S02:E04 - Luna Eclipsed

[StealingShad3Z 52]

I have a naturally loud voice, or maybe i just unconsciously use the equestrian royal voice!

[Luna_tic 120]

This episode made me love Princess Luna, which developed into a bit of an obsession.  She is just so relatable and adorable and amazing and her design is so pretty and and and and and... Yeah she's pretty great.  Wonderful episode, nice use of Zecora as well.  Oh and Spike's "Thanks, I'm a dragon. :P" quote always cracks me up.

[Dracu98 139]

I simply love that episode, not only because it's a luna-episode (my favourite princess :3 ), but because it perfectly shows me the reasons I like luna so much more than celestia or cadance. both of them seem to have no character-flaws, and even though they tend to make mistakes, they are always perfect, loving, understanding, they are suffering from no inner conflict. celestia has a lot of responsibilities, but this doesn't seem to put much pressure on her at all, same goes for cadence. luna, on the other side, struggled with her inner demon, nightmare moon, since season 5, and the mistakes from the past are still haunting her. she has flaws and has to deal with herself being her greatest fear, and that's why she is so much more interesting than her sister. also, we often see luna helping the ponies actively, unlike celestia, who is just...there. she exists, she rules the country, but we never really get to see that ('cept of course when she raises the sun). luna on the other side is helping the people of equestria overcoming their inner conflicts and facing their problems, therefore helping them in a way neither celestia or cadence can.

 

also, last but not least, she just has a calming, relaxing aura. when she visits someone in their dreams, flying down from the moon like being a part of the night...geez it just gives me the shivers.

[Sonic5421 423]

First episode to see Luna in her permanent appearance with an ethereal mane and tail like her big sister Celestia, and first Halloween episode as well.

 

It was nice to see how Luna was having trouble integrating back into society due to 1000 years of isolation on the moon, but with a little help from Twilight, Luna was able to win back the love and respect of Ponyville, and now is becoming very more used to modern life now that she's back ruling with Celestia as co-sovereigns of Equestria.

 

This episode definitely gets a 10/10 from me with Luna making her return.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

love this episode. Luna makes a great Halloween hostess

 

love you Luna<3

[twiia 1,842]

This was boring... I don't get why Luna is such a big deal

[Teavvi 627]

 

Meh, it was okay but Luna is my favorite princess and I loved the ending the most. The first part was kind of boring though. But overall I loved it.

[cmarston1 5,951]

This ended up being a really fun episode that helped make me really enjoy Luna's character.

[SoulHarmony 43]

Probably one of the best episodes from the entire show - It was simple yet had alot of important information, we finally got to see the new and improved looking Princess Luna, we got to see a character who had been away for 1000 years or so actually act like they had been away for 1000 years and not just get into the swing of things like it was yesterday and got to see so many characters be at their best in one episode.

 

Absolutely LOVED this episode

[Thrond 3,257]

Well, here's one that I struggle with a lot. It's ostensibly about Luna being unfairly ostracized for being "scary," but when it's revealed that Pinkie was feigning her fear the entire time, nobody ever calls her out on that. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the idea that being scared can be fun, but, if she was feigning her fear the entire time, then Pinkie was basically bullying Luna. The stuff about the holiday in general is sorta glossed over - you can't really blame Luna for being upset that Nightmare Moon has overtaken her in the public imagination - but it's mostly fine. It's just... surely, those past thousand years are something Luna would rather move past? It seems really fucked up to me that she's basically forced to take up the alter ego again in order to get people to like her. Pinkie Pie and the villagers never really get their share of the blame for how they treat Luna - the moral says "scary people might actually be pretty nice," but the episode isn't about that. It's not even that Luna needing to adjust is an inherently bad idea, but that should have been the end of it. The whole way this episode deals with fear leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. It also brings up questions: Did Celestia do nothing to fight this? You'd think she'd care about her sister enough to tell the villagers what's going on, and maybe ask them to not cower in fear at her presence. 

 

And that's a shame, because this episode is actually really funny. Lots of entertaining moments in here, some of which are among the show's most memorable lines. Luna is immediately sympathetic and endearing, and part of why I watched this episode was to revive my fondness for her, which I feel has been lagging slightly when compared to Celestia's goofiness and air of tragedy. She has her own goofy side here, and although she makes some major mistakes in trying to obtain love, it makes sense because of how new she is to the whole deal. And yes, I do think the moral is pretty good, at least as it's stated, even if I don't think the episode shows it very well. 

