S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

[Dreamscape 0]

With this episode they did a great job. I can agree on the opinion that, if they used a double episode. They would have given us a better plotline, but now with Twilights trnasformation and with the completing of this story plot, zhey made themselfes many opportunities for the fourth season.

[NatsukashiiAki 5]

I absolutely loved the new episode. I haven't seen much of the series before this, but it was a great way to witness how friendship and love can heal a multitude of wounds. I deal with some, uh, mental health issues, and it's true--having friends who love you is amazing on the road to recovery. The episode felt a little rushed, but MY FEELS!

[Wardaddy 470]

Having watched the episode, I was left with a deep, burning pain of unsureness in my gut and a hayloft's worth of questions on my mind. In my haste to find out if the news of Twilight's transformation and coronation was true, I skipped ahead of the rest of the episode to find  my questions answered. Aside from all that my eyes were gazing at, I did notice that the sequences following Twilight's transformation were a bit rushed. One moment she's an alicorn and then before you know it-BAM! Twi's a princess in the incredibly short space of 5 minutes. And after she suddenly learned to fly (obviously to delight the kids) she happily announces that everything will be fine! Well, I could only ask myself: "How can I be sure?". So, I came here to dispense every last question in my mind. However, now I don't need to, for the answer is suddenly clear to me. In my opinion, the mission of the Mane 6 is accomplished. Twilight was put to the test, and she passed, thereby fulfilling her destiny. And in doing so, the story arc of the Mane 6 is finished. If anything, it's likely the show will now focus on another pony or on the CMCs, who have a lot of potential for the show's future. But do not fret, I'm not saying Twi and co. are totally done with. I do hope Season 4 will have episodes set apart from the main arc focusing on the Mane 6, and Twilight of course, as we follow not just the Mane 6 after S3, but Twilight as she settles into her new role and lives her life as an alicorn/princess, trying to get the hang of her new wings and of course performing her duties as a princess. Question is though, will the pressures of royal duty get to her? Will her devotion to her friends be overtaken by her royal business? And finally, will she have to take on a new foe, or worse still, her corrupted teacher?

 

Please Hasbro, for the love of Celestia, roll on Season 4!

[BlueEyedPegasus 59]

I've finally seen the episode for myself today. My thoughts? It did seem a little rushed, but I still found it quite enjoyable.

 

And, yes, I know that some fans out there think that this should have been a two-parter, but hey, nothing's perfect, so just take what you can get.

 

Plus, that pivotal moment where Twilight becomes an alicorn princess, I see as a sign of new hope for the future of this series!

[Lighthope 36]

If princess is a promotion, then why was Candace an alicorn when she was so young?  (Twilight's foalsitter)

 

And if princess is a promotion, could that mean that the entire Mane 6 will eventually be princesses when it's time to introduce new toys?  (Recognizing that MLP's first job is to promote a toyline)

Pearls of Wisdom - "It's not the length of our lives [that matters], it's the depth." - Bob Hattoy
 

[Shanks 10,811]

And if princess is a promotion, could that mean that the entire Mane 6 will eventually be princesses when it's time to introduce new toys?  (Recognizing that MLP's first job is to promote a toyline)

 

Pearls of Wisdom - "It's not the length of our lives [that matters], it's the depth." - Bob Hattoy

I really seriously hope not, it makes sense for Twilight to eventually become one as pre mature as it is at this point in the story because she is the element of magic which is the most powerful one as it is a combination of all the other elements but all of them would be the ultimate Mary Sue cop out and cheesy merchandizing cash in that would plunge the show straight down the crapper faster than you can say "behold princess everyone". At that point it would make more sense to make Derpy an alicorn which I might do in this fanfic idea I came up with.

[verzitile 0]

I think it was a bold and brave move and i ,look forward to see where they are going to take it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij7ywKsskPI 

[Mad Jack1123 0]

I Thought this was a normal episode until I saw twilight's wings, all of mlp flashed before my eyes. Until I saw season 4 was conformed and I was like praise the Lord, they aren't ending it, phew! 

[Lighthope 36]

I really seriously hope not, it makes sense for Twilight to eventually become one as pre mature as it is at this point in the story because she is the element of magic which is the most powerful one as it is a combination of all the other elements but all of them would be the ultimate Mary Sue cop out and cheesy merchandizing cash in that would plunge the show straight down the crapper faster than you can say "behold princess everyone". At that point it would make more sense to make Derpy an alicorn which I might do in this fanfic idea I came up with.

 

I could live with some sort of evolution among the entire Mane 6, maybe as part of a "finale season", assuming they even know when that comes about.  To be honest, I don't even know if this type of programme will ever get that kind of notification.  Would be nice, though.

