S09:E26 - The Last Problem

[RulesofRarity 489]

1 hour ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Will Celestia and Luna be mortal now that they've given up their Princess roles? 

They should still be alive realistically.

[Lucky Bolt 35,062]

16 hours ago, Js250476 said:

I cried twice watching this finale and have no regrets 

Same! 

[Rixton 1,105]

3 minutes ago, Lucky Bat said:

Same! 

Personally, I am still working with the 3D models (rendering currently), but today I needed to wipe the tears from my eyes multiple times. Also no regrets. I guess this one can be an exception.

[HereComesTom 2,266]

I just watched it.  I...don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it, and while I didn't cry openly, I'm still feeling pretty clenched up inside from having watched it.

For me...shoot, I've NEVER liked change.  And I know there are some big changes in my life looming on the horizon---not sure when they'll get here or what exactly will happen when they do, but...the message of this last, last episode:  that changes happen and that they're natural and need to come...it resonated with me a lot.

 

On the whole, I have to say, they gave FiM the sendoff it deserved.

 

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for showing me that change is a natural part of things, and that it's easier to face change when you're not alone---and for teaching me that, when you allow yourself to grow, you can become something amazing!

Before I discovered that Friendship is Magic, I had no idea how much a person or a pony could grow from meeting other amazing ponies.

Now that it's over, I plan to stay with your adventures, just like your friends did.  It might not be in the same way or feel the same as it used to, but I'm glad I knew you and can count you as one of my friends.  And:  I plan to let myself grow and change as well, knowing that I'm never alone.

Your faithful student,
~LookOutHereComesTom

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

This combined with Ending of the End makes it the best cartoon finale of the decade I think, even surpassing Weirdmageddon. 
Such an epic two parter that lead to this heartfelt sendoff to our characters.

[Js250476 1,367]

TFW MLP has a better ending then Game of Thrones.

[KH7672 1,604]

1 hour ago, Drunkfrank said:

....even surpassing Weirdmageddon. 
Such an epic two parter that lead to this heartfelt sendoff to our characters.

Woah now don't go talking crazy here. I mean sure the send off was nice, but absolutely nothing can beat the Mystery Shack mech showdown, and the sacrifice of Stan, plus the absolute heartfelt moments between the twins finally ready to grow up. And yeah the finale song was good, but nothing can beat that bus ride montage of characters transitioning into the credits with the instrumental song that screams a perfect end to summer. Sorry but for the 2010's GF absolutely still has the best cartoon finale.

Ehem  Apologies I think I may have over-reacted there. Carry on with your opinion.

[Sonic5421 423]

2 hours ago, Rixton said:

Personally, I am still working with the 3D models (rendering currently), but today I needed to wipe the tears from my eyes multiple times. Also no regrets. I guess this one can be an exception.

I hope the 3D models include Twilight, Spike, and all their friends from the future. I would love to do a "Thank You" thing in Garry's Mod with them to post in my DA as thanks to the entire MLP staff, especially Lauren, for giving us the Mane Six for this past decade. I'll try to fight through my tears of joy and grief as well while I wait for them and prepare for next year being the first year without expecting a new season of Friendship Is Magic, which will allow me to enjoy something I've really looked forwards to: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

[Patty Thundersnow 4,163]

2 hours ago, Drunkfrank said:

This combined with Ending of the End makes it the best cartoon finale of the decade I think, even surpassing Weirdmageddon. 
Such an epic two parter that lead to this heartfelt sendoff to our characters.

I absolutely agree. This great sendoff that they gave the show is just how it should have ended. Combining the final 3 episodes into one gigantic 1 1/2 hour finale was great, and it ended exactly how I wanted it to.

19 minutes ago, Sonic5421 said:

I hope the 3D models include Twilight, Spike, and all their friends from the future. I would love to do a "Thank You" thing in Garry's Mod with them to post in my DA as thanks to the entire MLP staff, especially Lauren, for giving us the Mane Six for this past decade. I'll try to fight through my tears of joy and grief as well while I wait for them and prepare for next year being the first year without expecting a new season of Friendship Is Magic, which will allow me to enjoy something I've really looked forwards to: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Friendship is Magic season 10 is going to the comic books in April of 2020.

