Must see video! Princess Twilight explanation

[Nature's Spell 526]

You ponies may find this tweet and video interesting. I totally agree he nails it. I also agree it's OK not to agree! However his logic is very good.

@MMeghanMcCarthy: Nailed it. Including the part about it being ok if u don’t agree or approve. #MLPFIM #bronies

[NavelColt 22,881]

Definitely. Great to see this guy getting recognition from site staff, themselves. I love all his thought videos. He's fun to listen to and has terrific views.

[Nature's Spell 526]

He's a smart guy for sure and the fact that the writers like him is huge. I guess it proves that if you have a point of view and explain it clearly, and with clarity people will listen. A lesson to remember.

[Scythe 39]

Did Meghan listen to the whole thing? Did she mean he nailed the whole thing, some of it, or most of it? If she thought he was entirely correct, then suddenly some previously unknown things are canon: Starswirl being a student of Celestia's, and Starswirl being groomed for rulership and alicornship.

 

I agreed with that guy's thoughts on Princesses in Equestria. Also, he does have a point about the Element of Magic having a tiara, which has irked me somewhat. Maybe he's right that Twilight has reached an affirmation that she has nothing left to learn about friendship.

 

However, Celestia personally instructing Twilight can also easily be interpreted as guiding a powerful force in the right direction. If Celestia didn't do this, Twilight might have wasted her potential. Twilight might have been trained by someone else with more twisted ideas. I see little evidence of Celestia preparing Twilight for rulership of a kingdom. If she was preparing Twilight, any hints should have been made more clear, like shots of Twilight beside Celestia during important negotiations, law changes, etc. Instead, we see Twilight's magic shown off in front of delegates from Saddle Arabia. Does Twilight actually talk with the delegates and if so, why aren't we shown? Twilight didn't do well if she was meant to be the ambassador between species with the Buffalo, the Diamond Dogs, and any episode with non-Spike dragons. Winter Wrap Up was easy to fix because everyone in Ponyville turned their brains off and didn't remember anything from previous years. So far, it appears Twilight has been focused on magic and friendship, like a scientist. A scientist can be a ruler, of course, (looking at you, Germany), but that leaves little time for science.

 

If Celestia wasn't preparing Twilight to replace her or rule some far off land yet to be conquered, there really wasn't much point in the Princess title, the banners, the hailing, the ceremony larger than what was given for saving the world from Discord, the new personalised chariot, etc. Perhaps I and the guy from that video have misjudged what Princess means. I guess we'll find out next season.

 

If Celestia was preparing Twilight to replace her, why? It should not hurt to question Lauren or Meghan or anyone else. Ideas should be questioned, even if this is a show for little girls, lol. :/ How do we know Twilight is a better ruler than Celestia + 1000 years experience? Where is Celestia going? Why wouldn't Luna replace her? Why wouldn't Cadance takeover both the Crystal Empire and Equestria? Twilight as an alicorn isn't exactly a representative government, but then, neither is Cadance with the Crystal Empire Earth ponies.

 

I hope all fans of this show will question things. I hope the show makers will, too, as it leads to better writing. Questioning saves us from yes-men and approval of such abominations as Tom Hank's 'Where the Wild Things Are' movie. (That movie was so terrible my nephew got up and went off to do something else during the middle of it.)

 

I hope season 4 will assuage any worries I have about the show. I like this show and have grown to care about the characters. Except Rarity.

[Dzastur 1,719]

This could be complete naïveté on my part, but my gut tells me that Star Swirl the Bearded is going to show up in Season 4.

 

A ghost or vision? Returning as an evil presence to battle Twilight? Returning as a friendly presence whom Twilight helps? Not sure.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

I like Digipony. He always presents his views in a concise and well written matter, and even if I don't agree with what he says, he does a good job selling his ideas.

 

I'm about half and half on this explanation. The idea that this is simply a milestone in Twilight's life to show how far she's gone is a nice one that I think it ties in well with the overarching theme of character growth and actualization in the show. I've warmed to the idea that this all happened because Twilight just deserved to be an alicorn and not as a reaction to some threat or something.

 

But I dunno, something about the way it played out seems kind of off to me. If she became an alicorn to everyone's surprise, it would have been cooler because it was like the universe itself was like "Okay, she's badass enough to be a princess now". But having Celestia be the one to seemingly grant her princesshood in that mysterious realm of plasma screen TVs makes it seem less like Twilight's destiny was organic and became apparent on its own and more like she is just jotting off boxes on Celestia's Princess Checklist. It doesn't really mesh well with my personal view on destiny, that it isn't something you were born to do, it's something you develop over time. Like, you could easily end up with any cutie mark in your lifetime, and it's less about finding what you are good at but rather what gives you best sense of self actualization.

