S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

[Heatwave 177]

Well, this is actually the very first episode I watched. The "second to last nail" in my bronydom coffin (Friendship is magic 1 and 2 were the last)

This being said, I had no preconceptions of Twilight Sparkle or any of the ponies. When twilight said: "I have a feeling everything is NOT going to be fine" I was honestly like: What's wrong? xD

Even though it did seem a bit rushed, It still drew me in and I still loved it. I can understand someponies dislike for "Princess" Twilight Sparkle, but after having watched all the episodes in order (including MMC again at the end) I feel like it shows amazing character development on her part. However, that might be different if I had seen them in order from the beginning. Who knows?

[WsConanRoyal 63]

This was a wonderful episode and the perfect way to end the season. I do think it could've been extended into a two episode season finale like the first and second season, but oh well. It was still very good. Plus, A True True Friend is the best song EVER!

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

I do think it could've been extended into a two episode season finale like the first and second season, but oh well. 

 

But the finale of Season One was "The Best Night Ever."  Only the second season had a two part finale.

[Meirno 550]

I don't know if this has been caught yet, but I just noticed something in the first song. As we all know, MMC is packed FULL of throwbacks to older episodes and references. 

 

Here's one for you. Roughly 28 seconds in to the episode (Go check it out right now) Twilight passes a stallion pulling a sofa. Does anyone recognize this guy?

 

 

....pause for dramatic effect.....

 

 

 

This is the stallion from the season 1 opening theme(right when Twilight landed her balloon in Ponyville, he's pulling a cart), who was replaced by Big Mac later on in the show. 

 

Once again, apologies if I was slow to this, I just thought it was pretty cute. 

[yayayayayala 1,668]

Best...episode...ever. I'd been dreaming for a long time about Twiley becoming an alicorn and when she spread her wings for the first time I was like YES!! with my arms up in the air. Literally. XD

[WsConanRoyal 63]

But the finale of Season One was "The Best Night Ever."  Only the second season had a two part finale.

 

Yeah, I made a mistake there. But the season three finale seemed rushed. It was great, but should've been a two-parter.

[sparklejack 9]

wow

 

most of the episodes before have been with 0-2 songs but this one is basically a musical

 

morning in ponyville shimmers.....

 

ohhh whyyy.....

 

what my cutie mark is telling meee....

 

life in equestria shimmers.....

 

maybe even more

 

its been a while since i watched it

but why were there around 25 episodes in the others and this season had only 13

[YadaYadaFireBurn 7]

 

 

but why were there around 25 episodes in the others and this season had only 13

 

The others had 26. And when I saw Netflix only had 13 episodes in season 3, I totally thought they only had half of the season. Maybe the people making the show were eager to turn Twilight into a princess? After she became a princess, that was the perfect place to end the season, really. 

Also, it kinda made me sad that she became an alicorn to become a princess. I really liked the look of her as a unicorn, and I just, liked Twilight Sparkle the Unicorn more, because it seems like being an alicorn is just, a bit cliche. Not to be a hater or anything. But like, I dunno. Feels unfair to me. Seems a bit racist or whatnot. Sorry. Just gonna throw this out there.

[silver quest 15]

Why is season three sooooo much shorter than one and two?!?!

Lol just saw the comment before mine. It explained. But still irrated they shortened season three. Oh well. Movie time.

Edited February 4, 2014 by anipony

[Flamethrower 1]

I really dunno why this episode its so ''Loved and Hated''.

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

This article explains that Season 3 was shorter because the show was too popular.  Hasbro could make the same amount of money with half the episodes because the fans are so loyal.

 

 

Read Article Here

[BronyDubs 9]

So, after watching Season 3 and now I'm on to 4, but I've been thinking, if Celestia had said friendship is the most powerful magic ever and she finally mastered it, becoming an Alicorn. But could that mean she could be a bit more powerful than Celestia? Other than her being able to control the sun and walk through dreams, I think it might be possible that Twilight could have almost as much power or the same/more power than Celestia. All the others learned the magic of something, like Cadence learned the magic of love and that's really powerful as well. I just think it's possible for Twilight to over throw Celestia or something.

[LooneyBrony 6]

Something I've got to get off my chest, ever since One Bad Apple, I felt like the series has jumped a small tank of piranhas and no episode has pulled me out of the slump. In fact, honestly, MMC made the feeling worse! But, I then came across a pair of reviewers in a crossover (I am deeply sorry that I can't' remember the names), and how they mentioned they didn't like the "Hearts Warming Eve" episode, an episode I thought was inoffensive and overall decent.
 
