S04:E01+02 - Princess Twilight Sparkle

[Lunatic Cake 1,618]

This episode was pretty interesting on Background information, nothing spectacular but quite a few funny scenes, really fun to watch with friends, also I captured a nice picture that happens to be my Avatar now ^-^

[null123456 759]

This episode was pretty interesting on Background information, nothing spectacular but quite a few funny scenes, really fun to watch with friends, also I captured a nice picture that happens to be my Avatar now ^-^

That's a pretty good shot of Applejack! I applaud you for capturing a pretty cool photo.

[Inactive01 5,299]

It was a great episode overall. I would never have imagined the episode ending that way. 

 

 

 

I especially loved the Tree of Harmony. That is most certainly a Biblical Reference and it answered the question of the Element's origins in terms of placement. Now how they formed is another question... Maybe it was made from the beginning of time? Who knows?

 

 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Lunatic Cake 1,618]

That's a pretty good shot of Applejack! I applaud you for capturing a pretty cool photo.

Thank you very much! Applejack was best pony before this episode but this picture makes her look 20% No, 200% cooler

 

One thing that's bugging me though: Wasn't there some kind of barrier between the tree itself and the seed? If the Seeds have fed on the magic and destroyed that barrier, wouldn't that make the Elements of Harmony useless? Because Celestia herself said that the tree will control it's roots as long as the power of harmony contains?

 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Lunatic Cake

[lomk 20,663]

I just keep seeing crap like this and thinking these thoughts! xD

 

 

 

 

In fact, I think I may have found my new avatar right here

Edited November 23, 2013 by Space Woona

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

HOLY FAK LUNA IS IN THE INTRO NOW!

[ErBoi 501]

I just wanna say that the premier was superb.  I think this is the best the show has been (maybe not better than its earlier bests, but at least on par).

A satisfying relief after season 3 and Equestria Girls; which I didn't dislike really, but do think were low points relatively speaking.

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

Overall, I think it was a great episode. I never saw that ending coming. (I saw the flashback coming though, coz I knew the writers wouldn't be silly enough to bring Nightmare Moon back after Luna's character development.. )

Also, does anyone else think that croca-dillee was one of the most badass things in the show so far? Coz I sure as hell do.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Sweet Dreams

[Candy Blaze 119]

Wow, this thread is HUGE. Well, I didn't get to see the first teeny bit of the first episode. I rarely saw any Pinkie Randomness. I wasn't paying attention much but I may be wrong. I like how Discord was singing Winter Wrap Up in the shower XD

I mean come on. Maybe you ponies do the same XD

[takai 1,060]

AHHHHHHHHHHH IT WAS ALL SO GOOD.

 

Ok, finally calmed down. I enjoyed the season premier, a lot of fun and showing a lot of historical things that we've all been curious about. Princess Luna looks as beautiful as ever, she got quite a bit of screen-time, which is great.

 

Discord was also brilliant.

 

It felt like Applejack kept getting the spotlight, it started to get on my nerves after a while.

 

My only complaint is about the lack of Pinkie Pie involvement. She felt too backgroundy. Same with Rarity and Fluttershy.

 

Oh man, I can't wait for more next week. This is my first time being a fan of the show and having new episodes come out weekly. Really looking forward to seeing more.

[rjrgmc28 130]

After some well earned sleep and a morning cuppa, it's time for me to put in my two bits.

To quote from my Twitter post earlier this morning:

"Whew! What a premiere! Had a bit of trouble keeping up, but I think this season is going to be the biggest and the best yet."

 

Thoughts on the episode itself are below (spoilered):

The premiere episodes were fantastic! While it was a bit weird for me getting used to some of the new story elements due to being away from the show from quite a while, the episode itself was a spectacular on it's own and the backstory was also a nice addition, especially when it came to the Nightmare Moon part.

There were also a couple of scenes which had me a tad weepy for a little bit, especially in the second part where Twilight broken down after seeing Celestia and Nightmare Moon battle and towards the end of the episode where she had to break off from her friends.

Outside of the episode itself, the new animation style was very noticeable and also the new show intro was a nice touch.

Apart from that, a great premiere all round. It will be interesting to see how this new storyline will go into the remaining episodes of the season.

