S09:E09 - Sweet and Smoky

[KH7672 1,604]

14 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

On 5/25/2019 at 2:12 PM, KH7672 said:

Well for me I noticed what I call reverse-static characterization on Fluttershy. Before you would go into an episode expecting her to be quiet and timid, now it seems she won't make it through an episode without being loud and assertive and show "she's not shy anymore" and I'm just not entertained by it. The smugness, the ferocity, it doesn't strike me as entertaining coming from Fluttershy, perhaps that comes from me not being too entertained by her to begin with.

On the opposite end here.  She’s very comfortable around both Smolder and Ember, who are both larger than Spike. Last semester, Fluttershy helped rehabilitate a larger dragon (Sludge) so he can fly again. In addition, her admiration for baby dragons calls back to her very first meeting with Spike: Talking to him helped her become more comfortable around Twilight. If she showed dracophobia now, it would retread old ground and show no growth to her character.

And her calling out Garble and others for bullying Spike is more than justified. Garble was making Spike feel unwanted. Yelling at them scared them to stop and demonstrated she won’t tolerate any abuse aimed at him, which was backed up further by calling him out (in front of Smolder) for bullying Spike to hide his own insecurities.

I understand looking and using other people's viewpoints and opinions to shape your own, but please try not to quote me out of context. Using just that paragraph does make it look like I'm complaining about Fluttershy's characterization but later on I say this:

On 5/25/2019 at 2:12 PM, KH7672 said:

It's just retreading the same formula just in the opposite direction. She's incredibly relatable to those introverts wanting to share their voice, to show to world how proud of themselves they are, to be wonderfully assertive! But that's all she is now every appearance from Fluttershy Leans In, to the endof Discordant Harmony, to Fake it Til You Make It, to parts of Sounds of Silence and this episode, she doesn't mess up, doesn't faulter she is the solution after so early on always being the problem, and that's not supposed to be an issue that's character growth but for me the transparency of the writing and the patterns get to me as I analyze Fluttershy's character. There's no surprise with her anymore, and maybe that's why I latch onto new characters much easier, there's so much potential to be explored like seeing Smolder and Ember actually interact with Dragons was great and felt much more entertaining than the Fluttershy routine.

I have no issue of "why Fluttershy was used" she was used fine (interaction with Ember and Garble showed growth), had purpose (taking care of newborns like all her other animals so she's an expert) and re-emphasized development....again. My issues come from the overall "how she's been used consistently" and this episode just reiterates my observation as such.

So please if you are going to quote me for analysis, do it in the context of my conversation to either add or rebuttal my statements, thank you.

[Loyal Defender 4,111]

The faces Fluttershy made are definitely one way to turn someone into a brony. 

[Loyal Defender 4,111]

Garble in this episode was...interesting. At first I thought he was “bold and noisy like a crime”. I hope the episode wouldn’t “dare waste my time”. 
It was pretty nice when the bullying stopped “on a dime”.

 

Credit to @Will Guide for comparing him to the beret poet from An Extremely Goofy Movie. 

 

[YoshiAngemon 223]

If it weren't for Spike and Fluttershy, maybe those Dragons would've been doomed to extinction so much that they would've been working for Grogar. Fortunately, at least they gained possible allies in the inevitable fight against Grogar, unless this is a fight only Twilight and her friends can do.

Edited May 27, 2019 by YoshiAngemon

[Lucky Bolt 35,013]

Fluttershy’s faces at the beginning were the best part of this whole episode. 

 

2 hours ago, Loyal Defender said:

The faces Fluttershy made are definitely one way to turn someone into a brony. 

I mean come ON! Cuteness times 1000! 

[RDDash 18,928]

I had to agree with people above. Fluttershy had been used very well in this episode. She likes baby dragons which she really showed when she first saw Spike and was really excited to meet him.

Who wouldn't be scared if they met intimidating 300 feet tall adult dragon? I mean really.

She used her character development very well by calling out other dragons for excessive Spike abuse

[YoshiAngemon 223]

27 minutes ago, R.D.Dash said:

I had to agree with people above. Fluttershy had been used very well in this episode. She likes baby dragons which she really showed when she first saw Spike and was really excited to meet him.

Who wouldn't be scared if they met intimidating 300 feet tall adult dragon? I mean really.