 

Pearls of Wisdom - Carbon Offset (n) - Something for people who care about the environment, but not enough to do something about it themselves.

 

[Mr. Jaguar 1,402]

She isn't solely responsible for the farm's stability. Again the theme of the episode is the importance of harmony/friendship without any of them the farm maybe be in deep trouble particularly Big Mac and Applejack. The apple family are in and of themselves a representation of harmony as has been shown before(sisterhooves social, Flim flam bros). This is emphasized by their reappearance in a true true friend. It also shows the artistic exaggeration going on, as harmony is restored so is the farm, trees that were once dead are alive again. The reunion of the apple family is signifying the return of harmony to the farm. Its also again part of the time constraint, find a way to further show the message intended in an artistic way. Showing Pinkie working together with someone and failing would negate the message of the episode or at least hinder it."

 

 

I didn't get any indication that that was supposed to be an artistic exaggeration of her dilemma, so I don't buy it. I could see how AJ being gone could have such a negative impact on the farm, without the extra help from her they wouldn't be able to handle it. I believe it, it's plausible. What I don't understand is, why they would even let Pinkie work there to begin with when she's very clearly incapable of the job, and also would help her, as she very clearly needed help. Maybe you could say they kept her on because she wanted to since her new cutie-mark compelled her, so they were just being nice. Even still, why did they not help her? Were they too busy doing their own tasks that they couldn't spare the time to help her?

 

Also again exaggeration is defiantly at play here. Trees don't die that fast or regrow that fast. Visual symbolism is being used here to convey a message. This type of thing has been done before in Smile and Giggle at the Ghosties. The real big difference here is that it was never used to this extent, but the exaggerations are still just as silly when taken into full logical context.

 

Sorry, but I'm not buying the "visual symbolism" theory. There was nothing to indicate that what I was seeing wasn't supposed to be taken literally.

 

 

She doesn't just bring joy she seems to negates what frustration and depression would normally be in ponyville overall. Its not shown that shes the only thing that can bring joy, just that shes a major part of it, after all she is the element of laughter. Take away that major element and the frustrations and depression normally negated by pinkie creeps in. The reasons for the depression and frustration would vary just as they did in the smile song, but they dont have the time to show them all individually  So they show the frustration of the ponies as a collective.  Also ponyville is a small town, Im not sure I would consider that a entire civilization. Lets go back to lets smile for a minute. Did you think it was a crazy big plot contrivance that every one Pinkie bumped into was frustrated or depressed in some way?

 

 Did we ever see that much depression in ponyville before the smile song? I dont think so. How about the fact that everyone in the town danced in loving joy with her on the roof tops no less. That song did actually show pinkie bring joy to the entirety of ponyville.  How about other weird things in the past like laughing at horrible tree illusions created by dark magic to make them disappear? How about pretty much immediately realizing your talent in a musical fashion after having your fall broken by butterflies? Why did laughing at magical horror illusions make them go away? Does any of that really make logical sense when you think about it? No its exaggerated artistically to get a point across and convey emotion.

That's the point certain things are going to be exaggerated to the extreme to convey a message. This is a cartoon, that is the point of a cartoon. Take the exaggeration in the smile song and remove pinkie from it. You'd have a similar exaggeration as was seen in this episode, the big difference is they had time to focus on the individual problems pinkie was solving that were causing the depression. So Im not really seeing why this is difficult to believe in the context of past episodes. I mean we've seen one pony bring order to the entire town in winter wrap up. Without Twilight there they were a disorganized frustrating mess.

 

The point of those scenes were to show what happens when the elements of harmony are forcibly removed from their proper places. This isn't the same thing as them leaving on a trip or an adventure. Their entire place in the world was changed. The ponies everyone knew and loved were gone from their position in which each of them played a crucial part replaced by ponies who weren't meant to be there to begin with and as a result sucked at their job. The scenes are exaggerated to show disharmony and emphasizes the the importance of the characters. As has been done before.

 

 

You know what, maybe they were upset because Pinkie wasn't around anymore, and for all we know, to be fair, it wasn't all of them, it looked like a LARGE amount, but not all. Perhaps it is plausible that a large amount of the citizens of Ponyville were miserable because they missed Pinkie.

 

 

 

To sum it up Twilight's prior knowledge of the working of the elements along with her realization of the harmony of friendship are what lead her to the conclusion this will work. Its not just slapping the element on and praying, its using the proper element in harmony with the proper pony whilst performing the proper talent reestablishing a connection. Its that connection that enables the elements to function in the first place Twilight knows this. Its a connection Twilight realized in the first place in the first(technically second) episode when facing nightmare moon.

 

Okay, the elements are tied to their cutie marks (as Twilight already knew since Starswirl's spell she cast switched their elements which in the process switched their cutie-marks, indicating an obvious connection between the two). However, I still can't fathom how she came to the conclusion that the elements being put back on their necks would help restore their memories and cutie-marks. I don't, I just don't.