 

[caramba2654 602]

Hm... Now I get the crocodile scene. The mane 6 all agreed on crossing the forest together, but after the crocodile Applejack thought that it wouldn't be safe for Twilight to do it, so that's why she sent her back. Makes sense for me.

 

The only thing that didn't make sense is why they agreed to let her go. I mean, he could find something hazardous in the way out as well. Nopony thought of that?

 

 

 

Anyways, I feel like Applejack has to be touching Twilight for her to be able to talk. I mean, every time she gets to speak, the first thing she does is put her hoof on Twilight. Is that where her push-to-talk key is at?

[Discount_Flunky 75]

I love how they just released the most complex and thought provoking two parter to date and all everyone can talk about is that Luna and Snips and Snails are in the opening for like .4 secs.

 

Ehhh, this fandom.

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

Season 4 first two episodes sucked I'm leavin the fandom  

 

Ahem really though it was pretty good, needed a lot more new material it has the habit every season 'cept one had in that the first 2 episodes are basically designed for MLP n00bs to catch up with the lore.

Good to see Luna even if it was for barely any time and she had nothing new to say. They need like an origin story for luna she is best pony dammit!

[lomk 20,663]

So I do have something to scrutinize in these episodes

 

 

Why does Applejack tell Twi that it's best to go back to Ponyville? I mean, come on, she should know that it's important that they stick together. Maybe they needed a little filler in order to use all of their minutes, but there were better ways to do it rather than making AJ look like a dumbass

 

"I know who would know what to do! But we sent her home..." Yeah...Basically, you guys suck

 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Space Woona

[IlikeBoris 13]

Wait wait wait..... what is with Discord? 

 

 

He protests his innocence, but he had actually caused it before his initial defeat.

 

Did he not recognize the plants?  Did he not remember doing it at first?  Did he initially think that someone else had planted some more recently?  Was he lying?  Was he using trickster logic to say "I wasn't actually lying"?  Was he trying to pull a trollestia by ruining his thin credibility?  Does he have more of an arguement for why they shouldn't nutralize him again, or did he have a gambit that they would lose the elements?

 

I keep thinking he's Q interacting with ponies, but he's not that powerful unless he's playing an elaborate game... "teleportation" being that he can be incorporeal and invisible and move at levitation speed, his shapeshifting seems to be "rule of funny."  I'm not sure how attuned his senses are, if he can see what someone is carrying or just whether they are close.

 

Sorry for the white text.  I don't see how to do spoiler tags.

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

It was so incredible! Discord was in it, making it my second favorite episode(s), second to Return of Harmony. Also, you can see Discord's head in the window of Fluttershy's house in the intro! Anywho, I absolutely loved it.

[Discount_Flunky 75]

So I do have something to scrutinize in these episodes

 

 

Why does Applejack tell Twi that it's best to go back to Ponyville? I mean, come on, she should know that it's important that they stick together. Maybe they needed a little filler in order to use all of their minutes, but there were better ways to do it rather than making AJ look like a dumbass

 

 

(I'm going to repost my thoughts on this here so people who are showing up now can find it better.  The problem right now is that most people are just review dumping right now and then leaving.  That's ok, but it makes discussion hard.  As a result people ask the same questions over and over again and responses to those questions get drown out.  I think I'm justified in reusing this.)

 

Most people are harping on the whole "Send Twilight back for the good of the Empire" thing, but I think it was necessary.  First off their reasoning made perfect sense, it can be hard for modern day people to understand why it's so important to leave someone with a legitimate right to the throne alive, but in monarch based governments not having a king/queen for literally a day can cause nation wide panic and complete social and economic collapse.  Not to mention all the power struggles that follow. So ya, having at least one princess left is important.

 

Second of all, her going back to Ponyvile set up Discord's argument with her that taught her a very valuable lesson.  That even though she needs to live it still doesn't justify staying back sitting on her comfy throne while her subjects, who happen to be her friends, fight and possibly die for her.  She also learned that her new status as Princess doesn't make her more important as a person, and that her life is worth the same as everyone else's.  

 

These are all lessons she had to learn eventually.  I think the problem here is that they kind of throw it in there and it seemed like rushed filler.  Maybe a separate episode dedicated to it would be better.

[Troblems 5,615]

Overall, I liked the episodes, but I thought there was too many fan shout outs, to the point that it was no longer fun, and a little too obvious. Also, I thought Applejack having so many lines was a little out of character. I know there was an outcry saying she was a background pony that was dragged along, but I thought it was out of place. I also usually adore Discord, but I felt he too was forced.

