S04:E01+02 - Princess Twilight Sparkle

[Gay Bird 421]

I'm going to start by saying that this was the best season opener by far (in my oppinion(and my opinion is fact)) My only complaint is that they spent way to much time at the beginning of the episode explaining stuff we already know making some scenes feel sudden or rushed. Also, my brother wouldn't stop mentioning how Twilight was just on an LSD trip. What I like about this episode is it provides a lot of explanation of what the everfree forest is and why ponyville is such a popular little town. It also doesn't take a hammer to my headcanon so I'm happy.

[Radiance64 7,053]

Out of all the seasons so far, I think this episode shows that season 4 will be the most unique- season 1 started the friendship/life lessons motif, season 2 expanded that motif to all characters, and season 3 introduced the Crystal Empire, had less lessons, and changed Twilight into an alicorn. And now, with season 4, Twilight is no longer a student, so she probably doesn't need to report her every lesson anymore- at least that's how it looks, I don't know if the other characters will still do anything like that yet though, considering how future episodes look though it doesn't seem like it. Anyway, with this season, the premiere gave us many things to consider-

1. The Elements- they don't have them anymore, and since it's been said that there will be a few different villains in the season, it will be interesting to see what our favorite ponies do to tackle them.

2. Discord- with the elements no longer hanging over his head, and seeing the way he acted in these episodes, who knows just what he'll do this season- wreak havoc? Wreak secret havoc? Stay reformed if not only slightly? Become a complete goody-two-shoes who wears a maid outfit all the time? The possibilities are truly chaotic.

3. The potion- or milk, as I like to call it. With it, we have a plot device to show us what we've all wanted to see- Equestrian History. At the end of the episodes, there was still some left, and who knows if Zecora's got more, or if imore can be brewed, but there's just so much we could see if the show uses it again, I'm extremely excited by the possibilities it holds.

4. The box- six keyholes, six keys- sure the show has experimented a teeny bit with continuous plotlines before(the gala in season 1, the book in season 3), but this has potential for a much bigger extension on the concept. The season will likely revolve around finding them, perhaps in many different places, probably one of each found by our favorite ponies. A million times better than friendship lessons if you ask me, if the overarching plot holds. The keys could be held by aforementioned villains, hidden away in places, or maybe even held by ordinary ponies who don't know what they're for themselves or something. Or perhaps characters we've seen before have them, knowingly or unknowingly? Or maybe somepony greedy will try and get the box and keys for themselves, leading to another antagonist? Or more? If this is truly the overarching plot of the season as it appears to be, I cannot wait to see what they do with it. There's no doubt we'll see what's in it by the end of the season though, I think.

tl;dr: the premiere was awesome and I'm extremely excited for all the multiple possibilities it holds for the season, has the potential to be something truly amazing.

Edited November 24, 2013 by SBB64

[NavelColt 22,880]

If you haven watched the MLP season 4 premier there are two vids on YouTube each with the full two episodes in decent quality (I won't be posting links in case the videos are taken down. Don't want any broken links)

 

In this review I will be listing the general pros and cons for the episode as well as my personal likes and gripes with it and then some.

 

Heya, CB :3 A great review! First off, it's great to see people making detailed analyses of the episode, as it always is. That said, keep in mind that any discussion regarding specific episodes, belong in that episodes'/pair of episodes' discussion topic, not as a general topic in the main Show Discussion forum. Your review has thus been merged with the topic discussing Princess Twilight Sparkle :3

 

tl;dr mlp is back twilight sparkle demands your surrender, peasant

 

Speaking of which, I found you a new signature gif.

 

[BlinkZ 1,151]

You know with the new show canon details how does the crystal empire fit into all this. Or maybe it dons't maybe i'm over thinking

[Guest]

I love the Background Music in the first two episodes! It´s awesome!

[Bright Honor 2,669]

I must say what a wonderful premiere. I especially liked the Luna and Celestia bits. Can't wait for more episodes.

[GhostPony750 959]

 

 

Equestrian History.

Yisss!!!!!

 

It was like omygosh history!!! I am sooo happy you can't know how much. I'd like to try to rebuild Equestria's history, now that we have plenty of information. We have Heart's Warming Eve, and now this episode, we know how Star Swirl the Bearded look like (somewhat), and we have plenty of clues in all the episodes.

 

Just epic, 10/10!

 

Another great thing is that the writers succesfully tricked me and put me into doubt a few times, which usually never happen. Good job, I'm looking forward to the next episode!

[roptiriolg 49]

Alright, watched it, and loved it!

 

Some say they want to see episodes showing the ponies' personal lives. I'm sure there will be such episodes throughout the season.

 

I personally enjoy and would love to see more and more adventure episodes, to me they are the coolest and this story of a tree although not uncommon throughout fantasy lore was a good choice.

 

At first I thought Luna turned bad again, then realized this was just showing the past. Afterall Luna is one of my most fave and would love to see more of her!

