S09:E26 - The Last Problem

[Jeric 46,835]

This episode. 
 

Nothing can top Perfect Pear, but this may come close to its emotional punch. As each character ran through their respective influences and characters they influenced, it was like a memory download of my fandom journey. I instantly thought who would be in my personal background, and I teared up again. 
 

I’ve met so many friends over the years and I’ve lost some too. I’ve had people who have tested me, people I was able to help, and people who have helped me. 
 

Stupid pony show! Why u do dis to me? 
 

I am proud to be a part of this group. No bans for 24 hours cause I’m in a good mood! 
 

(j/k bans you all cause show’s over go home) 

[Allen 1,371]

I will say this episode is great, because we concluded the finale with a song before concluding this episode and the series together!  I can't believe that Princess Twilight Sparkle got bigger and taller,  as the newest leader of Equestria, as that is a future like a decade later after watching the previous episode before this one. The last friendship problem from that pony is fixed, which I will say that makes it to a successful conclusion of the series! Also, the song I hear today is in E major and ends the note in E. The ride never ends, guys! I will not cry for this one. I and we will look forward for the fifth generation of My Little Pony by next year (the next decade), which I want to see Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Mane 6 ponies again in their same pony models.

Ponies together! Friendship is Magic forever!

29 minutes ago, TheTaZe said:

I'm in love with the finale song. One of my favorite songs from the show.

I'm also in love with that song too.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Allen
Catchphrase

[KH7672 1,604]

I actually really enjoyed watching this again and paying so much more attention to the structure of it all.  The Ending of the End may have had the character callbacks but this epilogue had so much in the background to pay attention to, from the future allusions of grandeur like the stain glass windows and the statues, to the situation of each character in the future like the Crusaders as teachers and the position of each of the Students, to during the flashback watching every background character react in one way or another to everything that was happening.  Plus it may not have been intentional, but I absolutely see Starlight giving Twilight the memory book as an allusion to her getting the mirror in the Season 7 premiere when she was ready to take her next step in life.  It really does all come down to books for Twilight even until the very end.

And now if you don't mind, a stroke of absolute coincidence came up from my little commentary for Episode 22 with a certain character I used and I couldn't help but notice some parallels:

 

Okay off-topic observation over, enjoy the finale discussion! 

[Sparklefan1234 161,875]

I wish that this episode was about what could have happened to the citizens of Ponyville instead of what did happen 

 

so that the audience would be able to make up their own minds. 

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

I’m rather surprised the response for the final episode is so positive, in contrast of the spoilered forum 

[Early Sunsets 2,106]

I don't think I can properly convey my opinion on this episode, but it ruined the finale for me. I can't even feel sad the show is over because of it.

Seriously, I don't think I've ever felt like this about anything before. When I get mad about something, it always goes away within half an hour, maybe an hour if it's really bad. However, even now, almost three hours after the episode aired, all I can feel is a deep, seething anger, and I can't sleep because of it.

So, yeah. Safe to say I despised the episode.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

1 hour ago, Fluttershutter said:

Okay, who's proud that they cried?

*raises hoof* While it didn't get me this time, I start crying when I listen to it in my occasional playthroughs over the last few weeks.

49 minutes ago, TheTaZe said:

I'm in love with the finale song. One of my favorite songs from the show.

This song's spectacular. Emotional, hopeful, and more than worthy of a good cry once it's over.

One great thing about this episode is the moral it teaches. Friendships change, and sometimes these changes may cause a massive strain in them. Sometimes these changes may cause the friendship to drift away and possibly end. How these friendships stay healthy is how much work you put in to maintain it. The Mane Six are supposed to rule Equestria together, but as seen in the flashback and present, their lives have changed. Everyone's so busy now preparing for the coronation, and once it's all over, their lives may soon change. Somehow everyone was trying to make this coronation as perfect as possible and were using this practice and preparation to grieve in their own way. They fear what's going on ahead of them and are very scared that they'll drift further and further away till they're not friends anymore. But by crying together, they're grieving together and are facing this dilemma together. Somewhow and someway, they'll figure it out.

