S09:E03 - Uprooted

[Zestanor 98]

1 hour ago, Music Chart Fan said:

There's no scene of getting Queen Novo's permission, but maybe if Silverstream's parents are related to her, then they count as high-enough-ranking officials?

I think the chances of the show showing Queen Novo are slim. Which is a shame, because the Hippogriffs/Sea Ponies are the only new parts of the movie that really made sense. They'd have to create a new flash model for Queen Novo, and since she's never going to get significant screen time due to her having a special VA, it's not worth the effort.

[GiFTGewEhrSCHutzen-4 8,827]

Well, I gotta say, it's an awesome episode featuring the Young 6. And the last part was also awesome seeing as the Young 6's combined Tree of Harmony changed into a castle replacing the Royal Sisters' former home. Also, I love the part in were Silverstream does her superhero landing at the beginning of the episode. And also each of the students visiting their guardians/superiors to sign a permission form, in the condition that they perform tasks. All in all, I love this episode. 

[Quinch 1,119]

Aaaaaaand the Tree continues to give me the heebie jeebies. Good job. 

[Star Petal 215]

This episode was pretty great! This season is on fire right now! If the rest of it ends up being this good then I really think our show will go out on a VERY high note. 

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

Uggggghhhh.

...So, uh... what's poning, ponles?

I hate being a Negative Nelly.  I really do.  I want to be a Positive Pete, but I just can't!  Going into this episode, and knowing nothing but the title, I suspected that this episode would make or break the rest of the season.  Would they reveal that the Tree wasn't really dead, and save it somehow, or would they just bury it and discard the lore they had created with the Tree being sentient only a few episodes earlier?  For me, this moment seemed like it would be the Event Horizon of Sh*t--the point beyond which nothing can be salvaged.  They would either escape the event horizon, or they wouldn't.

So, I'm happy that the tree isn't dead, and for me that means that the show isn't dead yet, either.  The rest of the season is salvageable.  But beyond that, they did the worst possible job with it.  This episode was as bad as it could possibly be while still managing to escape the event horizon.  They just barely made it.

What upsets me so much is simply the lack of importance that the mane six and the pillars play, here.  I like the students, but this shouldn't have been solely their episode.  Where this show shines is in the one-off episodes that have no major story developments such as Sounds of Silence, Amending Fences, or The Mane Attraction--episodes that, if one missed, they wouldn't even know about it.  Where this show struggles, in my opinion, is with the big, important developments.  FIM has a (I would say) notorious habit of not realizing when something is of extreme importance, and warrants more time and/or the involvement of more or certain characters.  They have a tendency to brush some of the most important moments aside, breeze through them, reveal them in cold opens, or otherwise gloss over them in some fashion.

Ever since What Lies Beneath, I have been anxiously awaiting the moment when Twilight and the others finally learn of the Tree's sentience.  When would the students tell them?  Or would they learn some other way?  I was expecting it to be a big reveal, a significant moment.  Instead, it blew by so fast that the viewer wasn't even sure it happened.  The students just said, "The tree summoned us," and then Gallus did the dumb joke, "Oh, don't feel bad; we kinda have a special thing with it."  And that was it.  That is the first time Twilight heard of the Tree being sentient or talking, but it just came and went without being noticed.  Twilight said nothing.  It seemed as if she barely noticed or cared.  Instead of being a big reveal, it was a barely relevant side note.  I hated that.

What I hated even more was that this was solely the student's project.  The Tree's remains lay in ruins, and apparently no one else cared to do anything about it.  The mane six were over it, I guess.  The Sisters probably couldn't care less.  The Tree's f*cking creator, the one who felt as is a piece of himself suddenly died when the Tree exploded, couldn't be bothered to show up.  And if he didn't give a buck, then certainly the other pillars wouldn't either.  The creators of the tree, and the bearers of the Elements, were entirely absent, save for Twilight's little obligatory, tacked-on, shoe-horned appearance at the end.  The Tree has been one of the most important and central lore pieces in the entire show, and the most important and central characters weren't even present for it's memorial/resurrection.  Minotaursh*t.  Total and f*cking minotaursh*t.