[Anilewe 2,178]

I don't understand why a lot of people complain about the decision to send Twilight back. In my opinion it was really beautiful scene. Applejack and the rest of group cared about Twilight and wanted to keep her and whole Ponyville safe. They were ready to risk their lives for her. Maybe it wasn't so wise in the end, but it has some sense. 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Anilewe

[FNGRpony 658]

they ended. 

Half jokingly i've suggested the only down side of the first episode with so many things going on,

 

it's gonna make the rest of the season look flat.  Wow that was the kitchen sink.

 

I think we were promised a new villain was that just a swerve?  (not complaining ^^ that was so epic i would loved a 4 parter).

 

Like wow...

 

discord is discord. 
Hell he might even be better. 
If i had to critic his new role as royal troll lesson giver, on one hand we can have him take up that role of princess celestial entirely.  He's better suited for it.

 

The down side?  We're gonna need more john Delancy.  I mean ALOT more if that's gonna be his new position.

Is that a down side?  From a fan perspective nah.

 

It's all in what hasbro is willing to pay.

 

They threw so many things in those two episodes at me.... ....nnnnn...

 

Twilights flying lessons,

dues ex machina is out of ORDER!  *Buggies down!*

The show handles the princess thing very well,

 

 

I mean now that i think about it the only thing i slightly dis agree with is that all 5 were willing to send twilight away.

 

i mean they all agreed on it.  I mean i would expect pinkie for multiple reasons to say no.

She understands friends putting her off, she wouldn't have got how important twilight was beyond being a friend, cause that goes against her character.

 

I would have found that endearing if pinkie would argued for twilight to stay.  that's just a itty, bitty, thing.

 

I'm thoroughly happy.

 

Like wow.

 

I"m sure i'm missing alot things, i'm use to liking 2-3 gems out of an episode.

I don't think we're gonna see more than 1-2 of those keys this season.

 

how about you?

[Dark Qiviut 22,323]

I liked it, but it's hyperbole to call it the best two-part opener in quality. Instead of dissecting good and bad only, I'll only list and partially dissect what I liked and not, although the two will overlap.

 

What I liked:

1. The humor with Twilight not being able to fly. As annoying as the retcon is, it gave the spots nice humor. And at least her difficulty was solved at the end.
2. Discord played a role in the story. He was his chaotic self and hilarious to boot. (The Aladdin reference with Discord taking the bath cracked me up.) He was a complete dick, and that's great to keep.
3. It was nice to see all the worldbuilding in the episode, from the origins of the Elements of Harmony to them finally being stored again.
4. Twilight saying her new role in Equestria may test her friendship with the others. That's exactly something the writers need to do in order to genuinely make her role worthwhile.
5. The Elements of Harmony not being used anymore. In the first two-parters, the EoH were crucial, but they began to become plot devices the Mane Six forced themselves to rely on. (This includes the lazy mess known as Equestria Girls.) With the Elements now back in their rightful place, they'll have to solve their problems with their innate abilities rather than a plot convenience. It's a completely different direction that surprised me, and honestly, they needed it desperately.
6. The Sidekick Five actually had importance instead of being figurative background ponies.
7. Twilight had a genuine reason to be in Canterlot: preparing for a Summer Sun Celebration, but this time one about actually putting the turmoil of Nightmare Moon behind Celestia. (She actually got genuine characterization.)

What I disliked:

1. Twilight's struggle to fly was completely unneeded (a slight criticism I had for EQG, too), and it's annoying to see her ability to fly well from the end of MMC retconned. Trade the humor from Twilight's poor flying with maybe her poor ability to land (which was done).
2. Wilhelm Scream…NO!
3. The alicorn potion is a complete Deus Ex Machina, although it became crucial in so many points. A contrived plot device.
4. The Tree of Harmony (referencing the Yggdrasil) just came out of nowhere. No history was truly explained. Twilight just found out about it, and that was that.
5. The flashbacks were pretty underwhelming and paced too quickly.
6. Tara Strong's voice acting upon landing before the injured Celestia felt very artificial.
7. McCarthy's pace for this episode was inconsistent. It went from being very slow to too quick, and the breakup was pointless and ate up too much time in the script.
8. Speaking of the breakup, Applejack was very out of character at that moment. She wouldn't be the one who'd suggest Twilight to return to Ponyville. Maybe someone like Rarity or Fluttershy, but it doesn't feel right coming out of the cowmare.
9. The plot tells far too much, telling the audience how the writer and rest of team had trouble fitting it all in forty minutes without cramming and mishandling the pacing.
10. The idea of the Elements of Harmony being predestined (Twilight's cutie mark on the Yggdrasil and Element itself) is quite bothersome. Destiny doesn't choose you. You choose your destiny. It was a major criticism I had with Magical Mystery Cure, and it's the same here.