Their ability to laugh off the total disaster of a coronation was a way for all of them to finally relax and be as loose-minded as possible. With the coronation over, they're able to figure something out and come up with a great idea: rendezvous every "moon" ("month" in the Dutch version). The new council of friendship meant everyone could meet up, rule together, help each other, and remain acquainted with each other "no matter how busy life gets." Notice how everyone isn't teaching Starlight's school anymore, and now they lead varying lives:

1. Pinkie's married, has a kid, and helping run SCC.
2. RD's the new WB captain.
3. AJ runs the farm now, evident by how she wears the late Granny Smith's scarf.
4. FS's living with Discord and running the thriving sanctuary full time.
5. Rarity lives in Yakyakistan now, and both Yona and Sandbar run Carousel Boutique.
6. Twilight teaches Celestia's school and running a kingdom.
7. Spike now flies around the world to maintain peace between societies.

It's the perfect final lesson, both in idea and execution.

[Prince Doopliss 2,350]

I like this episode. I admit it was bland and disappointing, I still enjoyed some of the small things it had. I mean I expected more out the finale, but yet not disappointed by my high hopes being crush. I mean honestly it was touching way to end it. I mean their were things that could have made it better, but I'm just happy with the end result!

Now I guess the show is over it is time for me to leave as my planet needs me! *gets hit the head by the book being close on me* OUCH! Who closed the book on me? 

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Goddammit, Mike Vogel, do you want us to tear up again? Well, it worked. *blows nose*

 

[Jeric 46,835]

1 minute ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Goddammit, Mike Vogel, do you want us to tear up again? Well, it worked. *blows nose*

 

I still want my free coffee from their break room! 

[Varrack 1,080]

One of the only times I've cried during this show was when the song start playing. God, that really hit a soft spot. It's half-amazing, half-torture to watch a timeskip of your favorite characters change them. Twilight's and Spike's new designs alone were enough of a shock.

I do kind of wonder if G5 will begin where G4 ended, much further in the future and involving different ponies while still remaining in Equestria. And maybe the old characters will pop up in the background occasionally. Idk how I'm gonna handle the wait.

Oh man...it's hurts to see it end after years of watching it, but at least this episode gave it closure.

[Solar Power 235]

1 hour ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I wish that this episode was about what could have happened to the citizens of Ponyville instead of what did happen 

 

so that the audience would be able to make up their own minds. 

No, it's up to the writers to tell the story - not for us to write it ourselves.

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

35 minutes ago, Varrack said:

One of the only times I've cried during this show was when the song start playing. God, that really hit a soft spot. It's half-amazing, half-torture to watch a timeskip of your favorite characters change them. Twilight's and Spike's new designs alone were enough of a shock.

I do kind of wonder if G5 will begin where G4 ended, much further in the future and involving different ponies while still remaining in Equestria. And maybe the old characters will pop up in the background occasionally. Idk how I'm gonna handle the wait.

 

I’ll be satisfied is they make a hands off evidence that G5 takes place in the same world. Don’t care if it’s further into the future, don’t care if it’s faraway, don’t care how little they mention FIM, ANYTHING

[Adamgreen 1,129]

I'm actually glad there's an epilogue to end the series with. It makes the ending of the show more wholesome and heartwarming   

[Jon the VGNerd 842]

To see it finally end had just opened the waterworks for me, with manly tears to go for... even though it ended on a high note (even if some didn't like it), it's just genuinely sad to see it end after nine years. It really feels like a hard pill to swallow.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

The time skip... surprised that MLP would finally have one of these. Granted, it did come at the very end and can be rather jarring to see everyone much older than they were before. However, I can appreciate them wanting to do this as a means of finally ending everything. Unlike the two part adventure that came before this, 'The Last Problem' I feel did do better. How about that? I despised the actual finale and enjoyed this epilogue though it did have some issues. I laughed hard at the coronation because of how absurd and disastrous it got with every passing moment. Twilight should be proud of the fact that she had something that can be best described as unique.

The plot of this episode was basically a rehash of Twilight's coming to Ponyville way back at the beginning but with a look back on the coronation and how it shaped what the future became. Twilight's alicorn body is awkward to look at but then it comes with being an alicorn--her friends merely got older in the typical fashion that comes with the territory--but after a while it just felt appropriate. Spike now has a dragon's look which made me happy and it even bears a resemblance to his dreamed form back in season five. The song wasn't all that memorable but I loved seeing so many cameos at the end of it--even Sunset Shimmer was given an honourable mentioning here along with Flash Sentry--so it gets a pass from me. Certain relationships ended up becoming a thing though it was likely to appease the fandom more than anything else. This is a problem with time skips in general. You just see the end result and not what lead us to that moment.

