spoiler S09:E16 - A Trivial Pursuit

[Adamgreen 1,129]

It was a fun episode. Way better than that Dash cheer leading episode

Also, I just love the Twi and Spike interactions at the beginning and middle. I miss that too often lol

[doomie-22 17]

Well, this episode officially destroyed Twilight's entire character fot me. Whatever remaining, if any, likability she may have had after what she did in "Marks for Effort" is completely gone now. Screw this episode! 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

Just now, doomie-22 said:

Well, this episode officially destroyed Twilight's entire character fot me. Whatever remaining, if any, likability she may have had after what she did in "Marks for Effort" is completely gone now. Screw this episode! 

Melodramatic, much? 

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

I thought this episode overall was pretty fun, lot's of great comedy, good jokes, funny expressions, "A whole new level of Twilighting", etc. This episode was worth it for the comedy alone. I could complain about how this is probably the worst Twilight has ever acted in an episode...But she learned her lesson by the end and apologized pretty genuinely. I can understand disliking this episode for it's characterization of Twi, especially if the humor doesn't work for you, but this isn't a character assassination episode, I don't think it's somehow so awful it completely ruins Twi's character or makes her unlikable, no more than Pinkie is unlikable for "Filli Vanilli" or Fluttershy is "Putting your Hoof Down" or any number of other characters are for their worst showings. Twilight is still best pony in my books.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

SPOILER ALERT!

 

I just saw the Trivia episode with Twilight and Pinkie Pie. I hoped it would be slightly better watching it on TV but just as with the leak watch I felt Twilight seems out of character because she was never shown to be THAT competitive in the whole series, like in the Trivia episode. If they established a more competitive streak in Twilight in earlier seasons it would have worked better. "Sunset's Backstage Pass" worked better because the characters are written better. Even though both Sunset and Twilight are annoyed by Pinkie Pie and see Pinkie as a hinderance Sunset was written more sympathetically than Twilight because you empathize with Sunset’s reasons and Pinkie was a lot more irritating in “Backstage Pass” with running off to get food right before Post Crush came on stage etc. Even in the 2017 MLP movie the stakes were so much higher that Twilight’s actions felt more justified even though they were obviously wrong.  Here I felt like screaming at Twilight to get over it, being it was just a game.  I can understand the writers wanting to make characters make mistakes and establish that Twilight will still be an imperfect pony even when she is ruler of all Equestria, which in itself is a great idea because people with great status and power are flawed, but it seemed too exaggerated and something that would have worked better in seasons 1 to 3 rather than the very last season. She didn’t learn this specific lesson in past seasons but her behavior is way too immature for season 9.  Spike mentioning Twilight’s princess of friendship status felt wonky like the writers were perfectly aware Twilight was behaving in a way that was beneath her. Another downside for the episode is the Trivia games rules are hard to follow. The few things I did like were the exploration of how both Twilight and SunBurst have an issue with always having to have the right answer which was the one part I felt actually fit their characters really well. I noticed this trait in academic types with high GPAs a LOT(one guy in my school retook a whole class because of an “A-“ I’m NOT kidding, to him an A- was like a D LOL, talk about “Twilighting”) so the obsession with being right all the time, was pretty relatable. I wish they focused more on Twilight's and Sunbursts need to be right and made that part of the lesson more. The facial expressions were very funny obviously but maybe a little overused. I did like the apology scene. Spike and Granny Smith were funny. Overall a weak episode that still makes me think the writers are really running out of ideas which might be why the series is ending.

[Sparklefan1234 161,804]

55 minutes ago, DonMaguz said:

When Pinkie has proven time and again that she doesn't respect anyone's seriousness and everything is a fun game for her, it's kind of obvious how would Twilight react to her on something that she believes to be serious.

 

But this *was* a game. Sadly, Twilight didn't seem to remember that. 

[Jeric 46,834]

Poll is open! I’ve done this type of trivia before and I absolutely loved this concept. It is also nice to see that even though these characters have come a long what they continue to struggle with personal wants vs the needs of others. 

12 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

because she was never shown to be THAT competitive in the whole series

She was in this very Season against her brother. Considering she has a general trait based around perfection and efficiency, two traits that can motivate someone into a competitive nature, it fits her character easily even though it hasn’t been a focus in earlier seasons. 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

11 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

But this *was* a game. Sadly, Twilight didn't seem to remember that. 

Well, everyone struggles with remembering to balance their personal wants with other people's wants.

[Jeric 46,834]

Just now, TheAnimationFanatic said:

Well, everyone struggles with remembering to balance their personal wants with other people's wants.