 

It's just unfortunate that I find myself liking this one less and less over time. I don't like having so many issues with fan favourites like this, but I don't enjoy everything this episode has to offer or think that it fully succeeds in what it's trying to do. I like it, but I can't really give it a pass on its issues. 

 

Frustrating. 

 

Score

Entertainment: 8/10

Characters: 5/10

Themes: 6/10

Story: 6/10

Overall: 63/100

 

Jeez, that's a much lower score than I expected to give going in. 

P.S.: The fandom seems to dislike when characters do mean things and turn around after being told they're wrong, so I'm surprised that this episode where Pinkie doesn't even learn what she was doing wrong doesn't get a lot more shit. Guess the fandom's love for Luna can overcome a lot. 

[Number62 1,246]

I remember being pretty excited when this episode was first announced because Luna was pretty much absent in all of season 1 outside of a few lines and moments in the very second episode of the show. After I saw this episode, I was left confused, and I still am (possibly more so) even today.

 

So Luna has been out of touch with modern Equestrian society. That's reasonable since she hasn't been involved with it for about 1000 years, but why is she speaking with an obviously outdated dialect which literally no one else including her sister uses? She is somehow surprised that this alienated the ponies she wanted to appeal to. What drove her to do this? Did her sister have any input over what Luna planned to do? She was in Canterlot doing who-knows-what for who-knows-how-long, and she didn't notice that her chosen speech pattern doesn't fit with the current ponies? Also, the "fun" scene is stupid as hell because I'm sure some form of entertainment existed while she was living, not that the show will bother to go into any lore-building. I don't know why Luna even speaks in the "Royal Canterlot Voice" when no other pony clearly speaks like that. Wouldn't it be nice to know what she was thinking and her reasoning behind it? This also makes the scene with Fluttershy look stupid and forced.

 

According to the very first episode of the show, no one but Twilight and Celestia knew anything about Nightmare Moon. So how is Nightmare Moon somehow the face of the holiday? One can say this detail has been retconned, but "Princess Twilight Sparkle" quickly retcons that retcon since Nightmare Moon's reign of terror only lasted about 5 in-universe minutes with Celestia being the only witness of the event. Fantastic. Even the creative team can't get this straight. If ponies somehow knew about Luna's villainous side, why would there be a holiday with the use of that figure? This has at least a few implications, with this kind of disrespect to Luna being the first. How did Celestia let this pass? She only wanted her sister to be remembered as some jealous brat?

 

How does no one except Twilight recognize Luna? Twilight's friends even saw her up close, so I don't know how or why they're so unperceptive. Sure her new design (a retcon I can accept) makes her slightly resemble her evil self, or at least to some degree with the mane. However, Luna must've been around for a while, and a major figure returning after a long time should be ridiculously big news. No one bothered to mention this for whatever reason. I'm not asking for everything to make perfect sense, but they should at least try to explain some things so nothing seems so random. Maybe a small number of naive ponies would dismiss her for Nightmare Moon, but it's literally all other ponies including the rest of the Mane 6. Pinkie says she was "pretending" to be scared, but what about everyone else? And she really overdid her acts because Luna was about to cry after canceling Nightmare Night. Apparently, no apology was needed since Pinkie Pie was just having fun. I don't know what the other ponies have to say, though.

 

What is this episode supposed to be about? Being scared can be fun? That should've been brought up earlier because Luna was having a miserable time trying to connect with ponies, and she and Twilight were trying to figure out why there was such a commotion. One explanation from Pinkie, a Nightmare Moon act later, and everything is ok all in the last 5 minutes? Twilight even tries to say at the end that "giving friendship" could help another person/pony open up. Again, there's almost none of that. The episode could've talked about Luna finding difficulty in accepting a seemingly strange concept even after some number of failed attempts. Maybe ponies slowly warm up to her over the episodes. Those attempts could've given us other sides to Luna. I'm not a storyteller, so I'm sure others can come up with something better than whatever the hell I said.

 

EDIT: Late edits because I feel like it.

 

Also, this episode could've been about Luna trying to learn, connect, and interact with the current Equestrian society, but there isn't much of that either. Those only happen during the "fun" scene, which I already commented on, and the ending which quickly goes by. Again, the episode could've spent more time trying to have Luna learn more about the idea of "being scared can also be fun" instead of repeating the same citizens being scared gag.