Pinkie Pie ended up with Cheese Sandwich. I mean, it was pretty obvious, but it would've been nice to see how they finally got together. The same can be said with Yona and Sandbar. What we have here is show but don't tell which can leave some confused by it. Oh yeah! Gummy is huge! How did that happen!? If he had a growth spurt, it was epic beyond all reasoning. I am surprised the CMC ended up becoming teachers at the school but I really shouldn't as it was hinted at back in season eight that they aspired to do so. Also, we never got a chance to see Celestia and Luna in retirement during this episode. A missed opportunity if there ever was one. That twenty-two minute restriction decided to rear its ugly head one final time.

How many years have passed anyway? We never were given any clear indication so I guess all we can do here is, well, guess. By my reckoning, I'm going to say at least thirty years have gone by. Some characters are no longer around at this point while others have aged with new ones appearing on the scene. Had this episode been made into two parts, we could've seen a lot more, yet we should be thankful that we got what we did. Fanfic writers and artists will have a field day with this one for certain. Though this does pose a problem. Season ten could introduce concepts that nullify what 'The Last Problem' resolves. Again, another issue with time skips, the issue of having to retcon events.

I do have to mention one important thing here. The final moment of the book closing. I think we all expected this to happen given how everything began with a book opening up. Unfortunately, we didn't get any narration when the book closed, another missed opportunity. Oh well. You can't have everything you know. With this episode, MLP generation four has reached its conclusion barring the comics of course. It was certainly a wild ride filled with all kinds of twists, controversies, moments, and so on. Will it be remembered in a good way? Only time will tell for certain on this front.

I liked this final episode, way more than the two episodes that preceded it. Sure, this one had some issues such as the time skip, rehashing, not showing everything, and being susceptible to time constraints, but it was handled in a way that brings about a good conclusion. Perhaps this should've been given top billing instead of the other two episodes of this finale.

[Quinch 1,119]

3 hours ago, Say my name said:

(j/k bans you all cause show’s over go home)  

Closing time, one last call to watch it all, so finish your artwork and fics,

Closing time, you don't have to stop posting, but don't annoy Jeric...

1 hour ago, Solar Power said:

No, it's up to the writers to tell the story - not for us to write it ourselves. 

Eh, the community has shown us that we can easily have it both.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

I'm still in disbelief that the show is really over. For nine years this show has meant so much and inspired so much for me...it kinda feels empty to no longer be expecting any new episodes of G4. I mean, I know G5 is coming, but still...

In any case I don't think that this could've been done any more perfect. I mean it felt like so many loose ends were tied and just...I mean, I feels like the perfect capstone to the journey of the Mane 6, Spike, CMC, Starlight, and so many others.

And that song...god damn the water works hit me and...it still kinda is. I love this show for so many reasons; connecting me with life long friends, with my one true love, and just...being such a bright spot for me.

What an ending. <3

[Toastypk 920]

I said it in the other thread that I started, but I see this episode as a glimpse into the future, but not so far as a new starting point.Further pony content is probably going to follow after episode 25 or right after the coronation. There's much more story to have!

Edited October 13, 2019 by Toastypk

[Anneal 2,194]

2 hours ago, Varrack said:

One of the only times I've cried during this show was when the song start playing. God, that really hit a soft spot. It's half-amazing, half-torture to watch a timeskip of your favorite characters change them. Twilight's and Spike's new designs alone were enough of a shock.

I do kind of wonder if G5 will begin where G4 ended, much further in the future and involving different ponies while still remaining in Equestria. And maybe the old characters will pop up in the background occasionally. Idk how I'm gonna handle the wait.

Oh man...it's hurts to see it end after years of watching it, but at least this episode gave it closure.

I honestly don't mind if it ends up taking place in an entirely fresh and new universe. Needless to say, I feel like the current generation has had a good run and if we were to basically make a sequel or extension to it, it might affect the quality of the show itself. This show has already ended up a great note, lasting nine years with nine seasons. Plus, there would be many more opportunities to tell stories with a new blank slate.

[Snow 5,305]

There are so many things I don't really like, things I haven't been liking and things I would liked to have been done differently but that song at the end just, that was just perfect, I'm all teared up, it was beautiful.

