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There are 3 episodes in season 3 that everyone accuses of being rushed: Magic Duel, Keep Calm And Flutter On, and Magical Mystery Cure. I don't agree with any of this and I'm going to explain why:

 

Magic Duel: Everyone seems to think that Trixie was redeemed in this episode, therefore, her redemption was rushed. But the only thing that was "redeemed" were her actions in this episode, and not her overall character. She only apologized for being eviler than usual. She's still the same "humble" pony she was from Boast Busters.

She even calls herself "great" at the end, and runs off the same way she did at the end of Boast Busters. It seemed to me that she still did not feel welcome in Ponyville. Until she feels welcome in Ponyville, I don't see how anyone can say that she is truly redeemed. Everyone said that this episode was rushed because of Trixie's "redemtion" but it really doesn't seem like she was redeemed at all. 

 

Could I see this being a two-parter? No. Because Trixie wasn't really redeemed at the end, having a 44 minute episode about Trixie which ends with her running out of Ponyville the same way she did in Boast Busters would feel pretty pointless. If she was actually redeemed, I'd be okay with a 2-parter. 

 

Keep Calm And Flutter On: I'm gonna have to be careful here, because I have "Fluttershy Is Best Pony Syndrome" and "Discord Is Best Villain Syndrome" so I may be a little biased. That said, Discord's reformation did not upset me at all. I was incredibly excited when I first read the synopsis for this episode and it did not disappoint. This episode seems even less rushed to me, than Magic Duel, and as I've already stated, Trixie was not truly redeemed at the end of that one. In this episode however, Discord really was reformed at the end. This episode actually was focused on Discord's redemption, unlike Magic Duel, which was pretty much Trixie being eviler than usual, and than apologizing at the end. Anyways, time to stop talking about Magic Duel. This episode didn't feel rushed to me in any way whatsoever. I have never been able to fathom why anyone thinks this episode is rushed at all. Imagine if you have lived for over a thousand years without a single friend, and than suddenly, a kind yellow pegasus called you her friend. How long would it really take you to have a change of heart? Maybe longer than a day, but we can't have a 24 hour long episode. And think about it. Discord didn't really have a change of heart until his friendship with her was threatened. It wasn't like this:

 

Fluttershy: You're my friend.

Discord: I've never really had a friend before. I'm going to change my ways completely now.

 

There actually was some relationship building between Discord and Fluttershy. The pacing was perfect, and I still cannot believe that people actually called this episode rushed. Maybe I'm biased, or maybe the people who didn't like this episode don't like the idea of making Discord a good guy. If it weren't for his reformation, we would probably just get occasional clones of Return Of Harmony, and we would see a bunch of episodes of Discord being turned back to stone at the end, so I'm glad they made this episode.

 

Coud I see this being a two-parter? Not at all. This episode is perfect the way it is. It also felt pretty long on my first viewing, which is saying a lot, considering that I enjoyed the f*** out of this episode. Unless it was an adventurous episode, I think a two-parter would just be too long.

 

Magical Mystery Cure: First of all, this was a musical. That means that it had an excuse to be fast-paced. If you want to make a 22 minute episode with a lot going on, a musical is the best way to go. That said, I actually understand it if you still feel like this one was rushed. Unlike the episodes listed above, I think that this one could qualify, but I'm still not going to call it rushed. The way I see it, this episode could have been titled "Friendship Is Magic Part 65." What I mean, is that there has been plenty of development for Twilight throughout the series. Trixie and Discord have only had a few episodes unlike Twilight, who's the main character. I see this episode as an end to a loose 65 episode story arc. Many argue that she didn't "earn" her princesshood and that it was just given to her. I'd agree with that if this was the only episode that I've ever seen, but it wasn't. The events of the past episodes prove that Twilight has done enough to deserve this. Sure, the episode could have been longer, but I am quite satisfied with it the way it is. 

