erect a massive stage wouldn't have fixed anything.

That's also true, and my biggest question with that - which is, why didn't Twilight come along anyway and just avoid interfering? - has largely been addressed by season 8 with the episode where she chaperoned the CMC. It's probably true that the ship has sailed on the mane six questioning the map, whether I like the answers or not.

I'd just like a little more explanation for what the map is and how it works; as is, it always seems just a bit too convenient for me. Is it omnipotent? If it's omnipotent, why does it only call the show's main characters? If it's not, then how does it know about these friendship problems? And what would happen if someone can't or doesn't want to go on a friendship mission? Does it know whether someone would be willing to go? What, exactly, is it capable of doing? If it can do more than show friendship problems, why doesn't it? And so on. But maybe it's too late for that as well. 

The other thing is that I actually wish the characters would stop commenting on it if it's never going to be explained, because then I wouldn't be thinking about everything that's confusing about the map every time it appears. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by AlexanderThrond

[gingerninja666 487]

3 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

That's a nice theory. I'd like to see it actually confirmed in the show. 

That's also true, and my biggest question with that - which is, why didn't Twilight come along anyway and just avoid interfering? - has largely been addressed by season 8 with the episode where she chaperoned the CMC. It's probably true that the ship has sailed on the mane six questioning the map, whether I like the answers or not.

I'd just like a little more explanation for what the map is and how it works; as is, it always seems just a bit too convenient for me. Is it omnipotent? If it's omnipotent, why does it only call the show's main characters? If it's not, then how does it know about these friendship problems? And what would happen if someone can't or doesn't want to go on a friendship mission? Does it know whether someone would be willing to go? What, exactly, is it capable of doing? If it can do more than show friendship problems, why doesn't it? And so on. But maybe it's too late for that as well. 

The other thing is that I actually wish the characters would stop commenting on it if it's never going to be explained, because then I wouldn't be thinking about everything that's confusing about the map every time it appears. 

Again, I think the map being the same thing as Harmony would answer that as well. In What Lies Beneath, Harmony mentions that it's abilities grow as it gets older, which would explain why the Map is slowly gaining the ability to summon different people and from further away.

[Thrond 3,263]

9 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

Again, I think the map being the same thing as Harmony would answer that as well. In What Lies Beneath, Harmony mentions that it's abilities grow as it gets older, which would explain why the Map is slowly gaining the ability to summon different people and from further away.

Sure. I'd like to see the show explain that if it is the case, though.