 

It was not predictable in the first part who the villain was and what/how it happened and this was good.

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

 

 

1. The Elements- they don't have them anymore, and since it's been said that there will be a few different villains in the season, it will be interesting to see what our favorite ponies do to tackle them.

 

They may not have the elements artifacts themselves, but like the end of Equestria Girls it's kind of like they are the elements. Still though I would like to see how they defend against other threats without the reliance of the Elements of Harmony.

 

 

 

2. Discord- with the elements no longer hanging over his head, and seeing the way he acted in these episodes, who knows just what he'll do this season- wreak havoc? Wreak secret havoc? Stay reformed if not only slightly? Become a complete goody-two-shoes who wears a maid outfit all the time? The possibilities are truly chaotic.

 

Yes without the elements Discord can pretty much do whatever he wants to now. He might flip flop or just stay has he had in this episode and remain subtlety neutral.

[Dr. Eggnog 203]

Well, it's very nice that so many people thought that this premiere was amazing, but I thought it was mediocre.  I loved Discord, it was nice to learn that the first three seasons took place over the course of a year, it was also nice being able to actually see Celestia banish Luna, and Applejack had some great dialogue.  However, I didn't like the heavier focus on plot, as I don't feel like it's MLP's strong suit (I'm also one of those rare fellows who doesn't like the comics).  The pacing also seemed really bad.  I didn't have a problem with the pacing in Keep Calm and Flutter on or Magical Mystery Cure like many, but I did here.  There'd be a big moment, then it would jump to the next scene and it would feel like almost instantly there'd be another big moment.  Just seemed like too much stuff going on.  Princess stuff, Luna and Celestia stuff, Twilight stuff, friendship stuff, tree stuff, Discord stuff.  I had trouble caring about it all at once.  I preferred the more leisurely pace MLP had before this episode (I'm also one of those rare fellows who liked Uncharted 1 better than 2).  Also, the box that appears at the end, where the mane six need to search the world for the six things for it... That kinda felt more Zelda than MLP.  Seemed really video game like.

 

5/10.  I'm a little worried since I liked all the previous premire/finale type episodes and have never had a problem with pacing in this show, but we'll see.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Dr. Eggnog

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

 

 

That kinda felt more Zelda than MLP

 

 

Yeah especially when the Elements of Harmony look like Ruppees!

 

 

 

 

Point Taken

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

I loved this episode, me and my dad watched it together this evening.

 

I was very impressed it was epic . Out of all the double episode season starter stories of all the 4 seasons the 4^th has been my favorite so far, and it also added some new stuff we didn’t know along the way.

 

10/10 

 

The new title sequence, the bit with Photo Finish is it? The one who took the picture: the bit when it cuts to Spike was a bit off somehow. But it’s great the CMCs now make an appearance and nice to see Luna now in it to.

 

So yeah off to a good start, hope to see a Scootaloo episode soon though

Edited November 24, 2013 by Asherdangerdash

[Kittykittyvii 28]

None of the recordings show the new intro I wanna see it!!!

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

None of the recordings show the new intro I wanna see it!!!

 

It's really just the same intro as usual.

 

Just the ending where we see the mane 6 the CMC and the others with Photo Finish taking the picture and Luna coming up to Celestia as she sees it.

 

Also Discord is hidden in there too.

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

None of the recordings show the new intro I wanna see it!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-68Z6oL3Boo

 

There you go

 

I'ts not that diffrent 

[Fox801 45]

Well I love the S04:E01+02 I think it was a Good opening not Great one But good enough. Come it now Princess Twilight Sparkle This will be a good Season. Now they have to fine some kind of keys to open that cast I think.

 

Well guys and ladies I hope we in some kind of surprise when this season ends. My tail is telling me all these and my tail do not lie to me.

 

That all I have to say to all of you ponies Fox Out!!

[Galen 1,354]

So here are my thoughts on the opening.

 

For one, it certainly tops all other openers apart from the S2 opening episodes. I have heard some people were a little annoyed with the fact there wasn't a central villain in this story, but I actually thought this episode was amazing because there is no central villain other than the M6 themselves. Hear me out on this.

 

When traversing the Everfree forest, Twilight's friends did two things that made me realize this. The first is to tell Twilight to hang back and let them do the dirty work in order to avoid the risk of losing another princess. In other words, it has shown that they placed her on a pedestal because of her princesshood all the while forgetting that before anything else, they're friends, and they're the main reason Twilight became a princess in the first place. The second, albeit minor thing, is that the M6 other than Twilight seemed to think they were bonded by the elements of harmony when they couldn't be more wrong. As Twilight correctly implied, it was their spirit of friendship which united the elements in the first place, and that's where the real magic lies. In restoring the tree of harmony, they gained their personal victory.