 

Could I see this being a two-parter? Of course! They could have thrown away either Games Ponies Play, or Spike At Your Service, and made this a two-parter and I would be satisfied. But honestly, I think this episode is fine the way it is. And I've also have come up with a scenario that would be MUCH worse than what we got:

What if this was a two-parter, but part one was about the cutie marks and Twilight becoming an Alicorn at the end, and part two would be nothing but the coronation. There would be no character development, explainations on the mythology of alicorns, etc. It would be nothing but a coronation for 22 minutes.

 

Maybe I'm being too nice. There are a few reasons I'm not a very harsh critic. For one, I'm criticizing a cartoon about talking ponies. And two, I like to criticize something for what it is and not what it could have been.

 

Am I being too nice? Or am I making sense?

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Keep Calm and Flutter On is probably my favorite episode in season 3, right behind Too Many Pinkie Pies. Magic Dual could have been better in my opinion. Magical Mystery Cure definitely could have been better. I think the reason why it was rushed was because it was only a 13 episode season. Oh well, that's water under the bridge now.

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Magic Deul wasn't really rushed. Trixie was apologizing so she wouldn't be in trouble. So she sucked up to Twilight.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter on was rushed, simply because Discord actually reformed, and stayed in Ponyville. That said, it needed much more time.

 

Magical Mystery Cure was a musical. I know. I don't care. They still tried to fit way too much in 22 minutes. I'd prefer a well passed two parter then what we got. Games that Ponies Play was terrible (And also rushed) IMO, so yea. We only even saw Princess Twilight for 3 minutes. ._.

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Keep Calm and Flutter On was pretty rushed. Magical Mystery Cure was obviously rushed, we just got to wait until the 2nd part of the episode. Then, this unnecessary drama will end once and for all.

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The only one I disagree with is Magical Mystery Cure. To me, it felt extremely rushed, and despite it being a "musical", had one song too many. In stage musicals, you get several meaningful intervals of action and regular speech, whereas in MMC it was literally song after song after song (during the songs it would show clips of what was happening with everypony only to give you an idea, rather than actually develop full scenes from certain issues). Twilight also found out how to solve the problem way too quickly and returned everypony to their former selves quickly as well.

In short, it felt way too rushed because it purposely used excessive songs to just give an idea of the problems, and Twilight found the solution way too easily without any hindrances to slow and discourage her.

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(edited)

Magic Duel could of been a two-parter. It seems pretty rushed. There should of been a longer sequence of Twilight dealing with her loss and then having to find a way to outsmart Trixie for a better build up.

 

Magical Mystery Cure should of been a two to three parter. She didn't even try to fix the problem immediately with her magic. There should of been a sequence of failures and attempts before she became so depressed (she became depressed way too quickly). And then there should of been a long sequence of her discovering how she can alter destiny.

 

It would of been a perfect time to bring back Sombra coming back for his revenge and stronger than ever to do justice on the villain and also have an adversary for Twilight to overcome. A battle between Twilight and Sombra towards a climactic end would of been epic. Because it seems one of the duties of a princess is to defend her subjects (as seen on Canterlot Wedding), Sombra's defeat would prove her worthy of the title in addition to her understanding of friendship.

 

I don't know feels rushed.

Edited by poniesforfun
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The only one I disagree with is Magical Mystery Cure. To me, it felt extremely rushed, and despite it being a "musical", had one song too many. In stage musicals, you get several meaningful intervals of action and regular speech, whereas in MMC it was literally song after song after song (during the songs it would show clips of what was happening with everypony only to give you an idea, rather than actually develop full scenes from certain issues). Twilight also found out how to solve the problem way too quickly and returned everypony to their former selves quickly as well.

In short, it felt way too rushed because it purposely used excessive songs to just give an idea of the problems, and Twilight found the solution way too easily without any hindrances to slow and discourage her.

That's Understandable. But have you seen the episode of Powerpuff Girls called "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey?" That episode was COMPLETELY in song, and it was one of the best episodes of the series, despite being in the worst season of the series. If musicals are not your personal preference that's fine, but you can't OBJECTIVELY criticizes something for having "one song too many."

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My opinion:

 

Magic Duel:

 

Not rushed. Development time was longer than most other Season 3 episodes as it was originally a Season 2 episode. Pacing was spot-on, and it was open ended enough for Trixie to return, good or bad.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter On:

 

Also not rushed. If I'm not mistaken, this wasy also to be a Season 2 episode. The was a pretty well defined beginning, middle, and end.

