S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

True Rarity · April 30, 2013

I just now finished this episode.

Now Season 4 isn't out yet and I'm about ready to cry!!!

IF THEY DON'T MAKE THAT SEASON SOON I'M GOING TO BURST INTO THE STUDIOS AND DO IT MYSELF!

But then it wouldn't be nearly as exciting, so I'm afraid I'll have to be patient.

JediPony · May 2, 2013

I am a huge muisc buff and this ep has to be my favorite. i also found myself crying through the entire thing, tears of joy mostly.

Quill · May 4, 2013

One thing I enjoyed about this episode was (say it with me) the music. Dude, Daniel Ingram has done it again. Every song the character sang ran the whole gamet of emotions, cheerful, concern, regret, succession, and congradulations all within the half hour timeline. But one of the songs I felt was too short, the song where Twilight blames herself for the mishap. Too short I say, would've been cool to hear a full 2 minutes or something but the episode needed to fit the time limits so...there you go. All in all, good episode but wish it was 26 instead of 13. Seriously, why cut season 3 in half?

Darkshift · May 6, 2013

I am a huge muisc buff and this ep has to be my favorite. i also found myself crying through the entire thing, tears of joy mostly.

The music was legendary truly marvellous work from everyone who took part in every note,lyric and beat within the episode.Lets not forget the awesome liquid pride!

Anadu Kune · May 7, 2013

Why I like Magical Mystery Cure

This will be a pretty long post probably the longest thing I've posted. But if you've even slightly liked any one of my posts and want to know my full feelings on the episode and topics I implore you to read this wall of text. I'm not sure of were to post this as it also covers discussion about the future quality of the show and presentation of musicals, as well other things that I'm sure will generate discussion about the show. I just find these subjects intertwine with my view of this episode, and I'm not sure I should present them as mutually exclusive. So this might end up getting moved.

Again though wall of text.

Cutie Marks and Destiny

This episode directly addressed something which I think has been present since Cutie Mark Chronicles, that being the aspect of destiny being tied to the cutie mark. To show this I'm going to point out how Twilight got her cutie mark and the symbolic imagery of her cutie mark. As we now know the five stars on Twilight's cutie mark represent her friends, the other elements of harmony. Her cutie mark represents her talent, that being magic. It however has a deeper meaning of friendship because as we find out in the pilot friendship is itself magic. Twilight gets her cutie mark in reaction to the connection between her friends incited by the sonic rainboom. That was the point of that episode, they had a magical connection before they even met a connection that established itself for a brief time. A connection that, though Twilight was unaware of was on her flank for all to see. A connection she would rediscover and use to defeat Nightmare Moon. When that connection was made it startled twilight into a magic crazy state complete with glowing eyes. Twilight has only ever displayed glowing eyes when connected with her friends in some way and I think this is no exception.

before going further on this I'm going to point out the general difference between destiny and fate, as it is common to use them a synonyms.

Fate: the preordained course of your life that will occur because of or in spite of your actions

Destiny: a set of predetermined events within your life that you take an active course in shaping.

In Magical Mystery Cure their destinies are switched. This being the entire life paths the ponies have had up until that point, this includes memories, occupations living places, and cutie marks. The cutie marks are tied to the life paths of the ponies when the life paths are switched so is everything else as mentioned before, except one thing. That is...well how to phrase this, the essence or soul of the pony. Fluttershy had the memories of having pinkies talent but was terrible at it and maintained her name. This seems to me to indicate that the ponies themselves defiantly play an important role in the shaping of their own lives for if they didn't and were merely puppets of fate the switching of destinies would only have been a visual one. There is something special about them and it was emphasized by this switch a switch made possible by the Elements of Harmony. This is why I like this, it shows that the ponies are themselves hugely(if not wholly) responsible for shaping their own destinies. In the end even through help it is they themselves who realize what they were meant to be doing by realizing their own life paths. Just as they themselves had to discover their cutie marks in the first place even if they did have a helping hand.

The Elements of Harmony and the solution

I thought Twilight's solution was great and demonstrated that she finally truly understood the magic of friendship and the connection of the elements of harmony. First of all I love that she comes to this realization herself, she didn't need to be reminded as she did in Return of Harmony. She had an epiphany upon looking at a picture of them together. I think her words right as she is having this realization are most important. "And they mean more to me than anything. My friends." those last two words were the same words said right before Twilight discovered the sixth element and was able to utilize the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. It was that moment she realized friendship was important to her and in MMM she realized it was the most important thing to her. In that moment everything clicked, the connection between the ponies and the elements and what activates them to begin with. In this moment we see a glow around Twilight that signifies the further harmonizing with her element. A glow we see on the other ponies as they re-harmonize. A glow that signified the ponies re connecting with their elements and destinies. This was a connection Twilight had first realized in the pilot. She couldn't remind them of who they were because they had the memories of the pony they switched with so she used the one thing she knew they still had, the very thing that binds them together friendship. She knew they would respond to the proposition of helping a friend to get them into the position where they could actually try what they were meant to be doing. She knew and understood the connection the ponies had to the elements and used that understanding to re-connect them. She placed the proper element on the ponies whilst they were doing what they were meant to do and reestablishing who they truly were. The ponies were at that point working in harmony with their element which was signified by a glow around them. A glow we saw before when Twilight realized her friends were the most important part of her life putting her more in harmony with her element, which is magic. Which as the title of the show suggests is also tied to friendship. After her realization of their connection of friendship being the key to getting them to actually do what they were meant to the rest was just a logic puzzle using the connection of the ponies to the elements a connection which she realized in the first place.

the animated musical

Let me first state the obvious I loved the songs. I think most did. I was blown away by some of them. It was I think an excellent example of the animated musical. What blows me away is that many seem to try to separate the songs from the story as a whole. In a musical this really isn't possible as the a huge part of the story is conveyed through the songs. The music is a tool used for various purposes to convey the story. Usually it is used to more effectively evoke a desired emotion. It sets an obvious tone/rhythm for the scene which then becomes the guide line the artists must use to set the scene. The task is a really hard one as every action you make the characters do has to reflect the tone/rhythm. If the song is energetic we should see ponies moving and dancing. If the tone is depressing we should see slower more belabored motions. Then you have songs with shifting tones or rhythms. The animated musical is one of the hardest things to do as it is a perfect symbiosis of two of the hardest art forms to perfect. Its fairly rare to see it portrayed in any kind of serious manner consistently in a show and have it be good. I think MLP and MMM especially pull this off fantastically. Below Im going to explain why I enjoy each of the musical segments in MMM.

Morning in Ponyville and reprise

this song serves to book end the episode. Its got a very energetic and happy tone which is echoed in the visuals with ponies dancing and such. It reminiscent of a Broadway musical to me. What got me about this one was how it was used to show Twilight's progress and growth at the end. The first song is used merely in the scope of ponyville "morning in ponyville shimmers" While the reprise is used in the context of all of Equestria "life in Equestria shimmers" This is I think an excellent use of the song. Showing us the growth in scale of the character.

What My Cutie Mark is Telling me

This song is used to establish the conflict. It expresses the confusion the ponies have in attempting the task they think they are supposed to be doing. This line caught my attention most "Its got to be my destiny, and its what my cutie mark is telling me" This reinforces what i stated above and its the first time destiny is mentioned in the episode. the closing scene to this song I think encapsulates everything its trying to show. The screen is divided into six parts as the cutie marks of the main six ponies. We recognize each of these symbols very well and know exactly what ponies they represent. Then the wrong ponies are put over it next to the pony they switched with. This sets off something in your mind and causes a pause, at least it did for me. I thinks its an excellent visual way to show that confusion.

