S09:E24+E25 - The End of the End

[Sunlight Glisten 368]

I love the villan treo. Glad they will forever be together, united in friendship. Sort of. 

Also, super proud of rarity. She has never lifted a hoof in a fight. Now she's throwing rocks, making magic shields, this is more like e.g. rarity and I'm for it. 

[Latecomer 439]

6 hours ago, Sunlight Glisten said:

I love the villan treo. Glad they will forever be together, united in friendship. Sort of. 

Also, super proud of rarity. She has never lifted a hoof in a fight. Now she's throwing rocks, making magic shields, this is more like e.g. rarity and I'm for it. 

Er,  what? Did you only come to the show in the later seasons or something?

 

 

[ImpctR 155]

1.5 months later...

I came watching it more than a month after it aired but so what, there is nothing to come after. Anyway here for the last-but-one such post I make an episode leaving only the Last Problem comment as my final and I will probably talk about the Season with the last episode and about the show as a final comment to come in the next days or weeks.

The last two-parter I expected to be best of the best in comparison to all two parters without a doubt!

And I think it is but not by the large margin I expected compared to some others. I probably had even higher expectations. so while this could be considered best two parter for me, some plot twists (literally) made me have mixed feelings about it. Of course seeing some character that I wondered if the seasons would acknowledge raises the awesomeness of the episode a lot (yes Tempest), but as I said some sub-plots make me say 'Uh OK that's nice' rather than 'AWESOOOOME'

Maybe I've seen enough and thus similar can't excite me so much anymore? Well it did excite me but I was expecting more than what it did. And now to get to the point WHY: The whole 'Grogar was just Discord in disguise' - thanks goodness I didn't get spoiled about that thx to not reading much outside this forum, but well... it's a plot twist that reduced the hype a bit and I will later say why. Part 2 was exciting and I think I saw in 'A decade of pony' they mentioned a 'lord of the rings\' kind of union against the villain's league, yes we needed a culmination for what all the little things happened from these relationships to other races, but it felt kind of rushed. Sure, they showed how they agreed to help the ponies but I expect more direct interactions of each race unique ability - such as how scary dragons can be for the villains, being immune to some of their power, yet they mostly appeared as a cameo. There was a bit of a fight but not in the details I expected.

Maybe I'm looking for something like that as a show? I'm kind of starting to think that MLP isn't for me anymore but I do like the long way I've gone, I remember having to catch up Season 1 in 2011 and in the autumn of the same year started watching Season 2 for the first time, Return of Harmony being from my favorite and ofc The Royal Wedding and first intro of Chrysalis from my fave villains.

But again, we discussed so many plots, Grogar was supposed to be powerful, how much? What would have happened if he used his real power, how would he take the Bell from Tirek, Cozy and Chrysalis? When would they betray him. TADAAAAAAM i'm actually Discord! - But what of all Discord knew about it, he freed the villains, he caused all these troubles and yet he is unpunished because friendship in previous episodes? There's so many contradictions with that, and I guess I was curious what a real Grogar would have done now that's all wasted.

And it was a bit interesting to see that it didn't end with a reformation, good! I think it was better that it was so but I still have questions about Discord and his reasons for doing all that..

 

Anyway let's get to the pic by pic kind of commenting I do for almost final time:

The episode starts with the well known disguise of Chrysalis, again a photographer. Until the previous episode with them The Summer Sun Setback, I didn't know ponies can be manipulated so much. A continuity in the same, learning and unfolding for us what the Bell really does. It looks like it uses the same ability as Tirek in its own way (is this how t he Bell worked in older generation ponies?)

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Ahh Tirek getting to his previous muscular shape and Chrysalis looks more vicious now, the green glow in the eyes! And Cozy is different too?