To make it even worse, now the students apparently have their own crystal palace.  "Treehouse".  Whatever.  Call it whatever the hell you want.  It's a Celestia dammed palace.  It's about as big and nice as the Castle of Friendship.  So, apparently you don't have to be an alicorn princess or do anything particularly special to get your own crystal palace now.  All you have to do is be friends.  It took Twilight four seasons to get her castle.  The students did it in about one.  This doesn't feel deserved or earned to me.  It seems like over-the-top, silly, hyperbolic overkill that diminishes the meaning of Twilight's castle.  I just can't believe they get their own damn palace. 

And why has the Tree chosen only them?  Why did it summon only the students?  Why doesn't the tree talk to Twilight or the others?  Or it's frickin' creator?  My biggest and most important wishlist item for S9, the one and only thing that I felt was absolutely vital and necessary, was that, at the very least, the mane six and Starswirl would talk to the Tree.  Preferably, the Sisters and the other pillars would do so as well.  But it seems to me that this probably isn't going to happen.  Oh sure, it still could, but I doubt it will.  Hell, I still want Spike to meet (or at least find out what happened to) his real parents, but just like that storyline, it seems as if they've written the final word on the Tree.  I'm sure the Tree will still have parts to play, but probably only with the students, the f*ckin' chosen ones.  It seems like if they were going to have Twilight talk to the Tree, it would have happened in this episode.  She found out that it was sentient, but barely seemed to take notice and never asks any more about it.  Sparkling Twilight talks to the students again at the end, but vanishes before Twilight shows up.  It seems as if they've established the irrelevance of anypony else ever talking to the Tree.  Perhaps the writers specifically wanted the Tree to only ever talk to the students, and remain a mystery to everyone else.  I think that's minotaursh*t as well.

That's about it.  Glad it's not dead, everything else sucks.

I'll say one nice thing about the students, though: it's kinda cool and ironic how they've made Yona out to be the wisest and most committed to friendship of all of em.

Lastly, for one brief, shining moment, I actually got excited when I saw Dashie in her 'bolt suit.  I thought: no way!  We actually get to see Rainbow flying with 'bolts?!  After so many years of trying to achieve her dream, and then finally doing it, we actually get to see some 'bolt action??!!  But nope.  Of course not.  We've had a couple of bits and pieces, yeah, but I'm still waiting for a good Wonderbolt spotlight where we actually see Rainbow flying with them.  Just another thing we'll never get.

[gingerninja666 487]

31 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

And why has the Tree chosen only them?  Why did it summon only the students?  Why doesn't the tree talk to Twilight or the others?  Or it's frickin' creator?  My biggest and most important wishlist item for S9, the one and only thing that I felt was absolutely vital and necessary, was that, at the very least, the mane six and Starswirl would talk to the Tree.  Preferably, the Sisters and the other pillars would do so as well.  But it seems to me that this probably isn't going to happen.  Oh sure, it still could, but I doubt it will.  Hell, I still want Spike to meet (or at least find out what happened to) his real parents, but just like that storyline, it seems as if they've written the final word on the Tree.  I'm sure the Tree will still have parts to play, but probably only with the students, the f*ckin' chosen ones.  It seems like if they were going to have Twilight talk to the Tree, it would have happened in this episode.  She found out that it was sentient, but barely seemed to take notice and never asks any more about it.  Sparkling Twilight talks to the students again at the end, but vanishes before Twilight shows up.  It seems as if they've established the irrelevance of anypony else ever talking to the Tree.  Perhaps the writers specifically wanted the Tree to only ever talk to the students, and remain a mystery to everyone else.  I think that's minotaursh*t as well.

I mean, for me personally, I thought the premiere established that the mane 6 don't need the elements anymore. The Student 6 represent the next stage in the expansion of the Tree's ideals. Expansion has been a theme of the show since at least season 4. The Mane 6 pass on their elemental traits during the key episodes, and that led to them being able to unlock the mystery box which gave them a map that led them further out into the world to solve friendship problems. The map expanded to show more areas beyond Equestria, and Twilight created a school with the purpose of spreading the message of friendship to other races.