[Sonic5421 423]

7 minutes ago, Fiendstorm said:

I absolutely agree. This great sendoff that they gave the show is just how it should have ended. Combining the final 3 episodes into one gigantic 1 1/2 hour finale was great, and it ended exactly how I wanted it to.

Friendship is Magic season 10 is going to the comic books in April of 2020.

Yeah, I know that IDW will be taking over with having the next season be in the comics, but it won't be the same as with the show. I'm still gonna miss it once all the other Generation 4 stuff ends, including the Equestria Girls and the upcoming movie.

[BBally 5]

It's certainly a better finale than Star Vs The Forces OF Evil's finale, then again that finale happened because they were rushed when Disney told them there will be no 4th season.

[Senko 459]

And now my reactions to the flash forward . . .

1) I found Twilight and Spikes new look to be slightly odd, Spike's match's his childhood dream dragon quite well and Twilight seems to have grown into her Alicorn hood which means Luna is smaller than her now? Plus what happened to Cadence?
2) Interesting little glimpses into where everyone wound up like Gallus the royal guard, moved away from all his old friends like Twilight it seems as the rest were in Ponyville.
3) The history repating with Twilight sending her best student to learn friendship seemed a bit odd to me as if they get together every month you'd think her student would have noticed.
4) I did like the paper reporting on Lyra and Bonbon's wedding with them riding off in a carriage with tin cans on the back.
5) It seems Derpy is now a Chef.
6) Then we have the big one of relationships sure its a time skip but they did actually put some of the mane 6 together. Pinkie and Cheese with her having a kid is interesting that of all them she was the one who wound up a mother like Twilight (I still stand by my opnion Spike is her son, your's may differ). Not so much of a fan of the Applejack/Rainbow Dash that was implied I feel Applejack and Rarity should be together like Twilight and Dash. Still the fact the show was willing to do this is impressive. Not sure if Fluttershy and Discord are friends or lovers, or for that matter Yona and Sandbar.
7) I was already crying in that last song but then we get to Sweet Apple Acres as it hits the line about passing things on to the next generation and I realize there's no Granny Smith and Applejack was wearing her scarf. At some point in the time skip Granny Smith has passed away. That really hurt.
8) Interesting to see the crusaders have taken over as teachers at the school and is it just me or are their adult looks her just a bit different to how they were when they wished to be their sisters age?
9) Holy Giant Gummy Batman!
10) I have a bad feeling about Spitfire given Dash is not only captain of the wonderbolts but apprently is copying her mane style as one might do to commenorate a fallen idol.
11) It was an interesting touch that the book Starlight gave Twilight had moving Harry Potter style photo's to commenerate events.
12) I agree with ending with the book closing on the chapter was a well made choice.

 

And finally I believe my opinion on this final episode of the show is best expressed as we need crying emojis. I know its going on in other way's but I will miss this. At some point I'm going to have work through that walk through ponyville and see how everyones grown up (I noticed Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon talking to Perpmint Twist) but it'll be tricky and I may need to mute it to not start crying from that song.

 

[PurpleFlyingHorse92 4]

Just watched the last problem gotta say it was a great episode. You got no complains from me. Just so many questions left unanswered. I wish there were more explanations to each ponies lives after the time skip.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

3 hours ago, KH7672 said:

Woah now don't go talking crazy here. I mean sure the send off was nice, but absolutely nothing can beat the Mystery Shack mech showdown, and the sacrifice of Stan, plus the absolute heartfelt moments between the twins finally ready to grow up. And yeah the finale song was good, but nothing can beat that bus ride montage of characters transitioning into the credits with the instrumental song that screams a perfect end to summer. Sorry but for the 2010's GF absolutely still has the best cartoon finale.

Ehem  Apologies I think I may have over-reacted there. Carry on with your opinion.