 

Wow, that's really her justification? I thought it was something fans came up with to explain it. Excuse me for a moment, I need to go to the hospital and get my sides stitched back together. My intense laughter has caused them to split apart.

 

I actually don't think it's unbelievable, I can actually see why they'd only make ponies princesses based on their good....ness. It's certainly better than letting some psycopath have the throne simply because he or she is part of the royal family. But their needs to be a limit to how many ponies can be princess, I assume there is, I don't think they'd have hundreds of princesses ruling one kingdom at the same time. It's......a passable justification, at the very least.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Mr. Jaguar

[Cadance of Love 1,118]

Nope Nope complete Horse Apples!  <_<  Even in this universe where the impossible becomes possible, NO. 

 

found a hole because of Rarity so it has been changed. Because twilight used the spell that transformed her into an alicorn she gained information about how to fly as well. the hole would be with Rare when she gets her fragile wings. She shouldn't be able to know how to fly right away but right after she gains them she is flying (though we don't see her we can see by her shadow that she is indeed flying). this may prove that the ability to fly should pass onto twilight in the same way by the spell though twilight's be a more advanced spell.

[Salacious B. Crumb 13]

You're assuming that being an alicorn automatically makes a pony a goddess.

 

It doesn't. Nor does it make them perfect, all-powerful, and infallible. (Especially considering one such as Celestia doubted Twilight's instincts, and lost to some changeling boosted by the emotions of a unicorn. Cadance was also unable to escape her prison. Super perfect goddesses? Please.)

 

And just what are you basing that off of? Celestia and Luna? Seriously?

 

Sure, those two are alicorns and are practically the two big goddesses of Equestria. And they've lived for at least one thousand years. The fact that they we don't see them fail as much is merely because they have one thousand years worth of experience behind them. Kinda hard for someone with that much experience to go wrong themselves, but it's certainly still possible.

 

But then we have Cadance.

 

Cadance isn't a goddess. I doubt she has lived nearly as long as either of the two regal sisters (unless someone shows me otherwise).

 

Neither is Twilight.

 

So unless Twilight literally goes Mary Sue on us the entire season 4, I see little to no reason to believe she's a goddess just because she grew some wings.

I think it's just that me and so many other bronies have seen so many alicorn Mary Sue's that we associate alicorns with them, but less so after Cadance. Still, Twilight already was kind of a Mary Sue with her magic talent, but her social awkwardness balanced her out. I'm afraid that since Celestio said Twilight had 'learned so much about friendship' that her social awkwardness would dissipate. I mean, come on! She's and alicorn, a master of magic, a good friend, and a national hero of Equestria.

 

Those aren't traits of a Mary Sue at all!

 

PS:

 

Also, I don't think Twilight alone deserved to become an alicorn, since pretty much everything except the finale was a group effort.

 

PSS:

 

It also reinforces the obvious caste system in the show.

Unicorns Characters: Rarity, designer of extravagant gem-studded clothes, and Twilight, a master of magic AND a princess.

Pegasus Characters: Rainbow Dash, a great athlete and natural warrior, and Fluttershy, a caretaker of animals.

Earth Pony Characters: Applejack, a farmer, and Pinkie Pie, a baker.

 

Also, Canterlot is almost exclusively inhabited by unicorns, except for a guard force composed entirely of Pegasi, except for their commander, who of course is a unicorn.

 

Just needed to get that out of my system.

 

(Good grief, this post has become just a criticism of MLP)

[Metaright 76]

If you want to talk about plot holes then you need look no further than Spike. His very origin is a plot hole. It is indicated that he is the only dragon living amongst ponies as no one not even Twilight knows about dragon growth. Yet knowing this why was this the acceptance test for twilight? Its not indicated that Twilight met Celestia before that point so Celestia wouldn't know to test Twilight. Why did Celesia do that? Did she do it? Why let a little filly raise a dragon? Barring some clever explanation from season four it would seem a major plot hole. So it would seem you are right here, not because I was "reaching". But because in thinking I saw a connection between Twilight's element and his birth, I found a bigger problem. One which just becomes more confusing in the whole context of the show.

No, that was all explained. Twilight tries to entrance exam to see if she can get into Celestia's academy, and her task is to hatch a dragon egg. That's it. Celestia didn't necessarily have to be aware of Twilight until then. Hatching the egg was just the entrance exam.

 

And as for the whole "Spike's memory was spared because he has a close emotional connection to Twilight", I'm not buying it. There's nothing in the episode that can lead you to that conclusion.

Complaining about the episode and show the plot holes doesn't make you look smarter.