Aye. From a narrative standpoint this fits IRL personalities much much better than some of the basic frameworks we have seen before. Sunburst being the catalyst for Twilight actually realizing how it feels to be betrayed is how most people come to a state of empathy. She didn’t connect the dots until she felt what Pinkie felt. 

45 minutes ago, doomie-22 said:

Well, this episode officially destroyed Twilight's entire character fot me. Whatever remaining, if any, likability she may have had after what she did in "Marks for Effort" is completely gone now. Screw this episode! 

I get it, but in my experience, the best of friends can lose sight of what is important when they are involved in something that is personally important to them. Twilight’s hyper focused nature lends itself really well to these sorts of mistakes. I’m glad they gave us an episode that reflects reality a little. 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

2 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Aye. From a narrative standpoint this fits IRL personalities much much better than some of the basic frameworks we have seen before. Sunburst being the catalyst for Twilight actually realizing how it feels to be betrayed is how most people come to a state of empathy. She didn’t connect the dots until she felt what Pinkie felt. 

Yeah the Sunburst and Twilight parts were a nice touch. Probably the best parts of the episode. Twilight saw herself mirrored in Sunburst and was like "Uh oh." 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

This episode is no more character assassination for Twilight than "A Canterlot Wedding" was for the other Ponies.

[ggg-2 3,550]

How did Mudbriar know about Scorpan? Tirek being common knowledge i can buy after his rampage in season 4 but not Scorpan. Twilight didn't even know about him at first.

[Goat-kun 2,496]

23 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Aye. From a narrative standpoint this fits IRL personalities much much better than some of the basic frameworks we have seen before. Sunburst being the catalyst for Twilight actually realizing how it feels to be betrayed is how most people come to a state of empathy. She didn’t connect the dots until she felt what Pinkie felt. 

I get it, but in my experience, the best of friends can lose sight of what is important when they are involved in something that is personally important to them. Twilight’s hyper focused nature lends itself really well to these sorts of mistakes. I’m glad they gave us an episode that reflects reality a little. 

Uh oh, big experience coming through!

 

If you were my friend and busted into my game of Dota without any interest to actually learn the game, you'd be learning some Russian words instead, if you catch my drift. It goes both ways and Pinkie should have realized how much this game means to Twilight. I guess nobody is looking at Pinkie this way cause everyone low-key accepted that she's a comedy prop without agency and can thus not be responsible for anything she does

[Early Sunsets 2,106]

It wasn't a terrible episode, but it wasn't great, either. Definitely not worth the risk I took to watch it during my lunch break at work today.

I also feel like they went overboard with the meme faces again.

[KH7672 1,604]

26 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

If you were my friend and busted into my game of Dota without any interest to actually learn the game, you'd be learning some Russian words instead, if you catch my drift. It goes both ways and Pinkie should have realized how much this game means to Twilight. I guess nobody is looking at Pinkie this way cause everyone low-key accepted that she's a comedy prop without agency and can thus not be responsible for anything she does

 

Aye, but you miss the crucial detail to such an experience, the random factor. In your example you are right, I absolutely forfeit my right to not be called out on when I willfully join your Dota game. I should know how much the game means to you if I choose to join your game and not be surprised your reaction when I show I have no experience. Pinkie did not get that choice, all she did was throw her name in a pool. Who knows if her experience would she have been paired with Fluttershy, Mudbriar, or even Matilda. She just came to indulge in a new experience, and was hoping to have fun with it with another random partner who may have handled her in-experience differently.

There's a reason you probably won't do random match ups if you're playing that competitively 

[Dark Qiviut 22,170]

1 hour ago, doomie-22 said:

Whatever remaining, if any, likability she may have had after what she did in "Marks for Effort" is completely gone now.

Cozy Glow is to blame for this. She intentionally failed her test and framed the CMCs to Twilight when she confronted her over it. Twilight takes the care of her students seriously.

1 hour ago, doomie-22 said:

Well, this episode officially destroyed Twilight's entire character fot me.

Twilight was not at her best here, but she was in character and not in the right frame of mind. Her appearances from No Second Prances, Bridle Gossip, 246G, and Owl’s Well, Mare Do Well, and its ripoff are a million times worse.

[ggg-2 3,550]

A princess and soon to be sole(?) ruler of Equestria wears an old t-shirt to bed. .....This is entirely fitting for Twi! 

Edited August 17, 2019 by ggg-2

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 minute ago, ggg-2 said:

A princess and soon to be sole(?) ruler of Equestria wears and old t-shirt to bed. .....This is entirely fitting for Twi! 