In all, it's a good episode. It's better than The Crystal Empire, but worse than Return of Harmony (best two-part opener) and the pilot. PTS needs a lot more editing to solidify it snd make the writing quality convincing, and the two-parter doesn't genuinely prove the Twilicorn's worth as princess at this point. She has a ways to go, and DHX needs to show in the canon she earned it. It's on the right track, but Twilight's ascension isn't convincing quite yet. Hopefully, future episodes change that.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Dark Qiviut

[SparkBrony 379]

You had me thinking you hated the episode with that title

[Rappy0 338]

I'll just post my "review" from Facebook.

 

It was good much better than The Crystal Empire. It dose have it's problems however, the pesky pacing was back with vengeance Meghan needs to work on that, it was all over the place. At times it feels like it was moving too slow but at other times it seems that it was moving too fast there really wasn't a nice equilibrium. 

The lesson was good and one that was needed, but it was awkwardly put in Twilight was sent away just because she a princess and Discord had to teach her the lesson, and she went back and her friends suddenly had a change of heart this is all in like 2 minutes BTW. That wasn't good it could have been put in better.

Another thing I didn't like was Pinkie Pie and how she wasn't used all that well she was funny with the coloring book and stuff but she she didn't have much too say and she really didn't add anything too the plot. 

But I do like the way Applejack was portrayed in the episodes (after sending Twilgiht away) she always seemed like the second leader of the mane 6 and these episodes proved that.

Discord was great but I'm not looking forward to the fanfics and the fan art of him in a maids outfit I already get enough of Trixie in one. 

Rainbow Dash was there and she was good another teacher to Twilight and Stuttershy ur...Fluttershy was also okay and she was used okay she's shown to be the one that can keep Discord in line w/o the EoH there and better yet it wasn't M.A Larson's Fluttershy so she wasn't OOC and not really shy I like this FLuttershy so that's good.

 

Raity seems really into Twilight all of the sudden maybe it was just me but too me she seemed to really want to get with Twilgiht in the beginning of there 1st episode. Maybe see realizes that if she and Twilight were to get married she'd be a princess.

 

The last thing was the shading I know this was a more serious episode but I wasn't a huge fan of the darker shading. 

 

Overall 7/10 it wasn't bad it was pretty good actually best 2 parter IMO but still had a few problems.

 

Just a few things to add. I'm really interested in seeing how they get stuff done w/o the EoH I really hope they don't cop-out and just have a replacement for them in that box...

 

It was nice to see them not having too fight a big enemy but having to fight a natural disaster instead.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Rappy0

[Discount_Flunky 75]

Overall, I liked the episodes, but I thought there was too many fan shout outs, to the point that it was no longer fun, and a little too obvious. Also, I thought Applejack having so many lines was a little out of character. I know there was an outcry saying she was a background pony that was dragged along, but I thought it was out of place. I also usually adore Discord, but I felt he too was forced.

 

Too many shout outs?  What shout outs?  If your referring to them finally reveling Equestrian history then that's not really a shout out.  It would a crime against literature to set up a world like the one in FIM and not go into it's back story at some point.  The writers were going to do that anyway.  Are you referring to them having Rainbow Dash teach Twilight how to fly?  Not really a shout out, that plot point is a gold mine for writes they can get like 2 episodes out of it.  Is Discord a shout out?  News flash, hes a full fledged recurring side character now.  I really didn't see any blatant shout outs.  The "Their just pandering to the fans now" argument is getting really old.  It didn't even make sense for Equestira Girls which did actually have some pandering, but not every five seconds like haters claimed it had. (Turning a background people that was already in the show into a human is not pandering, that's just reusing character designs.)