 

"We're not kids. We're intelligent adult watchers who know how to rate a show."

 

It looks like you're trying to say that. Seriously, it's funny to see how you do that. Moaning and complaining about a show which you claim you love so much. If you keep looking at the bad side, I bet you will find more and more, like the bad designed dresses for example, but if you see the good side, which isn't only few, you will feel grateful.

And mindlessly praising a show doesn't make you appear smarter, either. Heck, we might as well plop you down in front of a screen of static, because if I'm so arrogant for actually thinking critically, I suppose you can be satisfied with something that requires no thought at all.

 

Why can't you just understand that we all have different opinions? Having a debate is fine, but cut the childish insults and realize that I can have different values than you. Maybe you don't see the value in watching intelligent programming that doesn't pander to you like a toddler, but that's why I like the show in the first place. If my criticism is "moaning and complaining" simply because I didn't find the episode 100% perfect, then your praise of the episode is just mindless and unfounded.

[emiliomick145 0]

after watching the episode i will conclude that the series will go on!! (also confirmed  S4 with 26 episodes) But i have a few problems and questions about  twilicorn 1.is what kind of princess is she? 2.how does she already know how to fly properly?

[Anadu Kune 668]

No, that was all explained. Twilight tries to entrance exam to see if she can get into Celestia's academy, and her task is to hatch a dragon egg. That's it. Celestia didn't necessarily have to be aware of Twilight until then. Hatching the egg was just the entrance exam.

 

And as for the whole "Spike's memory was spared because he has a close emotional connection to Twilight", I'm not buying it. There's nothing in the episode that can lead you to that conclusion.And mindlessly praising a show doesn't make you appear smarter, either. Heck, we might as well plop you down in front of a screen of static, because if I'm so arrogant for actually thinking critically, I suppose you can be satisfied with something that requires no thought at all.

 

Why can't you just understand that we all have different opinions? Having a debate is fine, but cut the childish insults and realize that I can have different values than you. Maybe you don't see the value in watching intelligent programming that doesn't pander to you like a toddler, but that's why I like the show in the first place. If my criticism is "moaning and complaining" simply because I didn't find the episode 100% perfect, then your praise of the episode is just mindless and unfounded.

1. No you missed the point of the spike plot hole. Why was that an entrance exam at all? Its clear that no one passed it as it is indicated Spike is the only dragon among ponies. So was this specific to Twilight? If not that academy is apparently empty. If it was just an entrance exam why adopt it at all? Its clear pony knowledge of Dragon is more than severely limited. So why would students even exceptional ones be expected to hatch an dragon egg? 

 

2. I agreed with you in that second post about the Spike thing so why the insult? I thought there was a continuity reason for it but there wasn't. As I said in the last post it wasn't indicated in the episode. As a result of re watching the cutie mark chronicals I found the plot hole indicated above. Not only did it negate my spike arrangement's but presented a deeper problem.  Finding a round about way to say "hey your stupid and pompous  is not productive. I point out criticisms that I don't think fit, there just happen to be a lot. 

 

[Sky Warden 2,243]

No, that was all explained. Twilight tries to entrance exam to see if she can get into Celestia's academy, and her task is to hatch a dragon egg. That's it. Celestia didn't necessarily have to be aware of Twilight until then. Hatching the egg was just the entrance exam.

 

And as for the whole "Spike's memory was spared because he has a close emotional connection to Twilight", I'm not buying it. There's nothing in the episode that can lead you to that conclusion.And mindlessly praising a show doesn't make you appear smarter, either. Heck, we might as well plop you down in front of a screen of static, because if I'm so arrogant for actually thinking critically, I suppose you can be satisfied with something that requires no thought at all.

 

Why can't you just understand that we all have different opinions? Having a debate is fine, but cut the childish insults and realize that I can have different values than you. Maybe you don't see the value in watching intelligent programming that doesn't pander to you like a toddler, but that's why I like the show in the first place. If my criticism is "moaning and complaining" simply because I didn't find the episode 100% perfect, then your praise of the episode is just mindless and unfounded.

Then good luck on finding a 100% perfect episode. Let me think about it for a while. Debating is something like :

"I think A is like B because of C."

"Hmm. I think it's because of D."

"Well, I think it's C because bla bla bla."

"Maybe, but consider about D."

"Ah yes. I see. Then the conclusion is blablabla. Let's fix it then."

"According to our conclusion, this is how we can fix it."

A debate creates a helpful conclusion.

 

While moaning is like :

"Man! This game isn't like WOW!"

"Yeah. Look at the non-job system."

"Why don't they make it like A?"

"A pony game has to be perfect!"

"Yeah! The team didn't do anything worthy. They were just making a crappy game. I bet they didn't even put their best effort."