She used her character development very well by calling out other dragons for excessive Spike abuse

Add to this her Teaching experience, and Fluttershy is still a dead ringer for Serah "Meanie Miss" Farron!

[Dark Qiviut 22,208]

15 hours ago, KH7672 said:

I understand looking and using other people's viewpoints and opinions to shape your own, but please try not to quote me out of context.

Sorry about that.

15 hours ago, KH7672 said:

My issues come from the overall "how she's been used consistently" and this episode just reiterates my observation as such.

On 5/25/2019 at 2:12 PM, KH7672 said:

It's just retreading the same formula just in the opposite direction. She's incredibly relatable to those introverts wanting to share their voice, to show to world how proud of themselves they are, to be wonderfully assertive! But that's all she is now every appearance from Fluttershy Leans In, to the endof Discordant Harmony, to Fake it Til You Make It, to parts of Sounds of Silence and this episode, she doesn't mess up, doesn't faulter she is the solution after so early on always being the problem, and that's not supposed to be an issue that's character growth but for me the transparency of the writing and the patterns get to me as I analyze Fluttershy's character.

As far as the early seasons are concerned, I agree. In the earlier seasons, I had a big problem with her because her shyness was, for the most part, her dominant characterization and oftentimes her lone trait. Unless the climax wrote her as such, that was it. When she does become assertive, it’s usually one of the lowest moments of the episode. Aside from Hurricane Fluttershy, one of the only times where standing up for herself made her look better was evicting the rest of the breezies from her cottage so they can glide home. Watching her have to overcome her shyness all the time, albeit under different circumstances with different morals, is something I don't wanna see.

The newer seasons, especially six and seven, are where I disagree. I want her to show how much those lessons she learned matter, and that's what I'm getting in most of her appearances post S4. Flutter Brutter, Discordant Harmony, Sounds of Silence, Health of Info, Father Knows Beast, and here show that off the best. Sure, she can show shyness and stage fright from time to time, but having to relearn lessons like from Fake It/Putting Your Hoof Down 2.0 isn’t what I look for. How they wrote her in episodes like this and Discordant Harmony doesn't bother me, because she’s the supporting character, overcame so much already to get where she is now, and is there to support the main character rather than herself. FLI's the only time that I remember where being post-S4 'Shy hurt her, and that's to blame on oversimplifying a conflict and putting her in the right despite being a crappy communicator.

[Justin_Case001 4,860]

What's poning, ponles?

Well, that was okay.  Oh, hell, it was better than okay; it was adequately satisfactory!  Truly an acceptable and tolerable episode of Pony if there ever was one, I do declare.  :/

I liked it.  Really, I did.  Would this face lie to you?    Okay, okay--it was a little bittersweet, but I'll get to that in a second.  I'm thrilled that they did another dragon story.  I love the dragons, and I really love any expansion on them, their lore, or their homeland.  It was a solid episode, and who could argue with that moral?  I mean, jumping Jiminy Crickets, that's a message worth embracing!  It sure speaks to me, as I'm quite different and don't fit in.

So, the instant we saw Garble, I knew he was Smolder's bro.  Admittedly, I definitely had a bit of the

Spoiler

 

reaction.  I really hate Garble.  Like, even more than I hated Diamond Tiara or Trixie back when they were sniveling little sh*ts.  It was a good twist, though.  It wasn't bad.  They did a good job with it.  But being someone who was bullied a lot growing up, I really hate bullies, and I've never been able to completely expel that retributive mindset.  I want a little vicarious revenge.  But I know that's actually a terrible mindset.  No matter what was done to you, being mean back doesn't make the world a better place.  Understanding, compassion, and forgiveness work better.  This is a show about teaching just that.  I support the kind of messages this show teaches.  Revenge never helped anyone do anything, and it never made anyone feel better.  Not really.  My official, on the record position is one of restoration, not retribution.  But off the record, I don't want Garble to reform and learn the error of his ways.  I want him dead.  I want a bully to suffer the way they've made others suffer.  And eye for an eye, you piece of sh*t.

I was a tad disappointed that we didn't see more of sensitive side from Garble.  It would have changed my opinion of him and I would have been more on his side if we had seen an actual tender side from him as his sister insists he has--some real emotion, and maybe some hurt feelings from being mistreated himself.  But we didn't really get that.  So he plays the bongos and writes [really lame] songs.  So what?  Where's this sweetheart that Smolder described?  He just has a beatnik side, and he worries about being teased about it.  I just... y'know... didn't really buy into it that much.  Not like Diamond Tiara: when that b*tch sang that song, The Pony I Want to Be, OMG; I was tearing up!  I guess I wanted something a little deeper like that from Garble.  I still don't like him. 

