S02:E11 - Hearth's Warming Eve

[NomDeSpite 452]

Let's see...things I liked about this episode:

 

-the art design. Canterlot in winter looks really splendid with its 19th century architecture. The design of the Windigos is awesome too; they're ominous and intimidating. If Friendship Is Magic was an RPG, the Windigos would be one of the more difficult enemies to kill.

 

-the episode makes the point that leaders of nations are often grossly out of touch with the desires of their subjects and that, when world peace is really experienced, it comes from the commoners of all nations getting to know one another, becoming friends with one another. Not from supragovernmental groups like the United Nations. Another example of this point is the "Where The Hell Is Matt?" videos on Youtube (2008 and 2012) where Matt dances with people from all the countries of the world and has a great time...governments propagandizing against one another could never achieve that.

 

-another important point this episode makes: it stresses how important it is for people to know their roots, to know where they came from. This play that is performed in this episode is the same as an American learning about the War for Independence from Britain or an Englishman learning about the victory over the Spanish Armada and the glories of the Elizabethan Era.

 

-Pinkie Pie's "I can think outside the box, meaning I can also think inside the chimney" quote. This is just so nonsensical that it's perfect.

 

It's not my favorite Episode from season 2 but the aspects I listed above definitely make you want to watch it again.

[Scootalove 10,684]

This episode showed that even when opposing sides are arguing and trying to fight for control and respect. They can all still find an agreement, and work together. The power of.. FRIENDSHIP!

 

[Starlight Song 43]

Ah. well. Pinkie Pie's cutie mark story was certainly interesting. It gave us insight on the background of Equestria. Apparently, ponies have a history of being racist? The song at the end was weird, didn't hear any recognizable voices.

[True Rarity 1,239]

This was funny!

I loved how the helpers of the three rulers all voted for peace!

And when the rulers froze, all I could think was, "Well, it served them right!"

[Adente 1,000]

Since I only got around to watching this episode very recently, I guess now is as good a time as any to say what I thought of it. 

 

PEGASUS MASTER RACE!!! COMMANDER HURRICANE IS BEST PONY!!!!

 

Ok, I'm done. But seriously, the idea of the pegasi as a warrior/Spartan race really does appeal to the history buff in me.

[fimdash 1,196]

Pretty nice episode. Spike being the narrator was entertaining, and the mane 6 put on a spectacular performance. The mane 6 also looked adorable in their costumes.  I feel like this was a didactic episode to educate us more about the world of Equestria. It's nice to get these special episodes throughout the series.

[Brony Shawn 11]

It was an awesome episode. I just watched it today. Narrator Spike was cute. The play was awesome. I especially liked the story of how Equestria was founded.

To sum it all up, it was a pretty awesome episode.

[Crestfallen 27]

I just watched this one today and Spike was so cute! I really loved the storyline and it was so adorable when Fluttershy was hiding in the box because she was afraid to go onstage. I wanted to give her a big hug

[GhostPony750 958]

This episode was probably one of my favorite, the only thing is...

 

The play is too focused on the mane 6, we almost doesn't see the other ponies in it, they don't even have a role, they're just in the background. It was a bit disappointing, but still one of the greatest episodes.

[Zygen 6,065]

I like this episode, because it's a good episode I think, and it's got some funny moments and explains a bit of lore, and then it also has great names for the ponies (chancellor pudding head xD.)

 

And I also like how it's unique being its a play about the past, it's narrated by spike and it's cool, its just a nice unique twist to the usual, of course normal episodes are awesome, but unique ones like this are awesome to.

 

And again the lore is nice, because I love speculation about the show and discussion about stuff.

[ThunderHooftheBrave 11]

This was a really neat episode! I really enjoyed everything about the episode and it truly felt like a holiday classic. Although I feel like it doesn't receive a lot of attention because it conflicts with a lot of head cannon that we assumed was true. I mean it very well could fit though. I can't wait to watch it again!

[Misty Shadow 7,084]

I really liked this one. A worthy holiday special, and my favorite episode written by Merriwether Williams (sorry guys, Wonderbolts Academy wasn't exactly my most-loved cup of tea). I also really liked the song, though I kinda understand why it's overshadowed by most of the other songs in season 2. 