They proceeded to describe the version they'd like: The episode would begin with the Mane 6 bickering about whatever which causes a minor disaster. Twilight would feel a bit depressed seeing her friends like that especially on such an important holiday and she would make them gather around and she (or Spike) would tell the origin story and that each of the Mane 6 would superimpose themselves into the story as it was told. That premise had its own flaws but the thought experiment itself was actually pretty fun to think about. So I did the same for MMC in the spirit of trying something new and created a remade episode. It's LOOONG but something I feel better encapsulates what I expected out of the episode rather than just being incendiary with criticism.
 

For starters I AM NEUTRAL TO THE APPEARANCE OF ALICORN TWILIGHT.

 

Instead, my overall issue is how Twilight's character development and transformation was executed: To me, one of the most important aspects when dealing with significant character development is the personal drama that comes with it.

 

And one of the biggest mistakes of the original was that the personal drama was conveyed almost purely through the style and symbolism of the setting rather than through character interactions. Now this can work if it has decent framing. But again, that framework, which includes the plot devices, needs to be derived from having believable character drama.

 

Now that might sound like a confusing over generalization but this will probably make more sense as I explain myself. So, here's how my remade version will play out.

 

First, we start the cold opening with the flashback scene where the unfinished spell and the elements are introduced. The same beats play out where Twilight casts the spell and rearranges the elements. This is put in the beginning in order to provide dramatic tension. And as the intro plays, this established tension makes the upcoming conflict more engaging and also streamlines the pacing.

 

After the opening, we then see Spike shaking Twilight awake, saying that all of Ponyville is in utter chaos. When Twilight goes outside to look, we see snow, sleet, hail, rain and lightning scattered all around town, animals are running rampant, and the townsponies are panicking. Here, we again address the pacing issue as we're presented this serious crisis immediately and we're now more interested about wanting to know what exactly happened and what Twilight will have to go through to fix this problem.

 

Now, on a side note, if you really wanted a mood-whiplash joke, like the one in the original that was disguised as the musical opening, there are funnier and punchier ways to present this: Here's an example. While still in cold opening, after the elements play wheel of fortune, we then see it is the next day. Spike is just finishing up cleaning while Twilight is just getting up. Spike comments that Twilight had slept longer than usual and that he's pretty much finished with all his chores.

 

Now despite her oversleeping, Twilight says that she feels refreshed. She walks to the door getting ready to leave and comments that she feels like today's going to be a great day. She opens the door and the same "utter chaos" plays out. Except at the end, the "camera" turns to the face of a bewildered and horrified Twilight. Now cue intro.

 

But back to the main story. Twilight, of course, thinks this has to do with the casting the unfinished spell and she goes around town trying to find out exactly what is happening and what the effects are. Along the way we see the townponies react to these seemingly out-of-nowhere events:  they try to clean up the mess, hide and fortify themselves in their houses, because they do that quite often, and we also see the Mayor Mare getting involved by organizing containment and repair.

 

In this scene, in front of town hall, Twilight notices a blue light zapping the clouds coming from inside on the top floor. She recognizes it as unicorn magic and goes inside to investigate, and at the same time, we also hear that the mayor had already sent a request to the princesses to come by and assess the situation.

 

Inside the town hall, we see that Rarity is the culprit of the weather. Now here's where it gets interesting. Twilight then calls on Rarity with absolute horror to stop her magic, saying that Rarity supposed to know that unicorns are never to use their magic on the weather as it causes harmful unpredictable disruptions***.

 

***This one statement would completely explain why pegasi are needed as weather ponies since they would be the only race capable to interact with the clouds without danger. Instead, the original demonstrates the unicorns as the master race and completely contradicts why the pegasi are ecologically important, as seen in Heart's Warming Eve.

 

But back to story, Rarity looks back at Twilight saying that she does know that, but she always knew herself as the only pony capable of handling this correctly. It seems like her memory is screwed up. Twilight then notices that she has Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and quickly surmises that it's because of the unfinished spell.

She tries to solve the issue by casting her memory spell. However, it fails as Rarity violently shoves Twilight away looking insulted and rubbing her head in tremendous pain. She yells at Twilight asking "What are you doing?" Twilight explains that her memory is messed up and that she is trying to set it right.

 

But Rarity stubbornly affirms that her memory is completely fine and that Twilight should keep her intrusive magic to herself. Understandably, Twilight is confused and she quips that she's Rarity's friend and that Rarity knows that Twilight would never do something to harm her. However, Rarity then says with a perplexed look, "Darling, other than the library and the magic talent, I don't even know you."

 

And, to me, this is what demonstrates that the original had misplaced focus. Instead of making the spell work as a tool to enhance the character drama, we're sidetracked into an unnecessary song about destiny and cutie marks which made this episode feel like it was taking place in a stage musical parody rather than the living organic world of Equestria.

