S02:E04 - Luna Eclipsed

[Reality Check 632]

Nightmare Night~ What a fright~ Give us something sweet to bite~ (I know it's not Halloween, but I'm going through this by order of the episode, so... yeah)

I think it's fair to say that the best part of this episode has to be Princess Luna. The conflict that she faces is, in my opinion, understandable. She's been stuck on the moon for a thousand years and is still learning about the many changes that happened during her imprisonment. I also kinda like how she thought the other ponies were just being rude and didn't consider what Nightmare Night was entailing to compare to what it's about. A great way to re-introduce the lunar princess if you ask me. Also the background and costumes are a bit of a treat to watch too, especially Rainbow Dash's Shadowbolt costume.

The biggest gripe I have with the episode, however, has to be Pinkie Pie. Throughout the episode, she's the one that induces fear into the surrounding ponies. It honestly made me even more pissed at her when she explained that she knows that Luna isn't literally terrorizing ponies. Thing is, I don't care if it's for festive reasons or whether it's fun, I feel like there should be a line on how far one should antagonize another, and Pinkie, to me, crossed that line by a mile. Also, I know it's part of Pinkie's character to not be able to read the room, and it can be utilized cleverly at times, but there are times where I feel it gets obnoxious.

I'd say this episode is pretty good as a reintroduction to Luna. Her conflict in the episode is fairly reasonable, the costumes in the episodes are well-designed, and the background's good. (Then again, it's sorta meant to compliment Luna's color scheme) Some characters could use a bit of a fix like Pinkie, but it's not out-of-character for her, so I can't me mad. All and all, a good first halloween and Luna episode.

[StarHeart333 1,764]

Luna's pure innocence and misunderstanding is what makes this episode gold.

 

What is fun?

 

Too adorable 

[Cash In 22,313]

So, Luna is back for the first time since the very first two episodes. It does feel weird pointing this out, but I do dig Luna's redesign a lot. I actually liked the one from season 1 as well, but this looks a lot cleaner.

This is the obligatory Halloween episode and for a trope that's basically in every show ever made, I think it was actually done quite well here. Giving Luna more character was unexpected, but it's a great idea and I really liked how they approached it. Having a character from a completely different time period trying to readjust to a different society is inherently interesting. It's easy to mess up as well, but I think they did a really good job on this. I can say, I'm with the entire fandom on the opinion that Luna is an awesome character. 

The humour was on point for most of the episode. I actually really liked seeing all of Ponyville dressed up in their costumes, as well as the Nightmare Night decorations in the background. Once again, they are totally going out of their way to show off the improvement in animation. Not that I'm complaining of course.

I'll agree that Pinkie Pie is the weakest part of the episode, but it doesn't bother me that much, since she's really there to move the plot along. I do still think the resolution is weak though, but I'm not too fussed over it.

This episode is still great. Definitely planning on watching this one again.

Edited February 27 by Cash In
Updated thoughts

[Hadrien 950]

Honestly, as much as Pinkie Pie is a handfull at times but is overall meaning well, someone (Twilight) really should've talk to her after the first time she flipped out on Luna. This whole episode, from the conflict to the resolution could've been avoided if someone (TWILIGHT) would've said "can it Pinkie, Luna's trying to socialize and you're ruining everything". So much for the Element of Laughter, and the super party pony, not much empathy when it comes to royalty. 

It's a fine episode, but it urks me because the ones who should've learned a lesson here didn't learn anything, even tho they were wrong all along *wink, wink*

6-0.5/10, funny antics but stupid resolution.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Hadrien

[Hazel Sparks 19]

This episode was great! I really liked seeing how Halloween was celebrated in Ponyville. Luna was so relatable. It's a nice message to those seen as "scary".

[Iforgotmybrain 5,681]

I rewatched this episode tonight and I forgot how cute Twilight is when nerding out about Starswirl and her costume in this episode. Very relatable. Also, first real Luna episode we got. Easily a 10/10 just for that alone.

[Rafa Stary 3,036]

One of the episodes that makes me consider Season 2 peak-peak MLP  also I love how Luna in this episode was very likely used as inspiration for Sunset Shimmer's arc in Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks 

[Antiyonder 1,153]

YouTube upload of the episode:

[TransitPony 238]

I just watched this episode at a brony meetup yesterday for Nightmare Night and I gotta say Princess Luna has become one of my favorite princesses of the series. The way Princess Luna showed herself in making her public appearance just made feel at home with her. 

[Iforgotmybrain 5,681]

Spoiler

Absolute Cinema

Still a 10/10. Also I realized one of the things that made season 1 and 2 of MLP so special is how seamlessly they did the world building and lore. It always fits in so well with the episode. Like in this episode with Zecora explaining the legends behind Nightmare Night and Twilight’s Starswirl costume. It never feels heavy handed or like it’s too much.