 

Yeah, this episode really makes no damn sense.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Number62

[blackstarraven 142]

On 1/11/2017 at 2:26 AM, Number62 said:

 And she really overdid her acts because Luna was about to cry after canceling Nightmare Night. Apparently, no apology was needed since Pinkie Pie was just having fun. I don't know what the other ponies have to say, though.

And people wonder why I say that the writers don't know how to use Pinkie.

This is the only reason I don't consider this episode perfect. Because a simple part at the end where Pinkie figures out she was actually hurting Luna would have been nice.

If pinkie would have actually be sacred and just said "Ya but its pretty fun being scared some times" And went from there...

But the simple fact that Pinkie was... more or less mentally/emotionally torturing some one else for her own enjoyment..... Ya I really have issues with this episode.

[blackstarraven 142]

4... out of 5?
And the thing is I REALLY like this episode. It the first time we get to see Luna really.

And I love her. She's so wonderfully awkward.

Its a good episode in so much that its a good lesson.

We get to see more of the world. And we get to see more of luna... but then there is the problem....

 

 

Pinkie...

 

And I really cant see how the writers / creators could not have seen the problem at hand. And not fixed it. Because its not hard to fix.

And it shows a huge issue with the episode as it stands. Pinkie has to be one of the following.

 

#1: Openly and intentionally Cruel.

#2: A idiot.

#3: A Sociopath.

And that's terrible because as the show has gone along I have actually gotten to like Pinkie despite her being annoying at first. And its because the writers seam to keep getting better at using her in way that are not annoying.

-

Watching this for the first time a few years ago with my nieces and little sister. (I'm the legal guardian of my 22 years younger then me sister and my two nieces) Even they as a 5, 8 & 9 year old looked at me and voiced there problem with Pinkie's actions. And it was a little jarring for the older two. (They both however kind of got that it was just kind of bad writing)

The younger one was actually like "Is pinkie bullying Luna?"  Yes... Yes she is.

Actually from a Adult (That is to say over analytical stand point) Pinkie was basically emotionally/mentally torturing Luna in this. Like.. This would be considered child abuse (If it where a child) As a educator.. I would have a child expelled for this kind of action.. Maybe moved from a School.

_______
Now all that being said I know that its is. Again just kind of crap writing... But THATS Jarring in FiM. Because normally they are so careful about this kind of thing. 
It's a darn shame to, because it is a really good episode! 

_______________________________________

HOW DARE THE PINK ONE MOCK AND HARM OUR LUNAR PRINCESS!

ONE MILLION YEARS DUNGEON, NO TRIALS! 

BANISHMENT TO THE SUN GULAG FOR HER!

 

ALL HAIL THE ALICORN PRINCESSES!

[TerrencePickles 3]

This was the first episode I watched and for me it is still one of my favourites.

[Number62 1,246]

I just thought of more stuff about this episode that bugged me.

Twilight exclaims at one point that she knows why no pony seemed to like Luna. Well, isn't it because Luna seemed unapproachable and genuinely scary to (most of) the Ponyville ponies? Even her first line to Ponyville sounded demanding. Also, Luna was already shouting when she shouldn't be (Luna's explanation still doesn't make sense) and demanding that ponies "love" her instead of trying to make herself seem like an appealing pony (she cancelled Nightmare Night because ponies didn't seem to "love" her. I know being liked is important, but she was awfully demanding about it without anyone taking notice). The latter trait even makes her look bratty.

Too bad we don't actually see other ponies warming up to her over the course of the show or even in just this episode. Well, there was the CMC, but that's not much.

What's also weird is that she was being playful at the end when she the concept of "fun" completely alluded her shortly earlier in the episode. Yeah, that makes no sense.

And Twilight tried to confirm to Luna toward the end that the other ponies always liked Luna even though that never seemed to be the case.

I wonder if I'm being too nitpicky.

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

As the first Episode, that showed a more normal Luna, it was pretty great^^Even though i dont like her english voice, it just doesnt sound so evil or intimidating, but the german voice actor was surprisingly great in my opinion^^It definitely made me like Luna more.

Im already looking forward to more Episodes with Luna.

[Meushell 52]

This was a good episode, but I agree with those who didn’t like the resolution. A simple line from Pinkie, “I’m sorry, Luna, I thought you were playing along,” was needed.

It’s also annoying that Luna has to play along to be liked. “In order to have friends, you must reenact the worst time of your life?” Seriously, episode?

Also bad on Celestia for allowing this holiday to exist in the first place. It’s turning something real and personal to her and making it a joke...and no pony thought it was in bad taste to keep up this holiday after Luna returned? 