I'm petty darn satisfied with that ending, sad, but it was a wonderful sendoff.

[Photon Jet 5,489]

*sniff* *sniff* Oh, I'm sorry. I felt so emotional after watching the show's finale. I'm so proud on how much the Mane characters have achieved. All of them left a huge inspiration to all of us. This has been a momentous show that will always be remembered in our books. Thank you Princess Twilight, thank you everypony.

While we wait for Friendship is Magic Season 10 in the comics and the new generation coming next year, it's now up to us to spread the Magic of Friendship to everyone in our world no, our universe.

No matter what happens: Friendship is Magic...forever. *sniff*

[PonyLovingBrony 1]

Well guys, that’s it 

[Rising Dusk 26,083]

What! A! Finish!  Oh, that took me a few minutes to calm down from with that ending song.  Was 22 minutes enough?  Would a hour long special have been too long?  Could I handle that kind of emotion for that long?  Phew.

Alright, so we got the time skip that I'm sure plenty were expecting for an epilogue.  Also, getting that coronation.  At the end of the second part of the finale I was so confused why it ended in a donut shop and not the coronation, but here it is.  I enjoy the full circle the series has taken.  Twilight, ruler of Equestria, now having to send off one of her own students to learn the meaning of friendship.  A reflection of herself from the very first episode.  Younger Twilight's feelings in this episode were ones I've felt way too many times having moved around as much as I did growing up.  That fear of leaving friends you truly adore and the home you've become attached to truly is painful. 

The coronation being a disaster, was to be expected, but it's just become the quark of these seven when it comes to such important events.  The de-crowning of our beloved Princesses to fuse into one for Twilight brought a tear as their rein comes to an end.

Twilight's breakdown in her old castle with her friends, all there words reflecting a lot of the worries the community has had, it was a perfect send off.

Ah, the characters.  It was jarring to see Twilight's new form.  Tara Strong's voice had been played for unicorn and smaller Alicorn Twilight for so long that having it unchanged for bigger Twilight, was hard to make fit for a while.  Getting to see Spike actually take the form similar to how he'd seen himself in many fantasies was a good call back.  Seeing all these ponies older was fitting and not overdone, even if Gummie got BIG!  Some of the ponies who were on the older side through the series didn't make an appearance, giving a good tell that this time skip is plenty far.  There was a lot to take in as we were shown what everpony is doing now in their lives.  Gallus as a Royal Guard, Yona and Sandbar together working at Rarity's.  Silverstream, Smolder, Ocellus and the CMC working at the School of Friendship with Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie.  Carrot and Pound Cake's appearances. Kirin in Ponyville!  Oof!  So many!  Sadly, no Celestia and Luna scene in retirement though.

And to the thing I was fearing, the ships.  I suppose it didn't end up as bad as I had feared, because luckily they made sense.  Roseluck and Dr. Whooves in the background together was a surprise.  Pinkie and Cheese, Fluttershy and Discord, Apple Dash, yeah these fit and no more were forced.

And now it's over.  Ending with an absolutely amazing song.  I definitely loved this episode, much more so than the two before.  It's going to be tough climbing down from these emotions and the tears.  In the end though, I can say the conclusion was fulfilling for me.  With the closing of a book that was opened so long ago.  

This friendship will last forever.  Let's see what the future will bring us, together.

[Splashee 28,537]

12 hours ago, TheTaZe said:

I'm in love with the finale song. One of my favorite songs from the show.

@Allen "I'm also in love with that song too."
@Dark Qiviut "This song's spectacular"
@PathfinderCS "And that song...god damn the water works hit me and...it still kinda is"
@BBally "the song is one of the best songs in the franchise in my opinion."
@DonMaguz "the song was nostalgic but otherwise pretty average."

 

 

 

When it started I was like, noooo, they stole it!

I like Sunset Shimmer's version better:
 

Spoiler

Play it with this link (Needs Adobe Flash to work):
http://www.logotypes.se/tmp/MLPT/Magic26SongMix/Magic26SongMix.html

Or try the link to the mp4 video directly if it works in your browser (like Firefox):
http://www.logotypes.se/tmp/MLPT/Magic26SongMix/Magic26SongMix.mp4

 

 

I created this video, just overlapping the music, really quickly (less than a minute of work).

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Splashee
Added some tags, I was responding to more than one person