 

In my version, the reasons why cutie marks are switched up and why Twilight's friends assume the wrong roles are made irrelevant by the horrifying fact that their friendship has been severed. It doesn't matter how the spell messed things up but it needs to be fixed.

 

Now with this personal crisis, Twilight prepares to go back to the library to fix the spell but she's interrupted by Applebloom. Applebloom desperately asks for Twilight's help at the farm as Big Mac's out of town helping other family and she can't find Applejack. She says that she and Granny Smith are trying to shoo critters away from the apples and Pinkie Pie is messing up the farm. That last bit gets Twilight sprinting.

 

And when both of them arrive at the farm, we see that Pinkie Pie is indeed messing things up but is also acting like she knows what she's doing and Twilight still cannot get the memory spell to work. Meanwhile, Granny Smith and Applebloom continue to chase off the critters eating the crops leaving Twilight to make only some temporary fixes.

 

However, it is clear that they need Fluttershy to calm the animals and that she needs to contain the crisis before everything goes out of control. Now, for the rest Twilight's friends, similar beats can play out: Twilight goes to Fluttershy's home where Rainbow Dash is there actually mistreating the animals but acting like she knows what she's doing hence why animals are so upset. Again, Twilight's memory spell is ineffective and Rainbow Dash doesn't see her as a friend.

 

On her way back to town, Sweetie Belle catches Twilight and begs her to help with the boutique as Applejack is ruining the home and the dresses Rarity made. Again, memory spell fails, she's making things worse but believes herself to be good at it, and she is not a friend to Twilight.

 

Finally, after searching all over, Fluttershy is found at the Cake's being an accidentally terrible host at a birthday party. Again, she doesn't see Twilight as a friend and she rejects the idea of helping with the animals.

Twilight, this time, refocuses her goal on fixing the spell and tackling the root of the problem. But once more, she is stopped, but this time, by the mayor and a large crowd. The situation has become so dire and out of control that they start demanding Twilight for advice on how to fix the problems. However, they wind up cornering Twilight. And here is where we will see how the unfinished spell has affected her.

 

Twilight tries to explain that she can fix the most damaging problems but that she needs to head to her library. The townsponies are not satisfied with that and they act more desperate in their questioning. However, the fatigue of running around all day putting bandages on problems and the overwhelming stress from the townsponies pushes Twilight to her limit.

 

Her eyes go white as she screams for everyone to stop. And as she screams, a bright flash from her horn covers the whole screen and we hear a low loud boom.

 

When flash fades, we see Twilight opening her eyes, and half of ponyville utterly destroyed: buildings that were at least still standing have been toppled with debris and ponies scattered everywhere and we see Twilight is the epicenter.

 

No one was hurt, not even the ones inside the buildings. But now everyone is looking at Twilight with faces of anger, disgust and terror. With overwhelming guilt and shock, Twilight steps forward trying to explain herself but everyone recoils in fright. But before she can bring herself to properly explain things, Celestia and Luna land right in front of her with looks of shock on their faces.

 

Celestia asks Twilight what happened and Twilight, still shocked, stammers about with tears of guilt welling in her eyes. Eventually she says how this all got started with her casting the unfinished spell. Celestia and Luna look at each other with hints of guilt on their faces. Celestia then declares that they will remain in Ponyville to help with the rebuilding effort while Luna asks Spike to retrieve Starswirl's book.

 

And before the princesses turn to the crowd, Celestia apologizes to a speechless, dumbfounded Twilight saying that they thought that Twilight was ready. When she says that, in Twilight's mind she has failed her mentor and now her tears are flooding. Heartbroken, powerless and alone, Twilight can do nothing but flee to her library.

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

So yes, I do think this would have been stronger as a two parter but at the same time, seeing how a lot of people saw the Crystal Empire as the weaker of the Season Openings, I'm skeptic about how well the arc of Twilicorn was going to be handled IMHO.

 

Edit: More spaces so this doesn't be too eyeball burning.

Edited February 15, 2014 by LooneyBrony

[SBaby 660]

I will say one thing.  I didn't have as negative of an opinion on this episode as many people did.  When I first saw it, I was kind of put off by it at first.  But what I decided to do is wait a little bit before voicing my thoughts.  And the more I thought of it, the more I realized that really, this was something that really had to happen at some point, especially since there was some build up to it.

 

My only real criticism of the episode itself lies in the rushed nature of it.  It was only one part, with enough ideas to last for two or three parts. 

