S04:E03 - Castle Mane-ia

[SwigglySwiggly 358]

The design and humour is really changing... for the better. The design of the ancient library is amazing, the art style is very different. The bee suit scene was also really funny, a new type of humour. MLP season 4 had bad expectation because of EQG and Twilicorn, but this is better than expected!

[Moonbacon 384]

i have no idea how to make a spoiler

now the shadow pony at some part of the ep (im not gonna say which part) i hope he/she becomes a villain sooner or later

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

No spoilers for me, thank you very much. I'm watching this thing on the stream. 'Castle-mane-ia', huh? I don't suppose it features pony wrestling. That would be funny though.

[The Crystal Maiden 221]

I watched the leaked episode today, but at least I waited till it was Saturday.

Haha anyway I thought this episode was great! Really made me laugh. Scared ponies ftw. xD

And I like the idea of the Mane Six keeping diaries from now on!

[Batbrony 16,053]

Alrighty, time for some Season 4, Episode 3 goodness!  Not judging anyone who did watch it, but I for one am glad that I've waited until today to check out this week's episode despite the leak.  Very, very interested to see more of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's old castle.  Just about 5 minutes away everypony, let's do this!!! 

Edited November 30, 2013 by Batbrony

[Luffyiscool 397]

I made a small PMV about the episode:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifHmkBpW7_Y

 

An obvious combo, but i couldn't resist.

[Batbrony 16,053]

 Huh, apparently Spike has arachnophobia; I feel ya little guy, I don't like them creepy crawlies either.  Twilight fangasming over all these books is too cute!!! 

[Bright Honor 2,655]

Alright I decided to just watch a leaked version today. I loved the episode, especially the RD and AJ bits.

[Batbrony 16,053]

Well, I can honestly say that I never thought I'd live to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack scared by Fluttershy (albeit, inadvertently  ).  Pretty fun episode so far. 

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Looks to be a great episode so far.  I do like how they set this up.  I hope they keep it up throughout the rest of the episode.

[Wysteria 13]

Okay, I've skipped ahead here to avoid spoilers. 

 

Did anyone else find the statue at the beginning to be odd?

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

This is easily one of the most humorous episodes yet.  

[Batbrony 16,053]

Oh my gosh, is it just me or is this shaping up to be one of the funniest episodes yet?  We've got about three or four subplots going on right now, they're all hilarious and quite wonderfully paced, and I for one am loving every minute of this! 

[Heart's Desire 181]

Okay, I've skipped ahead here to avoid spoilers. 

 

Did anyone else find the statue at the beginning to be odd?

 

Yup. It was a bit horsier than I would expect.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

It was a great episode! Even though Rarity isn't my favorite pony, I liked her parts the most. Then Pinkie at the end. That was awesome.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

That was AWESOME!  The pacing was the best it's been.  The jokes hit right on every time.  The overall story was great, and the cliffhanger at the end was executed well.  This has to be one of if not my favorite episode. 

[Heart's Desire 181]

Hmm. For someone who had no idea this had been leaked until this morning I kinda figured it all out right away. Thankfully it was quite enjoyable for the Scooby Doo homage it was, because some of the writing was a bit off. Though I may have to watch it again later. Sometimes the hype messes it up for me.

 

That may be the first time I enjoyed Angel's attitude, though.

[Batbrony 16,053]

 So I guess that diary format is going to replace the letters to Princess Celestia, huh?  Makes sense I guess; after all, wouldn't make much sense if Twilight was still writing letters to Celestia now that she's a princess and not really her student anymore (officially, at least).  Guess this also means that Applejack technically wrote the last letter to Princess Celestia.  :comeatus:

 

RIP Letters: you were a great format for recapping lessons about the magic of friendship for three seasons, but your time has come to an end.  -_-

[Rough Pathway 157]

This episode was amazing! Everybody was in character and they were just great overall. The pacing was really good and this episode was hilarious. I'm liking the new writer haha. A more proper review to come later.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Pretty good episode. Some great animation and images, some decent humor, and some elements that are very reminiscent of Scooby Doo.

If there was one thing I didn't like, it was how predictable the plot was. I mean I saw from 5 miles away that it would be Pinkie playing the organ. Though that cliffhanger was amazing and apparently Pinkie can play the organ good.

Looks like diaries are gonna replace letters to celestia, interesting

[lomk 20,663]

I'm not gonna be able to join you guys this morning but I'll leave you with this

 

Fluttershy was too freaking adorable in this episode.

 

 

My heart pretty much exploded into kittens when Angel "died." It did it again when she found out he was okay and got embarrassed. I just wanted to give the poor thing a hug.

 

Edited November 30, 2013 by ~Sadistic Luna~

[Nature's Spell 526]

My initial thought was that it was a safe episode, and to an extent that's true, but that doesn't make it in anyway a bad episode. It was the right episode at the right time. A few thoughts pre-blog.

 

He used each character and I really enjoyed how he used them. The story flowed really nice! I loved how Twilight took charge. :-)

 

A few weird things. The star spiders went nowhere, which seems a shame. Alicorn stallion statues everywhere!

 

Future stuff. The journal is the two sisters sounds awesome! The friends writing a journal? Yes, eye, yes, yes! Ah yes.

[Vertigo_95 572]

The episode was great. Gotta love the little challenges AJ and RD have. Felt it was a bit obvious that the "Shadow Pony" was Pinkie though. Maybe the whole journal thing would be like for their keeping and they will still do the letters for Celestia. 

[. eris . 1,661]

Wow! Finally watched it and I liked it quite a bit. I love how it tied directly into the season opener, which is making me excited for the possibility of a flowing, coherent season like a real show. xD The animation was spectacular and I loved the expressions they gave everyone, like using Twilight's wings to exaggerate her smiles and emotions. 

 

Rarity and Fluttershy was very enjoyable, and I fell off my chair laughing when Fluttershy thought Angel was crushed. (That sounds morbid when I type it out, but I swear to God, it was funny.) I actually really loved Rarity in this episode, trying to restore ancient art so everyone can enjoy it, and I didn't see much greed on her part at all. And she knew Fluttershy was overreacting about Angel, so that may explain her eye-roll when Fluttershy started looking for the nasty little rabbit. 

 

It was also very refreshing to see the rivalry between AJ and RD rekindled! Fall Weather Friends is one of my favorite episodes, and seeing the whole bee-state contest was very fun. ^^

 

All in all, it was a great episode, with just the perfect balance of humor and slice-of-life. 

 

Although is it just me, or has Pinkie's voice gotten higher and harder to understand?

Edited November 30, 2013 by Miss Earl Grey

[Luffyiscool 397]

Fluttershy was too freaking adorable in this episode.

 

 

My heart pretty much exploded into kittens when Angel "died." It did it again when she found out he was okay and got embarrassed. I just wanted to give the poor thinga hug.

 

 

 

I felt exactly the same way, her shout of horror after the pillar fell went straight through my heart.