But nonetheless, I still enjoyed it, and it still had a killer message.

So, Fluttershy's adorable, and I love her and all, but good god, when she was doing that "oojee boojee goochi goo" stuff, I was like

Spoiler

 

That was too much even for me.

The highlights of the episode were every second that Ember was onscreen.  I love her so much.  She's the best.  She's totally embracing this friendship thing, but she still kicks ass and takes names.  "We're gonna embrace exactly who everyone is in my fuckin' kingdom, bitch!"  Love it.  I'm glad to see that she commands authority, and that the others respect her.  I was glad to see her chew out those little punk ass dragons, but in reality, their screw up was far worse than it was made out to be.  In real life, those eggs surely would have died.  They basically killed an entire new generation of dragons.  Ember should have banished their asses forever.  I guess dragon eggs are super resilient, though.

I absolutely love how Ember can't tell the ponies apart.  That is adorable for some reason.  The "party one", the "country one".    Heh--she called her Appledash.  Appledash!

Oh yeah, she knew what she was doing... 

But the best part, the best part by far, was Ember's response when Fluttershy asked if all the eggs were hers.  That blush!  Omg.    "What the f*ck?!!  NO!!  Just what exactly are you implying??!"  That was one of the best moments in entire show!

Uh, guess that's pretty much it.  Glad it wasn't a map mission.  I wonder if that thing's offline now...   One can only hope.

[Ganondox 899]

One thing I forgot to mention. This episode not only didn’t answer the egg question with Spike, but opened up more questions with how his egg ended up with Celestia rather than with the rest of them. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,208]

Well, anyone who follows me knows it's coming. Got a review ready!

Hope y'all enjoy it!

[Music Chart Fan 818]

Overall, I find this episode kind of a mixed bag. I appreciate how much Spike and Smolder have become friends, how Smolder is happy to have Spike come along, and how Smolder sticks up for Spike. Ember also makes a nice showing in this episode. I can also see how Fluttershy's appearance in this episode would be enjoyable, although I found Fluttershy's "cute" faces and baby talk to the dragon eggs/newly hatched dragons a little over-the-top and excessively cloying; I will admit, though, that I'm not generally into that kind of overt display. However, to my recollection, Garble's history on the show has just been acting as the dumb bully stereotype, so it's really hard to believe that Garble's "tough guy stuff is just an act", or that it's all caused by peer pressure from his posse. There are a couple of other aspects to this episode that seem a bit more contrived than usual. And I thought that the resolution, and some of the characters' lines, in this episode sort of muddle the message this episode seems to be trying to send.

-----

I'll start off with the things in the episode that seem to me to be muddling the message. When Garble tells Fluttershy that she better not tell his friends about his beat poetry, Fluttershy responds "But why? If I was a poet, I'd want to share my creations with everypony". But is that implying that there's a problem, or that there's something wrong, if Garble doesn't want to share his beat poetry with everybody? It seems to me like beat poetry is a kind of niche thing, and that many people may think it's a little weird, or just not take any particular interest in it. Is it okay for someone to have niche interests that perhaps only a select group of people would share, and therefore, that person doesn't want to share those niche interests with the world, or with everyone he/she knows or meets, or with certain friends of his/hers?

And I'm also left rather baffled that the resolution to Garble's loneliness in his interest in beat poetry, and his fears of being made fun of forever if he performed in front of anyone else, is to perform in front of everyone, knowing, and even intending, that everyone will laugh at him and find him ridiculous. And afterward, Smolder says that "Garble saved our eggs because he was strong enough to be who he is, whether you liked it or not", and says that we should celebrate our differences. But must one display every aspect of "who one is" to everybody, and if other people don't like it or care for it, then they're in the wrong, and they're preventing one from being who one truly is? Is it okay to generally acknowledge and let people have their differences without needing to actively celebrate them or share them with everyone all the time?