 

In fact, the original script was written with a three part episode in mind, where the first part was actually supposed to show Twilight getting the spell and casting it.  And the Cutie Mark Crusaders were also supposed to make an appearance in it as well, and they were the ones that were supposed to let Twilight know what's been happening.  Also the scene with Celestia at the end was supposed to be longer and involve a clip show of some of Twilight's exploits since the beginning of the series (hence all the PIP videos you see in that scene).  For that matter, that wasn't supposed to really be Celestia that she saw in that vision, but instead her subconscious which simply took the form of Celestia (the scene still implies this to some degree, but not as clearly as it was supposed to state).  In all fairness, this could have been a censoring edit because they didn't want kids to realize that the other 5 members of the mane 6 essentially killed Twilight so she could be reborn as an Alicorn (though they still left the burn mark from the original script in; whoops).

 

All this was excised because they cut the season down to 13 episodes.  And it really is a shame, because it would have been interesting to see peoples' opinions on it, had the full version been completed.  But unfortunately because of the changes, it wasn't as satisfying of an end to the season as it could have been, especially with the possibility of Twilight not being able to see her friends as much.

Edited February 27, 2014 by SBaby

[TheLooneyTurtle 7]

Yet again I have bade a video about Magical Mystery cure 

Edited March 4, 2014 by TheLooneyTurtle

[RareTreasure 25]

I had gotten a lot of mixed reviews from friends after season one, saying that I should basically skip most episodes except the ones that were Rarity-centric. 

I still continued on and, unpopular opinion I suppose, I really loved the last episode of season three. Yes, the season was quite a lot shorter than the other seasons, but I don't think it was lacking for that reason. Maybe it's because I'm watching it through Netflix and there isn't as much concern for me about how many weeks of new episodes I'm seeing, but I think some seasons stretched even a little thin after a while. Then again, I also come from an anime background where 12-13 episodes per season is really commonplace.

All of the music from the episode was awesome. I love the bigger voiced songs (maybe a bit biased being an opera singer/choir member for several years). They just seem to be so well done, and I love that about the show. There's something for everyone. Twilight's coronation song was awesome. "True, True Friend" is constantly stuck in my head at this point. I'll tip my hat for all of the music. I do also understand that, for some, musicals just aren't everyone's thing. 

It was probably one of the more emotional episodes for me. I didn't like Twilight for the longest time. I found her pompous because she was "above" the whole friendship thing. As time went on, though, I started to like her more without realizing I had. Strangely enough, I am a lot like Twilight in a lot of ways. Anyway, I digress. I cried a little. There, I said it. I found this was one of my favorite episodes in the series thus far.

[Pastel 7,630]

This is my least favorite episode of the whole show so far.

The end is awful; so random and doesn't make a lot of sense.

I'm not against Twilight becoming an alicorn, but the way it's introduced is just bad.

It also has too many songs, but the "What my Cutie Mark is Telling me" song is really nice.

Edited March 31, 2014 by BlobuIle

[Allen 1,387]

I saw Twilight Sparkle has transformed from a unicorn to an alicorn as a princess. That's good, though. Even they've welcome Twilight Sparkle a new princess of Equestria.

[Zoraxe 546]

This episode has a lot of problems with it if you stop to think. I try not to think of this episode because it makes Celestia look terrible.

 

I know that every non-brony ive explained the plot of this episode to immediatly say something along the lines of "what a bitch".

[GreyScholar 1,584]

This episode has a lot of problems with it if you stop to think. I try not to think of this episode because it makes Celestia look terrible.

 

I know that every non-brony ive explained the plot of this episode to immediatly say something along the lines of "what a bitch".

It only has problem if you miss a couple of details and misinterpret the scene with Celestia. First of, she did not transform Twilight into an alicorn. The magic that changed her into an alicorn came from her, from inside herself, so Celestia did not force her to be an alicorn. Two, Celestia is only a bitch if you look at it with a more cynical mind as she was not playing her student like a puppet but nudging her in the right direction, the guide who helps point the traveler in the right direction but allows them to make the journey themselves.

[Zoraxe 546]

It only has problem if you miss a couple of details and misinterpret the scene with Celestia. First of, she did not transform Twilight into an alicorn. The magic that changed her into an alicorn came from her, from inside herself, so Celestia did not force her to be an alicorn. Two, Celestia is only a bitch if you look at it with a more cynical mind as she was not playing her student like a puppet but nudging her in the right direction, the guide who helps point the traveler in the right direction but allows them to make the journey themselves.

 

She sent twilight a unfinished spell, knowing what would happen. and twilight fixing the problem is what caused the Alicornification.

 

So she didn't "make the journey herself", nor did the power coming from within her mean anything.