 

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Like, really? All the plot preparation for such a letdown ? You know what, I liked Discord more in Return of Harmony, he's too nice and makes things boring on moments throughout the seasons. So he tells them what he's done and BOOM - besides Celestia, Luna getting angry and the Mane 6 blaming him, they are kind of willing to forgive instead of TURN INTO STONE! The next actions are as if it was not such a big deal... yes I guess stopping the villains was higher priority than dealing w Discord. So in the end we can say it was a battle of Discord vs Cozy Glow, Tirek and Chrysalis for how they tricked him in the respective finales? Well only Tirek did.

 

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Holy crap... she deserves to look like that! Good idea, wow that's what Cozy would look like almost more evil than Chrysalis!

 

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Here comes the action! The Pillars finally to have some time against Tirek! Now that's an interesting interaction and yet Pillars felt so much weaker! They were defeated like bugs. Star Swirl THE GREAT? Is that you? 

 

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A final hearing of the Grrreeeat and powerful Trixie. Hide the kids in the school hide out. War is coming.

 

Chrysalis remains my fave villain I should keep this a background. (I randomly took some frames that it stopped on)

 

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OH MY GOSH I Love that! Is this Lord of the rings or even Warcraft ? For anyone that knows, it's the final battle in War3 the two biggest villains fighting each other at the Frozen Throne:

 

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It gives me so much feeling this is what they did, and I will show a new remake video of that battle. Really loved the battle between Starlight and Chrysalis! It was meant to happen

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO_YcSH1RYU

 

Yet again Starlight, but no you were the only one not cocooned in To Where And Back Again.

 

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I LOVE YOU LUNA BUT PLEASE RETIRE YOU TWO. Friendship has weakened you!

 

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How could I not give a final shoutout to my favorite of the Mane 6 from all seasons. Goo Fluttershy! Launch these rocket ducks at the villains!

 

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Oh my goodbye Canterlot castle. Reminds me of  Twi's library destruction in Twilight's Kingdom Season 4 finale.

 

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I was worried the villains arguing w each other could get to the point of them ruining their own victory and making it needless for all races and ponies to gather but luckily that didn't happen. The Pillars at least were there but too old to be stronger ? As weak as Luna and Celestia I mean some more heroic struggle was expected, or there wasnt time for them.

 

Another nice animation but why does the Canterlot in ruins look like Chrysalis Hive? The blue walls..

 

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The return of the .. Windigos?

 

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This was the only thing spoiled for me earlier time. So what are they? At first I thought some other creature again from games

http://classic.battle.net/war3/images/neutral/creeps/wendigo.gif

THEN I thought the sirens ?

https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/10/7/1554623.gif

 

Then I saw it is yet another mythical demonic creature and boy is that scary. From what I learnt from first time they appear when some feud appears between ponies or something.

https://anomalien.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/windigo-wendigo.jpg

 

CMCs were not needed in this ep, good. I dont need them further.

 

Good to see Chancellor Neighsay, helping the side of good. We see Rarity's assistant there.  And many others' are these Twi's or whose parents? purple and white lines on mane

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This power reminds me of Twi's Kingdom again. Lord of the rings! All races meet, Yaks, Dragons, Hyppogryphs, Gryphons, Changelings, and there is among the unicorns, TEMPEST! Yes my expectations to see her till the end of the episode and acknowledge her existence in the series has been fulfilled! Maybe I still like her look in the Movie but some posters here I felt had an art of her wayy before like when Season 9 started! Flim-Flam brothers not running away and comign to help? Wow. This was all epic for a finale but needed more time, could've done a 3 parter if needed.

 

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I like the unions part, uniting earth ponies, pegasi, yaks, Yona as ambassador, Gryphons with Galus giving a nice speech, is Granpa Gruff reformed now?  Queen Nevo over there? I cannot recognize and I dont remember her in the movie.

 

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3 groups, the Pillars, the Mane 6 and the School 6. That's how we saw them.

 

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I'm glad that they ended it like that and not reformed but wow, didn't expect that:, maybe they want to leave a plot for the future.  Also glad no songs, Leave this for epilogue.