 

The Student 6 are, in a sense, unique. There is no other group of friends like them in the entire world. Yet They are a collection of a multitude of different races, once evil or isolated or enemies, united by the power of friendship. They represent what Harmony would want in the world.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

25 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

The students just said, "The tree summoned us," and then Gallus did the dumb joke, "Oh, don't feel bad; we kinda have a special thing with it."  And that was it.  That is the first time Twilight heard of the Tree being sentient or talking, but it just came and went without being noticed.  Twilight said nothing.  It seemed as if she barely noticed or cared.  Instead of being a big reveal, it was a barely relevant side note.  I hated that.

Not sure she got the context; the tree has been sending ponies on friendship missions for some time, but that isn't the same as a glittery Twi-shaped avatar actually talking to anypony. Given the general opinion that the tree was destroyed, it is more reasonable that Twi skipped over the details to focus on "but the tree is gone!" from that.

25 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

What I hated even more was that this was solely the student's project. 

Hmmm. While the Mane 6 are of course the story focus, it would have been understandable if the story had gone to "oh, the Pillars are back now, so you young'ns can step back while the grown ups take care of this". We have three "elemental" groups now - the Mane 6, the Pillars, and the Young Six - and while a couple of the characters from the Pillars have featured in episodes from time to time, we haven't really seen "team Stygian" tackle any equestria-shattering problems since they got back.

That the newest group of element-bearers took up the torch for the recovery of the Tree is just fine too though; as the Mane 6 move more into the role of the Royal Sisters, and friendship missions begin to push outside of the borders of the Pony lands, it would make sense that the "roving troubleshooter" role would pass to this younger generation, given the rulers of Equestria will have less freedom to drop everything and go.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 4/14/2019 at 10:38 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Ocellus anxiously asks a question that I had in the last episode: "But doesn't that mean the Everfree Forest will take over Equestria?!". And Spike just says "We've got that part under control, and Sombra won't be coming back". But how do they have the Everfree Forest under control with the Tree and Elements of Harmony destroyed? I don't think that's ever answered. Just last episode, the Mane Six prioritized fighting the Everfree Forest over stopping Sombra or freeing the enslaved residents of Ponyville, and it apparently took the powers of Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl to keep it at bay.

The last statement answers that question. Presumably after episode 2 ended, the rest of the pillars made their way to the Everfree to help Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl finish fighting back the forest and then do whatever magic they had to in order to keep it's rapid overgrowth suppressed. I imagine they would have had to keep coming back from time to time to maintain it if the tree hadn't been revived by the students.

I suppose for the sake of completeness, "Beardo" should have made a statement clarifying that the other pillars would join him to control the forest in the previous episode, though that could be assumed by his "we controlled it before" statement.

On 4/14/2019 at 10:38 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Gallus was the one to help Silverstream face her fear back in "What Lies Beneath", so in this episode, Silverstream returns the favor and saves Gallus from his fear (while no doubt adding fuel to the shipping fire).

Nice catch. :-)

On 4/14/2019 at 10:38 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

why didn't Sandbar just tell them "Hey, okay, I have the pieces of the Tree of Harmony right over here"?

I have to agree the way they interrupted the argument with Sandbar after he revealed he got rid of the tree was a bit notable in its contrivance compared to other parts of the episode. I was expecting him to finish his explanation and when he didn't I knew it would turn out the tree's fragments were still around.

On 4/14/2019 at 10:38 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

With how precarious the treehouse looks, I wouldn't have trusted its structural integrity to hold the weight of the Student Six, and I thought the rumbling was going to be the whole thing collapsing.

Yeah, and I think that's why they added the dialogue that magic was happening. It seemed at first like it was so poorly constructed (and the glue was still wet, no less) that the whole thing was going to crumble.

 

7 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

That is the first time Twilight heard of the Tree being sentient or talking, but it just came and went without being noticed.  Twilight said nothing.  It seemed as if she barely noticed or cared.  Instead of being a big reveal, it was a barely relevant side note.  I hated that.