The mech fight was cool but pretty stiff.
You mean "Mabel ready to grow up" Dipper was already ready.
Weridmageddon had a great opener and satisfying ending. Part 2 was an atrocity that played to all the worst elements of Mabels stagnant awful character and brought down the whole event.
Seeing the town all help in the fight was an awesome idea but seeing Bill and his henchmen feel week compared to part 1 was jarring. 

The credits scene was really was nice but it was just...credits really with some clips, would hardly call it some spectacular moment.

As a result of the 3 parts Weirdmageddon felt disjointed as an epic 2 episodes with 1 awful one thrown in. It definitely was a great way to end a great show but nah, MLP wins it.
It gives resolution to every major character and the most iconic villains while also giving an entire episode just to say goodbye and teach the shows most important lesson yet.

I don't think it matters though. MLP and Gravity Falls still tower over finales to shows such as Adventure Time and Steven Universe when it comes to finales. And Star vs is somewhere in the dirt below them.

I think they are similarly satisfying to their audiences.

[Thrond 3,263]

I think this might be great. This actually put a lot of Twilight's coronation arc in perspective for me, because it's the only time that the show leaned into the idea that maybe Twilight doesn't want to rule Equestria. Unlike "The Summer Sun Setback" or even "The End of the End," I don't need to care about the Equestrian line of succession, because - like the premiere and "Between Dark and Dawn" - this is mostly about how Twilight reacts to becoming Celestia and Luna's successor, and watching her struggle with the idea of change is something I find much easier to relate to than watching her achieve the privilege of ruling the entire country. It reminds me a lot of "Twilight's Kingdom" in how it finds meaning in this questionable idea, and like the best My Little Pony episodes, this is just filled with cute and funny little moments. This is probably the exact right sentiment to end the show on, and I like that the coronation was a disaster and yet still brought the mane six together - if the beginning of the Sparkle Era rhymed with the founding of the country, this rhymes with the end of the first season, when the six came to truly realize how much their friendship meant. And while I kinda wish this show hadn't put most of the mane six in relationships - I always found it refreshing that the show's few romantic subplots were focused on secondary characters - making them a symbol of the mane six sticking together despite how much has changed makes it feel a lot better to me. 

My only complaint is that I think part of this puzzle is missing. I still wonder what would have happened if Twilight had just rejected the crown outright; part of why this episode works is because, unlike "Magical Mystery Cure," it doesn't present this change as a reward but simply as a change. It concludes her arc - and the others' too - not because it's something they were working towards, but because all they had learned meant they could handle it when their lives changed in such an unexpected way. But the fact remains that this was basically thrust upon Twilight without considering how she feels, and I think they should have had an episode somewhere where she just considers rejecting the offer outright. Like when she became a princess, this doesn't have any inherent meaning to her, so all the emotional resonance is in how she deals with change and makes the job her own - so why couldn't she just have said no? I don't know where you would have put that, especially because this episode is so well-paced and claims she never even thought about it until now. Maybe the "Summer Sun Setback" episode could have been replaced with something that justifies Twilight taking power when she probably doesn't even want to; even after the two-parter, the stakes are so low that "because she'd be good at it" doesn't feel like enough. That nagging question will probably always make this less satisfying than it could be, even though it basically does everything else right. 

Still... you win, My Little Pony. Good job.

Additional thoughts:

• Excuse me, is that canon AppleDash? I really hope that's canon AppleDash.
• On the other hand, I really hope that's not canon FlutterCord. Those two revelations more or less cancel each other out in my mind. 
• If they had answered the "why" question somewhere, FlutterCord would probably be my only issue with this. This episode really is kinda great. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by AlexanderThrond

[Thrond 3,263]

I wonder if Rarity's married. She's always been the most romantic of the mane six. 

[Rising Dusk 27,536]

Huh, didn't notice this the first time though.  We see Applejack wearing Granny Smith's scarf, but it wasn't until the second time that I noticed Apple Bloom is wearing Goldie Delicious' scarf. 