 

The difference. Nothing is perfect, but there's always a way to fix it. Debating is a way to get a conclusion to fix a problem, while moaning doesn't make anything. Making a show isn't easy. Making a game isn't easy. It's not just like "I want a perfect episode. Ta da~ Done." or "I want to make a game like WOW. Ta da~ Done." and when it's not perfect you simply moan to the team about it. Instead of wasting my time to "Man, this is suck. Look at this crap." I prefer wasting my time to "Team, this feature has a flaw. Let's find out why and how to fix it."

People make mistakes, and discussions try to find a way to fix it, or at least, to make the next product better than the current product.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

So, in my original thoughts on the finale, I talked about why I felt it was a strong episode. Having since rewatched the episode, however, I have been having some serious second thoughts. There were a number of issues that nagged at me when I watched through it the first time, issues that become much more glaring on rewatches to the point that I can't quite set them aside. It's frustrating because there are a number of things I really like about this episode; the quality of all of the songs is extraordinary and I love every single one. I've had “True True Friend” stuck in my head for days. But I can't ignore these issues.

Before I begin, I want to emphasize that the following post is about the episode as an episode. It is not about whether Alicorn Twilight is a good thing or not, which I continue to believe it is. This also does not take into account production considerations. I am aware that season three had a reduced budget and that this episode was originally written as a series finale, and as a result they chose to make some serious compromises. This is simply about the quality of the episode as it has been presented to us.

The episode has a number of serious flaws when it comes to plotting. A lot of people point to the pacing as a flaw, which it certainly has issues with, but the pacing is only a small part of the story. The actual plot is rather flimsy and contradicts a number of things we've learned in the past, about cutie marks, and about destiny in general.

First, there's the way the episode cold opens into a song. Although it's true this song is followed up on at the end of the episode in a reprise, much like how The Crystal Empire Parts I and II reprised its first song at the end, the song itself is rather meaningless and takes up far too much time for the episode. In order to tell any kind of story, particularly the two stories that this episode is trying to tell within the span of twenty two minutes, a writer must budget time appropriately. A song about how everything is fine doesn't do this. While it sounds nice and definitely has a worthwhile melody to it, it's a huge time waster and should have been cut entirely. (Even the animators had a hard time doing much with this song; that's probably why Twilight jumps up onto a table and dances because there was nothing else for her to do with it.)

From there, we segue into trying to handle the crisis with cutie marks, far too fast. The cutie marks themselves have never been about a set destiny. This has been stated by every single episode to ever deal with cutie marks. And yet here it's contradicted. Now, in my previous review I expressed a belief that the spell affected the memories of the Mane Six, which it did appear to do, so it made them think they're supposed to follow a new destiny even though that doesn't make much sense. And it's fraught with its own problems, since it doesn't explain why everyone else in Ponyville is okay with the change.

In fact the whole plot constantly contradicts itself throughout because it can't work the way it does. No one in Ponyville tries to say that the Mane Six are doing things wrong. There's a whole weather team that should have been objecting to Rarity's spellwork, for instance. Angel wasn't protesting the sudden lack of Fluttershy. The Cakes were nowhere to be found, and Applejack's family didn't even appear when Pinkie was mismanaging the farm. And so on and so forth. So, this should mean the spell affected everyone elses' minds to make them think everything was actually fine, yes?

Well, no, it couldn't have because we later see Applejack's family helping her regain her actual cutie mark.

As we progress through the episode, from “What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me,” the plot accelerates trying to deal with everything at a super blinding speed; this is where people point to the episode having issues with pacing. We also only learn about what caused the cutie mark switch-up at this point, after which we spend more time wasted in the episode with the song “I've Got To Find A Way,” which not only presents us with Twilight becoming depressed without giving us any chance to actually accept it before the plot zooms to the next event, but it also presents some incredibly difficult to believe montage animation throughout. I'm sorry, but I cannot accept that the Mane Six are the only things keeping Ponyville working. I can't accept that the rest of the weather team wouldn't boot Rarity off or that some higher authority than the weather team of Ponyville—say, the weather teams of Cloudsdale or another major city—wouldn't come in and stop what she's doing. I can't accept that Pinkie is so bad at managing a farm that she utterly destroys it within a day, nor can I accept that the rest of Applejack's family would just let her or be that incapable of managing the farm. I can't accept that Rainbow Dash is so unable to care for animals that she can't even conceive of feeding them. I can't accept that Pinkie's entertainment is the only thing keeping everyone in Ponyville from turning against each other.

I just can't accept any of that. It's too absurd.

After Twilight's depression is over in a split second, she figures out how to fix the problem, gathers everyone up, and another song montage proceeds with the Mane Six being restored. Problem created, conceived, and solved in about ten minutes, some of which wasn't even spent establishing the problem to begin with.