While I have no secret knowledge that Twilight and her tree-spirit counterpart will meet before the series ends, I do have hope that it will happen. I think this episode blew it off because it wasn't the focus of the story, and such a revelation would have sidetracked the main plot to the point of making the moral the episode did express irrelevant. So perhaps the episode purposely had Twilight not make the connection between the students' statement and that the tree can talk to them. Another bit of contrivance, but one I'm willing to live with if it means a greater payoff down the road.

7 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

To make it even worse, now the students apparently have their own crystal palace.  "Treehouse".  Whatever.  Call it whatever the hell you want.  It's a Celestia dammed palace.  It's about as big and nice as the Castle of Friendship.

I don't think so. Remember the castle is big enough to fit a whole patio and swimming pool up on the roof (or maybe one of the balconies - wherever it is). It also clearly towers above Ponyville, including city hall. This new structure is at most only as tall as city hall, and barely rises above the ruins of the walls belonging to the Castle of the Two Sisters. And there's no way a swimming pool is getting installed on the roof of this place.  

Edited April 16, 2019 by Truffles

[Music Chart Fan 818]

8 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Ever since What Lies Beneath, I have been anxiously awaiting the moment when Twilight and the others finally learn of the Tree's sentience.  When would the students tell them?  Or would they learn some other way?  I was expecting it to be a big reveal, a significant moment.  Instead, it blew by so fast that the viewer wasn't even sure it happened.  The students just said, "The tree summoned us," and then Gallus did the dumb joke, "Oh, don't feel bad; we kinda have a special thing with it."  And that was it.  That is the first time Twilight heard of the Tree being sentient or talking, but it just came and went without being noticed.  Twilight said nothing.  It seemed as if she barely noticed or cared.  Instead of being a big reveal, it was a barely relevant side note.  I hated that.

1 hour ago, Truffles said:

While I have no secret knowledge that Twilight and her tree-spirit counterpart will meet before the series ends, I do have hope that it will happen. I think this episode blew it off because it wasn't the focus of the story, and such a revelation would have sidetracked the main plot to the point of making the moral the episode did express irrelevant. So perhaps the episode purposely had Twilight not make the connection between the students' statement and that the tree can talk to them. Another bit of contrivance, but one I'm willing to live with if it means a greater payoff down the road.

I understand that we would want to see Twilight and the Mane Six first learn of the Tree of Harmony's sentience, and we would want for that to be a significant scene. But my impression, particularly after the sort of nonchalance with which this episode treats the subject, was that we might just have to assume that that happened offscreen, disappointing as that may be. As far as I remember, the only reason that the Student Six didn't tell Twilight or anyone about their direct communication with the Tree of Harmony is that Cozy Glow asked them not to. So after the events of "School Raze", I wouldn't think that the Student Six have any particular reason to keep that a secret any more.

Furthermore, we might think that, shortly after stopping Cozy Glow and saving Equestria, the Student Six and the Mane Eight would have some kind of "debriefing" where they all tell each other what happened and what they did. In that case, it would come up that the magic of the Tree of Harmony probably saved the Student Six, and if asked why that might have happened, then the Student Six could have talked about how the Tree of Harmony had communicated with them and "tested" them before.

I suppose it's still possible that this is being saved for a big revelation to Twilight and the Mane Six later, but I guess I'm not really expecting that at this point. However, it does seem at least more likely that the Tree of Harmony could still directly communicate with Twilight and/or the Mane Six in a later episode, as @Truffles suggests.

[Thrond 3,257]

You know, it would be freaky to see the Tree of Harmony taking Twilight's form while talking to Twilight. So many implications. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

3 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

You know, it would be freaky to see the Tree of Harmony taking Twilight's form while talking to Twilight. So many implications. 

Yeah the students think they are slick with their whole "don't feel bad we have a special connection with it"
Like Twilight is the embodiment of the most powerful element and the main symbol on the Tree...it takes the form of her. 

