S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

[Booksmith 87]

I think the whole thing would have been better if they just spent more time on the character development then ended the show by breaking away from the big floating group hug to discover Twi had wings. They could have ended the episode right there with Twi having a shocked look on her face. Talk about a cliff hanger. But no, Hasbro is ran by morons.  

[SCS 7,537]

I disagree. Everything in the show has lead up to this point. Also, when Twilight was curing her friends, it reminded me of the season 2 opening when she was restoring harmony among them. After awhile it was sped up, because you knew what was going on. The same thing applies here. The writers made an excellent decision by condensing it and turning it into a song to avoid it getting repetitive. 

 

So, yes, it did feel a little rushed. However, when you look at the big picture, it really isn't rushed at all, since it's a culmination point from everything else that has happened in the show. 

 

Also, here's Meghan McCarthy addressing the issue of the season 3 finale only being one part in relation to season 4 (spoilers):

 

The season 3 finale, in my opinion, was beyond incredible in every respect. It had so many songs, I think it rained for the first time in the whole show (at least from what I remember), and that scene with Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia reviewing the past was very touching. 

Edited February 16, 2013 by SCS

[Flutterdash. 52]

I didn't even notice this!! holy crap, that's what the book was! did anybody else even notice or think about this? cause I sure didn't

h05EEB544.jpg

I noticed that the moment I watched the rather spoiling spoiler clip yesterday XD

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

This episode could have been done in greater detail..... Or atleast they could have made a new evildoer to try to challenge Twilight....

[Booksmith 87]

 

"Sniffle"   "Sniffle"  

 

I.....I.....I can't believe it.

 

I don't normally ask this sort of question, but did anyone else cry or get a bit misty eyed during or after the episode like I did? 

 

Anyway.......the finale. In my opinion, it was a spectacular masterpiece! The songs made the episode what it is, plus with the addition of Princess Celestia finally getting a musical piece really made the finale for me, even to the point I broke down in tears. 

 

Yes, I'm not kidding here. That song actually got me to break down down and start crying. Something that has never done in 21 years. The last time this happened was when I watched The Muppets take Manhattan back in 1992 on television and I ended up in an emotional mess at the end by watching the ending scene and was moved by how well it was made.

 

This happened to be the case again this time round. 

 

Bravo M.A Larson for a spectacular well written finale.

 

A standing ovation for Nicole Oliver for making me, and many others worldwide cry like I did. That was a spectacular performance, including the song number!

 

And last but not least, a big bravo to all of the production team!

 

 

Cry? Are you kidding? It was a sugar coated nightmare of a script. The production and musical team did great work. They polished that turd until it gleamed, but it was still a steaming lump of shit. It was an insult to the IQ of my five year old. My FIVE YEAR OLD thought it was stupid. That's how low they set the bar. That was Dora the Explorer level of stupid. I'm pretty sure my cat was on the level of the viewers that show was aiming for. 

 

Hasbro is a bad company and should feel bad for using such an awesome production team to make such a bad production. 

Edited February 16, 2013 by Plowplot

[Circadian 1,273]

This episode was the perfect length. There was no villain, just the payoff we got a hint at in the Crystal Empire episodes. You can't really stretch that into forty minutes.

Edited February 16, 2013 by Circadian

[Motion Spark 7,807]

Sorry guys, BEST EPISODE OF THE FRIGGIN' SEASON EVER!

 

After seeing the episode I felt like this was the perfect counterattack for all of these people that were moaning and whining (thanks Rarity!) about Alicorn Twilight and how it would ruin the show.

The episode just told them: "Bitch, shut up, sit down and watch me. I'm great!", and it certainly did!

 

I appreciate many of the users that I've seen bitchin' about the new episode even before it was aired, but I thought that it was very unfair, they haven't even seen it yet, and they were not giving it a chance because they can't accept a little bit of change, to me it was FANTASTIC, MARVELOUS, UNCANNY, INCREDIBLE, GORGEOUS, MAGICAL, POWERFUL, MOVING, IMPRESSIVE, UNEXPECTED and many other adjetives I can say to describe this great episode. Best episode by far, sorry guys. What a way to end the season! what a way!