[Batbrony 15,994]

 

"Hearth's Warming Eve" is a brilliant episode in MLP canon, and that's saying something considering it's really a holiday episode in every sense of the word.  The entire episode is focused on the origins of the Hearth's Warming Eve holiday, and Equestria as well, and usually an episode like that in most other kids shows would end up being just a filler episode with average quality at best or substandard quality at the worst.  But with "Hearth's Warming Eve", Studio B gave us a highly entertaining, unique episode that took a delightful deviation from the normal episode formula and also provided a fascinating look at Equestrian culture and history.  So obviously, the first thing to talk about for an episode like this is the holiday itself: what makes Hearth's Warming Eve such a great fictional holiday?  Well, last year around late fall/early winter, I actually took it upon myself to examine just what I personally love about Hearth's Warming Eve, in particular its emphasis on the importance of history.  In the spoiler tag below is the content of the topic I started almost a year ago, which I figured made more sense to just copy and paste here rather than re-analyze it all over again.  Mind you, they're fairly extensive thoughts, but well worth the read.  Enjoy! 

 

 

With Season 3 coming up soon, I was just reflecting to myself earlier this evening on how awesome it is that the season premiere, from what few clips we've seen so far, will deal with the value of history to any society and culture (i.e. the Crystal Ponies song). On further consideration, however, I realized that the show's creators have actually set themselves up nicely for dealing with this topic as they've already made other episodes with this same theme, particularly, "Hearth's Warming Eve" and "Family Appreciation Day," which, I believe, did not simply coincidentally debut back-to-back, but rather did so by design. As you all know, the former deals with the founding of Equestria, while the latter, at least in the second half of the episode, deals with the founding of Ponyville! In this thread, I will pay particular attention to "Hearth's Warming Eve," but both episodes, in different ways, still teach this theme of the importance and value of history. There are a number of things that are impressive about both of these episodes compared to standard children's television.

First, most children's programs do not even touch upon the value of history, much less in a holiday episode, at least in such an explicit manner. In fact, the only show from my childhood that I could recall really at any point touching upon the value of history was "Rugrats," and it does so in a manner very similar to the way "MLP: FiM" has thus far; in a number of episodes, Tommy Pickles' Jewish heritage is touched upon, perhaps, most explicitly in the Hanukkah and Passover episodes, which actually retell the stories behind the founding of both holidays. As a child, this wasn't as impressive to me, largely because I grew up in a Christian household, so hearing Biblical stories was pretty much the norm for me, but I realize now that this was a secular show showing on a secular television network, and that made me realize just how impressive those episodes, in hindsight, were. They teach the value of history by showing why it's valuable; the stories are not simply told, but the viewers see them being told to Tommy and his friends during the celebration of these holidays, so that he understands his heritage and why his family celebrates these holidays! In "Hearth's Warming Eve," MLP: FiM does the same exact thing!!! The importance of the holiday is not conveyed by some message about the importance of giving during a holiday (a standard of many, many Christmas episodes, even on Christian programs, which, although certainly important, does not get at the heart of the holiday itself), but rather, we are shown that the primary way that the ponies celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve is by staging pageants and plays all across Equestria recalling the founding of Equestria, thereby annually reminding themselves about their heritage, where they came from, and the values that their ancestors established Equestria upon as the rock of its foundation, namely, friendship, the binding force that maintains harmony in Equestria. That simply struck me as genius, for, really, that is the main purpose behind holidays themselves, to remind one of why they celebrate the holiday and the heritage that they come from (although Lord knows we humans ourselves forget this all the time!  ).

This realization in turn led me to re-evaluate the importance of friendship in the show itself, and develop a second point that made me realize even more than I had previously that "MLP" is a fantastically well-written and very smart show. As I previously stated, "Hearth's Warming Eve" teaches the ponies and, in turn, the audience, that the foundation upon which all order and harmony in Equestria rests is friendship. This, although maybe not apparent at first glance, considering the first 1 1/2 seasons had already dwelt upon the magic of friendship extensively, lifts the importance of friendship in the show itself to a whole new level!!! Before, we'd seen that friendship was simply the binding element between the Mane Six, and while certainly a powerful element, in that through its power they were able to wield the Elements of Harmony, its relevance was relegated to the present. "Hearth's Warming Eve," however, showed that throughout history and in all times, past, present, and future, friendship had been, is, and always will be the binding element upon which all harmony and order in Equestrian society is established!