Maybe it belongs to a Special Somepony and we don't know it yet

[Jeric 46,834]

49 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

Uh oh, big experience coming through!

 

 

 

If you were my friend and busted into my game of Dota without any interest to actually learn the game, you'd be learning some Russian words instead, if you catch my drift. It goes both ways and Pinkie should have realized how much this game means to Twilight. I guess nobody is looking at Pinkie this way cause everyone low-key accepted that she's a comedy prop without agency and can thus not be responsible for anything she does

 

Oh Pinkie is certainly not without fault. If there was a failure in storytelling and properly addressing the moral, it was there. The fact that this was a trivia framework where you were assigned a partner makes me suspect that this situation may have happened before. 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

This episode definitely has some few issues (mostly Twilight). Twilight is mean to Pinkie in this ep and people who think highly of Princess Twilight will not like it. However, unlike the last episode, this ep is extremely fun to watch, there is no moment that made me feel like i'm wasting my time. The ending is satisfying, Twilight learns the lesson and she didn't win and that ending make episode so much better, unlike Matter of Principal or Non-Compete Clause, when characters act like jerks, didn't learn their lessons and still got reward in the end. Nothing more to say about this ep, no thought-provoking stuffs to discuss about, just a dumb fun episode to enjoy this week. If you don't like Twilight characterization in ep, you may dislike this ep, if you have no problem with that, enjoy Twilight crazy faces collection!!!

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

This is what I'd call a "candy episode". It's not heavy on story or plot, but it's light, silly, and has comedy to work in its favor to make it worthwhile. 

[The Nth Doctor 652]

Another stellar example of why Twilight's ill-suited to lead the country, which I'm sure will be ignored once the time comes...

Really wish the writing wasn't so frustrating this season.

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

This episode was... not good. I wouldn't declare it genuinely awful, but the plot was relatively lightly played in favor of comedy, which simply didn't work for me (I can only tolerate Twilight loudly freaking out and bucketloads of awkwardly integrated and bluntly played meme faces (which are meant to be hilarious because... they're generically weird, I guess?) for so many minutes before either begins to wear me down), whilst the episode's conflict (when focus actually was exerted onto it) was resultantly trapped within the confines of the episode's exaggeratedly jokey tone to the extent where both Twilight and Pinkie came off as one-note (Twilight was basically reduced to huge emotional takes and Pinkie was largely a goofy sitcom-esque 'annoying/oblivious friend' when she was initially conceived as a kind of subversion to this archetype) in a manner which felt disparaging to their characters as opposed to funny or respectful. I suspect I could forgive this type of episode more if it bore more entertainment value for me (and, to be fair, the episode at least consistently recognizes the goofiness of its own narrative and conflicts, which I can respect and appreciate on some level), but I prefer less sitcom-ish humor than the material on displayed here. 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

2 minutes ago, Them's Seeing Ponies said:

This episode was... not good. I wouldn't declare it genuinely awful, but the plot was relatively lightly played in favor of comedy, which simply didn't work for me (I can only tolerate Twilight loudly freaking out and bucketloads of awkwardly integrated and bluntly played meme faces (which are meant to be hilarious because... they're generically weird, I guess?) for so many minutes before either begins to wear me down), whilst the episode's conflict (when focus actually was exerted onto it) was resultantly trapped within the confines of the episode's exaggeratedly jokey tone to the extent where both Twilight and Pinkie came off as one-note (Twilight was basically reduced to huge emotional takes and Pinkie was largely a goofy sitcom-esque 'annoying/oblivious friend' when she was initially conceived as a kind of subversion to this archetype) in a manner which felt disparaging to their characters as opposed to funny or respectful. I suspect I could forgive this type of episode more if it bore more entertainment value for me (and, to be fair, the episode at least consistently recognizes the goofiness of its own narrative and conflicts, which I can respect and appreciate on some level), but I prefer less sitcom-ish humor than the material on displayed here. 

Like I said, candy episode.  Which to be fair is nothing new for this series (these were especially prevalent early on).

[Rushing cash 824]

The episode is okay(ish) I guess. I don't take this episode seriously and neither should anyone else, this episode was used to just make fun of twi's freakouts. Of course they over did it(by a lot) in this season(the biggest flaw of the season as a whole for me) and this episode especially(she went twilinanas in the intro, I mean come on!). It was kinda painful to watch her behavior here, it was sooooo exaggerated to the point it wasn't even funny. What saves the episode is the interaction between the other characters and some amusing situation caused by twilight's behavior. The episode had a nice callback to scorpan and rainbows and AJs competitiveness was handled much better than usually. I would give this episode a 6\10.