 

I think it would be more interesting if it was emphasized that while Twilight's initial interest in learning magic and path to becoming a princess was set in front of her, it was the choices she made and her evolving relationships that led to her custom-made destiny, and not Celestia secretly guiding her to becoming a princess.

[Nature's Spell 526]

@scythe As far as Meghan's thoughts all we can go by is the tweet until we see next season. The writers are on lock down till then. I don't know what Twilight's role will be, but at the moment I don't feel it is to replace Celestia or rule anything yet. I wrote about her being the princess of friendship in a story, but my ideas are not full defined yet. I can't remember the details of those episodes, so I can't speak to her ambassador skills but I've never seen Luna, Cadence, or Celestia do any better either.

@john-mellenclop I agree with you about Star Swril except the writes were asked once and apparently they drew a blank and seemed surprised by him being asked about.

 

@citrus-king46 My read is that Celestia was just there to guide her and make her feel less afraid. Twilight did it too herself. Celestia also rarely gives Twilight an exact direction. That's a good way to teach actually. Let your students find the answers for themselves. As far as destiny, her choices did lead her toward this destiny. Few things in life are as apparent as they appear when we first encounter them and most people find themselves without a long range game plan. We live life, make choices, and move forward but it isn't always clear where our choices will take us.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Nature Spell

[Anadu Kune 668]

 

I see little evidence of Celestia preparing Twilight for rulership of a kingdom

It was confirmed by Lauren Faust in the Brony doc that that was the intention. That twilight would assume the thrown or achieve princess hood. It is unknown whether Faust would have made her an alicorn or not, we only know that at the time of Cadence's reveal that she had only intended on the previously established two. So it would seem all of that evidence does add up in the intended direction of princess hood, as for alicorn we have confirmation from the staff that the idea was being discussed in 2011 so yeah. 

I'm sorry i cant resist....  ah hem....the heir of Celestia shall sit the thrown and drown in flame the mountains of mare. 

[Scythe 39]

 

 

It was confirmed by Lauren Faust in the Brony doc that that was the intention. That twilight would assume the thrown or achieve princess hood. It is unknown whether Faust would have made her an alicorn or not, we only know that at the time of Cadence's reveal that she had only intended on the previously established two. So it would seem all of that evidence does add up in the intended direction of princess hood, as for alicorn we have confirmation from the staff that the idea was being discussed in 2011 so yeah. 

 

I'm sorry i cant resist....  ah hem....the heir of Celestia shall sit the thrown and drown in flame the mountains of mare. 

Too late now, but the show should've provided clear proof of Twilight's preparation for rulership/alicornship/princesshood. We as viewers should not be required to view/know about the Brony doc to know why certain characters suddenly developed the way they did. I'm curious as to how Lauren planned to present Princess/ruler Twilight. As Lauren was not working on the show after season 2, it is interesting to hear what she originally planned, but her plans are not necessarily what will be fulfilled.

 

As for the alicorn idea, a discussion is when ideas are grown, changed, put on hold, and sometimes discarded. I'm a little shocked they thought they could pull it off well.

 

The evidence is still highly ambiguous. I hope the next season is written and presented so well that anyone can easily suspend their disbelief over any plot holes.

 

Sorry, haven't played BioShock Infinite, so I'm not entirely sure how that quote fits in here. If someone's going to be a decent throne-warmer, that's an oddly ominous prophecy. Twilicorn deserves a better prophecy.

 

@scythe As far as Meghan's thoughts all we can go by is the tweet until we see next season. The writers are on lock down till then. I don't know what Twilight's role will be, but at the moment I don't feel it is to replace Celestia or rule anything yet. I wrote about her being the princess of friendship in a story, but my ideas are not full defined yet. I can't remember the details of those episodes, so I can't speak to her ambassador skills but I've never seen Luna, Cadence, or Celestia do any better either.

@john-mellenclop I agree with you about Star Swril except the writes were asked once and apparently they drew a blank and seemed surprised by him being asked about.

 

@citrus-king46 My read is that Celestia was just there to guide her and make her feel less afraid. Twilight did it too herself. Celestia also rarely gives Twilight an exact direction. That's a good way to teach actually. Let your students find the answers for themselves. As far as destiny, her choices did lead her toward this destiny. Few things in life are as apparent as they appear when we first encounter them and most people find themselves without a long range game plan. We live life, make choices, and move forward but it isn't always clear where our choices will take us.

Friendship Princess... Well, that's an interesting idea, as I certainly can't see Twilight ruling anything unless she is an absolute master of delegation knowing and using exactly who is better than her for every task. I might be able to accept a Friendship Princess, if she's believably written in the show's universe.