 

Ok, I'm going to point out what things I liked/didn't like/I found curious about this episode, gonna use colors to make my post cuter, because Rarity 

 

The Plot (not pony plots!)

The plot was fantastic from beginning to end, I was hooked the entire time. I wish Hasbro could mantain in secret the spoilers of the episodes for the sake of the enjoyment, I've been reading on the forums about alicorn Twilight for a long while, so if I had seen the episode spoiler free, I would be dying from a heart attack RIGHT NOW! the surprise factor was really cool with Twilight becoming a princess. 

Though I must say, the episode felt a tiny bit rushed with all the content that was added to it, but still that hasn't affected my appreciation fro the episode at all. It was a rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end if you care about these ponies.

 

Music Everywhere! wow!

I think this is the episode with the highest amount of music in it. The amount was ridiculous, Twilight sang a lot! ...and to be hoenst, I enjoyed all of the songs, ALL OF THEM! it's been a while since I last enjoyed a song from the show (quoting the Crystal Empire) and all of these songs where fantastic, and what? was that Princess Celestia singing for the first time ever? EPIC WIN! I always had a thing with Princess Celestia, not only because she is gorgeous, I love her voice it kind of turn me on, and her song was fantastic, the melody was emotional and beautiful, and the lyrics even better, she expressed how much Twilight meant to her. BRAVO!

The group song was fantastic as well, probably my favorite of the episode, as always Rarity best singing voice. In conclusion, the amount of songs were ridiculous for a single episode and they managed to pull it off.

 

Animation and Voice Acting

Many don't pay attention to this because we just want to watch ponies and we are just used to HQ flash animation of the show, we just don't pay attention to the small details. As an animator myself, I had to repeat several times because the animation was even more fluid and gorgeous than the regular episodes, an example? The zoom of Twilight's Library in Ponyville at the beginning of the episode, it looked pretty fluid and a bit different. A great job, as always, with the animation.

I also noticed the voice acting more HQ than usual. But the voice acting has always been one of the best attractiveness of MLP.

 

The feels.

I haven't read the comments yet, but I plan to, and I would not be surprised if some of you shed a few tears. The episode was emotions, friendship from beginning to end. These ponies love each other and they showed it today! That moment when Twilight was being crowned to become a princess, and then when the camera focused on Twilight parents, and her mom was crying, I admit that moment moved me, and I was teary eyed. 

And in the end when the other 5 ponies were crying that was as well a very powerful emotional moment.

 

This episode is also story oriented.

This something I want MLP to become, it's cool to focus the episodes on the characters but I also would like to see some story into it, this episode for me has ton of that.

Firstable, that misterious book Princess Celestia gave to Twilight was some sort of book Starswirl the bearded (sorry don't know how to write that) used to write his magic. This character was mentioned before in the Halloween episode, so it would be pretty cool if he have had some sort of relation with Twilight or Princess Celestia.

Also, Twilight becoming an alicorn and a Princess too is a HUGE change for the show, I can't wait with what things the producers can come up with this new change for Twilight in season4 which has been confirmed.

Like me, many of use may have been taking the premise of the show for granted, "friendship". In this episode we can see that friendship is more powerful than we think.

The word "destiny" was mentioned too much. Suspicious   

 

Now the bad.

The things that I didn't like about the episode are more of fears, because this episode was PERFECT! I fear that Twilight's relationship with her friends may be changed to the point of them treating her like they treat Princess Celestia, I already saw them bowing at Twilight on this episode and I didn't like that.

Also the balance of 2 earth ponies, 2 unicorns and 2 pegasus might break, which is a thing that many won't like, but so far I'm liking the new Twilight!

 

Just wanna say something before I end.

sorry this bitch is here to stay 

[GreyScholar 1,584]

I just watched the episode and while it did fail to an extent that is because Hasbro forced the writers to make this episode. Honestly I feel the writers did a good job of making the episode work, and while it was far from perfect... I actually did enjoy it. I personally will not be leaving the show, and I will accept this change as nothing stays the same.

 

I can understand some peoples upset but I personally will move on and do what I can to make this a good thing. While I love the tv show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, it is still just a show... I will not treat this as 'the end of the world'.