Again I'd like to stop here and point out that I love these songs. They're absolutely great music. But they just present so many problems with this episode in terms of telling the story. Specifically, the songs are misused. If I might borrow from something a friend of mine once told me, the songs in this show are typically used for two things:

1. Establishing characterization
2. Covering story that would otherwise be tedious to cover in normal dialogue sequences

Examples of the first include “Smile Smile Smile” while examples of the second would include “Art of the Dress”(which is actually both the first and second) as well as “At The Gala.”

What makes the songs in “Magical Mystery Cure” misused is that they're not just covering plot elements, but zipping past and outright skipping super important parts of the plot. They also fill time that could have been better used for other things.

For example, instead of revealing that Twilight received Starswirl's book only after we see the cutie marks have switched, why not open with her discovering the book and casting a spell, only for it to do seemingly nothing? It'd be a more effective use of time than a song that, while great to listen to, was ultimately meaningless.

After solving the problem with the cutie marks, we cut to Twilight finishing out the spell in Starswirl's book, which for whatever reason causes the Elements of Harmony to blast her. I still can't quite understand why this happens. We're told that it's because Twilight has a destiny to become an Alicorn, but why would that cause the Elements to blast her to a celestial realm? It feels as though this only happens because the plot requires it. I can try to explain this by suggesting that the Elements of Harmony are part of some natural magic of Equestria, that they detect that Twilight has created her own magic and so that means she needs to become an Alicorn.

Alternatively, the fact that she's blasted into seeming dust and then ends up in a celestial realm could possibly be a kid friendly way of saying the Elements killed her and that she had to be resurrected as an Alicorn.

Whatever the case we barely get a chance to understand what's happening before Celestia tells us all about this in a song that tells us it's all about Twilight's destiny. Again I take issue with the destiny aspect because it suggests that her becoming an Alicorn was something pre-determined, that she only went through motions Fate dictated to her and that it's not her effort that resulted in her earning the position and the title of Princess.

It also significantly muddles where Alicorns come from because we don't know if Cadance went through something like this, or if Celestia and Luna did, and if they did why are they so much larger than Twilight. It presents further confusing issues.

Then we have the sequence where Celestia explains to the others what's happened. This would have been a great time, if the episode were a two parter, for the Mane Six to have experienced some significant angst. It's nighttime when Twilight Ascends, so they've spent several hours sitting there. For all they know, they'd killed one of their best friends; all that was left behind was smoking ash in the shape of Twilight's cutie mark. But alas, missed opportunities.

I take strong issue with how Celestia phrases things. She says, “I'll still be here to help and guide you, but we're all your students now, too.” Student of what? Of knowledge? Of friendship? We don't get an answer, and the way it's phrased makes things almost as confusing as possible.

After that, the rest of the episode concerns itself with feel good imagery and songs that can be summed as “Twilight is a Princess; yay!” It's full of some fantastic animation, and I do love the outfits the Mane Six end up wearing. There's also a few good lines, like Shining Armor's “liquid pride” but also some problematic ones, such as the way Twilight's speech to the crowd opens with “A little while ago.” I realize they were trying to avoid setting a specific timeline, but that phrasing makes it seem like she could have ended up in Ponyville just a couple of months before she Ascended, or even just a few weeks.

On the whole, the episode has severe problems with its plot. The pacing is just the most obvious symptom of that; the plot as a whole is contrived and doesn't offer up as much as it could have. The whole episode could have benefited from some significant rewriting. A friend of mine, Norse Pony, offers up here one possible way the episode could have gone differently: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/129557/spoilers-an-alternate-finale-or-rewriting-friendship

My feelings about the episode are mixed, to sum up. There really is a lot about it that I still like. I love the songs; even the ones that I said should be cut for time are really good. “True True Friend” which has a few issues with the plot glaring in its montage of animation is probably my favorite out of the lot and, as I said at the beginning, has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw the episode. Twilight's Ascension as an Alicorn is something that I believed and continue to believe is something this show needed not only for the future, but also just because I think she deserves it. Twilight Sparkle has been growing as a character throughout the show and it's all been building towards one ultimate goal.

I just take so much issue with how they ended up doing it. They wanted to do a musical episode, because when this episode was written, in November of 2011, they thought this was the end of the show. This episode was more fitting of a series finale than a season finale, and I rather wish that once season four had been ordered they'd been able to go back and axe an episode of season three so they could turn this into a two parter. It would have been nice, but it's not what they were able to do unfortunately.

So my revised score for this episode, taking into account both the fact that I really like parts of it but that the plot is contrived... is 3/10. Compared to most episodes it falls far short of what it's trying to do. My original score of 7/10 was a result of praising the concept it was shooting for rather than what it actually ended up doing.