It is an interesting idea though, Twilight could ask why the tree looks like her and we get some sweet sweet lore.

[gingerninja666 487]

Can I just say that at points I really love Tara's performance as Harmony.

Like at the end of the episode. " Whenever you seek solace, come here. Your friendship, and the friendship of future generations, will always be safe within these walls." the way she says that very very last bit. There's just something about it. There's this kind of aloof warmth to it. Like it's distant but also genuinely sincere.

[Thrond 3,257]

3 hours ago, RyanMahaffe said:

Yeah the students think they are slick with their whole "don't feel bad we have a special connection with it"
Like Twilight is the embodiment of the most powerful element and the main symbol on the Tree...it takes the form of her. 

It is an interesting idea though, Twilight could ask why the tree looks like her and we get some sweet sweet lore.

Well, the students befriended it, whereas Twilight has never really met the tree, and the tree seems to just take Twilight's form because it's familiar to the students. 

Though that probably means the tree wouldn't look like Twilight to talk to Twilight... Celestia, maybe? 

[Princess Cheese Dorito 7]

Thanks to the Student Six' s friendship, the Tree of Harmony is back! But why it looks different from before I feel like we still need answered 

On 4/12/2019 at 1:05 PM, RyanMahaffe said:

Nice to see we are getting such a seemingly plot important episode right after the premiere, if you look at mos seasons that hasn't happened

Season 8 was The Maud Couple, which was definitely the weakest Maud episode and not really relevant to the plot in anyway
Season 7 was A Flurry of Emotions, which was actually a really solid episode and gave is that juicy Grogar foreshadowing
Season 6 was The Gift of the Maud Pie, the second weakest Maud episode but still good nonetheless, but not really important.
Season 5 was Castle Sweet Castle, which was plot and continuity-heavy as it dealt with the loss of the Golden Oak Library
Season 4 was Castle-Mania, which was had some chest talk at the beginning and a hilarious episode overall, but not that important in the plot (though we did get a pony of shadows name drop.
Season 3 was Too many Pinkies, not plot important
Season 2 was Lesson Zero, VERY plot important
Season 1 was Ticket Master, also very important setting up the """""""""""""arc""""""""""" of that season and the finale.

Point being, I like getting such a plot important episode right after the premiere, I just really hope our dear students don't take the spotlight too much this season.

Yeah, me too. 

On 4/13/2019 at 11:49 AM, Dark Qiviut said:

I think I have my "I HATE IT! >__<" line.

I thought it was a pretty good episode , but yeah. 

[Princess Cheese Dorito 7]

On 4/13/2019 at 12:05 PM, PoisonClaw said:

Yay! The spirit of the Tree is still alive! 

Overall, I liked this episode. I missed a chunk of it due to issues with the stream, but what I saw was pretty enjoyable. The song was a surprise too, but was pretty good. I like that Yona was the voice of reason here, a nice bit of character development here.

It was a pretty good episode and I agree on the character development piece. I like how when they found out that The Tree of Harmony was destroyed and tried to fix it, but the thing is, all they had to do was remember it and their friendship to bring it back in another way. 

[Princess Cheese Dorito 7]

On 4/13/2019 at 6:54 PM, Dynamo Pad said:

I just finished the newest episode and I thought it was pretty good. I liked how each member of the Young Six were having their own dream/nightmare. Only to have them have a connected dream for the spirit of the tree to contact them. I found it interesting how this episode felt like a sort of continuation towards the season premiere. We were able to get an episode that focused on the mane 6. Now, we got a focus on the young 6. It's like seeing the sides of view between the old and the new generations that we've watched along with on the show. It still felt disheartening to see the tree had been destroyed. I would have expected the students to have gone to where they were tested in the episode, 'What Lies Beneath.' I wonder if the roots had were still under the school after the tree's destruction.