Oh Why and the conflict

I enjoyed the balance this episode had with the conflict. The episode was mainly focused on Twilight but we get to see the conflict in all of the other characters equally. This song is a Twilight song and conveys her conflict, but the brilliant part is it also conveys all of the other ponies conflicts as well. A line that I felt was particularly catching was this "Losing promise. I don't know what to do" This line is said as we see the other ponies depressed and confused with their very world in chaos around them. The line echoes what Twilight and the others are feeling at the same time. Twilight feels this way because of what she accidentally did to her friends through a seemingly innocent and unproductive attempt at a magical spell. Feeling misery at being the sole cause of her friends's misery and not seeing a possible way to fix that. The main six are caught in a horrible position A position in where they are constantly failing at the thing they believe they were meant to do, never knowing why. That's basically hell right there. This was one of the "wow " moments of the episode for me. The song I thought was excellent and conveyed the desired emotion of heart ache for the scene . Its lyrics hold meaning for all the characters involved and the visuals help convey that meaning very well.

A True True Friend

I think this is a great sequence and song that presents Twilight's solution that I mentioned above. One thing I loved about the presentation in this sequence was the re harmonization. Each time they re-harmonize they have to reconnect with their own life paths, element and cutie mark. This is shown through the glow that emanates from them as they are doing what are meant to do. The glow also is the color of their true element. After that all of their memories flash in their eyes. I love how layered this presentation is, all of it connects. Then there are the little touches like the element's switched colors. The hesitation and confusion they all have before doing their original talent. There's also those cool warpy sounding cords playing in the background as they are re-connecting that settle into a smoother music when they are re-connected. Now Im going to go over each of the reconnecting scenes briefly.

Fluttershy: This scene really sets up all the others. It is the longest segment and lays out how all the others will work. Fluttershy is leaving ponyville and is only stopped by the prospect of helping out a friend. She is completely unsure and apprehensive of everything else but that. It also points out another aspect of the switch. As Fluttershy settles into comforting and calming down the animals you'll notice they don't quite seem to recognize her. Even Angle doesn't seem to. This shows that as they switched their memories and the memories others had of them.

Rainbow Dash: Rainbow Dash's sequence caught me off guard on my second viewing. When I noticed she cleared the sky in ten seconds flat. I cant be sure but this defiantly could be intentional and considering all the other references to other episodes I think it was. In any case the sequences shows rainbow clearing the sky very fast as she did in the pilot episode. This shows how she uses her talent for her job. She is good as a weather pony because of her speed. It shows her reconnecting to her talent they same way they originaly showed her talent to begin with.

Rarity: I love them showing Rarity's process here. We've seen it before but it seem far more emphasized here. We see the place go from being in shambles to an orderly place of business again. The way see reacts was particularly amusing to me as well.

Applejack: The first thing that caught my notice in this sequence was the appearance of the apple family. The apple family is a huge part of her life and one of the big reasons she received her cutie mark. Its most certainly a definite inclusion that is used to represent the return of harmony to the farm. Using the Apples working together in harmony to show that.

Pinkie Pie: This scene defiantly stirred an emotional reaction within me. As stated in Fluttershy's scene I think there is defiantly the indication that the world remembered them differently as well. This seemed to be here as well. As Pinkie Pie is thrown in front of them the crowd doesn't seem to know who she is until after she is re connected with her element. Then they joyously shout her name in recognition and happiness. Then of course you have her hair poofing back up which is I think a great visual touch we've seen before.

Celestia's Ballad and the transformation

When I said some songs blew me away this was at the front of my mind. When this happened it was an amazing surprise. First of all its Celestia singing. The song is I think beautifully sung. Nichole Oliver's voice is very soothing, motherly, and comforting, which goes along with the theme. The theme of support, motherly love, and growth. This theme is what makes the song so great as it explores both of the characters involved. Celestia has been like a mother to Twilight and it is not presented any clearer than in this episode and moment. She has watched Twilight grow up and is very proud of her in all of her accomplishments and like a mother she is there to praise and help Twilight through this new change. I find it very appropriate that right before the song she says "I knew you could do it" the same words she said after being freed from Nightmare Moon. Its a deliberate throw back to the second episode and just shows how much faith she does have in Twilight. At the same time this is about Twilights growth as she has reached a big new stage in her life. This is all magnified by the visual presentation of the events in twilight's pass serving to recap the series showing us how far she had come. Also showing us that Celestia was indeed like a mother watching over a child. I will also say that this moment made me tear up a bit. I'm not really prone to doing that but it happened here. I'm not made of stone but it relatively rare I have such a strong reaction to a scene. I still have it when I watch this sequence.

Then comes the transformation, the most controversial moment in the episode. I think many are viewing this as separate from the theme of the song which is where my view of it comes in. For the same reason I love the way this moment is presented others don't. They think Celestia was solely responsible for the final transformation. I think this goes against what is presented. The theme of the whole song that preseeded the transformation was of growth and motherly love and support. Celestia wasn't dictating the process nor do I think she was the sole reason for it. She was guiding and supporting Twilight through a change Twilight had initiated by completing Star Swirls spell. A process that would be scary and confusing to go through alone. Visual indications of this are the cutie mark imprint left on the floor after Twilight completes the spell. Also there's the appearance of her cutie mark as she returns from the magical realm. Also Notice how the magic that changed Twilight comes from within her and is the color of Twilights magic not Celestia's. All this seems to show this is about Twilight and her growth. So again it seems to me that Celestia is helping Twilight through a change she had already started. Then there is the visual transformation itself which I think is very well done and almost remenisiant of a Disney sequence.

my problems with the episode

pacing

I don't think the pacing is as horrible as some would say it is. However it does go by really fast. I think even just five more minutes would help elaborate more on the concepts. Perhaps more on star swirl. Perhaps just making things a bit more spaced out.

Coronation

I don't hate the coronation scene in fact parts of it were touching to me. However I cant help but feel it took up more time than it should have. This might tie in to the pacing as its hard to point out a part that could be cut that didn't add anything.

Dresses

I was fine with twilight's dress. However Celestia and Luna's dress seemed really off to me. They didn't fit with their theme or personality. It was one of the things that just was like "ohh man no". Then there was the giant crowns that I thought kinda looked goofy. It seems Celestia is no Rarity when it comes to fashion and Luna is still behind the times in that department.

Spike Remembers?

So as I mentioned before the ponies switched destinies which switched their places in the world. It seems indicated that everyone remembers them differently as well. No pony questions any of them doing what they are meant to be doing they just express annoyance and anger at their failure. then there's the way the animals react to fluttershy. It makes sense that Twilight remembers as she cast the spell and her element was unaffected. Why does spike remember though? He wasn't involved with the spell, at least its not indicated. Does taking bubble bath grant you immunity to magic or something? There's no visual or dialog explanation for this.

word spells and the nature of magic

To my memory we haven't seen word spells before this episode. Its not really elaborated on. Its not really contradictory as the true nature of magic in equestria is a bit ambiguous. We know Unicorns are the only race to control magic directly in various ways. Its never been shown how new spells are created or how many different kinds there can be. It also seems magic is simply an innate quality of the world of Equestria. Pegasi have a natural ability to walk on clouds and control the weather which seems magical to me. We've also seen that magic can produce the ability to walk on clouds. Earth ponies seem to have a magical connection to the earth. Its also been shown that nature itself seems to rely on magic. Some plants seem magical in nature and cause magic allergies. Animals like timber wolves and cockatrices seem endowed with magical qualities. The very sun and moon are dependent on magic. The point is that whilst the use of magic is one of mlps greatest strengths it also brings up some of the biggest unresolved questions. Questions which may never be fully answered. The one thing we can say though is that friendship is indeed magic.