One analogous situation to this would be our interest in watching and commenting about this show (and the attendant spin-offs). I was never one who felt the need to proclaim that I like this show to other people, or to try to get other people to watch the show or give it a chance, or to try to convince the world that it's okay for us to like a cute cartoon primarily targeted to young girls. I'm perfectly fine with watching and commenting on the show on my own time, and generally not talking to most of my friends and acquaintances about it. Does that mean that the people that I choose not to talk to about this show aren't my real friends, and are stopping me from being who I am? I wouldn't see it that way; I would probably just say that I have different friends and acquaintances with whom I share different interests and opinions, and not all of those interests and opinions overlap. In fact, that seemed to be the message of "Make New Friends But Keep Discord": that it's okay to have "different friends for different things", and that one need not share everything in one's life with all of one's friends.

So if your friends find out about some interest you have, and they actively pick on you, laugh at you, try to embarrass you, and/or repeatedly pressure you to stop even when that interest isn't hurting anybody or affecting them, then sure, you may want to find some new friends. And if your friends are essentially nothing but a bad influence, and do little else than pressure you to do bad things that you wouldn't otherwise do, then again, yeah, you probably should find some new friends. But if your friends (or others) find out about some interest you have, and they think it's kind of weird, or just aren't interested themselves, and don't necessarily want to share that interest with you, then sometimes that's just the way things go. I don't see that as necessarily meaning that those people aren't your real friends, or that they're in the wrong for preventing you from being exactly who you are. It's up to you if you want to remain friends with those people and just share other common interests. And in either case, you can try to find some other people who do share that particular interest with you.

-----

Next, early in the episode, Smolder tells Garble "Only gonna warn you once. Spike's my friend. You mess with him, you mess with me". But after that, we seem to be meant to believe that Smolder never saw Garble messing with or bullying Spike again until Fluttershy calls Garble out on it near the end of the episode, and Smolder angrily asks Garble "Wait. You've been picking on Spike?". But earlier, when Spike, Smolder, and Garble went to a lava pool, Garble pushes Spike into the lava pool before Spike's ready. And after that, Garble cannonballs, causing Spike to swallow lava and irritate his eyes, and causing Smolder to need to dive down and rescue Spike from below the lava. Later, at the tea party, Garble smacks the red velvet cupcake out of Spike's hand and smashes it on the ground with his foot (which makes an audible squishing noise), followed by Garble saying "Feeling better already" while Spike tears up and looks at his smashed cupcake on the ground. Smolder's eyes were closed at that moment, but did she really not hear any of that, or see the aftermath of it and ask what happened (or put together what happened herself)? And later still, did Smolder not hear the exchange between Fluttershy, Spike, and Garble & Co., especially when Garble & Co. started throwing lava balls and Fluttershy shouted "ENOUGH!"? Did Smolder not ask what that was about? It seems like there are multiple instances of Garble's messing with or bullying Spike (and Fluttershy) that Smolder could have observed or found out about with a minimum of curiosity.

Finally, there are a couple of things about the situation with the dragon eggs to comment on. The show has seemed to give the impression that dragon parents raise their children in at least a somewhat similar way to how we humans usually do. So why does it seem to be solely the Dragon Lord's job to watch over and hatch all the dragon eggs? Why aren't the dragon parents contributing to the watching and care of their own children? And when do the parents "claim" and start to raise their children themselves? Just after they hatch? Some later point? Also, when Spike asks whether the hatching grounds are supposed to be hot, Ember seems to know that they should be, and yet Ember had apparently never taken notice of the temperature of the eggs or of the hatching grounds themselves. Ember had said earlier that the eggs have been shaking for days, and the temperature of the hatching grounds may have been dropping for even longer than that. So it comes across as a little contrived for Ember not to have noticed that, but for Spike to nearly instantly diagnose the problem correctly.

Now here are the rest of my miscellaneous observations:

This teacher's lounge is larger than any of the teacher's lounges I saw in school.

When Twilight says "I'm sorry to hear about your brother, Smolder. But the Dragon Lands are really far for you to go by yourself", I half-expected the next sentence to be "Let me contact your parents and have them pick you up". But then, if Twilight did say that, then the whole suggestion of getting school credit and having Spike and Fluttershy come along might not have happened, and the episode would be significantly different.

Smolder's making a "begging" face (alongside Spike and Fluttershy) could be taken as proof of her liking "cute, silly stuff", and/or proof of her ongoing adaptation to pony culture. We might think that making a "begging" face like that wouldn't be very effective in the dragon lands.