[Thrond 3,263]

WAIT

LYRABON WEDDING IN THE NEWSPAPER

AHHHHHHHHHH

[BastementSparkle 20,324]

Honestly, I'm not even sure what to really say about this episode anymore. I watched the leaks a while back so I'd already seen this by the time it aired. I've already talked about it plenty of times and explained why this episode doesn't really work for me. Guess I might as well get it over with, one last explanation.

 So, I don't like this episode, and it's mostly because of the time skip. For me, it just doesn't work. The skip is too jarring and alienating, jumping so far into the future for just a 22 minute episode that also has to include flashbacks just isn't really enough time for me to "Reconnect" to the characters and the world, and so I spent this last episode feeling alienated and out of place and like I kind of just wanted to turn the episode off and stop watching. The only time I really felt much of anything good was during the song, and I'll give them props, that song was amazing and completely perfect, bravo.

 But otherwise? If I could summon up the way this episode felt to me, I could say it with this sentence: "I'm in a room with all my best friends, but I am alone." That's...probably pretty melodramatic, I think Rarity would be proud, but it's really the only way I could think to describe this episode. I don't know these characters anymore? They're all like, what, 20 years or something after the end of the series? They're a bunch of strangers, I know nothing about them. Strangers I love to death, don't get me wrong, these characters have practically been my best fictional friends for the past 9 years, nothing short of them being canonically revealed as an axe murderer or something could make me love them any less...But I don't KNOW them anymore. I just felt like I was intruding on something I didn't belong in anymore.

 I also kind of feel like I was sort of...denied closure, because of the skip? I wanted a last 22 minutes to say goodbye to everyone one last time, instead it kind of feels like they all skipped out on the goodbye part and moved on without me, that just stings. Is it weird to feel slightly abandoned by cartoon horses? It's probably weird. Maybe I was just too invested in the show, it's the only show I've ever kept up with for this long of a time without any breaks, it's the first real fandom I ever joined, it's how I met my best friend, it kept me going in a time of my life when I felt like I had nothing else. I've never really cared about another show this way before.

 Bleh, this isn't even really a "Review" or anything is it? It's a big post of feelings and crap, but really that's the only thing left at this point. For what it is, the episode is...good. It's hard for me to judge it's overall quality when so much of my own personal emotions are kind of getting in the way here. I think this episode would have worked a lot better for me personally if it was either just focused on the coronation, or if it had a much shorter and less extreme skip, like maybe just a year or something...But a lot of people are really happy with this episode clearly, so I feel like it's doing something right, just...not for me. That stings a bit, but I'm glad other people are having fun at least, I really am. I don't wanna rain on anyone's parade and that's why I debated whether or not I even wanted to talk about this episode again, but figured I might as well.

 So yeah, what a sour note to end my time with the show on, or at least my time feature new episodes anyway. I still love this show to death and don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, I have no idea where else I'd go otherwise. Other shows and their fandoms are fun but I need my daily dose of Twilight Sparkle or I get kinda cranky. I'll still read fics, might check out the Season 10 comics if they look good, still planning on rewatching the series and my favorite episodes, and G5 probably won't live up to G4 and my overly-strong attachment to it, but if it's a good show, I guess I'll watch. So long, my little ponies, until next time.

 

TL;DR I get weirdly negative emotions from cartoon horse finale, still love cartoon horses. Twily looks amazing in that coronation dress.

Edited October 14, 2019 by BastementSparkle

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

17 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

On the other hand, I really hope that's not canon FlutterCord. Those two revelations more or less cancel each other out in my mind. 

It's very possible. Like AppleDash, the FlutterCord here's hinted. But there have been shipteasing clues over the last two seasons.

1. Break Down: Spike teases Discord for being close to FS.
2. A Matter of Principals: Carries a lunch bag with FS's drawn face on it.
3. She Talks: Angel insulting FS for being around Discord all the time.

This episode adds more hints in a few ways:

1. FS apparently lives in Discord's dimension now.
2. The same lunch bag from AMoP is the same one he gave to her when she joined the Council of Friendship.
3. She's donning bluebells, a symbol of everlasting love, in her mane.