--------------------

 

I enjoyed the music greatly and loved being able to Princess Celestia sing, she has long been over do for such and personally I feel they should have given her an episode by now. The whole plotline involving Twilight's friends cutie marks and destinies being switched around was brilliant and very well handled, it also gives insight into the fact a one would not be able to find happiness doing just anything... we each have that which we are good at and enjoy.

[The Pony Alchemist 70]

I woke up this morning fearing the worst, that the coronation of Princess Sparkle would slow down my interest in the show and it would lead to me no longer watching it.  However I was soon mistaken, although the episode being one long musical number did make me face-hoof on the inside, for the first time ever I actually cried because of an MLP episode.  Before this episode I could of gone back to not being a brony, but now there is no turning back.  I am happy to say that my interest in the show has only spiked higher than it was before.

And for those of you who dislike the whole princess sparkle thing... You'll only get love and tolerance from me.

I can't speak for everypony here, but for me, I can honestly say that this episode shows the true magic of friendship.

[Flutterdash. 52]

Cry? Are you kidding? It was a sugar coated nightmare of a script. The production and musical team did great work. They polished that turd until it gleamed, but it was still a steaming lump of shit. It was an insult to the IQ of my five year old. My FIVE YEAR OLD thought it was stupid. That's how low they set the bar. That was Dora the Explorer level of stupid. I'm pretty sure my cat was on the level of the viewers that show was aiming for. 

 

Hasbro is a bad company and should feel bad for using such an awesome production team to make such a bad production. 

Hey, even my friend's five year old sister hated thi- oh wait I said that already. I could never forget that confused, yet disgusted little face

[poniesforfun 716]

It wasn't as painful but really did they really had to do that. If there's anything that could make up for this change it would of been a real badass future unknown villain's silhouette laughing and saying something sinister after the cheerful end of that show.

[poniesforfun 716]

Actually I think it was more like Twilight messed up the spell and it was used on her friends instead when in fact it was meant to be used on herself. She became an Alicorn due to all the achievements and learning she did since past seasons.

[Titan Rising 2,156]

I disagree. Everything in the show has lead up to this point. Also, when Twilight was curing her friends, it reminded me of the season 2 opening when she was restoring harmony among them. After awhile it was sped up, because you knew what was going on. The same thing applies here. The writers made an excellent decision by condensing it and turning it into a song to avoid it getting repetitive. 

 

So, yes, it did feel a little rushed. However, when you look at the big picture, it really isn't rushed at all, since it's a culmination point from everything else that has happened in the show. 

 

Also, here's Meghan McCarthy addressing the issue of the season 3 finale only being one part in relation to season 4 (spoilers): https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/302576012804366336

 

The season 3 finale, in my opinion, was beyond incredible in every respect. It had so many songs, I think it rained for the first time in the whole show (at least from what I remember), and that scene with Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia reviewing the past was very touching. 

 

You really believe that man?  Everything was a culmination up to this point?  Well there was next to nothing that actually demonstrated the culmination of past lessons learnt by twilight in this episode aside from the little flashbacks when she was walking with celestia in another dimension.  It definitely didn't feel like a culmination, it felt like "o heres starswil the beardeds unfinished spell, finish it and become an alicorn"

 

Plus I mean so all her friends that were learning their lessons by her side mean jack squat?  They should all be alicorns because they've all pretty much done everything together.  Comon man if they weren't singing every 2 seconds this episode would have been like 5 minutes long, there was hardly any substance to it at all

Edited February 16, 2013 by Hollowshield

[Scootalove 10,689]

It's funny how Twilight messed up the spell, helped her friends remember their cutie marks, and then Celestia turns her into a alicorn.

Pretty much ironic in general.

[Booksmith 87]

Sorry guys, BEST EPISODE OF THE FRIGGIN' SEASON EVER!

 

The Plot (not pony plots!)

 

 

There was no plot. It was a series of random events that shared the common theme of Twilight being a moron

 

Let us recap:

Twilight got a spell in the mail. Not delivered by magic, not by royal messenger, but by delivery pony. 

 

Twilight cast the spell even though she had no clue what would happen. Which is akin to getting a box marked BOMB in the mail with a button on it and pushing it.