As the students were giving their ideas on how to remember the tree, it felt familiar to the episode, 'Castle Sweet Castle.' I liked how each student wanted to contribute in their own way, but I liked how Yona wanted to have everyone work together. It was odd seeing how the other students just dismissed the idea like it didn't matter. They all seem to work really well together and bounce ideas off each other. It almost seems strange to see them go off and do things in their own point of view. Either way, some of the ideas were pretty interesting. Sandbar's idea reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas. I liked how Smolder was able to sculpt a sort of statue that looked like the original tree of harmony. Sort of like a statue to pay respects and remember the good times. I really liked Ocellus's and Silverstream's ideas. The element statues from the feeling forums looked both cool and the abstract art was pretty beautiful. I liked how Yona was able to remind the others of how the tree of harmony had brought them together. Which allowed them to work together and build a tree house.

It's great to hear the first song of the season and I really enjoyed it. I admit that I felt emotional when I listened to it. It felt symbolic that this is the final season, but it felt like it had so much meaning towards it. With each verse, it felt like the song and the characters were telling us something important. That even when things are gone, it's never truly gone or lost forever. That when you say goodbye, it's never truly a farewell. More along the lines of seeing that person or the show again someday. It was as if the song was directed at the fans. That we all grew up watching the show and planted the roots in our hearts. To help build up what the show was truly all about. How we made memories, made long lasting friendship and relationship and forged bonds that can last a lifetime. It was surprising to see that the tree house had grown and made it's way into the castle of the two sisters. I didn't expect to see the castle again, or for it to have relevance. The only thing I wasn't really a fan of was what was inside the tree house. I thought we would get to see what the tree house had created. It made me wonder if the tree house was sort of like the castle of friendship. How there would be seats for the students to let them know that they are the new elements of harmony. I thought we'd get an answer towards that. Seeing how the corresponding harmony light had shined on each of the students when the spirit visited them. I also was surprised to see that the elements have returned. Given how Twilight had told the students that the tree and elements are evolving and changing. I thought the tree and elements would have stayed gone and that the elements and strength was from within themselves. Regardless, I really found this episode to be very enjoyable overall. I'm looking forward to seeing what the student 6 have to offer in this season. I'm also definitely looking forward to next week's episode.  

Thank you for this. I feel like it really captures the meaning of the series as well as the episode. 

4 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

You know, it would be freaky to see the Tree of Harmony taking Twilight's form while talking to Twilight. So many implications. 

True. 

[bwrosas 252]

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Well, the students befriended it, whereas Twilight has never really met the tree, and the tree seems to just take Twilight's form because it's familiar to the students. 

Though that probably means the tree wouldn't look like Twilight to talk to Twilight... Celestia, maybe? 

I've said before, I'll say again, it's Gusty.

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

I didn't think I'd find an episode boring after watching the crazy mess that was the opener, but this one was somewhat boring.

First of all... The Tree had a connection to the students... Ok, I see what the episode is trying to do, but no. The Mane Six had a connection to it. Star Swirl had a connection to it. The students interacted to it a couple of times, completely ad hoc. I don't know. I'm starting to think that the students have overstayed their welcomed and should be on their own series already. Then there is the repeated theme of the episode, that I think can be counted as the students going through a similar process the Mane Six went through with Twilight's new home, but at the same time their interest in it seemed a bit too forced to me.

By the ending I was warming up to the episode and I even liked the clubhouse they had constructed. Then the cartoon had to be heavy handed and stupid as it is some times and the goddamn thing grew and became that. It even stood in the Palace of the Two Sisters, which could be a nice visual analogy to passing on the baton, specially with a tree that grows and flourishes from a tinny seed, but it makes no sense because then it would've been the Mane six and not the students. What the hell? It was likely a coincidence and the writers didn't even think of it.

And another thing is this lame rising and falling of the stakes that the season barely started and has already made a habit of. King Sombra took the Crystal Empire, but them he was defeated, but then he took Canterlot and immediately got defeated. Oh no, the forest is going to take over Ponyville, but then it won't because Star Swirl and the Sisters came and fixed it. The Sisters are retiring, but then they're not right now. Sombra destroyed the Elements, but we don't need them; he destroyed the tree, but the tree isn't that important anymore.