Still, I do feel like the issues present in this episode aren't likely to be repeated. As has been pointed out by many, season three was underfunded, and it showed in a lot of the writing. They thought this was the end of the series so they were trying to do too many large ideas with what they had, and they stumbled. It's understandable. Season four is likely to open up with a good, strong two parter that will resolve a lot of the unanswered questions from this, and will sell us on Alicorn Twilight far better than Magical Mystery Cure does. I'm still looking forward, with interest and excitement.

[BlueEyedPegasus 59]

Now look, I know that this episode has its flaws, but somehow, I just don't feel that it deserves a lot of negative reactions. I really hope you can respect my feelings.

Edited February 20, 2013 by BlueEyedPegasus

[Mane Sax 46]

Really, I could care less about Twilicorn or any of the flaws anybody in this thread is arguing about. I have a completely different complaint I would like to address. In the song "A True True Friend" Twilight and Applejack both mention the townspeople.

 

Townspeople...not townsPONIES...

[BlueEyedPegasus 59]

Really, I could care less about Twilicorn or any of the flaws anybody in this thread is arguing about. I have a completely different complaint I would like to address. In the song "A True True Friend" Twilight and Applejack both mention the townspeople.

 

Townspeople...not townsPONIES...

I honestly don't see Twilicorn as a flaw at all, and all the songs, including "A True True Friend", are great, but regarding your point about the townspeople, well, I actually find it kinda humorous.

 

Again, I sense that this is the kind of show in which all flaws are quite forgivable, unlike most shows on Nickelodeon. <_<

[Cantankerous 106]

I'm finding it difficult to criticize an episode that took me seven (eight?) viewings to grow tired of. Especially considering I've got a playlist of the musical numbers (well, minus the first and last) that I'm still going to re-watch. 

[Sky Warden 2,243]

I'm finding it difficult to criticize an episode that took me seven (eight?) viewings to grow tired of. Especially considering I've got a playlist of the musical numbers (well, minus the first and last) that I'm still going to re-watch. 

Aye. I just got a new playlist. This episode has many great songs. True Friends is awesome! To see the light~ and I love Celestia's Ballad very much. Even the episode starts with a song. I just realized how a great song can cheer an episode up. Man, I hope we willl get more songs in Season 4.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Sky Warden

[Blue Lightning 275]

I just watched the final episode a few hours ago. I can see a lot of reasons why people favor/repel the concept of Twilicorn. However, what gets me the most is this episode gives off the feeling that Mlp is coming to an end. And while I will admit I'm interested to see how they will go about the last season, it's gonna feel weird to see twilight with wings and a crown
that being said I really liked the vocal work on the song too. Props to those guys

[Magica 8]

I'm rather torn on this episode, but my overall mood is shifting towards the negative side.

 

First, the positive. I loved the first arc with the cutie marks being switched, I wish that could have been given it's own episode since that could have been one of my favourites. Instead, it was squeezed in and resolved far too quickly.

 

As for the second arc with Twilight's ascension...it was even more rushed and lots went unexplained. My feelings summed up are basically: Twilight became an alicorn and a princess 'just because'. I feel like I know anymore about the whole process than I did before watching the episode. Yes, we will probably get an explanation later, but it doesn't make the lack of explanation in this one episode any better.

 

Before anyone comes to declare bias, I'm mostly neutral on Twilight becoming an alicorn. No matter how much you may enjoy this episode, the pacing was horrible. No blame on the writers of course, they did what they could. This episode could have been so much better as a three parter. I really wanted to enjoy this, I really did, but there wasn't much for me to go off. There was potential, but not enough time to express it.

[Anadu Kune 668]

1.I didn't get any indication that that was supposed to be an artistic exaggeration of her dilemma, so I don't buy it. I could see how AJ being gone could have such a negative impact on the farm, without the extra help from her they wouldn't be able to handle it. I believe it, it's plausible. What I don't understand is, why they would even let Pinkie work there to begin with when she's very clearly incapable of the job, and also would help her, as she very clearly needed help. Maybe you could say they kept her on because she wanted to since her new cutie-mark compelled her, so they were just being nice. Even still, why did they not help her? Were they too busy doing their own tasks that they couldn't spare the time to help her?

 

 

2.Sorry, but I'm not buying the "visual symbolism" theory. There was nothing to indicate that what I was seeing wasn't supposed to be taken literally.

 

 

 

 

You know what, maybe they were upset because Pinkie wasn't around anymore, and for all we know, to be fair, it wasn't all of them, it looked like a LARGE amount, but not all. Perhaps it is plausible that a large amount of the citizens of Ponyville were miserable because they missed Pinkie.