 

As to Celestia, Cadance/Cadence, and Luna:

 

Cadance, Shining Armour, and the Crystal Empire don't appear to have any problems other than elaborate hairstyles and worrying about hosting games. Cadance is most likely doing a fine job of ensuring peace, protection, freedom, etc if her subjects aren't mass rioting, starving, sick, confined to the Crystal Empire, etc. Then again, if the citizens are so happy the sky itself lights up with the Aurora Borealis/Australis, why haven't we seen more of that? Maybe the citizens are just incredibly complacent. 

 

Luna needs more episodes.

 

I most likely will miss something on Celestia, working from memory here. She directly helps her subjects like when she cleaned up the Phillydelphia parasprites and gave land away to the Apples. She hosts a gala each year to meet with her subjects (PR is important), visits the towns she rules over (for cake and tea), and she met with the delegates from Saddle Arabia (this is mentioned and seen). Celestia sent the most qualified (or nearest, or least likely to question orders) individuals to help set up a summer sun celebration, deal with a sleeping dragon, and defeat an ancient shadow king.

[Anadu Kune 668]

 

Too late now, but the show should've provided clear proof of Twilight's preparation for rulership/alicornship/princesshood. We as viewers should not be required to view/know about the Brony doc to know why certain characters suddenly developed the way they did. I'm curious as to how Lauren planned to present Princess/ruler Twilight. As Lauren was not working on the show after season 2, it is interesting to hear what she originally planned, but her plans are not necessarily what will be fulfilled.   As for the alicorn idea, a discussion is when ideas are grown, changed, put on hold, and sometimes discarded. I'm a little shocked they thought they could pull it off well.   The evidence is still highly ambiguous. I hope the next season is written and presented so well that anyone can easily suspend their disbelief over any plot holes.   Sorry, haven't played BioShock Infinite, so I'm not entirely sure how that quote fits in here. If someone's going to be a decent throne-warmer, that's an oddly ominous prophecy. Twilicorn deserves a better prophecy

Well it the point is I think it was well presented but with subtlety the signs are there and when you look its like oh yeah. The whole point of mentioning Lauren's intent was to demonstrate that the signs mentioned were intended and a very similar end goal was always there. Twilight being the apprentice of Celestia, her element being a crown, and her developing character arch. It couldn't have been that poorly presented considering Ive been hearing the prediction since I got involved with the community and it did make sense that it could happen. Heck the very first thing everyone was saying after Crystal Empire was alicorn Twilight.  I guess they could have gone the Jedi or Super Saiyian route and mentioned it consstantly or all the freaking time, but I see no problem with the subtle approach. 

As for suspending disbelief over plot holes as with any show the fandom has forgiven some pretty big ones. Though one should if the overall presentation is great. Here is a few examples is why in the world was Rarity allowed to enter the young fliers competition? Heck the whole wing spell is kind of a contrivance. Why is nightmare moon so incompetent? I mean seriously scary trees? Hatching a dragon egg as an entrance exam? That's just to mention a few off the top of my head. Those are overlooked because on the whole as with most episodes the overall presentation is great. I think the same ring true for Alicorn Twilight, but many people cant get over the alicorn bit and the negative bias surrounding it since December.
 

[Veylon 255]

I'm kind of torn here. On the one hand, almost no evidence is handed out positioning Twilight as Princess. But on the other hand...what would that evidence even look like? What do you do to train to be a Princess in this world, anyway?

 

The only sort of governance we see Celestia doing is making random public appearances, doing paperwork, holding intense conversation with arch-villains, and then proving helpless against said arch-villains. I'm pretty sure Twilight can handle this kind of stuff. She might want to bone up on combat magic, though. It's not like she can write a letter to Twilight to fix things.

 

On the positive end, spending time with her friends and their quirks in give-and-take relationships probably prepares her better to deal with others than any amount of book reading. Rulership is all about dealing with others.

 

So we're left with...what? Protocol? Knowing who's who in the nobility? I'm guessing that if she can master the arcane rules of magic, the arcane rules of the court ought to prove no great challenge. Assuming that she's even subject to them, as a Princess. Knowing the ins and outs of the court system would be important, even if the nobility isn't. She isn't going to be able to do everything herself, so knowing who should be entrusted with what and how much can be expected would be vital. If we were (theoretically) ending the show here, this is what I'd imagine she'd be spending her time learning.

[True Rarity 1,240]

I'll admit, that video was amazing.

And he's completely right.

I will believe that Twilight's transition to princesshood can be a good thing.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but again I repeat, I don't have enough information to make an inference about what happens next.

But I'm going to wait for Season 4 and see what happens.