 

Magical Mystery Cure:

 

Definitely rushed. The two major plot points (Twilight becoming a princess & Switching the cutie marks) could have just as easily been their own seperate episodes, and so I feel that they lost some impact with both by having it only be one.

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(edited)

Now remember, Magical Mystery Cure is going to be a three parter leading into season 4. That episode was only the first part. We still have more to see, so stick around.  

 

EDIT: I was horribly wrong.

Edited by ~Vallo~
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(edited)

I do believe the pacing for each of those episodes were off. But I also believe that extending them to 2-parters would have been wrong as well, without adding too much padding that puts the pacing off again.

 

What the episodes would have benefited from would be flexible time slots, so they could have added about 5-10 minutes additional material for transitions.

 

This is what my wife tells the girls she coaches for vaulting, 'transitions are critical'. You can do all the moves perfectly, but if you stutter or are otherwise awkward in the transition, the entire routine will be judged poorly. Each of these episodes has overly abrupt transitions that could have used a few more minutes.

 

EDIT: You know, I would like to see 'Director's Cut' versions of several episodes on the DVDs. I think that would be fascinating to see what the writers/animators would be able to do without the 22-minute required timeslot.

Edited by Fhaolan
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I thought the season finale was extremely rushed honestly. The problem with the cutie marks was solved very quickly and then Twilight suddenly became an alicorn. It was ridiculous.

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Magic Duel: Not at all, it had an interesting plot, good buildup and a satisfying ending. And it left it open for Trixie to make another return appearance later as though she is on her way to being reformed I don't think she is fully reformed yet.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter on: Though I would have preferred to see Discord be evil for just a bit longer before reforming I have no complaints about the episode itself. We got to see Discord be Discord and Fluttershy making excuses for him really made it even more interesting.

 

Magical Mystery Cure: It was the most rushed episode ever, the songs while they were by no means bad seemed like they were just thrown up to fill up time making them seem like a mere formality for the big finish being alicorn Twilight. The cutie mark switching idea was good but was solved a bit too quickly for my taste and should have been its own episode leading into a two parter where Twilight becomes an alicorn. And alicorn Twilight being introduced at the last few seconds of the episode made this abrupt change feel yet even more jarring and rose far more questions than it has answered. Don't get me wrong I didn't expect them to tell us everything right off the bat but I expected a little more than "hey guess what Twilight you get to be an alicorn princess because you have been a good teachers pet and you have friends."

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That's Understandable. But have you seen the episode of Powerpuff Girls called "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey?" That episode was COMPLETELY in song, and it was one of the best episodes of the series, despite being in the worst season of the series. If musicals are not your personal preference that's fine, but you can't OBJECTIVELY criticizes something for having "one song too many."

I'm only criticizing it because it used the songs as a way to cram so many things into mere minutes. I've seen musicals and have enjoyed them, so I'm not criticizing it because I don't like musicals...

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Trixie was apologizing so she wouldn't be in trouble.

 

That could beg the question "Was she really being honest?"

 

Anyway I can't see Magical Mystery Cure being a two-parter. Even if they only did a few of the songs, it still would only be a one=part episode. The same goes for Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magic Duel.

 

It all boils down to the depth of the lessons and content of the episode.  

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That could beg the question "Was she really being honest?"

 

Anyway I can't see Magical Mystery Cure being a two-parter. Even if they only did a few of the songs, it still would only be a one=part episode. The same goes for Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magic Duel.

 

It all boils down to the depth of the lessons and content of the episode.  

I just said she probably wasn't being honest. "Sucking up" is generally lying. I highly doubt she would be the one apologizing to the pony that put her in exile... But that's a story for another time.

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Anyway I can't see Magical Mystery Cure being a two-parter

 

I've never heard that one before. Just out of curiosity, why not? Like I said before, I don't think it needed to be a two-parter, but I could still see it being one.