Twilight doesn't think anything will go wrong in ponyville?

Twilight do you really think that? After all that's happened in ponyville you don't think its a possibility I know the actual purpose for that line, but it kinda seems a bit weird in its wording.

Alicorns, my thoughts.

OK so here the elephant in the room. What do I think of the decision to turn Twilight into an alicorn? To start off with I wasn't for it or against it. I saw it coming from a mile away, though at the same time I didn't think they would go through with it. I didn't think they would make such a visual change. Though seeing them do it was cool I think. I like the suggested explanation of alicorns here. Many have assumed them gods but here they are presented more like buddahs. A pony who reaches an state of enlightenment and ascends. Twilight reached this through a heightened or ultimate understanding of the magic of friendship. An understanding which she showed through application twice. The first was fixing the elements and her friends. This wasn't simply reminding her friends. Twilight used a full comprehensive knowledge of the elements and her friends to fix the problem. The second demonstration was the completion of Star Swirls spell. Twilight had come to the realization that her friends were what was most important to her. She just needed to apply that knowledge to complete the process of ascending. I see it as similar to getting a cutie mark. You need to realize it. You can only realize it through self realization just like a cutie mark. I know plenty screamed to the heavens that it was a horrible marketing ploy. Though if I took umbridge towards that I would hate a lot of shows. Id also hate a few characters in the show include Swettie Belle, Scootaloo, Cheerilee. Heck Id hate the show itself. Really I felt Twilight's whole arch had been building to this or at the very least princess hood. When it was officially announced Twilight would become an alicorn I was surprised. Not because of the alicorn bit, but that they were willing to make such a visual change even temporarily. From the first season it seemed obvious to me Twilight was building to something bigger. Her Element was the shape of a crown, she was the direct apprentice to Celestia, she was the main channel for the Elements, her very nature is to strive to learn and be more. Really where I'm concerned is that its well presented and I think it is here. Many have stated they think its a sign of the shows quality going down hill. Yes it was a marketing ploy, the whole show technically is, but I don't think it's a sign that the show is losing quality. Heck I've just wrote one of the longest things in my life listing reasons I think its excellently presented.

Closing statement and the future of the show

With all that said I think I can say that this is one of my personal favorite episodes. It has a lot of nice touches throw backs to previous episodes and continuity. I thought over all it was very well done on all fronts. Excellent music. Excellent visuals that play in tandem with the music. As always great voice work. Finally great writing. There are those who say this episode indicated a cliff from which the quality of the show dived off of. With all that I have written above I hope to have shown you otherwise. I hope that despite whether you liked the episode or not you come out of this seeing all the work and effort put in to this episode. I hope you see that despite anything you thought of it before, you'll see why many enjoy it greatly. In essence I hope you see all the small touches and visual info that seems to be constantly missed in this episode simply because one thing was deemed controversial. I hoped to show you that despite any bad you see in this episode there is a lot of good clever things to be had as well. Heck just the solution to the problem was more clever and complicated than I think many shows get. If this is an indicator for what we will receive in the future then I'm super excited to see what we will receive. If anything I see this as an indicator that the quality will rise not fall. In fact I'm probably more excited than I have ever been for whats to come. I think The potential for new and exciting stories is huge. Last of all I implore readers not to get as caught up in the web of drama and controversy as they did with this one. Whether we like or dislike an idea for an episode we should wait calmly and patiently to see the result before getting riled up about it.