Friendship, essentially, allows Equestria to be what Plato in his "Republic" calls the "best city". First of all, in "The Republic," Socrates defines justice as people minding their own business, literally, each person sticking to doing what they do best, to the benefit of themselves and society. Prior to Equestria's founding, while the three races of ponies certainly stuck to their tasks, they only did it for themselves, and only cooperated with each other at the bare minimum out of the utmost necessity. It could not be said that they had one "city" even (i.e. one society); they all had their own distinct cultures and societies. The pegasi were essentially timocrats in that they placed the greatest value on honor and martial glory, the unicorns were more or less oligarchs with their love of wealth, riches, and gems, despite their access to great knowledge as well, and the earth ponies were basically (degenerated) democrats (in the sense of the classical definition of democracy) in that they placed a great deal of value on equality (more so than freedom, and as such were all equally poor) and clearly had elected representatives (i.e. Chancellor Puddinghead... like I said, degenerated democracy. HA!  ).
 

However, after the events of the first Hearth's Warming Eve, all three races, due to friendship, truly united and established one society in Equestria, a society where each and everypony does whatever they are best at, mind's their own business, and as a result, both the individual and society are benefitted. This is justice according to Plato and Socrates! Furthermore, it can also be said that in many ways Celestia and Luna are essentially the guardians, or philosopher kings (rather philosopher queens), that Socrates speaks of in "The Republic" as well, for while they certainly allow each and everypony to mind their own business, their own business appears to be ruling the state on account of their wisdom, for they have made their business knowing truth and knowledge, which is the business of the philosopher. In Equestria, logically, the highest knowledge and truth must surely be that which has to do with the magic of friendship, since that is the very foundation of Equestrian society, and who other than Celestia and Luna have been shown to have greater knowledge of the magic of friendship? Therefore, it can be accurately stated that, due to knowledge of friendship, along with all other things, Celestia and Luna are Equestria's philosopher queens, and in conclusion, friendship as the theme of "MLP: FiM" is even more important to this show than I even previously thought it was!!! Seriously, when I came to these conclusions, my mind was blown away!!!

 

 

Besides the awesome emphasis on the importance of history just extensively reviewed in the spoiler tag above, there are plenty of other things I love about the holiday as well.  It's a very unique, original holiday that's not just a Christmas knockoff which so often you see show up in holiday episodes, the pageant is very fun to watch, and this is the only episode to date to give us a look at Canterlot at wintertime, and the first episode since "Winter Wrap Up" back in Season 1 to give us a look at any of Equestria during wintertime.  Overall, Hearth's Warming Eve is a great fictional holiday and a wonderful addition to the MLP canon,one of the best in all of Season 2 in fact.

 

Equestria's origins explained in two words.  

 

Hi Derpy, a Happy Hearth's Warming Eve to you too!!!  

 

 

Besides the holiday itself, the story told in the episode, that is, the origins of the holiday and Equestria, is fantastic!  It's very fun, and kind of meta even, seeing the Mane 6 playing roles besides, well, themselves, even though these historical figures seemingly have similar personalities to our favorite group of pony friends.  The leader-assistant duos are all fun to watch, and Pinkie Pie especially gets major props for simply stealing every scene she's in as Chancellor Puddinghead!!!   "The Heart Carol" at the end of the episode, while short, is a lovely song and different from most others we've had in the show, clearly drawing influence from our own Christmas carols while at the same time having its own unique and original style, tune, and lyrics.  The episode also has an extremely fun Derpy cameo; her breaking the fourth wall and waving not only at the pony audience, but also the TV audience as well, is simply delightful, and one of her better cameos in the entire show.  The windigos are a very interesting addition as well to the MLP creature canon, and it'd be very interesting (albeit unlikely) to see if they ever pop up at any point in the future.  The animation as usual is spot on, from the wintry, festive streets of Canterlot, to the decorated pageant hall and the paradise of ancient Equestria, every setting is lovely to look at and has its own unique look and flavor.  Overall, there's really nothing wrong with "Hearth's Warming Eve" at all; it's simply a wonderful, fantastic episode that encapsulates the best that "MLP: FiM" has to offer, everything that makes the show great!  It's one of the best episodes in all of MLP worth rewatching, especially around Christmas time, and if you're looking for laughs, a great story, a wonderful lesson on the power of friendship, and some awesome, holiday-themed festivities to boot, this episode is the one to check out.  May the fire of friendship always live on in all of our hearts always!!! 