 

Twilight ruined the lives of all the people she cared about, and almost destroyed Ponyville because she was acting like an idiot

 

Using the Magic of Friendship (The only thing she is good at) she fixed the problem.

 

RANDOMLY she was turned into a princess as a reward for causing havoc.

 

This episode was basically: "Twilight Sparkle set the city on fire and destroyed a lot of people's home, but she helped put out the fire she started so everyone loved her and made her a princess. The End." 

Edited February 16, 2013 by Plowplot

[LuckyStar 17]

Changing Your Cutie Mark: the Mane Six and Twilight's rewriting of 'destiny':

 

Thanks to moonlightavenger for directing me here - first time posting, so forgive any newbieness!

 

I've had a bunch of thoughts about the issue of Twilight's changing cutie mark, whether non-unicorns can become princesses, and the question of what's actually going on when the Mane Six are recovering their cutie marks in this episode.  I think I've come up with a plausible theory.  Here goes:

 

I've always thought a cutie mark was supposed to be an expression of the pony's mature inner self-concept once they've settled into it (which is why the ponies wouldn't just be born with them, and why some ponies could be confirmed as asshats and bullies, like Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara). However, it seems like the altered Mane Six in this episode are under the impression that they *have* to try for the skill-oriented careers they are marked with.  Moonlightavenger brought this up in the ED comments as an issue of tyrannical destiny - that a pony is screwed if he/she doesn't obey the destiny written for them on the cutie mark.  This is a potentially really serious issue for the universe's worldbuilding.  This also means that if Twilight were simply fulfilling her 'destiny' or innate nature to become an alicorn, then we couldn't chalk this up to her own deserving.  At any rate, the way the Mane Six behave with their selves and cutie marks 'rewritten', it is almost as though with the cutie marks came a desire to fulfill those roles in Ponyville society, like with Rainbow Dash's mark had somehow come an insatiable desire to manage weather patterns. It's interesting that with these 'in the wrong career' ponies, the entire Ponyville society quickly disintegrated into unhappiness and fighting.  

 

I think I've figured it out! Here's the thing. If you look carefully, the magic by which the Mane Six rediscover their talents and rewrite their cutie marks isn't Twilight's - it's *theirs*, under their own steam, motivated by their friendship but enacted by leaps of personal growth.  They see their friends in trouble and venture something 'new' - different - that they confirm in themselves, rewriting the identities placed on them.  Then they (recovered) use their friendship to help the next pony towards taking the leap.  The parallels (them seeing flashbacks of their lives, like Twilight and Celestia's starlit MLP tour; their collapsing briefly afterwards) suggest that their revelations are also in some way similar to Twilight's alicorn transformation.  Incidentally, this means that earth ponies and pegasi *are* capable of magic, of the very highest kind.  And that when it shows that their magic combines to boost Twilight towards her own transformation, we should also take that seriously.

 

As for Twilight, and identity-development: Twilight's spell-finishing is exactly like the other Mane Six's leaps of personal growth: motivated by her friendship, she discovers a talent, but this time, for writing friendship-magic, not simply performing it.  Twilight then undergoes the same process as they did, reviewing her life and taking a leap to understand herself in a new way.  With this new personal growth, Twilight's cutie mark permanently changes in this episode to six surrounding stars instead of five.  This transformation then isn't because of some pre-written 'destiny' - it's like a second stage of realization - or self-actualization.  

 

Re: other ponies becoming alicorns, and the possibility of changing your cutie mark:

If Twilight can have a mid-life epiphany, then surely any pony could have the same. Because it's a utopia, most ponies wouldn't stretch beyond their usual talents to level up in this way - but if I'm right, theoretically it *could* be possible for an earth pony guru or pegasus to change, and even to ascend to alicorn-status. I bet that's what Zecora is quietly doing behind the scenes. 

 

So, I now think 'destiny' isn't really a key concept here after all, even though they are always singing about it. If cutie marks - even being a princess - are passive expressions, not determiners, of identity then we're still safe from Orwell. It would look very odd for a pony to be trying to work at a job that didn't fit their identity – like the G&PTrixie at the rock farm – and the prospect of a pony not being natural at his/her cutie-mark activity would be nightmarish and unthinkable for them all. But under those circumstances, if the pony could summon the will to experiment and change (as the Mane Six do here), identities can be renewed and rewritten. That makes me feel a little better about the agency of the non-princess ponies.