Edited May 14, 2013 by Anadu Kune

Radiance64 · May 7, 2013

Why I like Magical Mystery Cure This will be a pretty long post probably the longest thing I've posted. But if you've even slightly liked any one of my posts and want to know my full feelings on the episode and topics I implore you to read this wall of text. I'm not sure of were to post this as it also covers discussion about the future quality of the show and presentation of musicals, as well other things that I'm sure will generate discussion about the show. I just find these subjects intertwine with my view of this episode, and I'm not sure I should present them as mutually exclusive. So this might end up getting moved. Again though wall of text. Cutie Marks and Destiny This episode directly addressed something which I think has been present since Cutie Mark Chronicles, that being the aspect of destiny being tied to the cutie mark. To show this I'm going to point out how Twilight got her cutie mark and the symbolic imagery of her cutie mark. As we now know the five stars on Twilight's cutie mark represent her friends, the other elements of harmony. Her cutie mark represents her talent, that being magic. It however has a deeper meaning of friendship because as we find out in the pilot friendship is itself magic. Twilight gets her cutie mark in reaction to the connection between her friends incited by the sonic rainboom. That was the point of that episode, they had a magical connection before they even met a connection that established itself for a brief time. A connection that, though Twilight was unaware of was on her flank for all to see. A connection she would rediscover and use to defeat Nightmare Moon. When that connection was made it startled twilight into a magic crazy state complete with glowing eyes. Twilight has only ever displayed glowing eyes when connected with her friends in some way and I think this is no exception. before going further on this I'm going to point out the general difference between destiny and fate, as it is common to use them a synonyms. Fate: the preordained course of your life that will occur because of or in spite of your actions Destiny: a set of predetermined events within your life that you take an active course in shaping. In Magical Mystery Cure their destinies are switched. This being the entire life paths the ponies have had up until that point, this includes memories, occupations living places, and cutie marks. The cutie marks are tied to the life paths of the ponies when the life paths are switched so is everything else as mentioned before, except one thing. That is...well how to phrase this, the essence or soul of the pony. Fluttershy had the memories of having pinkies talent but was terrible at it and maintained her name. This seems to me to indicate that the ponies themselves defiantly play an important role in the shaping of their own lives for if they didn't and were merely puppets of fate the switching of destinies would only have been a visual one. There is something special about them and it was emphasized by this switch a switch made possible by the Elements of Harmony. This is why I like this, it shows that the ponies are themselves hugely(if not wholly) responsible for shaping their own destinies. In the end even through help it is they themselves who realize what they were meant to be doing by realizing their own life paths. Just as they themselves had to discover their cutie marks in the first place even if they did have a helping hand. The Elements of Harmony and the solution I thought Twilight's solution was great and demonstrated that she finally truly understood the magic of friendship and the connection of the elements of harmony. First of all I love that she comes to this realization herself, she didn't need to be reminded as she did in Return of Harmony. She had an epiphany upon looking at a picture of them together. I think her words right as she is having this realization are most important. "And they mean more to me than anything. My friends." those last two words were the same words said right before Twilight discovered the sixth element and was able to utilize the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. It was that moment she realized friendship was important to her and in MMM she realized it was the most important thing to her. In that moment everything clicked, the connection between the ponies and the elements and what activates them to begin with. In this moment we see a glow around Twilight that signifies the further harmonizing with her element. A glow we see on the other ponies as they re-harmonize. A glow that signified the ponies re connecting with their elements and destinies. This was a connection Twilight had first realized in the pilot. She couldn't remind them of who they were because they had the memories of the pony they switched with so she used the one thing she knew they still had, the very thing that binds them together friendship. She knew they would respond to the proposition of helping a friend to get them into the position where they could actually try what they were meant to be doing. She knew and understood the connection the ponies had to the elements and used that understanding to re-connect them. She placed the proper element on the ponies whilst they were doing what they were meant to do and reestablishing who they truly were. The ponies were at that point working in harmony with their element which was signified by a glow around them. A glow we saw before when Twilight realized her friends were the most important part of her life putting her more in harmony with her element, which is magic. Which as the title of the show suggests is also tied to friendship. After her realization of their connection of friendship being the key to getting them to actually do what they were meant to the rest was just a logic puzzle using the connection of the ponies to the elements a connection which she realized in the first place. the animated musicalLet me first state the obvious I loved the songs. I think most did. I was blown away by some of them. It was I think an excellent example of the animated musical. What blows me away is that many seem to try to separate the songs from the story as a whole. In a musical this really isn't possible as the a huge part of the story is conveyed through the songs. The music is a tool used for various purposes to convey the story. Usually it is used to more effectively evoke a desired emotion. It sets an obvious tone/rhythm for the scene which then becomes the guide line the artists must use to set the scene. The task is a really hard one as every action you make the characters do has to reflect the tone/rhythm. If the song is energetic we should see ponies moving and dancing. If the tone is depressing we should see slower more belabored motions. Then you have songs with shifting tones or rhythms. The animated musical is one of the hardest things to do as it is a perfect symbiosis of two of the hardest art forms to perfect. Its fairly rare to see it portrayed in any kind of serious manner consistently in a show and have it be good. I think MLP and MMM especially pull this off fantastically. Below Im going to explain why I enjoy each of the musical segments in MMM. Morning in Ponyville and reprisethis song serves to book end the episode. Its got a very energetic and happy tone which is echoed in the visuals with ponies dancing and such. It reminiscent of a Broadway musical to me. What got me about this one was how it was used to show Twilight's progress and growth at the end. The first song is used merely in the scope of ponyville "morning in ponyville shimmers" While the reprise is used in the context of all of Equestria "life in Equestria shimmers" This is I think an excellent use of the song. Showing us the growth in scale of the character. What My Cutie Mark is Telling meThis song is used to establish the conflict. It expresses the confusion the ponies have in attempting the task they think they are supposed to be doing. This line caught my attention most "Its got to be my destiny, and its what my cutie mark is telling me" This reinforces what i stated above and its the first time destiny is mentioned in the episode. the closing scene to this song I think encapsulates everything its trying to show. The screen is divided into six parts as the cutie marks of the main six ponies. We recognize each of these symbols very well and know exactly what ponies they represent. Then the wrong ponies are put over it next to the pony they switched with. This sets off something in your mind and causes a pause, at least it did for me. I thinks its an excellent visual way to show that confusion. Oh Why and the conflictI enjoyed the balance this episode had with the conflict. The episode was mainly focused on Twilight but we get to see the conflict in all of the other characters equally. This song is a Twilight song and conveys her conflict, but the brilliant part is it also conveys all of the other ponies conflicts as well. A line that I felt was particularly catching was this "Losing promise. I don't know what to do" This line is said as we see the other ponies depressed and confused with their very world in chaos around them. The line echoes what Twilight and the others are feeling at the same time. Twilight feels this way because of what she accidentally did to her friends through a seemingly innocent and unproductive attempt at a magical spell. Feeling misery at being the sole cause of her friends's misery and not seeing a possible way to fix that. The main six are caught in a horrible position A position in where they are constantly failing at the thing they believe they were meant to do, never knowing why. That's basically hell right there. This was one of the "wow " moments of the episode for me. The song I thought was excellent and conveyed the desired emotion of heart ache for the scene . Its lyrics hold meaning for all the characters involved and the visuals help convey that meaning very well. A True True Friend I think this is a great sequence and song that presents Twilight's solution that I mentioned above. One thing I loved about the presentation in this sequence was the re harmonization. Each time they re-harmonize they have to reconnect with their own life paths, element and cutie mark. This is shown through the glow that emanates from them as they are doing what are meant to do. The glow also is the color of their true element. After that all of their memories flash in their eyes. I love how layered this presentation is, all of it connects. Then there are the little touches like the element's switched colors. The hesitation and confusion they all have before doing their original talent. There's also those cool warpy sounding cords playing in the background as they are re-connecting that settle into a smoother music when they are re-connected. Now Im going to go over each of the reconnecting scenes briefly. Fluttershy: This scene really sets up all the others. It is the longest segment and lays out how all the others will work. Fluttershy is leaving ponyville and is only stopped by the prospect of helping out a friend. She is completely unsure and apprehensive of everything else but that. It also points out another aspect of the switch. As Fluttershy settles into comforting and calming down the animals you'll notice they don't quite seem to recognize her. Even Angle doesn't seem to. This shows that as they switched their memories and the memories others had of them. Rainbow Dash: Rainbow Dash's sequence caught me off guard on my second viewing. When I noticed she cleared the sky in ten seconds flat. I cant be sure but