The above also goes to show that the dynamic of the M6 may experience some change throughout the season, which to me isn't a bad thing because this is a whole new story now with Twilight no longer the student, but a master and teacher of friendship in her own right. That being said, she does believe, imo correctly, that her friends are as valuable teachers as she could ever be as it is thanks to them that she is where she is now, and giving up the elements of harmony symbolized this changing dynamic and understanding both extremely well.

Discord never fails to impress either. In his own devious way, he's demonstrated time and again that he does care about his friendship with them, particularly when he told Twilight off when she returned without her friends. That was absolutely amazing and I love Discord all the more for it. Well done to the writers for showing that he's truly reformed, even if he sometimes succumbs to doing chaotic deeds which I can write off as old habits. After all, that's been his thing for thousands of years and old habits die hard. It's also really nice to see that it's indicated he'll be a more recurring character from here on

Overall, I'm giving this a very solid 9/10. Superb.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Freedan

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

*checks something out of sheer curiousity.*

 

Yup...people already made rule 34 with those black vines....wow the internet is fast >.<

[Galen 1,354]

*checks something out of sheer curiousity.*

 

Yup...people already made rule 34 with those black vines....wow the internet is fast >.<

 

 

It was to be expected.....I guess......tho I thought tentacle hentai was something most fans of both anime and MLP found distasteful

Edited November 24, 2013 by Freedan

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

 

It was to be expected.....I guess......tho I thought tentacle hentai was something most fans of both anime and MLP found distasteful

 

 

Don't need to be a fan to anime or MLP to create rule 34 no matter what the subject matter. I think the internet has become sentient and is doing rule 34 on its own...I mean, I saw Hotel Transelvania rule 34 when the first trailer was shown. C'on people

[hawkflame 3,310]

First time back here in months...

 

Anyway,  I haven't really read anyone else's responses yet, but I hope I'm not alone in thinking it was quite good.  Not perfect, but quite good. 

 

For one thing, I like that they put the whole thing about Twilight's royal duties and her friendships at the forefront.  It didn't really answer anything about how her daily life is going to change, or even if it's going to change, and I would have liked a more definitive response on that,  but I liked that at least they addressed the issue of her loyalties versus her duties. 

 

Wings still bug me a little bit but not a show killer by any means.  Hopefully they'll spend more time dealing with the challenges they'll bring. 

 

I would have liked more focus on the rest of the Mane Six, with each of them getting their own moment of focus like in the season 1 and 2 premieres.

 

On the plus side, I gotta say Discord isn't as problematic as I thought he would be.  If anything, he's probably more unpredictable, and he still seems capable of malice.  Him singing Winter Wrap Up in the shower seriously cracked me up.  I'm still not really sold on his new iteration, and I still hate what they did to him in Season 3, but if they're going to have a more neutral Discord, this is probably the way to do it. 

 

Oh, and EPIC FLASHBACKS.  Holy CRAP, that was great.  I love the world building with the Tree of Harmony, and seeing the night of Luna's rebellion and her battle with Celestia as Nightmare Moon was spectacular.  There was a real sense of weight here, and the idea of banishing her sister clearly distressed Celestia, and I think that in subtle ways these scenes brought a lot of depth to both her and Luna.  Really, the highlight of the episode.

 

Man, that whole Tree of Harmony is something of a game changer.  No more elements?  And I like the apparent setting up of the rest of the season's plot with that mysterious locked box at the end.  

 

Can't wait to see how it all works out.   

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Why are people saying that this episode gave us "backstory"? It said nothing that we already didn't know.

 

We already knew that the Sisters found the Elements. We knew that they used it to defeat Discord. We knew Celestia used it to defeat Nightmare Moon. The only new thing is the tree.

 

And even those seeds... Discord was completely unnecessary in this episode as they could have just said that the tree was getting too weak to contain Everfree Forest.

[HoneyCup 1]

is it just me or Celestia should have had pink mane in those "back to the history" moments? her mane was changed when she used elements of harmony to defeat nightmaremoon right? when she got new ability to rise/lower the moon as well, not just sun? right? ..right? please tell me im wrong, i really dont want this kind of mistake in the premier episode...

[Kittykittyvii 28]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-68Z6oL3Boo

 

There you go

 

I'ts not that diffrent 

Thank You sooo much   I love the new intro! Had to watch it twice to find discord...hehe he's fluttershy's new roomie now? lol Awesome!

[Silverhoof 2,844]

Ya know, just skimming these 34 pages, I can see how starved we were for our Pony fix after a 13 episode season 3.

 

A) We loved the show. The writers recaptured the audience after a half year's worth of agonizing over Twilicorn and Equestria Girls.

 

A theme emerged for season four, find the keys and unlock the Harmony tree's promise. 6 keys means we will have lots of time for regular stories as well.

 

C) Discord remains the unpredictable chaotic fun guy even after reform.

 

D) Luna has a part in the opening credits. I hope this means more screen time.