 

 

 

 

3.Okay, the elements are tied to their cutie marks (as Twilight already knew since Starswirl's spell she cast switched their elements which in the process switched their cutie-marks, indicating an obvious connection between the two). However, I still can't fathom how she came to the conclusion that the elements being put back on their necks would help restore their memories and cutie-marks. I don't, I just don't.

1. Ah I see where your coming from I think. I dont think they know pinkie is not meant for the job because their places in the world were switched. This was indicated by the fact that Rarity said Rainbow dash's cottage. It they not just that they thought they were meant to do those jobs(though they did believe it)It that they were forcibly thrown into each others places. So the situation is less like they each just thought they were meant to do something and walked to the house they thought was theirs. It more like a magical swap as far as they or anyone else was concerned they had always been doing this. However we reach the problem of pacing again. See no pony in ponyville ever seem to recognize them being were their not supposed to be, but that they are terrible at what they do. However they never say directly that they do or don't. However I think its indicated heavily that they switched places in the world at large in this way as they dont just believe they are meant to do that job but that they have lived in the respective homes of the other ponies as well. Also by the way the animals reacted. Youd think if they recognized Fluttershy they would instantly react, but it takes a bit and they warm up to her. Looking at the mouse with the fork in particular seems to indicate this as he looks at Fluttershy with a cocked eye brow slowly easing in to listen to her. Also looking at Pinkie's re-harmonization she gets in front of the crowd of ponies as her hair poofs up again their faces light up and they shout Pinkies name in excited recognition. 

 

2.)To address the artistic exageration I think there is almost certainly some going on. Again I point to the decay of the trees, not only on the farm but outside of the carousel boutique. Then their return to normal. During "A True True friend" when arriving to the Apple farm we see the trees are dead and decrepid and pinkie is working alone. In one transition we see the trees are restored and only then do we see the apple family working in harmony representing a return to harmony to the farm. As I said before the Apple family in and of itself is a representation of harmony. Another example of visual exaggeration or symbolism is in What my cutie mark is telling me. We see the cutie marks appear on screen next to each other on top of a primary color of the ponie it belongs to. This immediately sets of the recognition of the normal status. Then as they each say that's what my cutie mark  they appear over the mark they've switched with beside the mark that belongs to them. This is exagetated visualization used to show the confusion of the characters.  

 

edit: also keep in mind that this is a musical. Musicals often use symbolic/ exagerated imagery. Granted not all of them do but many animated ones tend to, MLP has in the past. Giigle at the ghostie being an example, Smile song, Grand Galloping Galla(ticket master), Evil Enchantress, Hush now quite now(sweetie belle), Becoming Popular, Perfect Stallion,and BBFF. A great example in animated media is Hellfire from Disneys Hunchback of Notradame. Bearing this in mind it seems you may have gone into the episode with the same mindset you would a normal episode. Whilst its perfectly ok to do this I think it rises the chances of missing info a lot as musicals convey info in a different way.

 

3.) You cant fathom, but you are very close. She realizes the solution looking at a picture of them all together. At that point knowing the most important thing is friendship and its harmony. As you know the elements are connected to the ponies and their talents each of which represent an element and are activated by the harmony of friendship. As Twilight saw in Return of Harmony the connection can be severed when the ponies are forcibly changed. This was done by turning them against their element which is as indicated tied to their talent shown by discord appearing to the ponies as their cutie marks and the shape of the element. When turned against their element they would be unable to perform their talent and unable to use the element. Its a connection that's been severed and needs to be reestablished. In that case(return of harmony) Twilight reminded them of who they were as she had been reminded. In this case she knew she couldn't remind them of who they were but she could show them through friendship what they meant to each other. Knowing the elements were switched she and her friends had show each pony what they were meant for which is connected to their proper element which in turn is tied and activated by the bond of friendship they share. She knew this so by having each pony perform what they were meant for whilst wearing the proper element guided by friendship reactivated the connection. Again a connection Twilight herself realized in the first episode. A connection she had already had to reestablish once before. 

 

Return of harmony is an important part of this as it is mentioned twice and shown once. 

 

 

edit: I have come to realize an new plot hole through. Why does spike remember the mane six? I thought that continuity in the episode Cutie Mark Chronicles provided an answer. However it only led to a more troubling plot in that episode. Though I dont think either ruin either of the episodes as they are a small part of the episode when all is considered. 

 

Though I just came to the realization that Spike may be playing the part of Wybie in this episode. Let me explain. In the movie Coraline day Coraline just kinda talked to herself, the large reason Wybie was created was so Coraline didn't look like a lunatic.Spike is really only here so Twilight has some one to talk to. It may also play into the harmony theme as it would seem off to have a main character missing with such a strong underlying theme of unity. I dont know thats just something off topic and interesting, at least I thought it was.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Anadu Kune