this defiantly could be intentional and considering all the other references to other episodes I think it was. In any case the sequences shows rainbow clearing the sky very fast as she did in the pilot episode. This shows how she uses her talent for her job. She is good as a weather pony because of her speed. It shows her reconnecting to her talent they same way they originaly showed her talent to begin with. Rarity: I love them showing Rarity's process here. We've seen it before but it seem far more emphasized here. We see the place go from being in shambles to an orderly place of business again. The way see reacts was particularly amusing to me as well. Applejack: The first thing that caught my notice in this sequence was the appearance of the apple family. The apple family is a huge part of her life and one of the big reasons she received her cutie mark. Its most certainly a definite inclusion that is used to represent the return of harmony to the farm. Using the Apples working together in harmony to show that. Pinkie Pie: This scene defiantly stirred an emotional reaction within me. As stated in Fluttershy's scene I think there is defiantly the indication that the world remembered them differently as well. This seemed to be here as well. As Pinkie Pie is thrown in front of them the crowd doesn't seem to know who she is until after she is re connected with her element. Then they joyously shout her name in recognition and happiness. Then of course you have her hair poofing back up which is I think a great visual touch we've seen before. Celestia's Ballad and the transformationWhen I said some songs blew me away this was at the front of my mind. When this happened it was an amazing surprise. First of all its Celestia singing. The song is I think beautifully sung. Nichole Oliver's voice is very soothing, motherly, and comforting, which goes along with the theme. The theme of support, motherly love, and growth. This theme is what makes the song so great as it explores both of the characters involved. Celestia has been like a mother to Twilight and it is not presented any clearer than in this episode and moment. She has watched Twilight grow up and is very proud of her in all of her accomplishments and like a mother she is there to praise and help Twilight through this new change. I find it very appropriate that right before the song she says "I knew you could do it" the same words she said after being freed from Nightmare Moon. Its a deliberate throw back to the second episode and just shows how much faith she does have in Twilight. At the same time this is about Twilights growth as she has reached a big new stage in her life. This is all magnified by the visual presentation of the events in twilight's pass serving to recap the series showing us how far she had come. Also showing us that Celestia was indeed like a mother watching over a child. I will also say that this moment made me tear up a bit. I'm not really prone to doing that but it happened here. I'm not made of stone but it relatively rare I have such a strong reaction to a scene. I still have it when I watch this sequence. Then comes the transformation, the most controversial moment in the episode. I think many are viewing this as separate from the theme of the song which is where my view of it comes in. For the same reason I love the way this moment is presented others don't. They think Celestia was solely responsible for the final transformation. I think this goes against what is presented. The theme of the whole song that preseeded the transformation was of growth and motherly love and support. Celestia wasn't dictating the process nor do I think she was the sole reason for it. She was guiding and supporting Twilight through a change Twilight had initiated by completing Star Swirls spell. A process that would be scary and confusing to go through alone. Visual indications of this are the cutie mark imprint left on the floor after Twilight completes the spell. Also there's the appearance of her cutie mark as she returns from the magical realm. Also Notice how the magic that changed Twilight comes from within her and is the color of Twilights magic not Celestia's. All this seems to show this is about Twilight and her growth. So again it seems to me that Celestia is helping Twilight through a change she had already started. Then there is the visual transformation itself which I think is very well done and almost remenisiant of a Disney sequence. my problems with the episodepacingI don't think the pacing is as horrible as some would say it is. However it does go by really fast. I think even just five more minutes would help elaborate more on the concepts. Perhaps more on star swirl. Perhaps just making things a bit more spaced out. Coronation I don't hate the coronation scene in fact parts of it were touching to me. However I cant help but feel it took up more time than it should have. This might tie in to the pacing as its hard to point out a part that could be cut that didn't add anything. DressesI was fine with twilight's dress. However Celestia and Luna's dress seemed really off to me. They didn't fit with their theme or personality. It was one of the things that just was like "ohh man no". Then there was the giant crowns that I thought kinda looked goofy. It seems Celestia is no Rarity when it comes to fashion and Luna is still behind the times in that department. Spike Remembers? So as I mentioned before the ponies switched destinies which switched their places in the world. It seems indicated that everyone remembers them differently as well. No pony questions any of them doing what they are meant to be doing they just express annoyance and anger at their failure. then there's the way the animals react to fluttershy. It makes sense that Twilight remembers as she cast the spell and her element was unaffected. Why does spike remember though? He wasn't involved with the spell, at least its not indicated. Does taking bubble bath grant you immunity to magic or something? There's no visual or dialog explanation for this. word spells and the nature of magicTo my memory we haven't seen word spells before this episode. Its not really elaborated on. Its not really contradictory as the true nature of magic in equestria is a bit ambiguous. We know Unicorns are the only race to control magic directly in various ways. Its never been shown how new spells are created or how many different kinds there can be. It also seems magic is simply an innate quality of the world of Equestria. Pegasi have a natural ability to walk on clouds and control the weather which seems magical to me. We've also seen that magic can produce the ability to walk on clouds. Earth ponies seem to have a magical connection to the earth. Its also been shown that nature itself seems to rely on magic. Some plants seem magical in nature and cause magic allergies. Animals like timber wolves and cockatrices seem endowed with magical qualities. The very sun and moon are dependent on magic. The point is that whilst the use of magic is one of mlps greatest strengths it also brings up some of the biggest unresolved questions. Questions which may never be fully answered. The one thing we can say though is that friendship is indeed magic. Twilight doesn't think anything will go wrong in ponyville?Twilight do you really think that? After all that's happened in ponyville you don't think its a possibility I know the actual purpose for that line, but it kinda seems a bit weird in its wording. Alicorns, my thoughts.OK so here the elephant in the room. What do I think of the decision to turn Twilight into an alicorn? To start off with I wasn't for it or against it. I saw it coming from a mile away, though at the same time I didn't think they would go through with it. I didn't think they would make such a visual change. Though seeing them do it was cool I think. I like the suggested explanation of alicorns here. Many have assumed them gods but here they are presented more like buddahs. A pony who reaches an state of enlightenment and ascends. Twilight reached this through a heightened or ultimate understanding of the magic of friendship. An understanding which she showed through application twice. The first was fixing the elements and her friends. This wasn't simply reminding her friends. Twilight used a full comprehensive knowledge of the elements and her friends to fix the problem. The second demonstration was the completion of Star Swirls spell. Twilight had come to the realization that her friends were what was most important to her. She just needed to apply that knowledge to complete the process of ascending. I see it as similar to getting a cutie mark. You need to realize it. You can only realize it through self realization just like a cutie mark. I know plenty screamed to the heavens that it was a horrible marketing ploy. Though if I took umbridge towards that I would hate a lot of shows. Id also hate a few characters in the show include Swettie Belle, Scootaloo, Cheerilee. Heck Id hate the show itself. Really I felt Twilight's whole arch had been building to this or at the very least princess hood. When it was officially announced Twilight would become an alicorn I was surprised. Not because of the alicorn bit, but that they were willing to make such a visual change even temporarily. From the first season it seemed obvious to me Twilight was building to something bigger. Her Element was the shape of a crown, she was the direct apprentice to Celestia, she was the main channel for the Elements, her very nature is to strive to learn and be more. Really where I'm concerned is that its well presented and I think it is here. Many have stated they think its a sign of the shows quality going down hill. Yes it was a marketing ploy, the whole show technically is, but I don't think it's a sign that the show is losing quality. Heck I've just wrote one of the longest things in my life listing reasons I think its excellently presented. Closing statement and the future of the showWith all that said I think I can say that this is one of my personal favorite episodes. It has a lot of nice touches throw backs to previous episodes and continuity. I thought over all it was very well done on all fronts. Excellent music. Excellent visuals that play in tandem with the music. As always great voice work. Finally great writing. There are those who say this episode indicated a cliff from which the quality of the show dived off of. With all that I have written above I hope to have shown you otherwise. I hope that despite whether you liked the episode or not you come out of this seeing all the work and effort put in to this episode. I hope you see that despite anything you thought of it before, you'll see why many enjoy it greatly. In essence I hope you see all the small touches and visual info that seems to be constantly missed in this episode simply because one thing was deemed controversial. I hoped to show you that despite any bad you see in this episode there is a lot of good clever things to be had as well. Heck just the solution to the problem was more clever and complicated than I think many shows get. If this is an indicator for what we will receive in the future then I'm super excited to see what we will receive. If anything I see this as an indicator that the quality will rise not fall. In fact I'm probably more excited than I have ever been for whats to come. I think The potential for new and exciting stories is huge. Last of all I implore readers not to get as caught up in the web of drama and controversy as they did with this one. Whether we like or dislike an idea for an episode we should wait calmly and patiently to