S03:E05 - Magic Duel

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

Here's something to think about: what would happen if Twilight put on the Alicorn Amulet?  It's basically the One Ring.  Given how strong Twilight is, I suspect it would be about like Gandalf putting on the Ring.  I imagine that Twilight would be able to resist it's negative effects for much longer than Trixie, but once she succumbed to it's power, I'd go so far as to say it could mean the end of Equestria, if she couldn't control it.

[Hopes and Memes 391]

This is so not what I expected from this episode. It didn't make sense how someone could just have the Alicorn Amulet for sale. And using friends to trick Trixie was just... Amazing! I did not expect that to happen at all. This episode did have quite a few plotholes though, but overall it was an okay episode. Hope to see Trixie again soon!

[AkiraLeeJounouchi 857]

While watching this episode you have to wonder, where is Princess Luna? I mean ok she probably sleeps in the Day, but with her sister on a mission, don't you think sleep can wait? Anyways Trixie was really, REALLY cold as a mindless villan. I mean WOW. For C character from season 1 that no one would expect that was almost Darth Vader level of evil. Speaking of Star Wars I love how there are Star Wars Referances in MLP. After all I love the Original Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy. I had a feeling Zakuya would turn out to be the yoda of this story. All she need to say ding the training scene was "Do Or Do not, there is no try" and "For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." Ultimitly the cleverness of Twilight and her friends solves all. I give this episode a 4.5/5. I deducted .5 becuase Trixie should've gotten A Harsh Punishmet.

[Lucky Star 972]

That episode was really good! As much as I hated Trixie before, I'd never think I'd start to like her. I really like how she became nice and somewhat humble at the end. And baby Rarity took all of my manliness away. 

 

Excuse me while I go wrestle a bear in the forest.

I know right?  the cuteness was too much in this one! 

[ShyPie 164]

Trixie is just so awesome, I really want to know why she doesn't trust wheels!

 

Fluttershy actually gets a lot to work with in this episode, which is great   Loved the way she got really over protective and actually threatened Twilight about her animals and her over the top reactions to all of it were brilliant. Rarity's escape outfit; so pointless but hilarious and fabulous 

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

This was a decent episode. Trixie challenges Twilight to a duel and she uses an alicorn amulet. I thought this was better than Boast Busters. My highlight was when Twilight used her friends to defeat Trixie.

[Marine_Vet_Brony 317]

Loved it. I still wonder why snipes and snail weren't punish for bringing the Ursa Minor to town.

[Yoshi89 5,293]

Loved it. I still wonder why snipes and snail weren't punish for bringing the Ursa Minor to town.

They kind of were. They were still babies by the end of the episode.

 

I know a lot of people don't like Snips and Snails but Trixie really treated them like dirt. Poor colts.

[Lunar Sapphire 30]

The return of one of my most favorite ponies AND she is more powerful than Twilight Sparkle?

 

Count me in for loving this episode! I fully enjoyed the parts where she just took control and started making everypony do whatever she wanted. Real dictator like of her lol.

 

What i didn't like is that it shows just how much imagination for the use of magic that Trixie really has. There is a plathora of stuff they can both do and aging? Is the best spells and ideas they can come up with? Really? I mean....REALLY?!

 

 

 

To make things worst, she doesn't really even do much with her powers really. She just used them for some petty pony concerns. Even when controlled by an "evil" amulet, she is still not that evil.

[Juggerpony 92]

I loved this episode! I loved Trixie! Nothing more needs to be said.

[JonasDarkmane 19,785]

I liked the episode . It was rather entertaining and exciting . 

[FlyingLikeDash 33]

Hmm. I'll give a 4 star rating. But I'm not sure I enjoyed it that much.

[cider float 2,537]

After watching the duel again I realized Twilight used Trixie's own way of using magic against her: faking it.

[sweetolebob18 728]

If the 1st 3 seasons took 1 year, then this and One Bad Apple were probably the last 2 adventures before Magical Mystery Cure.  Trixie got blamed too much for Boast Busters -it wasn't her fault Snips & Snails brought that Ursa to town.

 

On the other hand, let me get this straight.  Trixie had no intention of harming Twilight.  Trixie was just walking along (probably on her way to choir practice) & that bad old amulet just jumped up & grabbed her!  It made her do all those bad things, she never thought of them.

 

My father used to tell us kids "It's a free country.  You want to go looking for trouble, fine.  But, don't come crying to me when you find it."  (Wonderful human being, my father )

[Luna_tic 120]

I enjoyed this episode and would like to see more of Trixie. Her attitude is enjoyable to me for some reason, perhaps because she's powerful and great. But the best part of the episode was Big Mapplejack

Edited August 5, 2015 by Luna_tic

[TheDerpedWorldBrony 18]

WOW! FIRST ELEMENT OF DISHARMONY! ITS DA ELEMENT OF DARK MAGIC :derp: :muffins:

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

ATTACK OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIIXXXXX-IE!

[twiia 1,843]

Yes, always use dark magic when dealing with stuff, aka disaster. This was a great episode, and great friendship lesson.

[cmarston1 5,959]

This has to be one of the best episodes to come out of season 3.

[Honeysuckle 135]

LET ME TELL YOU WHY I LOVE THIS EPISODE

• the existence of the alicorn amulet itself is awesome, if theres something that powerful.. what else is out there??? 
• Twilight goes on an awesome Last Airbender type journey in the forrest to train
• She finds a way to beat Trixie using her head but n not rely on her horn
• The Great and Powerful Trixie is a stage pony, a magician. She should be learning to do the type of magic Twilight was using. Deception. Twilight is a better magician than the magician pony!

[Duality 10,739]

Trixie was perfect: she had minions, a personal protagonist-grudge, style, and laser magic. Magic Duel could've been a two-parter, she was that great and powerful.

Speaking of power, the Alicorn Amulet was literally sitting in a pawn shop. At the very least that should contravene some sort of Equestrian trading license bylaw, especially if the headcanon some people propagate about it being created by Sombra is taken to be accurate. Although, admittedly, that is a rather novel way for a potential villain to find themselves a macguffin ("would you like that gift-wrapped?").

[EmeraldStar04 250]

How did Evil Trixie end up more effective than Tirek?

[Thrond 3,263]

Fanservice episode? Fanservice episode. Not heavy on fanon, but Trixie's return as a more villainous figure definitely feels like a treat to the fans, and having the episode revolve around a showy magic-off also feels more like fanservice than anything especially meaningful. Trixie's reformation isn't especially convincing, and there's no real substance to this otherwise, but I have a huge soft spot for episodes which are just inventive and entertaining. This episode is that and little else. 

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I loved this Episode ! It was cool to have a comeback from a Villain after a lot of Episodes, that makes Trixies hatred towards Twilight so much more believable. Also i didnt thought, that the Episode would end in a very calm way. Like Twilight forgiving her and Trixie even seems to be nice towards Twilight, while she was going away. Would be nice if she reappears sometimes and becomes somewhat of a new main character maybe. Even though i already watched reviews of later Episodes, so i know that that wouldnt happen, but i would still think, she would be a nice addition to the main cast. ( maybe not the main 6, but just with more Episodes centered around her )

[Thrond 3,263]

There's a surprising darkness to this one. All of the stuff Trixie does to ponies' bodies is kinda horrifying, plus her entire motivation comes from Twilight ruining her career so badly that she couldn't find work outside of farm labour. Apparently Twilight can literally conjure parasprites - living beings - at will. All of that is kinda interesting to me, and there's a creativity to this which keeps it entertaining, but it's kinda superficial. There's no emotional core here. Plus, it zips forward so fast that there's not a whole lot of suspense. Nonetheless, I dug stuff like Twilight's magical training, Trixie's extreme boasting, and the duels themselves. It's just that, even beyond the fact that this is completely empty spectacle, it's also a really rote plot structure. On a moment-to-moment basis, this is charming, and the ending is kinda sweet, but it also doesn't offer much we haven't seen in the show before. And Trixie is set up to have genuinely understandable motivations, but the episode does nothing with her aside from have her grandstand, do a few neat magical tricks, and then apologize at the end, just because. We don't see how she gets her bearings back, we don't see any resentment from her, she's just... apologetic now. It continues to feel like kinda half-hearted fan service to me. 

Score:

Entertainment: 7/10

Characters: 5/10

Themes: 6/10

Story: 6/10

Overall: 60/100