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(edited)

Magic Duel's pace from beginning to end was completely spot-on, but calling Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magical Mystery Cure not rushed is not true one bit.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter On is definitely rushed in timing, writing, and setting. Discord has been a thorn in Equestria for eons, raising hell over a thousand years ago and then doing the same when the stone curse weakened and broke. He is a god and a villain with little regard for anyone but himself. He was crazy, selfish, menacing, and psychotic. In less than twenty-four hours, he went from an evil nuisance to a neutral, semi-antagonistic draconequus. Realistically, it makes no sense. For redemption like him to function plausibly, it needs to be taken much longer. At least fourty-eight hours and more than one episode. Furthermore, there was way too much content squeezed in for it to genuinely make sense. From beginning to end, it went from one moment to another without any time to relax and change its pace. The characterization and foreshadowing made the episode much stronger than it should have been, but the fast pace weakened the overall episode and made his redemption not so convincing.

 

Magical Mystery Cure amplified KCaFO's main flaw. The songs were slow, but everything was all crammed in one twenty-minute episode (with some like I've Got to Find a Way chopped from time constraints). The conflict was resolved way too quickly, and the inorganic foreshadowing (a.k.a., the Twilicorn resolution) that was shoved in sped MMC up further. There wasn't any time to genuinely calm down and space the information apart so we can see and feel the characters in between the songs. The conflict, resolution, and consequences were brief and had no time to fully explore. Although the songs were great, it made the episode even faster because there wasn't as much dialogue to calm down the pace and space everything apart for everything to make logical sense. Not only could it have been a two-parter; it SHOULD have been a two-parter.

Edited by Dark Qiviut
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1) Magic duel was perfectly paced, I'm not sure what expanding it to a second episode would have accomplished.

 

2) I do have real issues with Keep Calm and Flutter On.  Discord's conversion happened too quickly, it was not well enough established for such a change to be plausible, frankly it just needed much more groundwork for it to work.  And this has nothing to do with the pacing, but I think that in converting him, we lost a key component of what made him so memorable in Return of Harmony- The acutal sense of *menace* he brought to the show. 

 

A lot of people seem to like this development because it means "more Discord", and having him be a recurring villain would become repetitive.  I agree that that would become repetitive, but I'd rather have him *at best* make only one return appearance and be remembered as a *great* villain than him become a recurring character that's a watered down version of himself.

 

3) I think that the pacing issues with Magical Mystery Cure have to do with the fact that *so much* of the episode was taken up by song, that the story itself was rather light.  I think it would have been better if they did it as a regular episode with 1 or 2 songs at best.

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I've never heard that one before. Just out of curiosity, why not? Like I said before, I don't think it needed to be a two-parter, but I could still see it being one.

 

The songs make it move a little faster. If it were a two-parter, there would have to be some sort of villan involved who switches the cutie marks and does something else, like put the rest of the mane 6 under his control or something like that. 

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I liked all these episodes. I can't imagine the first two being two parters. That would just be random and pointless. For magical mystery cure, I thought It was an awesome episode but it was too fast paced for me. It was just like (spoiler alert) Twilight comes out sees rarity has rainbows cutie mark freaks out, remembers That she switched their cutie marks, song about sad cutie mark switched ponies, Song about sad twilight, song about getting their cutie marks. CELESTIA, song, ALICORN. End.

 

It all just happened WAY too quickly and it would of been better if the first part be the cutie mark thing and the second part was about her becoming an Alicorn

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Games Ponies Play didn't even involve ponies playing games! I was really looking forward to it, and I thought it would be like that pony version to the Olympics. I was very disappointed when it only had the Mane 6 helping Cadence fix her hair for what I don't even remember, and welcoming some pony to check and see if the Crystal Empire was fit enough to host the Games. In my opinion, the episode should have been called 'Hosting the Games' or something. 

 

Secondly, Magic Duel was fine, and I didn't really even find it the slightest bit fast-paced. I wouldn't agree to a two-part of that episode, but another Trixie episode would be good.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter on was very rushed at the end, and I didn't understand what happened at the end, until I watched it over a second time. It was okay, but it just didn't come out as I expected.