see the result before getting riled up about it. Hmmm. Thinking about it now perhaps this is too long to read. If anyone happens to be reading this, do you think a video format would be Better? My thoughts on Magical Mystery cure Ok so thinking about it, I thought this should be posted here as well as it does pertain directly to the episode. These are my thoughts about the episode in full. Its long but hey with how densely packed the episode and MLP is in general its pretty hard to write out full thoughts on any episode without it being long. Its split into bolded topics so you can go down and read which one you like if its too long. Again though wall of text. Cutie Marks and Destiny This episode directly addressed something which I think has been present since Cutie Mark Chronicles, that being the aspect of destiny being tied to the cutie mark. To show this I'm going to point out how Twilight got her cutie mark and the symbolic imagery of her cutie mark. As we now know the five stars on Twilight's cutie mark represent her friends, the other elements of harmony. Her cutie mark represents her talent, that being magic. It however has a deeper meaning of friendship because as we find out in the pilot friendship is itself magic. Twilight gets her cutie mark in reaction to the connection between her friends incited by the sonic rainboom. That was the point of that episode, they had a magical connection before they even met a connection that established itself for a brief time. A connection that, though Twilight was unaware of was on her flank for all to see. A connection she would rediscover and use to defeat Nightmare Moon. When that connection was made it startled twilight into a magic crazy state complete with glowing eyes. Twilight has only ever displayed glowing eyes when connected with her friends in some way and I think this is no exception. before going further on this I'm going to point out the general difference between destiny and fate, as it is common to use them a synonyms. Fate: the preordained course of your life that will occur because of or in spite of your actions Destiny: a set of predetermined events within your life that you take an active course in shaping. In Magical Mystery Cure their destinies are switched. This being the entire life paths the ponies have had up until that point, this includes memories, occupations living places, and cutie marks. The cutie marks are tied to the life paths of the ponies when the life paths are switched so is everything else as mentioned before, except one thing. That is...well how to phrase this, the essence or soul of the pony. Fluttershy had the memories of having pinkies talent but was terrible at it and maintained her name. This seems to me to indicate that the ponies themselves defiantly play an important role in the shaping of their own lives for if they didn't and were merely puppets of fate the switching of destinies would only have been a visual one. There is something special about them and it was emphasized by this switch a switch made possible by the Elements of Harmony. This is why I like this, it shows that the ponies are themselves hugely(if not wholly) responsible for shaping their own destinies. In the end even through help it is they themselves who realize what they were meant to be doing by realizing their own life paths. Just as they themselves had to discover their cutie marks in the first place even if they did have a helping hand. The Elements of Harmony and the solution I thought Twilight's solution was great and demonstrated that she finally truly understood the magic of friendship and the connection of the elements of harmony. First of all I love that she comes to this realization herself, she didn't need to be reminded as she did in Return of Harmony. She had an epiphany upon looking at a picture of them together. I think her words right as she is having this realization are most important. "And they mean more to me than anything. My friends." those last two words were the same words said right before Twilight discovered the sixth element and was able to utilize the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. It was that moment she realized friendship was important to her and in MMM she realized it was the most important thing to her. In that moment everything clicked, the connection between the ponies and the elements and what activates them to begin with. In this moment we see a glow around Twilight that signifies the further harmonizing with her element. A glow we see on the other ponies as they re-harmonize. A glow that signified the ponies re connecting with their elements and destinies. This was a connection Twilight had first realized in the pilot. She couldn't remind them of who they were because they had the memories of the pony they switched with so she used the one thing she knew they still had, the very thing that binds them together friendship. She knew they would respond to the proposition of helping a friend to get them into the position where they could actually try what they were meant to be doing. She knew and understood the connection the ponies had to the elements and used that understanding to re-connect them. She placed the proper element on the ponies whilst they were doing what they were meant to do and reestablishing who they truly were. The ponies were at that point working in harmony with their element which was signified by a glow around them. A glow we saw before when Twilight realized her friends were the most important part of her life putting her more in harmony with her element, which is magic. Which as the title of the show suggests is also tied to friendship. After her realization of their connection of friendship being the key to getting them to actually do what they were meant to the rest was just a logic puzzle using the connection of the ponies to the elements a connection which she realized in the first place. the animated musicalLet me first state the obvious I loved the songs. I think most did. I was blown away by some of them. It was I think an excellent example of the animated musical. What blows me away is that many seem to try to separate the songs from the story as a whole. In a musical this really isn't possible as the a huge part of the story is conveyed through the songs. The music is a tool used for various purposes to convey the story. Usually it is used to more effectively evoke a desired emotion. It sets an obvious tone/rhythm for the scene which then becomes the guide line the artists must use to set the scene. The task is a really hard one as every action you make the characters do has to reflect the tone/rhythm. If the song is energetic we should see ponies moving and dancing. If the tone is depressing we should see slower more belabored motions. Then you have songs with shifting tones or rhythms. The animated musical is one of the hardest things to do as it is a perfect symbiosis of two of the hardest art forms to perfect. Its fairly rare to see it portrayed in any kind of serious manner consistently in a show and have it be good. I think MLP and MMM especially pull this off fantastically. Below Im going to explain why I enjoy each of the musical segments in MMM. Morning in Ponyville and reprisethis song serves to book end the episode. Its got a very energetic and happy tone which is echoed in the visuals with ponies dancing and such. It reminiscent of a Broadway musical to me. What got me about this one was how it was used to show Twilight's progress and growth at the end. The first song is used merely in the scope of ponyville "morning in ponyville shimmers" While the reprise is used in the context of all of Equestria "life in Equestria shimmers" This is I think an excellent use of the song. Showing us the growth in scale of the character. What My Cutie Mark is Telling meThis song is used to establish the conflict. It expresses the confusion the ponies have in attempting the task they think they are supposed to be doing. This line caught my attention most "Its got to be my destiny, and its what my cutie mark is telling me" This reinforces what i stated above and its the first time destiny is mentioned in the episode. the closing scene to this song I think encapsulates everything its trying to show. The screen is divided into six parts as the cutie marks of the main six ponies. We recognize each of these symbols very well and know exactly what ponies they represent. Then the wrong ponies are put over it next to the pony they switched with. This sets off something in your mind and causes a pause, at least it did for me. I thinks its an excellent visual way to show that confusion. Oh Why and the conflictI enjoyed the balance this episode had with the conflict. The episode was mainly focused on Twilight but we get to see the conflict in all of the other characters equally. This song is a Twilight song and conveys her conflict, but the brilliant part is it also conveys all of the other ponies conflicts as well. A line that I felt was particularly catching was this "Losing promise. I don't know what to do" This line is said as we see the other ponies depressed and confused with their very world in chaos around them. The line echoes what Twilight and the others are feeling at the same time. Twilight feels this way because of what she accidentally did to her friends through a seemingly innocent and unproductive attempt at a magical spell. Feeling misery at being the sole cause of her friends's misery and not seeing a possible way to fix that. The main six are caught in a horrible position A position in where they are constantly failing at the thing they believe they were meant to do, never knowing why. That's basically hell right there. This was one of the "wow " moments of the episode for me. The song I thought was excellent and conveyed the desired emotion of heart ache for the scene . Its lyrics hold meaning for all the characters involved and the visuals help convey that meaning very well. A True True Friend I think this is a great sequence and song that presents Twilight's solution that I mentioned above. One thing I loved about the presentation in this sequence was the re harmonization. Each time they re-harmonize they have to reconnect with their own life paths, element and cutie mark. This is shown through the glow that emanates from them as they are doing what are meant to do. The glow also is the color of their true element. After that all of their memories flash in their eyes. I love how layered this presentation is, all of it connects. Then there are the little touches like the element's switched colors. The hesitation and confusion they all have before doing their original talent. There's also those cool warpy sounding cords playing in the background as they are re-connecting that settle into a smoother music when they are re-connected. Now Im going to go over each of the reconnecting scenes briefly. Fluttershy: This scene really sets up all the others. It is the longest segment and lays out how all the others will work. Fluttershy is leaving ponyville and is only stopped by the prospect of helping out a friend. She is completely unsure and apprehensive of everything else but that. It also points out another aspect of the switch. As Fluttershy settles into comforting and calming down the animals you'll notice they don't quite seem to recognize her. Even Angle doesn't seem to. This shows that as they switched their memories and the memories others had of them. Rainbow Dash: Rainbow Dash's sequence caught me off guard on my second viewing. When I noticed she cleared the sky in ten seconds flat. I cant be sure but this defiantly could be intentional and considering