It was fun to see Twilight teach Luna how to be more approachable. Loved seeing Luna prank Rainbow. This could have been a great episode, but it was dragged down.

[bigbertha 410]

This could've been one of the best episodes of the show if Pinkie wasn't so annoying. I don't buy that "it's fun to be scared" excuse. All she did was make things worse for everyone. And the ending where the kids suddenly like being scared by Luna seemed like it came out of nowhere.

Aside from that I really like the episode. This is my favorite portrayal of Luna and I wish the show kept her like this instead the terrible metaphor for depression in "Do Princess Dream of Magic Sheep?" and the poor man's comic Luna in "A Royal Problem". Her conflict is interesting here.

The animation also has some fun moments during Zecora's story and I like Spike dressing up as a dragon. It's especially funny because it's brought back in "Scare Master".

Score: 7/10

[Cash In 21,478]

This was pretty much the episode that gave Luna quite a bit of character and thus allowing a lot of people to gain an appreciation for her - Myself included. The concept for an Equestrian equivalent for Halloween was something that interested me, even though the regular holiday isn't celebrated in my country. Now, I was a bit disappointed that Pinkie Pie didn't apologise to Luna, after causing her a fair amount of stress throughout the episode. It was a simple misunderstanding, but I still felt that it warranted an apology of some sort. Also, the fact that the ponies suddenly enjoyed being scared, felt like it came out of nowhere. Regardless, the humour was pretty good, especially Spike saying 'Thanks, I'm a Dragon' and Luna pranking Rainbow Dash with her own prank.

So, I did enjoy this one.

[Twilight Luna 30,917]

This is easily one of my top five favorite episodes. Luna’s inner termoil and desire to be liked by everyone is done well. She just came back and learned that her evil self is being used as a holiday to scare children. She didn’t know how to get everyone to see her as Luna and not Nightmare Moon. It didn’t help that she wasn’t very good at interacting with other ponies.

The scene of Luna laying in front of the statue of Nightmare Moon is a perfect representation of Luna’s mindset for the episode. No words are needed to show that she feels like she is living in the shadow of Nightmare Moon. It looks like the statue is pointing at her as if saying, “I am how they will always see you.”

Her interaction with Fluttershy is funny even though it’s ruined by Pinkie Pie. I agree with some here who say the resolution was a little week and there should have been an apology between Pinkie and Luna. 

[bigbertha 410]

I really like Luna here. Yeah nothing she does really makes sense when looking at the show as a whole and neither does the concept of the episode (how is Luna still acting like everything's 1000 years ago when it's been so long since she's come back? What was she doing between the first episode and this episode? Why did Celestia even allow Nightmare Night to exist? Do ponies just not even know that Luna used to be a princess and Celestia's sister and they just see her as a folk tale? Why would Celestia allow everyone to be so stupid and not educate them? ), but the show doesn't care about its lore so I don't either. She comes across as nice and sympathetic, but it's clear to see why everyone is scared of her. Her conflict is handled really well except for Pinkie. Pinkie destroys this episode. She ruins everything for Luna multiple times and doesn't seem to recognize that her actions have consequences. The ending is so rushed since, while I can buy that Pinkie was just playing when being scared, I don't buy that the kids were enjoying it. Yet the end says they enjoy being scared with no progression or foreshadowing. It's a shame since everything else is pretty great.

Score: 6/10

[Rushing cash 824]

Before I watched this episode I wondered if they will ever show Luna again. I loved her, she was prideful but tried to be nice however everyone misunderstood her, it was interesting to see her struggle to fit in after being gone for so long. This episode continued the run of great episodes from party of one, and added a great character for the future.  9\10

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

The first glimpse of Luna after her reformation and holiday themed episode. 9/10

[Props Valroa 25,959]

I quite like it, shows that Luna was struggling with the after-events of Nightmare Moon and had to fit in. I feel for her. Luna is a very relatable character for me. Pinkie was a bit annoying but, it was cute seeing Luna with Fluttershy. It seems Luna can still turn into Nightmare Moon. Good episode!

[Astralshy 23,423]

I waited for a reapperance of Luna in the show and I was not disappointed. Really good episode which discusses how she can deal with her past and the fact she was gone for a very long time. I really like this episode. The interaction with Fluttershy is cute, I love it :3 The only negative in this episode I can think of would be Pinkie being almost annoying me and this takes some effort. Therefore I'm not suprised other people described her as such. RD pranks are not nice but they don't annoy me either.