 

Take it away ladies!!!  

 

 

[Persona22 205]

This episode raises an important question:

 

If the ancient Unicorns were able to raise the sun and the moon to bring forth day and night, by themselves, then why does Equestria need Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?

[Singe 2,109]

Another way found to deal with Windigos was by a war based society that blasted the sky with intense magical fire that killed them all.

[Nature's Spell 526]

This episode raises an important question:

 

If the ancient Unicorns were able to raise the sun and the moon to bring forth day and night, by themselves, then why does Equestria need Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?

It's never made clear and it doesn't really make sense why the unicorns would give up that role willingly. The other tribes didn't.

[Singe 2,109]

It was said the Unicorns which means more than one needed to use lots of magic to handle the sun and moon. Alicorn are stronger magical beings that have the strength of many unicorns in terms of magical power. Unicorns are also aristocrats and if it means less work to keep their noble lifestyle, they'll take it.

[Nature's Spell 526]

It was said the Unicorns which means more than one needed to use lots of magic to handle the sun and moon. Alicorn are stronger magical beings that have the strength of many unicorns in terms of magical power. Unicorns are also aristocrats and if it means less work to keep their noble lifestyle, they'll take it.

Maybe, but it takes a lot of Pegasus weather ponies to control the weather too. It's one of those canon inconsistency.

[CadetGrey 267]

[This post is hidden. No offense to anyone, but I am no longer part of the community and no longer wish to be an (active) part of the forums. I treasure the friendships I made along the way. Thank you!]

Edited March 28, 2021 by CadetGrey

[Washougal_Otaku 1,020]

Unless I missed them, it would've been cool if they had placed in some subtle references to Hanukkah, as well.

[Pastel 7,627]

I really like this episode: it's so far the only one taking place during Hearth Warming (aka Christmas)...

The history of Equestria is very interesting, Derpy waving at the crowd is hilarious

But I wonder if the heart is really here now?:

 

There's one thing I dislike: the mane 6 (especially Fluttershy) being excellent actors and playing in front of hundreds of ponies.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Blobulle

[Pixel Media 25]

I always wondered where the Windigos went. Especially during that episode where Discord first appears and makes them all hate each other.

 

Maybe they went on vacation?

 

Overall a nice episode dedicated to their dedication of a backstory for Equestria, which is good for lore.

[Nature's Spell 526]

I always wondered where the Windigos went. Especially during that episode where Discord first appears and makes them all hate each other.

 

Maybe they went on vacation?

 

Overall a nice episode dedicated to their dedication of a backstory for Equestria, which is good for lore.

I remember listening to a theory from one of the prominent MLP anylists, maybe Dr. Wolf, of a connection between Discord and the Windigos. The implication was that the Windigos were a forerunner, or model, for Discord; they do appear visually similar.

 

I honestly think it's a great episode, but it creates even more questions than it solves. Biggest of all how do the sisters fit into the story? I'm a fan of the idea that they are not goddesses and were not always Alicorns, but I think some people would rather the episode not been made because it's inconvenient at times.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Nature's Spell

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

This was a great episode. It involves Twilight and friends in a play on the founding of Equestria. It was really uplifting how 3 races of ponies get along together. This probably takes place years before Alicorns or Crystal Ponies existed. And as for the holiday itself it's probably just like Christmas because of the decor. It would be nice if they received presents though considering this was its Christmas Special.

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Why is it that in G4 they have Hearth's Warming Eve but in G3 they had Christmas?