S09:E17 - The Summer Sun Setback

[Senko 459]

The restricted section in that picture is from one of the Equestria girls specials I think it was forgotten friendship.

My problem with Twilight becoming ruler of Equestria is that it feels rushed given how young she is, that she's often called away for various responsabilities as she does have other commitments.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 8/28/2019 at 3:44 AM, Music Chart Fan said:

I guess it's ironic that Chrysalis initially likes the sound of her triumphant return to Canterlot, but that "triumphant" return ended up being a mission sneaking around trying not to be detected.

I guess some of Trixie has rubbed off on Chrysalis. Which is amazing if you think about it because the only time they ever met is the brief period of time she was before her at the end of S6, right before she got cocooned.

Of course, being sneaky is all Chrysalis did when she was in Canterlot the first time. It was her drones who did most of the work. All except poor Thorax who did nothing but get caught in Shining and Cadance's love shield. XD

On 8/28/2019 at 3:44 AM, Music Chart Fan said:

How many Summer Sun Celebrations have there been celebrating the reunion of Celestia and Luna, besides the one in Season 4?

I think the show has only covered 3: The one in the pilot, the one at the start of S4, and now this one. Since there have been many more HWEs, its safe to assume the show has skipped covered the others where nothing Earth-shattering happened.

On 8/28/2019 at 3:44 AM, Music Chart Fan said:

these 5 stained glass windows were seen in the same order back in "A Royal Problem", but some of these windows were seen on opposite sides of the hall back in "Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1", and even further back in "The Return Of Harmony - Part 1" (although the positioning of the stained glass windows isn't even consistent within that same episode).

There's no consistency in this episode, either, lol. The shot I used was from the middle of the episode, but there are some close-ups near the beginning when Celestia is explaining things to Twilight. In those shots, certain panes appear next to one another even though they don't appear that way in the wide shot. And in some scenes, there's 2 normal windows between the stained glass windows instead of one, so that's confusing too. I suppose it's because close-ups require views from a different angle, and all these backgrounds are constructed from pre-built Flash assets and the assets don't necessarily have consistency between each other.

[Senko 459]

Going by the timeline I got at Bronycon (which I like) its been 7 years so 7 summer sun celebrations most of which weren't covered. Which also means Twilight has 6 or so years of part time princess lessons and now Celestia's shoving the crown on her. It's too fast, too soon and if it weren't for the no death rule of the show I'd be expecting Celestia to have had visions of her and Luna's death at Grogar's hoves which is why she's pushing Twilight so hard to be ready to take over.

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

On 8/29/2019 at 11:42 AM, ImpctR said:

Wait where was that from? I've forgotten this place which episode.

 

On 8/29/2019 at 3:11 PM, Senko said:

The restricted section in that picture is from one of the Equestria girls specials I think it was forgotten friendship.

Yarp.  Dat be da one.

On 8/29/2019 at 11:42 AM, ImpctR said:

She's called a ruler like a single ruler in this episode but the understanding since the premiere is that she agrees because she will have her friends to help. I don't see a problem with that or what some other posts claim - that she doing something against her will. It is an obligation she accepted, scared because she is insecure but willing to not disappoint.

Oh...I suppose.  But what do you suppose Celestia's response would have been if Twilight had said, "I'm sorry, but no."?  I mean... that's not rhetorical.  I really don't know.  But it just doesn't seem to me like it was a request.  But what grinds my gears more is just how Twi essentially has to abandon her school that she just freaking founded and just pass it off to Starlight (who is by no means ready to be headmare.)

On 8/29/2019 at 3:11 PM, Senko said:

My problem with Twilight becoming ruler of Equestria is that it feels rushed given how young she is, that she's often called away for various responsabilities as she does have other commitments.

Yarp.  I concur.  I honestly wouldn't have minded some kind of passage of time deal at the end where we see that she's taken over rule of Equestria when she's a lot older, but of course, animated shows never do that kind of thing.

[Thrond 3,263]

On 8/29/2019 at 12:42 PM, ImpctR said:

She's called a ruler like a single ruler in this episode but the understanding since the premiere is that she agrees because she will have her friends to help. I don't see a problem with that or what some other posts claim - that she doing something against her will. It is an obligation she accepted, scared because she is insecure but willing to not disappoint.

I complain because I find it deeply unsatisfying. It doesn't logically follow from anything she has seemed to care about or the vast majority of what she's done. The show constantly gives us glimpses of how she feels about it - that is, unhappy and anxious - but doesn't actually make stories about those feelings, and without her actually seeming to want the role, I'm not entirely sure why I'm supposed to care about it. I don't think it has anything to do with what this show is about, and the princesses have never been that important to the things that actually happen in the show. To me it seems like a downgrade from being headmare of the school, which was the logical conclusion of her arc, apparently just because it's not big enough, and worse still, this episode takes away traits I found relatable for the sake of a story that I find meaningless. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by AlexanderThrond

[KatonRyu 1,033]

After the trivia episode, I was kind of worried going into this one, but fortunately I didn't have to. This was a good episode, it was nice to see Twilight showing her character development, as well as having Discord comment on it. It was also fun to see the security system in action again, and how the villains got past it successfully. I like Cozy Glow a lot more now that she's openly evil.