According to the leaks…

Spoiler

FlutterCord, like AppleDash, was originally going to be more prominent (included a kiss from Discord), but the official release dialed it back.  

 

[Thrond 3,263]

1 minute ago, Dark Qiviut said:

It's very possible. Like AppleDash, the FlutterCord here's hinted. But there have been shipteasing clues over the last two seasons.

1. Break Down: Spike teases Discord for being close to FS.
2. A Matter of Principals: Carries a lunch bag with FS's drawn face on it.
3. She Talks: Angel insulting FS for being around Discord all the time.

This episode adds more hints in a few ways:

1. FS apparently lives in Discord's dimension now.
2. The same lunch bag from AMoP is the same one he gave to her when she joined the Council of Friendship.
3. She's donning bluebells, a symbol of everlasting love, in her mane.

According to the leaks…

  Reveal hidden contents

FlutterCord, like AppleDash, was originally going to be more prominent (included a kiss from Discord), but the official release dialed it back.  

 

Yeah I would not say that I'm a fan of that, especially given what he did just in the previous episode. 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I love the concept of the finale episode "The Last Problem" to pieces where we get to see what became of everyone without squeezing it into the battle episodes(Pinkie’s a mom!)!. I loved that we got to see characters like the Cake Twins and the CMC older! The lesson is perfect! It’s still weird that Twilight can’t rule from Ponyvile in her own castle though. It doesn’t make sense why Twilight can’t just rule from Ponyvile since she already has a whole castle there, and why she can’t continue to teach in Ponyvile. And I wish it was explained whether the other Mane 5 will teach at the friendship school, at all after Twilight takes power, or do they have other duties, royal or otherwise?? Does Sunburst have to live in Ponyvile now? So many unanswered details.  I love Twilight’s coronation outfit! I love how Celestia and Luna combined their crowns to make Twilight's big new crown. The song was utterly beautiful! The last moment with the closing of the book was the perfect touch. I love how the TV airing had "Many, Many, Many Moons later" on the title card before "Last Problem" actually started. I loved the disability representation of Scootaloo still being flightless and being fully respected as a disabled teacher at the School of Friendship! 

Please NOTE: NO I do NOT think Twilight is immortal and no I do NOT think Twilight will outlive her friends and neither does my family who watched with me. This is more of a fan theory but I think Alicorns do age, but don't show their age physically because of Alicorn magic. I think Celestia and Luna were elderly and getting weaker, hence why they didn't go on adventures much and decided to hand over ruling duties to Twilight and her friends, especially since Celestia and Luna mentioned the "Sliver" retirement community from the previous episode "Point Of No Return" and all the ponies at that location are over a certain age, if you will.  

Goodbye MLP. I will treasure my time in Equestria with all these characters forever. Thank you MLP staff for making a show so good it inspired my own film writing style. Can't wait for G5 and the CGI movie and the MLP comic series. 

[Ittoni 538]

My favorite moment was when Starlight gave Twilight a playlist so she can remember her favorite episodes. It's so relatable.

[Rixton 1,105]

9 hours ago, Sonic5421 said:

I hope the 3D models include Twilight, Spike, and all their friends from the future. I would love to do a "Thank You" thing in Garry's Mod with them to post in my DA as thanks to the entire MLP staff, especially Lauren, for giving us the Mane Six for this past decade. I'll try to fight through my tears of joy and grief as well while I wait for them and prepare for next year being the first year without expecting a new season of Friendship Is Magic, which will allow me to enjoy something I've really looked forwards to: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

I generally do not create models for source, but I think someone has already started to work on the future models.
Rather than that I try to give the show a fan spin-off series, I will try my best putting all the things together to make it felt like the original series was. It will be a tribute, and a "light" for the memories of this, I think there will never be an other one in my life like this show was.

[bwrosas 252]

6 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I wonder if Rarity's married. She's always been the most romantic of the mane six. 

as Jim Miller says, "Open to Interpretation" , for me, I believe she and Spike are an item.