That's probably the most logical explanation I've seen yet. Bravo, bravo!

 

The way I would describe it is that the Mane Six's elements of harmony are like the basis for one big cutie mark. Once Twi discovers how to use them all (the spell), she grows a new epic cutie mark.

 

You could allude it to the fact that learning never stops. She's just in magic "college" now where as she was in magic "high school" before.

 

Still, the episode leaves much to be desired. 

[SCS 7,537]

You really believe that man?  Everything was a culmination up to this point?  Well there was next to nothing that actually demonstrated the culmination of past lessons learnt by twilight in this episode aside from the little flashbacks when she was walking with celestia in another dimension.  It definitely didn't feel like a culmination, it felt like "o heres starswil the beardeds unfinished spell, finish it and become an alicorn"

 

Plus I mean so all her friends that were learning their lessons by her side mean jack squat?  They should all be alicorns because they've all pretty much done everything together.  Comon man if they weren't singing every 2 seconds this episode would have been like 5 minutes long, there was hardly any substance to it at all

 

You aren't looking at the big picture. In the season one opening, Twilight learns about friendship. She continues learning about friendship throughout the rest of season 1. In season 2, Celestia tells Twilight and her friends that all of them can send her letters on the lessons they learned, and only when they learn them. Twilight also learns lessons such as friendship can be hard, but it's worth fighting for. In the season 3 opening, Twilight learned the importance of putting others before yourself, even if it means not getting something that was very important to you, which is one of the most important lessons there is to learn. That, combined with the many other lessons she learned throughout the series that I haven't mentioned, all culminate to her coronation as an alicorn in the season 3 finale.

 

She became an alicorn because she had successfully learned all of the lessons she had a part in throughout the 64 preceding episodes. Therefore, they do culminate at the season 3 finale. 

 

Just because they were singing a lot doesn't mean there wasn't substance. The songs have great meaning. It was pretty much a musical, and musicals have just as much substance as other things: the characters just sing instead of talk. 

 

Twilight was the only one who was Celestia's student, and she was the one who actually wrote new magic, which no one else had ever done before. Therefore, it is logical that she is the one to become an alicorn.

[immblueversion 331]

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Hasbro "forced" the writers to do was make this episode a musical.

 

Stop. Blaming. Hasbro. For the idea. Of forcing Princess Twilicorn. Down everyone's throats.

Edited February 16, 2013 by immblueversion

[GreyScholar 1,584]

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Hasbro "forced" the writers to do was make this episode a musical.

 

Stop. Blaming. Hasbro. For the idea. Of forcing Princess Twilicorn. Down everyone's throats.

Hello, Hasbro is in the business of making money and are the ones to decide on the toys. Hasbro is the ones that make the toys and tells the writers to make it fit.

[MandelSoft 29]

*reads whole topic. Just to find 300+ replies in just a few hours*

 

Well, the season finale was good, but not great. Here are my thoughts:

• I did not see the musical aspect coming. That was pretty OK
• The transformation itself was handled pretty well, as well as the motivation why this happened.
• All fan favourites on the screen, including Derpy. It was a good day...
• The lighting man, the lighting effects were awesome! Good job, animators!
• The episode feeled rushed. I mean, the Switch could've taken up a whole epside and it seems to be more fitting for a two-part episode...
• Due to the rushed character of this episode, there wasn't much tension to it. Everything seemed to happen... too easy...
• The final scene. How did Twilight learn to fly that quickly? Let's just say that that last part is a Dream Sequence and she still has to learn it...

So, how do I rate it? 7/10. The writers did do a good job, but only if they had 22 more minutes, this could've been turned out great. My favourite episode is still the Season 2 finale.

 

And now, the long wait for Season 4. In the mean time, I'll try to do more productive things (like getting my bachelor degree). For all other bronies: pony on!

 

Best,

Maarten

Edited February 16, 2013 by MandelSoft

[Titan Rising 2,156]

@@SCS,

 

This sounds like tyranny of unicorns man.  I might agree with you if the show is all about twilight, but it's not, it's supposed to be all about them.  I don't see why being a student of celestia should matter or even writing a spell if it's supposedly all about friendship.