all the other references to other episodes I think it was. In any case the sequences shows rainbow clearing the sky very fast as she did in the pilot episode. This shows how she uses her talent for her job. She is good as a weather pony because of her speed. It shows her reconnecting to her talent they same way they originaly showed her talent to begin with. Rarity: I love them showing Rarity's process here. We've seen it before but it seem far more emphasized here. We see the place go from being in shambles to an orderly place of business again. The way see reacts was particularly amusing to me as well. Applejack: The first thing that caught my notice in this sequence was the appearance of the apple family. The apple family is a huge part of her life and one of the big reasons she received her cutie mark. Its most certainly a definite inclusion that is used to represent the return of harmony to the farm. Using the Apples working together in harmony to show that. Pinkie Pie: This scene defiantly stirred an emotional reaction within me. As stated in Fluttershy's scene I think there is defiantly the indication that the world remembered them differently as well. This seemed to be here as well. As Pinkie Pie is thrown in front of them the crowd doesn't seem to know who she is until after she is re connected with her element. Then they joyously shout her name in recognition and happiness. Then of course you have her hair poofing back up which is I think a great visual touch we've seen before. Celestia's Ballad and the transformationWhen I said some songs blew me away this was at the front of my mind. When this happened it was an amazing surprise. First of all its Celestia singing. The song is I think beautifully sung. Nichole Oliver's voice is very soothing, motherly, and comforting, which goes along with the theme. The theme of support, motherly love, and growth. This theme is what makes the song so great as it explores both of the characters involved. Celestia has been like a mother to Twilight and it is not presented any clearer than in this episode and moment. She has watched Twilight grow up and is very proud of her in all of her accomplishments and like a mother she is there to praise and help Twilight through this new change. I find it very appropriate that right before the song she says "I knew you could do it" the same words she said after being freed from Nightmare Moon. Its a deliberate throw back to the second episode and just shows how much faith she does have in Twilight. At the same time this is about Twilights growth as she has reached a big new stage in her life. This is all magnified by the visual presentation of the events in twilight's pass serving to recap the series showing us how far she had come. Also showing us that Celestia was indeed like a mother watching over a child. I will also say that this moment made me tear up a bit. I'm not really prone to doing that but it happened here. I'm not made of stone but it relatively rare I have such a strong reaction to a scene. I still have it when I watch this sequence. Then comes the transformation, the most controversial moment in the episode. I think many are viewing this as separate from the theme of the song which is where my view of it comes in. For the same reason I love the way this moment is presented others don't. They think Celestia was solely responsible for the final transformation. I think this goes against what is presented. The theme of the whole song that preseeded the transformation was of growth and motherly love and support. Celestia wasn't dictating the process nor do I think she was the sole reason for it. She was guiding and supporting Twilight through a change Twilight had initiated by completing Star Swirls spell. A process that would be scary and confusing to go through alone. Visual indications of this are the cutie mark imprint left on the floor after Twilight completes the spell. Also there's the appearance of her cutie mark as she returns from the magical realm. Also Notice how the magic that changed Twilight comes from within her and is the color of Twilights magic not Celestia's. All this seems to show this is about Twilight and her growth. So again it seems to me that Celestia is helping Twilight through a change she had already started. Then there is the visual transformation itself which I think is very well done and almost remenisiant of a Disney sequence. my problems with the episodepacingI don't think the pacing is as horrible as some would say it is. However it does go by really fast. I think even just five more minutes would help elaborate more on the concepts. Perhaps more on star swirl. Perhaps just making things a bit more spaced out. Coronation I don't hate the coronation scene in fact parts of it were touching to me. However I cant help but feel it took up more time than it should have. This might tie in to the pacing as its hard to point out a part that could be cut that didn't add anything. DressesI was fine with twilight's dress. However Celestia and Luna's dress seemed really off to me. They didn't fit with their theme or personality. It was one of the things that just was like "ohh man no". Then there was the giant crowns that I thought kinda looked goofy. It seems Celestia is no Rarity when it comes to fashion and Luna is still behind the times in that department. Spike Remembers? So as I mentioned before the ponies switched destinies which switched their places in the world. It seems indicated that everyone remembers them differently as well. No pony questions any of them doing what they are meant to be doing they just express annoyance and anger at their failure. then there's the way the animals react to fluttershy. It makes sense that Twilight remembers as she cast the spell and her element was unaffected. Why does spike remember though? He wasn't involved with the spell, at least its not indicated. Does taking bubble bath grant you immunity to magic or something? There's no visual or dialog explanation for this. word spells and the nature of magicTo my memory we haven't seen word spells before this episode. Its not really elaborated on. Its not really contradictory as the true nature of magic in equestria is a bit ambiguous. We know Unicorns are the only race to control magic directly in various ways. Its never been shown how new spells are created or how many different kinds there can be. It also seems magic is simply an innate quality of the world of Equestria. Pegasi have a natural ability to walk on clouds and control the weather which seems magical to me. We've also seen that magic can produce the ability to walk on clouds. Earth ponies seem to have a magical connection to the earth. Its also been shown that nature itself seems to rely on magic. Some plants seem magical in nature and cause magic allergies. Animals like timber wolves and cockatrices seem endowed with magical qualities. The very sun and moon are dependent on magic. The point is that whilst the use of magic is one of mlps greatest strengths it also brings up some of the biggest unresolved questions. Questions which may never be fully answered. The one thing we can say though is that friendship is indeed magic. Twilight doesn't think anything will go wrong in ponyville?Twilight do you really think that? After all that's happened in ponyville you don't think its a possibility I know the actual purpose for that line, but it kinda seems a bit weird in its wording. Alicorns, my thoughts.OK so here the elephant in the room. What do I think of the decision to turn Twilight into an alicorn? To start off with I wasn't for it or against it. I saw it coming from a mile away, though at the same time I didn't think they would go through with it. I didn't think they would make such a visual change. Though seeing them do it was cool I think. I like the suggested explanation of alicorns here. Many have assumed them gods but here they are presented more like buddahs. A pony who reaches an state of enlightenment and ascends. Twilight reached this through a heightened or ultimate understanding of the magic of friendship. An understanding which she showed through application twice. The first was fixing the elements and her friends. This wasn't simply reminding her friends. Twilight used a full comprehensive knowledge of the elements and her friends to fix the problem. The second demonstration was the completion of Star Swirls spell. Twilight had come to the realization that her friends were what was most important to her. She just needed to apply that knowledge to complete the process of ascending. I see it as similar to getting a cutie mark. You need to realize it. You can only realize it through self realization just like a cutie mark. I know plenty screamed to the heavens that it was a horrible marketing ploy. Though if I took umbridge towards that I would hate a lot of shows. Id also hate a few characters in the show include Swettie Belle, Scootaloo, Cheerilee. Heck Id hate the show itself. Really I felt Twilight's whole arch had been building to this or at the very least princess hood. When it was officially announced Twilight would become an alicorn I was surprised. Not because of the alicorn bit, but that they were willing to make such a visual change even temporarily. From the first season it seemed obvious to me Twilight was building to something bigger. Her Element was the shape of a crown, she was the direct apprentice to Celestia, she was the main channel for the Elements, her very nature is to strive to learn and be more. Really where I'm concerned is that its well presented and I think it is here. Many have stated they think its a sign of the shows quality going down hill. Yes it was a marketing ploy, the whole show technically is, but I don't think it's a sign that the show is losing quality. Heck I've just wrote one of the longest things in my life listing reasons I think its excellently presented. Closing statement and the future of the showWith all that said I think I can say that this is one of my personal favorite episodes. It has a lot of nice touches throw backs to previous episodes and continuity. I thought over all it was very well done on all fronts. Excellent music. Excellent visuals that play in tandem with the music. As always great voice work. Finally great writing. There are those who say this episode indicated a cliff from which the quality of the show dived off of. With all that I have written above I hope to have shown you otherwise. I hope that despite whether you liked the episode or not you come out of this seeing all the work and effort put in to this episode. I hope you see that despite anything you thought of it before, you'll see why many enjoy it greatly. In essence I hope you see all the small touches and visual info that seems to be constantly missed in this episode simply because one thing was deemed controversial. I hoped to show you that despite any bad you see in this episode there is a lot of good clever things to be had as well. Heck just the solution to the problem was more clever and complicated than I think many shows get. If this is an indicator for what we will receive in the future then I'm super excited to see what we will receive. If anything I see this as an indicator that the quality will rise not fall. In fact I'm probably more excited than I have ever been for whats to come. I think The potential for new and exciting stories is huge. Last of all I implore readers not to get as caught up in the web of drama and controversy as they did with this one. Whether we like or dislike an idea for an episode we should wait calmly and patiently to see the result before getting riled up about it.