[GreyScholar 1,584]

@@Zoraxe, 

Actually I would argue that nos she did not know what would happen, perhaps at best only guessing, as the spell was unfinished. I would also say the spell itself only transported her to that ethereal plane not actually brought about the transformation. Actually there have been a number of cases I feel Celestia has put together a plan knowing there was a possibility of failure but trusting in the ponies she relies on to get things done.

So again, I would say Twilight did take the journey herself, with more help from her friends then Celestia herself. That the transformation did come from within, and not from Celestia.

[Zoraxe 546]

@@Zoraxe, 

Actually I would argue that nos she did not know what would happen, perhaps at best only guessing, as the spell was unfinished. I would also say the spell itself only transported her to that ethereal plane not actually brought about the transformation. Actually there have been a number of cases I feel Celestia has put together a plan knowing there was a possibility of failure but trusting in the ponies she relies on to get things done.

 

So again, I would say Twilight did take the journey herself, with more help from her friends then Celestia herself. That the transformation did come from within, and not from Celestia.

 

"Actually I would argue that nos she did not know what would happen, perhaps at best only guessing, as the spell was unfinished."

 

Wow, what a bitch.

 

"So again, I would say Twilight did take the journey herself, with more help from her friends then Celestia herself. That the transformation did come from within, and not from Celestia."

 

So? If I started a complicated series of events that leads to somebody burning down his own house, I would still be the one responsible, right?

[GreyScholar 1,584]

@@Zoraxe,

I'm sorry, but if Celestia is somehow a bitch for that one episode... that would make Dumbledore even worse. In the books there have been multiple time he used his students for his own reasons, Harry in particular, and made other decisions that can be questioned as good. If I must I will see about offering examples but such could take some time.

 

Also the one true instance of Celestia putting Twilight where she wanted her was when she sent her student to Ponyville. Her hope being that Twilight would make friends but not telling her so the friendships would be real, and then left the rest up to her so that Nightmare Moon would be defeated and her sister Luna redeemed. There was strong suggestion that Celestia had been defeated and banished to the sun by Nightmare Moon as well, thus why she was not around to do anything.

 

Celestia and Luna were literally next to powerless against Discord, which is why she would send her student the friendship letters just in case Twilight would lose herself.

 

The Canterlot Wedding, the invasion wasn't planned for at all so I will put that aside as Celestia herself had been deceived so I will put this aside.

 

The return of King Sombra though Celestia did have something of a plan, which was to sent Twilight and her friends to make sure the tyrant didn't win, as the unicorn had more then proven herself capable of making the right choice.

 

Lastly, as any ruler or leader knows, sometime you need to setup plans that require certain details kept hidden or unspoken. It being noted that I see Celestia as a nicer version of The Mare Wearing the Queenly Mask: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask

[Zoraxe 546]

@@Zoraxe,

I'm sorry, but if Celestia is somehow a bitch for that one episode... that would make Dumbledore even worse. In the books there have been multiple time he used his students for his own reasons, Harry in particular, and made other decisions that can be questioned as good. If I must I will see about offering examples but such could take some time.

 

Also the one true instance of Celestia putting Twilight where she wanted her was when she sent her student to Ponyville. Her hope being that Twilight would make friends but not telling her so the friendships would be real, and then left the rest up to her so that Nightmare Moon would be defeated and her sister Luna redeemed. There was strong suggestion that Celestia had been defeated and banished to the sun by Nightmare Moon as well, thus why she was not around to do anything.

 

Celestia and Luna were literally next to powerless against Discord, which is why she would send her student the friendship letters just in case Twilight would lose herself.

 

The Canterlot Wedding, the invasion wasn't planned for at all so I will put that aside as Celestia herself had been deceived so I will put this aside.

 

The return of King Sombra though Celestia did have something of a plan, which was to sent Twilight and her friends to make sure the tyrant didn't win, as the unicorn had more then proven herself capable of making the right choice.

 

Lastly, as any ruler or leader knows, sometime you need to setup plans that require certain details kept hidden or unspoken. It being noted that I see Celestia as a nicer version of The Mare Wearing the Queenly Mask: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask

 

No, she is not a bitch because of that episode. But that is because I disregard the episode as the most poorly written episode in the shows running. Celestia isn't evil, she is just poorly written in an episode.

 

And yeah, Didn't Dumbledore feel like a total slimeball because of what he did to Harry? And wasn't Harry equally hatefull to Dumbledore for a long period of time for the same reason?

 

Reading Harry Potter, Dumbledore seemingly went from infallable mentor figure to a manipulative bastard, and then to a well meaning but still manipulative guy you felt sorry for more than anything.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Zoraxe