 

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Needless to say 5/5 , 12/10 or what not and yes probably the best two-parter of all, it was what I wanted it to be  except my remarks with some strange plot directions. Great episode but needed more time and a bit disappointed with the Grogar plot. Was this to shorten time idk.. Anyway that's the end of my comments.

 

On a side note, in the past years and seasons I would see an episode thread filling up with comments 15 pages for average episodes over 20 for big episodes. Now 1.5 months later, 9 pages for the biggest final. I guess it is the End of The End (ah great; less reading), I have such feelings too now (or maybe some just dont like episodes with adventure). Good while it lasted.

 

[Senko 459]

I'll miss your reviews.

[ImpctR 155]

On 10/13/2019 at 10:11 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

One idea involved the Terrible Trio using Elements of Disharmony (a concoction Discord-as-Grogar created) to spread disharmony and ruin the Magic of Friendship, and episodes in which they were going to be in aside from the ones they appeared officially were Growing Up and Sweet & Smoky (as Trial by Fire). In the former, Cozy uses an element to attack the town after hearing some of the M6 were there, and in Trial, Chryssie tried to take over the Dragon Lands. (Tirek had his own episode, but nothing was written down.) Here, Discord would use the corrupted Element of Harmony to turn Twilight into Midnight Sparkle. Magic corrupting Twilight like from Friendship Games.

In the second draft, the Elements of Disharmony were removed from the villain arc, and so were Discord causing Midnight Snarkle. To go over the points.

1. Tirek slowly ate away the Earth ponies' magic so they can't grow crops as well as before.
2. Cozy took over the weather factory and sabotaged the weather as a whole.
3. As a unicorn in disguise, QC was able to slowly manipulate the unicorns into believing their magic is taken for granted.

As a result, the harmony between them has eroded away. Discord-as-Grogar planned to attack the coronation, but the trio doesn't attack. Later, Discord warns Twilight that he is Grogar and would try to use the disguise again to sway them off. But the trio uses the bell to banish Discord instead. Out of desperation, Twilight would force the races to get along, corrupting her into Midnight Sparkle. And it's up to Twilight's friends to rescue Discord, free Twilight, beat the bad guys, and rescue harmony to the land.

Was going to be much better writing... the thing about Discord plot twist, it really left a bad taste in the episode for me. And how all was rushed.

As someone who makes stories myself I would say 'No no not like that'. And I would have made much harder to defeat villains and all the questions like why not steal Starlight's power, why it all became kind of as easy as defeating a single villain.

 

And I dislike the Discord thing because as some call it deus ex machina, basically you don't need any obstacles solved, he's your tool at any time for everything, if he can bring villains back and forth. He didn't do it before? Eh we didn't switch the machine's intensity to high level. now we did... No I hate that plot actually. He nullifies the reason to have villains. just make them disappear. Mane 6 would never have to do anything at all, but he will not have to do that, so that we have Mane heroes... the whole existence and REFORMATION since Season 2 start... I dislike it. "But im Lord of Chaos I want to play with both sides"... just lousy excuse of writing. LESSON: If you are making a character, don't add such villains (rather goodies thx to reformation) who can do everything, seems they can twist the universe too... won't go for a good writing.

On 10/18/2019 at 11:19 AM, Latecomer said:

Did the ponies he drained in the S4 finale lose them?

Were the pillars even drained? I thought not because their eyes didn't become greyish, which again was weird (only Rockhoof lost his muscles), why they didn't for plot convenience?

On 10/18/2019 at 1:35 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

And if the answer to either of these questions is no, then would these groups really change their minds after a few kids/teenagers tell them about the power of friendship?

I suppose this only works because the students have become some sort of ambassadors (unofficial). At least Yona sounded like one, but it would need some substance why they are believable.