[BornAgainBrony 2,397]

On 8/29/2019 at 5:55 AM, KH7672 said:

Correction that's the restricted section for the Canterlot Library and Cozy did make the distinction:

And the Archives is where they are as it was originally mentioned in It's About Time

Ohhhhh! Thank you. That had me scratching my head too. I was expecting the underground 'vault' in this episode, like Cozy was going to tug on a book and open a hidden door and all and then I was just like... "Huh?"

[Singe 2,111]

Another problem I see is Twilight is overly relying on her friends to do her work. The line between friend and servant is becoming blurred at this point. If you seen this episode without the friend context, you would think the Mane 5 and Spike were her servants.

[Sh Pie 65]

This was an awesome and unexpected episode focused on both the Legion of Doom, as they sabotage the SSC to infiltrate Canterlot Castle and steal a book, and the Mane 6, as they attempt to restore order. It also progresses the season's story arc.

Discord refrains from doing anything "Discordy" which is good since the Legion of Doom got that covered. The Mane 6 once more beg Discord to solve their problem but as their unofficial mentor, he declines and consequentially facilitates the moral. AJ, in what has now become a running gag, didn't need to learn anything. She already knew honesty was the solution and only went along with the plan since everypony else insisted that telling Twilight the truth was a bad idea. Honesty is underrated. Seriously, why is AJ not the Princess of Friendship?

I appreciate the continuity with references to the Swanifying (I thought the swans were cute) and showing that Shining's security system has been put in effect, presumably with an additional measure to prevent inside threats as Luna proved was necessary. Nevertheless, the Legion of Doom, with their unique paradigm of abilities, are more effective at breaking and entering than the Mane 6. They also had the element of surprise. It was humorous how Cozy used a book with a key on its front to break the chain around the book they were looking for.

Both sides are successful. The SSC wasn't ruined, Twilight displayed better control of the sun and moon amulet, declared a new holiday and the Legion of Doom pull off their heist without getting detected. According to Cozy, Tirek had to return the magic he stole from the Earth Ponies to avoid suspicion from Grogar. But isn't that something bad guys just do? Like, isn't it plausible for Tirek to sap some magic since he's evil and he felt like it? Or is staying incognito necessary for Grogar to maintain the element of surprise when he executes his revenge? Anyway, they now have the book they needed to understand how the bell works, which means everything is in place for the finale and I'm curious about Grogar's backup plan.

Y'know, he may regret sending them to retrieve his bell when it becomes his own undoing.

[BornAgainBrony 2,397]

On 9/2/2019 at 1:40 PM, Singe said:

Another problem I see is Twilight is overly relying on her friends to do her work. The line between friend and servant is becoming blurred at this point. If you seen this episode without the friend context, you would think the Mane 5 and Spike were her servants.

Working alone, she'd have to rule over both the day and the night, never sleeping.

[qwerE 96]

This was a fun episode for sure.  I see some people complaining that Twilight treated her friends like servants, but I personally don't see any problems with it. She's the princess after all, so isn't it fine to give out orders to her friends when she's on princess duty?

[Allen 1,387]

This episode turns out to be a trio of villains (a.k.a. the Legion of Doom) who infiltrated the restricted area of Canterlot Archives - to find the bell book as a step closer to their ultimate goal for the whole new league of dark power later this season. Lord Tirek drained some ponies' magic during the setup of the Summer Sun Celebration, which weakened them for a while until they found a book, and then he gave it back to all of his victims he drained from them. Here comes the last Summer Sun Celebration in this episode for both Princesses Celestia and Luna, where it turns out to be memorable for the official Equestrian event set by Princess Twilight Sparkle. You know what? I will say this is a great, epic episode where the Summer Sun Celebration event went successful! 

[Jane 123]

I thought it was very silly for Twilight to raise the sun, that's Celestia's job, Twilight is not at Celestia's level, I'd rather skip that scene.

On 9/27/2019 at 10:13 PM, qwerE said:

This was a fun episode for sure.  I see some people complaining that Twilight treated her friends like servants, but I personally don't see any problems with it. She's the princess after all, so isn't it fine to give out orders to her friends when she's on princess duty?

No, it's not right, it's her friends, not her servants, she has no right to treat them that way, no matter how princess she is.

What a boring and annoying character Twilight became, season 9 has brought out the worst in her.

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

This Episode was fine in terms of story progression, otherwise it felt kinda boring.

In contrast to the earlier Episode with these 3 Villains, this one just felt...okay? Nothing special.

[Gale Wind 82]

This was another one that was interesting to watch with the knowledge of what we found out in the finale. 
 

One hindsight question I saw asked…wouldn’t Discord have known what Chrysalis was doing with the magic drain since he can sense it? Not sure that was ever brought up. Or, he knew and wanted the Mane 6 to figure it out…

[Antiyonder 1,090]

YouTube upload of the episode: