S03:E05 - Magic Duel

[DerpyFanatic 114]

Yes indeedy! Gotta love Lyra and Bon-Bon~ Love how Lyra's just casually sipping, lol.

 

Now I wonder what an actual hay smoothie would taste like. Probably not very good without any sugar.

 

 

 

Thanks, but I watched that part of Boast Busters again, and it turns out I was wrong. It's actually an oat smoothie (with extra hay) so that's what the picture on the cup is: oats.

 

 

Well, seeing as there are actual documented attempts (on YouTube) by various people to duplicate Applejack and Pinkie's "baked bads", perhaps somepony here with cooking skills and access to the right ingredients could try making a hay or oat smoothie? Be sure to film the whole thing, even if you do end up puking all over the floor.

[Akihiro 90]

I just landed on the board, so I didn't follow the whole discussion, but here's my point of view anyway.

 

The episode was way too dark for me.

I don't have any problem with Trixie taking over because she got corrupted by some cursed relic.

But come on... "to writhe in agony" are not words that should come from a pony's mouth.

Even the villains didn't want to hurt somepony directly.

 

And having to do painful work for a few bits to live is now canon.

 

MLP doesn't need that extra darker side to be entertaining...

 

Other than that the episode was good, of course. I just don't want the show to drift from what it was when the first episodes aired.

[Skargon 6]

This was one of my new favorite Episodes..   GO Twilight! 

[moongarnet77 47]

As much as I really dislike Trixie, I'm happy to say that I was happy with this episode. She was finally portrayed as a villain, like the fandom made her out to be. But at times, she did go a little over the top.

 

Plus the word "alicorn" was finally used in the show!

[meloonie28 0]

Anypony else stunned that they showed a pony drinking from a cup from their HOOVES in two episodes is a row? Honesty, it's a bit quirky... <_<

[Emerald Glow 40]

I'm pretty sure you have to actually put the amulet on, which Zecora, unlike Trixie, is smart enough not to do. And in any case, if she put it on it would be fairly obvious and Twi could just send for Celestia and Luna to smack Zecora down.

 

Point, I thought of this after. Dashie at least held it for a few seconds with no effect, but I chalked that up to being a non-magic user. Oh well.

 

 

I just landed on the board, so I didn't follow the whole discussion, but here's my point of view anyway.

 

The episode was way too dark for me.

I don't have any problem with Trixie taking over because she got corrupted by some cursed relic.

But come on... "to writhe in agony" are not words that should come from a pony's mouth.

Even the villains didn't want to hurt somepony directly.

 

And having to do painful work for a few bits to live is now canon.

 

MLP doesn't need that extra darker side to be entertaining...

 

Other than that the episode was good, of course. I just don't want the show to drift from what it was when the first episodes aired.

 

 

I think I'm OK with the current darkness level (heck, even the series premiere wasn't sunshine and lollipops, with Nightmare Moon tempting Dash at the rope bridge and her nearly succumbing), but I worry that much more might undercut the essential nougat-y center of the show. That's why I'm a little hesitant of the idea of series-long villain arcs and such, cool as they might be in their way. A little suspense draws viewers in though, it can't all be about destroyed cakes and the travails of babysitting. right now at least it's a good balance.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Emerald Glow

[WolfEdge 75]

hmm...I think that Magic Duel had morals for Twi and Trixie. Twilight's was that there are other ways to beat evil than raw power, namely faith in one's friends (done to death) and sneakiness. the sneakiness/tricking trixie bit was fun, because we rarely get to see a situation  where Twilight's NOT the biggest horn in town, and normally she gets extricated from those situations by Teh Friendship and/or Magical McGuffin* #12. Yes, she used friendship, but she used it in a very clever and sneaky way that seems a bit different than in the past.

 

Trixie's moral (aside from not purchasing eeeevil Magical McGuffins) was essentially that pride goeth before a fall? I guess? It'd be a little OOC to see her turn into little miss humility, but she was still VERY proud to be humble. I hope that this is a beginning of a new leaf for trixie, and we begin to see her in more episodes where she's still vain, but essentially on the side of the angels. Some sort of situation where Twi has to go to trixie to bail her out of some sort of jam (sort of like what happened with Zacora this week, come to think of it) could be highly interesting--Twi could learn how to become friends with (or at least respect/trust) someone she doesn't entirely like.

 

*(Hmm, we need a pony named Magical McGuffin...)

 

Oh good! this wasn't just me. I really felt Fluttershy's character took a step back this week, which was really my only quibble with what was a very strong episode overall. At the end of the day, only Rainbow Dash (!) remembered the growth she's had over the last 2 seasons by volunteering her for the spy mission (a month after using her as a jousting target, no less!)That said, it may be that they were setting the table for some sort of episode where Fluttershy is ignored and/or discounted by the rest of the Mane 6, and saves the day in some fashion, sort of her version of Pinkie with the Parasprites. she really is good with negotiation and soft power now that you think of it, maybe settling some sort of feud? I think it would have to be something that put her animals at risk though for her to find the guts.

 

I second this Magical McGuffin notion. XD

 

The idea of Twilight needing Trixie's help, or Trixie being involved with the solving, for any future problems just sounds WAY too awesome for words. The reaction they'd get from a few of us would be beyond absolute LOVE. XD I'd >insert fanatic over-the-top action here< to see some genuine screen-time where Trixie was on more friendly grounds with Twi or some of the other mane six. Said problem wouldn't focus on her, so it wouldn't even need to be a Trixie episode.

 

...Granted, though it might take more than an apology to patch things up with the others... namely, Applejack, Dash, Rarity... Pinkie... and.... Okay with practically ALL of the others. 

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

I second this Magical McGuffin notion. XD

 

The idea of Twilight needing Trixie's help, or Trixie being involved with the solving, for any future problems just sounds WAY too awesome for words. The reaction they'd get from a few of us would be beyond absolute LOVE. XD I'd >insert fanatic over-the-top action here< to see some genuine screen-time where Trixie was on more friendly grounds with Twi or some of the other mane six. Said problem wouldn't focus on her, so it wouldn't even need to be a Trixie episode.

 

...Granted, though it might take more than an apology to patch things up with the others... namely, Applejack, Dash, Rarity... Pinkie... and.... Okay with practically ALL of the others. 

Yeah, the fact that she only really apologized to Twilight kinda hurt the end of the episode for me. I realize that it might have been for time constraints or something, but as far as I'm concerned when you enslave and attack a town the least you can do is say sorry.

[WolfEdge 75]

I felt sort of bad for Fluttershy the whole episode. First her animals are thrown several feet in the air doing figure 8's to her horror just to entertain horses from a foreign land (their view of "entertainment" in their country is beyond my mental compacity), and no one took her seriously when she found the book with the ancient Alicorn text no matter what she said. AND THEN they made her, out of all of them present, to go out and warn Twilight of the Alicorn's powers. It's like she's now the Luigi of the MLP show: a timid soft spoken character that's forced into doing tasks way out of their league, but everyone loves because they feel sorry for her/him and love the character's expressions whenever he/she has to take the helm for once. Hopefully a Fluttershy spotlight episode is in the horizon, because I can't wait to see the results. 

 

Lol, this Luig----I mean, Flutter-abuse was quite fun.   Poor gal can blame Rainbow Dash for it so far this season. The jousting and Spy-volunteering were all that pegasus' doing, lol. XD Flutters was adorable the entire way through this, from her 'wanting to be brave at home in her closet'  to her wearing a bunny-spy suit. Complete with goggles. (First time seeing that... HNNNNNGGHHH!! MAH HEART!) Fluttershy being completely over-talked during the book scene was a little irksome, however. It's like her assertiveness training went out the window! I know she disregarded Iron Will's training, but at least some mild remnants of it should have remained... like.... her trying to be assertive but failing. Lol Eh, guess it goes to show one can't completely fight one's nature.

 

And yeah, totally agreeing with you---this was my favorite episode of Season 3 so far, too. 

 

Yeah, the fact that she only really apologized to Twilight kinda hurt the end of the episode for me. I realize that it might have been for time constraints or something, but as far as I'm concerned when you enslave and attack a town the least you can do is say sorry.

 

Yeah, or broadcast that apology to the entire town. XD It might just be her reaction and expression once she lost the duel and the clouds cleared, but I can't help but think Trixie felt too ashamed and apprehensive towards how much the villagers probably hated her after all of that to try a bigger apology. Hopefully she'll get to clear the air with at least the rest/some of the mane six some other time... (maybe not in another episode of her own, but at least through her being involved in it some way...? *Simply wants moar Trixie*

 

And you know...  I bet most Ponyville-ians didn't even give a buck after their their temporary enslavement, considering the amount of chaos their town goes through weekly. XD I can see somepony now saying, "Well, at least she didn't indirectly have an Ursa Minor smash in my roof this time." lol

[Tall_But_Short_37 233]

Probably my favorite thing from this episode is how it really showed us how little we actually know about the universe that these ponies live in.

 

First, we obviously have the ponies from Saddle Arabia, a whole new land we know nothing about! But I think the more significant moment is when Zecora makes the water reappear in the cup. Sure, knowing Zecora it could've been some quick slight of hand trick, but a non-unicorn doing magic (or appearing to) is quite interesting! This shows us that there's other types of magic in their world than just unicorn, who knows what others there could be!

Edited December 8, 2012 by Tall_But_Short_37

[Ninjaneer 225]

This shows us that there's other types of magic in their world than just unicorn, who knows what others there could be!

 

 

Pinkie pie.

'nuff said. 

 

I, too wondered if having Zecora using magic meant anyone/anything else could use magic.

Here's my theory- all ponies are CAPABLE of using magic. Earth ponies and Pegasi COULD use magic, but would need some pretty strong mental abilities. This would mean that Pinkie Pie defying the laws of physics might actually mean she's pretty strong, mentally.

 

Also, I wonder if i'm the first to make this joke-

 

 

 

 

 

[Twixie Shores 2]

This was one of my favorite episodes (surprise right?) I've always felt that there was a sense that Trixie and Twilight Sparkle would reconcile. And they did. While I wish they had gone into Trixie's backstory a bit more (although it leaves more room for my fan-fic), we now know that The Great and Powerful Trixie was able to do what Twilight Sparkle never could: limiting Pinkie Pie's speaking to 1 line for an entire episode.

[Dagger 3]

Yeah, the fact that she only really apologized to Twilight kinda hurt the end of the episode for me. I realize that it might have been for time constraints or something, but as far as I'm concerned when you enslave and attack a town the least you can do is say sorry.

for a nice pony, sure. for trixie, i'd be really surprised if she did tell the whole town sorry. it takes more modesty than trixie has developed (and possibly ever will develop) to put herself out there and admit her wrongs to everyone.

 

however i do like the idea of her eventually being on good enough terms with twilight to help save ponyville (or wherever in equestria), and maybe we'll see some more character development from trixie. but i think she's a slow learner hehe.

 

this episode did portray her as really villanous...but i'll put the blame on the amulet. i wonder if we'll see it again...

 

also i just joined, so i hope its ok that i'm just posting out of nowhere in here...

[doodaderek 2]

I throughtly enjoyed this episode and is probably my favorite of the series so far. It took a more serious direction unlike some of the other episodes we've been getting this season. The animation was wonderful and the end was hilarious!

[DerpyFanatic 114]

Trixie has finally learned what everypony else did during Boast Busters and Crystal Empire:

 

Do not EVER fuck with Twilight Sparkle, because she will gleefully pwn your shit if you do. Twilight is My Little Pwny.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Swift Decision

[Cantankerous 106]

Perhaps I can better explain why I was disappointed with this episode.

 

I like Trixie.

 

Or, at least, I like what she has the potential to be. So many possibilities, what makes her tick? I want to know. Really, she's not such a bad pony. She's a fraud- no, she's not even that- she doesn't deceive, not really. She's a hack, simply and merely. What did she do that was so bad? Came to town and put on a show- she lied, again, so what? That's so low on the bad-ometer as to barely register. The REAL jerks were Applejack, Rarity, and RD. If you don't like the show, leave. Don't heckle a performer, that's not cool. That they didn't get called out on their jerkish behavior is the only flaw in what was otherwise an excellent episode. And remember what she did when the Ursa Minor showed up? She tried to stop it. She knew she couldn't but put forth her best effort anyway. So here we have a character with clear personality flaws yet some goodness underneath; fertile ground for developing a complex character. Fanfic writers have recognized this. Read The Daily Show With Ponies in which she's a compelling and sympathetic character and easily the best part of what was already a bang-up story. But what did this episode do with her? Okay, it's good it recognized she's not seriously bad but most of the time she wasn't in her right state of mind so anything she did during that time didn't develop her as a character. In that way, this episode did her a saddening disservice.  

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Perhaps I can better explain why I was disappointed with this episode.

 

I like Trixie.

 

Or, at least, I like what she has the potential to be. So many possibilities, what makes her tick? I want to know. Really, she's not such a bad pony. She's a fraud- no, she's not even that- she doesn't deceive, not really. She's a hack, simply and merely. What did she do that was so bad? Came to town and put on a show- she lied, again, so what? That's so low on the bad-ometer as to barely register. The REAL jerks were Applejack, Rarity, and RD. If you don't like the show, leave. Don't heckle a performer, that's not cool. That they didn't get called out on their jerkish behavior is the only flaw in what was otherwise an excellent episode. And remember what she did when the Ursa Minor showed up? She tried to stop it. She knew she couldn't but put forth her best effort anyway. So here we have a character with clear personality flaws yet some goodness underneath; fertile ground for developing a complex character. Fanfic writers have recognized this. Read The Daily Show With Ponies in which she's a compelling and sympathetic character and easily the best part of what was already a bang-up story. But what did this episode do with her? Okay, it's good it recognized she's not seriously bad but most of the time she wasn't in her right state of mind so anything she did during that time didn't develop her as a character. In that way, this episode did her a saddening disservice.  

In the case of Rainbow Dash, you have a point. As for Rarity and Applejack, they were only talking among themselves. It was RD who shouted out loud enough for Trixie to hear her. RD was also the first to jump up to confront Trixie. At that point, things escalated, which is the fault of all four of them, including Trixie. Note that it was Trixie who challenged them, not the other way round. They just asked her why she believed she was so great. She was the one who said, "I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians..."

 

Then she even went against the terms of her own challenge, which was "...anything you can do, I can do better." The only pony who she beat fairly (by this I mean by "matching or surpassing their effort") was Applejack. For RD and Rarity, she didn't even try to match what they had done, she just used her magic to attack them. And even then, it could be argued that this was to Trixie's benefit. After she beat AJ and RD, the crowd was shown to be laughing and cheering, which means that the Mane 6's involvement was improving the show, which would probably have translated to more bits in Trixie's pocket in the end. Oddly enough, after Rarity was sent packing, the entire crowd suddenly seemed to change their mood entirely. I guess even in Ponyville, everyone loves Rarity. 

Speaking of Rarity, she initially refused to rise to Trixie's provocation, until her style was insulted. Gotta give props to Trixie for that, she knew exactly how to taunt Rarity into participating in her little challenge. Grade A troll material there.

 

As for trying to stop the Ursa Minor, she only ended up making it angrier. OK, so ten out of ten for trying, but minus several million for making it worse, yeah? (Name the literary work and character that this is referencing, for great justice.)

 

Plus, if she lies, then she deceives by definition. (So the assertion that "she doesn't deceive, not really"  is untenable tautologically...)  Her lie also resulted (through the medium of stupid and impressionable children, admittedly) in the Ursa coming to town in the first place, so I'm not inclined to agree that it's not so bad.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Full Spectrum

[WolfEdge 75]

 

 

Pinkie pie.

'nuff said. 

 

I, too wondered if having Zecora using magic meant anyone/anything else could use magic.

Here's my theory- all ponies are CAPABLE of using magic. Earth ponies and Pegasi COULD use magic, but would need some pretty strong mental abilities. This would mean that Pinkie Pie defying the laws of physics might actually mean she's pretty strong, mentally.

 

Also, I wonder if i'm the first to make this joke-

 

 

 

 

 

That... makes SO much sense. Somewhere in the back of my headcannon, Pinkie Pie has always had the strongest mental abilities. (To be her, you'd almost HAVE to.) Toss that in with mental magic capabilities, and we have ourselves a slight explanation to Pinkie. XD 'Course, she does it all so naturally, you would think she didn't know about this type of magic....... Or at least doesn't mention it.

 

Trixie has finally learned what everypony else did during Boast Busters and Crystal Empire:

 

Do not EVER fuck with Twilight Sparkle, because she will gleefully pwn your shit if you do. Twilight is My Little Pwny.

 

I can't brohoof this enough. ALL my yes. and Lolz.

 

Seriously, Twi has SO many very dangerous spells. She showed off a heat spell this episode... and she could've bought back that gravity spell on Trixie's ass. Course... since Trixie was using haxs, she would have countered it too easily, but still...

[Cantankerous 106]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Full Spectrum.

 

 

Plus, if she lies, then she deceives by definition. (So the assertion that "she doesn't deceive, not really" is untenable tautologically...)

 

 

Trivial, one lie used to embelish a performance does not qualify someone in any meaningful way as a fraud.

 

 

Her lie also resulted (through the medium of stupid and impressionable children, admittedly) in the Ursa coming to town in the first place, so I'm not inclined to agree that it's not so bad.

 

 

Snips and Snails bringing the Ursa Major to town was an outlandish turn of events. It's silly to blame her for something so unforeseeable.

 

 

As for trying to stop the Ursa Minor, she only ended up making it angrier. OK, so ten out of ten for trying, but minus several million for making it worse, yeah?

 

 

Trying to stop the Ursa Minor was the virtuous thing to do. She made a sincere effort which demonstrates character.

 

 

She was the one who said, "I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians..."

 

 

Upon further reflection, Applejack, Rarity, and RD's behavior wasn't jerkish so much as immature. But that just shifts the problem. Instead of the episode's flaw being a failure to acknowledge that their behavior is jerkish it's instead a failure to acknowledge that their behavior is immature. Not really better. (To be clear, this one reservation isn't enough to keep Boast Busters from being a great episode. It's a mild complaint.) Moreover, while Trixie is hardly and upstanding pony, nothing she did, including egging our character's on, is such a bad thing.

 

As for what this has to say about my opinion of Magic Duel, my position is unchanged. Trixie has so much potential as a character and it upsets me that potential went to waste.

[Beth Sycamore 28]

 I have to ask this question. Who was the pony made up to look like the Rainbow Dash double?

 

 The cartoon was going too fast,for me to see who it was clearly.

 

 pictures here could help too

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

 I have to ask this question. Who was the pony made up to look like the Rainbow Dash double?

 

 The cartoon was going too fast,for me to see who it was clearly.

 

 pictures here could help too

It was Fluttershy. In the flashback when Twilight was explaining to Trixie how she did her magic show, she was shown putting on a wig that looks like RD's mane. Here's a picture.

 

Edited December 15, 2012 by Full Spectrum

[Cowl 128]

This was a pretty cool episode. It wasn't the best episode ever, but it was more than solid. I think the ending was a bit unrealistic. If Trixie was willing to spend a bag of gold to become more powerful than Twilight, she has a serious animosity towards her. There is no way that you’re just going to let it slide after getting beaten.

 

Otherwise it was a great episode and I really like the fact that they gave Trixie dark wizard robes (with a cowl ) to go with her more vengeful attitude.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Cowl

[Virulence 254]

I personally thought this episode was great and very well developed. The beginning was very mysterious and got me ecstatic! I knew we would see Trixie again, but I never thought this soon, so it was marvelous.

 

The final "Magic Duel" between Twilight and Trixie was very well played, in Twilight's part (: It was very clever how they came up with tricks like that.

 

And lastly, near the beginning, when Pinkie had no mouth, I was laughing so much, but nothing could of made me laugh more until the end of the episode! I couldn't stop, it was priceless!!

 

-Insert Pinkie wanting her mouth back- She gets it back then sucks in lots of air, anddddd -Insert Ending Credits- (:

[TheAnYPony 22]

Here are my thoughts on "Magic Duel" - as video

 

http://youtu.be/TaFfyj08EmE

[Elric J. Cornelius 7]

Did anyone else see shades of Batman vs Bane, given that Trixie bests Twilight and exiles her? It reminded me of The Dark Knight Rises.