Spike offers Garble a cupcake that appears to be brown with red icing and says "Try this. Red velvet". But the brown at the base of the cupcake doesn't resemble the color of red velvet cake. Does Spike's "red velvet" refer only to the icing and not the cupcake itself?

Fluttershy tells Spike "For a land that's all rocks, this place is surprisingly easy to get lost in". So Fluttershy expected a land of all rocks to be easy to navigate? Perhaps there isn't tree cover or something, but if the rocks all look more or less the same, and the land doesn't have many distinguishing features, then I would expect it to be more difficult to find one's way around.

I did notice that we don't see Ember make any comment or take note of Spike's wings, even as he flew in to greet her at the hatching grounds. I suppose it's possible that Spike or Twilight, say, may have written to Ember and told her about Spike's molt in a letter, or that Smolder had informed Ember at some point. But it still could have been nice for Ember to make some acknowledgement when seeing Spike.

How did Fluttershy lose track of Smolder, Garble & Co.? How far did they travel in the ~15 seconds that elapsed between Garble & Co. flying down to join Smolder and Fluttershy's talking to Spike? Or is it implied that they all ditched Fluttershy at a later point?

Somehow I find it hard to believe that stone bongos would sound like that.

Many of the clutches of the eggs are bathed in fire even when dragons aren't actively breathing fire on them. But what's burning to keep the fires going in those cases? The eggs appear to be just sitting on dirt and rock, which I wouldn't think would be (easily) flammable.

If the eggs are in danger of dying, then it seems like Ember and Smolder and Spike could also be helping to breathe fire on them. In "Triple Threat", Ember's fire breath was a kind of magenta color, so it may even be hotter than normal already.

On 5/26/2019 at 2:41 PM, Truffles said:

The inference we can make from this is apparently Spike never talked to her about Garble for the entire first year of Twilight's school, even though they did bond last season.

Yeah, I did find this a little strange. Spike's encounters with Garble (and his posse) have been some of the few interactions Spike (and the Mane Six) has had with dragons and with dragon culture. So if Spike and Smolder have talked about Spike's lack of knowledge or experience with dragons and dragon culture, I might think that Garble would have come up. Furthermore, this may imply that Garble never talked to or complained to Smolder about his encounters with Spike, either. (On a side note, this may also mean that Garble gave Smolder a hug on Dragon Lord Spike's command in the aftermath of "Gauntlet of Fire" and Garble didn't complain or badmouth Spike when doing so.) And yeah, if Smolder were aware of Garble's and Spike's previous run-ins, then she might have been more on the lookout for Garble's attempting to bully Spike, and she and Spike may have come up with a different approach to trying to cheer up Garble.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

So if your friends find out about some interest you have, and they actively pick on you, laugh at you, try to embarrass you, and/or repeatedly pressure you to stop even when that interest isn't hurting anybody or affecting them, then sure, you may want to find some new friends.

I have to imagine that Garble only hooked up with this group because he was scared of getting eaten by a predator when he got kicked out of the house by his family. I can't imagine that someone who is supposedly sensitive would enjoy being around dragons who were polar opposites of his true self. I guess until now he figured there were no other dragons who'd be better than this group to hang with. As for Spike (who Smolder claims is "just like" her brother), I guess because Garble has/had a personal beef with him, abandoning his peers and befriending him seemed out of the question.

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

I did notice that we don't see Ember make any comment or take note of Spike's wings, even as he flew in to greet her at the hatching grounds. I suppose it's possible that Spike or Twilight, say, may have written to Ember and told her about Spike's molt in a letter, or that Smolder had informed Ember at some point. But it still could have been nice for Ember to make some acknowledgement when seeing Spike.

Good catch. I was so focused on him making his wings an issue with Garble (since it has been such a sore point of the ongoing bullying) I forgot Ember hadn't seen them yet, either. Also I keep mistakenly thinking "Triple Threat" occurred after "Molt Down", but then realize TT was S7 and MD was S8.

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Somehow I find it hard to believe that stone bongos would sound like that.

Fun fact: Spike played his belly like a bongo drum in S3's "Spike at Your Service." Maybe bongo drums are a thing with dragons? XD

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Many of the clutches of the eggs are bathed in fire even when dragons aren't actively breathing fire on them. But what's burning to keep the fires going in those cases? The eggs appear to be just sitting on dirt and rock, which I wouldn't think would be (easily) flammable.