Hey there Anadu Kune, just letting you know that I merged your thread with your thoughts on Magical Mystery Cure with our official discussion thread, where your thoughts are better shared. Thanks for your understanding.

Anadu Kune · May 7, 2013

Hey there Anadu Kune, just letting you know that I merged your thread with your thoughts on Magical Mystery Cure with our official discussion thread, where your thoughts are better shared. Thanks for your understanding.

Thanks I actually wanted to do that as on thinking about it again I kinda figured it belonged here. It was just a bit confusing to decide as it branches off into multiple different topics. But the overall connecting topic is the episode so it makes sense.

Power of Dashie · May 10, 2013

Since I just recently joined, I thought I'd jump in around the most recent episode.

I thought this episode was the BEST season finale this show has ever had. Some of my friends think that there are too many songs, which I don't mind. The songs are good and overall fun. The whole episode in itself is the kind of episode I could watch over and over again without getting tired of it.

Prince Umbra · May 17, 2013

They should make a episode called "Battle for Equestria" in the next Season. They kill off discord (I see no point of him even being on the show) -no offense if you actually read that Discord. And we see Celestia and Luna suit up. Luna has grey armor and Celestia has gold. And they fight against this guy called Cyrax Destroyer of Worlds, while Twilight and the others are busy in Manehaten. So it's just a Luna and Celestia episode. E: Epicness awaits if they actually use my idea. I really hope they do. Probably as a season finally or the start of the season -most likely it would be used as the season finally. ^.^

dedacct6 · May 22, 2013

I thought it was alright, not the best but alright, i loved the songs my favorite was i've got to find a way and my Cutie mark is telling me. review below
Well damn...Magical mystery cure was quite an episode and I've got quite a but to say about this, i used to think it sucked just because twilight became an alicorn, but then i noticed that the songs where great and the story would have been better and less rushed if it had a better time slot and if DHX hadn't made the dumb filler episode "Games ponies play" ,the story escalated way too quickly, from changed cutie marks, to twilight blowing up, and then suddenly shes an Alicorn, and then shes a fricken princess, dont get me wrong, but i think they could have done so much more, and i felt as if i was just sitting there going "DID I MISS SOMETHING!!!!!!????" when i saw the part when Celestia began to sing and twi became an Alicorn and after the episode I wanted to turn the table i was in rage from the fact the episode was so smashed together and it was just a sad excuse to made a toy based on the episode. but the idea of making twi a princess was genius, itll definitely make a bigger change in the series as we know it!!! i thought the episode deserved like 3 1/2 starsOh yea and derpy is found at the end

Edited May 22, 2013 by PelateOvercast

D-Ice · May 22, 2013

I thought the episode was ok, but for some reason, the episode felt too much like an ending to the series. Then again, from what I read season 4 didn't come into frutition until after this episode was released. I heard that this was actually the first of a 3 part story with the first two episodes in Season 4 being the other two thirds of this story.

I didn't really mind that most of the episode was music, and no one I know in real life cares either. In my opinion, however, they might want to tone down on the music in future episodes. My only complaint about it is that it didn't really feel like the other episodes in the series (even the other finales).

As for Alicorn Twilight, I don't really have an opinion. A possibility (although unlikely) is that Twilight will give up her role as a princess.

Jep the Sea God · May 23, 2013

i love this episode it has alot of singing and its opens the door to new possible out comes for the next season but my favorite part in this episode is the song a true true friend anyone agree?

GeekBrony · May 27, 2013

I liked the episode, but not as much as "A Canterlot Wedding: Part One" and "A Canterlot Wedding: Part Two."

Although I LOVED the songs (Cutie Mark is Telling Me, I've Got to Find a Way, and True True Friend), I felt that it was a bit rushed.

Twi went from very sad to happy really really fast.

But I believe in M. A. Larson and the other MLP staff to create a brand new, good quality, fantastic story, epic music season!

BlueEyedPegasus · May 27, 2013

I liked the episode, but not as much as "A Canterlot Wedding: Part One" and "A Canterlot Wedding: Part Two."

Although I LOVED the songs (Cutie Mark is Telling Me, I've Got to Find a Way, and True True Friend), I felt that it was a bit rushed.

Twi went from very sad to happy really really fast.

But I believe in M. A. Larson and the other MLP staff to create a brand new, good quality, fantastic story, epic music season!

Good for you! I'll bet that nothing can stop them or us bronies and pegasisters now!

There's not a mountain that we can't climb!

There's not a river we can't make it over!

There's no tomorrow that we can't find if we try!

You know we're gonna make it!

Nothing can stop us now!

Wolffie · May 29, 2013

I liked this episode, but honestly, Twilight should have just become a more powerful unicorn in my opinion. Now she is more of a jack of all trades, and being a princess she may have trouble relating to rest of the cast.

TeamChaosPrez · May 29, 2013

I LOVE this episode! My favorite so far! I've been singing the songs constantly.

I have mixed feelings about Alicorn Twilight but I'm going to give her a chance as everypony should.

Oblivion · May 31, 2013

Yea I don't know how I feel about Alicorn Twilight. either but all I can say is just lets sit back and enjoy the ride! Plus I hope we get some sweet scenes of rainbow dash teaching Twilight how to fly.(what if Twilight is faster than Rainbow Dash!)

Time Turner · June 4, 2013

I think that the series ended a bit too soon, but there are spoilers about season 4 next year and I'm exited about all this! Bye

Starlight Sky · June 4, 2013

I liked this episode, but honestly, Twilight should have just become a more powerful unicorn in my opinion. Now she is more of a jack of all trades, and being a princess she may have trouble relating to rest of the cast.

Stronger Unicorn = No transformation scene = No Celestia's Ballad What does turning into a stronger unicorn look like anyway? Exactly. Nothing

In all seriousness though, Twilight became a princess precisely because she relates to everypony. The lessons she's learned will guide her as she transitions into the role. She'll likely travel Equestria with the rest of the Mane 6 to fully grasp the demands of each town/city and the needs of it's citizens.

Plus, now she'll have a deeper appreciation for what Pegasus ponies go through

Eureka · June 4, 2013

This episode was decent. It was a pretty good ending for the end of a season, but I feel it was rushed. The problem was solved pretty quickly in the episode, and I bet that more than half of the episode was singing XD. The songs weren't my favorite but I didn't hate them. It was a good episode (though a bit cliche at some points.) It was a fun episode, and I guess I liked it .

joeycrawford · June 5, 2013

This episode may have left me wanting but it did do music like a boss.

As for alicorn twilight I just hope the writers have the ability to make a character like that dynamic.

WishingtotheStars · June 7, 2013

I thought this episode was pretty good. Although I wasn't very happy with Twilight turning into an alicorn, I hope it just doesn't change all their friendships.

Dzastur · June 8, 2013

ED announced that Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews just won a Leo Award for Best Musical Score for this episode.

Awesome!

Flare Tumble · June 10, 2013

ED announced that Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews just won a Leo Award for Best Musical Score for this episode.

Awesome!

Yeah, I heard about that. I think that they defiantly deserved it. The amount of songs in this episode was insane, and I still can't stop singing "A True, True Friend"

Edited June 10, 2013 by Flare Tumble

iNsAnIty MaStEr · June 12, 2013

So if twilight is a alicorn...

HOW WILL THE OTHERS SURVIVE ;~;

Oh wait twilight can save them silly me im sooooooooooooooooooooo stupid!

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S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

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