I didn't care much for the song, other than it got it's job done, but some of the dialogue in this episode was weird. "I guess the Tree is still alive, changing and adapting to be whatever Equestria needs." Who wrote this? This is the sort of thing characters shouldn't spell out, specially in a show that ditched the friendship reports and right after the imagery showed just that. But then again, maybe that visual analogy was a coincidence.

And, by the way, did Twilight just leave the pieces of the Elements there? What the hell? Talk about bastardization of a concept.

I hope Grogar and the others don't disappear and only reappear right next to the finale. 

[Thrond 3,257]

2 hours ago, bwrosas said:

I've said before, I'll say again, it's Gusty.

Who is that? 

[gingerninja666 487]

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Who is that? 

Gusty was the hero who defeated Grogar. They were mentioned back in Flurry of Emotions, and Grogar mentioned them again in the premiere.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 4/14/2019 at 10:38 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

And in this episode, the Student Six make multiple trips out to the Tree of Harmony, and tourists even make their way out there. So that seems like a significant thing to just gloss over with no explanation. It might also tell us just how much of a place of solace and safety the new crystal treehouse is - after all, it might be more difficult to find solace and safety there if the trip there is dangerous and stressful.

Forgot to talk about this. One minus of this episode is that it indeed did gloss over how the Student 6 (and everyone else for that matter) were getting out to the ToH cave so easily. In my comments in the premiere (I think) I was hoping they'd give a concrete explanation as to how they were accomplishing this. While we can surmise a few ways this could happen for the students, (e.g., flying, teleportation via Twilight and Starlight) it's curious two "tourist" ponies just happen to come by.

I suppose I should give the episode some credit for dressing these ponies in safari garb, as it seems they are into exploring the Everfree and maybe even had planned to visit the Castle of the Two Sisters and ToH as part of the tour? I would hope ponies who think wandering the Everfree is a neat thing to do have some basic survival skills.

I wonder if having this new structure out in the open instead of a cave will help shrink the Everfree away from it? It would be convenient if a few acres of land were to clear itself in the immediate area, since that might help make this new fortress accessible to the masses. Wasn't the Everfree just a garden when the castle was actually in use and it simply grew out of control after the capital was moved?

[Light Blade 8,658]

1st VIT, everypony!

 

- I didn't know that Silverstream is a big fan of Iron Man

- Wow! Dashu has this much Wonderbolt authority now? Cool.

- ...you said it, Ocellus...WUT? ...what's going on?

- Tree! You're alive! Wait, so you are a messenger? I thought it was Tree itself all along.

- Hi, Spike!

- ...well that didn't work

- Oh hi, Lord Friendly Bug! How are you doing today?

- Oooh, you know your adorkable headmare well, Gallus. Mah griffon!

- Well that was a long way for Yona...and a short one for Gallus XD

- Presentation? Oh Streamy. Good hippogriff

- YOU DID WHAT? Could have waited for the rest

- Aaand here we go: the conflict.

- Gallus the Carnival Ringleader Birb XD

- Ocellus is...where did I see this kind of attitude before?

- 'sigh' Commence breakdown.

- We know the drill, everypony: make up and fix things

- Ooo, a song

- SUDDEN PERFECTURISATION TRANSFORMATION!

- Why do I get a feeling that Tree just doesn't like Mane 6? It communicates a lot with Student 6 to the point of rebuilding itself with their help and speaking about their generation and forward, while getting destroyed when Mane 6 might need it. Are you suggesting that Mane 6 friendship is not good enough for you anymore, Ms Tree?

 

Overall thought: It's alright, I guess.

[Light Blade 8,658]

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely don't mind Student 6. They are fairly diverse and likable characters. I just hope that during their further character development, Mane 6 ultimately don't get to be told that "they are history" in the process.

[Thrond 3,257]

14 hours ago, gingerninja666 said:

Gusty was the hero who defeated Grogar. They were mentioned back in Flurry of Emotions, and Grogar mentioned them again in the premiere.

Oh, OK then. Not sure that's the form the tree would take for Twilight, then. 

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Anyone else wish Spike and Thorax interacted in here? :(