Maybe the Dragon Lands are make up entirely of Netherrack? XD (Minecraft joke for the uninitiated.)

One plausible possibility is there are flammable gases seeping through cracks everywhere in the Dragon Lands? Smolder did make a point of enjoying the sulfurous fumes early in the episode, so maybe it vents from other places than just lava tubes? Of course, one would wonder why the whole place isn't constantly on fire if that were the case, lol.

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Furthermore, this may imply that Garble never talked to or complained to Smolder about his encounters with Spike, either.

Indeed, if Garble had mentioned Spike then she'd probably have told Spike off in the early days of the school to stop making her brother miserable. I wonder how often Smolder and Garble saw each other after he got kicked out? His confiding in her that he was lonely may have been the first time he's contacted her in a while could explain why it triggered Smolder's decision to return home.

On 5/29/2019 at 1:16 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

(On a side note, this may also mean that Garble gave Smolder a hug on Dragon Lord Spike's command in the aftermath of "Gauntlet of Fire" and Garble didn't complain or badmouth Spike when doing so.)

Well, he was ordered by Dragon Lord Spike to "not tell anyone why" so even if she got this random hug from him he'd have to stay silent. XD

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Yeah i have to agree wit other that this episd is really mixed bag. The message at the end seems muddied. "Oh be yourself, and if people don't like that, then they aren't your freinds" That a terrible message to send to kids! That kind of message is how yu get entitled brats to immerge. 

Draogn Lord taking care of the eggs is really weird. plus we never do leanr how Spike egg got into Celestia hands either.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

41 minutes ago, BlinkZ said:

Yeah i have to agree wit other that this episd is really mixed bag. The message at the end seems muddied. "Oh be yourself, and if people don't like that, then they aren't your freinds" That a terrible message to send to kids! That kind of message is how yu get entitled brats to immerge. 

In this case, Garble's "Friends" would pick on him just because he likes to make Beat Poetry and apparently has a sensitive side. There is an extent to which you shouldn't "Just be yourself" if yourself involves harmful habits or personality traits that actually harm or bother others, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Garble's real personality, if anything the fake personality he put's on to look tough is actually way worse than what we saw of the "Real" him.

 You shouldn't have to suppress your passions and interests to be friends with people, and if they pick on and bully you for your interests, then they absolutely aren't your friends.

[YoshiAngemon 223]

1 minute ago, BastementSparkle said:

In this case, Garble's "Friends" would pick on him just because he likes to make Beat Poetry and apparently has a sensitive side. There is an extent to which you shouldn't "Just be yourself" if yourself involves harmful habits or personality traits that actually harm or bother others, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Garble's real personality, if anything the fake personality he put's on to look tough is actually way worse than what we saw of the "Real" him.

 You shouldn't have to suppress your passions and interests to be friends with people, and if they pick on and bully you for your interests, then they absolutely aren't your friends.

That's making it sound like Garble is the Bottom Rung of the gang of dragons. I mean, they all have insecurities like their fear of being punished by the Dragon Lord Ember. Come to think of it, if they were banished and forced to join forces with Grogar, they would end up becoming the second-to-bottom rung, picking on Cozy Glow to the point where she would just say "screw it," and fly back to Ponyville, and tell Twilight about Grogar's plans, but not without getting put back in Tartarus.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

2 minutes ago, YoshiAngemon said:

That's making it sound like Garble is the Bottom Rung of the gang of dragons. I mean, they all have insecurities like their fear of being punished by the Dragon Lord Ember.

He wasn't the bottom rung of the dragons, no. But he knows his "Friends" would think his beat poetry is something that makes him weak and he's insecure about it, so he hides it so he doesn't get made fun of and so he can keep his good reputation with them. Now, Smolder is able to show her soft side and still keep them off her back from the start because she's confident and able to stand up for herself, unlike Garble. If his friends knew about his poetry earlier before this episode, he probably would have ended up in a way worse position, because of his insecurities.

[RDDash 18,928]

Liking something soft doesn't mean you can't also stand up for yourself. So if like Spike would be his usual self and be picked by others as the result he could just say "Yeah I like pony things do you have a problem with that, if so let me just grow the size of the mountain." Or Garble could easily cut all of the dragons crap by simply standing up for his 'un-cool hobbies'  but it takes him encouragement from a pony out of all creatures to do it. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

The "So Awesome" face by Fluttershy was absolutely adorable! My gosh this episode was just so good. I think so many people these days hide behind a toughie shield and that's what messes them up. I may be strong and somewhat tough on the outside, but I'm one of the most gentle and compassionate people that you'll ever meet. Seriously, I started to gain a lot of respect for Garble now. I just wish that Season 9 wasn't the last season so they could explore Garble even more. 