Edited December 5, 2019 by ImpctR

[Steve Piranha 29,421]

Had I played Three Houses before, I’d definitely have posted this during the final countdown for end of ponies 

 

oh well, guess I’ll save it if the second special do come 

[Rushing cash 836]

The pillars were really disappointing, they were defeated so easily(thats honestly my biggest problem with the finale) I guess that without Stygian they are pretty clueless(even when fighting a familiar foe, starswirl was around when tirek and scorpan came) and have no clue about strategies, which I guess is in character since they couldn't defeat the pony of shadows on their own. Starlights fight with chrysalis was disappointing, I mean all starlight did was teleport away and she shoot like 2 beams in the whole fight and only 1 straight at chrysalis, she is clearly capable of much more, but she did good later on. The final battle is still my favorite battle in the series(well, not as epic as the one vs tirek though), and while I am disappointed that the washouts didn't show up, its not effecting how much I enjoyed this scene. They should have punished discord somehow, but maybe they did later. I still think that the fates of the villains is the best way they could end up their arcs. They are probably asleep but it would be cool if they were awake and aware what happens around them like discord did, yeah its dark, but very fitting, I love this idea.

Best finale and probably top 10 episode in the whole series.

[Steve Piranha 29,421]

On 12/17/2019 at 1:51 AM, Steve Piranha said:

Had I played Three Houses before, I’d definitely have posted this during the final countdown for end of ponies 

 

oh well, guess I’ll save it if the second special do come 

Never mind, this one is better

 

[Jane 123]

I still don't understand why in the end Celestia and Luna thank Twilight, I say she did nothing but throw a silly ray after channeling the magic to everyone, even Starlight did more than her, she just waits there for her friends to comfort her and tell everything will be fine and blah blah blah. It was boring for me.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Jane

[Darkness Void 51]

When was Discord made Grogar?

Well that is....didn't expect that answer.

I just glad that we finally got every ally to come and help save the day. Was highly let down the 2017 film didn't do that, but I must admit Discord having actually been Grogar the entire time is far more disappointing.

 

During Season 5 Starlight was hidden throughout at least 3 different Episodes foreshadowing her return and just how she came up with her plan. Discord's reveal? We have....

 

Number A - He wasn't surprised nor concerned that Sombra returned but why would he? This is Discord who told us up front a "has been king couldn't hurt him".

 

Number B - His line at the end of Summer Sun Setback. I'll answer this in a sec.

 

Number C - Grogar's design resembled Discord's just a tiny bit. Granted his eyes, maybe, but we see the REAL Grogar's look in that book Tirek showed us so this is a very muted detail.

 

Number D - Discord can FEEL, or sense, when Tirek steals magic. He tracked him down in a millisecond back in Season 4 because of this. So I had assumed the entire season that Discord knew of the villains' return from the very second Tirek absorbed magic. There is nothing solid to warrant this huge of a reveal.

 

I admit we had no idea if Grogar did indeed use this orb to watch the villains getting his Bell, as he said he had been watching them the entire time. I suppose that could hda been a plot point but if this hda been the real Grogar he would had been smart enough to have a plan B in case he was double crossed.

 

The built up was awesome, the villain Eps were fantastic and the how the Princesses would had reacted when Grogar revealed himself....Aw well, at least his Bell kept working and just like that green magic that corrupted Rarity, it had to have gone somewhere.

 

I almost expected him to be INSIDE the Bell and was freed upon taking in so much magic. Again aw well. Other than this the Ep was great and if this had been the series' final it would have been great. But we got a Ep so emotional a friend of mine is still struggling to get back into the show.

 

Good to see Temptest even tho she spoke no lines. All of these cameos - Little Strong Heart even - were awesome and Dash approved. I do wonder, will they pull a Discord by trying to redeem these baddies akin to Season 3? Who knows. Whenever this virus is over I hope we'll finally get the Season 10 comics.

 

Over all great Ep, one of my all time faves and I really have to see where the fans take the unanswered questions. If Grogar had came back, would the Tree Of Harmony had gotten involved? Along with the above reveal, this is another massive disappointment.