 

Magical Mystery Cure: This was the most rushed episode I have ever watched. To me, they just made up a hell load of songs, and slapped it all together with mixed-up cutie marks and Alicorns. The longest part that went without singing was the coronation, as if that was all that they wanted to happen, and brushed over the rest of the episode with a bunch of songs. I liked the songs, though, but definitely not the storyline, though the Cutie-Marks messed up idea was pretty good. I've heard that this is gong to be a three-parter, and continued in S4, so it is possible that they might just be able to turn things around, and save the whole Bronydom. All I can say is, they better turn Twi back normal, or else things will get ugly.

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All I can say is, they better turn Twi back normal, or else things will get ugly.

 

That would just be weak. Even if I didn't like Alicorn Twilight, I wouldn't want them to do that. If they're going to do make a huge change like making Twilight an Alicorn, than they have to follow through with it. Reversing it would only seem like a major cop-out and would make Magical Mystery Cure the most pointless episode of the series.

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(edited)

Magical Mystery Cure is the only one that needed an extension. I think what Flutter On needed was to establish that Discord even cared about being a friend with Fluttershy. He spent the whole episode trolling her and everyone and never seemed to care untill the last moment. While it's clear he's not fully reformed it didn't ruin the episode, it just made it not perfect. I think Magic Duel is better than Boast Busters but the ending was a bit anticlimactic compared to the ending of Boast Busters. Age and gender swap spells might be powerful magic but they don't look that awesome, i would have preferred a different way to beat her. The ending fits ok as Trixie may still be a repeat character.

 

Rushed might not always be the best word but i think what season 3 had was a lot of "quickly wrapped up ending" or "could have been written better" endings. That happened in Too Many Pinkie Pies (why did none of her friends notice the real saddened Pinkie Pie!!!) , Bad Seed (she's a bully, no she's acting like a bully because she was bullied, oops!!), and Spike at Your Service (no i'm really trapped in the exact same way i just faked). Too often the ending of the shows in S3 were the weak parts not the satisfying or logical conclusions. Again just because soem of the fans are 4 years old doesn't mean i should have to "turn my brain off" or expect the show to "dumb it down", thats not what s1-s2 were about. 

Edited by Freewave
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Here's my take.  I'll keep it short and sweet.

 

Magic Duel - Fine as a single parter.

 

Keep Calm and Flutter On - Stretching it out to 44 minutes would've been difficult.  Maybe trim a minute of earlier content to make his conversion longer and more meaningful?

 

Magical Mystery Cure - This certainly needed to be two parts.  This would've given the necessary time to develop Act 1 properly instead of having Twilight so depressed one moment and instantly knowing what to do the next.  And making Act 2 a Part 2 would have allowed Twilight and her friends to express the whole gamut of emotions that would've accompanied her transformation. 

 

 

That would just be weak. Even if I didn't like Alicorn Twilight, I wouldn't want them to do that. If they're going to do make a huge change like making Twilight an Alicorn, than they have to follow through with it. Reversing it would only seem like a major cop-out and would make Magical Mystery Cure the most pointless episode of the series.

 

I agree even though I was really hoping for a change of direction at the end.  The best thing would've been for a new villain or an unexpected event to interrupt Twilight and Celestia while they were in that dreamscape setting.  This would've effectively postponed Twilight's destiny and set the tone for season 4 and possibly beyond.  Instead, they appear to have stuck with what would've been the original series conclusion.  Now they have committed themselves to Twilicorn and will have to find a way to make this new paradigm of one alicorn, one unicorn, two earth ponies, and two pegasi to work. 

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I agree even though I was really hoping for a change of direction at the end.  The best thing would've been for a new villain or an unexpected event to interrupt Twilight and Celestia while they were in that dreamscape setting.  This would've effectively postponed Twilight's destiny and set the tone for season 4 and possibly beyond. 

 

You know what?  That would have been the *perfect* way to extend the series, though I doubt Hasbro would have approved, with the Alicorn Twilight toys ready to ship for spring of 2013. 

 

But I'm loving that idea.  It would be a *great* plot twist, and it save what really should have been the series finale for, well, the series finale.

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