[Violet Bookish 350]

I honestly loved this one. At first, I was annoyed that the show was still doing the whole bully thing with Garble. It's cliche and hasn't really gone anywhere interesting. But, not only did this episode expand on the concept, it actually gave some pretty good development for Garble. The two main characters were also presented really well here. Spike isn't creating the problem, like he usually is, rather he does his best to fix the issue and willingly hands it over to Fluttershy when he realizes he can't do it. Fluttershy isn't being a complete doormat and I'd argue this is the strongest we've seen her in a long while. I'm honestly really proud of her since she's found the balance a lot of people struggle with. She's firm but not too firm, so she doesn't upset Garble's feelings, and gentle and understanding but not to the point she lets Garble have his way. I also really love how Spike and Fluttershy work together in this episode. Spike always seemed like the outliner of the group, the third wheel, but in this episode, Spike and Fluttershy cooperate seamlessly, ready to take the burden when the other can't. They switch roles with surprisingly no complaints from Fluttershy, who used to cower at the thought of dragons, and, despite how bummed out Spike is, he puts in all his energy when helping out with the eggs. We can see the amount of trust they have in each other to get the job done, and it's nice. 

The only real issue I have is Smolder not realizing Garble was bullying Spike. I mean, there were some instances, like the lava pool, where I'm pretty sure she had to have seen it. But, it's a pretty minor flaw and arguably shows how much faith she has in her brother (family love), even if he doesn't exactly deserve it. 

Overall this episode was a lot of fun with a good display of Spike and Fluttershy's characters along with development for a Garble, a character I never thought would get any. I gave it an A. 

Edited June 7, 2019 by Violet Bookish

[bigbertha 410]

I don't buy Garble's beatnik schtick. It comes out of nowhere and is insanely contrived. Since most of the episode is about Garble, this is a really big problem. Smolder says that Garble has always had a nice side and was always sweet, but nothing before supported that and most things in this episode don't support that. 

Aside from that, nothing stands out. The episode isn't funny and the stuff with Fluttershy and Ember is mildly amusing at best. It's too reliant on Fluttershy making cute faces that aren't cute and making cute noises. 

Score: 3/10

Edited June 8, 2019 by bigbertha

[Allen 1,371]

Those dragons are just playing around, but they're actually mean to Spike when they met again with him. I bet Fluttershy can handle this situation for Spike whoever the dragons mess around with him. It's good to see Ember again in this episode, as a friend of Spike.  She's on the guard with baby dragon eggs, and also Fluttershy too when she came up with it.

Fluttershy's the sweetest in this episode at the conclusion when baby dragons hatch from their eggs that comes up with dragon's breath and heat!  I will say this is a great episode too that comes with kindness to hatchlings!  

[Sunlight Glisten 368]

Does anyone else think garbles poetry kinda sucked. I also figured spike would have some street cred by now being that he did win the gauntlet of fire and all. They way overplayed spikes lack of masculinity. Overall i fond spike to be normal dude, but here hes portrayed a as pony loving wuss. 

It looks bad for the brony community. Others believe us to be as the dragons see spike. But there is so much more very manly and chivalrous attributes about spike they were non-existent in this episode.  

[Metemponychosis 1,239]

Everyone is talking about the sisters episode and I'm here finally able to catch up to the cartoon and excited about the 'dragon episode'.

Anyway... At it's core it's another episode about bullies and victims that messes up the whole thing trying to come up with a nice message. Or that is what I thought, initially. I thought we already dealt with that, but pulling it off right is worth it. I'm just going to leave it at that since I suppose there wasn't much they could've done with Garble. Introducing new characters would've avoided that. What made this episode better, though, was that Fluttershy dealt with it a lot better than Applejack and that the way they solved the problem with the eggs was damn funny AND an intelligent way to tie up the two conflicts. Nicely done, that worked.

[Cash Ins Toaster 21,672]

This sucked. Look, I get why Garble acts the way he does, but he's such an asshole, so the episode just doesn't mean anything to me. The poetry thing was funny though, so I'll give them that.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Cash_In