 

And like I said before, they made absolutely no effort to demonstrate that she's culminated experience from all the past episodes.  I mean she writes to princess celestia and says shes learned them, but I don't think she's ever actually done anything to demonstrate that she's changed which maybe they could have done if they made it a two parter and left out so much unnecessary singing

 

And still even then, I might be able to forgive all of that if the episode just wasn't so terrible.  I don't think a problem has ever been solved so quickly in all of the episodes of the show 

[Booksmith 87]

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Hasbro "forced" the writers to do was make this episode a musical.

 

Stop. Blaming. Hasbro. For the idea. Of forcing Princess Twilicorn. Down everyone's throats.

 

People would blame Hasbro less if it wasn't actually true.

 

They wouldn't blame Hasbro except for the fact that the show was great until they started strong arming the writers.

 

If everything they touch, ever, hadn't turned to crap the moment they start letting the corporate morons dictate the shows content people might think better of them. 

 

Hasbro needs to learn to let the creative people handle the creative projects. 

Edited February 16, 2013 by Plowplot

[RWB 229]

Ok... so my question remains:

 

PRINCESS OF WHAT, EXACTLY?!?!?!

 

 

Tell me, what role does the Third princess of Sweden fulfill?

 

 

She's not in any way involved with ruling anything about Sweden, and she's technically not the Princess of anything but Sweden.

 

She's also a duchess of two territories, but have no responsibilities to those whatsoever.

 

She's currently working in a charity organization in New York.

 

 

In the same way, Twilight is A princess of Equestria, but not THE princess. It's just a title, really.

[Motion Spark 7,807]

There was no plot. It was a series of random events that shared the common theme of Twilight being a moron

 

Let us recap:

Twilight got a spell in the mail. Not delivered by magic, not by royal messenger, but by delivery pony. 

 

Twilight cast the spell even though she had no clue what would happen. Which is akin to getting a box marked BOMB in the mail with a button on it and pushing it.

 

Twilight ruined the lives of all the people she cared about, and almost destroyed Ponyville because she was acting like an idiot

 

Using the Magic of Friendship (The only thing she is good at) she fixed the problem.

 

RANDOMLY she was turned into a princess as a reward for causing havoc.

 

So your "Story line" for this episode can be summed up with: "Twilight did stupid things and got rewarded by becoming a princess and everyone loved her even though she traumatized her friends by ripping their souls apart and mixing the pieces up, then did more damage to Ponyville in a day, than Discord did in a week. The End."  

 

 

During the episode, Twilight admitted several times that her friends were having a hard time because of her fault, she even sang a song a bout it.

The fact that the book was delivered by a mailpony is completelly irrelevant, but what it was relevant is that the book was written by Starswirl the bearded, to me, this is a great piece of story, because this pony was considered to be a very important spellcaster if I bring you back to the Halloween episode. Also, Princess Celestia said that Starswirl couldn't finish the book because he didn't have the magic of friendship, so that's a good reminder of what this show is about.

Also Twilight becomming a princess, please! that's the biggest change of the show so far!

 

the fact that Twilight became an alicorn blinded you with disaproval for the episode that you can't see the epicness of it.

[Flutterdash. 52]

There was no plot. It was a series of random events that shared the common theme of Twilight being a moron

 

Let us recap:

Twilight got a spell in the mail. Not delivered by magic, not by royal messenger, but by delivery pony. 

 

Twilight cast the spell even though she had no clue what would happen. Which is akin to getting a box marked BOMB in the mail with a button on it and pushing it.

 

Twilight ruined the lives of all the people she cared about, and almost destroyed Ponyville because she was acting like an idiot

 

Using the Magic of Friendship (The only thing she is good at) she fixed the problem.

 

RANDOMLY she was turned into a princess as a reward for causing havoc.

 

This episode was basically: "Twilight Sparkle set the city on fire and destroyed a lot of people's home, but she helped put out the fire she started so everyone loved her and made her a princess. The End." 

WOAH. That's a pretty fine interpretation of the plot right there. O.o

Me like!