 

I want to say that the Young 6 had a larger role planed, going by that painted stain glass window of them battling a monster, but all of that was cut due to Season 9 being the last. There's still so much to the lifes of these characters that were skipped over with those many moons, if the comics and the 2021 film don't do it then we the fans must fill them in. No stone unturned, as Maud would likely not say. ^^;

[Stardust 641]

These episodes made me cryyy ;( 

The discord thing was strange and some of it wasn't exactly great writing. But it still captured me emotionally at least the part where everyone came together. Overall enjoyable.

Edited August 4, 2020 by flurry

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

Alas the haters win . Mlp can only last till season 9.. but hey that was still a good fight.

[Splashee 28,563]

These two episodes had just enough content to make me satisfied. Most episodes feel rushed, and I expected this one to be no different.

The expectations of it to be good was so forced, that they made it good, compared to the rest of the season

[JMTV99 1,353]

You know, I would talk about how everything's wrong with the Season 9 finale, but someone made a video about it and he sums up my thoughts on the finale for me. I'm just gonna leave it at that.

 

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I really enjoyed the cool fight scenes between the characters, i liked the Villains and that everybody got together to save the world.

The part where everyone tried fighting Tirek reminded me a bit of how everyone tried to defeat Steppenwolf from the Justice League Movie. However the Tirek scene still felt the most boring to me, he was so overpowered that nothing could stop him. Every other fight scene was more interesting.

The only thing i really dislike about this Finale is Discord. I didnt liked him when he was introduced, i disliked that he got reformed and i disliked him even more after almost destroing the world in another final.

And here we are, he almost destroys the world again and what does he get? Nothing. He is still considered a Friend. What???? 

Are you kidding me? What is the moral lesson in this case?

Also this reveal was stupid, since Grogar is an actual character from G1 if i remember correctly...so basically i got trolled by Hasbro. Thanks. At least you guys can still have your fanfavorite Discord getting in the spotlight again for no real reason.

Discord is the second worst part of this entire series to me.

[phantompone1148 126]

I enjoyed this finale, despite the "Grogar being Discord in disguise" twist. 

7.7/10

[doomie-22 19]

On 2021-10-30 at 8:34 PM, phantompone1148 said:

I enjoyed this finale, despite the "Grogar being Discord in disguise" twist. 

7.7/10

Not much of a twist given that they gave it away in the season premiere and again in "The Summer Sun Setback." Like with the "twist" back in season 8, they weren't subtle about this at all. 

[Gale Wind 82]

It had good parts and stuff I wish was different. I’d have liked it to actually be Grogar and have mixed feelings on the twist. I did like all the races gathering at the end and fighting together. The Tempest cameo was nice but dang they sure don’t want her curie mark shown. Twilight being pulled out of depression by her friends was nice too.  Also Sugar Belle sticking with her new family was sweet.

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Gale Wind

[MadWitchJay 186]

It's sorta bitter sweet to see the ending of a show that mean so much to me. Altough I know it's already jinxed but it's better to see a TV Show get a proper ending rather then just miander along.

I guess thats a story for a different day. 

Not a huge fan of the small pony villian, have honestly forget her name by now, but thats whatever. 

The reason why it took me so long to watch it is because I've been kinda not avoiding the show, but grown tired and  I guess dissapointed.

Not at the finaly of course. You could sense it in the writing throught the last two seasons, that it time to let go. 

As I've hinted at, it's a bit difficult to take the newer villiians seriously.

Also mind you that I did not watch all the episodes of season 9 only episodes 1+2 and 24+25 and 26.

Chrysalis erm neat. Yeah it's difficult to really say much, have little to really complain over, unless I want to be nitpicky, and I don't want that, I am not really the one to do that anyway.

But yeah anyway I must asume that the statue of those villians inspire people to be better or els Twilight will turn them all into stone.

Guess I'll continue at episode 26.

[Decokelow 8]

The exact reason I keep replaying the episode:

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[Antiyonder 1,148]

YouTube upload of the penultimate episodes: